The so-called Imperial City Praetorian Guard, which is directly under the control of His Majesty, protects Chang'an from foreign enemies to protect an army, the number of the Praetorian Guard is 10,000, the commander of the Praetorian Guard is the general of the empire, the status is much higher than Wang Lin, Tuoba Jun, Aung Sanqing and other military towns of the city lord, the official rank from the second rank. The current commander of the Praetorian Guard, Dongfang Changqing, is the most trusted person of His Majesty, and he is the object of their hard work. As soon as Tuoba Lie came back, he took over the position of deputy commander of the Praetorian Guard, and directly entered the army stationed in the imperial city as the second-in-command, and more importantly, the official rank of this second-in-command is the second rank, which is actually higher than the second rank of Dongfang Changqing, which is interesting. The official rank is the second grade, and the position is the deputy commander of the Praetorian Guard, that is to say, in the army, Dongfang Changqing still has the absolute right to speak, and his status is higher than that of Tuoba Lie, but he has no way to control Tuoba Lie to order him to act, because in terms of administrative positions, his status is lower than that of Tuoba Lie. In layman's terms, Dongfang Changqing was Tuobalie's superior in the army, but he couldn't order Tuoba Lie to do things, because Tuoba Lie's administrative position was higher than him.

Why arrange it this way!

There are only two purposes that can be thought of, one is to maintain the majesty of the royal family and let Tuoba Lie have more say in the army;

What kind of place is the Imperial Praetorian Guard, although the number is only 10,000, but every soldier in it is selected from all over the country to have strong combat effectiveness, responsible for maintaining order in Chang'an City, mastering the Praetorian Guard is equivalent to having control over everyone in Chang'an City, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the most important post. Now His Majesty actually wants to hand over such an important position to a prince, and the meaning of Tuoba Lie's cultivation is self-evident.

As for the title "Loyal and Brave" with a five-star crown, it is a kind of status improvement, the imperial prince is the king when he is an adult, the king is divided into eight classes, the lowest status wears a pure gold crown inlaid with an East Pearl, which is a one-star crown, and then every level up, the East Pearl inlaid on the crown increases by one, to the highest level, it is commonly known as the prince, who will inherit the throne in the future, wearing an eight-star crown.

Tuoba Lie used to carry a three-star crown, but now it has been raised by two orders at once, and he can bring a five-star crown, and his status among the princes has greatly increased. At present, the highest status is the eldest prince, who wears a seven-star crown, and the second most important is the tenth prince, who wears a six-star crown, and Tuoba Lie is only one star less than the tenth prince.

Everyone knows that this face-to-face saint will reward the eleventh prince, but the reward is so large that everyone expected, not to mention, His Majesty's words seem to be full of the meaning of cultivating Tuoba Lie as the future heir, does it mean that the future development of the battle for the throne will be dominated by Tuoba Lie, and the courtiers need to stand in line again!

I can't guess His Majesty's true thoughts, this man who overthrew the Sima clan regime with his own hands has always acted so unexpectedly and eclecticly, that it will never be possible for people to grasp what he will do next!

......

At the end of the early dynasty, on the way out of the palace, the eldest prince Tuoba Yuanji caught up with the sedan chair of the left prime minister Tuoba Zichu, "Uncle Zichu, wait a minute, Yuanji has something to ask." "Most of the courtyard walls in the palace are dark red, with nodes every ten meters, carved with auspicious patterns of dragons and clouds, and the passage is spacious, allowing an eight-horse chariot to pass through, according to the imperial decree, only the present majesty can enjoy such a standard of driving.

"The old minister is seriously ill and has not recovered, and it is not easy to stay in the outside world for a long time, please forgive me. "Even if it is the request of the eldest prince, Tuoba Zichu still does not give face, not that he does not know the current affairs, but now once he stops the sedan chair, it is equivalent to harming the other party. His Majesty's eyes were all over the empire, and if he or any of the generals, Shangguan Hongri, openly took sides, it would arouse His Majesty's suspicions, and the princes who had befriended them would not only not be reused, but would be suppressed.

"Uncle Zichu, let's just walk like this, and talk about it at the same time. ”

"Thank Your Highness for understanding the good intentions of the old minister, Your Highness, if you have anything to say, just say it. ”

"Uncle Zichu, my nephew wants to ask you whether my father's arrangement is a good thing or a bad thing for my nephew. He dared to ask so bluntly, which shows that it is not the first time he has communicated with Tuoba Zichu.

The latter sat in the sedan chair and was silent for a long time, then changed the subject and asked, "Your Highness, do you know what your majesty's faith is?" ”

"It's the Buddha. ”

"Yes, with the support of the Buddha, His Majesty can sit on the throne for thirty years. ”

"Yes, but the nephew wants to know ......"

"That's it, you should already understand!" After speaking, the four sedan chair drivers suddenly sped up, carrying Tuoba Zichu's sedan chair forward, and quickly moved away from the eldest prince.

The latter stopped in place and muttered to himself: "I should understand? Understand what! Uncle Zichu is like this every time, and he never explains half of his words, and it is so hard for his nephew to guess. ”

......

At the same time, Tuoba Lie and Dongfang Changqing walked side by side, Dongfang Changqing was in his early forties, ten years older than Tuoba Lie, but he didn't look old at all, the two stood together, tiger and tiger, both of them looked extraordinary.

He was wearing a pair of close-fitting fish scale armor, holding a helmet in his left arm, and the red cloak was dragging behind him, flying like a banner in the wind, standing on a spacious platform with an area of thousands of square meters at the exit of the Guangming Hall with Tuoba Lie, and said with a slight smile: "Your Highness, do you want to go to the army now to take a look, and you will be responsible for the affairs of the army in the future, and Changqing will remind you a few words from the side." ”

"No, no, General Changqing doesn't have to mind the identity of this king, it is an eternal fact that you are the orthodox leader of the Praetorian Guard, and this king will never take a step beyond the thunder pool. I only hope that we can cooperate with each other and help each other, so that we can really do the best of the guards of the imperial city. ”

His Royal Highness laughed, the elder youth is over forty, and it is really the age to say goodbye to the old and return to the hometown, and it is time to bring the newcomer. ”

"Forty years old is the year of the dragon and tiger, and General Changqing is the most trusted person of his father and the emperor, if he really leaves the army, he must have another important use, and it is impossible to return to his hometown. ”

"Dongfang Changqing has received His Majesty's grace, grateful to Dade, His Majesty asked Changqing to do anything, Changqing will do anything, there is no excuse, now that His Majesty has appointed His Royal Highness as the deputy commander, Changqing should help His Highness quickly familiarize himself with and take over the affairs of the army, Your Highness, what do you say. ”

"In this way, there is General Lao Changqing. ”

"Wechen does things for Your Majesty, how Your Majesty explains, Wechen will do it, Your Highness doesn't need to worry too much. ”

"General Changqing said this, this king is relieved, let's go to the army now. ”

"Of course, the morning is the time for practice, and we may be able to see your father in the past now. ”

"Father, he will also go to the military tent to observe?"

"Your Majesty took great care of the soldiers, and from time to time he would go to the military tent to check on their drills. ”

"The king understands, so let's set off quickly. ”

"It's fine. "Following the Qingzhou City Lord Aung Sanqing, another team was arranged to Tuoba Lie by Banzai today, Tuoba Lie was a little confused, feeling that happiness suddenly came but it was not true, after all, the army near the palace has always been directly controlled by his father, and now he has given himself, he will become the target of the public.

"Hey, what kind of calculation is in his old man's heart. Tuoba Lie knew that he who had just made a little contribution to the dynasty could not be so valued by his father and openly show favor in front of the ministers, and even made it clear that he would cultivate as a future heir, and his father must have a deeper intention in doing so.

Although he didn't want to think like this, Tuoba Lie knew that he was just a chess piece in the hands of his father, just like the crazy Confucian Chu embroidery who was in the limelight yesterday, and His Majesty wanted to use outsiders like them to break the existing deadlock in the court.

Neither of them sat in a sedan chair, purely on foot, while walking Dongfang Changqing introduced: "The total establishment of the Imperial Praetorian Guard is 10,000 people, and there are mainly five duty locations, one is the Zhengyang Gate at the entrance to the city; the second is the Zhengde Gate, Xuanzi Gate, and Xuanwu Gate at the entrance of the palace; the third is the Tianlong Dormitory in the inner courtyard of the Imperial Palace; the fourth is the outer courtyard of the harem, according to the imperial decree, the forbidden army of the imperial city is not allowed to enter the harem unless there are special circumstances, and the three palaces and six courtyards are supervised and protected by the Internal Affairs Office; and the fifth is the city defense of Chang'an City.

Carefully divided into two parts, in fact, there are two parts, one is the construction of the city defense to defend against foreign enemies, and the other is the protection of the palace to ensure the safety of His Majesty. The security of the harem is the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the security in the city is maintained by the Yin of the Chang'an Mansion, drawing a clear line between each other and not taking a step beyond the thunder pool. For a long time in the past, due to the inaction of Chang'an Mansion Yin, the Praetorian Guard would allocate a part of the manpower to maintain law and order in the city, but recently due to Chu Xiu's assumption of office, Chang'an Mansion has re-functioned, and the maintenance of order has been handed back to them. ”

Tuoba Lie nodded, knowing that Dongfang Changqing made the stakes so clear, for his own good, and generally understood the meaning of such a division of responsibilities.

The so-called Internal Affairs Office is a concentration camp for eunuchs and palace maids, controlled by the great eunuch Liu Yi. The eunuchs in the internal affairs office have great power, in addition to serving the master, they are also responsible for intelligence gathering activities, and have a certain amount of armed force, and the father and emperor regard them as his right and left hands, and give them great authority, even the powerful ministers of the dynasty dare not offend them, and the harem guards under the jurisdiction of the internal affairs government naturally dare not ask.

As for Chang'an Mansion, to put it bluntly, it is a local government, responsible for maintaining local law and order, solving civil affairs, the construction of local government has always been the weakest point of the empire, the local government is in vain, the regional lifeline is controlled by the gentry, and the government is reduced to a puppet.

Thinking like this, Dongfang Changqing continued: "These five locations require the Praetorian Guards to be stationed on duty for a long time, and the guards include a fixed number of garrisons for defense and daily patrols.

In addition, there is an army garrison in the imperial capital, located in the northeast corner of the imperial palace, covering an area of 500 acres, as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, my daily office is there, and when the soldiers are not on duty, they must return to the military tent and accept centralized management here. Dust every day to practice martial arts, in the afternoon to hone the formation, and in the evening you can do something you like. The families of all the soldiers in the military tent were all placed in Qingzhou City, all of them were paid by the empire, and the soldiers' salaries were distributed annually, and whether they were sent to their homes was in his own hands, and he could go home to visit them once a month. ”

"Why don't you place the families of the soldiers close to each other and make it easier to visit. "Tuoba Lie was born in the army, and instinctively cared about the lives of the soldiers.

Dongfang Changqing frowned slightly, and responded in a deep voice: "The purpose of this arrangement is to prevent riots in the army. ”

"There was a riot?" Tuoba Lie was so clever that he immediately understood what the other party meant. Arranging the families of soldiers in a special place, in addition to making it easier to take care of them and solve their worries, there is also a purpose, that is, to keep these people under surveillance and control, and once there is a riot in the army, their families can be used to force them to comply, and if it still doesn't work, they can simply kill them all and let them have no children and grandchildren.

On the one hand, they were given high salaries and high treatment, and on the other hand, they were controlled, and their families were coerced, and the army was naturally dead set on the emperor.

Dongfang Changqing said: "Your Majesty leaves the palace from Xuanzimen every time, goes fifteen miles to the north, and enters the military tent to observe. ”

"Father, isn't it dangerous for him to leave the palace frequently. ”

"Long live the dignified, the true dragon protects the body, and there is the chief manager Liu Yi by his side, what danger can he encounter, not to mention, if even his own territory is dangerous, then what place can be called safe. ”

"Hahaha, what General Changqing said is reasonable, this king has been taught. ”

"Your Highness, you are the vanguard officer of the border army, and you should know that the glory and loyalty of a soldier are more important than your life. ”

"The king understands. Talking to Dongfang Changqing, Tuoba Lie clearly felt a pressure, a unique pressure in the face of soldiers, Dongfang Changqing is a typical soldier, with the loyalty and uprightness unique to soldiers, he will not beat around the bush when he speaks, and he will not look at himself differently because he is a prince, everything he does now is out of the orders of his father and his old man, absolute loyalty and absolute uprightness is nothing more. This kind of person is very good, my father likes it, I like it myself, it is more convenient to contact, and I will not secretly stumble and play yin.

The fish scale armor on Dongfang Changqing's body is very distinctive, it was personally given by his father ten years ago, each "scale" on the soft armor is polished by the best craftsmen of the empire, selected from the finest metal, carefully look at each piece of scale armor is carved with patterns, such a beautiful fish scale armor There are only two pieces in the country, one was given to Dongfang Changqing by his father, and the other is in the hands of the general king.