On the west side of the Bianjing Imperial City, there is a large courtyard where the Imperial Guards who are responsible for the imperial city garrison live. The Imperial Guards are no longer as ordinary imperial guards. They are elite troops selected from the imperial guards and are subject to the direct command of the emperor.

The yard where the Imperial Guards stationed is called "Shanglinyuan". It is not far from the imperial city and is surrounded by strong guards. In addition to the barracks and warehouses, there is also a relatively large schoolyard in Shanglinyuan, where the martial arts examinations are held every three years. At this time, the number of the Great Song Dynasty imperial guards was less than 10,000. Except for 3,000 stationed in Jinmingyuan to protect the Supreme Emperor, the rest were stationed in Shanglinyuan to protect the safety of members of the Northern Song Dynasty royal family.

Since Liu Yixuan was granted the title of Deputy Chief of the Imperial Army by Qinzong, he brought his servant to Shanglinyuan for office on that day. After inquiring from many sources, Liu Yixuan learned that the largest official in the Imperial Army was the Imperial Army, the third rank, and currently is Qin Shun, the son-in-law of Princess Changle. The subordinates are the Deputy Chief of the Imperial Army, with a total of six, of which three of them are the sages of Zhao Ji, who are in Jinmingyuan, and the rest are also served in the Da Nei. The generals in the Imperial Army are often the most trusted people of the emperor, some are royal relatives and nobles, and some are family generals and confidants. In short, the army around the emperor must be reliable.

When Liu Yixuan arrived at the yamen in Shanglinyuan, he was stopped by the soldiers standing guard. Liu Yixuan stepped forward and said, "I am the newly appointed deputy commander of the Imperial Army of the Lord. I am here to take office today. I wonder if the prince consort of Qin is in the courtyard?"

The soldier standing guard knew that it was a new official and did not dare to neglect it. He hurriedly asked, "Since it is an adult who came to take office, has he ever brought it with him?"

Liu Yixuan turned around and signaled for promotion, asking him to take the document he took over. The soldier took the document and entered the courtyard to report. After a moment, he saw a general walking out of the courtyard gate. The general was wearing a bronze helmet and iron armor, with a slightly fat figure. He looked in his early thirties and greeted him with a smile.

"Oh, it turns out it's Mr. Liu. If you miss the opportunity, don't blame me!"

When Liu Yixuan saw that the person coming was so polite, he was sure that he was the princess of Princess Changle. He asked with a smile: "Don't you dare, you must be the princess's princess General Qin Shun, right?"

Qin Shun smiled with his stomach straight and said, "It's Qin, Mr. Liu. Although you and I have not met you, I have heard of your reputation for a long time. Today, I can work with Shanglinyuan together. Come on, let's talk in detail." As he said that, he pulled Liu Yixuan's clothes into the yard.

When Liu Yixuan entered the courtyard, he felt like he had entered a military camp, because many imperial guards who were not on duty were practicing in the courtyard. On the east side of the courtyard were several rows of neat barracks. The imperial guards were no more hardworking than the border troops. They lived in brick and tile houses, warm in winter and cool in summer, and had no worries about food and clothing. On the west side of the courtyard were horse sheds and schoolyards. When Huizong was young, he often came here to have fun with the imperial guards. Unfortunately, Huizong has been fascinated by alchemy and practiced Taoism in recent years and rarely participated in sports activities, so his body was not as good as he did every day.

Liu Yixuan was taken to the yamen lobby of Shanglinyuan by Qin Shun. In the past, the generals of the Imperial Army worked in this lobby except for inspecting and on duty outside. Qin Shun was the top martial arts scholar in the Daguan period and also played a good ball. Therefore, Huizong recruited him as the son-in-law and married his eldest daughter, Princess Changle. Since Qin Shun became the son-in-law, he did not go to the battlefield to establish merits, and only served him in the court. Seeing that Qin Shun was quite capable and was also the top martial arts scholar, Huizong asked him to be the chief commander of the Imperial Army. After Qin Zong ascended the throne, Qin Shun showed kindness to Qin Zong again, so Qin Zong continued to let him take charge of the Imperial Army.

There is a small reception room at the back of the lobby. It is simple and elegant and neat and clean. Qin Shun asked Liu Yixuan to sit down aside, and asked the soldiers to make a pot of good tea and bring all kinds of fresh seasonal fruits to entertain.

Seeing Qin Shun's hospitality, Liu Yixuan didn't know what he meant, and said, "You don't have to be polite. I'm here to take office today, not a guest. How dare I take this as a guest?"

Qin Shun heard this and squinted his eyes and smiled, "Young Master Liu's words are a secret, right? You are the deputy governor of the emperor, and the nephew of the empress dowager, and you will also be the son-in-law of the Song Dynasty in the future. We both took the princess of the emperor, which is the relationship between my brother-in-law and my brother-in-law. What's wrong with this brother-in-law treating my future brother-in-law? Mr. Liu, don't be polite. These are fresh fruits sent from all over the world, so you can try them too!"

Liu Yixuan was naturally not here to visit the house and have a tea. He came here today just to see what errands Qin Zong arranged for him. If there were any important things to do, he naturally had to learn more and not to embarrass his father. So he asked Qin's son-in-law again: "Mr. Prince Consort, I'm just here, and I don't know what the deputy commander of the Imperial Army is doing. Since the emperor asked me to work in Linyuan, the son-in-law is my brother's boss, so please assign tasks to me."

Qin Shun was also suspicious when he heard this. He scratched his head and smiled, "Well, Mr. Liu doesn't know anything. Our Imperial Guard is responsible for the security of the palace. There are nothing else to do except protect the emperor? Now there are about 5,000 troops in our army, half of whom are responsible for duty during the day, and half are responsible for standing guard at night. There are few people in this palace usually approaching, and no one dares to assassinate the emperor, so we seem a little free on weekdays."

"What? Is there nothing to do?" Liu Yixuan heard that Qin Zong asked him to come to Shanglin Yuan to relax, but he couldn't accept it for a while. He was young and not old enough to retire, so why did he give himself a free job? He was originally following the veteran General Zong Ze. Although he was not good at martial arts and could not kill many barbarians, he could also give advice to the army to reduce unnecessary losses to the Song army. Now he was transferred back to the capital by Qin Zong and gave such a free job. He was puzzled for a moment.

"It's not all that I have to say, but those are all jailed by the generals below, so there is no need for us to wait!" He said again: "Our task is to protect the emperor. Now no one is coming to harm our emperor. What else can we do?" Qin Shun was also a little surprised at Liu Yixuan's reaction, because in Qin Shun's eyes, Qin Zong transferred Liu Yixuan back from the front line. First, he was afraid that he would encounter something unexpected on the battlefield and his life would be unsafe. Second, he also asked him to stay in the capital for a while, and when Princess Yuling married, she would be promoted and appointed. Qin Shun saw that Liu Yixuan was young and promising, and might be a prime minister or a lieutenant, so he was so respectful to him.

Qin Shun said again: "Young Master Liu, don't make a fuss. To be honest, our Imperial Guard is an idle person raised by the emperor, just the royal face and decoration. Of course, it is not very accurate to say that. As the saying goes, it is said that raising troops for a thousand days to use troops for a while. If someone really dares to assassinate the emperor one day, it is time for our Imperial Guard to show off our skills!"

After hearing this, Liu Yixuan felt a little disappointed. He was originally a person who could not rest, not to mention that it is still a time when the country is in danger. If he doesn't do anything, wouldn't he be sorry for this era?

"Oh! I thought Qinzong would ask me to do something for the court, but I didn't expect that he would ask me to be a security guard for him. How could this work?"

Seeing Liu Yixuan's face was distressed, Qin Shun advised with a smile: "Young Master Liu, don't worry. I was so distressed when I came to be the Imperial Army Chief. You may not know that Qin, I was originally a martial arts leader, and I thought of going to the border to make achievements. But since I was chosen by the Emperor as the son-in-law and arranged to be the governor of Shanglinyuan, I neglected martial arts and had not ridden horses and archery for a long time. However, there are also the benefits of being idle, that is, I have time to do what I like to do. Look at me, although I was born as a general, I also looked at calligraphy and paintings, and collected some antiques. This is also good. Of course, Mr. Liu is young and promising, and will be used as a priest in the future. For me, I will just borrow Jingshan for a while."

After hearing this, Liu Yixuan seemed to understand Qinzong's good intentions. However, he knew that there was not much time in the Song Dynasty and he could not stand the day of being the prime minister or the Grand Marshal. However, Liu Yixuan did not completely lose hope. Although Qinzong gave him a free position, he was still active around the emperor and could still give advice for his father. Most importantly, he had the opportunity to go to the palace to see Ling'er every day, which made him feel very satisfied.

Qin Shun and Liu Yixuan chatted for a while, then took Liu Yixuan to the hall to get to know each other. Although there were two deputy governors, they both took leave today and did not come to work. The two of them walked around and returned to the back hall, but saw a small imperial guards rushing to reply.

Qin Shun asked him: "Why are you so panicked?"

The school replied: "Report to the prince-consort, the emperor has an order to meet the Jin envoy at noon this day. Master Zhu asked you to order a thousand troops outside Xuande Gate to set up a ceremonial guard to greet you!"

After hearing the reply, Qin Shun said to the little school, "I understand, you go back first, I order all my troops, and then go."

Liu Yixuan asked quickly: "What? The Lord wants to summon the Jin envoy and let us act as guards of honor?"

Qin Shun replied to Liu Yixuan: "It's not that we act as a guard of honor, we are originally a guard of honor. In addition to standing on duty, our imperial guards are to maintain royal dignity, especially when we meet with envoys outside the vassal states, we must show the style of a great country!" He smiled and said: "Young Master Liu just said that there is nothing to do, now that we have work to do, go and follow me to the schoolyard to order all the troops, and let's gather outside Xuande Gate."

Liu Yixuan completely lost interest in his new work. The dignified Song Dynasty Imperial Guard went to stand military positions and set up ceremonial guards all day long, which was completely different from what he had imagined before. However, when he heard that it was a Jin envoy who was visiting, Liu Yixuan became interested because he really wanted to know what tricks the Jin people would play this time. (To be continued)
Chapter completed!