A month ago, Guo Cheng, a famous general who had made extraordinary achievements in the Xixia war, received an imperial edict from Zhao Guan's family to return to Beijing to report on his duties. Today, he was also summoned by Zhao Guan's family to Chui Gong Hall.

When he heard Zhao Guanjia ask about how to deal with the changes in the Xixia Kingdom when the Song Dynasty "aided the Liao Dynasty to fight against the Jin Dynasty", he naturally had his own opinions and suggestions because he had been fighting with the Xixia Army for many years.

However, Guo Cheng secretly saw the leader of the Privy Council, Duke Zheng Juzhong of the State of Yan, as well as Cao Fu, Zong Ze, Li Gang, who were recently promoted to imperial officials by Zhao Guan's family, and the young man with fair face and light beard behind him.

Zhang Jun.

Zheng Juzhong and the five courtiers all looked at each other in confusion.

Guo Cheng also had some concerns in his mind: none of these old ministers or new ministers who were favored by the emperor dared to speak first. Guo Cheng, a general who has been fighting against Xixia in the northwest all year round, naturally had no reason to speak first.

Although Zhao Ji spent more than a year traveling to the Song Dynasty and tried his best to improve the status of military commanders,

However, the idea of ​​"valuing civility over military affairs" that had been formed for a long time in the Song Dynasty was deeply rooted in the bones of almost every citizen of the Song Dynasty. This made Guo Cheng, a general, very fearful of the civil servants in the court.

He is a sensible man,

Military generals kill the enemy on the battlefield, with swords and spears, to achieve immediate results, life and death!

The civil servants' temple harmed people, and they were criticized verbally and written for a long time, implicating the nine ethnic groups!

…

Zhao Ji, who was sitting on the dragon chair, could see people very accurately.

He saw Guo Cheng, a general of the Western Army who had been specially summoned to the palace for discussion. He seemed to have something to say, but he looked around and did not dare to express his opinions and suggestions first.

Zhao Ji smiled slightly and said to Guo Cheng: "Xinzhi, it's been three days since I returned to Beijing from a long distance, right?"

Guo Chengcheng was frightened, knelt down and recited: "It has been three days since I returned to the capital. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty! Long live my emperor!"

When Guo Cheng heard that the Emperor Zhao Guanji of the Song Dynasty actually called him by his name instead of his name, he felt favored by Zhao Guanjia!

Guo Cheng, who had been in the Western Army of the Song Dynasty fighting against Xixia for many years, was originally just an ordinary soldier.

He had been in the army for more than forty years. Because of his repeated military exploits in the war against Xixia, the imperial court also gave him the promotion he deserved.

Today, Guo Cheng is a general guarding one side.

However, Guo Cheng knew that the Song Dynasty was so big that there were many third-grade generals like him in the Western Army. If you look at the entire Song Dynasty, there were also many, there could be dozens of them.

Or hundreds of times, Guo Cheng has never counted. At the same time, it is impossible for Guo Cheng to immediately recognize a third-grade military general for the first time, let alone be able to directly call him like the Zhao Guan family.

Say the other person's words.

This was Guo Cheng’s first time meeting a saint.

He originally thought that Zhao Guan's family would never recognize him.

Because, in the past, Zhao Guan’s family dealt with Wanji every day,

Nowadays, there are still many things to do...

However, Guo Cheng was wrong!

‘Just now, Zhao Guanji actually called me by the name of Guocheng!!!’

'This shows how much the Zhao Guan family values ​​me, Guo Cheng!'

Zhao Ji smiled slightly and stood up from the dragon chair.

Liang Shicheng, the eunuch who was standing by, immediately wanted to help him.

Zhao Ji waved his hand slightly, and the sensible Liang Shicheng immediately shrank his fleshy and round body and accompanied Zhao Guan's family behind him.

Zhao Ji calmly walked in front of Guo Cheng, who was kneeling in the main hall. He stretched out his hands, personally helped Guo up, and praised Guo Cheng:

"Believe it or not, he fought in the Xixia Kingdom with great bravery, killed many enemies, and repeatedly performed extraordinary feats. I have already known about it.

If you believe me, I will be free of any courtesy and will be given a seat!"

Guo Cheng was so moved that tears flashed in his eyes...

Liang Shicheng hurriedly called to the young eunuch outside the palace and took the royal stool into the palace.

When the young eunuch placed the imperial stool behind Guo Cheng and asked him to sit down,

Guo Cheng glanced at Zhao Guan's family and stood in front of him. Other important ministers such as Zheng Juzhong, Cao Fu, Zong Ze and Li Gang were still standing in the hall. He did not dare to sit down even if he died.

Zhao Ji smiled slightly and said to Liang Sicheng, add six more stools and a table.

I like to sit around with you, drink tea, and discuss state affairs."

Liang Shicheng obeyed the order and ordered the eunuch to place an Eight Immortals table and seven stools in the center of the Chui Gong Hall.

Zhao Ji was sitting on a stool, his right wrist resting on the Eight Immortals table, tapping the table with his fingers from time to time, looking at Guo Cheng, Zheng Ju and other five people with a smile, and said casually:

"Today is not a court meeting. Dear ladies, please take your seats and do not be restrained."

"I would like to thank the official family for giving me a seat..."

Zheng Juzhong, Cao Fu, Zong Ze, Li Gang, and Zhang Jun sat in front of the Eight Immortals table in turn.

Guo Cheng, who was the last to take his seat, sat on the far right side of Zhao Guan's house.

Zhao Ji saw that the strong-backed general Guo Cheng had some gray hair on his temples. He was nearly sixty years old this year.

Guo Cheng, the defense envoy of Xiongzhou, did not wear a helmet and crown because he entered the palace today. He was wearing a bright red court dress and a long-winged black gauze hat.

Zhao Ji relied on his own historical knowledge and knew that Guo Cheng was a loyal and brave general who was good at fighting.

Guo Cheng was from Zhong'anbao, Deshun Army. As a young man, he enlisted in his hometown to join the Western Army of the Song Dynasty.

After joining the army, Guo Cheng made some military exploits in the battle against Xixia and was promoted to the Jingyuan Road Enshrinement Officer.

Guo Cheng was only seventeen or eighteen years old when he joined the army. Now he has gray hair on his temples and is nearly sixty years old. For the past forty years, Guo Cheng has been in the Western Army of the Song Dynasty, fighting on the northwest border.

Because of his repeated military exploits in the war against Xixia, Guo Cheng was finally promoted to the present-day Jingyuan Qianju.

Zhao Ji, the traveler, knew that Jingyuan in the Song Dynasty had jurisdiction over the two prefectures of Jing and Yuan; it was equivalent to the area east of Liupan Mountain and west of Puhe River in Gansu and Ningxia before he had traveled through.

Jingyuan Qianju was a temporary commander-in-chief of the army appointed by the Song Dynasty. His official rank was generally a third-grade official or a second-grade official.

Since the emperors of the Song Dynasty were afraid of rebellion by military generals, official positions such as Jingyuan Qianji, which were in charge of the military and civilian internal affairs of a large area, were not often awarded.

It was precisely because the Western Army of the Song Dynasty had been fighting against Xixia all the year round, and there were often Wu incidents on the border, so Guo Chengcai was appointed to the official position of Jingyuan Qiangju due to his military exploits and more than 40 years of military experience.

Jingyuan Qian governed Guo Cheng, who is now the third rank.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! When Zhao Ji studied the history of the Song Dynasty before traveling through time, he knew that Guo Cheng in history not only made many military exploits in the war against Xixia, but also that he was responsible for the Jingkang Incident.

Later, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Guo Cheng, who was nearly 70 years old, still led his army in the unlost territory in the northwest, personally inspecting and supervising his troops to build fortifications to resist the Xixia Army, an ally of the Jin Kingdom...

It was the middle of winter, and Xia soldiers often came to harass and destroy Guo Cheng's defenses. While commanding the battle, he patrolled day and night and supervised the construction of the army and civilians. He slept in the open air and was "exposed to the snow". He eventually fell ill due to overwork and died in the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the fourth year of Emperor Jianyan's reign (AD 1130), he died of illness at the construction site of fortifications.

Zhao Ji once saw this record when he was reading history books: In the fourth year of Jianyan of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty (i.e. 1130 AD), veteran general Guo Cheng became ill from overwork and died in the army.

When the integrity envoy Wang Xiaojie was taking care of Guo Cheng's funeral, he reported his deeds to the court, saying that Guo Cheng was "a brave general famous in the west" and an "incorruptible official who cares about money and loves charity".

Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou was moved by Guo Cheng's deeds and wrote in his own handwriting: "Guo Cheng served the country with loyalty and made great contributions to the people. It is appropriate to carry it in the sacrificial ceremony."

The court of the Southern Song Dynasty built a temple for Guo Cheng and made a golden statue. After the temple was built, Emperor Gaozong personally wrote a royal inscription "Ren Yong" and hung it high above the temple gate.

…

Zhao Ji doesn't just rely on his own historical knowledge to recognize and employ people.

When he was preparing to summon Guo Cheng back to Beijing to report on his duties a month ago, he asked his subordinates to verify Guo Cheng's military exploits in the past forty years since he joined the army.

As a result, what pleased Zhao Ji was that the military exploits that Guo Cheng in this world had accomplished in the past forty years were exactly the same as the military exploits of the famous Song Dynasty general Guo Cheng that Zhao Ji had seen in history books before he traveled through time.

Gotta get it right.

For example: In July of the fourth year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (AD 1081), the official army of the Song Dynasty was divided into five groups to conquer Xixia. Among them, 50,000 troops commanded by Liu Changzuo, the general manager of Jingyuan Road, were the main force, preparing to attack Xiping Prefecture Lingwu in Xixia.

city……

At that time, the 19-year-old young Guo Chengjun was promoted to junior high school after he had captured many heads of the Xixia Army and accumulated military exploits.

At this time, Guo Cheng of the primary school also came into the appreciation of Liu Changzuo, the manager of Jingyuan Road.

The General Manager of Jingyuan Road in the Song Dynasty was comparable to a certain military district commander in later generations; even to some extent, his jurisdiction was wider than that of a military district commander, because the General Manager of Jingyuan Road not only managed the military but also had jurisdiction over the district.

Internal civil affairs.

When Liu Changzuo, the general manager of Jingyuan Road, was preparing to go on an expedition, he dismissed the doubts of his old generals and appointed Guo, a newly promoted young general, to be the vanguard officer...

Guo Cheng led thousands of troops as a vanguard, defeated the Xia army at Mo Nai Pass, and took the lead to attack Lingwu City. In the chaotic battle between the Song and Xia armies, Guo Cheng took the lead, leaping on his horse and swinging his sword, beheading Lingwu.

The general of the Xia garrison in the west of the city led his troops to capture Wuling City.

In this battle, Guo made his first contribution and was rewarded with the fourth rank...

…

Zhao Ji thought back to this point, and he knew that the veteran Guo Cheng, who was sitting in front of the Eight Immortals table and closest to his right, now looked like he was slightly stout and his temples were already gray;

However, forty years ago, the 19-year-old Guo Cheng led his troops to a surprise attack on Lingwu City in Xixia. He should have been as heroic as Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty who marched straight in to surprise the Xiongnu!

Guo Cheng led his army to conquer the Xixia Kingdom in the Battle of Wuling City. This was the beginning of his battle to become famous, but it was not the end. What was even more glorious was the Battle of Pingxia City sixteen or seventeen years later...

In March of the fourth year of the Shaosheng reign of Zhezong of the Song Dynasty (1097 AD), the Song army established a Pingxia city on the border of Xixia and wanted to choose a general to guard it.
To be continued...