Chang'an City was preparing for the Northern Expedition. In this tense atmosphere, an anecdote made the civil and military ministers feel dumbfounded.
Next to the City God's Temple, in the Military Intelligence Department's Yamen, Lin Zi was flipping through the information in his hand when he heard his subordinates chatting a few more words.
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"Really?" Lin Zi was surprised and raised his eyebrows.
"Secretary, I am a spy in my humble position. How can something go wrong if I inquire about some trivial matters?"
"Who spread the news? Could it be that Meng Yuan or Zhao Song were working on it to deal with our generals?"
Lin Zi said, putting down the military information in his hands and frowning, showing a cautious look.
However, he heard a reply that surprised him again.
"It came from General Liu Jinsuo."
"You idiot Liu? How could he spread bad words about General Lu?"
"It doesn't seem to be intentional. A few days ago, a few matchmakers were blocking the door of General Lu's mansion, talking nonsense, and General Liu happened to hear it. General Liu fought with them in order to stand up for General Lu.
During the argument, I accidentally missed a sentence, saying that even if General Lu is not good at that, he is still a good man who stands upright."
"Idiot, your words and deeds are never right." Lin Zi muttered, thinking to himself: "Is this why Wang Cui rejected Lu Xiaoyou's proposal of marriage? Did I guess wrong before? I thought she was reluctant to let go of the princess.
"
After all, this was just an anecdote, and it seemed irrelevant to the overall situation for the time being. After hearing this, Lin Zi put it aside and didn't think much about it.
There is still a mountain of information to sort out on his desk.
"Xiao is just chatting here. Have you found a candidate for secondment from the army?"
"Don't worry, Sir, we have found them. Here is the list."
Lin Zi took it and took a look. The first thing he saw was the dossier of a Mongolian named Tamuren.
This man was originally a subordinate of Uncle Shu Zhen. He was besieged with His Majesty during the Battle of Helan Mountain. Marshal Li selected him as a centurion when he was reorganizing his troops. When his troops were about to be defeated, he shouted, "We have won the battle."
My daughter-in-law does not want a betrothal gift." He is considered to be a brave and resourceful one among the newly attached Mongolians..."
"Just let him be your guide. You should set off as soon as possible and make sure to contact that troop."
"yes!"
"Go ahead"
The next person who came in was Yu Dechen.
Yu Dechen stayed in Yunnan a while ago for a business trip and just returned to Chang'an yesterday.
Lin Zi glanced at him and said: "Let me tell you a bad news and a good news first. The bad news is that your Gaochang Kedun Babahar was defeated by Yuan Meng. The good news is that she was brought to Liangzhou for resettlement by Lian Gong.
, I will come to Chang'an to reunite with you in a few days."
Yu Dechen didn't seem to think this was good news, and said: "The envoy is summoned to come here, but there are still dispatches?"
Logically speaking, I should let you rest for a while when you first come back. But you also know that there is really not enough talent recently.
"The envoy just gives orders."
"You've been to Shanxi and Hebei, but you haven't been there since that trip, right?"
"yes."
"The road is still familiar."
"familiar."
"Then you first go to Hebei and send a letter to His Majesty."
In the middle of Lin Zi's words, there was suddenly an urgent knock on the door.
It must be something very urgent to knock on the door when he was meeting his subordinates, so he opened the door and went out personally, listening to what was being reported.
Yu Deshen waited in the house for a while until Lin Zi came back.
"You don't need to support Hebei anymore. Get ready and leave for Shanxi as soon as possible."
"yes."
Yu Dechen didn't ask any questions, just accepted the order, took over more specific tasks and left.
Lin Zi quickly summoned the messenger and asked, "Where is he?"
"In the smuggling caravan outside the city."
"You come with me to take him to the city."
"yes."
Lin Zi summoned another confidant and said, "Go to the palace first and ask for an audience with His Majesty on my behalf."
"Commander, the imperial commander should be preparing to leave the city to meet the Yunnan soldiers and horses."
"Things here are more important." Lin Zi lowered his voice and said, "Just say, there is a family letter for Concubine Zhang..."
Zhao Jin was also in the palace that day, playing backgammon and talking in Yan Rong's small hall.
However, a few official family members came to pay their respects, so Zhao Jin waited behind the screen all afternoon.
With great difficulty, Yan Rong sent the person away, and when he turned back to the screen, he saw that Zhao Jin had fallen asleep beside the chessboard.
"Get up quickly, you don't have to worry about catching a cold."
"Who were those people just now? What they said was so boring."
"Don't you care about these things?" Yan Rong smiled.
Today, some family members of officials who came from the Song Dynasty are here, and what they are talking about is a very real issue today.
In today's harem, concubines from the northern line are much more powerful than concubines from the southern line.
Even Yan Rong didn't know when the so-called northern and southern systems came into existence. In short, some people were so divided and thought that
The Northern Expedition is imminent, and the Zhang family, the Han family, and the Mongolian princess Duo Siman will probably become even more popular in the future.
On the contrary, on the southern side, they are all from humble backgrounds.
As for what they wanted her to do after telling Yan Rong this?
What she said was that she hoped that she would take their daughter and let His Majesty take a look, "I don't care about these nonsense.
"At this time, Zhao Jin said: "I mean your status is low. In the past, you were a female leader of the party, controlling the affairs of the court. But now you have been entangled with these long-tongued women for a long time, and you still haven't kicked them out."
"When will I have any say in the affairs of the court?"
Yan Rong said leisurely, "The only thing I can control is a man's mind."
"cut."
"As you said, it's just the petty thoughts of some long-tongued women. In the face of the overall situation of the Northern Expedition, they are actually minor matters. Let them talk about it, let them have expectations, and their men will be more confident when doing things.
Hope, what are they going to do?"
"For those who don't know, I still think you are a very good wife and mother."
"Why am I not?"
Zhao Jin rolled his eyes at Yan Rong, changed the subject, and said, "By the way, I have something to ask you. Wang Cui has been worried about something recently, and it seems to be related to a general named Lu Xiaoxi in the Tang Army. Do you know?"
"I don't care about these trivial matters. You must at least tell me what it is so that I can find out for you." I don't know clearly. I vaguely heard that she rejected Lu Xiaoyou's proposal of marriage, but I felt unhappy. I don't know because she wanted to protect me.
Or maybe it's because there's something wrong with that person. "So?"
"As a master and a servant, if she meets her husband, I should let her get married. If not, I will ask her clearly and resolve her knot."
It is said that they are masters and servants. They have supported each other for such a long time after the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed. Wang Cui has become like a relative to Zhao Jin, so he really cares about this matter.
Yan Rong understood her mood, nodded and said: "It involves the generals in the army, I will bother your majesty and ask him to summon General Lu to ask."
At this juncture, Li Xia was obviously busy with state affairs, so Zhao Jin was a little frightened when he approached him about such trivial matters.
But then he thought about it, it was just a question and it wouldn't cost him much.
She then thanked Yan Rong generously.
However, although Yan Rong agreed, two or three days later, there was no progress in the matter.
In the morning after the king's death, Zhao Jin couldn't wait any longer. He put down the book in his hand, got up and walked to the backyard.
From a distance, I saw Wang Cui standing in front of the flowers, looking very worried, and did not move for a long time.
Zhao Jin coughed twice and walked over there with his hands behind his back.
"girl?"
Wang Cui turned around, with a happy expression on her face again, and said, "Young lady, do you want to go out for a walk?"
"In no mood."
"Today, troops are being ordered outside the city. It is said that soldiers and horses from Yunnan have been transferred back. Do you want to take a look, girl?"
"I do not want."
"In the city
Many people went to see it, it must be very lively." Wang Cui tried to persuade her again and said, "If you don't want to go, girl, I'll go and have a look and tell you when you come back."
Zhao Jin tilted his head and thought for a moment, smiled slightly, and said, "Then let's go together."
Because there was no one to restrain him, Zhao Jin walked around the city when he first arrived in Chang'an and became very familiar with every part of the city.
She led Wang Cui through the streets and alleys calmly, becoming more and more lively as they walked.
There was a burst of cheers from the front, followed by the sound of military drums and war songs.
To the south, dust and smoke were rising into the sky, and even though they had not yet seen their formation, a chilling air was already blowing towards them.
But after finally squeezing out of the city with the crowd, Zhao Jin could only see the backs of other people's heads and nothing else.
She raised her head and saw a tower over there. She had a good view, so she walked towards it.
"Girl." Wang Cui quickly followed and reminded: "It is not easy to enter the city tower."
Zhao Jin didn't care. When he arrived at the city tower, he showed a jade pendant and said, "We want to go to the city tower to watch the excitement, okay?"
"No, go away."
Zhao Jin was stunned for a moment and said: "This is a token given to me by Concubine Ning. It can even enter and leave the palace."
"This is a city tower, not a palace. If you want to watch soldiers, you can go over there."
"It's too crowded over there." After saying this, Zhao Jin had already backed down.
Unexpectedly, another soldier came over from the tower and whispered something to the guard.
The guard turned around and invited them to go up to the tower to watch the soldiers, and solemnly told them not to run around.
I was lying on the small window of the city tower and looking out, I saw several black phalanxes moving slowly outside the city with majestic momentum.
Zhao Jin was not interested in this. She turned around and looked around, and sure enough, she saw many Tang army generals on the battlements not far away.
"Is that Brother Xiaoyou you often talk about over there?"
Wang Cui seemed to have seen Lu Xiaoyou just now, nodded unnaturally and responded.
"Here, several generals I know are here."
"Go and ask them what's going on with these soldiers and how many people there are there? You can't tell the difference by looking at them like this."
Zhao Jin found an excuse to send Wang Cui over and lay on the window sill, waiting with great interest to see how Wang Cui and Lu Xiaoyou talked.
Suddenly, her ears twitched and she heard someone on top of the tower say something that sounded like "Your Majesty."
Thinking of the soldier's solemn instructions just now, Zhao Jin went to the steps and took a look, and sure enough he saw that they were heavily guarded above.
She poked her head forward further and saw a pair of boots with Teng Yun tattooed on them.
Thinking of what she asked Yan Rong to ask, she shouted: "Hey, Li Xia!"