After Gou Delu left, Emperor Da De said to Laixi: "You are a very discerning little eunuch. Please be transferred to me to serve on the day shift. Laixi, Laixi, and Chunxi's names are very similar, alas..."
Thinking of Chunxi's death, Emperor Dade felt complicated. He did not believe that Chunxi would murder him, but it happened that Chunxi
When this happened while Xi was on duty, Chunxi could only take the blame in the end. However, the emperor's guards were not severely punished in the end because they were from noble families or even aristocratic families. However, the emperor's guards were also disbanded.
Tang Guifei's brother Tang Qi was also demoted to the Longdu Prefecture and served as a head catcher.
Emperor Dade did not trust the Imperial Guard Army. After all, the Imperial Guard Army was led by Li Canglan, but he had to rely on the Imperial Guard Army because no one except the Imperial Guard Army could protect his safety. Thinking of his own safety, he thought of Zhang Xiaowu, and naturally he could not care about Zhang Xiaowu.
He was extremely trusting, but he acted like he was extremely trusting. This is the emperor's mentality. He needs someone to be grateful to him, and he also needs someone to be devoted to him.
Emperor Dade turned around and looked at Zhang Xiaowu. When he saw Zhang Xiaowu looking at the distance indifferently, he asked, "What does it feel like to kill someone?"
Zhang Xiaowu thought for a moment and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the first time I killed someone, I felt like the world was spinning and I was not myself. Then I vomited, very violently. But after killing many times, I vomited and vomited and vomited, and I got used to vomiting."
The Great Virtue Emperor nodded and said: "You did a good job. This old lady is used to being domineering and domineering in the palace. She is like a shrew. She doesn't even pay attention to my words." Zhang Xiaowu smiled lightly and said nothing.
, the Great Virtue Emperor then hesitated and said: "But if you kill the Queen Mother's nanny in the palace, the censor will definitely impeach you. In addition, you have been impeached many times some time ago, so I have to punish you. You must know it well."
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Zhang Xiaowu said: "I will do whatever the emperor asks me to do - but your majesty must not let me enter the palace as a eunuch. I still have a daughter-in-law at home."
Emperor Dade laughed: "Don't worry, there is no shortage of eunuchs in the palace. In the next five years, the palace will not accept new eunuchs."
Zhang Xiaowu said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to be so frugal."
The Great Virtue Emperor said with sadness in his eyes: "The Holy Han has been extravagant for three hundred years, and the country's power has declined. If I persist in not realizing the arrogance and extravagance, then the Holy Han's empire will also come to an end. The empire is now on the decline, if I
If I don't catch up, I'm afraid the country will be ruined in my hands.
"Zhang Xiaowu was about to give advice when Emperor Dade waved his hand and said: "You don't need to say words of comfort to me, I don't know anything about the current situation of the Holy Han Dynasty. The Holy Han Dynasty is far from the powerful empire of the past as hundreds of officials said, let alone
The Holy Han Dynasty has come to serve. First, I want to revive the Holy Han Dynasty, and you are the only one who can help me."
Zhang Xiaowu said: "I will never give up even if I die."
The Great Virtue Emperor laughed: "Okay." He thought for a while and said, "In order to avoid the impeachment of hundreds of officials in the future, I will punish you first to avoid giving people excuses." He walked around and started thinking.
After a long while, he suddenly said with a smile: "Now that you are a third-grade military general, I am punishing you by removing your position as the commander of the border army and transferring you to the Longdu Imperial Forest Army. You will be demoted two ranks to become the fourth-grade general Jinwu and serve as Li Canglan's deputy."
Zhang Xiaowu said strangely: "Your Majesty, you want me to be Li Canglan's deputy? General Li is more than enough to be the lieutenant general of the Royal Forest Army. He is bored all day long and looking for someone to drink. If I go over to help him, won't I be bored with him?" He was like
It seemed that he had said the wrong thing, and then he slapped his head and laughed naively, saying: "Li Canglan came to me for a drink the day before yesterday.
It was quite interesting to ask me about how to defeat the Dog barbarians. I thought he was here to win over me for Du Shanbo, but I didn’t expect that he was just asking about how to fight against the Dog barbarians, the climate and marching conditions in the northern part of the country.
, and even asked about the map of the north in detail. He wanted to be a general who opened up new territories and expanded his territory, and did not want to be someone's pawn."
Emperor Dade seemed to have known about this for a long time and said: "I know Li Canglan's wish. He wants to be like a flying roc, but now in the Royal Forest Army, he is just a caged bird. So I want people to make the best use of their talents and resources.
I am preparing to promote Li Canglan to the rank of commander-in-chief of the 19th Regiment of the Xuanwu Army." The commander-in-chief is the third rank, and the lieutenant general of the Imperial Guard is the third rank, but the lieutenant general of the Imperial Guard protects the safety of the emperor and the palace, so his importance is naturally not the same.
If Li Canglan does not serve as a lieutenant general in the Royal Forest Army, and if he is just a commander-in-chief in the future, it will be difficult for him to be promoted in this life.
Zhang Xiaowu said: "Your Majesty, can Li Canglan be brought to our side?"
Emperor Dade was noncommittal and said: "Li Canglan's father, Li Yu, was a general of the 19th Regiment. He died in the battle of Huashu River that year. I think he must have hoped to restore the Xuanwu Legion's former glory. But Du Shanbo had no time to control it at this time.
I have eighteen adopted sons, and this is the best time for me to separate them. As for whether to win over him or not, he is one of my subjects. Does me supporting him still count as winning over him? You are overthinking."
"It's my fault." Zhang Xiaowu said with a slight smile. He knew Li Canglan's wish and was willing to help him realize his dream.
The Great Virtue Emperor sighed and said: "But the Ghost Guard cannot be abolished. The Ghost Guard, a frontier army capable of conquering and fighting, is an important bargaining chip for me and a dagger and secret arrow for suppressing rebellion. But this Saibei Wooden City... is really
It’s useless. If there aren’t ghost guards in Wooden City, what use would I have for it?”
Zhang Xiaowu had to admit that because of Wooden City's shortage of water and food, the court had to spend a lot of energy, manpower, material and financial resources every year to support the survival of Wooden City. If it were not for its strategic significance, the court would have given up on Wooden City long ago. But if Wooden City was
If it is abandoned, Saibei and the other tribes in the north will immediately realize the weakness of the Holy Han and attack the Central Plains. Saibei is a face-saving project of the imperial court, and its existence is related to the face of the Holy Han Empire, so the Holy Han must support it.
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Emperor Dade asked: "The Ghost Guard cannot be withdrawn, and the wooden city cannot be lost. If you join the Royal Forest Army, the Ghost Guard will have no one to lead for a while. First of all, can you recommend someone? This person must first be loyal to the empire and the royal family, and secondly
Secondly, he must be good at fighting, and thirdly, he must not be too ambitious. I don’t want to see a second Uncle Dushan, let alone a civil war.”
Zhang Xiaowu said: "Reporting to your majesty, my subordinate Xiao Kaike is the commander of the Ghost Guard. Like me, this person is also a commoner. There is no one to rely on except your majesty. Moreover, Xiao Kai is good at commanding large armies in battle, and his command ability is better than that of my ministers."
I have been working with him for three years, and even with his temperament and character, he will never betray the empire or the emperor. Your Majesty can rest assured to use this person, and you can even secretly order him to lead the troops to serve the king."
