Chapter 146: Officials in the Imperial City Division
Ye An leaned casually on the pillar in the back hall of Chui Gong Hall. Logically speaking, Zhao Zhen's dormitory, Funing Hall, was only one hall away from here. A lucky minister of Ye An's status could definitely sit down and wait, but he
He still refused the brocade stool brought by the chamberlain.
Firstly, it was completely unnecessary. He started to feel sleepy after staying up late for so long. He could still be more energetic when he stood. Secondly, even if he was valued by Zhao Zhen, he couldn't give people the feeling of pampering and coquettishness.
Zhao Zhen came wearing a loose Yanju casual clothes. When he saw Ye An, he smiled and said: "What, Ye Hou came to the palace specially to celebrate my birthday? I originally planned to invite you to go to Xuande Tower, but after thinking about it,
These are the things you don't care about the most, so you didn't issue an order, and you never thought you would come."
Ye An bowed and smiled bitterly: "The official's understanding of me is very deep. I originally planned to take some time off from my busy schedule to stay at home with my mother-in-law and children to watch the New Year's Eve, but Senior Officer Chen refused!"
"Oh?! Why does Mr. Chen need to bring Ye Hou into the palace late at night?" Zhao Zhen raised his eyebrows and looked at Chen Lin. He knew that Chen Lin would not be able to do this if nothing serious happened. He deliberately did not order Ye An to go there today.
Xuandelou deliberately downplayed the relationship between him and the courtiers, making him a real lonely minister.
Chen Lin bowed and said: "It is an important matter for me to go to the palace with Marquis Ye tonight to report to the officials. There is a strange thing, so I would like to invite the officials to see it!"
Zhao Zhen was very curious and thought that Chen Lin and Ye An were here to specially present gifts, so he casually said: "You two are serious, please present them to the Yellow Gate of the palace!"
The long wooden box was brought up, and Zhao Zhen looked at the long musket in his hand curiously. It was not that he had never seen it before, but he could tell at a glance that this musket was a completely different new style.
"Is this the wedding gift you sent me?"
Ye An twitched the corner of his mouth, glanced at the dumbfounded Chen Lin beside him and sighed helplessly. It seemed that Zhao Zhen also did not realize what improvements in firearms would bring to the Song Dynasty.
Just when Chen Lin didn't know how to speak, Ye An bowed and said: "Reporting to the official family, this may be the biggest gift I can give to the official family and even the Song Dynasty!"
"Oh?! In that case, Yehou, please tell me quickly what's different about this firearm?"
Zhao Zhen has also seen the firearms developed by Ye An. They are indeed powerful, but they still only play a supporting role in actual combat. Their abilities on the battlefield are unexpected, and they are even better than nothing.
It was impossible to demonstrate the power of the musket in the main hall, so Chen Lin asked Zhao Zhen to go to the Imperial City Division's school grounds, where it would be the safest and most confidential place to test-fire the new gun.
It's just that it was somewhat unreasonable to invite Zhao Zhen to the Imperial City in the middle of the night. Chen Lin stepped forward and explained that Zhao Zhen was the king of the Song Dynasty after all. She soon discovered something unusual in Chen Lin's description.
"What time is it now?"
Chen Tong, who was standing next to him, immediately replied: "It's already been three quarters since I reported back to the official family. I should still have time to climb up to Xuande Tower."
Zhao Zhen nodded: "Looking for a carriage, I and Lord Yehou Chen will go there in a carriage."
The palace is not small. Zhao Zhen normally rides a horse-drawn carriage, but tonight he took a horse-drawn carriage and arrived at the Imperial City very quickly.
Everyone in the Imperial City Division was surprised and excited about the official's late-night visit. Who would have thought that the emperor would come to the Imperial City Division to express condolences to these soldiers at the end of the year?
Zhao Zhen looked at Ye An's outstretched hand and felt helpless: "Did you have a premeditated plan?"
"How dare I plot against the officials? Isn't this just a coincidence! The officials visited the officers and soldiers of the Imperial City on the night of the New Year's Eve. This is a great story!"
Zhao Zhen smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I still know what you are thinking. It doesn't matter. You are also helping to boost the morale of my Imperial City Division. I am willing to do so."
Ye An smiled and quickly asked people to gather his troops. Zhao Zhen climbed up to the high platform of the school field and looked at the densely packed Royal City Division soldiers on the school field. His blood suddenly became excited.
Young people are always swayed by their emotions, and he, a member of the Song Dynasty official family, is no exception.
As an emperor, the ability to speak impromptu is a must. After a passionate speech interspersed with care from the emperor, the group of top soldiers from the Imperial City Division were moved to tears, and the shouts of "long live the emperor" roared like a tsunami.
The soldiers of the Imperial City Division were so excited as soon as these words came out, such as "tiger and brave cavalry", "responsibility with one sword" and "guard of the emperor". In addition, Zhao Zhen couldn't help but promise the reward. At this time, these soldiers were
There is no hesitation in going through fire and water.
No one knows the influence of the emperor on the Han Dynasty better than Ye An. The existence of the emperor is like a god, even transcending religious beliefs.
Zhao Zhen's New Year's greetings are of great significance to the Imperial City Division. From now on, the officials, generals, and soldiers of the Imperial City Division will all become die-hard loyalists to the Emperor.
This is a great opportunity to win people's hearts. It is not Zhao Zhen who succeeded Ye An, on the contrary, it was Ye An who succeeded Zhao Zhen.
After the excited crowd dispersed, Zhao Zhen came out of his excitement, looked at Ye An with a smile and said: "No wonder Emperor Qin and Han warriors all have a brave heart. Facing so many soldiers really makes me feel uneasy.
!”
Ye An smiled: "Guan Jia, the so-called general is the courage of the soldiers, and the soldiers are the power of the generals. Guan Jia, you are the real loyal person of the soldiers of the Imperial City Division. When you come to the school tonight, the momentum of the Imperial City Division will be greatly boosted."
!”
Zhao Zhen nodded with satisfaction. As the emperor of the Song Dynasty, he actually valued military preparation very much. However, due to the tradition of the old Zhao family, military preparation could only be placed in second place. Over time, it naturally became a habit.
.
It’s not that Zhao Zhen has never seen muskets. This brand-new projectile weapon also interested him for a time. But unfortunately, the way of governing the country is cumbersome and complicated. A talented emperor still needs to work hard, let alone someone like Zhao Zhen who doesn’t have much.
talented?
In the Song Dynasty, military affairs were always placed second, civil administration was always more important than military affairs, and the topic of internal governance was always the first, which also made Zhao Zhen pay less attention to military affairs in recent years.
Whether Ye An performed meritorious service in the northwest to regain Ganliang, or reformed the imperial army in Jianghuai, these were all whitewashed by civil servants as the achievements of civil governance, and they were also manifestations of effective internal governance in foreign affairs.
So when Zhao Zhen saw the new model of musket again, he couldn't understand the earth-shaking changes that this thing was about to bring to the battlefield. Instead, he looked at Ye An in surprise and said: "Another firearm? Although this thing is very good at killing enemies, it can
It’s not like you, the majestic prince of Yunzhong County, will knock on the palace door on the night of watching the New Year’s Eve, right?”
Chen Lin was shocked and speechless, but Ye An was as expected. After telling Zhao Zhen how to use the musket, he asked him to try the gun himself.
Zhao Zhen was exposed to old-fashioned muskets. In order to win the trust and investment of the Tian family for the Firearms Department, Ye An put in a lot of effort and presented flintlock guns to Zhao Zhen more than once, so Zhao Zhen got started with this new musket.
soon.
Under Ye An's simple description, Zhao Zhen loaded, closed, fired, and hit the target in one go. He was shocked by the power of the new musket, which was completely different from the muskets in his memory.
"Is this a new musket from the Northwest Firearms Division?"
Ye An nodded: "Official sage, the barrel of this kind of musket has straight rifling embedded in it, and the black-clothed food forging method is used to strengthen the barrel. The forging technology has been improved to produce such a powerful firearm.
, the entire Northwest Firearms Department cannot be said to have failed to do their best.”
Zhao Zhen nodded slightly: "The Northwest Firearms Department has made great contributions. These sharp weapons must be properly taken care of!"
Without waiting for Ye An to answer, Chen Lin said: "The officials can rest assured that the Northwest Firearms Department is guarded by the Xi Lie Army and is safe and sound!"
Zhao Zhen's attitude was pretty good, but when the test musket penetrated the thick armor and stepped into the armor, Zhao Zhen's expression changed, and Ye An even struck while the iron was hot: "The power of firearms does not lie in how powerful they are.
This is because it is simple to operate and easy to use. Even a child of fifteen or sixteen years old can kill fierce warriors. With such a fast speed and such strong power, even with a weapon, he may not be able to escape his life."