A female general in black robe walked into the palace.
At the court meeting, you cannot wear battle armor, you can only wear ceremonial armor or military commander's ceremonial robes.
Cao Xueyang was just a guerrilla general from the fifth rank, so he didn't have any ceremonial armor. Fortunately, Yang Qingyuan thought carefully and found Liu Jibai, the newly appointed head of the household department, in advance to find a ceremonial robe of a suitable size.
As for why Yipao needs to find a head of the household department?
Of course it's because Liu Jibai's father is the Minister of Rites, so he's a professional counterpart!
"The final guerrilla general Cao Xueyang comes to see my emperor, long live long live!"
When generals stationed abroad come to Beijing for an audience, they should give a big gift to show their loyalty. After receiving professional training from the Ministry of Rites, there is no fault in Cao Xueyang's behavior at this moment.
"No gift for me!"
Emperor Zhou also looked at this female general with great interest. He heard Li Chengen, the commander-in-chief of the Tiance Army, and Yang Ning, the general of the Tiance Army, mention it.
Cao Xueyang has a special status in the Tiance Army. He can be regarded as the common disciple of Li Chengen and Yang Ning.
That's why she came to Beijing this time instead of Qin Yiyan, the deputy governor of Tiance Mansion.
In the opinion of Emperor Zhou, although Cao Xueyang was a woman, she was extraordinarily brave, not showing off her masculine appearance, and did not have the delicacy of a woman in her actions. Instead, she acted vigorously and resolutely, which was different from ordinary women.
"The officers and soldiers of the Tiance Army are guarding the border. I thought they were all heroic and rough men, but I didn't expect that there are heroines like Cao Qing. They are really commendable!"
Not only Emperor Zhou, but also the King of Chu and the Crown Prince were slightly surprised.
Especially the King of Chu, although he had heard about it, he always felt that Cao Xueyang should be a strong woman, and at best, she was a middle-class woman. He never expected that she was such a beauty.
Originally it was just for the support of Tiance Army, but now some people have other thoughts.
Facing Emperor Zhou's praise, Cao Xueyang was a little cautious and didn't know how to reply.
Seeing this, Emperor Zhou signaled to Cao Zhengchun who was standing aside.
The tool man was courteous and courteous. Eunuch Cao stepped forward again and said, "Your Majesty ordered that the Tiance Army guard the border and their hard work has made great achievements. Your Majesty hereby rewards the entire army with four million taels of silver, five thousand cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs each, and thousands of bottles of fine wine..."
"
Cao Xueyang was stunned when he heard such preferential treatment. Regardless of anything else, he was shocked by the four million taels of silver.
The entire Tiance army only had 330,000 men. The four million taels of silver, excluding the rewards from the generals and commanders, would be more than 10 taels if divided into the hands of each soldier.
You must know that the soldiers of the Great Peripheral Army only receive twelve taels of silver per year. This is almost the annual salary of ordinary soldiers, double the salary!!
As for why Emperor Zhou was so generous, of course it was because of the raids on Xungui's mansion during the water transport case, which resulted in a windfall for the court, which led to today's generosity.
"The last general will thank your majesty for your kindness on behalf of Tiance's generals. Long live my emperor!"
Cao Xueyang knelt down to thank him again.
After Cao Xueyang got up, an official suddenly came out of the queue.
"Your Majesty, I thought that I should not only reward the officers and soldiers of Tiance Army, but also General Cao. He was a woman, guarding the border for the people of the country, and his hard work and merits are great! How can I not reward him!?"
Li Mo, the Prince's Mansion Officer, was the first to take action. The Prince, who was at the top of the right column, smiled and nodded at Cao Xueyang, taking the lead in showing his goodwill.
Emperor Zhou's expression remained unchanged and he asked, "With Li Qing's intention, how should I award the reward?"
"I thought that as a general of the Jin Tiance Army, I would give you gold to show your merits!"
Before Li Mo finished speaking, an objection sounded.
"Father, I think otherwise!"
The one who spoke was King Chu, who had been keeping a low profile and silence for the past few months.
Just when everyone thought that King Chu was going to oppose the prince's opinion, King Chu's words made everyone see his ambition more clearly.
"My ministers believe that General Cao has made great achievements in fending off enemies and beheading generals and rushing into battle. He is only promoted and given gold, but it is difficult to show that the imperial court has clear distinctions between rewards and punishments."
"What do you think should be done?!" Emperor Zhou's expression remained as usual, as if he had anticipated this situation.
"I thought that when I became the general of Jin Tiance's army, I would be given gold and titles!"
Having said this, King Chu paused for a moment, but there were already voices of discussion in the court.
Since Jin Shang ascended the throne, there has been no issue of nobility. The current nobles are all canonized by the late emperor, and most of the founding princes have been killed. There are four kings with different surnames and a group of county uncles and county men left.
If Cao Xueyang was granted a title, it would be the first of its kind in this dynasty and would be enough to cause an uproar.
But King Chu obviously felt that this atmosphere was not enough and continued.
"In addition, I think that General Cao is naturally beautiful and in his prime, and Chang Ning, the direct grandson of King Kaiping, is about the same age as General Cao. If your Majesty proposes marriage, it will be a match made in heaven. The husband and wife will work together to protect our mountains and rivers in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The sun and the moon are together!”
The King of Chu obviously felt that the title of nobility was not satisfying, so he actually proposed a marriage. It would not matter if it was an ordinary marriage, but the person to whom the marriage was proposed was Chang Ning, the direct son of Chang Mao, the current King of Kaiping. This was not a marriage at all, it was clearly a princess given away.
position!
Not only the ministers, but also Emperor Zhou's expression changed slightly, and then returned to normal.
After a while, the officials also digested the news. Although they were shocked, if they thought about it carefully, Cao Xueyang was not unworthy of the Kaiping Palace.
Not to mention Cao Xueyang's own military exploits, his appearance and background are enough to match the prince of Kaiping.
I originally thought that after the canal transport case, the King of Chu was no longer qualified to compete for supremacy! Unexpectedly, he actually had a back-up plan.
Cao Xueyang, who was standing in the palace, was also panicked. At this time, she was not the decisive and decisive General Xuanwei or General Tiance. To put it bluntly, she was just a little girl who was less than twenty years old.
She didn't expect that she would be accused of marriage when she went to Beijing. Even though Cao Xueyang was a resolute character, she didn't have much room to resist when faced with the emperor's accusation of marriage. If the imperial edict was issued, she would only have to accept the order and live in exile.
There are two roads.
But she didn't want to choose either path. The only person she knew above the court was Yang Qingyuan. In a helpless situation, she had no choice but to look for help.
Yang Qingyuan also saw Cao Xueyang's look for help, but he was not panicked at all. Emperor Zhou had hinted this matter to him three days ago.
I didn't understand why at the time, but now I understand everything. I didn't expect Cao Xueyang to be such a sweet man.
Just as there was a bit of commotion in the palace, Cheng Qingsong, the Imperial Censor of the Imperial Palace, who had been concentrating with his eyes closed, stood up.
"quiet!"
The supervisory censor, who was responsible for inspecting the officials, was responsible for cleaning up the court rituals. When he saw the supervisory censor speaking, the palace instantly became quiet.
At the same time, Yu Yanyi, who was at the forefront, could not help but speak. Li Chengen had an old relationship with him and couldn't bear to see Cao Xueyang being so embarrassed.
But Emperor Zhou spoke one step ahead of him.
"Yang Qing, what do you think!?"
Although he was not named, everyone knew that the Yang Qing mentioned by Emperor Zhou was the newly promoted Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Yang Qingyuan.
Yang Qingyuan came out to establish the order.
"Your Majesty! I heard from the Ministry of War that the guerrilla general Cao Xueyang charged into battle three times, captured and killed enemy generals, killed the Khitan ranger commander five times, and led the troops in battle four times. The rest of the credit is incalculable! Such achievements should be regarded as the fourth rank of the Jin Dynasty.
General Xuanwei! I will reward you with a thousand taels of gold, a pair of precious armor, and a famous spear! In order to show the court's clear distinction between rewards and punishments, your majesty believes in your kindness!"
