Emperor's Trophy

Zhu Jiang cried a lot, and then she stopped her tears and answered Yun Zhen's question: "No, at that time, the king of Beiqi suddenly threw all his strength into invading Dayong. It was very sudden. After the opening, the news was cut off. Maybe he knows best. The only ones in this situation are the emperor who went to the imperial conquest and came to the front line in person."

Seeing his red and swollen eyes, Yun Zhen felt as if he was bullying others, and felt a little guilty: "Then after that, didn't you care about the situation of the battle?"

Zhu Jiang hesitated for a while, then whispered: "You... After that, I will become a monk."

Yun Zhen was stunned, and Zhu Jiang said in a low voice: "Cultivated closed-mouth meditation, so I don't ask about world affairs, I don't stop working hard every day, and I don't know anything about the outside world. It's just that one day my mother cried and begged, and the abbot was merciful and let us Only then did I know that Ji Huaiqing was abolished, Ding Guogong was also accused, and all adult males in the clan were exiled. I have become a monk and have never been accused. My mother wanted me to go home... After breaking off the mortal relationship, I never went out of the mountain gate and asked about the world until I died."

Yun Zhen let out a cry and didn't speak again. Seeing his sad face, Zhu Jiang quickly smiled and said, "It can be seen that the Buddha is useful. I pray to the Buddha every day, and the Buddha really allows you to live in front of me so lively and healthy." , this is really a great fortune, how dare you have other extravagant hopes?"

Yun Zhen knew that he didn't want to be sad, but after thinking about it, he couldn't think about it. After all, the first life had been too long, and it was too vague.He cheered up: "I received a secret letter saying that among the Beiqi tribe, some tribes had a different heart and secretly supported another prince of the Yuan family, planning to conspire to establish a new king."

Zhu Jiang was taken aback, but said again: "Is it the news from Jiang Ning? If so, Beiqi should only fall into civil strife, let alone invade our dynasty - I think this is the opposite. It is a blessing for our dynasty that King Changguang and Empress Dowager Hu have ruled the court for a long time, and it is normal for the tribes to have differences."

Is it my luck instead?

Another prince of the Yuan family whom he had never heard of in his previous life... Suddenly a person popped up in Yunzhen's mind, Ji Huaisu.

He was deeply scheming, and he was reborn again. Two or three years ago, it happened to be the time after Ji Huaisu's rebirth... If he had arranged it deliberately... With his ability and the memory of his previous life, he could forge or find a prince of the Yuan family. It should be possible.

He was terrified, if it was really him, what exactly would he want to do?Is it for controlling the royal court, or for some other purpose, to stir up chaos in the northern court?For example, he already knew that he had sent Yun Jiangning to Beiqi, and it was very likely that the young master in this life would no longer have the desire to go south, so he supported another puppet prince?

He couldn't help but tremble slightly, his face turned pale, if so, Jiang Ning is in danger!

But Zhu Jiang didn't know what was going on in his heart. He got close and felt his body trembling slightly. He said quickly, "Is the water cold? I'll wipe your feet for you." He reached out and picked up his feet from the water , took the towel next to the bucket and wiped it for him, then paused slightly.

You can't see clearly in the water, but when you fish it out, under the lamp, you can clearly see that Yunzhen's fair and delicate ankle is full of finger marks and grip marks.

Yunzhen is pampered and pampered. He is always taken care of in daily necessities of life. His feet are naturally well maintained. There is no callus or scar. His toenails are smooth and neatly trimmed. They are soft and delicate in his hands. His skin is smooth and clean, and his delicate ankles look like bite marks.

He was stunned for a moment, and Yun Zhen came back to his senses and saw Zhu Jiang staring at his feet in a daze. As soon as his eyes fell on his feet, he was instantly embarrassed. He quickly retracted his feet and pulled the blanket over them, and said with a flushed face: "Then I don't have anything to ask for the time being. I'll ask you when I think about it tomorrow."

Zhu Jiang was also very embarrassed, and changed the topic: "I asked Fang Luyun to go to Beiqie to meet Yun Jiangning. If he really has something, Fang Luyun has been at the border for many years, so it shouldn't be a big problem to bring him back."

But he was thinking in his heart, who is it?

The sourness in my heart came together, and it was almost impossible to suppress it. Yunzhen's skin was thin, and there would be marks if he squeezed it with any force.This seems to have been going on for a few days, and it still hasn't disappeared, so you can see how intense it was...so who is it?

Is it by your side?

Zhu Jiang got up in a daze, and Yun Zhen just hugged the fox fur and said dryly: "Then you should be more careful, do you still have money, not enough to ask me for it."

Zhu Jiang reluctantly said: "Where do you have any money? I have enough, so I'll go back first." It was agreed that he wanted nothing but his health.

Yun Zhen said: "Okay, I will be preparing for the big reading tomorrow. You are busy if you want to come. You are familiar with Nine Sides. If you have anything to do, remember to tell me quietly. Be careful on the road, and I will ask someone to take you back."

Zhu Jiang smiled and said, "Okay."

He didn't know how much effort he had to suppress the wild thoughts in his heart. He stood up and looked at Yunzhen's ear to neck flushed. He was obviously very ashamed, but he really had no thoughts about himself. They met each other in such a posture, but they would never repeat the same mistakes with him. The fate of their husband and wife has been broken, and it is his generosity to be brothers now.

"A picture-perfect mountain faces the Qingjiang River, and the reunion inside and outside the door makes everything happen; who would have expected to analyze it halfway, and the empty curtain is speechless to the silver vat."

When this one was still ignorant, the lottery was drawn with Yunzhen in front of the Wenchang Emperor's Temple. At that time, he didn't know the truth, and he happily pulled Yunzhen to ask for a lottery, but he didn't know that the prophecy had already decided.

Heartbroken, he left the room.

Yun Zhen curled up on the couch wrapped in fox fur, and only after confirming that Zhu Jiang was gone did he come out blushing and showing his feet. He was always on the road these days, and occasionally he just washed his feet and wiped his body, and didn't pay much attention to his body. trace.

Seeing it now, I can't help but think of the emperor's every move the night before his departure. There seems to be the touch of the emperor's powerful hands on the wrists and legs, and the feather-like touch of the lips falling on the skin. The traces of the emperor declared the emperor's possession, as if expanding the territory, even the traces were firmly engraved on the heart.

After only a few days away, he missed His Majesty, he hugged the fox fur in his hand fiercely, as if hugging His Majesty's healthy body, his face was flushed, and he turned over on the couch a few times before getting up sullenly, Thinking about what Zhu Jiang said just now, she slowly wrote a letter, sealed the pigeon bamboo, and sent the letter to Jiang Ning, only to fall asleep exhausted.

On the second day, Yun Zhen rested for a whole day, and only in the council hall of the Ninth Army's capital governor's mansion, he summoned the admirals of various military towns to inquire about the military situation. Ding Dai also showed Yun Zhen some money, food, military pay, and military supplies in recent years. .

Yun Zhen flipped through the pages, and Ding Dai smiled and said, "Recently, there have been a lot of mobilizations in the past year. The Ministry of War has deliberately adjusted a lot of military pay and rations, and the farms in various places have barely achieved some results. It's just that the weather is cold and the land is half-sandy, so it's not good. For planting, I can only barely grow some cold-resistant crops such as scorpion and yellow millet. The harvest is not good, but I can barely support myself. Nowadays, people are recruited to open up wasteland on the border. Effectiveness."

Yun Zhen flipped through the pages, wondering in his heart: "I remember that last year Songjiang Mansion was hit by a typhoon, houses collapsed, dams collapsed, countless casualties, the Ministry of Households urgently sent officials to rescue the disaster, and the national treasury was also very tight..." This military supply Above, since last year, the expenditure has been huge. Obviously, the frontier army was originally empty, and suddenly recruiting troops, armoring, repairing the city wall and building weapons all of a sudden cost a lot of money. How could the Ministry of Households give so much money?

Ding Dai said: "Yes, last year's military pay has been very tight here, the emperor allocated money from the internal treasury to make up for it."

The internal treasury is not rich, the emperor has always been very frugal, Yun Zhen is familiar with the emperor's background, he looked at Ding Dai suspiciously, Yang Dongfu smiled and said: "The emperor is really far-sighted, and he is sympathetic to the nine sides. Excited, everyone has worked hard this year, and everyone is eager to be the first to serve the emperor."

Yun Zhen saw that other officials were also there, so he didn't ask in detail, but asked Yang Dongfu slowly after going through one item after another.

Yang Dongfu saw that he was modest and humble, but every question was on the joints, and he gradually broke out in a cold sweat.Fortunately, since the reform of the military system, the military pay and supplies have been allocated directly to the various military towns by the guarding officials, and the Governor's Mansion has not been able to intercept them at all, so there are no fraudulent tricks to be caught.

It's just that this Marquis Yun is not yet a weak crown, but he has sharp eyes and a very good memory. He seems to know Jiubian very well. One of his subordinates, an admiral, was too nervous when he replied, and he said the wrong place name. After a few sentences, the admiral admitted in sweat that he had given the wrong place name. Lord Yun didn't blame him, but just smiled and said: "I mean, there is no dam near Tangguan, so why is there a river worker's military service? Sure enough, I remembered it wrong."

Several admirals in the front were sweating from being questioned one after another, and Gong Liang sat on the floor more and more like pins and needles, repeatedly recited the military affairs under his jurisdiction silently in his heart, and quietly poked Zhu Jiang at the side: "Will Fengju not give it to you in a while?" It's embarrassing for you and me, you can see how detailed he asked."

Zhu Jiang was in a trance at first, but he hadn't recovered from what he said: "Ah? It's all some basic military affairs." He stared at Yun Zhen above him who was full of energy, with an elegant expression, and was fascinated, and looked at his side one by one. The guards in front of him wondered who could get close. Ji Xianger is so innocent, so he won't be deceived, right?

Gong Liang looked at his look of wandering, and pinched him hard: "I don't believe you remember it? These are all things done by the chief secretary, why don't we just focus on training and leading soldiers?"

Zhu Jiang whispered: "The emperor knows all these things very well. How dare you throw them to the master's book?"

Gong Liang broke out in sweat, but Yun Zhen looked at them and asked with a smile, "General Gong Liang? It's your turn."

Gong Liangyue got up tremblingly, Yun Zhen asked him a few questions with a smile, but fortunately Gong Liangyue remembered them all, at least he finished the questions smoothly, and it was Zhu Jiang's turn again, Zhu Jiang answered fluently, Yun Zhen asked quite detailed questions, However, Zhu Jiang had already memorized it in her heart, and she was right. Finally, the admirals of the nine towns asked a round, and Yun Zhen checked with Yang Dongfu about the process of tomorrow's grand parade, and they finally left.

Yun Zhen kept Ding Dai behind, and asked the emperor where the money came from the treasury.

Ding Dai looked at his eyes and knew that he couldn't hide it, so he just laughed and said: "The emperor sold some private properties - originally the location was not good, and they were all in the old capital of the south of the Yangtze River, and it was too far away from Beijing. It was not easy to manage, but You have fattened up a bunch of slaves to do their best over there. You don’t know, Marquis. There are many slaves left there to take care of them. Because the master is not around, they just fill their own pockets layer by layer, and consume a lot every year. If you don't like it, let the old slave deal with it privately."

Yun Zhen was surprised in his heart, selling private property!Most of the private property in the hands of the emperor is the Huangzhuang left by his ancestors and the private property left to him by the empress dowager. The Tan family is one of the best aristocratic families. After becoming the emperor, most of the fields in the shop and Zhuangzi should be in the old capital of the south of the Yangtze River. The land there is fertile and the products are rich. How can it be difficult to manage it?

Ding Dai was still babbling: "Master Hou is on behalf of the sky patrol, so he must pay attention to safety, and I don't know if the guy Gao Xin arranges is considerate or not. On weekdays, I just let you do whatever you want..."

Yun Zhen said: "Grandpa Ding has worked hard to come here. I think the weather here is bitter and cold, and the streets are not very lively. It's better to go back to the capital as soon as possible."

Ding Dai said: "I think this frontier is very peaceful. I don't know how comfortable it is to come out to take care of the elderly. The emperor must have said that if there is a war, he will call the old slave back to the capital camp. Don't coax the old slave. At this moment There will be no war in a while, and I can still enjoy myself, be at ease, and have someone send me money."

Yun Zhen smiled: "Who gave you the money?"

Ding Dai smiled: "This is the fiefdom of the King of Jin. The King of Jin gave me a lot of good things. You can bring some back to the emperor later. There are several ancient paintings and poems. The emperor must like them!"

Yun Zhen nodded: "Okay, I will also find time to visit Ji Huaisheng."

Ding Dai said: "When you come out, be careful in everything. Don't be playful. It's still cold today. I don't think there is anyone around you who knows the importance. The emperor is also partial to you. After being coaxed by you, you will lose your head. Really. Let me let you out, why don't you stay with the emperor in the capital, why come here to eat sand. How is the emperor safe now?"

Yun Zhen giggled and said: "You will know when you go back and have a look, I know that you love the emperor, why don't you just stay by his side and watch him every day?"

Ding Dai rolled his eyes at him, and stood up: "What else do you want to ask, Lord Hou? I'll go back first, and there are still some money and food to be distributed."

Yun Zhen got up and sent him out personally, but the mystery in his heart was getting bigger and bigger.

On the second day, the weather was fine, the sky was as blue as glass, without a cloud, it was indeed a good weather for reviewing troops.

Yunzhen, Governor Yang, Ding Dai, the generals of the military town, the governor of Jin, and the local officials of Datong all wore official uniforms. Sit on the parade platform in the sound, and go to the stage to watch.

But seeing the banners waving below, the Mabu officers and soldiers entered the school grounds to practice various formations. This is the first exercise, reviewing the formation.

Yun Zhen stared intently, and sure enough, the cavalrymen were all well-equipped, imposing like wolves and tigers, and they were also extremely proficient in performing formations. Following the orders of the army flag, they advanced and retreated freely and were well-trained.After the formation exercise, there is a parade of archery. The archers selected by each military town ride into the school grounds. Each shoots three arrows, then dismounts and shoots six arrows.

Yun Zhen only heard the continuous sound of drums, and sure enough, they all practiced proficiently and had superb shooting skills.

After a series of individual weapon exercises such as knives and guns, it was the turn of wrestling, weightlifting and running and other competitive demonstrations. Everyone was full of energy and seemed to be proficient in daily drills. The military robes and armors on their bodies were also brand new and shiny, and the weapons and equipment were excellent. , It cannot be prepared overnight.

In connection with yesterday's inquiry, in the past few years, the emperor has asked about the military equipment of the Nine Frontiers several times, and there is also a special military salary, which is prepared by Ding Dai.

Yun Zhen watched as the suspicion in his heart grew bigger and bigger.I said that there seems to be a war in Beiqi, but it has always been groundless. In fact, both Zhang Yan and Ding Dai think that they are fooling around. If it weren't for the emperor's supervision many times in the past year, he would never be as well-equipped and skilled as he is now.

Of course, according to Ji Huaisu, Yuan Zhao, the young master of Beiqi, was a lunatic at the time. In addition, Jiang Ning, who had been tortured and returned to the Yong Dynasty, the two were unstable, killed King Changguang, imprisoned Queen Mother Hu, and initiated a random In the war, the leaders of the twelve tribes also supported them for unknown reasons.

But not now, it just so happens that Jiang Ning is in his hands, and it just so happens that he looks honest and peaceful now, and he has not suffered much in his house. Everything seems to be how unreasonable his doubts about the Northern Wedge War are. It is a child's unreasonable raving.

The emperor just coaxed himself superficially, so forget it... The reform of the military system was done in the previous life. The emperor has always suspected that the admiral's offices in various provinces have too much power, deducting military pay, pretending to lead military supplies, deceiving superiors and subordinates, oppressing local governments, and Local officials, powerful aristocratic families and even vassal princes colluded together, so the Military Aircraft Department was established.

Over the past few years, the Military Aircraft Division has continuously merged the admiral's mansions of various provinces. Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou and Chongqing have merged with the governor's mansion, and additional inspectors have been dispatched, the land has been returned to the local people, the chieftain's mansion has been withdrawn, etc., directly bypassing the governor's mansion, and the general's salary will be paid. As far as military towns are concerned, these practices have indeed effectively saved expenses and improved the court's restraint and control over local military towns.

But last year, there were also disasters and disasters everywhere. The emperor deliberately sold his private property to support the military pay and military supplies from the inner treasury. He even sent Ding Dai, who has been in charge of the imperial army, to sit in the governor's mansion to guard Internal officials, how important is it to know the defense of Gyeonggi?Let yourself be a novice to take charge of the imperial army, and call out Ding Dai to sit in the Nine Borders Governor's Mansion. If it's just to reassure yourself, why do you end up here?

There is a lack of military pay, everywhere, and the Governor's Mansion of Yunnan and Guizhou has been called up many times, asking for money, soldiers, money and food.It is surrounded by barbarians and the mountains are narrow. Originally, there were many bandits, and there were many local officials. They occupied the mountains and became kings. Taxes were often not collected, and a lot of money was spent on pensions every year.

Not only Yunnan and Guizhou, but the governors of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Chu, Sichuan and Chongqing spent a lot of time suppressing these local officials and chieftains. The focus is on the southwest, which accounts for a large part of the Ministry of War's expenditure, and there are also a generation of pirates and pirates in the south, which also consumes a lot of energy.

It's no wonder that Jiubian couldn't get any silver from the internal treasury, so it was defeated in the first two lives, and Bei Qi took advantage of the situation to drive in, and went down several cities.

Could it be that the emperor just jokingly said a few words for himself, and allocated money from the internal treasury to strengthen the border defense?

You must know that if there is no war, these repaired city walls and military equipment will slowly decay again. These soldiers who have spent money on training and raising them will gradually become old and retired, and consume countless military rations every day. The military rations hoarded by these military towns , It will also rot, and the money that has been smashed in will be wasted.

It is no wonder that civil servants and the Ministry of Households tried their best to deduct the expenditure of the Ministry of War. The same stretched treasury, the money was used to build water conservancy, build roads, dredge canals, build government schools, raise children, and even buy grain for disaster relief. Nothing is better than throwing money to the frontiers Is it cost-effective to raise troops?

The emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he wants to rule the world. He will not just say a few words just for himself, even if he is a queen, he will not. No matter how much he pampers himself, he will not make fun of national affairs .In the past few years, the Military Aircraft Department has been taking care of the Southwest, reforming the land and returning it to the people, killing bandits, rectifying the place, and collecting it into the central government. This will actually bring taxes into the national treasury.

Sending myself to patrol the Nine Sides is not what I asked for, but it hit my heart, so I came here happily. Now I saw that the military equipment is so well-equipped and the army rations are sufficient. I asked all the military towns yesterday, and they all repaired the city walls After stocking up on food and grass, the emperor thought of everything in front of him, and arranged everything properly, so he had nothing to worry about.

It's like... Tete sent himself here to see it with his own eyes, so that he can feel at ease.

Yun Zhen suddenly felt as if a flash of lightning flashed across his heart, is he at ease?

Does the emperor know that he has been worrying about Bei Qi, so he specially asked himself to look at it, as if telling himself that I have made arrangements, so don't worry.

But, I was really just joking and said that Beiqi seemed to be at war, why did the emperor really pay for it and arrange it properly, so as to calm my heart?

The review ceremony ended soon, Yun Zhen enjoyed the banquet with a smile, and rewarded the soldiers, another round of banquet, when the banquet was over, it was going to be nightfall again.But Yun Zhen asked someone to invite Zhu Jiang again.

Zhu Jiang was a little confused, and smiled when she came in: "Aren't you going to visit some military towns tomorrow? There is my admiral's military town inside, and I have to go back and prepare to decorate it, otherwise I will be there tomorrow. You're embarrassing yourself, why did you call me here in such a hurry, I'll talk about it when we meet tomorrow."

Yun Zhen looked at him, the former playboy, now he is a calm and mature general, his skin is a bit darker, but his brows are deep, his eyes are firm, his mouth is smiling, and he has a masculine charm that he didn't have in his previous life.

Why did he become what he is today?Since the time when he was invited to guard the border, he had never experienced any hardships. The dandy whose family proposed marriage to him now has a saber in his hand, which was the hand that used to throw pots and horses. Get up and everyone applauds.

Because he brought the memories of his previous life with him, he knew that border issues were about to arise, so he would rather defend the border to atone for his sins, and chose Chang Lin, who was closest to the border.

So, why did the emperor make these various arrangements?

An answer seemed to be ready to come out in his mind.

Zhu Jiang saw that he was just looking at him and didn't speak, and said with a smile: "What's wrong? Could it be that the Shangguan has something to punish the general?" Seeing that Yun Zhen's complexion was not the same as the day before, he suddenly stopped joking, and asked cautiously: "What's the matter? "

Yun Zhen asked slowly: "I came here because I suddenly thought last night, why did the emperor suddenly promote you? I remember that last year, I suddenly promoted you by several levels, and I wrote you a special congratulatory letter. Now that you want to come, you It wasn't long after we had a fight with Prince Hejian just now, and the emperor didn't have a good impression of you, why did he suddenly give you several levels up."

Zhu Jiang broke out in a cold sweat, and smiled reluctantly: "Well, I don't know, maybe it's because my grandfather asked the emperor to intercede...or I handled things properly...I thought you were in the emperor's house. You told me nice things about me..."

Yun Zhen stared straight at him: "Zhu Zidan, you just told me yesterday that you would not lie to me." The voice was serious.

Zhu Jiang's hairs were all up, wishing to faint immediately, but he didn't, he just looked at Yunzhen staring at him coldly, and asked him:

"Your Majesty, do you already know about your past life?"

Zhu Jiang's face was stiff and she couldn't say anything.

But Yun Zhen already knew the answer - this idiot is so helpless in front of him, he can't stand a single sentence in front of the emperor, I'm afraid the emperor can ask all of them if he wets the bed at the age of three.

"when."

Zhu Jiang was speechless all the time, but Yun Zhen kept staring at him.

Zhu Jiang finally said, "Auspicious son... please forgive me, I really can't say it."

Yun Zhen didn't say a word, watched Zhu Jiang salute with a pale face, and retreated tremblingly.

He only felt hot eye circles, and tears flowed all over his face at some point—taught himself to see it with his own eyes, just to reassure himself, right?emperor.