Chapter 219 Reward

"Manager Liang. Read М"

"His Royal Highness King Yan."

At the gate of the palace, Zhao Xu and a group of officials and generals greeted Liang Cheng outside.

"His Highness has really made a great contribution in defeating Beidi and guarding Yan Pass this time." Liang Cheng held Zhao Xu's hand, "The Emperor is very happy. He praises His Highness every day, and the old slave's ears can hear the calluses."

"As a prince, this is the duty that I should fulfill. My father has given me too much praise." Zhao Xu said with a smile.

This war was won happily, but his losses were not small.

In addition to the destruction of the land, the new recruits and veterans of the war suffered casualties.

He glanced at the imperial edict with his peripheral vision. He didn't care about praises and the like, but it was more practical to give him a substantial reward.

Unlike him, Liu Fu, Chang Wei and others laughed.

They were naturally happy that King Yan could be appreciated by the emperor.

"It's not a compliment at all. Your Highness has shown royal prestige this time. For this, the Emperor has given His Highness a big reward!" Liang Cheng winked at Zhao Xu, and the word "big" strengthened his tone.

It's just that he hasn't announced the intention yet.

Zhao Xu understood that whenever there was a major reward, the eunuch who announced the decree was always a bit fond of money.

Liang Cheng was mysterious, and Zhao Xu was looking forward to it.

He called Feng'er to give instructions.

Not long after, two servants came over carrying a box.

Liang Cheng smiled brightly and said to Zhao Xu: "Your Highness, if it is a trivial matter, this imperial edict will be given directly to you. However, this matter is not trivial. Please accept the edict from Your Highness."

After hearing this, Zhao Xu was even more looking forward to the content of the imperial edict.

So he led the officials to kneel in the direction of the capital.

At this time, Liang Cheng began to read the imperial edict and said: "I have been entrusted by heaven to carry the emperor. The edict says: My ninth son, King Zhao Xu of Yan, has been in control of Yanzhou. He has worked hard and won the hearts of the people. Recently, he has defeated the rebellion of Guo Tu, the counselor of the Yuan family, and guarded the Yan Pass. Fortress, I am very happy to turn the tide and promote the power of the royal family. Now I will accept Pingjun and Liaojun of Yanzhou as a fiefdom for the King of Yan. I will take charge of the garrison of Yanguan and support 120,000 troops. I admire this!"

"Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" After hearing the decree, Zhao Xu calmed down for a while before coming back to his senses.

The land granted by the two counties was indeed quite a lot for him.

However, he felt a naked malice.

The imperial edict mentioned that Yuan family counselor Guo Tu rebelled instead of Yuan Li.

The imperial court apparently determined that Yuan Li was not treasonous.

Liu Fu, Chang Wei and others were more excited than Zhao Xu at first, and each of them could hold cannonballs in their mouths.

Chang Wei was a straight-tempered man. When he was happy, he figured out something was wrong and asked, "How come Guo Tu is plotting rebellion!"

Liang Cheng did not blame Chang Wei for speaking recklessly.

After all, the current King of Yan is in charge of four counties and will soon have 120,000 troops.

He also knew that Chang Wei was the number one general under King Yan.

So he sighed, "It's all the trouble caused by the powerful ministers. The emperor was originally planning to hand over the entire Yanzhou to His Highness, but there was too much resistance, and there was no solid evidence for Yuan Li's matter, so he could only convict Guo Tu." , As for Yuan Lize, he was dismissed from his position, and his third brother Yuan Feng is now appointed as the pastor of Yanzhou. "

After saying that, Liang Cheng felt a little guilty and carefully looked at Zhao Xu's expression.

"These damned thieves dare to ruin His Highness's good deeds. I'm so angry. I'm so angry." Chang Wei's face was swollen, his whole body was shaking, and he pressed his hand on the handle of the knife, as if he wanted to kill someone.

Liu Fu rolled his eyes and sneered, and said: "Although Yuan Li has reduced his position, the Yuan family will not be destroyed. After all, he will still change the soup without changing the medicine. It seems that many people in the court are not at ease with His Highness."

When Liang Cheng heard this, his expression stiffened for a moment, but it passed quickly, but Liu Fu still saw it.

The smile on his lips couldn't help but grow wider.

"Don't talk nonsense." Zhao Xu glared at Liu Fu, and then said to Liang Cheng: "Excuse me, sir, please tell the emperor that I will remember the emperor's kindness deeply and live up to his trust."

In the political arena, there are some things that you just need to understand and don't have to say.

"Your Highness still understands the righteousness." Liang Cheng gave a thumbs up.

After reading out the imperial edict, Zhao Xu ordered Feng'er to hold a banquet for Liang Cheng and his party at noon.

After staying in Yancheng for a day, Liang Cheng was eager to go back and resume his duties, so he escorted Yuan Li to leave Yancheng.

Before leaving, Liang Cheng grabbed Zhao Xu's hand again and said, "Your Highness will return to the capital for a visit, and I will definitely entertain His Highness well."

Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Thank you very much, manager. I will definitely visit you with generous gifts when the time comes."

Liang Cheng looked like a teachable boy, cupped his hands, mounted his horse and left.

"Congratulations to Your Highness, Your Highness, the four northern counties of Yanzhou are all under the control of Your Highness." Liang Cheng and his entourage disappeared at the end of the official road, and Liu Ful bowed repeatedly.

"Your Highness deserves this. It's just a pity that His Highness was able to win the seven counties because of the powerful officials in the court." Chang Wei was still brooding about this matter.

Liu Fu sighed slightly. He was familiar with history books and naturally knew more about the dirty things in the court in ancient and modern times than Chang Wei.

Looking at Zhao Xu, he said: "Your Highness, when General Manager Liang is here, it is a bit inconvenient for me to tell you. In my opinion, this reward is probably not just the idea of ​​powerful people."

After a pause, he continued: "Your Highness is in charge of the four northern counties, and the Yuan family continues to be in charge of the three southern counties. This is clearly a strategy to balance Yanzhou. As for whether the emperor really wants to hand over Yanzhou to His Highness, or is he just acting with the ministers? It’s a scene worth debating.”

"What would you do if you were in the middle of the court?" Zhao Xu did not answer Liu Fu, but asked instead.

"The lower officials can also..." At this point, Liu Fu couldn't continue.

Zhao Xu smiled, "That's it. In the final analysis, I am just a chess piece on the chessboard. The emperor's sincerity, the thoughts of the powerful families, or the Yuan family's stagnation are not important. The most important thing is to make our fiefdom rich and powerful, so that we can sit in the position of chess player one day."

In fact, he did not have extravagant hopes to get all seven counties.

He knew very well that this was difficult to achieve.

Yanzhou had been in turmoil before, and no one in the court would want Yanzhou to be dominated by one family again.

So, the fiefdom of two counties was actually within his expectations.

Compared to entanglement with this, the most important thing for him was how to build the fiefdom of the four counties he got and resist foreign enemies.

After this disaster, especially the four northern counties, people's livelihood was in decline and everything needed to be rebuilt.

And the strength of the Beidi in the Battle of Yanguan was not damaged, and it was still a huge threat.

In addition to the Beidi, there was also Xiliang that continued to invade the east.

In the face of these crises, he must now store food and build high walls.

"Don't think about the rest. You should think about how to manage the four counties. You will be busy then." Zhao Xu teased Liu Fu.

"Your Highness, I am willing to die of exhaustion now." Liu Fu was excited again when he heard this.

He almost shouted when he thought that he would be able to manage four counties soon.

Chang Wei smiled foolishly. Liu Fu could manage four counties, and he could manage 120,000 people. He was as excited as Liu Fu.

Other officials and generals were also grinning.

They were equally happy.

Guarding the four northern counties was one thing, but who doesn't want to get promoted and make money?

The larger the territory of the King of Yan, the higher their promotion would be.

In the joyful atmosphere, laughter at the city gate continued, echoing in the sky of Yancheng.

On the same day.

Hundreds of cavalry set out from Yancheng and headed for Pingjun and Liaojun along the official road of Yancheng.

In three days.

They conveyed the imperial edict to every county in the two counties.

From now on, the entire four northern counties of Yanzhou will be under the rule of the King of Yan.

…

Khan Court.

Mule Hongzhen sat on a poplar chair covered with tiger skin.

In front of him, the nine kings of the king's tent stood in turn.

After a long silence, he slowly said: "We have ten kings in Beidi, and now only nine kings are under us. Sarge died in Yanguan."

The nine kings of the king's tent bowed their heads when they heard this.

Sarge's death was like the prince of Dasong being killed by the enemy on the battlefield for Beidi. This was a national grudge.

If this news spread, it would make Beidi's prestige in the surrounding countries even worse.

"How Sarge died, you must know it all. It was the King of Yan, and the cannon that the King of Yan made." Mule Hongzhen suddenly raised his voice.

After the Battle of Yanguan, the firearms of the King of Yan were no longer a secret.

He also learned that this kind of firearm was called cannon.

"Of course, there is also my useless brother who died in Yanguan. This is a shame!" Mulehongzhen slammed the table in front of him and stood up.

Bokte, Ram, and Enke lowered their heads even lower.

They were the ones who fought this battle, and now all three of them felt ashamed.

"Father Khan, we Beidi must avenge our enemies. We must throw the body of the King of Yan on the grassland to feed the wolves, so that we can relieve the hatred in our hearts." One person said.

His name is Temuta, and he is Mulehongzhen's eldest son.

He now leads the Tianlang King's tent guarding the Khan's court.

"Yes, kill the King of Yan!"

"When have we Beidi ever suffered such humiliation."

"This matter will not end until we die."

"..."

The remaining five kings said angrily, while Enke, Ram and Bokte remained silent.

Mulehongzhen nodded.

This time he called all the kings of all the kings' tents on the grassland to the Khan's court for his own purpose.

The first one is naturally to avenge Sarge.

For Beidi, this is a tradition. If he does not express anything about Sarge's death.

Everyone on the grassland will accuse him of being cowardly and incompetent.

And a cowardly person is not worthy of the title of Khan.

Therefore, he must lead the Beidi army to revenge and take the head of King Yan to sacrifice to Sarge.

The second is about the war with the northern snowfield. The enemy from the northern snowfield also used artillery against them.

In his opinion, this situation will seriously threaten Beidi.

Being respected as the greatest Khan of Beidi, he is naturally not a stupid person.

In fact, Beidi has always been good at learning the skills of the enemy.

After breaking through Ningjindusi, the armor and weapons in the Beidi army have been greatly improved.

After getting the fire gun, they also quickly equipped it to each king's tent.

And they have been transforming the fire gun to make it more powerful.

In terms of governance, since they occupied the black soil and took over Ningjindusi.

He recruited many surrendered Dasong officials from them to establish a set of Beidi's own governance system.

In ten years, this system made Beidi people leave their nomadic life and turn it into a semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral life.

This provided Beidi with a large amount of food and grass supply.

So although winter was still difficult, compared with the past, Beidi people at least would not starve to death in large numbers.

"To break through Yanguan and go south to destroy Dasong is the oath made by our Beidi Khan from generation to generation. Now, the King of Yan in Dasong has lost our chance to go south!" Mule Hongzhen said loudly.

"But..." He changed his tone, "The wolf pack will take revenge, but it will never be reckless. The lesson of the northern snowfield is as profound as the lesson of Yanguan, that is, we cannot lose in weapons."

"Is the cannon the father Khan is talking about?" Temu Ta said.

Mule Hongzhen nodded. He couldn't ignore this kind of firearm.

The Beidi cavalry was fierce and invincible, but facing Yanguan, the cavalry was powerless.

Facing the cannons placed on the city wall, they could only attack the city with huge casualties.

"But how can we get the cannon?" Bokte said.

He was still a little frightened.

"The enemies on the snowy plains in the north have it, and the King of Yan in Dasong has it, so we must be able to have it. Now, you must try your best to find out the origin of this firearm." Mule Hongzhen said.

"Yes, Khan." Everyone said in unison.

Mule Hongzhen nodded and was about to continue speaking when suddenly a general walked in from outside the Khan's tent, "Khan, Xiliang sent an envoy to say that he is willing to pay tribute to my Beidi!"

"Really!" Mule Hongzhen was stunned for a while after hearing this, and then his eyes showed an ecstasy that was difficult to conceal.

Xiliang is located in the northwest of Dasong and southwest of Beidi, and has always threatened Beidi's soft belly.

In order to solve this enemy, concentrate on dealing with Dasong.

In recent years, Beidi's war against Xiliang has never stopped.

Now, Xiliang finally couldn't hold on and chose to surrender.

"Congratulations, father Khan, Xiliang surrendered, and our Beidi will be greatly strengthened. From now on, we can concentrate on dealing with Dasong and destroy it!"

Xiliang is located in the northwest of Dasong, bordering Qinzhou and Yongzhou, and currently occupies half of Jinzhou.

There are a million people in the territory, and the territory is enough to be twice the size of Yanzhou.

Xiliang surrendered, which is equivalent to Xiliang becoming a vassal state of Beidi, just like Goryeo.

For Beidi, they are ministers.

They must execute the orders issued by Beidi.

"There is a saying in Dasong that if you lose something in the east, you will gain something in the west. Khan, this is because God wants to destroy Dasong, so he sent Xiliang to Beidi at this time." Enke's eyes burst out with a fierce light, "So, we should follow God's will and continue to attack Dasong in the south."

The defeat at Yanguan this time dampened Beidi's spirit. He has always been worried that the war in Dasong going south will be affected, so the revenge of the Black Iron King's tent will not be avenged.

Now that Xiliang has surrendered, it is undoubtedly equivalent to giving Beidi a big supplement, and the supplement is much more than the loss at Yanguan this time.

"Yes, we can't let Dasong get away with it so easily. Continue to go south!"

"We must avenge Sarge and kill the King of Yan."

"Xiliang surrenders, Beidi's heartache is gone, we should lead all the king's tents and give Dasong a blow!"

"..."

The other kings were all excited and kept waving their fists.

"Hahaha..." Mullerhong laughed, "Yes, the revenge of Yanguan can't just be let go, but Yanguan has artillery now, which makes it difficult to attack. We have to find a way to attack Dasong from other directions, and at the same time find the casting skills of artillery."

This time Xiliang surrendered, he had a more suitable attack direction in his mind.

But Beidi is not a reckless man who only knows how to fight. Wolves have their own wisdom.

Before implementing this plan, he plans to threaten the Emperor of Dasong first.

If the Emperor of Dasong surrenders, perhaps he doesn't need to do anything, and the head of the King of Yan can be in his hands.

So he said: "The Emperor of Dasong will be scared to pee his pants when he knows that Xiliang has surrendered to my Beidi. We should take the opportunity to send envoys to Dasong and ask the Emperor of Dasong to kill the King of Yan to ease the relationship with Beidi. If he doesn't agree, we will let Dasong bleed into a river."

Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

In the past, Dasong, Xiliang, and Beidi were three countries. Now Xiliang surrendered to Beidi, and the situation has changed drastically, which is beneficial to Beidi.

Scare Dasong, maybe you can get unexpected benefits.

If Dasong doesn't agree, it won't be too late to talk with swords.

"Also, in order to cooperate with the envoys, I want you to make some noise and put pressure on them." Muller Hongzhen continued.

Beidi is familiar with this matter.

When Beidi was still weak, every time they asked Dasong for benefits, they would burn, kill and loot on the border.

One day later, the Beidi envoys set out from the Khan's Court and arrived in Ningcheng six days later. Next, they will go to Yanguan.

...

Yancheng.

Wangfu.

Zhao Xu lay leisurely in the rocking chair and basked in the sun.

Luan'er was behind him, massaging his shoulders, and Feng'er was holding preserved fruits and feeding him one from time to time.

Just as he was enjoying the leisure time, a maid entered the backyard and whispered to Feng'er.

"Your Highness, the outside of the palace is blocked by scholars who want to see you, and these people are the same. They said they were gone, but they still refused to leave." Feng'er pouted.

Luan'er just smiled, with two dimples on her face.

After defeating the Yuan family's troops and repelling the Northern Di at Yanguan, his prestige soared.

The poor scholars who used to be vassals of the nobles came to the palace one after another, recommending themselves and wanting to become retainers of the palace.

After all, the Yan Palace is no longer a place that can be bullied by local small nobles like the Zhang family.

What's more, the Yan Wang currently controls the four northern counties and occupies more than half of the territory of Yanzhou. .

"It's because Dasong doesn't have a good official selection system. These scholars can only enter the officialdom through this shortcut, so they are unwilling to leave and only want to be selected by this king." Zhao Xu said,

He didn't meet these scholars because he was arrogant.

It's because he didn't want to inherit the bad habits of the officialdom and control the four northern counties by recruiting retainers.

In his opinion, this would miss many talents.

Before the chaos in Yanzhou, he and Liu Fu mentioned holding a fair examination to select officials.

This plan will be implemented next.

Chewing the preserved fruit, he stretched and stood up.

After taking control of the four northern counties, he couldn't sit idle.

The four northern counties were severely damaged in this disaster.

It was the most dilapidated place in Dasong, and now it's even worse.

As the lord of the four counties, he must build his own fiefdom and make it rich and powerful.

After all, this is his foundation.

If one day, he is surrounded by enemies and the trade route is cut off, the only thing he can rely on is this land and the people on this land.

"Your Highness, Yang Zhushi wants to see you."

As soon as a maid left, another maid came to report.

Zhao Xu smiled helplessly, it's time to do business.

Came to the front yard.

Yang He was waiting in the meeting hall.

But his face was quite ugly.

Zhao Xu frowned. Now the whole Yanzhou, whether generals or officials, are celebrating like the New Year.

This Yang He has a bad face, which naturally makes him strange.

"Your Highness, something happened." Seeing Zhao Xu coming, Yang He said in a deep voice.