Golden Stage

After Yan Xiaohan finished cleaning up the Xue clan, Emperor Changzhi received the news. He was furious and ordered people to call him into the palace, intending to punish him severely.

He, a foreign minister, actually killed his favorite concubine under the eyes of the emperor. The father of this favorite concubine was also a colleague of his in the same dynasty. No matter how you look at it, Yan Xiaohan has completely played off this time. However, he was not at all afraid, entered the palace calmly, said "Long live Your Majesty", and saluted Emperor Changzhi in a proper manner.

Emperor Changzhi was angry, so he didn't give him a seat immediately as usual, but deliberately left him in the hall, and said coldly: "Foreign ministers trespassed into the harem and forced the concubine to death, how brave you are!"

Yan Xiaohan simply knelt down and said, "I'm guilty, please Your Majesty remove me from the position of Commander of the Guards, and demote you to nothing."

"You!" Emperor Changzhi thumped in his heart. He originally planned to reprimand Yan Xiaohan, telling him not to be so ruthless and unscrupulous. Same way of doing things.But Yan Xiaohan never thought that Yan Xiaohan would be so decisive that he would leave his pick and go home as soon as he came up.

Although Yan Xiaohan had various shortcomings, he was the one who worked hard for Emperor Changzhi when he was at his worst, and single-handedly helped him to the throne.At the beginning of the new dynasty, the allegiance of the Jiedu envoys from all over the country was also won by Yan Xiaohan. He was only the commander of the Imperial Army in name, but in reality the "Ninth Minister" in the Yanying Hall was his real position.Yan Xiaohan didn't rely on both sides, and always controlled the balance between the old officials in the north and the upstarts in the south of the Yangtze River for the emperor, so that the court could continue to operate smoothly and steadily.Now that he was going to work and return home, Emperor Changzhi was the first to refuse to agree.

After being angry for a long time, Emperor Changzhi sighed heavily, and said helplessly: "Yan Qing, you... Forget it, don't mention the matter of resignation. Come here, give me a seat."

Yan Xiaohan remained calm, secretly sneering in his heart.

The son is not like the father.

Emperor Yuantai was too strong, and the suppressed sons were either rebellious or weak.The crown prince was opportunistic, not to mention the fool King Jin, Emperor Changzhi was strong but incapable, he seemed shrewd, but in fact he was cowardly, he had no opinions, his ears were soft, he was often vacillating, and he was prone to like the new and dislike the old.

This kind of person is a typical "poor and lowly can move, rich and noble can be prostitute, and mighty can be subdued". In the past, he was surrounded by powerful fathers and elder brothers. His Majesty's spine immediately softened.

For an emperor with this kind of personality, it is almost inevitable that the ruler of the court will be weak and his ministers strong.So even though the Xue clan's family members were strong, Yan Xiaohan still dared to give her a white silk.He had foreseen the result long before he took action: since Emperor Changzhi could wrong the queen for Xue's sake, he would naturally be willing to lightly expose Xue's death in order to keep Yan Xiaohan, an important minister.

"I know that the queen has been wronged," Emperor Changzhi sighed and worried, "but I didn't do anything to her, I just grounded her, and I will comfort her generously in the future. But you directly forced Xue Shi to commit suicide. Xue Aiqing asked in the future , how do you want me to answer?"

Mr. Yan, who would rather wrong his wife for his wife's sake, can't understand the emperor's thinking at all. "Foot grounding" is just a nice way of saying it. He made the queen's dignity go to the ground in order to favor the concubine. How can this be called "what if she didn't do anything to her"?If Xue's child was really lost by the queen, what would he do?

Yan Xiaohan sat on the stool and silently recited a few lines of scriptures, calmed down his anger, and said as gently as possible: "Your Majesty, you are the Ninth Five-Year Honor, you can kill yourself, and you don't need to explain to anyone."

Emperor Changzhi was silent for a moment, then hesitated and said, "But Xue Sheng..."

"Your Majesty, why did Sir Xue send his daughter into the palace, and why did he secretly tell people to promote the preciousness of Xue's fate? Can't you see his intention?" Yan Xiaohan said in a deep voice, "It's true that you rely heavily on the Jiangnan family. However, Xue Shangshu wants to turn the imperial court into a Jiangnan court. Your Majesty, don’t just look at your eyes. Dazhou is surrounded by rivers and mountains in all directions, not just Jiangnan. In the future, you will restore the Central Plains and return to the capital, so that you will live up to the expectations of all people in the world. Worthy of the ancestral temple and the country."

Emperor Changzhi was really moved by the big cake he painted, and his face was shaken.He had already forgotten Yan Xiaohan's arrogance and offense at this moment, and he only remembered what he said just now about restoring the Central Plains: "Why don't I want to go to the Northern Expedition, but the new dynasty's foothold is not stable, soldiers, horses, food, grass, money, what you want is nothing, why use the Northern Expedition?"

"At the beginning, several Jiedu envoys promised that if the imperial court wanted to recover the Central Plains, they would send troops to assist," Yan Xiaohan said, "However, the imperial court still needs to build a capable army, and we cannot rely solely on Jiedu envoys. ,and……"

"And what?" Emperor Changzhi asked.

Yan Xiaohan hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Jiedu envoys support their own self-respect, and they are no different from feudal lords who ruled over one side. If the Central Plains is really recovered in the future, the imperial court also needs to have enough soldiers to deter all regions. Jiedushi."

He stopped talking, and unexpectedly thought of the Beiyan iron cavalry...and their commander.

Emperor Changzhi agreed deeply, nodded and said: "It's reasonable, this matter should be done sooner rather than later, you should start preparations immediately."

Yan Xiaohan got up and it should be.Emperor Changzhi seemed to be thinking about it with him, and sighed: "If I have such a strong army of Beiyan cavalry in my hands, why worry about the loss of the Central Plains! It's a pity that Jingninghou..."

He shook his head and stopped regretfully.

Yan Xiaohan had been sneering in his heart ever since he entered the palace, and at this moment he finally couldn't help it, and interjected softly: "If Marquis Jingning is here, no matter how courageous Mrs. Xue is, she will definitely not dare to provoke the queen."

Emperor Changzhi sneered, and said displeasedly: "Okay, I didn't expect that Yan Qing and Jingning Hou have such a good relationship, it is worth your time to intercede for the empress."

Yan Xiaohan thought about it for a while, and felt that he and Fu Shen couldn't keep pretending to be at odds. Sooner or later, the two would go out as a couple openly and aboveboard. It was better to be honest with Emperor Changzhi now than to be accused of "deceiving the emperor" in the future.

He cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please. I have received a marriage from the Supreme Emperor, and there are hidden secrets in it."

Yan Xiaohan pushed the blame on the late crown prince, beautified the real intention of Emperor Yuantai to bestow the marriage, and said it in detail. Emperor Changzhi was stunned when he heard it, and said in surprise: "Royal father Unexpectedly... So, you don't really have feelings for Jingninghou, but you only take care of him for the sake of Beiyan's military power?"

Yan Xiaohan hinted calmly and said: "Your Majesty, Marquis Jingning's leg injury will never heal for life, and it is impossible to lead troops all the time, but the Beiyan cavalry is always under his control. He only has a biological sister, the Empress. You don't need to use any means to treat the queen well, Beiyan iron cavalry is naturally a great help to the imperial court."

Emperor Changzhi asked persistently, "What's the matter with you and Fu Shen?"

"..." Yan Xiaohan didn't expect that the emperor would pay more attention to his family life than his business, so he could only say: "Your Majesty, I was born with a broken sleeve and will not have any heirs in this life. The Marquis of Jingning is young and heroic, and I want to With the military power in his hands, being married to him by the way, this does not conflict."

Although love, love is limited, and power is more important than love, but aside from this point, it is still love in general.

His description of himself is almost a replica of Emperor Changzhi.Emperor Changzhi felt the same way, and also heard his implicit promise of "no heirs". Satisfied with his knowledge, his guard was a little loose, and he didn't even pursue the matter of Mrs. Xue. He waved his hands generously and said, "It's nothing Already, Aiqing, please step back."

Yan Xiaohan bowed and left with a sneer in his heart.

As if to verify Yan Xiaohan's words, not long after, news came from the north that the Northern Yan cavalry guarding Ganzhou sent troops to Ningzhou. Scrap iron.Two days later, the Northern Yan Army regained the entire territory of Ningzhou.

Along with the battle report, it was sent to Jiedu envoys of various places and the new dynasty in the south, and there was also a personal letter from Fu Shen, the Marquis of Jingning, who was the coach of Beiyan.

In the early morning, Yan Xiaohan's hands covered under his wide sleeves were shaking like chaff, but no one noticed his strange behavior, and no one cared what was written in that letter. Everyone digested it in extreme shock. The same fact: Fu Shen is back.

The first to play the banner of the king of attendance, the first to recover Ningzhou, and the first to tell the Quartet to invite the Jiedu envoys to send troops to drive out foreign enemies and recover the Central Plains.

Among the soldiers and horses in the world, there are only Beiyan iron cavalry, who carry out the four words of "protecting the family and defending the country" from beginning to end.

Even the Jiangnan court, which claims to be orthodox, may not have such a strong appeal.Within half a month, Jiedu envoys from all over the country responded one after another. Huainan and Xiangzhou successively sent troops to push back the defense line of the Tarzhe army to the north of Han River.With Fu Shen in command, Beiyan's iron cavalry was as powerful as a broken bamboo, and quickly recovered the counties west of Chang'an.

In April, the Jiangnan imperial court sent troops to the north in two routes, one with the Huainan army to attack Xuzhou, and the other with the Xiangzhou army and the Northern Yan army to encircle Chang'an.

May [-]th, at the foot of Jiming Mountain, Tangli Town.

There was only a small group of Tatar troops here, and the Northern Yan army wiped them out without much effort.Near Tangli Town, there is a deep river called Ziyang River, which flows eastward into Han River.Fu Shen led a team of cavalry to patrol along the river to make sure that there was no remnant enemy lying in ambush. When he looked from a distance, he saw figures shaking in the woods on the opposite side, and there seemed to be the sound of horseshoes coming towards the river. Let's see who it is."

The little soldier was about to take the order to go, but as if he couldn't wait, someone rode out from the forest.Hearing the sound, Fu Shen turned his head, caught off guard, and happened to meet the eyes of the man on the horse.

There was a "buzz" in his mind.

On the opposite side, Yan Xiaohan was stunned into a wooden stake on the spot, and unconsciously stretched out his hand to pull the rein of the horse, the horse neighed, almost throwing him off.

His three souls and seven souls were taken away, and he opened his mouth blankly as if sleepwalking, but he didn't make any sound.

Fu Shen put his legs between the horse's belly and approached the river. Just as he was about to call out to confirm his identity, he saw Yan Xiaohan, who looked like a wandering ghost, rode his horse to the river and walked a few steps into the river.Later, the horse was afraid of the depth of the water and did not dare to move forward. He simply jumped down, took off the heavy objects on his body, and plunged into the rushing river.

No need to confirm, such a fool, apart from their family, I am afraid that there is no other in the world.

Fu Shen almost went crazy: "Yan Menggui! Are you going to die?"

He got off his horse, rushed to the river, and shouted to the soldiers beside him, "Bring the rope!"

Fortunately, it is not summer yet, and there is no flood in the river.Yan Xiao's cold water skills were fair, and when he swam to the middle of the river, he received a rope thrown by Fu Shen and was dragged ashore.He was exhausted, his chest was heaving and heaving, not to mention talking, he couldn't even catch his breath, but he stared at Fu Shen as if in a daze, his eyes were bloodshot, red as if they were about to bleed.

Before Fu Shen had time to be surprised, he was frightened by him.He had never seen such a mess of other things. The curse words had already reached his throat. Unexpectedly, as soon as he moved, Yan Xiaohan suddenly rushed up, as if he was afraid that he would run away, and hugged him wetly and tightly. he.

The overwhelming anger instantly burned into a wisp of powerless white smoke,

"..."

Fu Shen closed his eyes fiercely, his mind went blank, and after a while, he raised his arms around his slightly trembling back, tightening his five fingers.

"I've been thinking about it day and night... this time I finally see the truth."