There is a girl in the village

Wang Min received the news of Gu Xiaofu's request for an interview, and specially arranged for Gu Xiaofu to enter the palace at the same time on the second day and meet alone.

Wang Min has been in the palace for a few months, and she has not been doing well during these days. Although Emperor Zhengshuo treated Wang Min very well and basically handed over the power of the harem to her, he would visit her palace from time to time, but For Wang Min, the days of being imprisoned like this were extremely difficult, especially since she couldn't find the third princess for a long time, which made her very anxious.

Wang Min gradually realized that maybe the third princess was not in the palace, otherwise, with her powerful contacts in the palace, how could she not find such an important person, and Emperor Zhengshuo did not show any strange behavior when he was in the harem on weekdays.

Undoubtedly, Wang Min is very good-looking, and the infinite style exuded by her gestures is something that Gu Xiaofu does not possess. Emperor Zhengshuo likes Wang Min very much, but Emperor Zhengshuo only lived in Wangmin Palace for a few days, and was taken away by Wang Min. Min tactfully drives out his sons.Wang Min kept selecting noble girls to fill the harem, and pushed Emperor Zhengshuo to others.

This kind of behavior was highly praised by the former ministers, who felt that Wang Min still had merits.The year when Emperor Zhengshuo was about to stand, there was nothing under his knees, let alone a son, or a daughter. Wang Min's move undoubtedly added a lot of support to him, but things backfired. Emperor Zhengshuo was about to ascend the throne for one year, but the harem There is no news at all, everyone is anxious, the imperial power without the crown prince is too unstable.

Inadvertently, rumors of Emperor Zhengshuo's infertility began to spread in the imperial court. body, and give birth to the prince as soon as possible.

In the seemingly peaceful Dazhou, undercurrents are surging, which means that the trees want to be quiet but the wind does not stop.

"Queen, Mrs. Taiping Hou, please see me." The maid replied.

"Quickly invite Mrs. Taipinghou to come in." Wang Min finally had a smile on his bored face.

"The concubine greets the queen." Gu Xiaofu saluted respectfully.

"Okay, okay, why are you still caring about those vain rituals with a big belly, Ping'er, why don't you help your wife up and give you a seat." Seeing that Gu Xiaofu was dressed very formally, Wang Min felt extremely helpless. Xiaofu's relationship is very good now, and she said earlier that there is no need to be strict with etiquette, but Gu Xiaofu said that she should be on her own.

"The concubine thanked the queen."

Wang Min waited for the maids to bring all the refreshments and fruits, and ordered everyone to go down, not even Ping'er and the maids brought by her natal family stayed behind.

Although Wang Min is in charge of the Central Palace, he is not very well informed about the news from the outside world. Under Emperor Zhengshuo's deliberate actions, Wang Min had to hear some important news from his family members or Gu Xiaofu. By the side of the emperor, there are some news that the outside world cannot know.

"The weather is so hot, and you are so heavy, what are you doing in the palace?" Wang Min said on the lips, but she thought in her heart that there might be something serious going on outside, otherwise Gu Xiaofu wouldn't have rushed here.

"I heard from my aunt that the queen has been in a bad mood recently, and my concubine is bored at home alone, so I want to talk to the queen." Gu Xiaofu was not in a hurry to talk because Wang Min was more anxious than her.

The two women, the parents briefly talked about some trivial matters, and then slowly turned to the main topic.

"Hou Ye sent a letter to his family the day before yesterday, saying that Xixia soldiers are strong and strong, and they are extremely difficult to deal with. He gave the emperor a lot of advice and asked for more troops, but they were all rejected by the emperor. The number of soldiers in Hou Ye's hands is getting smaller and smaller. I can't go down anymore." Gu Xiaofu said implicitly.

"It's strange that this matter is difficult. How can the emperor have soldiers to transfer, and he asked my brother for soldiers the day before yesterday." Wang Min sighed, although the country was defeated, it is even more difficult to defend the country.

"I heard that the emperor issued an edict to recruit troops from across the country a month ago, so why would he ask the prince for troops now?" Gu Xiaofu asked in puzzlement, of course she was pretending.

"Hey, how much can be recruited? The treasury is empty, there is a lack of food and pay, and all the ministries are crying to the emperor for poverty. I heard that the emperor has only recruited [-] soldiers, and I can't send them to the front for a while. I don't practice for a year or so. If you die, you will die in vain. Now I am thinking about reducing the expenses in the palace, and getting through this difficulty for the emperor. Only when the Xia tax comes up, can I breathe a sigh of relief." Wang Min trusts Gu Xiaofu very much, and doesn't hide much , sold Emperor Zhengshuo without blinking.

When Gu Xiaofu heard the words, the two met each other, and understood that Lu Yuanchang's words were true. After Wang Chao's [-] elite soldiers, and another [-] elite soldiers, wouldn't it be [-]? Emperor Shuo is in control, if not, Emperor Zhengshuo will have confidence.

After chatting for a while, Wang Min stayed with Gu Xiaofu for lunch, and Gu Xiaofu went back home.

"Ping'er, go tell Lu Er, Lu Wu and others to come in." Gu Xiaofu returned to the mansion and started to act immediately.

After half a month, a great event happened in the court.When Lu Yuan Changtang reported to Beijing, the Zhenbei Army suffered a major defeat. The root cause was the lack of troops and was surrounded by a 10,000+ Xixia army. If she hadn't commanded it properly, the Zhenbei Army would have been wiped out.

The lack of troops in the western region is a fact. Lu Yuanchang should be punished for losing the battle, but she is not to blame.Emperor Zhengshuo intends to change the main general. After all, the war has been going on for nearly four months. Lu Yuanchang was unable to retreat and made Emperor Zhengshuo tired. However, the officials refused to agree. After all, Lu Yuanchang is the most capable fighter now, and there is no one in the court. If she can replace her, once Lu Yuanchang is not around, the western border may not even be able to defend it.

Seeing the dispute between the two sides, Wang Chao asked to lead troops to Gaefeng City to help Lu Yuanchang, but Emperor Zhengshuo rejected it without thinking.

Wang Chao knew Lu Yuanchang's ability very well. If the situation was not urgent, how could he suffer a big defeat? In this battle, according to the Tang Bao, the Zhenbei Army lost nearly ten thousand soldiers and suffered countless injuries. Lu Yuanchang's soldiers can only fight twenty thousand at the moment. In addition, if there is no additional troops to rescue, I am afraid that it will not last long.Wang Chao attached great importance to affection and pleaded repeatedly, and Emperor Zhengshuo was so angry that he punished Wang Chao behind closed doors to contemplate his mistakes. In this way, the Prince's Mansion of Wuwei County was slapped in the face.

When Emperor Zhengshuo asked him to train soldiers after his conscription, Wang Chao readily agreed, because what Emperor Zhengshuo told him was to train recruits to reinforce the Western Region. Although the recruits have not yet been recruited, the [-] soldiers and horses gathered in his hands are still able to do the job. , can be urgent.But Emperor Zhengshuo turned his back on what he said and angered Wang Chao, who was straight.

In Wang Chao's eyes, Emperor Zhengshuo was the one who helped him up, and he was his brother-in-law. Given how deterrent he could be as an emperor who had not yet settled down, Wang Chao turned up that night and pushed back the task of training soldiers. Emperor Zhongzheng Shuo wanted to take back 5 recruits, and even Wang Chao's [-] horses were taken over.

The situation took a turn for the worse, the Prince of Wuwei County was reprimanded by Emperor Zhengshuo for being ineffective in teaching his son, so he was exempted from the court meeting and went home to wait for the imperial edict. Song Dingtian watched coldly, and couldn't help feeling sad.Song Dingtian had a premonition that soon, Emperor Zhengshuo's butcher knife would be aimed at the Song family.

Just when Song Dingtian ordered the children of the Song family to be cautious in their words and deeds, Gu Xiaofu's shopkeepers scattered all over Dazhou.After January, the summer harvest will be everywhere.

This year's harvest was good, but due to natural disasters and man-made disasters in the past few years, after the summer harvest, the people did not sell the remaining grain except for paying taxes, and the price of grain in the market remained high.And under such circumstances, a dark force vigorously purchased grain, and when they bought up all the grain on the market, rumors began to spread.

The imperial food was robbed!

Emperor Zhengshuo pointed to this batch of summer taxes to tide over the difficulties. Before that, he had already tightened his belt, and even the expenses of the harem had been reduced. Life was quite difficult.The prefectures of various states were ordered to transport the summer grain to the capital when they received it, but every time the summer grain arrived in Zhongzhou, they were robbed by bandits who came from nowhere. Emperor Zhengshuo sent censors and household officials to Zhongzhou to investigate. no clue.

Nearly half of the imperial rations just disappeared out of thin air!What kind of thief has such great ability!

Emperor Zhengshuo was in great need of food and grass for his military training, and the emperor's food was not enough, so the government had to buy food from the government. However, when the government ordered the grain merchants to sell the grain, they found that the grain merchants had very little food in their hands. It is to hold on to their own food and refuse to sell it.

The grain that Emperor Zhengshuo bought at a high price was just a drop in the bucket.

Lu Er reported the news to Gu Xiaofu, and stood with hands down, waiting for instructions.Gu Xiaofu's belly is getting bigger now, but she doesn't have the fragility of a pregnant woman at all. After hearing the "good" news, she actually smiled like a flower.

"This time you have done a good job, but you must keep it secret. The food and grass will be broken up into pieces, and our business will secretly transport them to the west in batches. You will join forces with the Zhenbei army and let them evacuate quickly. It is expected that the court will slow down soon. They will send troops down." Gu Xiaofu's expression now is quite similar to that of Lu Yuanchang in the army, planning strategies with confidence.

Ping'er saw her husband go down to work, so she asked Gu Xiaofu cautiously: "Madam, why don't we sell the grain to the imperial court at a high price?"

"I've thought about this plan. Although it will benefit a lot, the clues will be exposed to others. Now is not the time." In front of Juli, Gu Xiaofu held back, she had to hold back.

The imperial grain was transported to the western region one after another. It is impossible for the imperial court to be sympathetic to such a large-scale transport of grain. However, before Lu Yuanchang raised the discount to urge the payment, Emperor Zhengshuo had no choice but to let the western border and Ganzhou supply it on the spot, so the imperial court just thought that the It is the grain of Ganzhou.

There was no food for the army, and it was difficult to train recruits. Under extreme depression, Emperor Zhengshuo dispersed the [-] new troops and divided them into various guards. Only Wang Chao's [-] elite soldiers remained in the capital.

"Master Hou, the food has arrived." Zhang Cheng said excitedly.

"Send your confidants to Daishan, and don't enter the city." Lu Yuanchang ordered seriously, and then continued to write letters home.

Now in the western region, summer has faded and autumn has emerged. Lu Yuanchang counts the days, Gu Xiaofu is almost eight months old, and soon she will give birth, and she will definitely not be able to return to Beijing. Day by day thicker.

After more than half a year of stalemate, Xixia's vigor has been exhausted, and they no longer take the initiative to attack the city. According to reports from spies, the Xixia army has withdrawn one after another, and there are only [-] troops on display at the border.

On the other hand, the Zhenbei Army, with the support of the nobles in the western region, has increased its troops to 15. By next year, 20 troops should be a conservative number.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuanchang let out a deep breath, my wife, soon, I will bring the army back to Beijing, and by then, no one will dare to threaten us again!