Jiuxi

Chapter 1027 1025 [Sword Pointing]

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, a year and a half has passed.

Ever since the grand court meeting at the end of the third year of Yongning, when Empress Dowager Ning handed over the military and state power to Lu Chen, Da Qi entered a period of stable development.

Throughout the fourth year of Yongning, various new policies were further deepened and promoted, the appearance of government offices at all levels was completely renewed, and the living conditions of the people improved.

Although it is still far from Lu Chen's ideal goal, the vibrant scenes across the country are in front of everyone. This hopeful environment makes most people willing to get involved and contribute their own strength to the prosperity of the country.

This process was not smooth sailing. Even though Queen Dowager Ning expressed her intention to hand over power to the Prince of Qin's Mansion and that she would abdicate at an appropriate time, it still could not stop some people from taking risky moves.

In late April and early September of the fourth year of Yongning, Lu Chen encountered two large-scale assassinations and ambushes. This was under the premise that he had left Su Yunqing and Yin Shangfu idle and there were basically no hidden dangers within the country. However, some diehards in the government and the opposition were still unwilling to accept this. In addition, suspected poisonings and assassinations occurred from time to time.

Lu Chen would certainly not be soft-hearted towards these people, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he wanted to root out the evil completely, but he did not deliberately expand the scope of the case. After all, Queen Mother Ning and the two prime ministers hoped that the overall situation could remain stable so that Da Qi could continue to rapidly improve its national strength.

In this situation where the general trend was positive but there were occasional noises, time finally came to the fifth year of Yongning.

After more than two years of management, Lu Chen has gradually gained control of the court on the basis of respecting the two prime ministers. His influence is no longer limited to the military and the Prime Minister's New Policy Office. He has trusted important officials in all ministries and offices.

At the same time, the adjustment of military power and the mobilization of troops were gradually carried out.

Chen Lanyu resigned as commander-in-chief of the imperial guards, and the position was taken over by Liu Shouguang, Marquis of Anlu.

The Jiangnan camp maintained its status quo, with Duan Zuozhang replacing Huo Zhen as the chief commander, and the latter returning to the rank of wartime generals.

The Heyang Army, Anping Army, and Qingxu Army were ordered to be transferred to the capital and take over the defense of the capital area.

Of the armies originally stationed in the capital, except for the Feiyu Army and the Panlong Army which continued to stay there, the other four armies, namely the Dingbei, Guangling, Feiyun, Laian and the Seven-Star Army in Dingzhou, went north one after another.

By early August of the fifth year of Yongning, an army of 200,000 had gathered on the northern border of Da Qi.

The war is about to start.

Capital City, Prince Qin’s Mansion.

The flower hall is filled with colorful flowers, which are full of life and fragrance.

Lu Chen sat in the main seat, with Lin Xi, Li Bingxue and Song Pei on his left, and Wang Chulong, Luo Jiujiu and Gu Wan'er on his right.

The eldest son Lu Jiusi and the eldest daughter Lu Xinyi are already six years old and can now sit at the table.

As for Lu Chen, the second son born to Li Bingxue, Lu Heng, the third son born to Luo Jiujiu, Lu Jing, the fourth son born to Wang Chulong, Lu Jue, the fifth son born to Song Pei, Lu Qi, the sixth son born to Gu Wan'er, Lu Cheng, the seventh son born to Lin Xi, as well as Lu Yan, the eighth son born to Luo Jiujiu in the past two years, and Lu Wei, the youngest son born to Li Bingxue, they are too young to attend the family dinner for the time being.

Lu Chen has always advocated a harmonious and warm family environment. Therefore, even though he holds great power, he has not agreed to the numerous young and beautiful ladies from noble families who wanted to marry into the Prince Qin's Mansion in recent years, because he does not want to destroy the happy atmosphere of the family.

However, at today's banquet, the atmosphere was inevitably filled with a hint of sadness.

Lu Chen looked around and saw that most of the women were not interested, so he explained, "It's not that I don't want to take you with me, but as the commander-in-chief, I have to be careful about the impact. How can I bring my family to the battlefield? Besides, I feel at ease when you are all at home. Although the overall situation is under control now, there may still be insects hiding in the dark."

After a brief silence, Wang Chulong said softly, "Your Highness, what you said makes sense, but Sister Lin and Sister Li are in charge of the Seven Star Army and the Flying Feather Army. Why don't you agree to let them go north together?"

"The Feiyu Army has to stay in the capital to stabilize the rear, so Bingxue must stay. And Xiaojiu is not even three months old yet, so as a mother, it is not appropriate for her to travel far."

Lu Chen smiled slightly, then looked at Lin Xi, who was now more mature and charming, and said: "As long as Senior Sister is in charge of the palace, even if I am far away in the northern border, no one dares to spy on the entire Chengpingfang."

Lin Xi smiled and said, "I like to hear that."

The rest all laughed.

Of course they knew that Lin Xi's martial arts had reached perfection and was probably no less skilled than his father Lin Jie.

With such a top master of the time sitting in the Qin Palace, and she is the Qin Princess who possesses the golden book and seal, on the premise that Lu Chen leaves the capital, she is qualified to make decisions on all matters on behalf of Lu Chen and act as the backbone. She can not only deter the villains, but also closely unite the forces of the Qin King.

Lu Chen comforted Luo Jiujiu and Gu Wan'er, and finally looked at Song Pei who was pregnant again and said, "I won't be in charge this time, so you can't be as nervous as before. Take good care of the baby at home. If you have any problems, just find your sister Lin and sister Wang. Remember?"

Among all the beauties around him, Song Pei actually always felt inferior. She felt that she was born in a humble family and had an ordinary appearance. The reason why she was favored by Lu Chen was mostly because of Lu Tong's matchmaking. Not to mention compared with Lin Xi and others, even Gu Wan'er was stunningly beautiful, and she was only able to handle some chores in the mansion.

Looking at Lu Chen's warm gaze at this moment, Song Pei felt as if her heart had melted, tears welled up in her eyes unconsciously, and she nodded quickly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Lin Xi and others felt distressed for a moment when they saw Song Pei, who was always well-behaved and would not go beyond the limit in the mansion. This made Song Pei a little nervous.

Wang Chulong and Gu Wan'er looked at each other and began to liven up the atmosphere, finally making sure that Lu Chen's efforts were not in vain. After a family dinner full of laughter and conversation, the palace's backyard gradually returned to silence.

Ruixuan Hall, this is the main house of Lu Chen and Lin Xi.

After chatting for a while with the gradually sensible Lu Jiusi and glancing at the sleeping Lu Cheng, Lu Chen returned to the bedroom and fell asleep in Lin Xi's arms.

"Is everything arranged for the rear?"

Lin Xi snuggled in his arms and asked softly.

Lu Chen held her shoulders, looked up, and said slowly: "In Jiangnan, we have trustworthy military and political leaders such as Duan Zuozhang and Song Wan, and two forces led by Qu Zhong and Ning Bugui, which are enough to ensure the stability of the wartime situation. If necessary, I will let Li Gongxu lead another group of people to the south."

"What about the court?"

"The two prime ministers know the general situation, and the queen mother has made her position clear, so I am not worried that they will do anything reckless. As for other ministries, Liu Yuan is now in charge of the Censorate, Ding Hui is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Gao Huan continues to be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Xun is concurrently the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works, and Wang's uncle is in charge of the Ministry of Rites. The Prime Minister's New Policy Office has Gao Ruli, Cui Hao, Wang Heng and other capable officials, so generally there will be no mistakes."

“Are there any hidden dangers in the army?”

"This time I will take Chen Lanyu and Zhang Xu to the battlefield. There will be no problem handing over the Imperial Guards to Liu Shouguang. Li Jingda and Tong Shiyuan will temporarily be in charge of the daily work of the Military Affairs Office. When I am not in the capital, all the threads will still be gathered under the name of the palace and handed over to you and Chulong for control."

Lin Xi responded softly, and then asked curiously: "What's the situation in the north now?"

Lu Chen fell silent.

He certainly would not relax his vigilance against Jingguo. No matter how turbulent the domestic situation was in recent years, he would invest a lot of manpower and material resources to collect intelligence on Jingguo as much as possible.

Ever since Qing Yu Huaijin joined forces with five other nobles to launch a palace coup three years ago and replaced the royal family Alihe with a political system of six kings, the internal changes in Jingguo have not been smooth sailing.

At the beginning, those forces loyal to the Alihe clan were certainly unwilling to remain dormant, and they launched dozens of rebellions of varying sizes in nearly a year. Although they were eventually suppressed by the two generals Miegudi and Xilie, the blow to Jing State itself could not be ignored.

Then there was the struggle for power among the six kings. The Huiluo clan and the Huite clan conspired to steal power from the Qingyu clan, but Qingyu Huaijin seemed to have anticipated this and responded calmly. She deliberately created the illusion that she and her brother Qingyu Zhongwang were fighting for power, luring the two families to take the initiative, and then last autumn she wiped out all the traitors, thus completely establishing the Qingyu clan's supreme position within the Jinglian clan.

Generally speaking, even though there have been many bumps and turmoil in the past few years, Qing Yu Huaijin has managed to survive the most difficult period, and the next period is the time for her to realize her ambitions.

After listening to Lu Chen's brief statement, Lin Xi understood why he wanted to launch the Northern Expedition as soon as possible.

The basic foundation of Jing State is still there. If they are given enough time to recuperate and develop people's livelihood, and if there are breakthroughs in firearms research, they will definitely become stronger and stronger in the future. Therefore, the battle to destroy Jing cannot be delayed.

She squeezed closer to Lu Chen's arms and whispered, "I remember Emperor Jing said before he died that Qing Yu Huaijin was interested in you..."

Lu Chen laughed dumbly and said, "What kind of jealousy are you eating?"

"Who's jealous?"

Lin Xi snorted lightly, then said seriously: "If we can complete the great cause of conquering the Northland with the least cost, wouldn't we lose fewer soldiers? The pressure on the court and the people won't be too great. As for Qing Yu Huaijin, at most you can build a palace in the Northland in the future and don't let her meet us. We will all pretend that we know nothing."

"Senior sister is too generous."

Lu Chen smiled, and before she got upset, he explained, "Don't say that Qing Yu Huaijin and I have no involvement from the beginning to the end. Even if there is some romance, in this context of national hatred and family feuds, how can personal feelings influence the overall situation? In the final analysis, she will not be willing to see her country destroyed, her family ruined, and her ancestral temple burned down. I can't ignore the hatred accumulated between Qi and Jing over the past sixty years just because of the entrustment of Emperor Jing before his death. Therefore, we must finally fight to the death."

"Alright."

Lin Xi hugged him tighter and murmured, "Come back soon, we'll be waiting for you at home."

"Yeah, relieved."

Lu Chen kissed her lightly on the forehead.

……

August 13, the fifth year of Yongning in the Great Qi Dynasty.

Queen Dowager Ning led all the civil and military officials who stayed behind in the court out of the city to see him off, and watched Prince of Qin Lu Chen lead his troops north.

Directly to the border.

(End of this chapter)