Do you know: I have a different surname: Wang, uncle Minglan.

Chapter 292 Zhang Fu is assassinated
If the person presiding over the court meeting today was Zhao Zhen.

Perhaps, there will be some conciliatory policies to try to make the murder of the Liao envoy a small matter.

But no matter what, Wei Yuan will not be handed over.

Unfortunately, the person presiding over the court meeting today is the Crown Prince Regent, the same person who said a few years ago that he wanted to become an emperor soon.

Wei Yuan's teachings to him since childhood can be summed up in eight words, 'beat him if you want to, fight him if he doesn't obey.'

Of course, in addition to this, there are also some ideas of patriotism and love for the people and a focus on the development of military equipment.

In short, compared with Zhao Zhen, Zhao Xi is definitely a monarch who is not afraid of fighting.

After the court meeting, Zhao Xi invited Yan Da, the commander of the Imperial City Division, to the Xuanzheng Hall and asked:

"Commander Yan, can I trust you?"

Hearing this, Yan Da was shocked, "Your Highness, I was promoted by the emperor, and I am loyal to the royal family and the Great Zhou."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xi shook his head and asked again: "Can I trust you?"

Yan Da looked up and saw Zhao Xi's passionate gaze.

He didn't respond, but just nodded solemnly at the other party.

Seeing this, Zhao Xi smiled and said, "From now on, the Imperial City Bureau will only do three things."

Yanda listened carefully.

Zhao Xi slowly said:

"First, send some people to Yu Jiangnan to protect Master Wei. Remember, it's protection, not surveillance. If Master Wei makes any mistakes, I will hold you accountable."

After the death of the Liao envoy, he was worried that Wei Yuan might encounter an accident.

Although Wei Yuan is basically safe with the Tiger Guards protecting him, the Tiger Guards are still Tiger Guards, and the people sent by Zhao Xi are of a different nature from the Tiger Guards.

He was also worried that Wei Yuan would think too much, so he repeatedly reminded Yan Da that it was protection, not surveillance.
"Second, closely monitor Liaoxia's every move."

When Zhao Xi said these words, Wang Anshi was standing next to him.

The latter looked at the former with a complicated look, mixed with emotions such as relief and heartache.

What is gratifying is that the prince is becoming more mature, but what is distressing is that the prince should not be mature at this age.

But he is the crown prince and has no choice.

"Third, strictly investigate those powerful people in the capital who have secret dealings with enemy countries."

After Zhao Xi finished speaking, Yan Da hesitated for a moment and asked in a deep voice,
"May I ask, Your Highness, to what extent do you want to investigate?"

Zhao Xi said word by word: "There is no upper limit. No matter who is involved, even if they are royal relatives or dukes, they will all be killed without mercy!"

Yan Da was struck by lightning.

He had worked for Zhao Zhen for many years and knew Zhao Zhen's character well.

If Zhao Zhen were to do this, at most he would be sent to jail, but he would not be killed.

However, Zhao Xi wanted to kill.

The two leaders have completely different personalities, and I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Yan Da bowed solemnly and said, "Please rest assured, Your Highness. I will thoroughly investigate the Zhou traitors in the capital!"

After saying this, he left the hall.

Zhao Xi looked at his departing figure and said to Wang Anshi beside him:

"Master Wang, I want to start a big prison, why don't you persuade me?"

Wang Anshi smiled and said, "I also want to see a strong ruler emerge in our dynasty."

Zhao Xi clenched her hands and asked expectantly, "If a war breaks out, can we win?"

Wang Anshi thought about it seriously and said, "It should be possible."

Zhao Xi's eyes lit up. At this moment, he looked like a child, not the regent.

"Can the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun be recovered? Can I personally lead the expedition?"

Wang Anshi was stunned, then smiled bitterly and said, "To recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, we should mainly adopt the strategy of nibbling away at them, which cannot be accomplished in one generation."

Non-generational?

Zhao Xi said dissatisfiedly: "Master Wei said that we can't leave everything to the next generation. This generation must recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun!"

At the same time, in the Mansion of the Loyal and Brave Marquis.

Zhang Guifen and Minglan were playing with Zhuangge and Jingjie.

When teasing Zhuangge'er, he behaved very lively, but sometimes he would not know the seriousness of the situation and would pull Minglan's hair tightly, making Minglan scream in pain.

As for Sister Jing, when she was teased, she just smiled with her lips pursed, and seemed to like Minglan very much.

Not long after, Xu Changzhi sent someone to deliver a message to inform Zhang Guifen of what happened in today's court meeting.

The latter was very flustered after hearing this and said angrily: "What do those officials mean? They eat the food of the court and the royal family, but they speak for the Liao Kingdom?!"

Minglan stood behind her, patted her back gently, and tried her best to comfort her:

"Didn't His Royal Highness severely reprimand those people?"

Zhang Guifen sighed, "Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here. If he wasn't here, who knows how those people in the capital would deal with your uncle."

Minglan was puzzled and asked, "Uncle has always done things for the country and the people. Why do those people target him in every way?"

Zhang Guifen turned around and held Minglan's hand, saying earnestly: "It is because your uncle always puts the country first in everything he does, Southeast affairs, reforming the Yanbian military system..."

"We women don't understand these things, but it is precisely because of these things that your uncle has offended so many people."

"They hope your uncle will fall completely and that our Great Zhou will be bullied by the enemy forever."

Hearing this, Minglan also became sentimental.

"Others only saw my uncle's glory, but they never thought that my uncle got to where he is today because of his sword and gun battles."

At this point, she took off a hairpin from her hair, squatted in front of Zhang Guifen who was sitting on a stone bench, held the hairpin in both hands, and said with moist eyes:

"I have never seen my uncle since I can remember. My mother always told me that my uncle is a genius. Whether reading, writing or practicing martial arts, he is better than ordinary people."

"My mother also said that my uncle had not seen me because he had gone to join the army, but he always wrote letters to my mother. I have read those letters. My uncle wrote several letters every month."

"The letter was all about me. My uncle asked my mother if I could walk, talk, and if I was naughty. He also said he wanted to see me and hug me, and that his niece would be the most beautiful woman in the world in the future."

"At first, my mother didn't tell me about the letter my uncle wrote, until one day, a general gave my mother this hairpin my uncle bought, saying it was for me. That time, except for the hairpin, no other letter was left."

"I was still young and ignorant at the time. When I grew up, I realized that my uncle was in prison and his life was in danger, but he still wanted to give me, his niece whom he had never met, a hairpin."

"My uncle is the best uncle in the world."

As she spoke, Minglan actually shed two lines of tears.

Zhang Guifen hugged her in her arms and said, "No wonder you didn't take all the expensive hairpins I gave you, but chose to take this hairpin your uncle gave you."
-
In the seventh year of Jiayou, early October.

The Liao Emperor, Yelu Hongji, announced to the world that he had appointed Yelu Renxian as commander-in-chief and Wanyan Wugunai as deputy commander-in-chief, and called them "A Million Lions" to attack Daizhou.

On the tenth day of the same month, Li Yuanhao appointed Li Liangzuo as the commander-in-chief and led 300,000 lions to attack Helan Mountain.

On October 13, Zhong Yan led the Third Division of the First Army to garrison in Helan Mountain and deploy defensive fortifications.

On October 14, Duke Kangguo Han Jiang led the Yanbian Second Army to station at Changcheng Ridge, forming a pincer attack with the First Army.

On October 15, the 7th and 8th Divisions of the 3rd Army entered Shilijing, and a major battle was about to break out.

On October 17, the Battle of Yanmen broke out. Liang Da, the commander of the Daizhou militia, personally guarded Yanmen to prevent the Liao army from invading.

At that time, in Bian Jing, in the imperial palace.

The prince was late in arriving.

The officials were discussing it.

"How many troops did Liao send?"

"Didn't you say a million lions?"

"What a joke! Can they come up with a million lions?"

"I asked the Duke of Korea yesterday, and he said that there are at least 500,000 troops."

"Five hundred thousand? Hiss!"

"."Liao Xia's movements were so fast that they were stunned.

Who could have thought that the armies of Liao and Xia could arrive so quickly?
They also thought that the stalemate would last at least for some time before the war broke out.

While they were discussing, Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, with a solemn look on his face, and a number of powerful old dukes including Duke Fuguo and Duke Hanguo slowly walked into the hall.

Seeing this, many officials who were originally worried and uneasy, at this moment, seemed to have taken a tranquilizer and felt much more relieved.

"The Duke of England is here."

"I met the British Duke."

"Greetings, dukes."

"."

Many civil officials bowed deeply to them.

Only in times of war, when the situation is critical, will they show respect to these military heroes who hold titles.

There is an unwritten rule in the Great Zhou Dynasty that during war, the first military hero to go up will be the first to die.

Fan Chunren bowed deeply to Zhang Fu and said, "I feel relieved to see you come to the palace."

At this moment, everyone regarded Zhang Fu as the pillar of the country.

It seemed that as long as he was there, no matter how fierce or violent the Liao attack was, it didn't matter.

Zhang Fu naturally stood at the head of the military honor team and nodded to Fan Chunren. Then, a eunuch brought a chair and asked him to sit down.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, only two people were allowed to sit on chairs during court sessions.

One is Han Zhang, and the other is Zhang Fu.

Even the current Prime Minister Fan Chunren does not have the right to sit on the chair.

As soon as Zhang Fu sat down, he closed his eyes, as if he was not interested in worldly affairs.

After some time, the prince who was supposed to preside over the court meeting still hadn't come. Some officials couldn't help but get anxious.
"Minister Wang, you are close to the Crown Prince, why hasn't the Crown Prince come yet?"

"Yes, it's been several hours."

"Although the prince is young, he is the regent after all, and it is inappropriate for him to be late for the court meeting."

"No matter what, we must come up with a way to resist Liao and Xia today."

"."

In the past few days, the Imperial City Bureau has relied on the Regent's Order to kill people like crazy in the capital.

Hundreds of Liao and Xia spies, officials and merchants who had close contacts with the two countries were all executed.

This made Bianjing, which was originally a little impetuous, fall into complete unrest, especially now that the war had broken out.

But Zhao Xi believes that he did nothing wrong.

If we don’t kill the traitor now, when will we?
soon.

All the officials were suddenly stunned.

I saw Crown Prince Zhao Xi supporting the pale and sickly Emperor Zhao Zhen of the Great Zhou Dynasty who was walking slowly towards me.

Seeing this, Zhang Fu and all the officials bowed together.
"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

"Long live your majesty, long live your majesty"

After three cheers.

Zhao Zhen, his eyes lifeless, slowly looked at his ministers.

He saw many familiar faces.

"My dears, long time no see."

After saying that, Zhao Zhen suddenly started coughing.

Some officials immediately burst into tears and knelt down and kowtowed:
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!"

"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself!"

"."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhen waved his hand feebly, looked around at the ministers, and finally set his eyes on Zhang Fu, and asked weakly:

"Can we win?"

Crown Prince Zhao Xi was worried that Zhang Fu had not heard it, so he repeated Zhao Zhen's words.

Hearing this, Zhang Fu nodded firmly and said, "Yes."

At this moment, in the eyes of the two of them, it seemed as if there was no one else but this pair of king and minister who had been through thick and thin for decades.

Zhao Zhen said: "I trust you."

Zhang Fu clasped his fists and said, "I, as an old minister, will do my utmost to serve you and will never bring shame to your majesty!"

He didn't say anything like "we will win every battle and conquer every attack."

He just said that he would never let Zhao Zhen lose face.

Because he understands Zhao Zhen.

In the later years of his reign, such a monstrous war broke out. If he had been defeated, how would history books record it?

Zhao Zhen didn't want to be criticized by the world for this.

He nodded to Zhang Fu, then looked at the ministers and spoke at the top of his voice:

"The fight against Liao and Xia is entirely under the command of Zhang Fu. The six ministries and nine departments will give their full support and must not disobey."

"In addition, the crown prince will continue to govern the country."

After saying this, Zhao Zhen stood up from the dragon throne tremblingly.

Seeing this, Crown Prince Zhao Xi hurriedly supported him.

Zhao Zhen first looked at Fan Chunren, shook his head slightly, sighed, and said:

"Fan Qing, let Han Zhang help you."

Then, he held the prince's wrist, and in front of all the civil and military officials, he made him sit on the dragon throne, smiled and said:

"My son, you should be like Yao and Shun."

After that, he waved his hand and said, "I am tired, the Crown Prince will continue to preside over the court meeting."

Afterwards, in full view of everyone, he was supported by Manager Zhu and left the place.

Zhao Xi watched Zhao Zhen leave.

Then, he said in a childish voice:
"Duke Ying, my father believes in you, and I believe in you too."

"From this moment on, you have the right to mobilize all the troops of my Great Zhou."

"Help my father, help me, and help the people of Great Zhou, and beat up Liao Xia!"

After the meeting.

Zhang Fu came to the Ministry of War and began to deploy troops.

Late at night, when returning home, the Minister of War wanted to send more people to protect Zhang Fu, but he refused and said with a smile:

"The Imperial City Division has killed so many traitors and enemy spies. At this moment, there is no place safer than Bianjing."

In two days, he will lead part of the army northward, and wants to go home to arrange some things before that.

He is already old and worried that his body won't be able to take the journey.

But at this moment, in this critical moment, no one can take the lead except him and Wei Yuan.

However, Zhao Zhen refused to transfer Wei Yuan back to the capital, and there was nothing he could do.

The Duke of England's Mansion is located on the other side of Jinliangqiao Street. Walk out of Imperial Street and head west, and you will return home in no time.

In the seventh year of Jiayou, on October 18th, at the end of the hour of Chou, Zhang Fu was assassinated and seriously injured and was in critical condition.

The capital was in chaos and all officials were in panic.

(End of this chapter)