The prince is more stable

Chapter 357 Morale is like a rainbow
Faced with attacks and opposition from all the civil and military officials in Bianliang, Zhao Xu insisted on his own opinion under pressure, while Zhao Xiaoqian remained calm and set off with 30,000 soldiers from the Dragon Guard Camp.

Although he was said to be taking up a post in a border town, in fact, Bianjing was less than a thousand miles away from Zhending Prefecture, which was not particularly far. It was just the right distance for the long-distance relationship between Zhao Xiaoqian, Di Ying and Jiang Miaoxian.

The team set out in a grand manner. Although it was criticized by the civil and military officials in the court, on the day Zhao Xiaoqian set out, many people came outside the city to see him off and watch the excitement. Most of them were civilians, and a few officials were mixed in the crowd. They watched with complicated expressions as the team left the camp and headed north.

Di Ying's three daughters were also among the farewell crowd. Looking at Zhao Xiaoqian wearing armor and riding on his horse with a heroic and handsome look, the aura of the young hero seemed to be even brighter, but Di Ying's three daughters burst into tears.

They regret having their husbands seek titles. If possible, they would rather their husbands be commoners, and the couple live an ordinary life, staying together all their lives until they die in old age.

But, he is dazzling after all, and he does not belong to them after all.

There is only him in their world, but there are more than just them in his world.

Seeing Di Ying weeping uncontrollably, Jiang Miaoxian wiped away her tears and forced a smile, saying, "Don't be sad, sister. The master said that this separation is only temporary. Once the master has governed Zhending Prefecture well and kept the Liao people out, he will take us to Zhending Prefecture to reunite with him."

The heaviness in Di Ying's heart finally eased.

Well, there is hope for the future after all. From today onwards, the three sisters will live well with this hope and wait for the day when the official comes to pick them up.

Zhao Hao was also standing among the crowd of people seeing him off.

Zhao Hao's expression was gloomy, and he looked at Zhao Xiaoqian riding on a horse in the distance with reluctance. His black armor gleamed in the sun, attracting everyone's attention.

It’s great to be young, Zhao Hao couldn’t help but sigh.

He was like this when he was young... Well, I don't have the face to flatter him, but Zhao Hao was also a fat man when he was young. At best, he had more collagen on his face and his skin was a little tenderer than it is now. At most, he was just a young fat man, and he could not be compared with his son who is full of vigor and vitality now.

At this moment, Zhao Hao's eyes contained not only reluctance but also a bit of anger.

Last night, before leaving, Zhao Xiaoqian sneaked into his study and searched it. Ever since Zhao Hao miraculously took out a white jade statue of Taoist deity from the study, Zhao Xiaoqian has been like a possessed person, sneaking into his study whenever he has time, and vowed to find the secret compartment in the study.

Fortunately, he didn't succeed last night, otherwise Zhao Hao would have suffered another heavy loss. Moreover, it would be useless to report this matter to the authorities. It is only natural for a son to eat his father, and even the Kaifeng Prefecture cannot do anything about it.

In the noisy crowd, a middle-aged man dressed in a silk shirt and merchant's attire approached Zhao Hao seemingly casually.

Zhao Hao's eyes were fixed on Zhao Xiaoqian in the distance, but he seemed to already know who was approaching him.

Looking straight ahead, Zhao Hao said calmly, "Arrange some men to accompany my son and secretly protect his safety. If anything happens to him, none of you will survive."

The businessman-looking man responded in a low voice, then disappeared into the crowd, like a drop of water into the sea, leaving no trace.

The last soldier of the Dragon Guard Camp left the team, leaving only an empty camp.

Zhao Xu stood outside the camp, watching Zhao Xiaoqian leave, with mixed feelings.

It is undeniable that he was gambling, not on whether there were bullets in the gun, but on the fate of the country.

Zhao Xiaoqian's appointment to Zhending Prefecture was not simply a matter of an imperial edict. Zhao Xu had already mobilized a lot of resources for him, including manpower, material resources, money, food, fodder, and soldiers.

The mobilization of resources by a major country often affects the entire body. Many resources should not have been transferred to Zhending Prefecture. The abundance of resources here means that the resources there are not enough.

But Zhao Xu still made the decision resolutely.

He is also a young man with an adventurous spirit and great ambition.

All his efforts were made just to recapture Yanyun during his lifetime. If such a day really came, Zhao Xu couldn't even imagine how the historians would praise him in the history books and how the people of the world would worship and respect him.

Every year when he went to the Taimiao to worship his ancestors, he must have held his head high and his chest puffed out. When facing the ancestral tablets and portraits, he must have been full of vigor and vitality.

"I'm not targeting anyone. I just want to say that everyone here is..." Zhao Xu couldn't help but tremble with excitement at the thought that there might really be such a day.

"Zi'an, everything depends on you. Please don't let me down. If I fail, I will be described as a complete tyrant in the writings of historians, and my reputation will be infamous for eternity." Zhao Xu muttered to himself as he stared at the team disappearing in the distance.

Thinking about having to continue arguing with those old men after returning to the palace, Zhao Xu couldn't help but feel even more headache.

Zhao Xiaoqian set out, but the trouble was not resolved yet. This matter could not be let go. Several prime ministers in the Council of State jointly signed a large group of court officials and tirelessly submitted memorials every day to persuade Zhao Xu to revoke his decision and remove Zhao Xiaoqian from his post as the governor of the western route of Hebei.

Even if Zhao Xiaoqian had already led his troops on the road, the court officials would not give up. As long as they could persuade the emperor to stop, they could catch up with him halfway.

In the following days, Zhao Xu will continue to compete with the court officials in wits and courage, and the contradiction between the monarch and his officials will become more acute because of this incident.

…………

Bian Jing was far away, and a lot of troubles were left for Zhao Xu to bear alone. Zhao Xiaoqian felt a little guilty while riding on his horse.

Although this matter had nothing to do with him and he was just forced to the front by Zhao Xu, Zhao Xu was still nice to him after all.

The king and his ministers have known each other for such a long time. They are both brothers and friends. It is really disloyal to let brothers and friends face a lot of troubles alone.

The troops marched northward like a winding snake.

The entire team was connected front to back, with a total number of nearly 100,000 people.

Not only 30,000 soldiers from the Dragon Guard Camp set out, but more importantly, civilians recruited from the capital area.

The civilian laborers are mainly responsible for logistics and transportation, and the 30,000 soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp are the real combatants. As for supplies such as food, weapons, armor, etc., they are naturally not the combatants' responsibility to transport them.

In ancient military campaigns, the proportion of logistics and baggage troops was normally greater than that of combatants.

Of course, these civilians in charge of transportation did not suffer any loss. They followed the team and the government provided them with two meals a day. The food was not good, but at least they could fill themselves up. The journey was thousands of miles and the round trip took at least several months, which saved food for their families.

At the same time, transporting supplies was a forced task for the laborers by the government. It was part of the corvée labor of ordinary people. Every year, the government had a fixed corvée labor quota. The new policy of the Song Dynasty stipulated that the corvée labor of the people could be deducted from taxes.

In the marching troops, the morale of the Dragon Guard Battalion soldiers was extremely high. Although the generals repeatedly ordered the troops not to make noise, low-pitched laughter and shouting continued to be heard from the crowd.

The soldiers were naturally excited because they were following the Duke of Anle on this expedition.

After the battle between Song and Xia, the soldiers of the Longwei Camp had reached a general consensus that they would have meat to eat if they followed Duke Zhao.

The facts are as clear as ironclad evidence. When they followed Zhao Xiaoqian's lone army deep into the heartland of the Western Xia Kingdom, broke through the capital, killed and looted everywhere, those 5,000 soldiers returned with rosy faces and bulging waists.

Comrades could not keep secrets from each other. After returning to Bian Jing, I would always hear how many acres of fertile land and how many buffaloes this comrade had secretly bought for his family, how much meat and new cloth that comrade had built for his parents, wife and children, and so on.

These comrades who spent money secretly after getting rich immediately became the objects of jealousy of the soldiers in the Dragon Guard Camp.

They also heard that the Duke of Zhao had issued a military order that all looted goods would be kept by him, and the generals and superiors would not take a penny.

This lawless military order was simply a blessing for the soldiers. Just because of this order, the soldiers were filled with heroic spirit and had the courage to kill anyone who stood in their way.

Today, Duke Zhao led the Dragon Guard Battalion to go to war again. For ordinary soldiers, they don't care about the interests of the country and family, or noble thoughts like serving the country. They only have one idea.

This expedition is my journey to make a fortune. As long as I can survive, I will definitely become rich.

(End of this chapter)