The prince is more stable

Chapter 451: Secret Report to the Capital
At Zhao Xiaoqian's command, the 10,000 imperial guards of Zhending Prefecture were incorporated into the Longwei Camp.

At this point, the Dragon Guard Battalion had more than 35,000 regular soldiers.

Of course, after these 10,000 imperial guards are incorporated into the Dragon Guard Camp, they will need more rigorous training, as well as military and emotional integration with the original Dragon Guard Camp soldiers.

At present, these 10,000 imperial guards cannot go to the battlefield. They are not equipped with firearms, and even if they were equipped, they would not know how to use them.

At the same time, Zhao Xiaoqian also had to ask for instructions from Bian Jing. After all, firearms were still the biggest secret in the Song Dynasty army. After the 10,000 imperial guards were incorporated, Zhao Xu's approval was needed to issue firearms.

The Dragon Guard Camp was one of the top four armies in Bian Jing. Their loyalty was trustworthy, so Zhao Xu was able to equip them with firearms. However, as to whether these 10,000 imperial guards were trustworthy, Zhao Xiaoqian could only convince Zhao Xu in his memorial.

Ten thousand imperial troops gathered at the camp in the western suburbs outside Zhending City and set off for the Longweiying camp.

At the same time, Shao Jing was ordered to allocate 10,000 troops to the western suburbs camp and take over the defense of Zhending City.

These 10,000 soldiers were considered the elite among the Xiang troops. Zhao Xiaoqian kept his promise and distributed all the armor and weapons stored in the warehouse of the imperial guards to the Xiang troops. Nearly half of the soldiers of the Xiang troops were equipped with armor and new weapons, and the remaining ones were still not enough, so of course he took the initiative to ask the court for them.

Li Qingchen was Zhao Xiaoqian's ox and horse, and Zhao Xiaoqian was also the court's ox and horse.

The bigwigs lived a life of luxury in Bian Jing, and calmly discussed the situation between Song and Liao as if they were talking about the weather, their victories, how the occupied land would be distributed, and how the benefits would be digested.

Why are they so leisurely and comfortable, while Zhao Xiaoqian can only lead troops on the front line, suffering from the wind and frost day and night, and working in circles like oxen and horses?

Therefore, Zhao Xiaoqian would never be polite to the court, nor would he care about anything. If he needed something, he would directly submit a memorial to the court and ask for it. He was too lazy to find a solution himself.

Since you make oxen and horses pull the mill, you have to bear the resentment of the workers that is heavier than that of evil spirits.

During this period, Zhao Xiaoqian's interactions with Bianliang simply broke all previous records.

They needed money, food, people, war horses, armor, weapons... They asked Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun for everything they needed.

There is only one sentence in the memorial: you have to give it.

If you want me to continue winning battles and change the situation between Song and Liao, you must provide me with good logistics and use the whole country's strength to keep the army under my command fat and strong.

As expected, the court in Bian Jing was unable to refuse his request, and during this period, money, food, armor and weapons were sent to Zhending Prefecture one after another.

After all, who could resist an army that was practically invincible?

Unknowingly, Zhao Xiaoqian and his Dragon Guard Battalion had been carrying the extremely heavy expectations of the emperor, his ministers and the people of the Song Dynasty. The last victory report of destroying 50,000 Liao troops had given the emperor and his ministers hope, and the long-standing cowardly and timid concept had been greatly impacted.

It turns out that the so-called invincible Liao army can actually be defeated.

It turns out that our Song Dynasty's imperial guards are not weak. We can hold our heads high in front of the Liao people. When we meet the Liao people again in the future, we don't have to compromise or give in, let alone ask for peace. You are actually not that powerful, and you have been defeated by us before.

As for the annual tribute, don’t even think about it. The Song Dynasty will never give it to you again.

The meaning of "national dignity" is the dignity that a country regains after victory.

As for the Dragon Guard Camp that restored their dignity, the imperial court would naturally respond to any requests they made.

Because the Dragon Guard Battalion will go out again and win more victories.

…………

Inside Zhending City.

Zhao Xiaoqian moved to the former residence of the convicted official Liu Qianliang.

This mansion is indeed large and is one of the most luxurious houses in Zhending City. It has five courtyards in front and back, more than a dozen side courtyards, and a rockery and pond in the backyard. The decoration is extremely luxurious, and some places even exceed the regulations.

Zhao Xiaoqian withdrew another sum of money from the treasury, saying that he wanted to ask a Feng Shui master to do a feng shui calculation and get rid of the bad luck.

Li Qingchen approved 10,000 taels of silver with a painful look on his face, and handed it to Zhao Xiaoqian reluctantly, urging him to be thrifty and not to do it again. There was not much silver left in the treasury, so he should not come next time.

Zhao Xiaoqian accepted the money without hesitation and gave a look that said, "I'll come back next time when I'm short of money."

Zhao Xiaoqian personally participated in the confiscation of the property of the criminal officials. He knew better than Li Qingchen how much silver had been confiscated and how much was left in the treasury. This should be enough to cover the expenses of Zhending Prefecture for the next two to three years.

This prince has fought for his country all his life. Can't he enjoy himself?

Before moving, Zhao Xiaoqian paid craftsmen to modify the parts of the mansion that exceeded the regulations. This kind of handle must not be allowed to remain. Once confirmed, it would be a catastrophic disaster. However, the parts that exceeded the regulations could not provide Zhao Xiaoqian with any substantial enjoyment, so why keep them?
So, Zhao Xiaoqian and his three daughters happily moved into the new house, and Chen Shou and Jia Shi led the imperial guards to move all the miscellaneous belongings in.

The new house should have a new look, so Zhao Xiaoqian asked someone to find a human trafficker in the city, bought more than 20 maids and servants, hired a housekeeper, and arranged more than 50 imperial guards to guard the front yard to protect the safety of the house.

A plaque with the words "Hejian County Prince's Mansion" was hung high on the lintel. The plaque had to be in gold letters on a black background, indicating that the family was powerful and wealthy.

Now, this new house finally has some of the majesty of a prince's mansion. Officials and common people passing by the door are all in awe and walk cautiously as if they were walking on thin ice, for fear that the dogs inside will bite people.

After a few days of rest in Zhending, Zhao Xiaoqian found a great deal of relief, both physically and mentally. His body, in particular, was constantly being drained to its limit. The three female demons possessed immense magical power, and Zhao Xiaoqian, despite exhausting every ounce of his strength and employing hundreds of millions of elite soldiers, still found himself in a state of flux. When his back began to ache, he suddenly missed his fellow soldiers of the Dragon Guard Battalion.

The military camp is better than Pansi Cave. The people there are so simple and pure. They are purely nice to you. They won’t think about sleeping with you at night, nor will they use all kinds of seductive techniques to drain your body.

Zhao Xiaoqian decided to leave Zhending City tomorrow and return to the Longwei Camp.

After his kidneys recovered, he returned to the city to fight the three female fairies.

Counting the days, the transaction agreed with Yelu Chun is approaching, and the Longwei Camp is about to march north again to seize the Feihu Bingmasi. Zhao Xiaoqian must personally command such an important operation.

…………

Bian Jing, Yanfu Palace.

A secret report alarmed Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu, who had been accompanying Concubine Liu and enduring all the mischief this woman had done, hurried back to Funing Palace. Zheng Chunhe had been waiting outside the palace. When he saw Zhao Xu coming, he hurriedly bowed to greet him.

Zhao Xu waved his sleeve impatiently, "Stop talking nonsense. Where is Zi'an's memorial?"

Zheng Chunhe took out a memorial from his arms, sealed it and stamped it with wax.

Zhao Xu's expression tensed. He first carefully checked the sealing wax seal. After making sure that no one had tampered with it, he slowly tore off the sealing wax.

Zheng Chun was very eccentric and knew that this was a secret report, so he silently took two steps back and turned his back to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu opened the secret memorial and found Zhao Xiaoqian's familiar handwriting on it.

This Zi'an was an excellent writer and poet. His poems were still sung in the brothels of Bianjing. But for some reason, Zhao Zi'an's handwriting was terrible, so crooked that it was even worse than that of a three-year-old child.

Every time Zhao Xu saw his handwriting, he couldn't help but pinch his nose, as if he saw a pile of dog shit, with a look of disgust and anger at his lack of fighting spirit.

This time, when Zhao Xu opened the secret memorial and saw Zhao Xiaoqian's bad handwriting, he frowned and pinched his nose subconsciously.

This Zian is really...

When he returns to Beijing in triumph in the future, I will definitely find him a great scholar of the time to teach him calligraphy.

Zhao Xu secretly became angry, then suppressed his disgust and began to read the memorial word by word.

After a hasty glance, Zhao Xu's eyes widened in shock, and he gasped in disbelief. He then read it again, and again...

After reading it over and over again, Zhao Xu finally confirmed that the contents of the secret report were true and correct.

"They actually captured the Liao Dynasty's crown prince, Yelü Yanxi, alive?" Zhao Xu was stunned. He looked up at the clear blue sky outside the palace, still somewhat stunned, muttering to himself, "Did this crown prince just show up on his own?"

It’s so amazing, is the world just a huge makeshift team?

No normal person would do such a thing. What was wrong with the Liao Dynasty's crown prince that he allowed himself to be captured by the Song army?
After being stunned for a long time, Zhao Xu finally digested the news. At this moment, he finally understood why Zhao Xiaoqian insisted on sending this memorial to Bian Jing in the form of a secret memorial.

This is earth-shattering news!
With the Liao Dynasty's crown prince in hand, what will the Song Dynasty do next?
For the Song Dynasty, this was undoubtedly great news, just like a person winning a jackpot of five million, it was a pie falling from the sky.

The question now is how to use this huge good news to maximize the benefits for the Song Dynasty.

All kinds of ideas popped up in Zhao Xu's mind. He wanted to use Yelu Yanxi to demand various benefits from the Liao Kingdom, including land, cities, and even... the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

Of course, Zhao Xu knew very well that this was unrealistic. Yelu Yanxi was not worth that much, and Yelu Hongji would certainly not give up too much benefit for a crown prince.

Therefore, we must be careful about the scale of the demands we make and not push the Liao Kingdom too far. If they simply overturn the table, the Song Dynasty will get nothing.

After pondering for a long time, Zhao Xu realized that this matter was beyond his personal wisdom, so he carefully kept the secret memorial close to his body and then said in a loud voice: "Zheng Chunhe, pass the order and immediately order Zhang Dun, Zeng Bu, and the three of them to enter the palace to discuss the matter."

Zheng Chunhe accepted the order and just turned around when Zhao Xu called him again.

Zhao Xu looked thoughtful for a long time before adding, "Please invite Uncle Chu to come into the palace as well."

Zheng Chunhe was stunned.

Inviting the King of Chu to the palace for a discussion? What signal was this?
Not daring to think too much, Zheng Chunhe bowed and accepted the order and left in a hurry.

Not long after, the four of them hurried into the palace. Zhang Dun and the others sat in the Funing Palace with a calm expression on their faces. They glanced at King Zhao Hao of Chu who was sitting beside them with puzzled and thoughtful eyes from time to time.

The palace ladies conveyed the imperial edict to discuss matters. Zhang Dun and the other two were important officials in the court, either prime ministers or envoys to the Privy Council. It was common for them to enter the palace to discuss matters, so it was not surprising.

But today, something strange seems to have sneaked in...

Why is this fat old dude here?
(End of this chapter)