The prince is more stable

Chapter 545 An Old Friend Arrives Suddenly
If possible, Zhao Xiaoqian would rather never hold power, especially military power.

He just stayed in Bianjing City and lived like a useless person, chopping wood, feeding horses, eating, drinking and whoring. He didn't care about food and vegetables, but was obsessed with beauty and reproducing offspring.

What a heavenly life this is.

Who would be willing to go to the frontier and be exposed to the wind and sun, leading a hundred thousand soldiers to march and fight, getting themselves covered in dirt regardless of victory or defeat, with neither delicious food nor beautiful women?

Anyway, Zhao Xiaoqian didn't like this kind of life. He lived as freely and comfortably as a god in Bianliang. Why did he have to endure such hardship?
The rumors in the court have become quieter and quieter these days. Regarding the Liu Xianzhen case, under the intentional or unintentional suppression of Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun, the court officials gradually became silent.

Feeling that the day when Zhao Xu would restore his official position was getting closer, Zhao Xiaoqian also felt a sense of urgency.

He was busy enjoying himself, busy making babies with his wives and concubines, and busy enjoying himself to the fullest before the hardships came.

Zhao Hao has been a little quiet these days. Ever since Concubine Liu gave birth to the prince, Zhao Hao has become much quieter and locks himself in the backyard of the palace every day to drink.

Zhao Xiaoqian accompanied him several times and tried to persuade him seriously, but Zhao Hao remained unmoved.

But the miraculous thing is that Zhao Hao recovered very quickly. He became cheerful and naughty again, immoral and outrageous. It was said that he had hooked up with a widow in Bian Jing, and he hung out with the widow every day and didn't even go back to the palace.

I don’t know what kind of obsession Zhao Hao has with widows. There are so many young and beautiful concubines in the palace, but he doesn’t touch them, but instead falls in love with various widows.

Sometimes Zhao Xiaoqian couldn't help but speculate maliciously, wondering if Zhao Hao was caught cheating in bed with someone else's husband when he was young, so he later became obsessed with hooking up with widows, which was safe and satisfying, and doing something in front of the husband's tablet might make him even more excited by this beastly behavior.

In the next few days, Zhao Xiaoqian was ordered to inspect the four armies in Bian Jing.

The Upper Four Armies are the core troops guarding Bianliang, and can be said to be the elite among the elite. One of the four armies, the Dragon Guard Camp, has already been fully stationed at the Juma River. What Zhao Xiaoqian has to do is to select 80,000 soldiers from the remaining Upper Three Armies and bring them to Zhending Prefecture in the future.

The remaining three upper armies are the "Sun-Bonding Camp", "Tianwu Camp" and "Shenwei Camp", plus the border guarding Dragon Guard Camp, collectively known as the "Upper Four Armies".

The rated strength of each battalion of the Upper Four Armies is 50,000 men, and the total strength of the four armies is 200,000.

However, due to the extremely strict requirements for being selected for the Upper Fourth Army and not many people meeting the physical fitness standards, the Upper Fourth Army of Bian Jing is always short of rank. The number of soldiers in the Fourth Army is basically the same as that of the Dragon Guard Battalion, both maintained at around 30,000.

From this we can also see that the soldiers in the upper four armies are indeed elite soldiers and brave generals. Theoretically, if Zhao Xiaoqian closes his eyes and picks people from them, anyone he picks will be qualified.

But since Zhao Xu ordered him to make the selection, he still had to pretend.

Zhao Xiaoqian was a very lazy person. Of course, he could not do such a tiring task as selecting 80,000 soldiers by himself.

After first inspecting the major camps of the three armies, Zhao Xiaoqian observed the soldiers' training.

It has to be said that the elite among the elite are indeed quite capable. Zhao Xiaoqian can discover many details by watching their training postures.

Compared with ordinary imperial guards and local garrison troops, the soldiers of the three armies are the strongest in terms of physical strength, quality, endurance, reaction ability, etc.

At the same time, Zhao Xiaoqian inspected the four armies in Bian Jing, causing quite a stir in the major camps.

Zhao Xiaoqian's action of inspecting the camp has already sent too many obvious signals to the soldiers.

As everyone knows, since the Longwei Camp followed Zhao Xiaoqian to the north to guard the border, it has defeated the Liao army several times and annihilated more than 80,000 enemies. It is said that after the war, Zhao Xiaoqian sent a long list of names requesting merit to Bian Jing. The emperor was delighted to hear the good news and was in a good mood. He approved all of Zhao Xiaoqian's memorials without changing a single word.

So after defeating the Liao army several times, thousands of ordinary soldiers in the Longwei Camp were promoted to low-level military officers, and there was also a group of promoted officials with nominal titles, etc.

Not only can you get promoted, but you can also make money by following Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian's military discipline was both loose and strict, which sounds contradictory, but very reasonable.

There were strict orders not to harm the people of the Song Dynasty, but there were no taboos towards the people of the enemy country, and the soldiers were allowed to kill and loot. What was even more surprising was that the looted property did not have to be handed over, and they kept it for themselves.

It is said that most of the soldiers in the Dragon Guard Camp have become rich, and their parents have built new houses and bought more land.

Simply put, following His Royal Highness Zhao Xiaoqian, the future is bright. You can get promoted and make money. If you work hard, you may be able to achieve class advancement.

For the soldiers of the four armies in Bian Jing, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So when Zhao Xiaoqian inspected the major camps in Bianliang, the soldiers behaved particularly actively. Whether they were forming a battle array, charging, or conducting drills, they held their chests high and even tried to stand on tiptoe, fearing that His Royal Highness the Prince would not see him.

After just a few days of inspection, Zhao Xiaoqian had a basic understanding of the situation of the three armies.

As for the process of selecting 80,000 soldiers, lazy people naturally have lazy ways.

Zhao Xiaoqian ordered people to set up some devices on the training grounds of each major camp, including obstacle railings, sand, barbed wire, large stone mills weighing 100 kilograms, etc.

The selection process is very simple, just like the daily training of soldiers in previous lives. First, run ten miles, then jump over hurdles, climb walls, and crawl on barbed wire. The series of actions are timed with an hourglass.

The entire process was open and transparent. Zhao Xiaoqian also sent Chen Shou and hundreds of other imperial guards to supervise the execution on the training ground, preventing those with ulterior motives from succeeding.

While the people of Bianjing City were living their ordinary lives day after day, the atmosphere in the camps of the three armies was tense and solemn. Following Zhao Xiaoqian's orders, each camp carried out selection activities in full swing.

After Zhao Xiaoqian assigned tasks to each camp, he decisively returned to the palace and continued his boring life of eating, drinking, having fun and making babies.

A few days later, lanterns were hung high in the mansions and houses of Bianjing City, and the streets were filled with the aroma of mooncakes. Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and for the ancients, Mid-Autumn Festival was a major festival that must be treated with great ceremony.

What is distressing is that at this time every year, Su Shi's "Water Melody" is sung repeatedly in the streets and alleys of Bianjing, and the author Su Shi becomes popular again at this time every year and his fame reaches a new level.

There were still a few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival. That afternoon, a caravan slowly approached the outside of Bianjing City.

The caravan was not large, with a total of dozens of people including merchants, assistants and bodyguards.

The leader of the caravan was wearing a silk shirt, had a beard on his lips, and wore a round-top felt hat unique to the Western Regions. He looked at the tall and majestic walls of Bianjing City with a dusty face and let out a long breath.

This person was none other than the long-lost Xiao Guangjing.

Following the instructions of his father Xiao Wuna, Xiao Guangjing disguised himself as a Hu merchant from the Western Regions and came to Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, hiding his identity.

This trip to Bian Jing is not as glorious as the last time.

The last time Xiao Guangjing was an honorable envoy from Liao, he was formally welcomed by officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple of the Song Dynasty when he entered the city. Of course, there was also some unpleasantness with Zhao Xiaoqian.

This time, Xiao Guangjing was no longer in glory. After all, the Liao Kingdom did not formally send an envoy. Xiao Guangjing came to the Song Dynasty purely for personal reasons, and he could not let the Liao Kingdom know.

The Song Dynasty encouraged trade and did not make things difficult for Xiao Guangjing's Hu merchant caravan. After checking the customs documents along the way, they happily let them into the city.

Stepping onto the land he had not visited for a long time and recalling his experiences in Bianliang, Xiao Guangjing could not help but feel mixed emotions.

He laughed here and cried here.

Here he lived and here he died.

When he came, he was a glorious envoy of the Liao Kingdom, but when he left, he had become a traitor of the Liao Kingdom and was successfully instigated to rebel.

From then on, the lives of the Xiao family father and son seemed to be forcibly pulled off course by an invisible force, heading towards an unknown tomorrow...

Thinking of this, Xiao Guangjing's eyes became complicated, and his face showed a mixture of sadness and joy.

"This time, I must take back what I lost!" Xiao Guangjing secretly clenched his fists, revealing a determined look, like a soldier king returning to the city to rescue his wife who sold herself in a brothel, a middle school student and passionate.

Then Xiao Guangjing was stunned.

What exactly did I lose, and what do I want to get back?
...Never mind, I have to take it back!
After entering the city, Xiao Guangjing sent the caravan's followers to find an inn to stay in, while he walked towards the Prince of Chu's Palace alone.

Half an hour later, Xiao Guangjing arrived at the gate of the Prince of Chu's Mansion and looked up at the towering lintel of the mansion.

The imperial guards on duty in front of the gate came forward and rudely shouted at him to leave, but Xiao Guangjing did not leave. He looked around the crowd of imperial guards on duty, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.

He saw Chen Shou.

What a coincidence, it is Chen Shou's turn to be on duty today.

As Zhao Xiaoqian's personal bodyguard who had followed him for many years, Chen Shou naturally knew Xiao Guangjing.

The two looked at each other, a glance that lasted for a thousand years.
A moment later, Xiao Guangjing met Zhao Xiaoqian in the Yin'an Hall of the palace.

Zhao Xiaoqian was wearing a thin silk shirt. Although it was almost Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather was still hot. Zhao Xiaoqian was sweating profusely. Two maids followed him closely, fanning him as he walked.

Seeing Xiao Guangjing sitting in the Yin'an Hall, Zhao Xiaoqian was stunned for a moment, and could not help but feel inexplicably surprised: "...Hey, my friend, are you here to sell lamb skewers or raisins?"

Xiao Guangjing was stunned and subconsciously lowered his head to look at his clothes. He found that he was now dressed like a Western Hu merchant, with a unique curled beard on his lips.

Blinking in confusion, Xiao Guangjing also said blankly: "Zhao Zian,...after you were dismissed from office, did you also go blind?"

"Hey, my friend, you'll get beaten if you talk nonsense!"

Xiao Guangjing was furious. He raised his hand and pulled off his long mustache, angrily saying, "Hey, my friend, take a closer look. Do you recognize me?"

Zhao Xiaoqian squinted his eyes and looked at him for a long time, then slowly shook his head: "...I don't know him."

Xiao Guangjing stamped his feet in anger: "I am Xiao Guangjing!"

"Impossible! The Xiao Guangjing I know is a dashing, elegant, and refined gentleman. He can't possibly be this ugly and tacky. Why don't you tell me a secret that only we two know so we can verify it?"

Xiao Guangjing's expression was numb and empty, his cheeks twitched violently a few times, and he recalled an unbearable experience in the past.

"Have you ever fallen into the cesspool at the Bianjing Inn? ... I did."

Zhao Xiaoqian was startled, as if he had just recognized him. He said in surprise, "Brother Xiao! So it's really Brother Xiao. Long time no see!"

"Zhao Zian...you are so hypocritical!"

(End of this chapter)