The prince is more stable

Chapter 573: Citywide Celebration
The three Song armies won a great victory, and the tense and suppressed atmosphere in Zhending City that had been suppressed for days finally cleared up.

When the news came that the Liao army was invading the Song Dynasty from three directions, the people of Zhending City felt uneasy. The merchants were the fastest running people in the city. The markets and shops that Li Qingchen had built with great difficulty had been closed for most of the days, which also affected the livelihoods of many people.

The war brought about a series of chain reactions, the first of which was the economic one.

Especially in recent days, the wing troops in charge of the city defense have suddenly become stricter. They ignore the current situation of unrest and declining people's livelihood in the city, but instead strictly check the civilians and merchants entering and leaving, casting a depressing shadow on the city.

Not only that, the garrison troops and government officials searched the city day and night, and it was said that they had captured a group of Liao spies. The people were even more panicked, and all kinds of rumors were rampant, becoming more and more outrageous.

Many people described in vivid detail that the Liao army was about to attack Zhending City. Some well-informed people said that after the Liao army captured Zhending City, they would definitely massacre the entire city. No man, woman, old or young in the city would escape. All the men would be killed, and the women would be raped and sent back to the Liao Kingdom as slaves.

I have to say that some of the news was true, and the Liao army did plan to massacre the city.

The prerequisite is that the Liao army has the ability to capture Zhending City.

People at the bottom of society are often the ones who are most likely to believe rumors, and their cognition determines that they can only follow the crowd.

In the past few days, panic in the city spread like a plague, and many people even fled the city with their families. The wing troops followed Zhao Xiaoqian's orders and strictly checked people entering the city, but did not stop anyone leaving the city.

The city of Zhending originally had a population of only tens of thousands, but on the day Zhao Xiaoqian returned, one-third of its population was gone.

When the whole city was in a state of panic, the news of victory finally arrived.

The Song army won great victories on three fronts, annihilating more than 70,000 enemies, an unprecedented victory.

At the beginning, Zhao Xiaoqian led the Longwei Camp to fight against the Liao army twice, killing more than 80,000 enemies in total, but that was the result of two battles. This time, the Song army was obviously more powerful and wiped out more than 70,000 Liao troops in one go.

When the victory report reached the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xiaoqian immediately ordered the government office to post the victory report throughout the city so that all the people in the city would know about it.

It is not to show off achievements, but to ensure the safety of the people.

No government notice to reassure the people is as real and reassuring as a piece of good news.

The runners from the government office got busy, carrying buckets of rice soup and paste to post the victory notice everywhere. The crowd in the city quickly gathered, and as the victory notice was read out word by word, the crowd suddenly fell silent, and then broke into thunderous cheers.

Victory! And it was an unprecedented victory, which meant that the Liao army could not capture Zhending City, and the lives of the people in the city were saved.

The cheering crowd gathered in groups of three or five. The same feeling of surprise and joy brought strangers together. More and more people gathered and soon it became a vast sea of ​​people.

Just as people were roaring and cheering, the shops on the street that had been closed for a long time quietly opened their doors. The shopkeepers and shop assistants stood at the door, shouting to attract customers and showing off their goods.

Restaurants, taverns, brothels, and prostitutes were suddenly packed with guests, unlike the gloomy and depressing atmosphere of many days. The business, which had been stagnant for a long time, began to flourish again within a day.

People all over the city were celebrating and cheering for the victory, and Zhending City quickly regained its former vitality.

In the Prince's Mansion, Li Qingchen came excitedly and laughed as soon as he saw them.

"Haha! Your Highness's mighty power is a blessing to the Song Dynasty! I congratulate Your Highness on your new achievements for the country."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled wryly and said to General Xu, "Every time this guy comes to my house, it's always around dinner time. The first two times I thought it was just a coincidence, but then I slowly became convinced that he was just finding all sorts of excuses to come to my house and eat for free."

Then Zhao Xiaoqian introduced General Xu to Li Qingchen. In fact, there was no need for an introduction as the two had known each other for a long time.

Speaking of which, Li Qingchen's qualifications are older than Xu Jiang's. Li Qingchen was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Huangyou, ten years earlier than Xu Jiang. Li Qingchen was also very famous back then. He was recommended by Ouyang Xiu as the Tongzhi Taichang Liyuan. Later, he also edited the national history and annotated the daily records for the government.

However, compared with General Xu who rose to prominence, Li Qingchen's career was much more bumpy. After years of ups and downs in officialdom, he always encountered inexplicable misfortunes or was implicated.

Now General Xu is already the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, but the more senior Li Qingchen is still only the judge of Zhending Prefecture. The status of the two is very different.

General Xu and Li Qingchen had known each other for many years. They had served as officials in Bian Jing together, but their relationship was not close. After not seeing each other for many years, they exchanged greetings again. Zhao Xiaoqian ordered the mansion to prepare a banquet.

It's a rare victory, so as the head coach, I naturally have to celebrate.

"Old Li, allocate some money from the treasury, buy some beef, mutton, pork and good wine, and send them to the Juma River camp to reward the three armies." Zhao Xiaoqian said suddenly.

Li Qingchen, who was chatting happily with General Xu, paused, put down his wine glass, smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness has led troops for many years, why don't you understand this little bit of etiquette?"

"The military's expenses are their own. Unless there is an official letter from the government or the Council of State, the Imperial Guards cannot use the local government's money."

"Your Highness wishes to reward the troops, and I wholeheartedly agree. However, rules are rules, and the Zhending treasury cannot spend this money."

Zhao Xiaoqian narrowed his eyes. "My words are useless, right? I'm also the prefect of Zhending, your immediate superior, and yet you're so stingy when I ask you for money."

Li Qingchen said with a stern face, "Even high-ranking officials have to abide by the rules. The money in the Zhending treasury has already been allocated, and there is no extra budget. Rewarding tens of thousands of soldiers is a huge expense, and the Zhending Prefecture cannot afford it." Zhao Xiaoqian was unhappy: "Hey? You..."

Before he could finish his words, General Xu, noticing the sudden rise in tension between the two, hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "Please stop arguing, it's not good for the relationship. Rewarding the troops is absolutely necessary, and Bangzhi is right to abide by the rules. If Zi'an wants to allocate money and grain, it won't be difficult. I can just ask the Ministry of Revenue in Bianjing for some money and grain."

"I have served in the Privy Council for many years, and I still have some respect in the court of Bianjing."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Xiaoqian and Li Qingchen said in unison: "In that case, thank you for your hard work, Mr. Chongyuan."

General Xu was stunned. Looking at the two men with serious and righteous expressions, he immediately understood something and pointed at them with a trembling hand: "You, you..."

Zhao Xiaoqian said innocently, "We are sincerely thanking Mr. Chong Yuan. Are you dissatisfied?"

General Xu sneered, "Alright, alright! Zhao Zian, I'm a man of my words. I'll provide Bianjing with plenty of money and food, but since you're treating me to dinner at the brothel tonight, I won't be polite."

"...Mr. Chongyuan, I have no problem treating you, but please take care of yourself," Zhao Xiaoqian said earnestly. "You are the deputy envoy sent by the emperor. If you get a stroke in Zhending City, not only will I be unable to explain to the emperor, but you will also be too embarrassed to face anyone."

General Xu said angrily: "That's my business. I want to be sucked dry tonight. What do you think?"

Zhao Xiaoqian ignored him and patted Li Qingchen beside him, saying, "It's said that he has become a deputy envoy of the Privy Council. Learn more from him. When it's time to risk your life, you must be willing to sacrifice your life. Old Li, if you can learn even a third of his skills, you will at least be a high-ranking official in the future."

Li Qingchen nodded repeatedly: "I understand, I understand, Your Highness... I also want to be sucked dry tonight."

"You pay for it yourself. I won't care if you want to use gas." Zhao Xiaoqian refused decisively.

Halfway through the banquet, General Xu, while still being sober, immediately asked his servants to bring him paper and pen, and wrote a memorial reporting the victory. He became more and more excited as he wrote, and finally he almost planned to compose an impromptu poem on the memorial, but was stopped by Zhao Xiaoqian's quick eyes and hands.

This guy's career has been so smooth. He has never been beaten or impeached. It seems that he has let himself go after coming to the border town.

After carefully reading the victory report several times and confirming that there were no omissions or typos, Zhao Xiaoqian signed the memorial jointly with General Xu.

Then he stamped the memorial with sealing wax and asked Chen Shou to send someone to deliver it to Bian Jing.

In the end, General Xu didn't go to the brothel because he was drunk.

Intellectual people all behave the same when they are drunk, they are all unrestrained and recite poems, a long string of poems. Today, to congratulate the Song army for their great victory, General Xu recited a series of frontier poems which was very appropriate.

Those Tang Dynasty frontier poets could not rest in peace in the afterlife as General Xu inexplicably brought them out one by one and made them recite their various frontier masterpieces wildly, and Zhao Xiaoqian could not stop him.

Before he passed out completely, General Xu grabbed the hem of Zhao Xiaoqian's clothes, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Zi'an, with you in the Great Song Dynasty, peace is not far away, right?"

Zhao Xiaoqian looked him straight in the eye and shook his head, "I don't know the answer to this question."

General Xu sighed and said, "I hope for peace. If the Song Dynasty can achieve peace, who says we can't see the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties again? I hope to see that day..."

As he spoke, General Xu closed his eyes, burped, and muttered, "The only one who has accomplished the feat of painting the pavilion of unicorns is Huo Piaoyao..."

After saying this, Xu Jiang fell into a deep sleep.

Li Qingchen, who was also quite tipsy, smiled and said, "Chong Yuan is comparing Your Highness to Huo Qubing. He hopes that you can be like him, sweeping away the Xiongnu, defeating the royal court, and bringing peace to the world. He has high hopes for Your Highness."

Zhao Xiaoqian was not drunk. For some reason, he was particularly sober at this moment, as if he was even more sober than when he had not drunk any alcohol.

Looking up at the starry sky, Zhao Xiaoqian said calmly, "I'm just someone who wants to change my destiny. The burden of 'world peace' is too heavy for me to bear."

…………

At night, Zhao Xiaoqian hugged the three girls, Niao Niao, but he couldn't sleep. There were too many distracting thoughts in his mind, and he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.

Niao Niao seemed to feel his chaotic emotions, and she leaned on his chest, silently using her feminine tenderness to resolve his worries.

Zhao Xiaoqian stroked her cascading hair, feeling somewhat apologetic, and said in a low voice, "Niao Niao, I'm leaving again tomorrow, returning to the Juma River camp."

As if she had anticipated his departure, Niao Niao sighed softly and said, "Master is a man of great importance. I dare not delay you. I only hope that when you are free, you can come back to see me and my sisters."

"Also, even if you are in the camp, please remember to think about us."

Zhao Xiaoqian said seriously, "Don't worry, Niao Niao. My longing for you is like the hair in my armpits. No matter how much I shave, it will continue to grow back."

"...Sir, from now on, you should calm down and focus on your important work. There's no need to talk about these sweet nothings and romantic things."

(End of this chapter)