This calligraphy, wow! In the government hall, Wang Pu was holding a handwritten order from the empress dowager and looking at it with fascination.
This room was separated from the hall outside by a wooden frame and paper-covered wall. Outside, there was a busy scene. Some people were using abacus to make crackling sounds, some were writing at their desks, some were talking, and some clerks were walking quickly between the desks to deliver documents. In the entire hall of the government hall, there were at least 80 officials working. The noisy and busy scene was like the heart of a large machine beating, fully automatic and unable to stop, and everyone had their own responsibilities.
Li Guyanzhi had just pushed the door open when he heard Wang Pu's voice.
Let me see. Li Gu reached out his hand and took the paper from Wang Pu.
Li Gu's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said: I didn't expect the Queen Mother to have such beautiful handwriting. Now I realize how beautiful her handwriting is. He praised her several times.
Wang Pu said: Just looking at the words, I feel like a spring breeze is blowing on my face. Haha, it's rare.
Yes, it's impossible to practice it even if you want to. How can a man cultivate the spirit and charm of these words? Li Gu stuffed the note into his sleeve while speaking.
Wang Pu glared at him and said: "Mr. Li, what do you mean by this? The eunuch sent this note to me, and he grabbed Li Gu's sleeve and tried to touch it, completely disregarding etiquette."
Li Gu covered his sleeves and pointed at the memorial on the table: The words of the Empress Dowager's reply, and
Fan Zhi snorted: "The memorials that the Queen Mother personally approved must be very important. You have delayed government affairs just to collect calligraphy. Do you treat state affairs as a joke?"
Li Gu smiled but said nothing. Wang Pu picked up a memorial and unfolded it, glancing at it: "Mr. Fan, take a look."
Fan Zhi took it and looked at the red seal. He was stunned for a moment and said in deep thought: We can rewrite the memorial and then approve it in the name of the Political Affairs Hall and keep it in the archives.
Wang Pu said seriously, "How can we treat national affairs as a joke?"
Inside the Dianqian Office, Zhang Yongde, Shi Yanchao, as well as Yuan Yan, Zhao Chao and others at the level of the Wing Commander-in-Chief were looking at the official document sent down by the Privy Council which contained the detailed accounts of money to be rewarded to the soldiers.
Maybe the lower-level soldiers were more concerned about money. Compared with the generals, the soldiers were very poor and needed money for their families’ birth, aging, illness and death. But Zhang Yongde and other generals didn’t care much about the copper, as they didn’t need it. They only cared about the queen mother’s attitude.
Especially Zhang Yongde, he has been very cautious recently and even speaks not as loudly as before.
Shi Yanchao said coldly: "The late emperor is gone, and the Queen Mother is in power. It's best. We don't know what the Queen Mother has been like over the years. I think there is nothing wrong. It's boring for us to sit here like this, so let's just go."
Zhang Yongde said calmly: The person the Palace Front Department is most at ease with is you, Deputy Commander Shi. Back in the Eastern Han and Northern Han battlefields, General Guo broke into the enemy lines several times to save you, and finally saved your life. How could he bear to touch you
Shi Yanchao looked displeased and said with a frown, "What does Inspector Zhang mean by talking about those things?"
After hearing this, Cao Zhao Chao cursed and said, "Don't bother about that. You should write a letter and ask the Queen Mother to withdraw the large number of Hujie troops stationed in front of our Dianqiansi Yamen. We feel very uncomfortable keeping them there."
Shi Yanchao was furious after hearing this. He slapped the armrest of the chair and pointed at Zhao Chao and said: "Fuck you, who the hell are you? I'm going to kill you now!"
Zhao Chao's face turned pale, and he didn't dare to fight back. On the eve of the Battle of Gaoping, he dared to disobey the late emperor and was imprisoned halfway through the march; when he attacked Huainan, he killed more than 3,000 surrendered soldiers overnight. Zhao Chao was also a violent person, but he was really a little weak in front of Shi Yanchao.
This guy Shi Yanchao flatters the late emperor from time to time in a disgusting way, but he does have a bad temper, is tall, has a long white face and lantern eyes, and can be very intimidating.
He was well-known in all countries of the world. He was the most powerful general of the imperial army of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He was very fierce in battle and was not afraid of death. Few people could defeat him in a one-on-one fight. Zhao Chao believed that if he angered this guy, he would be beaten up at the very least.
At this time, Zhang Yongde said coldly: Shi Yanchao, in front of his colleagues, you can dismiss anyone. I dare not dismiss a xiangdu commander as I want. Otherwise, you can do this.
It is better for Inspector Zhang to do the best. Shi Yanchao said coldly, and finally listened to Zhang Yongde's advice.
Zhang Yongde looked around and said helplessly: Forget it, let's go.
Zhao Chao left the Palace Front Office and went with Yang Guangyi, the commander of the Iron Cavalry Army. Yang Guangyi rode up and asked in a low voice: What do the people from the Palace Front Office say
Zhao Chao said coldly in a low voice that after Zhao Kuangyin left, the Zhaodu envoy was in disarray, and no one was useful. Everyone was just muddling along, waiting to be sent to other towns.
The court wants to exile us, Yang Guangyi asked.
Zhao Chao snorted coldly and said: The Queen Mother is a woman, if she is not frightened by so many big men of the Imperial Guards, what else can she dare to do? If she is not afraid, there is no need to put a vicious dog next to the Palace Front Office to guard her.
The Queen Mother is still very popular among the imperial guards, Yang Guangyi reminded him.
Zhao Chao said: "She is just a soft-hearted woman. It's okay for her to beg for mercy in front of the late emperor with a pitiful face." He smiled and said, "From my point of view, the queen mother will definitely not be able to kill anyone. If she dares to kill someone, she will not be afraid of evil spirits coming to her at night to claim her life."
Yang Guangyi felt relieved after hearing this and chuckled a few times: The Queen Mother is indeed not a little bit worse than the late Emperor. Perhaps we really worry too much about a woman. How could she suddenly become so cruel and ruthless
She only knows how to bring money to the army to buy people's hearts. Zhao Chao said again, thinking back to the time when I killed 3,000 surrendered soldiers with just one word, and the blood flowed like a river, without blinking an eyelid.
Yang Guangyi sighed again: It's a pity that the Empress Dowager will not let us take charge of the imperial guards in our future.
Zhao Chao looked back and tilted his head, saying: "It's too early to talk about this now. How many dynasties have changed over the years? I think the Zhou Dynasty is not far away. It may not be a bad thing for us to become a governor in the local area and become a figure like Fu Yanqing and Wang Zhang."
Yang Guangyi thought about it and said in a low voice: I dare not say that.
Zhao Chao said: You and I have known each other for so many years, what are you afraid of? Look at how the imperial guards are falling apart, who will lead them? Queen Mother Zhang Yongde is not afraid that he will lead his troops out and directly declare himself emperor.
Think about it, if tens of thousands of elite soldiers came to the Central Plains, who would go to fight? Could the 20,000 infantrymen of the left wing of the Tiger Army fight the country? They would have to stay in Tokyo to guard against thieves. The woman had no choice but to burn incense every day, begging the surrounding countries not to mobilize troops.
Asking for help is useless. The previous emperor has fought against everyone from the Northern Han, Shu, Southern Tang, and Khitan in recent years, and has offended everyone. If other countries can respond to the pleas of the Great Zhou, they will be completely humiliated. That day will not be too far away. Throughout history, no weak person can occupy the four warring areas of the Central Plains in troubled times.
Shi Yanchao came out of the Dianqian Division and happened to meet Guo Shao who was riding a horse from the Hujie Army’s base.
Shi Yanchao remembered that Zhang Yongde of the Palace Guard mentioned that he depended on this kid for his life, and he felt ashamed. Although he had no ill will towards Guo Shao, he just couldn't let go of his pride: Do you want me, the most powerful general of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the most powerful person in the world, to be grateful to a young junior
So he had a cold face, sat upright on his horse with his head held high, and looked directly at Guo Shao.
Guo Shao dismounted first, then clasped his fists and saluted, saying: I don't want to meet Marshal Shi here.
Shi Yanchao clasped his fists out of consideration for the relationship, and responded while sitting on horseback: "It turned out to be General Guo." After that, he slapped his horse and walked away, which was very rude.
A big-headed general beside Guo Shao kicked the horse's belly with an angry look on his face. Suddenly, Guo Shao grabbed him and said, "Third brother, General Shi is famous all over the world, and it is inevitable that he cherishes his reputation. It's just that I have some friendship with him. If it were any other general, he would ignore me. He has already given me face just now."
Shi Yanchao felt relieved after hearing this. He thought Guo Shao was a sensible person. Shi had this temper. If it wasn't for that person, I wouldn't even bother to care about him. Zhao Chao was known for being good at killing prisoners, but he was nothing but a grandson in front of me.
Before he had gone far, he heard Guo Shao praising him sincerely behind him: "Good man, a warrior is as majestic as a mountain. This is the appearance of a real man. Only with such brave generals and warriors can the Zhou Dynasty maintain its dignity."
Shi Yanchao was secretly happy to hear this, and thought that he should have said a few more words to him earlier.
Guo Shao walked into the Donghua Gate and entered the garrison office. Luo Mengzi was very dissatisfied and said: Everyone I met recently has been bowing and scraping to me, and that guy surnamed Shi really thinks he is a big shot.
He is a character to begin with. Guo Shao said, besides, such a person is not that dangerous, why should we bother with him? I was telling the truth in front of him, the Zhou Dynasty really needs a tough guy like Shi Yanchao.
Luo Mengzi held the helmet and touched his head: I still want to see everyone showing respect to Big Brother.
Guo Shao patted Luo Mengzi on the shoulder: Third brother didn't know what to say for a moment, so he gave up. Anyway, Guo Shao didn't believe that the whole Tokyo people really respected him so much in a few days. Most of them were just afraid of the power for a while.
He changed his tone and said with a smile: If I hadn't held you back just now, you would have been even more embarrassed. How dare you go up and compete with Shi Yanchao
Luo Mengzi was stunned by what he said.
Guo Shao smiled and said: Shi Yanchao has fought all over the country, and has never met an opponent in single combat with generals from various countries. Even Zhang Yuanhui, who was once known as the most powerful general in the Northern Han Dynasty, was afraid of him. He is very powerful, and my third brother is no match for him.
Luo Mengzi was not convinced that Zhang Yuanhui was not killed by his elder brother's arrow array.
Guo Shao said: I took advantage of his unpreparedness and shot him with a hidden arrow. If I had fought head-on, I guess he wouldn't have been able to take two blows. Don't worry about it. If we can't win, then we can't win. It doesn't matter. We fight with the soldiers we have.
The two chatted for a while, and then a personal soldier came in and bowed and said: My lord, the judge of the left hall of Kaifeng Prefecture is here to ask where you are.