General, he's cheating again

Chapter 1 The Return

It was February spring, and the sun was shining in the sky above the city of Kyoto. Looking up, it was cloudless.

Thousands of fine horses stopped in front of the city gate in a staggered pattern, and the clank armor of the soldiers on the horses glowed with a cold white light.The soldier guarding the city gate took the black iron token held by the leader, immediately bowed his head and half-kneeled in salute, and then stood up and shouted: "Open the city gate! Report! General Gu has entered the capital!"

Gu Zhen's slender fingers on the horse's back received the token handed back by the soldier for inspection, and he tapped the horse's belly with his hand on the rein and shouted "drive", and the horse's hooves stepped over, bringing up a gust of wind.

The soldiers guarding the city gate dispatched one to rush into the palace ahead of Gu Zhen's army to report the news.

After three years, the turmoil in Liaodong was pacified, Koryo was surrendered as a subsidiary state of the Song Dynasty, and five cities were ceded to offer countless treasures to the Song Dynasty to show their sincerity.

In order to frighten Liaodong, Gu Zhen beheaded the head of Jin Yanyu, the general of Koryo, and hung his body over the city gate to warn everyone.

"General, can you hold on?" Leng Ji, the lieutenant who had been following Gu Zhen, noticed that Gu Zhen's face was pale and subconsciously looked at Gu Zhen's chest. come out.

Gu Zhen was sneak attacked by an assassin last night, and the assassin's sharp dagger went straight to his heart. Although Gu Zhen dodged it quickly, he was still stabbed between the ribs in the center.Later, Gu Zhen just bandaged it briefly, knowing that it would be inconvenient to stay here for a long time, so he hurried back to Kaifeng overnight.

Immediately bumping up to this point, the wound on the chest was soaked in sweat and the infection became more and more serious.Gu Zhen endured it calmly until now, even with a lazy smile on his face, he looked sideways at Leng Ji, who only had one eye and frowning slightly, and the corner of his lips curled into a chuckle,

"Lengji, master, if you can't hold on to this little injury, can you still live until now?"

Leng Ji raised his hand to caress his left eye, which was covered with black veil, and recalled the scenes he experienced with Gu Zhen from childhood to adulthood.He was picked up by Gu Zhen, because of his eye disease, he was abandoned by his parents since he was a child, and was beaten and excluded by children of the same age.Leng Ji remembered that it was Gu Zhen who saved him when he was beaten to death.Even at that time when Gu Zhen was outnumbered and fought with many people, he would injure one thousand and eight hundred, even though he was a one-eyed blind man who did not know Gu Zhensu.

Leng Ji nodded, silently retreated behind Gu Zhen, his expression returned to his usual expressionless face.

In fact, Gu Zhen felt that he really couldn't hold on anymore. He hadn't slept or eaten all night and was exhausted non-stop. In addition, the inflammation of the wound caused his eyes to heat up, and his thoughts became more and more drowsy.

He thought of the dagger with a cold light last night, and also thought of the dead body that was beheaded by him and hung on the gate of the city, still dangling in the sun.A sentence echoed in Gu Zhen's ear, "Devil, you have caused my Jin family to suffer such a great humiliation, and I will definitely drag you into hell to repay it!" The dagger stabbed straight down his heart, and the assassin's eyes were full of fierceness. .

Gu Zhen shook his head and jumped out of his thoughts.He looked up at the sun and narrowed his eyes slightly, and rode his horse to speed up the pace of entering the palace.

Sandalwood incense is curling up in the arched hall, and several high and low memorials are piled up on the black wooden imperial case with dragon pattern.Occasionally, a soft sigh could be heard in the hall of Nuo Da, passing by in a flash and then disappearing into the dust.

Li Chengfu, the chief servant, held the whisk in his right hand halfway in front of his abdomen. The light white deer tail hair on the front of the whisk rested on his half-raised left arm. According to outside reports, General Gu has entered Beijing."

Hearing the sound, the person behind the case put down his pen, straightened his already sore back, stretched his brows, looked at the silver-haired Li Chengfu with a faint smile, "Gu Zhen is back, good news."

Li Chengfu raised his head and looked at Song Xun, who had faded from childishness and grown into the Ninth Five-Year King who could truly look down on the world, and then praised with a smile: "Yes, Your Majesty. It took only three years for General Gu to repel Goryeo." And let him bow his head to my Great Song Dynasty, he is really a natural born soldier, a towering genius."

After finishing his compliments, Li Chengfu carefully looked at Song Xun's expression and saw that Song Xun seemed to have doubts, so he said again: "It's just a sigh, but this General Gu is still young, and giving him an honorable reward may attract criticism from the courtiers." In this way, I don't know if it will be a blessing or a curse for him."

"Hmph," Song Xun picked up the warm tea in front of him and sipped it, put down the cup and stared straight at Li Chengfu with a sneer, "Gu Zhen seems to be a year older than me."

Li Chengfu knew that he had said something wrong, thinking that when his Lord Long Live was contemptuously suppressed by a group of ministers in the court when he took the throne, he quickly knelt down and apologized: "Your Majesty! This old slave said something wrong, this old slave deserves to die! I'm just afraid that General Gu will become the target of public criticism from now on, and I'm afraid that in the future, murders will inevitably happen one after another."

In early spring, the chill is not over.There are several plum trees scattered in the corner of the outer courtyard of the Chuigong Hall. The sallow flowers and dark green leaves are staggered in front of the pink and white courtyard wall.Song Xun shifted his gaze from Li Chengfu's trembling body to the outside of the courtyard, and walked down the corridor with his hands behind his back, his eyes dim.Song Xun recalled that Gu Qinan, the envoy of the Privy Council, was assassinated on his way to Beijing seven years ago, and Qin Yi, the political adviser, and the late emperor died successively the following year, and the world was handed over to him.At that time, he was 14 years old. After ascending to the throne for the first time, he was controlled by the powerful minister Lin Wenshan, and the situation inside and outside the court became more and more turbulent.

At that time, Lin Wenshan, the prime minister of the Zhengshitang, was the only one left in the court.Lin Wenshan has a strong influence in the court, and he often stands up to help Song Xun at critical moments, which makes Song Xun firmly seated on the throne soon.

However, Lin Wenshan's great power in the court is also a bad thing for Song Xun. Over the years, Lin Wenshan often interfered in political affairs and disobeyed Song Xun's will, which made Song Xun very dissatisfied.Exactly three years ago, when the imperial examination was held, Qin Qingrong, the son of Qin Yi, won the first place in the examination. Song Xun was overjoyed and ordered Qin Qingrong to be appointed as a political counselor in the Political Affairs Hall so as to stand against Lin Wenshan. Lecture.

Qin Qingrong is talented, gentle and polite. He knows everything about astronomy, geography, military books and war strategies. He always smiles kindly when he sees people.In the past, when he was studying in the Imperial College, Qin Qingrong was designated by the late emperor as Song Xun's companion.

At that time, although Qin Qingrong was brilliant, he was never arrogant or impetuous. When a student came to him for advice, no matter whether it was a noble son or a poor scholar, he treated him equally.It's just that other people can see that even though Qin Qingrong always looks gentle and kind, there is a coldness and indifference in his eyes that cannot be shaken off, as if no matter who is in his life, he is just a dispensable person. passerby.

The ministers who were attached to Qin Yi in the middle of the court knew Qin Qingrong was a talented person, and Song Xun ordered Qin Qingrong to be a political adviser when Song Xun made the list. In addition, Song Xun had made up his mind to dismiss Lin Wenshan and his colleagues. The opposition of the courtiers.From now on, the power in the Zhengshitang will be divided into two groups. This is also the first step for Song Xun to get rid of Lin Wenshan's puppet.

At that time, not only the dark waves in the court were turbulent, but also the border war broke out after the news of Gu Qinan's death, and the most dangerous place was Liaodong.

The civil and military champions of this year's imperial examinations are Qin Qingrong and Gu Zhen respectively. If it is said that Qin Qingrong was supported by everyone at that time, then Gu Zhen was reviled by thousands of people.

This origin also starts with Gu Zhen's father, Gu Qinan.

In the former dynasty, Gu Qinan was not only the general who protected the country, but also the envoy of the Privy Council, but also the cousin of the first emperor, who was named the king of Huaibei.Because Gu Qinan held a lot of power, there were often rumors that Gu Qinan would rebel and seize power with the prince during the battle of the previous dynasty.

It was only later that his nature was exposed, and everyone knew that Gu Qinan was brutal and bloody, and that he would not become a wise king with sinister and vicious methods.It didn't take long for Gu Qinan's notoriety to become a topic of popular talk among the people, and the image of the Great General Protecting the Nation was completely ruined and lost the hearts of the people.

As the saying goes, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked. His son Gu Zhen was notorious for his flirtatious nature when he was young.At that time, Gu Zhen was ignorant, and his reputation as a playboy spread from Huaibei to the capital.The first emperor couldn't bear it, and ordered Gu Zhen to study in the Imperial College, but he didn't want Gu Zhen's nature to be difficult to change, and even made the ministers of the court complain repeatedly.

Those ministers who suffered from it either had their children brought down by Gu Zhen, or Gu Zhen was bullying the weak in school.During that time, what caused the first emperor's daily headache was not drought, flood, tyranny and famine, but Gu Zhen's killing the future pillars of the imperial court.

The late emperor once asked Qin Yi what he thought of this matter, and told him that he was suffering in his heart. Gu Qinan's brutal and bloody nature was probably related to his long experience in the battlefield.The first emperor hoped that Gu Zhen could inherit his father's career. The first emperor thought that it didn't matter if he had some bad habits, but he had to learn and be incompetent, wasting the rich talents of the Gu family.

Qin Yi just smiled at that time, and he said to the first emperor that because the courtiers' evaluation of Gu Zhen was either derogatory or reprimanding, he asked his family son Qin Qingrong, is Gu Zhen really as absurd as the rumors?But to Qin Yi's surprise, Qin Qingrong commented to Gu Zhen at that time, "Lan Fang never tires of the valley, and a gentleman does not cultivate for fame.".

After that, the first emperor sent Gu Zhen back to Huaibei, and the court finally returned to peace.But no one expected that this ignorant person would win the first place in the martial arts list in the imperial examination, which surprised all the officials.

At that time, there were two rumors in the capital city. The first was that Qin Qingrong, the number one scholar in liberal arts, was not only knowledgeable, but also far superior to Tanhua in appearance. He was a rare talent and beauty; Today's champion of martial arts.

When the list was awarded, Song Xun put most of his energy into securing Qin Qingrong's position as a political adviser in the political affairs hall. He originally wanted to follow the late emperor's last wish, and if Gu Zhen won the imperial examination, he would give him the position of envoy of the Privy Council , but Lin Wenshan still obstructed it.

Song Xun's strength was exhausted and he was at a stalemate with Lin Wenshan and others. Gu Zhen took the initiative to ask Ying to go to Liaodong to vindicate himself.

At this moment, Song Xun could smell the faint fragrance of plum blossoms in the breeze. He turned his back to Li Chengfu and said lightly: "Get up and talk. The sharp edge of the sword is sharpened. If Gu Zhen is even timid about this storm, how can he take on the big responsibility?

I heard that he hung Jin Yanyu's body over the head of Koryo City this time, is that the case? "

A fine layer of cold sweat had already appeared on Li Chengfu's forehead, he got up on the ground, wiped the sweat with his wide sleeves and replied: "If you go back to the emperor, General Gu has indeed done this."

Song Xun smiled brightly, "Well done! Just like this, I want to warn all countries and countries that our Song Dynasty has never lacked brave and good fighters! The beheading of Jin Yanyu is not only a demonstration against Korea, but also a warning to other countries. !"

Picking up a bright yellow scroll with dragon patterns on the imperial case, Song Xun looked at Li Chengfu with a happy expression, "Li Chengfu, go to the gate of the palace to meet Gu Zhen and announce the decree. I want to make him an envoy of the Privy Council. I will serve as the new general protecting the country." Give ten thousand taels of precious gold and silver!"