Li Yan was lying on the couch, covered with soft quilts, his chest rising and falling slightly, and he slept soundly.
But the next moment, his eyes suddenly opened, he reached out his hand, took off the chain knife hanging on the tent, and dodged out.
Only a moment after leaving the house, Uncle Mute was seen rushing out of another room. The master and the disciple looked at each other and looked out of the courtyard.
The sound of horse hooves broke the silence of the night, and a group of people galloped over.
"Who could it be at this time?"
Li Yan was confused, but not panicked.
He never does anything wrong and doesn't worry when he knocks on the door in the middle of the night. Whether he beats the Tibetan team or discovers Liniang's identity, he is worthy of the people of Liangzhou and the motherland of the Tang Dynasty.
Unless Tubo conquers Liangzhou, no one should come to kill them in the middle of the night...
Uncle Dumb's body soon relaxed, but his expression turned out to be unexpectedly ugly. He snorted coldly, turned around, and disappeared.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
Li Yan was greatly surprised.
When his life experience turned into Li Jing's direct grandson, Uncle Dumb didn't even react so much. Who was it?
"Uncle Qiu?"
The next moment, the answer is revealed.
That eye-catching armor was so eye-catching that Qiu Ying rode quickly to the entrance of the hospital, turned over gracefully and said, "Liu Lang, we meet again!"
Li Yan greeted him, somewhat surprised: "Uncle Qiu, have you finished your errands for the saint?"
Qiu Ying took off his helmet, revealing a powerful and domineering middle-aged face, with some white temples: "Thanks to you for this, let's go in and talk!"
Qiu Ying was the only one who actually entered the courtyard. The rest of the guards dispersed in silence and guarded various important roads.
Li Yan couldn't help but take a glance, and felt that the elite level of these people seemed to be much stronger than the guards in his impression.
Qiu Ying noticed his observation, and his eyes became more appreciative. He entered the house, sat on the bench with a golden sword, and said straight to the point: "I am here in the name of a saint to thoroughly investigate the secrets that Tibet has penetrated into our country.
You're such a treacherous person, but as soon as you got some clues, you won the first place for me, haha!"
Li Yan suddenly realized that he was here for Liniang, but he still couldn't understand it.
Are the leaders of the Tang Dynasty also exaggerating? Qian Niu is still responsible for catching spies?
Did you work overtime all the way from Chang'an to Liangzhou?
"Rokuro, I am not only Senniu Bishen, I also have another identity!"
Qiu Ying rolled up his sleeves and exposed his arms, and saw marks tattooed on them. They were two large eagles, pierced by an arrow.
"This little tattoo is quite unique...wait a minute!"
Li Yan felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
In addition to his official duties as an official, he also has another hidden identity. Then he took off his clothes and revealed his secret parts with a plum blossom printed on them.
Isn’t this the style of Wu Zetian’s spy organization, Plum Blossom Internal Guard?
As expected, Qiu Ying said: "I am still the leader of the Internal Guard Pavilion, responsible for investigating and arresting foreign enemy spies, and protecting the safety of our Tang Dynasty."
Li Yan pretended to be questioning: "Inner guard?"
Qiu Ying nodded, showing his pride: "The first chief of our internal defense is Sun Sheng, the Duke of Qi. He took advantage of the power within the Turks to make friends with distant people and attack those close to home.
department."
"During this process, an internal guard was established to collect all Tibetan intelligence from both near and far."
"The Turks were in internal strife, suffered from famine, and turned their bones into food. The Sui Dynasty did not waste troops to relieve the border danger, and our internal guards played an indispensable role!"
Grinding bones for food can be regarded as ashes mixed with rice. Of course, the Turks at that time were so poor that they had no food at all, so they probably gnawed the ashes with grass, which was really miserable.
Waging a war and defeating the barbarians is majestic, but often comes at a huge cost. Diplomats like Chang Sun Sheng split the enemy's forces without using troops. In a sense, it is more in line with the plan of military conquest, and the strategy of conquest by subordinates.
The military master is the best.
"No wonder it's this mark."
And Li Yan also understood the origin of the mark.
The origin of the famous idiom "kill two eagles with one stone" is Chang Sun Sheng's famous scene in the Turks. An arrow penetrated two large eagles, and the Turkic Khan was greatly admired.
In this world, Chang Sun Sheng was indeed far-sighted when he established the Internal Guard. He was a genius of a generation, but the functions of the Internal Guard were inexplicably familiar, a bit like a CIA in later generations...
"The second chief minister of our inner guard is Pei Ju, the Duke of Anyi County. He further divided the Turks, planted spies in the king's tent, and at the same time planned the Western Regions and attacked Tuyuhun. He is an outstanding figure no less than the Duke of Qi..."
Qiu Ying didn't mention much about these second generations.
After all, Pei Ju had a bad reputation and was too tactful. During the Taizong period, he could no longer maintain his position as the leader of the Imperial Guard.
Li Yan understood the meaning and asked: "Who is the third chief of the cabinet?"
Qiu Ying was a little embarrassed: "It's Sun Wuji, the former Duke of Zhao."
Changsun Sheng was originally the father of Empress Wende Changsun and Changsun Wuji. After Pei Ju, Changsun Wuji naturally became the third chief of the inner guard.
"That's it..."
Li Yan understood what happened next. It was originally intended to divide the enemy country externally, but now it even arranged the internal affairs of the FBI. The power was too great.
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, the inner guard was used by Changsun Wuji to control the officials, and the court became his voice. It was okay to say bad things about Emperor Li Zhi, but no one dared to say anything wrong about Changsun Wuji.
Later, Li Zhi used the post-abolition to break the situation, and successfully regained power after receiving the support of Li Ji. Within a few years, Changsun Wuji's internal guard powers were deprived one by one, and he was finally convicted and exiled to Lingnan, where he was forced to commit suicide on the way.
After the death of Changsun Wuji, even the temple built by Li Shimin to worship Changsun Sheng was destroyed, and the internal guard organization was also dismantled.
It was not until last year, after the Battle of Dafeichuan, that Li Zhi renovated Changsun Sheng's temple that internal defense was taken seriously again.
Then Qiu Ying was ordered to become the first trusted minister to restore his status as a cabinet leader.
After briefly explaining the cause and effect, Qiu Ying's mind reappeared in the memory of the saint who summoned him in the Daming Palace and said something sincere and sincere:
"Wuji is my great-uncle. The late emperor entrusted his old ministers to him, and he has made great contributions to the country and to me. I don't have to keep it secret. However, he relied on his favor, guarded the interior for his own selfish interests, formed cliques and wielded power, and destabilized the government!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "I and Queen Jian eliminated his party, made the punishments clear, and abolished the internal guards. It was purely out of justice and public conscience, and I still don't think it is wrong."
"However, time has passed and the situation has changed. I am thinking about it in the middle of the night. Wuji hanged himself in Qianzhou. His merits and demerits have been matched, and his sins have been atoned for. The internal defense is an important weapon of the country and cannot be abandoned. Today, Tubo is arrogant, spies are spying on Longyou, and they are plotting against Japan.
For a long time, can the internal guards take care of my worries?"
At that time, Qiu Ying was overjoyed and immediately boasted: "The inner guards are determined to conduct a thorough investigation of Longyou. The sage can listen to Mingyuan. Every detail will be known to you!"
Then, after a little preparation, he rushed to Liangzhou without stopping, preparing to do something big to prove the necessity of restoring the internal defense.
Li Yan also understood. Looking at Qiu Ying who looked expectant, he smiled dryly: "Uncle Qiu, are you telling me this to mean...?"
Qiu Ying was really rude: "Yuanfang, are you willing to join the inner guard?"
Li Yan hesitated.
Although Qiu Ying introduced clearly that the three generations of leaders of the inner guards were all high-ranking officials, he still felt a little resistant when he thought that the Meihua inner guards in the Wu Zhou period hated ghosts and tired of ghosts.
I am the direct grandson of Li Jing, the current son of Duke Wei, and a standard noble queen!
"I……"
"Yuanfang, you have made great contributions in capturing the Tibetan spy. After entering the inner guard, you can be directly promoted to the military guard. You don't have to go through the official selection process. You can be named a ninth-grade military official and a benevolent and brave captain."
"Of course I am interested. In fact, it doesn't matter whether I am an official or not. The main thing is to help Uncle Qiu..."
Li Yan changed his words temporarily and smiled suddenly: "Is it true that you don't have to go through the civil service selection process?"
"I didn't expect you to be a petty official fan..."
Qiu Ying also laughed: "The inner guards have always been directly assigned to the imperial power. Not to mention the official department, even the three provinces can't control us. It's just that the places are scarce and you have to make great achievements before you can be promoted. Yuanfang has talents and the path of the inner guards is right.
It suits you!”
Qiu Ying does not hate those who like to be officials, but he hates those hypocrites who pretend to be noble but actually wish they could be prime ministers.
Not only him, but also Li Zhi and Empress Wu. As a close confidant, Qiu Ying knew the emperor's thoughts very well.
Although Li Yan is also a son of a noble family in terms of status, he has endured hardships since he was a child in Liangzhou and has not yet recognized his ancestors. If he is introduced to the saint first and then to the Duke's mansion, there will be a big problem in the distance between him and his relatives.
There is a difference.
Obviously, Qiu Ying's mentality at this time has changed.
Li Yan went from being the son of an old friend to a subordinate worth cultivating.
"This is indeed a good way. Now when the internal guards are fighting externally, they are not the plum blossom internal guards that people hated under Wu Zetian's rule, but more like Guoan?"
Li Yan was also moved.
It was very difficult to be an official in the early Tang Dynasty. You must have a strong background, otherwise even the top candidates in the imperial examinations may be impoverished.
It took many years to get a job in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and finally it was my turn to be an official. I didn't have a good relationship, and ended up being sent to a poor county to be a county magistrate. It was really hard.
In comparison, although casual officials do not have actual duties, their official status is fixed and can be easily improved later.
Having an official status and just having a job background are two different things.
And Wu Sanguan Renyong Xiaowei is the ninth rank.
What is the concept of this level? Kangxian Lieutenant and Anxian Lieutenant are both from the ninth rank. If you move up one level, you will be below the ninth rank. If you move up one level, you will be above the ninth rank.
Well, the current Di Renjie is also a county captain from the ninth rank.
"so!"
"If I agree, let alone power, in terms of rank, I will surpass Di Pangpang, who has been the local police chief for more than ten years?"
"How can this be so embarrassing, hehe!"
***The author has something to say***
Thanks to book friends "Lonely Bubu Wang" and "Long Qin in the Forest" for their rewards.