After General Cao Shuang reported to Emperor Cao Fang, Cao Xi was finally appointed as the leader of the third rank, allowing him to directly control the 30,000 imperial troops in the eight battalions inside and outside the capital.
The Central Leader is the head of the Forbidden Army, and the Central Protector is the deputy commander of the Forbidden Army. Now Cao Xi has risen to the top, and his status is even above Xia Houxuan.
On the day he received the appointment edict, Cao Xi arranged for Yan Shi, the general's commanding general, to inform the commanders of the eight battalions of the internal and external imperial army to assemble at the Xuanwu Field outside Daxia Gate in the north of Luoyang City at Mao o'clock the next day.
Early the next morning, when Yin Shi was about to end, Cao Xi woke up.
He stood up carefully, for fear of waking up his wife Wei Yuan. After getting up, he carefully covered Wei Yuan with a brocade quilt, and quietly left the back bedroom. After arriving at the main hall, he began to wash and tidy up.
stand up.
After Cao Xi put on the newly issued uniform of a military attaché of the third rank issued by the imperial court, he looked at it carefully for a long time with a bronze mirror in his hands. Only then did he realize that he, who was only thirty years old, had a few unnoticeable white hairs growing on his head and temples.
.
The slightly raised moustache and thin sideburns, apart from adding a bit of prowess to Cao Xi, did not change his elegant temperament much.
At this time, two servants took Cao Xi's armor and dragon-scaled sword.
Cao Xi reached out and touched the cold scales, and the throbbing and tension in his heart dissipated a little.
With everything ready, Cao Xi looked at the hourglass and saw that it was of course still early.
Cao Xi did not wait any longer. He rode his horse to the Xuanwu Field early.
Not long after, the generals and officers of each battalion were assembled one after another. Cao Xi looked around and asked the commanders of each battalion to check the number of people, and found that there were no absentees.
When the commanders of the battalions saw that everyone had arrived, they handed over the ten-day performance reports of the officers and officers in their battalions that had been collected in advance to the central military chief.
After reading the work report, Cao Xi asked someone to fetch the newly drafted list of commanders of the various battalions of the Forbidden Army, and looked at it carefully:
The generals and commanders of the various camps within the Chinese Army are as follows:
The "Leading Army Battalion" is led by a self-appointed commander of the central army. It has 4,000 elite infantry and cavalry under its jurisdiction.
The "Middle Base Camp" is commanded by General Cao Ya, who has 3,000 elite infantrymen under his command.
The "Backbone Camp" is commanded by the Backbone General Cao Ze. It has 3,000 elite infantry under its command.
The "Wuwei Camp" is commanded by General Wuwei Cao Xun. It has 5,000 elite tiger soldiers under its command.
The "Five Schools Camp" commanded the five battalion school governors and guards. It had 5,000 soldiers from the 5th battalion. Sima Jun, the captain of the Tun Cavalry School, was in charge of a thousand fine cavalrymen. Zhen Yi, the captain of the Yue Cavalry School, was in charge of a thousand Hu cavalrymen in Wuyue.
Bian Lin, the captain of the infantry, has command over a thousand cai-guan people in the northwest. Guo Zhi, the captain of Changshui, has command of a thousand cavalrymen of Xuanqu and Huqi in Changshui. Zhen Chang, the shooting captain, has command of a thousand archers and crossbowmen.
The generals and commanders of the Chinese and foreign armies are as follows:
The "Gu Jun Camp" is personally controlled by the Central Guard Army, and Xiahou, the Marquis of Guannei, is appointed as its governor. It has 3,000 elite infantry and cavalry under its jurisdiction.
The "Xiaoqi Camp" is commanded by Xiaoqi General Yishou Tinghou Yu Huan. He has three thousand heavy armored cavalry under his command.
The "guerrilla camp" is commanded by the guerrilla general Yingyin Hou Chen Tai. It has three thousand light armored horse and crossbow sergeants under its command.
The "Chengmen Camp" is commanded by Zhen De, the commander of the city gate school. It has 12 city gate guards and a thousand soldiers.
After a while, Cao Xi learned about the changes in the leadership of the internal and external Forbidden Army.
Except for the fact that his previous post of general of the middle base was replaced by his cousin Cao Ya and Cao Wenshu, and the post of captain of the city gate was replaced by his nephew Zhen De, everything in the other battalions was as usual.
[Note 1: Uncle Cao Wen did exist, but Cao Ya's name was fictitious. Uncle Wen was the younger brother of General Cao Shuang. After Uncle Wen's death, his wife Xiahou Lingnu refused to remarry and cut her own ears and nose with a knife.]
The work report was over. Cao Xi walked up to the high platform step by step, slowly calmed down his nervous and excited mind, and then shouted loudly:
"For the officers and soldiers of each battalion, I have worked with you for more than ten years since I served as the deputy general of the Wuwei battalion during the Taihe period, and then I took charge of the Zhongba battalion in these years. We are all old acquaintances. I won't say anything more.
Without further ado, I just hope that from now on, we all will continue to work together, practice diligently, and protect His Majesty and the capital with all due diligence, so as to ensure that I, the Wei Dynasty, will never have to worry about anything at all!"
All the officers and officers in the Xuanwu Field heard Cao Xi's words clearly and responded loudly together:
"The final general will definitely live up to His Majesty's expectations and will fulfill his duties to defend the capital!"
"Okay!" At this moment, Cao Xi felt his blood surge and he was full of energy. He loudly ordered: "Every general, listen to the order and return to the camp to practice garrison!"
"I humbly accept my order!"
After the nine commanders of the internal army and the hundreds of officers under their command shouted loudly, they went back to their camps to guard and patrol.
——————
Taiwei Jiang Ji was originally worried that Ruan Ji would not come to his Taiwei Mansion to accept his appointment, but that day he suddenly learned that Ruan Ji had arrived at Duting, so he was very happy and immediately sent someone to greet Ruan Ji.
Ruan Ji, who had no intention of serving Sima's party members, reluctantly came to serve in the Taiwei Mansion.
About ten days after Ruan Ji arrived in office, his colleagues in the Taiwei Mansion began to criticize Ruan Ji for his drinking habit.
"This Ruan Sizong, I think he has a false reputation! He drinks alcohol all day long and smells of alcohol. How can he look like a lieutenant?"
"That is to say, he always turns his back on others, which is really abominable!"
In this way, after being ridiculed and ostracized for more than a month, Ruan Ji finally couldn't stay any longer. He made up his mind and resolutely submitted a resignation form to Taiwei Jiang Ji.
Jiang Ji previously valued Ruan Ji because he was covetous of Ruan Ji's status as a famous scholar. Now he also disliked Ruan Ji a little more, so he did not try to persuade him to stay.
After Cao Shuang learned about this, he could only arrange for Ruan Ji to be a lieutenant in the general shogunate, so that he could make further arrangements.
——————
It's already December in the blink of an eye.
On a winter morning, the wind is cool and chilly.
Today is Xiahou Xuan's holiday, so he doesn't have to attend the court meeting or go to the school field to assess the sergeants.
Although it was a holiday, he got up early in the morning and went to the study.
Li Huigu knew that her husband was recently compiling a collection of essays, and he had already thought of the name, which was called "Xiahouzi".
Since ancient times, only literary and historical figures can be called Zi, such as Confucius, Mencius, Lao, and Zhuang. However, my husband smiled and said to himself that he gave Ji Zi such a name just to sound good.
She also got up early in the morning, personally prepared breakfast for her husband and children, and helped her husband add a brazier in the study, then she did not disturb her husband again.
In the study, Xia Houxuan is writing and thinking, adding, deleting and revising his draft of "Xiahouzi".
"When a boat is capsized, no one is left wet; when a horse is driven away, no one is unmoved. Therefore, all things are one and the same."
"There were people from Lu who were good at looking at horses, so they traveled with me. I was asleep at night and heard that horses were walking. People from Lu were startled and said: 'It's seven hundred miles away.' This darkness has struck my ears."
"The journey of a white hair is like the flight of a mosquito. All saints know this."
…
[Note 1: This is selected from the remaining original text of "Xiahouzi" in "Preview".]
At this moment, Gu Ting walked into the study.
"Jun Hou, a brother and sister came outside the house. They looked like refugees from Hebei. I went to the warehouse to get some silver coins for them, but they didn't want anything. They said they were your old friends and took one.
Give me the jade pendant, and I will name you to see the prince."
"Refugee? Old friend?" After hearing what Gu Ting said, Xia Houxuan started to think about it.
A few days ago, I heard about the earthquake in Wei County, so it was not surprising that refugees came to the capital. However, Xia Houxuan couldn't figure out when he had an old friend in Wei County.
"In that case, Uncle Gu, please take them to the main hall to wait, and then ask the servants to prepare a table of hot food for them. I will go over and see for myself later."
"Okay." Gu Ting rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, and got ready to go out.
Xia Houxuan looked at the jade pendant in his hand, and seemed to suddenly remember something.
Could it be Brother Lu Zhongxiong and Yan Zi who they met by chance in Yanzhou? But Brother Lu and his family are not in Chenliu County, so how could they become refugees?
Xia Houxuan put on his big cloak and rushed to the main hall immediately.
―――
Behind the screen, Xia Houxuan looked at the two brothers and sisters with sallow faces and skinny faces sitting in front of him, eating ravenously. For a moment, he did not recognize that the two people in front of him were the energetic elder brother Lu Zhongxiong and the lively and lovely girl Yanzi.
He couldn't help but feel a little sad, what on earth was going on?
He wanted to rush up to the brother and sister and ask them, but he was afraid that they would not be able to eat if they saw him, so he stayed behind the screen until the brother and sister were full before he came out.
"Brother Lu, Yanzi, are you guys..."
The two brothers and sisters, who had just had a full meal and encountered a disaster, could not help but burst into tears when they saw their long-lost old friend, and Yanzi burst into tears.
―――
Xia Houxuan and Li Huigu asked Gu Ting to bring some hot food and soup, while Lu Zhongxiong and Lu Yan, brother and sister, talked about their experiences in the past thirteen years while eating.
"Brother Xiahou, my mother died of illness not long after you left Chenliu, Yanzhou. My brother and sister depended on each other for life, and life passed by smoothly.
I originally planned to run the farmland for a few years, save some food, and then find a good family to marry the swallow. Then I came to the capital to join the army and have a good future. But I didn't expect that something happened to the village not long after.
A group of vicious bandits came to the village. They not only robbed everyone of their food, but also killed people. We didn’t have many men in the village, so we didn’t dare to mess with them. However, we didn’t expect that these bandits would go even further and come to the nearby area every now and then.
A village was robbing us of food and threatening us, preventing us from reporting to the government.
Just when we were desperate, a group of rangers came to the village, led by a young man named Su Mu."
"Su Mu..." Xia Houxuan immediately thought of his old friend, Su Mu, who was now serving as a military commander in the Forbidden Army. However, he was not sure whether the person Lu Zhi was talking about was the same person, so he did not ask in detail.
Lu Zhongxiong continued:
"All of these rangers are capable, and they are all narrow-minded. Especially Su Mu, who has excellent light-weight skills. But even so, the number of bandits is still far greater than ours, and we are really outnumbered. Su Mu
Later, Brother Mu got a few sets of military uniforms from nowhere and pretended to be an officer one night. The group of bandits was originally a rabble, and they immediately dispersed as soon as they saw the "officers and soldiers". Su Mu also took the opportunity to capture the bandit leader and took him into custody.
He went to see the official, and our village settled down."
Xia Houxuan nodded and asked: "Then, does Brother Lu know where this brother Sumu is from?"
"According to what he said, he seems to be from Lihu County, Yanzhou."
Xia Houxuan had already confirmed at this time that the Su Mu mentioned by Lu Zhongxiong was the same person he knew. He continued to ask: "Since the bandits have been eliminated, how did Brother Lu and his sister end up like this?"
"Well, it's a long story." Lu Zhongxiong sighed: "After the bandits left, the village gradually recovered. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. More than a year ago, County Sheriff Chenliu received an order saying that he was going to
Setting up military camps in the county allowed thousands of households along the river to move to Wei County in Jizhou."
Xia Houxuan suddenly realized: "Did Brother Lu's family suffer the Weijun earthquake?"
Lu Zhongxiong nodded: "Yes, a month ago, there was a big earthquake in Weijun. Many houses collapsed and many people died. Yanzi and I were lucky. We did not die in Weijun, but we were homeless.
, being hungry and cold, I suddenly remembered what Taichu said to me before leaving, so I took Yanzi all the way to the capital."
"Brother Lu took Yanzi all the way. It was not easy. Why didn't he let her stay at her husband's house? Could it be that her husband's family was not good to Yanzi?" Xia Houxuan was a little confused.
"Taichu's words are wrong. My little sister is not married yet, so how can she belong to her husband's family?"
"Ah!?" After hearing Lu Zhongxiong's words, Xia Houxuan was shocked.
A woman is supposed to get married when she is fifteen years old, but Yanzi is now over twenty, and if she is not married yet, will she be alone for the rest of her life?
Xia Houxuan couldn't help but asked curiously: "But why?"
"Hi!" Lu Zhongxiong slapped his thigh and said with a frown: "Speaking of which, I have to blame that boy Su Mu. When he came to the village to suppress bandits, he met my sister and the two of them had a secret love and were in love with each other. This was originally
It's a good thing, but Sumu's stupid head said that he had to gain some fame before he could come back to marry my sister. Then he went to the capital and was never heard from again. Later, some people from the village came to my house to propose marriage, but they were all rejected by my sister.
He refused. Later, the relocation of farmland and the earthquake happened."
Lu Yan did not speak, but kept shyly lowering her head and tugging at the corner of her clothes.
After hearing what Lu Zhongxiong said about this marriage, Xia Houxuan felt quite relieved. But he was also a little worried.
This boy Su Mu has been working in the capital for two or three years. He has been promoted along the way and is now a military commander in charge of thousands of people in the imperial army. However, he has never mentioned this matter. Could it be that this boy has changed his mind and forgotten Yanzi?
Xia Houxuan thought to himself that he must make the decision in this matter.
"Brother Lu, Yanzi, don't worry, I will definitely help you with this matter. You can stay at the house for now. If you need anything, just tell Butler Gu."
Xia Houxuan patted Lu Zhongxiong on the shoulder:
"In a few days, I will find a way to find a job for Brother Lu. You can live in the capital from now on."
When the Lu brothers and sisters heard this, they cried with joy.
Li Huigu touched Yanzi's messy hair, smiled and said:
"Look at you, you are so thin. How can you meet your brother Sumu? Let's live well in the house first. After I make you fat, my husband and I will let you meet Sumu."
Lu Yan's ears turned red from embarrassment and she lowered her head and said nothing.
Xia Houxuan was also amused by his wife's joke, but suddenly he felt worried again.
If he remembered correctly, the general had personally assigned Ding Mi and Da Si Nong Huanfan to deal with the issue of military settlements in Chenliu County, Yanzhou. Now that there was an earthquake in Wei County, the victims had not been properly resettled. This matter was not something he was concerned about.