Song Gexing

Chapter 210 Er Li patrols the border
Soon it was the end of September, and people in Bianjing stopped talking about the court reform today, and all watched the palace waiting for news.

All officials in the court were not interested in working and were waiting for news from the inner palace.

Zhao Fang was fidgeting, and even Zhao Zhen brought the Empress Dowager Cao and Concubine Yu over. It turned out that Zhang Shaohua was about to give birth.

Finally crying, Zhao Fang rushed to the delivery room, and Zhao Zhen shouted anxiously: "Stop! Men can't enter the delivery room, you stupid boy!"

Zhao Fang stopped suddenly, turned around and smiled helplessly. He originally thought it was no big deal, just giving birth to a baby.

But when it came to the moment when he was going to be a father, everything seemed to have changed. He was baffled by this sudden change in mentality.

Fortunately, the midwife didn't wait long and came out with a smile: "Congratulations to the Emperor and the official family on the birth of a little princess!"

A trace of disappointment flashed across Zhao Zhen's face, but he smiled happily. Zhao Fang was not disappointed at all, and kept cheering: "Okay! Okay! My little cotton-padded jacket is here, show me quickly..."

Ms. Yu stepped forward and pulled him away, saying disgustedly: "It's not that fast. My granddaughter has to be washed and wrapped before she can see it. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Zhao Fang chuckled, grabbed Yu's hand and shook it: "Are you so happy to be a grandmother? Me too."

The news spread quickly. Some people were happy and others sighed secretly. After all, it would be different if the child was a boy. Who knows whether the next one will be a boy.

There are also many people who are disappointed. Those palace people who were flattered by Zhang Shaohua may regret it now. No matter how noble the princess is, she cannot inherit the throne.

Half a month later, the same plot was staged, but this time the difference was that the entire city of Bianjing was beating gongs and drums, and Empress Meng Xin gave birth to a boy, who was the real eldest son.

But this time Zhao Fang was not so excited. Apart from being nervous when Meng Xin was in the delivery room before she was born, when the baby was born he happily picked up his daughter and played with her.

Zhao Zhen was so angry that he wanted to beat him, but he also said plausibly, didn't he say that he had to wait until it was washed and wrapped before he could read it? There was no point in being anxious.

Everyone can finally see that this guy prefers daughters and doesn't seem to care whether he has a son or not.

Zhao Zhen asked him puzzledly, who would inherit the throne without a son, but he blurted out that he had a younger brother and a nephew, so why was there no one to inherit the throne?

Zhao Zhen was feeling tired. He had been worried that the throne would fall to someone else's family all his life, but his son didn't care at all.

But it's right to think about it. Zhao Zhen has no brothers, only cousins, but Zhao Fang has biological brothers, so he doesn't count as someone else's family.

"Xiao Xianzi, if I send you to the northwest, will you be willing to go?"

While reading in the imperial study that day, Zhao Fang suddenly raised his head and asked Li Xian.

Li Xian was startled, then hesitated and said: "The villain is a close servant of the official family. The villain will go wherever the official family tells him to go."

Zhao Fang smiled, patted his arm and said: "I know you like military strategy, and you often learn military tactics and strategies, but you have never experienced the battlefield, and what you learn from books is probably just talking about war on paper. If you are willing to go, I will send You go there and stay for a few years.”

To be honest, Li Xian actually didn't want to go. Historically, he had no chance to be a close servant of Yingzong and Shenzong, so he was naturally willing to go to the frontier to make contributions.

But now he follows Zhao Fang, as long as he does his best and does not make mistakes, he will have peace of mind for the rest of his life, why go to the battlefield to eat sand and soil, even his life is in danger.

But after all, he was a person with pursuits. After hearing Zhao Fang's words, he understood that the emperor wanted to cultivate himself.After pondering for a moment, he said firmly: "I am willing to go! There are so many promising seniors in the palace, and I don't want to fall behind others."

Many eunuchs in the Northern Song Dynasty were granted the title of Jiedu Envoy to become an official. As mentioned earlier, this also created many eunuchs in the Northern Song Dynasty with ambitions.

Besides, Li Xian liked the art of war since he was a child, and he also believed that he had the ability to do it. After his courage was aroused, he was even more unwilling to stay here to eat free food.

Honors can only be obtained on horseback. This was not only the choice of ambitious generals, but also the choice of several eunuchs in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Zhao Fang remembered something and asked him today. Liu Changzuo, the governor of the pro-military governor's office, did not stay after taking office in Beijing. Instead, he wrote a letter hoping to return to the northwest to fight.

It turned out that as a general of the Western Army, he, his current boss Zhe Jizu, and the Zhong family brothers were all old acquaintances. After entering Beijing, they were all in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion, so naturally they often drank together.

Knowing that Zhe Jizu and Zhong Er were planning when to recover Xixia, he felt that he should not stay in Bianjing City, but should go to the front station.

Zhe Jizu and Zhong E were Zhao Fang's staunch confidants, so they naturally knew that Zhao Fang had calculated the time in the past two or three years, and the intelligence from the Imperial City Department also showed that there were signs of civil strife in the Liao Kingdom.

The Zhe family and the Li family of Xixia have been entangled in a grudge for hundreds of years, which started in the late Tang Dynasty. Many members of the Zhe family died on the battlefield, and Zhe Jizu was naturally eager to catch up and destroy Xixia.

But he couldn't leave now. He was the governor, and Zhao Fang's safety was his biggest concern. Therefore, Liu Changzuo immediately got his support after discussing with him.

After writing to Zhao Fang, Zhao Fang hesitated for a long time and figured out that he was judging based on the time in history.

But history has changed a lot now. Queen Xiao Guanyin of the Liao Kingdom has become his little treasure. Without the help of this virtuous wife, Yelu Hongji may be even more difficult.

Similarly, Yelu Zhongyuan, who wants to seize the throne, is likely to launch his attack in advance, and he really needs to prepare in advance.

"You follow Liu Zijing to Yanyan Road, and be a courtier on horseback. Remember, learn more, ask more questions, don't order blindly, follow along and learn well, and you will be the commander in the future."

Upon hearing this, Li Xian hurriedly kowtowed and said: "I understand, the officials are here to let me learn, not to supervise Liu Zijing. I must live up to the holy expectations and learn from my predecessor, Mr. Lu."

Zhao Fang nodded with a smile, asked him to stand up, and said, "Go to the Royal Medicine Academy and ask Li Shunju if he wants to go to the northwest. If you are willing, follow him and let him go to Huanqing Road to supervise the army."

Li Xiancai and Zhao Fang naturally couldn't let him serve as a road-level supervisor, but Li Shunju was 28 years old and had been working in the Royal Medicine Academy for six or seven years, so he was qualified to serve as a road-level supervisor.

The two Lis were famous eunuchs of the same generation, both of whom left their names in history on the northwest battlefield. The difference was that Li Shunju died in battle, while Li Xian died a good death.

Later generations even blamed Song Huizong for the bad results of using eunuchs to these two, on the grounds that the achievements of these two surpassed the famous generals of the world, which made Zhao Ji think that eunuchs were more capable.

This is complete nonsense. Indeed, the achievements of these two people are enviable, but this is not Zhao Ji's fault alone, but the civil servants at the time generally thought so.

According to historical records, Li Shunju once reminded Prime Minister Wang Gui that it was not appropriate to completely entrust side affairs to ministers, but Wang Gui's answer made him angry.

"Why should the escort be so humble? I am just using the escort to appease the border and seek peace!"

This was the reply from the then Prime Minister to him, he was so shameless that he was willing to destroy the ancestral system just so that he could become the Prime Minister of Peace.

(End of this chapter)