Chapter 715: Change of Principle with the Wind (Part )

April 30th, noon.

Xu Guangsheng led a young woman with plump muscles and weak bones, a slim waist and long hair to the Privy Council. Under the different gazes of officials of all ranks, Xu Guangsheng was not at all reserved. Instead, he held his head high and walked through the house and courtyard with a swagger, and took the initiative to greet and talk with his colleagues from the West Palace whom he knew.

The woman was in her prime, with delicate features and rosy cheeks, like a finely carved porcelain doll, without a single flaw. She wore a goose yellow dress that highlighted her graceful figure to the fullest, and she swaggered through the Privy Council filled with men, attracting a lot of attention.

After a cup of tea, the two met Bai Jin who had been waiting for a long time outside the third courtyard gate. When Xu Guangsheng bowed, Bai Jin's eyes were still on the woman, and he couldn't take his eyes off her for a long time.

"Ahem, Lord Bai?"

Xu Guangsheng called out again and again, and Bai Jin finally came to his senses. He straightened his eyes and hurriedly replied, "That... the 'transfer letter' for the bride, can Lord Xu prepare it?"

"Don't worry, Lord Bai. I have already made all the preparations. I am just waiting for the signature and seal of the Deputy Privy Councilor, and then I will go to the Imperial Guard Camp to mobilize the troops."

"Very good!" Bai Jin nodded absentmindedly, then turned his hesitant gaze to the timid woman and asked, "Miss Lan Qi, why are you here? Lord Qian didn't summon you..."

"I brought her here." Xu Guangsheng explained, "As the saying goes, 'seeing is believing'. Lord Qian has never met Lan Qi and doesn't know that she is considerate and talented. So I brought her here to meet him, to avoid any misunderstanding of 'Wang Zhaojun'."

"Wang Zhaojun?" Bai Jin was stunned, and his face darkened. He said unhappily, "Master Xu, what do you mean by this? When you compare Miss Lanqi to Wang Zhaojun, are you implying that I am Mao Yanshou, who destroyed the jade and ruined the jade?"

"I dare not! I just let my mouth slip and I would never dare to have such evil thoughts. I hope Lord Bai will calm down!"

In fact, in terms of official rank alone, Xu Guangsheng, the commander of the Quanzhou camp, and Bai Jin, the vice minister of the Privy Council, were equal. In terms of actual power, Xu Guangsheng held the power of life and death over a battalion of soldiers. On the other hand, Bai Jin could not deploy any soldiers except his entourage and guards, and the vice minister of the Privy Council was also a civil servant. Compared with the two, Bai Jin was far inferior to Xu Guangsheng.

Even so, Xu Guangsheng still behaved submissively and respectfully in front of Bai Jin, and was even willing to be "inferior to him" because one of them was a Beijing official and the other was a local official.

As the saying goes, "the prime minister is a seventh-rank official." Bai Jin went in and out of the Privy Council all day long, serving the first- and second-rank officials of the court. His wealth and status rose rapidly. Xu Guangsheng, a local general, had to be careful to curry favor with him when he saw him. Because if he offended him, Bai Jin would whisper a few words to the Privy Councilor and the Deputy Privy Councilor in the future, which might affect Xu Guangsheng's fate.

Having said that, like all local officials, Xu Guangsheng was only respectful to Bai Jin on the surface, but in fact he despised him in his heart.

That is why he just made the analogy of "Wang Zhaojun and Mao Yanshou". As for "slip of the tongue", it was just a perfunctory remark. Xu Guangsheng and Bai Jin knew it tacitly, but they just didn't want to break this window paper.

"Sir Xu, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to bring a woman into the Privy Council without permission?" Bai Jin said with an embarrassed look.

"Oh no! I didn't think it through." Xu Guangsheng slapped his forehead, feeling annoyed. "But she's already here. If I send her back now, it might cause unnecessary criticism. How about... Lord Bai, please give Miss Lan Qi a favor and let her meet Lord Qian?"

After saying that, Xu Guangsheng stretched out his hands, which were tucked in his sleeves, in front of Bai Jin, pretending to bow. Bai Jin hesitated for a moment, then reached out to support him, and took the stack of banknotes from Xu Guangsheng's sleeve into his own sleeve.

"Just this once!" Bai Jin reluctantly said, "But if Lord Qian blames me..."

"Don't worry, Lord Bai. I will bear all the consequences and will never implicate Lord Bai."

"Well, please, both of you!"

Bai Jin took the reassurance pill and led Xu Guangsheng and Lan Qi quickly towards the inner courtyard.

Walking around the pavilion and corridors, the three of them arrived at Lord Qian's study.

"This humble general, Xu Guangsheng, pays respect to Lord Qian!"

As soon as he stepped over the threshold, Xu Guangsheng immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Lord Qian, who was sitting behind the desk with his eyes closed and pretending to be asleep.

"No gift!"

Lord Qian's lazy voice sounded quietly, and he slowly opened his slightly cloudy old eyes.

"Hmm?" Lord Qian seemed to notice Lan Qi beside Xu Guangsheng, and frowned, and asked, "Who is that woman?"

"Reporting to the Lord, this girl is Miss Lanqi from the Sushui Pavilion in Quanzhou. She has admired you for a long time..."

"Asshole!" Before Xu Guangsheng finished speaking, Lord Qian's eyes suddenly turned cold and he said angrily, "I have warned you a long time ago, but you ignored me?"

After saying that, Lord Qian cast a gloomy look at Bai Jin, who was embarrassed, and asked, "But you took the initiative to let Xu Guangsheng bring people into the Privy Council?"

"Definitely not!" Bai Jin waved his hands quickly, "General Xu is a man of virtue, and he wants to help Miss Lan Qi realize her long-cherished wish, so..."

"Xu Guangsheng, you are so bold!" Lord Qian scolded, "What do you think this place is? Lin'an is not Quanzhou, and the Privy Council is certainly not your private residence. It's fine if you act recklessly in your own territory, but now you dare to come here to continue your bad habits. You are such a bastard!"

"Please calm down, sir!" Xu Guangsheng turned pale with fear and kowtowed repeatedly to apologize, "I was confused for a moment! I was self-righteous! I didn't know the rules..."

"That's enough!" Lord Qian waved his hands impatiently, "Considering that this is your first offense, I will give you a lighter sentence. Bai Jin, make a note of this and fine Xu Guangsheng one year's salary, and withhold the military pay of the Quanzhou camp for three months, as a warning to others!"

"Yes, sir!" Bai Jin bowed and accepted the order, secretly smacking his lips in his heart.

"Thank you, sir..." Xu Guangsheng wanted to argue, but when he looked up and saw Sir Qian's ruthless eyes that were as sharp as swords, he was so frightened that his body trembled and he dared not to argue anymore.

"Bai Jin, take this girl out." Lord Qian ordered, "I need to discuss the travel letter with General Xu."

"As ordered!"

After agreeing, Bai Jin quickly dragged Lan Qi, who had already been frightened silly, out of the study.

"grown ups……"

"Xu Guangsheng, don't think I don't know what you are up to?" Lord Qian slowly stood up, walked in front of Xu Guangsheng who didn't even dare to breathe, and said in a deep voice, "Who was your former superior? What kind of person was he? I don't know, and I don't want to know. But I can tell you clearly today that everyone in the Privy Council must do their job impartially, and anyone who takes shortcuts will definitely not have a good end."

"Please remember this, general!"

"Okay, stand up!" Lord Qian straightened his expression and said, "Have you gone outside the city to meet the Mongolian general who is going to pick up the bride?"

"Yes." Xu Guangsheng replied, "This man is called Sui Zuo, and he is the general of the Mongolian army stationed in Xijing Prefecture, with 50,000 elite soldiers under his command. I sent someone to check his background. Sui Zuo was dismissed from the position of Xijing General last year because of his mistakes, and now he is just taking over temporarily."

"Sui Zuo brought 800 cavalrymen with him to pick up the bride. Did you see them?"

"seen."

"How do you feel?" Lord Qian asked with a hint of meaning, "How do his troops compare to the troops in your Quanzhou camp?"

"This..." Xu Guangsheng was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

“It’s okay to speak up.”

"My Quanzhou camp... is not as good as Sui Zuo's cavalry." Xu Guangsheng answered reluctantly, "No matter the military discipline, morale, weapons, training... they are far behind them. As for combat power... if we fight head-on with equal forces, I'm afraid we are no match for the Mongolian cavalry."

"Of course. The Mongols relied on their cavalry to conquer the world. If we use our own weaknesses to meet the enemy's strengths, we will be inferior." Lord Qian soothed, "If you had twice as many troops as them, could you fight them?"

"I'm afraid this won't work." Xu Guangsheng said awkwardly, "Even if the number of people is doubled, the number of horses and weapons is still far behind..."

"What if the horses are strong and the equipment is excellent?" Lord Qian asked unwillingly, "The Privy Councilor has high hopes for you, saying that you are a rare talent among the current military commanders, especially your vision and tactics are quite unique. If you can change your bad habits of flattery, greed and recklessness, concentrate on studying military books, and train soldiers well, maybe one day you can restore the glory of the former Yang Family Army and Yue Family Army. Therefore, this official wants to hear the truth from you, which is hard to hear, and compare how much difference there is between the military strength of our Song Dynasty and the Mongolian cavalry? You can speak frankly, don't be shy."

"Yes!" Xu Guangsheng thought, "If we have twice as many enemies and the same number of horses and weapons, with the current combat power of our Quanzhou camp, the chance of winning a head-on fight is about... 30%, and it will be a miserable victory."

"30%? Or a narrow victory?" Lord Qian was surprised, "If I want a 100% chance of winning, then..."

"Based on the combat power of the Quanzhou camp alone, a 100% chance of winning would require at least four times or even more troops."

"You mean, if we encounter Sui Zuo's 50,000 elite soldiers on the battlefield, we will need at least 200,000 soldiers to wipe them out?" Lord Qian muttered to himself with a worried look on his face, "And if we have the same equipment..."

"Forgive me for being blunt, but 3,000 versus 800 and 200,000 versus 50,000 are two completely different things. They can't be compared at all. If the tactics are wrong, let alone 200,000... even 400,000 could be wiped out by 50,000 cavalry." Xu Guangsheng said helplessly, "A few thousand people can fight head-on, but tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops... the chances of rashly fighting head-on are slim..."

"I see!" Lord Qian interrupted, "In this case, it seems that using the 'marriage' to exchange for a few years of recuperation for the Song Dynasty is a wise move. I hope the princess can hold on for us until the day when we have strong troops and horses."

"Yes!"

"Your first task is to protect the princess, especially beware of the 'Song Dynasty Marriage Envoy'." Lord Qian reminded, "I believe you have heard about the relationship between this person and the princess. I will not elaborate on this, you should know it yourself."

"I understand. I will keep a close eye on Liu Xunyi and not let him have any chance to take advantage of me."

"That's great." Lord Qian added, "On this trip, you should listen to Sui Zuo's arrangements. Don't fight with him when something happens. Remember that peace is the most important thing. But... you don't have to be servile, so as not to damage the dignity of the Song Dynasty and the majesty of the emperor."

"The last general takes command!"

"Bring the letter here. I will sign and seal it for you. Then go to the three yamen to dispatch 300 elite soldiers to the Mongolian camp outside the city. Join the Sui Zuo soldiers and set off together tomorrow morning." Lord Qian took the letter from Xu Guangsheng and instructed in an orderly manner, "Tomorrow, Feng Tianba will lead 50 guards to protect the princess out of the city. Liu Xunyi and Ding Qinghong will also be there. Although Liu Xunyi is the nominal 'marriage envoy' for this wedding, you are actually the one who represents the West Mansion to command the overall situation, so you must not let him take over. If necessary, you can use Ding Qinghong to control him. Eunuch Ding is the emperor's spy planted by Liu Xunyi. You and he are in the same boat, so you can join forces."

"Please remember this, general!"

"This travel note is top secret. It contains all the details of the wedding procession. Therefore, you must keep it carefully and not reveal any of it before arriving in Helin."

"Don't worry, sir!"

Xu Guangsheng righteously bowed and accepted the order, then slowly stepped forward, carefully took the letter with both hands, and slowly backed out of the study.

……

(End of this chapter)