The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The party was halfway through.

The dancing and music paused.

Everyone in the hall is about to face the second wave of drama.

With the current national strength of Dasheng, as long as they don't send a pig to be the general of the southern expedition army, they will definitely win the war with the New South Kingdom. The only issue that needs to be considered is whether the people who go out to fight will not be able to adapt to the local environment and will be killed by poisonous miasma, snakes and insects.

But since ancient times, how can one achieve military merit without taking risks?

Although there are many risks in this southern expedition, after it was decided to send troops to the New South Kingdom, the generals who had no wars to fight recently still scrambled for the position of commander-in-chief of the southern expedition.

Finally, amid the jealous gnashing of teeth of many generals, Marquis Anguo successfully grabbed this piece of fat meat with the help of his incompetent son. Of course, he also wanted to use this military achievement to apologize to Princess Cheng'an, who was treated lightly and offended by him, and her old father behind her for his only son.

In fact, the reason why Anguo Hou was able to successfully take this position was that Xie Ruizhen also gave a push behind the scenes. After all, this man had something that was easy to hold on him. Compared with other generals, it was more convenient for Xie Ruizhen to manipulate for the future fame of Jun Yuexin and other female soldiers.

What's more, Marquis Anguo was an old and shrewd man. Before going on the expedition, he sent a large sum of benefits to the mansion of Marquis Yongjia in the name of appeasing Zeng Suqiu to show his obedience and closeness.

The outcome of the war with the New South Kingdom did not exceed anyone's expectations, and victory was soon won. The emperor announced this expected good news to everyone with joy at the banquet, and then he gave the second gift to the new queen.

Jun Yuexin was appointed as the general of the Sixteen Yulin Guards of the third rank, and was also promoted to the general of the Yunhui Guard of the third rank. After the army returns to the capital, she will lead one of the Yulin Guards to take over the duties of patrolling and supervising the imperial city. At the same time, she will stay in the capital and be deployed again if there is another war in the future.

The female soldiers who followed Jun Yuexin in the battles in the southwest were also promoted to female generals of various ranks according to their military achievements. At the same time, these female generals were transferred to various counties in the southwest, and the counties and prefectures were ordered to cooperate with them in recruiting female soldiers into the army, regardless of whether they were mountain people or Han people.

Moreover, for the first time in this hall, the female county magistrates of the southwestern vassal counties who cooperated with the army's operation were singled out and praised and rewarded. This time their gender and names were not erased. After a few very official praises, the emperor also expressed his emotion that the country was prosperous and all the talents in the world were under his control.

The ministers' eyelids twitched when they heard this imperial edict, but they had no choice but to agree. No one in the world understood the pettiness of the current emperor better than them. Those who dared to criticize him to his face basically went to hell. The only thing to be thankful for was that this emperor, apart from being arbitrary and arrogant, was not the kind of irrational and incompetent ruler who ignored the people's livelihood. Fortunately, fortunately... What a ghost!

He wanted to bring women to the court openly, especially to Empress Xie's family, it was really... too much honor and favor!

Considering the emperor's various preferences for Princess Yuyi today, a very horrifying thought emerged in many people's minds - the emperor's move, could it be that he really wants the fifth princess to inherit the throne? He is promoting a female general and praising the female official of the Jimi County. It seems like he is paving the way for his daughter!

But has there ever been a woman who became an emperor since ancient times?

Some people thought so in their hearts and secretly tried to inquire about the expressions of their colleagues around them. They saw that there were people who shared the same hatred of the enemy but did not dare to jump out to disrupt the situation at this time, and there were quite a few of them; however, there were also many people who applauded the emperor's "random order" - most of them were close to Empress Xie's faction. If the emperor really promoted the female officials for the sake of Empress Xie and her daughter, then for them, whether male or female, the more allies they had, the better.

The remaining small group of people were doubtful and uncertain about the guess. They were afraid that they had guessed the emperor's intention wrong, and they were also afraid that they had guessed too accurately and that Da Sheng was really going to change. Then, under the pull of thoughts in their minds, they decided to become a piece of water grass that went with the flow, wait and see who had the bigger fist between the supporters and the opponents, and then decide their position.

In short, although everyone had different thoughts, the banquet seemed very harmonious on the surface.

The emperor was very satisfied with the majesty and control over the court officials he had accumulated over the past decade, but Xie Yuzhen felt a little regretful. In the past one or two years, she had almost eliminated all the real troublemakers. Now, the only ones left in the court were either her loyal lackeys or those most cautious opponents in the dark who were good at hiding their thoughts.

As expected, as ministers, those who can sit in this hall are mostly very patient. Even though they were instigated by the emperor to behave like this in front of him, they were still able to endure it. Could it be because this time they only took advantage of the interests of the military officers and did not touch the interests of the civil officials?

Unlike the civil officials who were good at speaking and not much feared by the royal family, the military officers only had the power to command the army. The real master of the Da Sheng army was the emperor himself.

Since the founding of the Dasheng Dynasty, soldiers who joined the army had a rule that they had to be literate. The first sentence they learned was loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and this concept was constantly reinforced. All salaries, logistical supplies, and even family support were the responsibility of the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Households. A military general could only support a dozen personal soldiers at most, and most of the time the personal soldiers were independent of the army and were more like the general's retainers. Therefore, it was very difficult for military generals in the Dasheng Dynasty to cultivate a personal army.

Their merits and achievements in battle, and even their lives and property, often depended on a word or an edict from the emperor. Therefore, the emperor intended to train female generals this time. Even if the original generals would feel dissatisfied, it would not last too long under the premise that Jun Yuexin and other female officials did not touch the bottom line of their own interests, and they would not jump out to oppose it when provoked like this.

Xie Yuzhen smiled dignifiedly and generously on the surface, raised his cup and drank with his ministers, but countless messages flashed through his mind, and he sorted out and arranged his next actions again and again.

Although Dasheng won this battle and the victory was not difficult, it did not mean that the casualties were small. Many soldiers who came from the Central Plains could not adapt to the environment in the southwest and died of illness on the way.

The court would take care of the affairs of these people after their deaths. What Xie Yuzhen was more concerned about now was Marquis Anguo and his only son, Ruan He. Ruan He did not inherit his father's physique and talent for marching and fighting. He fell ill on the spot as soon as he entered the southwest border. Fortunately, he was still alive.

But...there is still a second wife in their house who hopes that both father and son will be buried in the southwest!

After understanding the meaning behind Marquis Anguo's arrangements for his two children, Xie Yuzhen believed that it would be better for his own interests if Ruan He died.

Therefore, she had already instructed Jun Yuexin to secretly give a helping hand when the people arranged by Madam Dong Er found the opportunity to attack Ruan He.

I think not long after the good news, there would be news of the misfortune of this marquis's son.

Xie Yuzhen was thinking this and glanced at Princess Cheng'an, whose expression was not too good, with some amusement.

Oh my, I am such a vicious mother.