After my soul traveled to ancient times, I don't want to be cannon fodder

Marquis Pingning felt even more heartbroken. If he had known earlier, he should have been thicker-skinned. Although he had capable people under his command, none of them were as skilled as a seventh-grade warrior.

Although he himself has good martial arts skills, he has only just been promoted to the seventh level.

He is better at military strategy and overall planning.

After thinking it over again, he couldn't help but sent a letter directly to Zhong Ning.

In the letter, he was very humble. He first thanked Zhong Ning for her donation and her contribution, and finally mentioned the matter of protection.

After saying this, he was still unsure in his heart. He was worried that the little princess would be angry and thus make an enemy, and he was also worried that he would miss out on talented people.

Therefore, he did not ask Zhong Lu to join the army, but only said that he wanted to borrow her for three years to help train the guards. He also brought letters and two carriages of gold, silver and jewelry as a token of gratitude to Zhong Ning.

At this time, Zhong Ning was arranging another matter.

Prince Li Yuanche of Xirong has almost recovered from his injuries, and it is time to leave Dayong and return to Xirong.

This time, whether we can use Li Yuanche's hand to retake Xirong without bloodshed depends on how we arrange it.

The person currently guarding the Western Frontier is General Cheng Licheng.

Because Marquis Yongyi returned to the northern border to take full control and take over the military power, General Cheng was transferred to the western border to preside over the war.

Emperor Yong also attached great importance to Li Yuanche's return to the country this time. He specially transferred two thousand troops from the Beijing camp and a team of one hundred people from the Firearms Bureau, and set off together with four red cannons.

There are currently two thousand people in the Firearms Battalion. Lu Xingzhou took one thousand away and left one thousand to continue training. Emperor Yong dispatched two hundred people and ordered Feng Xin to lead the team to the western border front and be on standby at any time.

The remaining group will be trained by Qi Yu.

As for the soldiers given to Li Yuanche, the two thousand were to escort him to the front line of the Western Frontier and to attack the Western Rong. Naturally, General Cheng Licheng would assist in the entire arrangement.

With the second prince Li Yuanche around, the subsequent attack on Western Rong would be much smoother. After all, he was able to break through the border and reach the interior of Dayong, which showed that he knew a secret route.

If the Dayong troops can sneak in through this secret route first, and then cooperate with the outside forces to occupy them one by one, the war will be more effective.

Of course, this alone is not enough.

The high-level seventh-grade guard team led by Hei Lie, with colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple, except Zhong Lu, consists of six people. Two of them set out with the army, lurking beside Li Yuanche, waiting for an opportunity to act, and two secretly sneaked into Beidi to explore Beidi intelligence.

The remaining two stayed in Kyoto to protect Zhong Ning.

As for Hei Lie, Zhong Ning sent him to the internal training base of Futu Mountain to train the secret guards and to take in some orphaned children for secret training.

As for the four secret guards around her, Feng Xin led a hundred-man team from the Firearms Battalion to the front line, while Hua Rong led the Dark Pavilion to cooperate with the weekly newspaper.

Xue Ming and Yue Sheng stayed by her side, taking turns on duty with the other two, Zhong Cheng and Zhong Zi, to ensure her safety. Although she didn't really need it, she only had one eye after all, and she would make mistakes occasionally. This required secret guards to secretly investigate and protect her, and to check for any omissions and fill in the gaps.

Therefore, Zhong Ning was not surprised that Marquis Pingning took a fancy to her secret guard and wanted to ask for something. After all, she knew what a seventh-grade warrior meant.

"What do you think?" Zhong Ning asked. Zhong Lu remained expressionless and replied with a folded hand, "I signed a three-year employment contract and will be at your disposal for three years. I will follow your orders, Your Highness!"

"Riding a horse on the battlefield and achieving great things is the lifelong wish of many men. If you are willing, I will respect your idea!"

Zhong Lu hesitated for a moment before replying, "I have been taught by my master since I was young. After he passed away, I have been homeless and wandering all the way. If I hadn't met Your Highness, I wouldn't have the peace I have today!"

"Stop talking nonsense and just tell me whether you want to go or not!" Zhong Ning put the letter aside and said bluntly.

"I want to go!" The reason why Zhong Lu refused before was because Zhong Ning did not intend to let him stay on the front line at that time.

But now that he has seen the heroism on the battlefield, even though he came from the underworld and yearns for freedom, he can't help but feel excited about being able to defend his country!

"Very good!" Zhong Ning stood up and walked slowly to Zhong Lu. "In life, it is rare to encounter something you love. Now that you have found it, you must move forward courageously. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles you encounter, never give up!"

Zhong Lu suddenly looked up, a trace of confusion flashing in her eyes.

"No matter what happens in your future life, remember that besides being my secret guard and Marquis Pingning's beloved general, you are also yourself. Zhong Lu is just your code name. Your real name is Ji Yuan!"

"One should never forget one's roots. From now on, everything should be put first!"

"Whether you're a secret guard or a general, it's just a job. Don't take it too seriously, but don't take it too lightly either."

"You have to find the right balance yourself. Okay, go back and rest for two days before setting off again!"

When Zhong Lu heard this, her eyes became slightly moist.

This is why he was unwilling to leave the Highness and go somewhere else.

Because here, even though he is just a guard, he can still be respected!

"If it weren't for Your Highness' guidance, Zhong Lu would still be disregarding the law for a few ounces of silver, filling the gap for the Qinghe Cui family. She wouldn't even have the qualifications to clear her name. From the day Your Highness took her in, Zhong Lu has been just Zhong Lu!"

"Okay, whatever you want. Go back! Have a good rest!"

"Subordinates resign!"

Zhong Lu bowed solemnly and then turned to leave. Zhong Ning ordered the butler to take Zhong Lu's reward over and then went to the study to arrange the follow-up matters.

She is really busy because the palace examination is about to begin!

She had previously suggested that some random questions could be added to the palace examination. However, after discussing with his ministers, Emperor Yong felt that this was inappropriate.

Because the imperial examination has always followed the ancestral system and cannot be easily reformed.

Zhong Ning sighed, feeling somewhat powerless, and changed his tone of voice: Then can we not just test on empty and pretentious questions like before?

Emperor Yong's face turned black at that time.

What is false and empty?

His palace examination clearly tested questions on education, military affairs, governance, etiquette and law, so how could it be empty talk?

Zhong Ning gave examples of questions from previous palace examinations.

For example, in the last palace examination, the question was: What is the unparalleled national talent?

The top scholar answers the question: He is an unparalleled scholar in the country, who recruits talented people, has students all over the world, and has an upright character!

Then he wrote a long and eloquent article, which touched the heart of Emperor Yong.

For example, in the palace examination before that, the question was: What is the position of the people in relation to the officials? (What is the position of the people in the eyes of the officials? How do the people and officials get along with each other?)

The top scholar’s ​​answer: Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.

It is a whole gorgeous article, which elaborates in detail the relationship between officials and the people, such as the people should be diligent and the officials should be honest.

All in all, it’s a good article.

This is just like what happened a few days ago when someone recommended an article titled "Encouraging Agriculture" in the "Dayong Weekly" which beautifully described the benefits of agricultural production.