Chapter 453: Great Victory at the Front

In the Council Hall, civil and military officials were all lined up, waiting quietly for the Jin Prince to hold court.

Wei Yuan, as a second-rank Military Governor, stood in the row of military generals, his position second only to the Right Minister, the Minister of War, and two other veteran Military Governors, Xu Tongshou and Lu Wenbai.

Among the civil and military officials of the court, there was no lack of young-looking ones, but in fact, Wei Yuan was the only one under forty, and there were only two or three under fifty, while there were eight or nine over a hundred. Therefore, many officials standing behind Wei Yuan were stealing glances at him, more because he was too young.

"His Majesty the Holy Prince has arrived!" Following the familiar voice of Liu Chaoen, the Jin Prince entered the hall and sat firmly on the throne.

There was nothing major at the morning court today, just daily government affairs. Then, after the Jin Prince encouraged the three Military Governors who had come to the capital to meet the Emperor, he said, "Beloved Minister Wei!"

Wei Yuan stepped out of the line, and the officials also knew that the main event was coming.

"Beloved Minister Wei broke the Shaman tribe greatly the day before yesterday, and has continuously repelled the Shaman tribe's attacks in recent days. The Shaman tribe dispatched many One You Wu, yet they still returned in defeat. Such a battle record truly boosts the morale of our Great Jin!"

Many officials in the hall suddenly changed color. Repelling the Shaman tribe was not strange, but listening to the meaning of the Jin Prince's words, the Shaman tribe not only dispatched One You Wu, but there was more than one? Didn't this mean that Wei Yuan also had more than one Fenhai Zhenjun assisting him?

Several people who truly knew the battle situation that day were all people of high position and power, and their expressions at this moment were very intriguing.

They knew very well that in that battle, Wei Yuan's side actually had seven True Lords present, and there was another one on the way. This level of strength was almost catching up to half a noble family!

"Such battle merit must be rewarded! Now..."

Before the Jin Prince's voice fell, a voice suddenly came from outside the hall: "Holy Prince! Great joy! A report of victory from the front!"

Several Imperial Guards flew over and stopped at the entrance of the hall, and then the internal official took the victory report and presented it to the Jin Prince. This was the general rule of the nine countries of Great Tang; this type of messenger was specifically responsible for reporting major military intelligence, could run in the palace, and could go until before the hall, and no one was allowed to block them.

The Jin Prince took the victory report, and after reading it, he was instantly ecstatic and laughed loudly, "Good, good, good! The Ying Prince's new army has won a great victory! It should be celebrated by the whole country!"

Next, Liu Chaoen read the full text of the victory report. The main content was that the Ying Prince had trained a new army in the northern border, and the first battle after the army was formed was a great victory. With twenty thousand infantry against twenty thousand Liao tribe cavalry, they defeated the Liao cavalry and beheaded six thousand.

This battle was not considered a large battle in terms of scale, but it was of extraordinary significance. With the same number, infantry could defeat cavalry, and it was a great victory. The Jin Prince was so happy also because it was the new army that won.

Wei Yuan naturally knew that the new army used firearms, so it was not strange to have such a battle record, and this victory report did not mention the casualties of the new army.

That day, Wei Yuan had once used the Xu family's youths to completely defeat the Northern Border Iron Cavalry that Yue Jinshan was famous for throughout the world. It was just that that time it was thirty thousand against ten thousand.

After the joy, Wei Yuan's reward still had to continue. The Jin Prince pondered slightly, and the hall was instantly silent.

Wei Yuan was clear in his heart; it seemed that the Ying Prince's great victory had already allowed the Jin Prince to see the hope of breaking the situation in the north, and the substantive part of his own reward would likely shrink or even be cancelled.

After pondering, the Jin Prince said, "Ancient famous generals once said: 'The more troops a minister commands, the better.' It is the same today. The so-called capable serve their labor. Beloved Minister Wei is young and promising, using troops like a god; even ancient famous generals are no more than this, and he should naturally shoulder more heavy responsibilities. Therefore, I want to merge Ningxi County into the jurisdiction of the Dingxi Military Governor. Do any of you beloved ministers have any objections?"

Once these words were spoken, some officials looked slightly surprised.

They were well-informed and naturally knew about the reward for Wei Yuan long ago. But what they didn't expect was that the Ying Prince's great victory was reported back at this time, yet the Jin Prince still maintained the original reward. Could it be that the Jin Prince's attitude toward Wei Yuan had changed?

Wei Yuan could not be considered a true Jin minister; according to his background, he could at most be considered a pacified horse bandit. Although he had the background of the Tai Chu Palace, he had also offended the Xu family to death in the early stage, so the backgrounds could cancel each other out. In the end, even the Eunuch Party was too lazy to win him over, and it was the original in-laws who couldn't be brought to the table who came forward.

Unexpectedly, in less than two years, Wei Yuan had grown to such a point.

Many officials in the court were still unclear about the current situation of Qingming, not knowing that Ningxi County had actually been squeezed into an arc. However, although Qingming had expanded to more than four hundred li, in terms of area, Ningxi County was still much larger. After merging Ningxi County, Qingming could expand to twelve hundred li, and only then would it enter the scope of other counties in the east.

Since the Jin Prince maintained the original reward, the officials from all sides could not figure out what he was thinking, so they all remained silent, and this matter was settled. The Jin Prince also allowed Wei Yuan to build eight towns of troops, seal four Regional Commanders, and set up another Chariot and Cavalry General to command the four Regional Commanders. However, the Chariot and Cavalry General needed to meet the Emperor in the capital, and only after the Jin Prince nodded could he be rewarded. And this level of general, if not a Dharma Form, must at least be in the late stage of Dao Foundation, and have hope of advancing to Dharma Form.

With this, the morning court ended. On the way out of the palace, a civil official suddenly came to Wei Yuan's side and whispered, "Lord Wei, please stay. The Left Minister has something he wants to say to you."

This civil official was middle-aged and could not hide the dislike and arrogance on his face when looking at Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan also knew that he had never been favored by the Qingliu civil officials, so he didn't take it to heart and stood in the corridor waiting.

The Left Minister came unhurriedly and walked side by side with Wei Yuan toward the palace gate. This was Wei Yuan's first close contact with this figure who held power over the court.

The Left Minister said, "Lord Wei is young and promising, possesses heavy troops, and his cultivation progress also makes this old man feel that it is a miracle. A Dharma Form under twenty is rare in any country."

"My lord, you are overpraising me; it is just luck."

The Left Minister stroked his beard and looked at the gloomy sky: "This old man spent seventy years to enter the court, and spent another thirty years to sit in today's position, but after working for several years, I am already exhausted, and in these years, my cultivation has not made the slightest progress."

According to common sense, Wei Yuan should flatter him a few times, but for some reason, after experiencing last night's events and listening to the Left Minister's words, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a bit meaningless.

Spending a full hundred years just to stand a little closer in this court?

The Left Minister seemed not to have noticed Wei Yuan's thoughts and continued, "Lord Wei's future destination should be outside the court. And before that, you only need to do nothing, and you will naturally be the winner."

At this moment, the palace gate was in sight, and Wei Yuan said, "Thank you for your guidance, my lord."

The Left Minister nodded, exited the palace gate first, and left by carriage. Wei Yuan's carriage also drove over, loaded Wei Yuan, and then drove toward the post house.

!.

Along the way, Wei Yuan recalled every word the Left Minister said, and then reviewed the Left Minister's life and conduct in his mind.

The Left Minister's surname was Lu, his name was Zhongpei, and he came from a side branch of the Lu family. His family was poor in his early years, but he showed talent early on, and later worshipped into the Four Sages Academy. At forty, he achieved Dharma Form, left the mountain to become an official, started as a County Magistrate, then rose all the way to Regional Commander, then abandoned martial arts for literature, transferred to Vice Prefect, worked diligently for decades, step by step slowly rose to the fourth rank, and had the qualification to enter the hall to discuss affairs.

Since then, his official career had accelerated slightly, but overall it was still lukewarm. Just like this, after the old Qingliu leader retired and lived in seclusion, he took over the banner of Qingliu, walked slowly all the way, and finally became the head of the civil officials.

Just looking at this resume, it was simply impeccable, worthy of being called an evergreen tree in politics, and a model of an old fox. Whether in politics or on the battlefield, Wei Yuan was least willing to encounter this kind of opponent.

The Left Minister didn't say much, but every sentence was intriguing. First, he pointed out that Wei Yuan had hope for the immortal path in the future, and the trivial matters of the human court were naturally not as important as ascending to immortality. Not to mention Return to Oneness, even the Ying Prince and Cheng Prince who achieved Yu Jing almost never showed up in the court. They mainly cared about the war, and basically ignored daily government affairs.

The Left Minister had been in the officialdom for a hundred years, and must have delayed a lot of cultivation.

Wei Yuan also heard the meaning of his other sentence. He was already a second-rank official at a young age, basically having nowhere to rise. With Wei Yuan's background, he would naturally not abandon the foundation of Qingming, so even if he was given the first rank, he might not necessarily want it. So Wei Yuan only needed to wait and see now, and could sit and watch the various factions fight.

If this went on for decades, Wei Yuan would have elite troops and sufficient food, and his cultivation would advance further. At that time, he would naturally be a giant in the court, and everyone would have to look at his face, so the Left Minister said that Wei Yuan didn't need to do anything, and he would naturally win.

The Left Minister's words were not wrong, but Wei Yuan thought a layer deeper. The Left Minister said such things at this time, there must be something he didn't want him to interfere with now.

Wei Yuan didn't care much about government affairs, but whether he interfered or not, he always had to know about things.

The carriage had just arrived at the post house when someone suddenly reported that the troops Wei Yuan brought had started fighting with others. Wei Yuan was also taken aback when he heard this. He had brought fifteen thousand iron cavalry, and they would actually start fighting with others? If they fought, so be it, why hadn't they killed the other party?

Wei Yuan immediately abandoned the carriage and changed to a horse, taking dozens of personal guards and galloping toward the military camp.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 454 =====