At noon the next day, a eunuch was sent out from the palace to officially confer Ximen Qiao the title of Tiger General. He was promoted from Rank-4 to Qingzhou Provincial Governor.
The eunuch who came to read the imperial edict received the five thousand taels of silver from Ximen Qiao." I'm afraid the Duke of Chu doesn't agree to your appointment. General, please be careful."”
"Isn't the Duke of Chu still in the northwest to fight Empress Dowager Xiao?”
"The Duke of Chu has defeated the Liao people and will return to the court.”
The Duke of Chu was Tong Guan. He was also a damn eunuch, but a very special damn eunuch.
Ximen Qiao had specially transferred over all the information that the intelligence team had gathered on Tong Guan.
Tong Guan was good at using troops and was highly skilled in martial arts. People called Cai Jing the " public minister " and Tong Guan the " old minister."
Tong Guan had been supervising the army in the northwest. He had once defeated Xixia and recovered Sichuan and Taozhou.
Zhao Ji appreciated Tong Guan very much. In the first year of Zhenghe, Tong Guan was promoted to Duke of Chu and led the Privy Council.
Ximen Qiao felt that the task of defeating Tong Guan given by the system was very strenuous, but no matter how strenuous it was, he had to continue doing it.
Ximen Qiao thought of a basic strategy, which was to make friends from afar and attack from nearby. He would get close to Huang Jing, pull Gao Qiu along, and attack Tong Guan.
According to the intelligence team, Huang Jing and Gao Qiu were Tong Guan's sworn enemies. Although Tong Guan was deeply trusted by the Emperor and had a large army under his command, he had offended many people in the court due to his arrogance.
Due to Tong Guan's tyrannical power, the courtiers were mostly pretending to be polite to him, playing along.
Rank-4 would have to attend court every day, and Ximen Qiao had a headache over this.
On the first day of court, she was almost late. Fortunately, Pan Jinlian reminded her, so she put on her court clothes.
Rank-4 martial artists were not qualified to enter the throne room. Ximen Qiao saw a shadowy old man sitting on the throne outside the throne room. A few old men were holding a small wooden board and talking.
Ximen Qiao closed his eyes and browsed through the system store. There was indeed a clairaudient that could be exchanged, but it required 10 million points. He couldn't afford it, so he could only give up.
Just as he was sighing to himself, a young eunuch walked out and screamed in a voice that was neither male nor female,"
"Xuan Hu Wei General Ximen Qing greets you!”
Ximen Qiao tidied up his court robes and walked into the throne room, imitating the footsteps of the first-rank officials.
Their eyes met. Zhao Ji felt that this Ximen Qing looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before. He had called him in just to meet him.
"Long live our emperor!" Before Ximen Qiao transmigrated, he had watched a period drama and knew a little about this etiquette.
"Beloved minister, rise and raise your head. I seem to have seen you before.”
"Your Majesty, this is my first time meeting you.”Ximen Qiao raised his head and looked at Zhao Ji. Last time, he had gotten more than a million taels of silver from Li Shishi. Zhao Ji was in a sorry state that day.
"My dear minister, your temperament is indeed extraordinary. The person recommended by Huang Jing is not bad. You are a military general, but you have the demeanor of a scholar.”
In the Song Dynasty, literati were highly valued, and no matter how high a general was promoted, they did not have any sense of superiority. Gao Qiu, who held the power to mobilize troops from the various prefectures, was a literati general.
"I know a little." Ximen Qiao said. He really didn't know much about poetry. Even if he knew a thing or two, he was just boasting.
"I heard from Huang Jing that you are very good at business and have a lot of wealth. I am very comforted. Now is the time to use troops. Before the soldiers and horses move, the food and grass will be used first. All expenses will be very high. In the future, you don't have to go to court every day to help the Ministry of Revenue fill the national treasury.”What Zhao Ji cared about the most was still silver.
Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao Kingdom led her army south. The rebellion of Song Jiang and Fang La had already emptied the national treasury. Even the Flower Stone Gang project had begun to stop.
The greatest crisis facing the imperial court was silver.
Ximen Qiao kowtowed in gratitude. The top priority was to increase taxes a little, and the long-term plan was to repel foreign aggression and stabilize the country.”
"Resist foreign aggression first!" Zhao Ji was a little angry. Gao Qiu's loss of soldiers had made him feel as if he was sitting on pins and needles." Grand Commandant Gao, how many troops do the Liangshan bandits have now?”
Gao Qiu left his post and knelt down." I have already defeated the Liangshan bandits a few days ago. Give me more time and I will definitely wipe them out."”
"Defeat? You can deceive others but you can't deceive me. What exactly is the situation? You have to report it truthfully, otherwise, hmph!”
Although Zhao Ji liked to enjoy life and was extravagant, he was not a bad ruler. He was still very sensitive to matters that concerned the country.
"I deserve to die! The Liangshan bandits have obtained over fifty battle generals this year, it's completely different from before. Especially with the Twin Dragon Mount joining, Liangshan is like a tiger with wings."
"Alright, stop talking! I don't care what the Liangshan bandits are like, as long as you can destroy them immediately. If you can't, wait for Tong Guan to defeat the Liao Kingdom, then I'll call him.”Zhao Ji shouted sternly.
Gao Qiu was already drenched in cold sweat as he knelt there. Cai Jing's fate was still fresh in his mind, so it was not impossible for him to follow in his footsteps.
"I will set off again tomorrow. This time, I will definitely eliminate all the bandits. If I fail, I am willing to receive the death penalty!”
"That's good, that's good. We can discuss with Minister Chang about the money and food needed to mobilize the troops.”
Zhao Ji flung his sleeves and left.
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