At this time, the darkness outside faded away and the sky appeared.
It took a whole day and a night to decipher the treasure map, but the five people did not feel tired but rather excited.
Su Yin looked at Su Xinyang, "Is everything alright at the Duke's Mansion?"
"Nothing. I told the old lady that I'm staying the night with my schoolmates."
"That's good. After breakfast, hurry back to the academy and don't let anyone know."
"Um."
Pushing open the window, Su Yin was surprised to find it was snowing outside.
"Mom, it's snowing."
Snow means the cold wind is coming, which is not good weather for the displaced people, but for the powerful, it is a good day to show off their elegance.
Su Yin was a southerner in her previous life. For southerners, snow is definitely an exciting thing.
Every time it snows, the whole circle of friends is posting pictures of the snow, and they are all very happy.
Perhaps it is because most southerners have a deep-seated love for snow, so it is normal for Su Yin to be excited.
"It's just snow, look how excited you are about it." Mother Su said with a smile, "It's snowing, you should keep warm and don't catch a cold."
While Su Yin was excited to see the snow, the Golden Palace was covered with dark clouds.
Emperor Rongxian is over thirty years old and in the prime of his life. He should be full of vigor and vitality, but he has white hair on his temples and looks haggard. It is obvious at first glance that he is suffering from illness.
He forced himself to hold on and read out the urgent military intelligence from eight hundred miles away this morning in the hall.
"My dear ministers, do you have any ideas?"
The Northwest commander was killed by Da Rong, and the deputy commander was seriously injured and fell into a coma while trying to save the commander. The entire Northwest army fell into a state of leaderlessness.
Duke Suguo Xie Zhen stood in the queue, silent.
Originally, he and his son were the main generals of the Northwest Army, but the emperor was afraid that their achievements would overshadow his authority, so he transferred him back and sent his confidant Li Wei to lead the Northwest Army.
He had known that this day would come. Before leaving office, he repeatedly urged his deputy general Wang Man to keep a close eye on Li Wenas.
That person is ambitious and only knows how to talk big but not do it on paper.
But now something has happened. It wouldn't be a big deal if he died, but his subordinate Wang Man was also implicated.
Xie Zhen was worried about the Northwestern Army and that the Northwestern border would be breached, but no matter how worried he was, he couldn't be impatient at this time, as if he was, he would suffer.
After asking this question, Emperor Rongxian looked at the line of military commanders and asked, "Which of you will go to the northwest to lead the army and recover the three places?"
The generals in the line lowered their heads and shrank their necks, not daring to look up, for fear of attracting the emperor's attention and having this task assigned to them.
If it was a month ago, everyone would have been scrambling to get it, but now that there has been such a big commotion in the Northwest and such a mess left behind, who would dare to accept it?
Once you take over, it means that you will be responsible for the arduous task of recovering the three lost cities and driving the Da Rong Iron Cavalry out of the pass. Such a severe situation will give anyone who takes over this task a headache.
If one fails to handle the matter properly, not only will one lose his official position, but his family will also be implicated.
No one wants to take on this kind of hard work.
Emperor Rong Xian was very angry when he saw that no one dared to speak. They shouted loudly on normal days, but when the critical moment came, they all became quails.
Emperor Rongxian subconsciously looked at the Duke of Su, Xie Zhen, who was standing at the front, but the old fellow just stared at him without saying a word.
The officials in the court all saw what the emperor was thinking, and someone immediately stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the Northwest Army has always been led by Duke Su. If anyone can lead the Northwest Army, it must be Duke Su. Duke Su has fought with the Damong Kingdom for many years and knows Damong well. He will definitely be able to drive Damong back outside the Great Wall."
After the first person spoke up, others began to ask for this job on behalf of Duke Su.
Emperor Rong Xian knew very well that the only person in the court who could handle this matter was Xie Zhen, but he was still somewhat reluctant.
It was so hard to get him down from this position, and now I have to make him sit back down again. I am unwilling to do that.
But the situation was stronger than the person, so he could only be allowed to go back temporarily and find a way to take back the military power in the future.
The Northwest Army cannot always be controlled by the Xie family, especially now that the Xie family has successors.
Emperor Rongxian was thinking about this, and he looked at Xie Zhen with a dignified gaze, "Duke Su, what do you think?"
Xie Zhen, who was called, walked out of the queue and said respectfully to Emperor Rong Xian, who was at the head of the queue: "Your Majesty, I am old and I am afraid I am not qualified for the position. Please choose another talented person."
All the officials in the court knew Xie Zhen's temper. He was venting his anger about being stripped of his military power.
Shunyi Hou walked out of the queue.
"Duke Su is wrong. I heard that you hunted a tiger in the suburbs three days ago. We are ashamed of ourselves."
With Marquis Shunyi speaking up, others also took advantage of this incident to flatter Duke Suguo, with one main message being 'you are great, you are the best'.
Emperor Rongxian was very satisfied with Marquis Shunyi's performance. Marquis Shunyi naturally noticed the emperor's satisfied look and felt proud.
Emperor Rongxian spoke again, "Duke Suguo."
Xie Zhen stepped out again, "Your Majesty, I really have no power to help you."
"Duke Su!" This time, Emperor Rongxian showed signs of getting angry. All the officials in the court immediately looked at him with concern. Only a few powerful ministers at the top looked calm.
Xie Zhen sighed, "Your Majesty, I have an unwelcome request."
Emperor Rong Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, it turned out that this old man was waiting for him here.
"explain."
"I must take with me a year's unpaid salary and three months' worth of military rations for the Northwest Army. Otherwise, I will not be able to lead the Northwest Army." Xie Zhen had a tough attitude and he would not go unless he was given the money.
Everyone gasped. The only person in the court who dared to treat Emperor Rong Xian in this way was the military man Xie Zhen.
Emperor Rong Xian almost laughed out of anger, the treasury was empty, the dynasty had suffered disasters year after year, and the court had allocated funds and grain time and time again, so how could it have so much silver to give?
Emperor Rongxian looked at the Minister of Revenue, "Minister Lin, how much money can be allocated from the national treasury?"
Minister Lin, who was named, walked out of the queue.
"Your Majesty, our dynasty has suffered from disasters for years, and the grain harvest has been poor. The treasury is really out of money, but since Duke Su has said so, I, this old minister, will have to pay Duke Su a month's military pay even if I have to pay out of my own pocket."
One is greedy for money, the other pays out of his own pocket and makes selfless contributions. Everyone present knows the truth.
Xie Zhen snorted coldly. These parasites, the soldiers in the northwest haven't received their salaries for a year, and they still don't have enough to eat or wear warm clothes, yet they still want people to make selfless contributions to help these parasites resist foreign invaders so that they can live happily.
This is a very clear calculation.
As soon as Minister Lin said this, officials jumped out one after another to accuse Duke Su of being inconsiderate to the emperor, the court's difficulties, and deliberately making things difficult for others.
They criticized him from the perspective of justice and condemned him morally, saying that he was worthless and like a termite.
Xie Zhen's eyes darkened. "Since you all think that I am not worthy of being the commander, I beg Your Majesty to choose someone else. Choose a virtuous person to lead the Northwest Army. I think he will definitely be able to train an army that will work selflessly without eating or drinking, and will surely help Your Majesty easily recover the three places."
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