It is absolutely false to say that Zhang Xuan is not curious about Tian Kexin¡¯s appearance behind the veil. It's just that what he values ????is Tian Kexin's talent and strategy, although Tian Kexin has not had many opportunities to perform - and Zhang Xuan believes that this time the Western Expedition, the fierce collision with the cannibals, will be the time when Tian Kexin really shines. .
In a real confrontation between two armies, a collision between two powerful countries, and a battle between large armies, Tian Kexin's strategy can make up for the shortcomings of Guo Ziyi's strategy. This is the main reason why Zhang Xuan keeps Tian Kexin by his side.
As for Tian Kexin¡¯s appearance, it doesn¡¯t matter. Even though Tian Kexin is extremely ugly, it does not affect her status in Zhang Xuan's mind at all.
However, Tian Kexin suddenly lifted the veil. For Zhang Xuan, it was very sudden. Suddenly to an extent that shocked him.
He focused his gaze, and an extremely beautiful face appeared in front of him. The face that shocked people at first sight was far more beautiful than Zhang Xuan imagined. But beauty is beautiful, but on this beautiful face, the eye sockets are deep, the bridge of the nose is high, and the light brown eyeballs are filled with endless exotic charm.
Zhang Xuan was startled, couldn't help but stood up suddenly, raised his finger and pointed at Tian Kexin and said in surprise, "Youwho are you?"
Zhang Xuan never expected that behind Tian Kexin¡¯s veil were the faces of foreign women. Such amorous feelings made him feel a little weird.
Tian Kexin fell to the ground and sighed softly, "Your Majesty, Kexin did not mean to deceive. Kexin's mother was a Turkic dancer. She and my father had a happy night and gave birth to Kexin, and then passed away. My father did not give birth to his mother because of Kexin. He was of low status and despised Ke Xin, but he raised Ke Xin up and cultivated Ke Xin vigorously"
Zhang Xuan slowly sat down. After a moment of shock, he accepted Tian Kexin's face. Tian Kexin was surprised that she had Turkic ancestry. Although she was surprised, it was not an unacceptable result. In fact, in this open era, intermarriage and childbirth among various ethnic groups are extremely common.
"Haha, I didn't expect that Ke Xin actually has Turkic ancestry." Zhang Xuan smiled, "I made a mistake and lost my composure."
Tian Kexin raised her head and stared at the emperor, and said quietly and resolutely, "Kexin will take off her veil today to thank your majesty for your grace in naming Kexin's father. Please don't dislike Kexin's vulgarity!"
Tian Kexin¡¯s words were full of hints of helplessness and ambiguity, and she was obviously going to recommend herself. She fell into a misunderstanding under Guo Ziyi's misguided thinking. She believed that the reason why the emperor had been unwilling to canonize Tian Chengsi was because he was interested in her. Now that the emperor has taken the initiative to canonize Tian Chengsi, this obviously means that he wants to pierce this layer of window paper. ¡ª¡ªTian Kexin had no choice but to take off her veil, which was regarded as accepting her fate.
She was born to a Turkish dancer, and her mother was of low status. Without Tian Chengsi's care and upbringing, she would not have survived. Therefore, in her mind, Tian Chengsi is both a father and a benefactor. For the future and destiny of her father and family, she had to make a painful choice.
Zhang Xuan was greatly embarrassed.
He let out a long breath, avoided Tian Kexin's clear and deep eyes, and said with a wry smile, "Kexin, you should go back and rest first. It's late at night, I I really don't think anything wrong. You are overly preoccupied. Go ahead. , go!¡±
Zhang Xuan waved his hand.
Tian Kexin was startled, then her face turned red.
She had been with the emperor for a long time and knew the emperor's temperament very well. Seeing the emperor's demeanor at this moment, she knew that she had misunderstood. When she thought of this, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She quickly kowtowed and thanked him. She got up and hurried away in a panic. When she left, she actually left her veil on the ground.
Guo Fu was actually standing at the entrance of the hall waiting, listening to the movement inside. Seeing Tian Kexin running out in a hurry, she couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Sister Kexin, I created an opportunity for you. If you didn't seize it yourself, don't blame me in the future. If you don¡¯t want to help me¡ªah, sister Kexin, where¡¯s your veil!¡±
Tian Kexin¡¯s face turned red and she hid her face and left.
Guo Fu¡¯s clear laughter came from behind, echoing in the night sky.
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After the Lantern Festival, Liangzhou City entered a busy countdown to the army¡¯s departure. Outside the city, soldiers shuttled back and forth, camp horns blared, war horses neighed, and all kinds of baggage and supplies piled up like mountains outside the city.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, although Tian Kexin still wears a veil to show others, she no longer avoids some close people. In addition to Guo Fu, even Su Hudong and Li Tengkong also learned that she had Turkic ancestry and was a mixed-race beauty. Of course, not many foreign ministers know about it.
Tian Kexin?In order to avoid embarrassment, he went directly out of the city and lived in the military camp. In the Western Expedition army, she will serve as the "chief of general staff" of the Western Expedition march camp, the camp's military division general and counselor of military affairs, and become the most important staff member of Guo Ziyi, the commander of the army.
The emperor marched in person, and the marching commander was naturally named after the emperor. However, it was impossible for the emperor to personally handle the march, so Guo Ziyi still had to be in charge of the march. Tian Kexin was equivalent to Guo Ziyi's adjutant, and had the authority to report to the emperor and counselors.
In this expedition, Guo Ziyi, Nan Jiyun, Lei Wanchun, and Li Siye will all accompany the army. They are the most capable generals designated by the emperor. The emperor had already issued an edict to urgently transfer Pugu Huai'en to join him in the Western Expedition. The main purpose was to allow Pugu Huai'en to replace Cheng Qianli, guard Beiting and calm the situation in the Western Regions.
Pugu Huaien is already on the way, and he is expected to arrive in Hexi in the next three or two days. He will be accompanied by 20,000 Flying Leopard troops.
The person who replaced Pugu Huaien to guard Fan Yang was General Zhang Tong of Yulin. Zhang Tong is also one of the founding fathers who started the army from Zhang Xuan and founded the country. At the same time, his daughter is also the imperial concubine. She can be regarded as one of Zhang Xuan's ministers who can be reused and trusted.
Tian Chengsi left Fan Yang and took over Zhang Tong's position. In fact, he did not have much actual military power. The real military power in the capital was still in the hands of Yan Zhenqing. However, for Tian Chengsi, this was already very satisfying.
A third-grade general and a powerful figure in the capital, no one dares to underestimate him. Moreover, his daughter was already regarded by many people as the emperor's beloved wife and future imperial concubine.
On the first day of March in the third year of Yongning, Pugu Huaien finally led his army to arrive outside Liangzhou.
The local people and merchants in the city have long been accustomed to the frequent mobilization of troops and horses outside the city of Liangzhou, so the arrival of 20,000 people from Pugu Huai'en did not cause much trouble, and even lacked the necessary attention.
Pugu Huaien led two soldiers into the city and went straight to the "Imperial Palace".
Hearing that Pugu Huaien had arrived, Zhang Xuan laughed loudly and personally led Guo Ziyi, Zhang Xun and others to greet him at the entrance of the main hall.
When Pugu Huaien saw that the emperor actually went out to greet him in person, he was shocked. He hurried over and knelt down on the ground and said loudly, "I pay homage to your majesty. How dare I bother your majesty to go out to greet him? I am so frightened!"
Zhang Xuan smiled slightly and signaled Nan Jiyun to step forward and help Pugu Huaien up.
"Pu Gu Huai'en, I urgently summon you to lead the army to help in the battle. Do you know my intention?" Zhang Xuan smiled softly.
Pugu Huaien shook his head, "I don't know, please make it clear, Your Majesty!"
To be honest, Pugu Huaien was somewhat unhappy that the emperor had asked him to leave Fan Yang. He is sitting in Fanyang and is about to show off his skills to transform the town of Fanyang into a prosperous place, and even expand his sphere of influence to the land of Xiren and the land of Dongyi. Even the overseas Goryeo is included in his business plan. , but at this moment, the emperor transferred him away with an edict, how could he not be depressed.
"Prime Minister Guo." Zhang Xuan glanced at Guo Ziyi.
Guo Ziyi smiled knowingly and hurriedly explained in detail the situation in the Western Region and the serious dereliction of duty by Cheng Qianli in Beiting, which led to the Tuqishi forces infiltrating most of Beiting and concealing it from the imperial court.
Zhang Xuan smiled calmly, "I have thought about it and found that the land of Beiting and Anxi is very important, and you are the only one in the world who has the ability to manage this vast land."
"I am going to conquer the Western Regions. However, the deterrence of force can only maintain temporary stability. Long-term stability and prosperity still require you to work hard and worry about me. Feng Changqing will also accompany me on the expedition. I intend to merge Anxi and Beiting into the Grand Governor of the Western Regions. The government has jurisdiction over three realms and thirty-six states, and entrusts all the important military and political affairs of the Western Region to you. What do you think?"
Pugu Huai'en deeply felt the emperor's trust. The Western Region and Beiting were merged. In the future, he would rule the entire Western Region, which would be at least as big as ten Fanyangs. The fact that the emperor could entrust him with such an important task speaks volumes.
Pugu Huai'en burst into tears of gratitude, knelt on the ground and shouted tremblingly, "Your Majesty's kindness is so great, I should be ashamed of His Majesty!"
As a general of the Hu people, Pugu Huai'en's position of power will reach a peak, unrivaled among the local officials under the emperor. Moreover, he and Yang Lian are the only local princes in the world who control the combination of administrative and military power. Their status is far beyond the reach of An Sishun and others.
Of course, the unified centralization of military and political power in special areas such as Tubo and the Western Regions was just Zhang Xuan's expedient measure. The future trend will still be to separate military and political affairs. According to Zhang Xuan's plan, ten years later, the military vassal towns in the world will gradually become purely military chiefs, with the power to stabilize border defense and local security, but without the power to interfere in administrative governance.
And most of the current local vassal towns have actually promoted the separation of military and political affairs.
"I don't need you to mess around, I just hope that you can fulfill your duties loyally! I destroyed Tubo and handed over Tubo to Yang Lian. I will soon pacify the entire Western Region and bring it under the governance of the imperial court. I will hand over the Western Region to You! You can manage the Western Region well and avoid any trouble, which is a great achievement. I will never treat you badly in the future."
Zhang Xuan leaned down, personally helped Pu Gu Huaien, and said calmly.
"Okay, tell me my will and go out to conquer the Western Regions the day after tomorrow!" Zhang Xuan suddenly waved his hand and strode away.
Not long after, the melodious and loud sound of military trumpets echoed in the military camp outside the city. The Shence Army, Shenwu Army, and Flying Tiger Army, as well as the 50,000 troops and horses of Huihe and the 20,000 Flying Tiger Army of Pugu Huai'en, immediately gathered their swords and guns, Checking the equipment and baggage, making final preparations before setting off.