Valley Emperor

And as the empire's western expedition is about to start, the army officers, whether they are senior generals or ordinary officers, whether they are civilian officers or officers of the children of the powerful, are all showing their magical powers.

Just to be transferred to the Northwest to serve!

In order to participate in the Western Expedition to gain military exploits, those who can go to the front-line main force should go to the first-line main force, and those who cannot go to the first-line main force will go to the second-line force.

If even the second-line troops could not go, many people would grit their teeth, and even third-line reserve troops like the garrison division in the northwest region would be willing to go.

So many people have broken their heads and tried every means to be transferred to the Northwest Frontline Army. Against this background, even among the younger generation of army officers, Bi Zhian, who is already a little famous and a son of aristocrats, is unavoidable to run around everywhere. , just for a chance to lead the front line.

Bi Zhian also held a position in the Northwest before, but later entered the Imperial Academy to study. He just graduated last year and stayed in the staff of the Privy Council as a staff officer.

He is already a major in the army and has also attended the Imperial Academy, so his future will not be too bad, as long as he is not unlucky and died in the front line or encounters other accidents, given his age and background, as long as he follows the steps The qualifications of the boil can also be boiled out as a colonel.

However, if you just boil the qualifications, you are almost at the end of the army colonel before retiring.

If you just retire as an army colonel, you might as well apply for retirement at the age of 34 and enter the political world.

Many aristocratic children with average military talent are like this. When they were young, they applied for military academies and joined the army, and then joined the army more than ten years later. If they do not see the hope of being promoted to generals, they often do not die, but will. Choose to stop losses in time and retire to politics when you are in your thirties or forties.

However, the children of nobles who hope to become generals often try their best to stay in the army and then strive for meritorious service.

The same is true of Bi Zhian. You said he has the hope of becoming a general. Now he is not too young, but he is still only a major in the army. During the same period of the martial arts school, his promotion rate was not fast, at most he was ranked in the ranks. The first thirty or so.

There were about 200 people in his department at the same time, and he was able to be promoted to army major at the thirtieth, which was naturally dissatisfied compared to ordinary people, but he was just grabbing the tail.

You have to know that in his same period, there was one major general, one brigadier general, and many colonels and lieutenants.

With his current promotion rate, there is no hope of becoming a general.

But you said he had no hope of becoming a general, he really had a little hope.

After all, his current age is not too old, and he has also attended the Imperial Academy, so his future promotion will be relatively smooth.

And more importantly, he has a classmate and old boss with great energy. This person is Ying Yikang, the youngest army major general in the army in the past ten years.

When he fought in Beihai Province, he fought under the command of Ying Yikang. Later, he was led by Ying Yikang and transferred to the northwest region. After accumulating military merit, he got the opportunity to enter the Imperial Academy without examination. You really let him rely on it. If he has the ability to go to the Imperial Academy, he can't pass it!

If he can continue to maintain a good relationship with Ying Yikang, he will have a great chance to become a general in the future.

Therefore, he was not reconciled to being like other noble officers who were unable to climb up, to retire from active service halfway, and then went to politics, he preferred to stay in the army.

This time, the northwest side is making great fanfare and is preparing to go on the west expedition, and Bi Zhian will not miss this opportunity.

In Jinling, in March of the 28th year of Xuanping, the rain began to increase, which means that summer will soon be ushered in. Similarly, it also means that the weather in the northwest will gradually improve.

Every summer and autumn, the Datang Army is stationed in the northwest, when they go out to the Western Regions, but this kind of expedition in previous years is more like a training zipper. The Tatars all know this habit of the Datang Army. When it melts, the Tatars will withdraw from the area near the Jiayuguan front, and honestly retreat further west.

The reason is just to avoid the annual training of the Datang Army!

But many people know that this year's Westward Expedition is different!

In previous years, the Western Expedition was just a military training exercise, but this year's Western Expedition is truly a strategic goal of conquering the Western Regions.

It is said that since last year, the Son of Heaven has held many strategic meetings in front of the imperial court, and the senior generals of the Privy Council have also frequently discussed the issue of the Western Expedition.

As a staff officer of the Privy Council's staff, Bi Zhian is even more aware that this year's Western Expedition is not a small fight, but a big fight.

It is not even limited to military operations, but the civilian system at the rear will follow up in time, because after Datang sent troops to the Western Regions this time, they never thought about withdrawing the troops.

The battle is approaching, and Bi Zhian knew that if he did not act, he might miss this battle.

On March 16, Bi Zhian rode to a community in the old city.

At the entrance and exit of this community, there are guards soldiers standing guard to check and register visitors who want to enter the place.

Naturally, the people living in this high-end community are not ordinary people. They are either rich or expensive. Most of the people who live here are military and political leaders. The person he is looking for is the most eye-catching general in the new generation of the army. , is living here.

Bi Zhian is an active army major, but it is not easy to get in here. He was stopped by guards as soon as he arrived at the door. After Ying Yikang was notified, Ying Yikang sent an attendant to pick him up.

Under the leadership of the attendant, Bi Zhian entered the community. Although he was not here, he couldn't help but take a second look when he came here again.

The houses in this community are not magnificent, they are just two- and three-story buildings. In terms of scale and luxury, their Bi family's houses are better than here.

But don't look at these small buildings, but you must know that next door to this community is a large central institution.

Going out from here to the Privy Council building or the office buildings of other ministries, many don’t need to ride a horse and ride a car, they can just walk there.

So don't look at it unremarkable, but the people who live and live here are all real powerful people!

In fact, this community is, to a certain extent, the dormitory of military and political dignitaries serving in Gyeonggi. This community directly belongs to the Royal Assets Section, and every small villa in it is an asset of the royal family.

Because the office buildings of many central agencies in Datang are all around the imperial palace, but the residences of many dignitaries are generally in the suburbs, because only the suburbs have so many places for these dignitaries to build huge scales luxury mansion.

However, the distance is long, and it is inconvenient to travel to and from office, so Li Xuan specially set aside a place and built many small buildings for the temporary living and residence of military and political dignitaries.

And the people who are eligible to apply to live here are all high-level military and political leaders, and everyone's power here is able to surpass their Bi family.

The power of their Bi family came from Bi's father. Although Bi's father also had the rank of major general in the army, he also won the noble title of baron.

But Bi's father was forced to retire from active duty because of the failure of the army's internal struggle, and his previous personal connections were slowly forgotten.

In the eyes of ordinary people, their Bi family is a noble family and a member of the elite class.

But Bi Zhi'an knew very well that their Bi family was at most the bottom of the elite class.

However, the real powers and dignitaries live in this society, and they are all military generals and dignitaries.

After entering the community, although Bi Zhian watched, he did not dare to inquire about anything. After all, being a little arrogant in such a place would probably be controlled as a dangerous person.

Walking all the way, about a quarter of an hour later, he stopped in front of a small two-story building. The construction area of ​​the small building is estimated to be more than 100 square meters, even if the yard is not big, such a small building , it's inconspicuous on the outside.

He Bi Zhian bought a house some time ago to house a woman who was hooking up outside. Its scale and style are better than here.

But he knew better that such an independent building must at least be a major general with real power or a high-ranking official at the level of a servant.

Even ordinary army major generals are expected to rent a small independent building here as a place to stay in Gyeonggi.

In fact, most of the officials working in the central institutions of Gyeonggi, especially the middle and low-level officials, most of them live in the uniformly constructed dormitory buildings around them, usually with more than three floors, and even five or six floors of cement. Reinforced buildings are square and square, and can accommodate four or more households on one floor.

Naturally, these dormitory buildings are also built by the Royal Assets Section. Because of the land around the palace, except for the office buildings of those institutions, most of the other places belong to the royal family's property, and officials naturally have to rent it. The rent was given, but it was much cheaper than the market price. It was a small benefit from Li Xuan's private life.

After all, life in Jinling City is not easy, and housing prices are also expensive, especially the private buildings around the palace are even more expensive, and the official system of the Tang Dynasty adopts a rotation system. It is often difficult for an official to serve in the same place for too long. Time Shorter is three years, longer is five years, and then they will be transferred.

It's just for a few years, and it's not worth these middle and low-level officials to spend a lot of money to buy a mansion.

It's just the same, if officials don't solve the accommodation problem, many officials spend several hours a day commuting.

It is rumored that there is also news from the high-level officials that they are planning to relocate some institutions, rather than crowding around the palace.

After Bi Zhian entered the interior of the small building with the attendant, he was waiting in the living room on the first floor.

Later, someone brought him tea, but before he could take a sip, he heard footsteps stepping on the wooden stairs, looked up and saw Ying Yikang came down.

Immediately, Ying Yikang put down the teacup and saluted, "I have seen the director!"

Ying Yikang waved his hand: "How many times have I said that, you and I are classmates, and there is no need to be as polite as outsiders!"

Bi Zhian said yes, but he secretly said in his heart, although you and I are classmates, but one in the sky and one on the ground, you are welcome.

Also, one is the director of the strategy department of the Privy Council Staff Department, and the other is just an ordinary staff officer in the Privy Council. The difference in status is so big that people ignore their classmate relationships.