After traveling through time, I became Han Zhang’s grandson?

Chapter 156: Good News Arrives in Beijing

Just as people were discussing the results of this year's imperial examination in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, several fine horses came riding on the wind outside the west gate of Bianjing City.

The gusts of dust raised by the passing pedestrians blinded their eyes, but blew away the dark clouds that had accumulated in the city of Bianjing for many days.

When the personnel delivering military intelligence saw the majestic city gate of Bianjing, they couldn't help but feel excited.

Then, in the astonished eyes of everyone, the leading general roared with inexplicable excitement, and the sound shook all around and was heard from far away.

"Eight hundred miles from Shaanxi, urgent military information!"

"Song and Xia won a great victory in the second battle of Haoshuichuan!"

"Great victory in the Northwest——!"

When the garrison commander who was guarding the city gate heard this, he was shocked at first, then overjoyed and started shouting and cursing wildly.

"Son of a bitch, stop being lazy and evacuate the people quickly!"

"Eight hundred miles from Shaanxi, urgent military information, make way immediately!"

"Anyone who dares to obstruct military intelligence will be executed immediately!"

The heart-wrenching shouts of the generals defending the city made the people come to their senses immediately. As if they had practiced it for a long time, they quickly and decisively made way for the middle avenue of the west gate.

Just as the city gate was cleared, a madly galloping horse flashed past in the distance and leaped into the city.

Only the lingering sound carried by the wind remained: Great victory in the Northwest——!

Seeing the other side leaving, the soldiers and common people defending the city finally came to their senses. They first whispered to each other, and then suddenly there was a huge noise and bustle.

"Did I hear correctly, old man? There's a robbery in the northwest?"

"Wrong, it's the Great Victory in the Northwest!"

"A great victory in Xibei?" The old man's thick accent made many people smile knowingly.

"Oh my God! It's a great victory! We defeated Xixia?!"

"More than that, I just heard it, what was it called?"

"Good battle of Shuichuan!"

"No, it's the second Battle of Haoshuichuan!"

"What's the difference?!"

"This time, our Great Song Dynasty won, hahahaha!"

"Did you really win? Did you not lie about military intelligence?"

"No, brother, what do you mean? Although Mr. Han was defeated before and his military skills are poor, his character is fine and he would never lie about military intelligence."

"Whatever, the most important thing is that the Song Dynasty can defeat the Western Xia. Today I'm going to Fu Dabai to celebrate this rare victory."

“Ah! This feels so good! I finally defeated these bastards!”

"We won, we won!"

"..."

At the city gate, people were talking and reacting in all sorts of ways, but one thing could not be concealed: the warm and happy atmosphere.

As expected, Ximen's affairs were soon investigated by various parties in the capital.

When the news reached the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall, Lu Haoqing and others who were chatting and bragging were stunned on the spot.

Then they were filled with ecstasy, and several of them were so excited that Lu Haoqing threw away all his Qi-cultivation skills and spun around in circles excitedly.

"Won?!"

"Won!!!"

"..."

Several people could not hide their joy. At this moment, their blood boiled and their faces flushed, and they were at a loss.

"Everyone, I will take my leave and go back home to inform my family of the news."

Lu Haoqing quickly clasped his fists and bowed, rushed out of the crowd, came to the corner of the street and looked at the women beside the carriage.

"Girls, please be polite!"

Lu Haoqing let out a breath, suppressed his emotions and greeted the Sheng family members.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen?"

Rulan was a straightforward girl and asked directly.

"Brother has won the battle, a great victory in the Northwest!"

Lu Haoqing said without hiding anything.

"What?!" x4

Molan and the others had never expected such a thing to happen, and looked at Lu Haoqing in surprise.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am so happy today that I must return home to report the situation. I hope you ladies will forgive me."

Lu Haoqing seemed to be apologizing to a few people, but he was actually speaking to Rulan. After all, this was the one who truly cared about him, and he couldn't let her worry.

"This is a good thing. Don't worry about me. Go tell your uncle and aunt!"

Rulan got so excited that she blurted out the words without even thinking about etiquette.

Lu Haoqing was so overwhelmed by the good news that he was not very clear-headed. He nodded heavily, followed Rulan's gesture, turned around and ran towards his own carriage.

"Bu Xin, go back home!"

Lu Haoqing jumped into the carriage and gave instructions to his personal attendant.

"Okay, brother, sit down."

"drive--!"

Bu Xin immediately perked up, waved his whip, and drove away quickly.

It was not until they saw Lu Haoqing's carriage disappear at the street corner that everyone reacted and started discussing this important event.

All of a sudden, all the people in front of the results wall changed the subject.

However, as tribute students with a certain level of political, military and cultural knowledge, they knew better how relevant this matter was, and were also thinking about the court's next move.

Of course, there is also the issue of their palace examination. If my guess is correct, it is possible that this year's palace examination topic will be related to the Song-Xia War.

Thinking of this, these people's faces turned serious and they immediately prepared to go back home to prepare knowledge about this aspect.

At the same time, some people with connections sent people to the imperial palace to gather information, and some even sent letters directly to the front line to get more first-hand information.

In short, all these things cannot cover up two things.

First, the Song Dynasty defeated the Western Xia and washed away the humiliation of the past decade; second, this young man from the Han family, who was just in his early twenties, would rise as a new political star in the court of the Song Dynasty.

After figuring this out, more people began to think about building relationships with the Han family. However, Han Ming's previous defeat had already made the Han family see clearly what it means to be fickle.

Therefore, in response to the behavior of these fence-sitters, Han Zhang, the prime minister, directly used the official position as a shield and leisurely went to the palace to meet the emperor, saying that he would discuss the follow-up after the imperial edict came down.

The Wende Hall in the Imperial Palace still has the same old furnishings and decorations, and the slightly dim environment makes people feel depressed all the time.

However, it seems that His Majesty the Emperor is in a good mood today. He ordered people to clean up all the furnishings in the hall and tidy it up thoroughly.

When the important officials of the court received the news and rushed to the Wende Hall, the old emperor and the empress were practicing calligraphy at the desk.

The palace maids and eunuchs were busy all around. Under the leadership of the chief steward, they were happily cleaning up the hall.

As for the ministers who came to the meeting to listen to his orders, the old emperor simply waved his hand slightly, signaling his personal eunuchs to bring over a dozen chairs and let these bigwigs sit one by one.

"Don't worry. Once I finish writing this calligraphy, go show the tea to the gentlemen and bring the tea that Fujian Road has offered as tribute this year."

The old emperor gave instructions to the old eunuch standing beside him with a smile, and then lowered his head to write.

This look let the court officials know that the emperor was in a good mood today, and naturally they smiled and nodded to each other.

"By the way, Mr. Zeng, this victory report should be submitted to the Privy Council. It seems that our young Han Xianggong is not very familiar with the rules and regulations of the court."

Without even raising his head, the old emperor signaled the empress, who was grinding ink beside him, to hand a memorial of victory to the Privy Councilor Zeng Mingzhong.

"This is my dereliction of duty. I will definitely reprimand you when Han Jinglie returns to the capital."

As Han Ming's direct superior, Zeng Mingzhong has nothing wrong with what he said.

But why is it that the unconcealable arrogance and boasting in these words so annoying?

"Your Majesty, Han Ming's misconduct is due to my lack of strict family education. I should order him to correct his behavior."

Han Zhang didn't want to be in the spotlight in front of Zeng Mingzhong. Hey, if someone didn't know, they'd think Han Ming was your grandson! Why are you so proud?!

As soon as Han Zhang said this, the old emperor and empress who were practicing calligraphy, as well as the senior officials who were sitting there, all had tense expressions. However, the corners of their mouths were slightly raised, which made people see that they wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

"Alright, I think we should leave this matter to Zeng Qing. When our young Han Xianggong returns to the capital, he will report to the Privy Council and teach him these rules."

"Yes, I accept the order."

Zeng Mingzhong smiled slightly, and the beard on his face shook unconsciously a few times, looking very happy.

On the other hand, Han Zhang stared at His Majesty with a depressed look on his face. Why should his grandson be taken away by others?

As a result, the words of Emperor Renzong the next second shocked everyone, and they stared at the old emperor who was writing with his head down in disbelief.

"Zeng Qing, since you want to teach, how about letting Han Ming be your assistant?"

As soon as these words were spoken, not only the bigwigs of the court, but even the eunuchs and palace maids who were doing odd jobs nearby trembled and quickly prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to make a sound. The entire Wende Hall fell into deathly silence.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Emperor Renzong felt that the hall suddenly became quiet and looked up in confusion.

"Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance. Does it need to be discussed in the Council Chamber?"

Fuyangukuo immediately took over the topic and asked with a serious bow.

"Haha, there's no rush for this. I just said it casually. Press it first."

The old emperor's statement made everyone breathe a sigh of relief and calm the turmoil in their hearts.

Who was Zeng Mingzhong? He was the highest official in the Privy Council of the Song Dynasty, the Privy Councilor. He was a high-ranking official, also known as the Prime Minister under the "Two Governments and Three Departments" system. Like Fu Yanguo, Han Zhang, and others, he participated in important military and national affairs of the Song Dynasty.

To be the deputy of this big man, wouldn't that mean the position of Deputy Privy Councilor, or Co-Director of the Privy Council, Secretary of the Privy Council, or Co-Signatory of the Privy Council?

In short, he is a high-ranking official of the second rank and cannot escape. Of course, as an official of the same level as the Deputy Privy Councilor, he must enter the Council of State.

In this way, Han Ming can really be considered as a prime minister and can be called the Grand Minister by everyone.

When these bigwigs thought about this, they were a little frightened. After all, a prime minister in his early twenties, this kind of thing had never been seen in the past five thousand years?!

By the way, if we include Gan Luo from the pre-Qin period, then Han Ming’s problem is actually not a big deal. After all, Gan Luo became prime minister at the age of twelve, and he is the most unsolvable boss.

When these big guys think about when they were in their early twenties, some of them were still fooling around at home and had not entered the officialdom, while some of them had entered the officialdom and were working hard to gain experience in the Hanlin Academy!

Those who are slightly capable and powerful are also outsourced to other places and are in charge of a certain area. They are basically no match for Han Ming.

According to the analysis of these experienced ministers, Emperor Renzong was not criticizing Han Ming for not knowing the rules. He was clearly planning to make Han Ming a general or a prime minister, and he was arranging him to study in the Privy Council in advance to prepare for entering the Council of State.

As soon as this idea came up, these court officials looked at Han Zhang with envy, as he looked so calm and composed.

Damn, why does this old guy get all the good things? Why can’t my family have a child like Han Ming?

This way, you can stand up straight in front of everyone and don't have to worry about the bad thing of the family inheritance being interrupted!

No matter what these bigwigs think, as long as it does not violate the relevant ancestral system, the issue of Han Ming's reward will still be decided by Emperor Renzong.

"After the Privy Council has reviewed it, submit the victory report to the Council of State, and then publish it throughout the country, so that the soldiers and civilians of the Song Dynasty can see it and rejoice."

"We must also call on the entire Song army to learn how our Han Jinglüe fights."

The old emperor put down his brush and sat down, asking the empress to give this calligraphy to Han Zhang.

"I have nothing better to do, so I copied a poem by Young Han Xianggong and gave it to you, my Lord."

Emperor Renzong said with a smile.

"I thank your Majesty for the reward—!"

Han Zhang happily took the calligraphy written by His Majesty himself and slowly opened it.

"The west wind is strong, and the geese are calling in the sky, and the frosty morning moon."

"Shuang Chenyue, the sound of horseshoes breaking, and the sound of horns swallowing."

"The long pass through Xiongguan is really like iron, but now we are crossing it from the beginning."

"From the beginning, the mountains are like the sea, and the setting sun is like blood."

"April of the seventh year of the Jiayou reign of the Song Dynasty..."