flstandardbreds Chapter 988 Striving for the Position of Grand General
Chapter 988 Striving for the Position of Grand General
Chapter 988: Striving for the Position of Grand General
The local seeds, hybridized with Black Gold Spirit Valley, have many shiny black spots on their rice husks, which Xiao Han named Spotted No. 1.
Xiao Han rewarded Zhao Qinghe with the task completion reward, instructing her to take it back to her family and villagers in her hometown of Xialing Village to plant. After this season's harvest, it could be reported to the imperial court and promoted as a superior variety.
Seeing that this single grain of millet was the size of three or four ordinary grains, Zhao Qinghe was both shocked and delighted.
The things from the gods are so good, the whole village must grow them.
The millet seeds provided by Xiao Han will yield over ten thousand catties of millet this season. If all of this millet is kept as seeds, it will be enough to start widespread cultivation.
In the nineteenth year of the Tai'an reign, Zhao Qinghe, a reader in the Grand Secretariat, presented the court with high-yield varieties that his family had cultivated.
In the twentieth year of the Tai'an reign, after a year of trial planting, the imperial court discovered that the new grain variety not only doubled the yield but also produced exceptionally delicious rice.
For making such a great contribution, Zhao Qinghe was directly promoted to the rank of Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, a fourth-rank official.
At this time, only five years had passed since Zhao Qinghe entered officialdom.
This official position was also the result of Xiao Han deliberately having Zhao Qinghe subtly hint at it to his superiors.
In addition to their supervisory duties, the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was also responsible for participating in the trial of major cases.
With the system and the divine bird as a cheat, no matter how difficult the case, Zhao Qinghe can investigate it thoroughly.
In just two years, he became famous throughout the entire Dayun Dynasty.
At this very moment, the Turkic people, a nomadic tribe in the northwest, launched a sudden and massive invasion, and the army led by General Li Yudu, who was guarding the border, was defeated at the first encounter.
Subsequently, Li Yudu disappeared without a trace, and the Turks successively occupied two cities, burning, killing, and looting within them.
When the news reached Kyoto, it caused an uproar in the court.
The system, Xiao Han, immediately assigned a task to Zhao Qinghe.
"Hello, host. A new mission is now being assigned: become the Great General of the Northwest and crush the Turkic tribe."
Once Zhao Qinghe achieves outstanding military exploits, won't he be promoted again?
Most importantly, she is skilled in both literature and martial arts, and has an impressive resume, which will greatly benefit her in her future competition for the throne.
Zhao Qinghe hesitated. As a civil official, how could she possibly take on the job of a military general, let alone the position of a Grand General?
Well, with the system and the divine bird's help, she should still be able to complete this task.
Zhao Qinghe immediately started thinking of a solution.
The current Northwest General Li Yudu is the nephew of the current Grand Secretary Li Xin.
This Li Yudu is the kind of person who has absolutely no ability and relies entirely on his empty talk.
He rose to the position of Grand General by virtue of his uncle being the Grand Secretary of the court, and then indulged in eating, drinking and having fun on the northwestern border, never really training his army.
Terrified by the charge of the fierce Turkic cavalry, they fled back to the capital overnight.
Others didn't know where Li Yu was; they only assumed he had disappeared and his fate was unknown. However, Xiao Han and Zhao Qinghe knew perfectly well that these high-ranking officials' homes had been equipped with surveillance cameras installed by Ba Dou.
Then, Zhao Qinghe visited Chief Minister Li that very night.
With this leverage over her, Chief Minister Li agreed to cooperate with Zhao Qinghe in court the next day to help her obtain the position of Grand General.
The following day, Emperor Tai'an asked with a gloomy expression which general was willing to lead the army to recapture the cities occupied by the Turkic army and drive them back.
Before the other generals could step forward, Zhao Qinghe suddenly stepped forward and said loudly, "Your humble servant is willing to lead the army into battle."
One of the military officers immediately shouted angrily, "Lord Zhao, this is a matter for us military officers. What are you doing here?"
Zhao Qinghe glanced at him. "General Tian, the border is in such a critical situation. Naturally, only those with the ability can step up and rescue the border people from their suffering as soon as possible. I volunteered to take command, and I certainly have the capability."
A malicious smile played on her lips as she sized him up. "General Tian, if you're not convinced, how about we have a match right here in the Golden Palace? I'm sure I'll defeat you within three moves. What do you say?"
Although the body-strengthening exercise has been promoted for over a hundred years, it not only requires a lot of money to buy herbs for bathing, but also requires daily practice. Those who can successfully strengthen their bodies are actually people with strong willpower.
General Tian did not believe that someone who had been training his body for decades could be no match for Zhao Qinghe, a woman who was not even thirty years old.
He immediately rubbed his hands together, eager to teach Zhao Qinghe a lesson.
Emperor Tai'an frowned and was about to stop him when Chief Minister Li suddenly spoke up: "General Tian, if you can't defeat Lord Zhao, you'll lose morale before you even start the campaign, which is definitely not good. So General Tian, you must defeat Lord Zhao!"
Since the Grand Secretary had said so, the other civil and military officials immediately stepped back, making way for the spacious area in the middle.
To avoid offending the Grand Secretary, Emperor Tai'an had no choice but to remain silent.
No one stopped him, and General Tian immediately pounced over and punched Zhao Qinghe.
Having consumed elixirs for so many years and diligently trained his body, Zhao Qinghe is not only as strong as an ox but also as light as a swallow.
She effortlessly dodged General Tian's attack, her figure turning like a ghost as she kicked him out of the Golden Palace.
There was nothing she could do; she didn't want General Tian to embarrass himself, but he was the first to jump out.
We have no choice but to make an example of them.
Seeing General Tian defeated in a single move and kicked out of the Golden Palace, the other generals gasped in shock, shrank back, and no one dared to step forward again.
At this moment, Zhao Qinghe bowed to Emperor Tai'an and said, "Your humble servant is willing to pledge his life to wipe out the Turks within a year."
Chief Minister Li immediately chimed in, supporting Zhao Qinghe in leading the troops into battle.
With Zhao Qinghe's impressive skills that intimidated other military generals, and with the support of Chief Minister Li, Zhao Qinghe successfully obtained the military seal to command the army.
Then, as soon as Zhao Qinghe finished his court session, he immediately sent people to openly recruit soldiers on the streets of the capital and other nearby cities.
Regardless of gender, all candidates must be physically fit. Once they pass the assessment, they can immediately follow her to achieve great things.
The monthly salary is fifty taels of silver. In addition, after joining the army, the imperial court will grant official positions according to the merits of killing enemies.
These were all conditions she had agreed upon with Chief Minister Lee.
She recruited a thousand special soldiers, and the imperial court exchanged the grain allocated to the army for high salaries.
The quality of an army is more important than its quantity. With only one year, it's impossible for her to wage a conventional war.
With the magical bird Croton around, all she needs to do is carry out decapitation strikes one after another.
Under the reward, there must be a brave man.
More than a hundred women also signed up, hoping to prove on the battlefield that they were no weaker than men.
A thousand soldiers who had undergone physical training were quickly assembled. Zhao Qinghe provided them with the finest armor and horses, allowing them to travel light with only a few days' worth of rations before heading to the border.
Although the border army was defeated and the general secretly fled back to the capital, Deputy General Zheng was still there. He had reorganized his troops and occupied the third city on the Turkic army's southward route.
Zhao Qinghe led a thousand men, traveling day and night, to reach Deputy General Zheng.
After resting for a night, Zhao Qinghe reviewed the military situation, replenished his rations, and instructed Deputy General Zheng to lead the remaining troops to follow behind, clear the battlefield, and surround and kill the fleeing soldiers.