Chapter 223 Return and Reward

Luoyang, the capital of the gods.

Inside the Ming Hall, the atmosphere of today's court meeting was a little subtle. Wu Zetian sat on the dragon throne, and although she and the civil and military officials in the court maintained daily etiquette and calm, they all revealed a hint of uneasiness that was difficult to conceal.

Everyone knew that the outcome of the battle on the Pingzhou front was about to be decided, and they were all waiting for the long-awaited victory news.

A Huangmen official was running down the Tian Street of Shendu with a military report in his hand, shouting, "An urgent document from Pingzhou, six hundred miles away!"

Wu Zetian hurriedly took the expedited document and the heavy military report, unfolded it with trembling fingers, and looked at it with a serious expression.

Li Xian, Zhang Jianzhi, Wu Sansi, Li Duozuo and others who got off the train had different expressions, and everyone had his own thoughts.

However, with a crisp sound, Wu Zetian slammed the military newspaper shut in front of everyone with an expressionless face.

This move instantly caused ripples in the court. The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, feeling ominous in their hearts, thinking that the war on the front line was not going well.

However, in a flash, Wu Zetian stood up from the throne, her eyes flashing with uncontrollable excitement and joy: "Di Renjie, Quan Shancai, Zhao Ji and others have completely wiped out more than 100,000 Khitans, recovered all the lost territories such as Yingzhou, beheaded the enemy chieftain Sun Wan, and won a great victory!"

As soon as these words were spoken, loud cheers broke out in the court, and all the ministers were delighted. Only a few people, such as Wu Sansi, were unhappy when they heard that Di Renjie and others had achieved such a great feat.

Zhang Jianzhi reacted even faster. He immediately led all the ministers to bow down and congratulate Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian nodded repeatedly, asking all the ministers to stand up, and then calmly sat back on the throne, smiling happily at all the ministers, and said with great satisfaction: "Huaiying's request for meritorious service for the generals and soldiers will be approved without submitting it to the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of War for review."

"The people of Pingzhou and Yingzhou will be exempted from taxes for three more years. The army has won a victory. Last time, we captured Li Jinmie's head, but we wasted our time and failed to present the victory. It's a pity. This time Huaiying and others return victorious, and we must make it a grand event, with the whole country participating in the celebration. The whole city of Shendu will celebrate for three days!"

Since Wu Zetian ascended the throne, she had rarely won more wars than she won, let alone such a great victory. Naturally, the ministers would not go against her wishes and let her do as she pleased.
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In Pingzhou, after the victory, Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and others were not idle. In addition to eliminating the remaining forces of Khitan, they also swept through the various altars of the Snake Spirit near Pingzhou under the guidance of Ruyan.

It's just that Xiao Qingfang ran very fast and cut off his tail to survive, so most of Zhou's troops came up empty-handed and gained very little.

Facing the news of returning empty-handed one after another, Di Renjie looked a little solemn: "Nothing was found again. Xiao Qingfang is very quick."

Ruyan nodded, and said with some worry: "As far as I know, the Snake Spirit has 22 branches, distributed in various provinces in the world."

"Xiao Qingfang failed this time, and although she suffered some casualties and injuries, she is far from being at the end of her rope. From what I know about the eldest sister, she will definitely take action again and retaliate."

Zhao Ji was not worried at all about this. Xiao Qingfang had handed over all his elite troops this time. If he returned to Sheling, he would have to fight with Kui Wenzhong and others. It would be difficult for him to cause any more trouble!
The most harmful time for the Snake Spirit is when it colludes with foreign forces, which can be said to be a disaster for the country and the people. If the Snake Spirit relies solely on itself, what can those thousands of people do?

Zhao Ji then said with a smile: "I think the snake spirit is a grasshopper in autumn, it won't be able to jump for much longer. Your Majesty ordered us to return to the army to report the victory, and Your Majesty has such a niece. We should think about how to celebrate. As for what will happen in the future, we will have to deal with it with our troops and with earth!"

Hearing Zhao Ji's words, Di Renjie looked at Ruyan and asked with a smile: "I have three sons, and my eldest brother also has two sons, but we don't have a daughter. This time, by chance, I took in a niece. What do you think?"

Ruyan was shocked at first, but then she knelt on the ground affectionately and said softly, "Uncle, please accept your niece Ruyan's greetings!"

"Okay, okay!" Di Renjie smiled and helped Ruyan up personally. "From now on, the Di Mansion is your home."

As soon as these words were spoken, Ruyan's eyes suddenly turned red and tears flashed in her eyes.

"Hey, you can't cry on such a happy day." Di Renjie laughed again. Ruyan quickly wiped away her tears and nodded in agreement.

Zhao Ji gently nudged Li Yuanfang beside him and whispered jokingly, "Oh, sir, you keep calling me nephew and nephew, and now someone is really going to be my nephew's son-in-law."

Li Yuanfang was speechless and blushed, and Ruyan lowered her head shyly, but neither of them refuted.

Seeing this, Di Renjie stroked his beard and laughed, extremely happy. Zhao Ji also laughed.
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Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and Quan Shancai returned to the court with Sun Wanrong's head as a tribute of victory. Wu Zetian ordered a grand ceremony to be held, and the scale of the ceremony naturally attracted attention.

The army entered Luoyang from the Dingding Gate, which was directly opposite the imperial palace, just south of the city, and marched through the Luoyang Tianjie, heading in a straight line towards the imperial palace, all the way to the Duanmen Gate of the imperial city.

Di Renjie took the lead, followed by Quan Shancai, Wang Xiaojie and Zhao Ji, and Li Yuanfang, Li Kaigu and Yan Feishi behind him.

The group rode through Luoyang and finally dismounted before arriving in front of the imperial city.

Wu Zetian even went out of the hall in person and ran to the gate of Ziwei Palace to greet her. Princes and ministers from all walks of life lined up outside the palace according to their ranks to wait, and her favor reached the extreme.

Wu Sansi and others in the court certainly couldn't bear to see Di Renjie being treated like this, but they didn't dare to make trouble at this time and spoil Wu Zetian's mood, so the ceremony went on smoothly.

Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and others were congratulated by the residents of Luoyang along the way, and the army behind them was showing off their might. But when they saw Wu Zetian herself waiting in front of the palace gate, their joy immediately turned into fear.

Everyone quickly dismounted and declined, asking Wu Zetian to return to the palace, but the emperor was happy that he had come. Not only did he not leave, but he also toasted Di Renjie, Zhao Ji and other generals one by one.

Di Renjie had no choice but to report his victory to Wu Zetian in front of the palace gate and present Sun Wanrong's head and the Khitan nobles who had been captured.

Wu Zetian was extremely satisfied with this, as it was a testimony to her martial arts prowess. She immediately ordered people to hang Sun Wanrong's head next to Li Jinzhong's head to intimidate the barbarians.

Of course, there is also the classic line "My Great Zhou has Dajiang, my Great Zhou has loyal people, my Great Zhou has millions of loyal persimmons!"

Zhang Jianzhi also announced on behalf of the imperial court the rewards for the meritorious soldiers, promoting them all to higher positions and titles.

Zhao Ji had been promoted to the third-rank governor of Yingzhou before. Taking his age into consideration, he was transferred to the central position of General of the Left Thousand Bull Guards, and his honorary rank was promoted to the tenth-rank Shang Hujun.

The core reward was in the title, directly conferring the title of Duke of Pinglu County, which was a big leap forward. Although after the eras of Wu Zetian, Zhongzong and Ruizong, titles became increasingly prevalent, it was still satisfactory.

The title was either the hometown or the place where the meritorious service was made. Pinglu City was the seat of Pingzhou, which was near the place where Zhao Ji made his last meritorious service.

If we count according to the previous time, the capital of Yingzhou was called Liucheng, so it would not be very auspicious to confer the title of Duke of Liucheng. Because there was another Duke of Liucheng in later generations, named An Lushan...

After the awards were conferred, the ceremony was finally declared over with loud shouts of "Long live the emperor".

Afterwards, Wu Zetian hosted a banquet in the Mingtang for meritorious soldiers and a number of civil and military officials.

The banquet was naturally a harmonious scene. Everyone was happy and no one gave Wu Zetian any trouble. It was a successful and united tribute!

(End of this chapter)