Volume 2 Clouds Chapter 22 The Thing I Regret Most
Du Yuhou Mansion.
Martial arts arena!
Zhao Kuangyin stood there like a deep pool and a majestic mountain. He swirled the iron stick in his hand and suddenly hit the man on the head with it. It was just a simple downward strike, but it actually made a sound like an explosion.
With a "puff" sound, the iron stick was three feet off the ground, but the strong wind from the stick hit the ground with a whistling sound, raising a cloud of dust.
Zhao Kuangyin's eyes were filled with murderous intent. The iron stick circled left and right, and the shadows of the stick were heavy. The sound of breaking through the air was like the howling of a ghost. The strong wind that filled the air rolled up gusts of wind and waves, and actually formed small tornadoes, rolling up the dust and sand on the ground.
The solid iron stick suddenly thrust forward and accurately penetrated into the hollow part of the right side of the stone lock ring handle. With a flick of his wrist, the twenty-jin stone lock flew into the air.
"middle!"
The iron stick circled and danced in his hand, and with a shout, it hit the center of the stone lock.
A powerful force poured out.
The stone lock actually exploded.
Leaning the iron stick on the ground, Zhao Kuangyin let out a long breath.
Zhao Kuangyi, who had arrived at some point, handed over a handkerchief.
Zhao Kuangyin reached out to take it, wiped it roughly on his face, and then hung it on his shoulder.
As for his brothers, Zhao Kuangyin ignored any etiquette and simply placed two stone locks vertically and sat on one of them.
Zhao Kuangyi also sat down and asked, "Who offended my brother?"
He knew his brother well. Whenever he was upset, he would practice martial arts as a way of venting his frustrations, and vent all his frustrated thoughts through the stick.
Zhao Kuangyin answered irrelevantly, just looked up at the sky, and after a while he said: "It's just that I feel uncomfortable in my heart!"
Zhao Kuangyi showed a hint of mockery on his face and asked with certainty, "Is it Luo Youdu?"
War reports from the West have reached Bian Jing Kaifeng.
Guo Rong looked at the battle report and said six "good"s in one breath regarding the brilliant victory on the front line.
All the civil officials in the court were in an uproar.
There was a moment of dead silence among all the generals in the court.
Not long ago they heard that the war in the west was not going well and that the Council of State and the Privy Council were planning to withdraw their troops.
For this reason, the military generals even gloated over the misfortune and secretly spread rumors that the reason for the failure on the front line was Luo Youdu's drag . Otherwise, with the ability of Wang Jing and Han Lingkun, it would be easy to recover the four states.
Unexpectedly, in such a short period of time, the military situation underwent earth-shaking changes.
The four states were captured one after another within just a month. Luo Youdu, who was looked down upon by them, actually shined brightly. With weak forces in Fengzhou, he wiped out the enemy forces that were nearly twice his size, and forced the enemy general to commit suicide in front of the army.
The battle reports sent by Wang Jing and Han Lingkun also praised Luo Youdu's performance.
The slap in the face came so quickly.
The biggest habit of literati is to flatter.
Luo Youdu was one of the few civil officials who had made military achievements since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He received unanimous praise, and his reputation spread throughout the court and the country. He was well-known and was on the verge of becoming a new generation of Confucian generals.
Zhao Kuangyin was born brave, his martial arts were the best among the three armies, and he had great ambitions. Since he joined the army, he was determined to realize his ambitions, become a general and a prime minister, and become a figure of the ages who could be compared with Li Jing and Su Dingfang.
In the Battle of Gaoping, he got the opportunity and seized it, successfully entering the ranks of senior generals in the Great Zhou. Although the status of the Palace Front Division was lower than that of the Imperial Guard Division, which commanded most of the imperial guards, the imperial guards it commanded were the emperor's personal guards, and he naturally became one of Guo Rong's most trusted generals, and even handed over all the imperial guards to him for training, taking the first step towards success.
Although there were many generals in the Great Zhou who had higher status than him, not many of them were worthy of Zhao Kuangyin's attention.
Because once you reach a certain position, politics is something you can never avoid.
A military general who does not understand politics will never be able to become a general or a prime minister.
Compared with most military generals who were not familiar with politics, Zhao Kuangyin himself had exceptional political talent.
Therefore, in Zhao Kuangyin's eyes, the only real opponents were Li Chongjin, Zhang Yongde, and Li Yun.
These people are the top military generals in the current Great Zhou Dynasty, and their status cannot be compared with that of the current Zhao Kuangyin.
But compared to these people, Zhao Kuangyin knew that he had a unique advantage, that is, he was Guo Rong's direct descendant.
Li Chongjin was the nephew of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei and the son of Princess Fuqing.
Zhang Yongde was the son-in-law of Zhou Taizu Guo Wei.
Li Yun was the best friend of Emperor Taizu of Zhou, Guo Wei, and also a loyal minister who helped establish the Zhou Dynasty.
These people are all old ministers left behind by the late emperor Guo Wei. Most of them are heroes in the founding of the country and do not belong to Guo Rong’s own direct lineage.
Since the Battle of Gaoping, Guo Rong has been trying to win him over, making many promises, and even vaguely hinting that he would replace Zhang Yongde and take charge of the imperial guards.
Zhao Kuangyin was also full of expectations for the future.
Until now, Luo Youdu has emerged.
Zhao Kuangyin discovered that someone whom he had once easily trampled to death had actually received such high praise and evaluation, surpassing his own brilliant performance in the Battle of Gaoping.
Especially Guo Rong's excessive praise made Zhao Kuangyin feel quite resistant.
He saw that Guo Rong was trying to lift up Luo Youdu to suppress the generals, and thought that one day, Luo Youdu would step on his head. He was always unwilling to be behind others, so he couldn't help but have a rebellious mentality. He said to his brother jokingly: "Not killing him with one punch at that time may be the biggest regret in my life."
When Luo Youdu took Zhao Kuangyi away in front of him, he had the intention to kill him.
But he thought that Guo Rong didn't like his generals to be too arrogant, and that Luo Youdu must have someone behind him. He thought that Luo Youdu might be a discarded pawn used to intensify the conflict, with the purpose of making Guo Rong further realize that their generals were lawless and arrogant.
Faced with this complicated relationship , Zhao Kuangyin chose to endure it.
In the end, he discovered that all this was a false illusion deliberately created by Luo Youdu. The other party took advantage of his understanding of politics and took Zhao Kuangyi away in front of him.
Judging from the results, Luo Youdu did not handle it badly.
Zhao Kuangyin was open-minded and did not feel that he was being teased. Instead, he thought that the other party was worthy of friendship and might be a helper in his official career. He generously brought Zhao Kuangyi to express his gratitude.
Zhao Kuangyin could never have imagined that Luo Youdu, a civil official, would actually intrude into their territory after gaining power, and even made military achievements, becoming Guo Rong's trump card to control the military with civil power.
This difference in thought resulted in a competitor in his official career who could step on him at any time. Even the open-minded Zhao Kuangyin felt uneasy.
Zhao Kuangyi sighed, "What's the point of saying this now? It's only been half a year... Half a year ago, my brother killed him as easily as crushing an ant, but now we can't do anything to him."
Zhao Kuangyin said solemnly: "Then we brothers should work harder. If a newcomer really steps on our shoulders to ascend to the throne, I will not tolerate it."
Zhao Kuangyi snorted and said, "Who are we afraid of when we join forces?"
Zhao Kuangyin laughed: "That makes sense! Life is boring if it's always smooth sailing. Now that I have an opponent, it's actually more exciting."
Zhao Kuangyi rolled his eyes and said, "Beating Meng Shu is not a great feat. Our dynasty's strongest enemy is still Southern Tang. If we want to regain the initiative, you and I must not miss this opportunity. At the same time, we must not let him get this opportunity."
