The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 744: The Mysterious Courtyard of the Western Inner Courtyard
The next morning, when Li Shimin was in court, Quan Wanji followed Ma Xuanliang to the Western Inner Court where the Northern Yamen Forbidden Army was stationed. Under the leadership of Ma Xuanliang, they came to a military camp located in the Western Inner Court near the Ye Ting Palace.

Relying on the city wall, a series of tall and wide courtyards were built here.

In front of each courtyard, there are fully armed soldiers wearing helmets and armor closely guarding. Without a pass, even the soldiers of the Northern Yamen cannot enter without permission. For ordinary people, this place is heavily guarded and is a restricted area within a restricted area.

Anyway, Quan Wanji had been an official for more than ten years, but he had never been to the imperial guards camp, and he never knew that there was such a place here.

Following Ma Xuanliang, we came to an independent area built against the city wall on the west side.

After passing several checks at the door, he finally walked in. This place was similar to an ordinary residence, with courtyards stacked on top of each other. If it weren't for the heavily guarded military camp outside, Quan Wanji would have thought he had come to a farmyard.

When I came to the main room, I saw a picture of a tiger descending from the mountain hanging on the wall. Below it was a square table with two chairs on both sides. There were two small tables on each side of the hall, and each small table had adjacent chairs on both sides.

Compared to the main hall of an ordinary family living room, there are slightly more chairs here, and Quan Wanji feels that it is a bit like a conference room.

At a glance, you can see that on the left side of the main hall is a tea room separated by shelves in the middle, and on the right side is like a combat command room with maps of mountains and rivers hung all over the walls.

Ma Xuanliang did not stop, and took the curious Quan Wanji directly around the main hall in front and walked to the back. Unexpectedly, there was another world behind, with two courtyards, various rooms on both sides, and people were still moving around in some of the rooms.

The two walked directly to the innermost part of the third courtyard, and at the end there was a small courtyard with guards still standing guard at the gate.

Ma Xuanliang took out a token from his arms and showed it, then walked in with Quan Wanji, passed through the small courtyard, and entered the living room.

He thought this place was the most guarded and mysterious, but after coming in, Quan Wanji found that this was just an ordinary residence. There was still a hall in the middle for receiving guests, the other side looked like a bedroom, and on the left was a study.

Ma Xuanliang said, "Master Quan, this used to be my office in the Baiqi Division. From now on, this place belongs to you."

When Quan Wanji was about to ask a question, Ma Xuanliang walked to the desk, turned a Pixiu ornament on the desk forcefully to the left, then turned it half a circle to the right, and placed the token he had taken out when he came in vertically into a groove on the desk. He pressed hard, and the token sank halfway into the groove.

There was a slight "click, click" sound of a mechanism, and then the bookshelf that occupied half of the wall on the other side suddenly sank in and slid to the side, revealing a dark door.

Ma Xuanliang took the token and walked in without hesitation. Quan Wanji looked back and saw that there was no one in the room, so he had to follow Ma Xuanliang in. As soon as he came in, there was another sound of mechanism, and the bookcase door closed again.

Quan Wanji was frightened and pushed the door back quickly, only to find that it was icy cold to the touch, as if it was a door carved out of a whole piece of stone. It could not be pushed open by human power. Once the door was closed, it seemed to be connected to the surrounding mountains.

Not far away, Ma Xuanliang's voice echoed: "This place is surrounded by one-foot-thick rocks, with a ventilation hole for a kitten to pass through, and a fence made of gold and iron. Even mice can't get in. Without a key, you can't open it. Come with me."

Quan Wanji had no choice but to follow him inside, only to feel a cool breeze blowing in his face, the temperature was much lower than outside. Quan Wanji guessed that based on what he had just seen outside, this should be inside the city wall, the surrounding areas outside the stone wall were all made of rammed earth, as solid as a rock.

It was very quiet inside, blocking out all the sounds from outside.

Not far into the narrow corridor is a long hall, like a warehouse. Two rows of thick stone pillars support the top and are located in the middle of the hall, subtly dividing the entire area into many small rooms. Each room is equipped with a series of filing cabinets.

Although the light here is a little dim, it is not humid. There is fresh air flowing slowly in the air, and the ventilation is still maintained well. Such a warehouse for storing information remains dry and ventilated, without any smell of mold.

Ma Xuanliang introduced: "This is the most secret place of the Hundred Cavalry Division, the archive. Here is all the information obtained and the events handled since the establishment of the Hundred Cavalry Division. Some events that are familiar to everyone in the court all have the truth here."

"After starting the rebellion in Jinyang, the emperor, who was still the King of Qin at the time, established the Hundred Cavalry Division to capture cities and territories, and to spy on the enemy. Later, it gradually developed into a competition with Crown Prince Yin for the throne. In the ninth year of Wude, after the emperor ascended the throne, he moved the Hundred Cavalry Division that was originally outside the city to here."

"The Hundred Cavalry Division has also grown from the initial one or two hundred people to the current three thousand people, the size of a Imperial Guards' inner court. Its functions have also expanded to spying on the enemy, monitoring the interior, spreading rumors, sowing discord, assassinating enemy chiefs, etc. Now, under the instructions of His Majesty, economic warfare has been added."

Well.
Listening to Ma Xuanliang's introduction, Quan Wanji's heart was already in turmoil. He had been an official for more than ten years, but he didn't even know that there was such an institution in the court. He originally thought that the Hundred Cavalry Division was just a branch of the Northern Yamen Imperial Guards.

Only now did I understand that this was clearly a large-scale spy organization.

Quan Wanji could understand Ma Xuanliang's introduction of the functions of the Hundred Cavalry Division, but he didn't understand it in the end. He asked hurriedly: "Ma, what is economic warfare?" "I don't know either!"

Ma Xuanliang's face darkened. It was precisely because of the lack of progress in this damn economic war that the emperor was dissatisfied, so the emperor handed over the Hundred Cavalry Division to the fat man in front of him: "The emperor is also in the exploratory stage. I have never heard of it before. However, this is all your business from now on."

"The Hundred Cavalry Division has one Lieutenant Colonel and one Chief Clerk. There are no Lieutenants, and they are responsible for the eight regions of the Tang Dynasty. All the organizational structures, personnel levels, member distribution, and functional scope are in the archives. You can take your time to check it out."

"I believe the emperor has also told you that you will be the chief officer of the Hundred Cavalry Division in the future. However, for now, you are only the chief officer of the Inspection Division, and you have a three-month probation period. During these three months, this archive room and the lounge outside are the only places where you can move around."

"Within three months, you must learn the files here by heart, understand the affairs of the Hundred Cavalry Division, and have a complete grasp of them. Then, you must accept the emperor's inspection. If you pass the inspection, you will be the chief officer of the Hundred Cavalry Division. If you fail to satisfy the emperor, the consequences will be..."

Ma Xuanliang said this, smiled slightly, and revealed a strange expression: "Hehe, when you finish reading these files, you will naturally understand"

"What? I have to stay here for three months? What about my food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and my duties in the court?" Quan Wanji asked anxiously upon hearing this.

"Don't worry, someone will deliver meals here on time, so you won't starve."

Ma Xuanliang smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about the court. The emperor has ordered the Ministry of Revenue to send a team to Jiangnan to investigate the autumn harvest so as to arrange for this year's grain and fodder."

"You must be aware that the war is imminent and the consumption this year is extremely high. The court cannot wait for the grain to be transported slowly like in previous years. It must be transported to the capital as soon as the autumn grain comes down to ensure the expenses of the Northern Expedition and Chang'an."

"You are in this team. The mission is urgent. We have already set out this morning."

"From Guanzhong to Dongdu, Hebei, then to Jianghuai, Jiangdu, Jiangnan, and finally through Xiangyang, into Bashu, and back to Chang'an from Hanzhong, it will take a total of three months, which is just enough time."

“The door of the archive room needs a token to open, so I won’t close it. There are three guest rooms outside, and a small courtyard where you can live and move around.

I have added sentries outside the yard and told them that within three months, if even a rat comes out of the yard, they will be hacked to death without any explanation. They are carrying out death orders, so you'd better take it easy."

"All the answers to your questions are here, Lord Quan, please take your time to read them. I will leave first!"

After saying this, without waiting for Quan Wanji to ask any more questions, Ma Xuanliang went straight out of the archives, leaving Quan Wanji alone.

After a while, Quan Wanji came out and saw that, as expected, the door of the passage was not closed. He could enter and exit the three rooms outside freely. The small courtyard outside was empty. Quan Wanji came out and walked around for a while, looked at the sky above his head, and sighed.

He walked to the gate of the yard and looked out through the crack in the door.

Sure enough, there were only two people when they just arrived, but now there are eight guards standing outside, with steel knives drawn, staring at the door with eager eyes, as if they would chop anything into meat paste immediately if it came out.

Quan Wanji was so frightened that he shuddered and hurried into the house.

The room was empty and there was nothing to see, so I had to go back to the innermost archive and look through it slowly.

There are too many secrets here. For someone like Quan Wanji who likes to plot conspiracies and tricks, it is like entering a treasure house full of gold, silver and jewelry. So he couldn't wait to pick up a book about the Baiqi Division and start flipping through it.

The Hundred Cavalry Division had a total of about 3,000 people, divided into eight regiments. Each regiment had a captain and 300 people. Each regiment was responsible for one to two prefectures.

There are another 600 people in the Execution Department, which is the mobile force of the Hundred Cavalry Division. It is divided into two regiments, the Law Enforcement Team and the Execution Squad, each with 300 people. The Law Enforcement Team is the department responsible for supervising the Hundred Cavalry Division to execute its tasks and abide by the law.

The execution squad is responsible for carrying out various complex temporary tasks issued by the superiors. It is also the mobile force of the Hundred Cavalry Headquarters. Under the command of the General of the Household, it randomly supports various units and listens to the deployment of the headquarters to complete the tasks assigned by the headquarters.

(End of this chapter)