Building a cluster of workshops was a massive undertaking, and Zhao Xian simply didn't have the energy to do it all himself, so he assigned Shen Jianfeng and Wan Xiumei to take charge.

Once these workshops are built and put into operation, the use of cotton will be truly promoted in the Great Northern Dynasty, the situation of people lacking clothes and clothing will be completely changed, and there will be no more cases of people freezing to death.

After a month-long journey, Huo Pingxi returned to the capital with several hundred exhausted soldiers.

Standing at the gates of the capital, Huo Pingxi was helped down from his horse.

Looking at the massive city gate before him, Huo Pingxi realized that he had returned. This time, he had suffered a defeat and had no choice but to return, as his entire army had been wiped out.

What's laughable is that after such a huge defeat, they still don't know who the opponent is, and they haven't even seen a shadow of them.

When he led the army on his expedition, the emperor and his officials held a farewell banquet for him, and the scene was incredibly grand.

At this moment, Huo Pingxi's expression began to become somewhat dazed, and everything in front of him became blurry.

Suddenly, he felt a tickle in his throat, and after a violent cough, a mouthful of blood gushed from his throat.

Everyone was shocked. Huo Pingxi's body began to sway, and he slowly fell down, never to rise again.

Before his death, Huo Pingxi accomplished the last thing in his life: to safely bring the surviving hundreds of soldiers back to the capital.

The news that Huo Pingxi returned to the capital and died vomiting blood at the city gate quickly spread throughout the capital.

The emperor and his officials were shocked. They had no idea what Huo Pingxi had encountered when he led his army to the desert to quell the rebellion.

Through the accounts of the returning soldiers, people learned about the army's experiences along the way, and after understanding what had happened, everyone was stunned.

The emperor immediately summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. Although the expedition to the desert to quell the rebellion resulted in the loss of only over 10,000 men, it was a huge defeat for the Northern Dynasty and severely damaged the morale of the soldiers.

What should be done next? Should we continue sending troops to the desert to quell the rebellion, or should we postpone the matter for now?

The civil and military officials discussed the matter for several days without reaching a conclusion. Huo Pingxi was a veteran general who had been through many battles. If he suffered such a crushing defeat when he was sent to quell the rebellion, then the others were even less likely to succeed.

The current dilemma is that no one knows the exact situation of Louye and Lanwei, and under these circumstances, how can the rebellion be quelled?

The emperor was at a loss, so he asked the Ministry of War to come up with a plan to be discussed in court three days later.

Minister of War Cheng immediately summoned all officials of the Ministry of War to discuss the matter.

The topic of their discussion was nothing more than whether to send troops or not. If they didn't want to send troops, they had to give a convincing reason.

How to send troops again? We must ensure that everything goes smoothly and completely eradicate the reactionary forces in Louye and Lanwei.

They had already guessed the emperor's thoughts. Of course, the emperor wanted to send troops, but he was also afraid of failing again. He hoped that the Ministry of War could come up with a safe plan to send troops to ensure the success of suppressing the rebellion.

However, the people in the Ministry of War knew nothing about leading troops and fighting battles. It was practically impossible for them to come up with a way to win the battle. Three days passed in this way, and there were no results.

In their view, if the emperor was determined to quell the rebellion, only by sending Li Guang with troops could these two forces be eliminated.

In Lord Cheng's eyes, Li Guang's 100,000 troops in Shuixian Village were the pillar of the Northern Dynasty, and the emperor would not send Li Guang out unless absolutely necessary.

Finally, at the morning court session three days later, all the ministers looked at Minister Cheng of the Ministry of War, hoping that he could come up with a sound plan to quell the rebellion.

When the emperor asked Minister Cheng if he had a good plan to quell the rebellion, Minister Cheng's answer was very disappointing.

The emperor sat on his dragon throne, saying nothing. The fact that the Ministry of War could not come up with a plan to quell the rebellion was entirely within his expectations.

For a moment, the court was completely silent; no one dared to speak.

Just then, someone spoke from the corridor outside the main hall. Although this person was not inside the hall, his voice still carried through the corridor.

"Your Majesty, I have a plan that can ensure the success of suppressing the rebellions in Louye and Lanwei."

Such arrogance! The civil and military officials in the hall were taken aback upon hearing this.

The sound came from outside the palace, indicating that this person was not qualified to attend court and could only stand on the walkway outside the palace to listen. He could not participate in politics and should only be a minor official of the sixth or seventh rank.

This person doesn't understand the rules of the court at all. You don't even have the right to attend court, yet you want to participate in politics.

All the ministers looked at the emperor, wondering how he would react.

At this time, the emperor was troubled, and none of the officials in the court could share his worries or offer him advice.

He also thought of asking Li Guang to lead the troops. At present, Li Guang is a god of war in the Great Northern Dynasty. As long as he takes charge, there is nothing he cannot accomplish.

Li Guang cared deeply for the nation. Whenever the Northern Dynasty faced difficulties, Li Guang would take the initiative to go there to share the burden of the court.

Although the emperor had this idea and wanted to send Li Guang to Louye and Lanwei to quell the rebellion, he felt that now was not the time to use Li Guang.

But the sound coming from outside the palace startled the emperor, who immediately spoke:

"Who goes outside the hall? Please come in and answer my questions."

Soon, a young man walked in from outside the hall. He came to the main hall and knelt down before the emperor.

"Your humble servant pays his respects to Your Majesty."

Only then did everyone realize that this person was Wei Jin, who had won first place in the martial arts competition some time ago.

As originally planned, all the selected martial arts talents were to be assigned to the garrison in the capital.

As the top-ranked candidate in the military examination, the emperor naturally wanted to see him.

When the emperor summoned Wei Jin, he discovered that this man was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also had unique knowledge and insights, making him a man of outstanding talent.

The emperor was a man who valued talent. Seeing that Wei Jin was very knowledgeable, he changed his mind and instead of assigning him to the garrison in the capital, he arranged for him to work in the Privy Council.

Although Wei Jin was only a minor official of the seventh rank, the Privy Council was the highest military institution of the Northern Dynasty, which determined that Wei Jin had a bright future.

"So, Minister Wei, what methods do you have to ensure the successful suppression of the rebellions in Louye and Lanwei?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, General Huo's expedition to quell the rebellions in Louye and Lanwei ended in failure. To date, the court is unaware of the true situation in these two places."

According to information provided by the returning soldiers, the army that was suppressing the rebellion was ambushed on the edge of the desert, more than 100 miles from Lanwei City.

Judging from the enemy's attack methods, Lanwei's Huang Liang didn't have the capability to launch such a perfect sneak attack; there must be involvement from foreigners.

Wei Jin's words startled the ministers. The foreign kingdoms had just suffered a defeat and were too busy to care for themselves. How could they possibly have the energy to participate in the rebellions of the forces in Louye and Lanwei?