Chapter 116: Defeat and Peace
"You know I'll be driven back, right?"
Shang Xi nodded, "I know him."
But Xiao Ning insisted on going, and he couldn't stop him.
Xiao Ning picked up the teacup, lowered her eyes and took a sip. The warm tea seemed to soak into her chilled heart.
"Do you know what I heard when I went there?" Xiao Ning said this with a mocking look in his eyes, "A trusted minister of our Great Yong Dynasty is actually instigating Your Majesty to negotiate peace with the foreign invaders!"
The carriage turned and headed towards the princess's mansion.
Shang Xi hugged the heater and leaned against the carriage, his body swaying slightly with the shaking of the carriage.
"War is the most expensive thing. They only want to fill their own coffers and don't want to be affected by the war."
"But peace talks aren't something you can just talk about. Who would be willing to negotiate peace with you without money or land? The Huns are not fools!"
Xiao Ning slammed the cup on the table, obviously still angry.
Shang Xi sighed. "Whether he'll advocate war or peace, I guess there's still a lot of debate to be had. But based on my understanding of the emperor, he might be in favor of war."
Xiao Ning frowned: "The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. There is no time for them to discuss things slowly here!"
Shang Xi: "Let's wait and see tomorrow."
Sure enough, the next morning at the court, the emperor and his ministers who supported the war had already discussed the matter in advance and jointly rejected the opinions of the ministers who supported the peace.
The emperor issued orders and deployed troops from the prefectures and counties near Yingzhou to provide support.
For a time, the entire court was plunged into a tense atmosphere.
Although Shang Xi had an intelligence agency covering Dayong, it was still no match for the express delivery of 800 miles. It took him another three days to get the documents.
However, the information he had was much more detailed than the request for help the emperor had heard.
I also understand why Zhang Xu, with an army of 100,000, was able to lose three cities in a short period of time.
Firstly, it was the end of the year, and secondly, it was extremely cold and snowy. In addition, there had been no trouble for many years, so the generals headed by Zhang Xu became much lazy. They neither trained their soldiers well nor paid attention to avoiding attacks and setting up defenses. As a result, when the Huns attacked, even if the sentries sounded the alarm, they had no time to respond. They fought in a hurry and were defeated.
The Huns won, entered the city and looted, and their morale was greatly boosted.
The Yong army was defeated, its troops were in disarray, and its morale was low.
The defending army was several times larger than the Xiongnu, yet they were able to easily allow the Xiongnu to break into the city, forcing them to retreat to Yingzhou.
Now we can only wait and see whether the arrival of reinforcements can drive the Huns out of Dayong’s territory.
Due to the war on the border, Shengjing City this year is far less lively than in previous years. Every household has its doors closed and no one visits relatives or friends, for fear of being too ostentatious and angering the emperor, leading to punishment.
Xiao Ning couldn't sit still in the Marquis' Mansion, so he came to the Princess' Mansion.
The princess did not hide anything and handed the newly delivered document to Xiao Ning.
Xiao Ning was furious as he watched, "What a bunch of losers! Outnumbered and defending a city, yet they still managed to suffer such a tragic defeat?"
Shang Xi sighed, "They've been living in peace and comfort for these years, and their muscles have become weak. In addition, the soldiers' salaries are often not paid on time, which has made them passive and lazy..."
"Your father's battle with the Xiongnu eliminated them for eighteen years. Now that the new generation of children has grown into adults, they can't wait to crave our food and women..."
Xiao Ning frowned when he heard this, "How can military pay be delayed?"
"The aristocracy controlled the officialdom, and officials at all levels were closely connected, sharing the same blood. When the military pay was delivered to the frontier, who knows how many layers of it were stripped away."
Hearing this, Xiao Ning felt anger rising in his chest, "These bastards, they even dared to embezzle military pay!"
Then there was another round of sneers: "What's the point of fighting this war? Just open the central gate and let the Huns in. Then we'll see how these pampered young men respond!"
Shang Xi looked at Xiao Ning, who looked as if she was on fire. Shang Xi couldn't help but shook his head and laughed. He poured a cup of tea and handed it to her, "Calm down your temper."
Xiao Ning: “…”
I drank the cup of tea in one gulp, but I was still full of anger.
The cup was placed heavily on the table.
Shang Xi looked at her clenched fists and sighed softly, "Even if the Xiongnu come in, they won't be able to harm them. They have people in the court who will get the news earlier and flee with their wealth, leaving only innocent people to those vicious wolves."
"I know, I was just too angry and said a few random words..."
"Those bastards! Soldiers are out there defending their country, risking their lives, and yet they're embezzling military pay!"
Xiao Ning let out a deep breath, but there seemed to be dark clouds between his brows.
Shang Xi rubbed it lightly with his fingertips hidden in his sleeves, wanting to raise his hand to smooth her brows, but he knew he was not in the position to do so.
In order not to annoy her and alienate her, I could only pretend that I didn't care much about her.
In an anxious atmosphere, the New Year ended quickly and the Lantern Festival was not held this year. The emperor meant to use the saved money for military expenses.
The treasury was empty, so the empress took advantage of the New Year to hold a banquet and invite the ladies of Shengjing's power to donate money and jewelry for military expenses.
By the end of February, another military report arrived: after the reinforcements arrived, they fought several battles with the Xiongnu, but were defeated and retreated, and Yingzhou fell...
Mixed in with the military newspaper was Zhang Xu's blood letter, which told how the soldiers on the border were short of food and clothing, their salaries could not be paid on time, their morale was low, and they were unable to fight against the powerful soldiers and generals of the Huns!
The emperor knew how much of this was true and how much was excused.
But he was helpless. He now understood why the late emperor...his good brother who had been so brilliant since childhood, insisted on implementing the imperial examination system even at the cost of offending the aristocratic families.
His goal was to weaken the power of the aristocratic families and consolidate imperial power.
And he was just a puppet chosen by the aristocratic family... Although after years of tug-of-war, he had balanced the power in the court.
But in essence, it is nothing more than using the aristocratic families to check and balance the aristocratic families, and to try to stop the boiling water by adding more fuel to the fire.
He used the power of the aristocratic family to become emperor, so he could not openly betray the aristocratic family, otherwise the fate of his good brother would be his own.
His sons all wanted to replace him, and there were also his other brothers and their legitimate descendants.
Once you sit on the throne, it's like being on fire, constrained from all sides and unable to advance or retreat.
Although Zhang Xu pushed all the responsibility onto the imperial court, if he had been alert and attentive, and had discovered the clues earlier and made preparations in advance, he would not have rushed into battle hastily and lost three cities in a short period of time.
At this point, our army has suffered heavy losses and morale is low. Another war may damage the foundation of our country.
But if we don’t fight, can we just let the Xiongnu cavalry trample the mountains and rivers and aim their swords at Shengjing?
As for peace talks, if they were to bring it up first, it would let the Huns know that they were no longer able to fight, and further trouble would inevitably arise.
The court was still noisy, with those who advocated peace and those who advocated war expressing their opinions.
The emperor held his forehead, looking extremely tired.
Fortunately, a few days later, the Huns sent a peace letter.
The Huns' initiative to negotiate peace made them seem less passive, and the treasury was empty and could not withstand a protracted war. The emperor was really exhausted during this period trying to raise military funds.
After consulting with his court officials, the emperor agreed to allow them to send envoys to negotiate peace.
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