Chapter 94 Military Reports: Each with Their Own Thoughts
The capital city of Xia has been bustling with activity lately. First, there was the conferment of a title by the Prince of Huan, then the birthday celebration of the Prince of Zhao, followed by the spring banquet of the Prince of Han and the spring hunting party of the Prince of Tai. Young men from prominent families in the capital frequently visit the royal residences, and the circle of powerful and influential people in the capital is showing signs of prosperity.
The recent bestowal of titles and honors upon the Duke of Cheng has ignited the buzz in the social circle to its peak, bringing the Shen family back into the spotlight of the powerful and wealthy, and making them a sought-after marriage partner for prominent families once again.
The Crown Princess is the only daughter of the Duke of Cheng, a fact that everyone has known for a long time. But the Crown Princess has no brothers, so does that mean she has no cousins or other male relatives?
As a result, the Shen family members became the target of the noblewomen in the capital for the past few days. They spared no one, from the younger brother of the Duke of Cheng to the collateral branches of the clan. They even set their sights on Shen Xun, who was already beyond the fifth degree of kinship in the capital.
Although the blood ties are distant, he still bears the surname Shen. He is now a promising young talent in the capital. If the Duke of Cheng is willing to give him a helping hand, he is very likely to rise rapidly in the future.
While all eyes in the capital were focused on these matters, Shen Xun, at the center of the conversation, was hiding in a secluded courtyard in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince had bought him a time gap, and it was certainly not just for that batch of musket barrels.
These past few days he has been secretly working on the Crown Prince's plans. Jiang Chen has been in the court for quite some time, but he has not accumulated many connections on his own. Shen Xun and his son climbed up from the bottom little by little. Although they may not have connections with official families, there are quite a few officials who would do things for them.
As soon as the Crown Prince made a move, the Huan Prince's Mansion received the news. Jiang Yu looked up at Jiang Jin, whose expression was inscrutable, and his gaze involuntarily fell on the note in Jiang Jin's hand.
"What's up?"
Called by him, Jiang Jin came to his senses and stepped forward to hand over the note: "These past few days, the Crown Prince has been secretly contacting the old subordinates of the He family and has recruited a group of upright officials in the name of Grand Tutor Chu. In addition, the Shen family is currently enjoying great success. I wonder what the Fifth Prince is planning."
The note was brought close to the flame and instantly turned into ashes. Jiang Yu rubbed the ashes between his fingers and lowered his eyes, saying, "It's not hard to guess. If there's anything that could make the Eastern Palace go to such lengths now, it would be either the He family or... perhaps the Northern Frontier."
Jiang Jin didn't believe it: "The matter of the He family back then has long been settled. Is the Crown Prince crazy to want to stand up for the He family? Going to great lengths for the He family, wouldn't that be—"
"Fourth brother!" Jiang Yu whispered, "Watch your words."
To act on behalf of the He family would be tantamount to going against the Emperor, so no word of this could be allowed to leak out of the Prince Huan's residence.
Jiang Jin, somewhat embarrassed by Jiang Yu's warning, realized he had been careless. He paused for a moment before speaking again, "So, what you mean, elder brother, is the border?"
"It seems that Ninth Brother's glory in his first campaign will not last long. Since the Crown Prince has already made his move, we naturally cannot fall behind. In a few days, Sixth Brother will also be watching and making his move. This time, let's rely on our own abilities."
"good."
As he spoke, King Zhao was about to get up and leave, but before he could leave the study, he was called back by the person behind him—
“I told you before that no matter what happened in the past, we need to clarify our relationship with Li Lu and draw a clear line in the future. I don’t care whether you listened to me before or not, but from today onwards, we need to keep a clear line with the Ministry of Revenue. Ah Jin, do you understand what I’m saying?”
King Zhao froze as he was about to leave. He smiled awkwardly and nodded, "I will remember everything you said, elder brother."
The study door was gently closed. King Zhao looked up and squinted at the sun. He kept these thoughts in mind, but they were currently short of both manpower and money. Neither he nor his elder brother's maternal families were prominent clans. If they were to lose Li Lu, how would they compete with the Crown Prince, King Han, King Tai, and others?
As he slowly closed his five fingers, King Zhao glanced back before leaving the study courtyard. It was already springtime, and the window screens in the study were thinner than in winter. Through the window lattice, he could vaguely see King Huan writing. His strokes were steady and decisive, and the characters were restrained yet sharp, just like the man himself.
King Zhao turned away, averted his gaze, and left the Huan King's residence with his head held high and chest out.
What nonsense about legitimate and illegitimate children! His elder brother is the born king. Jiang Yu is one thing, but what does Jiang Chen have to compare with his elder brother? There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released. He has no way out, but he doesn't regret it at all.
He would personally send his brother to the supreme position, and he would take the blame for the infamy for all time. Even if King Huan didn't have his confidants, brothers, and spouses, so what?
No one is more willing to go all out than him, no one.
While the Huan Prince's Mansion was keeping an eye on the Eastern Palace, Jiang Chen's side was not entirely unprepared. As soon as Shen Xun mentioned the Prince of Zhao to him, he summoned He Zhiju.
An hour after He Zhiju left the camp outside the capital, the Thai King's Palace also received the news. Although the Thai King was not good at strategizing, he had his own advisors in the palace who quickly helped him sort out his thoughts.
Although it was not uncommon for He Zhiju to visit the Eastern Palace with the Crown Princess present, the number of times He Zhiju visited the Eastern Palace had obviously increased significantly in recent days. In addition, the Qi family had a military background, and the strategist had an extremely keen sense for such matters. He quickly deduced that there was a problem with the military situation in the northern border.
A message hidden under the moonlight need not be spoken to anyone, but once dawn breaks, no secret can remain hidden in the sunlight.
Three days later, the convoy escorting the grain to the border finally returned to the capital. Among the leaders was Shen Xun. Ignoring the eager gazes cast upon him from both sides of the street, he and several officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue rushed into the palace. He was received by the emperor in the imperial study and did not return to his residence until late at night.
The next morning at court, messengers from the northern frontier arrived in the main hall. The Northern Barbarians had finally made a comeback. By the time the request for reinforcements reached the capital, the Xia army in the northern frontier had already been fighting back for several days.
"The Northern Di army is coming in strong. During their time lying in wait on the border, they subdued a few surrounding tribes. The current enemy force is not something the Northern Frontier Camp can withstand. I wonder who the commander of this Di army is. This person is cunning in his tactics. Although General Liu and others are holding on desperately, they will not be able to hold out for long. I request the court to send reinforcements!"
It's unclear who gave the order, but upon hearing this, the emperor paused in tapping his dragon throne, and the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
In recent years, Xia Jun has been trying to change the situation of strong generals and weak soldiers, which led to the downfall of the He family and the great turmoil in the military group. Just when Xia Jun's situation was starting to improve this year, this battle report has suddenly disrupted the situation.
The truth can no longer be hidden. The Xia army used to have strong generals, but now it only has weak soldiers.
The veins on the back of the emperor's hand bulged. He gritted his teeth and maintained a calm demeanor, but inwardly he was cursing. Could it be that the Great Xia Dynasty no longer had a single general skilled in leading troops? The fact that 100,000 troops on the border could not withstand the attack of the Northern Di was simply a huge joke!
Despite his anger, he remained rational and quickly racked his brains to think of which close advisors could be sent to the northern frontier, but the more he thought about it, the less confident he became.
The Wang family is capable; all three generations of the family are pillars of the court, and the patriarch is a veteran of three reigns. However, among the three, only General Wang has ever been on the battlefield. His son failed to inherit the Wang family's military prestige and now works in a clerical position in the Ministry of War. His grandson is still young and, although he is also in the army, he is only a captain and not capable of great things.
The Qi, Liu, and Lu families are similar in that they are all military families that wield military power. However, the Qi family has a empress, the Liu family has a prince's wife, and both are maternal relatives with inseparable ties to the King of Thailand. The Lu family also has marriage alliances with powerful families. These so-called powerful families are all interconnected.
Among the loyal ministers, the He family was once a useful family, but... back then, in order to reorganize military power, the He family, which was at the forefront of the storm, collapsed with his tacit approval. Now, the only survivor of the entire family is He Zhiju, who grew up in the Shen family in Jiangnan. In the future, he can be considered half a brother-in-law of the emperor.
Under such circumstances, he was in a dilemma no matter who he sent. Among all the generals in the court, there was not one he could trust to be entrusted with the important task of guarding the country's borders.
"Father, I am willing to go to war and share your burdens!"
The resounding words broke the silence of the hall, and everyone looked in the direction of the voice to see that the person who had volunteered was the King of Thailand.
This is not surprising, as the Qi and Liu families are rooted in the military. When he was young, King Tai held the military power of the Grand Commander of Changzhou. Although he had no experience in fighting on the battlefield, no one was surprised that he stepped forward at this time, since it was his younger brother, King Wu, who was fighting on the northern frontier.
The emperor looked at his son, and his furrowed brows relaxed a little. Although he was wary of his maternal and wife's families, if there were truly no other ministers available, sending the prince to war was indeed an option.
So, who should go...? His gaze lingered on each of the princes, and he weighed the options in his mind.
The princes standing in front of the palace naturally felt the emperor's scrutiny. Prince Huan followed suit and expressed his opinion. After he finished speaking, Jiang Chen also stepped forward. Prince Zhao hesitated for a long time without moving, while Prince Han stood calmly in place.
Each had their own thoughts.
The Emperor nodded slightly: "You all have the will to fight for Great Xia, that's good, but this journey to the northern frontier is no small matter..."
He paused, then noticed that although the princes remained relatively calm, the officials and ministers behind them were showing signs of unrest. He took in this scene without saying a word.
Seeing that the emperor had nothing more to say, the officials were all uneasy, wondering whether they should speak up. A silent tug-of-war began between the emperor and his ministers in the great hall.
Jiang Chen, standing at the very front, felt the impact most acutely. A sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The border was in dire straits, and this was not the first time such urgent reports had been received. Yet, the imperial court had never immediately sent troops to aid them. Border stability always took a backseat to the balance of power. He took a deep breath and straightened up slightly.
The King of Thailand was the first prince to stand up, and now the first to offer advice is Liu Pengzu, the commander of the Palace Guard. As the King of Thailand's father-in-law, his words were immediately echoed by the subordinates of the Liu and Qi families, and the military officers almost unanimously sided with the King of Thailand.
As soon as the military generals took the stage, the civil officials stepped forward. The faction of King Huan and King Zhao was not composed of ordinary people. From the very first speaker, they were all dressed in red and purple robes, all high-ranking ministers wielding great power. With both sides drawing their swords, the court seemed to be filled with the glint of blades and the scene was undeniably spectacular.
The emperor observed for a long time before fixing his gaze on the crown prince. Did the crown prince not have any support?
The Crown Prince is no longer the same as before. The Duke of Cheng, with his merits as a pillar of the state, can overpower the court officials, and the Grand Tutor Chu, as the emperor's tutor, has students all over the world. If the two of them want to support the Crown Prince, then the Eastern Palace faction will not be overshadowed.
"Your Highness, what do you think?"
It was finally his turn.
Jiang Chen suppressed his faint smile, stepped forward, and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect: "Your subject believes that the eldest brother is wise and resourceful, calm and cautious, while the sixth brother has practiced martial arts since childhood and is proficient in military strategy. If the prince is to go to the northern frontier, either of them is suitable."
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