Su Xuening was taken aback by what he said again; she really didn't know that the Su family army had so many members.
However, besides being shocked by the sheer number of Su family soldiers, she was even more shocked to discover that Su family soldiers were still her father's private army.
"Father should have led the Su family army to surrender to the Emperor. How can the Su family army still be considered Father's private army?"
Xuan Yuanzhan shrugged helplessly and said, "You don't understand. Although your father outwardly led the Su family army to join Xuan Yuanpeng, and outsiders only know that the Su family army is the army of Dong Chu, you also know that Xuan Yuanpeng cannot subdue the Su family army. Even though Su Huiyan gave the military tally of the Su family army to Xuan Yuanpeng before, Xuan Yuanpeng still couldn't subdue the Su family army even with that tally. So, fundamentally speaking, the Su family army is still your father's private army."
Su Xuening was stunned: "The military token in Su Huiyan's hand is fake, so the Su family army will not obey his orders."
She had anticipated this, which was probably one of the main reasons why Su Huiyan was willing to hand over the military tally in exchange for her imperial concubine status.
She knew that even with the fake military tally, Xuanyuan Peng couldn't subdue the Su family army. She and Xuanyuan Yu, too, couldn't use the fake tally to bring the Su family army under their control. It was better to give the tally to Xuanyuan Peng; she could gain favor with him and regain her position as a concubine.
Xuanyuan Zhan sighed: "Let's consider the military tally as one reason. Besides the fact that the military tally is not real, there is another important reason: the Su family army has never used the military pay and provisions of Dongchu. That's why we say they are not soldiers of Dongchu, but your father's private army."
Su Xuening nodded silently: "I've also heard that the Su family army has always been self-sufficient."
Xuan Yuanzhan was genuinely curious: "The Su family army has 300,000 men. What kind of business do you think they do that allows so many people to be self-sufficient?"
That's an army! So many people, so many mouths to feed, and they're all strong and healthy men. How much silver must they spend in a month? If they're busy making a living, won't they have to neglect military training? But the Su family army is so powerful that even the elite troops of Eastern Chu are afraid of them.
This shows that it's impossible for them to neglect military training, so how exactly does the Su family army make a living and support so many soldiers? He was really curious.
Su Xuening shook her head again: "I don't know about that. My father has never mentioned anything about the military camp to me."
It is indeed quite strange. The father came from the countryside, and the Su family was not like those wealthy families that inherited the title of marquis. They shouldn't have had a lot of assets, but the Su family actually had quite a lot of assets.
Even her mother's dowry was given by her father; it was an extravagant dowry. Her father also owned many businesses. It was precisely because of this wealth that the second branch of the Su family coveted and schemed against them.
But where did Father's wealth come from? Even if it was a reward from the Emperor, it would be limited. Father not only acquired so much wealth, but also supported the Su family army of more than 300,000 soldiers.
She always felt that it wasn't her father who supported the more than 300,000 soldiers of the Su family army.
As Su Xuening spoke, she thought of Mu Junyu again: "If Mother were here, we could ask her about these things. Father often discusses military affairs with Mother, so perhaps she would know about these things."
It's a pity that her mother went back to Xiliang, and she also lost her memory. Otherwise, she could still keep in touch with her. But now she doesn't even remember herself and Yun'an, and she probably doesn't remember what her father said to her either.
Mentioning Mu Junyu, Xuan Yuanzhan frowned and said, "I wonder if Mother has regained her memory. Actually, it would be best to find the real Su family army military token as soon as possible."
Su Xuening noticed Xuan Yuanzhan's concern and immediately became worried: "What's wrong? Is something wrong with the Su family army?"
Remembering what Xuan Yuanpeng had told him before, Xuan Yuanzhan dared not hide it from her: "Because the Su family army has not yet submitted to Xuan Yuanpeng, Xuan Yuanpeng has already decided to kill the Su family army!"
"What?" Su Xuening was instantly shocked.
Xuan Yuanzhan quickly embraced her and touched her belly as if to remind her: "Don't worry, I've already persuaded him. He won't touch the Su family army for now, but as long as the Su family army doesn't submit, it will be like a thorn in his throat. So it's best to find the Su family army's military seal as soon as possible. Even if you can't make them submit to Xuan Yuanpeng, it would be good if you and Yun An could take them under your wing!"
Su Xuening sighed helplessly, "I want to too, but I'm clueless right now. There's no news from my mother either; she probably hasn't regained her memory yet."
Now, the only one who knows the whereabouts of the Su family army's military tally is Mother. If Mother never regains her memory, then they really have no other way. After all, they've searched everywhere they could think of, but there's absolutely no trace of the military tally.
Seeing Su Xuening's helpless expression, Xuan Yuanzhan felt sorry for her and pulled her into his arms, saying, "Forget it, don't think about it anymore. You don't need to worry about the Su family army. Even if Xuan Yuanpeng had the intention, he wouldn't actually take action against the Su family army. Think about it, they have over 300,000 troops, and the Su family army is known for its strength. If he really used force to resolve this, how many Eastern Chu troops would Xuan Yuanpeng have to lose to deal with such a large force? Moreover, the Su family army hasn't done anything wrong; they are even meritorious officials of Eastern Chu. He has no reason to deal with them, and the people wouldn't agree to it either."
"Um."
Hearing Xuan Yuanzhan's analysis, Su Xuening felt relieved.
Xuanyuan Zhan is right. The Su family army is indeed not so easy to deal with. Rather than slaughtering them all, it would be more efficient to subdue them. One option would require losing hundreds of thousands of troops to eliminate the Su family army, while the other would allow them to be recruited and strengthen their own forces by 300,000. The difference in troop strength is 600,000 to 700,000. I doubt any emperor would choose the first option.
Therefore, as long as the Su family army has no intention of rebelling, Xuanyuan Peng will definitely not take action against them. However, it may not be so easy for him to subdue the Su family army.
Xuan Yuanzhan put his arm around Su Xuening and couldn't help but sigh, "It's strange, isn't it? The Su family army was formed in such a strange way, as if it appeared out of thin air. How come no one questioned your father's identity before!"
Suddenly, a person with no family background appeared in Kyoto with 300,000 troops. Wouldn't anyone doubt Su Renzhong's identity?
However, perhaps Xuanyuan Peng and his group did have suspicions, but they did investigate and found nothing.
Xuan Yuanzhan suddenly lost confidence in sending people to Su Xuening's hometown to investigate Su Renzhong's background. If Xuan Yuanpeng and the others had gone to investigate and found nothing, then he might not be able to find anything by sending people either.
Su Xuening understood what he meant and frowned, saying, "Do you still think my father is a member of the Northern Wei royal family?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
