Chapter 903 A Dream of Youth 435
As Xiao Chu was leaving, he bumped into Consort Zhen, who had come to find the Emperor of Northern Jin. She was the eldest princess sent by the Wumeng Kingdom for a marriage alliance.
Consort Zhen bowed, but Xiao Chu did not want to pay attention to her. Consort Zhen was very favored and had a son, which threatened Xiao's position as Empress. If it were not inconvenient to take action now, he would have already sent someone to deal with Consort Zhen.
Consort Zhen curled her red lips, seemingly unconcerned. However, once inside the palace, she adopted a wronged expression. Emperor Gu Yan's trust in Lady Xiao was not a good thing.
She didn't believe that the Xiao family was so powerful that Gu Yanhui wouldn't be wary of them.
Xiao Chu was unaware that someone was secretly trying to sabotage him. He simply bent down and climbed into the carriage, whereupon he saw the young man who had saved him and later came to seek refuge with him examining the rocket in his hand.
This arrow is incredibly powerful, but it was secretly produced by the Great Zhou Dynasty. I never expected that the official who came to seek refuge would know how it was made.
"Have you figured out anything?"
Xiao Shijiu scratched his head, embarrassed, and put the arrow down. "I just feel that this arrow is not as finely made as the one made by the Great Zhou Dynasty."
Xiao Chu smiled and took the tea that Xiao Shijiu handed him. "It's just a difference in craftsmanship. He can practice and improve it a bit more."
Xiao Shijiu was the one who saved him in Hedong. Xiao Chu promised to take him as his adopted son and give him unlimited wealth and honor before successfully turning him against him.
Later, Xiao Chu kept his promise and granted the other party power and wealth.
Of course, he didn't trust Xiao Shijiu from the beginning. It's just that this man had no ambition, only greed for wealth and glory, was a gambler, and was extremely loyal to him, acting just like a son.
That's why Xiao Chu treated him with more favor.
The carriage turned around and left the palace. Xiao Shijiu lifted the curtain and looked at the blue sky outside, wondering where the Great Zhou army was now.
Springtime brings warmth and beauty, a time of prosperity, but on the battlefield, only crimson blood, like spring rain, soaks the land.
Xiao Shijiu was ordered to go on the expedition with Xiao Wu, and the Northern Jin's attack route and countermeasures were also leaked. By the time Xiao Wu discovered that Xiao Shijiu was a spy arranged by the Great Zhou, it was already too late.
The general defending Youzhou feigned weakness to lure the Zhou army northward, intending to divide their offensive. Then, Xiao Wu led reinforcements to attack from both sides. If nothing unexpected happened, the Zhou army would surely be defeated.
However, they were unaware that their actions had already been discovered by the Great Zhou. Upon receiving the secret letter, Xu Hongying immediately led a troop of cavalry to Pingliang River, where they ambushed and captured Xiao Wu alive.
In the past, Xu Hongying felt that she was no match for Xiao Wu, and her army could not deal with the enemy's cavalry. But now she led a fully armored cavalry, whose horses and armor were designed by Xie Ning and other craftsmen. After training, they were comparable to the cavalry of the Northern Jin and Wumeng.
Furthermore, with the added advantage of gunpowder weaponry, they were even more superior.
After the Northern Jin army was defeated, Xiao Shijiu led the scattered reinforcements to flee north.
Thus, Youzhou fell into the hands of the Great Zhou.
The Great Zhou launched a massive northern expedition in three routes. After capturing Youzhou, its advance was unstoppable. The Northern Jin army, which had been proud of its weaponry, suffered repeated defeats under the Great Zhou's artillery barrage.
The military equipment and gunpowder that were delivered had a problem!
Most of them are unusable.
After this news reached the capital of Northern Jin, the emperor immediately became suspicious of the middle-aged official who had come to seek refuge and had previously served in the Imperial Arsenal of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
But when they sent people to arrest him, he had vanished without a trace, and no one knew where he had gone.
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Billowing smoke signals and howling flames of war.
When the two sides went to war, Yanmen was naturally attacked by the Northern Jin army. General Xu, who was guarding the city, temporarily changed the formation he had set up, combining the eight formations into two formations, front and back, and concentrated his forces to defeat the Northern Jin army, annihilating more than 10,000 people.
The cavalry of Wumeng Kingdom, together with the army of Da Zhou, attacked from the north and south, and defeated the Northern Jin army again.
The spring flowers have faded and the red of spring has faded. In just one year, the Northern Jin lost most of its territory. Seeing this, Prime Minister Xiao personally led his troops to fight. However, he did not expect that after he left, Emperor Gu Yan of the Northern Jin died suddenly, and the young prince was enthroned by Consort Zhen.
Empress Xiao had no children with the other concubines, and Consort Zhen held a high position.
However, she was a princess from another country and should not have ascended the throne, but she adopted the prince into Empress Xiao's family and voluntarily lived in seclusion in the palace.
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