"What!" Upon hearing this, Li Qing was almost furious, grabbing Xu Dafu by the collar and wanting to beat him to death.
Why did you let her go alone?!
Two days had passed since Li Ruo went to the capital alone. Xie Xiao's army sent word that they would arrive in the capital the next day. Only then did Xu Dafu tell Li Qing about the female boss's whereabouts.
This is what Li Ruoqian repeatedly emphasized.
Li Qing's mountain-like body and thunderous aura made Xu Dafu, a burly man, tremble and he had no choice but to kneel down.
Xu Dafu's face showed worry and stubbornness, but he pursed his lips, neither arguing nor preparing to fight back.
Chen He also knelt down, afraid that Li Qing would kick Xu Dafu to death, and hugged his leg, "General, Miss Li has issued a military order, and we dare not disobey it."
She said it was partly to save the Taoist priest, and partly to provide cover for you in the enemy camp, because there were too many Imperial Guards, and this would avoid unnecessary sacrifices.
"Hey!" Li Qing withdrew his foot, his anger surging with nowhere to go, the veins on his forehead still throbbing. "But are you going to sacrifice her? You know how many people are involved, and Chu Yunji is an old fox. What if something happens to him? I'll chop you both up then."
Chen He: "Okay, if anything happens to you, I'm willing to stay with you."
Xu Dafu: ... "Add the smaller one!"
"Heh, I'm afraid you won't last that long. You'd better think about how to withstand Xie Xiao's wrath first."
This Li Ruo is really reckless.
Li Qing took a deep breath. "Pass down the order: assemble the troops and head to Yutai Temple at full speed!"
Inside the Yutai Temple, the ministers were still holding court as usual. The Minister of Revenue took the lead, saying that they could send people to negotiate with the Western Rong. If they couldn't borrow the city, they could exchange it for a city.
Others disagreed, arguing that this would leave out the soldiers who risked their lives to defend the border.
Just then, a battle report came from the northwest, saying that the Northern Army had just defeated the Western Rong Army, driven them back beyond the border, and seized hundreds of thousands of catties of their grain.
"Excellent!" The Minister of War slapped his thigh excitedly. "These are the true men of our Great Yin Dynasty! They can still win at a time like this!"
Many people congratulated General Fu, saying he had taught a good subordinate and that Vice General Cheng was excellent.
General Fu was a little confused. With only 30,000 men, and 10,000 dead before, how could they still win?
His plan with the Prince of Jiangning was to inflict two defeats on the Northern Army so that they could offer to exchange cities for grain with the Western Rong, thus silencing any objections from the ministers.
Although this is very dangerous for the Great Yin Dynasty, in times of crisis, extraordinary measures are necessary. As long as they have food and survive until the flood recedes, they can eventually reclaim the lost land.
This is also known as "where there's life, there's hope."
How did we win?
Although Chu Yunji was pleased, he was also secretly alarmed because this matter was too strange. "The information was correct?"
When the flood came, he sent a message to the Western Rong, wanting to borrow grain from them by ceding land, which is why he secretly recalled his troops.
The remaining 30,000 soldiers would certainly not be able to hold out. The news of the defeat terrified the ministers, who would surely agree to exchange the city for grain.
The sacrifice of 30,000 soldiers to secure rations for him, the court officials, and 150,000 imperial guards was worthwhile.
It's better than cannibalism.
As long as there was grain, the ministers would be extremely grateful, and his position would be secure. Who would have thought that such a mishap would occur?
Now the Western Rong are certainly unwilling to lend grain anymore.
Where were they going to find food? To make matters worse, they couldn't find the imperial seal either. They only managed to forge an edict, which still seemed somewhat illegitimate.
The Great Yin Dynasty did not have the tradition of emperors inheriting the throne. He used the emperor's name to establish himself as the crown prince, which caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the ministers.
They dared not speak out because the Imperial Guards were in his hands; who knew if they might launch a counterattack later?
A cold and unwilling look flashed in Chu Yunji's eyes. He could only use Liao Fusheng. He would first help Liao Fusheng to the throne, then become the regent himself. Once his power base was stable and he had seen the imperial seal, he would find an excuse to depose Liao Fusheng and become the emperor in a natural way.
After the court session ended, Chu Yunji left only a few trusted confidants and said, "Someone, bring Liao Fusheng to me."
General Fu asked, "What about Li Ruo?"
The Minister of Revenue said, "Didn't they say she could make some kind of kerosene? She's been tinkering for two days, but I haven't seen her produce anything. She's been talking mysteriously with that Taoist priest all day long, always talking about this concubine or that concubine. She's just creating a smokescreen."
Chu Yunji said, "I will not kill that woman for now. I still need her to blackmail Li Qing and Xie Xiao."
"Li Qing's soldiers are probably mostly dead, Your Highness, there's no need to worry," the Minister of Personnel laughed.
Then two trusted confidants praised His Highness for his wisdom, saying that his plan was so far-reaching that he won without a fight.
No sooner had he finished praising them than a general guarding the shore came to report, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! More than a dozen large ships have appeared on the water, one coming from the southeast and the other from the southwest. The ships in the southeast have banners belonging to Li's army, and there are tens of thousands of them. The ships in the southwest have black banners, and there are also tens of thousands of them."
"What!" Everyone was shocked.
"Li Qing and Xie Xiao!"
"Li Qing's soldiers contracted the plague, and with no medicine and no clean water, haven't almost all of them died?"
"Didn't Xie Xiao go to the southwest? Why is he coming to the northwest?"
It's no wonder they're out of the loop.
Because the spies at General Mountain have been eliminated, the information heard by the spies on the periphery is all deliberately spread by others.
Only then did the Prince of Jiangning understand why the Western Rong army had been able to retreat. It was Xie Xiao.
But Li Qing's men were completely unharmed.
Do they lack clean water and herbs?
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