Li Guo reported back, "His Royal Highness Prince Yu has led his army into the Northern Barbarians' plateau. While progress has been smooth, casualties have been minimal. The Northern Barbarians are a barren land, sparsely populated, and mostly nomadic, making escape easy. Especially the Northern Barbarians' imperial city. I heard everyone has evacuated it, and it's now a deserted city. Alas! Even if the Northern Barbarians' imperial palace were demolished, there's nothing to brag about."
King Qi stood up and walked around the tent with his hands behind his back.
"The Northern Barbarian Emperor wants to exchange land with us, using their poor and barren land to exchange for the fertile land with rich resources in Dayan. I'm afraid my brother Yu will have to withdraw his troops this time." King Qi said.
"Your Highness is absolutely right. I never thought that the Northern Barbarian Emperor would be so bold as to give up a large piece of his territory to gamble on this battle for the fate of the country." Li Guo echoed.
"To become the ruler of a country, one must have some means and awareness. They are barefoot men, how dare they give up!"
"Report! There's an emergency!" a messenger soldier shouted outside.
King Qi waved his hand and the guards let the people in.
"What's the matter?" King Qi asked calmly.
Xiaoqi took out a roll of envelopes. These envelopes were sent by carrier pigeons and had a layer of wax seal on the outside.
After the guard took it, he opened it in front of King Qi, and after checking that everything was correct, he handed it to King Qi for reading.
The letter was very short and King Qi finished reading it quickly.
"This is outrageous! The foreign enemies haven't been driven out yet, and internal strife has broken out again. What is going on?" King Qi slammed the table, extremely angry.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. What is the urgent matter?" Li Guo asked curiously.
"Hmph! Someone rebelled in Minglan County and demolished my government office. All the court officials were arrested and paraded through the streets, and the grain in the government warehouse was distributed to the local people. They are simply audacious and their crime is unforgivable." King Qi was so angry that his nose was spitting snot bubbles. It was obvious that he no longer cared about his image. He had always been maintaining the stability of his fiefdom, but he never expected that there would be a fire in his backyard. It was simply a slap in his face.
"Oh? Who is so bold?" Li Guo was also a little confused. Could it be the work of a spy sent by the northern barbarians?
Prince Qi said coldly, "A petty official at a horse farm!"
Li Guo was stunned when he heard this. A small official at the horse farm? Why?
"Could it be that the northern barbarians are interfering?" Li Guo continued to ask. How could a small official at a horse farm have such great ability?
Prince Qi nodded. "It's possible. It's just a small horse farm. I'll send a pigeon to the local garrison and they'll destroy it in a day."
After saying this, Prince Qi immediately ordered the rebellion to be quelled. He didn't believe a horse farm could cause such a huge upheaval. "During this special period, severe punishments must be used. The main offender will be executed by lingchi, and his family members will be beheaded. The rest will be punished according to their crimes. Those who show signs of surrender may be given lighter sentences. Go!"
King Qi waved his hand, signaling his men to go about their business. He looked very tired.
"Military Advisor Li, you must have been exhausted after so many days. You should stay in my military camp for a few more days. Anyway, there is no definite news from my brother Yu yet. How about waiting for a few more days?" King Qi said to Li Guo.
Li Guo quickly clasped his fists and said, "I obey your orders!"
In this way, Li Guo lived in the military camp, analyzing military intelligence and handling military affairs with His Royal Highness Prince Qi every day, and was highly appreciated by Prince Qi.
…
Three days later, another letter with information about Minglan County arrived by carrier pigeon.
When King Qi opened the envelope, he was stunned for a moment and thought he had read it wrong. He read it several times before finally confirming what was said in the letter.
Li Guo saw that Prince Qi was in a trance and asked hurriedly, "Your Highness Prince Qi? Is there something wrong?"
Prince Qi nodded slightly. "First, 10,000 garrison troops went to Minglan County to quell the rebellion. Our forces collapsed at the first blow. Over 8,000 were taken prisoner, over 100 died, and the rest fled."
"Ah? Why is this happening?" Li Guo was shocked. These were 10,000 men. While their fighting power wasn't as strong as the frontline troops, they shouldn't have been defeated so completely. Could it be that they were facing the main force of the Northern Barbarians?
"There are even more incredible things!" King Qi forced a smile.
Li Guo listened attentively.
"The next morning, another 100,000 garrison troops were dispatched from the neighboring county. Guess what the result was?" asked King Qi.
Li Guo thought for a moment and replied, "The enemy is very powerful. Could it be that they have reached a stalemate on the battlefield with our army?"
"No, no," King Qi shook his head repeatedly. "It only took half a day, and 5,000 of the 100,000 soldiers were killed. The rest surrendered to the rebels and have now been tied up and taken back to the horse farm. This is really a huge joke."
"Your Highness, how strong is the other party?" Li Guo asked. This is the key point.
"The intelligence is vague. They only say that the petty official at the horse farm has gathered 30,000 rebels and that their weapons are very advanced. What a joke! These are all excuses for their defeat. I, King Qi, have also spent a fortune on our military equipment. How could we be defeated by those rebels? This is simply the commander's incompetence."
King Qi simply didn't believe that a hastily assembled team could fight against his regular army. Moreover, they had already defeated his own 110,000-strong army. Even capturing a group of livestock would take several days. How could it be so easy and pleasant?
Li Guo, however, took it very seriously: "Your Highness, there is something fishy about this matter. We need to investigate the cause as soon as possible. Now is an emergency. If the enemy is the Northern Barbarian army that has infiltrated and attacked from the center of the fiefdom, I am afraid that our Great Yan Dynasty will be in absolute danger."
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