Chapter 529 You're the most shameless one
"The Empress's unborn child has questionable bloodline? Who's spouting this nonsense? ... Qin Mo is a bastard too, daring to lead troops into Tianjin to intimidate the capital. Who gave him this ridiculous idea?"
In the northern frontier of the Great Xia Dynasty, in the army tent of the General Who Conquers the North, Zhao Qirui looked at the urgent letter in his hand and angrily cursed.
General Zhao Qirui, the Grand General of the Northern Expedition, has been clearing out the orcs in the north for the past few years and has been building cities in suitable locations to lay the foundation for long-term peace and stability.
After the news of the Emperor's death reached the northern frontier, Zhao Qirui did not immediately return to the capital. It was already early winter, and he had to arrange the strategies for the northern frontier soldiers to keep warm and defend against the enemy before he could set off.
But before Zhao Qirui could even set off, a second urgent letter arrived, followed by a third. In the last letter, King Yan, Qin Mu, said many inappropriate things and urged him to return to the capital immediately to assist him in installing a new emperor on the throne.
Qin Mu's disrespect for Wang Yushi and Qin Mo's audacity greatly displeased Zhao Qirui. Just as he was ambitiously building an immortal empire for the Great Xia, signs of internal strife appeared. The instigators were none other than Wang Yushi, whom he greatly respected, and Qin Mo, whom he had high hopes for. If Qin Mu hadn't always been honest, he wouldn't have believed it was true.
The war in the northern frontier has been incredibly successful in recent years. The orcs have retreated far to the west and the far north. Zhao Qirui has expanded the territory of the Great Xia by more than the area of five prefectures.
Zhao Qirui knew that the situation in the northern border of the Great Xia Dynasty was due to the support of Qin Mo and Wang Yushi. With Qin Mo's help, Wang Yushi forged a large number of cannons, and most of these deadly weapons were transported to the northern border, causing the orcs who tried to counterattack to suffer repeated setbacks.
The logistical supplies that the officials sent to the northern frontier were incredibly cheap. Sugar, spirits, and woolen clothes were excellent for keeping warm, and things like medicine for knife wounds, iron arrowheads, and fine steel armor were all made possible by the officials' supplies.
A while ago, Emperor Zhaowu had a conflict with Qin Mo, and a batch of armor that the northern border army went to the central military headquarters to receive immediately had a problem. His own men almost smashed the manager of the royal workshop to death.
"Send word to Wulan City, instructing Li Zinian to select 20,000 elite cavalry to head south to Tianjin and await orders from the Central Military Command."
Zhao Qirui carefully read Qin Mu's last letter, sighed deeply, and felt a shadow fall over his heart. Regardless of whether what Qin Mu said in the letter was true or false, he had to suppress Qin Mo's arrogance first.
As Zhao Qirui led his personal guards on a whirlwind journey to the capital, Qin Mo also extended an invitation to all the high-ranking generals of the Great Xia Army near the capital, asking them to come to the wasteland near Tianjin to observe the Great Xia Army's winter military exercises!
"This is a provocation against the majesty of the Great Xia Dynasty! It's utterly arrogant! These traitors are incredibly audacious!"
Prince Qin Mu of Yan, Prince Chang Le, and Grand Secretary Xiao Xinyan naturally also received invitations. Xiao Xinyan reacted the most strongly, almost jumping up and down cursing.
"Qin Mu, what do you think?"
"Since it's a military exercise, we can't let his army perform a solo act. General Zhao will arrive soon, so let each army select its elite troops to go to Tianjin to observe!"
"That's good! The Imperial Guard will definitely go too!"
"Excellent! The strength of the Da Yuan army lies in its superior weaponry, but the quality of its soldiers is only average. If we transfer the best weaponry and select the best soldiers from among the best, our elite force will be no less than theirs!"
Both Prince Chang Le and Xiao Xinyan would understand. There were quite a few Imperial Guards and Imperial Army troops around the capital, but because Wang Yushi had a high prestige in the army, Qin Mu might not be able to mobilize them all.
However, sending elite troops from each army to Tianjin to observe military exercises is a different matter. Each army will inevitably obey the orders of the Central Military Commission. As long as they are not fighting to the death with the main army, even the Imperial Guard will not disrespect Qin Mu.
The strength of the Da Yuan army is well known, but the elite troops selected from among the top ten in the Da Xia army are not bad either. In terms of martial arts alone, they might even win one or two battles!
On the eighth day of the eleventh month, prominent figures from the Great Xia military gathered in Tianjin, and Xiao Xinyan and others cleverly gave this military exercise the pretext of an imperial review of the troops.
However, their cleverness backfired this time. Since it was the imperial court reviewing the troops, Qin Mo invited the Empress over as well. When Wang Yushi appeared with a cold face, everyone except Qin Mu, Qin Jian, and Zhao Qirui lowered their heads. Even Xiao Xinyan did not dare to meet her sharp phoenix eyes.
A high platform stood tall north of the Haihe River, and the surrounding wide wasteland was the designated training area.
Wang Yushi sat in a chair in the center of the high platform. Qin Mu, Qin Jian, Qin Mo, Zhao Qirui, and Xiao Xinyan sat in other main seats. As for the likes of Chenliu Wang, they could only sit in the back and were not qualified to sit in the front row.
"Your Highness, your army doesn't seem to be very hardworking! It's almost noon, why haven't they come out of camp and formed ranks yet? Could it be that Your Highness's troops are... practicing night combat?"
Forming an army of tens of thousands is no easy task. If one is not skilled, it can easily take several hours. When Xiao Xinyan saw that the Da Yuan army had not yet left the camp, he couldn't help but make a joke. After all, the Da Yuan army has always been known as the "Young Master Army" and the "Old Master Army".
"No rush, let your men form ranks first!"
At Qin Mu's suggestion, the commanders of the Imperial Guards selected their most elite soldiers, mostly cavalry, with the remainder being heavy infantry and artillery.
The elite Imperial Guards and Royal Guards entered the training area set up by the Grand Army. The infantry and artillery formed the central army and set up their formation, while the elite cavalry prepared for battle on both flanks. Meanwhile, the barbarian cavalry patrolled and circled the perimeter. The magnificent military might greatly impressed Xiao Xinyan and others, and immediately inspired several masterpiece poems to be passed down through the ages.
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