Extra 2, Empress
This war came at a very bad time, because the date for my brother's return had been delayed by more than half a year.
The court was in turmoil, and there were even rumors that Emperor Changzhi had met with an accident at sea.
His heart should be killed!
I immediately sent people to investigate the person who spread this rumor and beheaded several officials as a public example.
I know that there are still many people in the court who are waiting and watching, especially those conservative old ministers. They were unwilling to let a woman ascend the throne in the first place, and now that they have the opportunity, they will naturally be fence-sitters.
By June, the number of rebels in Xizhou had reached 70,000, and many bandits from various places flocked to join them.
Generals Zheng and Du in the court were too old to lead the troops, so the military generals General Yang and General Jiang volunteered to lead the troops to Xizhou to quell the rebellion.
Those days were probably the most difficult days of my life. I was waiting for military reports every day, and so were the ministers in the court.
To make matters worse, the old Taifu suddenly fell ill and four or five people in a row fell into a coma and no medicine could cure them.
I personally went to Gao's home to visit him and stayed by his bedside to take care of him. My father also came to help with the diagnosis and treatment, but he was too old and his body was too weak to be treated, and he finally passed away on the sixth day of his coma.
I cried so hard that I lost my voice. At that moment, I wished my brother could come back...
In mid-July, Daqi's army had its first battle with the rebels and won a great victory!
When this news reached Shangjing, I was feeding fish in the Imperial Garden. The big black fish seemed to have human nature. Every time I went to feed the fish, it would be the first to swim over. It would open its big mouth by the water and wait for me to throw food into its mouth. It was very interesting.
The eunuch came running over with the military report in his hand: "Your Highness, we won! We won!"
I threw away the fish food in my hand, picked up the military newspaper and read it quickly. Those rabble were no match for us at all. In this battle, General Yang directly drove the enemy back to the north of Kulun in Xizhou, a distance of more than 300 miles!
I returned to the side hall excitedly and wrote three edicts. The first one praised the bravery of the army, the second one called on the rebels to surrender, and anyone who surrendered voluntarily would be spared the death penalty. The third one ordered Yang Ping to capture the rebel leader and cut off his head!
I know that only if I win this war can I safely ascend the throne!
However, the joy lasted only a few days. Something unexpected happened. Tubo also rebelled. They joined forces with Huiqi and launched an attack on Daqi.
After reading the military report, my face turned grim. From the Wu Dynasty to the present, Tubo has always been a vassal state of the Central Plains.
After the establishment of Daqi, Tubo was the first neighboring country to show goodwill to Daqi. Unexpectedly, they colluded with Huiqi and chose to attack Daqi at this critical moment.
All the troops going to the capital have been transferred away, and the troops at the North Gate cannot be moved, so they can only be mobilized from the south.
I ordered Ding Daqian, the garrison commander of Hangzhou, and Yao An, the garrison commander of Suzhou, to lead 30,000 troops to support the front line.
The battle was extremely brutal because the Xizhou army rebelled and the enemy also had artillery and muskets.
The lethality of artillery was much greater than that of bows and slings. Many towns were destroyed and tens of thousands of people became refugees, rushing towards the east.
Originally, General Yang estimated that the firearms of the Xizhou Army would not last long, and as long as they held on and then slowly defeated them one by one, they would surely win.
But the enemy's firepower did not weaken, but became stronger and stronger, with shells and bullets pouring out like crazy. He was so surprised that he quickly wrote a letter back to the capital.
After I received the news, I immediately sent people to investigate several military factories to see if anyone was secretly selling gunpowder to the other party. After a thorough investigation, no loopholes were found, so there was only one possibility, that Tubo or Huiqi already had their own military factories...
This is not what I want to see, and it means that Daqi will not gain any advantage in this war.
By September, the war had reached a white-hot stage, with countless soldiers killed and wounded every day. The combined efforts of Huiqi and Tubo, together with the Xizhou rebels, defeated the Qi army step by step.
I was anxious but helpless, so I planned to go to the front line myself to supervise the battle and boost morale.
As soon as this matter was brought up, Prime Minister Xu and Prime Minister Qin came to dissuade me, saying that the battlefield was dangerous and if I died then Da Qi would surely fall apart.
It is not my character to just sit there and wait for death. As the casualties in the battle reports increased, I finally couldn't hold back and announced at the morning court that I would go to the front line in person to supervise the battle.
The ministers were talking about this matter. Some of them, led by Li Jie and Liu Lin, knelt down and begged me not to go. But I had made up my mind that this war must be resolved quickly. If it was delayed any further, I was afraid that the Jin Kingdom in the north would take advantage of the situation and then it would be irreversible.
I took the gangster Bai Xiu and thousands of guards to the front line, and the affairs of the court were temporarily handled by the left and right prime ministers.
This is the farthest place I have been to since I was born. I first took a train, which took ten days. After arriving at the border of Western States, I changed to a horse carriage.
Along the way, we can see many towns that have been reduced to ruins by artillery bombing, and the originally flat official road has become bumpy and difficult to travel on.
It was not until October 12 that I arrived at Wuan County, where the army was stationed.
General Yang and General Jiang were very excited to see me. They didn't expect that I would risk my life to come to the front line in person.
I followed the two of them to the military camp and listened to them talk about the current battle situation. Unlike the words in the letter, their oral account could make me feel the cruelty of war more intuitively.
Yang Ping said: "Your Highness, we just exchanged fire with the rebels the day before yesterday. We can feel that the firearms in their hands are different from those of the Qi army. Although the power is not as strong as ours, it seems that there is no end to it. The firepower is very fierce, and we can't just rush over."
I asked, "Can we launch a sneak attack?"
Jiang Ling shook his head: "The enemy is the Xizhou Army. They know the terrain here better than we do. It will be difficult to find an opportunity for a sneak attack."
It seems that we have no choice but to fight hard. War means spending money. Let's see which side is stronger. I don't believe that the two small countries of Tubo and Huiqi can produce more gunpowder than Daqi.
The weather in Xizhou was getting colder. Although I had a stove in my tent, it was still too cold to bear at night. General Yang wanted me to retreat to Tuen County in the rear to rest, but I refused.
The soldiers were fighting desperately in the severe cold, how could I indulge in pleasure?
One day in the middle of the night, I was suddenly awakened by the sound of violent bombing. I put on my cloak and asked the people below what had happened.
The gangster Bai Xiu suddenly rushed in and said, "Your Highness, something bad has happened. The rebels have attacked the camp. Come with us and leave here!"
Before I could react, two men carried me and ran away. During the time, I could hear the crackling of muskets everywhere, and the cold wind blew on my face like a knife.
When I was running away, I was grazed on the neck by a stray bullet, but I didn't even feel the pain. It was only after I hid that Bai Xiu saw that there was a lot of blood on my body.
She was so scared that her face turned pale. She quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe my wound. After she finished wiping it, she saw the wound on my neck.
Bai Xiuxin said with red eyes: "Wait, Aunt Xiu will find a doctor for you."
I held her and told her that it was okay, that the injury would not be fatal, and that the military camp was too dangerous and she should not go back.
But she was so fast that she disappeared in a moment.
Heidao was afraid that I would be cold, so he took off his coat and put it on me. They were the secret guards left for me by my brother, and they were also the few people I trusted.
When it was almost dawn, Bai Xiu came back with a young doctor. The doctor's hair was messy and his clothes were torn. Judging from his clothes, he must be a military doctor.
I hurried forward and asked, "How is the situation in the military camp?"
"Not very good. Many people died, and the surviving soldiers are still fighting the rebels."
I nodded with a heavy face, and turned to look at the young doctor, who was also looking at me. For some reason, I always felt that he looked familiar.
He helped me treat the wound on my face, and told me not to touch water during these days and to change the bandages regularly every day.
"I don't have any scar-removing medicine on me. Your Highness should return to the capital for treatment as soon as possible, otherwise you might get scars on your body."
I waved my hand nonchalantly. A little scar is nothing. The army is in danger now. If I leave, the morale of the army will collapse. I want to stay and live and die with the army!
After dawn, I asked Hei Dao Bai Xiu to take me back to the military camp, and we found General Jiang Ling near the camp.
He looked at me in surprise, "Your Highness, why haven't you left yet? It's too dangerous here, leave quickly!"
I shook my head and asked him to get me a set of armor. I learned horse riding and shooting skills from General Fuguo, and they are no worse than ordinary soldiers. I want to lead them to counterattack!
Jiang Ling thought about it for a while and realized that this was the only way, so he immediately sent someone to get the best armor for me to wear.
The soldiers around him blew the horn to summon them, and a chorus soldier shouted: "Your Highness is going to lead the army in person! The men will follow your Highness and fight back!"
Soon the scattered soldiers nearby were gathered together. Everyone looked at the princess in military uniform on horseback, their eyes filled with tears of excitement!
His Highness did not leave. He wanted to lead them to fight back personally!
For a moment, the morale of the army was high, and they launched a fierce counterattack against the rebels as if they had been injected with chicken blood!
I rode on my horse, holding a musket and shooting at the enemy. Every shot made my arms numb and my lips, cracked by the wind, began to bleed. I licked the sweet taste from the corner of my mouth, knowing that we would definitely win this battle!
When I was fighting the rebels at the front line, a traitor appeared in the court. The Minister of War Qu Mingrui secretly sent a letter to the Jin Kingdom, hoping to join forces with the Jin Kingdom to attack Daqi.
Fortunately, this fatal letter was not delivered to the capital of Jin, but by coincidence it was delivered to the hands of Yelu Xiang, the fourth prince of the Northern Five Tribes. After reading the letter, the fourth prince discussed it with Amudan for a night and felt that this move was inappropriate.
The five northern tribes have established good diplomatic relations with Da Qi in recent years and have gradually prospered through commercial development. The people are well fed and well clothed, so there is no need for them to go north to attack Da Qi.
If they failed, the five northern tribes would surely be dragged into the quagmire and unable to extricate themselves. Even if they succeeded, they would still have to face Tubo, Huiqi and the troublesome Yelu Guang.
In order to show goodwill, Amudan wrote a reply letter to Xu Bing, reminding him to be careful of this man. The five northern tribes had no intention of being enemies with Daqi, but if the Khan of Jindu City received this letter, Daqi would definitely send troops.
After receiving the letter, Xu Bing was anxious and angry, wondering why Lord Qu would betray his country. He sent people to search Qu Mingrui's house overnight and found many letters between him and the Kingdom of Jin. Only then did he know that this man was a spy planted by the Kingdom of Jin in Daqi.
There must be more than one spy like this, and no one knows when trouble will arise.
Just when the court was in turmoil, my brother and Brother Zhao finally came back!
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