After reading the urgent military report in his hand, Emperor Gan Zhao did not hide it from everyone and directly asked Xu Ling to read it out. After reading it, Emperor Gan Zhao said that the current situation was still unknown and he only wanted to hear everyone's strategy for dealing with the enemy.
The ministers were expressing their opinions one after another, but the person on the throne did not react at all. His eyes were blank as if he was thinking about something.
After a moment, Emperor Gan Zhao glanced around, and everyone who was talking hurriedly shut up: "Yan Zhou, tell me what you think."
Wang Yanzhou stood up and said with a troubled expression, "South Vietnam is invading the southern border at this time. They must be well prepared."
"Well, interesting, go on," he said, but what Emperor Gan Zhao was actually thinking was: I can't see such an obvious thing, can you say something valuable; such as donating some money, bringing a soldier, or sending someone.
Other ministers even expressed that they needed to discuss countermeasures, and that such obvious matters should be avoided if possible. It was unclear whether this Qingliang King was incompetent and mediocre with only a good appearance, or whether they were paving the way for his next shocking statement.
After Emperor Gan Zhao said this, Wang Yanzhou took the opportunity to turn the topic to Duke Lin: "I heard that the son of Duke Lin is currently training in the Southern Border Army. I wonder what the state guardian general thinks."
Upon hearing this, Duke Lin looked at Wang Yanzhou helplessly and hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am just a civil official and don't know how to lead troops in battle. At this moment, I can only wait for news from the front line and first explore the situation in South Vietnam."
Duke Liang, who had been silent the entire time, now interjected, "It's said that Second Young Master Lin is also in the southern border. Your Majesty must be very concerned about the war."
Duke Lin said, "What's the point of this Liang guy? He's been a neutral party, but now he's trying to pick a fight with him. It's amazing how many sons he has. "Duke Liang's three sons are also training at the border. I think the court needs more people right now, so we can bring all the sons back from training abroad."
Upon hearing this, the people from Duke Lin's faction all expressed their opinions, saying, "I will reconsider this."
Emperor Gan Zhao thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let's put this matter aside for now. The six ministries will immediately submit reports on the national treasury, military pay, and military situation."
"As you wish."
An hour later, under the watchful eyes of the officials and Emperor Gan Zhao, the six ministries worked tirelessly to compile all the data and presented a report: "Your Majesty, we've compiled it. The country can currently mobilize 200,000 troops and 100,000 horses, and the treasury can still support it."
Emperor Gan Zhao nodded slightly and called out, "Zhong Wang Yao Ji."
Upon hearing this, Prince Zhong suddenly stood up from his seat, his eyes seemed to have two balls of flames burning:
"Your son is here!"
Emperor Gan Zhao said, "I order Prince Zhong to lead 20,000 soldiers and 5,000 horses as the vanguard to rush to the southern border to reinforce and explore the strength of Nanyue."
"yes!"
Prince Zhong just turned around and prepared to go back to prepare, but Wang Yanzhou stopped him with a shout: "Slow down."
Emperor Gan Zhao raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Does Yan Zhou have any opinions?"
Wang Yanzhou lowered his head and explained, "Your Majesty, the distance between the southern border and my brother's Qingliang Valley is only a few hundred miles. Prince Zhong is still young. I suggest that I lead the palace soldiers to Qingliang Valley first."
"oh?"
"At this critical moment for the survival of our nation, Qingliang Valley cannot afford to remain immune. I am willing to do my utmost to support the soldiers until the South Vietnamese forces are driven out."
Wang Yanzhou didn't need to take direct action, but the problem was that Emperor Gan Zhao had explicitly nominated Prince Zhong. Everyone knew exactly what kind of person Prince Zhong was. If he were to hand over the entire army to him, it was unclear whether they could reach the southern border intact. Although he had no good feelings towards Emperor Gan Zhao, he couldn't let the people of the southern border suffer and bring disaster to Qingliang Valley.
Emperor Gan Zhao was very satisfied with Wang Yanzhou's proposal, so he agreed with a stroke of his pen: "Okay, let's do as Prince Qingliang suggests! Prince Zhong, Prince Qingliang is your uncle. You should learn more from him. If this mission succeeds, it will definitely not be a bad thing for you."
Prince Zhong, the eldest son of Emperor Qian Zhao, had always been quite conceited. Despite his modest talents, he had always been flattered by the crowd. Now, with a chance to prove himself, and with the legendary uncle under his wing, his fighting spirit was high: "Your son will obey the imperial edict!"
"Your Majesty..." Ouyang Ming had just made a gesture of bowing, but before he could finish his words, Qinghe interrupted him, "Your Majesty? Sit still."
Ouyang Ming looked at Qinghe with pleading eyes. Before his accident, he should have been the one leading the troops to guard the southern border. Now that the opportunity had come, he wanted to find an outlet for his surging passion: "Qinghe..."
Qinghe turned his head away and said firmly, "It's no use yelling, I won't allow it. I won't give in at all. Don't even look at me."
Seeing her like this, Ouyang Ming had no choice but to give up. This scene, seen by Emperor Gan Zhao, suddenly gave him an idea.
Qinghe saw Ouyang Ming's face full of disappointment, but still refused to give in. "With Yanzhou here, why should you worry about anything? Just take care of yourself. You're not feeling well, and you still want to run around? There's no door, and the windows are blocked for you."
Ouyang Ming couldn't argue with Qinghe, so he had to apologize: "Yes, yes, you're right. I was inconsiderate."
Qinghe nodded in satisfaction, "That's more or less the same." She had been too permissive with him in the past, which was why he ended up like this; now that she had finally found him, he couldn't try to escape from under her nose again.
After a long meeting in the palace, everyone waited until dawn before dragging their exhausted bodies out of the Forbidden Palace. The banquet ended, and on the first day of the new year, Emperor Qian Zhao still had to rush to the auspicious time of the morning to offer sacrifices to the heavens. Knowing that he couldn't sleep, he simply summoned Shu Yang to the imperial study.
"Father."
After Shu Yang arrived, as usual, Emperor Gan Zhao only left Xu Ling to serve him, and the others withdrew. "What do you think of what happened today?"
Shu Yang shook his head slightly, and said with a look of doubt: "I think there is something strange, but..."
Emperor Gan Zhao also said, "It seems he wasn't responsible. I sent the Qilin Guards to infiltrate the troops. No matter how capable he is, if he really is colluding with the South Vietnamese, he can't do it so flawlessly."
"Your Majesty is wise, but my second brother..." Shu Yang didn't know why Emperor Gan Zhao let Prince Zhong go. At this moment, there were definitely people who were more suitable than him.
Facing Shu Yang's doubts, Emperor Gan Zhao could only pat her shoulder gently and said with a sad face: "Alas, Shu Yang, if you were a man, your father would not have to be so difficult to make a decision."
The words that Emperor Gan Zhao repeated over and over again gradually planted a small but extremely vital seed in Shu Yang's heart.
Yes, if she were a man, she wouldn't be confined to this palace. If her elder brother hadn't died young, Emperor Qian Zhao wouldn't have to be so embarrassed. But what if she's a woman? Can't a woman lead an army or govern a country?
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