The emperor was very excited at this moment, and he continued to speak.
"My dear ministers, I don't know if you have noticed, but this was originally a simple rescue operation, a joint effort by the governments of Qing'an, Yuanshui and Yuanxi."
Unexpectedly, in the later stages of the operation, they discovered a huge secret of Xiao Taiyuan from the west. Things had developed to this point, and there was no way out but to take action against Xiao Taiyuan.
In this operation, our soldiers fought valiantly against the rebels and made outstanding contributions.
In his memorial, Prefect Jin mentioned that Princess Li Xue and Zhao Lushi of the Ministry of Works also participated in the operation. They provided strategies and manufactured offensive weapons, which destroyed Xiao Taiyuan's military camp in one fell swoop and burned all the soldiers in the camp to death.
This battle completely wiped out Xiao Taiyuan's power in Yuanxi and laid the foundation for the government's victory.
"Yes, the Yuanxi region was a malignant tumor of the Great Northern Dynasty. It had not been properly resolved since the founding of the dynasty. After eliminating Xiao Taiyuan and other local forces, the Yuanxi region was finally completely stabilized, and the court no longer had any worries."
"Let's leave today's matter here. The matter of Yuanxi must not be spread outside for the time being. We will discuss it again at the morning court tomorrow."
The emperor was in a state of excitement all day, and the next morning, he arrived at the court early.
This morning at court, the civil and military officials were surprised to see that the emperor was in a good mood. Everyone knew that the court was short of money and many things could not be done, and the emperor had been worrying about this matter recently.
After finishing the daily affairs of the court, the emperor said, "My dear ministers, is there anything else you need to report?"
The ministers all indicated that they had nothing more to report.
The emperor then spoke up: "Yesterday, I received an urgent memorial from Yuanxi. Now I will bring out this memorial and discuss it with my ministers."
The urgent report came from Yuanxi. Everyone was taken aback. Knowing Yuanxi's situation, they knew that an urgent report from there could not be anything good. However, seeing the emperor's expression, it seemed that was not the case.
The emperor had anticipated this reaction from the crowd. He said, "Lord Ji, please introduce the contents of this memorial to my ministers."
"As you command." After saying this, Minister Ji took the memorial handed to him by the eunuch and introduced its contents to everyone.
Inside the court, everyone listened with bated breath, each one astonished. They never dreamed that such a momentous event would occur in Yuanxi.
After Minister Ji finished reading the memorial, the court officials immediately erupted in discussion.
At this moment, the Fourth Prince was also in the court. He was shocked by what happened in Yuanxi. When he heard that Li Xue had also gone to Yuanxi and participated in this major event, he was even more excited, even happier than if he had participated in the event himself.
"Your Majesty, a few days ago, we received news that spies from a foreign country had entered the country, and they came to make crossbows. Princess Li Xue was worried about the safety of Zhao Lushi in Shuixian Village, so she took two of my guards with her and brought them to Shuixian Village to protect Zhao Lushi."
Unexpectedly, they went to Yuanxi to quell the rebellion and accomplished such a great feat, making a significant contribution to stabilizing the territory of our Great Northern Dynasty.
"Your Majesty must reward and promote Zhao the Registrar handsomely. Let's see which bastard dares to speak ill of us now. If he's so capable, let him achieve some great merit himself."
"Your Highness, rest assured, this time not only will Zhao the Registrar be richly rewarded, but Princess Li Xue will also be richly rewarded, and all others who participated in this incident will be rewarded according to their merits."
However, this matter is not urgent. After Princess Li Xue returns to the capital, I will personally meet with her and let her tell me about the Yuanxi matter. Then we will discuss the reward.
"Now I need to select a special envoy to go to Yuanxi to handle the aftermath and transport the confiscated 20 million taels of silver back to the capital. I wonder which of my esteemed ministers is willing to go?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment and headed to Yuanxi to handle the aftermath, mainly dealing with the jade mine. This could be done according to the court's requirements, but the most important thing was to escort the criminals and the 20 million taels of silver back to the capital.
This task may seem simple, but it is actually very important and fraught with risks.
In the vast Gobi Desert, dangers lurk everywhere. Escorting such an important prisoner and so much silver could easily lead to encountering robbers.
As everyone was discussing this, a voice came from below the hall.
“Father, I am willing to go to Yuanxi to handle the aftermath and safely escort the prisoners and all the silver back to the capital.”
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the eldest prince, Li Hui. No one expected that Li Hui would volunteer at this time.
Li Hui was already in his twenties. He was of average intelligence but very cunning, and most of the civil and military officials in the court did not have a good impression of him.
But after all, he was the eldest prince, and very likely the future crown prince, so the court officials had to treat him with utmost courtesy and respect.
The emperor was somewhat pleased that Li Hui volunteered this time. Although he had many children, most of them were princesses, and only Li Hui and Li Qing were princes. Of course, there were also a few younger princes who were only a few years old.
Li Qing was knowledgeable and concerned about the world, and the emperor doted on him. However, a year ago, Li Qing was found to be suspected of treason and committed suicide out of fear of punishment. The emperor still does not understand how Li Qing became a traitor.
Now he places his hopes on the eldest prince, Li Hui, hoping that he will achieve something and be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future.
This mission of Li Hui to Yuanxi to handle the aftermath is a very good opportunity for him to gain experience. However, the emperor is well aware of Li Hui's limited abilities and needs to arrange for a capable person to assist him.
Thinking of this, the Emperor said, "I am very pleased that Hui'er is willing to go on a mission to Yuanxi. However, Yuanxi is a barren land, the journey is long and fraught with danger. I wonder which of my ministers is willing to go with Hui'er?"
"Your Majesty, I am willing to go and accompany the Crown Prince on his mission to Yuanxi, and I will not fail in my duty," a person in the hall said.
The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was Wan Jinda, the commander of the garrison in the capital. He was a third-rank official. Although he was a military general, he was also a strategist and a rare talent in the Great Northern Dynasty.
The emperor was very pleased to see that it was Wan Jinda. In the emperor's eyes, Wan Jinda was both a scholar and a warrior, and he felt very reassured having him accompany Li Hui to Yuanxi.
"Excellent! With Minister Wan accompanying Hui'er to Yuanxi, I have no worries," the Emperor said excitedly.
The matter was settled. Wan Jinda would accompany the eldest prince, Li Hui, to Yuanxi to carry out an important mission.
On the return journey, Xiao Taiyuan and the confiscated silver needed to be escorted back to the capital, and this silver was no small sum.
Fortunately, most of this huge sum of money was in the form of banknotes and gold, with not much actual silver. Even so, a large number of people were needed to transport it.
The final personnel were determined, and the large team accompanying Li Hui on his mission to Yuanxi consisted of nearly three hundred people.
Three days later, the group finally set off, a grand and imposing procession.
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