The reason these people became alienated from him was mainly due to the Eighth Prince's crushing defeat in the war in Shanghe County.
Shanghe County later added an aid team of tens of thousands of people.
The Eighth Prince was so easily defeated that he had no choice but to retreat.
Once he stepped down, it was impossible for him to regain his former prestige. Even his brothers, who had always supported him, began to waver and become disaffected.
They supported him mainly because he had some power and held considerable weight in the eyes of their father.
Now, his power has shrunk considerably, and he is no longer the eighth prince who was favored and valued by his father, the emperor.
Those who follow have lost hope; who would still be willing to follow?
This is the problem that many princes face. Those who follow the princes do so in order to gain merit for the emperor, rise to prominence, and become a first-class noble family.
But now the princes are all suffering heavy losses in this war, and the emperor is still alive and well. How can we allow these princes to seize the throne?
The Eighth Prince and his advisors discussed how to reverse the current situation.
The advisor Kong Jieshu said, "Your Highness, I think the Twelfth Prince may be planning to leave."
How could the Eighth Prince not see it?
If he and the Prince of Ruyang are defeated, not only will the twelfth prince leave, but everyone else will too.
Ultimately, the Eighth Prince will have to bear the risks alone.
"If we join forces with Xie Ning, we shouldn't fail."
"But Xie Ning is a wolf in sheep's clothing. His adoptive father has treated him very well. He rebelled just because his adoptive father stopped giving him a title. Moreover, he is very cunning and has been able to develop a large enough power under his adoptive father for many years."
The Eighth Prince frowned. "This is the only way now. Otherwise, with our disorganized force, how easy would it be to deal with the Prince of Ruyang?"
"Unexpectedly, the governor and general of Yanqi Prefecture, who had sworn allegiance to me, still want to follow my twelfth brother. Now, only two battalions of troops in Yanqi Prefecture belong to us."
Kong Jieshu directly suggested, "Your Highness, it would be best if we withdrew the two battalions from Yanqi Prefecture."
This would ensure that the Eighth Prince had sufficient troops, and also leave him a way out.
Withdraw and hide these troops first. If problems arise, these soldiers can help the Eighth Prince escape.
After much deliberation, the Eighth Prince finally nodded, "Let's hide them on the border of Xianghe Prefecture. Once..."
The Eighth Prince didn't want to say anything more. If he lost, he could only rely on them to escort him out and directly to Prince Wen.
King Wen is currently recruiting soldiers and horses, and I believe that if he goes to join him, he will be accepted.
Kong Jieshu volunteered, "Your Highness, I will go to King Wen to persuade him."
The Eighth Prince could only nod and let Kong Jieshu select some guards to escort him. If he directly let Prince Wen attack Prince Ruyang, it would be considered as assistance to him.
Kong Jieshu, accompanied by five guards, went directly to King Wen to persuade him.
The Eighth Prince's side is in a bad situation; before the Prince of Ruyang even attacked, internal chaos had already ensued.
The twelfth prince's men took him away to the Yanqi Prefecture and declared him king.
The Eighth Prince was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
The Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince both looked embarrassed. They hadn't intended to run away, but their subordinates also disagreed with them sharing the hardships with the Eighth Prince.
The Eighth Prince is basically doomed to lose this round; compared to the Prince of Ruyang, the Eighth Prince is clearly no match.
Moreover, the troops of Yuzhang Prefecture have been almost completely exhausted.
The Ninth Prince's men launched a war against the Eighth Prince.
Their intention was to capture the Eighth Prince and present him to the Emperor and the Prince of Ruyang in exchange for their lives.
The Eighth Prince's men were actually prepared, mainly as a precaution.
They were still struggling to hold on, and later even the Tenth Prince's men joined the battle, their target being the Eighth Prince.
The Eighth Prince never expected that both of them would rebel against him. The internal strife reached the attention of Mu Fanzheng in Shanghe County. When they had fought to a standstill, Mu Fanzheng led his troops over.
This was something none of the three princes had expected.
In the end, they all fled in a sorry state.
The Eighth Prince, under the protection of three battalions, went directly to join Prince Wen.
Kong Jieshu had just persuaded King Wen when he saw the Eighth Prince arrive in a disheveled state.
King Wen was very pleased to accept the Eighth Prince's offer of allegiance.
After all, the Eighth Prince has his own troops. When the time comes, integrating these troops into his army will only require supporting the Eighth Prince, and it won't cost much in terms of food.
Mu Fanzheng directly captured the Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince, wiping out their teams.
The Ninth Prince and the Tenth Prince were filled with regret. If they had known it would end like this, they would never have done anything.
Their subordinates regretted it even more. They had half-threatened and half-persuaded the two princes to rebel against the Eighth Prince. Who knew that when the snipe and the clam fought, the fisherman would benefit.
In the end, Mu Fanzheng benefited.
None of them expected Mu Fanzheng to come and take advantage of their misfortune.
They were defeated by Mu Fanzheng because the defensive fortifications in Shanghe County were well done.
But now that they've been defeated by this person, they have to admit defeat.
Anyone who dares to leave their fortifications with several thousand soldiers will come here to reap the benefits.
He was incredibly audacious.
This completely decimated Yuzhang Prefecture.
Upon hearing the news, the Prince of Ruyang immediately set off day and night to reclaim Yuzhang Prefecture.
However, as soon as they entered the territory of Yuzhang Prefecture, they were attacked several times. Although there were no major casualties, the attackers were cavalry, and they would hit them once and run away.
They will also drop several loud objects that will explode on the spot, each one injuring or killing seven or eight people.
This was enough to cause unrest among the Prince of Ruyang's troops.
This prevented Prince Ruyang from even getting a break.
Those spies, for reasons unknown, failed to detect any trace of the enemy.
Later, the Prince of Ruyang sent out a large number of spies, and thus the attack was stopped.
However, during the march, they were attacked by ground-to-ground mines several times. Each time, the casualties were not many, but they always frightened the soldiers, and many people were saying that this was a warning from heaven to stop them from fighting.
The Prince of Ruyang was furious; what kind of paradox is this?
He had heard long ago that Chenxi's team possessed something that could create a deafening explosion.
But the soldiers refused to believe it; they were more inclined to believe in divine retribution.
Therefore, morale was low throughout the journey, and many soldiers even deserted. When they were caught, they were severely punished under military law.
Prince Ruyang marched on in constant fear, lest a few more claps of thunder sound.
However, he was not disappointed in the end; too many landmines went off along the way.
Finally, even several generals came to us, saying, "Your Highness, this won't do. We haven't encountered the enemy's main force, and our morale has collapsed."
"Your Highness, let's arrest some civilians and make them search for mines ahead."
They have discovered that these landmines will only detonate if you step on them.
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