0p0 Chapter 248 The imperial commander’s personal expedition
Chapter 248 The imperial commander’s personal expedition
Inside the imperial city, the Prince of Dongping sat on the dragon throne, holding military intelligence from the border in his hands.
Eunuch Wu looked at him palely and asked, "Your Majesty, now that the seven nations have united their forces to attack our border, what are your plans for responding?"
Although Qin Yu had been sent to the front line for support, it was heard that the enemy had strong forces, and even the invincible Qin Yu could not stop the enemy's attack. They had already lost two cities. If this continued, it would only be a matter of time before they reached Jingzhao.
The Prince of Dongping looked at the letter in his hand with a cold face, and said comfortingly: "Don't panic, the border has been lost before, but didn't General Qin fight back directly?"
"But..." Eunuch Wu hesitated to speak. He was not a fool. Qin Yu was able to fight back then because the other side only had one country, but now it is a seven-nation alliance. Even if their Great Xia Kingdom has stronger soldiers and horses, it will be difficult to resist!
Soon he heard, "Also, the Prince of Zhennan is guarding the fortresses of the Five Cities at the border, so don't worry."
The Prince of Dongping chuckled softly, but his confidence puzzled Eunuch Wu. It seemed that the Emperor trusted the Prince of Zhennan very much?
"Of course, the reputation of the King of Zhennan is far-reaching, so I am naturally convinced."
In fact, he didn't say that the person he really believed in was certainly not the King of Zhennan, but Yan Wanwan, a supernatural person who came from the end of the world. With her abilities, not to mention the seven countries, even the seventy countries combined would not be her match.
Eunuch Wu looked at him blankly, not understanding where his trust came from.
At this moment, a eunuch suddenly rushed in and said to them breathlessly: "Your Majesty, this is not good!"
Eunuch Wu immediately scolded him, "How dare you! You are not allowed to make noise in front of His Majesty."
"Prince Zhennan...Prince Zhennan has rebelled!" The young eunuch shouted in panic, his eyes full of fear and panic.
There are only two powerful generals in the Great Xia Kingdom. Now that one of them has rebelled, how can the other one cope with the encirclement and suppression of the seven countries?
Eunuch Wu looked at him in horror, then turned to see the cold face of Prince Dongping. He immediately shouted sharply, "Impossible! How dare you talk nonsense? Come! Drag him away and slap him in the face."
The young eunuch begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. This is an urgent report from the border."
Eunuch Wu hurriedly snatched up the urgent report and began to read it. He looked at the Prince of Dongping in panic and asked, "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
The Prince of Dongping just took a quick look and said nothing. He had long known that Yan Wanwan went to the border this time to seek independence, otherwise why would he take the Prince of Zhennan and his entire family away? Wasn't he afraid that they would stay behind as hostages?
While they were talking, a group of ministers came in. They had received the news and came to ask the new emperor how to deal with the matter.
The rebellion of Prince Zhennan is undoubtedly a further blow to the Great Xia Kingdom. It is unimaginable that the loyal and patriotic Prince Zhennan would do such a thing. People can't wait to execute him immediately.
One of the ministers started yelling at the Prince of Dongping, "Your Majesty, if you hadn't been so stubborn, the Prince of Zhennan wouldn't have occupied those five cities and declared himself king."
The other man also looked indignant. "Yes! But who could have imagined that the Prince of Zhennan was so ambitious and would actually betray the Emperor and Daxia? People like him should be infamous forever."
Soon, the hall was abuzz with discussion. Some ministers were rational and said, "Why bother talking about this now? The most urgent thing is to think of a countermeasure. If Yan Fei and Bai Ye join the Seven Nations Alliance, we will have no chance of winning."
"Yes, now we should think about who to send to guard the eastern side of the border."
Now Qin Yu has given up on the west, and failed to attack the east because of the Prince of Zhennan. If he does not quickly replenish his troops, I am afraid that will be a breakthrough to open the door of Daxia.
For a moment, everyone was silent.
If you ask why they, who are usually eloquent, are silent at this moment, it is because the court has begun to favor civil officials over military officials a long time ago. On the surface, military generals have a higher status in the court, but in fact, the late emperor had already secretly taken back the troops and tiger talismans from the hands of the generals, leaving Qin Yu and Yan Feibai as the only two people who could not be touched.
Now that foreign enemies have invaded, they have realized that there is no one available at this time. Are they going to let these civil servants drive carriages to the battlefield and read a passage from the Tao Te Ching to the enemy?
The Prince of Dongping swept his cold gaze over them one by one. These people were really... afraid of death.
"Speak up! Why aren't you talking?" He sneered. "I see you were quite vocal in your accusations just now! Keep going, and let me hear what else you have to say that's shocking."
Everyone shrank their necks and was as obedient as quails.
The Prince of Dongping did not indulge them and immediately pointed out the one who spoke the most, "You! Since you are not satisfied with my approach, I will send you to lead the troops to fight. If you cannot stop the Lai army, your entire family will be killed without mercy."
The man immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed and begged for mercy, "Your Majesty, please spare my life. I was just talking nonsense. Please don't believe it!"
"What? You don't want to die for your country?" The Prince of Dongping suddenly slammed the table and stood up. "How dare you! I didn't expect you to be such a coward. You stripped him of his official uniform and demoted him to a commoner."
The man turned pale and was then dragged out of the hall by the guards.
In this way, he appointed several more ministers, but these people would not make the same mistake. As long as they were asked to lead troops to war, they would act like cowards, without any courage or bloodiness.
The Prince of Dongping laughed sarcastically, "Well, well, well! You are truly a good subject of mine. You didn't stand up at a time like this."
"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to war." At this time, a timid man walked out from behind the crowd. The speaker was the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue. He had an ordinary appearance and a thin figure. He stood behind the crowd like a small follower and was inconspicuous among the ministers.
"Oh? You do?"
The man said righteously, "Yes, I am a Daxia man in life and a Daxia ghost in death."
"Okay, I appoint you as..."
"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable!" Several ministers spoke up simultaneously, rushing to stop him. "This man has never led an army before. Sending him would be a waste of manpower."
The Prince of Dongping's gaze was like a knife. He turned to the Minister of Personnel, who had just objected most vehemently, and said, "Well, since he can't do it, then you go."
The Shangshu's face turned pale and he stepped back repeatedly.
The number of troops throughout the country has been determined, and they can no longer afford any losses.
"Okay, if he can't, you go."
The Shangshu's face turned pale and he stepped back repeatedly.
What does it mean? Those who have never fought in a war cannot go, and these civil officials cannot go.
"Haha!" The Prince of Dongping suddenly slammed the table and said meaningfully, "Well, since none of you can go, I'll go myself."
The hall suddenly fell silent. What could they say? They couldn't really let these old bones go up, could they?
What's more, they received a letter of accusation last night, which revealed that the Prince of Dongping was not an ordinary person and should not be allowed to lead the officials, otherwise the whole country would become monsters that were neither human nor ghost.
They were skeptical about this, and the letter even mentioned: If you want to know whether he is a human or a monster, you can solve the mystery by forcing him to go to the battlefield.
After a brief silence, everyone looked at each other secretly, responded with a few perfunctory words, and then bowed, "Your Majesty is wise."
The Prince of Dongping's face was as gloomy as water, and he swung his sleeves violently: "Pass on my order, the three armies will march out in half an hour!"