It’s day and night!
Under the Xuanwu Sect!
Taking advantage of the gap between the changing of the guard, a city guard opened the city gate.
Immediately, a well-trained team came out through the door.
Eight hundred elite troops, aiming directly at Jiuyuan County!
The leader was Yuan Xionghuan with a sinister smile on his face.
According to what he meant, only three hundred elites would be enough.
King Yuan was not worried and asked him to bring eight hundred people with him.
It took King Yuan a lot of effort to transport these eight hundred people!
Moreover, he repeatedly told Yuan Xionghuan beforehand that he was only going here to delay time. Secondly, if something could be done, he could also plunder grain, grass and iron ore, and he must not be reluctant to fight.
Yuan Xionghuan agreed on the surface, but he didn't care in his heart.
Since returning from Northern Xinjiang, his excellent killing skills have become unfamiliar.
This time, we must unscrew Gu Beichuan's head and present it to His Highness!
…
East Palace!
The prince looked at the letter in his hand and couldn't help but feel happy considering the size of his city.
"Your Highness, why are you so happy, but there is progress in Beichuan?" Wei Qing asked.
Xiang Baichuan nodded: "Wei Qing's guess is good, the Gu Qing family is really the most capable person in this palace!"
"In just a short period of time, not only were all the grain and grass iron mines recovered, but more than a thousand people were captured."
"He stated in the letter that the magistrate of Yashan County had colluded with King Yuan. Most of the grain and grass were hidden in Yashan County, and King Yuan planned to ambush them twice."
"Fengzi camp and Qianzi camp originally had 1,800 elites. Now, I am afraid that only about 1,300 people can come back. The total loss of troops is about 200 people."
“However, King Yuan’s side suffered greater losses.”
Wei Qing nodded, and when he heard that there were a thousand prisoners, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Can you promise those thousand prisoners a huge profit and let them go out and correct King Yuan!"
"The ambushes tried to kill the imperial officials, sent troops to plunder grain, grass and iron ore, and the soldiers fought with each other, which led to the loss of our strength in the Northern Expedition. These are all no small sins."
"If it is implemented, I'm afraid that no matter how much Your Majesty prefers, there will be a limit after all, and Prince Yuan will never be able to please him!"
Xiang Baichuan shook his head and sighed: "It's not that simple. Gu Qing said in the letter that the team that ambushed them were either new recruits or strange soldiers they had never seen before. They had also been interrogated, and most of them were tight-lipped. Silent."
"The few who are willing to come forward don't know much information, and they are all useless people."
"It's difficult to use these people to correct King Yuan!"
When Wei Qing heard this, he shook his head and said with a smile: "Nothing is difficult in the world, maybe it's just that the method is not right."
"When these people arrive, I will interrogate them personally."
Hearing this, Xiang Baichuan nodded and said with a smile: "It's great that Prime Minister Wei is willing to take action."
"This matter is a matter for later. The top priority is to send troops out of the city to bring Beichuan back." Wei Qing said with a serious expression: "I received news earlier that the general guarding the Xuanwu Gate had reported that there was a group of about 800 people last night. The team left the city and headed straight for Jiuyuan County."
"I suspect that it's King Yuan's people who want to intercept Beichuan on the way!"
When the prince heard this, his expression became serious: "If it seems like something he can do, don't worry, Prime Minister Wei. I will immediately mobilize Feng Ziying out of the city to rescue him, and I will make sure to bring Gu Qing back intact!"
A thousand elites from the Fengzi Battalion have been sent out. Although the remaining ones are not that elite, in terms of marching speed, they are still not comparable to the Qiankun Second Battalion.
Sending them to rescue was of course the right decision.
Wei Qing also nodded after hearing this. To be honest, Gu Beichuan also gave him a surprise this time.
I thought that this guy just had a great literary talent, but I didn't expect that he also had a talent for dispatching troops.
What a talent!
It's a pity that I was born more than ten years earlier. If I were born in the same era, I would have had a hard time competing with him.
….
The next morning, in the Jinluan Hall.
Zheng Ying, the chief eunuch, accompanied Emperor Renxuan and said in a high-pitched voice: "If there is something to do, we will start to act, but if there is nothing to do, we will leave the court."
"Father, I have something to report!" After looking around, Prince Yuan took a step forward and said loudly.
"What's the matter?" Emperor Renxuan lowered his eyelids and spoke calmly.
"My father has now completed the recruitment matters entrusted to me by my father. The total number of recruits totaling more than 70,000 has been handed over to the Yulin Supervisor and Pei Da's headquarters. I would like to ask my father to review them."
When Emperor Renxuan heard this, his eyes brightened slightly.
To be honest, Gandu's army is neither too much nor too little.
The four defenders of Tenglong, Huben and Zhuque Xuanwu have 15,000 men each, making a total of 60,000 men.
There are about 10,000 people in each Jiuzi camp, totaling about 90,000 people.
Adding to this the 50,000 Imperial Guards, the total number was only 200,000.
In comparison, being able to recruit 70,000 new soldiers is already considered extremely good.
After all, they are not a barbarian country like Xiqi, where all the people are soldiers and military merit is paramount.
Nor is it the Wei Dynasty that occupies the Central Plains, or the Nanliang that occupies the prosperous areas in the south.
It is not easy to support so many troops with only one-third of the land in the Eastern Frontier!
Although Qiandu is a large country, it is difficult to support an army of only about 300,000.
After all, there are still 300,000 Zhenbei troops in the border area, and nearly 100,000 navy troops in Canglan County!
All of them add up to nearly 700,000!
This number was enough to make Emperor Renxuan tighten his belt.
Otherwise, when faced with the Canglan flood, he would not have been reluctant to take money from the treasury.
Really not!
If that money had been used in the first place, how could these 70,000 recruits be obtained?
"Well done." Emperor Renxuan's tone had obvious waves, conveying joy.
Even the court officials were overjoyed.
That’s 70,000 people!
It’s close to one-third of Qiandu’s current strength!
Being able to recruit so many soldiers in just over a month, His Highness Prince Yuan did a great job.
Up and down, there was joy lingering between the brows.
Only Prince Xiang Baichuan and Wei Qing frowned. Their keen political intuition detected something was wrong!
Sure enough, the next moment, King Yuan turned to look at the prince, and said loudly and without hesitation: "I wonder how your highness the prince's collection of grain, grass and iron ore is going?"
As soon as these words came out, all the eyes of the whole court were focused on the prince.
In their opinion, since King Yuan has done things so well, then as the elder brother, His Highness the Crown Prince can do no wrong, right?
When Xiang Baichuan heard this, he said nothing and looked at Xiang Longyuan with an ugly expression.
How was the fundraising going? Don’t you know best?
But there are some things that cannot be brought to court without sufficient evidence.
Otherwise, it will inevitably fall into disfavor.
But if I don't say it, I'm afraid I will get a bad name.
For a moment, he was in a dilemma.
Time passed little by little, and the atmosphere in Qiande Hall became tense.
All the courtiers looked at each other in confusion. Could it be that His Highness the Prince has not collected enough food and grass?
