Chapter 215 - Capture the Thief
“Reporting… There is an urgent news from Chuzhou City. Three villages nearby were massacred in one night. They were found to be the work of the North Yue's soldiers!”
“Reporting… 300 enemy ships have appeared on the shore of the South Sea. Songxi County has been occupied along the coast!”
“Reporting… Southwest Moon Forsaken Clan has betrayed us and colluded with King of Qi to rebel. They have gathered 50 thousand troops and are threatening to attack. Great King, please send troops to suppress them!”
Within the same month, the urgent reports were sent to the palace. It was as if South Jin had provoked some great god's misfortune. Bad things happened one after another, and it immediately shocked the people of the country.
King of South Jin was even more furious. He had almost killed three ministers and smashed countless cups. For several days, he was in a hurry to discuss the matter of resisting the enemy.
If there was only one enemy in South Jin, King of South Jin would not be worried. He would just send troops to suppress them.
However, if he wanted to split the army into three, with the current strength of the Southern Jin, he would be in deep trouble.
“Beiyue soldiers can be understood. King of Qi's rebellion was expected. However, the Southern Sand Country has always been led by Nanjin. Why would they send troops to fight against South Jin? Where did they get the courage to do so?” King of South Jin slapped the table and said.
Everyone knew that the Southern Sand Country was just a small Island State with a small population. Even if they were all soldiers, they would not be able to compare to a single finger of the South Jin. However, such a small country actually dared to invade the coastline. Those three hundred ships must be all of their ships, right?
Someone replied in a low voice. “It seems that the Queen of the Southern Sand Country is County Princess Tangxi.”
King of South Jin's face darkened. The corner of his mouth twitched, hiding his anger. There were very few people who knew about the Prefecture Lord's Mansion incident. Everyone was guessing the reason, but no one would associate him with Madam Ying.
Therefore, in everyone's eyes, County Princess Tangxi was probably the one who wanted to avenge her father for the Southern Sand Nation's invasion.
“That's good. Although the Southern Sand is small, it has a lot of resources. It's good to destroy them!” King of South Jin looked around and asked in a deep voice, “Which general is willing to fight?”
The officials were quiet for a long time. State Duke Heng braced himself and said, “King, although the soldiers of the Southern Sand are not worth mentioning, we only need ten thousand soldiers to defeat them. However, the Southern Sand soldiers are good at water and ships. Once they leave the sea, no matter how many soldiers we send, it will not help.”
Although there were ships in South Jin, they were small fishing boats. They were not enough to carry too many soldiers. Without ships, they would not be able to take down the Southern Sand Country.
For a moment, everyone became even more silent. Ministers, look! I, look at you, did not expect that a small country would be able to defeat them.
“What does the Crown Prince think?” King of South Jin turned to look at Crown Prince Zhao. Everyone turned to look at Crown Prince Zhao, hoping that he would come up with a good idea.
Crown Prince Zhao was dressed in a black brocade robe and a golden crown on his head. His temperament was calm and steady, giving people two additional confidence.
“Royal Father, North Yue, southwest, and Nansha attacked at almost the same time. It can't be a coincidence. It must be an alliance formed by one of them. This way, our South Jin won't be able to focus on one side. If Kubei doesn't care about the south and Gu Nan doesn't care about the west, we will definitely give the other side a chance. However, we have to send troops at the same time and split them into three groups. Obviously, we are not strong enough to deal with them.”
All the ministers nodded. Crown Prince continued his analysis. “But as long as it is an alliance, it must be related to benefits. If we can break their alliance, we will be able to buy some time for the South Jin to prepare.”
“How do we break it?” King of South Jin asked.
“I was just guessing that Tangxi was the one who sent the soldiers. Tangxi must have reached an agreement with the king. Judging from her identity, perhaps King of Qi sent someone to contact her and used her hatred to facilitate this matter.”
“There are not many soldiers in South Sand and 300 ships are doing their best. They cannot afford to lose. So, they do not need to confront South Sand directly. They only need to send three thousand soldiers to the coast to monitor their movements at all times. We are no match for them on the water, but on the shore, they won't be able to beat them.”
“Good!” State Duke Heng was the first to clap his hands in praise. He had only thought about winning the battle and had forgotten that he could hold them back. As long as he could hold them back and prevent them from causing trouble, three thousand soldiers would be enough!
“What about North Yue, King of Qi, and the Yue Yi Clan?” These three forces were not easy to deal with. The former had a deep hatred for South Jin, and the latter wanted to seize power. As for the Yue Yi Clan, they were most likely bribed by King of Qi with some benefits.
Speaking of which, the Yue Yi Clan had always been a very xenophobic race. The reason they were able to become independent was because of the terrain and environment they were in. South Jin had also wanted to conquer their territory, but after trying a few times and losing too much, they gave up.
“There's no need to talk about North Yue. Even if they don't start this war, our South Jin will not let them go.” Therefore, our main force should be placed on the battlefield of North Yue.
“As for King of Qi… I have a suggestion, but I would like to discuss it with Royal Father in private.” Crown Prince Zhao ignored the curiosity in the eyes of the minister and looked up at the man on the throne.
King of South Jin did not object. Even if he had scruples about Crown Prince Zhao, he would not suspect him of tampering with the war.
“Crown Prince, come forward.” King of South Jin waved at Crown Prince Zhao.
Crown Prince Zhao walked up the stairs and whispered something into King of South Jin's ear. The officials strained their ears and tried to hear a word or two, but they did not expect to hear anything.
They only saw King of South Jin's expression change. There was a hint of joy on his face. Clearly, Crown Prince Zhao had provided a good opinion.
Wait! After Crown Prince Zhao walked down, King of South Jin said in a deep voice, “The war is imminent. I want to send a hundred thousand soldiers to wage war against the North Yue. I order State Duke Lu Xia Kui to be the commander, Lu Xingjiang to be the deputy commander, Hu Jinpeng to be the vanguard, and Tang Yu to supervise the army. We will depart in three days. We need to prepare a batch of strategic resources within three days. We will first recruit a thousand stones of grain from the Chuzhou City. I will order Yueyang Marquis to be the grain officer to take charge of the grain.”
The people who were called widened their eyes. This matter of leading the army was a good thing for the general. Without military power, it would be difficult for them to improve. Although they were already in the High Duke rank like State Duke Lu, and could only become kings if they wanted to improve further, they were all ambitious, so it was not impossible for them to become kings.
State Duke Lu, Xia Kui, was the first to step forward and pledge his life to complete the mission. The rest of the people did not want to lag behind, so they all accepted the order.
Everyone was curious about how King of South Jin was going to deal with King of Qi and the Yue Yi Clan, but the king did not say anything, and Crown Prince also had an unfathomable look on his face, so they could only suppress their curiosity at the bottom of their hearts.
“In addition, General Fu Heng will lead three thousand troops to Songxi County in a few days. We must stop the Southern Sand Country outside of South Jin!”
“This official accepts the order!”
When the court meeting ended and King of South Jin did not mention this, they could only speculate that Crown Prince Zhao had a way to win.
If this was said by others, they would definitely not believe it, but they still felt that Crown Prince's words had a 50% chance of winning.
Crown Prince had become more and more skilled in handling government affairs over the years. He had long been able to take charge of his own affairs. Many people had forgotten that he had once been an invincible general.
Walking out of the main hall, State Duke Ann was the first to approach Crown Prince Zhao. He asked what everyone was thinking, “What kind of brilliant plan does the Crown Prince want to use to deal with King of Qi?”
Crown Prince Zhao looked around and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Capture the thief first, capture the king.”
State Duke Ann nodded, but it was not without worry. “I'm afraid it will be very difficult.”
“No matter how difficult it is, it can't be compared to a battle between two armies.” In Crown Prince Zhao's opinion, assassinating a person was definitely easier than killing an army. Of course, he needed to plan how he could kill the head of the thief.
“Does the king want His Highness to be in charge of this matter?” State Duke Ann frowned, looking very disapproving.
In his opinion, Crown Prince Zhao would not be able to take on this task. It would be a happy ending if he succeeded, but King of South Jin would not let him take charge of it. If he failed, he would be blamed. It was hard to say if he would lose his holy pet.
“I asked for it. Grandfather, don't worry. Since I made this suggestion, I'm 80% sure that I'll succeed. Even if I don't succeed, I won't put myself in an awkward situation.”
His position as Crown Prince had not been in vain for all these years. It wouldn't be easy for King of South Jin to shake his position.
“It's good that you know what's going on.” State Duke Ann was relieved when he heard what State Duke Ann said. “If you need help, just tell your grandfather.”
“Of course.” Crown Prince Zhao walked with him for a while, then called Hu Jinpeng in front of him. He said in front of State Duke Ann, “In this battle, cousin will be the vanguard. You must be careful and do not take any risks. Before King of Qi is dealt with, you only want to be undefeated and not succeed.”
“Why?” Hu father and son asked in surprise.
Crown Prince Zhao glanced at a certain high-spirited person in front of him. With a glance, he said, “This time, Royal Father ordered Xia Kui to be the commander and Lu Xingjiang to be the deputy commander. The two of them don't get along to begin with. It's inevitable that they would make mistakes on the battlefield. I don't think this battle will be a good one. After King of Qi is finished, I will request for an expedition.”
“Crown Prince, don't!” State Duke Ann objected. “You are the Crown Prince, so how can you take the risk yourself?”
“Grandfather, don't worry. The terrain of the border is well known and experienced. It's not worse than what other people do.”
“Grandfather, I don't doubt the abilities of the Crown Prince, but if your identity is different, how can you take the risk to lead the army? It's better to just sit at the back.”
Hu Jinpeng also had the same thought. Today was different from the past. Back then, Crown Prince Zhao had gone with the army to prove himself and stay away from the conflict in the harem. Now that he was the Crown Prince, the most important thing was to guard the court.
Crown Prince Zhao shook his head, “The biggest obstacle to the unification of the South Jin in Northern Yue. I must go to war myself. This is also for my own sake.”
State Duke Ann and his son looked at each other. Although they still objected, they could not refute his words. They all knew that being able to personally lead troops to conquer the North Yue would be of great help to Crown Prince Zhao's reputation.
At that time, no one would agree even if King of South Jin didn't want to spread the news to him.
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