Become a feudal king from today

"Throw all the branches over there."

In the woods, Zhongli looked serious and meticulous.

Since leaving Qinguan, they have been on their way at night. When dawn is approaching, they either go into the mountains to hide, or go into deserted villages to rest.

There are also woods that stretch for more than ten miles.

Thanks to telescopes, they are often able to detect enemies in advance and respond immediately.

Today, they finally reached the vicinity of Xiancheng without anyone noticing.

"Lord Captain, Xiancheng is currently surrounded by the Beidi Army."

While everyone was busy, the cavalry responsible for the investigation returned.

Zhongli nodded, "There is no need to investigate any more. Just keep an eye on the outside of the woods. If there is any movement, report it immediately."

The closer it is to Xiancheng, the more Beidi scouts are investigating.

Now each of them has one thing in mind.

If discovered, they would be dead.

"Boom!" A tree was cut down by the soldiers, fell with a crash, and was dragged deep into the woods by the soldiers.

After two hours of busy work, a circular open space with a diameter of fifteen meters appeared in the middle of the woods.

"Move at dawn tomorrow." Zhongli said to the nine hot air balloon soldiers.

In order to succeed this time, they brought three hot air balloons.

The nine soldiers were divided into three groups.

"Yes, Captain." The soldiers responded.

Nodding, Zhongli let the soldiers rest. Their actions tomorrow may determine the future of Da Song.

…

Jinling.

The news that Zhao Heng was trapped in Xiancheng by the Beidi army reached here. After all, paper cannot contain the fire.

Upon learning of this, the entire Dasong court was thrown into chaos.

At this moment, the eldest prince Zhao Gang was sitting on a side chair next to the dragon chair, crying loudly.

The ministers in the main hall also looked sad, and some even kept crying.

After crying for a while, the eldest prince said: "My ministers, what should we do now? Beidi, Xiliang and Ma Jin have nearly 700,000 soldiers and horses besieging Xiancheng. When the food and grass are exhausted, wouldn't it be the emperor's, wouldn't it be, ugh Wow, I am really sorry for my misfortune..."

As Zhao Gang talked, he started crying again.

Dou Wei lowered his head and kept wiping his tears, but there was not a single tear in his eyes.

This time Zhao Heng went on a personal expedition, and he expected Zhao Heng to be captured by Beidi every day.

Unexpectedly, his wish actually came true.

The only pity is that although the Northern Expeditionary Army severely damaged Xiliang this time, the Beidi army was defeated as soon as it arrived, leaving Beidi unharmed.

However, even so, it was not a pity for him.

For him, what he hoped for most was that Zhao Heng was captured, and that was enough.

In this way, he can put the third prince on the throne.

"Your Highness, we should immediately dispatch troops and horses to leave Wuguan and relieve the siege of Xiancheng." Mi Yan came out and said.

When Zhao Heng Yujia personally went to conquer the country, he did not agree.

Something went wrong now, and he was angry and worried at the same time.

After Zhao Heng went on an expedition, Jinling suddenly became the domain of powerful clans.

Behind the eldest prince, the Xie family, Dou family, Liang family, etc. were having a great time fighting in the court.

Without Zhao Heng's support, he, the uncle of King Yan, was completely ostracized.

Dou Wei and other powerful ministers did not take him seriously at all.

"Mi Yushi, what you said is easy, but where can we mobilize the army to relieve the siege of Xiancheng?" Liang Kai sneered.

Dou Wei snorted, "Even if we mobilize troops from all over the country, it will take more than a month. By then, Xiancheng will have been captured by Beidi."

After a pause, he continued: "The King of Yan keeps saying that he is loyal to the emperor and the country. Why didn't he save the emperor at this time? Instead, he led his troops south to expel Yuan Li. I really don't know what his intentions are!"

"You..." Mi Yan was speechless for a moment. He also couldn't understand what King Yan was doing, so he was naturally unable to argue.

Dou Wei sneered, "You have nothing to say? And do you know that it will be unsustainable to extol the emptiness of the national treasury and then mobilize large armies and mobilize troops?"

During this period, in order to establish a new army, Zhao Heng purchased a large number of firearms, weapons and armor from King Yan. In addition to the military salary for recruiting soldiers, it cost a lot.

Of course, he knew better than anyone why the treasury was depleted so quickly.

It's one thing for Zhao Heng to establish a new army, but officials from powerful clans use various excuses to do more corruption.

At the same time, in recent years, the imperial court has received fewer and fewer taxes from states controlled by powerful clans.

Naturally, they tampered with it.

Zhao Heng knew this very well, but as an emperor he could not collect taxes personally.

They still rely on officials from powerful families, large and small.

Of course, Zhao Heng also tried to change this, so he supported a poor official named Nian many years ago.

But they were killed in the end.

"Then, what should the prime minister say?" Mi Yan suddenly felt very powerless. Yang Feng also went to Qinzhou and was also trapped in Xiancheng. He was really facing the officials of the powerful clan alone.

"It's better to ask Beidi for peace immediately." Dou Wei's eyes rolled around.

He already had an idea in his mind that his powerful clan was secretly connected with Beidi.

If peace was agreed upon, he deliberately delayed it for a while.

After Beidi captured Zhao Heng, he sent people to see Beidi Khan.

When the time comes, he will discuss with the Beidi Khan and let the Beidi people keep Zhao Heng and prevent him from returning, so that he can take the opportunity to promote the new king to the throne.

At the same time, he would promise annual tribute and even promise to cede Jinzhou to Beidi in exchange for peace between the two countries.

In this way, after the third prince succeeds to the throne, he will get the praise of no war outside and peace at home.

After working hard for several years and destroying King Yan, this great song belongs to his Dou family.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel slightly proud.

"The prime minister is absolutely right, we should seek peace now." Xie Duan agreed, while winking at the eldest prince.

The thoughts in his mind were similar to Dou Wei's.

In his opinion, this is simply the best time for the eldest prince to ascend the throne as emperor.

Other powerful ministers also nodded.

Zhao Gang looked at his uncle's expression, and he probably guessed something, and he couldn't help but feel happy.

He said: "Since everyone has this intention, we will send officials from Honglu Temple to Qinzhou to negotiate peace."

Mi Yan opened his mouth, wanted to say something but kept silent.

In fact, he also understood that when the army was reconvened, the war in Xiancheng would be over, so it would be faster to send officials to negotiate a peace.

"Also, the King of Yan not only refused to save him, but also fabricated evidence, avenged his personal vendetta, and sent his troops south. I suspected that the King of Yan had disloyal intentions, and hoped that the eldest prince would uphold justice. He first stripped the King of Yan of his vassal title and took back his fiefdom. , order him to go to the capital for trial," Dou Wei said suddenly.

He knew very well that King Yan would not wait for death, and the eldest prince would not agree.

But he had to take down this shit basin first.

When the time comes for him to send the third prince to the throne, he can use this as an excuse to say that his eldest prince is colluding with King Yan and is not worthy of being a king.

Sure enough, after hearing this, the eldest prince looked hesitant.

Although he is stupid, he also knows that King Yan is one of his bargaining chips.

There is no way to self-destruct your chips.

Furthermore, the reason why King Yan went south was because the Yuan family once again colluded with Beidi.

So he said: "This matter is complicated. Let's discuss it after finding out the facts. Let's let it go."

After that, he stood up and left.