The news that Mobei was about to fall shocked the court. Emperor Jingren's face turned pale and he said angrily: "The soldiers at the front are defending the country with blood, but there are countless termites sucking their blood!"
Mobei was facing the danger of being broken. In order to defend the city, Zhenbei Hou and three generals Xiao led four teams of soldiers to take a risky move, tearing a hole in the herdsmen from all sides, seriously injuring the enemy's main general, and buying a glimmer of hope for Mobei. However, the price of this hope was heavy. None of the four teams that raided the enemy camp survived. Now Mobei is leaderless. If Zhenbei Hou had not given Mobei a chance to breathe, and Xiao Jinshu had not been strategizing in the rear and resisting the enemy's tentative attacks again and again, I am afraid that Mobei would have been broken long ago.
It was obvious that he had already conquered the entire court and executed countless corrupt officials, but Emperor Jingren really didn't understand why there were still officials so bold as to attack military supplies and be so cruel.
He knew in his heart that this was probably related to the fact that there had been no wars in Mobei for many years. The herding tribe was dispersed by the Zhenbei Marquis many years ago, and the entire nation fell apart. That fight was so painful that the herding tribe could not recover for a while. Except for some herding tribesmen who could not eat and came to thresh straw every year during the lean season, there had been no major wars in Mobei for many years. And since the Zhenbei Marquis defeated the herding tribe and the late emperor arranged a marriage for Xiao Jinyi and the prince, he sent some people to suppress and monitor the Zhenbei Marquis to prevent him from becoming too successful and shocking the emperor. The Zhenbei Marquis knew that these people were the spies of the late emperor. In order to show that the Xiao family had no intention of rebelling, he respected those sent by the court. Even though he knew that they were enriching themselves, he would tolerate it as long as they did not go too far.
Who knew that such tolerance would fuel these people's greed, making their appetites grow bigger and bigger, and finally reaching an uncontrollable point.
While all the other parties were busy scheming against each other, a genius emerged among the herdsmen. He unified the fragmented herdsmen in just three years. In addition, last year's weather was good, the cattle and sheep on the grassland were fat, and the herdsmen's soldiers were strong and powerful.
The enemy was strong and we were weak, and there were also some people with ulterior motives who held us back. Even though Marquis Zhenbei was good at fighting, he couldn't lead a tired army to fight the enemy, and in the end, four fathers and sons of the same family all died in the battle.
Although the Marquis of Zhenbei had gone, the Mu tribe did not withdraw. They besieged Mobei City and came to harass from time to time, making the people of Mobei panic. And the military supervisor actually tried to escape after hearing the news of the Marquis of Zhenbei's death. He was caught by Xiao Jinshu and beheaded on the spot as a sacrifice, and the military supervisor's head was used to commemorate the four generals who died tragically.
It was precisely because of Xiao Jinshu's actions that the people of Mobei were aroused to defend the city gates and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court.
Xiao Jinshu had not returned to the capital for many years, and he did not know that the court had been completely subdued by Emperor Jingren. He did not expect reinforcements from the court, but he did not plan to leave Mobei. As long as Xiao Jinshu was alive, the city would not fall, and he would live and die with this city.
Emperor Jingren summoned the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War overnight, not to hold them accountable. The most urgent task was to resolve the crisis in Mobei. As for who should be held responsible, that was another matter.
Two hundred thousand soldiers and military supplies, food and fodder, have been prepared, but the next question is who to send to Mobei, who to be the general, and who to be the military supervisor.
When Emperor Jingren raised this question in the court, the civil officials who usually cheered for him were silent, and the generals who lived a life of luxury in the capital were also silent. The war in Mobei was so intense, and the four fathers and sons of Zhenbei Marquis, who were so powerful, died tragically. Anyone who went would die, and no one dared to obey the order at this time.
Seeing the silence in the hall, Emperor Jingren took a deep breath and said, "My dear ministers, you don't want to go, right? Very good, I don't trust you either. Mobei is already a tired army. If I send another good-for-nothing, I will be ashamed of the soldiers and people on the frontier. I don't need you, I will lead the army myself!"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the court. A group of people knelt down and made a desperate appeal, saying that the country cannot be without a king for a day. Emperor Jingren didn't even have a crown prince. If he left, who would be the regent? Moreover, the Mobei area was dangerous. If the emperor was injured, the Xia Kingdom would be finished.
However, Emperor Jingren did not want to say a word of these words. He said coldly: "I have made up my mind. My dear ministers, there is no need to say more. As for the regent, the King of Huainan!"
The Prince of Huainan, who had already come out of the clan house and was left in the capital by Emperor Jingren instead of returning to his fiefdom, was originally recalling the plot with his head down. When he heard what Emperor Jingren said, he was immediately startled and stood up and knelt down.
"When I lead the army in person, you will be the regent." Emperor Jingren said.
The King of Huainan raised his head suddenly and said tremblingly, "My dear brother, I have never handled state affairs before, so I am afraid I cannot take on this important task. Otherwise, I will go to Mobei on your behalf."
Emperor Jingren shook his head. Mobei had been able to pretend to obey for so many years under his nose. The situation there must be very complicated. The status of the King of Huainan was valuable enough, but he had no foundation and could not win the support of the people. Mobei was in a critical situation now. It was already a desperate army. It would take some time for the army to reach Mobei. During this period, if there was any mistake in Mobei, the city would be broken. If the news of the emperor's personal expedition was spread first, the people of Mobei would know that the court had not given up on them. With a hopeful team, they could persist no matter what difficulties they encountered.
For the sake of the tens of millions of people and fertile fields behind Mobei City, Emperor Jingren must give this team a shot in the arm to rekindle their hope, and it is necessary for him to lead the army in person.
Indeed, there are still many things in the court that need his personal attention, and he cannot do without people. However, things have their priorities, and the most important thing now is the people's hearts in Mobei.
Once the city is breached, all the land behind Mobei City will be reduced to scorched earth, and the Xia Kingdom cannot withstand such pain.
"The matter is settled. I will lead the army in person and the Prince of Huainan will be the regent!" Emperor Jingren said sternly.
After the court session, the King of Huainan and several important officials followed him to the imperial study. Before Emperor Jingren gave any order, he knelt down with a sad face and said, "Your Majesty, I really don't..."
"You are not allowed to say no," Emperor Jingren said, "You are also a member of the royal family, raised by your father. Now the country is in danger, you have no right to say no."
After cutting off the King of Huainan's words with one sentence, Emperor Jingren ignored him and ordered several important officials to assist the King of Huainan in handling government affairs. Of course, he had not yet subdued these people, but there was no other way as it was urgent.
After arranging the tasks, Emperor Jingren ordered the sons and nephews of several important officials to accompany the army, including Li Xiang's most valued eldest son. Although such a move was chilling, as long as the court was not in chaos, these hostages would be fine.
After everything was arranged, several important officials left the palace, and Prince Huainan still looked at Emperor Jingren with a bitter face.
"Brother, what I did before was not an assassination attempt. I have no intention of becoming the emperor. I just..."
"Shut up," Emperor Jingren stopped the Prince of Huainan from continuing to express his feelings, "When I come back, I will choose a good marriage for you."
“No, I…” King Huainan was almost dying of anxiety.
"As an emperor, the most important thing is not how many things you know, but a heart that cares for the people." Emperor Jingren said in a gentle tone, "I still remember what you said at the fifteenth lantern festival. When foreign enemies invade, we must unite. With your words, I know that you will never be the kind of person who will hold back the soldiers in the back while they are still fighting bloody battles. I believe you."
Prince Huainan looked at Emperor Jingren with a sad face, twitched his lips, and finally knelt down and kowtowed in resignation.
During these days in the capital, the King of Huainan would follow the emperor every time he went to court. He watched Emperor Jingren handle government affairs and gradually understood the emperor's difficulties. The current Emperor Jingren did not require a very capable person to coordinate everything in the rear, but only hoped that there would be a trustworthy person to guard the rear and not let the soldiers in the front feel disappointed. And this person must have sufficient status and position, and even be able to take orders in case of an accident.
After all the calculations, he is the only one who is suitable.
Although he didn't want to take this job, Prince Huainan knew that if he did a good job this time, he would be able to gain the trust of Emperor Jingren, and it would be much easier to get close to him then.
Emperor Jingren breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Prince Huainan recognized the current situation and was willing to take responsibility.
The Ministry of Revenue was sent to transfer money, grain, and supplies, and the Ministry of War was sent to transfer troops. All the important officials in the court had been arranged. Last night he ordered Jing Xixian to keep a close eye on the people in the court and send him messages at any time.
All the preliminary preparations have been completed. The news of the emperor's personal expedition has been sent by the Jinyiwei escort messenger. He can set off as early as tomorrow or the day after tomorrow at the latest.
The only question now is—
Queen.
Emperor Jingren has not seen the Queen since receiving the news last night. However, this big thing must have spread to the harem by now.
For the people in the harem, no matter how the battle on the border goes, as long as it doesn't reach the capital, these people don't care. But the queen is different. She was born and raised in Mobei. It is her home. Zhenbei Hou is her father. Those who died in the battle are her father and brother.
When he was busy, Emperor Jingren had no time to think about these things. And when everything was ready, he didn't know how to face the queen.
But he had to see the queen, he had to comfort her, and tell her that he would go to Mobei, defend the city full of heroes, protect the people there, save the life of his only brother, collect the bodies of his father and brother, and bury them in the land of Mobei so that they would not die in a foreign land.
Emperor Jingren walked into the Qifeng Palace with heavy steps. All the curtains in the palace were changed to white. It seemed that the Queen already knew about this.
Walking into the inner hall, the palace servants were standing quietly outside the queen's door, and no one dared to speak.
Emperor Jingren pushed the door open and walked in, only to see that the Queen was the only one in the inner hall. There were four tablets standing in the hall, and the Queen was kneeling in front of them.
Emperor Jingren walked over quietly, stood beside the empress, and said to the tablet of Zhenbei Marquis: "The Marquis' family is loyal and brave, please accept my greetings."
He, the emperor, only bowed his head in respect to heaven and earth, and bowed deeply to the four tablets.
The Queen looked at Emperor Jingren quietly, and suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, are you going to lead the army in person?"
"yes."
"I want your Majesty's permission," the Queen knelt down in front of Emperor Jingren and bowed her head deeply. "Your Majesty, I am Xiao Jinyi, the only healthy descendant of the Xiao family. I beg Your Majesty to order me to lead the army to repel the herdsmen for the Xia Kingdom, Mobei, my father and brothers, and protect the vast land of the Xia Dynasty."