After learning the whole story, Prince Duan was silent for a short while. What he was thinking about, no one knew. Then he ordered his men to pack up and summoned other officials to prepare to return to the Imperial City of Kaiping. According to the instructions of Emperor Xuanren, most of the people had to stay behind. Now that the Dingbei Army had captured Liuqie too quickly, naturally someone was needed to handle related matters in the back. The original order of Emperor Xuanren was to let them "stay and help", which was a blessing in disguise.
The Dingbei Army advanced deep into Liuqi. The commander-in-chief Mu Bei and a group of main generals would naturally not be in the rear. Xiaocao and the "field hospital" followed the main army forward. Wei Tingyu, the military supervisor, had been promoted to military advisor, and because of Xiaocao, it was even less likely that he would be in the rear. It can only be said that Qi Chao really had the best of both worlds. You must know that when May came, this rare snowstorm was basically over, and it had no impact on Qi Chao's advancement.
So, no one gave Prince Duan the chance to practice.
To the extent that Prince Duan felt inexplicably a little desolate, he decided to return to Kaiping as soon as possible to find warmth.
Because everyone was very busy, after knowing that Prince Duan was recalled, they basically just reacted with "ah", "oh", "got it", etc. Don't expect more. So, Prince Duan was quite self-aware and didn't make himself depressed.
Compared to Liuqi, which had been crippled for a long time and was relatively easy to fight, Xichi's situation was not so smooth. You know, Xichi's national strength was not weak to begin with, and this time it had completely torn its relations with Qichao. Although, their plan to fight Qichao had completely failed, let alone reaching an agreement with King Cheng to share the benefits, even the civil strife in Qichao had not allowed them to achieve their wish.
At this time, even if Xi Chi wanted to stop, he couldn't easily speak up. Naturally, Qi Chao would not ask for peace either. After all, both sides had invested too much. You know, Qi Chao had 800,000 troops in total, which was far larger than the one against Xiliuqi.
Although asking for peace does not mean defeat, it does mean being at a disadvantage, so one must be prepared to be slaughtered by the other side.
However, Xichi could not do anything to Qichao, and Qichao could not possibly conquer Xichi. If this continued, the losses to both countries would be immeasurable, and it would be natural for the overall national strength to decline.
Therefore, Emperor Xuanren has been in a bad mood recently, and the atmosphere in the court is naturally depressing. However, at any time, this game is inevitable. For example, if the war is not going well, there will naturally be accountability. There are also close and distant relationships between civil officials and military generals. Who doesn't want those who are close to him to move up to a higher level? Others will inevitably be brought down.
Due to the majesty of Emperor Xuanren, it was not done very obviously.
However, Emperor Xuanren was very clear-headed. Anyone who caused trouble would be dealt with immediately and without mercy. After one or two times, no one dared to have any bad ideas anymore.
There are pro-war factions, and naturally there are pro-peace factions. Some people think that it is not impossible for Qi Dynasty to seek peace. It is for the sake of Qi Dynasty and the people. What's more, Qi Dynasty may not be at a disadvantage by seeking peace. After all, Qi Dynasty has not been defeated in the war. If Xichi wants to ask Qi Dynasty for a high price, he has to think carefully.
However, in comparison, the number of people expressing this voice was slightly smaller, and Emperor Xuanren did not express his opinion.
Prince Duan, who returned to the imperial city from the northern border, suggested that Mu Bei lead part of the Dingbei Army to reinforce Xichi.
Some people immediately objected. The reputation of the Dingbei Army was already well-known throughout the Qi Dynasty, and the reputation of King Dingbei was also well-known to everyone. There were even rumors that King Dingbei was a local emperor. In the north, the people only knew King Dingbei and did not know the emperor.
If the Dingbei Army is allowed to interfere in other places, and if it wins an advantage for the Qi Dynasty, wouldn't it make the Dingbei King and the Dingbei Army even more powerful? By then, if they have any ideas, who can suppress them
Furthermore, the Dingbei Army is known as the strongest army in the Qi Dynasty. If they fail to win, the blow to morale will be immeasurable. If something goes wrong, who will be responsible
"Father, you may not really need to dispatch the Dingbei Army. You can spread some specious statements to deter them."
Xichi had no idea why Liuqi was losing ground. Although the snow disaster was one thing, under normal circumstances, Liuqi should not have been defeated so quickly and so miserably at the hands of Qi Chao. Therefore, Xichi was very wary of the Dingbei Army.
At this time, news came from the northern border that Liuqi could no longer bear it and bowed to Qichao to ask for peace.
It can be said that the feud between Liuqi and Qichao is not just between the two current regimes. If we go back in time, we can perhaps trace back thousands of years of hatred. The situation hundreds or thousands of years ago was not only unreasonable, but Liuqi has always been very arrogant towards Qichao, and has never been soft-hearted or bowed its head. This time, they actually took the initiative to seek peace. How proud they are.
Emperor Xuanren, who hadn't smiled for a long time, rarely smiled with a spirited look.
He immediately ordered someone to bring a map. The terrain of Liuqi is relatively simple, but it is still a vast area. If Qi Chao swallows it all, he may suffer from "indigestion". After all, it is too far away and it will be troublesome to manage. It will be difficult to issue orders from above, and it will be easy for those below to conceal something from the court. If things go wrong, there will be unrest every now and then. Therefore, it is enough to swallow only a part of it to make up for Qi Chao's shortcomings.
Now the Dingbei Army has taken over almost one third of the Liuqi territory, just right.
So Emperor Xuanren approved it with a stroke of his pen.
This is completely different from the last negotiation between the two countries. Liuqi needs to send an envoy to the Kaiping Imperial City of Qi Dynasty and restrain their arrogant attitude. Everything must be done according to Qi Dynasty's wishes. They can only fight for some "benefits" for themselves in the cracks. Just thinking about it makes people feel happy.
At the same time, Emperor Xuanren also agreed to Prince Duan's proposal. It happened that the war with Liuqi had stopped, and it would be perfect to use the Dingbei Army to deter Xichi. In order to make it more realistic, he also gave instructions to Mu Bei to move part of the Dingbei Army to the south.
Xichi never said anything during this period, but she was still relieved that the two countries could not talk about it. War was never a good thing. Rescuing people for days was not only physically tiring, but also psychologically. Faced with the loss of many lives every day, unless one's heart was made of stone, it would be impossible to remain indifferent.
Although the war has stopped, it will still take some time to treat these wounded, but the number will not increase.
When Liuqi's delegation arrived in the north city, the hospital was basically idle.
This time, the Liuqi delegation was much more grand than the last one to celebrate Emperor Xuanren's birthday. Of course, the main increase was in the number of noble personnel, while the number of guards was reduced a lot.
Xiaocao saw an acquaintance again. It didn't matter who saw others, but Xiaocao smiled at the almost unrecognizable Prince Xiao Qi, with a hint of sarcasm.
"Princess Anguo is really capable!" There was strong hatred in his eyes. If it weren't for this woman, how could Liu Kai be so miserable, and how could he become like this.
Xiao Cao accepted this frankly, "You guys gave me the chance, didn't you?"
That's right. During the time Xiaocao was captured, she was under their custody. At that time, she was constantly saving people and had no random drugs on her. It was almost impossible for her to drug people on a large scale. However, through a woman, so many of their people were disabled and the Liuqi army collapsed. Wasn't it they themselves who created the conditions for her
The same thing would never happen in Qi Chao.
So, I really don’t know whether I should hate myself more or hate the grass more.
However, Xiaocao’s rectification of their work style was substantial.