readytorunbook Chapter 301 What a waste
Chapter 301 What a waste
No matter how suspicious Emperor Wu is.
He still wouldn't argue with Ning Yi about his secret desire to raise a cavalry army.
On the contrary, if he cannot withstand the barbarians' strong attack and cannot hold on for a year, even if you train your troops, you will still suffer heavy losses at Hushan Pass and will be dealt with at any time.
As for Ning Yi's reduction of the Beijing Camp Guard, no one found anything wrong with it.
After all, the army suffered heavy casualties in the battle, and it is clear that they need to be reorganized and their combat effectiveness maintained.
Moreover, everyone at the top was paying attention to the appointment of senior military officers, but they had no idea that Ning Yi had already made a secret move and had taken control of the grassroots officers and middle-level officials.
The battle is still going on, and both sides seem to be competing with each other.
The imperial court put in a lot of effort this time. Emperor Wu was furious and killed and confiscated the property of a group of purchasing officials.
He even warned some senior officials.
The supplies sent to Hushan Pass next finally looked presentable.
After paying millions of taels of silver in fines, tens of thousands of wearable cotton-padded clothes were finally delivered.
There were even continuous shipments of medicinal herbs, money, and food.
Overall, it feels like Hushan Pass has stabilized.
Emperor Wu began to go to the south to gather supplies again.
What made Ning Yi feel funny was that Emperor Wu asked Dongfang Qing to write a letter to Dongfang Wang, asking for supplies.
But Dongfang Wang refused to give it to him.
Dongfang Wang’s reason was that they had no money and they had already taken the money several times.
If you say that the Dongfang family has no money, no one in the world will believe it.
Although many caravans were intercepted by Ning Yi later, the Dongfang family suffered heavy losses.
But after trading with the barbarians for so long, the Dongfang family has already made a fortune.
But the Dongfang family relied on their relationship with the emperor and refused to give any money or food.
The old emperor was so angry that he yelled at Dongfang Qing.
The old emperor even threatened the Dongfang family that if they didn't give in, he would send troops to attack them.
The Dongfang family is not afraid because they have many connections with vassal kings.
This time is not like last time, all the vassal kings have to send troops, and the aristocratic families have to pay money and food.
These money and grain are all used for the soldiers of the vassal kings, so the vassal kings are naturally happy to force the aristocratic families to pay.
But now they still have to do it. The princes themselves are very angry. Not many of the troops they sent out to make money have returned.
Not only were many of them intercepted by the Sixth Prince, but many were also recruited by the barbarians.
Who would be happy to see the army that they had trained so hard be destroyed just like that?
Of course, we should resist the old emperor's edict together. What can you do if he doesn't give you money or food?
Do you still have soldiers now?
If you have the guts, withdraw the troops from Hushan Pass and stop fighting the barbarians. But do you dare?
The old emperor really didn't dare to do so.
They were afraid that Hushan Pass could not be defended, so how could they withdraw more troops? If that happened, Lao Liu would just quit.
But the old emperor has a trick.
For example, send officials to investigate the Dongfang family's tax evasion problem.
He has also torn his face, because the Dongfang family refused to give him face.
The two sides are now engaged in a fierce war of words.
Ning Yi just laughed when he received the news.
He didn't bother to care about the disputes between the Dongfang family and the old emperor.
I believe that no matter who engages in verbal battles, as long as the old emperor does not use the army to deal with the Dongfang family, they will not care.
The princes were just watching the fun.
Unless the old emperor really mobilizes the army, the Dongfang family will dare to spend money to ask the vassal kings for help.
Do you really think that those big families are lambs to be slaughtered?
Of course, the princes did not dare to rebel rashly now.
Even if you start a rebellion, the emperor will just run away and the capital will be gone.
What's the point of you occupying the capital? The Sixth Prince of Hushan Pass in the north simply gave up resistance and let the barbarians in.
All the princes will be in trouble.
After all, once the barbarians enter Hushan Pass, they will not spare these vassal kings. They will no longer do business with them because they are here to confiscate their property.
Didn’t you see that several vassal kings in the north were wiped out by the barbarians?
The princes' idea was very simple, which was to let the court continue to resist the barbarians at Hushan Pass.
Then let the court's losses continue to increase, so that they can develop themselves safely in the rear.
Threaten the emperor again and tell him not to cause them trouble, otherwise they will have enough power to purge the emperor's side.
The princes near the capital were rapidly recruiting troops and they were also eyeing the direction of Hushan Pass.
Once they were defeated at Hushan Pass and the barbarian army moved south, it would be their turn to go to the battlefield to resist the barbarians.
This has been the rule throughout the dynasties. Otherwise, the emperor could flee south, and several provinces in the south were still the emperor's territory.
But where can you, a vassal king, run to?
You have lost all your territory as a vassal king. What kind of vassal king are you? You are just a dog that has lost its home.
For example, King Ji suffered heavy losses in the last battle with King Huai and gained nothing.
He took advantage of the battle at Hushan Pass and led his troops to the territory of Huaizhou Prefecture.
They even pretended to be bandits and robbed the taxes and grain sent to the capital by the officials of Huaizhou Prefecture.
Moreover, King Ji directly recruited soldiers and horses in Huaizhou Prefecture.
The reason is very simple. You must be prepared to resist the barbarians from the south at any time, and your court must agree.
Although Prince Ji's house was emptied, the skinny prince was still bigger than a horse.
Just do some trading and collect taxes from passing merchants, and you will have money again.
As for the debts owed to the noble families, just pay them for now. Prince Ji can’t get away with it anyway.
King Ji, who originally had less than 50,000 elite troops left, is now said to have increased his troops to 80,000.
There are a huge number of orders placed by the aristocratic families, and all kinds of good military postures are continuously delivered.
The battle at Hushan Pass was in full swing, and King Ji's army was also training all day long, looking like it was ready to support Hushan Pass at any time.
In fact, even a fool knows that Prince Ji is just trying to protect himself.
Otherwise, if the barbarians break through the capital, even if they don’t go south, they must go west. King Ji is only seven or eight hundred miles away from the capital. If he doesn’t deal with you, who else can he deal with?
In addition, Prince Ji also contacted powerful vassal kings in the vicinity and the capital, all of whom were prepared to unite and resist if the barbarians dared to rashly send troops to attack the capital, otherwise they would be defeated one by one.
As for the powerful vassal kings in the south and northwest, many of them nominally supported Prince Ji, but in fact, they were just watching the fun.
Unless the war reaches their doorstep, no distant vassal king will take the initiative to send troops to help.
Ning Yi now frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand.
After reading it, he slammed the table with a cold snort and said, "Is Han Dingtian a waste?"
"An army of 70,000 or 80,000 soldiers was beaten by over 30,000 barbarian cavalry and dared not leave the city."
Han Dingtian’s latest letter was from the north. After listening to Ning Yi, he really left the city to fight a decisive battle with the barbarians.
As a result, they were unable to defeat the 30,000 barbarian cavalry and had no choice but to retreat back into the city.
I still hope that Ning Yi can find a way to send him some supplies. Either there is not enough food or not enough weapons.
Qin Haifeng smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, General Han is also helpless. Although they have 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers and horses, they are scattered all over the place. They can only gather a little over 40,000, and most of them are infantry. How can they be a match for 30,000 cavalry?"
Ning Yi didn't know what to say. Han Dingtian was already doing quite well by being able to withstand the pressure until now.