Chapter 400: Whetstone

To become the finest soldier in the world, one must truly go to the battlefield; only through repeated battles between life and death can one be forged. The Snow Cavalry is a new unit, with no battle record yet; I request that the Snow Cavalry be assigned this task.

Xie Tu and the two others withdrew; Chang Li immediately volunteered to fight.

The Great King sat upright, saying, "It's boring; you all see that I want to meddle in this trivial matter!"

The Great King looked at the officials below and said, "Is there no one to stop me? This time differs from the western expedition; I will reach out to Fan Yang, surely striking Bai Li Jin's fragile little heart—who knows what trouble might follow."

The three bigwigs below looked at him with nearly identical eyes—you obviously understand everything, don't you?

Does their opposition do any good?

That really isn't helpful.

The North Border is barren; a little petty squabble won't stop the Great King from coveting the Fan Yang Academy.

Although he prepared for next year's imperial examinations, recruiting talent without restriction, how many people in the impoverished four prefectures of the North Border are qualified to take the exam? To be frank, aside from the aristocracy, most others are still illiterate.

The Great King also looked down on Bai Li Jin; whatever plans he had for Fan Yang would have to rely on the North Border taking action.

Let the Lu Clan and the Fan Yang Academy owe him a favor, and it will also give the Snow Cavalry a chance to sharpen their blades.

"The Snow Cavalry has only three thousand men, while Chen Hu supposedly commands an army of eighty thousand under his banner; the Great King doesn't even know how many troops are actually besieging Fan Yang."

Chang Li wanted to say that one thousand would be enough—he had once garrisoned the Three Thousand Passes with eight hundred cavalry—but he swallowed the words, thinking that was a matter of his past life. As for the current lord, he doesn't seem to lack two thousand troops' worth of fodder; sending them to train would be quite good.

"Chen Hu is just a rabble; three thousand men are enough."

The Great King clapped and laughed loudly, "Good! I love this confident answer!"

Upon imagining the Snow Cavalry's battlefield scene, Tang Qian didn't want to leave.

"Your Highness, why don't I accompany you to Fan Yang? Commander Chang may be a natural genius, but he's still young—unlike Old Tang, who has rich battle experience." In short, he wanted to go watch the siege.

The Great King refused without a second thought; Old Tang was mistaken this time—Chang Li's military career is definitely longer than his.

"I will immediately send the envoy back; you follow and see them off the border."

"As you command." Alas! What a pity.

To lift the siege of Fan Yang, the Great King also didn't intend to make a big fuss passing through someone's fief; in other words, he didn't plan to greet them—if he could avoid trouble, he would.

Given the Snow Cavalry's deployment, if the unit can merely get past the commanderies it passes through without incident, that's already good enough—why cause more trouble?

He ordered Chang Li to depart from Luoshui Pass and head straight for Fan Yang, avoiding the capitals of Shangdang and Qinghe along the way, which also counts as his respect for a few elderly uncles.

The Grand Tutor was troubled, saying, "Isn't this a bit rude?" Three thousand regular troops marching through someone's fief without a word of greeting?

The Great King was also troubled, but the source of his trouble was his beloved King's Grand Tutor. "Grand Tutor, you don't seem to realize my identity—I am a rebel king! I sent a greeting card to Shangdang, making things even harder for them—will they block me or pretend not to see? Avoiding suspicion poorly will only invite Bai Li Jin's suspicion."

Grand Tutor: ……

Having decided to meddle in this trivial matter, the rest was easy to say; the Great King quickly gave the go-ahead: "For this war, the logistics and grain are handled by Zhang Minister of Revenue, with He Guang assisting; you have only one night plus half a day to prepare—the Snow Cavalry will set out at noon tomorrow."

Not long after, the Great King said, "I also want to go, my hands are itchy~" He had been practicing the Tai'a Sword lately, and the Tai'a had never seen battle.

"No!"

"Improper!"

"Absolutely not!"

This time the three bigwigs spoke in unison.

"If it's no, then it's no!"

The Great King angrily disbanded the temporary meeting; before leaving, he ordered Zhao Bao: "Have someone notify the travel directive—bring the entourage over tomorrow."

Moving three thousand cavalry costs a lot of silver; aside from charging the Lu Clan, the Great King also recalled his own cash cow.

The Great King: "I can't even get a thing for myself."