Chapter 447: Weighing the Situation

Latest website: "Your Highness, what should we do?"

In the Council Hall of the Prince's residence, Liu Fu's gaze was full of inquiry.

The Imperial Imperial Guard soldier who had come to seek help had been sent back to the post house.

Now, there were only Zhao Xu and Liu Fu in the room, along with Feng'er, who was serving on the side with a face full of resentment.

Yan Wang had gone out to fight and had been away for quite a few days.

Having just returned, she and Luan'er had not yet had a chance to get close to Yan Wang before he began discussing major military affairs with Liu Fu again.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. We must understand the current situation in Qinzhou before we can implement the next step of our action." Zhao Xu picked up the tea Feng'er had brewed and took a sip.

Twenty miles outside Yanguan, the Northern Di army was still positioned there.

At most, he could pull out 60,000 troops to head to Qinzhou.

Therefore, he needed to know clearly how many troops the Northern Di had in Qinzhou.

If he were to rashly enter Qinzhou, he feared this small force would not be enough for the Northern Di to chew on.

After all, many ants can kill an elephant, and the Northern Di were not ants, nor was he an elephant.

The combat effectiveness of the Wangfu Army was stronger than the Northern Di, but it had not reached the level of crushing them.

"Must we go?" Liu Fu was silent for a moment, his eyes flickering.

In an instant, the entire Council Hall fell silent.

Feng'er lowered her head, pretending she had heard nothing.

Zhao Xu looked straight at Liu Fu, and Liu Fu also looked straight at Zhao Xu.

"Your Highness, do not forget that the Emperor has betrayed you. If you go to Qinzhou this time, not to mention whether you can save the Emperor, even if you do save him, I fear the Prince's Personal Army will be depleted," Liu Fu said.

Pausing for a moment, he continued: "After this battle, the Emperor will surely be terrified. If he submits because of this and makes peace with the Northern Di, betraying Your Highness once again, what will Your Highness do?"

Zhao Xu frowned upon hearing this.

It was not impossible for what Liu Fu said to happen.

In the arena of power struggles,

there are plenty of stories like the farmer and the snake.

It was just that Liu Fu had misjudged him.

He had no father-son affection for this father he had picked up for free.

From the beginning until now, it had all been based on considerations of interest.

Whether to save him or not this time was the same.

"This time, I have achieved a great victory in Yanzhou, while the Northwest is likely to suffer a crushing defeat. Whether it is the Imperial Imperial Guard or the forces of the powerful clans, they will all suffer heavy losses. With the rise of one and the fall of the other, do you still think a single imperial decree from the Emperor can make me stretch out my neck and wait for slaughter?" Zhao Xu sneered, his words full of confidence.

After the twelve warships were launched, neither Zhao Heng nor the powerful clans of Da Song could deal him a fatal blow again.

Now that he held 120,000 troops in his hands, if they annoyed him, he could just do as the Ming Emperor Zhu Di did and "rectify the court" by removing the Emperor's corrupt advisors.

Even if he failed, he was not afraid.

Letting Zhou Yi occupy Jinyin Island was a retreat he had left for himself; after resting for a while, he could still make a comeback.

However, this was the worst-case scenario.

In his view, based on the capabilities of Zhao Heng and the powerful clans of Da Song, they did not have this ability.

Unless they colluded with the Northern Di and fought him to the death.

Just like the peace talks between the contemporary Jin Dynasty and Southern Song, where twelve golden plaques urged Yue Fei to return his troops, and the dog emperor and dog ministers murdered this loyal hero.

If it came to that point, he would definitely lead his warships from Jiujiang to the foot of Jinling City, break into Jinling City, and cut off Zhao Heng's dog head.

"Since Your Highness says so, this subordinate is relieved." Liu Fu let out a light sigh of relief.

For him, he was only a subject of Yan Wang, and he would only ever be a subject of Yan Wang.

If Yan Wang lived, he lived; if Yan Wang died, he would die too.

He dared to speak so bluntly in front of Yan Wang because of his deep love for Yan Wang and the North Four Commanderies.

"Still, let us first send someone to investigate the situation in Qinzhou. For the North Four Commanderies, it is most beneficial to Yanzhou if the Emperor is safe and sound. If the Emperor is captured or dies, the probability of the powerful clans of Da Song betraying me is even greater," Zhao Xu said.

These words were all born of reason.

Zhao Heng was unreliable, and the powerful clans of Da Song were even more unreliable.

No matter which Imperial Prince in Jingshi ascended to the throne, none would treat him better than Zhao Heng.

Since they were all rotten, he naturally hoped for a slightly less rotten one to sit on the throne.

Otherwise, he would truly have to face the joint strangulation of the powerful clans and the Northern Di.

Although he had always prepared for the worst.

He still hoped that Da Song could continue to maintain a state of "fighting without breaking."

This was more conducive to the development of the North Four Commanderies.

Liu Fu acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Seeing Liu Fu leave, Feng'er cast a soft, coquettish glance at Zhao Xu, about to say a few intimate words.

Suddenly, someone reported that Chang Wei had returned.

Feng'er rolled her eyes and could only continue standing there.

"Your Highness, Your Highness..."

Before Chang Wei even reached the door, he started shouting.

Striding into the Council Hall, Chang Wei looked delighted, "Your Highness, it is said that the Northern Di warships heading south were all sunk, the Northern Di suffered heavy casualties, and many were captured?"

"Your news is quite well-informed." Zhao Xu nodded.

Hearing this, Chang Wei laughed heartily, "It is truly satisfying. If I had seen it with my own eyes, I could be so happy I wouldn't be able to sleep for three days."

Then he raised an eyebrow, "The fighting at sea was good, but this time my battle was not bad either. The entire Black Iron Royal Tent was annihilated, and I have looted everything that could be looted from the Black Iron Royal Tent."

As he spoke, he handed a battle report to Zhao Xu.

Opening the battle report, Zhao Xu glanced over it and nodded slightly.

This time, Chang Wei had captured a total of 100,000 Warhorses, 160,000 cattle, 230,000 sheep, and various poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese.

Besides this, he had also rescued over 110,000 slaves who had been serving the Beidi people; these slaves were all Song People.

Much like the Han bondservants of the contemporary Qing Dynasty, these Song People commoners had been assigned to the Beidi to handle the dirty and arduous labor within the tribes.

Their living conditions were extremely harsh, and the mortality rate was very high.

Over these years, the Black Iron Royal Tent had abducted at least 300,000 commoners from the North Four Commanderies, and now only this many remained.

Furthermore, the Beidi Khan had also granted them a portion from the Ningjin Dusi.

It was evident that the 300,000 commoners of the North Four Commanderies were essentially nearly all dead.

"Well done," Zhao Xu gave Chang Wei an appreciative look.

The Black Iron Royal Tent had always been the main force plaguing Yan Commandery.

They could be called the mortal enemies of the North Four Commanderies, and now he had finally destroyed them with his own hands.

"Thank you for the praise, Your Highness," Chang Wei said, his spirits soaring.

These days, his morale was high, the reason being their battle to annihilate the Black Iron Royal Tent this time.

They had destroyed an entire Beidi royal tent for the first time.

This made the Wangfu Army, from top to bottom, feel a sense of triumph.

Upon learning that Yan Wang had also destroyed a 100,000-strong Beidi army in Shanghai, he became even more excited.

"Don't be in such a hurry to be happy; there is still trouble waiting to be dealt with," Zhao Xu told him about the war in the northwest.

Chang Wei's expression immediately turned cold, "Your Highness, forgive this general for being disrespectful, but the Emperor and the Second Prince are truly beyond words this time; sacrificing the lives of the Wangfu Army to save them is truly not worth it."

Chang Wei's attitude was much the same as Liu Fu's, and Zhao Xu felt amused inside.

After all, he had not cultivated the two of them in vain; they were, in the end, only loyal to their own people.

"Go find Liu Fu first, hand over the Warhorses, cattle, sheep, and slaves to him, and we will discuss this matter further once there is news," Zhao Xu waved his hand, letting Chang Wei return.

Two days later, Xu Ke came to the Wangfu in person and presented the entire situation in the northwest to him in minute detail.