Chapter 120: Zheng's Journey

The Great Hall.

Not a sound was heard.

A strange atmosphere permeated the air.

The faces of the other princes turned pale in an instant.

Zheng Fu, however, was exceptionally excited; suppressing her excitement, she said indifferently, "My son, why don't you thank your Imperial Father yet!"

Xie Ling was overjoyed and kowtowed in thanks repeatedly.

"Very well, you may all withdraw!"

The old Emperor, not caring what others were thinking, slowly departed with the support of a eunuch. Everyone could only kneel on the ground to respectfully see off the Emperor.

Once the Emperor and Empress had left, the Great Hall erupted into chaos.

Discussions broke out everywhere.

What did the Emperor mean by this?

At a time like this, to show such strong bias? Aside from the Crown Prince, there was only the Third Prince? What about the other princes? Were they not considered at all? It is said that accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger; these people were accustomed to guessing the Emperor's intentions, so the meaning the Emperor revealed today was somewhat profound.

The Emperor was a man who could hold his temper.

Even after falling gravely ill last year, he had not clarified who would eventually succeed to the throne.

Yet today, he expressed favor toward the Crown Prince, and especially toward the Third Prince Xie Ling. What did this signify?

Firstly, was the Emperor's health failing? Was that why he clearly expressed his thoughts today?

Secondly, would this resistance against the Xiongnu be a test for his choice of successor?

Finally...

It has been a tradition since ancient times for the Crown Prince to lead troops against the Xiongnu. The purpose is to allow the Crown Prince to become familiar with the military as early as possible and to build relationships with the military bigwigs.

But what about the Third Prince?

The Third Prince was also leading troops; this did not conform to tradition, and it was very easy for all sorts of complications to arise...

The crowd sighed endlessly.

It seemed the Emperor still favored the Third Prince more...

Just as Longhu Pass was about to be lost, the Pingzhou Army of the Prince of Lu finally arrived to provide reinforcements.

This allowed the Liangzhou Army and the Baiya Army to breathe a sigh of relief.

But the Xiongnu Army had high mobility, coming and going like the wind. Seeing the arrival of the Pingzhou Army, they retreated quickly, suffering no heavy losses. Conversely, looking at the Liangzhou Army and the Baiya Army, they had lost thirty thousand men in a single day! Corpses lay everywhere, and wreckage covered the ground!

Zheng Yuxing himself was wounded!

The Prince of Lu had led the Pingzhou Army here in person. Seeing the smoke and fire everywhere and the valley piled high with corpses, he could not help but redden with anger and curse: "This Chen Ping is truly a piece of work! Why did he delay for fifty miles and not come to reinforce sooner?"

Zheng Yuxing smiled bitterly: "Liangzhou used the rainy season as an excuse, saying the roads were slippery and the main force was marching slowly."

"Bullshit! I saw that the Yinzhou Army was almost here! Is he further away than Yinzhou?"

The Prince of Lu was furious.

Zheng Yuxing cupped his hands and thanked him: "The Prince of Lu's great kindness and virtue, Zheng Yuxing will never forget! If not for the military equipment provided by the Prince of Lu, the Liangzhou Army would truly have had to fight bare-handed!"

The various generals also cursed loudly.

Without provisions, without military equipment, how could this war be fought?

The Prince of Lu sighed: "General Zheng is single-mindedly devoted to the country, heaven and earth can bear witness! But General Zheng..."

He paused deliberately, as if speaking lightly: "The Third Prince is already on his way to provide reinforcements; he is coming with the Crown Prince. Each is leading an army of fifty thousand."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yuxing's expression changed: "What? Each leading fifty thousand troops?"

Isn't this just nonsense?

Although it sounded like a total of one hundred thousand troops, once two princes arrived, wouldn't the front line become a battlefield for the princes to fight for power and position? With them undermining each other, could this war still be fought properly? In this sense, it would have been better if only fifty thousand had come; that would have been easier to manage.

The generals at the front feared nothing more than these princes leading reinforcements.

You say they've arrived, so who do you listen to? Do you listen to the prince, or do you listen to me, the Pingdi General?

Logically, it should be Great General Zheng issuing the orders, but you cannot avoid the princes making things difficult for you later! One was already a headache, but with two arriving at once, it made things even harder for Zheng Yuxing.

The Prince of Lu laughed heartily and patted Zheng Yuxing on the shoulder: "General, do not worry, am I not still here?"

Zheng Yuxing smiled bitterly and cupped his hands: "Then I will have to rely on the Prince of Lu to mediate."

Qingfeng Gorge.

Not far to the north,

lay the camp of the Xiongnu Royal Court.

In a magnificent military tent, there was singing and dancing at this moment.

Xiongnu people dressed in Xiongnu attire were eating meat in large mouthfuls and drinking wine from large bowls.

"Today is truly satisfying!"

"Come, come, come, taste this Refined Salt from the Longyan Dynasty!"

In front of a group of people, each had a small dish of Refined Salt, which made their eyes light up. Some even dipped their fingers directly into the salt and tasted it with relish. If Liu Zheng were present, he would probably have spat it out. This was no different from the actions of those addicts in later generations...

Little did they know, there was no salt on the Grassland to begin with; if the Xiongnu wanted to eat salt, they had to buy it from the Longyan Dynasty at a high price.

Every year, there were no shortage of conflicts caused by fighting over salt.

Therefore, having seen this kind of Refined Salt, how could the Xiongnu resist?

Why should all the good things belong to your Longyan Dynasty?

If we don't have it, then we'll take it!

"Good stuff!"

"Hahahaha, this time we must take down the Baiya Army!"

A burly man with a big beard laughed heartily, looking incredibly arrogant. This man was none other than the Small Chanyu of the East Xiongnu, named Luoge'er, who was brave and skilled in battle, known as the number one Warrior on the Grassland.

"Hehe, Luoge'er, Baiya Prefecture is in the interior of Liangzhou. I think wanting to occupy it is unlikely. Let's stick to the old rules: plunder a bit and then go back! Those weak Han people of the Longyan Dynasty will definitely negotiate with us, hahahaha. By then, we can just let them supply us with Refined Salt!"

However, the general of the Western Xiongnu beside him, Gedan, laughed loudly.

Upon hearing this, Luoge'er slammed his wine bowl down and flew into a rage: "What did you say, you coward? A mere Baiya Prefecture—I'll occupy it if I want to. Who can stop me?"

Gedan sneered: "That title of yours, 'Number One Warrior of the Grassland', doesn't work in Longyan!"

"You... come, let's spar!"

Luoge'er stood up, ready to fight, but fortunately, he was held back tightly by his own people. Even so, he still kicked over a table full of wine and meat.

Gedan smiled faintly and said with disdain: "Are all East Xiongnu people like this? Truly a bunch of uncivilized beasts!"

"You..."

"What are you doing? Stop it!"

"Nobody move!"

Since ancient times, the customs of the East Xiongnu have continued the ferocity of the former Grassland peoples. But the Western Xiongnu, because they prefer Han culture more, have made their tribe more civilized. This is where the conflict between the two Xiongnu tribes lies. The East Xiongnu despise the Western Xiongnu for having no backbone and losing their fierce spirit. And the Western Xiongnu mock the East Xiongnu for still acting like beasts, a bunch of Barbarians.

The two tribes uniting this time is also for the sake of Refined Salt.

But in reality, neither side thinks much of the other.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Our cooperation this time is for the Refined Salt. Don't forget, the few times we made the Longyan Dynasty beg for mercy, it was because we started fighting among ourselves, which is why we haven't been able to successfully occupy an inch of Longyan Dynasty land for so long!"

At this moment, a fair-faced scholar at the table spoke.

As soon as this person spoke, Luoge'er and Gedan both snorted coldly, stopped making a scene, and sat down one after another.

This fair-faced scholar had a significant background. He was originally a Han person, but was exiled to Beijing for his crimes, and later escaped alone to the Xiongnu. By offering strategies to the Xiongnu Royal Court, he became the Grassland Military Advisor, whom both the East and West Xiongnu greatly respected; his name was Cheng Mu.

This man could also be called a genius; his plans had caused the Longyan Dynasty heavy losses several times.

The Longyan Dynasty even issued a bounty: whoever could get Cheng Mu's head would be rewarded with five thousand gold!

However, more than ten years have passed, and no one has been able to track this person down.

"Hahahaha, regardless, tomorrow we will first attack and take Longhu Pass!"

"Exactly, that way we will have bargaining chips for the negotiations!"

The group of people who were just about to fight drank some wine and started calling each other brothers again.

Cheng Mu smiled faintly, noncommittal.

The Xiongnu claimed to have an army of two hundred thousand this time, but in reality? It was even more than two hundred thousand! The Xiongnu had grand designs this time! Under Cheng Mu's training, the Xiongnu forces were strong, enough to take advantage of the Longyan Dynasty's numerous Feudatory Kings and prominent internal conflicts to strike the Longyan Dynasty a painful blow!

Cheng Mu felt very expectant in his heart.

What kind of expression would that old Emperor, who had almost wiped out his entire family back then, have when he saw him?

That's right.

This time he wanted to force the Emperor of the Longyan Dynasty to come personally to negotiate with the Xiongnu Royal Court!

He had been waiting for this day for thirty years!

This time, Cheng Mu had improved the Long-curved Saber based on the Yinzhou Army's long-handled sabers, and it was almost invincible. He was very confident that he would truly break through this Longhu Pass. He knew that the Longyan Dynasty's reinforcements would come in an endless stream, but so what?

In front of his Long-handled Curved Saber, they were all blades of grass!

"Bamboo poles?"

Zheng Yue Ru had changed from a female merchant into a female official transporting grain and military equipment, once again resuming her male disguise.

When she received this order from Liu Zheng, she was stunned.

In this war, what were bamboo poles needed for?

"Eldest Miss, what kind of madness is this Young Master Liu having again?"

"Yeah, could it be that he wants to use fire attacks?"

"No, if it were fire attacks, why must they be fresh bamboo poles? Can those even be lit?"

Everyone was somewhat confused.

Zheng Yue Ru, however, couldn't be bothered to explain to them: "If the Young Master says he wants them, then they have a use!"

"You all are responsible for continuing to transport the grain and supplies, I am heading south for a trip!"

Without another word, she led out her horse, and even though it was still night, she began to gallop without stopping.

Leaving only a group of people looking at each other in dismay.

This Eldest Miss, isn't she being too blindly obedient to Young Master Liu?

The journey continued.

"Is the Crown Prince finally going over?"

Liu Zheng received the report from the front again and laughed: "It seems we need to speed up our progress."

"Ah?"

Jiang Xuan was startled: "Young Master, why is this? With one hundred thousand reinforcements, shouldn't they be able to hold out for a period of time?"

Liu Zheng shook his head and said: "If a great general of the army were to rush to the rescue, they could barely defend. But two princes have gone, hehe..."

Liu Zheng had always believed that there is a specialty in every trade.

One who is a general is a general.

One who is a politician is a politician.

Even though he had transmigrated, when facing some fields he was not good at, he felt powerless. Let alone these two princes who had never been on a battlefield?

Discussing military strategy on paper is not scary.

What is terrifying is that those who only talk about warfare on paper have seized power, and have even come to suppress those who actually fight.

If this continues, the front lines will likely fall into chaos.

Liu Zheng let out a leisurely sigh.

Has the current emperor truly grown old? Has he truly become a bit muddled? How could he even come up with such a Method?

"Speed up the journey!"

"Within seven days, we must reach Longhu Pass!"

"Yes!"