Chapter 129: A Plan of Breaking and Establishing

After the Prince of Zhenbei explained his thoughts to Wei Xikang, Wei Xikang was silent.

He had to admit that this was indeed a very bad idea. Another layer of meaning of this move was to let the entire Zhenbei Army go to die, to use the lives of three, or even four Zhenbei Army soldiers to exchange for the life of one Xiongnu. That was too cruel to the Zhenbei Army.

But from the perspective of the common people of the entire northern border, this was indeed the last way.

Rather than waiting to be slaughtered by the Xiongnu after breaking the city due to lack of grain, it was better to kill a bloody path for the common people of the northern border.

As for what the common people of the northern border would do afterwards, he was already helpless.

The Prince of Zhenbei had spent his life in battle, and his pride would never allow him to survive, even if he died, he had to bite off a piece of the Xiongnu's meat.

But what Wei Xikang thought about was more. Could the Prince of Zhenbei really eliminate the Xiongnu in one fell swoop by doing this?

To a large extent, it was impossible to do it at all. The Xiongnu were not afraid of you fighting head-on, but were afraid of you defending the city and not attacking.

Once the Zhenbei Army was completely wiped out, the vast northern border would have no power to counterattack, and the common people of the northern border would have no peace.

At that time, the Xiongnu could easily occupy the northern border. He didn't believe that the Xiongnu's ambition was only here. Once they saw the boundless Central Plains and the vast rice fields growing in the wind, that was the source of all desires.

Da Qian would then face the situation of being besieged on all sides, with the Xiongnu eyeing the north and the Western Liang King rebelling in the west.

Wei Xikang couldn't even think of how to face this situation, and where the way to break the situation was.

Therefore, after pondering for a long time, Wei Xikang suddenly said: "With your ability, Prince of Zhenbei, you should be able to think of the consequences of doing this."

"Your Highness is right, but I have no other way. Now the imperial court..." The Prince of Zhenbei paused before continuing: "Moreover, I cannot take action against the common people of the northern border. This is... a dead end!"

Wei Xikang knew what the Prince of Zhenbei meant by taking action against the common people of the northern border. If he controlled the northern border with strong means and mobilized all the grain in the northern border, the crisis could be resolved.

The consequences of doing so were also very obvious. All the common people in the northern border would have to go hungry. This move was equivalent to harming the common people in disguise.

"It's not a dead end, I have a plan!" Wei Xikang's expression was calm.

"Please enlighten me, Your Highness!" The Prince of Zhenbei didn't know what Wei Xikang was thinking, but thinking that everything still had room for maneuver, he couldn't help but be excited.

If it weren't for the situation, how could he be willing to let the soldiers under his command go to die?!

"Prince of Zhenbei, you can't collect grain from the various prefectures, but if you collect it in the name of this Crown Prince, how much certainty do you have?" Wei Xikang didn't care about his title at all now, as long as he could solve the border emergency.

He knew that there was not much grain in the northern border, so even if he used the Crown Prince's name to collect it, the effect should not be ideal.

So his goal was the cities outside the northern border, or those nobles.

"Your Highness, this... this is probably inappropriate!" The Prince of Zhenbei widened his eyes, feeling shocked by the Crown Prince's boldness.

Now that the Second Prince had ascended the throne in the capital and announced it to the world, if the voice of the Crown Prince appeared in the northern border now, the Da Qian country would be in chaos in an instant.

It was no exaggeration to say that this move was no different from announcing the start of a civil war in Da Qian.

This was not just a simple exposure of identity, this was letting the people of the world make a choice, choosing one between him and Wei Xi Yuan.

When this news spread, the Prince of Zhenbei could imagine the reactions of all parties.

First of all, it was the foreign enemy. Taking advantage of your illness to kill you was definitely a given. Not only the Xiongnu, but the barbarians in the southwest might also have different intentions.

Moreover, now that the scholar-gentry had been bound to Wei Xi Yuan, how could they watch Wei Xikang rise?

So next, the eyes of the whole world would gather in the northern border, and they would probably not be able to sleep if they didn't kill the Crown Prince.

Wei Xikang looked at the Prince of Zhenbei seriously and said: "Breaking and establishing. If the Da Qian country lets them mess around like this, the common people will suffer. Since this is the case, it's better to fight for it and open peace for the Da Qian country for thousands of generations."

Hearing this, the Prince of Zhenbei felt infinite power surging in his blood, and his whole person swept away the previous decadence.

"Now I have no power, Prince of Zhenbei, are you willing to help me?" Wei Xikang restored the spirit of the master of the Eastern Palace in the past, with unprecedented firmness in his eyes.

"Willing to go through fire and water for Your Highness!" The Prince of Zhenbei knelt on one knee, looking at the Crown Prince unswervingly.

"Okay! Since this is the case, announce it to the world!" Wei Xikang issued the order naturally. He hadn't lost the struggle between him and his second brother yet!

The Prince of Zhenbei had been in the northern border for many years. Although he abided by the Da Qian laws and had never interfered in the development and internal affairs of the other five prefectures, he was still famous in various prefectures. It was a simple matter to want this news to spread.

For a time, this news spread like wings, first spreading throughout the entire northern border, and gradually moving toward the Central Plains.

When Jiang Jinshi learned of this news, he was stunned. He let Wei Xikang go to the border to find the Prince of Zhenbei, but he didn't expect the other party to cause such a big movement.

Li Xinyue chatted with Jiang Jinshi: "Is Wei Xikang's move good or bad?"

"Half good and half bad!" Jiang Jinshi analyzed from his own perspective. Wei Xikang announced to the world in the name of the Crown Prince. On the surface, he was collecting grain to fight the Xiongnu, but in reality, he was spreading the information that he was still alive to the people of the world.

This was also a denial of Wei Xi Yuan's ascension to the throne, which would have a not-small impact on him.

Not to mention the common people in other places, just say this vast northern border, the first reaction to hearing this news would definitely be excitement.

So the imperial court didn't abandon us. The Crown Prince went to the front line in person, which shows that the Da Qian Dynasty didn't abandon us.

Then the crumbling northern border would be pulled back, and the cohesion would be stronger.

But the disadvantages were definitely there. Most of the scholar-gentry came from the Jiangnan area, and merchants were the same.

The two were complementary, and they had great power in the current situation.

Where did all the grain in the northern border come from now?

The answer was outside the northern border. It was because the long-distance transportation caused huge consumption of grain, so the price kept rising.

Merchants chasing profit was very normal. Even if the consumption of transportation was huge, there were still people paying for it, so they could earn a lot of money.

But the scholar-gentry now supported Wei Xi Yuan. Could they let you, the Crown Prince, live comfortably in the northern border?

So they would block this fatal pass, grain!

As long as the border pass adjacent to the northern border was blocked, making grain unable to be transported to the northern border, sooner or later they could drag the northern border to death.

This was a poisonous plan, not only aimed at Wei Xikang, but also to make the entire northern border be buried with him.

When Li Xinyue heard this, she said without confidence: "They shouldn't do this, right? This is the life of millions of people!"

"No matter what, it's always right to prepare for the worst." Jiang Jinshi's thoughts were different. In his view, in this situation where either you die or I live, there was no sentiment at all.

Besides, those high-ranking officials, would they care about the lives of the people in the northern border! ===== CHAPTER 130 =====