The prince is more stable

Chapter 440: Whitewashing the Defeat
After confirming it, Zhao Xiaoqian remembered that Yelu Yanxi was captured by the commander of the Xiang army, Shao Jing and Feng Sheng.

I can't help but envy their luck. Did they accidentally find a hidden dungeon? It's simply incredible.

If they knew that we had captured the Liao Dynasty's crown prince, I'm afraid the Zhending Prefecture's wing troops would dare to show off in front of the imperial guards in the future.

After returning to the general's tent, Zhao Xiaoqian immediately called Shao Jing and Feng Sheng.

The two were confused after entering the general's tent. Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian looking at them with a warm face, a kind and peaceful smile on his face, and a pair of watery eyes staring at them, the two couldn't help but feel goosebumps all over.

"Duke Zhao, please speak frankly. The wing army messed up this time, and I will bear all the responsibility." Shao Jing couldn't help but say.

Zhao Xiaoqian was stunned: "What did the Xiang army do wrong?"

Shao Jing said bitterly, "The Xiang army tried to lure the enemy, but they didn't expect to lure in the entire Liao army, causing over ten thousand casualties in the Dragon Guard Battalion. My death is not a pity!"

Feng Sheng, who was standing by, also apologized.

Zhao Xiaoqian was deeply moved. What a simple and pure general. He had made such a great contribution, but he actually took the initiative to apologize. He was so humble. He really made me cry...

"Generals, what do you like to eat on weekdays? I will cook it for you myself." Zhao Xiaoqian never mentioned business, and his friendly look was frightening.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng suddenly felt creepy.

Shao Jing sighed sadly, "It seems that this hurdle cannot be overcome. Lord Zhao, there is no need to test me. I will plead guilty. You can kill me or chop me up as you wish. I only ask that you do not implicate the soldiers of the wing army..."

Zhao Xiaoqian was stunned again. Why did it feel like everyone was chatting on different channels?
"What's with all this talk of killing and slicing? It's unlucky! Your troops have made great contributions, and I'm just thinking about how to reward them. Tell me, what do you want?"

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng were stunned for a moment, and they glanced at each other quickly with expressions of disbelief.

"Has...has he accomplished merit? Lord, are you sure you have found the right person?" Shao Jing asked cautiously.

"You're right, it's you."

Feng Sheng asked worriedly, "Could I ask what merits our Xiang army has achieved?"

"Oh, that's right. When your army was luring the enemy, one of your soldiers helped an elderly lady with a white beard to cross the road. The lady was so moved that she sent me a letter of praise. So you have made a contribution." Zhao Xiaoqian said calmly.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng: “…………”

He is obviously a middle-aged man, so why are his mind and eyes so clear at this moment?
Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and said, "I know this is a little hard to believe, but you guys... just take it seriously."

The two men captured the crown prince alive, but Zhao Xiaoqian could not let them know Yelu Yanxi's identity.

Yelu Yanxi was right. The fewer people who knew about this matter, the more important the bargaining chip would be.

If the secret becomes widely known, Yelu Yanxi will lose his value.

The Song Dynasty needs a Liao Dynasty crown prince who has not been deposed, so that the next things can be discussed.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng vaguely understood something. Zhao Xiaoqian was so kind to them today, probably because of something or someone.

Then, the answer naturally comes to light.

Obviously, among the hundred or so people captured alive by the wing troops, Duke Zhao must have discovered a big fish. How big is this fish? Judging from his secretive attitude, I'm afraid this secret is not something they are qualified to know.

It doesn't matter, they don't care about the secret.

After confirming that the Xiang army had made great contributions, Shao Jing and Feng Sheng looked at each other quickly. Unconsciously, their chests straightened up and their whole bodies stood up straight.

Shao Jing asked cautiously, "Just now, Lord Zhao said that he would reward the wing troops according to their merits. Is this true?"

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded: "Seriously."

"really?"

"really."

"really?"

"Excuse me! Come on, drag these two guys out and give each of them twenty military sticks!" Zhao Xiaoqian was impatient.

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng hurried to apologize.

"Tell me what you want. Just a reminder: when you make requests, be realistic and don't ask for too much. If you think you can just ride on my neck and take a dump based on this achievement, go ahead and open your mouth."

The two of them hurriedly smiled and said they didn't dare.

"Lord Zhao, after this battle, there are still over 30,000 soldiers under our command. I would like to ask you to allocate food and fodder to our brothers on time and in full."

Zhao Xiaoqian said without hesitation: "I agree. I am not one to suck the blood of soldiers. No matter if they are from the Imperial Guard or the Wing Army, as long as they are men who defend our country, I will not let them go hungry."

The two men were moved to tears. Now they felt more intuitively that the Duke of Zhao was indeed different from other provincial governors. At least he had no prejudice against the wing troops.

Zhao Xiaoqian then slowly said, "Let me be frank. I will ensure the food and fodder is sufficient, but you must focus on the morale and training of the garrison troops. You can be slightly weaker than the Imperial Guards, but not much weaker."

"I will inspect the Xiang army camp from time to time. If I find that the soldiers are lazy, have no fighting spirit, and have poor discipline, I will not ask any other questions but will punish you first, and then petition the court to replace the generals. Do you agree to this?"

Shao Jing and Feng Sheng clasped their fists without hesitation and said, "I obey your command. As long as my comrades are not hungry, I will train every day to boost their morale. If Duke Zhao is not satisfied, I am willing to pay with my own head!"

"I'm sorry, you'd better write down the oath and military order and put your fingerprints on it. It's not that I don't trust you, but I've been a scumbag for too long and have done too many things that I wouldn't admit to, so... well, please understand." Zhao Xiaoqian said sincerely.

The two nodded, saying they would sign a written agreement later. They were all men, so they could understand. What you did, we had done before...

Everyone was chatting happily, the topic even touching on the topic of scumbag men. Shao Jing and Feng Sheng thought they might as well take advantage of Zhao Jun's openness to boldly raise another request. "Lord Zhao, the weapons of the garrison troops haven't been replaced in years. Many of our comrades' swords and halberds are worn and tattered... Uh, I'm not asking for a replacement for the firearms of the Dragon Guard Battalion, just a new batch of weapons. Is that possible?" Feng Sheng carefully observed Zhao Xiaoqian's expression.

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded. "That's reasonable. I agree. Please give me a list of items and I'll submit a memorial to the court. I'll have the garrison troops equipped with new weapons soon."

The two were overjoyed and hurriedly bowed to express their gratitude.

"Lord Zhao, I dare to say that the soldiers of the wing army are still short of armor. Most of my comrades are still wearing plain clothes, which will only increase casualties when we go into battle. If we can provide them with a batch of armor..."

Zhao Xiaoqian's cheek twitched. After a long silence, he sighed, "I'll try my best to get them. I can't guarantee I'll have them all, but I hope the court can at least approve ten thousand sets of leather armor for me to use for now. If the Xiang army achieves new achievements in the future, I can confidently ask the emperor for help. How do you do that?"

The two of them became more and more overjoyed. Today was definitely an auspicious day and they were destined to get rich.

When people are happy, they tend to lose their composure.

Shao Jing was clearly a bit carried away. His mind suddenly twitched as he blurted out, "Lord Zhao, most of the soldiers in the Xiang army are poor. They haven't touched a woman in years. Lord Zhao is kind-hearted. If you could add a group of prostitutes to the Xiang army, that would be great..."

Before he could finish his words, Feng Sheng, with a stiff face, quickly covered Shao Jing's mouth with his hands.

Shao Jing suddenly came back to his senses and found that Zhao Xiaoqian's face had turned ashen and he was staring at him with unfriendly eyes.

Feng Sheng smiled and tried to smooth things over: "Don't take it to heart, Lord. Old Shao is mentally ill. I dare not hide it from you. I just accompanied him to the city to see a doctor today. The doctor said he was a bad mouth and that a couple of slaps would be enough."

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression finally softened, and he said earnestly, "Treatment should not be delayed if you are ill. I hope General Shao recovers quickly. Take more medicine and talk less."

Shao Jing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile, "Yes, yes, I was sick just now, but I'm fine now."

Zhao Xiaoqian's smiling face.

You bastard, you'll be brilliant if you're given some sunshine, right?

You still want a camp prostitute? I, the commander-in-chief, sleep alone in the tent at night. What the hell have you done to deserve this?
"Have you finished making the demands?" Zhao Xiaoqian asked with a smile.

The two nodded knowingly, "That's all."

Zhao Xiaoqian pointed to the door curtain of the general's tent.

The two of them clasped their fists and saluted politely: "I will get out of here right now..."

As he watched the two of them proudly walk out of the commander's tent, the door curtain had just been lowered when he heard the sound of Feng Sheng beating Shao Jing hard outside.

"Camp whore! Camp whore! I'll make you a camp whore! Are you blinded by greed? How dare you make such a request to the Duke of Zhao? If he doesn't like the Xiang army in the future, it's all your fault!"

Shao Jing argued unconvincedly: "It's always right to give it a try, what if..."

The two men pulled and fought as they walked away. Inside the general's tent, Zhao Xiaoqian sighed and couldn't help but reflect on himself.

Was I too polite just now?

Did I give them face just now?
Why didn't I beat them myself just now...

…………

Three hundred miles northeast of the Longwei Camp.

Yelu Chun sat in the office of Feihu Bingmasi with a dejected look, writing a memorial quickly with a pen.

The Liao army suffered a great defeat, and almost all of the 40,000 Liao troops were wiped out. Only two or three thousand soldiers escaped. The situation was serious.

The only way to explain to the emperor in the capital is to write a memorial.

Yelu Chun was under great pressure now. After his defeat, he hurriedly fled back to Feihu Bingmasi and locked himself in the office for two whole days. It was not until today that he opened the door to serve food. After wolfing down the food, he had already prepared a draft of the memorial.

Anyway, the central idea is that it was not that the Liao army was incompetent, but that the enemy was too strong.

Fortunately, over the past year, the new firearms of the Song Dynasty had become known to the Liao Dynasty's rulers and ministers. Through the description of Xiao Guangjing, a former Liao envoy, everyone in the Liao Dynasty was well aware of the power of the Song Dynasty's new firearms.

The reason why the Liao Kingdom launched this war was that Yelu Hongji's original intention was actually to test the firearms of the Song army to see if they were really as powerful as the rumors said.

As the leading commander, Yelu Chun had a reasonable reason after the complete defeat in this battle.

Yes, it was indeed powerful. The Liao army was defeated and completely wiped out.

When the news of the defeat reached Shangjing, Yelu Chun would certainly be punished, but it was estimated that the punishment would not be too severe.

Firstly, Yelu Chun is the nephew of the current Liao emperor. For the sake of family ties, Yelu Hongji will show leniency to him.

Secondly, the Song army had powerful firearms, and the defeat was not the fault of the Liao army commander. The result would have been the same no matter who led the army. Yelu Chun was just unlucky and had to take on this task.

Yelu Chun exaggerated the content in his memorial, describing the Song army as soldiers from heaven, and of course the heroic and tenacious resistance of the Liao army soldiers was also emphasized. Although they were defeated in the end, they still won honor in defeat.

Of course, at the end, there was also Yelu Chun's tearful apology, saying, "Damn it, I have no face to see Your Majesty again, I wish I could commit suicide to apologize to the ancestors of the Liao Dynasty..."

After embellishing it a bit, Yelu Chun carefully read the contents of the memorial several times and felt quite satisfied.

If this memorial is submitted, the crime will certainly be punished, but at least it will not be a death sentence.

The thing that Yelu Chun is most concerned about now is the whereabouts of Yelu Yanxi.

Just as Yelu Yanxi expected, the news of his capture was indeed concealed by Yelu Chun. He absolutely dared not report this matter to his superiors, otherwise it would really cost Yelu Chun his life.

(End of this chapter)