Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 150 Chess Pieces

How many people does the entire North County have, and how much tax revenue does it generate in a year?

Moreover, in less than a year, it would be impossible to breed enough horses for 50,000 heavy cavalry.

The most important thing is that I don't have money.

Although the Northern Prince's business was profitable, no matter how you calculate it, it couldn't produce enough armor for 50,000 heavy cavalry.

Another point is that there aren't that many artisans in the North County.

In the entire Great Xia Dynasty, there was only one person who could build 50,000 heavy cavalry; only he possessed such resources.

Who is that person?

Even a child could guess it.

That person is inside the palace.

After regaining her senses, Lu Shuyun realized how incredibly foolish she had been.

He actually thought that the Northern King had suddenly awakened, and was even so scared that he couldn't sleep. Every time he thought about the massacre that happened to his mansion some time ago, he felt extremely panicked.

Looking back now, Lu Shuyun feels it's a disgrace that he was afraid of a mere Northern King.

At this moment, Wang Yong, who was standing next to Lu Shuyun, said, "Your Highness, rest assured. In my opinion, His Majesty has no intention of making the Prince of the North the Crown Prince. In His Majesty's eyes, the Prince of the North is nothing more than a pawn."

"Everyone can see that His Majesty is in his prime and has no intention of establishing a crown prince. Now that the Northern King has 50,000 heavy cavalry, almost all the forces and factions within the Great Xia are watching him. If the Northern King were truly so favored by His Majesty, His Majesty would not allow him to become the target of everyone's attacks."

Upon hearing Wang Yong's words, Lu Shuyun's lips curled up slightly. He actually thought the same thing; he no longer believed that his father truly liked his ninth brother that much.

If he truly loved him, he wouldn't have let the Northern King step in when a conflict with the powerful families was about to erupt.

The Northern King currently commands 50,000 heavy cavalry. If his father, the Emperor, were to take action against the powerful families within the Great Xia territory, these 50,000 heavy cavalry would most likely become a weapon, putting the Northern King in a very dangerous situation.

Even his own father, the Emperor, had no intention of establishing a crown prince so early. How could he possibly allow his chosen crown prince to be revealed so soon? Wouldn't that invite trouble from the Northern Prince?

As for whether his father was trying to train the Northern Prince, that's even more impossible. At such a time, how could his father possibly push out his chosen heir to be tested?

In today's turbulent world, one wrong move and the Northern King could lose his life.

Therefore, the Northern King can only be a pawn.

Moreover, it was a pawn specifically designed to target powerful families.

The Northern King's maternal clan was the Chu family. Bringing the Northern King forward could very well sow discord within the Chu family; this was the first effect it had.

Secondly, the Northern King was a dispensable prince; the Xia Emperor would not be saddened by his death, so he was the perfect pawn.

At this moment, Lu Shuyun sneered and said, "I originally wanted to reconcile with him and work together on a great cause, but I didn't expect him to refuse me."

"How ridiculous! He thinks he's entitled to the position of Crown Prince now that he's favored by the Emperor. He really doesn't know what's good for him."

"Since he refuses to listen to reason and will instead suffer the consequences, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Wang Yong said, "Your Highness, in my opinion, all the princes are currently wary of the Northern King. Why don't we take this opportunity to join forces with the other princes and eliminate the Northern King first?"

Lu Shuyun said calmly, "There's no need anymore. I wanted to kill him back then to make the Chu family completely side with me. Now the entire Jiangnan aristocratic family supports me. Whether the Northern King is dead or not is no longer important. In any case, he was just a pawn that my father could discard at will."

Wang Yong said, "But the 50,000 heavy cavalry of Beijun is always a huge threat to us. If we don't find a way to dismantle these 50,000 heavy cavalry, it will probably have a great impact on Your Highness's great cause."

"Most importantly, I've heard that shadow guards have already gone to the Northern Commandery. The fact that the Grand Preceptor and the shadow guards are both in the Northern Commandery means that His Majesty probably already has evidence of our dealings with the barbarians. I estimate that it won't be long before His Majesty uses the pretext of the royal family colluding with the barbarians to take action against us."

Upon hearing Wang Yong's words, Lu Shuyun fell silent.

He originally only wanted to seize the throne through a power struggle and had no intention of rebelling directly.

However, his father had a great prejudice against the aristocratic families, and it was clear that he was already preparing to take action against them.

Logically, he should have kept his distance from the powerful families at this time to avoid being implicated.

However, his mother was a member of the royal family, and if the royal family rebelled, it would inevitably have some impact on him, and he would lose the throne just the same way.

Moreover, for him, the aristocratic families are his biggest trump card, and at present, his interests are already tied to those families.

He had reached a point where he could no longer sever ties with the powerful families.

As long as his father, the emperor, takes action against the powerful families of Jiangnan, he will inevitably be affected. Therefore, he is left with only one path: rebellion.

However, on the other hand, a son who rebels against his father will ultimately be despised by the world.

Putting aside whether he can succeed, even if he does, he will probably be cursed by the world for thousands of years.

Even if he eventually governs the Great Xia Dynasty very well, the act of rebellion will always remain a stain on his record.

If possible, Lu Shuyun still did not want to rebel directly, but instead wanted to exert pressure from various aspects to force his father to give up the idea of ​​taking action against the aristocratic families.

After a moment of silence, Lu Shuyun said, "If the 50,000 heavy cavalry of Beijun are defeated, will my father give up on targeting the aristocratic families?"

Upon hearing this question, Wang Yong said, "Your Highness, it is indeed possible. His Majesty has been planning to eliminate our ancient families that have existed for thousands of years for a long time. However, due to concerns about the power and influence of these families, he can only suppress them in the court at most, and has never dared to take direct action against any of our ancient families."

Even though His Majesty has taken back military power, he still hasn't taken action against the powerful families.

"But it's different with the 50,000 heavy cavalry from the Northern Commandery. These 50,000 heavy cavalry belong entirely to His Majesty. No one of our noble families can interfere with the affairs of this heavy cavalry, not even a single scout can be planted. It can be said that this is His Majesty's biggest trump card and the greatest source of confidence for His Majesty to take action against the noble families."

"Without this trump card, His Majesty would lose his confidence. If our aristocratic families were to join forces with other dynasties to put pressure on His Majesty at this time, His Majesty would ultimately have no choice but to compromise."

After hearing Wang Yong's analysis, Lu Shuyun pondered for a moment and then said, "In that case, let's join forces with my other brothers to find a way to dismantle the 50,000 heavy cavalry of Beijun, and preferably force my father to abandon his original plan."

"Raising an army is always the worst strategy. I believe that my brothers are also very wary of those 50,000 heavy cavalry."

Wang Yong echoed, "Your Highness is right."

They then gathered together to discuss how to dismantle the 50,000 heavy cavalry of Northshire.

at the same time.

The Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Garden.

Emperor Xia, dressed in a yellow dragon robe, stood by the lotus pond, watching the fish swim to and fro. At that moment, Situ Ce was in the pavilion by the lotus pond.

Emperor Xia asked, "You went to see Xiao Jiu this time. What did you think of her?"

Situ Ce replied with a single sentence: "I have the ambition of Emperor Taizu."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia's face darkened instantly. He naturally did not want to hear Situ Ce praise Lu Chen, after all, Lu Chen was the child he disliked the most.

However, Emperor Xia did not delve into it further. He chuckled and said, "I did not expect the Imperial Advisor to have such a high opinion of Xiao Jiu."

At this point, Emperor Xia continued, "The Imperial Advisor has been in Beijun for so long, he must know some things about Beijun. I have a few questions that I would like to ask the Imperial Advisor for clarification."

Situ Ce said, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Emperor Xia asked directly, "According to intelligence from all sides, I have a general understanding of the battle in Wanning Valley, but I still don't understand how Xiao Jiu could have so easily defeated the barbarian army of 300,000, even with those 50,000 heavy cavalry."

"Moreover, according to General Lin's battle report, the Northern Commandery only lost 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers. Looking at the history of all the major dynasties, no one has ever achieved such an exaggerated casualty ratio. However, the battlefield was indeed cleaned up by the imperial army, and the number of corpses was also counted by the imperial army. The authenticity is beyond doubt."

"I am very curious about what kind of army Xiao Jiu has that can defeat the barbarian cavalry of 300,000 men with only 20,000 or 30,000 casualties, especially in the Wanning River Valley, a terrain where it is difficult to drag out the battle and can only fight head-on."

"The Imperial Advisor has been in Beijun for so long, he must have seen the cavalry under Xiao Jiu's command and should know something about their situation."

The Emperor Xia sent Situ Ce to Beijun not simply to deliver a message to Lu Chen or to offer him a promise, but to personally see what kind of monsters and demons Beijun had that enabled the Northern King to build 50,000 heavy cavalry in such a short time.

Moreover, Situ Ce is a Grandmaster, and it is relatively easy for a Grandmaster to infiltrate any place. Even if someone discovers Situ Ce, he can leave easily.

Upon hearing Emperor Xia's words, Situ Ce smiled slightly. He naturally knew what Emperor Xia wanted to know, so he said directly, "Your Majesty, this old minister did indeed see the heavy cavalry under the command of the Northern King, and according to this old minister's observation, most of the soldiers in that heavy cavalry were of first rank or above."

Upon hearing Situ Ce's words, Emperor Xia's brows furrowed into a deep frown. Where did his son get so many martial artists, around 50,000 first-rank soldiers?

Situ Ce continued, "Of course, I believe that Your Majesty is not too concerned about this heavy cavalry right now. What Your Majesty is really concerned about is the suspected existence of a Grandmaster in the Northern Commandery."

Indeed, what Emperor Xia really wanted to know was whether there were any Grandmasters in the Northern Commandery. Lin Xiuming's memorial mentioned that a Grandmaster might have appeared on the battlefield, but Lin Xiuming could not confirm it.

If a Grandmaster really appears, it wouldn't be surprising if this war were won. But Grandmasters aren't common, so how could there be a Grandmaster in the Northern County?

This puzzled the Xia Emperor.

Moreover, Emperor Xia had already ordered his Shadow Guards to investigate. According to the intelligence they obtained, Xuan Yue Palace seemed to have only just begun to contact his son and had not provided any assistance to Bei Jun at all.

It can be said that Xuan Yue Palace chose to invest in the Northern King because of his great potential, not because the Northern King gained his current strength through Xuan Yue Palace's help.

So here's the question: if it wasn't Xuan Yue Palace helping Lu Chen, then what force was secretly helping him, allowing him to suddenly possess 50,000 heavy cavalry, and even showing signs of a Grandmaster in Beijun?

Emperor Xia then asked, "So, does the Imperial Advisor believe that a Grandmaster has truly emerged in the Northern Commandery?"

Situ Ce replied, "I dare not be certain, but judging from the situation on the battlefield, it is indeed possible that a Grandmaster participated in the battle of Wanning Valley."

Upon hearing Situ Ce's reply, Emperor Xia fell into deep thought.

Why does he feel that his good-for-nothing son is becoming more and more mysterious?

Could it be that he really isn't his own child?

Thinking of this, Emperor Xia's face suddenly turned extremely ugly.

When Lu Chen was born, he suspected that Lu Chen was not his child. After all, he had never been sober when he was with Chu Yue. He was always in a daze when he was with Chu Yue. Who knew if the child Chu Yue was carrying was his?

He wouldn't have married Chu Yue if it weren't for gaining the Chu family's support; he had absolutely no feelings for Chu Yue.

Moreover, he could sense that Chu Yue had no intention of serving him at all. They were together very rarely, and the chances of Chu Yue getting pregnant with his child were very low. This made Emperor Xia feel that Chu Yue was having an affair with another man, and that Lu Chen was also someone else's child.

However, he has been unable to find any evidence, and he has been troubled by this matter all these years. Even after Chu Yue's death, he still ordered his shadow guards to continue investigating the men who had a good relationship with Chu Yue, trying to find Lu Chen's biological father. However, so many years have passed, and there has been no result.

Fortunately, Lu Chen had always been rather useless, so the Xia Emperor simply enfeoffed him in the Northern Commandery. Unexpectedly, once Lu Chen arrived in the Northern Commandery, he suddenly rose to prominence and even grew into a force capable of threatening the Great Xia Dynasty.

This further fueled Emperor Xia's suspicions. It was possible that Lu Chen was not his biological son, and that Lu Chen's rapid rise to power might be due to the help of his biological father. This made Emperor Xia feel as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed shit.

Even though Chu Yue was dead, he still felt extremely ashamed of it.

The thought that he was forced by circumstances to marry a woman he didn't like, and even had to accept another man's child in her womb, and that this woman ultimately caused the death of the woman he loved, all connected together, made Emperor Xia extremely distressed.

It's painful as it is, but now is not the time to make a move against the Northern King. He's already suffered for so many years, so what's a few more?

He'll deal with Lu Chen's matter after resolving the issues with the powerful families.

Now he still needs to rely on Lu Chen's 50,000 heavy cavalry to intimidate those aristocratic families.

Ever since the news broke that there were 50,000 heavy cavalry in Beijun, almost all the aristocratic families assumed that these 50,000 heavy cavalry belonged to their Xia Emperor and suddenly became extremely obedient.

With the deterrent force of 50,000 heavy cavalry, when he dealt with a certain aristocratic family, other aristocratic families would have to think twice before joining the rebellion.

This is a good thing for him.

Thinking of this, Emperor Xia chuckled. "I never thought I would be reduced to using the power of my own son to intimidate the powerful families. I'm such a pathetic emperor."

Hearing that Emperor Xia suddenly stopped mentioning the Grandmaster, Situ Ce asked curiously, "Isn't Your Majesty curious about where the Grandmaster of Beijun came from?"

Emperor Xia said calmly, "Let's put the matter of Beijun aside for now. The Shadow Guards have already gathered enough evidence of the Wang family's collusion with the barbarians."

"I've endured so much humiliation for so many years, it's time to end it all!"

(End of this chapter)