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

Chapter 257 A mere 200,000 troops are nothing to fear.

Upon hearing the soldier's reply, Emperor Xia fell silent, his expression constantly shifting.

If the Dongfang family wants to enter the imperial court, cooperating with the emperor is undoubtedly the best choice. Joining a group of rebels to rebel is not only unlikely to succeed, but if they fail, the entire Dongfang family will be wiped out.

Emperor Xia believed that since the Eastern family had chosen to cooperate with him from the beginning, it proved that they also believed that the powerful families in Jiangnan would inevitably be destroyed. So why did they suddenly disappear?

If all the powerful families in Jiangnan are searching for the Dongfang family, then it's even more bizarre. Logically speaking, if the Dongfang family had changed their minds and didn't want to cooperate with the imperial court, believing that the imperial army was no match for the Jiangnan rebels, then the Dongfang family should have taken the initiative to join Lu Shuyun. But now both the imperial court and the Jiangnan rebels are searching for them.

Hearing the conversation between the soldiers and the Xia Emperor, Situ Ce had basically guessed what was going on. He then said, "Your Majesty, haven't the Dongfang family's merchant ships been frequently heading north lately?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia was stunned, his face darkening further. He said coldly, "Does the Grand Preceptor mean that the Dongfang family neither intends to cooperate with the court nor join the rebels, but has instead chosen to join the Northern Kingdom?"

Situ Ce said, "The Dongfang family must have seen your determination to eliminate the ancient families. The Dongfang family is also an ancient family, and one that controls the economy of the Great Xia. They probably don't think you will let them go after you eliminate the Jiangnan families."

"It just so happens that the Northern Kingdom values ​​commerce these days, so joining the Northern Kingdom would be a good choice for them."

Emperor Xia pondered for a moment and thought that Situ Ce's guess made some sense. So, does that mean the Dongfang family really went to the Northern Kingdom?

No wonder the Dongfang family went north to the Northern Kingdom to do business while the imperial court was fighting the Jiangnan rebels. He initially thought that merchants were profit-driven and that the prices were soaring because the Great Xia was in the midst of a civil war. He assumed that the Dongfang family was going to the Northern Kingdom to make money from the war. But it turned out that they had actually fled directly to the Northern Kingdom.

Emperor Xia was in a very bad mood. Originally, with the Dongfang family working together with the imperial army in the Jiangnan region, they could more easily obtain intelligence on the rebels and even launch surprise attacks on them from behind. Unexpectedly, the Dongfang family was so cunning that they simply ran away.

The Xia Emperor snorted coldly and said, "What I hate most is betrayal. Do they think they can live in peace after fleeing to the Northern Kingdom?"

Emperor Xia originally intended to spare the Dongfang family and deal with them later, but now it seems that since these guys are so eager to die, he will find a way to get rid of them as soon as the Jiangnan rebels are dealt with.

However, it's still uncertain whether the Northern Kingdom can hold out until the end of the Great Xia civil war.

The Apocalypse King is no ordinary barbarian. According to the intelligence they have gathered, the Apocalypse King is already a Grandmaster. Moreover, the Apocalypse King's tribe is a branch that split off from the main lineage of the barbarian royal court. Their overall strength far surpasses that of the two northern tribes, the Wolf King and the Northern Xian King.

This time, the Apocalypse King led an army of 400,000 eastward, and

……

at the same time.

Inside a military tent in the Great Wu Dynasty.

Wearing a set of silver-white armor, Wu Yunwan was carefully reading a letter. Upon reading the contents of the letter, Wu Yunwan frowned slightly.

She had suspected from the beginning that the Northern Kingdom's heavy cavalry had not been defeated by the Northern Xian King's army, and that the Northern Kingdom was only hiding its military strength by claiming that their heavy cavalry had been wiped out.

To her surprise, her guess came true. The heavy cavalry of the North Kingdom was still there, and not only were they still there, but they were far more powerful than they had imagined.

With two Grandmasters as generals and 40,000 warriors of the fifth rank or above, this heavy cavalry force is definitely stronger than the heavy cavalry of the major dynasties.

Even the heavy cavalry of the Great Wu Dynasty could not ensure that all their soldiers were fifth-rank martial artists; fifth-rank martial artists were scattered throughout various armies.

At this moment, she looked at the person delivering the intelligence and asked, "Didn't Zhuge Chongguang follow the Northern King north?"

The person in front of Wu Junwan replied, "No, he is still in Yancheng. He has taken over the administration of the Northern Kingdom."

After hearing the intelligence officer's reply, Wu Junwan fell into deep thought.

As far as she knew, the Heavenly Apocalypse King was a Grandmaster, and the Northern Kingdom would need at least one Grandmaster to deal with him.

Moreover, the Tianqi King led an army of 400,000 eastward, while the northern kingdom only had 200,000 troops.

Although the heavy cavalry of the Northern Kingdom are all martial artists of the fifth rank or above, and are very powerful, the army of the Heavenly Apocalypse King is also not weak. If the Northern Kingdom does not have a Grandmaster in charge, it would not be easy to destroy the Heavenly Apocalypse King with just tens of thousands of heavy cavalry.

What was that young man thinking? Why didn't he let Zhuge Chongguang go north with him, but instead led his troops north himself?

Could it be that the Northern King's Mansion doesn't only have one Grandmaster?

Thinking of this, Wu Yunwan instantly recalled the master of Tingyu Tower she met when she entered Yancheng as the daughter of the Qian family. That master was also a grandmaster, and his strength was extremely high.

Wu Yunwan thought to herself that if the owner of Tingyu Tower had also gone north with Lu Chen, then it would explain why Lu Chen hadn't let Zhuge Chongguang go north with him.

Hopefully, this time the Tianqi King's army will greatly weaken the military strength of the Northern Kingdom, especially those heavy cavalry; ideally, they should be wiped out.

The Great Wu Dynasty is currently embroiled in internal strife. After this upheaval, the people of Great Wu are unstable, and Great Wu's military strength will be greatly weakened in the future. If a monster with such powerful military strength were to appear next to Great Wu, it would be difficult for Wu Junwan to feel at ease.

Just then, a soldier rushed into the tent excitedly, "Princess, good news! The rebel leader intends to surrender! He wants to negotiate with you personally!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yunwan put down the intelligence she was holding, deciding to put the Northern Kingdom's affairs aside for now and focus on quelling the internal turmoil within the Great Wu Kingdom.

She led her troops out this time to completely quell the rebellion in the southwest. Through her various means, there are now very few rebels left, and most of them have chosen to submit to the Great Wu Dynasty.

Of course, nominally they were surrendering to the Great Wu Dynasty, but in reality, these surrendered troops basically became the private army of Princess Wu Junwan. Their surrender was not a direct surrender to the court, but a surrender to Wu Junwan.

……

The Great Yue Dynasty.

The Empress's bedroom.

Inside the palace, red curtains fluttered in the wind, and deep within the palace, the figure of a woman dressed in a red phoenix robe appeared and disappeared.

At this moment, a maid entered the bedchamber.

"Your Majesty, Lord Wang requests an audience."

The woman said calmly, "Come in."

The woman's voice was crisp, cold, and extremely penetrating, as if it went directly into the brain.

As soon as the woman finished speaking, a man wearing an official's hat entered the palace.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects! Long live Your Majesty!"

The woman then asked, "What is it?"

The official immediately produced an envelope and said:

"Your Majesty, this is intelligence sent by spies from the Northern Kingdom."

As soon as he finished speaking, the intelligence report in the official's hand flew up and "whoosh"ed into the curtained area.

Inside the curtained room, the woman glanced at the contents of the intelligence report, then smiled and said, "Interesting."

"It seems that the Heavenly King did not get any advantage from me and is somewhat unwilling."

The official kneeling on the ground asked, "Your Majesty, is there anything we should do?"

"The military strength of the Northern Kingdom is growing too fast, which is extremely disadvantageous to our Dayue."

Upon hearing this, the woman chuckled softly, then said, "What, does Lord Wang intend for our soldiers to march north now and attack the Northern Kingdom?"

Seeing that the woman's tone was a bit off, the official stopped talking; that was indeed what he was thinking.

The Northern Kingdom borders Dayue, and it would not be good for Dayue to sit idly by and watch the Northern Kingdom grow stronger. Moreover, the Northern Kingdom is a vassal state of the Great Xia Dynasty. If the Northern Kingdom becomes strong, it is equivalent to the Great Xia becoming strong.

However, judging from the Empress's tone, she clearly had other ideas, so the man stopped talking.

The woman then said, "Lord Wang is right. We should indeed do something. We should immediately send a delegation to the Northern Kingdom and tell them that if the Northern Kingdom needs anything, they can tell Dayue."

"If the Northern Kingdom is unable to resist the barbarians, it can also seek help from Dayue. I will definitely send troops to help them immediately."

Upon hearing the Empress's words, the men kneeling on the ground were stunned.

What can we do to help the Northern Kingdom?

For Dayue, isn't the Northern Kingdom an enemy? If the Northern Kingdom becomes stronger, what good will it do for Dayue?

The woman then said, "Lord Wang, the Northern Kingdom is the key to the division of Great Xia. Don't be so short-sighted."

Upon hearing this, the man was taken aback and instantly understood what the Empress was planning.

Indeed, if the Northern Kingdom is considered part of the Great Xia Dynasty, then its rapid growth in military strength is not a good thing for the Dayue Dynasty.

However, if we consider the Northern Kingdom as an independent entity, then the situation is different. The rapid growth of the Northern Kingdom's military strength clearly proves that the Northern King is a vassal king with extremely strong ambitions.

In the future, the Northern Kingdom will most likely rebel. Even if the Northern Kingdom does not rebel, the Xia Emperor will absolutely not allow such a powerful vassal state as the Northern Kingdom to exist. Therefore, the Xia Emperor will definitely reduce the power of the vassal states.

If the Xia emperor were to reduce the power of the vassal states, the northern kingdoms would not wait for him to do so, and the final result would be civil war.

Currently, Great Xia is fighting against the rebels in Jiangnan. After Great Xia finishes dealing with the internal strife, its strength will definitely be weakened. At that time, the Great Xia court will also break out into war with the Northern Kingdom, which will eventually lead to the people of Great Xia suffering. The vassal kings of Great Xia will definitely have all sorts of thoughts.

That's why the Empress planned to establish friendly relations with the Northern Kingdom, and then further provoke the Xia Emperor.

The Northern Kingdom is merely a vassal state and is not qualified to have separate diplomatic relations with a dynasty. If the Northern Kingdom does this, it means that the Northern Kingdom is trying to gain independence and rebel.

Thinking of this, the man said, "Your Majesty is right. I was short-sighted. I humbly request Your Majesty to allow me to lead the delegation on this mission to the Northern Kingdom."

A woman's voice then came from inside the curtain, "Granted."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. This humble subject takes his leave!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man left the Empress's palace.

At this moment, the woman in the palace murmured, "King of the North, I hope you will not disappoint me."

……

Northland.

Ningbei City.

Lu Chen stood on the city wall, feeling the breeze blowing from the grassland. At this moment, Chen Wanrong, dressed in white, stood beside him.

Along the way, Chen Wanrong followed Lu Chen northward, and many questions arose in her mind, especially about the strange things in Lu Chen's army.

She had never seen those things before, didn't know what they were used for, and couldn't understand why Lu Chen and the others would go to such great lengths to move them to the North.

At that moment, soldiers on the city wall were setting up cannons. Seeing the huge metal pipe next to them, Chen Wanrong finally couldn't help but ask, "What is this?"

Lu Chen replied with a smile, "You'll find out once the war begins."

Seeing that Lu Chen didn't answer directly and looked mysterious, Chen Wanrong was a little upset. She was already his woman, yet he was still so wary of her.

She'll be by his side for a while, and she'll be there when these things are used, so there's no point in hiding it. It's better to just tell her now.

At this moment, Mu Changtian and other military officers arrived at the city wall. Mu Changtian was holding a map in his hand. At that moment, a soldier immediately brought a table, and Mu Changtian then placed the map on the table.

"Your Highness, our scouts report that King Tianqi and his forces have not divided their troops; their main army is advancing alongside the vanguard cavalry."

"Their cavalry are heading straight for Ningbei City, and it is estimated that they will arrive in Ningbei City in just a few days at most. As for the main army behind them, it is highly likely that they will also arrive in Ningbei City in less than half a month."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen went to the map and glanced at it. The map now roughly marked the location of the Apocalypse King's army.

Lu Chen said with a smile, "I thought the Tianqi King's army would arrive in Ningbei City before us, but it seems I overestimated their marching speed."

Upon hearing this, Mu Changtian said, "Your Highness, the barbarian army's marching speed is not slow, but they are looking for water sources to replenish their supplies on the grasslands, which is why they have not arrived yet."

Lu Chen said, "That's true, water is indeed a problem."

At this point, Lu Chen fell into deep thought. He had initially wondered whether they should pursue the Apocalypse King's army if it retreated after they defeated it.

Mu Changtian's words immediately calmed Lu Chen down. On the grassland, the situation was quite complicated and supplies were difficult to obtain, so it was best not to rush out and chase after them.

Just then, a Jinyiwei soldier came up to Lu Chen. "Your Highness, intelligence from Yancheng."

Lu Chen took the envelope from the Imperial Guard, glanced at it, and after reading the intelligence, said, "It seems that after the Great Xia civil war ends, the Northern Kingdom will face a real test."

Mu Changtian, standing to the side, asked curiously, "Your Highness, is the imperial court planning something?"

Lu Chen said calmly, "Yes, the imperial court has sent troops north to garrison the Qi Kingdom."

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback for a moment, then Mu Changtian said, "Prince Qi probably wouldn't allow it, would he?"

When they headed north, the envoys from the powerful families of Jiangnan were still in the fiefdom of the King of Qi, trying to persuade the Qi Kingdom to send troops south to join the Jiangnan rebels in attacking the imperial army from both sides.

Not long after all this, the imperial court is sending troops north and stationing them in Qi. If troops are stationed in Qi, won't the King of Qi rebel?

Moreover, the court is currently dealing with the rebels in Jiangnan, so how can it spare troops to garrison Qi?

Lu Chen continued, "This matter has not been finalized yet, but the imperial court has issued an edict requiring the Qi Kingdom to cooperate with the court's garrison."

At this moment, Xiao Pengtian spoke up from the side, "Your Highness, in your opinion, will Prince Qi rebel this time?"

Now that the Northern Kingdom has sent troops north to resist the barbarians, the Qi Kingdom has no need to worry about the Northern Kingdom coming south to defend the king. At this time, they can completely march south to attack the capital. Moreover, as long as one vassal king rebels, it will likely trigger a chain reaction, and those vassal kings who are eager to rebel will likely follow suit.

Lu Chen said, "That's hard to say. Prince Qi hasn't made any move yet. It's uncertain whether he will rebel. If he doesn't rebel, he will definitely agree to the court's request to allow the court to station troops in Qi."

"We can't worry about that now. Let's drive the Apocalypse King out of the North first."

Lu Chen was a little curious. Why was the imperial court stationing troops in Qi Kingdom at this time? Was it to guard against the Northern Kingdom, or to test Qi Kingdom?

If it were to guard against the Northern Kingdom, he would have led an army of 200,000 to the north to fight against the barbarians, posing no immediate threat to the court. The court is currently at a critical juncture in suppressing the rebels in Jiangnan, so there is no need to station a large army in Qi Kingdom at this time.

Therefore, Lu Chen vaguely felt that Emperor Xia was testing the Qi Kingdom, wanting to see if the King of Qi had any intention of rebelling. If the Qi Kingdom refused the imperial army's request to station troops, it would mean that the King of Qi had agreed to the Jiangnan rebels and wanted to start a rebellion. If the Qi Kingdom agreed to the imperial army's request to station troops, it would prove that the Qi Kingdom did not have any intention of rebelling for the time being.

Of course, none of this is of much concern to him for the time being, since their immediate priority is to defend against the eastward advance of the barbarians.

at the same time.

Northern grasslands.

A giant eagle circled in the sky, beneath which were countless military tents. After a while, the eagle landed on the shoulder of a strong man. The man removed the fur tied to the eagle's leg and then walked toward the commander's tent.

Inside the commander's tent, King Apocalypse and his men were drinking and eating meat, and they didn't seem to be in a hurry.

In their view, the wealth and women of the North were already theirs, just waiting for them to come and take them, which is why they were in such a hurry.

"Your Majesty, a message has arrived from our scouts!"

The burly man handed the pelt, which he had just removed from the eagle's leg, to the King of Apocalypse. The King of Apocalypse took the pelt, opened it, and glanced at what was written on it.

He then laughed loudly and said, "A mere two hundred thousand soldiers think they can stop my advance? What a pipe dream!"

Lu Chen and his group were gathering intelligence on the barbarians, and the barbarians were also gathering intelligence on the Northern Kingdom. News of the Northern Kingdom's military parade spread throughout the entire Northern Kingdom, and the barbarian spies naturally learned that Lu Chen was leading an army of 200,000 northwards.

This was nothing in the eyes of the Apocalypse King. In his eyes, the Great Xia had always been rather weak. Before the establishment of the Dayue Dynasty, their barbarian tribes had directly attacked the Great Xia and even occupied many of its cities. In order to redeem their land, the Great Xia people gave them many good things.

However, that was before the barbarian tribes split up. Later, the barbarian royal court declined and split into several parts. The northern lands became the territory of the Sirius King, which prevented the tribe of the Apocalypse King from advancing eastward.

Although the barbarian tribes had already split up, the Heavenly King still kept the weakness of the Great Xia people in mind, so he didn't take the Northern Kingdom seriously at all.

A mere 200,000 soldiers are nothing to fear.

(End of this chapter)