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

Chapter 76 How did he know the barbarians were going to move south?

Emperor Xia was no fool. When he saw Lu Chen's letter saying that the barbarian cavalry was about to march south, he realized that this was definitely related to the aristocratic families, and that some of his sons might even be involved.

As a seasoned politician, he was not without his share of things like introducing foreign enemies and then using them to seize benefits.

When the ministers in the Xuanzheng Hall saw that Emperor Xia's face was so dark, they were all so frightened that they didn't dare to breathe. This was the first time in a year that they had seen Emperor Xia's face look so bad.

After a long pause, Emperor Xia said with a cold laugh, "The barbarians really know how to pick their moments."

The tall, thin man standing at the far left of the main hall asked, "Your Majesty, what is the situation in the Northern Commandery?"

As soon as the man finished speaking, Emperor Xia said, "The Northern King sent a letter saying that his men intercepted the barbarian summons on the grasslands. The barbarians plan to gather 300,000 cavalry to march south, occupy the Northern Commandery, establish a kingdom, and make Yan City their capital."

Upon hearing Emperor Xia's words, the court officials immediately began to discuss the matter.

"Three hundred thousand? My God! How can there be so much?"

"Establish a nation! If we allow the barbarians to establish a nation in the Northern Commandery, won't our Great Xia be forever under the iron hooves of the barbarians?"

"We must not let the barbarians invade the south!"

"These barbarians are truly treacherous; Great Xia absolutely cannot let them off easily this time!"

……

Hearing the ministers' discussions, Emperor Xia remained silent for a long time.

After a while, the Eighth Prince Lu Shuyun stepped forward and said, "Father, I believe that the Prince of the North is suspected of lying about military intelligence. As far as I know, after arriving in Beijun, the Prince of the North has been spending his days indulging in pleasure at his residence and has not managed Beijun at all."

"How did he know the barbarians were going to move south?"

"Besides, the barbarians are located further north in the North County. Even if the barbarians issued a summons, how could their people possibly intercept it, unless their people have already infiltrated the barbarian territory?"

Upon hearing what the Eighth Prince Lu Shuyun said, the ministers all realized what was going on.

That's right. The Northern King is just a lazy and useless prince. He didn't manage things much after he went to the Northern Prefecture. How could he possibly send people to infiltrate the barbarian settlement and intercept their summons?

He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do something like that.

Could it be that the Northern King really lied about the military situation?

At this moment, Left Chancellor Lin Gaoyuan spoke up and asked, "Eighth Prince, you say that the Northern Prince lied about military intelligence. Besides inferring from the Northern Prince's actions, is there any other evidence?"

Hearing this, Lu Shuyun was stunned for a moment.

Lu Shuyun then continued, "Prime Minister Lin, isn't this enough? Do you really believe that the Northern King sent people to the barbarian-inhabited areas?"

Lin Gaoyuan said calmly, "This humble official does not know whether the Northern King has sent anyone to the northern lands inhabited by the barbarians. This humble official only knows that the Northern King sent a messenger named Hongling to deliver a message."

In the Great Xia Dynasty, the Red Silk Messenger represented the most urgent military intelligence, and could not be dispatched at any time.

In Lin Gaoyuan's view, even if the Northern King was stupid, he couldn't possibly be unaware of the significance of the Red Silk Messenger.

As for falsely reporting military intelligence, the Northern King could not bear the punishment for doing so.

If the Northern King is truly a useless prince, would a prince who spends his days indulging in pleasure at his mansion dare to lie about military intelligence? Isn't he afraid that the Xia Emperor will depose him from the throne?

Therefore, Lin Gaoyuan believes that there is a high probability that the barbarians are indeed abnormal, but whether they have 300,000 is hard to say.

It is also possible that the Northern King exaggerated the number of barbarian cavalry in order to gain the support of the imperial court.

In conclusion, the barbarians will indeed move south, but their army may not number 300,000—this is Lin Gaoyuan's conjecture.

As soon as Lin Gaoyuan finished speaking, the eldest prince, Lu Yi, said, "Father, your son is willing to lead troops north to resist the barbarians!"

No sooner had the eldest prince finished speaking than the second prince said sarcastically, "Brother, aren't you being a little too hasty? It's not even certain whether the barbarians will invade the south yet, and you already want to lead troops north. If you do lead troops, are you sure you'll be doing it to defend against the barbarians?"

Even during the barbarian invasions, there were still internal conflicts and accusations within the court, let alone now that the barbarians have not yet invaded.

If a prince leads troops north and gains a reputation in the army, it will be very helpful in the struggle for the throne. Therefore, every prince wants to seize this opportunity to lead troops, and at the same time, they do not want other princes to lead troops north.

Upon hearing the Second Prince's words, the First Prince sneered, "What do you mean by this, Second Brother? Resisting the barbarians is the responsibility of our royal family. Do you think I have ulterior motives?"

Just as the Second Prince was about to continue speaking, the Emperor Xia, sitting on the dragon throne, interrupted their conversation, "Enough."

When the Emperor spoke, the once noisy court, which resembled a marketplace, instantly fell silent.

"Whether the barbarians are truly going to march south is a matter for my shadow guards to confirm. What you need to discuss now is how to deal with the barbarian invasion."

Seeing that Emperor Xia had said so, everyone stopped discussing whether the matter was true or false.

At this moment, Lu Shuyun's face was somewhat grim. He had originally thought that the barbarian invasion from the south would catch the Northern King off guard, or that the invasion would cover up the fact that the Northern King had been assassinated by the Blood Moon Tower assassins.

Unexpectedly, the Northern King had already detected the barbarian invasion from the south.

But it doesn't matter anyway, since the Northern King probably doesn't have many days left to live, and by this time the Blood Moon Tower should have already arrived in Yancheng.

He believed that with the Blood Moon Tower Grandmaster leading the way, even if the mysterious Grandmaster was present in the Northern King's Mansion, he wouldn't be able to protect the Northern King.

What he should be considering now is how to gain the authority to lead troops north.

If he could lead his troops north, according to his agreement with the barbarians, he could obtain some concessions from them and accumulate some prestige in the army, thus increasing his chances of succeeding in seizing the throne.

As for the fact that Beijun was ceded to the barbarians, Lu Shuyun didn't care at all; all he cared about was his position as crown prince.

The Northern County is just a poor place. If the barbarians want it, then give it to them.

At this moment, the eldest prince spoke again, saying, "Father, I believe that we should immediately mobilize a large army and march north."

"Since the Northern King has used the Red Silk Messenger, it means that the barbarian invasion to the south is imminent. If the court sends troops too late, the 30,000 soldiers in the Northern Commandery will certainly not be able to stop the 300,000 iron cavalry of the barbarians."

As soon as the eldest prince finished speaking, the fourth prince chimed in, "Father, I also believe we should immediately send troops north!"

No prince wanted to miss this opportunity to lead troops. The Great Xia Dynasty had not had such an opportunity for many years. This was their chance to establish their reputation in the army, and no prince wanted to miss it.

However, at this moment, Lu Shuyun spoke up and said, "Father, I believe that since Beijun is already the fiefdom of the Northern King, the matter of defending against the barbarian invasion should naturally be entrusted to the Northern King."

"If the imperial court needs to send troops every time a foreign enemy invades the border, then what is the point of having vassal kings?"

As soon as Lu Shuyun finished speaking, the man standing to the upper right of the officials said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Eighth Prince is right. The vassal kings on the frontier are responsible for defending against foreign enemies. The court should not be sent to send troops every time there is an invasion."

(End of this chapter)