Xianyu Infrastructure, I have a lot of troops in my hands

Ji Yuanyi's face changed immediately when he heard about the marriage. He thought to himself that the barbarians were powerful now, but early spring was also the season for their cattle, sheep and horses to reproduce, so they naturally did not want to start another war.

Every time Daxia made concessions, it had to pay a lot of money, which made this hungry wolf stronger. Now that the two countries have reached a truce, they have to ask for some benefits. According to their nature, the only things that can humiliate the royal family of Daxia, besides money, are women.

Your Majesty's several princesses are too young, and the only royal lady of the right age is your Majesty's niece, Princess Zhaoyang. Her mother, Princess Changwan, is the younger sister of Emperor Qi and is deeply loved by the old emperor.

When Princess Chang Wan grew up, she married a man from a poor family and died after giving birth to Zhaoyang. The prince consort was heartbroken and retired to the mountains, leaving Princess Zhaoyang to grow up alone in the palace.

In the past, when Princess Zhaoyang was mentioned, the most common thing was that she was deeply in love with her junior fellow apprentice Xie An, forcing Xie An to resign from his official position and leave Kangjian. After a year, when people heard the name Zhaoyang again, they did not expect to hear this news.

Although Ji Yuanyi had no good impression of the royal children, the country was poor and weak and it was difficult to reverse it. Now women had to be used to fill the gap, which made him depressed and heartbroken.

He frowned, no longer looking nonchalant as before, and pursed his thin lips as if he wanted to say something, but it was as if his mouth was sealed and he couldn't make a sound.

Li You remained silent at this moment. Princess Zhaoyang was his cousin and he had watched the little girl grow up.

Although she had a quick temper, she was a lively girl after all. He couldn't bear it. The fingers holding the teacup under the crimson purple python robe turned pale.

After a long time, a faint sigh was heard from the private room, and Ji Yuanyi asked in a difficult tone: "What did the doctor in the court say?"

"This is the best result after their long discussion." Li You seemed powerless. Bu Yu saw that the atmosphere was not right and retreated to the outside to guard the door.

"The barbarian envoy was arrogant and said that he could exchange the princess for a city. When Yunzhong County was occupied by them in the early years, it was burned to ashes. Now only one tenth of the population in the city remains. They want to retreat and they want to trick us."

"This is too much!" Li You put the teacup in his hand at his feet.

Ji Yuanyi stood up suddenly, his heart filled with anger: "That group of people are just sitting there doing nothing, they are parasites of the country, they are in the government but cannot help the country, but now they want to use women to buy a place to sleep, mice have teeth, but people have no end..."

Ji Yuanyi kept cursing for half an hour without repeating himself.

Li You wiped the spit from his face and thought to himself, no wonder the Ji family did not recommend this cousin to be an official in the court. With his ability to criticize people, it would be a pity if he didn't become a minister of remonstration.

But then I thought about how petty my uncle the emperor is. Forget it. I can tolerate it once, but if it happens too many times, he will definitely remember it and I don’t know how to retaliate!

Everyone in the Ji family agreed with this. For the sake of everyone's lives, it was fine for Ji Yuanyi to be a crazy student.

When Kuangsheng was just going crazy in Kuaiji, they could cover it up if anything happened. But if he offended the royal relatives in Kangjian, even if his Ji family had a strong foundation, they might not be able to deal with it.

Ji Yuanyi himself was talented but also arrogant. He had no desire to be an official. Corruption was rampant in the court and the officials below followed suit. When he walked down the street, all he saw was numbness and despair.

He found it extremely boring, so he had to settle for the next best thing and turned to pursuing the art of playing the zither, reciting poems and composing music, and traveling around the world.

There are many people who share the same idea as him. This is the social atmosphere. If people are unhappy as officials, they will resign and retire to the mountains and forests. They cannot be found.

But the emperor had no choice as the other party had not broken any law. Being an official at that time was based on mutual consent. Although the imperial power was strong, it had to be supported by all the major clans. If the royal family was weak, gentle means had to be adopted, otherwise the history books would be full of lessons from the past.

The literati at that time were still very principled. They did not pity anyone. Instead, sending women to marry was an insult to everyone in the Xia State. It was like losing a fight with your neighbor, and as a result your father wanted to send your sister away to be a maid. Wouldn't you be angry?

In the past, when two countries had diplomatic relations, they would send their princes as hostages. Since when, the emperor's daughters began to replace his sons. Not only do they have a lower status, but they are also less valuable if they are sent in large numbers.

"Let's not talk about the trade routes between our two families. We must also take back Yunzhong City! If we can drive the barbarians out before the negotiations, then no one will have to go to the marriage alliance."

Ji Yuanyi looked at Li You suspiciously: "What if we fail to capture the city and anger the barbarians?" He was not familiar with fighting, but he also knew that taking back a city was certainly not as easy as it sounds.

"Well, actually this time I am speaking on behalf of King Yu. I hope the clans in the Guanlong area can unite, those with money can contribute money, those with food can contribute food, and we can take advantage of the barbarians' relaxed vigilance to fight a good battle and put an end to their arrogance."

"The Tuoba clan has evil ambitions. Even if we satisfy them this time, they will make a comeback next year." Emperor Qi also acquiesced to the alliance of several families this time. The main reason was that the national treasury was empty, and he was annoyed to see the scholars and officials quarreling in the court every day.

The clans in the Guanlong area have large tracts of land right next to the north, and they are upset because the invasion of the barbarians has damaged their industries. Now that King Yu is taking the lead, they naturally want to drive the barbarians away and restore peace to the north.

Ji Yuanyi was puzzled: "Then what does this have to do with the Northwest Trade Route? As far as I know, the Northwest Trade Route was cut off by the Old Jin. Although the barbarians are also enemies of the Old Jin, the Old Jin was already seriously injured and would not take the initiative to provoke the barbarians."

"They don't dare to provoke the barbarians, but that doesn't mean the barbarians don't want to occupy the business road!" Li You raised his mouth: "A few years ago, before the decline of Jin, there were always battles with the barbarians."

At that time, Daxia was strong, and they could just wait for the two families to finish fighting and then reap the benefits. But after the decline of the old Jin Dynasty, Emperor Qi emphasized culture over military power, and the barbarians were no longer restrained by the Jin people. Tuoba Hong and his family became the dominant force and became the source of disaster in the north.

"The reason why the Jin people were able to control the trade route was because of the geographical advantage. From Wushaoling in the east to Xingxing Gorge in the west, there was abundant water and grass, which was suitable for raising horses. They could also rely on the natural barriers to defend against the Tuoba tribe in the north."

"Now in the Tuoba tribe, the old Chanyu is about to die, and his sons are ready to make a move, and his brothers are also eyeing him covetously. His brother Tuoba Lie is stationed near Tongguan, and he is obviously eyeing the northwest trade route."

Li You said in a low voice, these are all secret matters. If he can convince Ji Yuanyi and get the help of the Ji family, his mission will be half completed.

The Ji family is not the strongest in the north, but because of its uniqueness, its appeal is extraordinary. For major events like this that concern the crisis of the country and the family, as long as the Ji family is willing to stand up for them, then the matter will be half successful.

As for the fleet in the hands of the Lady of the Xie family, those small things are just extras.