Priceless: A widow with a baby asks the prince to marry again

The summons officer hurried into the imperial study!

"Urgent news from the north! The Oirat attacked Prince Duan's garrison outside the Great Wall on New Year's Eve!"

At this time, many important ministers were discussing state affairs in the imperial study. Upon hearing the news, they all looked anxious!

There was also a slight sternness in the emperor's eyes!

"How's the battle going?"

After listening to the battle report in detail, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

However, not every minister was happy with the result of this great victory.

For example, the old prime minister and the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel, all their wealth and glory are built on the big ship of Daxia. Being in high positions, they naturally know the truth that no eggs will be left unbroken when the nest is overturned, and they absolutely do not want Daxia to fail!

But on the other hand, their position within Daxia is that they don't want to see Prince Duan create another great achievement...

At the cost of 3,000 casualties, he killed and captured 10 times as many enemies as he did! He defeated 60,000 cavalrymen from the Northern Tribe! Such an achievement might not be enough to shock the ancients and the moderns, but it was definitely a heavyweight in the battle for the throne!

The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Personnel were a little upset, but they reluctantly accepted it. After all, King Kang did not lose much in the battle against the Tatars.

Although King Kang had never fought such a beautiful battle, in general, he had won many victories in the past few months! And his opponent was the powerful Tatars! In addition, with them as King Kang's mouthpiece, he could argue even if he was unreasonable, not to mention his merits?

The old prime minister looked calm, but his heart was heavy! Prince Kang and Prince Duan both shined in Mobei! But the eighth prince Chu Shiqi was a little younger, and was a soldier in the southwest, so he couldn't catch up with this opportunity! If this goes on, I'm afraid Chu Shiqi will have a hard time competing!

"It's a blessing that Yu'er is a military genius!" the emperor praised.

The ministers responded sincerely or insincerely...

But then, the emperor gave an order in a deep voice: "Send a message to Kun'er immediately, and ask the Northeast Army to withdraw its forces as soon as possible and retreat to the Northeast border to prevent the Tatars from counterattacking."

"Yes!" The summons officer immediately went to deliver the oral order.

All the ministers were stunned!

The Minister of Personnel was full of reluctance! If Prince Kang retreated to the northeastern border, he would probably not have the opportunity to create more achievements and surpass Prince Duan! Moreover, even many of the current achievements, such as the occupied land, would have to be given up!

Prince Duan has already obtained tens of millions of hectares of land from Wala! Even though it is only a paper deal, it is likely that he will not be able to keep it in the future! It is not Prince Duan's business whether to keep it or not! On paper, this achievement has already been given to Prince Duan!

The Minister of Revenue was unwilling to accept this, but he was even more afraid that something might happen to King Kang. After all, the basis of following the dragon's merit was that the 'dragon' must be alive. He asked worriedly: "I am stupid and can hardly understand your majesty's deep meaning. Can your majesty give me some pointers?"

In such a big situation, the emperor could not be stingy with words, and he spoke to explain: "Wala has been in a weak position for more than ten years, and cannot afford the cost of being enemies on two fronts. Although Wala is foolish to attack itself this time, it dares to take such a bad move and attack the Northwest Army. I believe that they have reached an agreement with the Tatars. Even if they are not working together, at least they have reached a truce for the time being."

The Minister of Industry asked, "This... the Tatars have deceived the Oirat once, aren't they afraid of repeating the same mistake?"

The Left Censor-in-Chief said disdainfully: "The Wala barbarians are uneducated and short-sighted, so they can do such things!"

All the ministers in the imperial study, regardless of faction, expressed their agreement. After all, their country's stance was that of Great Xia, and they all displayed the arrogance of a great civilized country to the outside world.

The emperor watched the situation quietly and did not expose the bias of his ministers. It was Chu Shiyu who used the Oirat as a gun, but the Oirat turned against him.

The emperor roughly understood Chu Shiyu's plan.

The urgent crisis of hunger and cold of the Oirat Mongols became an unstable factor in Chu Shiyu's transactions with the Oirat Mongols, and Chu Shiyu had anticipated this.

The most advantageous thing for Daxia was naturally that the Oirat used the Tatars as military rations. From then on, it became extremely difficult for the two sides to reconcile, but this result could not be forced.

Before this, Chu Shiyu had given Wala a choice, which was to buy up a large number of livestock from the northern tribes in the Gobi Desert. Making profits was only the surface, and on the other hand, it was indirectly telling Wala that they could trade with Daxia.

Although Chu Shiyu was a bit overbearing and set a high price, if Wala wanted to buy it, it would be negotiable. No matter how poor Wala was, it would be impossible for them not to buy enough food for the transition.

The reason why it is not mentioned directly is that it is difficult to predict the morale of the Khan of the Oirat and those tribal leaders, and whether they will feel looked down upon.

However, the arrogance of the Oirat was even more than expected! They actually wanted Daxia to give it to them for free?

The emperor and Chu Shiyu agreed on this point! A batch of grain is nothing, but the Wala's position is not firm to begin with, and they might turn against us if we give them. How can Daxia do such a thing that it despises itself and aids the enemy? !

As for exchanging 8,000 prisoners of war for the son of a seventh-rank county magistrate, the emperor disagreed with this and most voices in the court refuted it.

But the uncertainty of the prisoner exchange shows that this was Chu Shiyu's delaying tactic to politely reject the Wala's rude request.

"In short, Wala has done something unexpectedly stupid, and now the deal with Prince Duan has fallen through."

The old prime minister roughly understood the situation and said, "Without the Oirat as an enemy, King Kang, who has entered the heartland of Tatar, is the most important thorn in the Tatars' side! That barren land is not worth losing troops! Your Majesty is far-sighted in ordering King Kang to retreat!"

The Minister of Personnel was very unhappy. The old prime minister was just happy to see that Prince Kang could no longer gain any merit. However, the emperor had already given the order and there was no point in refutation.

The Minister of War suddenly realized and analyzed: "There are no cities to defend on the grassland. Even if the Northeast Army is stronger, it is not an advantage. The Northern Tribe is famous for its cavalry and can advance and retreat. Our army has a long supply line. Continuing the stalemate will only make the troops exhausted and unable to continue. It is better to withdraw the troops in time and stabilize ourselves."

After hearing this, the Minister of Revenue understood that it would be extremely risky for Prince Kang to continue staying in Mobei... After a moment's silence, he said, "Your Majesty, why don't you recall Prince Duan as well? Once the Northeastern Army leaves, the Northwestern Army will be left alone in Mobei. They will surely become a target for the Tatars, right?"

Are they trying to bring Prince Duan back as well? The old prime minister immediately echoed, "Yes, the Northwest Army is still inferior to the Northeast Army... Although the Wala suffered heavy losses, they still have a fighting chance. If they join forces with the Tatars, I'm afraid the Northwest Army will be surrounded by enemies!"

However, the Ruifeng eyes that had been listening carefully drooped slightly, and when they raised their eyes, the emperor said calmly: "The Northwest Army now has a city to defend, so keep it for now. Spring will soon come, and the nomads will have to pursue pastures. The Tatars and Oirat may not be able to mobilize their troops, who have been severely damaged and are in urgent need of recuperation, to fight in the barren Gobi."

The old prime minister and the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were all stunned. Why did the emperor leave the opportunity to achieve unprecedented achievements to Prince Duan alone? Was it because he had won a great victory and decided to rely on Prince Duan? !

"Your Majesty, this... there are many warmongering tribes in the grassland... what if the Tatars and the Oirat can forcibly recruit a large army?" The Minister of War spoke hesitantly.

"The Oirat was foolish to attack the city with cavalry this time... but the Tatars are much more skilled at fighting! The Tatars have basically retained all the siege weapons and methods of the previous dynasty. I'm afraid the Northwest Army's current simple city can be easily breached!"

After hearing this, the ministers of the two factions wavered in their speculation. Indeed, no matter how great the opportunity is, you must have the strength to seize it, otherwise you will fall into danger! With the current military strength of Prince Duan, it should be more than enough to deal with Wala, but it will be worrying against Tatar! If the two enemies attack together, it is almost a life-or-death struggle!

"It's okay. Yu'er is a military genius. I think he can handle it." The emperor said calmly.

Several ministers could not help but look at each other!

How could there be such a gamble... Could it be that the emperor felt that Prince Duan was too powerful and his achievements were too great to be true?! He wanted to defeat... or even get rid of Prince Duan?!