Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Li Shiming's decision reached the State of Jin a few days later.

On this day, the bronze coiled dragon clepsydra in the Chuigong Hall of Jinyang Palace suddenly made a cracking sound.

When Li Shiming was walking through the triple palace gates, Jin Emperor Ji Yingjie was wiping the ring-handled sword that had accompanied him in battles for thirteen years.

The blade reflected his suddenly contracted pupils - the tribute beeswax lamp suddenly burst into sparks, illuminating the four large cinnabar characters "dispatch troops to support" in a dazzling scarlet color.

"Beat the drum! Start the court!"

Ji Yingjie's roar frightened the eunuchs outside the palace so much that they trembled all over.

The twelve-sided war drums with Kui patterns roared at three quarters past the hour of Mao, causing the incense ashes that had been deposited between the beams and pillars for many years to fall to the ground.

When this gentle and refined emperor stepped into the hall wearing golden armor, the sound of the golden armor clashing woke up the historian who was dozing off on the steps - the ink from the old minister's pen dripped onto the silk, forming the shape of a ferocious wolf's head.

"Do you know what is written in this book?"

Ji Yingjie threw the silk book towards the gilded pillar. The parchment scroll brushed against the Taifu's white hair and scattered in the middle of the hall.

"Li Shiming said that I have issued an order to dispatch 50,000 soldiers from the Zhechongfu to come to the rescue, and the leader of the army is the famous General Su Dingfang!"

The court was in dead silence at first.

Afterwards, all the ministers were very excited.

"See, I told you that the Tang Dynasty will not abandon us!"

"As expected of a great country, they know the principle of the lips and teeth being cold."

"With the troops of the Tang Dynasty and our army, we will definitely be able to defeat the Chu army!"

"That's right. The Chu army also lost a lot of people this time. If they come again, they will never come back!"

The ministers were very excited and felt that the arrival of their reinforcements would definitely help them overcome the difficulties.

But at this moment, when the Grand Tutor stepped out of the line with his back hunched, the shadow of the patch on his cuffs was reflected on the ivory tablet in his hand:

"Your Majesty, the vanguard of the Chu army has passed Fukou, and their armored cavalry..."

"Didn't 30,000 new soldiers arrive in Jinyang yesterday?"

Ji Yingjie turned around abruptly, sparks flying from the scrapes of his armor scales: "Including the private soldiers of the Five Families and Seven Nobles, a total of 60,000 men!"

"But those private soldiers were still guarding the farm for the noble family last month!"

The Grand Tutor suddenly coughed violently, and clenched the dragon relief on the imperial steps with his skinny knuckles: "This old minister inspected the military camp this morning and saw that the Wang family's soldiers even wore their armor backwards!"

Half a piece of wheat cake slipped out of his sleeve, which was a testimony to the fact that he had eaten it with the new recruits last night.

"The Chu army's crossbowmen can shoot through triple-layer armor from a hundred steps away. Our men..."

Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the hall.

A messenger with seven eagle-feather arrows stuck in his back fell to the ground: "Your Majesty! The Chu army... the Chu army's heavy cavalry has broken through Huguan!"

The blood foam from the boy's throat drew a crescent moon on the blue bricks: "They burned my Great Jin Dragon Flag in front of the battle... in front of the battle..."

Ji Yingjie's pupils suddenly shrank into needle points.

"Bring me my spear!"

The emperor suddenly burst into a powerful aura: "Order the three armies, I will personally inspect the city defense today!"

"His Majesty!"

The Grand Tutor fell to his knees in front of the imperial steps, and the sound of his forehead hitting the ground frightened everyone present.

"The new soldiers are not good at archery. Six out of ten arrows miss the target. The private soldiers can't even form a neat goose feather formation! If we go out of the city to fight now..."

Ji Yingjie suddenly reached out and helped the old minister up.

This action nearly caused Cui Yan to drop his imperial hu tablet. The rough calloused area on the emperor's palm was gently caressing the back of the Taifu's hand, which was covered with age spots.

"Taifu, rest assured. I will not go out of the city to fight. This time I am just inspecting and seeing the training of the soldiers outside the city."

"In this battle, we will use Jinyang City as a stronghold to block the attack of the Chu army!"

"The Chu army is in high spirits. If they encounter a tall city wall, they will definitely be defeated!"

The old master's cloudy eyes were filled with tears.

He knew that the emperor before him had finally grown up and no longer acted as recklessly as before.

"Cui Yan!"

While he was deep in thought, Ji Yingjie's voice rang out.

When he turned to look at the Minister of War, the armor on his body clanged like metal and stone.

"You will be given ten days to make the new recruits able to use three-stone bows and the private soldiers able to deploy fish-scale formations!"

He suddenly took off the sword from his waist, threw it into Cui Yan's arms, and said coldly: "If anyone disobeys my orders, you will kill him with this sword!"

"If you still can't do it after ten days, this sword will cut off your head!"

In troubled times, severe punishments are needed. If we cannot establish rules at this moment, the new recruits and private soldiers will have no combat effectiveness.

This battle concerns the survival of Jin State, and no accidents must happen.

Do or die!

"I...I will personally go to the training ground to beat the drums for training!"

Cui Yan's knee armor made a dull sound, and the imperial sword in his arms seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Pass on my oral instructions!"

Ji Yingjie's roar caused the plaque on the beam outside the hall to tremble slightly.

"The troops from Hedong, Yanmen, and Shangdang counties must return to support immediately. Anyone who delays will be executed! Anyone who hides more than a hundred troops will have their entire clan executed!"

He suddenly drew out his ring-handled sword and chopped off the imperial desk, and half of the sandalwood rolled to the feet of the tutor.

"Let Chu Ning see who is more powerful, his cavalry, or who are more stubborn!"

"Now, follow me to inspect the city wall!"

The blue brick walls of Jinyang City were emitting white steam under the scorching sun.

When Ji Yingjie climbed up the arrow tower of the South Gate in the morning dew at the first quarter of the morning, he saw three hundred new soldiers practicing loading crossbows in the city wall three meters away.

Amid the creaking sound of rawhide strings, a thin young boy was hit on the knee by the axle and staggered into a puddle formed by last night's heavy rain.

"See Your Majesty!"

The captain of the garrison's shout startled the grey doves on the battlements.

The soldiers who were oiling the crossbows knelt down in a hurry. A panicked recruit even poured a whole can of tung oil on the city wall. The sticky liquid slowly flowed down along the "Jin" flag.

Ji Yingjie reached out and wiped the dew off the raft, rubbing his fingertips on the slippery moss: "Stand up and continue training."

The new recruits in the city were in chaos.

The capstans of the twenty triple-bow crossbows made uneven muffled sounds, and three iron-feathered arrows, each two meters long, pierced into the straw target at an angle. However, two crossbow arrows missed the target and grazed the ox carts of the laborers transporting grain.

The sweat of Cui Yan, the Minister of War, dripped down his iron neck guard: "These Hedong boys just learned the Zhang Xian yesterday..."

"Bring me my bow."

When he got the eight-dou carved bow, Ji Yingjie drew his arrow and put the bow on.

At the moment the bowstring sounded, a bronze bell warning suddenly came from the southeast corner tower.

The iron arrow had already penetrated the swaying straw target three hundred steps away, and with its remaining force it pierced into the shaft of the grain cart - only three inches away from the stunned old farmer's instep.

The entire city was in deathly silence, with only the sound of dripping tung oil as the noise could be heard.

"So that you may know,"

Ji Yingjie threw the carved bow to the trembling crossbowman, "The Chu army's vanguard's mounts can run ten times faster than this grain-carrying ox cart."

He suddenly raised his foot and stepped on the battlement, pointing at the winding Fen River outside the city and said: "Within seven days, all crossbowmen must shoot the floating logs floating downstream for me - those who can't will have to help the civilians push the grain carts!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a purple lightning split the sky.

Raindrops as big as beans hit Ji Yingjie's forehead, where he was not wearing a helmet. He suddenly laughed out loud, causing the bells hanging in the arrow tower to jingle:

"Okay! Let this rainstorm wash it away. Ten days later, the Jinyang City that the Chu invaders see will be as bright as the ring-handled sword in my hand!"

He is full of confidence in this battle!