The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

The old emperor's words were the final word, and the censors didn't dare to talk nonsense anymore.

After all, the old emperor still has the final say in the entire court.

But the Second Prince suddenly said, "Sixth brother, tell me now, are you still planning to recover the lost territory?"

The questions the Second Prince asked now were naturally different from those asked by the imperial censors.

Ning Yi can scold and angrily criticize a group of imperial censors.

But Second Prince, asking this question now is actually asking on behalf of the emperor.

Ning Yi said leisurely, "Second brother, as the regent, do you know how much money and grain are transported to Hushan Pass each time?"

The second prince looked unhappy. He was the regent in name only.

In fact, the old emperor still has the final say in the court.

"This is the Ministry of Revenue's business." The second prince could only perfunctorily respond.

"But this has nothing to do with recovering lost territory, does it?"

This question caused the ministers below to discuss quietly.

Ning Yi sneered: "Second brother, you are so easy to deal with by saying it is irrelevant."

This made the second prince look unhappy, as he was simply saying that he was ignorant.

Ning Yi continued, "The money and food shipped to Hushan Pass each time is only enough for 70,000 people."

"In addition to the massive loss of 30,000 cavalrymen in the northwest, there are also more than 30,000 Beijing troops being used."

"But what about the nearly 70,000 or 80,000 captured soldiers I gathered and reorganized at Hushan Pass?"

"I can only divide less than 40,000 yuan in money and food among a hundred thousand soldiers. They can only eat porridge every day to barely survive, and wear tattered winter clothes stripped from corpses. Second brother, tell me, how can such an army of over a hundred thousand people recover the lost territory?"

Ning Yi bowed and said, "I am not talented enough to lead these people to recover the lost land and defeat the barbarians. Second brother, since you said that recovering the lost land has nothing to do with money and food, please contribute to the country and relieve father's worries."

This made the second prince embarrassed, as he had just said it casually.

He just wanted to stand up for the old emperor and let him deal with the sixth son.

It looks like charging into battle for the old emperor.

The second prince had no way to respond, and he even wanted to say that he didn't understand military affairs.

But then I thought, I can't say this, if I say it, I will definitely be attacked by Lao Liu.

Those imperial censors just now were described as a bunch of useless people who didn't understand military affairs and were talking nonsense.

Don't let Lao Liu trick you into going to the battlefield.

The Second Prince looked at Emperor Wu helplessly.

There was dissatisfaction in Emperor Wu's eyes. The second brother was a waste.

However, a loyal fan of Emperor Wu soon stood up and asked, "Sixth Prince, the court is in a difficult situation right now and cannot provide much support to Hushan Pass. You should understand this."

Ning Yi glanced at him calmly and knew that he was another dog of the old emperor: "This prince naturally forgives you."

"So we are trying our best to appease the soldiers. When we defeat the barbarians in the future, the imperial court will not treat them unfairly."

In fact, many people only know the surface of the situation at Hushan Pass.

Everyone still thinks that the situation at Hushan Pass is very bad now.

The old emperor's vanguard suddenly said, "If that's the case, Sixth Prince, why did you insist on training 30,000 cavalrymen of your own when money and food were severely insufficient at Hushan Pass?"

"Could it be that the Sixth Prince wants to take advantage of the battle at Hushan Pass to gain benefits for himself and raise his own private army?"

This is a serious sin.

Ning Yi knew clearly that the entire court, especially the old emperor, was most dissatisfied with him because of his 30,000 cavalry.

As for his so-called two thousand servants and the orphans he recruited for training, the old emperor didn't take them seriously at all.

There are only two or three thousand people, a group of young orphans who can be dealt with at any time and cannot cause any waves at all.

But 30,000 cavalrymen are different, they can really threaten him.

Ning Yi also knew that if he didn't clarify the issue of the 30,000 cavalrymen today, he would have no good life.

I can't even leave the capital.

Of course, if Ning Yi caused trouble in the capital and forced his way out.

There really is no problem.

He has planted too many spies throughout the capital.

By then, the tens of thousands of Beijing troops outside the city will be unable to stop them at all, and even his own men will be among them.

Moreover, they have their own private army dozens of miles away and can provide support at any time.

As long as he could leave the capital and return to the base dozens of miles away, he could quickly mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to come to the capital.

But Ning Yi knew that he couldn't do that. If he did that, the entire Dawu Kingdom would eventually rebel against him.

Moreover, the barbarians will seize the opportunity to move south quickly. Even if they capture the capital, they will still face siege from hundreds of thousands of barbarians.

After a life-and-death battle with the barbarians with heavy casualties, the country will eventually be attacked by ambitious vassal kings from all over the world, and the entire Dawu Kingdom will be in chaos.

Ning Yi said leisurely, "Master Cheng, do you know what this prince's so-called 30,000 cavalrymen look like?"

Cheng Da Ren said calmly, "Of course I don't know, but since you, Sixth Prince, have already used the money and grain from Hushan Pass to support these 30,000 cavalry, shouldn't you explain it clearly to His Majesty?"

"Okay, this prince is naturally willing to explain everything to father." Ning Yi didn't even bother to think about it, and said quickly: "This prince's 30,000 cavalrymen are all injured soldiers from the 30,000 cavalrymen in the northwest. Half of them are missing arms and legs."

"The other part is to select the able-bodied men who can ride horses from the 100,000 captives. As long as they can ride horses, they will be fine."

"As for the equipment," Ning Yi said calmly, "we found them all among the captured weapons, and the war horses were chosen from the captured barbarians."

"The really good captured horses were all given to Yu Shengfei's Northwest Army. You can ask him directly if he lets his Northwest Cavalry screen every captured horse first."

After Ning Yi said this, he glanced at the Martial Emperor above, still with no expression on his face.

I was very depressed. The old emperor was really cautious. After saying so much, everyone thought that these 30,000 cavalrymen were very ordinary.

But the old emperor still held on to it.

Ning Yi had no choice but to continue, "Their rations are the same as those of the other infantrymen, which is porridge every day. Besides the remaining soldiers from the northwest, the other captives and able-bodied men don't even get any pay."

"The reason why this prince wants to form these 30,000 cavalry is to prevent the barbarian cavalry from breaking through the pass again. At the very least, they can help Yu Shengfei's Northwest Cavalry in the cavalry decisive battle. Their numbers are enough to contain them."

Ning Yi bowed loudly and said, "If it is after the Emperor's New Year, as soon as the new army arrives and the new commander is in place, this prince will immediately hand over the command of these 30,000 cavalrymen, or even disband them on the spot, because they are just prisoners and some disabled soldiers."

"Now, to put it bluntly, they are merely the vanguard of the decisive battle between the Northwestern Cavalry and the Barbarians. Being able to consume some of the Barbarian Cavalry first is enough."

Ning Yi explained it clearly enough. After all, these 30,000 cavalrymen were just cannon fodder. If even these cannon fodder were doubted, then there would be nothing he could do.