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

Ning Yi was wearing a thickened cotton-padded jacket specially prepared by Yang Ziqin, and fine armor on the outside.

He hung a fine imperial sword on his waist, put on the snow velvet cloak prepared by Ajiu, and set off on his warhorse.

Zeng Rou also followed this time, and the two princesses didn't say anything.

After all, Ning Yi was born the sixth prince. Even if he went to lead troops to fight, he couldn't be without a woman to take care of him.

It had only been a few days since the Chinese New Year, and Ning Yi had already set off with his own guard battalion in a mighty force.

There were also hundreds of horse-drawn carts of food provided by the Grain Storage Bureau. It seemed like a lot of food, but for an army of more than 100,000, they couldn't even afford porridge for a few days.

This is because the Sixth Prince went to ask for it personally, otherwise he would have been able to embezzle it.

Of course, Ning Yi also specially asked people to collect a lot of medicinal herbs. After all, on the battlefield, in addition to money, food, weapons and equipment, medicinal herbs are also very important.

Only after he walked out of the city gate of Beijing did Ning Yi feel much better.

Otherwise, I always feel depressed in this capital city.

On the way, he met Zeng Zhizhong who had been waiting here for a long time.

Zeng Zhizhong's identity is now kept secret.

From the outside, he was just the father of his concubine.

Ning Yi first allowed Zeng Rou and her brother, as well as Zeng Zhizhong's family, to reunite.

When the father saw that his daughter had changed her decorations, he felt comforted. Although his daughter had not yet gotten married, she was already married.

As the current prince, he has a great chance of competing for imperial power.

Others may not know Ning Yi's background, but as Ning Yi's loyal base steward, how could he not know?

He is a man who actually commands hundreds of thousands of troops and can really compete with the one sitting on the throne.

As for Zeng Rou, she said that she would be given a status after the war was over and the great task was accomplished.

Zeng Zhizhong was already very satisfied. His daughter had found a place to stay, and as a father, he could comfort his wife in heaven.

As for his son, he is now working as a clerk for the Sixth Prince.

Zeng Zhizhong knew this because his son had been trained as a book boy and had even been on the battlefield.

More importantly, with Zeng Rou and his face, if he is sent out in the future, he will at least be a mid-level military officer.

The family of three, a father and his two sons, have had enough of chatting.

Ning Yicai talked to Zeng Zhizhong alone about the base.

Zeng Zhizhong told him: "Your Highness, the base has already produced fifty large artillery pieces."

"The artillery regiment you originally set up is not enough. Shouldn't you let more people learn artillery?"

He felt that the artillery was too powerful and should be handled with caution. As for whether to expand the artillery regiment, the decision had to be made by the Sixth Prince.

When those cannons fired together, it was earth-shattering, like thunder from the sky. Who wouldn't be afraid?

It's simply a weapon of war.

Ning Yi thought for a moment and said, "When we get back, I will send people to expand the artillery regiments by two more."

"We need to train more artillery. It will be very useful in the future."

Artillery is the god of war and is naturally indispensable.

Zeng Zhizhong further explained that there were now nearly seven reorganized armies, two transport armies, and a base guard army of several thousand people in the base.

In addition, there are thousands of new cavalry recruits recruited from the northwest years ago. They are trained every day under the leadership of a group of wounded cavalry sent by Ning Yi.

It is becoming increasingly powerful, and the private army's Fourth Cavalry Army is about to be formed.

Similarly, a lot of servants were recruited before the New Year and are being trained intensively in the base.

The Second Army, the Fourth Army, and the Second Cavalry Army have been training in various mountain strongholds along the way to Jizhou.

The newly established Sixth and Seventh Armies included the screening of prisoners and the reorganization of the original Huai Army.

Ning Yi also arranged a place for them to be stationed. These soldiers were private armies and were trusted by Ning Yi.

Of course, we cannot release them all to Hushan Pass, so we have to place them all in the mountains a little farther away from the capital.

However, Zeng Zhizhong told him that King Ji had recruited more than 80,000 soldiers.

It looks very powerful and trains frequently, almost swallowing up Huaizhou.

They even threatened their stronghold, but before the New Year they still wanted to suppress the bandits and use them to train their troops.

As a result, they beat them up and fled back, leaving behind hundreds of corpses.

Ning Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Try not to conflict with Prince Ji."

"This fat guy is very weak now. This prince has already emptied out his family's wealth. He raised his team by relying on usury. He is not a concern."

"At worst, we can just try to avoid his harassment. We better not expose ourselves."

Zeng Zhizhong knows what to do.

The old manager of the intelligence department nearby was also waiting here.

I'm just worried that others in the capital will notice something.

At critical moments, it is better to be careful.

The old shopkeeper told Ning Yi alone: "Your Highness, currently, the Beijing camp has 40,000 soldiers and eight guards, and we have already controlled four of them."

Ning Yi was surprised: "So fast? There won't be any problem."

The old shopkeeper said confidently, "Your Highness, don't worry."

"Except for one brave guard who is one of ours, the other three have already obeyed our orders after continuous infiltration. However, they still don't know who is behind this."

Ning Yi was very satisfied. It seemed that the Intelligence Department had indeed achieved great success in its specialization in infiltration.

Then the old shopkeeper looked around again and whispered, "Your Highness, we have already taken control of several mid-level officers in the palace guards. We can probably command several thousand people, but some of the higher-level officers dare not move."

This was what Ning Yi had explained. Many of the senior military officers above were from aristocratic families of the Northwest Frontier Army.

For example, Feng Zhong was not only born into a military family, but also had outstanding military achievements. He was extremely loyal to the old emperor. How could he be controlled at will?

Maybe the old emperor will be alerted.

The old shopkeeper also assured that he was only controlling them and would not let them do anything under normal circumstances, for fear that any flaws would appear.

What surprised Ning Yi even more was that the old shopkeeper said that after a captain was taken under their control, he was sent to the southern camp by the old emperor.

The old emperor in the south has stored a large amount of money and grain, and all the information sent by this captain has been clearly grasped by their intelligence department.

Ning Yi found it funny. The old man stored so many good things in the south, just hoping that something unexpected would happen so that he could rebuild the court in the south.

I never thought that Ning Yi had already put his hand in.

Ning Yi thought about it and felt that the old emperor's attention had actually returned to the capital, and Hushan Pass could still be firmly in his hands.

Maybe the old emperor thought it would be better not to move the capital.

Those supplies in the southern camp cannot be wasted.

Ning Yi arranged for the old intelligence manager to not only continue to infiltrate the Imperial Guards, but also to go to the Southern Camp and put his strength there. If they could take control of the Southern Camp, it would be even better, as it would completely cut off the old emperor's retreat.

Ning Yi also said: "If possible, go to Hushan Pass more often to contact the Northwest Cavalry Army, and just control their mid-level officers."