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

Fangcheng is three hundred miles away from Hushan Pass in the northwest direction.

Fangcheng is located at a high altitude and is relatively dry, making it very suitable for storing military supplies.

In previous years, it was also a transit station for the Dawu Kingdom to transport military supplies to the border.

But last time, Fangcheng was attacked by surprise and Ning Yi took away a large amount of military supplies.

This led to the barbarians' lack of military supplies, and they were unable to capture Hushan Pass. The detachment that entered the pass was completely wiped out.

The barbarian Khan was forced to abandon Hushan Pass and return to recuperate.

But this time, after more than half a year of reorganization, the Barbarian Khan recovered batches of summer grain from various prefectures and cities, as well as a large amount of compensation from the capital.

It is enough to give the barbarian Khan enough confidence.

For this purpose, a large number of able-bodied men were specially recruited from all over the place. However, the barbarian Khan did not feel sorry for these people.

As for armor? Very little.

They were not even in a position to be compared with the rebels captured at the border.

The rebels can at least fight a decisive battle with the Wu army in the wild, but these able-bodied men are simply cannon fodder.

But even these cannon fodders, if reorganized, trained well, and given weapons, would be enough to fight against the regular army of Wu State.

Ning Yi has already ordered all armies to begin actively preparing for war.

The front-line battlefield at Hushan Pass was replaced by newly arrived troops from the Southern and Northwestern Armies.

More than 60,000 soldiers and horses are all new troops.

All the officers are ready to go and make achievements on the battlefield.

Since that’s the case, Ning Yi will naturally satisfy them.

However, his own temporary army became a supplementary force in the rear, and was even ridiculed by them, being captured and used as miscellaneous soldiers.

Ning Yi was having lunch when Qin Haifeng walked in and handed him a letter from the Ministry of War in the capital with a worried look on his face. "Your Highness, the Ministry of War just sent it. Next month, Duke Baoguo will take over as the commander of Hushan Pass and will lead the last eight guards to support Hushan Pass."

"You are asked to return to Beijing to report on your work."

Ning Yi paused with his chopsticks and continued with his head down, "It's okay, there's still a month left."

The so-called reporting back to Beijing actually means that the emperor will reward you after you return.

Ning Yi also knew that the old emperor wanted him to become a vassal.

Learned from some spies around the old emperor.

The old emperor often studied maps and thought about where would be the best place to send the sixth son.

According to the spies, the place where the old emperor wanted to give the gift was not only not wealthy, but there were other vassal kings nearby.

Ning Yi was speechless. This old guy was really a piece of shit.

Although he was not the old emperor's biological son, he was just an imposter.

But that also focuses on the prince's identity.

As a prince, he bravely withstood the pressure and blocked the attack of hundreds of thousands of barbarians at Hushan Pass when the Wu State was in danger.

He even openly complained and suffered all kinds of torture at Hushan Pass.

It can be said that the contribution is great.

As a result, the old emperor only wanted to send him to a remote place as a vassal.

That’s not all, there must be other vassal kings nearby, so that they can be used to threaten and restrain them.

The old emperor was so afraid that his son would rebel.

With all kinds of means of suppression, it is no wonder that the Wu Kingdom has always had bad luck. If all the attention is put on this aspect, how can the imperial court prosper?

Zeng Rou was picking up some food for him, and Liu Ye frowned as she said, "Your Highness, I think that as long as you are safe, it's good enough."

Ning Yi looked at her worried expression and chuckled, "Rou'er, do you think that if I really give up my military power, the old emperor will let me go?"

"Believe it or not, if I were to return to the capital, I would be attacked by countless people."

Ning Yi offended too many people, whether they were aristocratic families, princes, or even ministers in the capital, many of them held a grudge against him.

How could he allow Ning Yi to become a vassal without having any military power?

Who knows, once they get to the capital, they might cause all kinds of trouble for Ning Yi.

Moreover, Ning Yi didn't believe that once he decided to accept the fiefdom, the prime minister who had been secretly in contact with him would still be obedient.

Probably disappointed with Ning Yi, he took action immediately.

As for whether the old emperor would be determined to make him a vassal for the sake of face, or would he follow the public opinion and deal with him directly.

Ning Yi would not gamble that others would be merciful and forgive him, nor did he want to gamble. He wanted to take his destiny into his own hands.

Zeng Rou lowered her head, bit her lips, and muttered, "But, but it's too dangerous for His Highness to go against the Emperor."

Zeng Rou is just a little girl who wants to stay safely with Ning Yi.

Although he had become Ning Yi's man, he also followed Ning Yi to Hushan Pass and suffered for a long time.

But she is still young after all, so naturally she doesn't want to get involved.

If I could follow His Highness to become a vassal king in another place, and I would just be a concubine, I would feel very satisfied.

Ning Yi shook his head slightly, put his arm around her shoulders and comforted her: "Don't worry, this prince will be fine, and you will be fine too."

There are not many people Ning Yi truly trusts, and Zeng Rou is definitely one of them.

She never complained and followed him wholeheartedly, taking care of his daily life. With such companionship, Ning Yi couldn't ignore her.

But Ning Yi had something in his mind that he didn't say. Once he was enfeoffed, Dongfang Qing's child would become his younger brother.

This is something he cannot accept under any circumstances.

And the Dongfang family will definitely not let him go.

Dongfang Qing gave birth to a son in March. The old emperor was so happy that he named the son Wu Lingchang himself, which means that the Wu Kingdom will surely prosper.

Only Ning Yi was quite depressed. His woman gave birth to a son for him, but the father couldn't even go to see him.

That was clearly the Ning family's child, not their Wu family's.

But Ning Yi only dared to mutter these words in his heart.

Once this secret is known to outsiders, he will surely die a miserable death.

Even among the large number of troops under his command, few were willing to obey.

The reason why they have always been willing to obey his orders is because Ning Yi is a prince and a member of the royal family.

The royal family of this era was so deeply rooted in people's hearts that if you were not a royal family member, it would be almost impossible to lead an army and successfully rebel.

Unless the Great Wu Kingdom has reached its true end, all the vassal kings have been almost wiped out.

But the current Dawu Kingdom is far from being destroyed.

Sometimes, the emperors of the Wu Kingdom granted titles to vassal kings from generation to generation. Although they brought disaster to the local areas, each of them became a warlord.

Isn't this a way to further consolidate the imperial power?

And precisely because of this, the ones who are truly qualified to seize the throne are the imperial power, especially the old emperor's sons.

It even became the target of various defenses of the old emperor.

Ning Yi also knew that he had reached this point and there was no other way but to go on.

Otherwise, the army under his command will be useless, and even the base will be very likely to be exposed.

By then, the old emperor will definitely beat him to death.

You dare to build such a large base right under my nose and continue to arm your troops. There are so many private armies distributed everywhere. If you don't want to rebel, what else could you do?

Ning Yi's words made Zeng Rou shut up. She knew that she couldn't persuade him, nor did she dare to. She just needed to listen to His Highness's arrangements attentively. She believed that His Highness would not ignore her.