We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

"The northern aristocratic families are arrogant, relying on their millennial heritage to repeatedly challenge the imperial court's authority. Their tentacles have penetrated every corner of this land. If I don't take action, they will truly regard themselves as the local emperors of the north."

"As for letting the troops destroy the pass, it was indeed my order. But the Ninggu army had just arrived outside the pass and couldn't even get out of Shanhaiguan. Where is my authority? If I don't do this, how can I get my soldiers to submit?"

"As for the Ninggu Army's over-sized organization..." Li Che paused, "This king does not acknowledge it."

"I only have the 1,500 personal guards that my father promised me. As for the rest of the army, they are just militias spontaneously formed by the people."

Huang Jin breathed a sigh of relief temporarily.

Although it was said that Prince Ninggu had three crimes, the only thing that really concerned Emperor Qing was the excessive number of his personal soldiers.

When a vassal king possesses a large army and wealth, he has enough strength and capital to challenge the authority of the imperial court.

Emperor Qing himself is not afraid of such things, but he is worried about what will happen if there is an incompetent king among the future generations who cannot suppress these vassal kings?

As long as Li Che admitted that the army exceeded the standards and did not hide it, it meant that he definitely had no intention of rebelling.

"Old slave, let me ask you one more question. How many militiamen does Your Highness have?"

"Hmm." Li Che thought for a moment and said truthfully, "About thirty or forty thousand."

thump--

Huang Jin didn't sit firmly and fell to the ground, and the hot wine spilled all over his crotch again.

Ignoring the pain between his legs, Huang Jin widened his eyes and said, "Mr. Duo...Mr. Duo?"

Li Che remained calm and composed: "To be precise, including my personal soldiers, I should have 40,000 troops under my command."

"My Highness," Huang Jin cried, "How dare you... How dare you? A prince is only allowed to have three battalions of guards!"

The so-called three battalions of guards do not mean three people, but three guard battalions.

According to regulations, the strength of each guard battalion is between 5000 and 20,000 soldiers, which means that an ordinary prince has 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers under his command, which is relatively reasonable.

But Li Che was only a prince after all, and a prince had 40,000 troops under his command. If this news reached the court, the ministers would definitely be uneasy.

"But I am a vassal king on the border, and Ninggu County has to face threats from the Mohe, Khitan, Goryeo and other tribes at all times!" Li Che said seriously.

"When I first arrived in this city, the aristocratic families of the previous dynasty colluded with the barbarian forces and took over the entire Ninggu County. The Ninggu County garrison existed in name only. I was only helping Ninggu County reorganize its army. These militiamen should not be considered under my command, right?"

"This..." Huang Jin was speechless for a moment. "This matter cannot be decided by me. I will have to review it and report to Your Majesty truthfully."

Li Che glanced at him and said nothing.

It was just 40,000 troops. Li Che believed that his adopted father, the emperor, still had some leniency.

Not to mention the tens of thousands of defenders in Shanhaiguan, the army of Yan Fan’s fourth brother alone has 50,000 troops.

My father must also be aware that it would be difficult to gain a foothold in this area outside the Great Wall without these troops.

"That being said, 40,000 people are too many..." Huang Jin looked embarrassed.

"Not much, not much."

Li Che sneered in his heart, thinking that 40,000 people were a lot. If you knew the actual situation of Chaoyang City now, you would be scared to death.

It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that everyone in Chaoyang City is a soldier today, but it is not an exaggeration to say that everyone is an excellent source of soldiers.

The people in the city have all participated in battles with the aristocratic families and have seen blood. Some of them also contributed as laborers during the conquest of Andong City.

Even the captives in the city, whether they were former Ninggu County soldiers, Goryeo soldiers, or Mohe people, had combat capabilities.

Regardless of the quality of the weapons and equipment seized from various places, the quantity has already filled the warehouses to the brim, enough to equip 100,000 people.

In other words, as long as Li Che is willing, he can instantly gather an army of 100,000 with combat experience!

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." Li Che put on a smile again and changed the subject. "Otomo, you came all the way here, you shouldn't just come to question me, right?"

Huang Jin's expression eased slightly, and he quickly agreed, "That's right, that's right. His Majesty heard that Your Highness had established a firm foothold outside the Great Wall, so he asked this old servant to bring some rewards."

"However, this mission is to investigate crimes, so we cannot make it public. I can only report to you privately."

"Oh?" Li Che became interested. "What does the emperor want to give me?"

Huang Jin quickly stood up and bowed towards Nanfang.

Then, he told Li Che everything like he knew it all:

"First, there are 20,000 slaves. They are all young and strong laborers rescued from various brothels. They can help Your Highness open up wasteland and cultivate land."

Li Che nodded with satisfaction.

Yes, I thought my cheap father only allocated 20,000 slaves to me, but I didn’t expect that they were all carefully selected young and strong people.

What they lack most are young and strong people. Whether it is for mining, reclaiming wasteland, or serving as soldiers, they are short of manpower.

"Secondly, this time the imperial court is banishing all the criminals. Instead of sending them to places like Yazhou, Lingnan, and Fangling, they are all being sent here to Your Highness."

Huang Jin glanced at Wang Yongnian, who was silent beside him. "Among the prisoners, there are many talented people like Lord Wang, who were once important officials in the court."

The smile on Li Che's face grew even wider.

Not only did we send people, we also sent talents.

The criminals sentenced to exile were definitely not guilty of treason.

Other crimes only show that they have character problems, and it does not prevent me from using them.

After all, the original Ninggu Army was just a group of criminals.

Li Che asked, "How many criminals were exiled?"

Huang Jin replied, "More than 300 people, more than half of them are criminal officials."

Li Che nodded. So that means more than a hundred literate scholars?

Huang Jin added, "Your Majesty, mindful of the difficulties Your Highness has faced in starting your own business, has allocated 100,000 taels from the treasury to Your Highness for development."

Seeing that Li Che's expression did not change, Huang Jin whispered again:

"I, the old servant, took the initiative and thought that Ninggu County might be short of copper. So, I exchanged 80,000 taels of copper for an equivalent amount of copper coins along the way."

Li Che's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, you understand me."

Emperor Qing is so sensible, so we can’t secretly call him cheap father anymore. It’s better to call him... Prince of Understanding, right?

There are three types of trading currencies used in Daqing, all of which are rare metals, namely gold, silver and copper.

The most common currency is copper coins. Gold or silver can also be used for payment, but the proportion of gold and silver payments is relatively small, and they are almost never seen in ordinary transactions among the people.

Gold and silver transactions are only used when large transactions are involved, especially transactions between wealthy families or royal aristocrats.

Although the 100,000 taels of silver given to me by my cheap father is a lot, there are currently no opportunities for large-scale transactions in Ninggu County, so I can't use it at all.

But if it is replaced with copper coins, it will be different.

One tael of silver is usually equivalent to one thousand copper coins, and eighty thousand taels of silver is equivalent to eighty million copper coins.

Ninggu County was really short of money, and most of the transactions among the people still had to be done through barter. With these 80 million coins, at least the copper coin transactions could be promoted.

Li Che was delighted and pointed at Huang Jin and said, "My dear companion, you are truly a timely rain. You deserve a reward!"

"I am just guessing, I dare not talk about my achievements, I dare not talk about my achievements." Huang Jin bowed repeatedly.

Li Che disagreed. He had already promised to reward her, so how could he go back on his word?

He looked around and didn't have any reward at the moment, so his eyes suddenly shifted to Xiaosong who was sitting on the ground licking his paws.

He grabbed Xiaosong's neck, put it in Huang Jin's arms, and said with a smile:

"This tiger is well-behaved and adorable, and I like it very much. Since you have done me such a great favor, I will let you pet it for a few days."

Huang Jin caught Xiaosong with a confused look on his face, only to feel his hand sink. He subconsciously lowered his head, just in time to meet a pair of yellow-brown tiger eyes.

In "Water Margin", the tiger is described as "a big tiger with white forehead and hanging eyes", which means that the tiger's eyes are very big and poisonous.

This is indeed the case. The tiger's eyes are yellow with a deep black spot in the middle, revealing a ferocity and determination.

Being stared at by such a pair of tiger eyes, Huang Jin immediately trembled. She wanted to let go but was afraid of hurting Li Che's well-behaved tiger cub. She could only suppress her fear and thanked him with a crying voice:

"Slave, old slave...thank you for the reward, Your Highness~"