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

Zhuge Zhe's brows were filled with worry, and he said sadly:

"From then on, the wealthy families of the inner city reveled every night, while the common people of the outer city starved and were often plundered and humiliated by barbarians. They were only separated by a city wall, but it was like two different worlds."

Zhuge Zhe's eyes were slightly red, and his words were full of hatred:

"They don't even allow the people to resist!"

"Why do you say that?" Li Che asked, suppressing his anger.

"Two years ago, some people could not bear the humiliation and rose up in resistance. Relying on their understanding of the city's terrain, they actually wiped out a cavalry unit of the Mohe people.

But who would have thought that the Mohe leader would put pressure on the noble families in the city. Unable to bear the pressure, those people actually sent out county soldiers to wipe out the resisting people!

Those people didn't think clearly before they died. They fought bloody battles and repelled the barbarians, but in the end they died at the hands of their own people.

They handed all the participants over to the Mohe people, and even executed the ringleader publicly, leaving his body exposed on the city walls, and the civilians were not allowed to collect the body.

bump!

Li Che slammed the wooden table in front of him, his anger evident in words.

This is more than just death! Whoever came up with this idea should be executed by slow slicing!

Since you don't have the courage to resist, you don't allow others to resist, and even want to kill those who dare to resist?

"Who are the leaders?" Li Che asked, suppressing his anger.

Zhuge Zhe sighed secretly. He knew that some things could not be avoided after all, and that what was coming would eventually come.

The Prince of Ninggu was ordered by the emperor to be enfeoffed as a vassal. Ninggu County was to be his future territory, and he had only two options.

Either they collude with the old guards of the previous dynasty and the barbarians in the inner city, or they take drastic measures to eradicate these filthy forces.

Now it seems that the prince must have chosen the latter.

"There are the Yuwen family, the Changsun family, the Pei family, the Zhou family, the Tang family... and... the Zhuge family."

Zhuge Zhe mentioned more than ten noble families in a row.

Li Che closed his eyes in pain.

He was very familiar with these families. When his predecessor was the Sixth Prince, they often wrote letters to him to ask about his well-being.

Every word in the letter was heartbreaking, describing how difficult life was for them outside the Great Wall and how they had to eat snow water to survive.

The previous incarnation was moved with compassion and pleaded with his mother and Emperor Qing repeatedly, which always displeased the latter.

But even so, our predecessor still sent the few allowances to the outside of the Great Wall to support their lives.

It seems that this group of people are guilty, but the culprit is Li Che himself!

Not knowing how to judge people is a sin of stupidity!

Li Che slowly opened his eyes, his tone returning to calm: "How many county soldiers are there in the inner city?"

Zhuge Zhe was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, "The original Daqing army had over a thousand men, and each family had over a thousand private soldiers, totaling over fifteen thousand."

"Although each family's property was confiscated, they still retained a large amount of private storage, including armor and weapons. Therefore, these more than 10,000 people are well-equipped, and half of them are wearing heavy armor."

"But the imperial court and the barbarians have very strict control. Although they have weapons and armor, they don't even have a war horse."

"Half of them are heavily armored?" Li Che looked at Zhuge Zhe in disbelief. "Seven or eight thousand armored soldiers, with such strength, dare not fight against the barbarians?"

Seven or eight thousand heavily armored infantrymen, even if you don't have horses and can't fight the barbarians in the field, at least it shouldn't be difficult for you to defend the city, right?

Why would you allow a bunch of barbarians to bully you to this extent?

Li Che finally understood that these people didn’t have no horses, they had no mothers!!!

"How many people are there in this Qihuo Cave?" Li Che asked again.

Zhuge Zhe instantly understood what Li Che was going to do and said resolutely, "There are more than 40,000 reliable civilians. Excluding the elderly, the weak, women and children, there are at least 20,000 able-bodied men who are capable of fighting!"

"Although we have no weapons or armor, if Your Highness wishes to accomplish great things, we will follow you until death!"

"Okay!" Li Che stood up suddenly. "I can't get all the armor, but I do have weapons."

"The days of these beasts' perverse ways are over. I intend to march into the city to fight them. Mr. Zhuge, do you dare to follow me?"

Zhuge Zhe's eyes were red, and he choked up and said, "Your Majesty, I will take on this responsibility!"

. . . . . .

The inner city gate slowly opened.

Qiu Bai sat upright on the king's carriage, but he felt a little nervous inside.

How noble is the vassal king.

I am just a criminal, but I want to pretend to be a vassal king. This is a serious crime that will result in the extermination of nine generations of my clan!

Even if His Highness allowed it, if it were to be leaked, I would be in big trouble.

Outside the carriage, Wang Sanchun was riding with him. Seeing Qiu Bai fidgeting in the carriage, he couldn't help but sneer:

"Why are you shaking like that? Are you scared?"

"What do you know?" Qiu Bai retorted, "Although I, Qiu Bai, was born a criminal, I also know the etiquette between the monarch and his subjects. How dare I be so presumptuous in front of His Highness?"

"You scholars are so hypocritical, even though you came from a criminal camp."

"Reckless man!"

"Sour and rotten!"

Although the two came from the same camp, they both disliked each other.

Wang Sanchun came from a humble background and looked down upon Qiu Bai, a wealthy scholar who was powerless.

Back when he was in the criminal camp, Qiu Bai was just a nobody. How could he compare to the famous Wang Sanchun?

Therefore, Wang Sanchun always felt that Qiu Bai was just lucky and was the first to surrender to His Highness, which is why he had his current status.

"Shut up!" As the two were bickering, Wang Sanchun suddenly shouted in a low voice, "Someone is coming."

Not far away, a group of people in official uniforms came over. When they saw the king, they all rushed forward, knelt on the ground, and shouted in unison:

"Welcome Your Highness!"

Then, there was a deafening cry:

"This old minister greets Your Highness. Your Highness, you are finally here."

"Your Highness, we welcome you, woo woo woo..."

"Now that His Highness has arrived, our Ninggu County will have a bright future."

"My Lord..."

Each of them cried with great emotion, as if their father had just died.

Qiu Bai even looked through the window and saw several gray-haired old men fainting from crying.

He couldn't help but twitch his lips and whispered, "Sour, smelly, corrupt scholar!"

Although he felt uncomfortable, His Highness's business was more important. Qiu Bai quickly recalled Li Che's appearance and controlled his expression.

Then he spoke in a gentle voice, "Please stand up quickly. This king has just arrived in his fiefdom, and I hope you will do your best to assist me."

A group of old men said they dared not, and then expressed their loyalty again.

Qiu Bai gritted his teeth and comforted everyone one by one, and finally persuaded everyone.

The carriage started again and headed towards the center of the inner city.

Wang Sanchun suppressed the nausea in his heart and ordered the soldiers to follow.

Suddenly, a young officer with a haughty expression stopped Wang Sanchun:

"Sorry, please stop, soldiers."

Wang Sanchun narrowed his eyes; "What do you mean, sir?"

Wang Sanchun's gaze was too fierce. Even though he had tried his best to restrain it, the murderous aura he unconsciously revealed still made the officer's heart tremble.

But in a flash, the young officer found himself intimidated by a crude military commander, and immediately became angry and embarrassed:

"Your Highness is going to such a noble place that you, a crude soldier, cannot go with him."

"Let's go to the military camp in the north of the city to rest and not disturb His Highness and the other gentlemen from reminiscing about the past!"