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

In June, Li Che personally took command and marched south from Fengtian.

The vanguard army was led by Yue Yun as general and Ji Taihan as deputy, leading an armored cavalry division of 10,000 men.

The commander of the left army was Chen Pingzhi, with his deputies Jie An and Jie Ming, who led three mixed infantry and cavalry armies and an artillery division.

The friendly army commander Wang Sanchun, and his deputies Li Leshi and Xue Zhen, also led three mixed infantry and cavalry armies, plus a mortar division.

Li Che personally led the central army, with Yang Xuan and Yelu He as deputy generals, accompanied by a group of military heroes.

The rear army was led by He Conglong, with Xue Wei as his deputy general. They led two infantry armies and hundreds of thousands of auxiliary soldiers and civilians, and were responsible for logistics supplies.

There are hundreds of generals in total, more than 100,000 regular troops, and including auxiliary troops and militia, it is enough to be called an army of 500,000.

From this point of view, Li Che actually has no shortage of military generals under his command, and it can even be said that he has a group of talented generals.

But Feng State's territory was too large, and generals were needed to garrison everywhere.

I just hope that those military heroes can grow up quickly so that Li Che won’t be left without anyone to use.

The army marched southward, and all the counties and prefectures in the north came to join the army upon hearing the news, and officials came out to welcome them.

Li Che was also busy. He promoted and transferred a large number of military officers and low-level generals from the grassroots level of the Fengtian Army to replace the officials left over from the old regime.

It's not that he wants to get rid of the donkey after it has served its purpose. Those officials who were replaced will naturally be properly placed in the rear and become officials in various departments of the court.

But now it is wartime, and Li Che must ensure absolute control over the newly occupied areas.

Crossing the North China Plain, the army reached a strategic fork in the road.

At this point, we have to start dividing our forces.

Li Che ordered Chen Pingzhi's troops on the left and Wang Sanchun's troops on the right to continue advancing southward towards the designated battle line.

They confronted the main forces of the Southern Army and the Southeastern Army that had already gathered there, creating an oppressive situation.

Li Che himself led the elite troops of the central army and Yueyun's vanguard cavalry, turned westward, and headed directly for Jin.

He Conglong's rear army remained in the rear temporarily, responsible for consolidating the occupied areas and ensuring that the long supply line from Fengtian to the front line was unobstructed.

To enter Jin, one must cross the Taihang Mountains.

The Taihang Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, with hundreds of ridges interconnected, thousands of peaks towering, and thousands of ravines deep.

For thousands of years, the Taihang Mountains have blocked traffic between Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan provinces.

In ancient times, it was extremely difficult to cross such a steep mountain range. The only way to enter Jin was through eight passages, which were called the Eight Passes of Taihang in ancient times.

The so-called Xing is the place where the mountain range is interrupted.

Li Che chose Puyin Pass, one of the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains, as his route of advance.

Marching on the rugged and steep ancient road, we looked up at the towering and steep mountains on both sides.

Li Che deeply understood the ancients' lament about the difficulty of traveling, and also understood why they attached so much importance to separation.

Such a natural barrier is indeed a place where one man can hold the pass against ten thousand men.

When the ancients went on a long journey, they would have to pass through countless such dangerous places, and if they were not careful, they could really die on the road.

Chen Gui rode his horse beside Li Che. Looking at the difficult march, his occupational disease came back again.

Looking at the precipitous peaks around him, Chen Gui excitedly suggested in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty! I think the natural dangers of Taihang are just this high!"

"If you will allow my Gunpowder Department to blast rocks here, I will issue a military order. Within a year at most, I will be able to blast a broad and flat thoroughfare for you."

Li Che glared at him angrily: "I made an exception and allowed you to accompany the army so that you can ensure the use of firearms in the army, not let you do whatever you want!"

"If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will immediately send someone to tie you up and send you back to Fengtian City."

Chen Gui shrank his neck and dared not say anything more.

There was no way. Li Che had said before that he would not let Chen Gui come to the front line again. After all, he was the most knowledgeable person about gunpowder in Feng State.

But this time, most of the troops are firearms troops, so he really needs a firearms expert to accompany him.

And as long as he stays by his side obediently, there shouldn't be any danger.

Zhu Chun, who was standing aside, stared at the increasingly narrow valley ahead, which looked like a thread through the sky, with a worried look on his face.

He rode his horse closer to Li Che and whispered, "Your Majesty, the terrain here is extremely dangerous. If there is an ambush, it would be disastrous. Even if His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin is loyal, it is difficult to guarantee safety..."

Li Che smiled confidently and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, old Duke. Prince Jin won't harm me."

Li Che's confidence did not come from blind trust in King Jin's character, but from his belief in his own intelligence.

Li Che now has three intelligence organizations under his command: the Night Watch, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Dark Guard.

They are all good at intelligence, so exploring the way is naturally not a problem.

They had already thoroughly explored the path ahead and the basic situation inside Jin.

Li Che even brought an exploration team from the Ministry of Works.

As a time traveler, he knew that there were rich coal resources buried underground in Jin.

In the future, this will be an important energy base for Daqing and must not be lost.

As they were talking, a scout horse came galloping from the front.

The scout came to the front of the emperor, reined in his horse, and reported with a bow, "Your Majesty! We are about to pass through the pass."

"Outside the pass, a large group of cavalrymen under the banner of the King of Jin are waiting!"

Li Che nodded slightly, his expression unchanged.

He then ordered the entire army to speed up, stay alert, and pass the last dangerous section of the road in an orderly manner.

After marching for about another half an hour, the view suddenly opened up and we finally walked out of the long highway.

On the open ground outside the exit, flags were waving and a large black mass of cavalry were lined up in an orderly, solemn and silent formation.

Under the sunlight, the armor on the knights reflected a cold light - it was actually a large-scale fully armored cavalry!

Li Che looked at the armored cavalry in front of him, whose clothes and armor were completely different from those of the Fengtian Army, and felt a little emotional.

He thought about when he had just crossed over and went out of the customs to the northeast, Li Lin also sent the armored cavalry of the Yan army to greet him.

At that time, the Yan army had only a few hundred armored cavalry, but they frightened the fledgling Li Che as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

Now the situation is reversed. Looking at the armored cavalry of the Jin army, Li Che's mood is calm.

No matter how powerful the armored cavalry is, can they withstand two rounds of artillery bombardment?

Li Che and Li Lin beside him looked at each other, and both brothers saw nostalgia in each other's eyes.

In front of the Jin cavalry formation, under a large banner with the word "Jin" on it, a general rode out on his horse, followed by several personal guards, and galloped towards Li Che.

When the man reached the front of the Fengtian Army formation, he immediately dismounted and ran over, then knelt on one knee without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, I, Li Cheng, pay my respects to you."

Facing Li Che, Prince Jin showed no brotherly airs and knelt down as soon as he was told to.

Li Che, a man of his word, went forward and helped the Prince of Jin to his feet. "Brother Jin, we are brothers. Why do we need such great courtesy?"

The King of Jin stood up and as soon as he stood still, he immediately took off the ornate sword at his waist.

He raised his hands and presented them to Li Che respectfully, saying solemnly:

"From today onwards, all 30,000 soldiers of the Jin State will obey your Majesty's orders."

"This sword is the token of trust!"

"Good!" Li Che praised loudly, reached out to take the heavy sword, and symbolically weighed it in his hand.

Then he put his arm around King Jin's shoulders affectionately, turned around together, looked at the group of elegantly dressed people behind King Jin, and asked, pretending to be ignorant:

"Royal brother, these people... must be the outstanding and wise men of Jin, right?"

The Prince of Jin immediately replied, "Your Majesty, these are the heads of the merchants and powerful families of Jin. Upon hearing that Your Majesty is coming, they have come here to greet you, hoping to see your Majesty."

Li Che understood that this group of people were the representatives of the wealthy Shanxi merchants.

He glanced at those faces with humble smiles and shrewd eyes, without showing excessive enthusiasm.

He just nodded slightly as a greeting.

Then, he smiled and said to the King of Jin, "Brother, we are reunited, and with so many wise men here, it's not appropriate to keep chatting in this desolate wilderness."

"How about we move to Jinyang City first and discuss it in detail?"

The King of Jin naturally agreed: "Your Majesty is absolutely right. It is my fault for not considering things carefully. Please follow me into the city!"

At that moment, the Feng Army and the Jin Army joined forces, with flags flying, and marched towards the capital of Jin State - Jinyang Prefecture.

Jinyang is an ancient city with a long history and has been developed since the pre-Qin period.

In ancient times, this place belonged to Jizhou, the first of the nine traditional Chinese states, and has a profound cultural heritage.

After Emperor Qing unified the country, he implemented the policy of "abolishing states and establishing counties" in the north. The seat of Taiyuan County was set up in Jinyang, and it had 15 counties under its jurisdiction, with a prominent status.

Later, the King of Jin was enthroned and this place was changed to become the capital of Jin.

However, when Li Che saw this long-famous ancient city with his own eyes, a hint of disappointment flashed across his eyes.

The prosperity of Jinyang City naturally cannot be compared with new cities such as Fengtian and Chaoyang.

After all, Fengtian and Chaoyang were built with the efforts of Fengtian’s military and civilians and the use of a large number of new technologies.

What surprised Li Che a little was that this ancient capital, which should be second only to Chang'an and the imperial capital in Daqing, looked particularly gloomy.

Although the city wall is tall and thick, the bricks are mottled and traces of repairs can be seen in many places, and the lack of maintenance is obvious.

Passing through the tall city gate, the scene before him made Li Che frown slightly.

The streets in the city looked gray, with low thatched houses and tiled houses on both sides, which were dilapidated and crowded.

This should be the area where civilians from the outer city live. It can be seen that there is a lack of management here.

Only by gazing far away can you vaguely see some imposing courtyards with green tiles and high walls deep in the city.

Those houses must be the residences of the Shanxi merchants who were rich enough to rival a country.

What made Li Che even more depressed was that when the elite Fengtian Army troops in distinctive uniforms and armor entered the city, most of the people on both sides of the street had numb expressions and empty eyes.

He just subconsciously avoided them and didn't cast many curious glances like the people in the imperial capital.

Li Che felt that it was already difficult for these people to survive and they were indifferent to who would rule this land.

Prince Jin keenly noticed the change in Li Che's mood.

He sighed and explained in a low voice, "Your Majesty, to be honest, Jinyang City has not always been so dilapidated."

"Four years ago, my father, the Emperor, stripped me of my real power and handed this place over to officials sent by the imperial court to govern. Things have only gotten worse."

"Oh?" Li Che glanced sideways, "The person sent by the Emperor is unreliable?"

"The newly appointed Jinyang prefect...is an honest official, neither greedy nor opportunistic, and possesses a straightforward character." The King of Jin's tone was somewhat complicated. "But perhaps because he's too straightforward, he's not very good at getting along with local nobles, especially merchants."

"This person believed that merchants' pursuit of profit was a lowly profession and had come into conflict with them on many occasions."

"This caused merchants who had originally invested in Jinyang to turn elsewhere, and the city lost its vitality and naturally became increasingly dilapidated."

When Li Che heard this, he understood what was going on in an instant.

The new prefect was a pedantic and honest official who was inflexible and stuck to the old doctrine of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce.

This kind of people are the most troublesome. They think that being honest makes them good officials, but they don't know that unblocking the economy and reconciling local conditions are the real ways to govern.

A typical case of an honest official making mistakes, he cannot be persuaded or stopped.

Li Che casually asked, "Where is that prefect now?"

Before he finished speaking, an old man wearing an old official robe that was washed white walked out from the corner of the street ahead.

The old man, leading a few clerks who were also dressed in shabby clothes, was walking quickly towards them.

The old man walked to the front of the carriage, ignoring the King of Jin beside Li Che and the powerful army behind him, and held his head high and chest out, bowing to Li Che politely.

"I, Kong Xing, the prefect of Jinyang Prefecture, come to see His Royal Highness the Prince of Feng!"

When Li Che heard this name and this behavior, combined with the surname Kong, he suddenly understood.

No wonder he could turn a good capital into such a mess, it turns out he is a descendant of Confucius!