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

In the government office, officials who had slept for less than two hours were called by Li Che to a meeting.

Li Che was not a person who liked to hold meetings, and he could not understand the behavior of those diligent emperors who held court every morning.

It was not until I became a vassal king that I realized that it was really impossible to not hold meetings.

The Ninggu County City, with a total population of less than 100,000, had a lot of things waiting for him to deal with, not to mention an empire.

"Your Highness, I have something I must mention."

Zhuge Zhe bowed and walked out, his face full of fatigue.

He did not attend the public trial, but he was still worried for a long time. He was relieved when he learned that his relatives had not committed any serious crime.

"Just say it." Li Che replied.

Zhuge Zhe calmly analyzed:

"Your Highness killed those barbarians yesterday. While this move was inspiring, it also left a lasting legacy of trouble."

"Those barbarians come from seven or eight nearby tribes, including the Mohe, Khitan, and Xi... Let's not worry about the other tribes for now. They're still far from Ninggu County, so they won't be sending any more people anytime soon."

"It's just that the Sumo tribe of the Mohe people is only half a day's journey from Ninggu County. The prince you killed was not an envoy stationed in the inner city, but was here for sightseeing."

"If the Sumo tribe doesn't see him return for a long time, they'll probably send someone to inquire about him. Then, the fact that you've taken over Ninggu County won't be concealed."

Although the internal strife has been temporarily resolved, external worries still exist.

The reason why the people of Ninggu County have ended up in their current situation is certainly due to the incompetence of the government and the greed of the aristocratic families, but it is mainly because of the barbarians around them.

Li Che said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zhuge, when do you think they will send someone?"

"Someone will come within seven days." Zhuge Zhe replied.

Li Che suddenly remembered something:

"Before we came here, we encountered a small group of cavalry and wiped them out. They were also Mohe people."

Zhuge Zhe frowned, "But there are more than 20 of them, all carrying bows and swords?"

Li Che nodded and said, "Exactly."

"Those are Mohe patrol cavalry." Zhuge Zhe sighed, "So... we have even less time."

"If the patrol doesn't return for a long time, the Li Mo tribe will definitely send someone to inquire about us. We only have about three days."

Nomadic people have the habit of migration, and the patrol's mission is generally to move away from the tribe and find new pastures.

Sometimes they also perform patrol and early warning tasks.

But they generally don't go too far. Even if they have to go far away, they will send someone back to the tribe to inform them.

Li Che asked again: "How strong is the Kurimo tribe?"

"A medium-sized tribe, with a population of over 10,000. Excluding women and the elderly, there are about 5,000 soldiers."

"Only five thousand men." Wang Sanchun sneered. "The inner city walls are high, and we still have ten thousand men. If they dare to attack the city, they will never return!"

Zhuge Zhe shook his head. "That's not the right comparison. We can defend the city, but what about the people? Should they all enter the inner city?"

"If that's the case, the enemy only needs to besiege the city and cut off its water and food supplies. The food and grass in the city won't last even three days."

Wang Sanchun looked unconvinced: "Then fight them! We all have one head on two shoulders. I don't believe that more than 10,000 people can't beat their 5,000 people."

Zhuge Zhe looked at Wang Sanchun helplessly, feeling like he was playing the lute to a donkey.

When facing the barbarians, the shortcomings of Li Che's generals gradually began to be exposed.

They all come from wild backgrounds, so it might be easy for these bandit leaders to command a few hundred people in battle.

Commanding a few thousand people is barely enough to cope with it.

But when commanding tens of thousands of people, and the opponents are barbarians, he is obviously powerless.

Most of them did not even have a basic understanding of the barbarians' combat capabilities, and knew nothing about the tactics of the barbarian cavalry.

Zhuge Zhe patiently explained, "The Mohe people are all cavalrymen. Each man rides two horses, and they are all skilled in riding and shooting. They come and go like the wind."

"Before you could even set up your battle formation, they came in droves, raining arrows down. When you gave the order to pursue, they spurred their horses and fled, avoiding your attack."

"Seven or eight out of ten of our Ninggu army are infantry. How can we confront them head-on with this tactic?"

Hearing this, Wang Sanchun, who had always been unruly, frowned and stopped bragging.

Wang Sanchun is not stupid. On the contrary, he is very smart as he comes from a peasant family, which is why he can sit on the position of mountain king.

The tactics of the Mohe people were simple, which was to make full use of the mobility of the nomadic cavalry and bring the hit-and-run horse archery tactics to the extreme.

The cavalry archery tactics were not invincible, and the Central Plains dynasties were not unable to defeat the nomadic cavalry.

Relying on their considerable protective power, heavy infantry can take advantage of terrain and formation to get close to and slaughter the cavalry.

Or like Huo Qubing, you can also gather an elite cavalry, use blitzkrieg, and defeat the enemy in the area where he is best.

Unfortunately, Li Che is currently unable to do either of these two things.

Just as everyone was lost in thought, a personal guard suddenly entered the room and reported, "Your Highness, someone is looking for you outside."

"Who is looking for me?" Li Che asked puzzledly.

"I don't know him. He's a big, fierce man." The guard said angrily. "We said His Highness was in a meeting, but he said he had something important to report. He insisted on rushing in and even knocked down a few of our brothers."

"We didn't dare to shoot him with bows and crossbows because we were afraid of delaying His Highness's affairs. It took seven or eight of us to subdue him."

Li Che became interested instantly after hearing this.

He knew very well the level of his personal guards. They were all good fighters selected from the criminal camp. Not to mention fighting ten people alone, they could easily beat four or five ordinary soldiers.

It takes seven or eight personal guards to subdue this man, which shows that his skills are quite good. Wang Sanchun and his men are about the same level.

"Bring it in, let me take a look." Li Che ordered.

"Yes."

Soon, a team of imperial guards escorted a strong man into the government office.

Li Che looked around and saw that all his personal guards had bruises and swollen eyes. Although they were not seriously injured, they looked a little embarrassed.

The burly man being held in the middle was over 1.8 meters tall and dressed like a hunter. He didn't look anything special.

"Your Highness, the person has been brought here." The guard kicked Li Ming viciously. "You've seen Your Highness, and you still don't kneel?!"

Jie Ming was not afraid at all. He just carefully looked at Li Che who was sitting in the main seat, secretly complaining in his heart:

The Prince of Ninggu has delicate skin and tender flesh. When you look at him up close, he is even more beautiful than a Bodhisattva.

Li Che waved his hand, signaling the guards to let him go, and then asked with interest: "Do you have something to talk to me about?"

Jie Ming said in a deep voice: "That's right."

"Okay, tell me now. If it's just some trivial matter, I will punish you for your offense!"

Jie Ming looked indifferent, shook his arms, and said with a salutary gesture, "I see that Your Highness has a heart for the people, but I wonder if Your Highness has the will to protect the country."

Li Che smiled and said, "So what if I do, can you help me?"

Jie Ming said in a muffled voice, "I don't have that ability, but there are people who can!"

"who?"

"My Marshal!"