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

Seeing Jie Ming kneeling on the ground with sincere feelings, everyone was surprised.

We just heard Zhuge Zhe describe Yang Zhongsi as so brave that we thought he was a military genius who had descended to earth.

In the end, you came here to ask for help?

Li Che smiled and didn't care about anything anymore. He just asked Jie Ming to tell the truth.

It turned out that after Yang Zhongsi led his troops north, he fought several battles with various tribes and won great victories in all of them.

When Yang Zhongsi left Ninggu County, he had less than 20,000 men under his command, one-third of whom were infantry.

Through his continuous wars to support wars, he rescued many Xia people from the barbarians and also enslaved some barbarian soldiers.

The number of his troops also soared to more than 40,000, and they were all cavalry.

But Yang Zhongsi also discovered a problem.

That is, the further north he fought, the more primitive the barbarian tribes he encountered were. They were all nomadic tribes, living a life of hunger and satiety.

Nomadic tribes have few people and can still make a living by nomadic fishing and hunting.

But Yang Zhongsi had more than 40,000 people, and most of them were Xia people who were accustomed to making a living by farming.

We can't feed so many mouths just by fighting.

Yang Zhongsi refused to return to Ninggu County, and it was even more impossible for him to take these to attack Shanhaiguan.

So he set his sights on the Goryeo Kingdom, which was an agricultural nation like the Xia people.

The reason why Goryeo was difficult to defeat was not because of their strong fighting power, but because they learned the skills of building cities and farming from their suzerain state, China.

The area where Goguryeo was located was narrow and mountainous, which was not conducive to large-scale military operations.

When Emperor Yangdi launched his third expedition against Goguryeo, they built nearly 200 mountain fortresses in the Liaodong hills, surrounding river valleys and roads.

There are also countless fortresses among the mountains in the northern part of the peninsula.

When Yang Zhongsi first entered Liaodong, he was indeed unstoppable and captured several cities in one fell swoop.

However, when winter comes and the temperature drops sharply, the situation begins to reverse.

The Goryeo army began to defend the strongholds and fortresses tightly, and did not come out. However, Yang Zhongsi's men were all cavalry, which made it difficult for them to march and attack the city.

Food and grass began to be consumed at a crazy rate. The surrounding tribes were afraid of Yang Zhongsi's reputation and had fled long ago. The method of replenishing food and grass by plundering was not feasible.

Morale began to decline, and many soldiers froze to death or starved to death.

After finally surviving the winter, half of the 40,000-strong army had been lost.

As soon as spring came, before the snow began to melt, Goryeo launched a counterattack on several cities in Liaodong.

The cities fell one after another, and before Jie Ming came out, only the isolated city of Anton was left.

"My brothers have suffered heavy casualties, countless have starved to death or frozen to death." Jie Ming's voice was filled with tears. "The Marshal risked his life to escort me out of the encirclement. I'm here to ask for reinforcements."

"Your Highness, please consider that our commander-in-chief has been fighting against the barbarians and send troops to rescue us. The entire Huan Kingdom army will be grateful."

After saying that, Jie Ming prostrated himself on the ground, his head banging against the ground. Soon, blood oozed out of his forehead.

Everyone couldn't bear to see such a man acting like this, and looked at Li Che hesitantly.

"Ahem." Zhuge Zhe cleared his throat and said, "Your Highness, I have something to say."

Li Che nodded and said expressionlessly, "Mr. Zhuge, please feel free to speak."

Li Che originally thought that Zhuge Zhe would say something to plead for Yang Zhongsi.

After all, even a fool could sense that Zhuge Zhe expressed great admiration for this loyal and courageous general of the previous dynasty in his words.

But unexpectedly, Zhuge Zhe came up with a shocking statement: "I think it is not appropriate for Your Highness to send troops at this time."

These words shocked everyone, and Jie Ming looked at Zhuge Zhe with resentment.

Zhuge Zhe didn't care about this at all and said seriously:

"Now that Ninggu County has just been pacified, the barbarian retaliation is imminent, and our army is already short of manpower. Liaodong County is so remote, we simply don't have the resources to rescue it."

Hearing this, Jie Ming sat down on the ground dejectedly.

Yes, I only saw the Ninggu Prince's swift and decisive measures, but forgot that he had just been enfeoffed and had very few soldiers at his disposal.

"What's more..." Zhuge Zhe's expression was complicated. "General Yang's troops are called the Huanguo Army. They are the army of the previous dynasty and are the enemy."

"Your Highness, sending troops to help is not justified. If the court knew about this, it would cause endless disasters."

Facing Jie Ming's murderous gaze, Zhuge Zhe lowered his eyes, neither happy nor sad.

Although he is also from a noble family of the previous dynasty and admires General Yang very much, it does not mean that he has to speak well of General Yang unconditionally.

Zhuge Zhe is His Highness's minister, so whatever he says and thinks must be based on His Highness's interests first.

Although Zhuge Zhe was not familiar with military affairs, he understood people's livelihood. Ninggu County now had few soldiers and lacked food, and was not in a position to send troops.

Li Che glanced at Zhuge Zhe with satisfaction, then turned to look at Jie Ming: "Did you... hear that?"

Jie Ming stood up expressionlessly and whispered, "I understand. In that case, I'll leave now."

After saying that, he wiped the blood from his head and turned away.

"Wait a minute." Li Che stopped him, "Where are you going?"

"Go to Shanhaiguan," Jie Ming replied. "Since Your Highness is unwilling to rescue us, I will go and ask the commander of Shanhaiguan for help."

Li Che sneered, "The commander of Shanhaiguan is a stubborn person. As a general of Daqing, it is a capital crime to dispatch troops without the emperor's order. There is no way he can help you."

"I have to try!" Jie Ming said firmly, "The Marshal has done me a favor, I can't fail to repay him."

Li Che showed admiration in his eyes: "Don't go, why don't you come to work for me, I will let you be a captain."

Unexpectedly, Jie Ming instantly became furious and shouted, "Your Highness, do you think I'm a traitor? Even if I die, I want to die beside the Marshal! Farewell!"

"That's not up to you." Li Che said with a smile, "Catch him for me!"

The guards around had been ready to move for a long time, and upon hearing Li Che's words, they rushed forward in an instant.

Jie Ming was shocked at first, then furious. He faced many bodyguards alone and punched and kicked without holding back.

"Your Highness, if you don't want to save me, then don't save me. Why did you attack me?!"

In shock and anger, Jie Ming burst out with unprecedented strength, and for a moment more than ten guards were unable to capture him.

Li Che saw that he was agile and his moves were like those of wild beasts fighting in the mountains, and he admired him even more.

"A Qiang, let him calm down." Li Che turned and looked at Hu Qiang beside him.

Hu Qiang suddenly stood up and headed straight for the battle circle.

Li Che remembered something again and said aloud, "Don't beat him to death."

Hu Qiang responded, silently put down the big stick in his hand, and rushed forward with bare hands.

Jie Ming only felt a wall suddenly appear in front of him, then his feet were suspended in the air, and then everything went black in front of his eyes.

Hu Qiang grabbed Jie Ming and slapped him on the back of the head, and the latter immediately fell into a baby-like sleep.

"Your Highness, it's done."

Li Che smiled and nodded: "That's right, take him away and keep him under good care."

"Don't mistreat him. Take care of his food and shelter. I have a lot of use for him."

Upon hearing this, the personal guards took orders and left.

After Jie Ming was dragged away, Li Che looked at the other people around him and suddenly said:

"This prince wishes to rescue Yang Zhongsi. Do you have any suggestions?"