Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

Wu Tianxing's body stiffened and he looked at Qin Ming in surprise.

"Your Majesty guessed it so quickly?"

"Training over a hundred thousand troops, we can't fight the Tiger Roar Guards head-on, and we can't support the west coast if we don't go to the Hong family. I can't think of any other place to go."

It was only after Wu finished speaking that Qin Ming finally figured out Ye Shoujiang's purpose.

His goals were clear from beginning to end.

Since the Yan royal family has joined forces with the Hong family, one of the Four Pillar States in the north, they have arranged for the royal elite and the Hong family's unique Snow Mountain Cavalry to attack together.

This means that the Hong family must be short of staff recently.

Ye Shoujiang took advantage of the opportunity and took advantage of the situation, which was also a clever move.

"Speaking of which, why has the Hong family never participated in the battle between the Wu and Yun families?"

At this moment, Qin Ming suddenly remembered a question that had been buried in his heart for many days.

No matter what time it was, the Hong family seemed to have no intention of participating in the war against the Yan Dynasty.

Apart from the Yan royal family specially arranging people to transfer troops from them, there was no other action.

Upon hearing this, Wu Tianxing said sternly:

"Of course. The Hong family lives in the extremely cold north. They're content to live well, and no one covets their territory. They're the only one among the Four Pillar States who was begged by the royal family to stay there."

Similar to the location of Daqian, the Yan Dynasty also has a mild and humid climate in the south and bitterly cold in the north.

Therefore, as long as the Hong family guards the north, they have made a huge contribution.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t fulfill your obligations to the royal family like other major families do.

"I see. I wonder how many Snow Mountain Iron Cavalry they sent to support Daqian?"

Qin Ming heard what the other party meant. If the Hong family was in the bitter cold land of the far north, the number of troops he had would definitely not be too many.

After all, infrastructure construction there is very difficult in this era, and the people's survival pressure will be greatly reduced.

If they couldn't make it in other places, they wouldn't be sent here to live.

"Not many. The Snow Mountain Iron Cavalry combined don't exceed 200,000. At most, we can send half of them to Daqian."

"For so many years, the population of the Hong family in the north has been exclusively supplied by the Yan royal family. They would send prisoners, slaves, and some common people who were no longer protected by high-ranking nobles to the north, but their chances of survival were much lower than usual."

Wu Tianxing gave a detailed account of what he knew.

As Qin Ming guessed, there was indeed a problem with the population size of the Hong family, and they didn't even have many troops.

Even if the Yan Dynasty royal family actively controlled the population migration, the long journey and the severe cold meant that even if people were sent during the warmest months each year, more than half of them would die when they arrived.

This resulted in the Hong family not being able to develop for many years.

Correspondingly, they are also the most loyal and best controlled family by the royal family.

"What do you need from me this time?"

After understanding Ye Shoujiang's actions, Qin Ming looked at Wu Tianxing. If it was just a message, he wouldn't have to come here specially.

Sure enough, Wu Tianxing smiled and said:

"To be honest, it's winter already. We can already feel the chill here, not to mention General Ye who is heading north."

"The Wu family now needs to arrange cotton-padded clothes for General Ye to keep warm. The roads in the north are difficult to travel. Not only the cotton-padded clothes, but also the transportation of food, fodder, and some weapons and equipment will cost more than usual."

"The Wu family has deployed heavy troops everywhere and is in frequent conflict with the royal family. Many business routes have been cut off, and even the Xingjia Pass is inaccessible. So I would like to ask you to think of a solution."

The first trade between Wu Wenzhou and Qin Ming ended a long time ago.

After the actual contact, he tasted the sweetness of trading with Qin Ming.

Taking advantage of the war, this guy shamelessly asked his son to come over and ask Qin Ming for more resources.

Seeing the other party's attitude was so genuine, and he kept talking about interests, Qin Ming frowned and thought for a moment before saying:

"Yes, but the cotton clothes and supplies must be the same as before, without any damage. In addition, we must arrange 100,000 Wu family troops to assist Daqian in defending Lian'an City."

Since the other party asked for something, Qin Ming naturally had to put forward corresponding conditions.

After all, giving the other party more trade routes will bring huge benefits.

"I need to ask my father about this."

Wu Tianxing thought about it and did not immediately agree to Qin Ming's request.

Qin Ming wanted a lot of things, especially supplies.

This is equivalent to standing on the shoulders of the Wu family to fight, which will consume a lot of the Wu family's resources.

"How about this? I'll have the Nanyang Merchants come over to take over with you, and we'll settle this matter now."

Seeing that he was hesitant, Qin Ming directly dropped a bombshell.

The Nanyang Merchant Caravan is well-known. When they come to take over from the Wu family, it will be like having divine help in doing sea transportation in the future!

"make a deal!"

Now, even Wu Tianxing didn't have to think about it and made the decision on the spot.

After sending him away, Qin Ming asked Chen Pi and Chang Baishan to return from the front line and announced an important decision with a serious expression.

"Let's take a detour and have the Wu family lock up all the remaining Tiger Roar Guards in the mountains outside Lian'an City. We'll go to Jiaguan!"

"what?!"

Chenpi and the other man gasped.

This is the most radical decision Qin Ming has made recently.

Xingjia Pass is blocked by the Yan River, which forms a natural barrier and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is also very easy to recruit soldiers in the enemy's territory.

Now that Qin Ming has failed to capture Lian'an City and open up the road behind, he has to withstand the pincer attack from the Huxiao Guards behind him and Yan Wujiang in front of him and forcefully attack Xingjia Pass.

The risk is simply too great.

"Your Majesty, even if the Wu family can provide support, we can wait for the reinforcements to arrive and then join forces with them to eliminate the Tiger Roar Guards. This is the safest strategy."

After hearing what Qin Ming said, Chen Pi suddenly felt that it was not right, so he hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"There's no time left. We need to end the war quickly and reunite with Liu Chuang."

Qin Ming calculated the time and found that the battle between Liu Chuang and the Ouyang family was about to end.

Liu Chuang, who was fighting from south to north, had been constantly blocked by Yan Ziqiong like Cao Chuan and his men, and during this period he was also blocked by the troops of the third prince Yan Zheng.

If Liu Chuang advances into the central area and Qin Ming and his men have not yet arrived, they may face encirclement and suppression from the three major forces of the Yan Dynasty.

Even Yan Wujiang might turn around and attack.

After receiving information about Ye Shoujiang's movements, Qin Ming decided not to continue wasting time here.

During this period of time, he also deeply understood a truth: facing a force like the Tiger Roar Guards with strong cohesion and conviction, it is very difficult to defeat the enemy in a short period of time.

So he didn't plan to waste any more time here.

At least Lian'an City has been taken. If Xingjia Pass is taken, the door to the Yan Dynasty will be completely open to Daqian.

By then, even the Tiger Roar Guards would not be able to defend so many areas to prevent Qin Ming from infiltrating.