I transmigrated to ancient times and became a king with a title equal to mine.

With more soldiers than ships, those who were not killed or wounded by the bombs died or were injured in the stampede as they desperately tried to board the ships.

In the end, most of the Dongjiang soldiers knelt on the riverbank in despair and surrendered.

Xiang Yu, who had managed to escape onto the boat, was heartbroken and overwhelmed with shame and guilt upon seeing this. With a clang, he drew his sword and kissed himself.

Fortunately, the guards were quick-witted and acted swiftly, otherwise they would have been doomed.

Xiang Yu led his defeated troops to retreat quickly to the south bank, by which time it was already dark.

On the Chinese naval ship, Xiang Yu listened to the report with a dejected expression.

"Your Highness, Qin Yonglu, the commander of the Southern Route Army, has abandoned his troops and left 20,000 brothers behind without authorization. We request that Your Highness punish him as a deserter."

The officer in charge of the central army was a member of the Dongjiang royal family. He pleaded with the Third Prince to punish the deserters and defeated generals in order to demonstrate the military's might.

Xiang Yu felt extremely aggrieved upon hearing this. He stared blankly at the officer in charge and asked, "I am also a deserter and a defeated general. How should I be punished?"

The officer was so frightened that he knelt down with a thud, trembling all over, and dared not utter a sound.

Xiang Yu was as clear-headed as a mirror. He had lost more than half of his hundreds of thousands of soldiers, let alone the Southern Route Army, which was acting as bait to penetrate deep into enemy territory.

He sighed and asked, "How many people did he bring back?"

"Two complete regiments, 29,000 men and 300,000 dan of grain, and 180 warships."

Xiang Yu was undoubtedly a shrewd man. By punishing others but not himself, he inevitably lost the support of the army, the people, and his generals.

Without hesitation, he said, "Issue the imperial decree: Qin Yonglu is promoted to the rank of Third-Rank Infantry Commander and Prefect of Jinzongzhuang. In addition, send an imperial physician to examine Lord Qin's health."

The officer paused for a moment and said respectfully, "I obey your command!"

"How is the northern army doing?"

"Your Highness, when Hu Jiafa, the Northern Route Commander, was burning down our granary in the valley, he sent three batches of carrier pigeons and five batches of fast horses to request evacuation from Fu. However, the carrier pigeons and fast horses have all disappeared. Unable to wait for your decree, he ordered a breakout and evacuation on his own."

"I only received the letter from Lord Hu's younger brother requesting punishment when you were injured."

Hearing this, Xiang Yu's face was already covered in tears. He sighed, "My soldiers from Dongjiang are all excellent, every one of them is a hero. It's a pity that their superior, me, is a foolish and incompetent ruler, even more useless than the Crown Prince of Daxia."

"Issue the imperial decree: The Hu family shall be rewarded with one hundred taels of gold and five maids."

……

Just as Xiang Yu was reflecting on his mistakes and racking his brains to win over the hearts and minds of the army and the people, the warships docked at the foot of Mount Taro suddenly exploded one after another.

Several loud booming sounds startled the Dongjiang soldiers so much that their souls nearly left their bodies.

Xiang Tian trembled all over and asked in surprise, "Is it thundering again?"

"Eight thousand years old, all the dozen or so warships on the shore were burned."

"what……?"

Just as Xiang Yu was utterly astonished, a whistling arrow suddenly shot into the cabin with a whoosh and a thud.

The terrified guard pulled out the signal arrow, took out the letter attached to the arrowhead, and handed it to Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu opened the letter, which read: "I advise the Third Prince to return to your capital immediately, or your ships will be burned in the next round. Long Bin, Southern King of the Great Xia Kingdom."

"Ah?" Xiang Yu trembled with shock, gritting his teeth as he said, "How dare this audacious Xia traitor chase us all the way to our country! Surround and intercept him, and kill the arsonist!"

Before he finished speaking, a cannonball landed with a loud bang, about thirty feet north of the ship he was on.

The cannonballs created towering waves that capsized all the nearby warships.

Xiang Yu, who had already risen into the air, was struck back into the air by a huge wave.

Even though he was a first-grade grandmaster, he was still shaken and coughed up blood, falling into the river with a thud.

Long Bin personally led his team across the Jiupai River, blasting the remnants of the Dongjiang Kingdom's army into a complete mess, and the Third Prince of Dongjiang sank to the bottom of the river.

For the first time in twenty-three years, the Great Xia Kingdom achieved a great victory, and the people of Lishui, Wujiang and other places beat drums and gongs and sang and danced.

The news that the King of the South had been granted the title of Commandery of Lishui spread throughout the southern region overnight, along with the joy of victory.

In the capital city of Yancheng, the king, upon learning that Long Bin had arrived in Lishui, announced at the court assembly that Long Bin was stripped of his title as crown prince of the Great Xia Kingdom, but was still granted the title of Southern King, with the fief of Lishui County, which governed Lishui City, Wujiang County, Hanxiang County, Jiaoshan County, Ruxu Prefecture, Zhujiang City, and Puzhenji and other places under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture.

Of the king's nine sons, the first eight were only granted the title of king, but not the title of territorial land.

Although Crown Prince Longbin has been stripped of his title, he has been granted a fiefdom, which has greatly displeased the eldest prince and others.

Most of the officials and civil servants were also deeply puzzled.

Right Chancellor Wang Zongbao stepped forward and knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, the 300,000 troops of Dongjiang are besieging Wujiang and Licheng. It is inappropriate for the Prince of the South to be granted a dangerous position at this time. I implore Your Majesty to withdraw this conferment and grant him another place instead."

The Minister of Personnel, the Vice Minister of War, and others also knelt in support of the Right Chancellor's views.

"Please rise, everyone. At this very moment, the Prince of the South has already personally led the army on behalf of me, fighting a bloody battle on the battlefield," Long Yunfu said with a smug smile.

"what……?"

"No wonder we haven't heard from the Prince of Nan for five days. Has he already arrived in Lishui?"

The second prince, Long Yingkun, felt a pang of unease: his father had done an excellent job keeping it a secret.

He hurriedly held up the imperial tablet and said, "Father, Long Bin's behavior is strange, and he must be plotting something big. You released him out of the capital, and he's like a fish in water. If he colludes with the Dongjiang Kingdom, Lishui will fall."

"What?" Upon hearing his second son's words, Long Yunfu's heart skipped a beat: Had the King done something wrong?

However, for five consecutive days, the Imperial Guard secretly reported that there was nothing unusual.

He could distrust anyone, but he couldn't distrust the Golden Guard.

Those were his own iron guards, the personal guards he had personally trained since he was the crown prince.

Seeing their father deep in thought, the eldest prince and the others all knelt down in a rush: "Father, Long Bin is too good at disguising himself. This man is far too dangerous. You stripped him of his title, and he must be holding a grudge. Now that he has left the capital, our Great Xia is in danger!"

When Long Yingkun spoke alone, Long Yunfu hesitated. But when his seven other sons spoke in unison, Long Yunfu became suspicious.

After Long Bin secretly left the capital, Long Yunfu summoned the Left Chancellor Wei Zhong and asked, "What does the old Chancellor think of Bin's continued feigned madness?"

Wei Zhong replied, "Your Majesty, how many lessons have been learned in history of fathers and sons killing each other and brothers turning against each other for the throne? Not to mention, didn't three brothers conspire to kill the crown prince seventy years ago in our dynasty, and then the three brothers killed each other, almost causing the downfall of the Great Xia Dynasty?"

Upon hearing this, Long Yunfu felt a chill run down his spine. He then immediately ordered Lan Tianpeng to secretly leave the capital to investigate the matter of the Third Prince of Dongjiang's last visit to the court.

Long Yunfu glanced at the assembled officials, about to speak, when suddenly his brows furrowed. The chief eunuch Rong Qi immediately said, "His Majesty is unwell; court is adjourned!"

The emperor and his minister worked together seamlessly, quickly moving the emperor to his bedchamber.

Left Chancellor Wei Zhong is the only living imperial son-in-law from the previous generation in this dynasty, namely: the king's uncle.

He followed the imperial physician into the bedroom. Rong Qi dismissed all the palace maids and the imperial physician. Long Yunfu opened his eyes and sighed, "Uncle-in-law, what do you think?"

"Alas... it's not wise to make a hasty decision on this matter. Bin'er going to Lishui is a double-edged sword. We can only wait and see."