The government was sending out wives, and I ended up with a princess from the previous dynasty!

Wu Qingye shook his head: "Fighting won't be that easy either. A message sent by carrier pigeon from the northwest city of Xuanbi says that the Kushan Empire's army has been making unusual movements these past few days, and seems to be heading south!"

The Hanging Wall City is a frontier fortress in the far northwest of the Great Jing Dynasty. Built on a cliff, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Its purpose is to keep an eye on the Kushan Empire, which is composed of barbarian tribes such as the Xiongnu and the Yue people in the northwest.

"Your Majesty! I am willing to lead the army alone and conquer Sifang City!"

Shen Li clasped her hands in a fist and said.

Ji Wuxin hesitated for a moment, then frowned and asked, "You're leading the troops alone? What's the strategy?"

Ji Bingyan said, "Guo Yang is stationed in Sifang City with 100,000 Thousand Rock Army soldiers. As the attacking side, we have at least five times the strength of the enemy. However, we can only mobilize a maximum of 150,000 troops in Sifang City. The difference in numbers is too great!"

This is the consequence of years of war. Although the Great Jing Dynasty occupies the land of fish and rice in the Jiangnan region, its male population is far from sufficient!

Ji Wuxin fell silent. The shortage of soldiers in the army was indeed a very critical problem.

After a moment of silence, Ji Wuxin turned to Wu Quan and asked, "What did the three major workshops say?"

The three major workshops that Ji Wuxin mentioned are a powerful organization that claims to control the wealth of the world!

The three major districts are owned by the Langya Wang clan, an extraordinary family that existed even longer than the Great Jing Dynasty and was a prominent family in the medieval period.

Wu Quan clasped his hands and said, "Your subject has already contacted them. The managers of the three major workshops said that their masters are willing to provide twenty warships and a million arrows, but they must be allowed to have a monopoly on the cloth business in our Great Jing Dynasty from now on."

Ji Wuxin frowned: "They're taking advantage of our misfortune."

Ji Bingyan said with disdain, "This Langya Wang clan is no good either. They stir up trouble everywhere. Last year they supported Longwu Kingdom, and this time they're helping us. They're afraid we'll settle down!"

The eldest prince, Wu Fengju, said, "As long as we can take Sifang City, nothing else matters. I've heard that the Great Qing Secret Treasury contains handwritten copies of the Great Qing Divine Skill, the Dragon Elephant Divine Skill, and also the Yin-Yang Jade Stone, the best aid for practicing this skill."

Wu Fengju was a martial arts fanatic.

Shen Li was very unhappy after hearing this. She hated these unscrupulous merchants the most. It was really not worth it to exchange the well-being of the people for their own benefit!

If fabric and similar products were monopolized, the cost of living for ordinary people would undoubtedly increase significantly!

"Your Majesty! I request permission to command 150,000 troops; I will surely capture Sifang City!"

Wu Fengju frowned: "Prince Shen, now is not the time to act rashly. 150,000 troops are far from enough. If we fail, can you bear the consequences?"

Ji Bingyan also said, "Ah Li, think it over."

Wu Qingye suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, where is the Grand General?"

Ming Heying, the Great General Protector of the State of the Great Jing Dynasty, is known as the Pillar of the State.

Ji Wuxin had already planned to have Ming Heying return to the capital from the southwest and join forces with the court to take Sifang City.

However, Mingheying took the opportunity to propose that Princess Taiping should marry her own foolish son!

Ji Wuxin politely declined.

"General Ming said that the Baiyue barbarians in the southwest are restless and he is under great pressure and cannot get away from it."

It's obvious that Ming Heying is trying to sow discord between the Empress and the Empress.

"Your Majesty, please believe me! Give me 150,000 troops, and I will surely take Sifang City!"

Prince Zhenbei, Shen Li, looked resolute.

Several princes and Ji Bingyan all felt that Shen Li was being too reckless.

This is not a simple matter of suppressing a rebellion.

"Tuk~Tuk~"

Ji Wuxin tapped her slender fingers lightly on the armrest, and finally nodded: "Granted."

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable!" Wu Fengju immediately objected. He was a veteran of many battles and very familiar with siege warfare. Sifang City was originally an important city of the Daqing Dynasty, built by a master of the Kumu School at great expense, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack!

To force a siege without an army of 500,000 is tantamount to suicide!

In addition, Guo Yang, who was guarding the city, was a famous general of the Longwu Dynasty. Although he was only thirty years old, his cultivation had already reached the late stage of the Vajra Realm.

In the parlance of the martial arts world, he is a martial arts prodigy who appears only once in a century!

Ji Bingyan also said, "Your Majesty, this matter is too risky. Perhaps we can use other methods."

Wu Qingye also stepped forward: "Your Majesty, 150,000 troops are indeed too few, and we see no chance at all."

Ji Wuxin ignored the objections of the others and looked at Shen Li with a serious expression, saying, "Prince Zhenbei, is this alright?"

Shen Li gritted her teeth: "Fine!"

Ji Wuxin smiled faintly: "Very good! Just tell me what you need, and I will grant it! Go and prepare!"

"My lord, resign!"

Shen Li accepted the military order and turned to leave.

Wu Fengju and the others wanted to object, but Ji Wuxin simply shook his head and waved his hand, saying:

“Feng Ju, we are going to attack Longwu. The Xiongnu in the north might take advantage of the situation. You have to be prepared and not let these barbarians take advantage of the situation.”

"No need to say anything else, I will definitely take Sifang City!"

"My son, take your orders."

Wu Fengju was not good with words, so he simply nodded and accepted the order.

In truth, he also wanted to take orders to attack Sifang City and spar with the Qianyan Army, but 150,000 men were simply too few!

Yuecheng is not far from Yilan County; to be precise, it is located downstream of Yilan County.

In other words, if you follow the small river behind Jia Daoshi's manor eastward, it will merge into a main river. Yuecheng is located south of this main river, about fifty miles away from Yilan County.

After leaving the city lord's mansion, Shen Li hurried back to Yilan County.

When Rouya saw her master looking flustered and gritting his teeth, she thought something terrible had happened.

"Your Highness, what has happened? Have the rebels escaped again?"

Shen Li shook her head: "Go and invite Mr. Jia. Tell him it's an extremely urgent matter."

Seeing that Shen Li spoke with great urgency, Rouya didn't dare to ask any more questions and rushed to Jia Daoshi's manor as soon as she left the house.

At this time, Jia Daoshi was still busy in the blacksmith's workshop, which was already filled with hundreds of parts of all sizes. Jia Daoshi had been so engrossed in it these past few days that he could not extricate himself.

The more he followed along, the more he realized that the author of "The Art of Overbearing Mechanisms" was simply a genius. The ingenuity of some of the components was even far beyond that of modern society!

"My lord, Shen Li's daughter, Rouya, has arrived. She says it's extremely urgent and she needs to see you."

Yi Qianxiao's voice rang out from outside the blacksmith's workshop.

"Extremely urgent?"

Jia Daoshi emerged from the blacksmith's workshop.

“Alright, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen our Prince, let’s go and pay him a visit.” Jia Daoshi nodded. “Qianxiao, you come with me to pay him a visit too.”

"it is good."

……

Shen House.

As soon as Jia Daoshi and Yi Qianxiao entered the room, they were led directly into the study.

Shen Li was playing with a tiger tally in her hand. When she saw Jia Daoshi come in, she casually tossed the tiger tally in her hand into Jia Daoshi's hand.