Father, I really don’t want to be the emperor

Ning Fan nodded: "There are wars and rebels everywhere. If these rebels are allowed to annex each other and eventually merge, it will be a serious problem for Da Kang! We must defeat them as soon as possible."

"With so many troops from the imperial court not dispatching, why does His Highness have to take action?"

Cheng Yueying was puzzled.

Ning Fan didn't want to explain. As a simple woman, it was better for Cheng Yueying to be more naive.

Ning Fan originally wanted to keep Cheng Dong and his sister for a few more days, but he didn't know that Cheng Dong would be in a hurry to go back the next day.

He said that the situation in the capital was urgent and he wanted to personally escort the food back to the capital.

Ning Fan was not easy to persuade, so he just gave a face-to-face answer, saying that he would raise troops to quell the rebellion soon.

He also wrote a memorial and asked Cheng Dong to take it away and deliver it to him.

Everyone in the east was reduced to a pot of porridge, and Ning Fan lamented that his news was closed.

But it is true that in this era, it takes at least half a month to travel from south to north.

If the news really came through, it would have been many days ago.

Before leaving, Ning Fan found Zhou Qun and explained some things.

There are 40,000 dragon scale troops, and Ning Fan wants to take away 30,000.

These sergeants are all direct descendants of Ning Fan and have been trained by him. But at this time, they must face the real test.

The army set out from Jiangzhou and took a boat all the way east. When they arrived at the banks of the Yishui River, Ning Fan immediately ordered the army to stop.

"Your Highness, the waterway is impassable. We people can't bear it, but even the horses can't!"

Chen Yuanqing sighed.

"That's why I stopped to rest."

Ning Fan was noncommittal.

A steady stream of intelligence was gathered, and in Ning Fan's camp, dozens of staff members analyzed various data and intelligence every day.

In four days, Ning Fan basically gathered all the information and figured out the basic situation of these rebels.

There are three largest rebel groups. One is named Tian, ​​and its leader is Tian Fu. This person is said to have 100,000 men, but at most he only has 20,000 to 30,000 men.

The second rebel group was named Zhu, and its leader Zhu Guan was also the most powerful and cruel group. It was said that wherever they went, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. There were at least 60,000 people under their command.

The third branch, which is the one closest to Ning Fan's current position, is led by Guo Kai, who was previously the Tuan Lian General. This man led his soldiers to mutiny, and then started a vigorous uprising against Dakang.

After analyzing the three rebel armies, Ning Fan felt that the one that threatened the most was actually the seemingly inconspicuous Guo Kai.

First of all, Guo Kai can only be obtained by being a sergeant, and he was promoted to regiment training general because of his bravery in fighting on the border.

Secondly, the family behind Guo Kai is a well-known local wealthy family with strong financial and clan support.

Now among the three rebel armies, Zhu Huan's rebel army and Guo Kai's team have shown signs of merging. If these two people collude, then Tian Fu's rebel army will not escape the fate of being annexed.

"Your Highness, although the other party claims to have millions of people, there are actually not many. There are many people in the east who have starved to death, so there is no intention to rebel."

Chen Yuanqing didn't seem to take these people seriously at all.

Ning Fan didn't think so. He shook his head and said: "The situation seems not to be what you think. We always take it one step at a time and don't jump to conclusions as soon as possible."

On the seventh day of the team's departure, Ning Fan ordered the team to raise a flag and target not the three rebels, but one of them, Zhu Huan's team.

This decision first made Chen Yuanqing confused. He didn't know what Ning Fan meant.

"There is no doubt that these people are our enemies, but we must divide them and not let them join forces."

Ning Fan also attaches great importance to teaching Chen Yuanqing something, and he is very optimistic about Chen Yuanqing.

"What your Highness means is that if we only target one, the other two will be lucky and stand aside! If we target three, then they may join forces."

Chen Yuanqing suddenly realized.

"It's not a possibility, it's a certainty."

Ning Fan chuckled.

"Your Highness, Ping'an County is ahead, do we want to go in?"

An outpost came to report.

Ping'an was also the first place to be swept away by the rebels. Ning Fan really wanted to see what the place where these rebels passed would look like.

Only after entering the city did Ning Fan deeply understand the cruelty of war.

The county that originally had a population of more than 30,000 people now has less than 3,000 people left!

The whole city is full of ruins, corpses can be seen everywhere, and the city is filled with a stench.

Entering this city, Ning Fan seemed to have entered a hell on earth.

"Wherever those rebels went, they killed everyone they could and took away everything they could..."

The grandfather of Ping'an County cried.

Ning Fan looked at the gray-haired old man with a touch of contempt on his face: "The people in the city are dead, why is the county magistrate so good?"

As the saying goes, murder kills the heart. The county magistrate was just planning to show off his misery to gain sympathy, but he didn't expect that Ning Fan's few words almost broke his guard.

"Your Highness, I have no choice but to do this. I have no choice."

The magistrate quickly knelt down.

Ning Fan was too lazy to talk nonsense with such a person, so he turned around and left.

"Judging from some traces in the city, most of the rebel weapons are crude and have limited combat effectiveness."

Ning Fan said to Chen Yuanqing.

He personally took Chen Yuanqing to the corpses and analyzed their wounds.

The conclusion reached is that most of the weapons of this rebel group are farm tools.

There are some hoes, and there are also quite a few sickles and axes.

"Your Highness, the latest spy brought back information that all three rebel armies suddenly mobilized and headed towards the capital."

Chen Yuanqing said worriedly.

After Ning Fan heard the news, his expression became even more gloomy.

This is not good news, indicating that the three rebels have reached some kind of contract.

"Tell brothers, we have to speed up! We must get there before these people reach the capital. We have to get there first."

Ning Fan ordered to Chen Yuanqing.

The 30,000 Dragon Scale Army has at least 5,000 cavalry, and the remaining 20,000 infantry troops cannot move quickly.

After all, there is no way to transfer people on a large scale, so the cavalry can only go first and slowly follow up later.

It was at least three days' journey from Hiraganishi to Kyoto, but considering that the army mainly relied on its feet to measure the earth, the speed had to be slower.

Ning Fan initially estimated that it would take at least seven days to reach Kyoto.

Only when you get there first can you be prepared.

After several days of traveling, Ning Fan was a little exhausted, but he had to grit his teeth and persevere.

At dawn on the sixth day, Ning Fan finally returned to Kyoto after more than three months of absence.

The gates of the entire city were tightly closed and ready for battle.

Ning Fan was very sensible. According to Dakang's regulations, the prince was not allowed to lead troops into Kyoto, so Ning Fan consciously abided by this agreement.