Lord of Fortune

In the 26th year of Chongde, after more than half a year of fighting, General Zhou sent a vanguard army to attack the Ximan barracks and burned the food and grass of the Ximan people.All of a sudden, the morale of the Western Barbarians was greatly reduced, and they fought and retreated. They were about to be forced to evacuate from the territory of Daqi. However, at this time, several assassins sent by the Western Barbarians took advantage of the relaxation of the Daqi army At the cost of his life, General Zhou was severely injured.

Although General Zhou escaped the critical moment, he was seriously injured and fell off his horse, unconscious.

The Zhenxi Army had no leader, and the Western barbarians took this opportunity to plunder part of the Zhenxi Army's food and grass, and prepared to fight Daqi again.

After Emperor Chongde received the [-]-mile rush at the border, he ordered his deputy General Shi to temporarily replace General Zhou as the supreme commander of the battle.

General Shi was ordered in the face of danger, and even though the battle was imminent, he couldn't help showing a little joy on his face. He has been a lieutenant general for more than ten years, and now he has finally waited for this opportunity, and he will never let it go!This time, he will make great contributions to prove to the emperor that his ability is no worse than General Zhou!

Before General Zhou fell into a coma, Qi's army had gained the upper hand, and General Shi didn't think much of the Western barbarians.

There are many good men among the Western barbarians. They discovered and took advantage of this. When fighting against the Zhenxi army led by General Shi, they retreated while fighting, creating an illusion that they were completely invincible to General Shi.Moreover, they also sent spies to release rumors that they were afraid of General Shi and were ready to find a chance to escape.

When General Shi heard this, he became more and more complacent, and without any detailed investigation, he sent a vanguard army to chase after the Western Barbarians and fight fiercely, intending to capture the leader of the Western Barbarians alive.

Chu Chen was not optimistic about General Shi's instructions.Although he and General Shi had never been on good terms, he still found an opportunity to persuade General Shi: "These Western barbarians have always been difficult to deal with, and they suddenly succumbed to us. There is insecurity and deceit here, the general must guard against it!"

General Shi felt that the victory was already in his pocket, and he was proud of it. Suddenly, Chu Chen poured cold water on him, and he suddenly became unhappy: "This general is now the supreme commander of the front line, Mr. Chu Wan, don't you? Do you want to disobey the military order? Or are you afraid to fight the Western barbarians, and you are timid before fighting?"

After hearing this, Chu Chen's face was rather ugly.Some of General Zhou's subordinates also frowned when they heard the words, thinking that General Shi's success in one day was too arrogant.Different from General Zhou's prudence, General Shi is more than brave but not resourceful. The people under General Zhou have doubts about his coming to lead the army.

However, as General Shi said, it was His Majesty's intention that he replace General Zhou as the commander-in-chief of the front line.Even though these people at the bottom had some thoughts in their hearts, they did not dare to disobey General Shi's orders.

In the end, Chu Chen followed General Shi's wishes, and when he found out that the Western Man wanted to run away, he sent someone to chase after him. However, after he left, he never returned...

General Shi's good mood lasted until he was ambushed by the Western Barbarian general.

At that time, the Western barbarians took advantage of this sneak attack to cause General Shi to lose one-third of his men in a very short period of time.

It wasn't until now that General Shi realized what kind of dangerous situation he put the Zhenxi Army in!

"Withdraw! Quickly withdraw!"

Only then did I realize it was a bit late.

General Shi wanted to lead the people back to the city, and then fight against the Western barbarians again. However, how could the Western barbarians do what they wanted?The Western barbarians are like a wolf, biting the prey tightly and refusing to let go!

While the Zhenxi army was resting, the Western barbarians also recharged their energy. However, as soon as the Zhenxi army made any movement, the Western barbarian army immediately rushed forward to obstruct General Shi, disturbing their peace.

After a few days, the Zhenxi Army and the Western Barbarians were completely lost.

A few days ago, the food and grass of the Western Barbarian Army was burned, and the morale of the army was slackened. However, now, the poor and demoralized army has become the Zhenxi Army.

Everyone knows that if this continues, the Zhenxi Army may not be able to last long.General Shi really regretted it in his heart. He wanted the military achievements to be true, but he cherished his own life even more. If he had known, he would not have deliberately played against Chu Chen!

Emperor Chongde, who was far away in the capital, was almost pissed to death by General Shi when he received the border battle report.

"Does the surname Shi have any brains to fall into this kind of trap! I thought he would be more stable after staying in the border for so many years, but who knows that he will be stupid once Zhou Aiqing's restraint is gone!"

The victory at hand flew away, and as a result, the good situation was wiped out by General Shi, and now Daqi was in crisis. Emperor Chongde naturally couldn't calm down.

Emperor Chongde knew better than anyone else the brutality of the Western barbarians.

In the last years of the former dynasty, the Western barbarians took advantage of the internal turmoil and invaded the frontier. After capturing the border cities, they burned, killed, looted, and looted.Among them, there was a city that the Western barbarians had to pay a great price to take because of the fierce resistance.In a rage, the Ximan king gave the order to slaughter the city.

This time, the Western barbarians have been suppressed and beaten in the first half of the battle with the Zhenxi army. Now that they have finally regained the initiative, how can they show mercy to the Zhenxi army?If the border city is invaded by them again, the consequences will be unimaginable!

Without further ado, Emperor Chongde immediately convened courtiers to discuss reinforcements.

As soon as he heard that Emperor Chongde was going to send additional reinforcements, the Secretary of the Household Department immediately stood up and shouted: "Reporting to the emperor, we have lived with the Western barbarians for more than half a year, and we have already consumed a lot of military pay. The Yellow River burst its embankment a few days ago. Rebuilding the dam is another expense, plus you have exempted the affected areas from taxes this year...there is no money left in the treasury!"

Originally, if the Zhenxi army could defeat the Western barbarians as soon as possible and earn a fortune from the Western barbarians, it would be fine.Now seeing that the Zhenxi Army is about to suffer defeat, Emperor Chongde is going to send a large army to reinforce it. This dispatch, at least tens of thousands of troops will be sent there, right?In a while, where is he going to collect so much military salary!

The Lord Peace faction took this opportunity to come out and said: "War is a waste of people and money, and it is not in line with our style of a big country like Ximan to care about such a small country. Your majesty might as well try to turn war into friendship with Ximan, so Once this happens, the current predicament will be resolved.”

"Turning hostility into treasure? Lord Liao said it lightly. If the western barbarians ask me to cede land and ask for peace, is it possible that Lord Liao is also going to propose that the emperor send a few cities to the western barbarians for slaughter? Lord Liao can shoulder such a responsibility." !"

"Okay, there's no need to talk about the peace talks. We have to wait until we beat the Western barbarians to the ground! I, Da Qi, must not just compromise!" Emperor Chongde patted the table with a livid face.

Because of his extremely resolute attitude on this matter, others did not dare to sing against him again.

However, the problem of food and grass is still a big deal after all.If there is not enough budget, sending more reinforcements to the past will only give the other party a head.

Later, someone proposed to Emperor Chongde to increase taxes to solve military needs.

Emperor Chongde thought for a while and rejected the proposal.

Natural disasters have continued this year, and the lives of the people are already not very easy. If he increases taxes again, I am afraid that many people will not be able to survive.He will not increase taxes unless it is absolutely necessary.

Emperor Chongde has made up his mind that he would rather have a tighter life these days than persecute the common people anymore.

After coming down to court, Lu Gong, who was beside Emperor Chongde, said: "The empress said that she has something important to discuss with the emperor."

There was such a big commotion about the previous court's affairs, naturally, Empress Ding would not be ignorant of it.She has always attached great importance to Emperor Chongde, so she naturally wanted to find a way to relieve Emperor Chongde's worries.

After the maid at the bottom brought hot tea to Emperor Chongde, Empress Ding waved away all the servants present, and said to Emperor Chongde seriously: "My concubine already knows about the emperor's worries about food and military supplies."

"The concubine is a woman from a Taoist family. Although she doesn't understand the important affairs of the court, she also wants to share the emperor's worries."

After taking a sip of his favorite Yuqian Longjing, Emperor Chongde put down his teacup: "Then, what good idea did the empress come up with?"

I can't blame him for favoring Queen Ding.

When all the concubines in the harem only knew to fight openly and secretly to fight for their own interests, only Empress Ding focused on Emperor Chongde.Anxious to Emperor Chongde's urgency, worried about Emperor Chongde's worries.Compared with the two, Emperor Chongde naturally loved and trusted Empress Ding more and more.

Even the courtiers couldn't come up with any good solutions. Emperor Chongde actually didn't really believe that Empress Ding could solve this matter. Empress Dante could have this kind of heart, which was already very good for Emperor Chongde.

"Actually, the concubine didn't think of this idea, but Qin'er thought of it first." Empress Ding smiled slightly, her tone full of pride: "The emperor also knows that Qin'er, a girl, is always better than others in terms of money and silver." There are some ways."

"The concubine heard that after Qin'er donated some money earlier, she was afraid that there would be too many people affected by the disaster and the money would not be enough, so she took out some things that the emperor rewarded her to auction to raise money - the emperor also knew For many people, the imperial gift has a great new attraction. Qin'er has raised a million taels of silver through the auction, which can just solve the emperor's urgent need."

With that said, Empress Ding carefully observed Emperor Chongde's expression: "It's really wrong to auction off the imperial gift, but since Qin'er also wants to share the emperor's worries, please don't blame her. "

"Queen, don't worry, I have never been such a pedantic person. Now that the country is facing a crisis, I naturally put the country's affairs first. As long as she can raise food, grass and military supplies for me, no matter how she raises them, she is my Daqi." Your hero!" Emperor Chongde's face was red, obviously very happy.

Seeing this, Empress Ding was completely relieved: "Your Majesty is really dedicated to serving the country. It is a blessing for the common people to have a wise emperor like His Majesty."

Emperor Chongde held Empress Ding's hand, his eyes were full of soft light: "I feel that it is my blessing to have the empress as a good helper."

"Your Majesty, stop talking like that. Husband and wife are one. If the Emperor encounters a difficult problem, it means that the minister and concubine encounter a difficult problem. Naturally, the minister and concubine will find a way to solve it."

"The empress is very good. Xiaoqi and Qin'er were also taught by you very well. Qin'er is a good child, and I really like her very much. The empress said, how about I accept her as my goddaughter?"

"It's Qin'er's honor." The smile on Empress Ding's face deepened: "By the way, the emperor, during the disaster relief, two merchants each donated 20 taels of silver to resettle the victims. Qin'er wrote to ask the emperor to reward them The title of charity merchant is not only to reward them, but also to encourage more merchants to contribute to me at this time."

"No problem, I will inscribe for them myself."

Emperor Chongde was never a pedantic person.

If two words and a few words of praise can be exchanged for a lot of money to resolve the current predicament, why not do it?