665 So Asking for a Beat
While Xi Rong and Yue Lü were recuperating, Xiao Hanzheng led his men to attack the border city of Ge Kingdom.
As the rescue team had arrived in time, the casualties of the female soldiers led by Xi Rong were not serious. It was the same for the soldiers led by Xiao Yuanshi.
Xiao Hanzheng reorganized them and stationed them at the border in case Ge Kingdom sent a new marshal to attack the border.
Soon, both North City and Capital City received news of Daliang’s consecutive victories.
The people of the northern border were the happiest. The army had guarded the border, which was equivalent to protecting everyone’s safety.
Shi Qingluo descended from the sky and flew into the city. She also asked the old immortal to use the little black ball to clean up the enemy’s army. It was even more legendary.
Other than that, Xiao Hanzheng was the temporary commander who had saved Daliang’s side from defeat and defeated Ge Kingdom’s army.
Now, they had besieged the Ge Kingdom’s commander in the border city. It was too exciting.
It was the same in the Imperial Capital. They were all excited when they heard the news.
The Emperor received news from the border one after another and heaved a sigh of relief.
On the same day, he received the news that Xiao Hanzheng had led his army to besiege the border city.
It just so happened that the ministers, King Yi, and a few princes were all in the royal study for a meeting.
The Emperor shared the news with them.
Then, he sighed. “I didn’t expect my top scholar to be so good at leading troops. We should be able to take down Ge Kingdom’s border town in a few days.”
The Emperor was obviously in a good mood.
When the ministers heard this news, they were naturally happy.
This was a much better ending than they had imagined, especially for the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. They had been worried to death.
The Ministry of Revenue was not deliberately holding back the military expenditure, but there was really not much silver in the national treasury.
The Daliang Empire had only been established for a short period of time. Before that, they had always adopted a policy of reducing corvee and waiving some taxes, so the amount of silver they collected was not as much as the previous dynasty.
Previously, many places had been affected by the disaster, and they had spent a lot of money on disaster relief.
In addition, when the late emperor was in power, the capital and the imperial mausoleum were built wantonly. The Ministry of Revenue really lived on their belts.
Fortunately, the canned food factory at the border opened up, which eased the situation a lot.
The glazed tile workshop entered the emperor’s private treasury, so even if the Ministry of Revenue was jealous, they did not dare to have any ideas.
Furthermore, the money that was earned was actually used by the emperor to build ships and build a navy.
The Ge Kingdom had suddenly invaded, and they had already tried their best to prepare for the military expenditure. However, the war could not be dragged out, or else the food supply would not be able to last.
The treasures sent by King Yi were used by the Emperor to build cement roads connecting the capital to the various prefectures.
Another portion was used to buy food and sent to the northern border, which relieved some of the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue.
The money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue was limited, and the Ministry of War could not prepare more armaments and supplies to send to the front lines.
The two ministers were the happiest to hear that Xiao Hanzheng had stabilized the situation and gained the upper hand.
The Minister of War smiled. “I didn’t expect the champion to be so good at fighting. He’s really a general.”
“It would be even better if Lord Xiao could end the war between the two countries as soon as possible. Otherwise, our rations can only last for another three months at most,” said the Minister of Revenue.
“Don’t worry,” Liang Yulin said confidently. “Based on my understanding of Hanzheng, the war should be over in two months.”
He glanced at the two ministers. “Otherwise, we would have to wait for your reinforcements. I wonder how many of our soldiers would die.”
The two ministers were speechless. Don’t attack people like this. They wanted to provide support, but they needed money and supplies!
The Minister of Revenue was more tactful. He smiled and said, “Yes, this is indeed Lord Xiao’s credit.”
He liked any official who could help the Ministry of Revenue.
Besides, Xiao Hanzheng did not have any conflict of interest with him. He even had some ideas and he did not mind putting in a good word for him.
Liang Yulin looked proud. “Of course, that’s my son.”
Everyone present was speechless. King Yi was really too much. His surname was clearly Xiao, alright?
But if King Yi married Xiao Hanzheng’s mother, Xiao Hanzheng would be his son.
With such an outstanding son and daughter-in-law, they couldn’t help but envy King Yi.
Hence, they all looked at King Yi with jealousy.
Liang Yulin’s smile deepened when he saw this and said smugly, “There’s no need to be jealous of this king. After all, this is something that you can’t envy.”
Everyone present was speechless. I didn’t expect you to be like this, King Yi. Why was he so mundane now?
This smug look really deserved a beating!
Liang Yulin then said to the Emperor, “Imperial Brother, if my son defeats Ge Kingdom this time, let him bring his family back to the capital to receive the reward. At the same time, let me settle my marriage.”
Everyone present was speechless. They felt that the second half of King Yi’s sentence was the main point.
The Emperor also felt that the last sentence was the main point.
“What’s the rush?” he asked, laughing. “It’s not like Concubine Kong will run away.”
Liang Yulin rubbed his nose. “You don’t know how hungry others are!”
“I don’t know who would run away the moment they mentioned marriage in the past, but now they know how to be anxious,” the Emperor said unhappily.
“That’s because I haven’t met the right person,” Liang Yulin said righteously.
The Emperor also knew that his younger brother was an old tree that had blossomed, so he did not pester him about this.
He looked more serious. “Are you sure that Xiao Hanzheng can defeat the Ge army in two months?”
Liang Yulin also became serious. “I think there’s no problem.”
“Whether it’s the manifestation of my daughter-in-law’s old immortal master or my son’s successive victories, the morale of our army has soared.”
“Not only is Ge Kingdom’s morale greatly reduced, they can’t even choose a more powerful commander. This means that defeat is inevitable.”
The Emperor listened to his boastful words and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “They aren’t your son and daughter-in-law yet?”
“It’s just a matter of time,” Liang Yulin said with a smile.
His eldest son and daughter-in-law really made him proud.
The Emperor was speechless. He felt that his younger brother was asking for a beating.
The others didn’t expect King Yi to have such a side to him. In the past, he always looked like he was about to become an immortal and didn’t care about the affairs of the world.
They couldn’t help but be curious about what the Kong Family was like to be able to pull King Yi down to the mortal realm.
Moreover, they heard that Xiao Yuanshi had long regretted his decision and wanted to reconcile with the Kong Family, but he was rejected.
But he thought that it was not too bad, otherwise he would not have such an outstanding son like Xiao Hanzheng.
Xi Xinheng smiled and said, “If it’s really as King Yi predicted, then Lord Xiao will have done a great service.”
“Lord Xiao’s performance in the northern border is very good. I don’t think there’s a need to temporarily replace him. He’s qualified to be the prefect of North City.”
Although they all knew that the temporary replacement was basically settled, Xiao Hanzheng’s rank would not go up as long as it was not settled.
Their family and the Xiao Family had always been good friends, so of course they had to help Xiao Hanzheng confirm the credit.
When he said this, the Liang Family and Fei Family also stood out to agree.
The Emperor had high hopes for Xiao Hanzheng. Judging from the current situation, he was indeed his lucky star.
“When the war between the two countries is over, we’ll raise his rank.”
He only hoped that Xiao Hanzheng would not disappoint him in the future, and he would not treat him badly.
After saying that, he smiled and took out a letter from the border.
“The old generals at the border have written a petition asking me to keep Xiao Hanzheng as the commander in the north border, saying that it would be a waste of his talent if he did not fight. What do you think?”
