Shen Shiqiu glared angrily at Qi Shuhuan, then knelt down with a thud in front of King Xia Jie and pleaded, "Your Majesty! The Crown Prince is still young. He has never ridden a horse, and he has never left Li Xia since he was born. Although the Crown Prince has Xirong blood in him, he has never had any connection with the Xirong Kingdom. The Xirong and Li Xia have long been at odds. In their eyes, the Crown Prince has nothing to do with Xirong! He simply cannot achieve the effect that Minister Fu Yin mentioned. On the contrary, it might even backfire!"
King Xia Jie sat on the dragon throne. He understood what Shen Shiqiu meant, but he did not deny Qi Shuhuan's suggestion. He frowned, looking impatient.
Seeing this, Qi Shuhuan exchanged a glance with Xia Yonglin standing beside him. He let out a cold snort and said, "It is a blessing for Li Xia that the Crown Prince is willing to share the country's worries. But you, Prime Minister, keep obstructing this. What exactly is your intention?"
"My intention?" Shen Shiqiu's beard stood on end in anger. He glared at Qi Shuhuan and scolded, "The Crown Prince is the heir to the throne. The Xirong Kingdom has never liked the Crown Prince. If you send the Crown Prince to Xirong, can you guarantee his safety? Moreover, haven't you heard that the Crown Prince is being beaten outside right now? Do you want the Crown Prince to go on this mission with injuries all over his body?"
Qi Shuhuan sneered, "The Crown Prince is being beaten because he fails to handle things properly. His Majesty is being merciful. This is a warning to him."
Shen Shiqiu knelt on the ground without even looking at Qi Shuhuan. He simply said, "Since the Crown Prince fails to handle things properly, then why not let Prince Cheng, who is capable of handling things, go to Xirong on this mission instead. This way, the Crown Prince can recuperate in peace, so as not to give other countries a chance to gossip and say that there is no one in Li Xia and we have to send an injured person to negotiate!"
Both Qi Shuhuan and Xia Yonglin's faces changed. Qi Shuhuan was the first to speak, "Prime Minister, the Donghu has sent their young lord. We should also send the Crown Prince. Are we, the great Li Xia, not going to follow the corresponding etiquette?"
Shen Shiqiu gave him a fierce glare. At this moment, the dull thuds outside finally stopped. He finally let out a sigh of relief. Thinking that the Crown Prince had been beaten so many times for no reason, he was filled with grief and indignation for a moment. He bowed his head and kowtowed, and said coldly, "Yuwen Nanwang sent his own son on this mission. What's wrong with Li Xia sending Prince Cheng? Is Prince Cheng not His Majesty's son?"
"You!"
These words immediately caused a great stir. King Xia Jie was furious after hearing this. "Shen Shiqiu! How dare you!"
Shen Shiqiu maintained the action of bowing his head and continued, "Your Majesty, please see clearly. I just want to say that neither of the two princes has any experience. The mission to Xirong should be carried out by someone from the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
The second prime minister, Bo Zouhan, stepped forward after seeing this and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to go to Xirong on this mission and negotiate on behalf of the country."
King Xia Jie looked coldly at the people below, feeling extremely annoyed. Shen Shiqiu and Qi Shuhuan, these two veteran officials, had never gotten along. They had been fighting openly and secretly for so many years. They were already on the verge of death, yet they were still fighting in the court. Although King Xia Jie was not good at governing the country, after so many years, he could clearly see what was on the minds of these two veteran officials. Therefore, he didn't want to listen to their argument anymore. He slapped the table directly and scolded, "What mission? The mere Xirong dares to step on me! Just fight!"
Shen Shiqiu said, "Your Majesty, Xirong is not the only one opposing Li Xia now. The Donghu has stationed 200,000 troops in Liangcheng for confrontation. This is not the same as before!"
In fact, Shen Shiqiu's words were true. Not to mention Xirong, just the 200,000 elite troops of the Donghu were already a headache. Coupled with the fact that Qimen had just quelled a rebellion and could not afford to be in chaos again, it would be even more difficult to fight a war at this time, facing both internal and external troubles.
However, it was not impossible to fight. After all, the army of Li Xia was not to be underestimated. The Lu Family Army had been guarding the northwest for many years and had had many battles with the Donghu. They might not be unable to win.
It's just that war was costly and would cause harm to the people. If they could stabilize Xirong through negotiation, it would be more beneficial to Li Xia.
But obviously, King Xia Jie didn't have the heart to think about those things at this time. "Are the troops I've raised all useless? Even if it's not the same as before, what's there to be afraid of about the mere Donghu and Xirong?"
"However, Your Majesty..." Shen Shiqiu was about to say something, but was interrupted by Qi Shuhuan first. "Your Majesty is wise. I think that the Marquis of Dingbei has made great military achievements and has experience in fighting against the Donghu. He is the most suitable candidate to be the main general of this war. Now the Donghu has gathered 200,000 troops outside Liangcheng. If the Marquis of Dingbei goes to support Liangcheng, he will surely defeat the Donghu! As long as the Donghu is repelled, the small country of Xirong won't be able to cause much trouble."
Lu Yan was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Qi Shuhuan.
If Li Xia really wanted to go to war with the Donghu and Xirong, although he had more experience, he had not brought a single soldier with him on this trip to Lige. So, logically speaking, this opportunity should fall on Li Yanqing of the Bing Shi Banner. Moreover, Li Yanqing was Qi Shuhuan's staff. If Li Yanqing could become famous through this war, the background of Prince Cheng's lineage would increase a lot. In that case, why did Qi Shuhuan recommend him?
His face remained calm. After a moment of confusion, he slightly turned his head back. During this action, he had already figured out the key point.
Because in half a month, it would be his wedding with Shen Qingfeng.
It would take at least a month to go to Xirong and back from here.
This old scoundrel deliberately delayed his engagement with Shen Qingfeng. Was he reluctant to let him form an alliance with the Shen Family as a backer for Xia Chuli?
Qi Shuhuan's words were flawless. Lu Yan did have the experience and strength, so he had no reason to refuse.
King Xia Jie turned to look at Lu Yan and said, "My dear subject, what's your opinion on this war?"
Lu Yan gritted his teeth secretly. He knew that he was probably unable to escape this. So he could only brace himself, take a step diagonally forward and stand still, and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the one leading the troops of the Donghu this time is Yuwen Nanwang. I've had the honor of fighting against him several times, so I have a certain degree of confidence."
"Good, but I'm not going to let Xirong off easily." King Xia Jie tapped on the armrest of the dragon throne and said in a deep voice, "Marquis of Xinan."
Chen Luo, who was standing beside him, took a step forward and bowed, "I'm here."
King Xia Jie's face was ferocious. "You will also set off with the Marquis of Dingbei and return to Xiqian. If Xirong dares to cooperate with the Donghu, don't hesitate. Just send troops to destroy Xirong!"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.
Chen Luo's face turned cold. He was the first to speak, "Your Majesty, Xirong is located in a remote area. It may be difficult for Lige to completely annex it for the time being. Moreover, Xirong has many mountains, and the terrain is not conducive to an attack. If we attack by force, it will cause more trouble. This is not the best strategy."
King Xia Jie thought for a while and slapped the table, "Then bring me the head of the main general of the Xirong Kingdom, and then massacre two of their cities as a warning!"
Lu Yan didn't expect King Xia Jie to issue such an order. He was stunned on the spot for a moment and turned to look at Chen Luo.
In war, the most taboo thing was to fight on two fronts at the same time. Therefore, the art of war often said to form an alliance of attack and defense and defeat the enemy one by one. This way, not only would they not be attacked from both sides, but it would also be easier to effectively allocate food and supplies. And now, the Donghu and Qimen were already on the verge of war. The food and supplies of Li Xia had been transported to Qimen first. If Xiqian started to attack Xirong, the food and military pay that Xiqian could get would surely be much less. That is to say, if the two sides fought at the same time, Xiqian would need to use its own reserves in the vassal state to make up for the shortage of supplies during the war. And whether King Xia Jie would make up for this shortage in the future was still unknown.
As the vassal king of Xiqian, Chen Luo naturally didn't want this. Chen Luo, who always looked idle, slightly straightened his expression. Just as he was about to say something, King Xia Jie suddenly squinted his eyes and said in a low voice, "My dear subject, do you have any objections?"
Chen Luo's body trembled. He swallowed the words in his mouth and said, "I obey the order."
King Xia Jie nodded in satisfaction. His eyes glanced back and forth between Lu Yan and Chen Luo and said, "Then you should prepare well. You will set off in three days!"