The substitute prince: Reported the emperor's brother at the beginning

Chapter 226 Emperor Wu is heartbroken

The old emperor felt that Ning Yi relied on the 60,000 Beijing troops he took with him to overcome various delays along the way.

He secretly ordered the 20,000 defenders of Hushan Pass to rebel, quickly seize Hushan Pass, and cut off Fang Chengyu's logistics.

This not only caused Fang Chengyu to lose his composure, but also wiped out Fang Chengyu's 100,000-strong army layer by layer.

Finally, all the troops were gathered to fight a decisive battle with the hungry and thirsty Fang family army who had no way to retreat. It was hard not to win.

The old emperor's current evaluation of the sixth son is that he is an active-minded and quite smart boy.

The war was all about conspiracy and intrigue, not fair at all.

To put it bluntly, it is insidious and cunning, and it makes the enemy run around in circles.

The old emperor smiled and said cheerfully, "Sixth Brother has done a good job in rehabilitating that scoundrel Fang Chengyu. You have done a good job as well. The Imperial Guards were the first to achieve this victory. Otherwise, relying on those useless Beijing troops, any conspiracy would be impossible."

"Tell me, how many casualties did the Imperial Guards suffer?" the old emperor asked casually.

For him, the Imperial Guards have the strongest combat effectiveness. Without the Imperial Guards, Lao Liu would have no chance of winning the battle.

However, the Royal Guards did not go into battle very often, and he was still very satisfied.

But Feng Zhong said dryly: "Your Majesty, this time the 10,000-strong Imperial Guards suffered over 3,700 casualties, and over 300 cavalrymen..."

"What?" The old emperor stood up suddenly, his face full of shock. "Such heavy casualties! How did you manage to lead the troops, you bastard?"

The Imperial Guards were his treasures, troops he personally selected and formed.

He personally supervised the manufacture of weapons and equipment, and provided the military pay and food with the best quality.

It can be said that this is the best treated army in the Dawu Kingdom.

But in one expedition, so many soldiers were lost. Almost half of the royal guards were lost. He was heartbroken.

Feng Zhong immediately cried out, "Your Majesty, I did not do anything rash. I followed your instructions..."

Feng Zhong said a lot of things, and the general meaning was that the Fang family army was too elite and too capable of fighting, and was no worse than the Imperial Guards.

Even if the 10,000 Imperial Guards faced the 10,000 Fang Family Army, they would not be sure of victory.

Moreover, the Beijing Army was too useless, a group of guys who would collapse at the slightest touch. Every time they had a decisive battle with the Fang Army, they had to fight head-on, and only when the Imperial Guards took the lead would the Beijing Army dare to go up. Otherwise, they could only face tens of thousands of Fang Army soldiers alone, and by then they would have no chance of redress.

The old emperor angrily threw the teacup on the table at him, and Feng Zhong didn't dare to dodge at all.

"Waste, all waste." The old emperor cursed.

No wonder Lao Liu was able to win. It turned out that he was using his Royal Guards as targets. He repeatedly told Lao Liu not to let the Royal Guards go until the critical moment.

As a result, when they met Fang's army, they pushed the Imperial Guards forward.

The old emperor was heartbroken by the heavy casualties suffered by the Imperial Guards, as that was his real trump card to save his life.

"Get out! Get out of here!" The old emperor yelled at Feng Zhong.

Feng Zhong was usually very impressive in the army, but now he ran out swiftly, crawling and rolling.

After he went out, he wiped the sweat off his face with relief. It was so dangerous. He was also terrified just now, afraid that the emperor would blame him for causing too many casualties among the imperial guards.

But he felt aggrieved. If the Imperial Guards didn't go after the elite troops like the Fang family army, who would?

The old emperor wanted him to make fair judgments, let the Imperial Guards make meritorious deeds, show his power, and make others afraid. He also wanted to minimize the casualties of the Imperial Guards. How is this possible?

At the same time, Feng Zhong was extremely grateful to Ning Yi, the Sixth Prince.

On the way back, the Sixth Prince told him privately that since the Royal Guards had suffered such heavy casualties, he would definitely be severely punished by his father.

Feng Zhong was extremely worried at that time.

However, the Sixth Prince smiled and said, "Feng Jianjun, don't worry too much."

"This prince has already thought of a solution for you."

Feng Zhong immediately pressed the issue, "Your Highness, please tell me quickly. If you can help me get through this ordeal and avoid being severely punished by Your Majesty, I will be deeply grateful."

Looking at Feng Zhong, the dark-skinned man with scars on his face, he looked at him with eager anticipation.

Ning Yi was very satisfied and said mysteriously, "Then, General Feng, when you return, you can report to the Emperor that I, the prince, used the Emperor's name to promise the commander-in-chief the benefits of a title in advance. That way, the Emperor won't blame you too much."

"This..." Feng Zhong was embarrassed.

Although Feng Zhong is a bit straightforward, he is not a fool, otherwise he would not have become the commander of the Imperial Guard.

But he was not too smart and was rather straightforward, otherwise he would not have been chosen by the old emperor to be the commander of the Imperial Guards.

The old emperor wanted people who were honest, obedient, sane, and relatively upright to carry out his orders.

And Feng Zhong is such a person.

When Ning Yi treated him, he naturally knew how to make Feng Zhong grateful to him.

Feng Zhong smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, isn't this putting you in danger?"

In fact, Ning Yi had already put on a show in front of him, having a good chat with the two rebel commanders and making all kinds of promises.

Feng Zhong didn't take it seriously at first. He felt that as long as they could pacify Hushan Pass, these would not be a big problem.

However, if this matter must be reported to the emperor, and the emperor becomes suspicious, he might be charged with the serious crime of falsely conveying the emperor's will. That would be a terrible thing and would harm the Sixth Prince who had won a great victory.

Ning Yi didn't care and said righteously, "There's no need to hide this from Father."

"Brothers of the Imperial Guard, you have fought for your country and for your father, and suffered so many casualties. This prince does not want to see you shed blood and tears."

This one sentence made Feng Zhong's eyes fill with tears of gratitude.

Feng Zhong was so excited that he thought the Sixth Prince was simply too great. He even wished that the Sixth Prince would be named the Crown Prince.

Feng Zhong now thought that what the Sixth Prince said was right. With his fake imperial edict blocking the way ahead, his casualties only made the emperor angry. He was only scolded, which was nothing.

After Feng Zhong left, Eunuch Zhao replaced the cup of tea for Emperor Wu.

After watching the Emperor Wu sit down, he asked, "Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince outside the city would like to ask you to allocate military rations."

"What the hell." Emperor Wu snorted coldly, "I don't have any food to give to this prodigal son."

"Just starve him to death."

Emperor Wu gets angry whenever he mentions the Sixth Brother. He used his father's precious army and fought it to death, resulting in so many casualties. It's so sad.

How dare you ask for military rations?

Eunuch Zhao murmured in his heart that he actually wanted the Sixth Prince to starve to death.

But now is not the right time. Otherwise, once the Sixth Prince gets angry, he, the old eunuch who has had too many disputes with the Crown Prince, will be the first to be in trouble.

He could only smile bitterly and said, “Your Majesty, after all, those are tens of thousands of troops who just came to rescue the capital. They have been working so hard for so long, and it’s impossible for them to not have a stutter.”

Although the old emperor was angry, he knew what was important.

He said calmly, "Let the Grain Storage Bureau give them enough food for a few days."

"Also, have Lao Liu attack as soon as possible and capture Huai the thief for me as soon as possible."

Eunuch Zhao bowed and left, finally able to send someone to pass on the message to the murderous Sixth Prince.