Qin Chuyuan received Qin Er's secret letter three days later, which also included one from Gong Xiaohua.
He eagerly opened Gong Xiaohua's secret letter first. Upon opening the secret letter, there were only a few lines: "Qin Chuyuan, on behalf of General Zhan Xin yue, I am willing to issue a military order to take over the general's position without increasing troops, so as to retreat the Dawei army. Please convey this to the higher authorities. I would be very grateful."
Although there were only two lines, Qin Chuyuan guessed that Xiaohua must have got into trouble.
Thinking of this, he immediately opened Qin Er's secret letter, and as he expected, Gaohu had suffered a terrible defeat.
General He at the border was used by him as a scapegoat, while Xiaohua was also used by him to reduce his guilt. It was true that one would not shed tears until seeing the coffin.
If Xiaohua's request failed, the Qin and Gong families would be implicated. However, since Xiaohua was confident in retreating the army, he chose to believe her.
However, a female general in Daye's history was still unprecedented. It was not easy for those people in the court to support her retreat of the Dawei army, but it was not impossible to operate.
If others knew about Gong Xiaohua and Qin Chuyuan's approach, they would definitely scold them as "two lunatics."
"Prepare a horse. Going to the Crown Prince's mansion."
"Yes."
That night, King Ye's Zhao Ren Hall remained lit throughout the night.
Until midnight, "Your Majesty, it's time for the morning court."
Chief Eunuch Huang walked in carefully from outside the hall, seeing that King Ye, who had not closed his eyes all night, said gently.
Hearing the morning court, King Ye, who had remained motionless, finally reacted. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep all night, looking decades older overnight.
"Eunuch Huang, why is it that after so many years, I have spent a lot of manpower and financial resources to develop the military, yet we are still so vulnerable?"
Seeing His Majesty like this, Eunuch Huang felt sour in his heart.
Since his succession, in order to strengthen Daye's military, His Majesty had racked his brains and spared no effort. However, facing the enemy army, they ended up defeated anyway.
"Your Majesty, shall we take a day off from the court today?"
"No need, let's go."
In the court.
"We pay respect to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."
"Rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"My lords, any reports today?" King Ye sat at the top and asked coldly.
After he finished speaking, there was dead silence below. Through years of being King Ye's courtiers, everyone had sharp eyes.
"What’s the matter? No words at all?"
The tense atmosphere made the hall very depressing. Some lower-ranking officials even unconsciously started wiping the cold sweat on their foreheads.
With no response, King Ye continued, "Since you have nothing to say, then I'll speak."
"Eunuch Huang. Show them this." King Ye handed the memorandum aside and said.
"Yes."
Eunuch Huang took the memorandum and walked to the center of the hall, handing it to the Crown Prince first.
The Crown Prince took the memorandum from the other party and read it carefully. His complexion slowly changed dramatically.
In the end, with anger all over his face, he folded the memorandum and passed it to the ministers behind him for them to read one by one.
Soon, the court was in an uproar, and various discussion voices were heard.
"How could this be possible? Our army of 200,000 suffered 160,000 casualties..."
"Yes, yes, this Dawei army is very powerful..."
"It was cheap for General He to die on the battlefield..."
"Why did Commander Gong release such an important hostage? ..."
Various voices kept coming.
"Crown Prince, what do you think about this battle at Xu Mountain?"
"Father, as commander-in-chief, Gao Hu can't shirk the blame. The son suggests temporarily dismissing him from the position of commander-in-chief and appointing a capable replacement. As for the mistakes of others, we will find out when the army returns. But the most critical issue now is how to resolve the Xu Mountain border issue?"
"Reporting to the Crown Prince, this argument is flawed. According to the memorandum, General Gao could have won a complete victory, but was implicated by Border General He. Besides, Commander Gong released an important hostage without authorization, which led to the disastrous defeat by the Dawei army. Now that General He has died in battle, he may not need to be investigated. But Commander Gong can hardly escape punishment. I ask that an order be issued to summon Commander Gong back and dismiss him from all positions in the Ministry of Justice." Minister Lin immediately came out to refute.
"According to you, Gao Hu bears no responsibility at all?" King Ye glanced coldly at Minister Lin and said.
"Your Majesty, General Gao is indeed guilty of appointing the wrong people, but the battlefield situation changes rapidly and is hard to control at times. I hope Your Majesty will investigate this clearly."
"What a rapidly changing situation. An army of 200,000 was actually disastrously defeated by the 100,000 Dawei troops in less than a month, with 160,000 casualties. Yet you are still trying to exempt him of all responsibilities. I think you, as minister of the Ministry of War, should retire and make way for the capable."
"Your Majesty, please restrain your anger. It's my fault for not being thorough. Please punish me." Seeing King Ye angry, Minister Lin immediately came forward to plead guilty.
"Father, Minister Lin spoke out of turn. Please let it go." At this time, the Sixth Prince stood up to speak for Minister Lin.
"All dismissed."
"Thank you, Father (Your Majesty)."
"After the battle at Xu Mountain, remove Gao Hu from the position of commander-in-chief. Wait for orders to appoint a capable replacement. Imprison Commander Gong and deal with him after he returns to the capital."
"Your Majesty is wise."
"Next, how should we resolve the Xu Mountain border?"
"Your Majesty, our army is not yet capable of confronting Dawei at this time. I suggest we take the initiative to negotiate peace with Dawei." One civil official stood up and said.
As soon as he said this, several other civil officials stood up and followed: “Your Majesty, we agree.”
"Father, Dawei invades our borders and harms our people every year, and we pacify them every year with huge compensations, which has encouraged their wild ambitions all along."
"Now that the battle at Xu Mountain has completely disgraced my Great Daye among the five great nations, if we compromise again, I fear the other three countries will invade us like Dawei. How should my Great Daye handle this then?" The Crown Prince stood up, bowed to King Ye above, and said.
As soon as he said this, some ministers below began to discuss.
"What the Crown Prince said makes perfect sense, but if we attack again, who can take on this important task?"
"The national treasury is currently deficient and it will be difficult to raise a large amount of provisions in a short period of time. How can we attack?" The minister of revenue opposed.
"Yes, yes, alas..."
"Minister Qin, what do you think about this?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I agree with what the Crown Prince said. Endlessly compromising will only encourage their wild ambitions. Now other countries have been eyeing us like tigers eyeing their prey. To prevent them from taking advantage of our crisis, the Xu Mountain border issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible. However, another attack would strain our treasury and we lack capable generals, but I do have a win-win solution."
"What is the win-win solution?"
"I think we can marry a princess to Dawei to establish an allied relationship."
"Father, what Minister Qin said makes sense. This way, we can avoid Dawei's long-term invasion, and other countries won't be able to casually invade our borders. It's killing two birds with one stone." The Sixth Prince immediately stood up and echoed.
"Father, our country pleads for peace with Dawei every year, but Dawei still invades every year. What credibility do they have?"
"Crown Prince, but this will buy time for our soldiers." The Sixth Prince said.
King Ye above thought about it. A political marriage would not be a bad idea, so he asked, "A political marriage? Who shall be sent?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, currently the only adult princess under your knee is Princess Linglong, and it can only be Princess Linglong to show our country's sincerity." Minister Qin said.
"Linglong?" King Ye's brow furrowed. Linglong was not only his favorite daughter, but also his only legitimate princess at the moment. How could he bear to marry her off?
At this time, seeing the timing was right, Qin Chuyuan stood up and said to King Ye above: “Does Your Majesty remember the political marriage of Princess Wushuang during the reign of Emperor Taizu? When I was young I read history books. At that time, Your Majesty was only three years old, but you made an oath in front of Emperor Taizu that you would never marry off a princess to strengthen Great Daye.”
"Junior Marshal, how could Father had been serious when he was just a toddler? " The Sixth Prince retorted.
"But it was still Your Majesty's promise to Great Daye and Emperor Taizu, and it was recorded in historical records."
"You’re unreasonable." The Sixth Prince said angrily.
Qin Chuyuan's words reminded King Ye of events from decades ago.
Princess Wushuang was his birth elder sister, more than ten years older than him, and doted on him very much. But one day, she was selected for a political marriage to Dawei, bringing an exorbitant dowry. Yet in less than a year, she was executed by the King of Dawei on false charges.
"If I say, I can recommend one person to Your Majesty, without needing to add another soldier, I can make the Dawei army retreat. I only need Your Majesty's gracious permission."
