Chapter 498: Troops march into Maozhou
"No matter what Third Brother's identity is, there's no need for Sister Bao to worry!" Tanchun saw Baochai's uneasiness and anxiety, and immediately comforted her.
"You and Third Brother have already exchanged gifts, and it was personally granted by His Majesty and the Empress. The Empress must be pleased with you and Sister Lin, otherwise she wouldn't have personally attended the ceremony. Furthermore, Third Brother has such deep affection for both sisters. Can social status really change his feelings?"
Baochai smiled bitterly and shook her head. "Of course I know what Third Sister said, but this matter was too sudden and hard for me to accept for a while. Besides, the royal family is the royal family after all. Although the Xue family has some heritage, it is no longer noble and only has the status of merchants. Given the attitude of the Empress, I think Cong'er will eventually want to return to his ancestral home. When that happens, won't my status make Cong'er the subject of criticism from the entire court?"
"With my status, even if I could match Cong'er now, I would still be considered above my station. However, I believe I have a deep affection for Cong'er, so I shamelessly rely on him. If it were Cong'er..."
"I always thought Sister Bao was smart, but I never thought that she would be so worried." Tanchun laughed. Among all the sisters, Baochai has always been the most stable one. She has never seen Baochai so worried.
"I told you my inner troubles, but you made fun of me, Third Sister." Baochai said angrily.
Tanchun stepped forward, embracing Baochai and saying, "Third brother's affection for Sister Bao and Sister Lin is well known to all of us sisters. Besides, the Empress is obviously pleased with you as a daughter-in-law. If she cared about family background, why would the royal family have granted the marriage, and why would they have gone to all this trouble to arrange the ceremony? In my opinion, Sister Bao is just asking for trouble."
"Or, because Third Brother is of extraordinary status, Sister Bao is going to break off the engagement, right?"
Baochai shook her head. She was certainly shrewd, and precisely because of this, she thought more than Tanchun. Putting aside those vague notions, given her Cong'er's status, a future throne was a foregone conclusion. If she and Daiyu were to share the throne now, she would have no problem accepting it. However, she had never heard of a royal family with two legitimate wives.
"From now on, you and Sister Lin will have the status of legitimate princesses, which will be the envy of others!"
Baochai thought to herself, "If I let Cong'er be gossiped about because of my status, that would be unacceptable. However, Daiyu's status is the most appropriate."
"The Lin family has been a family of marquises for generations, and now Lin Ruhai is also a high-ranking official. Daiyu is a daughter of an official, so wouldn't it be best for Cong'er to be his principal wife? Even if I rank below Daiyu, I'd be satisfied. Besides, as long as I can be by Cong'er's side, what does my status matter? As long as Cong'er cares about me, why should I care about other mundane things?"
Thinking of this, Baochai felt much more at ease.
Hearing Tanchun still teasing her, Baochai couldn't help but laugh and said, "Third sister, today I want to interrogate you. The Queen has long known Cong'er's identity, but she still said that to you and big sister. Don't you understand what the Queen means? The Queen is obviously attracted by the beauty of the third sister and wants to make her her daughter-in-law."
Tanchun blushed immediately . The Empress had already made it clear to her elder sister, so how could she not understand what the Empress meant?
…
After some investigation, the news he got was worse than Jia Cong had imagined.
As expected, the Yongkang Army and the Huaian Army had already been defeated by the tribal troops. Although the Shiquan Army was safe, it was already a frightened bird. The Shiquan Army, which was supposed to have 20,000 soldiers, now had less than half of its strength.
These people who draw salaries without working deserve to be killed!
Moreover, although the Qiang people have not made a clear statement yet, according to investigations, the Qiang people have had several contacts with the southern Xinjiang tribes. Even if we don't know the issues they discussed, this is obviously a hidden danger.
Jia Cong thought for a long time and finally gave the order again.
The first thing was to order Shi Nai's troops to march directly to Shiquan, and to merge all the Shiquan troops under Shi Nai's command. If the commander of the Shiquan army disobeyed the order, Shi Nai could act at his discretion!
Secondly, he ordered Guan Jin and Feng Yong to lead 10,000 troops each, and after passing Mianzhou, they would advance into Hanzhou from Mianzhu and Deyang respectively. Xie Jing and Cui Tong would lead 5,000 troops each, and garrison Mianzhou and Jianmen Pass respectively.
Jianmen Pass is Jia Cong's rear base. Although it is temporarily stable here, if an accident happens, Jia Cong will lose any way of retreat. It is better to think about defeat before the battle and leave a way out. Maybe it will save his life at any time.
He himself led 30,000 central troops to join Shi Nai and attack Maozhou. Maozhou would be his first battle after his arrival, and he must not lose it. Moreover, this battle was related to the morale of the army, and he must win with a crushing force. Therefore, together with the Shiquan army, he mobilized a total of 60,000 troops.
The other troops would wait until Guan Jin and the other two entered Hanzhou, then continue to advance into Pengzhou and deploy troops along the Jiulong and Pengzhou lines to prepare for entering Chengdu Prefecture.
After deploying troops in various places, at the end of September, Jia Cong led 30,000 troops out of Jianmen. In just five days, he arrived at Shimen Town, the border between Longzhou and Shiquan.
"I am here to see the commander-in-chief!" Shi Nai led his troops to meet him.
"What's the situation in ?"
As the two men rode forward, Shi Nai said respectfully, "After receiving the order from the commander-in-chief, I led my troops into Shiquan and delivered the commander-in-chief's order for the Shiquan army to submit to my command. The Shiquan army commander, Shao Yong, refused to comply. Fearing that this would delay the upcoming battle, I lied about hosting a banquet for Shao Yong and, while he was in the main camp, sent men to capture him. Shao Yong is now being held captive in the main camp."
"Afterwards, I led my army directly into the Shiquan Army camp. Some of the Shao Yong soldiers remained loyal and refused to obey me, so I led my troops to eliminate them. The remaining 11,000 or so soldiers have now temporarily joined my command. Three days ago, the army broke camp and headed south, arriving at Wuwei Mountain on the Maozhou border yesterday."
Jia Cong nodded. At this time, the measures must be decisive and fierce. If you hesitate, there will be no need to fight this battle.
"Our scouts have already spotted Qiang spies, but without the commander's orders, I have not yet mobilized."
The two led the army on a two-day march and arrived at the northern foot of Wuwei Mountain. The army set up camp. At night, Jia Cong summoned his generals to discuss matters.
After the generals were seated, Jia Cong said, "Although the Qiang are acting relentlessly, if our army wants to advance to Chengdu Prefecture, we cannot leave such a hidden danger. Therefore, advancing to Maozhou is inevitable. Now, what we need to discuss is how to capture Maozhou and reconquer the Qiang at the lowest cost."
