"Borrowing troops?"
Northern Wolf City, in the Heavenly Wolf Palace, the young emperor was stunned by Ziyue's request.
Three days ago, a large number of powerful families fled, leaving a huge power vacuum. Many small and medium-sized families rushed to pledge their loyalty, as they valued the imperial power most highly, but the price was also enormous.
The exodus of numerous aristocratic families took with them not only outstanding sorcerer disciples but also the personal guards of many bloodline family members. Although the entire Northern Yan still has a million armored soldiers, it has lost two-thirds of its core bloodline soldiers, which can be described as a significant weakening.
At this time, the well-equipped and powerful Jiangnan actually wants to borrow troops from him?
"Does Your Majesty have any concerns?" Ziyue patiently brewed some Jiangnan tea for the young emperor.
The young emperor looked at Ziyue, his face slightly flushed, and coughed lightly, saying, "Currently, the Northern Yan army has suffered heavy losses, especially its bloodline soldiers, whose numbers have been greatly reduced. If we were to lend out more..."
Does Your Majesty not trust me?
Looking into Ziyue's deep purple eyes, the young emperor's ears turned red, and he shook his head repeatedly. "I didn't mean that."
Having ascended the throne at a young age, and with the country in turmoil due to the young ruler, the other party suggested that he ally with the powerful families of Jiangnan, claiming that it would help them. At the time, he was only half-believing and half-doubting, and ultimately agreed to cooperate simply because he felt that it would not cause him any loss.
The Northern Wasteland kingdoms have submitted to the Central Plains more than once or twice. They always garnered benefits when the Central Plains were strong, but Central Plains weakened, there were many examples of them breaking alliances and taking the opportunity to invade. This has always been the way of survival on the grasslands.
In his view, there was no difference between submitting to the Central Plains and submitting to the Jiangnan. As long as the other side could truly do what they said—consolidate his imperial power and suppress those overly powerful aristocratic families—what did it matter if he submitted?
But to my surprise, things turned out very differently after we started working together.
The first thing was the changes in the entire Northern Yan after the declaration of submission. It felt like the whole Northern Wolf City was different after the submission. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but it seemed like a lot had been lost.
This is the most direct feeling for an emperor.
Later, when the terrifying monsters descended and King Xiang Palace appeared, although the crisis was averted, the events still made him feel that things weren't so simple, and he became much more wary of the Master Ziyue before him.
"Have I fulfilled the promise I made to Your Majesty?" Ziyue asked the young emperor with a smile.
The young emperor's heart skipped a beat when he saw the other's smiling face, and he felt his face burning even hotter. He stammered in a low voice, " Master Ziyue's plans are flawless. You have fulfilled all the promises you made. I admire you."
Ziyue had promised to suppress the influence of powerful families on him as much as possible, so that his imperial power would be stable.
Although most of the army's elite troops have left, his imperial power is now more secure than when his father was alive, and he is now virtually the only one who can have the final say in the court.
"Then what is Your Majesty worried about?" Ziyue smiled and said, "Now that the Northern Alliance is established, there is no need to worry about the demons and monsters in the Northern Lands. The Fighter Army will go to the Arctic to explore, so Your Majesty's military strength is not needed. What impact will it have if Your Majesty lends out some soldiers?"
"However, the Great Yan's military strength is currently weak, with a large number of elite troops having left. If we borrow more troops, we will be vulnerable if an enemy attacks."
"Now that Great Yan has submitted to Jiangnan, it will not stand idly by Southern Capital. Your Majesty, please rest assured."
"But..." The young emperor pursed his lips. If they already needed his help to borrow troops, would they really have the resources to help him now that something had happened here?
"Your Majesty," Ziyue handed over the prepared tea, "We don't need bloodline soldiers for this troop borrowing trip, just ordinary soldiers. We'll need a considerable number, but it won't significantly impact Great Yan's fighting strength. What do you say?"
"Ordinary soldiers?" The young emperor was taken aback. In the Northern Wasteland, ordinary soldiers were auxiliary troops. On the grasslands, the cavalry, commanded by bloodline soldiers, were the deciding factors in battle. If they were just auxiliary troops, it wouldn't be so bad.
"If that's the case, how much would you like to borrow?"
"Five hundred thousand!"
"Pfft!!" The emperor immediately spat out a mouthful of tea.
"How many?"
The entire Great Wild Goose Army, including its 100,000 bloodline soldiers, only has a million armored troops. And this opponent just asks for 500,000?
Are you kidding me?
Even if they are auxiliary troops, with all of them being transferred here, there probably won't be enough soldiers to guard all the cities of Great Yan.
"Your Majesty, this situation is serious. Not a single one of the 500,000 soldiers can be lost." Ziyue looked at the other party seriously. "The court intends to raise an army to recover the north. You have seen the King Xiang Palace yourself. The court controls a very formidable force. Once they conquer the north, their next step will be the Northern Wasteland Kingdoms. With the current strength of the Northern Wasteland Kingdoms, they are simply no match for them. Therefore, the Northern Lands cannot be lost."
"But if the imperial court is so powerful, what good would it do you even if I gave you 500,000 soldiers?"
"Hasn't Your Majesty heard Beiyu Jing mention our situation?" Ziyue smiled slightly. "Nowadays, the most famous Fighter Army in the world are mostly ordinary soldiers."
"This"
The young emperor had heard Beiyu Jing mention this before. Soldiers in Jiangnan did not need bloodlines; they only needed to believe in the Battle God to gain Transcendent power. This was why men from Jiangnan were eager to join the army.
But if the soldiers from the Northern Wasteland go to the Jiangnan, will they receive the same treatment?
Imbuing soldiers with Transcendent powers must require valuable resources, right?
Even assuming Jiangnan were willing to give them up, once the soldiers were trained, would Jiangnan be willing to return them?
The young emperor silently observed his opponent, unsure of what to say. He wasn't a seasoned politician; he knew the situation was against him, but he didn't want to simply hand over his troops for nothing. There had to be some conditions, right?
Is Your Majesty worried that we will not return the troops we borrowed?
The young emperor was taken aback; he hadn't expected the other party to be so direct.
"If Your Majesty is worried, you can make a pact with His Highness King of Qin to borrow troops from Jiangnan for three years, after which they will surely be returned!"
"Is this really true?" The young emperor stood up.
"Of course it's true." Ziyue smiled at the other person.
The young emperor was slightly relieved upon hearing this. If they were willing to return it, it would be alright. Even if the 500,000 soldiers went to Jiangnan and did not obtain that Transcendent power, at least given the wealth of Jiangnan, they would certainly not lack food.
The Northern Wasteland is currently facing a financial crisis, and the distribution of food and supplies is extremely unreasonable. I have just taken power and I am already overwhelmed by the allocation of various resources. It doesn't seem like a bad thing if Jiangnan could help support 500,000 ordinary soldiers.
After considering this, the young emperor finally nodded. "If that's the case, it's not impossible. However, most of the soldiers in the Northern Wasteland have livestock here. Although the livestock have recently become severely demonized, they are still the soldiers' most valuable assets. If we go to Jiangnan, many soldiers might not be willing to accept it if these livestock are not handled properly."
Ziyue looked at the other person with amusement upon hearing this. This little guy is young, but he's quite cunning.
Nowadays, almost no one dares to buy these livestock in the Northern Wasteland. After all, no merchant would risk buying a bunch of assets that could turn into man-eating monsters at any time.
Prices in the market were suppressed again and again, which greatly dissatisfied many soldiers in the Northern Wasteland, and there were even several places where crowds gathered to cause trouble.
This kid wants Jiangnan to come up with money to settle this matter.
"Your Majesty really wants to take advantage of everything."
"What are you saying, Master Ziyue?" The young emperor glanced at the other party cautiously, muttering to himself, "You think you can get away with this? I can't."
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Ziyue didn't linger and quickly took her leave of the palace.
Despite discussing such an important matter, she was not at ease.
Chen Qing left her in the Northern Wasteland to handle many affairs, such as the current management and appointment of the Underworld in Northern Yan, as well as the reclamation of the Arctic to find the source of Qi and Blood!
With the current military strength in Jiangnan, if the imperial court really launches an attack in the spring and tries to prolong the battle lines, a complete collapse is truly possible. After all, everyone understands the principle that taking too big a step can easily lead to disaster.
The source of life and energy in the Arctic region is the most crucial method for replenishing troops this time.