I'd Quite Like to Visit the Border Pass Now

Qin Shan said, "Your humble servant obeys the decree, but I am powerless to do it alone!"

Noble Consort Ning smiled and said:

"Of course I won't leave General Qin alone; I've already sent the Border Pass Army commanders over."

The Border Pass Army number over 10,000, all of them brave and skilled warriors. If they went to the border with you, they would be like fish in water.

Qin Shan said calmly:

"More than 10,000 people? Okay, okay, I'll do my best then."

However, it's hard to say whether the soldiers on the border can be rescued, and it's even harder to say whether Old General Xie can be rescued.

How many border soldiers are trapped in the town? In which town are they trapped?

"More than 100,000 soldiers are trapped at Yannan Pass."

Qin Shan smiled faintly and said:

"I understand what Your Majesty means. Your Majesty means that I should lead 10,000 soldiers to my death."

Ideally, we could save over 100,000 soldiers; if not, then so be it, is that what you mean?

The Emperor's face immediately darkened. "Insolence! Qin Shan, how dare you speak like that!"

Qin Shan knelt down in the tunnel:

"Your Majesty, I am also afraid of death, so I can only tell you the truth. You want me to lead more than 10,000 people to save more than 100,000 people? I cannot do it."

"Your humble servant is willing to die, but I also fear that if I die, no one will protect the land of my Great Xia Kingdom."

Noble Consort Ning snorted coldly and said, "So, what do you mean by that?"

Qin Shan said:

"First, I am granted full authority to command the remaining 20,000-plus Qin Clan Army troops, along with the 10,000 Border Pass Army troops. All military orders are under my control, and no one may interfere with troop deployment."

The Qin Clan Army consists of veterans who have fought alongside me for many years and are the only force capable of directly confronting the Qi army.

Secondly, I need a full set of iron armor, weapons and arrows, defensive logs and oil, as well as sufficient food and medicinal herbs, so that the soldiers and the hundreds of thousands of people in the town can survive.

Third, treat all the families of the Qin Clan Army soldiers well, promising them rewards and resettlement after the war to stabilize morale.

Fourth, I have the right to deploy troops at any time and place, and I need to conscript soldiers whenever I need to.

Fifth, all military power at the border must belong to me, including Old General Xie; they must all be under my command.

If His Majesty refuses, Yanmen Pass will surely fall with just over ten thousand unequipped old and weak men.

"The deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers are a crime I cannot bear!"

Noble Consort Ning shouted, "Insolence! General Qin, how dare you threaten His Majesty!"

Qin Shan replied loudly:

"Noble Consort Ning, Your Majesty, I have never threatened you."

But even if I led 20,000 elite troops, it would be a pointless and futile effort to save Noble Consort Ning's father.

The Great Qi has over 200,000 elite troops; we simply cannot defeat them.

The Emperor pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I agree. But you must win this battle. If you fail, what will you do?"

Qin Shan said calmly, "Then this humble subject will atone with my death."

The Emperor nodded and said, "Yes, that's enough."

Soon after, the Border Pass Army guards arrived.

He looked at Qin Shan, immediately knelt down and said, "General Qin, I am willing to return to the border with you and serve the country."

Qin Shan glanced at him; the garrison commander's clothes were tattered and full of holes.

Qin Shan said calmly, "Your clothes are too tattered. Don't you Border Pass Army get paid?"

The garrison commander said with a wry smile, "The Border Pass Army haven't received their pay for three years."

The Emperor frowned and said, "How could that be? Which army doesn't have soldiers paid?"

The garrison commander reported, "Your Majesty, the Border Pass Army have not only received no pay or supplies for three years, but we have also been living by begging."

The Emperor slammed his fist on the table and said, "Absurd! Investigate! I want to see how things have come to this!"

Noble Consort Ning said calmly:

"Your Majesty, we are about to launch a military campaign, and it is not advisable to create any unforeseen complications."

It would be more important to simply replenish the soldiers' pay and appease their morale.

The Emperor nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Then let's do it that way!"

Qin Shan left the palace with the imperial edict. Upon exiting the palace gates, the guard knelt down and said, "General Qin, from now on, I, Shen Xiao, will follow your lead."

Qin Shan looked at him and said, "Quickly gather your brothers and prepare for the expedition."

Shen Xiao frowned and said:

"General Qin, to put it bluntly, this imperial court is disgusting."

"With our combined population of tens of thousands, we wouldn't even be enough to fill a gap in the Great Qi."

Qin Shan laughed and said, "I have my own plans. You should go back now!"

After Shen Xiao left, Qin Shan went straight to Zhou Wanwan's place.

Zhou Wanwan was sleeping when Qin Shan waited outside. He waited until dinnertime before Zhou Wanwan finally got up and asked, "General Qin, what's the matter?"

General Qin respectfully kowtowed to Zhou Wanwan and said, "Your Majesty, the palace has ordered me to attack the Great Qi. Should I attack or not?"

Zhou Wanwan said, "We still have to fight. After all, the Great Qi has a strong and powerful army, and we have to take advantage of them."

General Qin chuckled and said, "This time I brought an imperial edict. Look, I also made a few conditions. Now I can withdraw troops indefinitely."

Zhou Wanwan looked at Qin Shan and said, "It's pretty good, General Qin. Do you think going to the battlefield is fun?"

Qin Shan paused for a moment and said, "What's so fun about the battlefield? Swords have no eyes, I don't think the battlefield is fun."

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "I'm really looking forward to visiting the border."

General Qin shook his head and said, "Aren't you going to participate in the imperial examination? I'm afraid this is not quite appropriate."

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter if the imperial examination is delayed by a few months. We're at war anyway, so there's no rush."

"Ah?"

Master Zhu came out of the house and said:

"News has just come from the imperial court that the imperial examinations will be postponed for two months, until after the victory is achieved."

But isn't it inappropriate for you to go to the battlefield?

Zhou Wanwan was actually quite curious about what ancient battlefields were like.

She was also quite curious about what the Great Qi was like.

She'd heard that the Great Qi was even wealthier than the Great Xia, so shouldn't she go and see for herself?

She smiled and said, "Master, reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. I should at least go and see the outside world, shouldn't I?"

Master Zhu looked at her speechlessly and said, "You're just a child, what could you possibly know? What could you do on the battlefield?"

"I'm capable of quite a lot; I can even give orders!"

Even Master Zhu couldn't persuade Zhou Wanwan, but Zhao Muyuan quite open-minded. "I think it's pretty good. Go see the customs and cultures of different countries. The Great Qi Kingdom is quite nice, much better than our Great Xia."

Zhou Wanwan smiled and said:

"Let's set off tonight. If we leave tonight, we should arrive by tomorrow night."

"By the way, bring our main force along too. Those 30,000-plus men alone definitely won't be enough."

Qin Shan said, "I'm not afraid of anything else, I'm just afraid that Noble Consort Ning won't provide the military supplies. She said she'd send our people over first, and the provisions and weapons would follow."