Dragon Head Palace.
“Your Majesty, in addition, the Fourth Prince had Jia Yu stay at the Imperial Extreme Palace and transferred all the Xuan Jia Bing and the rebelling Imperial Guard, totaling more than 6,000 people.”
Dai Quan spoke cautiously.
The retired Emperor was in a bad mood. Although the King of Wu was saved.
However, he had also lost his eligibility to compete for the throne.
Unless he took action himself.
But, the current emperor was not the previous emperor.
The army led by Jia Yu had already shown their prowess outside the Dong Hua Gate.
The 7,000 cavalrymen of the Jiangnan Camp were slaughtered in less than a stick of incense.
The King of Wu was captured alive.
With his 20,000 Imperial Guard, it would be difficult to defeat the emperor and Jia Yu, especially since they were prepared.
Jia Yu's martial prowess was terrifying, even stronger than his grandfather, Jia Dai Shan, and possibly even stronger than his ancestor, the Rong Guo Duke.
“He's as wise as a fool,” the retired Emperor said pointedly, “He only focuses on training troops and fighting, leaving logistics and supplies to the emperor.
The most important thing for an army is food and supplies. The emperor controls the supplies, which means he also controls the army's movements.
Jia Yu truly inherited the true skills of the first Rong Guo Duke.”
“With someone like him protecting the emperor, in a few years, I'm afraid he'll kick me out of Dragon Head Palace.”
Dai Quan knelt on the ground: “Your Majesty, Jia Yu is just a mindless brute, his soldiers are just following him for military merit.
Outside Dragon Head Palace, there are still 20,000 Imperial Guard, each of them experienced in battle, having fought alongside you, their loyalty is evident.
The Fourth Prince may have some military power now, but the civil and military officials in the capital are still your subjects.
Without your permission, the grain from Jiangnan cannot be transported, without your consent, the money from various provinces won't flow into the treasury.”
“Even if the Fourth Prince has more troops, without money or food, he’ll be powerless.
If the Fourth Prince wants to secure the throne, he still depends on you, Your Majesty.”
Dai Quan's words, delivered while kneeling, struck a chord in the retired Emperor’s heart, bringing him comfort.
A faint smile appeared on his icy face: “I was too hasty before.
Now that I think about it, even if I give all the troops in the capital to the Fourth Prince, can he afford them?
To defend the capital, we had to mobilize resources from surrounding areas. Now, the city relies on the supplies we gathered before.
Once these supplies are depleted, he will be helpless, even a skilled cook cannot make a dish without rice.”
“Hahaha!”
The retired Emperor laughed heartily, the Imperial Guard outside had not heard him laugh so heartily in a long time.
After the Qian Yuan Di captured the King of Wu, he mobilized 60,000 soldiers from Jiangnan, 40,000 troops guarding against pirates, and the remaining 50,000 from the three camps of the capital, forming a new capital garrison.
Jia Yu left behind the 3,000 Imperial Guard who were originally guarding the palace, taking 4,000 Xuan Jia Tie Qi and settled in the main training ground of the capital garrison.
The main training ground was located in the north of the capital, with complete camp facilities and various training grounds.
The remaining 50,000 veteran soldiers of the capital garrison were temporarily stationed in the capital to assist the five city garrison in maintaining order.
100,000 new recruits gathered at the main training ground, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Jia Yu promoted soldiers who were loyal to him, making them squad leaders, centurions, even captains.
After completing their training, these soldiers would be assigned to the five military camps, the Three Thousand Camp, and the Divine Machine Camp.
While Jia Yu was bustling with training, he stayed behind to oversee the transport of the spoils of war back to the capital.
The merchants in the city, seeing the vast number of horses and carts laden with goods, their eyes lit up.
They began to contact each other, planning to use their influence to get these goods at a low price.
However, when they found out who was behind these goods, they quickly retracted their plans.
Jia Yu, the capital garrison commander.
These words sent a chill down their spines, they realized they could face ruin if they didn't back down.
They could only watch helplessly as the herds of horses and mountains of goods passed by.
Soon, the cold winter arrived.
The white snow covered the land, the capital was adorned in white, a captivating sight.
The capital also returned to its former prosperity.
The court, on the one hand, was busy counting losses and rewarding contributions.
The Mongol siege of the capital had a significant impact.
The reinforcements needed to be properly arranged, they came all this way, you have to give them some rewards!
After dealing with the reinforcements and losses across the country, everyone in the court was waiting for the Qian Yuan Di to reward those who had defended the capital.
First place, needless to say, belonged to the capital garrison commander.
Second place was the Minister of War, Niu Ji Zong.
There were many others.
Jia Yu’s appointment as the capital garrison commander was a hasty decision by the emperor and the retired Emperor, a way to stabilize the safety and security of the capital.
The real reward was yet to come.
The court was bustling with activity, while the ordinary people in the capital were also going about their lives.
The dead are gone, the living must carry on.
On the bustling street, several carriages and palanquins entered the side gate of the Jia residence in the wind and snow.
Jia Yu, with twelve personal guards dressed in plain clothes, rode to Ning Rong Street.
The entire street was occupied by the two Jia residences and their collateral branches.
It was winter, everyone was wrapped in thick clothes, while Jia Yu wore only a few simple garments.
“Damn it, they don't want to be entangled with me, so they come to cause trouble?
I'm a tiger, I'm not a sick cat! They've got guts, coming to my manor to extort money and even hold people hostage.”
Jia Yu stopped his horse in front of the Rong Guo residence gate, holding a whip, his face flushed with anger.
The gate of the Rong Guo residence was closed, the gatekeepers were leaning against the sides of the gate, already asleep.
For them, guarding the gate was a chance to sleep.
They had already mastered the art of
Tat, tat, tat
The sound of galloping hooves seemed to disturb their peaceful slumber, they opened their sleepy eyes to see who was interrupting their dreams.
They saw a tall horse and a group of men with swords strapped to their waists.
Jia Yu dismounted, holding his whip, and strode towards the front gate of the Rong Guo residence.
The gatekeepers had seen their fair share of the world, there were many people in the capital who dressed like this, but these men were tall, making them a bit afraid.
The head gatekeeper, seeing Jia Yu daring to walk up to the front gate of the Rong Guo residence, his face full of anger, shouted: “Stop, do you know where you are? How dare you walk up here?”
Slap!
The head gatekeeper fell backwards, landing on the ground, a huge whip mark across his face, bright red blood flowing.
The other gatekeepers froze, one of them slipped away from the back, making a run for it.
Jia Yu didn't care, he held his whip, stepping on the head gatekeeper's body.
“You dare to detain my people, you’ve got more nerve than you know!
Open the gate for me, I want to see just how much face Lai Da has, to dare ask me for money.
I want to see how impressive this Rong Guo residence is.”
....