Frost for a Thousand Years

Chen Huo's army retreated a day earlier than Song Shi'an's, and because it consisted entirely of elite light troops, its marching speed was more than 30% faster than the enemy's.

Therefore, he was very relaxed when he headed south.

They maintained a speed of about sixty miles per day.

Rest when you should rest, and stop cooking when you should stop cooking.

With his personal leadership, this defeated army showed no signs of disintegration.

Because they also knew what their intention was in heading south.

From the land of Baiyue, your Southern King is coming.

When they were less than a hundred miles from Beiguan, he even issued an order for a midday rest.

This greatly frightened the son who was following behind. He went straight to the Duke of Zhangping, who was sitting on a rock with a rice bowl in his hand, and said somewhat uneasily, "Father, since we are going to Baiyue, we should hurry. According to the scouts, Song Shi'an's cavalry vanguard is less than fifty miles away from our troops."

Do you know how long it takes to run fifty li?

The Duke of Zhangping immediately retorted with disdain, displeased with his son's cowardly behavior.

Chen Wang was completely taken aback by the question...

Why is it that when everyone else is running away, his father is able to remain so calm, showing no sign of discouragement or shame at losing a battle, as if it were just a move? He has such a nonchalant attitude towards the uncertain future of the Guangfu Group.

"How is Wei Yixing?" Chen Huo asked.

When this was mentioned, Chen Wang's face darkened, and he said, "I'm the one who tied him up and brought him back. He's always had that scary face of his."

"Didn't you already lose? Are you still not convinced?"

Chen Huo kept his head down while eating.

“He admitted defeat, but he felt he was ambushed and that he would not have suffered such a crushing defeat if they had fought head-on,” Chen Wang said.

"What an idiot!" Chen Huo was speechless. "Just because someone ambushes another doesn't mean they can't ambush them? When he says 'head-on confrontation,' he doesn't mean he wants to fight Song Shi'an one-on-one, and if he wins, that's considered a victory, right?"

"He did say he wanted to kill Song Shi'an with his own hands..."

Chen Wang said, speechless.

"I was hoping to teach him a lesson this time and temper his character, but he's still so reckless and impulsive." Chen Huo was truly exhausted by this kid.

But there was nothing he could do. The old emperor had entrusted him with this responsibility, and he was practically his son. No matter how mischievous or naughty he was, he had to protect him.

"Father, he is, after all, a prince. Wouldn't it look bad if he were still suppressed?" Chen Wang deliberately brought it up.

"Of course it won't look good." Chen Huo knew this, but he understood the kid better. "If he's released and marches with the army, he might just lead his cavalry back at night to avenge himself against Song Shi'an."

"That's true."

It's hard to say about Chen Wang.

Taking a king away bound like this truly damages the dignity of the royal family and makes their group less honorable and legitimate.

"Father, what should we do if Samogi doesn't agree to our deal?" Chen Wang suddenly asked.

"Everyone disagrees."

With his brows lowered, Chen Huo's eyes revealed a sharp glint: "Apart from this Shamoji, she must agree."

.........

At this moment, Samogi truly met his savior.

It can be said that this completely resolved her most critical situation.

Of course, she couldn't possibly be unaware of how dangerous it was to let the Yu people into the pass.

This is no different from treason.

But if she doesn't betray her country now, her people will personally send her to the guillotine.

"Sir, please wait a moment."

Despite the arrogance of those opposite her, Samogi extended her hand, maintaining a faint smile, still the alluring queen who stirred the heart.

The messenger left just like that.

Then the kings below, as well as some generals of the allied forces, immediately became furious.

"This brat dares to threaten us? We should kill him as a sacrifice!"

“They were clearly beaten into submission by Song Shi’an, yet they barked at us like dogs. They have absolutely no respect for Baiyue.”

"Let him surrender to Song Shi'an, and see if he dares to do it, and see if Song Shi'an will let him go!"

Indeed, apart from Samoji, all the other tribal chiefs and officials were unanimously opposed.

They are not the emperors of Nan Yue. If Shamogi falls, Qiu Juhuan will not become emperor either. At most, he will only be a leader of an alliance. They will not suffer any losses in the end.

Even if Qiu Juhuan were to become emperor with great force, he would not retaliate against any external enemies, because he simply did not have the power to do so.

The boss may change, but as long as we remain the same, that's fine.

If we let an outsider into the country, how can they expect to have a good life?

These are the people of Yu, who from the bottom of their hearts consider us barbarian dukes.

"Your Majesty, you can't possibly be unaware of this trick of inviting wolves into the house, can you?" a king immediately questioned Samogi.

"Inviting wolves into the house?" Samogi scoffed and said, "I think this is a plan to drive away tigers and wolves!"

These words left the others looking at each other in bewilderment.

This woman is going to use her silver tongue again.

"The blood feud between the Duke of Zhangping and Song Shi'an is not something that can be easily resolved. If they could really talk, he wouldn't have run away," said Shamoji. "His men can't cause any trouble in Baiyue. Do you all really think that ten thousand troops can rule over my Southern Yue?"

"His ten thousand men are elite troops, all fully armored. In a head-on battle, who could stand against them?" the king retorted.

"But even if we win, what then?" Shamoji's soul asked. "Can he rule over us million barbarians?"

This one sentence reveals the essence.

The army was very elite, but they only brought soldiers, not civilians.

Their foundation for rule is extremely weak.

These 10,000 people cannot cover the entire southern Vietnam.

“He only wanted a piece of land, and his men can only rule that piece of land,” Shamoji said. “But the prince is in his hands, and Song Shi’an won’t let him go easily. To protect himself, he has no choice but to fight against the Yu bandits for us. So, it’s not that he wants to use us, it’s that we’re using these Yu people!”

win.

Winning is the most essential knowledge that humankind has studied since ancient times.

If you use this trick well, you can have at least a large group of blind followers.

True fans will interpret it themselves.

But winning theories can't fool the elites.

"Your Majesty, stop talking nonsense and deceiving yourself," the king said. "He may not be able to occupy land, but he has a strong army. If he builds a city in our Baiyue region and establishes a foothold, who can restrain him? Can you do it? Can we do it?"

Shamoji was so angry at this intelligent king that he gritted his teeth. In his mind, he had already stabbed the king's neck ten thousand times with a golden hairpin to create an artificial shower.

Beast, beast, beast!

"Just because you can't control him doesn't mean I can't?" Shamoji forced himself to keep a straight face and suppress his anger, still speaking elegantly, "He can negotiate, and so can we."

She spoke the word "conditions" with such certainty and confidence.

"Empress Dowager, what are the conditions?" someone asked with concern.

Leaning back in his chair, Shamoji slowly clenched his fist, exuding an air of dominance, and said, "King Jiangling." King Jiangling.

This empress dowager is painting a huge pie in the sky for everyone present.

She has only one reason to turn defeat into victory.

Anyway, they have to use the banner of opposing Yu, otherwise they can't win people's hearts. So, having such a nuclear weapon in hand, wouldn't they be able to take the lead in the confrontation?
Even if Song Shi'an didn't care about this guy's life or death at all, he still existed here, regardless of whether he cared or not.

This is the story of a prince's marriage in a female-oriented online novel.

Allowing foreigners to control a legitimate former prince, now a regional king, would be an absolute win.

Even so…

Before the king could say anything more, Shamoji suddenly clapped his hands.

Everyone became alert and looked behind them, until some maids brought wooden trays to them.

Lift the cover, and behind the red cloth is gleaming gold.

The eyes of the Barbarian King and the Barbarian General lit up.

They may not be very involved in the economy or foreign trade, but who doesn't know that these golden things can be exchanged for white grain?

There's plenty of grain!

"What does the Empress Dowager mean by this?" a king asked.

This was a thousand gold coins that Ji Yuan's men had scraped together for her. She had originally intended to keep it for future use, but now she had no choice but to reluctantly take it out to bribe these scoundrels.

"The chaos in the Kingdom of Yu was personally orchestrated by me. Chen Huo's escape south was also planned by me," Shamoji said. "This thousand taels of gold is his gift to me. Moreover, it is only a partial gift."

How can one turn a loss into a victory in politics?
That means you must be able to demonstrate where you've won.

The fact that Chen Huo gave her money proves that she is the boss, doesn't it?
Although Ji Yuan paid for it.

After she finished speaking, the maids presented the gold.

With just this one gesture, he managed to appease almost everyone present.

It's still that topic of traitors.

Selling out one's country comes at a price.

Moreover, it depends on who receives the payment.

"Empress Dowager."

Seeing that everyone else had taken the money, the last one who had been arguing with her finally gave in, but he still insisted, "We can agree to use the Prince of Jiangling to coerce the Yu people, but Chen Huo must bring this boy out before entering the pass. Otherwise, there's no point in discussing anything!"

.........

"Your Majesty, this is Shamoji's request."

When the negotiators returned to Chen Huo's army camp, they were only fifty li away from the North Pass.

Inside the makeshift tent, the Duke of Zhangping received a report from the envoy.

As soon as he raised his hand, the other person picked up the map, opened it, and handed it to him.

While observing the terrain, he said, "This pass guards a narrow passage, and before it, there is a wide valley, five miles long, shaped like a gourd, with its opening facing outwards. At the gap, there are countless watchtowers on both sides of the cliff, where troops can be ambushed."

"My lord, I have already told them that they must let us pass safely through this road and must not set up an ambush here," the envoy said.

Before entering the North Pass, there was a long valley. Its entrance was too high and relatively wide, reaching four or five hundred meters. In theory, it was possible to build another pass, but the strength and construction capabilities of the Southern Yue Kingdom were insufficient to complete it.

The so-called North Pass was actually the second entrance into the Baiyue region.

It is about 200 meters wide, and only the side facing outwards has a stone-built city wall. Behind it is a tribal-like layout of towers and fortresses.

The maximum that can be accommodated under normal circumstances is only five thousand.

However, these barbarians had very low requirements for the garrison, and the vast majority of them camped behind the pass.

Because it is narrow and small, an attack would be more concentrated and brutal.

However, for the attacking side, breaking through the city is much easier.

Because of low tolerance for error.

Therefore, Samogi would deploy troops in the valleys, jungles, cliffs, and other places before the pass.

"So, did you agree?"

Chen Huo countered with a question.

"They said that we must hand over the Prince of Jiangling first," the envoy said, his head bowed and his voice heavy.

"Okay."

The Duke of Zhangping smiled calmly and said.

The envoy was stunned by how readily the answer was given.

Are you really giving it to me?
I thought it was just a temporary measure.

Before the envoy set off, the Duke of Zhangping told him that Shamoji would definitely make a request for the King of Jiangling, so he thought that the Duke definitely had a way to deal with it.

But the result was, they actually gave it to them?
“Then… I will go and reply to Shamokichi,” the envoy said somewhat hesitantly.

"No need, we've already reached an agreement."

Chen and Huo casually waved their hands, downplaying the seriousness of the matter.

"Yes."

And so, even his trusted envoys, filled with confusion and bewilderment, followed the army southward.

Song Shi'an's army continued their pursuit.

The vanguard of light cavalry, eager to make a name for themselves, had already covered only twenty li.

Finally, outside the entrance to the great valley before the North Gate, the army of the Duke of Zhangping arrived.

The queue was neatly arranged.

However, on the left and right sides of that wide pass, on the cliffs dozens of feet high, stood the barbarian soldiers, and with as many animal skin banners as possible to show off, they were quite imposing.

After Chen Huo arrived, several hundred cavalrymen and a dozen elephant soldiers marched out of the pass, standing only a hundred paces apart.

A barbarian general rode forward, clenched his fists, and said to the Duke of Zhangping, "Your Highness, please invite His Highness the Prince of Jiangling out."

Chen Huo's subordinates were somewhat taken aback by this request.

But they quickly realized that this must have been a condition privately agreed upon between the Duke of Zhangping and Shamoji.

This is utterly disgraceful.

But Song Shi'an was right behind them, and they needed Shamoji's protection.

"Let our army enter the valley first," the Duke of Zhangping said in a completely calm tone.

"?" The general was immediately stunned, then angrily said, "Prince Zhang, you had already discussed this with my Empress Dowager. You agreed to hand over Prince Jiangling first before entering the pass!"

"The handover will take place after we enter the pass," the Duke of Zhangping said firmly. "But for now, let us enter the valley first."

"No, absolutely not!"

The military officer immediately refused.

But the Duke of Zhangping remained calm and simply led his men to block the valley entrance.

Even as Song Shi'an drew closer and closer behind him... (End of Chapter)