Princes Compete to Win Over Prince Zhao, Ye Xun Responds with Indifference

Ye Xun looked at Wei Feng and asked in puzzlement, "So, what do you need me to do?"

Wei Feng furrowed his brow, pondered for a moment, and said, "The situation this time is rather unusual. In a few days, the Second Prince, King Zhao, Ye Zhan, will arrive in Shangjing City to report on his duties. He will also request the Ministry of War to allocate some warhorses to expand the establishment of his Northern Profound Army, replace retired horses, and defend against the Tiannu."

"However, King Zhao does not yet know the news of His Majesty being assassinated. He has always been a man of straight-forward and stubborn character. If he finds out that His Majesty was assassinated right here at the Prince Qin's Estate, he will likely come to settle accounts with Your Highness."

"If that happens, the situation will be extremely unfavorable for us."

Ye Xun: ......

This must be what they call catching a stray bullet in legends.

He was the genuine, bonafide victim here; why did he have to suffer the bullying of internal strife?

It made no sense.

Completely unreasonable!

It was bad enough that there was no good news, but what on earth was this about inexplicably gaining an enemy?

Although Ye Xun was unwilling.

Ye Zhan was unreasonable, and while there was nothing he could do about that, he could not simply sit and wait for death.

He figured that quite a few people in Shangjing City were waiting to watch him make a fool of himself.

Did they expect him to don armor and march into battle to redeem himself through meritorious service?

That was a bit far-fetched...

Ye Xun estimated that he wouldn't even be able to bear the weight of those dozens of catties of heavy armor.

Ye Xun looked at Wei Feng and asked, "What is the attitude of the other princes? Ye Zhan's influence seems quite significant, doesn't it?"

"Indeed," Wei Feng nodded, pondering, "The combat effectiveness of King Zhao's Northern Profound Army easily ranks in the top three in Great Xia. Before the twelfth year of Zhenwu, the Tiannu would pillage our Great Xia northern border three to four times every year."

"It wasn't until the thirteenth year of Zhenwu that King Zhao personally led thirty thousand men of the Northern Profound Army rushing to the northern border. At Yanyun Pass, he held off the attack of eighty thousand Tiannu troops. When the Tiannu retreated, he personally led ten thousand elite cavalry on a three-hundred-li raid, routing the retreating Tiannu forces and slaying their Second Khan, Wunahuaye. That was what finally brought stability to the northern border, and King Zhao shook the world with that single battle."

"Since then, the Tiannu rested and recuperated for a full three years before they dared to raid our Great Xia border once a year, and they never dared to penetrate deeply. This is entirely King Zhao's achievement."

"Today, King Zhao enjoys immense prestige in the military circles of Great Xia, and having no interest in the throne, he has become the target of intense courtship by all the princes. I heard that the Fourth Prince, Ye Chen, has already had several major aristocratic families pool together three thousand warhorses, intending to donate them to the Northern Profound Army."

Three thousand warhorses?

Worth over two hundred thousand taels of silver?

Ye Xun felt a dizzy spell coming on; they really were filthy rich.

This was blatant, unadulterated crushing through sheer wealth.

It was too bullying...

In this era, horses were the state's most vital strategic reserve resource.

Especially in Great Xia, top-quality horses were uniformly purchased, raised, and managed by the imperial court.

Good horses were virtually nonexistent among the common people.

The price of a single quality horse ranged anywhere from seventy to eighty taels.

The monthly salary of a ninth-rank county registrar was merely two taels of silver, meaning he would have to go without eating or drinking for four years just to buy one quality horse.

Meanwhile, buying a thirteen or fourteen-year-old young girl to serve as a maid cost only ten taels of silver.

This clearly illustrated the immense importance of horses during this period.

Even if Ye Xun smashed his pots and sold his iron, he could never scrape together over two hundred thousand taels of silver.

Besides, even if he had the money, there was nowhere to buy such quality horses.

Those three thousand quality horses of Ye Chen's had all been diverted from the private pastures of major aristocratic families; they must have made a huge determination.

Yet, if it could secure King Zhao's support, even five thousand warhorses would be worth it.

Hoo...

Ye Xun took a deep breath.

He reviewed the overall situation.

Although they had not yet met, Ye Zhan already held a deep-seated hatred for him. In the matter of defending against the Tiannu, he was powerless to contribute. Coupled with the fanning of flames by some of his sworn enemies, it would already be the best-case scenario if Ye Zhan didn't resort to force against him.

Look at Ye Chen instead. He usually maintained friendly ties with Ye Zhan, and this time, taking advantage of the turmoil in the northern border, he had even persuaded several major aristocratic families to donate three thousand fine warhorses.

With one rising and the other falling.

The gap opened between Ye Xun and Ye Chen was now as vast as a chasm.

No wonder even Wei Feng wore such a gloomy expression.

Presumably, given this situation, even Wei Wuji was helpless. There was nothing they could do; they simply couldn't produce hundreds of thousands of taels or thousands of warhorses for Ye Xun to squander.

Heritage—this was the gap in heritage.

The imperial court was not a place of brute force and physical combat; the imperial court was about human connections and favors.

Other than staring blankly and watching Ye Chen reap fame, fortune, and public support, Ye Xun and his camp had no other choice.

However, Ye Xun was by no means a man who would sit passively and wait for death.

He slowly stood up, pacing back and forth in the hall as he brainstormed countermeasures.

Since Ye Zhan had not yet returned to Shangjing City, they still had time.

Ye Xun walked to the center of the hall, turned to look at Wei Feng, and mused, "Cousin, regarding this matter, what does Uncle say?"

Sigh...

Wei Feng let out a long sigh. "Regarding this matter, Father doesn't have any exceptionally good solutions either. Even if Father could persuade some merchants of the Guanzixi faction to donate money and grain, compared to the Fourth Prince, it would still pale into insignificance."

"Father's meaning is that Your Highness should not get involved in this matter. If King Zhao comes looking for trouble, just offer him an apology; after all, he won't actually lay a hand on you. But Your Highness can rest assured, Father will strive to meet with King Zhao in advance to put in a good word for you. King Zhao still holds a great deal of respect for Father."

An apology?

Putting in a good word?

He, Ye Xun, had a spine too.

This matter had nothing to do with him in the first place, and he would never bow his head under Ye Zhan's overbearing might.

Besides.

Ye Zhan wielded tremendous prestige in the Great Xia military.

Ye Xun would never allow him to fall to Ye Chen's side.

What he knew far surpassed what they knew.

Ye Xun did not reply to Wei Feng; he continued pacing back and forth in the hall.

Invasion...

Warhorses...

Warhorses?

As Ye Xun pondered, a sudden flash of brilliance illuminated his eyes. "That's right! I can start with the warhorses."

In Great Xia.

The three-piece set for warhorses did exist: stirrups, saddles, and riding crops.

Yet there was one divine artifact that had never appeared in Great Xia at all—horseshoes.

Horseshoes, also known as horse shoes, are iron hoof-shaped objects nailed to the hooves of horses.

In this era, the wear and tear on a warhorse's hooves was extremely severe. Under constant friction with the ground and corrosion from standing water, the hooves would peel and rot.

Once the hooves rotted, the horse's stamina would be affected, leading to stumbling and lost footing.

However, if iron horseshoes were nailed on, it not only protected the hooves but also greatly enhanced the horse's traction.

This was exceptionally beneficial for large-scale cavalry charges.

However, horseshoes had one drawback: they were difficult to keep secret and far too easy for enemies to learn and copy.

Yet Ye Xun no longer had the bandwidth to care about such concerns.

He figured that if he custom-made a batch of horseshoes and presented them to Ye Zhan, the effect would surpass even Ye Chen's three thousand warhorses.

After all, this was an invention that would protect tens of millions of warhorses in Great Xia—a monumental achievement of immeasurable virtue.

Immediately afterward, Ye Xun looked at Wei Feng and said thoughtfully, "Cousin, I've just thought of a brilliant idea."