Chapter 30: Attending the Banquet (Part 1)

  The venue of the banquet was at the residence of Grand Preceptor Sima, and the one sitting in the first seat was naturally the current Emperor Yinglie. The ones accompanying him on either side were Grand Preceptor Sima and Regent King Liu Xian. Behind Emperor Yinglie stood an old man with a spirited appearance, carrying a strange longbow on his back, with an exceptionally cold expression. However, no one introduced him, and even Huangtian didn't know who he was. The three tables on the left were obviously the positions of the three major family heads, while two of the three tables on the right had already been occupied by Iron Truth, the Minister of War, and Peng Ye, the National Master. With a sweep of his eyes, Huangtian knew that the remaining table was his position, so he politely sat down. Tianyi and Luo Xiang stood behind him.

  "This must be the Duke of Jingbei, Marquis Haotian. Your Excellency has recovered the Yellow River Valley with a thousand cavalrymen and swept away two million Hu barbarians in half a month. Such great achievements are truly worthy of my admiration. Today, I will offer you a cup of plain wine as a gift to express my heartfelt sentiments." The Emperor of England spoke first, ignoring the three major family heads on his left hand, addressing Haotian directly.

  Hao Tian hastily stood up, took the wine cup with both hands and said: "This time we were able to recover the Yellow River valley, thanks to the efforts of the generals and the heavenly power of the emperor. I just happened to be there. The real heroes are those brave warriors who fought on the battlefield and shed their blood."

  The Emperor laughed and said, "I'm delighted that you're not taking all the credit for yourself. What you're referring to is probably those 30,000 soldiers, I've already heard about them. Hmm, they are indeed the pillars of our society who have made great contributions, I will definitely not neglect them."

  Hao Tian hastily knelt down with Tian Yi Zuo Xiang behind him and thanked: "Thank you for your imperial kindness."

  "My dear, no need for excessive courtesy." Emperor Yinglie waved his hand nonchalantly and pointed to the three family heads beside him: "You've just returned to Tiandu Shengjing, so you're probably not familiar with the situation in the capital. This gentleman is Song Zhengfeng, Duke of Dingxi, hereditary governor of Yizhou Road. This one is Li Tieyong, King of Jingxi, the true master of the 800-mile Qin River. And this one is Zhang Cangyong, King of Anyuan, the current head of the Zhang family. All of you are pillars of the state, so it's best to exchange ideas with each other more often."

  "I dare not." Haotian hastily said: "Haotian's talent is shallow, how can I be mentioned in the same breath as the three princes?" However, while speaking, he was secretly sizing up these three powerful vassals. The three great kings were all around fifty years old, Song Zhengfeng looked gloomy, Li Tiezhong was stern, and Zhang Cangxiong was heroic. Behind them stood several family members, although except for Li Xiaomou, Haotian didn't recognize any of them, but just by their aura, it could be seen that they were extraordinary.

  The silent Assistant King suddenly said: "The Marquis of Jingbei is too modest. In the past, when the imperial court's 600,000-strong army marched north, except for the three princes' direct troops, the imperial court's 300,000-strong army was completely annihilated. But the Marquis only used 1,000 cavalry to sweep across the 200,000 Hu barbarians in the Yellow River Valley, such a military achievement is no less than that of the three princes, why can't they be mentioned together?"

  Hao Tian's face suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and the three princes present also looked somewhat unpleasant. However, on the other side, Pang Yan and others were calm and composed. Hao Tian suddenly understood the true purpose of Emperor Ying Lie's banquet, which was to force him into their camp. After the defeat of the Northern Expedition Army, the regular army under the control of the imperial court had only 60 million people left, consisting of five major military groups and the Water Dragon Military Group. The Qinglong Zhuque and other five major military groups were responsible for defending hundreds of millions of square kilometers of land from north to the Great River, south to the West River, west to Dian Nan Road, and east to Yangzhou Road. If it was a peaceful and prosperous era, these troops could barely cope with the help of local garrison forces. However, there were 600,000 elite soldiers of the three northeastern countries north of the Great River, 200,000 water troops of the Japanese pirates east of Yangzhou Road, and nearly 400,000 troops of the Golden Flower Kingdom and the Three Yue Coalition on the south bank of the West River. Moreover, in the heartland of the empire, there were also three major families eyeing each other covetously. It was already winter, and various battle lines were relatively calm, but the fact that the imperial court's military strength was insufficient had long been a reality. At this time, the 200,000-strong army stationed in the Hetao region became particularly important.

  Not to mention that the Hetao army was a crack force that had emerged victorious after bloody battles with foreign tribes, its geographical location alone made it a coveted prize. As long as Hetao remained loyal to the imperial court, the Song and Li families would have to maintain heavy troops in the northern part of their territories. Although the Hetao route and the Tiandu Sacred Capital were separated by the Yin Wind Mountains and the Qin River Li family's blockade, the existence of the imperial court's powerful Jiaolong Army allowed the Hetao army to sail south from the upper reaches of the Great River in the shortest time possible, entering the Tiandu Sacred Capital via the Ji Water and blocking the advance of the Qin River Li family. Among the three great families, the Qin River Li family was the most powerful and occupied a pivotal position; as long as it remained inactive, the Yizhou Song family and the Huai River Zhang family would not dare to make a move. However, this meant that the Emperor was immediately pushed to the opposing side of the three great families.

  The Emperor Yinglie saw that his plan had achieved the desired effect, so he smiled and said: "I heard that Yelü Changhai's third coalition army has been defeated by you, now your family has an army of 2 million, I don't know what your next step is."

  "I, a humble minister, naturally look up to the imperial court as my guide." Hao Tian said without hesitation. This sentence was spoken with conviction and sincerity, and everyone in the great hall could hear the determination and loyalty emanating from it. The three kings on the left showed no change in expression, while Pang Ye smiled slightly, knowing that Hao Tian was truly loyal and dedicated. However, after commanding an army of over 200,000 soldiers and establishing his own fiefdom, he still maintained this attitude, which was indeed rare and precious, and did not disappoint his own expectations.

  After going through this link, the next topic will be much easier. Whether it's the three major families or Pang Yan and others on the right hand, they all seem to have forgotten about this matter and devoted themselves to the easy topic with one heart. Sima Dangui is indeed a great Confucian scholar of the world, with profound knowledge and few people in the world can match him. Especially his eloquence is extremely good, although he is over 70 years old, but when talking about the customs and habits of various places, everyone present listened with relish.

  "The Marquis seems to be not interested in the topic of Taishi." Li Tienming, who was standing behind Li Xiao, suddenly spoke up. Huan Tian used to only like reading history books and didn't know much about these strange stories. However, looking at Sima Dangui's age, although he wasn't interested, he still listened carefully. He just didn't expect Li Xiaomeng's attention to be focused on him all the time, and he immediately noticed and confronted him directly.

  Before Haotian could respond, a voice behind Zhang Cangyun spoke up first: "The young master is unaware that General Jingbei has been in the military for a long time and probably doesn't have the time to read extensively. It's not surprising that he's not interested." This sentence seemed to be helping Haotian out of the situation, but the mocking tone towards Haotian's lack of learning was apparent. The people present, except for Haotian and Tianyi behind him, were all cunning and experienced individuals. Although they were slightly startled in their hearts, they quickly adjusted their expressions to the most appropriate ones.

  Hao Tian felt a surge of annoyance in his heart, and he vaguely remembered that this person seemed to be Zhang Jishi from the Anyuan Wangfu. It was said that the Anyuan King had only one daughter, so this person should be his nephew or cousin. He had never had a good impression of the young masters of aristocratic families, and in his opinion, if it weren't for these young masters fighting for power and profit, the Qingfeng Empire, which once dominated the world, would not have fallen to this point, and the Northern Expeditionary Army would not have suffered a disastrous defeat at the He Suite. Perhaps in the early days of the founding of the country, the three major aristocratic families were still considered to be talented and accomplished, and they had made great contributions to Qingfeng and the people of Shenzhou. However, as time passed and with hundreds of years of comfortable living, the three major aristocratic families had completely decayed and fallen, and all they knew was how to fight for power and profit. The only thing Hao Tian didn't understand was whether Zhang Jishi's sudden attack was on his own initiative or under the instruction of the Anyuan King.

  "What Zhang Shizhong said is not wrong." Pang Yan smiled and said, "The Marquis of Jingbei only knows to be loyal to the court and drive out the barbarians, with a heart for the country, he doesn't have time to read extensively and it's not surprising either."

  As soon as this was said, the expressions of everyone present stiffened slightly. Song Zhengfeng saw that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, so he changed the subject and said: "The Marquis of Jingbei is a matchless brave warrior on the battlefield, it's said that 'those who hear the Tao have precedence, those who learn techniques have specialized attacks', if the Marquis is proficient in everything, then even the heavens would be jealous. The Marquis now has an army of over 200,000, with a reputation that shakes heaven and earth, no one can match such prestige, it's just unknown what the Marquis intends to do next?"

  Hao Tian furrowed his brow and said, "As a minister of the imperial court, it is my duty to protect our home and country, and recover our lost territory. Now that all five routes in Hebei have fallen into the hands of the barbarians, millions of people are displaced and homeless. If the imperial court wishes to recover its former territory, I am willing to be the vanguard."

  Zhang Jisheng sneered and said, "The Marquis of Jingbei speaks lightly, but we haven't seen any sincerity from the marquis. On that day, when the marquis defeated Yelü Changhai's third coalition army at Fenglingdu, he should have taken advantage of the momentum to pursue and kill them for a thousand miles. But instead, the marquis halted his troops and let the barbarians leave safely. I wonder how the marquis will explain this?"

  Hao Tian's face remained expressionless, but he was slightly surprised in his heart. He didn't expect Zhang Jisheng to be so well-informed about the Battle of Fenglingdu. He had thought that after the defeat at Heling, the power of the three major families and the imperial court would have been completely wiped out by the Hu barbarians. However, it seemed that even a dying insect could still twitch its legs, and their hidden strength in Heling was not to be underestimated. Judging from Zhang Jisheng's appearance, it seemed that the three major families had joined forces to launch an attack.

  After calming down, Haotian said: "The Battle of Fenglingdu was not attended by Zhang Shizi, and it's inevitable that there will be some mistakes in the rumors. On that day, the three countries outside the pass had an army of 150,000, with 100,000 cavalrymen, including 20,000 elite iron-clad heavy cavalry from the Mandan Kingdom. Our army also had 150,000 troops, but they were newly formed and consisted of soldiers who were either captured by the Northern Expedition Army or ordinary people from the Yellow River Basin who had never been on a battlefield before. They had not undergone any tempering and their combat effectiveness was far inferior to that of the enemy. Fortunately, with the blessing of heaven and the efforts of our generals and soldiers, we managed to resist the enemy's repeated attacks. Moreover, the enemy also retreated voluntarily. In this icy weather, it is extremely difficult to pursue the highly mobile soldiers from outside the pass. Zhang Shizi was a rich young master who had never been to the northern military, so he naturally didn't know how difficult it was to march and fight in the freezing weather. What's more, those soldiers also had to carry dozens of kilograms of equipment and supplies while marching!"

  At this point, Haotian's tone was already very impolite. Thinking of his tens of thousands of soldiers fighting to the death in the icy snow outside the pass, and still having 80,000 elite cavalrymen bitterly battling outside the pass, Haotian's heart felt extremely displeased. And yet Zhang Jishi was still here nitpicking like a pedantic scholar, if not for seeing Emperor Yinglie sitting at the head of the table, Haotian might have even taught him a harsh lesson.

  Zhang Jisheng's face turned red with anger at the words of Huang Tian. Zhang Cangxiong had only one daughter, and he was also the most promising young man in the Zhang family. Zhang Cangxiong valued him highly, so he often thought of himself as the young master of the Zhang family. For many years, no one except Zhang Cangxiong and his father Zhang Cangwu had ever spoken to him with such disrespect. But now Huang Tian was also the Marquis of Jingbei, and in his anger, he spoke harshly: "Fighting on snowy terrain is difficult for our army, but it's even more difficult for the enemy. Although I've never been to the northern battlefield, I know that Fenglingdu Port is near Shizhou, so our logistics supply should be easier than theirs. In this situation, the Marquis of Jingbei did not take advantage of his victory to pursue and annihilate the enemy's living forces, which is indeed a fact. Moreover, I personally came to welcome you, but you brought a woman with no identity here. What qualifications does she have to appear here? Are you mocking me?"

  Hao Tian's face suddenly changed, his eyes became extremely sharp, and he didn't care about the heavenly intention constantly hinting at him with his eyes. He raised his neck and said coldly: "The prince means that the heavenly intention is not qualified to sit here? Someone has been granted the title of Jingbei Hou and Hetao Taishou by the emperor's favor, as someone's legitimate wife, according to the court's ranking, what the heavenly intention says is more qualified than the prince to sit here! Moreover, today's banquet by the emperor is to commend the tens of thousands of soldiers who fought in the front line of Hetao. And for the recovery of Hetao, the heavenly intention has always been at the forefront of the battle, fighting on the battlefield. It can be said that Hetao was able to recover because of the heavenly intention's contribution, which cannot be ignored. If she is not qualified, then dare to ask the prince, where was he when Hetao was recovered? If the heavenly intention is not qualified, what qualifications does the prince have, and why should he sit here?"

  No one had expected that Haotian would suddenly fly into a rage because of Zhang Jishi's words, and it was still the latter half of the sentence that he targeted, which was the contempt for Tianyi. Tianyi's heart was moved, and his eyes were also filled with tears. As for Luo Xiang, he remained calm and composed, and no one knew what he was thinking in his heart.