To be fair, Emperor Zhaowu, Zhao Kai, was not a fool. On the contrary, he was a man who had some skills and could even be called a smart man.
If there had been no Shen Yi, no Nan Chen's Northern Expedition, and all these other things, it would not have been difficult for him to be a good emperor with his own abilities after he successfully succeeded to the throne.
Coupled with the wealth that Emperor Yongping had accumulated over the past thirty years, it was enough for him to live a happy life and be the Lord of the North for the rest of his life.
It's a pity that there is no if in the world.
Not long after he ascended the throne, the war between the two countries began to break out. At the beginning, he spent a lot of energy to consolidate his unstable rule. But after the situation in Yandu stabilized, Emperor Zhaowu looked up , Shen has already fought across the Huaihe River, and his strength is terrifying.
In the blink of an eye, it is already the sixteenth year of Hongde in Nanchen and the fourth year of Zhaowu in Northern Qi.
The situation is getting worse day by day.
Faced with this situation, Emperor Zhaowu made every effort, even giving up the northern border defense, and invested almost all his capital in it, but until now...
The main battlefield is just a stalemate.
In other words, it just hasn't gotten worse for the time being.
However, the national strength of the Northern Qi Dynasty is no longer enough to sustain a war of this level for a long time. Nowadays, the people in Yandu are panicked, and the officials in the court and even the princes of the clan are frightened.
Many people even gossiped behind his back, saying that the emperor was incompetent. Not long after he ascended the throne, the Southerners invaded.
This pressure is undoubtedly huge.
If Emperor Zhaowu was a mediocre person, or a mediocre person, he might not think too much at this moment, but he happened to be somewhat capable and had his own ambitions. When he was a boy, he even thought about horse riding every day. Jiangnan dominates the world.
For this kind of person, the current situation puts too much pressure on him.
He couldn't sleep almost night after night.
Now, the arrival of the Tatar envoy Muto has finally broken the tension in his heart.
Emperor Zhaowu, after roaring at Nuo Yong to advance the army, once again vomited a mouthful of blood, then lay on his back and fainted, unconscious.
Several prime ministers panicked and immediately asked people to help the emperor lie down, and then invited the imperial doctor to come over.
After the imperial doctor arrived, after a lot of trouble, Emperor Zhaowu finally woke up, but at this time, Emperor Zhaowu's face still had no color.
He only left two imperial doctors in the room, and all the others were kicked out.
After a while, General Lang Yan of the Forbidden Army finally arrived. He passed through the crowd and came to the door of the room. He knocked on the door first, and then said: "Your Majesty, I would like to see you, Lang Yan..."
After a while, Emperor Zhaowu's voice came from the room: "Come in... come in."
Lang Yan responded, opened the door carefully and walked in. After walking through the curtain, he quickly saw Emperor Zhaowu lying on the bed, his face almost bloodless.
Seeing his nephew's appearance, General Lang's heart skipped a beat. He half-knelt beside the bed, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."
"What's wrong with you?"
General Lang gritted his teeth: "Did that Tatar dog slave say anything against me? I will go over now and hack him to death!"
Emperor Zhaowu opened his eyes. I don't know if it was because he had fainted, but his eyes were much calmer at this moment.
He did not speak, but looked up at the several imperial doctors beside the bed. Lang Yan immediately understood, turned around and ordered: "Everyone get out!"
Several imperial doctors immediately bowed their heads and retreated.
Soon, the nephew and uncle were the only ones left in the room.
Emperor Zhaowu's voice was weak, but less venomous: "The imperial doctor said that I was suffering from a sudden attack on my heart, which damaged my mind."
He closed his eyes and his tone was full of weakness: "Uncle, I am now..."
"I don't know what to do anymore."
"You suffer losses everywhere and are limited everywhere."
"Since this battle has started, I have heard almost no good news except that Nuo Yong killed and wounded some Nanchen troops in the past few months."
"now…"
Emperor Zhaowu was exhausted physically and mentally: "Now, the Tatars are also going south."
"uncle…"
He looked at Lang Yan and sighed: "I really don't know how long I can last."
Lang Yan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Da Qi's foundation for so many years is that all hardships can be overcome. If you rest in peace for a few days and cheer up, you will definitely be able to lead Da Qi out of the gloom."
Emperor Zhaowu was silent for a while and sighed: "I hope so."
"uncle."
He looked at Lang Yan and whispered: "There are few trustworthy people around me. I have a few things to tell my uncle."
Lang Yan said "Ah" and then quickly lowered his head: "That's the emperor's order."
"I'm going to build a reserve secretly."
The emperor looked at Lang Yan and said silently: "My uncle has to take charge of this matter."
Lang Yan's eyes turned red, and he lowered his head and cried: "Your Majesty, you..."
"Uncle, listen to what I have to say."
He took a breath and continued: "I will naturally support the current situation if I can, but if one day in the future, the situation is really bad..."
"We, Master Zhu Li, must have a way out."
"Uncle, do you understand?"
Lang Yan opened his eyes wide: "The emperor is saying that Shengjing outside the pass..."
Emperor Zhaowu looked desolate and did not nod or deny.
"It's just preparation. Things haven't gotten this bad yet."
Emperor Zhaowu narrowed his eyes and whispered: "My army of more than 300,000 is still on the front line, and the outcome is not yet known."
"As long as we can defeat Shen Qiyi, all the decline can be reversed."
"Just for the sake of future generations, I have to think more."
General Lang burst into tears: "Your Majesty, please don't think too much. It's important to take good care of your dragon body."
"I'm not in the way, I won't die for the time being."
Emperor Zhaowu took a few breaths and looked at Lang Yan: "Uncle, I have a sentence, please remember it."
Lang Yan choked with sobs: "Your Majesty, please tell me."
"If one day in the future, Daqi is really defeated, I will die for my country, and my uncle will put all the blame on me."
"Let the new owner inherit it cleanly for the future."
"This this…"
"Your Majesty, how could you think so..."
"I said it."
Emperor Zhaowu looked pale: "It's just a precaution."
He looked to the south and said coldly: "I may not be defeated."
Emperor Zhaowu gritted his teeth and said: "Now that Shen Qi has almost become a vassal town of his own. Now that his war is going well, no one in the Southern Dynasty will dare to touch him. In the future, the emperor of the Li family will definitely not be able to tolerate him with his small belly."
"The Purity Department will spare no effort to provoke the monarchs and ministers of the Southern Dynasty. Once they have internal strife, if Shen Qi dies, Nanchen will immediately be in chaos. And without Shen Qi, they will have no minions and nothing to fear. ."
"And if Shen Qi hadn't died, they might have become more chaotic."
"At that time, if I can still hold on, I can fight back immediately..."
"Even if we have returned to Shengjing, we can still take advantage of this opportunity to go south again. At that time, we may be able to take advantage of the opportunity and directly dominate the world!"
Lang Yan looked at his nephew and couldn't help but burst into tears.
"Your Majesty, please rest in peace, rest in peace..."
"I can't feel at ease."
Two lines of tears fell from the corners of Emperor Zhaowu's eyes.
"Uncle, although we came to this position as soldiers, but..."
"But my father, the throne was indeed passed down to me..."
"Now it looks like this."
Emperor Zhaowu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said: "If it weren't for the fact that I had no face to see the late emperor, I would have gone with the late emperor long ago..."
Lang Yan held Emperor Zhaowu's hand, and the nephew and uncle looked at each other, with tears streaming down their faces.
…………
A few days later, in Jinan City.
Two messages from the Internal Guard and the Di News Department were sent to Shen almost at the same time.
When the news arrived, Mr. Shen was discussing matters with Zhang Jian. After receiving the two pieces of news, he first read them and then frowned deeply.
Zhang Jian put down the brush in his hand and looked at Shen Yi: "Zi Heng, did something happen on the front line?"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly.
"It has nothing to do with the front line. Here comes good news and bad news."
Zhang Jian was a little curious and asked, "Can I listen?"
"What's wrong with listening to this?"
Mr. Shen smiled and said, "The good news is that Emperor Zhaowu of the Northern Qi Dynasty seemed to be in bad health. He vomited blood in court and fainted."
"This body is far worse than his ability to survive."
Zhang Jian clapped his hands: "This is indeed good news. If Northern Qi loses its backbone at this time, Zi Heng's Northern Expedition will be easier."
After saying this, he asked: "What about the bad news?"
Shen Yi frowned subconsciously: "The Tatars have moved and have begun to move south."
"Now we are almost in Datong."
Zhang Jian also frowned and said, "What should we do? I'm afraid General Xue's troops are not strong enough to deal with it?"
"Ziheng, do you want to go to Shanxi?"
"I have to go, but it will only take a few days."
Mr. Shen looked at the paperwork in his hand to purchase autumn clothes for the army, and said slowly: "After all these logistics are sorted out."