In the fourth year of Qingli, Canglang Khan of Yuanmeng made a big fuss in Kyoto, destroyed half of the palace, killed the empress dowager, empress, and many civil and military ministers. With the help of the deposed prince Li Chengqian, Yuanmeng and Qing officially turned against each other.
In August, the Qing State appointed Ye Chong as its commander and sent 100,000 troops straight into the grasslands.
In November, the Qing Kingdom's 100,000-strong army was attacked by 30,000 grassland cavalry and was severely defeated. Ye Zhong led the remaining 30,000 troops back to the Qing Kingdom, and the whole world was shocked.
For a long time, the Qingguo army has dominated the world, winning more and losing less, laying the foundation for the first powerful country.
This time, Emperor Qing went all out to use troops on the grassland. He not only provided Ye Chongqing with the most elite troops, but also mobilized 200,000 civilians to assist him, just to avenge his previous humiliation.
As a result, not long after Ye Zhong penetrated into the grassland, he was defeated head-on by 30,000 Yuan Meng cavalry. Not only did he lose most of the 100,000 troops, but he was also defeated by Akainu, one of Yuan Meng's thirteen wings. He was seriously injured and dying, and was carried back to Kyoto by his generals.
After this battle, although the Qing Kingdom was not seriously injured, it suffered heavy losses and the Qing Emperor's prestige was greatly reduced.
Yuanmeng even took the opportunity to send 50,000 troops, marching from west to east, and directly broke through the Qingguo border defense line.
Emperor Qing urgently mobilized 300,000 troops and asked Grand Master Ye Liuyun to come forward, and finally blocked Yuanmeng's cavalry.
In March of the fifth year of Qingli, the Qing State sent envoys to Yuan and Meng to seek peace talks. The Canglang Khan Lion opened his mouth and demanded that the Qing State cede territory and pay compensation, and cede thirty cities in the western border.
Emperor Qing was furious and almost launched another military attack. However, he was persuaded by the civil and military officials represented by Prime Minister Lin, and only agreed to cede fifteen cities, and asked the Yuan Meng Kingdom to return Lin Wan'er, the daughter of the eldest princess Li Yunrui, and Ye Ling'er, the daughter of Ye Chong.
.
Yuanmeng and Qingguo entered into negotiations again, and finally Yuanmeng agreed to cede twenty cities, but Qingguo had to marry Lin Waner to Canglang Khan, and Ye Linger was Lin Waner's dowry.
After Emperor Qing received Yuan Meng's reply, he almost became angry again, causing old wounds, and he only calmed down after taking Fushou ointment.
Li Yunrui and Lin Xiang received the news and immediately went to the palace to meet the saint.
"Brother Emperor, Wan'er cannot marry into the grassland, I am just a daughter!" Li Yunrui knelt in front of Emperor Qing's wheelchair and cried.
Lin Xiang was also very excited. Lin Wan'er was his daughter. Since the death of his second son Lin Gong, he was left with only one son and one daughter. The eldest son was still a demented child.
"Your Majesty, Yuan Meng has gone too far. Not only does he want us to cede the city, but he also wants Wan'er to get married. This is simply too much bullying." Li Yunrui said with a gloomy face.
Emperor Qing had just taken Fushou Ointment and was very excited at the moment, and did not want to give in to Yuan Meng.
"Then let's fight. Our Qing Kingdom's military strength is ten times that of Yuan Meng. How can we be afraid of him?" Emperor Qing was used to being the boss and could not accept defeat.
Prime Minister Lin hesitated and said: "The battle reports coming from the front are not ideal. Yuan and Mongolia's 50,000 cavalry are coming and going like the wind. Our country's 300,000 troops can only defend passively."
Emperor Qing was choked and speechless.
"What exactly does Prime Minister Lin mean?" Emperor Qing said seriously.
"Yuanmeng is powerful. We should focus on stability for the time being and send the clan's daughter to make the marriage." Lin Xiang lowered his head and said.
Emperor Qing was furious and cursed: "So you want the Li family to marry into the grassland, but you just don't want Lin Wan'er to suffer!"
Li Yunrui cried: "Brother Emperor, I only have a daughter like this. If she marries into the grassland, what will I do in the future?"
Emperor Qing gritted his teeth and said: "Whose daughter is not a daughter?"
Li Yunrui cried: "There are many members of the Li family, so we can find a concubine to marry. Why do we have to have my Wan'er?"
Lin Xiang knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, I am old and I only have one son and one daughter left. You know what is going on with Dabao."
Emperor Qing's face turned dark and he said in a deep voice: "It has been almost half a year since Lin Wan'er was captured in the grassland. I'm afraid she has lost her virginity long ago."
"I just want Wan'er to come back alive." Li Yunrui grabbed Emperor Qing's trouser leg and said, "Brother, I haven't asked you for anything in all these years. I only have this one request."
Emperor Qing glanced around at the faces of Li Yunrui and Lin Xiang, and said: "Yuan Meng's request is very clear, as long as Lin Wan'er and Ye Ling'er."
"At worst, if we cede a few more cities, Yuanmeng will always be satisfied!" Li Yunrui said nonchalantly.
"Nonsense." Emperor Qing shouted angrily: "Every city and every inch of land in the Qing Kingdom is the inheritance of the ancestors. It was won with the blood of the soldiers of the Qing Kingdom. How can it be ceded so easily?"
"As long as Wan'er can be brought back, let alone a few cities, so what if the inner treasury is given to Yuan Meng." Li Yunrui said angrily.
"You are threatening me." Emperor Qing said through gritted teeth.
Prime Minister Lin was shocked and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, forgive me, the eldest princess did not mean that. The top priority is to stabilize Yuan Meng first, and then send envoys to Northern Qi to try to form an alliance to fight against the grassland."
"When has our country of Qing ever exchanged women for peace? This is a great shame and humiliation." Emperor Qing shouted loudly.
Li Yunrui and Lin Xiang felt Emperor Qing's anger and both remained silent.
In recent times, the Qing Kingdom has suffered repeated defeats, which not only damaged its national and military strength, but also greatly reduced the prestige of Emperor Qing.
Especially when Emperor Qing became hemiplegic and had to take Fushou ointment for pain relief, his temperament also became moody and he often abused eunuchs and maids.
Eunuch Hou walked into the palace and looked carefully at the furious Emperor Qing.
"What's the matter?" Emperor Qing asked when he saw Eunuch Hou.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Director Chen of the Inspection and Examination Institute would like to see you." Eunuch Hou said in fear.
"Let them come in." Emperor Qing suppressed his anger and said.
Prince Li Chengqian and Chen Pingping quickly walked into the palace. Emperor Qing felt a little unbearable when he saw Li Chengqian's prosthetic right arm.
Perhaps out of guilt for Li Chengqian, Emperor Qing never abolished the crown prince. In fact, someone in the court had already written a letter suggesting that he should be replaced by a crown prince, but Emperor Qing suppressed them.
The second prince Li Chengze's power had grown so much that Emperor Qing could only use the crippled Li Chengqian to suppress him. However, he already had the idea of cultivating the third prince, but he didn't tell anyone, and used the eldest prince Li Chengru as a cover to recruit him back.
Kyoto.
In fact, there was a voice in the court that Emperor Qing was inconvenient and should abdicate the throne in favor of the second prince, Li Chengze, who would retire as the Supreme Emperor and take care of his old age.
Emperor Qing would naturally not give up his power. Whenever someone dared to persuade him to abdicate, he would "reward" him with a hundred court battles, either to kill him or to maim him.
"Your Majesty, the Northern Qi spies reported back that the young emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty promised to marry the eldest princess to Canglang Khan." Chen Pingping brought bad news as soon as she opened her mouth.
Hiss~~
Lin Xiang took a deep breath and was completely shocked.
"Your Majesty, if Yuan Meng and Northern Qi form an alliance, our Qing Kingdom will be in a situation of being attacked from both sides." Lin Xiang said anxiously.
Emperor Qing was calm and said: "Chen Pingping, are you sure you can destroy the marriage between Yuanmeng and Northern Qi!"
Chen Pingping said: "It's difficult. I heard that five of the Thirteen Wings have arrived in Northern Qi and will welcome the Princess of Northern Qi back to the capital. Unless the Grand Master takes action, no one can compete with the Thirteen Wings."
Emperor Qing turned to Li Yunrui and said, "Let Ye Liuyun secretly intercept and kill the Thirteen Wings immediately. We must prevent Northern Qi and Yuan Meng from forming an alliance."
Li Yunrui said with a bitter face: "Brother Emperor, Ye Liuyun may not listen to me, otherwise I would have asked him to rescue Wan'er."
Emperor Qing used so much force with his fingers that he almost broke off the armrests of his wheelchair.
"Tell Ye Liuyun that I agree to his previous request."
"What about Wan'er?" Li Yunrui asked.
"I will consider it." Emperor Qing closed his eyes and said, "You all should step aside."
Li Yunrui walked out of Emperor Qing's palace with satisfaction, said a few words to Lin Xiang, and then returned to the East Palace with the prince.
"I don't know how many days I can be a prince." Li Chengqian touched his prosthetic limb and laughed at himself: "I don't care about anything now."
"Chengqian, do you want to be the emperor?" Li Yunrui held Li Chengqian's chin with both hands, but did not let him do so.
"What do you want to do?!" Li Chengqian was startled and turned to the side.
"I have contacted Gu Jian from Dongyi City and Ku He from Northern Qi. They promised me that as long as your father abdicates the throne and no longer interferes with political affairs, they will help me rescue Wan'er." Li Yunrui turned sideways, lifted up his robe,
Showing a pair of beautiful legs.
"You want to rebel." Li Chengqian trembled and said in surprise.