dognovel Chapter 1102 Night Talk
Chapter 1102 Night Talk
Inside the palace, the charcoal fire had almost burned out.
Li Che lay on the bed, tossing and turning. Although there was a thick brocade quilt under him, he did not feel that it was soft, but only that it was hard and uncomfortable.
The various images he had seen that night intertwined and collided in his mind, keeping him wide awake.
The thought that countless veterans from the Northwest were still standing guard in the cold wind while he was sleeping soundly in this warm room made Li Che feel uneasy.
Instead of waiting in vain for dawn, it's better to take action now; it will make things a little easier.
“Qiu Bai.” He sat up.
Qiu Bai, who had been waiting outside the door, suddenly rushed in: "Your Majesty?"
Li Che waved his hand: "Go and invite Ma Jing, and also, have him bring his generals."
"At this moment, all the Northwest generals in Lanzhou, regardless of their rank, are summoned."
“Just say that I can’t wait until dawn.”
Qiu Bai bowed and replied, "Yes!"
He then quickly left to make arrangements.
On the other side, Ma Jing also didn't sleep all night.
His own residence in the city was an extremely simple house.
This place used to be the residence of a Northwest Army captain. He fell to his death from his horse while fighting the Tubo. Before he died, he had no other wish but to ask Ma Jing to look after his residence.
Ma Jing agreed with tears in his eyes, and stayed there for ten years.
Ma Jing was a man with very low material desires. He lived quite well in his small house, but he spent most of his time in the military camp.
He originally intended to convert his large house into a medical clinic, but due to the scarcity of doctors in the city, he could only convert it into barracks.
Upon receiving the emperor's order to summon him overnight, he immediately jumped out of bed.
Far from feeling tired, he felt a surge of excitement rising within him. While quickly donning his armor, he urgently ordered his personal guards:
"Quickly! Go and inform Commandant Wang, Military Commandant Zhao, Colonel Sun... and Old Qian too! Yes, bring Old Qian here as well!"
"What do you mean, paralyzed? Even if you're paralyzed, you have to go. You have to carry me there, even if you have to!"
"Call everyone who can come! Quickly!"
Ma Jing quickly realized that this might be the only chance for the Northwest Army to defy fate.
The people he selected were all current mid-level generals in the military, as well as retired veteran officers who had been seriously injured.
When others encounter such a situation, they will call upon their most trusted subordinates to bring them honor.
But he was different; he wanted the emperor to hear the most authentic voices from the grassroots.
About 15 minutes later, at the temporary palace of the governor's mansion.
The study's outer hall, though not spacious, was already packed with people.
Li Che changed into casual clothes and sat at the head of the table.
On the left are generals such as Xu Jiezi, Yue Yun, Luo Yueniang, and Ma Zhong.
On the right side, Ma Jing was the leader, and seven or eight Northwest Army generals stood there.
Most of these generals were around the same age as Ma Jing, or even older.
Their faces were uniformly dark and rough, their armor was old but clean, and they stood upright.
However, everyone's eyes were bloodshot, clearly indicating that being woken up in the middle of the night and summoned before His Majesty had filled them with extreme fear.
Seeing an elderly captain being helped in and sitting on a stool, his only remaining leg straining to straighten, Li Che's expression became even more complicated.
Although Li Che knew that Ma Jing had deliberately called these people over, he also knew that he wasn't trying to gain sympathy, but rather that this was the reality of the Northwest Army.
There's a lack of successors; everyone from the top to the bottom is an old hand.
"I am disturbing you all in the middle of the night because I have witnessed the events on the northwestern border, which are shocking and cause me great anxiety." Li Che got straight to the point.
"I know that you have bitterness, fear, and perhaps resentment in your hearts."
The last word, "resentment," made the figures of several Northwest generals tremble slightly.
“I resent the court’s indifference; I fear they won’t even be able to maintain this precarious situation.” Li Che’s gaze slowly swept over them. “I summoned you here tonight to tell you that you have nothing to fear.”
He paused briefly, letting his words settle in everyone's hearts.
"Just now, I sent three urgent letters. One was sent to the capital, ordering the court to procure grain, winter clothing, medicine, and weapons, which will be escorted by my trusted confidants and sent directly to Longyou."
Several Northwest generals suddenly raised their heads, their eyes flashing with disbelief.
"The second letter was sent to Shu, ordering the Prince of Jin to immediately select 10,000 strong soldiers to go north and assist in the defense."
"The third letter was sent to Guanzhong, ordering Qin Province to open its granaries and allocate grain directly to the border towns."
Although Ma Jing had known for some time that the emperor intended this, hearing the specific arrangements in person still made his blood boil.
The other generals were so excited that their faces turned red, and some even began to tremble slightly.
"I know that distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. The exchange of official documents and the transportation of supplies, no matter how fast, still take time."
Li Che changed the subject: "But my stance is this: the Northwest Army is the shield of Daqing, and it must not collapse!"
"What I owed you in the past, I will make up for!"
"You will receive everything that is due in the future, not a single bit less!"
He looked at Ma Jing: "Have you heard my promise clearly?"
Ma Jing stepped forward and knelt down, his voice choked with emotion: "Your subject, Ma Jing, on behalf of the 100,000 soldiers of the Northwest, kowtows to thank Your Majesty for Your Majesty's divine grace!"
"We thank Your Majesty for your grace!" The other Northwest generals also knelt down in unison, their unified voices echoing in the study.
Even the old captain with the broken leg tried to kneel down, but Li Che quickly raised his hand to stop him.
"Get up, all of you." Li Che raised his hand to help you up. "Empty promises are useless; they must be put into practice. I summoned you here tonight not to hear your thanks, but to hear the truth and your difficulties!"
He looked sharply at the general who had just stood up and continued to guide him: "Now, right here, you may say whatever you have to say."
"If you say something wrong, I will not blame you. But if you only say high-sounding nonsense... then you will never have the chance to say it again."
The study was quiet for a moment.
The emperor's aura was so powerful that it instilled a sense of fear in the crowd.
But the concrete promises dispelled their doubts.
The first to speak was a captain surnamed Wang, who was in charge of military equipment and had a loud voice: "Your Majesty, I am Wang Jiang, in charge of the distribution of military equipment to the various camps on the western front of Longyou."
"Of the swords and spears in the armory today, three out of ten are old and need repair, and two are broken and need to be replaced!"
"The bowstring is less than half full of force, the leather armor is cracking, and the iron armor is rusting!"
He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his face turning bright red.
"It's not that I haven't taken good care of myself, it's just that... even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice!"
"The supplies allocated from above are either insufficient in quantity or are substandard or secondhand! I dare not say it's all the fault of those above, but I swear to God, what they've allocated to us is far from enough, and even less of good enough!"
Li Che nodded slightly and said, "Wang Jiang, is that right? I remember you, and I also remember what you said."
"Military preparations are a major issue, and I will handle it with great care. I will definitely give you an answer."
Wang Jiang nodded, but felt a little disappointed.
Every time I report this to higher authorities, I get the same kind of response—pleasant to hear but useless.
In the end, none of the problems were solved.
Is His Majesty the same?
He wanted a concrete answer: how many weapons could be allocated, even a few hundred, to solve the immediate crisis.