86: Chapter 86 The Royal Family's Complete Dependence

Capital, Forbidden City.

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, candles flickered, casting swaying shadows of everyone in the hall. Emperor Zaitian of Qingxia Kingdom sat behind the dragon desk, clutching a secret report from Jiangning Prefecture, his knuckles white from the force. Every word on the report felt like a knife stabbing into his heart.

"The United Fleet has been completely wiped out, Fisher has been killed in action, and the main force of the Japan navy has been completely destroyed."

Emperor Zaitian read this short line five times, and each time, another layer of cold sweat broke out on his back. He looked up at the spy kneeling in the hall, his voice trembling: "The losses of Li Ling's fleet... how are they?"

The spy lay on the ground, not daring to look up: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the losses of Li Ling's fleet are minimal; only one Pre-dreadnought sank, and no main Dreadnoughts were lost. After the battle, his fleet did not return to port to rest, but instead advanced towards the northern sea, sinking or capturing more than twenty remnants of the fleeing United Fleet along the way, completely blockading the coast of Japan."

The hall was deathly silent.

Minister Rong Lu stood with his hands down, the fine sweat on his forehead glistening in the candlelight. Prince Qing Yikuang's face was pale, and the ivory tablet in his hand trembled slightly. Others dared not even breathe loudly, as if a cannonball might explode in the hall at any moment.

"Five years." Emperor Zaitian's voice was hoarse, as if talking to himself, "Five years ago, I heard he was suppressing bandits at the border, and I just thought it was a young man fooling around. Three years ago, I heard he built warships, and I thought they were just small boats that wouldn't make any waves. Two years ago, he defeated the Japan fleet, and I thought it was just luck. A year ago, he crippled the United Fleet of Japan, and I finally couldn't sit still, so I married Princess Heshuo to him, thinking that would finally tie him down."

He stood up abruptly and slammed the secret report onto the dragon desk. The paper rolled in the air a few times and landed lightly on the ground.

"What about now? He wiped out the entire United Fleet! He wiped the Japan navy off the map! You tell me, how many more trump cards does he have? What exactly does he want to do?"

The hall was silent, even the sound of breathing became cautious.

Minister Rong Lu finally gathered his courage to speak: "Your Majesty, this person, Li Ling... cannot be controlled. But I believe it is not necessary to control him."

Emperor Zaitian's gaze was like a knife, staring at Minister Rong Lu: "Go on."

"Your Majesty, please look," Minister Rong Lu walked to the large map on the wall and pointed to the southeastern coast, "Although the sphere of influence of Li Ling is vast, he has never shown any disrespect to the imperial court. After Princess Heshuo married him, he has treated her with great respect and love, never showing the slightest neglect. Moreover, he has always used the banner of 'protecting the borders and the people,' and has never used slogans like 'clearing the side of the emperor' or 'executing treacherous officials'."

Minister Rong Lu paused, observing the emperor's expression, and continued: "More importantly, he now holds heavy troops, and even the great powers cannot do anything about him. If Your Majesty becomes his enemy, not only will there be no chance of victory, but it will also force him to the opposite side. But if Your Majesty wins him over and reposes trust in him, he will not only not rebel, but will become the most solid barrier for the imperial court."

Prince Qing Yikuang also stood up and echoed: "Minister Rong Lu is right. No matter how strong Li Ling is, he is still Your Majesty's son-in-law. Princess Heshuo's children will be Your Majesty's grandchildren. This blood connection is more reliable than any alliance."

Emperor Zaitian was silent for a long time.

He remembered the night before Princess Heshuo married. His daughter knelt before him, her eyes red, saying: "Father Emperor, as your daughter goes, she will definitely do her best to assist her husband. Your daughter will not let you down." At that time, he only regarded this marriage as an expedient measure; he did not expect that now, his daughter would become the last card in his hand.

"Issue the decree." Emperor Zaitian finally spoke, his voice tired and old, "Li Ling has contributed to the country, so he is specially granted the title of 'Prince Regent', awarded the Nine Bestowals, granted the Yellow Riding Jacket, and permitted to ride on horseback within the Forbidden City. His father, Retired Emperor Li Zhenshan, is promoted to First-Class Duke."

Everyone in the hall knelt down together and shouted: "Your Majesty is wise!"

No one noticed that when Emperor Zaitian said this, his fingers were trembling slightly on the armrest of the dragon chair.

When the news reached Jiangning Prefecture, it was the evening three days later.

Li Ling was on the training ground of the military camp, watching the newly formed Artillery Battalion conduct live-fire shooting. Twelve 105mm howitzers were lined up, gunners skillfully loaded, aimed, and fired. The shells whistled out of the barrels and accurately hit the targets five kilometers away. The explosions were deafening, soil and gravel were lifted dozens of meters into the air, and gunpowder smoke filled the air in the sunset.

"Not bad." Li Ling put down his binoculars and patted the commander of the Artillery Battalion on the shoulder, "Increase the training intensity by another fold, fire the shells freely, don't be afraid of waste. On the battlefield, one accurate shell can save the lives of a dozen brothers."

"Yes!" The battalion commander stood at attention and saluted, his eyes full of excitement.

At this moment, an adjutant rode over, dismounted, and knelt on one knee: "Sir! The imperial decree from the capital has arrived! His Majesty has appointed you as Prince Regent, awarded the Nine Bestowals, granted the Yellow Riding Jacket, and permitted to ride on horseback within the Forbidden City!"

The surrounding soldiers were stunned at first, then burst into thunderous cheers.

"Prince Regent! Sir has been appointed Prince Regent!"

"Our sir is a prince now!"

"No, higher than a prince! Prince Regent!"

Li Ling took the imperial decree, flipped through it casually, and handed it to the adjutant expressionlessly: "Put it away."

The adjutant was stunned: "Sir, you... not accepting the decree?"

"Accepted." Li Ling waved his hand, "Tell the imperial envoy who came to deliver the decree that I am unwell and will not go to the capital to express gratitude. Jiangning Prefecture is quite good, I am not going anywhere."

The adjutant opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing the cold light in Li Ling's eyes, he swallowed his words and left to carry out the order.

The soldiers looked at each other, and someone whispered: "If the prince doesn't go to the capital to express gratitude, will the emperor be angry?"

Li Ling heard it, turned around, and smiled: "If the emperor really wanted me to go to the capital, he wouldn't have just sent an imperial envoy. Alright, stop guessing, continue training."

The soldiers dispersed, and the sound of artillery on the training ground rang out again.

Li Ling walked alone to a large locust tree at the edge of the training ground, his hands in his military uniform pockets, looking at the sea in the distance. The sunset was sinking into the horizon, and the clouds in the sky were dyed golden red, like a burning flag.

He remembered the scene five years ago when he first traveled here. At that time, he was an unlucky guy hit by the system, with only three thousand newly recruited soldiers in his hands, equipped with rifles he had begged from the system, and he had to rack his brains even to suppress bandits. Now, he holds five hundred thousand troops, possesses the most powerful fleet in the world, and even the United Fleet of the great powers has been crippled by him.

"Prince Regent." He murmured this title, his mouth slightly raised.

Interesting.

That evening, Princess Heshuo came to Li Ling's study.

She was wearing a pale purple cotton robe, her hair simply tied behind her head, without any makeup on her face, looking more gentle than usual. She was holding a bowl of steaming tremella and lotus seed soup, which she had cooked in the kitchen for an afternoon.

"Husband, have a bowl of soup." She put the bowl on the table and sat down opposite Li Ling.

Li Ling put down the map in his hand, picked up the bowl and took a sip, the temperature was just right, sweet but not greasy. He looked up at Princess Heshuo and found that her eyes were slightly red, as if she had cried.

"Princess, what's wrong?" He held her hand.

Princess Heshuo shook her head and smiled reluctantly: "It's nothing, just... happy. Father Emperor appointed you as Prince Regent, this is a great favor. I am happy for you."

Li Ling stared at her for a few seconds and sighed: "Princess, you are a smart person, you should know why your father emperor appointed me as this prince."

Princess Heshuo lowered her head, bit her lip, and said nothing.

"He appointed me Prince Regent because he has no way to deal with me." Li Ling's voice was as calm as if he were talking about someone else's affairs, "After the United Fleet was destroyed, the great powers were temporarily unable to interfere. I have five hundred thousand troops, the strongest fleet in the world, satellites, Radar, and Air Force. Your father emperor can't do anything about me, he can only win me over. Appointing a prince, adding the Nine Bestowals, granting the Yellow Riding Jacket, these are all his bargaining chips."

Princess Heshuo's tears finally fell, dropping one by one onto the back of her hand.

"Husband, I know." She sobbed, "I just... I just feel sorry for Father Emperor. He appointed you as prince to win you over, but you won't even go to the capital, and you won't even express your gratitude. I... I don't know how to face Father Emperor."

Li Ling was silent for a moment, then reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Princess, it's not that I don't want to go to the capital, it's that I can't." His voice was low and firm, "If I go to the capital and land on the imperial family's territory, will your father emperor have any thoughts? Will he set up a Hongmen Banquet? Will he detain me in the capital? It's not that I don't trust your father emperor, but I can't bet my life. I have hundreds of thousands of brothers in my hands, their lives are tied to me, and I cannot take risks."

Princess Heshuo leaned on his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, and her tears soaked his lapel.

"Princess, go back and tell your father emperor." Li Ling gently patted her back, "As long as he doesn't provoke me, I won't make a move against the imperial family. What I want is not the throne, but for the people on this land to live a good life. After he passes away, if the princes are capable, this world will still be theirs. If they are not capable..."

He didn't continue, but Princess Heshuo understood what he meant.

She looked up at him with teary eyes: "Husband, I believe you."

Li Ling wiped the tears from her face and smiled: "Alright, stop crying. Finish the soup and rest early. There is a lot to do tomorrow."

Princess Heshuo nodded, picked up the bowl, and drank the soup spoonful by spoonful.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water, spilling on the two of them, casting their shadows on the wall, overlapping together.

The next morning, Li Ling gathered all the core generals and held the last military meeting before the Northern Expedition.

In the conference room, smoke curled, and the generals sat around the long table, all in high spirits. On the map on the wall, the troop deployments, fortifications, and traffic routes of the Northern Warlords were marked, with dense red and blue marks.

"Gentlemen." Li Ling stood in front of the map and pointed to the northern provinces, "After the United Fleet was destroyed, the great powers were temporarily unable to interfere with our actions. Japan has surrendered, and the navies of Meijian Country and the UK have been severely damaged and cannot organize a new intervention in the short term. This is the best time for our Northern Expedition and the unification of the country."

He paused, his eyes sweeping over everyone.

"Our goal is to sweep away the Northern Warlords and unify the north of the Yellow River in two years. Then use one year to pacify the southern provinces and complete the unification of the country. Three years later, I want every inch of this land to have our flag planted on it."

The generals stood up one after another and shouted in unison: "Willing to die for you, sir!"

Li Ling pressed his hand, signaling everyone to sit down: "Don't rush to shout slogans, listen to my specific plan first."

He picked up a long, thin wooden stick and pointed to Shanxi on the map.

"The first battle is against Shanxi. Warlord Yan Xishan's Jin Army has about 50,000 troops, with poor equipment, but occupies the geographical advantage. Shanxi has dangerous terrain and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If we attack by force, the casualties will be high. Therefore, we must use Special Forces to destroy their command system first, then use the Air Force to bomb their supply lines and fortifications, and finally use the Army to advance frontally. With these three approaches, they will collapse before they even see our main force."

"The second battle is against Zhili. Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army is the strongest warlord in the north, with about 150,000 troops, good equipment, and well-trained. Fighting him cannot be done by brute force, but by wisdom. First, use the fleet to blockade Bohai Bay to cut off his maritime supply lines, then use Special Forces to destroy his railway transport, and finally use the main force to attack from Shandong and Shanxi to force him into a decisive battle."

"The third battle is against the Northeast. Zhang Zuolin's Fengtian Army has about 80,000 troops and has occupied the Northeast for many years with deep roots. But the Northeast is sparsely populated and has inconvenient transportation. His troops are scattered and difficult to concentrate. We can use the fleet to land from the Liaodong Peninsula, strike directly at Fengtian, cut off his retreat, and then besiege the point to strike the reinforcements, breaking them one by one."

Li Ling finished in one breath and picked up the teacup to take a sip.

The generals listened with enthusiasm, their eyes full of excitement.

"Sir, tell us how to fight, and we will fight!" An old general stood up and patted his chest.

"Yes! Following you, sir, we will be invincible!"

"Unify the country! Unify the country!"

Thunderous shouts erupted in the conference room.

Li Ling raised his hand to signal silence and said in a deep voice: "Alright, that's it then. All units must immediately enter a state of combat readiness, strengthen training, and reserve supplies. Next spring, we will officially send troops!"

"Yes!"

After the meeting, Li Ling stood alone in front of the window, looking at the distant sea.

The winter sea was gray, and the waves hit the reefs, making a dull sound. In the distant naval port, several Dreadnoughts were quietly moored at the pier, and the flags on the masts fluttered in the sea breeze.

"System." He muttered in his heart.

"Hmm?" The system's voice sounded in his mind.

"You say, is this path I'm taking the right one?"

"Host, this question should be asked to yourself."

Li Ling was silent for a moment, then smiled: "Right. I should ask myself."

He turned and strode out of the conference room.

Behind him, the afterglow of the sunset spilled on him, pulling his shadow long, very long.