The Unstoppable Sixth Prince

Chapter 78: Arrival at the Divine Martial Army

That night, Yun Zheng and Ye Zi both did not sleep well.

When they got up in the morning, both of them were yawning endlessly.

Although a night had passed, there was still a bit of awkwardness when the two met again.

Fortunately, Yun Zheng had a thick enough skin that no one noticed anything unusual.

After finishing breakfast, Yun Zheng took four guards and headed towards the Divine Martial Army.

In the imperial city, only the Divine Martial Army and the Feather Forest Guard are stationed within the city.

When they arrived at the Divine Martial Army, Xiao Dingwu was already waiting at the camp entrance with his deputy.

"See His Highness the Sixth!"

Xiao Dingwu is the eldest son of Xiao Wanchou and the commander of the Divine Martial Army.

The Divine Martial Army consists of only fifteen thousand men, but they are exceptionally elite.

Yun Zheng gestured for Xiao Dingwu to forgo formalities and said, "First, take me around the camp!"

"Good!"

Xiao Dingwu readily agreed, "Your Highness, the six hundred warhorses you helped us win have relieved our urgent needs. Let me take you to see our cavalry first!"

"Uh... okay!"

Yun Zheng nodded, silently cursing this guy for bringing up the wrong topic.

My own five hundred guards only have a pitiful twenty warhorses!

Du Guiyuan and the others spent their days having twenty warhorses for the soldiers to practice riding and archery, while also taking good care of the horses, fearing that they would wear them out!

Xiao Dingwu led Yun Zheng towards the cavalry camp while saying, "After the court meeting today, my father specifically instructed me to invite His Highness to our home for a meal at noon! Your Highness mustn't decline."

"No problem."

Yun Zheng nodded slightly, "By the way, how is the investigation into the embezzlement case going?"

Since he exposed this matter, he hasn't cared about it anymore.

Since he had seen Xiao Dingwu today, he also took the opportunity to understand the situation.

"Quite a few people have been caught."

Speaking of this matter, Xiao Dingwu became angry, "However, my father said that those caught are just scapegoats; the real big fish are too deeply hidden and probably won't be found."

"That's a pity."

Yun Zheng smiled helplessly.

Corruption is a problem that no dynasty has been able to eradicate.

No matter how harsh the punishment, there will always be those who take the risk.

"Indeed, it's a pity."

Xiao Dingwu nodded and lowered his voice, saying, "My father suspects that the biggest fish is that bastard Xu Shifu, and even Third Prince is involved! Unfortunately, he has no evidence."

Xiao Wanqiu and Xu Shifu were political rivals, and neither could stand the other.

Xiao Dingwu naturally had no good impression of Xu Shifu.

"Don't speak recklessly without evidence."

Yun Zheng gently shook his head and smiled as he asked, "Did my third brother attend the court meeting today?"

"Why didn't you participate!"

Xiao Dingwu suppressed a smile and said softly, "The Third Prince was carried in to attend the court meeting today! The Second Prince and the others also look bruised and battered, as if they've been taught a lesson by the Emperor again."

"My third brother is being carried to the morning assembly?" Yun Zheng was astonished.

"Isn't that so!" Xiao Dingwu said with a wicked smile, "The Emperor said, to become the Crown Prince, one must first bear the weight! As long as they can still move, those few must attend the court meeting."

Hearing Xiao Dingwu's words, Yun Zheng couldn't help but laugh.

He can still play this cheap trick!

However, that said, there is some truth to what he said.

Aren't those idiots trying to 争 for the crown prince position?

"Neither of you attends court to participate in state affairs; what kind of prince are you!"

The two chatted leisurely along the way.

Xiao Dingwu probably inherited Xiao Wanchou's straightforward nature, and his way of speaking is quite direct, leaving a good impression on Yun Zheng.

Before long, they arrived at the cavalry camp.

At this moment, it was the time for the cavalry to report for duty, and a group of cavalrymen were mounted on their warhorses, ready for roll call.

Yun Zheng glanced roughly and couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Is this all the cavalry? There should be less than two thousand, right?"

"Just over fifteen hundred people."

Xiao Dingwu replied, "If it weren't for Your Highness winning the warhorses from the Northern Huan envoy, the entire Divine Martial Army's cavalry wouldn't even number a thousand!"

Xiao Dingwu knew that Yun Zheng definitely didn't understand the situation of the Six Guards of the Imperial City, so he began to explain it to Yun Zheng.

Before this, the entire cavalry of the six guards in the imperial city numbered less than six thousand.

The palace guards, as palace sentinels, almost have no cavalry.

After all, the Imperial Guard couldn't possibly organize cavalry to train all day within the palace.

The Divine Martial Army originally had a thousand cavalry, but last year, after eliminating some old and weak warhorses, and with no new horses to replenish the ranks, the number of cavalry fell below a thousand.

The Left and Right Tuntian Guards, like the Divine Martial Army, also have fewer than a thousand cavalry.

Even the Imperial Cavalry Guard, with the most cavalry, has no more than one thousand five hundred horsemen.

Listening to Xiao Dingwu's introduction, Yun Zheng couldn't help but be astonished.

He knew that the Great Qian Dynasty was in great need of warhorses.

But I never expected that warhorses would be so scarce.

Even the cavalry of the six guards in the imperial city is so few, let alone the troops from various states and counties.

The main cavalry of the Great Qian Dynasty is probably stationed at various borders, right?

Seeing Yun Zheng's astonished expression, Xiao Dingwu couldn't help but sigh, "In fact, warhorses weren't so scarce before; it was just that in the Battle of Shuo Bei five years ago, our dynasty suffered tremendous losses."

Previously, both the Divine Martial Army and the Left and Right Garrison had three thousand cavalry.

The left and right imperial cavalry each had five thousand horsemen.

But Emperor Wen personally led an expedition to the northern frontier, drawing upon a considerable number of cavalry.

After the war, the surviving cavalry and warhorses were prioritized for replenishment to the Northern Army, and they have now become this pitiful sight.

"Alas!"

Yun Zheng let out a deep sigh, "It's all that damned Bei Huan's fault!"

"Who says otherwise?" Xiao Dingwu sighed and continued, "Your Highness, do you now understand how great the merit is in winning ten thousand warhorses?"

"Let's wait until we have it in hand before we talk!" Yun Zheng shook his head and smiled.

"Indeed!"

Xiao Dingwu nodded and 苦笑道, "However, even if I get it, it will be prioritized for replenishing the Northern Army and the Left and Right Cavalry Guards. There definitely won't be any left for me."

Emperor Wen had already provided him with six hundred excellent warhorses.

There will definitely be no more warhorses supplied to him.

As the two spoke, the cavalry commander had already begun organizing the cavalry for training.

Yun Zheng watched it all, nodding continuously.

It is evident that Xiao Dingwu is still adept at military command.

The cavalry was equipped with excellent gear, including bows and arrows, lances, sabers, and throwing javelins, and their armor was heavy scale mail.

This set of equipment is likely to cost quite a bit of silver.

Yun Zheng nodded while asking, "The expenses for these cavalry must be quite substantial, right?"

"Indeed, quite a few."

Xiao Dingwu nodded and said, "Just their weapons and equipment alone cost over a thousand taels of silver, and the annual expense for one person and one horse is more than five hundred taels of silver..."

Hearing Xiao Dingwu's words, Yun Zheng was astonished.

He knew that in ancient times, the cost of raising a cavalryman was very high, but damn, this is just too expensive, right?

By this calculation, the little bit of silver I have on hand can at most buy a few thousand cavalry?

Moreover, it must be under the condition of having warhorses!

This is not the heavy cavalry yet!

The cost of heavy cavalry is certainly much greater.

Without enough money and supplies, cavalry is truly something one cannot afford!

After that, Xiao Dingwu took Yun Zheng on a tour of various barracks before returning to his own command tent, where he began to teach Yun Zheng some basic knowledge of leading troops in battle.

Yun Zheng, though feeling drowsy, still forced himself to stay alert and continue listening.

Around noon, Yun Zheng followed Xiao Dingwu to the residence of the Duke of Yu..