Chapter 608 [First Update]

Before the news from Yan State reached Chang'an, the old father Liu Che had been worried about his son.

Handing over the State of Yan to Liu Tan was also a helpless move. He had hesitated before and thought about sending some people to guard the border. However, he had selected several people to go out to fight, from Li Guangli to Zhao Po Nu, and each of them seemed to be under a spell. They either lost the battle or were captured as soon as they went, which made him doubt his own vision.

When Liu Tan first went to the Northern Border Kingdom, he wanted to give his two sons a hard time, and then give them a better fiefdom when Liu Tan could no longer bear it. Unexpectedly, this son whom he had no hope for gave him a big surprise.

So after much thought, he felt that instead of appointing a general who he had no idea whether he could do the job, it would be better to let Liu Tan take over.

Because of some hesitation, Liu Che actually discussed it in the court before issuing the edict.

He originally thought that everyone would definitely object, but he didn't expect that the only thing everyone was worried about was that it was inappropriate to give the King of the North such a large fiefdom.

It's not just against the rules, but what if future generations take this as a precedent?

As for precedents, good ones can be set, but bad ones must never be set. As for this... no one can say whether it is good or bad.

So at the end of the discussion, the seventh prince became a tool and was named King of Yan.

Everyone knows that this is basically an attempt to cover up one's own mistakes. No one knows whether the King of Yan can live to adulthood, and no one knows what will happen to the ownership of Yan land when the King of Yan grows up.

Judging from everyone's reactions, Liu Che knew that the situation in Yan State had become so difficult that even though everyone knew that this might only be a temporary solution, he had no choice but to do it.

As an emperor, he was very decisive, but as a father, he didn't worry about being fake.

Just when he was worried, he received news from Yan State - Liaodong County was lost.

After hearing this, Liu Che was angry at first, and then became very worried.

Jicheng was better than the original Shuofang County. It was located further west in the territory of Yan State. But the problem was that Yan State had only a few counties. After Liaodong County was lost, Liaoxi County came next, and then Ji County.

His son was once again on the front line, and this time it was even more dangerous than the last time. When Liu Tan went there, the Han Dynasty and the Huns had basically entered a period of peace. There were minor frictions, but they would not easily start a war.

But the Wuhuan are different. The Wuhuan are now at their peak, and all the tribes are multiplying and expanding. Among them, the Bo Xi clan is the most powerful one among the Wuhuan tribes.

They have now conquered Liaodong, and may soon send troops to Liaoxi. When Liu Tan led the elite regiment there, he did not bring much weaponry, and the elite regiment only had 500 people. This made Liu Che worried and unable to sleep at night.

He hadn't figured out how to help his son when another memorial came from the State of Yan. This time, the county governors jointly wrote a letter, denouncing the King of the Northern Border for his cruelty and ruthlessness, and for wantonly killing court officials, and asked the court to make the decision.

After learning about this, all the ministers in the court felt very upset: His Majesty has been in a bad mood these past two days, and you are still looking for trouble. You are all really tired of living.

As expected, before Liu Tan's letter reached Liu Che, everyone was forced to listen to the emperor's rare roar at the grand court meeting.

After Liu Che finished scolding, in the eyes of his ministers, these people were basically dead.

However, the situation in Yan State is special now, and everyone estimates that the emperor will not send people to take action, but he will definitely scold people.

This time the situation was reversed. In the past, officials from the State of Yan would submit memorials and the emperor would scold the King of Yan.

Now it was the officials of Yan who submitted a memorial, and the emperor scolded these officials, not only scolding them but also threatening them, and also praising his son for doing the right thing.

In fact, through the last crisis, the ministers in the court already knew Liu Tan very well.

Especially after Liu Tan came back, everyone originally thought that the King of the Northern Territory would take this opportunity to interfere in the government affairs of the court in order to gain more influence. Unexpectedly, he actually went to study hot air balloons.

After getting along for a long time, everyone realized that His Royal Highness the King of the North actually had a very good temper. He usually didn't get angry, and he wouldn't kill people easily when he was angry. Once he really took action, everyone subconsciously thought that it must be that person who made a mistake.

After Liu Che finished his roar, he immediately ordered someone to recruit soldiers. He wanted to send people to support his son.

Five hundred elite troops can't scare them, so is a hundred thousand troops enough?

At the beginning, from the prime minister to the officials below, no one thought it was wrong to send troops there. They already knew that Liaodong County was lost, and they all knew it very well. They guessed that the emperor sent troops there on the one hand to give the King of the Northern Border some confidence, and on the other hand to let the King of the Northern Border take Liaodong County back.

However, when everyone heard that the emperor was going to dispatch 100,000 troops, they were shocked - it was just to fight the Wuhuan, why would they need 100,000 troops?

So everyone started arguing about the number of troops to be deployed.

Liu Che just let them do whatever they wanted. After all, he was the one who made the final decision, and he also needed to listen to other people's opinions.

As a result, at this time, Liu Tan's letter arrived.

In the letter, Liu Tan told the whole story very objectively, then focused on the situation in Jicheng and complained about the dead Liu Dan.

To be honest, Liu Tan felt that he had been very gentle and was just telling the truth. As for the person he killed... he actually didn't take it to heart.

Rather than complaining to Liu Che, this letter was more about letting Liu Che understand the situation in Yan State and giving him mental preparation - if Yan State's progress was slow, it would not be his fault.

However, after seeing this, Liu Che became even angrier, and once again determined to mobilize 100,000 troops, not a single one could be left behind!

What have these rubbish done to the State of Yan?

Liu Che simply could not imagine that the city of Ji was divided into two worlds.

He had not visited many vassal states in recent years, not to mention Shuofang City. Except that the city was not as big as Chang'an City and had a smaller population than Chang'an City, in fact, the planning of Liu Che's city was better than that of Chang'an City.

It’s a pity that as the capital, Chang’an cannot be moved easily, and it is not easy to move, so this is the only way.

Not to mention the capital of Qi State, which he often visited because Liu Che would go there often. Although the capital of Qi State was not as good as Chang'an or Shuofang City, it was also good, with local characteristics and was unique.

This led Liu Che to always believe that the capitals of all the vassal states in the world should at least be like Qi.

Even if it is worse, it can't be too much, and judging from the feedback from the embroidered robe envoy, it is indeed the case.

As a result, no one expected that the State of Yan would cause such a thing without making any noise.

If Liu Dan had not died long ago, Emperor Wu of Han would probably have punished him again.

In this situation, it would be strange if he wasn't angry.

Prime Minister Sang Hongyang could not help but run to Liu Che and said, "Your Majesty, I know that Your Majesty loves His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory very much, but the more so, the more you cannot send so many people to Yan State."

Liu Che raised his eyebrows and looked at him: "My dear, what do you mean?"

Sang Hongyang said, "Once a hundred thousand troops are mobilized, a lot of food and supplies will be consumed. Every mouth needs to be fed. The Yan State is already on the verge of collapse, and the treasury is probably short on money. When the time comes, these troops will all depend on His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Border to support them. Moreover, as far as I know, the treasury of the Northern Border is only slightly surplus. As far as I know, Prime Minister Huo Guang seems to be preparing something as well. I am afraid that it cannot support the consumption of a hundred thousand troops."

Liu Che narrowed his eyes and looked at Sang Hongyang: "You mean to let Tan'er pay? Did we always let the princes pay for the battles against the Xiongnu in the past?"

Sang Hongyang choked and thought about it, and it seemed to be the case. For some reason, he subconsciously thought that the King of the Northern Border paid for the 100,000-strong army to arrive in Yan State.

However, since it wasn't the Northern King who paid, that made all the more sense.

Sang Hongyang immediately said, "In the past, when we sent troops, we usually let the soldiers feed themselves locally. But now, Yan State may not have that much food. If we collect too much grain, I'm afraid the people's grain will be squeezed dry. Then I'm afraid the people will suffer even more. If we transport food and fodder from other places... I'm afraid the national treasury can't sustain it."

Liu Che looked at him suspiciously: "The national treasury can't support it? The national treasury can't even support the consumption of a hundred thousand troops now?"

At this point, Liu Che's expression was no longer very good. You know, Liu Tan had given them some advice before he left, and each of them was a profitable business. Sang Hongyang was also good at this, so how could the national treasury not be able to sustain it?

In short, Liu Che suspected that Sang Hongyang was fooling him.

Sang Hongyang had been under Liu Che for a long time, and he could more or less guess Liu Che's thoughts through his expression and tone.

He was not afraid and started presenting data to Liu Che directly.

He is probably the most pragmatic prime minister in history and has a clear understanding of people's livelihood.

He did the math for Liu Che, and then Liu Che found that the national treasury... was indeed not rich enough.

Liu Tan did come up with a lot of ideas, but none of those ideas could make money overnight.

Take the Maritime Silk Road as an example. If you want to open a shipping route, you need ships and sailors.

There are not many experienced captains and sailors, and there is an even greater shortage of ships. Now a lot of money in the national treasury is invested in shipbuilding.

As for the remaining money...it must be kept to deal with crises. The national treasury cannot leave no money at all.

Sang Hongyang said, "If His Royal Highness the King of the Northern Territory had not already developed a ship capable of long-distance voyages, I'm afraid we would still have to spend money on researching ships. Even the national treasury would be stretched to its limits."

Liu Che's face was calm: "If there is not enough, I will open my private treasury to make up for it."

Sang Hongyang: ...

What could he say? He could see that the Emperor wasn't angry with the Wuhuan, but rather with the idiot governors of Yan.

He couldn't help but secretly curse those people one by one, and then said helplessly: "In this case, I will go and see where to transfer grain."

When the news of Liu Che's insistence on mobilizing 100,000 troops spread, everyone initially wanted to dissuade him by claiming they had no money, but unexpectedly the emperor actually opened his private treasury to replenish the troops. Furthermore, upon learning of this, Crown Prince Liu Ju also stood up and said, "And I, Liaodong County has been a part of the Han territory since ancient times. The Wuhuan are being too aggressive, so we must fight them."

Well, he didn't say that the main reason was for his younger brother, but it doesn't matter, because these soldiers will be handed over to his younger brother anyway.

Not only that, Queen Chen Ajiao also stood up.

Chen Ajiao's thinking is very simple. She is not worried because her son has soldiers in his hands. Anyway, these soldiers will be given to her son, and she has also tasted the sweetness.

Although she did not have such a bad quarrel with Wei Zifu after her rebirth, her reputation was once very bad because she had no children and her father and brothers were all incompetent. Especially after Wei Zifu gave birth to her eldest son, all the pressure was on her.

At that time, everyone thought that she would be deposed like other childless queens until Liu Tan was born.

But because she was not very polite to Liu Che's concubines, and because she killed Lady Li too easily, her reputation declined again.

However, all this changed because she had previously spent all her money to mobilize troops to defend Chang'an. Now, who would mention the queen without praising her as a virtuous queen?

Because of this reputation, Liu Che had no good reason to depose the queen. Even now, the voices calling for deposing the queen were getting lower and lower, and it seemed that even Liu Che no longer had such an idea.

Chen Ajiao felt that she had found a way. Since it could help her son and gain points for herself, why not do it?

After the Queen came out, Madam Wei also stepped forward.

Like her brother Wei Qing, she was a kind-hearted person. Last time, Liu Tan helped Liu Ju get through the most difficult period. Not only did Liu Ju's position as crown prince not be shaken by this incident, but his position became more stable because of this experience.

The relationship between Liu Che and Liu Ju also became closer. Even if Liu Che usually disliked his eldest son, it was better to say it out loud than not to say it. Saying it out loud meant that there was no gap between father and son. Not saying it would be fatal.

So Wei Zifu wanted to return the favor and help Liu Tan. After all, the King of the Northern Territory didn't need much help.

The concubines all took action, and Princess Dangli and Princess Yangxin also stood up.

It affected many other people in an instant, and for a while the whole Chang'an was caught in a fanatical atmosphere of requesting to fight. Many people even volunteered to go to the front line to attack the Wuhuan and retake Liaodong County.

This change caught the previous dynasty off guard. Not to mention the court officials, even Liu Che and Liu Ju did not expect the impact to be so great.

In the end, before the emperor could open his private treasury, those merchants who had found a way out because of the various new things created by the King of the Northern Territory, and even those who had received favors from the Northern Territory on the way to the Western Regions, stepped forward and secured military expenses and even food supplies.

Liu Che was a little bewildered. After listening to it, he sat on the throne, calmed down, and said calmly: "The people's will is like this, there is no need to discuss it further."

What else is there to discuss? If they continue, they will all be labeled spies - there are rumors among the people that the court officials who blocked the army from going to the expedition may not have such good intentions.

Everyone was a little amused after hearing this. It wasn't that they didn't want to fight, but they were worried about the national treasury and the wallets of the emperor's family, right?

Okay, now that the money is in place, let’s… adjust it.

So before Liu Tan started any new plan in Yan State, he received the loving support from all his elders - an army of 100,000.

When Liu Tan learned that Emperor Wu of Han had sent an army of 100,000 for him to command, he was completely dumbfounded.

He was indeed considering whether to ask for permission to dispatch troops to seize Liaodong County.

However, he was also a little worried about the Han Dynasty's treasury, so he planned to wait a little longer and find out more about the situation of the Wuhuan.

Now... is it still necessary to understand? A 100,000-strong army would basically crush the Wuhuan.

The Wuhuan population is not small, but it depends on who you compare them with.

Liu Tan and Dou Sibo looked at each other, and Dou Sibo couldn't hide the shock on his face.

After Liu Tan came to his senses, he said, "Let's get ready to recruit people."

Although the army had its own base and cooks after arriving, it still needed ordinary people to serve them.

Liu Tan never expected that the first job he found for the people of Yan State would be to serve the army.

But it's a good start.

He thought about it, and then maliciously asked someone to inform the county governors to count the granaries under their names to see how much granary there was.

Chang'an did raise a lot of money, but money is not food. If you want to convert it into food, you still need people to buy it.

Of course, he mainly wanted to let these people know the news. Now he has an army of 100,000 in his hands, and all these soldiers are under his command, so... you can decide for yourself.

The county governors were all shocked when they found out, and their first reaction was: Is it really that serious?