The army's expedition to the north relied entirely on supplies from within the Great Xia Dynasty. While nobles had to prepare their own armor, horses, and daily necessities, the Great Xia government was responsible for their provisions. This was especially true for the Imperial Guards, who formed the main force. Each expedition was incredibly costly, but that wasn't the most important thing.

Two consecutive expeditions resulted in more deaths than the total number of deaths in the previous twenty years. Countless men of the Great Xia Dynasty lay buried in the north, never to set foot on their homeland again. And countless loving mothers and daughters-in-law waited by the door, only to receive a thin sheet of sad paper.

The lower-ranking soldiers were powerless to resist the emperor's orders and were forced to risk their lives in the north time and time again. If they were lucky, they could earn a bright future, but if they were unlucky, they would only lose their lives.

The nobles, on the other hand, paid for the wealth accumulated over generations. If it were just about guarding the border, they wouldn't need too many horses, too much armor, or even too many elite soldiers. A few thousand civilians could have held the line.

However, invading the orcish kingdom was a completely different story. Soldiers without proper training would quickly break down, and without enough horses, they simply couldn't achieve the desired results. The empire's military achievements were judged by the results of battles, and there were always many unfortunate souls who lost men and money but gained nothing.

Even more cruelly... according to ancestral rules, if a noble is conscripted, he or his heir or successor must lead their private army; no outsider may substitute. Over the past three years, countless nobles have died beyond the Great Wall. Last year, a group of nobles collectively petitioned against the campaign beyond the Great Wall, but their opposition was ineffective. All those who opposed it were ruthlessly sent to the frontier battlefield, never to return to the heart of the Great Xia without imperial decree.

If all the heirs in a noble family were to die out, well... their fiefdoms would be nationalized. If this continued, within a century, the Great Xia Kingdom would have no more deeply entrenched aristocratic families. On one hand, they were granted titles based on military merit; on the other hand, their titles were lost because their heirs had all died out. In the end, the nobles were nothing more than a bunch of donkeys pulling a millstone.

After the nobles tested the emperor's bottom line, they had no choice but to find another way, taking many wives and concubines and having a lot of children. In the past two years, countless young girls have fallen victim to the evil deeds of a group of old nobles.

Qin Mo's lineage of Prince Heng only has one brother. If anything were to happen to him, then the high-ranking official would return to the embrace of the royal family!

Qin Mo and his retainers, confined to a remote corner, had devoted all their energy to maritime exploration in recent years, making them slow to react to the movements of the Great Xia central government over the past two years. Wu Shengze only learned of these events during his months-long stay in Lin Du. Prince Heng, having fought in the Great Xia for many years, had many comrades-in-arms and close family members. This time, gathering in the capital, they made connections and preparations to overcome the difficulties together.

"Young Master... um... this subordinate, taking advantage of my seniority... dares to make a suggestion, Your Highness... how about taking a concubine first?"