When Chu Fan was about to return to his bedroom to rest, Mu Xi and other women such as Tang Ji said that they needed to go back and report the grand plan proposed by Chu Fan to their elders so that they could understand and cooperate with Chu Fan's actions, so they all left.
Of course, Liu Xueyu was an exception. Since her father and grandfather had already gone to the border, after Cao Mengde left Kaifeng City, Chu Fan took her to live in the palace.
Just as Chu Fan and Liu Xueyu were about to have a friendly martial arts exchange on the bed without protective gear, the door of the room was suddenly knocked, which immediately made Chu Fan's mood become unhappy.
Chu Fan knew that Eunuch Li wouldn't bother him at this time unless it was something urgent. However, any man would be very annoyed if he was interrupted at the critical moment of practicing martial arts with a beautiful woman without any protective gear.
Chu Fan asked loudly: "Is there anything wrong?"
Eunuch Li outside the door replied, "Your Majesty, urgent news from the border. General Mu Yunfeng sent an express message eight hundred miles away."
When Chu Fan heard that it was urgent news from the border, although he was very reluctant, he knew that this matter could not be delayed and he had to put on his clothes and deal with it immediately.
Normally, other matters could be planned until tomorrow, but the urgent news from the border forced Chu Fan to get out of his warm bed and check what was happening.
Chu Fan said gently to Liu Xueyu: "My little cutie, just stay in bed and wait for me to come back. I will kill you and make you flee in panic. I won't let you escape again this time." After saying this, Chu Fan began to put on his clothes, ready to go out and see what was going on.
Chu Fan recalled the time he first arrived in this world. The situation was extremely dire, with the Xiongnu army almost reaching Kaifeng City. Now, the combined power of the Xiongnu and the Gan people was formidable. If anything unexpected were to happen, it would be a huge disaster.
After getting dressed, Chu Fan walked out of the room. The cold wind was howling outside, and the biting cold wind made him shiver and his body tremble involuntarily.
Eunuch Li respectfully handed the letter brought back by the soldier to Chu Fan. Chu Fan took the letter and glanced at it. When he saw the first sentence, his expression froze instantly and his heart was filled with shock.
The letter clearly read: "Great victory: the entire territory of Wei has been recovered."
Chu Fan frowned, his expression becoming somewhat serious. He said to Eunuch Li, "Go to the next room. I need to carefully examine this urgent report. I also have something to ask you."
Chu Fan took Eunuch Li into a room next door. This room was originally arranged by Chu Fan for reading storybooks and novels. The furnishings in the room were simple. Apart from a few bookshelves with books, there was only a table and a few chairs.
Chu Fan sat at the table, looking seriously at the battle report sent back by Mu Yunfeng. The report said that they had now recovered all the territories of Wei State and defeated the coalition forces of Xiongnu and Gan State.
The battle report detailed the border troops' brilliant achievements. They not only captured over 100,000 enemy troops, but also successfully set an ambush, shooting down the Xiongnu Prince Kulkuo and several generals, and even capturing the great general Qiu Li of the Qian Kingdom alive.
Looking at the battle report about Li Yuan, Chu Fan couldn't help but complain in his heart: Is your surname Li or Huo? How can you be so brave and good at fighting?
Chu Fan felt very relieved after reading the entire battle report. Although the Wei army also suffered casualties in the battle, the overall casualties were not very large. Thanks to penicillin and alcohol, many of the injured were not in danger of death. This record gave Chu Fan a clearer understanding of Mu Yunfeng's military talent.
Chu Fan began to think about how to deal with these captives. Chu Fan thought that in such a cold winter, if the people of Wei were forced to leave their homes to dig pools for making Xuan paper, and then let them enter the cold water to make Xuan paper, it would undoubtedly be an extremely inhumane act.
But if he had prisoners do the heavy work, his moral burden would be greatly reduced. He could also assign the coal mining work to these prisoners and have them work under difficult conditions.
Of course, we also have to give these captives some hope. We have to introduce a rule that as long as these captives can persist in working for ten years, then the Wei State will allow them to return to their homes after ten years.
As for the preferential treatment of prisoners, Chu Fan was deeply skeptical. If the Wei court decided to treat the prisoners well, what would the suffering of the people on the border matter? What would the sacrifices of the soldiers who died on the Wei battlefield mean?
I only let them atone for their sins through labor, and did not let them go to the extremely cold place to dig the land and grow food, nor did I execute them directly.
In fact, I was so kind as to find these captives stable jobs, even ten years of permanent employment. Even the common people of Wei didn't receive such good treatment. Although the Wei court wouldn't pay them wages, it still provided them with food and lodging. From this perspective, I, the Emperor of Wei, could truly be called a saint.
And everyone should understand that in the current Wei State, there are still many civilians who may not even be able to guarantee basic food and clothing. He was able to provide food for those captured enemies without asking them to pay. The more Chu Fan thought about it, the more moved he became.
However, at this moment, a question emerged in Chu Fan's mind: why, when he traveled to this world, the Kingdom of Wei had such a vast land occupied by the Xiongnu.
After all, he had only been in this world for a few months. Even if the army's combat effectiveness had changed dramatically, it couldn't have changed so quickly in such a short period of time. There must be some hidden secrets that he hadn't yet understood.
Chu Fan was filled with confusion. With doubts in his heart, he asked Eunuch Li a pointed question: "Little Li, if General Mu Yunfeng was able to so quickly recover the lost territory from the combined forces of the Xiongnu and the Gan Kingdom, then why did the Wei army appear so vulnerable when facing the Xiongnu alone, resulting in continuous defeat and the loss of large tracts of territory?
What was the reason behind this? Was there something wrong with Wei's military strategy, or were there other unknown factors at work?
Eunuch Li started to get nervous when he heard Chu Fan's question. This question was almost life-threatening.
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