Chapter 1053: Missed Opportunity, Opportunity Never Comes Back
The third day of June.

In order to get Su Mingzhe to remove the knife from his neck, Wang Ke, the governor of Shanzhou, agreed to compensate Su Mingzhe with 500,000 strings of silver, 100,000 dan of grain, and 30,000 households.

Su Mingzhe returned to Yongle County with the compensation agreement and the compensation given by the governor of Shanzhou.

Among them, 30,000 households can provide 10,000 volunteer soldiers.

The sixth day of June.

The news that Shanzhou was destroyed and Wang Ke paid compensation reached the court of Liang State.

Zhu Wen, who was already 75 years old, was so angry that he slammed the table and stood up:

"Wang Ke is incompetent and has lost power and humiliated the country!"

Wang Ke’s father is Wang Chongrong.

Zhu Wen once recognized Wang Chongrong as his uncle, so Wang Ke could be considered his cousin.

Although he was angry that Wang Ke had brought shame to Daliang, Zhu Wen could only dismiss Wang Ke from his post and could not really kill him.

On the other hand, Zhu Wen dispatched the governors of Huazhou, Tongzhou, Guozhou and Shangzhou near Yongle County to mobilize the entire army to encircle and suppress the Yi Nu army.

The four provincial governors had 150,000 soldiers under their command. After receiving the order from Zhu Wen, they all felt that it was a bit of an overreaction.

There are only 20,000 soldiers and horses. Why is it necessary to mobilize 150,000 people at once?

Although they were puzzled, the four provincial governors did not dare to disobey the order. They had to leave behind 10,000 troops and mobilize an army of 110,000 to attack Yongle County.

Mid June.

An army of 110,000 soldiers marched toward Yongle County from all directions.

Su Mingzhe asked the newly recruited 10,000 Yi Nu soldiers to guard the old nest, and he himself led 20,000 Yi Nu soldiers and adopted various blocking methods. He successively defeated the four invading armies and collected 60,000 surrendered soldiers.

Late June.

Su Mingzhe ordered 20,000 Yi Nu soldiers to guard the governor of Shanzhou to prevent the Liang army from attacking their lair. He himself led the 60,000 surrendered soldiers who had just "returned to their loyalty" to counterattack the four states.

The deadline is July 15th.

Su Mingzhe occupied six places: Chang'an, Huazhou, Tongzhou, Shanzhou, Guozhou, and Shangzhou.

After occupying six states, Su Mingzhe was still not satisfied and continued to lead his troops to attack Liang State.

July 20th.

Su Mingzhe brought 100,000 surrendered soldiers and, with the support of 100,000 civilians, claimed to have an army of 200,000. They lined up outside the city of Luoyang and demanded that Emperor Liang Zhu Wen "apologize."

Twenty years after the founding of Daliang, this was the first time that the enemy had been driven to the outskirts of Kyoto.

Zhu Wen wanted to lead his troops to resist, but most of the remaining 500,000 troops in the entire Liang State were still distributed on the border.

It would take at least half a month to mobilize troops to resist.

At this time, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.

What's more, Su Mingzhe conquered six states in a row and was very powerful.

Everyone in Luoyang City is already feeling insecure.

Not to mention holding out for half a month, even if we were besieged for five or six days, the city could be broken and people could be killed at any time and anywhere.

In desperation, Zhu Wen could only choose to "apologize" and cede the six regions of Chang'an, Huazhou, Tongzhou, Shanzhou, Guozhou and Shangzhou to Su Mingzhe, and also paid compensation of one million strings of cash, 100,000 households of civilians, and 500,000 shi of grain and fodder.

Seeing that Zhu Wen was so sensible, Su Mingzhe led his army back to his own territory after receiving the compensation.

It’s not that Su Mingzhe doesn’t want to expand the results of the victory.

The truth is that the six states had just been occupied by Su Mingzhe, and all the officials in various places were "rough men" selected by Su Mingzhe from the army.

These "rough guys" followed Su Mingzhe in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, and they were all good at it.

But if they were asked to govern prefectures and counties, they would immediately be at a loss.

Chuntao, who was temporarily chosen by Su Mingzhe to be the logistics manager, was so busy that she had no time to rest, but could only select some talents from various trading companies.

Seeing that problems were about to arise in the rear, Su Mingzhe had no choice but to accept Liang State's peace talks.

Early August.

Su Mingzhe brought the girls to Chang'an, preparing to establish a country and become emperor.

After discussing with his generals, he decided to name the country Han.

Next year will be the first year of Jianwu in the Han Dynasty.

Wei Yi, the chief treasurer of the Yi Nu Military Trading Company, saw that Su Mingzhe was rising in power and was about to become emperor. He first congratulated him, and then reminded him:
"General, you now control six states, have a million people, and have an army of 100,000. Even if you declare yourself emperor, no one will dare to oppose you. But even though the sparrow is small, it has all the necessary organs. If you want to establish a new dynasty, you still lack a large number of officials from the three provinces and six ministries."

"It's true."

Su Mingzhe had already made a plan for this matter.

If it weren't for the lack of officials in the rear during this attack on Liang State, he could have captured Luoyang in one fell swoop, and then issued an edict to conquer all the prefectures within the territory of Liang State.

"I want to hold a special examination in October. It doesn't matter where one comes from or what family background one has. As long as one has a skill, I will hire him. What do you think?"

After hearing this, everyone present immediately bowed:
"General, you are wise!"

Su Mingzhe started the rebellion too quickly. At the beginning of the year, he robbed Sun Feihu's 5,000 troops. In April and May, he expanded his army to 20,000. In June, he attacked Shanzhou and obtained another 10,000 troops.

In July, he captured six states and gained a hundred thousand soldiers and horses.

After deducting the losses and cutting off the old and weak, there were about 100,000 soldiers left.

It is totally wrong to let these 100,000 soldiers guard the six states.

However, these 100,000 soldiers can conquer the world but cannot rule it.

Soon, the news that Su Mingzhe was going to establish a country in Chang'an, proclaim himself emperor, and hold an imperial examination spread everywhere.

The Han Dynasty was surrounded by the Liang, Shu, Qi and Tang kingdoms.

Among them, the three kingdoms of Liang, Shu and Tang had all proclaimed themselves emperors, and their rulers were Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang, Emperor Wang Yan of Shu (who had just ascended the throne), and Emperor Li Cunxu of Tang respectively.

The ruler of Qi State was Li Maozhen.

Because Liang was the only powerful country, the other three countries formed an alliance to protect themselves in order to deal with Liang.

Now, Su Mingzhe snatched six states from the State of Liang and established his own country.

The three kingdoms of Shu, Tang and Qi all sent envoys to express their congratulations.

In addition, the Three Kingdoms took strict precautions to prevent the outflow of their talents.

A blink of an eye.

It was October now.

Su Mingzhe held an imperial examination and selected 300 scholars to form a temporary small court.

The founding prime minister was Wei Yi, the head of a trading company.

Wei Yi was born into the Jingzhao Wei family.

The Jingzhao Wei family was a prominent and powerful family during the Tang Dynasty.

Later, in the late Tang Dynasty, Jingzhao was plundered back and forth by various military governors, and the former Jingzhao Wei family has now declined.

This time, there were thirty-six disciples from the Jingzhao Wei family who took part in the special examination, and twelve were finally admitted.

Among the many aristocratic families, the number of talented people in the Wei family is far lower than that of the Cui, Zheng, Wang, Li and other prominent families.

After the imperial examination.

Su Mingzhe was busy with many things, and after spending several months, he finally established the framework of the Han Dynasty court.

The new year has come.

Su Mingzhe officially established a country and proclaimed himself emperor, naming the country Han and the reign title Jianwu.

When Su Mingzhe proclaimed himself emperor, he sent a notice to the four surrounding countries.

The four countries all sent envoys to watch the ceremony.

At this time, the Han Kingdom had a territory of only six states and a width of only a thousand miles, with a population of one million and an army of one hundred thousand.

Such national strength is indeed a bit "weak" in the eyes of the four leaders.

However, although the Han Dynasty is currently weak, Su Mingzhe, as the leader, has a very strong ability to lead troops and fight wars. As long as he is given time to develop, he will definitely surpass other countries.

Therefore, the four countries sent envoys to watch the ceremony.

In their letters, the rulers of the four countries all expressed their hope to establish peaceful diplomatic relations with the Han Dynasty and become brother nations.

Su Mingzhe did not agree to form an alliance among the countries, but he received the envoys from the three kingdoms of Liang, Shu and Tang with a friendly attitude.

Only when he met the envoy from Qi State did Su Mingzhe fly into a rage and scolded the envoy on the spot.

The ruler of Qi State did not even dare to proclaim himself emperor, yet he wanted to become a "brother state" with himself. This was really disrespectful.

The first day of February in spring.

Su Mingzhe personally led an army of 30,000 to attack the King of Qi for the crime of disrespect.

Late February.

Less than twenty days after the army set out, the Han army captured Fengxiang Prefecture, the capital of Qi State.

Li Maozhen, the ruler of Qi, surrendered.

Su Mingzhe was a little at a loss when he saw that Qi State surrendered so quickly.

You know, before conquering Qi State, Su Mingzhe made it known widely and also issued notices to Liang, Shu and Tang States, warning them not to meddle in other people's affairs.

Now, I have destroyed the State of Qi so quickly, I am afraid that the three states of Liang, Shu and Tang have not yet reacted.

"If we just return to the capital like this, the three kingdoms will definitely not dare to make any moves, and I will not be able to find a reason to attack them."

Su Mingzhe gritted his teeth and, in order to "fish", simply sent another wave of envoys to the three kingdoms of Liang, Shu and Tang to issue a notice stating that the Dangxiang, Uighur and Tibetan tribes often plundered Han people, and he would lead the army to continue sweeping westwards.

"I hope that this time, the Three Kingdoms can be more powerful and not be so weak..."

(End of this chapter)