Chapter 1063 This Minister of War Can't Be Required
Prince Wu Luan finally appeared.

Su Mingzhe muttered "Wu Luan" but the images of Queen Wan and Qingnv appeared in his mind.

"When I recalled the plot, I thought it was set in the Later Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties."

"After all, in the story, there is not only the Jiedushi of Youzhou, but the Emperor Li and the Khitan also sent their princes to each other as hostages."

"As a result, the story actually takes place in a small country called Nanping, which is somewhat ridiculous."

"The Prince of Nanping, who only has three states, is in danger of losing his position from day to day. No wonder Wu Luan doesn't want the throne, and no wonder Emperor Li prefers beauties to the country."

Out of curiosity, Su Mingzhe summoned the Nanping envoy and the hostage Wu Luan that afternoon.

Just like in the movie, Prince Wu Luan of Nanping is handsome, has a cold face, and a weak temperament.

However, these are just appearances.

Su Mingzhe could clearly sense that the energy and blood power in Wu Luan's body was definitely not inferior to that of the elite soldiers of his Yi Nu Army.

Not only Wu Luan, but also the messenger and the eight beauties who followed behind were the same.

The energy and blood strength of each of them is comparable to that of the elite soldiers of the Yi Nu Army.

Moreover, after they entered the Golden Palace, their heartbeats began to accelerate and their breathing rates increased.

"The King of Nanping sent over eight 'Wu Nu'. Are they going to play the game of 'Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin'?"

Su Mingzhe's face was calm, and he closed his eyelids, feeling that this matter was beginning to become interesting.

According to etiquette, the Nanping delegation presented the gifts first.

In addition to the eight beauties, there was also a Saker Falcon, a thousand-mile horse mount, a long sword, and a precious bow.

Su Mingzhe knew about these gifts in advance.

As a superior country, the Han State was required to double the gift in return after accepting it from the King of Nanping.

Su Mingzhe is now on a military expedition, and there is no official from the Ministry of Rites accompanying him.

The list of return gifts for King Nanping was discussed by the military counselor and the officials of the Ministry of Rites of Shu.

After the reception of the delegation was over, the other members of the delegation were arranged to rest in Sifang Pavilion, while the hostage Wu Luan was sent to the military camp for custody.

When the army returns to the capital, Wu Luan will follow back to Chang'an City.

After meeting with the envoy of King Nanping, Su Mingzhe also met with the envoy of the Ma Chu State.

After all, since the Nanping Kingdom was not destroyed, Ma Chu would be spared as well.

Although the military strength of the Ma Chu State was similar to that of the King of Nanping, both numbered over 100,000 people, its territory was vast and the tribute gifts it presented were extremely generous.

Naturally, Su Mingzhe gave back more.

Wait until the Han State and Ma Chu confirmed the relationship of vassalage and tribute.

After the Ma Chu delegation returned, the Chu Emperor Ma Yin would abandon his imperial title and become the ruler of the country.

Historically, Ma Yin had always been obedient to the Central Plains dynasty and had never claimed to be an emperor.

And in this world, Ma Yin finally got to experience the life of an emperor.

After the delegation left.

The scene of "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin" that Su Mingzhe thought would happen did not happen.

Although the eight beauties from Nanping all had martial arts skills, they never showed any of it.

Even when serving the emperor in bed at night, they all looked so weak and delicate that they were unable to exert any strength.

Su Mingzhe found it very interesting to watch these women acting with masks on, so he would take them with him whenever he went out of the palace to inspect the surrounding areas.

Over time, rumors began to spread that the Han Emperor liked the beauty of Nanping.

Of course this is bullshit.

There are so many beautiful women in Shu, how could Su Mingzhe only favor the eight beauties in Nanping?

As of August.

In addition to collecting beauties from the Shu Kingdom's palace, Su Mingzhe also found "Lady Xiao Huarui" Fei.

Fei was in her prime, with delicate and fair skin, beautiful features, a pair of clear eyes like stars, a soft body, and a sweet fragrance. If she grew up a little more, she would be no different from the goddess of Luo River in "The Goddess of Luo River".

After Su Mingzhe brought her into the palace, he pampered her every day.

Later, he became disgusted with her for wasting time by making her go from the harem to the imperial study every day, so he specially arranged for her to live in the imperial study.

Not only that, in order to prevent other women from being jealous and killing Fei, Su Mingzhe also specially arranged more than a hundred palace servants to protect and serve her.

In Su Mingzhe's harem, only the queen could enjoy this kind of treatment, and no other woman had ever enjoyed it.

In the blink of an eye, it was September.

The territory of Shu was relatively large. After annexing Shu, the Han State surpassed the Liang State in both population and area.

It was also because Shu was so large that Su Mingzhe stayed here for more than two months before he sorted out the state government. In late September.

Su Mingzhe led the army back to Chang'an City.

"Congratulations to our emperor on his longevity, may he unify the nine provinces soon!"

Prime Minister Wei Yi, following Su Mingzhe's instructions, led civil and military officials to greet him at Baqiao at the city gate.

Queen Cui Yingying also came with her concubines.

After annexing Shu, the only kingdom in the Nine Provinces that could compete with the Han Kingdom was Liang.

Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang was already an old man in his seventies. It was said that he had recently started to cultivate his body and mind, and it seemed that his time of death was approaching.

Therefore, everyone inside and outside the Han court was eagerly looking forward to the Han Emperor leading the Han Dynasty to unify the world and recreate the Han and Tang dynasties.

It's been October.

The busy farming season is over.

Su Mingzhe continued to implement the "work-for-relief" policy to provide relief to refugees.

After two years of construction, Chang'an City has been restored to its original state, and the imperial palace is no worse than during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The main direction of this year's "work-for-relief" is to build industrial and agricultural bases.

Spring has come.

It was the third year of Jianwu in the Han Dynasty.

Su Mingzhe summoned all the ministers to discuss the matter of conquering the State of Liang.

It took Su Mingzhe more than a month to annex the Shu Kingdom since last year when he led the Han army.

Not only did Nanping and Ma Chu get scared, but the entire Liang State began to tremble in fear, fearing that the Han army would attack.

In order to guard against the Han Kingdom, Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang directly started the warmongering mode. He not only doubled the collection of various taxes and levies, but also expanded the army without limit.

In the Liang State today, all young and strong men would be sent to the military camp and tattooed with gold characters to prevent them from deserting.

Under this extreme operation, Liang's army more than doubled in just a few months.

Among them, the Liang army stationed on the border between the two countries numbered more than 800,000.

Su Mingzhe just smiled carefreely after hearing this:
"The Liang army is mostly a mob. I only need 300,000 troops to wipe out the entire Liang Kingdom!"

Seeing his emperor so confident, the Minister of War Lü Wen stepped forward and reported the bad news:

"Your Majesty, according to secret spies, after the new Khitan Khan Yelu Deguang ascended the throne, he attacked the Bohai Kingdom for two consecutive years and destroyed it at the end of last year. When Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang learned that the Khitan army was strong, he sent envoys to the Khitan and is negotiating to borrow troops!"

As a grassland tribe, the Khitan unified the grassland very early, almost twenty years ago.

When the ministers heard that Emperor Liang had actually asked the Khitan for troops, they all frowned and cursed:

"Liang Emperor Zhu Wen is still a thief. He even formed an alliance with the barbarians on the grassland. Is he trying to sell our Han Dynasty?"

Minister of War Lü Wen spoke again:

"Your Majesty, Liang and Khitan are about to form an alliance. If we conquer Liang at this time, we need to be prepared for a protracted war!"

The Minister of Revenue quickly stepped forward, with a sad face, and said:

"Your Majesty, our Han Dynasty has been established for three years. We have been at war every year and have light taxes and levies. The national treasury has begun to spend money before it is enough..."

"Don't worry about food!"

Su Mingzhe rubbed the handle of the dragon throne with his fingers and said with a smile:

"When the Chu State sent envoys to the court last year, I asked them to sell us one million dan of grain. Calculating the time, this batch of grain is already on the way. It will be delivered to Chang'an in two months at most, that is, before April."

"One million dan of grain and grass can supply 300,000 troops for half a year."

The Minister of War calculated in his mind, but hesitated and said:

"However, if we transport this one million dan of grain from Chu to Chang'an, and then from Chang'an to the front line, I'm afraid more than half of it will be consumed along the way. In this case, if we send out 300,000 troops, I'm afraid they can only support us for three months."

"Three months is enough!"

Su Mingzhe really doesn't look down on Liang State.

The territory occupied by Liang State was mainly in the heartland of the Central Plains, where there were not many natural defenses.

Moreover, Liang State’s capital Luoyang was less than two hundred miles away from the border.

If the army moves out and goes straight downstream, they can surround Luoyang.

The Minister of War seemed to have guessed the emperor's thoughts and reported another bad news:

"Your Majesty, the Liang Emperor Zhu Wen sent the Crown Prince Zhu Youfeng to Youzhou after the Lantern Festival. I guess... the Liang Kingdom is going to move its capital!"

(End of this chapter)