Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 243 Everything goes well

The prince has his own ideas, the emperor has his own thoughts, and Huo Xian, the General of Cavalry, also has his own opinions.

But no matter what, there are some things that cannot be rushed now. If the pace is really too hasty, it is obviously likely to cause delays, and may even become a way to bring disaster.

After talking with Cao Zongmi, Huo Xian was able to reveal some of the truth. It was good for Huo Xian to know what was going on. He just needed to pay a little attention to some things. With the information he had at hand, he didn't need to worry too much.

The emperor's carriage began to rush around again. This time, it was Liu Che who held the reins himself, while Huo Xian was sweating profusely as he waved the whip and assisted by the side, his heart pounding.

After Liu Che was happy, Huo Xian immediately complained, "Your Majesty, I finally understand why those people beside me were so scared when we were driving before! It's really frustrating that the two of us can't even drive steadily."

Liu Che was unimpressed. "The charioteer is very good at driving, but if he is not as good as you on horseback, there is no need to be discouraged."

Huo Xian also thought it made sense. Everyone has their own expertise, and driving a car was not something that an emperor or a general of cavalry should do.

"Your Majesty, how is Chang'an?" Huo Xian said after washing his hands. "It's spring now, and I wonder if the Crown Prince has encouraged people to do farming and sericulture."

Liu Che glanced at Huo Xian with satisfaction, "You have become more capable. Now you know these things."

Huo Xian said unhappily, "Your Majesty, no matter how warlike I am, I still know something about people's livelihood. It's true that I want to fight, but I won't ignore the court! Your Majesty, is there a general in the Han Dynasty who is better at plundering than me?"

Hearing what Huo Xian said, Liu Che laughed and patted Huo Xian's head, "You are right. Last year, the hostages of Dayuan were still complaining privately. It was because you plundered too much that everyone was dissatisfied."

Of course not. Huo Xian had previously led an expedition to Dayuan, which resulted in the former king of Dayuan, Wu Gua, losing his head.

The pro-Han Dayuan noble Mai Cai became the new king of Dayuan, and he continued to pay tribute to the Han Dynasty with celestial horses. Many people in Dayuan thought that such a king was too flattering, but they did not dare to say much.

It was not because Mei Cai had many means, but because Huo Xian had previously scared the Dayuan people by killing them.

"Those people in the Western Regions are also talking about me. I know everything." Huo Xian was calm. "Last winter, many people in the Western Regions were hungry and cold. They said that I had taken away their food and fodder."

Liu Che just smiled. The Han army went out to fight, and they certainly needed money and food from the court. Some of them could also capture some prisoners, etc. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were also good at it, and they brought back a lot of spoils every time they won a great victory.

At present, Huo Shan's direct gains are not as good as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, but in terms of plundering, even if they are combined, they are not as good as Huo Shan, who is willing to clear out all the enemy's property.

Although the imperial court still had to pay money and food, the burden was much smaller. This kid really didn't care about the lives of the people in the enemy country. So much so that some scholars complained privately that the champion marquis's war was harmful to the harmony of the world.

Let it be a loss to the harmony of nature, at least it will only hurt the enemies and beasts of the Han Dynasty, and the people of the Han Dynasty will not suffer any harm.

Huo Xian felt at ease about some things. Fortunately, some scholars nowadays were not so pedantic. Some of them were even more radical than military generals.

The idea of ​​martial spirit is not just a casual remark. This is an era that values ​​martial spirit from top to bottom.

"The Crown Prince advised people to engage in farming and sericulture. You don't have to worry about this matter. I never worry about these things either." Liu Che said with great relief, "Your cousin has no great ambitions, but he does have the ability to protect the country."

Huo Xian disagreed and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a bit biased. Your Highness the Crown Prince still has great ambitions, but he is sometimes too lenient and kind."

"You don't have great ambitions, do you?" Liu Che sighed and said, "My son is so kind!"

Well, Liu Che had too high requirements for Liu Ju, and some of his standards were also based on himself.

But if that's the case, how many emperors could be like Liu Che? Some say he was a man of great talent and ambition, some say he was militaristic, some say he promoted people based on their talents, some say he appointed people based on personal connections, these are all arguments.

But no matter what, Emperor Wu's reign did greatly strengthen the centralization of power, and he recruited talents without any restrictions and only promoted people based on their talents. This also broke the situation in which the important officials of the Western Han Dynasty were only marquises and relatives of the emperor.

Among the talents he promoted, there were many people of humble origins or poor families. Among the civil officials were Zhufu Yan, Bu Shi, Gongsun Hong, Er Kuan, Zhu Maichen, Sang Hongyang, etc.; and among the military officials were Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Guangli, etc. In his later years, he even promoted the Huns captive Jin Midi to be a regent.

These were things that had never happened before. The continuous emergence of talents in the Han Dynasty was also an achievement of Liu Che, and it could even be said that it laid a certain foundation for future generations.

The son is not like his father. Liu Che sometimes wondered why the prince he taught was so steady?
"Just wait and see. If that really happens, it will be difficult for you to fight a war." Liu Che said somewhat unhappily, "Given the prince's temperament, he will definitely not take the initiative to use troops outside."

Huo Xian thought about it and felt that it made sense. "Your Majesty, send more Han envoys out, and then we can use the troops."

It is true that there were quite a few Han envoys who committed suicidal acts, but these also provided the Han court with reasons to use military force.

Look at all these years, apart from the Xiongnu, which had no reason to use Han envoys, was there any time when the troops were deployed without the Han envoys contributing? They were not just contributing, they were risking their lives!
Nanyue killed the Han envoy and divided the country into nine counties. The envoy was An Guo Shao Ji, who planned with his first love, the Queen Mother of Nanyue, to surrender to the Han Dynasty and kill Prime Minister Lu Jia.

Needless to say about the Dayuan incident, Wu Gua killed the Han envoy, and everyone chose to forget that the Han envoy pointed at Wu Gua and cursed him when the trade negotiations failed.

The same was actually true in Goryeo. When the Han envoy She He went to Wei's Joseon, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

As a result, the Joseon ruler Youqu refused to come to the Han Dynasty, so the Han envoy killed Goryeo's Bi king. Unable to bear it any longer, Youqu sent troops to kill Shehe, and as a result, Joseon became one of the four counties of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Che glared at Huo Xian and said unhappily, "Why? Do you think that if the prince really sends envoys out, he will definitely raise an army? Most of his envoys are polite."

It may be okay to say so, and it is even a high probability thing. Liu Che's envoys are fearless. If Liu Ju became the emperor in the future, he might not do so.

After all, envoys also have missions, and not all envoys are so extreme and so eager to achieve great things.

Liu Che looked at Huo Xian and said with a smile, "If the prince cannot raise food and money this time, I will definitely punish him severely. The general and the prime minister are assisting him, and there are many talented people in the court. If he can't do these things well, how can I trust him to be the head of the country?"

Huo Xian thought about it and it made sense, but he still helped carefully. "The only difficulty for the prince this time is that the court is short of money. I don't think there should be any obstacles for other things." Liu Che asked with interest, "Oh? Obstacles, tell me, are there any other obstacles?"

Huo Xian held it in his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have looked through the old historical materials and talked to people about it. When Your Majesty decided to use military force against the Xiongnu, there must have been a lot of resistance."

Liu Che pretended to understand nothing and said, "At that time, the imperial court had no shortage of money and food. How could I have any resistance?"

"Your Majesty, I am almost twenty-two now, not twelve!" Huo Xian complained dissatisfiedly, "Even if I were twelve, I know that the whole court was afraid of the Xiongnu at that time. The court had never defeated the Xiongnu before."

This was not the biggest obstacle. At that time, the Han people were full of hatred towards the Xiongnu, but they were also full of fear. Having never defeated the Xiongnu, they naturally seemed to lack confidence and were timid before the battle.

Liu Che smiled and said, "That's true. At that time, no one dared to take the initiative to use troops against the Xiongnu. I like the general because he can help our Han Dynasty win the first battle against the Xiongnu and let people know that the Xiongnu is not invincible!"

Having started naturally meant continuing, and the lack of confidence when facing the Huns turned into a continuous accumulation of confidence. By now, the Han people looked down on the Huns.

Today, the Han army feels that the Huns are nothing special. This is the psychological advantage established by continuous victories.

The Han army has not been severely defeated by the Huns for nearly twenty years. Even though they have fought several times over the years, most of the time they have returned empty-handed. Now the Huns will avoid fighting if possible.

"Your Majesty, I think the Xiongnu are getting worse and worse." Huo Xian said confidently, "It's also because of the great strength of the general and my grandfather that we have defeated the most capable Xiongnu."

Noticing that the emperor was unhappy, Huo Xian quickly made amends, "Your Majesty, I still don't understand how Your Majesty arranged the troops. When it comes to strategy, the general and my father-in-law are far inferior to you."

Liu Che smiled a little, "After all, you are just generals, you can lead 100,000 troops on the battlefield. But when it comes to strategy, you are all lacking. A general is better, but your father-in-law needs someone to make plans for him when he goes to war."

Huo Xian immediately smiled and said, "It's the same for me. Your Majesty has to set the strategy and tactics for me and arrange many things before I can lead the troops out. Even if there are some changes at the last minute, they are all within your Majesty's expectations."

Cao Zong, who was standing next to him, was speechless. He felt that some of what Huo Xian said made sense, because many things were indeed decided by the emperor, and there seemed to be no problem with that at all.

But as God knows, when Marquis Guanjun went out to fight, not everything was arranged by the emperor.

If the war had really relied entirely on the emperor's arrangements, Li Guangli would not have been defeated at the city of Yucheng. That was also something the emperor had carefully arranged, but Li Guangli did not execute it very effectively.

There was naturally no problem with the emperor's strategic deployment, but that did not mean Huo Xian had no ability to lead troops.

But look at it now, this flattering champion marquis has almost put all the credit on the emperor. Everyone can see that it is such a clumsy flattery, but the emperor enjoys it very much.

Flattery is a bit direct and crude, but it works, and that's all that matters. Other ways of flattery, such as being subtle, elegant, and subtle, may also have good results.

That method might be effective for the emperor, but it might not be suitable for Huo Shan.

Huo Xian knew very well what to do, and no one knew more about how to maintain a good relationship with the emperor than him.

The emperor was in a good mood, so he said, "We are about to reach the East China Sea. I don't know if I will have the chance to see Penglai this time."

This is really the emperor's characteristic, he always has the fairy island in mind. Before he even reaches Mount Tai, he is already thinking about the distant coast of the East China Sea, thinking about encountering the legendary Three Fairy Islands.

It has to be said that people like Xu Fu have done great harm to others. The legends he left behind have fascinated generations of people and made many powerful people pursue them at all costs.

"I still want to see Kun." Huo Xian said, "If I really see a Kun, I will catch one and bring it back to see. Your Majesty, can Kun be raised in Taiye Lake?"

This is a bit of a knowing question. The so-called Kun is actually a big whale. Huo Xian certainly knows that it cannot be raised in Taiye Lake. But in order to please the emperor, it is naturally worth doing so.

In fact, Taiye Lake is really not small. This huge artificial lake covers an area of ​​10 hectares. In order to pray to the gods, the emperor also built three fairy islands in Taiye Lake, namely Yingzhou, Penglai and Fangzhang.

In addition, there is a huge stone whale three meters long and five feet high by the lake, and there are countless stone sculptures of various rare birds, beasts, fish and turtles.

"You are still so playful!" Liu Che said in a good mood, "I will take you to the sea when the time comes. If you really don't meet Kun, you are not allowed to be angry with me. You are not young anymore, you can't make trouble."

Huo Xian pretended not to understand, "Your Majesty, I'm not making a fuss!"

"You didn't make a scene?" Liu Che teased Huo Xian when he saw that he didn't admit it. "In the first year of Yuanfeng, I took you to the East China Sea. When you saw Kun once, you insisted on going to find him. Then you couldn't find him. Did you cry and make a scene?"

Huo Xian was also somewhat amused. That was all in the past. "Your Majesty, I was only ten years old at that time, so it doesn't count."

"When I was ten, I was thinking about finding Kun. When I was twenty, I was still thinking about finding Kun." Liu Che looked at Cao Zong and said jokingly, "What do you think of this Xian'er? Is she still childish and ignorant?"

Cao Zong was embarrassed for a moment. These topics were not suitable for him to participate in. No matter how he said it, it would offend people. But it was obvious that Liu Che would not care whether Cao Zong was embarrassed or not.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Zong said, "Your Majesty, the Champion Marquis has remained as pure as ever over the years."

Liu Che was quite satisfied with this answer, as he had always believed that Huo Xian had not changed. Huo Xian was also satisfied, as they were indeed good brothers, and they still wanted to help each other and praise each other openly or secretly.

Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, even though they had been out for a while. But the process was not tiring, the weather was getting better and better, and everything went smoothly.

The tour went smoothly, and I hope the next one will be just as smooth.

(End of this chapter)