A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

"Zhao Gui, who do you think should be appointed as the Grand General?"

Cao Huai turned his head and looked at the little eunuch who had been following him.

The young eunuch Zhao Gui was handsome with rosy lips and white teeth, and had fair and delicate skin. He was a confidant of Cao Huai.

"The position of Grand General is a matter of vital importance to the military and the nation, and it is not something a servant like me can interfere with."

Zhao Gui smiled and said in a high-pitched voice.

"Hey, just say what you think is right. It's not like you're making the final decision."

"Then this servant will offer her opinion. If it is shallow, Your Majesty, please don't laugh at me."

Zhao Gui covered her mouth and said with a smile.

"Speak, and I will pardon you."

Cao Huai waved his hand and said domineeringly.

"This servant does not know what would be beneficial to the court; this servant can only consider it from Your Majesty's perspective."

"This servant thinks it would be better to leave the position of Grand General vacant."

"There is currently a war in the Northwest. Whoever takes over as general will seize control of the national military, especially the millions of troops gathered in the Northwest."

"This army must be broken up, otherwise whoever controls it will be able to threaten Your Majesty."

"Moreover, during the reign of the late emperor, the entire country's reserves were depleted in order to transport grain to the northwest, yet they only managed to conquer one province, Gezhou."

"Given the situation in Gozhou, this distance not only means they might not be able to collect taxes each year, but they might even have to pay out of pocket."

"We spent countless sums of money and grain, only to obtain this piece of land that is utterly useless. I am not criticizing the late emperor, but perhaps he had some deeper meaning. I am but a eunuch and cannot comprehend it."

"This servant thinks that we should leave this position vacant, and Your Majesty should send several trusted generals to divide this army into several parts, each with hundreds of thousands of troops, and distribute them to various parts of the country for defense."

"It ensures that no one can threaten Your Majesty, and also reduces the losses in transporting money and grain to the northwest. It's the best of both worlds."

Cao Huai felt that Zhao Gui's words made a lot of sense. After the abolition of the previous system of enthronement was passed, the millions of troops under Liu Yu's control made him feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Fortunately, Liu Yu was sensible and handed over his military power as soon as he returned.

He never wanted to experience that feeling of being pricked by needles and threatened with his throne again.

"Anything else? Please continue."

Why did he like Zhao Gui? It's because Zhao Gui always managed to say what resonated with him.

"And the former general, Your Majesty, letting him retire like this is not conducive to your control of the army, and it will easily lead to gossip."

"Your Majesty can order him to go to Gezhou to guard it. The troops in Gezhou have already been transferred away. Leave a few hundred thousand there to defend against the attacks of the vassal states."

"That place was conquered by him personally, and it is the basis for his name to be recorded in history. If he did not want to lose this most dazzling point in history, he would definitely fight desperately to protect it."

"Your Majesty could appropriately reduce his military supplies, stopping him at a point where he can barely resist even with his life on the line."

Zhao Gui came up with another wicked idea, his eyes darting around as he grinned mischievously.

"That makes sense. I was a bit too hasty."

After stripping Liu Yu of his military power, Cao Huai calmed down and realized that his actions were largely inappropriate.

Soon people might say he is mean-spirited and ungrateful, and that he mistreats veteran officials and meritorious officials.

"It was the General who was unwell and voluntarily requested to resign from his post. What does this have to do with His Majesty?"

"Is it wrong for His Majesty to show compassion for an old minister?"

Zhao Gui quickly replied.

After Zhao Gui said that, Wei Huai's last bit of embarrassment disappeared.

He is the emperor; he cannot be wrong.

"You're right, let's do it your way."

"If we really lose Gezhou, then we can only blame the general for lacking the strength."

"The late emperor couldn't blame me."

The following morning at court, the new emperor announced in public that General Liu Yu felt unwell and requested to resign from his position as General.

After much persuasion, he was finally allowed to resign, out of consideration for the general's health.

In recognition of the General's meritorious service, he was granted the title of Marquis of Ge County, appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry, and stationed in Ge Prefecture.

At the same time, citing the empty national treasury, the army in Gezhou was divided into eight parts, with eight generals dispatched to command them in various parts of the west, forming a complete defense line.

Liu Yu: "..."

While saying he was considerate of him and thus relieved him of his post, he also sent him, with his aged body, thousands of miles away to be responsible for defending the Go region.

This new emperor not only lacks political wisdom, but he's also not very bright.

This is like a louse on a bald man's head; it's blatantly showing how mean and ungrateful he is!

With the late emperor's political skills being so superb, how could he have given birth to such a worthless son?

Liu Yu thought back on the other sons of the late emperor and suddenly realized that the new emperor was already the most outstanding among them.

The others are even more indescribable.

Perhaps the Great Qian Dynasty's fortune has run out?

Liu Yu couldn't help but think of it.

In the ninth year of Emperor Qianling's reign, Liu Yu died in Gezhou.

The nearest states, Jin and Wu, quickly dispatched troops and garrisoned Gezhou.

The Great Qian Empire is in a period of chaos. The eunuchs have seized power and are encircling and suppressing other forces, leaving them with no time to manage this region in the northwest.

They didn't care whether Gezhou was still in the hands of Daqian. Given the vast territory of Daqian, it would be better to lose Gezhou, which only caused the Daqian Empire to lose wealth and food without any income.

This way, they can avoid losing more of the national treasury's funds to embezzle.

During the reign of Emperor Qianling, the court was in chaos, eunuchs held power, and the emerging poor and common people suffered greatly. Countless middle and lower-level officials with integrity were suppressed because they refused to collude with the eunuchs and chose to return to their hometowns to teach and educate people.

The eunuchs' monopolization of power unexpectedly and passively promoted the development of private education.

At the end of Emperor Qianling's reign, although the Great Qian Empire still occupied all the land except for Gezhou, the empire suffered heavy losses.

Perhaps it was due to the rise and fall of the world's fortunes, but the rulers of several powerful nations in the same era were all of average appearance. Although the Great Qian Empire suffered damage to its vitality, it did not suffer any land loss except for Gezhou.

If a powerful ruler were to emerge during this period, he might be able to seize the opportunity and establish an empire that would make even the Great Qian Dynasty take notice.

"Cough cough."

Emperor Qianling lay on his bed, with Zhao Gui still serving him.

"How's the investigation going?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, this servant dared not speak!"

Zhao Gui knelt on the ground, her body trembling.

"Speak, and I will pardon you!"

Emperor Qianling said, barely managing to catch his breath.

"It's the Crown Prince."

Zhao Gui lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to even get up.

"The traitor!"

"Arrest the Crown Prince and throw him into the imperial prison!"