Cut off my army's food supplies? I'll open a portal between the two worlds and max out my

"General, this is a gift prepared for you by my Blackrock Tribe in conjunction with seven other brother tribes."

The messenger respectfully held up a heavy bag.

Li Wen glanced at Jiang Tian beside him, and Jiang Tian took the initiative to step forward and open his pocket.

They discovered it was filled with gold nuggets.

"What does this mean?"

Li Wen was not attracted by the gold in the pocket, but looked at the envoy kneeling there.

The messenger respectfully said, "General! A band of bandits has come from Fengyue Valley, committing all sorts of atrocities in the Gobi Desert, breaking countless rules. If we let them continue their rampage, it will also affect us..."

Upon hearing the messenger's words, Li Wen understood their meaning.

Although Li Wen was certain he would eliminate the bandits, he didn't rush to agree. Instead, he asked softly, "I've heard about those bandits too. They're just three hundred ragtag soldiers. Your tribe's army has over a thousand men in total. Why don't you eliminate them yourselves?"

Upon hearing Li Wen's words, the envoy awkwardly lay there, unsure of what to say.

Li Wen's words were correct. The Black Stone Tribe, together with these affiliated tribes, could easily muster an army of a thousand men. So why would some of them be willing to raise so much money to ask the Anxi Army for help?

You should know that human life is worthless in the Western Regions. In the eyes of their tribal chief, the lives of these thousand people are worth more than the thousand gold coins they offered.

The crux of the problem is that we can gather enough people, but we can't win!

They joined forces to fight the bandits, but at that time, no one would want to contribute, thinking that if their strength was damaged, they would definitely be targeted by others afterwards.

The leaders of all sides were well aware of this situation; they were no match for the bandits.

After discussing it, everyone decided to approach the Anxi army.

The main reason is that Li Wen is trustworthy, so they don't need to worry about the Anxi army taking money and not doing their job.

After a moment of silence, Li Wen broke the awkward atmosphere: "I understand what you mean. I will accept the gift. Go back and tell your leader that the bandits of Fengyue Valley will disappear from the map within three days."

"Thank you, General!"

The envoy was overjoyed upon hearing this. After kowtowing, he prepared to take his leave, but was stopped by Li Wen.

"Wait."

"General?"

The envoy looked at Li Wen with suspicion.

Li Wen pointed to the sack the messenger had put down and said, "Take the money back first. We have an old saying: 'No reward without merit.' You can return the money after the Anxi army has completed the task."

"this……"

The envoy was so impressed by Li Wen's demeanor that he didn't know what to say.

Li Wen waved his hand, indicating he had no intention of saying anything more.

After Jiang Tian stuffed the bag into the messenger's arms, he led him out of the military camp.

Li Wen did this not because he was worried that these nomadic tribes would go back on their word. If anyone dared to renege on his debt, the Anxi army would have to collect much more than just monetary gifts.

The Blackstone Messenger staggered back to the tribe.

Blackstone's camp was packed with people; the leaders of the surrounding nomadic tribes were all there.

Each person held a metal can filled with freshly cooked instant noodles, and they were diligently slurping up the broth, enjoying the taste of this noble delicacy from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Delicious! No wonder it's food from the nobles of the Great Zhou Dynasty! This is the first time I've ever tasted something so delicious!"

"This broth has a beef flavor even though there's no beef in it, it's truly amazing!"

Several tribal chiefs held onto their tin cans, reluctant to finish the broth. Some clever people broke up the roasted naan into pieces and put them into the broth. The naan pieces soaked up the broth and became delicious.

The instant noodles these tribal leaders ate were all purchased from Blackstone.

Black Stone was a shrewd businessman. After tasting the instant noodles that Jiang Tian brought, he decisively took out all his gold to buy all the instant noodles from the Anxi army. In this way, he could sell them at a high price to the royal families of other kingdoms and the leaders of other tribes.

The gold spent back then has now been recouped.

"Boss!"

The shouts outside broke the cheerful atmosphere inside the tent.

"What happened?"

Blackstone asked, dissatisfied.

A guard came to his ear and whispered something.

Blackstone frowned and said, "Let him in."

The messenger quickly ran in and knelt on the ground.

"Boss! General Li agreed to our request, but he didn't take the money directly..."

The messenger repeated what Li Wen had said.

"General Li truly deserves the reputation of having driven away the army of Yuz Kingdom. We admire his magnanimity!"

One of the leaders remarked with emotion.

The Kingdom of Yuzi was the most powerful force that had previously offended the Great Zhou Kingdom from the Western Regions.

"Then let's wait three more days."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After receiving orders from the imperial court, the border troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty withdrew their defensive line by nearly three hundred li.

They retreated directly from the Yanshan area to the vicinity of Yumen.

Originally, the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty was located from Yumen westward, along the Yanshan Mountains in the northwest, all the way to the vicinity of the Western Regions, extending outward for more than two hundred miles.

This is also the place where Li Wen led the Anxi army out of the Great Wall.

As internal strife within the Great Zhou court continued, coupled with the decline of national power, the border was forced to retreat again and again.

Establishing a supply line along the direction Li Wen had indicated would have been enough to reliably deter many small states in the Western Regions.

However, on the imperial court side, the civil and military officials were locked in a life-or-death struggle, and the Empress Dowager, who was ruling from behind the curtain, was focused on centralizing power, which led to the continuous betrayal of national interests.

The tragic end of the Anxi army was just a microcosm of the internal power struggles within the imperial court, affecting the entire border army.

Military generals held key control over the border groups, while civil officials controlled the court.

The border troops were not very obedient to the orders issued by the civilian officials, and always found excuses to shirk their responsibilities in taking the initiative.

In order to save expenses, the civil officials had no choice but to keep shrinking the defense line, and now the border of the Great Zhou has quietly shrunk a lot.

Even the Empress Dowager and the young emperor were unaware of this matter, which was a tacit understanding between civil and military officials.

Although they fight among themselves, they will not allow others to benefit.

Even after the defensive line was moved to the vicinity of Yumen, the border troops still encountered supply problems.

Some military units have not received their pay for at least three months.

This intelligence was rushed to the young emperor's desk.

Inside the Imperial Study.

The young emperor sat dignifiedly on the dragon throne, with a desk in front of him piled high with memorials.

The young emperor looked serious, as if he was determined to govern the country well.

However, the officials in the court were well aware that the current young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty was merely a figurehead, and the main power still lay in the hands of the Empress Dowager.

"Our Great Zhou border troops have fought valiantly to defend our homeland, yet they haven't received their pay! What kind of order is this?!"

Although the young emperor was only twelve years old, his birth into the royal family made him exceptionally mature compared to his peers.

This memorial was hard-won, and the young emperor cherished this opportunity.

When he was away from home, Grand Secretary Ding always squinted his aged eyes and spoke weakly, "Your Majesty, for the past three years, there has been constant warfare and natural disasters, leaving the national treasury truly empty! The Vice Minister of Revenue has been working for three days and three nights without sleep, yet he still cannot come up with any extra budget."

Ding Ge Lao was overweight and breathless after speaking so much in one breath.

The young emperor looked at the civil official in front of him and wondered if he could kick him to death. If he did, would the other officials in the court support him?

Of course, this was just a fantasy in the young emperor's mind.

In name only, he should respectfully address the old man before him as "Prime Minister Father".

The young emperor also wanted to achieve some political success so that he would have a reason to reclaim some of his imperial rights from his mother.

"Prime Minister, as the Emperor of the Great Zhou, how can I sit idly by and do nothing about this?"

The young emperor mimicked his father's appearance from his memories.

Seeing the young emperor's imposing manner, Grand Secretary Ding said with great satisfaction, "It is a blessing for our Great Zhou that Your Majesty has such thoughts!"

The young emperor seized the opportunity and asked, "Prime Minister, do you have a way to solve the problem of the soldiers' pay on the border?"

The young emperor placed his hopes on Grand Secretary Ding.

He knew very well how much power this seemingly listless old man wielded in the imperial court.

Grand Secretary Ding did not speak directly, but instead asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask you a question? Do you know what our Great Zhou's defense strategy has been in recent years?"

The young emperor declared solemnly, "The iron cavalry of my Great Zhou protects every citizen of Great Zhou! Any foreign tribes that invade my Great Zhou will be crushed by my iron cavalry!"

The young emperor was referring to the opening strategy of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The founding emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty left behind a national defense policy: any foreign tribes that dared to offend the Great Zhou would face the Great Zhou's iron-fisted retaliation.

But Grand Secretary Ding knew very well that the Great Zhou of today was not the Great Zhou of a hundred years ago.

Grand Secretary Ding shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, to tell you the truth, we know very well what our enemies are like now. The Great Zhou Dynasty is currently unable to protect our people."

If the Great Zhou Dynasty truly possessed such capabilities, it wouldn't have been simultaneously invaded from the south, west, and north.

The young emperor was so shocked by these words that he could not close his mouth. If anyone else had said such things, he would have been furious and rebuked them for being spineless, boosting the prestige of foreign tribes and undermining the morale of the Great Zhou! But the person who said these words was his prime minister, who was also the head of the civil officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Prime Minister... what is our Great Zhou's current defense strategy?"

Grand Secretary Ding sighed and said, "It's about making the people believe that our Great Zhou Kingdom is protecting them."

If it weren't for not wanting to bear the infamy of history, Grand Secretary Ding wouldn't have wanted to waste so much time talking to the young emperor.

The young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty had many virtues, but only one flaw:

That means he was too stupid as an emperor.

He had made his words so clear, yet the other man still couldn't understand them.

"what?"

The young emperor stood there, somewhat unable to accept the outcome.

Grand Secretary Ding had no choice but to continue reminding him: "Your Majesty, taxes must be increased... If the people of Great Zhou don't pay, the soldiers on the border will not only not receive their pay, but their supplies will also be in jeopardy."