I, Altria, only want to rule China.

But these people not only did not help to suppress the bandits, but also helped the rebels, which is very infuriating.

Therefore, the Song State quickly made a decision that anyone who hid a traitor would have his entire family punished! Once someone was hiding in a village, the entire village would be punished.

Because of this, many innocent villages were massacred by the imperial army, because as long as they were accused of colluding with the rebels, both the village and the small landlords could be in trouble.

This one-size-fits-all approach not only failed to reduce the number of rebels, but instead made them more numerous, and the reputation of the Song State became even worse.

The more chaotic the Song State is, the better it is for Leah. However, she is not in the mood to care about what is happening in the Song State now. Before attacking the Song State, she needs to remove the two thorns in Shandong and Hebei first.

Now that the autumn harvest was over and the grain had been turned over to the national treasury, she could start a war.

Liya looked at a minister below and asked, "Lord Zhang, how is the current reserve of firearms?"

As Leah asked the question, a minister stood up and said to Leah, "Your Majesty, after half a year of accumulation, the Firearms Battalion has produced another 200 cannons and 20000 muskets. The reserve of bullets is sufficient, so we can start fighting now."

"In addition, we have the most abundant hand grenades and land mines, which together number almost hundreds of thousands. Your Majesty, this is the total achievement of the Firearms Battalion in the past six months."

Upon hearing this, Liya nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very good. We will first send 50 of the cannons produced this time to Xinjiang, as well as 5000 flintlock rifles and 5 mines."

For Leah, the border is of utmost importance. Only when the border is safe can the country be safe.

Chapter 120: The Prosperous Wu Kingdom

"By the way, we should also deliver 50 cannons, 5000 flintlock rifles, and 5 grenades and landmines to the Shanxi garrison." Leah said after thinking for a while.

"Your Majesty, the defending commander of Shanxi is General Pi Baozi. Although he has surrendered to our Wu Dynasty, his time there is still short. Is this inappropriate?" The speaker was Xiao Ranhe, the current prime minister of the Wu Dynasty.

In fact, there are some things that Prime Minister Xiao has not said yet. Pi Baozi has a history of rebelling against the Northern Wei Dynasty. If these firearms are handed over to Pi Baozi, and the other party suddenly turns against us, wouldn't it be very dangerous?

The civil officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty frowned, as the prime minister seemed to be hinting at something.

"I am fully aware of your concerns, but since I have accepted General Pi Baozi's surrender, I will naturally treat him as one of my own. As the saying goes, don't employ a person you doubt, and don't doubt a person you employ. This is my principle."

Leah said this not only to Pi Baozi, but also to the group of Northern Wei civil officials below her.

Since you have surrendered to me, don't have any resentment in your heart. In my heart, both the officials from the Wu Dynasty and the officials from the Northern Wei Dynasty who surrendered to me are equally important.

Of course, whether you can become a high-ranking official depends on your respective abilities.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Upon hearing this, the civil officials from the Northern Wei Dynasty said excitedly, it is not easy to meet such a wise monarch.

Liya could see the open and covert struggles between the civil officials of the Wu Dynasty and the Northern Wei Dynasty, but she did not stop them. It would not be good if the civil officials were too harmonious. They had to be divided into several factions so that they would be easier to control.

In addition to asking Pi Baozi to guard against the Rouran, Liya also sent firearms to him to attack Hebei and kill the son of his former master Tuoba Tao. This was also a disguised way of telling him to completely cut off ties with the Northern Wei.

If Pi Baozi wasn't stupid, he would understand this.

"My dear ministers, since we have enough firearms and the soldiers are almost ready, I plan to take Shandong and Hebei. What do you think about this?" Leah said to the people below.

"Your Majesty, I wonder who you plan to send to the battle and how many people you plan to bring?" asked the minister below.

"According to the intelligence we have received, the total military strength in Shandong is currently around 100,000, and the same is true in Hebei. I plan to divide the troops into two groups. In one group, I will personally lead 30,000 troops to attack Shandong directly. In the other group, I will let the Governor of Shanxi, Pi Baozi, attack Hebei." Leah said after thinking for a while.

Although in terms of numbers, Shandong has an army of 100,000, but Wu State has an army of 30,000 and also has well-equipped equipment.

Even if there are only 30,000 people, relying on the power of firearms, it is enough to defeat the enemy's 100,000. If there are fewer people, then the logistics such as food will not be such a big burden.

After defeating Shandong, she can take a look at the situation. As long as she has food, she will not panic at all.

"Your Majesty, are you going to lead the army in person again this time? Your Majesty is a precious person. You can leave such matters to your generals. It would be better for Your Majesty to stay in the central government." Hearing that Leah was going to lead the army in person again, the officials below began to persuade her.

They are not afraid of ten thousand things, but they are afraid of one thing. If something happens to Leah during the march, the newly established Wu Kingdom will show signs of collapse.

"It's alright. The Queen will be in charge of the regent affairs. I prefer to lead the army in person. You don't need to persuade me on this matter."

Leah also knew what these ministers were thinking, but Leah also had her own considerations. Before the country was completely unified, it would be better for her to keep the military power in her own hands.

Only when she personally led the soldiers and understood their personalities could she safely hand over the military power to them and let them guard a region in the future.

"Grand Situ, how is the people's harvest this year? Will our military intervention have any impact on them?" Leah thought for a moment and asked again.

"Your Majesty, the harvest of the people in Wu Kingdom has not been greatly affected this year. In addition, due to the implementation of your policies, the people's lives have become much better, and they should have saved a lot of money."

Hearing Liya's question, Da Situ immediately came out to answer.

"Secondly, because we purchase large quantities of grain, steel, saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur, and other materials, and we always pay in cash and never default on payments, more merchants come to Wu and many workshops have sprung up among the people."

"Merchants themselves have to pay business taxes, there is nothing to say about this, the key point is the workshops that have sprung up among the people."

"To set up a workshop, you must hire people, and you have to pay them wages. Many people flocked to the workshops to work during the slack season. There were even many families with little land and many people who simply saved a few people and came to the workshops to work and earn money."

"As a result, the people gradually had more money in their hands. With money, they wanted to improve their lives a little bit, which attracted a large number of businessmen."

"So, even if it's just the commercial tax, it has reached an astonishing 50 million taels!" When he said this, the Grand Tutor's face showed great excitement.

Leah was also very happy when she heard this. This was 6 million taels of silver. Even during the Qing Dynasty, when they ruled such a large territory, they only had 7000 to million taels of silver.

She only controls half of the country now, and this half consists of some relatively poor provinces. If she can take over the south in the future, the number will definitely be more considerable.

However, thinking of one thing, Liya said, "Although it is a good thing to build more workshops, we must also take care of the health of the people. You should revise a set of regulations on the employment of workshops, stipulating the daily working hours, the monthly rest time, the minimum wage standard and other issues."

"Okay, Your Majesty." At this point, the Grand Tutor, who had just been getting more and more excited, suddenly became tangled again: "But I just can't figure it out no matter how hard I try, why was it so difficult to collect taxes in previous dynasties, but it has become so easy now?"

"It's natural for merchants to pursue profits. Although the tax rate of 15% is not high, how can these people be willing to pay it?"

"It's simple, because it's profitable. You know, the things we sell in Wu Country are all rare goods that are not available elsewhere, such as glass, which is both beautiful and practical. The same is true for other things, such as glasses. I remember someone once spent 100,000 taels on them."

Hearing Da Situ's puzzled words, Liya also explained.

Maybe these things are not new in Wu State now, but they are still very new in other places. Buying them at a low price here and selling them to other places will certainly make considerable profits.

"Your Majesty is right." Upon hearing this, the Grand Tutor also felt that what Her Majesty said made sense.

Chapter 121: The Second Dispatch

It is said that there is no businessman without fraud, but these businessmen are willing to pay taxes honestly according to the tax rate of 15%. The fundamental reason is that it is profitable.

Since there are no major problems in the rear, the matter of taking Shandong should be put on the agenda.

"Tell the military to prepare. I will lead the army to capture Shandong in ten days. Also, the Queen should write an imperial decree to have Pi Baozi take Hebei. The firearms I gave him are not just for defending against the Rouran people."

Finally, Leah said directly.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Many ministers said in unison upon hearing this.

Ten days later.

After her side was fully deployed, Leah felt that there should be no problems, so she personally led 3 soldiers to Shandong.

This time, Leah brought 50 cannons, 6000 flintlock rifles, and several grenades. In her opinion, it would be no problem to capture Shandong.

At this time, although both the Northern Wei and Liu Song had already known a lot about artillery and had heard descriptions of it from other soldiers who had seen it, only a few had actually seen it, so it was no problem to shock those who had never seen the world.

After half a month's journey, Liya first arrived at Heze, the first city in Shandong that is closer to Henan.

However, to Leah's surprise, the Heze soldiers did not defend the city, but lined up in the wild waiting for the arrival of their army.

"Your Majesty, why don't they defend the city? If they fight in the wild like this, even if it's 2 against 3, they have absolutely no chance of winning, right?" Seeing that the Heze soldiers had already prepared their formation and were waiting for them, the generals under Leah were very puzzled.

Liya thought for a moment and said, "This is actually very simple. They already know that we have cannons, so they will definitely not be able to defend the city. Rather than being scared by the cannons, they decided to fight outside the city. This way, our cannons cannot be used, and the enemy's confidence will not be frustrated."

I have to say that this defender was quite smart. He knew the shortcomings of the cannons, so he gave up the advantageous city walls and fought them head-on on the battlefield.

But even so, the other side's number is still too small. If there are several times more people than her, Leah might still hesitate.

Soon, the two armies came into confrontation.

Compared to the enemy's somewhat chaotic situation, Leah's side, after learning modern military training methods, has already achieved the point where orders are enforced, and their physical fitness is extremely high. Even in a head-on battle, they are not at all inferior to the enemy.

The enemy's number is far less than ours, we must win this battle!

After taking a look at the number and quality of soldiers on both sides, Leah quickly came to a conclusion.

As the charge drums sounded, the enemy led 10,000 soldiers and rushed towards Leah's phalanx with a momentum of desperate efforts.

Leah's side did not panic. Instead, under Leah's command, 6000 fire spearmen were divided into three rows.

"Shoot!" As Leah finished her words, the first row of musket troops immediately pulled the trigger at the enemy.

Accompanied by the sound of bang bang bang, sparks came out of the muzzles of guns, and the enemy troops charging in the front immediately fell down, with people and horses thrown to the ground.

However, the people who fell in front did not stop the enemy's charge. The people behind them stepped on the corpses of their friendly soldiers and continued to rush forward.

The people on Liya's side who fired the first wave of muskets immediately retreated and began to reload bullets. The people in the second row immediately took over and fired at the enemy like the first row.

The charging enemy troops fell one after another, and like the first row of fire spearmen, this group of people immediately retreated, and the third row of fire spearmen took over.

There was more shooting, and then they retreated to reload bullets. At this time, the musketeers in the first row had already reloaded their bullets and directly took over from the people in the third row.

After several waves, four to five thousand of the enemy's 10,000 troops who were originally charging were killed in a short period of time.

At this time, seeing that the enemy was still quite a distance away from them, Liya immediately raised the Sword in the Stone, stretched it forward, and shouted, "Charge!"

After saying that, Liya took the lead and rushed towards the enemy. As the distance got closer and closer, "Hoo!" Liya rode on the warhorse under her, pulled the reins, and jumped directly into the enemy's camp.

As she shouted loudly, magic power attached to the sword in the stone in her hand. As she swung it, several soldiers who were blocking her were chopped and flew into the air.

Seeing Leah slashing and killing the soldiers alone, the enemy generals did not expect Leah to be so brave. This was a direct confrontation without any strategy, relying purely on the field combat strength of both sides!

The battle started directly under such circumstances. The two cavalry teams on Liya's side also rushed from the enemy's left and right wings.

Although Leah's side has a large number of people, twice the number of the enemy, the fact that the enemy has gone out of the city to fight in the field also shows their determination to fight to the death.

But when the battle started, the enemy generals found out that they were wrong.

Although they were determined to fight to the death and their fighting power was certainly greatly increased, the enemy's tenacity was beyond their imagination.

These soldiers seemed to have a goal. They were fearless and had no cowardice at all. Even if their hands were cut off, they still had feet and teeth, which frightened the enemy.

He was very suspicious, at this moment, whose side was determined to die?

At this time, the two cavalry teams that Leah had separated also demonstrated their performance. While they were being attacked from the front, they also had to guard against being harvested by the cavalry on the left and right sides.

For a moment, there was great chaos within the enemy camp.

There is no doubt that Leah and her team will soon end the battle. The generals in the enemy's center have already seen the signs of defeat. Perhaps they gave some orders, and the soldiers in the center began to retreat.

The troops on both wings began to retreat. Countless soldiers were crushed by the kicks of horses and people, and turned into meat paste in an instant...

Finally, as the enemy fled, the battle ended after half a day.

Looking at the post-war battlefield in front of her, the devastation everywhere and the corpses everywhere, Leah could only sigh softly.

Leah first tidied up the battlefield, and finally clicked on the soldiers, and found that more than 2000 of them died in this battle. However, at the cost of 2000, they almost wiped out 2 enemy troops, which was already a great victory.

As Leah and others entered Heze, the people inside the city gate almost shouted excitedly, lining the streets to welcome the arrival of the Wu soldiers.

Chapter 122 How come there are Taoist priests?

Even the common people in Shandong area know about Liya's benevolent rule. Now that Wu State has defeated the defenders here and taken over this place, they will surely live a good life.

Of course, Leah did not disappoint their expectations. Not long after she conquered Heze, a corresponding team came here and started a series of reforms.

These noble families at most showed some resistance, but they still accepted the reality. Perhaps they had already recognized the reality.

After Leah took over Heze, everyone discussed in the conference room what to do next.

Although Heze's military strength is okay, that's only because it's their first line of defense. Now the cities behind Heze should not have many troops.

The next city after Heze is Jining

Before Liya could think of how to capture Jining, a general came forward and said, "Your Majesty, the soldiers defending Jining are my brothers who I grew up with. I can try to persuade them."

Hearing this, Leah looked at the other party.

"If we can take Jining without bloodshed, General Lin Junyi will be credited with the greatest achievement!" Upon hearing what the other party said, Leah was immediately happy.

This general was originally from the Northern Wei Dynasty, but now he is her subordinate.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Leave this matter to me." Lin Junyi said seriously.

After getting Liya's consent, Lin Junyi quickly set off for Jinan, because he felt that letters were not enough and he had to go there in person.

Leah also told him to be careful and return as soon as possible if something went wrong.

Lin Junyi was deeply moved by Leah's words. Only His Majesty before him could be the emperor who cared so much about his subordinates.

Judging from Her Majesty's past deeds, it is not that she is trying to win people's hearts, but that the other party is indeed a very good emperor and is worthy of her life's loyalty.

In order to cooperate with the other party, Leah's army followed as soon as he left. With the friendship of friends and the threat of the army, this would make it easier to succeed.

In fact, it was just as Leah thought. With the cooperation of both sides, Jining, a city with only 5000 soldiers, directly opened the city gate and surrendered.