Joy of Life: I am a Han Dynasty succubus, and I rebel from the beginning

A troop of 500,000 was stationed at Qianlong Bay, with General Zhenxi Huo Qubing leading 50,000 cavalry.

General Zhenbei, Li Guang, son of Prince Qing Li Chengze, commanded 50,000 chariot troops.

General Wei Qing, together with other generals, guarded the central army of 400,000 and advanced steadily towards the grassland.

Wei Qing, the younger brother of Liu Che's wife, came from a family of hundreds of nobles with outstanding military achievements, but his father was only a marquis of a pavilion.

It was not until the Wei family conquered the northern aristocratic families and 363 family members died in the battle that their title was promoted to Marquis.

It was not until Emperor Liu Che ascended the throne and tried to win over nobles with middle and lower military merits that Wei Qing began to emerge, demonstrating his talent for military command.

But inside the military tent, Wei Qing's face did not look very good, and he was suppressing some anger.

"I understand. Go back and tell His Majesty that as long as these merchants do not interfere with normal military operations, I will not care about them."

The messenger left satisfied.

In the military tent, the generals were in an uproar, filled with indignation and some dissatisfaction.

"Since ancient times, the military has never been involved with merchants. Your Majesty is going too far now."

Merchants pursued profits and followed the army. If the Hu people paid a heavy price, they would risk being beheaded.

I'm afraid that the military actions of Wei Qing and others will be sold out completely.

"Shut up. Since it is His Majesty's order, we will just obey. At worst, we will keep a close watch on these merchants."

Wei Qing waved his hand, suppressed his dissatisfaction, and held Liu Che's secret order tightly in his hand.

This battle! Liu Che and Wei Qing made it clear that he didn't care too much about winning or losing.

But people all over the world must see that it is profitable, otherwise even if all the Hu people are killed, the national treasury will be empty.

That group of aristocratic scholars would certainly be eager to wave the banner of wasting money and manpower, and legitimately prevent Liu Che from focusing most of his energy overseas.

That is why Emperor Liu Che allowed merchants to follow the army so that they could see the profitability.

Thinking of this, Wei Qing's face became a little gloomy.

Emperor Wen recruited small and medium-sized landlords and poor gentry, Emperor Jing suppressed the aristocrats with military merit, and Liu Chan, the ruling king, balanced the internal and external affairs.

And now this emperor seems to want to use both military nobles and businessmen.

In the palace, Liu Che gently stroked his concubine's hair, took a deep breath, and seemed a little intoxicated.

"Do you know why I love you so much even though you are the daughter of a merchant? Even if you sometimes behave in a domineering way, I can ignore you?"

The concubine shuddered, and her eyes narrowed into a beautiful crescent shape.

"Maybe it's because I'm good at sex!"

Liu Che got close to the concubine's sensitive parts and touched her all over.

"Your father is only one of the top ten richest men in Jiangnan Road, but he can come up with millions of taels of silver and own hundreds of factories."

"He is just one of the merchants in the world. He has so much money and reputation in the local area. It would be a pity if he could not be used by the court."

The concubine's face flushed, and she was obviously aroused, but she could not hide the astonishment in her eyes.

She also thought that she was favored by Emperor Liu Che because of her appearance.

I didn't expect there was such a factor.

But why did Liu Che tell her about this? Wasn’t he afraid that she would tell others?

Liu Che was indifferent to his concubine's expression.

He just wanted to announce his attitude to the world.

These factory owners own dozens or even hundreds of factories, have sufficient silver and grain at home, and have the ability to produce ironware.

The most important thing is that these factory owners have people on their hands, the workers.

Liu Che remembered Liu Hong's teachings deeply.

Now that the Han Dynasty has been established for nearly a hundred years, it is time to allow the capitalist class, as Emperor Gaozu called it, to enter the court and the political stage.

The Han army's entry into the grassland went extremely smoothly.

The Hu royal court initially recruited hundreds of thousands of Hu cavalry, preparing to attack the Han army's camp when they were unprepared.

As it turned out, Wei Qing was well prepared and specially arranged for modified iron chariots, which were like fortresses and gave the Hu people a lot of trouble.

After losing tens of thousands of cavalrymen, the Hu people withdrew and prepared to fight a guerrilla war with the Han army. The grasslands were not like the Central Plains, where people had no fixed place to live. As long as there was water and pasture, the Hu people could escape at any time.

In response to the actions of the Hu people, General Zhenxi Huo Qubing just laughed and called together his cavalry.

They burned the Hu people’s pastures, looted their cattle and sheep, and threw their infected corpses into the lake.

Some generals also advised him that Huo Qubing's actions were against the harmony of nature and that if he was not careful, the Han army would also be affected.

Huo Qubing just sneered and thought that these people were stupid.

When the Hu Khan, Haitang Zaoxie, saw the behavior of the Han army, his eyes turned red and he started cursing.

"Are you going to destroy us Hu people?"

The royal army mobilized all its troops and searched everywhere for Huo Qubing. As a result, the 200,000-strong army encountered Huo Qubing head-on and threw countless gunpowder at him.

Haitang Zao Xie was almost defeated and captured.

In desperation, they had to agree to the Han people's conditions and choose to negotiate peace.

If he did not negotiate peace, he, the Great Khan, would probably be united by the countless tribal leaders under him, kidnapped and handed over to the Han Dynasty.

In the royal tent, Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Li Guang and others sat on chairs with solemn expressions.

Haitang Zao was humble in his attitude. As for the other Hu leaders, they all knelt on the ground, waiting for the Han Dynasty to decide their fate.

"During this war, the Hu people were divided into ten major tribes. The position of the Great Khan is absolutely not allowed to exist, and the grasslands must submit to the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and pay tribute every year."

Haitang Zaoxie gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

"I wonder how much tribute we need to pay every year, Your Excellency. The grassland is barren and I'm afraid we can't afford it."

This is the truth. If it were not the case, Liu Hong would not have been able to rely on border smuggling to stabilize the Hu people for decades with wool products, tea, pots and pans.

Wei Qing and other generals said nothing.

But a few fat and big-eared businessmen, dressed in gold and silver, came up from behind with a smile on their faces.

"Not much, not much!"

"I am merciful. Even if we cannot afford the tribute, we can give you something else instead."

Haitang Zaoxie breathed a sigh of relief, if that was the case.

It's no different from the grasslands' submission to the Central Plains in the past, so it's acceptable.

But the merchant's next sentence almost made Haitang Zaoxie draw his sword.

"Each of the ten major tribes of the Hu people needs to hand over 10,000 cattle and sheep a year. If there are not enough cattle and sheep, the Hu people can also use them as a substitute."

The businessman spoke with a smile, his eyes revealing a shrewd look.

Haitang Zao Xie put his hand on the sword at his waist, but the Han general remained silent and put the musket on the table.

The peace agreement was finally signed.

Haitang Zaoxie spoke in grief and anger.

"This is not peace between the Central Plains and the grasslands. This is exploitation. A hundred years from now, we, the people of Changshengtian, will definitely come to take revenge."

No one in the Han army cared about their defeated generals.

Instead, the merchants were calculating how much the spoils would be worth in silver.

More than 100,000 cattle and sheep and 30,000 captured Hu people were returned to the Central Plains.

Qianlong Bay's commercial trade became more prosperous, and various factories sprang up like mushrooms after a rain.

Wei Qing saw the merchants escorting the Hu people into small rooms and spoke out of curiosity.

"What are you doing?"

The businessman stroked his beard and spoke with a smile.

"Of course these Hu slaves must be pickled before they can be sold, otherwise our Han bloodline will be polluted one day."

"I'm afraid your majesty won't forgive us."

When Wei Qing heard the merchant's casual words, he felt a chill in his back. (End of this chapter)