A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 48 Champion
"Emperor Xiaowu was unwell and summoned Han Shuo and his son Hong to serve him. After a while, they were rewarded with great generosity, but soon his condition worsened."

Zhang Tang, the Minister of Justice, sent a letter to the Northern Army.

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing frowned upon seeing this.

There is no difference between the imperial court and the battlefield. In fact, the imperial court is even more dangerous than the battlefield. Countless veteran generals who could ride swiftly on horseback and dismounted on foot have lost their lives in this war without gunpowder.

Just like battlefield intelligence, news from Weiyang Palace came in all sorts of forms and in a constant stream. When the imperial star was shaking, almost everyone was plotting and scheming. At this time, it was very important to distinguish between true and false information.

Zhang Tang is undoubtedly the person with the highest status among the many sources of information.

Ignorant of history, unaware of the weight of the words "Da Jian" (大渐), this is essentially a death sentence for His Majesty, and they've even decided on his posthumous title.

"filial piety".

"Martial arts".

Filial piety was a posthumous title for Han emperors. Martial prowess was used to describe those who expanded the territory, quelled internal rebellions, were militarily outstanding, or were politically strong. In short, it was more of a compliment than a criticism.

That is in line with His Majesty's current position.

But before he died, his posthumous title was given, and it was still addressed to his son, clearly revealing Zhang Tang's earnest desire for progress.

Every change of the throne signifies a turning point in history, and often hides the greatest opportunities. If you seize them, you can rise to great heights.

Undoubtedly, Zhang Tang believed that if he could make good use of this opportunity, he would surely achieve a more brilliant career. However, Liu Ju was the crown prince and it was only natural for him to inherit the throne. Even though he was the Minister of Justice, it would be difficult for him to make any significant contributions. Even if the crown prince successfully ascended the throne, the credit would go to his tutor, Gongsun Hong, and would have little to do with him. This is why he bypassed the Prime Minister's office and wrote about the Northern Army alone.

"That's a despicable person," Huo Qubing said with disgust.

To insult one's father and be ungrateful—how could Your Majesty's Nine Ministers be such people?
Wei Qing sighed, "A cruel official should be like that."

So-called cruel officials, though they may be considered capable, often resort to ruthless and iron-fisted methods to remove obstacles to the rule of their superiors.

When a person is virtuous, he is given important positions; when a person is not virtuous, he is discarded. In many cases, whether someone is virtuous or not is not determined by cruel officials.

Seeing the opportunity to transform from a dog into a human, it's not incomprehensible that people would give it a try.

"Uncle is right."

Liu Ju affirmed Wei Qing's words, but seeing that Huo Qubing found it hard to accept, he smiled and said, "Since you dislike this kind of person so much, why don't you put this book away? His life and death will be in your hands. When you encounter him again, you can see what he is like."

Zhang Tang deliberately offered up his weakness in order to gain the Crown Prince's trust. Otherwise, if this book were ever brought out and used to curse the Emperor, it could cost him and his entire clan their lives.

Huo Qubing severed the scroll in two with a single sword stroke and snorted, "If you want to kill him, why would you need this letter?"

This arrogance always made Liu Ju and Wei Qing smile wryly.

"Ju'er, shall we lead the army into the capital?" Wei Qing asked in a deep voice.

He had been cautious his whole life, and remained calm and composed even before he became famous and successful, but at this moment, if Liu Ju was willing, he was willing to take a risk.

The emperor was unwell, and the crown prince was not present. Ironically, Prince Hong was there. If the emperor were to issue a will bequeathing the throne to Prince Hong, not the crown prince, Chang'an would be in turmoil. Huo Qubing was also nervous, recalling the teachings he had received from his uncle, the emperor, in the palace, and felt conflicted.

“The Southern Army has been mobilized on a large scale. Li Guang and his son Li Gan have already taken over the gates of Chang’an. If we bring our troops into the city now, we will not only have to deal with 50,000 Southern soldiers, but also tens of thousands of prisoners, laborers, and slaves in Chang’an, as well as tens of thousands of ‘seven categories of exiles’. Can you guarantee that you can take it in a month, Uncle and Elder Brother?” Liu Ju shook his head again.

Needless to say, the Southern Army, in the eyes of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, was still a complete mess despite Li Guang's years of efforts; it couldn't even be considered an elite force.

However, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing had to admit that Li Guang's loose command style made countless lower-ranking soldiers feel close to him. Once they went into battle, regardless of their combat effectiveness, they were willing to die for Li Guang.

This is also why Li Guang repeatedly escaped from encirclement on the Han-Xiongnu battlefield despite being surrounded.

Then there were the prisoners, laborers, and slaves in Chang'an. Prisoners were criminals imprisoned for their crimes. Laborers were criminals who were sent to work in government workshops. In addition, there were slaves who were confiscated by the government for their crimes.

There were already a large number of prisoners, laborers, and slaves in the various government offices in Chang'an. In order to build the Jianzhang, Gui, Bei, and Mingguang Palaces, the emperor recently added a large number of prisoners, laborers, and slaves. Even without detailed statistics, there were at least 50,000 of these "officials, laborers, and slaves".

If the emperor were to grant them a pardon, even if the Southern Army generals were incompetent, they could still recruit these men into the army and, given the limited weaponry and equipment in the arsenal, they would have the capability.

The fighting power that officials, slaves, and servants could unleash can be seen in the far-reaching example of the prisoners at Mount Li led by Zhang Han, the Shaofu (Minister of the Imperial Household) at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and more recently in the Huaiyin case. Back then, when Han Xin was imprisoned in Chang'an as the Marquis of Huaiyin, his retainer Luan Shuo's younger brother reported to Empress Lü that Han Xin was plotting to forge an imperial edict to mobilize officials, slaves, and servants to respond to Chen Xi's rebellion in Dai, which almost scared Empress Lü to death.

In addition, according to the Han system, whenever there was a major war and the standing army was insufficient, seven types of people could be conscripted into the army, called the "Seven Categories of Exiles".

“Officials are guilty of one crime, fugitives are guilty of two crimes, sons-in-law are guilty of three crimes, merchants are guilty of five crimes and their parents are guilty of six crimes and their grandparents are guilty of seven crimes. There are seven categories in total.”

"Officials who are guilty" refers to officials who have committed crimes, who are sent to the battlefield to atone for their crimes.

"Fugitives" refers to vagrants who have left their registered residence for various reasons.

"Zhuixu" refers to a son-in-law who marries into his wife's family.

"Jiaren" refers to merchants who live in markets, and "Shiji" refers to the household registration management of market merchants at that time. Their lives and transactions were all conducted in designated "markets" in the city.

In those times, businesses were discriminated against, and people who had city residency or whose parents or grandparents had city residency were conscripted into the army.

Those officials who are guilty can be directly counted among the officials, prisoners, and slaves. It is unknown how many "fugitives" and "sons-in-law" there are in Chang'an, but Liu Ju had already obtained accurate data on those who were registered in the city and mostly lived in Chang'an through the Prime Minister's office.

There were as many as 60,000 merchants in the four markets of Chang'an.

In other words, if the Northern Army were to enter Chang'an, they would encounter resistance from at least 160,000 people. Even if they were 160,000 pigs, it wouldn't be so easy for the 80,000 Northern Army soldiers to capture and kill them all.

If the generals of the Southern Army can hold off the Northern Army for a month, the loyalist armies from all directions of the Han Dynasty will arrive in Chang'an, and then everything will be over.

Wei Qing remained silent.

He knew Chang'an's defenses better than anyone. The city was strong and the moat was deep. It was impossible for 80,000 northern troops to break through the city's defenses head-on, which were resisted by hundreds of thousands of troops.

Huo Qubing gritted his teeth, "January? I can give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)