I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 454 Celebrating Victory!

"Your Majesty, Ju Shou has been delivered."

The war is over.

The Han soldiers were scattered across the battlefield. They tried their best to gather the Yuan soldiers together and prevent them from escaping back to the north.

Especially regarding warhorses, not a single horse was allowed to return north.

Liu Miao sat back down at the foot of the thatched hut atop Mangdang Mountain.

Upon seeing Zhou Yu return, Liu Miao pushed a cup of wine towards him.

Zhou Yu glanced at the soldiers still busy at work below the mountain, and smiled shyly: "I look forward to the victory celebration tonight! I'll join the soldiers then!"

"Fine! Whatever you say!"

Liu Miao laughed and cursed, then pushed the cup of wine towards Ju Shou, who was bound hand and foot.

"Youping, untie him."

Zhou Tai stepped forward and cut the ropes binding Ju Shou's hands and feet with a single stroke. Ju Shou, with a calm expression, moved his wrists and shoulders.

"It's terribly cold! Want a drink?"

Ju Shou remained neither humble nor arrogant: "A subject should not receive two salaries."

"Alright! I'm giving you face, why are you actually putting on an act?"

Liu Miao, his face full of disdain, took the glass of wine back.

"You won't accept two salaries? Then how did you, a former Han official who used to follow Han Fu around as a cavalry captain, end up as a retainer of Yuan Shao?"

Before Ju Shou could respond, Liu Miao had already downed the wine in his cup in one gulp: "I'm not as fussy as you! It doesn't matter whose food it is, as long as it fills my stomach, that's fine!"

Ju Shou looked at Liu Miao with a helpless expression: "Your Majesty, if you want to kill me, then kill me. Why humiliate me like this?"

"Your Majesty's Han is called the Great Han, but it is completely different from the Great Han I was born into, isn't that right?"

One of them, except for its name, is a continuation of the Later Han Dynasty.

It is a Han dynasty in name only, but it has absolutely no connection with the Later Han dynasty.

Ordinary people don't understand, but how could Liu Miao and Ju Shou, who were at that level, not understand?

Liu Miao chuckled, but wasn't embarrassed: "How could you be so sure I would kill you? I have a good reputation among enemy generals! Take Yuan Shao's eldest son and his follower Guo Tu, for example. After I brought them to Jinling, I treated them to the best of food and drink! How could you so easily accuse me of murder? I think I'm actually no different from a kind and benevolent elder."

Ju Shou took a deep breath—

"Because His Majesty never kills people based on his own whims."

"His Majesty always judges people by their own interests when it comes to killing them."

“If we had killed the eldest son and Guo Tu back then, it would have been of no benefit to the Han; but now, killing me would be of great benefit to the Han.”

Liu Miao's smile gradually faded.

"Well said."

If Yuan Tan had been killed then, Yuan Shang would have become Yuan Shao's sole successor without a doubt, and none of the subsequent troubles would have occurred.

Similarly, Ju Shou now also has to die.

As the leader of the Hebei scholars and a key figure among them in the Zhao army, Ju Shou's position can be best described as a "pillar supporting the sky."

The obvious benefits of killing Ju Shou were enough to make Liu Miao make up his mind.

Firstly, the outcome of the Battle of Mangdang Mountain can be definitively defined as a complete annihilation battle.

From then on, Yuan Shao's idea of a quick victory became a complete delusion; the Yuan army, which had been advancing steadily, had to stop and officially entered a strategic stalemate with the Han Dynasty.

Secondly, with Ju Shou's death, a huge power vacuum will inevitably emerge in Hebei.

Don't local Hebei generals like Zhang He and Gao Lan want to take this opportunity to climb the ranks? And what about Yuan Shao's trusted generals? Are they really willing to obediently return this huge piece of meat to Hebei?
When an army experiences unrest, its combat effectiveness is significantly reduced.

Finally, there was the imbalance of power in the Northern Zhao court.

The appointment of a consultant is no longer reliable.

Ju Shou died again.

In the future, who will be able to stand firm and act as a stabilizing force in that whirlpool?
Therefore, Liu Miao was bound to kill Ju Shou, without any compromise.

As for surrendering...

Liu Miao and Ju Shou both naturally ruled out this option.

The core issue between the Han and Zhao dynasties lay in their attitudes and policies towards powerful families.

If Ju Shou dared to surrender to Liu Miao, his and his family's fate would be ten thousand times more miserable than being executed by Liu Miao!
Not all enemies can become friends.

Similarly, not all conflicts can be resolved.

Liu Miao poured some more wine into the cup and pushed it back to Ju Shou.

"Drink it! Consider it your last drink before you're executed. You can't refuse this time, can you?"

This time, Ju Shou did not refuse; he took the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

However, Ju Shou immediately began to sob.

This scene left Liu Miao somewhat at a loss.

"What? Feeling wronged? Don't be like that! Think about it, if I were in your hands right now, you would definitely kill me the moment you saw me! Does that make you feel a little better?" Tears kept flowing, and Ju Shou tried to catch them with his hands, but he couldn't catch them at all, and they slowly flowed through his fingers.

Unable to cover it up, Ju Shou simply burst into loud sobs, his voice exceptionally clear.

"I know I am going to die, so why do I still burst into tears when I think about human affairs?"

Ju Shou asked the question haltingly, while Liu Miao leaned back, looking languid.

"Humans are one with the universe, and thus share life and death with all other creatures."

“You’re not that old, and you look quite healthy, so you naturally forget one thing—people will eventually grow old and die.”

"Look at those dark circles under your eyes, you're probably like Zhuge Liang, even a moment's rest is a luxury. Little do you know that by being so busy, you'll grow old and die, and only then will you start to feel afraid and panic."

Liu Miao proudly patted his chest—

"I'm different!"

"I know I will grow old and die! And I also know that day is not too late, so I will do whatever I want! Anyway, I won't lose anything if I die! Don't you think that makes sense?"

Ju Shou looked at Liu Miao with teary eyes.

How could such words come from the mouth of an emperor who is the very state?

Does Liu Miao's statement live up to the expectations of the Han Dynasty, his soldiers, and the people?
Liu Miao smiled slightly when he saw that Ju Shou had finally stopped crying.

"Those ancient sages and great scholars always wanted to teach people to take life and death lightly."

"But the more indifferent one is to life and death, the more afraid one is of dying."

"Instead, we should take life and death more seriously; that way, we won't be afraid of dying."

Ju Shou was speechless as he listened to Liu Miao's fallacious theories.

But when she felt the tear stains on her face that had not yet dried, she could not refute it.

"Your Majesty is right."

Ju Shou's emotions gradually calmed down.

"Actually, I do have a lot of things to do."

"For example, His Majesty's Three Chiefs system, equal land distribution, and the imperial examination system established in Shu—I can clearly see their purpose and significance."

"I originally intended to win this battle and, upon returning to Ye City, write a ten-thousand-word memorial to persuade the North to also implement the policies of the Han Dynasty..."

Ju Shou sighed: "Otherwise, hundreds of years later, it will be another chaotic world."

"Ah!"

Liu Miao did not hesitate to mock Ju Shou.

"Several hundred years? In the current state of Northern Zhao, even if it manages to cling to life, it will probably only last a few decades. You want hundreds of years? You're dreaming!"

Ju Shou's eyes, which had been interrupted by Liu Miao, became resentful again.

Even on his deathbed, Liu Miao refused to say a few nice words to comfort him.
At the same time, Liu Miao also sighed.

"The more you act like this, the less I can bear to kill you."

"Actually, if I could, I wouldn't want to kill a single person. Wouldn't it be better for everyone to sit together peacefully and politely, argue, and throw boots at each other? Ha~"

Liu Miao's complaints, set against the backdrop of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood surrounding Mangdang Mountain at this time, seemed somewhat hypocritical and humorous.

But Ju Shou looked at Liu Miao and nodded seriously: "What Your Majesty said should be the truth."

"Nonsense! I never lie!"

Ju Shou suddenly chuckled.

"What are you laughing at now?"

"Your Majesty is truly fascinating. It's a pity this is my first time meeting you, but I suppose it will be the last."

Liu Miao grew increasingly helpless: "You want to say all this? Why don't you take this opportunity to curse me a few times? If you keep going like this, how can I bear to kill you?"

Ju Shou looked down the mountain.

"Your Majesty, please proceed."

"If these soldiers can die, why can't I?"

"..."

Liu Miao curled his lip: "After you die, I will send your body back to the other side, so that you can return to your homeland."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

You're welcome! It's my pleasure!

Liu Miao waved his hand, and immediately some executioners stepped forward and took Ju Shou away.

Liu Miao was neither happy nor sad.

But upon seeing the countless Han soldiers below the mountain celebrating their survival, a smile crept onto his face.

"Let's celebrate tonight! We won't leave until we're drunk!"

"Here!"