The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The emperor's expression relaxed, and he said in a calm tone, "Have you figured out how many troops the Prince of Nan'an plans to send on this expedition, and what his ultimate goal is?"

When he talks about military campaigns, his spirits change completely.

As for the Prince of Nan'an's sudden military expedition to a neighboring country, it was naturally the result of the current emperor's behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

There's no other reason than wanting to show off and establish martial arts skills!

After all, they have gradually gained control of the court and it is time to take action.

Constantly focusing one's energy on internal strife will likely not bring much benefit to one's posthumous reputation.

Previously, he chose the northwestern border as his target, and took the initiative to provoke small-scale border battles.

The result was very disappointing!

The border troops, touted as the elite of the Great Qian Dynasty, were not as formidable in combat as one might imagine.

They had both wins and losses in the scouting battles against the nomadic cavalry from beyond the Great Wall, but did not gain any significant advantage!

This is awkward, leaving today's ambitious aspirations stuck in a limbo, feeling neither up nor down, which is quite uncomfortable!

Because of the lack of results, the pressure from the cabinet and the civil service system is increasing, and the current government is helpless. Who would have thought that things would turn out like this!

Aside from privately cursing the border troops for their incompetence, they couldn't do anything else.

Not only did the small-scale scout battles fail to gain the upper hand, but it is said that the nomadic tribes beyond the Great Wall have already shown signs of counterattack, and it is feared that the border war will resume soon.

The border troops have left a very bad impression on the current emperor, so he is naturally unsure of what to do!

Don't let things get to the point where you have to contradict yourself; that would be truly embarrassing!

Originally, he had planned to transfer Prince Teng, who had been patrolling the border for a long time, back to the capital, but now he could only let him continue to wander around the border and supervise the border generals to ensure they did not slack off.

When necessary, they must also be stationed at the border to oversee the war against the Hu people!

Because of the ineffectiveness of the border troops, the current administration is subject to considerable constraints from the civil service system, which makes them very unhappy.

With the northwest border in such a terrible state, the northeast is naturally no better!

Given the history of the Ming Dynasty, the northeast region has always been heavily fortified with troops, yet it has also been subject to strict supervision by the imperial court.

The current government and the cabinet do not want another so-called Guan Ning Iron Cavalry to appear in the Northeast!

The situation on the Later Jin side is also strange. The monarchs who have appeared in the last hundred years are all quite capable, putting great pressure on the northeastern defense line of the Great Qian.

Under such circumstances, it would be good enough to stabilize the northeastern defense line; why would they want to cause more trouble?

The current emperor isn't out of his mind yet. Besides, neither the retired emperor nor the cabinet would allow him to easily launch a military campaign in the Northeast. It could very well turn into a major war involving hundreds of thousands of troops.

The current situation we face is just that awkward!

The Northwest border troops are not performing well, but they dare not make any rash moves in the Northeast!

This has forced them to start finding ways to train their own qualified generals.

Jia Cong's frenzied suppression of bandits in Zhili and the Central Plains was just the beginning. There will be many more young generals to follow, and the current goal is to cultivate a few reliable and useful ones from among them.

Otherwise, relying on noble families and military clans for everything would be a joke, wouldn't it?

Faced with such an awkward situation, people are both angry and helpless, and naturally cannot give up easily.

As I said before, now that he has gradually gained control of the court, and assuming there are no major upheavals within the Great Qian Dynasty, he should seriously consider the matter of his posthumous reputation.

Nothing can better highlight an emperor's reputation and historical status than his illustrious military achievements.

Look at Emperor Wu of Han. Putting aside his military achievements, his performance can be described as that of a foolish or even tyrannical ruler!

His lustful and extravagant lifestyle, coupled with his ruthless exploitation of the people, made him no less ruthless than the Qin Dynasty!

In his later years, if he hadn't woken up in time, the very foundation of the Han Empire might have been shaken!

However, his outstanding military achievements abroad made him a powerful figure who could easily deplete the astonishing national strength accumulated during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing in a short period of time, ranking among the top ten or even the top five emperors in the entire history of China!

With such a precedent, there is a strong desire to follow suit today.

Of course, the situation in the Great Qian Dynasty at this time was very different from that during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han!

If an emperor wanted to expand his territory, he would face strong resistance from the civil service system, and the pressure would be immense.

Unless faced with foreign invasion, the Great Qian rarely initiates large-scale foreign wars!

What we can do now is to engage in small-scale activities, trying to extend the reach of the Central Plains court to the state it was at its peak, all in the name of repeating the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties.

Unfortunately, they encountered a major setback right from the start!

If the Northwest Frontier Army isn't performing well, then we'll have to find other solutions.

And so, the Prince of Nan'an, who had guarded the southwest for a century, has now come into the sights of the current ruler.

It's not advisable to start a large-scale war in the Northwest or Northeast, so how about starting from the Southwest?

Compared to the nomadic cavalry in the northwest and northeast, the small states in the southwest were much easier to deal with.

At least, that's what people think now, and that's what the current Prince of Nan'an thinks too.

The current situation is merely a tentative private message sent to the Prince of Nan'an, and a positive response was quickly received from him. This fellow has long been planning to target the neighboring country.

Ahem, our neighboring country is rich in gemstones and jade, which are extremely precious resources!

If one could fully control it, it would be no different from controlling several mountains of gold and silver that could produce a continuous supply for hundreds of years.

The Prince of Nan'an had long wanted to take action, but he was worried about being restrained by the imperial court, which is why he had been holding back.

Who knew that the current emperor also intended to expand the territory, so the two naturally hit it off immediately.

Thus, with the emperor's tacit support, the Prince of Nan'an began preparations for war!

Various funds, grains, and supplies were transferred, and capable individuals were recruited from among the sons of noble families in the capital to join the cause!

Because he had the emperor's backing, the Prince of Nan'an acted quite boldly; otherwise, Jia Huan wouldn't have easily noticed anything amiss and learned that he intended to launch a southern expedition.

The current government attaches great importance to and pays close attention to the southern expedition of the Prince of Nan'an.

This involves a major event in which he gains military merit and reputation, so it's impossible for him not to take it seriously or not to have strict surveillance measures in place; otherwise, he would be out of his mind.

The current idea is simple: to achieve our goals by utilizing the Prince of Nan'an, but not to allow the Prince of Nan'an to gain too much benefit, or rather, to allow the Prince of Nan'an to become too powerful.

His idea was simple: as long as the Prince of Nan'an's early battles went smoothly and he annexed some of the neighboring country's territory, he would force him to stop.

Once the neighboring country sends an envoy to the capital, allowing the current emperor to enjoy his moment in glory, the matter will be over.

We certainly won't let the Prince of Nan'an's troops actually invade the heart of the neighboring country!

The Emperor and the Prince of Nan'an had been communicating privately for a long time about this matter, and now that they were finally about to see results, he was naturally very happy.

As for the possibility of failure, we haven't even considered it at all!

Judging from the actions of the Prince of Nan'an, who mobilized 100,000 elite troops in one go, how could he possibly lose?

While armies fighting in other places might not be adapted to the climate and environment of the southwest, the elite troops under the Prince of Nan'an certainly wouldn't have such problems.

Without the trouble of adapting to the new environment, and as long as logistics are in place, the current ruler doesn't think the Prince of Nan'an has any chance of failing this time, unless a major unexpected event occurs.

In short, after hearing the report from the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Emperor was in a very good mood!

A relaxed expression involuntarily appeared on his face as he leisurely said, "Continue to monitor, and at the same time provide sufficient convenience to the Prince of Nan'an, so as not to let anyone ruin his plans!"

The Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard hurriedly nodded in agreement: "Your Majesty, please rest assured, there will definitely be no problem!"

Chapter 322 Something's Wrong (Please Subscribe)

In the blink of an eye, the old year has passed and the new year has arrived.

The entire capital city was immersed in the joy of the New Year.

After the imperial court resumed operations, news from all sides began to arrive continuously.

First, Prince Zhongshun, in alliance with the Xue family, increased investment in the navy and fleet.

At the same time, a large amount of supplies began to gather at Tianjin Port.

Those who know will understand what's going on, while those who don't haven't even heard a whisper of it.

However, some minor changes in the officialdom of Lu did not attract the attention of the high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

Soon after, a near-shore transport ship belonging to the line of Prince Chungsun arrived in the nearby waters to carry out initial cargo transport.

Many local landless people, as well as some people without identity documents, were summoned by the government to carry out paid port development and construction activities.

These situations are not showing much change in the short term and have not attracted much attention from outsiders.

Even the local strongmen in Shandong couldn't figure out these situations.

Large quantities of supplies, money, and grain were transported out by sea, but this did not affect grain prices in various parts of Daqian.

That's why it's said that for true big shots, food and supplies are practically unlimited.

These scenes were not actually hidden from outsiders, but they were generally not deliberately paid attention to by outsiders.

After all, the Great Qian Dynasty is currently considered to be a peaceful and prosperous country, with a relatively tranquil environment and no major disturbances.

Various resources are either completely monopolized by certain interest groups, or their territories and areas have been divided up early on, with each group having its own business scope.

Without any major upheavals, the situation has almost solidified, making it difficult for any significant changes to occur.

Everyone is minding their own business and has no interest in other people's problems.