A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

With the support of Chancellor Dou Ying and Grand Minister of Agriculture Wei Fu, Emperor Wu of Han promulgated the Horse Administration.

According to the horse administration regulations, any person who owns a horse can be exempted from labor service and taxes for three people.

Of course, this horse was raised for the state, meaning that raising horses was used to replace labor and taxes.

At the same time, horse administration agencies were set up in various places to provide technical guidance to horse breeders and teach them knowledge of feeding, breeding and disease prevention.

On the other hand, the Southern Xiongnu who were wiped out were demoted to horse slaves and distributed to the people on the border. Large horse farms were built on the border to breed fine horses in large numbers.

During this war, the horses of the Western Xiongnu were clearly better than those of the Northern Xiongnu, with greater endurance and faster charging speed.

This suggests that there must be better horses in the area west of Liangzhou.

They must also import superior horse breeds from that region to breed top-class warhorses that combine endurance and speed.

Emperor Wu of Han wanted to send people to the Western Regions to open up communication channels between the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty and to find ways to introduce fine horses.

The war between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu has just begun. Wei Xi has just repelled an attack by the Xiongnu outside Yumen Pass, inflicting heavy losses on the Xiongnu.

The kingdoms of the Western Regions have been oppressed by the Xiongnu for so long. Seeing an opportunity to break free from the Xiongnu's control, some will surely be willing to side with the Han Dynasty.

After another defeat, the Xiongnu, in order to recover quickly, will surely ruthlessly exploit these countries in the Western Regions.

This presented the Han Dynasty's envoys with an opportunity to win them over.

Upon learning of this, Wei Zhong, the eldest son of the fourth generation of the Wei family, applied to become an envoy to the Western Regions.

(Loyal, upright, filial, and friendly; virtuous, wise, and broad-minded—these are the names of four generations of the Wei family.)

Although he was descended from Wei Qing's lineage, he was completely out of step with it.

He enjoys wielding weapons and has inherited his ancestors' innate superhuman strength.

He usually gets closer to his uncle Wei Yu and his father Wei Lu.

One night, after drinking, I heard about Wei Lu's arrogant act as an envoy to the Xiongnu, and a small seed was planted in my heart.

I want to be the most arrogant Han envoy!

Being arrogant in the country is meaningless; it's only fun to be arrogant abroad!

This was the eldest son of the Wei family in this generation. Even Emperor Wu of Han would not dare to let him do such a dangerous thing.

However, Wei Zhong pleaded earnestly and persuaded both his father and Emperor Wu of Han, successfully becoming the mastermind behind the incident.

Among this delegation was a man named Zhang Qian.

He was the first person in history to be sent as an envoy to the Western Regions.

While Emperor Wu of Han was sending envoys to the Western Regions, the Xiongnu also secretly sent envoys to Wiman Joseon.

Under the pressure of the powerful Xiongnu, Wiman Joseon ultimately chose to betray the Han Dynasty and side with the Xiongnu.

Having already openly declared war on the Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu no longer concealed their wolfish ambitions.

The surrounding nomadic peoples, such as the Wuheng and Xianbei, were also incorporated into the Xiongnu once again.

They became the vanguard of the Xiongnu's advance, also known as cannon fodder.

In the sixth year of Emperor Wu of Han's reign, the Xiongnu raided the border once again.

Wei Lu and Wei happy led their troops into battle once again.

This time, Wei Qing did not follow Wei happy, but instead went north with Wei Lu.

Wei Lu was a brave and fierce warrior who often led from the front and was unstoppable.

He lacked commanders like Wei Qing and Wei happy, who could sit in the central army and command large-scale battles. Wei Qing's northward journey and his complement of Wei Lu's would allow him to play a greater role.

This battle was another great victory, and Wei Qing performed exceptionally well. He discovered the Xiongnu's trap, commanded his army to do the opposite, and turned the Xiongnu's trap into a graveyard, beheading more than three thousand Xiongnu.

After this battle, Wei Qing's fame soared, spreading throughout the entire Han Dynasty overnight, making him a rising star in the imperial court.

To reward Wei Qing for his contributions, Emperor Wu of Han enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Changping, with a fief of 3000 households.

In the 7th year of Emperor Wu of Han's reign, Liu Che was extremely distressed.

He has been on the throne for seven years and still has no children.

This was a bad sign for the whole world, as the emperor had no son.

And there's a possibility that they won't be able to have children.

This is something that threatens the very foundation of the nation.

Historically, Emperor Wu of Han's first son was born to Empress Wei Zifu, when Emperor Wu was already 29 years old.

That's still several years away.

In order to have a child, Emperor Wu of Han summoned Wei Shou to the palace for treatment. Unfortunately, Wei Shou's examination revealed that Emperor Wu and the concubines in the harem were all very healthy.

No one suffers from infertility.

However, Emperor Wu of Han was unable to have children.

This caused him to lose interest in state affairs, leaving all matters of the court to Wei Fu and Dou Ying.

She spent a great deal of time each day in the harem.

No one said he was indulging in pleasure; in fact, they all hoped he could put in more effort and stay in the harem a little longer so he could have a child.

Especially the eldest son.

For Emperor Wu of Han at this time, whether or not the heir apparent was legitimate was not important.

In this life, he was not engaged to Princess Guantao's daughter, nor had he established an empress. Whoever gave birth to a son first would become the empress.

The Empress Dowager was also very concerned about this matter.

She also wanted to have a grandson as soon as possible, so she spent her days arranging for Emperor Wu of Han to select a concubine.

As a result, Emperor Wu of Han also attracted many alchemists, some of whom concocted elixirs for him to consume.

Wei Fu and Wei Shou exposed their scheme and proved that the elixir was poisonous.

Enraged, Emperor Wu of Han had all these alchemists killed.

At this time, some rumors began to circulate among the common people of Chang'an: the one who could revive the Han dynasty would surely be the Wei dynasty.

This idea has existed for a long time, and it was said that the Wei family was able to assist the Liu family in making the Han Empire prosperous.

Everything that happened afterward proved this point.

With the help of the Wei family, the Han Empire became increasingly prosperous.

It lasted for eighty years and five emperors, and the country was at peace. It looked like it could last for several more generations.

This proves the accuracy of the prophecy.

So someone wrote a memorial saying that His Majesty is the true Son of Heaven, unlike ordinary people.

Ordinary women in the common folk were unable to bear children for Emperor Wu of Han.

Only women of noble blood like the Wei family, who inherited the powerful bloodline of the Loyal and Martial King, can bear the offspring of the true Son of Heaven.

Therefore, the one who could revive the Han dynasty was Wei, which refers to this very event.

Emperor Wu of Han thought it made sense.

He was always self-important, believing that he was born into this world to accomplish great things.

His favor was certainly not something an ordinary person could bear.

Throughout the entire Han Dynasty, among the millions of people in the Nine Provinces, only the legitimate daughter of the Loyal and Martial King could be compared to him in terms of bloodline.

The bloodline of the Loyal King must be different, otherwise how could he have such powerful martial arts?

Moreover, this kind of bravery and strength has been inherited by three generations in a row. Doesn't this further demonstrate that King Chungmu's bloodline is special?!

However, the rule of not arranging marriages in the Liu Wei dynasty was an unspoken rule that had been in place since the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Han. His father, Emperor Jing of Han, had solemnly told him about this before his death.

He really didn't want to open that door unless absolutely necessary.

The Wei family spent a lot of effort to find out how the news got out.

The Wei family wielded immense power, naturally resulting in some members holding high positions and others low.

Those who held lower positions within the Wei family's power were certainly thinking about how to climb the ranks.

However, they were in a low position and had no idea about the tacit understanding between the Liu and Wei families.

They believed that if they could marry a daughter of the Wei family to Emperor Wu of Han, then with the power of the Wei family, their offspring would surely become the crown prince and the new emperor of the Han Dynasty.

As the driving force behind this event, they will surely be promoted and enter the core of the Han Dynasty.

This is a good thing for the Wei family's power.

So although it's unclear why the Wei family hasn't had this idea, they've still been quietly pushing for it.