Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

"Why not?"

"Your Majesty, as we continue south, many soldiers sense something is amiss, and they... are quite resentful."

"Complaints? What did they say?"

Yan Hongxin stammered, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Li You said sternly, "Hongxin, the morale of the army is unstable; this is no small matter!"

"Your Majesty, some soldiers are spreading rumors that we said we were going to attack wealthy families, divide their land, and let everyone live a better life. But now, after traveling for so long, we've encountered wealthy families but haven't attacked them, and we're even going hungry... I've arrested all those who spread these rumors. The best course of action now is to go straight into the mountains. Once we're in the mountains, they won't be able to control us, and the morale of the army will gradually stabilize."

Upon hearing Yan Hongxin's words, Li You's serious expression relaxed.

"Hongxin, these soldiers are telling the truth, not spreading rumors. Although we bought grain, we have to eat sparingly for the sake of the future, and it's true that we're going hungry. Forcing them into the mountains is one way, but their resentment will remain. In time, some will run away, some will desert, and morale will completely collapse. What can we do then?"

"Your Majesty, what... should we do now?"

"Let's go see those people you've imprisoned. I'll have a good talk with them."

Yan Hongxin was skeptical, but he still led Li You along the back of the line, to a spot near the very end of the procession.

Along the way, when the soldiers saw King Qi, some wanted to stand up, but Li You gestured for them to continue sitting and resting.

"You, you, and you, come with me!"

Li You randomly selected thirty or forty soldiers and had them follow behind him.

The soldiers did not understand his meaning, but they dared not disobey the King of Qi's order.

At the very end of the column was the place where soldiers who had made mistakes were kept in custody.

Those soldiers who spread "rumors" were released by Li You and sat with the thirty or forty people he had just appointed.

Li You carefully counted the number of people, and there were a total of seventy-three people.

The soldiers who had made a mistake thought that the King of Qi was going to punish them, and their faces showed some fear.

"Brothers, we've traveled for over ten days and have finally arrived at our destination. This is something to celebrate, so why are you all looking so dejected? Don't worry, I've heard your complaints. What you've said is true. I don't blame you, and I certainly won't punish you."

King Qi's face was kind and his words were sincere, which made the fearful soldiers feel relaxed.

"You might ask, since you've already been allocated land and have a perfectly good life, why would you travel for more than ten days to come to this godforsaken place to make a living?"

"To be honest, I also long for a good life and don't want to suffer like this. But fate is unkind. A ferocious enemy has been chasing us relentlessly. He's a persistent ghost and highly skilled in martial arts. That's why I brought you here to escape him."

"Your Majesty, who are you referring to?"

"Your Majesty, with so many of us, why don't we just join forces and kill him?"

"Yes, no matter how skilled he is in martial arts, he can't beat so many of us."

"Exactly! Let's use a war of attrition; we'll wear him out!"

Li You laughed and said, "If he were alone, I naturally wouldn't have gone to such lengths. How about this, I'll tell you a story, and you'll understand everything after you hear it."

Seeing that the King of Qi was about to tell a story, the soldiers all perked up.

"Well... about fifty years ago, there was an emperor named Emperor Yang of Sui... Do you know Emperor Yang of Sui?"

"What sheep?"

"The Broken Sheep Flute?"

"That's a really strange name!"

"How could an emperor have such a name?"

"...In short, there must always be an emperor in Chang'an. With an emperor, the ministers will be obedient and follow his orders. The emperor's edicts are sacred decrees, and no one in the land dares to disobey them."

"The problem is, not every emperor is a good emperor."

"Some emperors were greedy, foolish, and utterly lawless."

"Take this guy called Emperor Yang of Sui, for example. He liked beautiful women, so tens of thousands of the most beautiful women in the world were brought to Chang'an for his personal enjoyment; when he went to fight the northern enemy, hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers had to die on the battlefield for him; when he wanted to build the Grand Canal, millions of people had to work hard on the riverbanks without rest."

"After such repeated upheavals, the people finally couldn't take it anymore, so they started to raise the flag of rebellion, and the country was thrown into chaos."

"Damn, tens of thousands of women... No wonder the old folks say the emperor's life is like that of a god..."

"Your Majesty, what exactly is that canal...?"

Li You waved his hand: "Don't worry about these details... In short, all the people in the world hate the emperor to the bone. Only by killing Emperor Yang of Sui can the lives of the people be better. So, those who had some ability gathered their own forces, either becoming mountain kings or attacking cities and strongholds. Among them, the most powerful one was called Li Shimin."

"Li Shimin...wait, the idiot born to my second uncle is also named Li Shimin!"

Li You was taken aback upon hearing this.

Really? Aren't the emperor's names supposed to be avoided?

On second thought, since that guy is an idiot, there's probably no need to be discreet.

Government officials have too many trivial matters to deal with to pay special attention to what a fool's name is.

"...Back to Li Shimin, whom I was talking about, he has absolutely no relation to the idiot in your second uncle's family."

"On the contrary, this guy is an extremely formidable character."

"Li Shimin's father was named Li Yuan, and he was also a high-ranking official."

"Li Shimin wanted to rebel, but his father was a coward. In order to force his father to rebel, Li Shimin came up with a good plan: he sent the emperor's two concubines to Li Yuan's bed."

"The emperor's wives were all very beautiful."

"After a while, Li Yuan made a mistake that all men make: he started paying taxes on the emperor's women."

"If this scandal gets out, the entire Li family will be executed."

"Having no other choice, Li Yuan had to grant his son's wish and launch a rebellion!"

"Your Majesty, doesn't that wretched emperor have tens of thousands of wives? What harm would it do to tax two of them?"

"Could it be that Li Shimin wanted to collect taxes, so he sent his father first, and then came himself?"

"Hmm, now that you put it that way, it makes sense."

Li You was both amused and exasperated; his own soldiers were starving!

This shows that Yan Hongxin's suggestion from a few days ago was extremely valuable. Indeed, bringing women along was essential to maintaining morale within the army.

Male is Yang, female is Yin; only when these two are combined can they conform to the principles of Tai Chi.

The story that follows is the great feat of Li Erlang, who crushed all the heroes of the world.

The battles against Xue Rengao and the pacification of Liu Wuzhou were all grand-scale events. It seemed that as long as Li Shimin led his eight hundred cavalrymen out into the fray, no matter who the enemy was, they would all surrender at the mere sight of him, and be chased and defeated for dozens of miles, leaving them in a sorry state.

When the crucial point was mentioned, the soldiers cheered.