At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

The Imperial Study in the capital city of the Great Qian Dynasty.

The winter sun slanted in through the carved window lattice, casting a warm golden light and shadow on the blue brick floor. The edge of the light spot fell right next to an open inkstone on the table.

The osmanthus flowers outside the window have already bloomed, and their fragrance seeps in through the half-open window cracks.

Emperor Xiao Jinghuan sat behind his desk, holding a memorial that he had already half-read, his brows slightly furrowed.

These memorials came from various prefectures and counties in the southern border region, discussing the desire of neighboring countries to open border trade with the Great Qian Dynasty and establish trade routes.

In the past, this would have been a good thing for the future development of the Great Qian Dynasty, but now his mind was not on these documents at all.

"No new information coming in from the East China Sea yet?"

Xiao Jinghuan put down the memorial, turned his head and asked Li Fuquan, who was guarding the door, a question in his voice, which was filled with doubt and urgency.

Li Fuquan bowed slightly: "Your Majesty, no reports from the East Sea Navy have been received recently."

"Your Majesty, please do not worry. With General Su on the case, there is no chance of failure."

"If even the barbarian northerners can't do anything to Elder Su, then the Eastern barbarian bandits are even more helpless."

The emperor nodded and did not ask any further questions.

He simply picked up his pen again, dipped it in ink, and continued reviewing memorials.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door. They came very quickly, and the sound of boots on the corridor bricks was much more hurried than usual.

A young eunuch came to deliver a message to Li Fuquan.

After listening, Li Fu smiled broadly, then quickly walked towards the emperor, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, Minister Wang of the Ministry of War requests an audience, saying that news has arrived from the East Sea."

The emperor's pen paused.

He put down his pen, leaned forward slightly, and said anxiously, "Quick, quick, let him in."

Before long, Wang Ben strode into the imperial study, the hem of his scarlet official robe still wrinkled from his hurried journey, and a thin layer of sweat glistening on his forehead.

He stood before the imperial desk, knelt on one knee, and held a document aloft with both hands, speaking in a loud voice.

"Your Majesty! Good news from the East Sea! The Third Prince, Xiao Jingyu, has personally submitted a memorial stating that the entire East Sea has been recovered!"

"Please take a look, Your Majesty."

The emperor suddenly stood up, his chair sliding back a few inches, making a short scraping sound on the blue brick floor.

"Completely recaptured?"

"Ninghai City, Wanhu City, and Zhenhai Pass—have they all been recaptured?"

"They're all back." Wang Ben raised his head, a smile on his face, and answered decisively, "General Su led his army to first capture Ninghai City, and captured the Eastern Barbarian commander Shimazu Ryunosuke and his strategist Takenaka Heibei alive. Afterwards, he ordered General Qin Hao and General Xu Cheng to divide their troops into two routes to recover Wanhu City and Zhenhai Pass."

"At this point, the entire East China Sea is now filled with the Azure Dragon Flag of our Great Qian Dynasty."

The emperor's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Quickly, quickly, present it to me."

Li Fuquan quickly took the document from Wang Ben's hand and handed it to the emperor.

The emperor took the letter, unfolded it, and began to read it intently.

The letter read:

"Your humble servant, Xiao Jingyu, bows and reports: In the Battle of Donghai, our army achieved a great victory, recapturing all the cities of Donghai with lightning speed. General Su personally led the vanguard battalion in the charge at Ninghai City, breaking open the city gate with his palm strike, and leading the charge in the street fighting within the city, slaying countless enemies. His subordinate general, Zhao Tieniu, killed the Dongyi vanguard general, Da You Tiewan, on the battlefield, and the sixth prince, Xiao Yunchuan, personally killed the Dongyi general, Murakami Kaito, as a soldier, greatly boosting the morale of the army. The Dongyi commander, Shimazu Ryunosuke, attempted to escape by waterway through the south gate but was intercepted by the Shenshui Battalion in the river and captured alive in the water. His strategist, Takenaka Heibei, was also captured."

The emperor's fingers tightened slightly, his gaze lingered on the line "Sixth Prince Xiao Yunchuan" for a moment, and then moved down.

"However, Wanhu City and Zhenhai Pass had already been massacred and burned by the remnants of the Dongyi tribe. When our soldiers arrived, there were no survivors in the cities; houses were completely destroyed, and corpses littered the fields. Before leaving, the Dongyi people looted all valuables in the cities, set them on fire, and then boarded ships to escape eastward. Two villages on the flank of Zhenhai Pass were also burned down, and no villagers survived. The Dongyi's actions were ruthless and inhumane, truly a blood debt of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Therefore, this humble general humbly requests permission: The Eastern Barbarian bandits slaughtered our city and killed our people. How can we appease the tens of thousands of souls who perished if this grudge is not avenged? General Su intends to cross the East Sea, attack the Eastern Barbarian homeland, and avenge this blood debt. However, a sea campaign requires warships, a navy, provisions, and military supplies. Therefore, I request Your Majesty to allocate funds from the national treasury to aid in this endeavor, and to grant General Su permission to recruit soldiers, build warships, and train a navy along the East Sea coast. If Your Majesty grants this request, this humble general and General Su will surely crush the Eastern Barbarians within a year and avenge this blood debt!"

The document also included a paragraph at the end, the handwriting of which was slightly more compact than the preceding text:

"Furthermore: Since joining the camp, the Sixth Prince Xiao Yunchuan has not acted arrogantly, starting as an ordinary soldier, training diligently, and always charging ahead. During the street fighting in Ninghai City, Yunchuan killed an enemy general on the battlefield, which was witnessed by the entire army and greatly boosted morale. I believe that the Sixth Prince's experience has been effective."

The emperor read the document again from beginning to end.

The smile on his face grew even wider.

"Okay, okay!"

"Truly worthy of General Su, with such speed, almost deciding the outcome in one battle, recovering the cities of the East China Sea, and protecting the East China Sea and the Jiangnan region for me."

"A great achievement!"

"After he returns to the capital in triumph, I will reward him handsomely."

"And then there's my sixth prince. He usually seems unreliable, always thinking about those chivalrous heroes, but he really brought honor to me on the battlefield."

"To start as a common soldier and then slay an enemy general—that's what a man of the Xiao family should be like."

Li Fuquan chuckled and remarked, "He has the air of His Majesty in his youth."

Xiao Jinghuan glanced at Li Fuquan, pointed at him and said, "What you said is true, you do indeed have the demeanor of me back then."

After speaking, Xiao Jinghuan paused for a moment, recalling the disastrous defeat in the first battle during the Crown Prince's eastern expedition, and sighed deeply.

"Alas, if I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have let the Crown Prince take command in the first place."

"If General Su had gone earlier, the tragedies in Wanhu City and Zhenhai Pass might have been avoided."

Wang Ben remained silent, simply standing there quietly.

At this moment, the emperor turned to face Wang Ben and said, "Wanhu City and Zhenhai Pass have been massacred..."

Wang Ben then spoke: "Your Majesty, I have reviewed the details from the front lines. In Wanhu City, only one infant survived, and there were no survivors in Zhenhai Pass and the surrounding villages. The Dongyi people did not attack the city or defend the territory; they only wanted to plunder and vent their anger."

"The wanton slaughter of our Great Qian people is intolerable to Heaven and Earth! These Eastern barbarian traitors deserve to die!"

The emperor's brows furrowed sharply.

He slammed his fist on the imperial desk and said fiercely:

"We, the Great Qian Dynasty, must make them pay for this debt in blood."

"Immediately issue my decree: allocate 200,000 taels of gold from the national treasury to build warships, train the navy, and recruit soldiers, to fully support General Su's campaign across the sea to conquer the Eastern Barbarians. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are ordered to cooperate fully and not to shirk their responsibilities or delay."

"If there is any mistake, I will not let it go lightly."

Wang Ben immediately knelt down, his voice booming, "Your subject obeys the decree!"

"Your Majesty, the Third Prince also mentioned in the document that General Su plans to recruit soldiers and build a navy along the East China Sea coast."

"I believe that this matter should be addressed sooner rather than later. If we wait until the court approves it before starting, we may miss the best time to train the troops."

After listening, the emperor immediately ordered, "This makes sense."

"Here's what we'll do: you go directly to the East China Sea with my decree and two hundred thousand taels of gold, meet with Su Mu, and get things done directly, saving time by sending messages back and forth."

"Once you arrive in the East China Sea, you will be my imperial envoy, and you must fully cooperate with General Su and the Third Prince in handling this matter."

Wang Ben kowtowed again, his voice loud and resolute: "Your subject will certainly not fail in your mission!"

After he finished speaking, he stood up, turned around, and strode out of the imperial study.

As he left the imperial study, he took a deep breath, a smile of excitement on his face.

Having served as Minister of War for so many years, this was the happiest time he had ever been.

Because he sensed that this was the first time the emperor had placed such trust in his ministers.

In his eyes, this was a great joy for the Great Qian Dynasty.

With the ruler and his ministers of one mind, how could the Great Qian Dynasty not become strong and prosperous?

Li Fuquan stood by the door, watching Wang Ben leave.

After a long while, he turned around and returned to the Imperial Study.

He returned to the room and saw the emperor standing by the window, looking at the sky outside with a relaxed and content expression.

After a moment, he bowed and stepped back to the side of the door, without disturbing the others.

However, he was surprised to find that the emperor before him seemed to have become a completely different person, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"The emperor's thoughts are truly unfathomable!"