My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

"I once promised Empress Lü that I would bring Modu's head to worship her, but if I really go to the imperial tomb to worship, I don't know if she can hear me."

Now it's convenient. After everyone's injuries have healed, we'll lead the Han army to Langjuxu Mountain to hold a Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven, and use Maodun's two heads as offerings.

We come to pay tribute to the heroic spirits of the soldiers and civilians who died fighting for the Han Dynasty and for the Chinese people against the Xiongnu barbarians over the past four hundred years.

By the way, pass this message on to the Heavenly God Emperor Hongyu, who is also wandering in the river of time. I believe she will inform Empress Lü of this message.

I suppose I, Wei Qing, haven't let everyone down.

Huo Qubing looked at the two severed heads in his hand, then glanced at the direction of Langjuxu Mountain in the distance, and finally nodded heavily in agreement.

After a while, Huo Qubing led the Han army to Langjuxu Mountain to hold the Fengshan ceremony.

Wei Qing did not go; he remained standing before the void, gazing into the depths of the void as he fell into deep thought.

After an unknown amount of time, an old man's voice suddenly sounded behind me.

Wei Qing looked in the direction of the voice and recognized the old man; he was the one who used to guard the gate for Liu Heng.

He was already seriously injured in his attempt to break through the void, and in the ensuing battle, his physical body was also severely damaged and his life was cut off.

He now has only one life left, and his original body is severely injured.

He should be able to live, but he is completely useless. However, judging from the old man's expression, he does not seem to be sad at all. On the contrary, he is laughing happily, as if he has never encountered such a happy thing before.

The old man asked with a smile, "General, what are you thinking about? If something is on your mind, why not tell this old servant?"

"What could be on my mind? I'm just wondering how future generations will view this history and this era."

I once interacted with the gods worshipped by the Xiongnu. She said that in the history she knew, I was nothing more than a courtier who rose to power through nepotism, and my so-called achievements were nothing more than good luck and catching the wave of the times.

So I was thinking, now that I have led the Han army to destroy the Xiongnu royal court and killed the Xiongnu Chanyu, how will future history record this past?

Or will this history eventually be buried at the bottom of the river of time, never to be known again, as the wheels of history roll on?

Unfortunately, my physical body is shattered, and I fear I wouldn't be able to withstand the ravages of time if I were to step into the river of time again. Otherwise, I would truly like to take a look.

The old man coughed a few times, took a few long breaths to make himself feel better, and then said, "I don't know how the world evaluates the Great General, but I do know that the Great General has been kind to the people of this era, kind to the Han Dynasty of this era, and kind to us old people who originally only thought about eating and waiting to die, or enjoying a lifetime of glory and wealth, and finally returning to dust."

How the future will evaluate the General is a matter for those in the future, but this old servant knows that in this era, as long as it is the Han Dynasty and the human race, it will inevitably remember and never forget the General's contributions over the years.

Wei Qing laughed after hearing this, "Perhaps."

His gaze turned back towards the human realm. At this moment, the human race must be eagerly awaiting news of the Han army's triumphant return.

......

After holding the Fengshan ceremony at Langjuxu Mountain, the Han army finally embarked on their journey back to the human world.

When Huo Qubing led the Han army into Chang'an, cheers erupted even outside the city. A huge crowd formed a path, and under the watchful eyes of the masses, the Han army slowly entered the royal city, awaiting the emperor's audience and bestowal of titles.

At this moment, Wei Qing quietly returned to the front of the Marquis of Changping's residence.

At this moment, the Grand Commandant of the Han Dynasty was standing in front of the Marquis of Changping's mansion.

Zhou Yafu, who had been waiting for a long time, smiled and said when he saw Wei Qing return: "I knew you would sneak back to enjoy some welcoming banquet, Zhongqing. That's not your style."

"Brother knows me well. Why are you standing at the door instead of going in to wait?"

At this moment, the servants in the mansion also came out. When they saw that it was the master of the house returning, they excitedly went back to inform the women.

Zhou Yafu said irritably, "My husband is away leading troops in battle. If I, as his elder brother, enter your house, won't people gossip?"

"A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear; why should you care about such things, brother?"

Wei Qing then invited Zhou Yafu into the mansion.

When the two arrived at the mansion, Wei Qing's children ran over excitedly and hugged Wei Qing's legs.

In fact, from the time he left until his triumphant return, Wei Qing only stayed away for a month. But for his family, every time Wei Qing left, it felt like an eternity, because they knew that Wei Qing's journey was fraught with danger.

Wei Qing patted the children's heads, and when he saw the ladies coming over, he smiled at them and said, "Take the children to play for a while, I'll talk to my brother for a bit."

The ladies were finally relieved to see that Wei Qing was safe.

They were actually mentally prepared for the death of their physical bodies. As long as their main bodies were not seriously injured, they were already satisfied and dared not hope for anything else.

Now that Wei Qing was truly alright, the women felt relieved and took the children to the backyard.

Wei Qing and Zhou Yafu were left behind to go to the back garden to eat, drink, and chat.

After Zhou Yafu took his seat, he couldn't help but praise Wei Qing, saying, "In this battle, Zhongqing has completely wiped out the Xiongnu barbarians, a major threat to the Han Dynasty. I admire you to the core. If it weren't for the fact that I'm not allowed to, I would even be willing to be Zhongqing's vanguard and fight against those Xiongnu barbarians."

Zhou Yafu did not refuse to go, nor was he afraid of death or reluctant to part with his physical body.

It's just that his identity is special, and under these circumstances, he wouldn't easily take risks.

If anything were to happen to Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, Zhou Yafu would have to be appointed to take on the heavy responsibility of defending against a possible counterattack by the Xiongnu barbarians.

People of different identities do things that reflect their identities. At this point, everyone has their own mission, and you can't just do whatever you want.

"Brother, you flatter me. I was just bait in this battle. If we're talking about heroes, it should be the Han soldiers who fought and bled for the enemy."

With a sigh, Wei Qing asked, "Brother, has something come up with His Majesty this time?"

"It has nothing to do with His Majesty's side. It's just that... I wanted to come and ask about Zhongqing's future plans, and also to make some plans for my own future."

At this point, Zhou Yafu said with a hint of self-deprecation: "After defeating the Xiongnu barbarians, the Han Dynasty had no rivals in the world, and could rest easy from then on."

In this way, we, the high-ranking officials, are more likely to become stumbling blocks.

Zhou Yafu was not worried about the so-called fate of "the good bow being put away after the birds are all gone," because Liu Heng would not demote him, much less take his life.

However, with all external enemies eliminated, it is now inevitable that the emperor will begin to centralize power.

The so-called centralization of power was not only about weakening the power of the regional governors, but also about reducing the power of these important officials.

Although Zhou Yafu is still serving as Grand Commandant, according to the intelligence he has, it is estimated that he will be promoted to the position of Chancellor soon and will have to give up the position of Grand Commandant.

When imperial power began to centralize, it was clearly not enough to simply seize power from the vassal kings; the position of prime minister would inevitably become the next target of imperial power.

Therefore, Zhou Yafu wanted to consult Wei Qing and hoped that Wei Qing could step in to curb the speed of the centralization of imperial power.

After all, the emperor's power is too great. If every generation is ruled by wise rulers, everyone will be happy. But if a foolish ruler appears and his power is not checked, then a foolish ruler may cause a dynasty to never recover.

Given the current prestige of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, if they were willing, they could step forward to support Zhou Yafu and temporarily suppress imperial power, thus maintaining the current status quo where the emperor and his ministers jointly govern the country.

Upon hearing Zhou Yafu's words, Wei Qing admired Liu Bang's decision even more.

Liu Bang initially hoped to use himself to check Zhou Yafu, because while Zhou Yafu might not have had any particular ambitions for power, he was too inflexible.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the emperor and his ministers jointly governed the country.

The idea that a ruler can force a subject to die and make him have no choice but to die is extremely rare. In most cases, either the subject knows he is guilty and ultimately commits a dignified suicide, or the emperor breaks off relations and directly takes the life of a subject.

But to say that imperial power is untouchable, and that the emperor's words have supreme authority, is pure fantasy.

But now that imperial power is beginning to tighten, Zhou Yafu believes this is unacceptable.

Therefore, given his personality, it's only natural that he would want to voice his opposition.

Wei Qing didn't want to get involved in this matter. He was already tired and didn't want to set foot in the imperial court anymore. But looking at Zhou Yafu's burning gaze, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Zhou Yafu was right about one thing: centralized power is a major trend in historical development, but that does not mean that power should be concentrated in one person.

After all, it's impossible for people not to make mistakes. When there's no one to check or balance them, or when someone makes a wrong decision and there's no way to stop them, sooner or later they will destroy all the achievements of their predecessors.

Wei Qing said, "I understand what you are worried about, brother. However, I am a little tired and do not intend to continue to interfere in the affairs of the court."

However, since you've said so, brother, I only have one suggestion: if you think it's feasible, then do it; if you think it's not feasible, then pretend I didn't come today.

Upon hearing Wei Qing speak in this way, Zhou Yafu immediately said, "Zhongqing, please speak frankly."

Wei Qing said, "Firstly, I will inform my uncle, and secondly, I will inform my uncle."

Zhou Yafu was well-versed in poetry and literature, so he was naturally familiar with this allusion.

Historical records state that during the Spring and Autumn Period, an official asked Duke Huan of Qi for advice, and Duke Huan replied, "Tell Zhongfu (Duke Huan) this."

The officials then asked again, and Duke Huan said, "Tell Zhongfu."

If this happens three times, the one beside him said, "First, inform Zhongfu; second, inform Zhongfu. How easy it is to be a ruler."

Duke Huan said, “It was difficult for me before I obtained Zhongfu, but now that I have obtained Zhongfu, why should it be difficult?”

In other words, after Duke Huan of Qi obtained Guan Zhong, he would directly send his ministers to Guan Zhong to handle any matters they had.

After this happened several times, someone said to Duke Huan of Qi, "Isn't it too easy for you to be a ruler like this?"

Duke Huan of Qi said, "Being a ruler was very tiring when I didn't have Guan Zhong, but now that I have a ruler, it's much easier."

Wei Qing's idea was simply to find capable people to help the emperor make decisions.

Seeing that Zhou Yafu still didn't quite understand how to proceed, Wei Qing spoke more bluntly: "Those who can become officials now are basically descendants of officials. Talented people want to serve the country, but they are struggling because they don't have a path to promotion."

Even if Zhongqing hadn't been fortunate enough to receive his wife's help, he would have remained unknown in the countryside.

The Han Dynasty had no shortage of talent. If these talents could be discovered and given a platform to realize their ambitions, and with these talents assisting the emperor, then as long as no tyrannical and autocratic emperor appeared, there would be no need to worry about the dynasty collapsing.

If the court is full of capable officials, then even if the emperor wanted to act against the tide, the ministers would have ways to check and balance him.

The problem now is that the court has no way to effectively select those virtuous people from the countryside, so that the court is full of mediocre people or people who hold high positions through nepotism.

If Your Majesty can find a way to select virtuous and capable officials, and keep close ties with capable ministers and keep away from sycophants, then there will be no need to worry about centralizing power.

As for how to do it, Zhongqing dared not speak presumptuously.

However, there's a common saying among ordinary people: "Let's see what makes a mule or a horse."

If you want to select capable officials, the simplest way is still through competition.

Comparing people is a recipe for disaster, comparing goods is a recipe for disaster; as long as you compare, you can always find the best talent.

No update today, the finale will be updated tomorrow, and I'll also share a short story about gambling.

In the casino on the first floor of the Evil Tavern, Tia had already lost two thousand chips in just over ten minutes.

However, unlike other gamblers who blush and scratch their heads while counting their money, she pondered why she had lost.

This is a cheat-free zone, meaning there is no possibility of cheating.

In other words, there are only two possibilities for why you lost money.

The first reason is bad luck. The key to gambling is the act of betting, and since it's gambling, luck plays a significant role. When you're down on your luck, it's perfectly normal to lose repeatedly, sometimes losing hundreds or thousands of dollars in just a few minutes.