I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 399: Real Arrow Military Exercise
Besides, can you give away achievements just because you want to?
Deceiving the emperor and claiming credit for one's achievements is an extremely serious crime. If not handled properly, the crime may result in the death penalty and the extermination of the entire family. Even if Liu Ju dares to send it, Dongfang Yu must dare to accept it!

really.

"Your Highness, you are joking. Your Highness and the other generals fought for your lives on the battlefield. How dare I covet your achievements?"

After a slight hesitation, Dongfang Yu laughed it off and planned to brush the matter off calmly.

"What the Eastern Herald said is wrong. Haven't you heard that Marquis Bowang once opened up the Western Regions, opened up the distant barbarians, and connected the remote areas, and he also made great contributions to being awarded a title of marquis and a general?"

However, Liu Ju continued speaking in a very "untactful" manner.

The Marquis of Bowang is naturally Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian was not only granted a title of nobility, he was also appointed as General of the Central Army and followed Wei Qing and Li Guang to fight against the Huns. However, he was not very good at fighting, and because he missed the opportunity to fight, he was convicted, stripped of his title, and demoted to a commoner. Later, he returned to his old job and was appointed General of the Central Army and sent as a second envoy to the Western Regions.

"Your Highness means..."

Dongfang Yu heard some other meanings from Liu Ju's words, and finally asked.

"Now that Loulan has been conquered, my father has his sword pointed at my teacher."

Liu Ju waved his hand and called everyone in the hall to the table. He pointed to the map spread out on the table and said,

"To attack Gushi, we must pass through Shan, Yuli and Yanqi. Shan and Yuli are closer to Loulan, and their population and troops are not as large as Loulan."

"However, Yanqi has more than 4,000 households, a population of over 30,000, and as many as 6,000 soldiers."

"Because the three kingdoms have been unequal in strength for a long time, Shan and Yuli are actually vassals of Yanqi, and Yanqi is a vassal state of the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu have placed servants in their kingdoms."

"If our army ignores these three countries and just passes through them, the three countries may inform Gushi Country and make them prepared. We won't be able to catch them off guard like we did when we raided Loulan."

"If our army attacks the three kingdoms first, we will have to start with Shan Kingdom and Yuli Kingdom. Then Yanqi Kingdom and the other kingdom will probably send troops to support us, which will cause certain troubles and losses to our army."

"Although our army has more people and better equipment, neither of these two options is the best choice."

"Therefore, I plan to send envoys to negotiate with the three countries first, and at the same time, conduct a massive real-arrow military exercise at the common border of the three countries to demonstrate the national prestige of the Han Dynasty and defeat the enemy without fighting."

While talking.

Liu Ju pointed his finger at the border of the three countries on the map, and glanced at the three people with encouragement, intentionally or unintentionally:

Wang Hui, Su Wu, and Dongfang Yu.

Wang Hui had once served as an envoy to the Han Dynasty and had experience in sending envoys to other countries.

Although it was Su Wu's first time to serve as an envoy to the Han Dynasty, history has proven that he will eventually be a qualified envoy.

As Emperor Wu of Han's envoy, Dongfang Yu had done a lot of work in conveying imperial edicts, so there should be some experiences that can be used as reference.

Besides.

At this moment, Su Wu and Dongfang Yu both held the scepters bestowed by Emperor Liu Che himself and possessed the most orthodox legal identities.

"Live Arrow Military Exercise?"

This is another new word that no one has ever heard of.

Although there were military parades in the Western Han Dynasty and Emperor Liu Che reviewed the Northern Army more than once, military exercises were unheard of and unseen. Even when the armies lined up for training, simulated attacks and defenses were usually conducted in their respective training grounds, and they were always kept secret to avoid the leakage of military tactics. No one had ever heard of the so-called "live arrow military exercise."

"To put it bluntly, it is an open military exercise to show off one's muscles in front of these three countries," Liu Ju said solemnly.

"Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Now that our great Han has just set foot in the Western Regions, although we have the reputation of conquering Loulan in one night, these small countries probably still don't have a clear understanding of the strength of the Han army, so they still have some fluke mentality and are unwilling to surrender easily."

"Therefore, it is necessary to let them sober up and make the right choice."

"This live-arrow military exercise is also the confidence and guarantee given by the Han Dynasty to the three envoys. It not only ensures that the kings of the three countries will seriously obey, but also with the previous experience of King Qibuchu of Loulan, they will definitely not dare to harm the three envoys."

"Otherwise, the real arrow military exercise could turn into a war to annihilate a country at any time."

While talking.

Liu Ju glanced at Wang Hui, Su Wu and Dongfang Yu again, and almost decided that these three envoys were them.

"Your Highness, although I am willing to serve you, I am afraid this is still inappropriate."

The first person to raise an opinion was Su Wu, who said with an embarrassed look on his face,
"I have been ordered to promote the marriage between the Han Dynasty and the Wusun. Now, I have been delayed in Loulan for two months according to your highness' orders. If I am delayed further due to other things, I am afraid that I will miss the important event entrusted by your majesty. How can I explain to your majesty?"

"General Su, don't worry too much. Gushi is connected to Wusun in the northwest. Once our army captures Gushi, General Su will not have to pass through those small countries that are vassal states of the Xiongnu to enter Wusun. When he returns, escorting the 1,000 horses as a betrothal gift will be even safer. This is called sharpening the knife before chopping wood."

Liu Ju seemed to have thought it through already, and said with a smile,

"Moreover, if our army can conquer Shan State, Yuli State, Yanqi State and Gushi State, the territory in the Western Region will be comparable to that of Wusun State. Wusun State will be frightened, and the marriage will be more foolproof. Isn't that right?"

"..."

Su Wu was honest after all. Although he felt like he was being plotted against, he didn't know what to say.

Su Wu had nothing to say for the time being, but Dongfang Yu still had something to say. He said with an embarrassed look on his face:
"If this is the achievement Your Highness is talking about, please forgive me for not being able to obey your order. I am only following orders to deliver the imperial edict. After delivering the imperial edict, I should immediately return to report to Your Majesty. I dare not make any unnecessary trouble, otherwise I am afraid Your Majesty will blame me."

"What the Eastern Herald said makes sense, but I took it for granted."

This time, Liu Ju did not persuade Dongfang Yu as he did Su Wu, but nodded and said,
"In that case, let's leave it at that. I will replace him with someone less suitable than Dongfang Yezhe. However, I will report to my father later and tell him that Dongfang Yezhe knew that I had a strategy to defeat the enemy without fighting, but he dared not cooperate with the mission despite holding the emperor's staff. If this damages my father's reputation or causes the war to deviate, please bear the consequences for him."

"Sima Qian, you come from a family of historians. Even if your father Sima Tan and Dongfang Yezhe's father Dongfang Shuo were old friends, you should write this matter truthfully, right?"

"?"

Dongfang Yu couldn't believe his ears. Liu Ju was clearly forcing him to buy the deal. If he didn't agree, he was going to ruin his reputation?
"..."

Zhao Po Nu and others all looked sideways.

They had seen Liu Ju's strategies, his military prowess, and his approachability, but they had never seen how he captured people.

At this moment, he saw that Liu Che's special envoy was actually plotted against by Liu Ju and it was also said in front of him. It was definitely a conspiracy that Dongfang Yu could not refute. There was no way he could clear himself of the conspiracy. He might even be very likely to be angered by Liu Che if he made any mistakes when conquering Shan, Yuli and Yanqi.

Everyone instantly had a new understanding of Liu Ju.

However, Liu Ju no longer paid attention to Dongfang Yu. He turned around and looked at Wang Hui, who was secretly sighing at Liu Ju's methods along with the others:
"General Wang, what about you?"

"I will obey your orders!"

Wang Hui's cheeks trembled, and he came to his senses and immediately obeyed the order.

(End of this chapter)