I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 488 Are the two generals confident?

Guo Zhen was not the only one who was puzzled.

Lu Bode and Li Ling were also a little surprised, feeling that all the painstaking planning along the way was completely unnecessary.

Isn’t this eldest prince quite honest?

We just mentioned that His Majesty summoned him back, and he agreed without hesitation. He even handed over his military power without any hesitation, and even took the initiative to recall Zhao Po Nu and other generals to cooperate with our official duties.

I really don't know what Huo Guang was worried about all this time?

I don't know why the envoys before were unable to recall Liu Ju... Maybe the problem was not with Liu Ju at all, but the envoys themselves were greedy for credit.

"..."

Huo Guang was the only one who looked closely at the expression on Liu Ju's face, his worry growing instead of decreasing.

He knew Liu Ju too well.

Liu Ju was so obedient, he must have been possessed by another spirit or he must be plotting something.

No one can force him to do something he doesn't want to do, including the current emperor... That's why Huo Guang is in such a difficult situation this time. On one side is the current emperor, and on the other side is Liu Ju. He feels like a grain of millet caught between two huge millstones. Just the slightest movement will result in his being crushed to pieces.

"Cousin, General Lu, General Li."

After Guo Zhen went out to pass on the order, Liu Ju turned around and looked at the three people with a smile.

"The environment in the Western Regions is different from that in the Central Plains. The three of you have traveled a long way and you need to adapt to the new environment. I have arranged accommodation for you and will hold a banquet tonight to welcome you."

"You can stay here for a few days and take this opportunity to learn about the situation in the Western Regions. When General Zhao and others come back, we can proceed with the handover. Then I can go back to the capital and report to my father."

"What do you three think?"

"That's great. Your Highness will make your arrangements."

Lu Bode and Li Ling quickly bowed and expressed their gratitude, feeling that everything was now stable.

Although Huo Guang still had some concerns, he could not see any problems from Liu Ju's performance, so he could only bow and say:

"Your Highness, this is a very good arrangement, but I don't know when General Zhao and others will be able to come back, and when Your Highness plans to return to the capital with me to report. Please give me a deadline. If the time is delayed for too long, I am afraid I will not be able to explain to Your Majesty."

"This……"

Liu Ju frowned slightly as if thinking.
"It will take at least two months, cousin. I am not delaying on purpose. Many generals in the army have already led troops in Dayuezhi to confront the Xiongnu."

"Cousin, you should know where Dayuezhi is, right?"

"That country is located west of the Pamir Mountains, more than 4,000 miles away from where we are now, Qiuci. My messenger will set out from here to deliver the message, and General Zhao and others will rush back after making some arrangements. It will take two months to go back and forth, and we need to gallop hard to make it. I don't know how many horses will die from running."

"This is the premise that everything goes smoothly. If the Xiongnu on the front line make any unusual moves, General Zhao will have to respond urgently. I'm afraid we will have to postpone it appropriately. You can't ignore the military and national affairs just because I'm eager to go home, right?"

When Huo Guang heard this, he immediately felt that he had broken Liu Ju's routine.

Although Liu Ju now promised to return to the capital to report, he was actually giving himself a cold shoulder, and it was ultimately still a means of delaying time.

Before they knew it, two months had passed.

And even if that is the case, it is still not certain.

"Wait a minute!"

Thinking about this, Huo Guang finally couldn't help but interrupt Liu Ju, bowed and said,
"Your Highness, since General Lu Bode and General Li have received the tiger talisman bestowed by His Majesty, they should not have to wait for General Zhao Po Nu and others to return to take over. They can directly go to the front line to take over their command of the army."

"Besides, General Lu Bode and General Zhao Po Nu were both generals under Marquis Jing Huan (Huo Qubing), so they have some friendship. General Lu Bode is also an experienced general, so I believe there will be no problems if we change the generals before the battle."

"Therefore, Your Highness should not need to handle this matter personally, and Your Highness does not need to wait for General Zhao Po Nu and others to return."

"In addition, the situation in the Western Region is now stable."

"In addition to Han Zeng, I heard that Sang Nong Ling is also working hard to stabilize the situation in the Western Region. I believe that your Highness' temporary departure will not have a negative impact on the current situation."

"Therefore, I believe that Your Highness only needs to spend two days to give a brief explanation, and both the handover of military commanders and the continuation of these affairs in the Western Regions will be able to proceed smoothly."

"Your Highness should leave with me and return to the capital in two days."

"Please trust me, Your Highness. Everything I do is for Your Highness' sake. Your Highness, please return to the capital as soon as possible, which is also the most in line with Your Majesty's wishes and Your Highness's interests."

Having said that, Huo Guang had already revealed his true colors to Liu Ju.

Moreover, he played his cards openly in front of two outsiders, Lu Bode and Li Ling... This was something he would never do before as he had been cautious all his life.

But now, there is no need for him to be cautious anymore.

Because Liu Che had made it clear to him before he set out, explicitly pointing out that the Huo and Wei families were inseparable...Therefore, if Liu Ju dared to disobey the order this time, neither the Wei nor the Huo families would have an easy time.

Therefore, it was meaningless for him to insist on his previous position of drawing a clear line between himself and the Wei family.

Now he can only have one position, that is, to represent the people of the Wei and Huo families and to be clearly loyal to Liu Che.

"Since my cousin said so..."

Liu Ju did not continue to make other excuses after hearing this, but just nodded slightly.
"Then I will obey my cousin this time. I will order people to pack up my belongings and return to the capital with my cousin in two days to report."

"..."

He agreed even more readily. Huo Guang thought he had heard it wrong and unconsciously looked at Liu Ju in front of him again.

Is the person in front of me really Liu Ju?
Something is wrong!
Something is wrong!
As the saying goes, it is easy to change the country but difficult to change one’s nature!
Liu Ju shouldn't be like this. Could several years of expeditions to the Western Regions really cause such a change in a person?

"..."

Lu Bode and Li Ling, who had never met Liu Ju, felt that there was nothing wrong with his decision.

After all, Huo Guang had made his words as clear as possible, and the interests involved were clear to both of them. Now that things had developed to this point, Liu Ju no longer had any other choice.

However, just as the three of them were thinking about Liu Ju's performance, Liu Ju suddenly turned around, raised his hand and pulled down a curtain behind him, revealing a map of the Western Regions behind the curtain, and said solemnly:

"But before that, I think it is necessary to introduce to General Lu and General Li the strategic goals that I will achieve next."

"This is……"

The three of them looked around and couldn't help but look suspicious again.

Because this map of the Western Regions was not the map of the Western Regions in their impression, but a map that covered not only the thirty-six countries in the narrow sense of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty east of the Pamir Mountains, but also the vaster land west of the Pamir Mountains.

Even on this map, it is not an exaggeration to call the area occupied by the Thirty-Six Kingdoms in the Western Regions a tiny place, which does not even occupy one-fifth of the entire map.

And they also saw some names that were relatively unfamiliar to them on the map:
Sindhu, Bactria, Parthia, Qin…

Among them, the territory of Sindhu is almost two-thirds of the current territory of the Han Dynasty.

The territorial areas of the Parthian Empire and the Qin Empire, which was further west, were comparable to those of the Han Dynasty, or even slightly larger.

"This is the real Western Regions. The Western Regions we know now are just the tip of the iceberg. The thirty-six countries in the Western Regions we know now have either joined the Western Alliance led by our Han Dynasty, or were almost destroyed during the Xiongnu's westward migration. Their kings and their families were either killed or expelled, and then the Western Alliance took over and controlled them. In fact, they are now the actual territory controlled by the Han Dynasty."

Liu Ju drew a circle on the map with his finger and gave a detailed introduction to the current situation in the Western Regions for several people.

"..."

Just hearing these words, Huo Guang, Lu Bode and Li Ling were shocked.

They also knew that Liu Ju and Zhao Po Nu had made great achievements in the wars with the Western Regions and the Huns, and had sent back several inspiring reports of victory.

On the way here, they also learned about Liu Ju's success in conquering cities and territories in the Western Regions.

But seeing Liu Ju's finger drawing circles on the map so boldly and hearing Liu Ju's explanation of the actual territorial scope of the Han Dynasty still made them feel extremely shocked...

Because even if the Mobei area previously occupied by the Xiongnu is not taken into account, the circle drawn by Liu Ju in the Western Regions still expanded the actual controlled territory of the Han Dynasty by at least 30 to 40 percent.

What is this concept?
The three of them thought about it carefully and realized that people who had achieved this in history were either founding emperors or famous generals... In short, whether they were emperors or famous generals, they had all contributed to founding a country!
However, when Liu Qi said these words, his tone was so calm, as if he was talking about an extremely ordinary little thing, without the slightest bit of arrogance.

Before the three of them could think any more, Liu Ju continued to speak:
"So, the Western Regions we are talking about should also change according to local conditions. Now I define the Western Regions as those countries west of the Pamir Mountains, such as Daxia, Parthia, Sindhu, Daqin, etc., which are further west."

"Of course, this also includes the Xiongnu who have now fled to the west of the Pamir Mountains."

"And my next strategic target is the three Western Region countries of Daxia, Parthia and Sindhu."

"Daxia and Sindhu will undoubtedly become vassals of the Han Dynasty."

"The Parthian Empire is too large to be a vassal of the Han Dynasty, so they will be divided into several small countries. Some of them will join the Western Alliance to ensure that the trade route between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions is unimpeded. The remaining small countries are not allowed to migrate and stay away from this trade route, and they will not be able to share the dividends of this trade route."

"This strategic goal has been determined, and I can ensure that it will be achieved within a year. Sang Hongyang and Sang Nong Ling are also aware of this matter and are helping me formulate corresponding strategies to ensure that the Han Dynasty can continue to gain benefits from it in the next few decades."

"Regarding this matter, Sang Nong Ling and I will jointly report it to my father."

"This matter concerns the fate of the Han Dynasty. We must achieve this strategic goal within a year, otherwise we may miss out on important matters."

"But I obviously cannot accomplish this strategic goal myself at the moment, so I have to entrust it to General Lu and General Li."

"General Lu and General Li, please accept my greetings and take on this important task to ensure the successful completion of this strategic goal. My father and I will be waiting for good news from the two generals in Chang'an."

As he spoke, Liu Ju actually cupped his hands and bowed to Lu Bode and Li Ling.

"Your Highness?!"

Lu Bode and Li Ling were shocked when they saw this and quickly jumped away, not daring to accept the gift.

The younger Li Ling couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Your Highness, how can I take on such a heavy responsibility? Let's not talk about Daxia and Sindhu, just looking at the map, the territory of Parthia is comparable to that of Han. Your Highness wants to fight one against three, and to conquer two countries and divide one country within a year. I'm afraid that even if the military genius Han Xin were alive, it would be difficult to accomplish it, right?"

"General Li, you are wrong. Now everything has come to fruition. Whether it is me, Zhao Po Nu, Wang Hui, Su Wu, Sima Qian and others, we are all confident that we can accomplish this. The soldiers of the whole army also have full confidence. If General Lu and General Li do not believe it, they can ask in the army. Even if they are asked to sign a military order, they will never hesitate."

Liu Ju laughed and said,

"General Lu is already a famous general, and General Li is also the descendant of a famous general. They shouldn't even have this little confidence, right?"

This confidence?

Lu Bode and Li Ling looked at each other, and finally looked at Huo Guang beside them.

They felt that Liu Ju was trying to provoke them.

But there are limits to provoking someone.

This is like if someone were to provoke Lu Bode and Li Ling for not being able to shoot an arrow through the target from a hundred paces away, they would have to give it a try even if it was just for the sake of a gamble... But if someone were to provoke them for not being able to shoot an arrow through the target from a thousand paces away, they would definitely not be provoked. On the contrary, they would even retort, because there is not a single powerful crossbow in the entire Han Dynasty that can shoot an arrow through the target from a thousand paces away.

The strategic goal proposed by Liu Ju at this moment, which must be completed within one year, is similar to shooting an arrow through the target from a thousand paces away.

In their opinion, this is simply impossible to accomplish!
Apart from anything else, the combined land area of ​​these three countries is much larger than that of the Han Dynasty...

Is this a matter of having no confidence?

This is a brainless thing!
The most important thing is that Liu Ju wanted to report the matter to the emperor and even dared to issue a military order.

In this case, if they fail to complete it, wouldn't they become sinners of the Han Dynasty and a useless general who exhausted the entire army?

Not to mention whether the emperor would listen to Liu Ju and force them to achieve this strategic goal within a year.

If, as Liu Ju said, Zhao Po Nu, Wang Hui, Su Wu, Sima Qian and other generals, and even the soldiers of the entire army, all had such mysterious confidence, they were unable to accomplish it.

I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to convince the public.

They will not be able to lead this team, and trouble will eventually arise, which will also be a capital crime.

(End of this chapter)