Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 119: Chu Shizhao engraved the stone at Yanran to promote harmonious coexistence among the northern ethnic groups!
Since we have to fight.

There was no way Chu Shizhao would hold back. It was Chu Shizhao's style to go all out and send the entire army forward.

Because, in Chu Shizhao's view, a quick victory would cause the least loss to the country's strength. Dragging the war into a long term, with the loss of food and fodder transported throughout the process and the economic depletion would be the maximum loss.

Moreover, in the feudal era, the main reason why foreign wars were not advocated was that the losses in the process of transporting grain were too great.

This is completely different from that type of sandbox strategy game.

No matter how much food and grass you take out and transport it to the corresponding place, it must be the original amount of food and grass.

The truth is, in the process of transporting food, when you arrive at the final destination, depending on the length of the journey, if you can retain 70% of it during the shorter transportation journey, then your ability as the captain of the transport team is already a reflection of your ability.

Not to mention mobilizing food from all over the country, sending it to the front line, and then from the front line to the grassland.

The waste of food was enough to make Chu Shizhao feel sad.

Therefore, Zhu Di's five expeditions to the northern desert really drained the national treasury. If it were not for his good son, Emperor Renzong of Ming Dynasty, who had guaranteed his ability to govern the country, the Ming Dynasty's treasury would have been completely drained by Zhu Di long ago.

The Mongols were able to march so far westward because they did not rely on the transportation of food. They ate wherever they conquered and solved the problem of supply on the spot.

However, the main military force of the Central Plains Dynasty was still composed mainly of infantry, so it was too difficult to solve the supply problem on the spot.

The advantage was that Chu Shizhao had been improving the combat effectiveness of his cavalry and continuously expanding the number of cavalry, which gave him the conditions for a western expedition and he could definitely engage in a face-to-face encounter with the Xiongnu cavalry.

On the front battlefield, Chu Shizhao was not afraid of fighting at all. He was just afraid that the Xiongnu royal court would be beaten and forced to retreat westward. When Chu Shizhao caught up with them far away and gave up the pursuit, these people would retreat back to the grassland.

If the annihilation effect cannot be achieved, the threat from the grassland cannot be resolved unless Chu Shizhao has the ability to assimilate these Huns.

It is worth mentioning that in order to fight this war, Chu Shizhao almost consumed all the war horse resources in the north. It can even be said that all the war horses in the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty had been plundered by Chu Shizhao.

Even though the Great Zhou Dynasty owned several major horse-producing areas, the number of horses was still not enough.

There is really no other way.

The standard configuration of an elite cavalry requires 2 to 4 war horses, not one horse for each person.

For eight years, in addition to reforming the country and strengthening the country, Chu Shizhao also focused on improving the military strength of the Zhou Dynasty. Every year, Chu Shizhao had to pay at least one-third of taxes on military expenses.

Cavalry maintenance, cavalry needs are the highest.

This is why Chu Shizhao had the confidence to declare an all-out war with the Xiongnu royal court.

Moreover, if Chu Shizhao did not fight, this group of soldiers would grow older and their combat effectiveness would decline, and it would be very time-consuming to train a new army.

This Northern Expedition is not just a matter of timing.

Chu Shizhao knew very well that if he didn't fight this time, he might not have the chance to fight in a few years, and even if he fought, his chances of winning would not be high.

Since we had prepared for a war with the Huns long ago, such a large amount of military expenditure every year could not be wasted.

According to Chu Shizhao's plan, this battle was bound to be fought.

He understood why several emperors who fought foreign wars were criticized by many civil officials and even criticized for their warmongering.

The rewards from using this money to govern the country will be far greater than using it to fight a war.

But Chu Shizhao felt that these civil officials were still limited by the times.

They just didn't consider at all how terrifying it would be for foreign immigrants to enter the country.

Chu Shizhao is different from them. He often feels afraid because he thinks he is not strong enough.

Without stationing troops in all the surrounding areas, Chu Shizhao really has no sense of security.

He might as well attack all the neighboring countries.

We must beat these people until they behave themselves.

[In May of the eighth year of Kaihuang, the Xiongnu royal court saw the troops of the Great Zhou Dynasty taking the initiative to advance, and thought that they were in the home field of Mobei and occupied a more advantageous terrain, so they were not afraid of the initiative to confront the Great Zhou Dynasty. ]

[When the Xiongnu royal court retreated from the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was because after several attempts at attacking the city, they found it difficult to conquer the high walls of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They felt that continuing to fight would only cause them greater losses, so they withdrew after making some gains.]

[In the open terrain of the grassland, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty could not rely on the city walls and actively attack, so it was extremely difficult to deploy their so-called battle formations. Even if it was difficult to fight against the Great Zhou Dynasty's well-formed battle formation, these light cavalry could easily leave the battle line.]

[Faced with the Xiongnu royal court actively seeking a fight, Chu Shizhao, the commander-in-chief, felt that this was a great opportunity. ]

Let’s touch it!

Chu Shizhao's eyes flashed with cunning. Chu Shizhao had already mastered the terrain of the grassland through several previous simulations.

The terrain disadvantage is actually not that big for the Zhou Dynasty, and Chu Shizhao himself is very familiar with it.

You grassland people only have one lifetime opportunity to herd livestock, but Chu Shizhao has several lifetimes of experience fighting the Huns.

The main reason was that the Xiongnu royal court had countless options to avoid danger, but they chose to confront it head-on. If the Xiongnu dared to try, Chu Shizhao would let them die on the spot! Chu Shizhao was not afraid.

Originally, the Great Zhou Iron Cavalry built by Chu Shizhao was for the purpose of conquering the Huns, and many of its tactics were extremely effective in restraining the Huns' habits.

Therefore, Chu Shizhao was very confident that he could control the opponent, and he just hoped that the opponent would not flee in the middle of the fight.

However, even if they fled from the battlefield, Chu Shizhao would chase them.

Five thousand Beiwei troops were mobilized to attack the grassland!

Is there anything that Chu Shizhao can't do!
[On May 19th, the eighth year of Kaihuang, the main force of the Great Zhou Dynasty encountered the main force of the Xiongnu royal court, and the two leaders started a battle that shocked the world.]

[This was the first time in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty that it represented the Central Plains Dynasty and engaged in a head-on confrontation with nomadic peoples on the grassland.]

[“Soldiers, the great achievement of a hundred generations is before our eyes!”]

[“Let the iron cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty resound throughout the grassland!”]

[At noon on May 19, the eighth year of Kaihuang, the armies of both sides fought each other. The Xiongnu royal court did not expect that the Great Zhou Dynasty would send cavalry to charge head-on on the grassland, and they did not expect that the horse archery tactics that had always been successful would be stretched in front of the cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and were completely inferior to the opponent's technical and tactical coordination.]

[Especially when the Great Zhou Dynasty was rotating cross-mounted archery in an extremely methodical manner, the Xiongnu royal court’s army was subjected to round after round of arrow rain shooting almost every moment.]

[The Zhou Dynasty's superb archery skills resulted in the fall of the Xiongnu cavalry one after another. The long arrows flew all over the grassland battlefield, as if every arrow made by the Zhou Dynasty was worthless.]

[On the evening of May 19th, the eighth year of Kaihuang, the two sides continued to fight, and the sparsely populated Xiongnu royal court finally could not bear the losses and decided to evacuate and retreat towards Yanran Mountain.]

[Chu Shizhao led his army to pursue and completely annihilate the Xiongnu royal court, leaving no one alive.]

[After this battle, the Xiongnu royal court that once dominated the grasslands eventually split into two factions. The Xiongnu royal court that once dominated the grasslands and was wiped out in Yanran Mountain was called the "Northern Xiongnu" in history books.]

[Chu Shizhao came straight to the foot of Yanran Mountain, and he personally carved the words and wrote here - "Inscription on the Yanran Mountain". ]

【Thus, the idiom of "carving stones at Yanran" was born.】

[On May 20th of the eighth year of Kaihuang, after the Northern Xiongnu were destroyed, the Xiongnu royal court, another powerful Xiongnu tributary, declared its loyalty to the Great Zhou Dynasty and was willing to defend the grasslands for Chu Shizhao and submit to him.]

[In June of the eighth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao brought back Su Fu, the envoy sent to the Xiongnu, to the army. Su Fu was so excited when he learned that the Great Zhou Dynasty had dispatched troops to attack the grasslands.] [On June 15 of the eighth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao re-established the Protectorate in the Western Regions.]

[In July of the eighth year of Kaihuang, after Chu Shizhao conquered the Northern Xiongnu and recovered the Southern Xiongnu, a tribe on the grassland called Xueyantuo grew rapidly after the demise of the Northern Xiongnu. They actively surrendered to the Great Zhou Dynasty, showing their attitude of having no ambition.]

[At the same time, they united with other minority tribes on the grasslands in an attempt to establish a new nomadic regime.]

[In August of the eighth year of Kaihuang, when Chu Shizhao returned to the court, Xueyantuo drove the Southern Xiongnu out of the territory they occupied. Soon, Xueyantuo and Goguryeo formed an alliance. In order to ensure the stability of the grassland area and support the Southern Xiongnu regime's garrison role on the grassland, Chu Shizhao deliberately placed the Southern Xiongnu in the southern desert area centered on "Baidaochuan" controlled by Xueyantuo.]

[The Xueyantuo were extremely dissatisfied with this and launched an attack on the Southern Xiongnu people who were grazing in Baidaochuan. Chu Shizhao once again dispatched troops and together with the Southern Xiongnu, Mongolians, and Uighurs, they defeated the Xueyantuo people.]

[In October of the eighth year of Kaihuang, Xueyantuo was very dissatisfied with Chu Shizhao, the monarch of the Central Plains Dynasty, for trying to control many affairs on the grasslands. So he actively made friends with other nomadic tribes on the grasslands, hoping to integrate with them and attack the Great Zhou Dynasty.]

[The Southern Xiongnu, who had been attacked and defeated several times by the Zhou Dynasty's cavalry and were in awe of them, flatly rejected Xueyantuo's idea, while the Mongols chose to form an alliance with Xueyantuo.]

[In December of the eighth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao once again led his army to conquer the grasslands in order to promote harmonious coexistence with the various ethnic groups in the northern region, and the Xueyantuo was destroyed as a result.]

[In March of the ninth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao conquered Gaochang, and the Huihe people began to rely on the Great Zhou Dynasty. Chu Shizhao treated them as military vassals and reorganized them into a new foreign light cavalry to fight for the Great Zhou Dynasty.]

[In May of the ninth year of Kaihuang, Goguryeo grew stronger in Liaodong and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. They often fought with the official army of the Great Zhou Dynasty in Youzhou of the Great Zhou Dynasty because of territorial issues.]

【Chu Shizhao asked Goguryeo to withdraw its troops and plan their respective territories, but was rejected.】

【Therefore, Chu Shizhao provoked a war against Goguryeo on the grounds of assisting the Xueyantuo rebellion. 】

[There were two small countries near Goguryeo, Silla and Baekje. Silla had surrendered to the Zhou Dynasty long ago and was willing to be a vassal, while Baekje was on good terms with Goguryeo.]

[In March of the tenth year of Kaihuang, Baekje saw that Goguryeo and the Great Zhou Dynasty were fighting, so it took advantage of the chaos to attack Silla and captured more than 40 cities in Silla at once. Then, relying on the bordering cities of Silla and Goguryeo, it joined forces with Goguryeo and planned to cut off the Great Zhou Dynasty's route to attack Goguryeo via Silla.]

[In May of the tenth year of Kaihuang, Silla, which could no longer hold on, asked Chu Shizhao for help. Chu Shizhao asked Baekje to withdraw its troops, but Baekje refused.]

[In June of the tenth year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao set out from Luoyang to the east. After arriving in Dingzhou in August, he personally wore a bow and arrow and stationed troops in Youzhou with generals such as Yang Yanchao and Han Gu, who had become famous in the war against the Xiongnu. Lan Shu's army set out from Liucheng and bluffed towards Huaiyuan Town, but in fact they secretly marched north.]

[In September, Lan Shu unexpectedly crossed the Liao River from Tongding and advanced to Xuantu. Goguryeo was greatly alarmed and all the cities closed their gates and defended themselves.]

[The defenders in the Goguryeo city were terrified and dared not go out to fight. ]

【Lan Shu led the surrendered Southern Xiongnu and Huihe soldiers as the vanguard, crossed the Liao River and headed for Jian'an City, defeated the Goguryeo soldiers, and killed thousands of them. 】

【Lan Shu and Yang Yanchao besieged Gaimu City and conquered it, taking more than 20,000 people captive. 】

[In December of the tenth year of Kaihuang, Li Shengming led his fleet across the sea to attack Zhanbisha City, and captured another 8,000 Goguryeo soldiers. Afterwards, Chu Shizhao dispatched Yang Fang and others to attack the Yalu River. Goguryeo sent General Gai Gaojun with 40,000 infantry and cavalry to support Liaodong. Yang Yanchao led 2,000 Beiwei troops to meet the attack, and Lan Shu coordinated and maneuvered to defeat the Goguryeo reinforcements, and killed more than 10,000 people.]

[Chu Shizhao led the follow-up army to cross the Liao River and remove the bridge to strengthen the morale of the army. ]

【Chu Shizhao personally led the elite troops and Lan Shu to besiege Liaodong City. The warriors who first climbed the city walls showed their prowess. In less than half an hour, they captured the city walls. Among them, the bravest warriors took advantage of the wind to burn down the southwest tower. After the city was captured, the Goguryeo army was defeated like a mountain, and countless people were willing to surrender.】

【Afterwards, Chu Shizhao marched towards Baiyan City again.】

[Inside Wugut City, Li Zonglong, the defender of Goguryeo, sent more than 10,000 soldiers to aid Baiyan City, but Chu Shizhao led the Beiwei Army to defeat them. ]

[The whole country of Goguryeo was shocked, and the defenders of Huangcheng and Yincheng retreated. ]

[Sun Tinglian, a soldier of the Great Zhou Dynasty, suggested that given the current situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty, they should abandon the remaining small cities and take Wugut City first. In this way, the remaining small cities that block the way will collapse, and Pyongyang will be undefendable. If Pyongyang is taken, Goguryeo will definitely be defeated.]

[Chu Shizhao adopted Sun Tinglian's plan, but others felt that fighting like this was too risky. The Great Zhou Dynasty had such a great advantage, so they should take it slow and steady, and they would surely win.]

[Faced with other people's doubts and advice, Chu Shizhao felt that the situation of the army is unpredictable, and the shape of water is unpredictable. If he could win by following the previous correct methods, then why is it that such a huge Zhou Dynasty always has difficulty defeating a smaller force with more people? On the contrary, it was after he took command of the army that the Zhou Dynasty won victory after victory.]

[In the case of absolute advantage, even taking risky actions may not be a bad thing. Moreover, only a small loss can reveal the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, so why not give it a try.]

[Not to mention that the other party may not be able to defend against such a strange plan! ]

[Chu Shizhao asked Sun Tinglian, who proposed the strategy, to lead 30,000 elite troops to attack Wugut City. Sun Tinglian got Chu Shizhao's approval. In order to repay Chu Shizhao's trust, he captured Wugut City overnight and headed straight for Pyongyang.]

[In March of the eleventh year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao conquered Goguryeo and established the new four Anxi towns.]

[In June of the 11th year of Kaihuang, after Chu Shizhao put down the rebellion in the grasslands and Liaodong, most of the northern ethnic groups did not dare to disturb Chu Shizhao's every move and strategy, so these ethnic minorities respectfully called Chu Shizhao "Tian Khan".]

[In July of the eleventh year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao felt that he got along well with the people of all ethnic groups and that no one was unwilling to obey his orders, so Chu Shizhao ordered these Yi people to learn the etiquette of the Great Zhou Dynasty, required them to live according to the customs of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and asked them to pay taxes on time according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty.]

[In August of the eleventh year of Kaihuang, the system of Yitiaobianfa in the Great Zhou Dynasty had been completely perfected, and productivity and population growth began to show a substantial increase. After the inventory of hidden households and the liquidation of hidden fields, the national strength of the Great Zhou Dynasty was changing with each passing day and rising steadily.]

[In September of the eleventh year of Kaihuang, Chu Shizhao put forward his views on the countries in the Western Regions, and at the same time quietly hinted to the officials about his military layout for the Western Expedition, which once again frightened the officials.]

Look at every line and every word on the screen.

Not to mention Huan Yi and Li Fengning, even Yin Meiyu, who was usually law-abiding, was stunned.

When Li Fengning saw the Yanran Stone, she felt that Chu Shizhao was brave, majestic, strong and powerful, and was worthy of being the first "famous general" and His Majesty of the Great Zhou.

Being an emperor was his side job, being a general was his main job.

But when Li Fengning saw Chu Shizhao getting along well with the northern ethnic groups, she could hardly hold back her smile.

After all, Chu Shizhao defeated all the ethnic groups around the Great Zhou Dynasty one by one in one breath.

You call this getting along well?

Isn't this just bullying? !

But when he saw that Chu Shizhao still wanted to attack the Western Regions and march all the way west, Li Fengning could no longer hold back.

No, are you still fighting?
When the military merit system came into being, Li Fengning actually felt that Chu Shizhao had the potential to be a great general. As a commander-in-chief, Chu Shizhao was not only a good fighter, but also treated his soldiers well.

For the generals and soldiers, it was simply wonderful to have such a monarch, and even Li Fengning himself was pleased.

Your mother, she will deal with anyone she doesn't like, and will beat anyone who says something wrong, just to see who still refuses to accept.

Is the border territory disputed?
I will defeat you and destroy your country, and make all your territories belong to me. Let me see if you still have any objection.

After witnessing Chu Shizhao beating up the Northern Huns and sweeping across Goguryeo, Li Fengning's happiness level reached its maximum level.

You have to follow such a monarch, so that your life will have a direction and your heart will be at ease!
But Chu Shizhao is a little too crazy, you know.

Even reaching this point was the limit of Li Fengning's imagination, but she never expected that Chu Shizhao was even more extreme than her. Chu Shizhao even felt that it was not enough and he wanted to continue the westward expedition.

Fight further west on the grassland.

What the hell is going on?
Li Fengning didn't know whether there were other powerful countries to the west of the grassland, let alone Chu Shizhao who had to fight all the way there without knowing anything.

You, Chu Shizhao, are really crazy!

But Li Fengning was also really happy.

Oh my god.

How could Chu Shizhao be so cruel!
Li Fengning closed his eyes and all he could recall was Chu Shizhao's Northern Expedition.

This feels so good!
(End of this chapter)