Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 20 Li Jin's Letter of Entrustment
Chu Shizhao now wished he could mobilize his troops immediately and advance to the grassland.

But he couldn't do anything at all.

First, the economy of the entire Zhou Dynasty collapsed. Before Chu Shizhao, it had gone through three emperors.

Among them, Chu Shizhao’s elder brother, the Crown Prince, and his second elder brother were both puppets controlled by those in power and had no control over the situation.

During the reign of Emperor Yongjin, the national treasury suffered even greater losses, and the large-scale construction projects completely ruined the economy.

The decline of people’s livelihood is another dominant factor.

Second, even if a large number of soldiers were recruited, Chu Shizhao would still need a large amount of weapons and equipment to arm the soldiers, and they would also have to be trained, which would require long-term preparations for war.

Third, the Song-Wu regime established in the south had not yet been destroyed. If they could not defeat the other side, it would be futile to think of conquering the grassland.

[In August of the first year of Hongsheng, Li Jin suddenly fell ill and was no longer able to lead the army to the south to attack Song and Wu. On August 9 of the first year of Hongsheng, Li Jin passed away due to illness, and the army on the front line fell into chaos.]

[You discussed it with Li Fengning for a while, and finally decided to lead the army yourself.]

[The ministers in Chang'an submitted memorials one after another, saying that your Majesty's body, which is worth a ton of gold, must not be lost.]

[You are firm in your attitude and there is no room for refusal.]

[You grant the power of regent to Li Fengning, who has been appointed as the queen, to assist the young crown prince Chu Jimin in governing the country, and let Li Fengning's brother Li Shengming control the public security of Chang'an.]

[Li Jin's eldest son Li Shengming has been with you in battle for many years, and his nephew Chu Jimin is the current crown prince. Most importantly, as the eldest sister, Li Fengning has been famous in Jinyang since she was a child. After Li Jin's death, how could Li Shengming dare to oppose his eldest sister?]

[He is willing to follow your instructions and stay in Chang'an. ]

It was inevitable that Chu Shizhao would go to the front line to take over the army.

Because the campaign against Song and Wu was an extremely crucial one, the two sons of the Li family were both pure warriors, not talented generals.

If they were allowed to take over Li Jin's troops and failed to defeat Song and Wu, they would be delayed again.

The first thing Chu Shizhao had to solve was the current situation of the Zhou Dynasty's division. It was necessary to unify the country again in order to make the Zhou Dynasty great again.

Of course, Chu Shizhao could also tap into talent and find a general who could lead a large army, but the problem was that Chu Shizhao did not have the time. It was also questionable whether the general, who had just taken office, had the prestige to control the army.

The simulation in [Emperor Growth Plan] is different from ordinary games. There are many factors to consider, just like real events.

Soldiers will disobey their superiors, they will rebel when they are hungry, and if the unit's losses in war exceed 20%, some soldiers will desert.

Therefore, even if you think a general is very capable and send him to take over temporarily, the generals in the middle may not easily obey your orders.

Li Jin meets all the conditions. He has prestige and ability, and the main force of the entire front-line troops is also the Jinyang Army.

However, he made the same mistake as Emperor Yongjin.

He died of illness.

This is not the longevity setting in strategy games. Every general can live to be over 70 years old, and there will be no fluke events. They will not die from being hit by a stray arrow.

When an accident happens, no matter who you are, you may die.

Including Chu Shizhao.

He was assassinated, besieged, stripped of his power, and he will die.

So when Li Jin died, a prestigious person had to be chosen to lead the army. Originally, Yang Zhuting could have taken over, but he died in the battle while resisting the invasion of the Huns.

There are not many people who can take the top position.

What to do in this situation? Chu Shizhao can only choose to do it himself.

He has prestige and command ability. After so many years of fighting in the south and the north, Chu Shizhao's ability value has been raised early, and he also has an attribute of [Legacy of Emperor Gaozu] attached to him.

The main thing is that Chu Shizhao's throne could not be said to have been obtained through normal channels, and to a large extent there was suspicion of "rebellion".

Regardless of whether he was right or wrong, regardless of whether Chu Shizhao was defending and counterattacking, it is a fact that he, as a vassal king, led his army to capture Chang'an.

This is as embarrassing as Zhu Di's situation.

Therefore, Chu Shizhao must accumulate military merits. If he doesn't, he won't be able to intimidate others.

Even the descendants of Chu Shizhao who will inherit the throne may be implicated and despised.

[In September of the first year of Hongsheng, you took over the southern expedition army after Li Jin's death. This army had more than 90,000 people in total, of which 40,000 were from Jinyang, 20,000 were from Beiping Prefecture, and the remaining 30,000 were troops gathered from all over the place.]

[Due to Li Jin's death, the morale of the entire army was low, but your action of leading the army in person has restored the soldiers' low morale.]

[Yes/No: Select the policy order: "Fight to support war". ]

[When you agree to this policy, every time you capture a city, you will allow your soldiers to burn, kill, and loot freely. When this policy is implemented, your soldiers' morale will never drop. (The public opinion of the looted area will permanently drop by 3 points.)]

【You refused. 】

This tactic was actually common in wars during the feudal era.

Able to fully maintain the enthusiasm of soldiers.

If Chu Shizhao had the mentality of a player, he could also play like this, but his personality was not able to accept this mode of falling into madness.

What's more, if they did so, the places they had just conquered would easily rebel again, and they couldn't let Chu Shizhao do something like massacring the city.

Chu Shizhao thought about it and decided that he must live up to the term "Emperor Gaozu's Legacy".

There is no need to commit such a great sin of killing.

[In October of the first year of Hongsheng, you officially took over the Southern Expedition Army. Before Li Jin died of illness, he maintained the logistics of the entire army very well, allowing you to carry out the handover and operations normally.]

【He left a letter especially for you. 】

[In the letter, he pointed out that although his two sons were brave at the moment, they had no long-term vision and only cared about the gains and losses in front of them. They were extremely reckless. He hoped that you would not give them too important positions, but only send them to fight. If the world is stable, let them become rich.]

[Immediately afterwards, Li Jin lamented that his eldest daughter, Li Fengning, was not a man. If she were a man, she would definitely be a leader of the time, and it would be a good idea for her to inherit the entire Li family. But unfortunately, she is a woman. ]

[In the last paragraph, Li Jin seemed extremely sincere.]

[He was originally a soldier in Jinyang, and it was because of the promotion and trust of Emperor Zhengguang that he was able to take up the position of Jiedushi of Jinyang.]

[It's a pity that Emperor Zhengguang died young without an heir, so your father, Emperor Yongjin, inherited the throne as the successor to his elder brother.]

[It is precisely because of this background that your father is afraid of his power and military authority in Jinyang and is unwilling to trust him.]

[When Ma Su'an started a rebellion against the Great Zhou Dynasty, he was also hesitant. In times of chaos, if he didn't advance, he would retreat. If he tried to protect himself, it would also be the source of offense.]

[While he was hesitating, it was Li Fengning's persuasion that made him make up his mind to devote all his strength to helping you pacify the north.]

[In the letter, Li Jin was unusually arrogant and frankly stated that he had had opposing thoughts. It was this point that made this letter particularly special.]

[“I believe that I have assisted Your Majesty for many years and have done a good job for the Great Zhou Dynasty and Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will treat my daughter well.”]

【“Your servant, Li Jin, thanks you.”】

When Chu Shizhao finished reading the letter, his expression was finally moved.

At the last moment of Li Jin's death, he chose to end his life as a minister of the Great Zhou Dynasty and a subject of Chu Shizhao, rather than Chu Shizhao's father-in-law.

But there was a sense of intimacy between his words, which made Chu Shizhao feel that Li Jin was a real person, not just a set of data in a simulation.

This is a real letter of entrustment.

After Li Jin finished all the aftermath work, he entrusted his daughter and son to Chu Shizhao.

At this moment, Jinyang’s entire political legacy will fall on Chu Shizhao.

At this moment, although it was just a simulation, it gave Chu Shizhao an indescribable sense of responsibility.

A sense of mission with high hopes.

(End of this chapter)