With a million soldiers, the empress begged me not to rebel

Jin Xuanming finished speaking in one breath and waited nervously for the king's response.

The hall fell silent again. The king's expression was unpredictable, and it was obvious that he was having a fierce inner struggle.

After a while, he slowly spoke:

"This matter... is too risky. What if I anger Lu Yan and it turns out to be disadvantageous to Aisha? What should I do?"

Jin Xuanming quickly assured:

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I will act with caution and will never allow Her Royal Highness to be harmed! If this plan fails, I will die as an apology!"

The king sighed and was finally convinced by Jin Xuanming's plan.

"Well, let's try our best. I'll leave this matter to you. Remember, don't hurt Aisha!"

"I obey your order!" Jin Xuanming felt relieved and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

The king summoned all his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

He paced distractedly, his brow furrowed.

"Now that Haixia Pass has been lost, our army's morale is low. How should we respond to Lu Yan's next offensive?"

An old minister stood up tremblingly and said:

"Your Majesty, the only way to resist Lu Yan's attack is to recruit troops as soon as possible and strengthen our defenses!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! Lu Yan is unstoppable, we must be fully prepared!" Another minister echoed.

The king recalled how quickly Lu Yan had broken through Haixia Pass, and how the Beixiang Kingdom had been almost vulnerable before.

A trace of fear rose in my heart.

"In your opinion, how many troops should be mobilized?"

"Half a million!"

A minister said tentatively.

The king shook his head.

"Five hundred thousand is too little! Lu Yan has a strong army and horses, five hundred thousand is not enough! At least... at least seven hundred thousand!"

Seven hundred thousand! Everyone gasped. This number made their scalps tingle.

With an army of 700,000, how much food and supplies would that require?

How much of the people’s money will be extorted for this?

Even if we put all our efforts into this, we may not be able to gather so many people!

"Your Majesty, seven hundred thousand... I'm afraid..."

Someone was about to make an appeal, but was rudely interrupted by the king.

"Seven hundred thousand. I have made up my mind. Not a single one can be left behind."

He stood up suddenly, and the hem of his dragon robe swept across the ground, making a dull sound.

"Immediate conscription! Families with only one son are exempt, but all those with brothers, married with children, and under the age of forty are required to serve!"

With a deafening bang, the king's fist slammed down on the dragon table.

The golden nanmu desk was shaking slightly.

"Ministry of War! I leave this matter to you! No mistakes, and it must be done as soon as possible!"

The Minister of War accepted the order with a bitter face. Recruiting an army of 700,000 was no easy task.

He knew that this would be a bloody storm and a catastrophe that would cause public outrage.

……

At the same time, after Lu Yan arrived at Haixia Customs, he immediately began to arrange the aftermath.

Except for the necessary garrisons, he sent most of the soldiers back to Shannan Prefecture.

And personally supervised the vaccination of each soldier.

This move was more to stabilize the morale of the army than to prevent cholera.

After all, fear is worse than disease.

After dealing with many miscellaneous matters at Haixia Customs, Lu Yan led the medical team back to Shannan Prefecture.

On the way back, he deliberately slowed down his march.

So that these doctors who have been fighting on the front line of the plague for many days can have a good rest.

After returning to Shannan Prefecture, the first thing Lu Yan did was to host a banquet to entertain the medical team.

After three rounds of drinks, Lu Yan stood up and bowed deeply to everyone:

"Dear doctors, thank you for your hard work! Lu Yan, on behalf of the millions of people in Shannan Prefecture, pays tribute to you!"

This move flattered the doctors present.

They quickly stood up and returned the greeting, saying, "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it."

But he couldn't hide the excitement on his face.

"No, sir! We are just doing our duty as doctors. How dare we accept such a generous gift from you!"

An old doctor with white hair and beard said tremblingly.

"Yes, sir, saving the dying and healing the wounded is our duty, we shouldn't do this!"

Another young doctor echoed.

"Of course you can handle it!"

Lu Yan said loudly.

"You risked your lives, went deep into the epidemic area, developed vaccines, and saved countless lives. What a great achievement!"

"It is a blessing for the people of Shannan Prefecture to have you!"

Lu Yan's words made the doctors even more excited.

They originally thought that they were just doing their job, but they didn't expect to receive such high praise.

Some emotional doctors even had tears in their eyes.

"Everyone, go back and have a good rest. Tomorrow, I will award you honors in the square in front of the palace!"

Lu Yan said with a smile.

"Thank you, Master!"

The next day, the square in front of Shannan Prefecture was crowded with people and extremely lively.

The people gathered here early, looking forward to the grand awarding ceremony.

Lu Yan, dressed in his official uniform, stood on a high platform. His eyes swept over the dark crowd below, his heart filled with emotion.

"People, soldiers! Cholera is raging in Zhongzhou and Jingzhou. Although we took timely measures, over a thousand people have unfortunately died..."

Having said this, Lu Yan's voice became low and the audience became quiet.

"but!"

Lu Yan raised his voice.

"Through the unremitting efforts of our medical team, we successfully developed a cholera vaccine, averting a greater disaster for Shannan Prefecture! We saved countless lives and property!"

There was thunderous applause and cheers from the audience.

The people shouted, "The great doctor is mighty! The great master is wise!"

Expressing respect for the medical team and Lu Yan.

Lu Yan raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and continued:

"Here, I want to thank them in front of the people of the entire city! Thank you for their great contributions to Shannan Prefecture!"

After saying that, Lu Yan bowed deeply to the medical team again.

Afterwards, the awarding ceremony officially began.

Lu Yan personally awarded medals to each member of the medical team and announced that their deeds would be included in the Shannan Prefecture textbooks.

Let future generations learn from their spirit of "great doctors are fearless".

The doctors who received the medals were very excited, and some even burst into tears.

They didn't expect that they would receive such an honor just for doing what they could.

This is not only an affirmation of them personally, but also a respect and recognition for the medical profession.

After the awarding ceremony, Lu Yan did not rush to leave.

He walked up to the medical team and shook hands with each of them.

And asked about their physical condition and living conditions with concern.

"Doctor Li, your hand..."

Lu Yan noticed that a young doctor had thick bandages wrapped around his hands.

"Oh, it's nothing, sir, it's just a minor injury."

The young doctor quickly hid his hands behind his back, seeming a little embarrassed.

"A minor injury? This is not a minor injury!"

Lu Yan grabbed his hand and said in a serious tone.

"You risked your life testing poisons on yourself in order to develop a vaccine. This isn't just a minor injury! This is a major achievement!"

"Don't worry, I will definitely compensate you!"

The young doctor wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Lu Yan:

"No need to say more! You deserve it!"

Lu Yan turned to look at the other doctors and said loudly:

"Everyone, you are all heroes of Shannan Prefecture! I, Lu Yan, will remember all your contributions! From now on, if you need anything, just come to me! I will do my best!"

"Thank you, Master!"

The doctors responded in unison again.