Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon hearing the battle report, He Yong immediately knelt on the ground without uttering a word, not daring to even breathe.

However, after a moment of stunned silence, Li Hong raised his hand and asked the scout who had come to report, "Where's the battle report?"

His tone was calm, revealing no emotional fluctuation.

The scout lowered his head and hurriedly took down the bamboo tube hanging on his back and presented it to Li Hong.

Li Hong snatched the bamboo tube, opened it, and took out the battle report to read it.

"Hehe, Quan Xiancheng underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, while Huli Guang was eager for quick success and profit. Their pre-battle oversight allowed the Dongyi troops to take advantage of the situation."

"I truly never expected that these two seasoned veterans would make such a mistake in the face of battle."

With that, he slammed the battle report in his hand onto the table.

"He Yong!"

"The slave is here."

"Draft an edict for me: Hulü Guang and Quan Xiancheng's mismanagement has resulted in heavy losses for the imperial army. Effective immediately, they are hereby temporarily stripped of their command positions and allowed to remain in the army to atone for their crimes through meritorious service."

"I order Fuheng and Lou Shide to strengthen the training of the Dragon Guards, and await further imperial decrees, to rush to the battlefield and relieve the army of command, and to ensure that the Eastern Barbarians are conquered in one fell swoop."

"Your servant obeys the decree and will go to write it down immediately."

He Yong immediately stood up, bowed, and retreated backward from the Golden Palace.

"You may also step down."

"The slave retire."

The scouts retreated from the palace gates, trembling with fear.

An eerie silence instantly fell over the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Feng Chun, the head eunuch who served him closely, kept twitching his eyelids. He knew his master all too well, and the calmer he appeared, the more intense his anger became.

After about fifteen minutes, Li Hong picked up the battle report again and looked at it carefully.

"I'm so angry!"

With a roar, he threw the battle report in his hand onto the main hall.

"With the war in such a state, how can I celebrate my birthday, and how can I proclaim the might of my nation before all the worlds!"

"Quan Xiancheng has ruined the country! Huli Guang has misled me!"

"If we can't even conquer a small Dongyi, who will take Wuzhao Kingdom seriously in the future? Won't we just become a laughing stock among those foreign tribes?!"

Now that there were no outsiders present, Li Hong completely dropped his pretense and roared in the hall.

Feng Chun immediately knelt down, his face full of worry as he advised, "Your Majesty, you must take care of your health. Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Our Wuzhao is now a prosperous nation, and we will surely turn the tide and turn defeat into victory!"

"What do you know, you lackey!"

Li Hong turned around and angrily confronted Feng Chun.

"This defeat has only emboldened the Dongyi barbarians! Let those barbarian states that come to pay tribute know that it would cost hundreds of elite warriors to fight a small Dongyi. Who will be respectful to me or to the Wuzhao Kingdom in the future!"

"Since my ascension to the throne, I have attacked the Kuohai in the north, resisted the Xihuang in the south, slaughtered the Xuechuan in the west, annihilated my long-time enemy, the Wagang tribe, wiped out the various barbarian tribes of the north, and deterred the surrounding villains."

But now, this tiny Dongyi tribe has been fighting for a whole year without success. With just those arquebuses and firearms, they almost trapped my Wuzhao elite troops to death in Mangshan.

In short, I have never been so humiliated, nor have I ever been so pathetic in my entire life!

Feng Chun silently endured Li Honglong's fury, kneeling on the ground and not daring to breathe loudly.

After a long while, Li Hong returned to his desk, leaned back on the dragon throne, closed his eyes, and pondered for a long time.

"Go and summon Zhang Gui to me. I am waiting for him in the Imperial Study."

"The slave obeys the order."

Feng Chun immediately got up and left.

……

An hour later, a weathered-looking old general, nearing seventy, stepped into the imperial study.

"Your subject Zhang Gui greets Your Majesty!"

"Zhang Gui, stand up and speak."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Zhang Gui got up, Feng Chun immediately ordered two eunuchs outside the door to bring a chair to Zhang Gui's back.

Li Hong nodded: "Sit down. I have some questions I'd like to hear your opinion on."

After Zhang Gui took his seat, he spoke directly: "Your Majesty summoned me to discuss the defeat of our Celestial Empire's army in the war against the Eastern Barbarians, right?"

Among all the officials and civil servants, only Zhang Gui dared to speak frankly to Li Hong.

Zhang Gui was also a foreigner with outstanding military achievements. In the two battles of Xuechuan, he personally waved the flag and beat the drum to command the battle, and despite severe altitude sickness, he annihilated the Xuechuan rebels in one fell swoop.

After the Battle of Xuechuan, Zhang Gui was promoted to General of Valiant Might and granted the title of Second-Class Duke.

He later participated in the war to pacify the Tianli Sect and the war to annihilate the Northern Barbarians, achieving remarkable military exploits. He was deeply trusted by Li Hong and was further granted the title of First-Class Duke and a luxurious mansion.

Although Zhang Gui held considerable power and held an extremely prominent position, he never committed a single act of corruption or bribery, nor did he take the opportunity to amass wealth. He supported his entire family solely on the meager income provided by the imperial court, living a very frugal life. Among the many powerful and influential figures, he was an outlier who did not fit in with the crowd.

Moreover, because of his straightforward nature, he repeatedly dared to contradict Li Hong, which made Li Hong want to kill him several times. However, under the persuasion of his ministers, he ultimately couldn't bear to part with such a capable and beloved general.

Since the end of the Northern Mang War, Zhang Gui has never led troops to the battlefield again. Instead, he has been idle at home, only showing his face at court assemblies.

This is Li Hong's strategy of checks and balances. You, Zhang Gui, have already achieved great success, it's time for other generals to make contributions. He doesn't want to cultivate a powerful minister by his side who threatens his throne.

"Why do I feel so uncomfortable every time I talk to you, with your terrible temper?"

Li Hong smiled helplessly at Zhang Gui's straightforward explanation.

Zhang Gui: "His Majesty is a wise ruler, why would he care about the words of his subjects? I am but a mere military man, I do not know how to flatter."

I only know that if Your Majesty needs me, I will go through fire and water for you, even unto death.

Li Hong: "Perhaps it's your personality that makes me both love and hate you. Anyway, let's get down to business. What are your thoughts on the defeat of Quan Xiancheng and his Dongyi forces?"

Zhang Gui cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, may I have a look at the battle report?"

"Come and get it yourself."

Zhang Gui took the battle report from the imperial desk and read it carefully, then frowned.

"What, have you figured out why?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. Judging from the battle reports, I believe that Quan Xiancheng and Hulü Guang's tactics were correct."

The fact that these two generals were able to fight and retreat while surrounded by a large army, and successfully break through the encirclement with minimal casualties, shows that they were well-prepared.

Li Hong: "If that's the case, then how could we possibly lose?"

Zhang Gui: "Your Majesty, the army's defeat was not due to the insufficient fighting strength of our Wu Zhao Kingdom, but rather to the extremely small number of soldiers we have."

Of the 40,000-strong army that went on the expedition to the Eastern Barbarians, only 3,000 men under Quan Xiancheng and Huli Guang, plus 1,000 cavalry from the outer vassal states, were truly capable of fighting.

The remaining soldiers were only to serve as auxiliary troops, transporting provisions and supplies for the elite troops and forging weapons.

When the two generals launched their general offensive and were surrounded, only a thousand iron cavalry from the outer vassal states came to their aid.

The remaining tens of thousands of troops remained entrenched in their camp without making any move, which led to this crushing defeat.

After listening, Li Hong said with a dark face, "You're right. This group of incompetent people are truly harming the country and me. I can't expect them to share my burdens!"

Zhang Gui: "Your Majesty, after so many years of war, I have discovered a major flaw in our military system: in every battle we engage in, we are outnumbered and outgunned."

It will naturally be very difficult, and if adjustments aren't made in time, when facing a truly formidable enemy in the future, their weaknesses will surely be discovered and used as a breakthrough.