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

"Your Majesty, our Wuzhao Kingdom has lost!"

Zhang Gui lost control of her emotions, slamming her fists into the ground repeatedly, her face filled with resentment and regret.

Li Hong remained silent, his expression unchanged, as he quietly watched Zhang Gui weep at his feet.

After a long while, he slowly said, "Zhang Gui, are you hungry? Have a meal with me."

Zhang Gui thought he had misheard, and looked up at Li Hong in disbelief: "Your Majesty, you..."

Li Hong waved his hand and continued, "I'm hungry. How can a person not eat?"

"Your Majesty, did you hear what I just said? We've been defeated! The elite troops of Wuzhao have been utterly defeated by the Chu army!"

"shut up!"

Li Hong abruptly stopped Zhang Gui from continuing.

"Zhang Gui, you are the number one warrior of my Wu Zhao Kingdom, and you grew up with me. How can you make such a joke?"

"Your Majesty, really..."

"Look at these reports. They are all the achievements of my Wu Zhao Kingdom in annihilating foreign barbarians. I am waiting for the Empress of Great Chu to personally apologize and beg for forgiveness from me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gui slowly rose, bowed to Li Hong, and said, "Your Majesty, please wake up! A wise man like you, surely you know that these reports are false claims made by local authorities to avoid Your Majesty's punishment?"

Li Hong chuckled: "Zhang Gui, you're becoming more and more lawless. You actually dared to deceive me. I didn't even know about the situation in Southern Zhili, yet you found out before me?"

Zhang Gui calmly replied, "This servant is the Chief Minister of the Grand Council. The Grand Council is His Majesty's eyes and ears."

It was used to supervise the military, civilians, and officials of the realm, and to handle affairs within the inner court.

If this servant couldn't even find out this much, then I would have failed His Majesty's trust.

Li Hong's expression finally changed: "Zhang Gui, why can't you say a few nice words? I've been disgusted by your bad temper since I was a child. How come you're still so straightforward even though you're practically in the grave?"

Zhang Gui: "This servant has a bad temper because he knows he should share the Emperor's burdens and be an upright official. Besides, how many sycophants are around the Emperor?"

"We don't need another lackey. If a lackey becomes as glib and eloquent as He Yong or Ji Yun, Your Majesty would rather just kill the lackey outright."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong slumped helplessly in front of the imperial chair: "You mean, Fu Heng and his men really suffered a crushing defeat?"

Zhang Gui nodded painfully: "Your Majesty, the elite troops of Wuzhao have truly been wiped out."

Li Hong's face turned ashen, and he fell silent once more.

After a long while, he shook his head: "No, we didn't lose. Our Wuzhao elites could not possibly lose."

Zhang Gui, unable to bear it any longer, cried out, "Your Majesty, please wake up! This servant truly did not lie to you, they..."

"I said we haven't lost, so we haven't lost!"

Li Hong sternly stopped Zhang Gui from continuing.

"How could the true warriors of the Wu Camp, the elite of my Wu Zhao army, possibly fail? They clearly won the battle and made outstanding contributions to my Wu Zhao!"

Zhang Gui fell silent. He noticed that Li Hong's expression was very calm, showing no signs of being possessed.

That means Li Hong has an extremely clear understanding of the current situation.

"Zhang Gui, I ask you, how many people know about this news?"

"Besides His Majesty, only your servants and trusted confidants know the truth."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong immediately said to Zhang Gui, "Make your confidant shut up forever, and this news must never be leaked."

Zhang Gui was taken aback: "Your Majesty, you mean..."

"My soldiers have won a great victory! The whole country should celebrate!" Li Hong's emotions gradually became agitated. "They defeated the foreign barbarians and forced them to sue for peace with me. I want to reward these brave soldiers with honors and titles."

"Your Majesty, what will happen to the families of those military officers if you do this...?"

Zhang Gui already understood what Li Hong was going to do, but the problem now was how to settle the families of those military officers.

"A generous reward!"

Li Hong answered without hesitation.

"I will reward them until they have nothing left to say. The reward will be taken from the national treasury, and if that's not enough, it will come from my own private funds. I will also hold a grand victory banquet."

Let the people of the world know the illustrious name of my Wu Zhao army, and let them know that no one can shake the prosperity of Wu Zhao!

For a moment, Zhang Gui felt that Li Hong had completely gone mad.

He didn't understand why Li Hong would make such a decision given that the situation had developed to this point.

The empire's most elite military force suffered a crushing defeat, an unprecedented and devastating one, ten times worse than the Battle of Hotongbo during the reign of the previous emperor.

Even if you can bribe the families of those military officers with real money to keep them from speaking the truth, the news of Wu Zhao's defeat will eventually be known to the world.

When that time comes, won't you be afraid of retaliation?

However, Li Hong was well aware of the extent to which the situation in the war against the Chu army had deteriorated.

But the annihilation of the empire's elite forces was far more than just a loss of face; it affected his control over the Wu Zhao Kingdom and even weakened his consolidation of his throne like never before.

The reason Li Hong was able to control the court and the country was not because of his political skill. In fact, after he ascended the throne, the biggest internal challenge was the gradual corruption of the court and the country's officials. The biggest external threat was the Wadang Khanate, which had long since disintegrated after being suppressed by successive Wu Zhao emperors.

Aside from these factors, the empire he inherited was already a highly atomized society, a so-called peaceful and prosperous society, which did not require any iron-fisted measures.

The challenges he faced were far less difficult than those faced by his ancestors and father; he only needed to employ some of the art of rulership to secure his rule.

Although Li Hong did indeed have military talent, he revitalized the military camp that had been abandoned for hundreds of years.

However, the resistance to those military and political reforms was negligible compared to the ever-present threat of attacks from the powerful families of Chu that Jiang Mengxuan had to face.

After all, Jiang Mengxuan faced unprecedented life threats during the process of reforming the military and government and transforming the social structure into a more urbanized society; a slight misstep could lead to utter ruin.

But Li Hong did not have that; he had a group of loyal ministers and servants around him whom he could order around at will.

Moreover, when comparing military achievements, compared to the Battle of Luchuan, which Jiang Mengxuan advocated for, it is rather unremarkable.

Those so-called perfect martial arts were only effective against third-rate forces, and some were even considered mere counterinsurgency wars. They couldn't even push aside second-rate forces and had to rely on national strength to suppress them.

In particular, the Battle of Xuechuan cost Li Hong a total of 90 million taels of silver from the national treasury.

Jiang Mengxuan's Chu army attacked Luchuan without spending any money, and was able to extract a large amount of industrial resources from Luchuan.

This is the essential difference between the two.

Therefore, Li Hong's oppressive rule was achieved because the social structure was on the verge of transformation, and the people in major cities were characterized by a combination of slave caste system and citizenization.

Li Hong's creation of the imperial golden age was not a stroke of genius, but rather an inevitable result of the social development of the Wu Zhao dynasty.

His ability to easily control this atomized society relied not only on the monetization of public finances ensured by the land tax reform established by the late emperor, but also on the elite military forces.

But now, the land tax system was basically abolished by him two years ago, and the elite military camp was also defeated by the Chu army.

Li Hong is now in an extremely awkward position. If the world were to find out that the Wu Camp had failed, he would not only lose face, but it would also shake the foundation of the Wu Zhao Kingdom.

Therefore, this seemingly crazy move was actually a response plan that Li Hong came up with in a very short time after learning that Fu Heng's army had been defeated by the Chu army.

As long as the people of the world believe that Wu Zhao has won, then negotiating peace with the Chu army will become extremely logical.

Even if reparations and territorial concessions were paid, it could be justified as a "gift" from foreign barbarians. At that time, Wu Zhao could still control the country.

Li Hong remains the greatest emperor in the history of the Wu Zhao dynasty.

Zhang Gui would never understand this.