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

"Great news! Wu Zhao Kingdom has won! His Majesty is overjoyed, and the whole country is celebrating!"

The following day, on the streets of Shengjing, more than a dozen teams of fast horses galloped to spread the news of the victory of the military officers and soldiers.

When the people took to the streets and heard the news, they immediately cheered loudly.

"I knew I could win."

"The Wu Zhao Kingdom is so powerful, yet this small barbarian tribe dares to provoke them. They are truly courting death."

"That's right. Since its founding, our Wu Zhao Kingdom has been a nation built on horseback, fighting tough battles all along."

That barbarian nation dared to invade my Wuzhao territory; they truly have no regard for their own lives.

"Let's see how these barbarians kneel before the Emperor and whine after they enter the capital."

"It's a pity we can't enter the capital, otherwise we would at least be able to see what those barbarians look like."

In an instant, the streets and alleys were filled with noise, and everyone was laughing like a complete idiot.

Especially in front of the breakfast stalls, a circle of people with fried dough sticks already coated in starch were drinking soy milk and eating fried dough sticks, occasionally letting out hearty laughter.

Wu Zhaoguo won, which means they won, so of course the whole country should celebrate.

Of course, some ordinary people simply heard about it and then forgot about it.

Compared to Wu Zhaoguo's victory, they were more concerned about how much money they could earn today, whether the price of rice in the market would drop, or how to buy some cheap vegetables before the market closed.

These people are well aware that the fleeting pleasure brought by spirituality cannot replace the pain caused by material scarcity.

The common people of Shengjing were in an uproar, as were the families of the military officers.

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The soldiers of the Martial Camp have fought bravely against the enemy, defeated the barbarians, and defended the nation; their merits are truly outstanding."

Although the main army has not yet returned, His Majesty is greatly pleased and has specially distributed rewards to the families of all those who have rendered meritorious service in advance.

After the officer reading the imperial edict in a cold voice, a large contingent of imperial guards immediately carried heavy boxes to the families of the military camp.

When the box was opened, a burst of dazzling jewels immediately dazzled the eye.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After a brief silence, more than 30,000 family members bowed and kowtowed to receive their rewards.

The rewards were extremely generous, costing a total of two million taels of silver just for the families of military officers in Shengjing.

"This servant thanks Your Majesty for the reward."

An elderly family member of a military officer accepted the silver, bowing and scraping repeatedly.

After counting the amount of silver, his eyes lit up and he couldn't help but ask, "Wow, why is His Majesty giving so much this time?"

Upon hearing this, the officer glared at him and said, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that His Majesty didn't give us enough before?"

The family member hurriedly said, "No, sir, you've misunderstood. How could I dare?"

"That's not what I meant. Take the reward and leave quickly, there's a long line behind you."

"Alright, this servant will leave now."

"Wait, you better remember this, this is a reward from His Majesty."

"Yes, yes, yes, this servant thanks Your Majesty for your kindness. I will serve you for life. Now, off I go!"

The family member left happily with the silver, muttering to himself as he went, "This is rare. In the past, the rewards were only a few taels of silver each time. How come this time it's more than the pension?"

Oh dear, why am I thinking so much? With so much money, let's go eat and drink at Defu Restaurant tonight, hehehe—"

Perhaps these military families won't understand what this money means.

In addition to sending a large sum of silver to the families of military officers in the capital, Li Hong also sent another large sum of silver to be transported towards the area beyond the Great Wall.

In short, Li Hong is going all out this time, sparing no expense.

The vacuum created by military defeats was extremely fatal for a monarch of a dynasty that governed by oppressive and reactionary rule.

To avoid countless irreversible events during this period of power vacuum, Li Hong could only maintain his rule by continuously providing financial support and controlling public opinion, until the establishment of the next elite mobile force.

This was a required course for emperors.

This is especially important when the dynasty is still in its rise and fall and when a foreign ethnic group is in control of the political situation.

Although the probability of a planned uprising is extremely low for a social group that has already achieved atomization and is under the high-pressure surveillance of their families in the inner city, once public opinion gets out of control, the backlash will be far greater than any previous rebellion.

In retrospect, Li Hong's high-profile propaganda campaign, in which he declared himself "completely defeated," has proven quite effective.

Even the princes and nobles at the core of the social hierarchy were completely won over by this series of public opinions.

Inside the Prince Qing's residence, Li Hong's thirty-three-year-old son, Li Yan, was hosting a banquet for various noble guests, naturally to celebrate the victory of Wu Zhao Kingdom over the foreign barbarians.

When the various princes and nobles met, each of them wore a professional smile.

Inside the hall, two noblemen of the same generation bowed to each other in thanks.

"Your Highness, you've arrived."

"Master Guan, you've come too! Please come in."

The two greeted each other with great enthusiasm. After exchanging greetings, they stepped forward together and leaned their shoulders against each other to show their intimacy.

The two men, one of whom appeared quiet and reserved, had a rather unassuming face and was named Wang Shanshui.

The other one, who looked resentful and seemed to be owed millions of dollars by everyone, was named Guan Mao.

Both men were key ministers of Li Hong's reign, holding the position of Grand Secretary in the Inner Cabinet.

Because the two were of Di ethnicity and looked down on the locals, they spared no effort in slandering the previous dynasty. By praising the Wu Zhao dynasty and ignoring the suffering of the people, they moved Li Hong and were enrolled in the Di ethnicity. They then worked even harder to exploit the local people, whom they considered uneducated, in order to gain Li Hong's attention.

Compared to Wang Shanshui's low-level tactics of getting people imprisoned for his foul mouth, Guan Mao went even further, changing his ancestry to Di people.

The smear campaign against the previous dynasty was so thorough that even the Di people themselves couldn't stand it, showcasing the best of Di literature.

After hearing that Wu Zhaoguo had defeated the Chu army, the two boasted to each other dozens of times before the banquet even began, spouting nothing but empty rhetoric like "My Emperor is the greatest emperor of all time."

At this moment, Crown Prince Li Yan had already raised his cup to pay tribute to everyone.

"Come, Your Highnesses and Dukes, let us raise a toast to the glorious era of Wuzhao."

"Please, Your Highness."

Everyone stood up in unison to return the salute.

After a glass of wine, everyone began to speak freely again, and they even started praising each other.

After two cups of wine, Guan Mao started spouting nonsense: "Since I, Wu Zhao, took over this land from the corrupt and incompetent Ming Zhao,

After more than four hundred years and countless trials and tribulations, we have finally achieved this prosperous era. Now, peace and tranquility reign, and the people live in peace and contentment—all thanks to His Majesty.

Wang Shanshui wholeheartedly agreed: "Your Majesty is truly a great emperor of all time, and his achievements are unprecedented!"

Guan Mao nodded vigorously: "That tiny Chu Kingdom was so overconfident that it suffered such a defeat today. We just need His Majesty to escort these foreign barbarian leaders to the capital and behead them as a warning to the public."

"it is good!"

Their words immediately won thunderous applause.

Li Yan laughed even more happily.

At this time, Shengjing and even the entire north were immersed in an atmosphere of "Yingxue" (the study of Ying), which was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

Little did he know that the idealistic atmosphere that Li Hong had painstakingly created was about to be torn apart by Shen Lang's materialistic views.