The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"We also acknowledge that before he started waging war on the borders, he was a good emperor, and his imperial methods were top-notch."

Old Zhu, who usually evaluates based on his own preferences, also gave it a rare affirmation.

There was no way around it; even from his current perspective, Emperor Wu of Han's handling of the vassal states and his decision to exclusively promote Confucianism were both excellent.

Most importantly, no matter which emperor were in power and which decree was issued, the effect would never be better than the Edict of Grace!

In dealing with the vassal states, this open scheme is absolutely unsolvable!

"Is it really his fault that he's using troops outside the Great Wall?"

"Old Zhu, don't forget, your Ming Dynasty also perished outside the Great Wall."

"Not only you, but the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty were the same."

"On the issue of the area beyond the Great Wall, my opinion is the same as Emperor Wu's. If we don't deal with it soon, it will lead to disaster sooner or later!"

On the issue of military strategy, Li Er directly sided with Liu Che.

Even if we are criticized for being militaristic and wasteful, we must never reduce the number of troops that need to be used!

Once the suppression is gone, it won't be long before there is a backlash!

"Hmph, we won't argue with you. We still hold the same view: if Emperor Wu of Han hadn't been protected by Emperors Zhao and Xuan, the Han Dynasty would probably have perished much earlier!"

Old Zhu was not convinced.

His preferences for emperors throughout history were quite simple.

A good emperor is one who treats the people well, and no amount of praise is too much.

No matter how many achievements a ruler makes, if he is bad to the people, he is still a tyrant and a foolish ruler!

"Old Zhu, you're too stubborn. There aren't that many 'what ifs' in this world."

"And even if the Han Dynasty really did fall at the hands of Emperor Wu, can you deny his achievements?"

Li Er was somewhat dissatisfied.

He always felt that Zhu Yuanzhang was being too harsh on Emperor Wu of Han.

How could someone who could be listed among the top five wise rulers by immortals be an mediocre person?

Moreover, even Li Er (Emperor Taizong of Tang) showed more respect than anything else towards Emperor Wu of Han.

It's not just the unprecedentedly brilliant scheme of the "Decree of Grace" that he devised, but also his attitude towards the countries beyond the Great Wall!

It was only from the time of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, that the entire Han Dynasty truly stood tall!

The next moment, the words that reappeared on the sky seemed to confirm Li Er's words.

Looking at all the dynasties in history books, they can be divided into two types.

It was either a powerful dynasty that waged wars abroad.

Or it was a weak dynasty that was constantly harassed by those outside the Great Wall until it was destroyed.

The once mighty Han Dynasty belonged to the latter category.

After the Battle of Baideng, which was the last battle fought by Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang), the Han Dynasty's attitude towards the Xiongnu was mainly based on marriage alliances, and it almost never took the initiative to wage war.

The approach towards South Vietnam and Liaodong was primarily one of passive defense and trade sanctions.

If this continues, it won't be long before the Xiongnu grow into an uncontrollable behemoth!

After all, during the siege of Baideng, the Xiongnu had already gathered nearly 400,000 troops to besiege Liu Bang.

Even though Liu Bang ultimately managed to break through the encirclement, it's clear that the strength of the Xiongnu could no longer be ignored!

Liu Bang: “…”

Immortal, this is not fair!

Although I know you always like to expose shortcomings when you do reviews.

But isn't this just taking stock of my descendant Liu Che?

Why are you suddenly revealing my shortcomings?

"An army of 400,000? The Xiongnu's strength has actually grown to this extent?"

Ying Zheng was also surprised.

He always believed that as long as the Great Wall was built, it would effectively prevent the people on the border from being plundered and could easily block the Xiongnu's attacks.

But now it seems that this is not the case!

That's a full 400,000 troops!

"This number alone shows just how much pressure the Han Dynasty faced back then!"

"An army of 400,000! Let alone the Xiongnu, could any of you emperors of a unified dynasty easily muster such a force?"

Most emperors remained silent in the face of Li Er's words.

Most of them would probably have to empty their pockets and give up everything to raise an army of 400,000!

As for those countries that are not unified dynasties, they simply cannot muster such a large number of troops!

"I can say this right here: Emperor Wu of Han did not make a mistake in taking the initiative. If he had not been so assertive, the southward migration of the elite and the chaos of the Five Barbarian Tribes would have happened hundreds of years earlier!"

Seeing that no one objected, Li Er continued.

In his mind, the most humiliating era was one that even the Song Dynasty had to be relegated to a later period.

The most humiliating and resentful period was that of the Jin Dynasty, when its elites fled south!

"The elite fled south..."

Old Zhu couldn't find any words to refute this.

When Li Er brought this up, it was tantamount to throwing out a royal flush.

indeed.

The consequences of a Central Plains dynasty showing weakness were already demonstrated during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties.

The people not only starved to death, but also suffered from the ravages of war. In many places, people even had to become food for the nomadic tribes.

But all of this changed completely under the rule of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che!

He established the dignity of the Han Dynasty, enabling it to stand tall again when facing the Xiongnu!

He admitted that he was warlike and aggressive, and even went so far as to increase taxes and sell official positions in order to fight against the Xiongnu!

He was even willing to issue an edict of self-reproach in his later years, admitting his mistakes.

But he never regretted his campaign against the Xiongnu!

He knew that if he did not take the initiative to attack the Xiongnu in the north, once the Xiongnu had fully gained momentum and launched a counterattack, the number of civilians who died would be several times, or even dozens of times, more than he had caused by his aggressive military campaigns!

From him onwards, the balance of power between the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu underwent a complete transformation!

At this point, the writing on the sky disappeared, replaced by images.

In the imperial court, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, looked down at the civil and military officials below and angrily threw the bamboo slips in his hand away.

"Peace begging, peace begging, it's peace begging again!"

"My dear ministers, is this the solution you've come up with for dealing with the Xiongnu?"

"I will never forget how our ancestor, Emperor Taizu, humbled himself and how Modu Chanyu was so aggressive, even repeatedly insulting the Empress Dowager of our Great Han!"

"If anyone has forgotten this humiliation, step forward now, and I will allow you to retire to your hometown!"

Liu Che slowly rose, his eyes fixed straight ahead, and quietly looked at the officials who had their heads bowed.

Faced with his questioning, no one dared to refute him.

Or rather, this is simply undeniable.

The Xiongnu repeatedly invaded, and the Xiongnu Chanyu wrote a letter insulting the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty. How could the Empress Dowager possibly endure such humiliation?

It's all true!

Even though for a long time, the officials of the Han Dynasty were terrified of mentioning Empress Lü, not one of them denied her status as the mother of the nation!

"You all should understand the principle of 'a subject should die for his master' better than I do."

"But today, I do not want you to die. In fact, what I want to ask is not whether my great Han Dynasty should go to war with the Xiongnu, but what I want to ask you."

"Should our great Han Dynasty continue to endure such humiliation? Do you want the Xiongnu to humiliate me in the same way? Do you want the people on our borders to continue to be harassed by the Xiongnu?"

"Do you want to fight, or do you want to be beaten?"