(Thanks to Qizheng, Xiaochi, 1024, Sky and other book friends, as well as the Beauty League for their continued support!)

In the Changle Palace, the baby was born.

The maids who came in and out were extremely busy, with smiles on their faces. The arrival of a little life gave these maids who worked hard all day long infinite happiness. A while ago, when the old godly woman Ying was there,

There was almost silence in Changle Palace, you could even hear the sound of a needle falling on the ground.

"My dear, you can rest assured this time. Look, the little master is smiling at you." After waking up from fatigue, Ying Yushu burst into tears as soon as she saw her tender little arms and legs.

Come down, all the bitterness and suffering of these days are rewarded and released at this moment.

The birth of a new life also made the whole Qin State overjoyed. Chen Ping, Hou Xi, and Guan Yue, the subordinates who had followed Li Yuan for the longest time, all had opinions on Li Yuan's personal issues.

Li Yuan's personal problem, to put it bluntly, is who he married, which lady gave birth to the first boy, whether it was Ying Yushu, Gu Yunniang, or Xin Zhui. Until now, Li Yuan had no idea.

A clear statement.

After the Chang'an Palace was built, Ying Yushu and Gu Yunniang moved in one after another. This made the officials and their families who were too busy to be very excited, thinking that the good news of Li Yuandong and the two palaces in the west was just around the corner. But what happened next?

After coming down, Li Yuan let two beauties into the palace and moved into the Marquis Mansion himself. This made all the excited women dumbfounded.

Uncle and sister-in-law.

Because of Li You's relationship, the personal relationship between Li Yuan and Ying Yushu has always been secretive. Even though the Qin country's national style has always been open, everyone has the wisdom to keep quiet about such things that are not pleasant to say.

silence.

This taboo topic also made the ministers somewhat confused as to how to deal with it when talking about the marriage of Marquis Shenwu. However, Li Yuan has always kept secret about it. Now all the mystery is finally revealed. The child of Ying Yushu and Li Yuan

, making everyone’s hanging hearts finally fall.

Now, Qin's national power is gradually rising, and the princes of Guandong have been beaten by the Qin army again and again. This is all due to Li Yuan's leadership and prestige. Under the good situation, some dissent has also begun to resurface, such as

: Many people have repeatedly asked questions about why Shenwuhou was only a prince and not an emperor.

In terms of credit, no one contributed more than Li Yuan in the process of making Qin strong. Chen Ping and others also repeatedly advised Li Yuan not to become a Shenwuhou anymore, but to simply become the emperor directly.

In that case, people like them can also rise to the next level.

What did Li Yuan think? Chen Ping and others did not dare to ask, but even if they asked, it would probably be in vain because Li Yuan's answer would make them even more confused.

emperor.

That is just an illusory name, and it does not have much appeal to Li Yuan who has already gained real power. Because once he becomes the emperor, the etiquette constraints from the royal family, advice and advice from all parties will be like snowflakes.

As a wise and decisive emperor, every trip is like a struggle, and even free travel is not guaranteed.

Moreover, from Li Yuan's personal preference, he actually prefers to lead his troops on the frontline battlefield, drink large bowls of wine with the soldiers, and eat meat. Once he becomes the emperor, he may not have this freedom.

, at least if the emperor wanted to conduct a military expedition in person, as soon as he proposed it, he would immediately receive countless memorials admonishing him.

Now, the title of Marquis Shenwu gives him full confidence and reason to control the most important power of the Qin Dynasty. It allows him to shamelessly leave all state affairs to Chen Ping, the prime minister, and it also allows him to calm down when he is tired.

Rest peacefully and relax yourself.

The miserable emperor who was tired and miserable, had to go to court early every day, and could not even get a rest, it was better to stay there for now. Li Yuan actually had his own selfish motives for the future of Qin.

China's feudal society lasted for more than 1,800 years, which is the longest among all countries in the world. The major dynasties it experienced include the Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. This happened again and again.

Fundamentally speaking, the rise and fall of dynasties was due to the fact that power was vested in the emperor alone.

Similarly, the selection of successors is only selected from the descendants and clans of the previous emperor. This selection is too narrow. After all, it is not easy for a great man to appear in a clan. If it is like Tang Taizong, Tang

The chance of two powerful emperors appearing like Xuanzong was extremely small.

Therefore, if the Qin State's state machine wants to operate normally, if it relies on the emperor alone, sooner or later it will fall into the repeated pattern of the rise and fall of dynasties.

Now that the throne is vacant, his power is not small at all. Internal affairs officials such as Chen Ping, Guan Yue, Zhao Ben, and Li Zheng have been more tempered in their abilities because of Li Yuan's delegation of power. This is the most gratifying thing.

What I have seen is that the future of Qin cannot only rely on Li Yuan alone, but must rely on the efforts of everyone.

The second day.

Li Yuan led a group of civil and military personnel to the altar of the Qin State to thank the ancestors of the Qin State and the deceased kings of the past dynasties. In the afternoon, they rushed to the Monument Forest to pay homage to the young people who had sacrificed their lives for the great cause of the rejuvenation of the Qin State.

Li Yuan insisted on comparing the generals who died on the battlefield with their ancestors.

At the same time, the Qin Dynasty announced that January 1st would be the day of the restoration of the Qin State. From now on, on this day every year, the restoration ceremony will be held, and at the same time, the memorial ceremony for the Forest of Steles will be held.

Happy days begin with the ringing of the New Year's bell.

Li Yuan accompanied Ying Yushu and his son for more than a month. This period was also the happiest and peaceful period for him in the past five years, as if the war and gunpowder smoke were far away from the land of Qin.

After the Chenggao Alliance, the exchange of captured soldiers between the two countries continued. Nearly 100,000 captured soldiers of the Qin army returned to their hometowns one after another. Some of them encountered the same thing as Ma Jin, and some were overjoyed.

Reunion with their families, and some never find their relatives again.

Joy and sorrow, everyone has his or her own fate.

Maybe, this is life.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the beginning of the sixth year of the Qin Dynasty. According to the Western calendar of later generations, this was 202 BC. In this historical year, the four-year war between Chu and Han was coming to an end, and the Battle of Gaixia started in December.

, Overlord Xiang Yu finally died on the bank of Wujiang River, and the Western Han Dynasty established by Liu Bang began.

Today, everything is very different.

In the previous year, Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was killed in a battle with the Qin army on the banks of the Zhang River, and the power of the Han State was basically eliminated. Instead of the confrontation between the Han State and the Chu State, it was the more energetic and powerful Qin army under Li Yuan.

——.

Shenwuhou Mansion.

Li Yuan held in each hand a silk letter from Chang'an East City and a parchment scroll from the Western Regions. He looked thoughtful. After a while, the look of determination in his eyebrows gradually grew.

The silk newspaper in the East City was reported by Guan Yue, who was in charge of commerce. It recorded that in the past three months, the number of Hu merchants coming from the west had decreased sharply. Many Hu merchants who had opened shops in Chang'an had even disappeared after going west.

There was no reply. The sheepskin scrolls in the Western Regions are the summary of the war between the Western Regions and the Xiongnu sent back by Bai Guangji and Li Zhongxiang who were sent to the Western Regions the previous year.

There are only a few words in this volume of parchment, not more than a hundred words. But the content recorded in it is so thrilling that people can't help but feel excited after reading it.

In July of the fifth year of the Qin Dynasty, Bai Guangji and Li Zhongxiang led the Qin envoys of more than 130 people from Didao to Hexi, passing through Jincheng and other places controlled by the Qiang people, and then in the area of ​​Gaizang City, the former capital of the Yuezhi people, they were captured by the Xiongnu

You Qi discovered that Bai and Li led the crowd to hide in the vast Qilian Mountains as a last resort.

They stayed in hiding for more than three months. Finally, when winter came, the ice and snow covered them, and the Huns retreated, the Qin Army delegation continued westward, passing through Yumen and other places along the way, and first arrived at Loulan, a great country on the banks of Daze in the Western Regions.

Here, the envoys from the Qin State met the envoys sent by the Xiongnu Maodun.

King Loulan held a banquet and invited envoys from the two powerful countries to attend the banquet. At this banquet, the Xiongnu envoy took the lead in attacking and wanted to compete with the Qin envoy in terms of wrestling and archery. As a result, the Xiongnu won in terms of wrestling. In the archery competition, the Xiongnu

The warrior was shot with three arrows by Li Zhongxiang, killing three people.

Li Zhongxiang won the reputation of "King of Sharpshooters" in Loulan. More importantly, the little princess of Loulan King took a fancy to Li Zhongxiang and insisted on keeping him as his consort.

Li Zhongxiang, who cares about the Qin Dynasty and is eager to follow the footsteps of the Qin army, naturally does not want to stay in Loulan. Regarding this, Bai Guangji, who has been dormant in the Hexi area early in the morning, has another opinion on this.

At the back of this parchment, Bai Guangji put forward his own suggestion. The Qin State could use the marriage between Li Zhongxiang and Princess Loulan to form an alliance with Loulan, a big country in the Western Regions, so as to attack from both sides and reopen the silk of the Hexi Corridor.

An important passage on the road.

Open up the Hexi Corridor.

Such an important trade route can make the trade channel of Eastern and Western culture and products smoother. For the Qin State, it is like the main artery of a powerful country.

In the sheepskin scroll, Bai Guangji also mentioned that the Dayuezhi who retreated to the Tianshan area were once again defeated by the Xiongnu's Western Expedition a year ago. Now, the intention of using the Dayuezhi people to contain the Huns has been impossible to realize. The Dayuezhi people

Already frightened by repeated defeats, they did not dare to fight against the Huns cavalry again.

With the loss of Dayuezhi, the main force in the resistance against the Huns, the situation in the Western Regions became increasingly unfavorable to the Qin State. Within the Xiongnu tribe, after a year of integration, the Great Chan Yu Maodun had basically completed the integration of all the grassland areas.

As long as Mao Dun gives an order to conquer the tribe, the hungry wolves on the grassland may raise their troops and march south at any time.

In view of the severe situation, Bai and Li finally suggested that the Qin army must quickly send troops to Hexi in the shortest possible time and use a powerful offensive to reopen the trade routes in the Western Regions that had been cut off by the Huns. Only in this way can the Qin State resume its operations.

Draw nutrients from the blood of the Silk Road.

There are fierce tigers in the east and wolves in the west.

Time waits for no one, and the Qin State caught in the middle once again faces a severe test on the road to becoming a powerful country. Unlike the war against the Guandong princes, once the Battle of Hexi begins, it will be a battle to show off the country's prestige and fight against foreign invaders. (To be continued.

.)
Chapter completed!