Chapter 417: The Future Direction of the Great Han

After resolving the matter of the Yuan family, Liu Bian addressed the assembled officials:

"My beloved ministers, since I led the army to pacify the rebel factions of Dong Zhuo in Liangzhou and Bingzhou over a month ago, after more than fifty days of campaigning, I have finally quelled the rebellions in both provinces."

"This victory relies entirely on the blood-soaked struggle and heroic slaughter of the enemy by the soldiers of the three armies, allowing us to pacify the rebellions in both provinces in such a short time."

"Therefore, I have decided to select a site outside Luoyang City to establish a Shrine of Heroic Souls, specifically dedicated to enshrining the spirit tablets of our Great Han soldiers who fell in battle."

"From now on, as long as they are soldiers of the Great Han Empire, after they sacrifice their lives, their position in the Shrine of Heroic Souls will be determined not by status, but by the magnitude of their merit; the greater the merit, the higher the placement of the tablet."

"Furthermore, I shall designate a day each year specifically for the people of our Great Han to go and mourn these heroic souls."

As Liu Bian finished speaking, the entire Court Hall fell into a deep silence.

They were all shocked by Liu Bian's idea; throughout history, there had never been an emperor who cared so much for fallen soldiers.

They could imagine that once this news spread, a wave of enthusiasm for joining the army would emerge across the Great Han Empire.

In the past, recruiting soldiers was a very difficult task; apart from those commoners who could no longer survive and would arrange for the men in their families to join the army, it was hard to recruit anyone else.

For those who could not survive, becoming a soldier became the only path to life.

Although being a soldier and going to the battlefield was dangerous, if you didn't join the army, you would starve to death; it was better to take a gamble, and if you happened to achieve merit, you might find a way out.

After a long while, the ministers finally regained their composure and shouted with full reverence toward Liu Bian:

"Your Majesty is wise! We submit!"

Seeing this, Liu Bian nodded with satisfaction and continued:

"To celebrate this great victory, I have decided to reward all Great Han soldiers with one Spirit Stone Fragment each, and the soldiers who campaigned in the two provinces shall each be granted an additional Lower Grade Spirit Stone."

Liu Bian decided to take this opportunity to properly improve the strength of his soldiers.

Although the strength of the Han army soldiers had generally entered the Third-rate Martial General realm.

It was still far from the requirements he had in mind; if it weren't for the fact that his National Fortune Value hadn't increased much, he would have wanted to directly boost everyone's strength.

Compared to absorbing the spiritual energy within spirit stones to improve strength, spending National Fortune Value to improve it directly was much more convenient.

However, the National Fortune Value required to use it to improve strength was not something he could afford.

Moreover, the number of troops currently under his command is not large: Ma Teng has an army of one hundred thousand, Lü Bu has an army of fifty thousand, and Zhang Liao has the ten thousand Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.

These were the main forces under Liu Bian, totaling only two hundred and fifty thousand men.

Adding Cao Cao's twenty thousand, Dian Wei's twenty thousand, and the fifty thousand Yulin Army, that made only three hundred and forty thousand troops.

And the price of Spirit Stone Fragments was ten pieces for one point of National Fortune Value; for three hundred and forty thousand people, it would only cost thirty-four thousand points of National Fortune Value.

To be honest, this amount of National Fortune Value was less than what was spent on the Lower Grade Spirit Stones rewarded to the one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers who went on the campaign.

At the price of one point of National Fortune Value per Lower Grade Spirit Stone, just the Lower Grade Spirit Stones given to the soldiers would cost one hundred and twenty thousand points of National Fortune Value.

Not to mention those given to the generals in the army; these expenses combined would likely be over one hundred thousand points of National Fortune Value.

This was all thanks to the people of the three provinces who provided Liu Bian with a massive amount of National Fortune Value.

However, because of population limitations, Liangzhou and Bingzhou could basically no longer provide much for him now.

The previous wave had basically all been contributed to Liu Bian.

At this moment, only the people of Sili could still provide him with a significant amount of National Fortune Value.

Once the people of Sili were all allocated land, it was estimated that they could provide Liu Bian with over one million points of National Fortune Value.

The entire Sili had a population of over three million; up to now, it had barely provided Liu Bian with about one million points of National Fortune Value.

System: Wanjie Emperor System

Host: Liu Bian

Realm: Innate Third Heaven

Talent: Primordial Grade

Constitution: Supreme Emperor Body

Supernatural Ability: Probe Eye

Technique: Supreme Emperor Art

Equipment: Emperor Sword, Emperor Armor

System Space: National Seal, Hybrid Rice Seeds * 100 tons, Spirit Rice Seeds * 50 tons, "Basic Artifact Refining Compendium" * 1, "Basic Alchemy Manual" * 1

National Fortune Value:

System Quest: Three

Please establish a Dynasty within one year.

Quest Reward: Activate the constitution of characters under the host's command

Quest Failure: No penalty

Quest Progress: Pending completion

System Quest Four: Within six months, the forces under the host's command must control six provinces of the Great Han Empire.

Quest Reward: Town-Legion Divine Beast

Quest Failure: No penalty

Quest Progress: 3/6

This was Liu Bian's current attribute panel; since the last time he exchanged for the Identity Jade Tokens, during this period, the National Fortune Value had increased by about two hundred thousand.

And after the ministers heard Liu Bian's words, they immediately shouted in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

"This Grand Court Assembly will determine the future direction of our Great Han!"

"This time, I have one matter to inform my beloved ministers about!"

Liu Bian said with a majestic expression to the ministers below.

And the ministers below, after hearing Liu Bian's words, were all shaken.

They all secretly thought in their hearts: "It seems this Grand Court Assembly is extraordinary!"

"Please issue your decree, Your Majesty; we dare not disobey!"

Everyone looked at Liu Bian with respectful expressions and shouted in response.

Seeing this, Liu Bian nodded with satisfaction and continued:

"Since the founding of the Great Han by the Gaozu Emperor over three hundred years ago, it has continued for nearly four hundred years until now."

"From the founding of the Han by Gaozu, there was first the Rule of Wen and Jing, which made our Great Han country wealthy and its people strong."

"By the time of the Wu Emperor, he even once beat the Xiongnu to the point of near-extinction, raising the heavenly might of our Han family!"

"The Great Han people living in these periods could be said to be able to stand tall as human beings."

At this moment, the ministers who heard Liu Bian's words could not help but straighten their backs.

These deeds were also what they were proud of.

"However, times have changed, and with the passage of time, the Great Han erupted into the Rebellion of Wang Mang."

"If it weren't for the Guangwu Emperor appearing out of nowhere, our Great Han would have been nearly wiped out."

"After this, there erupted the Yellow Turban Rebellion, as well as the previous struggles between eunuchs and imperial in-laws, and so on."

"All these various matters, I do not wish to mention one by one again."

"Investigating the reasons, why did these happen? Is it really because our Liu clan imperial family was inactive, and the emperors were dim-witted and incompetent?"

Liu Bian asked the ministers below with a deep meaning in his voice.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger; we are terrified!"

Hearing Liu Bian's questioning, the hundred officials immediately knelt on the ground in terror.

At this moment, the entire Court Hall was silent.

Ignoring the kneeling ministers, Liu Bian continued to speak with a majestic voice:

"I do not deny that among these, there were also reasons for the emperors being dim-witted and incompetent."

"However, investigating the greatest reason, it is that I gave these people too much power."

"So much that they forgot their own identities and gave birth to thoughts they shouldn't have."

"Wang Mang is the greatest example; it was because the power in his hands was too great that he gave birth to the heart to usurp the Han."

Speaking to this point, Liu Bian's tone was already full of fury. ===== CHAPTER 418 =====