——

A few days later, in the capital.

Inside the Golden Palace.

Jin Fengluan's face was ashen, her eyes filled with frost. Inside the hall, all the civil and military officials bowed their heads, their expressions complex.

In the ensuing silence, Jin Fengluan said coldly:

"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that Qin Haotian had made some contributions to the Great Gan, I would never have granted Beiliang to this traitor!"

"I never expected him to be so ungrateful. I showed him kindness, yet he plotted a rebellion!"

"First, he led his army to Xijing, inciting conflict between my Daqian and Tuyuan Kingdom, plunging countless people into the flames of war. Now, he has secretly returned to Beiliang and seized Tongwei City!"

"This traitor is ruthless!"

After saying this, Jin Fengluan's gaze swept over the assembled officials, and anger slowly rose in her chest.

Yesterday morning, she received an urgent report, delivered by express courier. The report stated that Tongwei City had been captured by Qin Ze, and that after capturing Tongwei City, Qin Ze was heading towards several surrounding cities.

This morning, another urgent report arrived, saying that Qin Ze had captured another city.

It has been several days since the message was delivered, and the situation is urgent. If this continues, he will soon be able to reach Anyang County!

It should be noted that Tongwei City is the first city outside the border of Beiliang, while the surrounding cities are all small cities and cannot compare to Tongwei City. But Anyang County is different!

Anyang County is a prosperous place, larger than five Tongwei Cities combined. The city is home to a large number of people, from ordinary citizens to wealthy merchants.

The tax revenue that Anyang Prefecture brings to the imperial court each year is even more than that of the entire Northern Liang.

Jin Fengluan dared not imagine what the consequences would be if Anyang County were captured.

Geographically speaking, Anyang County is located east of the East China Sea, where there are many coastal cities. These cities engage in coastal trade and regularly exchange goods with several surrounding vassal states.

They served as a link between the Great Gan and these vassal states.

In addition, these cities also had many salt officials who boiled water from the East Sea to make salt. Every year, the revenue they earned from selling salt was used to pay countless amounts of tax to the national treasury.

These tax revenues had to pass through Anyang Prefecture every year before being sent to the capital.

If we take other routes, those winding roads would take who knows how long it would take to deliver the goods.

In other words, if Qin Ze were to capture Anyang County, whatever he planned to do next would indirectly or directly affect the entire Daqian region.

Thinking of this, Jin Fengluan frowned deeply, and her hands clenched into fists.

Seeing the ministers remain silent, Jin Fengluan said coldly:

"What are these people doing on the border?!"

"When the traitor went to Xijing, he had 300,000 troops, but no one could find his whereabouts. To this day, we still don't know how he led his men to Xijing!"

"Now he has fled from Xijing to Tongwei City, and in just a few days he has captured Tongwei City. Urgent reports are coming in one after another, and none of them are good news!"

As she spoke, Jin Fengluan turned her gaze to Jin Jiande below the stage.

Despite keeping his head down, Jin Jiande still felt Jin Fengluan's gaze was like a knife, making him feel extremely uncomfortable, so he lowered his head even further.

After all, he was in charge of the Thousand Machine Battalion, but he hadn't accomplished anything during this period of time.

Just then, Zhang Li, the Minister of Personnel, bowed forward and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, there is no need to be so angry. Your health is of utmost importance!"

"Although Qin Ze has captured Tongwei City, what harm would it do to him? It's just a small city."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yong, the Minister of Revenue, raised an eyebrow and immediately stepped forward, saying:

"Your Excellency is mistaken! How could you say such a thing!"

"No matter how small Tongwei City is, we can't let it be given to Qin Ze! This concerns the face of the imperial court!"

At this point, Wang Yong narrowed his eyes and said coldly:

"Your Excellency, when Qin Ze fought against the Hu horses in Beiliang, you spoke highly of him."

"Now that Tongwei City has been taken by Qin Ze, you say it's insignificant? In my opinion, you probably don't mean to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Li glared at Wang Yong and said:

"Lord Earth, if you say such things, then don't forget that when His Majesty granted Beiliang to Qin Ze, you strongly supported it!"

“I said back then that it was not appropriate to enfeoff Beiliang to Qin Ze. After all, although it is barren, it is far from the capital and difficult to govern. However, if he were to be enfeoffed with Suzhou and Hangzhou, it would be much easier to manage.”

"Yet you and the disgraced minister Huang Long strongly agreed and recommended that His Majesty grant Beiliang to Qin Ze!"

"Although I am old, I still remember that you once said in court, 'Beiliang is the place where General Qin can show his skills.'"

"Hmph, now that I think about it, you were right, Earth Official. You wouldn't...hehe."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yong's expression changed drastically, and cold sweat broke out on his body.

Zhang Li continued with a cold face, "I advised Your Majesty not to be angry, so that Your Majesty could take care of your health. You even managed to use this as an excuse to make a fuss. What are your true intentions?"

Wang Yong wiped the sweat from his brow and hurriedly said:

"Your Excellency, stop talking nonsense! I remember now! I never said that Beiliang was a place where Qin Ze could fully display his talents!"

"That's what Huang Long said! What does it have to do with me!"

"Don't frame me for nothing! We're all working to help His Majesty, how can you say such a thing!"

Zhang Li raised an eyebrow and said in a deep voice:

"How come I remember you saying that?"

"Now that the criminal Huang Long has been brought to justice, don't put all the blame on him."

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