At this moment, a group of people around him flattered him, and Zu'an roughly understood. It turned out that in the Battle of Ningjin not long ago, Augustus led his army to a great victory over the army of the Manchu Khan Huang Taiji. No wonder he was so arrogant.

But why does the phrase "5 years of pacifying Liaodong" sound so familiar?

Isabella hurriedly defended Zuan, saying, "Brother Zuan also lifted the siege of Hancheng not long ago and defeated several rebel forces."

On her way to the palace, she had already inquired about what had happened in Zu'an these past few days.

Adrian scoffed, "Don't be fooled by him. Those Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei are nothing but a bunch of peasant rabble. Any one of my knights could easily wipe them out. What kind of military achievement is that?"

"You!" Isabella was immediately flustered, but unfortunately she didn't understand much and didn't know how to refute it for a moment.

It was the Fourth Elder Mostima who stepped in to smooth things over: "The empire's finances are in serious trouble. Shaanxi can no longer support any army. Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. His ability to quell the rebellion is still commendable."

"Alright, I called you back to solve problems, not to argue." The Grand Elder snorted, setting the tone. "During this time, I've figured out that the root cause of this imperial crisis is financial collapse. The inflow of silver from the Americas has decreased significantly, and Japan has closed its borders and banned silver exports, leading to deflation throughout the Ming Empire."

"Unable to collect taxes normally, the only option was to increase taxes on ordinary people. The three taxes—Liaodong tax, anti-suppression tax, and training tax—became the last straw that broke the camel's back, leading to a vicious cycle of 'starving people-migrants-bandits'."

"What are your thoughts on how to solve these problems?"

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