When Chu Fan made the decision to allow royal princes to go to border cities to serve as officials, a new problem arose.

That is, if the royal family and the second-generation officials were all sent to the northern border, then the number of official positions in the north would obviously not be enough to accommodate so many people. Would they be sent to the border to eat nothing? Wasting food doing nothing?

Just as Chu Fan was still pondering this problem and trying to find a solution.

Cao Shan of the Cao family stepped forward and respectfully presented his request to Chu Fan. "Your Majesty," he said, "I beg Your Majesty to grant me the permission to serve on the border between Wei and Shu."

Cao Shan's words not only showed his personal wishes, but also provided Chu Fan with a possible solution. Perhaps by arranging some people to serve in other border areas, the situation of too many people and tight official positions could be alleviated.

At this time, these second-generation officials from prominent families knelt down and begged His Majesty to allow them to go to the border between Wei and Shu, hoping that His Majesty would approve them to serve as officials in the cities on the border between Wei and Shu.

At the same time, some officials looked at their incompetent sons with concern. Their sons were afraid that their reckless behavior would damage their image in the eyes of the emperor, so they did not stand up to support or oppose Cao Shan's words.

Now most of the ministers of Wei State know that the border war between Wei State and the Xiongnu has basically subsided, and it is unlikely that there will be any large-scale battles in the next few months at least.

However, the situation on the Wei-Shu border was quite different. Tensions had reached a critical point. Liu Buchu, the current king of Shu, instigated and bewitched by treacherous ministers, had begun to consider assembling an army and launching an attack on Wei.

It was a truly ironic thing that during Liu Yu's reign, Shu had only lent a hand to Wei when it was in dire straits, providing valuable food aid. However, after Liu Buchu seized power through some means, his mind completely changed and he began to plot how to attack Wei.

Of course, Chu Fan was completely unaware of these complex international political dynamics. For a small nation like Shu to challenge the mighty Wei was nothing short of a pipe dream. The princes of the Imperial Administration Office had already orchestrated everything, ensuring the nation's stability and security.

What is even more noteworthy is Chu Fan's elder brother Chu Zhenglin. When Cao Mengde, the Minister of War, fled to Liangtu City, a border city of Wei State, for fear that His Majesty would make him the Prime Minister, Chu Zhenglin also led a powerful army of 200,000 new recruits and marched towards the border of Wei State.

Just as Chu Zhenglin and Cao Mengde were nervously discussing in Liangtu City how to build a solid military fortress in the border area to defend against possible threats, Liu Buchu of Shu Kingdom had secretly dispatched a large army and quietly approached the border area.

Everyone knows that the border between Wei and Shu seems to be the area with the greatest potential for military success. If one chooses to go to the border between Wei and the Xiongnu, one will have to wait until next year to get such an opportunity.

Chu Fan, completely unaware of these circumstances, saw the officials' sons kneeling before him. He simply assumed they were unwilling to go to the harsh and cold northern borderlands. They were clearly kneeling down out of fear, begging him to let them go to the Wei-Shu border. So, how could Chu Fan possibly let them have their way?

Chu Fan faced the crowd kneeling in the court with a solemn and serious attitude, his words revealing a hint of dissatisfaction and blame:

"I ask you to go to the border to serve the people. Is this something that makes you feel so embarrassed? Those of you who are kneeling here, I order you all to go to Lin County and garrison at the forefront of our Wei State.

As for the members of the royal family, you should also go to the northern border cities of Wei and shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending the country. As for those talented people who did not kneel down to plead, you should go to the border between Wei and Shu. Your wisdom and strength are also needed there. Serving the people is your duty.

After Chu Fan finished speaking, all the officials in the court, including the sons of officials, knelt and bowed to express their gratitude. They understood that His Majesty had made clear arrangements, and any further objection would be disrespectful. They must obey orders and demonstrate their loyalty and care for the people through concrete actions.

The officials who had previously complained about their children's lack of ambition were now overjoyed. They had never imagined that their children, without directly petitioning the emperor, would still be assigned to the position where they could best earn military merit. Clearly, the emperor still favored obedient and submissive officials.

After all the officials had stood still, Chu Fan continued his speech. His tone was firm and powerful. "In addition, I have another plan. I intend to distribute the prisoners captured by Mu Yunfeng to various places in our Wei State to engage in coal mining and participate in some dangerous infrastructure construction activities.

Through this arrangement, we can not only allow Wei to mine more coal, ensuring that the people of the country have access to coal during the cold winter, so that they can get through the cold season warmly. It can also keep the people of Wei away from the dangerous occupation of coal mining."

After Chu Fan finished speaking, the entire court fell into deathly silence for a moment. All the officials turned their eyes to the censors of the Censorate, waiting for their reactions.

However, none of the imperial censors raised any objection to His Majesty's proposal. In fact, they thought His Majesty's move was too lenient, even a little too lenient towards the captives.

Some of the censors present did intend to speak out and express their differing opinions on the matter, but they were stopped by glances from two important officials, Wen Zhengqing and Liu Wenshan.

Because these two ministers have just obtained the qualification from His Majesty to participate in the future money-making plan, they know very well that now is not the time to disagree with His Majesty, and they cannot stand up to oppose His Majesty's decision at this time, so as not to damage the good relationship between them and His Majesty.

Another thing is that they believed deep down that the action taken by Your Majesty was completely correct, so they took action to prevent all the censors from intervening to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.