Xun Shuang looked at Liu Hong with a worried expression. He was genuinely concerned that the emperor would unleash a massacre in the three prefectures.

It should be noted that most of the officials in the current imperial court come from Shandong aristocratic families, and after so many years of development, very few of those families have a clean record.

Even if we don't investigate all of them, just uncovering a portion will lead to the discovery of a large number of others, and inevitably some desperate individuals will emerge.

In the end, Xun Shuang also felt that this matter had a huge impact.

"Your Majesty... I believe this matter requires careful consideration. It is not advisable to launch a major attack at this time. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider..."

Xun Shuang knew that as a member of the Shandong gentry, saying these words might arouse the emperor's suspicion, but he still stood up.

"Hmph, Lord Xun, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to protect those people?"

Upon seeing this, Yang Qiu immediately snorted coldly and glared angrily at Xun Shuang.

Upon hearing Yang Qiu's question, Xun Shuang felt a sudden urgency and quickly looked at Liu Hong.

"Your Majesty, I had no such intention. I simply felt..."

"alright.....!"

Liu Hong raised his hand, stopping Xun Shuang from continuing.

"Alas, I understand what Minister Xun means, Shandong is not a good place to attack...!"

Thinking about the consequences of dealing with the Shandong gentry, Liu Hong couldn't help but sigh.

"His Majesty.....!"

Seeing this, Xun Shuang couldn't help but lower his head and sigh inwardly.

"Your Majesty...?"

A look of surprise appeared on Yang Qiu's face; it was the first time he had ever seen such a powerless expression on the emperor's face.

Xun Shuang looked up and saw Liu Hong's somewhat sullen expression. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to say it.

"Sometimes... taking a step back isn't a bad thing. Although we can't touch them now, we still need to give them a warning!"

Seeing that the group seemed a bit off, Liu Hong smiled, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

Then Liu Hong looked at the three of them and said in a deep voice:

"I have decided to send the three of you this year, each with your own men, to inspect these three prefectures. I can overlook past events... but there can be absolutely no more malicious annexations this year!"

"And...a number of corrupt officials in the area also need to be dealt with...!"

Liu Hong's words caused Yang Qiu's expression to change. In his view, this meant that the emperor had compromised.

Yang Qiu looked up at Liu Hong with a reluctant expression, wanting to ask for permission, but found that the emperor was looking at him with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Yang Qiu paused for a moment, seemingly understanding something, then quickly lowered his head and said nothing more.

Liu Hong laughed and said, "Alright, everyone go back and make your preparations, and set off as soon as possible!"

"Your humble servants obey!"

After receiving their orders, the three men left Deyang Palace with heavy hearts.

Watching the three figures leave, Liu Hong smiled.

In fact, Liu Hong had no intention of harming the Shandong gentry at the moment. He merely wanted to intimidate them and make them behave for a while, while also diverting people's attention.

This way, he can free up his hands to further consolidate Sili, You, Bing, Liang and other places.

"Zhang Rang!"

"Yes, sir!"

Zhang Rang, who was standing by, quickly bowed and came to Liu Hong's side.

"Go tell the Commander of the Imperial Guards to take Gongsun Zan's White Horse Camp with him to Qingzhou!"

"promise!!"

Liu Hong then turned around and looked in the direction of Qingzhou and Bohai.

Soon, Yang Qiu, Xun Shuang, and Song Feng, along with their respective subordinates, made a grand entrance and leisurely headed towards Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Qingzhou.

As the Commander of the Imperial Guards, Song Feng, in addition to his own thousand elite cavalry, also brought along Gongsun Zan's three thousand White Horse Cavalry, as instructed by Liu Hong, to accompany him to Qingzhou.

Song Feng now understood the Emperor's intention in sending him to Qingzhou, because it was right next to the Bohai Sea...!

When Song Feng realized that the King of Bohai had twice defied the imperial decree by feigning illness to refuse to go to Luoyang, he knew that the man already harbored treacherous intentions.

"Sigh, some things are better decided sooner rather than later!"

Looking at the foggy road ahead, Song Feng couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

......

February 12th.

Following the first court assembly of the second year of Jianning, the officials, who had finally had a few days of leisure, were busy again after the assembly adjourned.

With the spring plowing policy set by the court officials, while they were busy with their work, Cao Song also temporarily put aside his other matters and began to allocate funds and grain to various places to organize manpower to repair water conservancy and prepare for spring plowing.

Earlier, the emperor's edict had already stated that the Commandant of the Capital Region had secretly dispatched people to inspect and supervise the spring plowing work of local governments.

Therefore, local officials dared not delay or neglect the preparations for spring plowing. They began to check the treasury, organize household registers, investigate farmland and official land, and vigorously gather displaced people.

As the work progressed, more and more problems arose, especially the shortage of curved plows, waterwheels, various farm implements, and government granaries, etc. These became the biggest problems restricting spring plowing.

Although local governments urgently recruited a large number of craftsmen to rush to make the necessary agricultural tools, the shortage was still huge and could not meet the needs of spring plowing at all.

As a result, local governments sent urgent documents to the imperial court, requesting that the court allocate the necessary tools and grain as soon as possible.

Liu Hong glanced at the official documents sent by local governments a few times before having them delivered to Cao Song.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!