Chapter 862: This is Explosive (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Why did Goro choose this crucial moment?

In the latter half of the meeting, the participants brainstormed dozens of potential problems that might arise during the pilot program—such as a woman's previous child being an ineligible daughter, leading her in-laws to pressure her to conceive quickly; a husband's refusal to cooperate, resulting in physical or psychological coercion; the public's ignorance leading to malicious interpretations and dissemination of the policy; unscrupulous individuals exploiting this issue to coerce women into illicit transactions; and criminals taking advantage of the woman's infertility to prevent her from leaving evidence and further harming her…

Shen Tang carefully noted down every possibility.

The faint expression of smugness gradually gave way to sorrow.

Before we knew it, more than an hour had passed.

The group sorted out several letters.

Shen Tang rubbed the stiff, tense muscles in his shoulders and said, "Let's leave it at that for now and discuss the follow-up details later."

The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only Shen Tang and Chu Yao in the end.

There used to be a Gu Chi.

Chu Yao refused to move. Gu Chi stared at him for several moments before finally getting off the mat—Chu Wu Hui's posture clearly indicated that he wanted to have a private talk with his lord, and he couldn't stay still.

Why did Goro bring this up at this critical juncture?

Shen Tang, who was looking down at the notes on the bamboo slips, paused and sighed, "It wasn't that it had to be at this critical juncture, it was just going with the flow. Wu Hui, do you remember when the women's camp was established? When we arrived at He Yin, it was already in its early stages, and we handed it over to Shao Xuan to manage. At that time, the female soldiers recruited were either orphans or abandoned by their parents, so they were sold for a good price."

Chu Yao addressed her as "Fifth Brother" in a way that hadn't been used in a long time, implying that this conversation wasn't between a ruler and his subject, but between Chu Wuhui, a servant from Xiaocheng, and Shen Youli, the master who bought him. In this context, the two shared the same interests and had no inhibitions.

There's no need to worry about the external situation, nor about gains or losses, and you can even ignore what your colleagues are thinking.

"They were people abandoned by the world, risking their lives to make a living under my command. Wu Hui, over the years I thought I took good care of them, giving them the best pay and never being stingy with rewards for military merit. I thought I favored them..." Shen Tang's voice carried a hint of self-mockery, "I thought so until I found out that the female soldier was pregnant. But the truth is not! I didn't!"

Hearing the self-reproach and disgust in Shen Tang's words, even Chu Yao was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Why do you say that, Fifth Brother?"

If you randomly grabbed any female soldier and asked them how their lord treated them, not one of them would say he treated them badly. Even the female soldier who was temporarily imprisoned, when Shen Tang asked her if she had any complaints, she sincerely said no! Without their lord, they would have been dead long ago!

Shen Tang raised her hand to stop Chu Yao.

He continued, "Wu Hui, listen to me."

Chu Yao suppressed his worries and continued listening.

“I actually overlooked them, not their identity as soldiers, but their identity as women. That female soldier’s pregnancy made me realize that they’re all grown up. The first batch is now in their early twenties, and in today’s terms, they should have been married for many years. They have desires and sex, and they’re not just knives in my hand that only kill. But I seem to have subconsciously overlooked this point, and I didn’t even consider this possibility when drafting military law—they have power, and if they rise to the top, they might also plunder the relatively weaker side for the sake of beauty and lust… Wu Hui, I overlooked it.”

Chu Yao listened attentively to Shen Tang's words.

Even if he didn't think his lord was wrong.

"My lord, there's no need to blame yourself. Oversight is the norm." If my lord could be flawless in everything, what would be the point of having subordinates? "Before this, there were no examples of women cultivating, so whether it was military law or secular etiquette, this aspect was completely lacking. In fact, military law, etiquette, or even any other 'law,' are all formulated by the monarch for a certain purpose, whether to appease the people or to keep them ignorant. They change as the situation changes. This process is gradual, not instantaneous. It's impossible for them to be perfectly flawless from the very beginning! My lord is only one person, and his energy is limited; it's not your fault."

Sigh, it's heartbreaking to see our lord so prone to self-reflection.

"So, when I realized this, I took the opportunity to voice my thoughts. I thought there was no better time than this. To nip it in the bud before disaster strikes," Shen Tang said with a hint of relief. "When I realized that female soldiers also have desires, I wondered if they might have other needs? The same needs as the male soldiers? Not just sexual pleasure, but also a strong attachment to bloodlines? And now, with the war at a break..."

If this hadn't been discovered this time, and another year or two had passed, there might have been more than just one female soldier involved, which would have been very difficult to handle.

Of course, the difficulty in resolving the situation is secondary.

Shen Tang was worried that after all these years of training and military campaigns, they were completely ignorant of relevant knowledge and relied entirely on primal instincts. What if they injured themselves? As their lord, if she could face this issue squarely and provide proper guidance…

This naturally prevents unnecessary trouble.

"Besides that, there's another purpose," Shen Tang said carefully, lowering her voice. "Right now, everything is in complete chaos. The people under my command are all trusted confidants, so it's easier to discuss things and make decisions sooner rather than later. Yanzhou and Ganzhou are vast regions, and we need a lot of manpower. Who knows how many voices will emerge under my command in the future? If we wait until then to implement these policies, it will be difficult to suppress public opinion..."

Why did the founding emperors have relatively simple tasks?

At this stage, the cake belongs entirely to the emperor; he can share it with whomever he wants. Those around him who are hungry will mostly help the emperor wholeheartedly in order to get their share. If they don't, they'll get less cake.

But once most of the cake has been distributed, those who are full have more energy, and their mindset changes. They start to have opinions about who gets the cake, leading to disputes. The emperor, who owns the cake, also has to consider the opinions of his strong subordinates.

In other words—

In the first stage, they held a strong power of distribution.

She possesses the absolute power to break the old order and reshape a new one! Whether it's establishing a new official system, formulating unprecedented national policies, or rewriting social laws, she has immense freedom! If she doesn't do it now, when will she?

Shen Tang is a warrior with martial prowess, a scholar with a refined heart, and the lord whom Chu Yao and the others follow. But she is also a woman of a different gender: "...I naturally believe in your loyalty and purity, but there are all sorts of birds in a big forest. For example, some former officials of the Xin Kingdom care about gender. Who can guarantee that future court officials won't care? For the sake of stability, I have to do this!"

“The scale will only be balanced if both ends are of equal weight.” Shen Tang stretched out his hand. “If one end is heavy and the other is light, I can stay on the scale by my own strength, but what about those who come after me? Won’t this unbalanced scale drag those who come after me into the abyss?”

She knew how bold her suggestion was.

But she knew she had to do it.

It's better to die sooner rather than later.

Now, at the perfect time, they've used the female soldier incident to launch their attack.

To everyone else, it seemed perfectly reasonable—a whim of the lord, a rash act born of her resentment, a capricious and thoughtless act that triggered a series of subsequent reforms. The only difference was that it wasn't something she had painstakingly planned or deliberately undertaken.

Everyone assumed this was the result of Shen Tang's repeated compromises.

In fact, this was exactly the result she wanted.

"...Alas, even Gong Su, who values ​​etiquette, doesn't object to a lord like me who listens to advice and humbly corrects others. I listen to whatever everyone suggests, without being unreasonable, stubborn, or arbitrary."

Shen Tang sighed softly.

"I am really annoyed by my damn excellence."

She spoke very seriously, her eyes filled with sincerity.

Chu Yao: "...That is indeed true."

Since ancient times, routines have won people's hearts; ignorance and unawareness are also a form of happiness.

As Shen Tang brought control of various parts of Ganzhou, the imperial seal was also incorporated into his territory. Shen Tang's imperial seal was linked with the seals of the counties and prefectures within the two prefectures, and the details of local government offices were gradually completed.

The reality was worse than she had imagined.

Nearly 60% of government offices were at a standstill. The remaining offices were still operational, but management was chaotic, especially household registration—it was a complete mess. Shen Tang's intelligence was all pre-war; post-war population and disaster statistics were all zero. She could only send her own people to take over, while simultaneously issuing recruitment notices, but unfortunately, the response was minimal.

Enraged, Shen Tang flipped the bronze table over and over and smashed it!

"No, are these aristocratic families suffering from some serious illness? Can't they see the situation clearly yet? If they can't see it with one pair of eyes, then install two more! Now that I need them, it's their good fortune. What are they all being so pretentious about? Do they really think they all deserve to be sought after three times? They dare to come and recruit people, it's all the same old trick. Have they not washed their faces in years? Their skin has grown so thick!"

Shen Tang is really furious!

They captured several former officials of the Xin Kingdom to inquire about what had happened.

Aren't they all from the same aristocratic family circle?

I wonder how many former officials of the Xin Kingdom she saved? How many of them came from aristocratic families? She did kill many members of these families in the past, confiscating their property and desecrating their ancestral graves, but that's all in the past. She only made a mistake that even a rookie emperor would make. Why can't they understand the hardships she faced in her rise to power? Are they trying to force her to take up the butcher's knife?

The former officials of the Xin Kingdom who had already submitted looked at each other in bewilderment.

They didn't know what was going on either.

Logically speaking, given that our lord has reached this point, establishing the nation and ascending the throne should be a simple matter of a word. Instead of seizing the opportunity to claim a position, those powerful families have collectively refused, which seems utterly foolish. If this man were to become ruthless, it wouldn't be impossible for him to wipe out all the powerful families within his borders!

Shen Tang asked them, "What are they saying within your clan?"

"The letter has been sent, but there has been no reply yet."

Shen Tang scratched her head, annoyed, and waved them away: "Fine, let's wait a few more days. If they still don't know what's good for them, what's so hard about going to their door to check on them? As long as they're tough enough!"

Everyone retreated.

She had just calmed down and finished reviewing two volumes of books when a messenger outside the tent informed her that the man who had impregnated the female soldier had been found.

Shen Tang looked up: "Found it?"

She sent someone to find Gu Chi and the others who were not on business trips.

Of course, it wasn't for Gu Chi and the others to gossip about.

Shen Tang is not good at reading minds and spirits.

Gu Chi arrived the fastest, his steps hurried and large, his clothes flying wildly. Shen Tang said irritably, "You'd better take it easy. Without you, the fun won't be as lively..."

Gu Chi feigned innocence and turned the tables: "My lord, what are you saying? I'm just trying to resolve this matter as quickly as possible so I can get back to work on the preparations for the autumn harvest. I heard from Lingde and the others that this batch of corn seeds is of excellent quality and the yield is much higher than expected."

Because the local government was struggling to operate, they couldn't even get all the farming tools needed for the autumn harvest, and Gu Chi had been busy with that matter these days.

He really didn't leave so quickly just to watch the show.

Shen Tang chuckled, but hearing the rare good news made her feel much better—the noble families were unwilling to provide manpower, and the common people couldn't recruit many capable people, but at least she still had food, so the common people under her rule wouldn't starve to death on a large scale.

As long as people are alive, what problem can't be solved?

As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn!

Before long, everyone had arrived.

Shen Tang had the man brought in.

The man's eyes were blindfolded, and he was dressed in simple civilian clothes. He was tall for an average person. When the soldier removed the blindfold, revealing his handsome face, Shen Tang finally understood why the female soldier had been lusting after him.

He is indeed quite good-looking.

His posture and demeanor were also unlike those of ordinary people.

She asked the man kneeling below.

Do you know why I summoned you here today?

The man was not old, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His hands were tied behind his back. After seeing Shen Tang's appearance, he angrily shouted, "You, surnamed Shen, you're despicable! I clearly refused, yet you still had someone tie me up. You're not a gentleman!"

Shen Tang: "???"

Everyone: "???"

Shen Tang said, "What are you babbling about?"

The doubt on her face was genuine.

The man's struggling movements froze, and he stared at Shen Tang in disbelief. A moment later, a look of humiliation and resentment appeared on his face. His entire performance left Shen Tang utterly bewildered. However, judging from the man's words, the misunderstanding seemed quite serious.

She patted the table: "Quiet down."

He waved for the female soldier to be brought over, and while waiting, the man maintained his loyal and unyielding stance.

Shen Tang had a guess in her mind.

Ah, did the female soldier do something she shouldn't have?

"My lord, the person has been brought!"

The female soldier had been kept in a tent for a while. Since she hadn't been convicted yet, she hadn't suffered any external injuries, and her meals were the same as before. With less exercise, her face had become fuller and fairer. As soon as she arrived, she obediently knelt down, head bowed.

"Look at the person next to you, isn't that him?"

Only then did the female soldier make a move.

She was looking at the man, and the man was looking at her with a puzzled expression.

Compared to the female soldier's drastically different attire from that day, the man's appearance hadn't changed much. The female soldier recognized him at a glance and nodded, "Reporting to my lord, it is him."

At this moment, the man was still unaware of the situation.

Shen Tang asked him, "Do you remember her?"

The man shook his head and said, "I don't know him."

Shen Tang: "..."

She had no choice but to remind him: "Do you remember when someone took a liking to you in the wild a few months ago and ended up having sex with you?"

man:"……"

"She said she got your consent before you two got together. She called you here to ask if this really happened?"

man:"……"

|ω`)

(End of this chapter)