Chapter 102 Military Merit Military Merit, the soldiers are all...

Before the Guiyang people returned from the East China Sea Salt Field, the navy had already boarded the ship and headed towards the depths of the vast ocean, along with two former ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works who were sent by Shen Zhiwei to experience the alternative customs and practices.

When Gui Yang heard that the two of them had not completed the task assigned by the emperor, she originally thought so. Until the two of them arrived at the place, she wanted to kneel down and beg him to plead with the emperor to calm him down.

Only then did Gui Yang realize that these two people did not fail to complete the task, but offended the emperor and were exiled by him.

I don’t know what made these two people so depressed. The emperor usually has a good temper. Things like smuggling salt have not made him so angry as to exile everyone overseas. How come these two people can get this "honor"?

There must be something fishy going on. Gui Yang was a little curious, but afraid of knowing too much and getting herself into trouble. In the end, she chose to stay indoors and watched the two former ministers leave the ship with a look of despair on their faces, without any friendship as former colleagues.

The soldiers were full of anticipation. It was normal for these two people to feel like they had lost their parents. Soldiers would eventually return, and by then they would bring their merits with them, and promotions would be a given. But for these two, if they could not receive the emperor's grace, they would never be able to return in this lifetime.

Gui Yang clearly felt what thunder, lightning and rain were, and they were all grace from the emperor. Her mind, which had been relaxed because of her "vacation" at the beach every day, became tense again. She quickened her pace to investigate the smuggled salt and returned to Shengdu before the New Year with a thick stack of evidence.

There are many account books recording the current accounts. I don’t know how Gui Yang checked them and how she ensured that the contents of the account books were correct.

After Shen Zhiwei got the evidence, he sent people to search the house without saying a word. On the one hand, he put all the money into the national treasury, and on the other hand, he threw all the people into jail. The Dali Temple Minister and others who had originally thought of clearing out the jail before the New Year so that the jailers could have a good year, looked at the overcrowded jail and silently put away their smiles.

It looks like I’ll have to work overtime again this year and may not even be able to spend New Year’s Eve with my family.

Shen Zhiwei was a good monarch who was considerate of her subordinates. She knew that everyone was looking forward to the New Year, so she asked the Dali Temple to expedite the trial. Those who deserved to be killed would be killed, and those who deserved to be punished would be punished. There was always a punishment suitable for these unscrupulous guys, such as exile, conscription, and miners.

They embezzled their own salt and sold it to other countries at extremely low prices. They also colluded with the princes. While the princes' armies and the barbarians were slaughtering their compatriots, these people were feasting on the gold and silver they had exchanged for the private salt. What they ate and drank was all the blood of their compatriots!

Shen Zhiwei hated this kind of people the most. If it weren't for the law, she would have wanted to torture them to death and chop their flesh into pieces to feed the dogs! In order to repay the blood debt they indirectly committed.

And those barbarians and princes, enjoying the convenience brought by Dajing's technological development, were secretly plotting against Dajing, clashing with Dajing's border guards for no reason, causing casualties. It was truly shameless! Shen Zhiwei asked the new Minister of War to enter the palace. She wanted to discuss the expedition after the New Year.

The new Minister of War was a young man who had once been a student of Hu Youan. Later, because the battlefield did not particularly need so many generals, he took a step back and joined the Ministry of War as an official.

Shen Zhiwei remembered that her name was Du Juan. She had won many battles on the front lines before, and now she was equally adept at her work as a civil servant. She was considered an all-round talent.

Du Juan and Hu Youan, the master and disciple, haven't seen each other for a while. Hu Youan returned to Shengdu since there were no more wars to fight. She knew very well that it was a very dangerous thing for her to hold the military power. Even if Shen Zhiwei believed in her, she could not always sit in the position of general.

The civil and military officials in the court would not believe that she was really undaunted, and it would be very troublesome for Shen Zhiwei to protect her at that time. Therefore, not long after Hu Youan came back, he returned all the tokens, including the tiger talisman for mobilizing the army, to Shen Zhiwei. By the way, he also asked for a courtyard in the palace and continued to serve as the General of the Central Army to protect the emperor's safety.

Because he often stayed in the palace and did not go out, no one came to disturb him. He could do whatever he wanted in peace, but he could not see anyone.

Even her former disciple was not allowed to see her. Dujuan took the initiative to look for Hu Youan twice, but did not see him. She knew that Hu Youan was deliberately avoiding suspicion. Now when she suddenly saw her master, Dujuan was very happy. She looked at her master carefully and found that Hu Youan was not only not thinner, but looked more rosy than before. She thought that the doctor in the palace had adjusted her body.

That’s great! The emperor really trusts the master and doesn’t distance himself from him because of his glorious military achievements in the past.

Du Juan's round eyes smiled into crescents, and even when she saluted Shen Zhiwei, her movements revealed a sense of joy and happiness.

Shen Zhiwei saw Du Juan's excitement at the moment and shook her head slightly in her heart. Hu Youan was a stubborn person. No matter how many times she said that she would not do such a thing as killing the running dog after the rabbit was dead, Hu Youan was unwilling to be presumptuous. She had clearly not told Hu Youan to avoid people, but Hu Youan locked himself up in the palace.

The two of them just looked at each other and were about to start doing official business, but Shen Zhiwei waved her hand and asked them to talk for a while.

Give the two some time to communicate, and when they both come back to their senses, Shen Zhiwei is already bored and starts fiddling with the chess pieces.

The two of them hurried over to apologize. They had gotten so carried away talking that they forgot the time and made the emperor wait for them! This was simply the opposite of Tian Gang!

"It's nothing serious. You haven't seen each other for a long time. It's natural to chat for a while. Don't worry." Shen Zhiwei pointed to the chair that had been placed opposite, "Sit down first."

Over the years, Shen Zhiwei had already replaced the cushions he used to kneel on with chairs and tables. That kneeling posture was simply inhumane, even if there was a small stool under his butt. If he wanted to talk about comfort, he had to rely on these normal tables and chairs.

The ministers who followed Shen Zhiwei all had a strong ability to accept things. No matter what Shen Zhiwei came up with, they could adapt quickly. This was a skill they had developed over the past decade.

After everyone sat down, they began to discuss business. When Hu Youan heard that they were going to fight a war, his eyes lit up.

She is an extremely sharp knife. The battlefield is the place she wants to go most. Other places are just temporary stops. Even the palace where she has lived since she was a child cannot allow her to stay here permanently.

Shen Zhiwei knew what Hu Youan wanted. She had seen that Hu Youan's health was really bad. After so many years of fighting on the battlefield, she was covered with wounds. If she didn't let him take a good rest and recuperate, she estimated that her general would die on the battlefield before the war was over.

Some time ago, the doctor told Shen Zhiwei that Hu Youan's injuries were almost healed, so Shen Zhiwei asked Hu Youan to come over to discuss the matter of sending troops.

Except for Hu Youan, all the generals outside should express their opinions. However, there are not so many places to fight, so let's focus on the generals on the northwest border.

Shen Zhiwei didn't know at this moment what the consequences would be if he let those generals go. Barbarians were not only found in the northwest, so how could the other generals just watch the soldiers in the northwest reap military merits?

Once everything has been discussed, they can start right away. They won't set out until after the spring plowing, so they still have half a year to plan slowly. So Du Juan is not in a hurry. She even made an appointment with Hu Youan to have dinner at her house before leaving the palace.

She got married and had a child last year. The child is less than one year old. He eats and drinks on weekdays and is very cute sometimes. You can ask the master to go and take a look at him.

When Hu Youan heard that there was a child, he didn't want to go in the first place, and now he didn't want to go even more.

She grew up in the palace, which was the place with the most children in the world. She had seen what those children looked like since she was a child. Perhaps children wrapped in love were kind, but in the palace, none of those children were kind.

It wasn't that Hu Youan was afraid of children, but her past experiences made her inevitably dislike children. The only children in the world she could treat with a normal attitude were the children of the emperor she followed.

The prince is the only exception in the world.

Chaoyang was officially named the crown prince in the year Shen Zhiwei ascended the throne. In fact, she was still young and should not have been canonized at this time. She should have been canonized only when she was ten years old and it was confirmed that she could establish herself.

A country losing its crown prince and losing its princess are two completely different concepts.

However, Chaoyang is Shen Zhiwei's only offspring. If something happens to her, it will be no different from the country losing its heir. It is better to give her the title of crown prince. At least she can be protected by the same standards as the crown prince.

At present, the prince is lively and cheerful, and in good health. He is less than six years old, but he is as tall as an ordinary child of seven or eight years old. His hands and feet are strong, and he likes to play wrestling with others the most. It is similar to wrestling and sumo in later generations. It was originally an activity in the army. Later, Chaoyang saw it and she liked it very much.

Sometimes when Shen Zhiwei went to Changle Palace where the prince lived, he would see a group of people gathered together and wrestling. Chaoyang would watch the fun from the side, and when he felt like it, he would join in the wrestling.

But this kind of activity is bound to have bumps and bruises. Out of the 365 days in a year, Chaoyang would have bruises on her body for 300 days. She didn't take it seriously at all, and Shen Zhiwei felt pain just watching.

However, Shen Zhiwei would not stop Chaoyang from playing because of this. At most, he would ask the doctors in the palace to carefully study the medicine for the wounds. Not only would it help Chaoyang's wounds heal faster, it would also help the soldiers on the battlefield to receive faster treatment.

"Queen Mother! Greetings, Queen Mother!"

Chaoyang saw Shen Zhiwei coming with a group of people from a distance. She immediately stopped the palace maids and asked them to stay aside. She walked up in two steps, bowed first, and then looked up and smiled brightly at Shen Zhiwei.

She is very polite and at such a young age she exudes a calmness that even adults don't have, as if she can face anything with ease.

He looked like he was not changing his expression even if Mount Tai was pressing down on him.

Shen Zhiwei reached out and took Chaoyang's hand, leading her to Changle Palace. Changle Palace was located to the east of the imperial palace, so it was also called the Prince's Eastern Palace.

"You're so tired and sweaty. Come inside and rest up. I heard your martial arts master took you hunting in the enclosure yesterday. You shot a fawn yourself, bandaged its wound, and then released it."

"The Queen Mother already knows? Well, I felt sorry for the little deer, so I let it go. It's still my child, and I don't want them to be separated."

Chaoyang is sometimes very soft-hearted, and Shen Zhiwei likes her soft-heartedness very much. She is not a crown prince who has no feelings and only has pros and cons in secret.

In a prosperous era, a truly benevolent ruler is needed.

"You did well, but if you had shot the doe yesterday, would you have let it go?"

"If it's a pregnant doe, I'll let it go. If it's a doe with a fawn, I'll kill it too. The mountains and forests are dangerous, and the fawn won't survive. And if I don't hunt fawns or does, will all hunters in the world do the same? I can't set a bad example. But these are all hypotheticals. I only shot a fawn yesterday."

Chaoyang is already aware of his own identity and knows that as a superior, he can be kind for a while, but he cannot act too recklessly.

Today she loves the doe and her baby, but tomorrow someone may use her name to persecute those innocent hunters, forcing them to release the doe and her baby, and fabricate some "kind stories" to please her.

Shen Zhiwei was very pleased with Chaoyang's understanding, but she also felt that Chaoyang was being framed, which was not good.

She reached out and touched her hair, slightly damp from the morning sun, and said, "If you appreciate the deep bond between the doe and her calf, you can release whichever one you hunt. You are the future monarch, and you have the right to act as you please. Don't be bound by your status, and don't be afraid of others imitating your behavior. Simply follow your principles. You are still young, and if anyone dares to commit any wrongdoing under your name, the Queen Mother will clear your name."