Chapter 703 A Dream of Youth 235
At this time, Xu Linyang, whom Li Yu mentioned, only left a thousand elite soldiers to guard Mi Village. The original edict he was given was to go to Lingzhou to join the main army and besiege Lingzhou together with Li Yu, Fu Yao and others.
When he received the imperial edict, he did not know that Lingzhou would be captured soon after. Therefore, he did not go to Lingzhou to meet with the others as instructed by the edict. Instead, he took a detour to places such as Xiazhou to look for Xili's army, but he could not find them along the way.
That was bad enough, but because of Xili's scorched-earth policy, they didn't find a single grain of food. Seeing the exhausted soldiers, Xu Linyang felt uneasy, knowing that it was his decision to take a detour that caused the problem.
However, he could not bear the blame, so he planned to place the blame on Chen He, the transport commissioner in charge of supervising grain and provisions.
Chen He was unaware that a serious accusation was about to be leveled against him. He listened intently to his subordinates' report that most of the laborers transporting grain and provisions had fled due to the unbearable hardship of the journey.
As his subordinate reported, sweat poured down his back. Despite it being winter, he was sweating profusely out of fear.
After all, Chen He was known for his strictness. The projects he was in charge of had never been delayed or made mistakes. Moreover, as the transport commissioner, he was given a special privilege by the emperor: he could execute anyone below the rank of prefect without asking permission.
Starting with him, and continuing down the line, even minor officials could arbitrarily kill laborers without asking permission.
Chen He lifted his eyelids and said calmly, "After capturing the man, sever his Achilles tendons, and then send him to transport grain."
Those who heard this were all terrified, and the subordinates nodded and agreed without daring to say another word.
Along the road from Da Zhou to Xi Li, drops of blood fell, only to be covered by the new snow, as did the fallen people.
The news of the recapture of Lingzhou spread as quickly as a wild goose to the ears of the various armies and the emperor in the capital. The emperor was overjoyed and exclaimed "Good!" three times!
Immediately afterwards, people were sent to reward them, and then the national treasury was emptied to replenish the depleted military funds.
Xie Wangzhi glanced at the clock not far away, then stepped forward to report on the recent situation of the Ministry of Works: the new military uniforms had been made and were ready to be transported to the front lines.
The emperor had emptied the national treasury for this war in the Northwest, and defeat was absolutely unacceptable. During the discussion, a minister mentioned negotiating peace, and was immediately scolded by the emperor.
The old man was speechless for a moment. Although he knew that it was not very appealing to shatter the emperor's delusion of completely eliminating Xili, what he said was true.
Even if they don't take the initiative to negotiate peace, given the current situation, Xili will be terrified and come to negotiate peace. What will happen then, especially considering the attitude of Northern Jin?
Northern Jin certainly doesn't want to see Great Zhou become powerful. Now that Great Zhou is in a very good position with Xili, it's hard to guarantee that Northern Jin won't cause some trouble. It's better to take precautions as soon as possible.
Other ministers echoed this sentiment.
After they finally finished discussing the matter and came out, Xie Wangzhi looked at the hunched old man in front of him and couldn't help but step forward to ask, "Lord Shi, how is Scholar Shi's health? Has it improved?"
Scholar Shi resigned due to illness this winter, and no one knows how he is doing now. He had some friendship with Scholar Shi and admired his talent, so he couldn't help but worry when he heard that Scholar Shi was sick.
Lord Shi looked haggard, not only because of the war in the Northwest and his son's illness, but also because the new laws in the court were unsustainable. He never expected that not long after he left, he would leave behind two generals, only to have them split up among themselves.
Now he has far fewer supporters, and it is even more difficult for him to implement the new law according to his wishes.
"Thank you for your concern, sir. His Majesty has summoned the imperial physician to treat my son, and his condition has improved somewhat."
"That's good."
As Lord Shi looked at Xie Wangzhi's handsome features, he brought up Xie Ning's advocacy for selecting female officials for the first time. He knew Xie Ning, but he didn't know much about her. He never imagined that she not only served as a female official herself, but also got the emperor to agree to women participating in the imperial examinations.
Lord Shi was not so pedantic. Although he felt that such measures were somewhat contrary to the etiquette he had learned, he could also see how much vitality this move could bring to the Great Zhou.
Xie Ning's cleverness lay in the fact that she did not first propose that women participate in the imperial examinations and thus become female officials, but rather first offered official positions suitable for women before making her demands.
There must be a need before there can be a supply.
This silenced a large number of people.
Many people would say that even if a woman passed the imperial examination, what official position should the court appoint her to?
Since ancient times, there has been no official position suitable for women, or rather, people have naturally assumed that officials should be men.
Xie Wangzhi smiled as soon as Xie Ning was mentioned; he was indeed a clever child.
The two walked all the way to the palace gate, and then saw a light yellow figure riding a horse at full speed. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was Princess Yanxi.
"Lord Shi, Lord Xie."
"Greetings, Princess Yanxi."
Yan Xi quickly dismounted and said with a smile, "No need for formalities."
The confident and flamboyant Yan Xi was a world apart from the frail little princess who used to hide in a corner reading books many years ago, leaving Master Shi in a daze.
No one thought that such a frail little princess could live past twelve years old, but now she has not only lived past twelve, but also has a body that looks very healthy.
As a princess, she did not simply stay in the palace learning what women were supposed to do and then wait to get married. Instead, she knelt before the emperor and asked to take charge of the textile industry.
Therefore, she was given a position in the Ministry of Works, where she not only enjoyed the honor of a princess but also held real power.
In the past, which princess would have dared to dream of this? No, it's not that they didn't dare to dream of it, but that they didn't succeed.
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