Zhou Chao did much more than that.
After returning to the inner palace, he summoned Chen Fenghuo, who had just become a man.
"Feng Huo, issue an order to all the Grandmasters and above in the palace, instructing them to rush to Jiangnan as quickly as possible and serve under the Regent."
"Remember, the Regent's orders are my orders. They must obey and carry out my orders without question."
Chen Fenghuo paused for a moment upon hearing this: "Your Majesty, wouldn't this be..."
Zhou Chao waved his hand: "Are you trying to say that I am too eager to please the Regent?"
"Um!"
"You, you blockhead."
"If you're going to do it, do it thoroughly. Don't leave things half-done, or people will think you're not sincere enough."
"If I weren't worried about the safety of the Crown Prince and the Empress, I would have transferred you to Jiangnan to help them."
Zhou Chao explained, "The army has already been dispatched, so there's no need for more offerings. Besides, neither the capital nor Tai'an City needs that many people right now."
"Other places don't need so many people to watch over them. After all, watching them for so long has been useless. Those places have long since stopped obeying orders and proclamations."
"But it's alright. Our Regent is planning to sweep across the Ming Dynasty this time. Those experts under his command might be of some help."
Chen Fenghuo thought about it and agreed, then cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and stepped back.
After he left, the Empress came out carrying the child: "Your Majesty."
Seeing that the Empress was about to perform the ceremony, Zhou Chao quickly stood up and helped her up, saying, "We've been married for so long, why bother with formalities?"
"Come here, let me hold our baby."
"Good girl, Star, have you been good?"
Emperor Jianyuan looked at his son and grew to like him more and more.
This child is not only exceptionally beautiful, but also has a bright and lively gaze; by all accounts, she is a clever child.
Unlike Li Chang'an, who had received education from later generations, Zhou Chao had received feudal education. In his mind, continuing the family line was still the most important thing.
For so many years, he had been under a lot of pressure because of his own reasons for not having children. Now that he finally has a child who can carry on the Zhou family bloodline and inherit the Zhou family throne, he is overjoyed.
The Empress, seeing the scene of their loving father and son, felt happy: "Your Majesty, how was the grand court assembly? Did any of the ministers oppose the Regent?"
While playing with the child, Emperor Jianyuan answered her question: "Fortunately, they dare to oppose me, but they dare not oppose the disciples of the immortals."
"Apart from that old scholar Yin Wei, no one else voiced any objection."
When the Empress heard the name Yin Wei, she covered her mouth and chuckled.
In the current court, he is the only one who dares to directly contradict the Regent.
The regent couldn't do anything about him, because he was neither corrupt nor formed cliques, and he was good at governing the people; he was just a bit pedantic.
So even though Yin Wei infuriated Li Chang'an, he couldn't do anything about it.
Emperor Jianyuan looked at the child in his arms who remained unmoved by his teasing and said, "You are a lucky man, a man who enjoys good fortune."
"Why does Your Majesty say such a thing?"
“When I took over the Ming Dynasty, it was a mess, with various factions entrenched in power. It took me more than ten years to get control of the capital and then stabilize the borders. Although other places were still dominated by powerful families, it was much better than when I first came to power.”
"But this little guy is different. His master plans to clean up the mess that is the Ming Dynasty directly, so that when he grows up, he can take over a prosperous and strong Ming Dynasty."
"Thinking about this, I'm a little envious of this little guy."
Upon hearing this, the Empress said with some concern, "What if the Regent is unwilling to hand over the Ming Dynasty to our children?"
Zhou Chao looked at her and laughed: "Why are you worried about this?"
"The Regent said he would not have any children. This child is his only disciple. Even if the Regent seizes our throne, he can only pass it on to our child."
"He can't possibly pass it on to a woman like Su Xiao."
The Empress shook her head: "But what if the Regent were immortal?"
"Then there's even less to be afraid of."
Zhou Chao said confidently, "If the Regent is truly immortal, then he is a real god. How could a god possibly be interested in the throne of a mortal?"
"Who knows, after he saves the Ming Dynasty, he might go back to heaven and become a god."
The Empress thought about it and realized that what he said made sense, so her worries eased considerably.
While the couple was chatting, the main hall was already in an uproar.
“Zhang Jiadi, you can’t just side with the officials in Tai’an City. You have to look at us officials in the capital too.”
"That's right, that's right. We also want to serve our country and contribute to the Ming Dynasty. Why can't we lead troops to support the Prince?"
A group of military officers from the capital looked at Zhang Jiadi with a pitiful expression, their faces full of grievance.
In the entire capital, everyone knows that military officers can only have a future if they follow Li Chang'an; otherwise, they'll just be treated like stepchildren.
Previously, Pan Feng and Xing Daorong held the same official positions as them, were ostracized by civil officials, looked down upon by nobles, and lived a life of idleness and waiting for death in the capital.
Now that they've followed Li Chang'an, they've not only been promoted but also made a fortune. Most importantly, they're no longer bullied by nobles and civil officials; they've started bullying the civil officials and nobles themselves.
The two men were stationed in Fujian. They wrote a memorial requesting weapons and armor, but the people in the Ministry of War said they didn't have any. So the two men wrote a memorial scolding the Minister of War and even filed a complaint against him.
Then the Minister of War was implicated and almost lost his official position.
These two brothers would never have dared to be so arrogant before. They wouldn't have dared to offend even the Vice Minister of War, let alone the Minister of War.
They only dare to be so arrogant and domineering because they have Li Chang'an backing them.
Zhang Jiadi looked at these military officers with a headache: "Gentlemen, it's not that I don't want you to go to Jiangnan, but other places also need to send troops to provide support."
"If you all go to Jiangnan, what will happen to the other places?"
The nobles chimed in, saying, "That's right, that's right, you're not worthy to support the prince."
“Lord Zhang, don’t bother with those soldiers. All of us from noble families can gather 60,000 soldiers. We are enough to support the prince. Those soldiers can go somewhere else.”
Niu Baoguo stroked his beard and spoke, drawing cheers from the other nobles.
"The Duke of Niu is right!"
"Duke Niu's words are brilliant!"
"What Duke Niu said is absolutely right!"
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