When Li Rong arrived at the hall, she saw Wang Houmin, Gu Zichun, and Zheng Qiu already sitting in the hall with a dozen people.

Li Rong came out, and her colleagues smiled and said, "It's already this late, and you gentlemen are still coming here. Have you thought about what happened last time and are you ready to give me a reply?"

Everyone stood up and saluted Li Rong.

"Your Highness," the oldest Gu Zichun spoke first, "Your Highness's meaning, we understand, but we just don't understand. If we obey Your Highness completely, what if Your Highness..."

Gu Zichun didn't finish his words, but Li Rong already understood.

They wanted to form an alliance with her because they didn't want to force Li Ming head-on.

Li Ming is protecting Concubine Rou and Prince Su now. After all, he is the emperor. If anyone is not prepared for rebellion, whoever takes the lead will be at risk of being punished by Li Ming.

Li Mingqiang dealt with the person who stood up. It would be fine if others united to rebel together, but what if others only cared about their own interests and kept silent?

Everyone has their own calculations in mind. The aristocratic family may seem like an iron plate, but inside they all have their own twists and turns. So they need someone to come out and take the risk for them.

Li Rong played this role in her previous life. She understood the thoughts of these noble families very well, so she also understood that Gu Zichun was now asking her for a guarantee.

There is a guarantee that their deal will not be any worse than what Roufei was like in the Inspection Department.

"Master Gu," Li Rong said softly, "I have a fiefdom."

After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Although Li Rong is a member of the royal family, the fact that she has her own fiefdom means that she has to abandon her royal identity and become no different from an ordinary aristocratic family.

"Don't worry, my lords," Li Rong said softly, "What I want is just," Li Rong raised her eyes and smiled softly, "stability."

Stable and orderly.

This is also what the aristocratic family wants most.

As long as the crown prince is still the virtuous and gentle Li Chuan, the legitimate son of an aristocratic family, and as long as the aristocratic family still has its privileges, everything remains unchanged, which is the most important thing.

"Then, please give me your instructions, Your Highness," Wang Houmin said respectfully, "What should we do next?"

"During these days, you can all report Concubine Rou one by one. No matter what the reason is, just report her first."

Li Rong tapped her palm with her fan: "I'll take care of it later."

"In addition, I have another request," Li Rong looked up at them, "This year, we need to deduct a portion of the military pay for the northwest from Xiao Su and hand it over to Qin Lin."

Everyone was stunned; they didn't expect Li Rong to make such a request.

Li Rong saw them hesitating, so she laughed, "Why, you just said you would listen to me, but now I ask you to stop being greedy for military pay and send the money to the front lines, but you can't do that? Xiao Su is Concubine Rou's brother, you gave him the money to make his army strong, are you waiting for him to come back to Huajing and kill us?!"

"Your Highness, it's not that we don't listen to you," Cui Mingzhi, who was in the Ministry of War, said with some embarrassment, "It's just that Your Majesty has been keeping a close eye on the military pay that is delivered to Xiao Su."

"Your Majesty is keeping a close eye on us, and you can't think of a solution?"

Li Rong sneered. These people just didn't want to cause trouble. If they were willing to cause trouble, she didn't believe that these noble families couldn't think of a solution with so many links.

Li Ming can keep an eye on Huajing, and can he also keep an eye on the Northwest?

"But the problem is that not only is His Majesty keeping a close eye on him," Cui Mingzhi thought for a moment and said, "The Xie family is also helping Xiao Su keep a close eye on him."

Everyone was silent for a moment and glanced at Li Rong subconsciously.

Li Rong exiled Xie Lanqing, and Xie Lanqing became the head of the Xie family. This feud was created, and they were afraid that they would go against Li Rong to the end no matter what.

Li Rong listened without saying anything. If a big family like the Xie family helped Li Ming keep an eye on Xiao Su's military pay, then if he secretly moved the military pay, it would be easier for someone to save Xiao Zhuizi.

But if things continue like this, Qin Lin will not be able to survive for long with the tax revenue from Qingzhou. Xiao Su has strong soldiers and horses, so in the end he will have to rely on the noble families to help Li Chuan.

Moreover, with Su Rongqing around in this life, it is still a question whether it is possible to gather the soldiers of the aristocratic families.

Just as Li Rong was thinking about it, she saw a maid come in with snacks. On the snack plate there was a small folded piece of paper. Li Rong took the paper and took a look at it. She saw three words written on it: "Cut Military Pay."

Since Xiao Su's military pay cannot be cut, then just cut it. Anyway, no matter how much Xiao Su's military pay is, it will not affect Qin Lin.

He got the least.

Li Rong hesitated for a moment, and finally raised her head and looked at everyone: "Then let's cut them all."

"Your Highness means..." Li Rong picked up the cup from the side, "Don't the south repair the river? It costs money. Anyway, Xiao Su is now in the north raising soldiers and horses and doing nothing. Isn't it a waste of money to just take the court's military pay?"

"But the front line..."

"If you are worried," Li Rong glanced over and said to the person who was speaking, "why not send some to the front line quietly? How much military pay can reach the front line?" Li Rong said in a slightly cold tone, "Don't you know this, gentlemen?"

Seeing Li Rong's angry tone, no one dared to speak. Li Rong put down the teacup and remembered something: "Oh, come to think of it, I'm planning to build a house in Qingzhou."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood: "How much silver does Your Highness need? We will prepare it immediately."

Li Rong thought for a moment and said slowly, "I want to use gold bricks to pave the ground and jade stones as pillars for my house. Although it's not big, it can be calculated... Five hundred gold, how much should it cost?"

Everyone looked embarrassed, and Li Rong smiled: "Or do you think it would be better for you to go and discuss the matter of Concubine Rou with His Majesty?"

"Your Highness's business is what I'm waiting for."

Gu Zichun spoke first, and said slowly: "We still need some time to prepare."

"Okay," Li Rong nodded, "When the money arrives, I will go ask Concubine Rou about her matter."

Wang Houmin heard this and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness. We will pay out the five hundred gold coins within ten days."

Wang Houwen is still in prison. After ten months of execution, he will not be able to come back.

Li Rong stood up with a smile and nodded to everyone: "Then I'll trouble you all."

After seeing everyone off, Li Rong returned to the backyard and saw Pei Wenxuan leaning against the gatepost of the courtyard.

"Did you hear everything I said just now?"

Li Rong knew from the note that Pei Wenxuan was listening to their conversation in the dark.

Pei Wenxuan raised his hand and placed it on Li Rong's shoulder, and said softly: "Your Highness wants another 500 gold. You will make plans."

"Who else would support Qin Lin?"

Li Rong rolled her eyes, "Do you raise it?"

"I dare not raise him." Pei Wenxuan said with a smile, "I have to rely on Your Highness to raise me."

"Aren't you the heir to the family business?" Li Rong poked him, "Do you still want to eat my gigolo?"

"All mine belongs to His Highness," Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong entered the room and he closed the door, "After all, what I eat is His Highness's meal."

"Pei Wenxuan," Li Rong turned to look at him. Pei Wenxuan heard Li Rong calling her and turned back in confusion. She saw Li Rong standing on tiptoe and kissing him. She smiled and said, "Your little mouth is so sweet!"

Pei Wenxuan didn't know why, but he felt a little embarrassed.

The weather gets cold very quickly after September.

Qingzhou had a good harvest this year. Li Rong looked at the taxes in Qingzhou and asked someone to count them. Then she asked Tuoba Yan to circulate the taxes in the granary and finally send them to the northwest quietly. After Xun Chuan received the grain and grass, he wrote back to Li Rong.

Xun Chuan is now following Qin Lin in the army and has made some achievements. Together with Cui Qinghe, he becomes Qin Lin's left and right deputy generals.

At the same time, Li Rong also received 500 gold coins. She sent the money to the southwest, bought weapons, and gave them to Lu Feibai.

By mid-September, memorials impeaching Concubine Rou had piled up like a mountain, and the debate over tax reform raged on in the court.

Li Ming was determined to protect Concubine Rou. Facing the accusations against Concubine Rou by the ministers, he not only did not punish Concubine Rou, but also punished several officials who had reported Concubine Rou.

Concubine Rou's every move, from imperial examinations to tax reform, spread praise among the people, and the voice of deposing the crown prince and enthroning Prince Su began to gain support.

Compared with Concubine Rou's far-reaching reputation, the students who passed the imperial examination began to get used to their positions one by one under the guidance of Pei Wenxuan.

Pei Wenxuan helps these students to lead the way and make friends every day. In the hearts of these students, Pei Wenxuan has gradually become a benefactor and teacher.

At the end of September, the tax reform had not yet been finalized, and Concubine Rou was again reported by the Wang family. This time, she was reported for violating etiquette and using patterns that only the empress could use. No matter how much Li Ming protected her, he had to put on a show and fined her one month's salary.

Concubine Rou had not suffered such an injustice for a long time, so she asked Cui Yulang to prepare a memorial that day, intending to confirm the execution time of Wang Houwen at the morning court the next day to give Wang's family a warning.

Cui Yulang obtained Concubine Rou's life and immediately told Li Rong the news.

Li Rong looked at the letter from Cui Yulang, thought about it, and smiled: "Okay."

As she spoke, Li Rong turned to look at Jinglan: "Go and inform the Prince Consort. I will ask Chen Houzhao to go back to the city to file a complaint at the Ministry of Justice tonight. Ask him to tell Pei Liming to handle the matter and not let him be intercepted by Su Rongqing. Prepare all the confessions that Concubine Rou used to threaten the students to give up filing a complaint, and bring them to me tonight."

"yes."

"Tell Miss Shangguan to sort out all the previous evidence for me."

"clear."

"Prepare a beautiful dress." Li Rong walked to the mirror, raised her hand to tuck the hair around her cheeks, looked left and right in the mirror, and was quite happy. "Tomorrow, I will go to court in a beautiful way!"