He tried everything, from threats and bribes to gentle persuasion, but Zhang Ertian remained unmoved, like a stubborn rock. Seeing that the other party was clearly distracted, his anger grew even stronger!
[Haha, this is hilarious! He's been talking nonsense for ages, Zhang Ertian's thoughts are completely out of control. It's so funny, this misunderstanding is impossible not to laugh at! O(∩_∩)O haha~]
[Zhang Ertian is quite clever; he sees things clearly. It's uncertain whether these promises will ultimately be fulfilled, and regarding the punishment for desertion, as soon as Xu Duo mentioned it, Zhang Ertian said he had no intention of running away. Then Xu Duo was speechless, and that frozen, petrified expression was hilarious.]
[Many blah blah blah, Zhang Ertian: No way. (*^▽^*)]
Many people are probably furious. If Zhang Ertian doesn't go, he'll have to go to Zhao to be a spy, and Xie Yanhua has already caught him red-handed. After all, Zhang Ertian is just lazy; he genuinely wants to run away (òωó?).
[Speaking of which, Cao Wei has emptied Wu's treasury. How can they fight a war? And with the army growing larger and larger, feeding them is a problem too. (Thinking emoji.JPG)]
[Don't worry, because Cao Wei has already advised the ruler to thoroughly investigate the family of the commander-in-chief of the last war. They initially denied any wrongdoing, but well, to put it another way, while there was no evidence of treason, they were found to have engaged in corrupt practices such as embezzlement, bribery, and buying official positions. The national treasury has received a major replenishment! (＾－＾)V.]
[Tsk tsk tsk, I really didn't expect that. Didn't the other noble families join in the rebellion?]
[Hey, what's there to resist? This is a perfect excuse. Last time we fought Zhao, we issued the challenge an hour early and lost. I bet they didn't expect to lose, so they were all a bit suspicious. That's exactly what Cao Wei got in the way of. ┓( ′?` )┏。]
Didn't they realize that Zhao had just acquired a capable general?!
[Such a coincidence, who could believe it? And a general? Chen Ai was just a common soldier at the time; if he hadn't been unable to ride a horse, even the Wu commander-in-chief wouldn't have escaped and would have been trapped there. It has to be said, to fight with superior numbers and still lose—anyone would suspect a traitor!]
No wonder the Wu Kingdom didn't experience internal strife even after the raids; so that's how it is. But with the population increasing, the shortage of housing will only grow larger, right? This can't be a long-term solution!
Cao Wei listened to the others in the royal council hall chattering away, saying things like it wasn't a long-term solution and that the previous tax reduction policy needed to be stopped as soon as possible, but she didn't bother to listen.
Are you kidding me? These people think they can convince the King of Wu to retract his policy of continuously increasing population just by talking? That's wishful thinking.
The ruler of Wu clearly harbored ambitions of war and hegemony. These people wanted to stop it, but they couldn't offer any new policies. Wasn't that a waste of time?
Cao Wei silently shook her head in her heart. There were no opponents here. To be frank, everyone here was like this (little finger).
She couldn't be bothered to argue with these people. She wasn't the ruler of Wu, and she didn't have to worry about this or that. She just wanted to make a living, survive until the finale, and then casually share the 100 million yuan prize money.
Cao Wei figured they'd probably be discussing matters all day again. She'd ask the head eunuch to ask the imperial kitchen to make her a steamed sea bass, braised pork ribs, winter melon and meatball soup, and a bowl of white rice. Slurp, so fragrant! And maybe an egg custard with a few drops of sesame oil, steamed until tender.
It is said that her status has risen so high. After the king confiscated the general's family property, everyone inside and outside the palace tried to please her. Before holding meetings, the chief eunuch would ask her what she wanted to eat and whether she had any dietary restrictions.
Of course, she would also give the other party some tips. She was now a "noble" with offerings, and her old father, Lord Jiang, who had always been suspicious of her, had stopped questioning her so much lately and even started to care about her. How wonderful! Indeed, being a lazy official in ancient times was the best thing.
The meeting lasted all day, and it wasn't until evening that the king allowed everyone to go home.
Only Cao Wei was kept behind.
"Thanks to you, we've weathered this crisis. Is there anything you'd like as a reward? The Tian family's property that was raided had a rather nice set of ornaments; take it with you when you go back."
Cao Wei bowed to express her gratitude.
"But this is not a long-term solution. An increase in population is indeed my wish, but the money to support it is never inexhaustible. The other noble families haven't noticed this time, but it's hard to say what will happen next. Do you have any plans?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Wei thought, "What's so special about that?" and immediately replied, "I do have a plan!"
"Speak quickly." The King of Wu showed no surprise. After all, Cao Wei always had a plan when she asked questions. What did that mean? It meant she was very thoughtful! She could come up with a plan that would solve any other plans that followed. What a talent she was!
Of course, the king did not realize at this time that the series of problems that followed were actually the "aftereffects" of the original plan. Cao Wei was clearly patching up the loopholes, but the king thought that the other party had a flawless plan.
"Just because Wu is poor doesn't mean the surrounding countries are poor! Wu has a large population and many soldiers, so now is the perfect time to expand outwards and collect wealth! The noble families and rulers of other countries always have some wealth left. I believe it's time to reclaim the ruler's property."
[I have to say, this is absolutely brilliant! If they can't steal from China, they'll steal from other countries. How ingenious!]
Why do I feel like Cao Wei has brought things to life?!
[Stop speculating; it seems like things have turned around. I genuinely thought this strategy was unworkable before, full of problems, but now it's actually on the right track. Sometimes I really doubt myself—did Cao Wei actually think of things so far in advance?! Was accumulating population in the beginning really just for building up a population reserve for war?! When money ran out, she had the ruler plunder a wave of aristocratic families within the country, nurturing his ambition so that she could launch wars to conquer other countries, ultimately achieving the unification of the world?!]
[Empty-headed, brainless emoji.JPG]
[Wasn't the King of Wu determined to start a war from the beginning?! This has nothing to do with her, right?!]
[Indeed, we initially wanted to fight, but we were stunned by Zhao's victory with fewer troops, so we tried to play it safe. Now, we're facing financial problems and stuck in this situation. We have no choice but to fight ┓( ′?` )┏.]
【Huh?! Isn't this all a consequence of Cao Wei's scheme?! Why are you praising her?!】
It's amazing how one bug can be a bug, but a bunch of bugs can actually work!
[Each of these strategies worked in unexpected places, yet each one effectively solved the problem at the time. It's truly unfathomable (thinking deeply, meme of failed thought).]
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