Although he was speaking to the emperor, he was actually criticizing those who wanted to take advantage of him.
Almost instantly, someone stepped forward to object, but before they could speak, the Emperor interrupted them: "Enough! Minister Kang's meaning is my meaning. You should strive for what you want yourselves, instead of just coveting what others have already obtained! This matter is settled!"
The court fell silent instantly. No one expected the emperor to be so biased towards the Lu family!
Mr. Kang was delighted and shouted, "Your Majesty is wise!"
The others were dismissive of this, thinking that Kang Chengzhi was just a lackey of the Lu family and they couldn't be bothered to argue with him!
Sure enough, no one mentioned the matter again. The emperor was pleased with himself, feeling that he had seen through those opportunists and that he should be more firm in his stance in the future, and not let these people lead him by the nose.
Afterwards, the emperor arranged for someone to deliver funds to Jiang Jiuniang openly and legitimately, and even issued a public notice to spread the word so that the people would know about the good deeds Jiang Jiuniang had done.
The people were surprised, but also relieved. The court was taking care of the people on the border, so they, living right under the emperor's nose, would not be slighted.
With the trust of the people, Jiang Jiuniang's business was given a golden edge. From now on, the business would be in Jiang Jiuniang's hands, and the business of winter clothing for the army would continue to be done by her. No one could take it away.
Speaking of which, the most furious people about this matter were the merchants who were in charge of the army's winter clothing. They were legitimate imperial merchants, and this was their biggest source of income throughout the year. They never expected that it would be robbed this year, and that from now on it would all be handed over to Jiang Jiuniang, and they would never get any more.
Those who can become imperial merchants all have powerful figures behind them. In a moment of panic, they went to their backers to plead and try to win back the business.
The powerful figure behind the deal said he was powerless to help, as the deal was personally approved by the emperor, and it was rumored that the empress would also receive a share of the profits, so they could forget about it altogether.
Trying to steal business from the Empress? Isn't that suicide?
Although the incident caused a stir, it didn't really make a big fuss and quickly subsided.
Three days after receiving replies from her family and the Empress, Jiang Jiuniang received money allocated by the Emperor. With a large number of soldiers, this sum of money was naturally not small. Without thinking, Jiang Jiuniang put it into her spatial storage. After the business was completed and the cost was deducted, it would be distributed to Peng Yuan and the Empress according to the agreed proportion.
By this time, her workshop had begun to operate normally. At first, the women were very slow, but they became quite fast after they got used to it.
Everyone was happy working on the piece-rate system.
With the money they earned, people could rebuild their houses. If they had any extra money, they would buy sheep to raise and try to sell more wool.
This was a huge undertaking. During the wool harvesting season, every household's wool was trimmed. However, considering the sheep needed to survive the winter, the trimming wasn't excessive, just enough to ensure the sheep could safely get through the winter. (Ignore any illogical parts; this is purely fictional.)
Meanwhile, the grain supplies from the Eastern Court had finally arrived at the army's camp.
Lu Baichuan had been keeping an eye on things. Once the convoy entered the camp and he was sure that it was carrying sand, he immediately led his men to start planning the battle strategy.
This battle will definitely cripple the Eastern Court's army!
Three days later, Lu Baichuan began to lead his men to challenge them. When they refused to fight, he took the initiative to attack.
But the attacks weren't severe; it was like they were just playing with them, which infuriated them.
At this time, the old general had just sent Wu Jiaming, whose health was deteriorating, back to the capital. Judging from his appearance, it was indeed as the fairy in the dream had said: he had committed too many sins and was being punished by the gods.
Over the past month or so, he has changed drastically. If he hadn't offended the gods in heaven, there really wouldn't be any other way to explain it.
Just after Wu Jiaming was sent away, the imperial grain arrived, only to find it was all sand. The old general was so worried that his hair turned white.
The escort officer was executed without any public announcement, so the soldiers are unaware of it at least for now.
But this matter cannot be kept secret for long. Several days have passed, and the army's food reserves are insufficient. They cannot last much longer, and once the public finds out, the army will inevitably descend into chaos.
"General, Lu Baichuan has brought his men to cause trouble again! Shall we fight them?"
Someone came to inform us; this is what everyone wanted.
Previously, Dongting was so brave, directly occupying all the cities of Beiyan. How come they became cowards as soon as Lu Baichuan arrived?
During this time, Bei Yan had been harassing them, but the general refused to fight, which puzzled everyone.
The old general was also troubled. He had been dealing with Wu Jiaming's matter, sending messages to the capital to explain the situation, having people confirm Wu Jiaming's condition, and even strongly urging the emperor to depose the empress.
The younger brother of the mother's family has committed such a heinous crime that he has offended the heavens. Now that Wu Jiaming is in trouble, who knows who might be next? The emperor should think this through carefully.
He had originally planned that once these matters were resolved and the supplies were delivered, they could have a good fight and see just how capable this young man, Lu Baichuan, really was.
But now, the grain has turned to sand, and everything is over.
"No! Listen to my command, the entire army retreats fifty meters!"
The soldiers below were stunned: "What?"
"This is a military order!"
The soldiers were very dissatisfied, but they still went out and conveyed the old general's meaning.
The generals outside were very unhappy to receive such a result after waiting for so long. Ignoring all attempts to stop them, they rushed in to question the old general on the spot.
The old general had expected this moment, and when they barged in, he wasn't angry. He closed his eyes and told them about the lack of food supplies.
"What!"
"How could this be!"
The generals stared wide-eyed, unable to believe it was true.
The old general knew he could no longer hide the truth, so he told everyone.
"In a fit of rage, I beheaded the escorting officer, but the others still refused to confess. We still don't know what went wrong; the grain was inexplicably switched!"
The old general sighed. He knew the escort officer wouldn't have the guts; it was most likely those people from the capital who did it.
What's infuriating is that there's absolutely no flaw in his plan, so no one knows who he'll seek revenge against.
The others were also furious. In this time of crisis, without food, how could the soldiers have the strength to fight?
For a moment, everyone fell silent, no longer clamoring to challenge Lu Baichuan to a duel.
"General, I have a plan!"
The old general looked at him: "Please speak!"
"We still have some grain. Let's not let the men know. How about I lead some men to raid the Northern Yan army for grain?"
That man was very decisive; they had no food at the moment, so they had no choice but to rob Bei Yan.
"No! Lu Baichuan is no ordinary person; I'm afraid he might not return!"
The old general had considered this issue long ago, and if it were feasible, he would have made arrangements long ago, instead of passively waiting until now.
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