Lu Xingjian lay on his side, propping his head up with his hand, striking a seductive pose, with only a thin blanket draped around his waist.
"Your Majesty, shall we stay?"
Su Wanwan: "..."
"The Tatars have invaded Datong, and the bandits from Guangdong have fled to Jiangxi to cause chaos. There are so many things to do, it's like hairs on a cow. The responsibility for the burning of more than a thousand grain ships on the Grand Canal has not yet been sorted out. How can I have time to slack off?"
Lu Xingjian pulled her into his arms.
"The Northern Yuan Dayan Khan is busy fighting against the right-wing nobles. He has no time to invade the border. He is nothing to fear."
"On the other hand, those bandits, who wreak havoc everywhere, can't even take down a prefectural city, but they have the ability to conquer county towns."
"Why not think of a way to lure them to the vicinity of the capital, wait for them to tire themselves out, and annihilate them in one fell swoop?"
Su Wanwan pushed away his restless hand, "They can't even take the prefectural city, how can they possibly conquer the capital? I'm afraid they don't have the guts."
Lu Xingjian didn't take it to heart. "It's not that I don't have the guts, it's that the attraction isn't strong enough."
"Think about it, what does the capital city represent?"
Su Wanwan felt a slight tremor in her heart.
The capital city represents imperial power.
They conquered the capital, using the pretext of serving the emperor and purging corrupt officials to seize power and command the other lords.
Thus, whether it's peasant uprising armies like Liu Liu and Liu Qi, thugs like Yang Hu and Zhao Sui, or bandits from Guangdong and Jiangxi, they would all likely rush to the capital.
Even if they refuse to come, the forces behind them will force them to seize this opportunity.
Her gaze darkened. "Purge the court of corrupt officials—does that mean purging me?"
Lu Xingjian smiled enigmatically: "Scared?"
Su Wanwan stared into his eyes.
I feel like I've fallen into a trap.
No wonder they imprisoned him so easily.
So that's what they were waiting for.
Lu Xingjian took her hand and kissed it lazily. "Prime Minister Li is a cunning old fox. Hasn't he been causing quite a stir lately?"
"He's more senior and has a past relationship with Liu Jin. What makes you think you can surpass him?"
Su Wanwan had mixed feelings.
"It's alright if it's me too."
"You rest well, I'm leaving."
Lu Xingjian refused to let go: "How can it be alright?"
"You are Yan Ge'er's mother, aren't you afraid of affecting his future prospects?"
Su Wanwan frowned slightly.
These days, Yan Ge'er has been deliberately avoiding her.
He went to school early and ate without saying a word, quickly finishing his meal and leaving.
Yan Ge'er too.
She's too busy to pay attention to her two children.
"You should spend more time taking care of the children."
Lu Xingjian scoffed.
"Then why did you imprison me?"
Su Wanwan's expression was serious. "The map won't be under your control."
Lu Xingjian: "If I don't control you, can you control me instead?"
"Come over tonight, whatever position you want, I'll do it, whatever you say, okay?"
Su Wanwan simply said, "We'll see."
Although he acted like a cat, extremely docile, Su Wanwan knew he wasn't a cat.
It's a tiger.
The fangs that are revealed unintentionally can be deadly.
He had served as crown prince and emperor for many years, and the spies and people he had planted were far beyond what she could compare to.
He was just deliberately showing weakness and giving in to her.
Once things really fall apart, no one can say for sure what will happen.
Upon returning to Kunning Palace, Zhang Yong requested an audience.
"Your Majesty, we have good news!"
"When Liu Liu and others attacked Caozhou, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Feng Zhen, Xu Tai, and Guerrilla General Que Yong fought against them, beheading more than 300 people. They pursued them to Jibei, captured and killed more than 1,800 people, and killed one well-known bandit leader!"
Su Wanwan perked up: "These border troops are really good at fighting. We must make sure the reward is given properly and spread the word."
Recently, the border troops have been reporting frequent victories in their battles against the bandits, which has greatly boosted morale in the capital.
Many patriotic young men from the Beijing Army were eager to volunteer for the war and seek a better future.
Zhang Yong then petitioned the emperor, saying, "The 120,000 officers and soldiers of the 12 battalions in the capital are now resentful, wondering why their merits have all been stolen by the border troops."
"Your Majesty, I request that 6,000 elite troops from the capital be selected as regular soldiers, and 3,000 from each battalion be selected as reserve troops, totaling 42,000 men who will be trained regularly and deployed immediately in case of emergency."
Su Wanwan readily agreed.
Having ambition is a good thing.
In the first half of the year, the government troops in the capital followed the bandits around without winning a single battle. Instead, their morale plummeted, and they developed a fear of the bandits, believing that the bandits were protected by the gods and were invincible.
The border troops' successive victories have aroused a sense of jealousy in the Beijing troops, making them think, "I could do it too."
Su Wanwan paid more attention to matters related to the Grand Canal.
More than 1,200 grain transport ships were burned. If this matter is not dealt with, it will encourage corrupt officials to line their own pockets under the guise of bandits.
"Such a serious mistake in the canal transport should not be left unpunished to deter those who would do evil."
"The Ministry of Revenue requests an imperial decree to reduce the rice consumption per shi (a unit of dry measure) by one sheng (another unit of dry measure) for grain transport."
“Grain and rice from various famine-stricken areas were converted into silver and transported to the capital to save on transportation costs.”
Zhang Yong was secretly alarmed.
The Grand Canal was the lifeline for goods transport connecting the north and south of the Liang Dynasty, but the cost of transporting goods was also very high.
One shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain is 20 sheng (another unit of dry measure). If it is transported to the capital, the cost of food and drink for the staff and servants will be 8 sheng (another unit of dry measure) in transportation costs.
Deducting one shi (a unit of weight) from the original transportation cost directly infringes upon the interests of officials involved in the canal transport.
"Will there be any problems with the canal transport?" Zhang Yong was a little worried.
Su Wanwan said coldly, "If another canal boat is burned, the rice consumption for canal transport will have to be reduced. Let them weigh the consequences themselves."
Zhang Yong was even more worried about the disruption of the grain transport. "Because of the news that the grain transport ships were burned, prices in the capital skyrocketed, and people were afraid that there wouldn't be enough food, so they were all scrambling to buy supplies."
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