Upon hearing this, Yan Huan did not argue with the elder right away. Instead, he looked at Kryudera in surprise.
"Didn't Duke Yeshi say that all the disobedient elders had been sunk in the lake by you? How are there still experts left?"
"There are always a few fish that slip through the net." Kryudera folded her arms, unsurprised.
"Besides, they merely hold differing opinions. Why not hear their specific reasons for advising against it?"
"Oh?" Yan Huan looked at the elder again. "Say that again? I didn't hear you clearly just now."
Pinned beneath Yan Huan's gaze, the elder instinctively felt a chill run down his spine.
But his long-standing arrogance and deeply rooted contempt for the common rabble forced him to steady himself. He even raised his voice:
"Chancellor! I said that wasting precious resources on farmland and commoners is truly improper."
"Imperial citizens already receive rations. As for their lives, they have sturdy walls for protection and grand bathhouses to cleanse themselves of dust. That is already Caesar's heavenly grace."
"The Titans have yet to be conquered, and rebels from other cities are stirring. We should be concentrating all our strength on expanding our military and securing total victory. How can we put the cart before the horse?"
"Exactly!" Another plump elder stepped forward, his voice booming like a bell.
"Food? The warehouses are piled high with it! Must we make those lazy farmers even greedier?"
"Improve their livelihoods? Hmph, that would only encourage their indolence!"
"True power lies in the might of the Chrysos Heirs and in invincible legions! Chancellor, your martial prowess is unparalleled. You should understand this principle even more clearly!"
"Precisely!" someone else chimed in.
"Those commoners are no better than grass and weeds. Being allowed to live and serve the empire is