After the court assembly began, Vice Minister Yang indeed brought up the matter of Jiangnan providing grain supplies to the North, which caused quite a stir.
But now, a strange scene unfolds on the dragon throne at the court assembly.
Sitting atop the throne was a prince who was only one year old, and behind the prince, beneath the curtain, was a slender figure!
Ruling from behind a screen is historically a sign of national chaos, but now there seems to be no other way.
With the emperor seriously ill and the crown prince's fate uncertain in the hands of the eldest princess, the court naturally needed a figurehead to oversee the country. However, most of His Majesty's adult children were disabled, and it would be a disgrace to the nation if they were to oversee the country. In the end, only the young newborn prince could take the throne.
Since children are too young to understand, the one in the harem could only act as regent.
Strangely, the regent was not the prince's biological mother, but the reigning queen!
This is quite interesting. Everyone knows that the Empress has long since died, and her body has already been buried in the imperial mausoleum.
But now, not a single person in the entire court seems to have any problem with the Empress's position.
"Is this news reliable, Your Excellency?" The one who asked the question was a general dressed in the uniform of Third Rank military officer. He was the eldest son of the Duke of Duke of Zhou. After the Duke of Duke of Zhou led his army on a northern expedition, the younger sons had to attend court in place of their father.
" Jiangnan has suffered such a great calamity, which must have delayed spring planting. Right now, it's already a good thing that Chen Qing's grain supply can feed the people of Jiangnan. How could he possibly have enough to supply the enemy in the north?" The young general looked at Vice Minister Yang with amusement. "Minister Yang, you don't know anything about military affairs, so don't speak recklessly. The land in the north is barren. Before the New Year, the court contacted allied nations to launch a campaign. The rebel armies in the north are attacked from two sides and lost their largest grain-producing city. The current food shortage is far beyond what Jiangnan can provide!"
"Exactly!" another general chimed in, "Instead of wasting time framing Jiangnan, why not spend more time investigating who is actually supplying grain to the north!"
The other military officers nodded in agreement, clearly showing their agreement with the young general who had spoken earlier.
After the rebellion in the north, which was originally a powerful force, the court was short of troops and almost instantly lost the entire Northern Frontier. About half a year ago, His Majesty issued an edict, and His Majesty the Queen stepped forward and sent a special envoy to visit the four Kingdom of Guhuang, requesting their help to suppress the rebels.
This strategy of using a tiger to drive away a wolf was initially met with strong opposition, but unexpectedly it had a very good effect.
The Kingdom of Guhuang, though united, failed to conquer the Northern Frontier. However, their surprise attack disrupted the Duke of Wei's plans, leading to the attack on the largest grain storage city. Furthermore, the Kingdom of Guhuang prematurely harvested and trampled large tracts of fertile land in the rear, resulting in a severe food shortage in the Northern Frontier, which was almost driven to the brink of despair by a counterattack.
But just six months ago, the situation began to change again.
It is unclear when exactly, but a grain route was established in the north, which not only greatly alleviated the army's food shortage but also relieved the famine among the people, stabilizing the previously turbulent Ten Cities of Youyun. The two battlefields once again fell into a stalemate.
"I suspect the grain came from the Kingdom of Guhuang," one of the generals said. "The Duke of Wei must have promised even more to the Kingdom of Guhuang, which led them to provide relief grain. Only that makes sense!"
Vice Minister Yang frowned upon hearing this. "I know that your businesses are now deeply intertwined with Jiangnan, but if you continue to cling to petty gains and strengthen Jiangnan, the consequences will be disastrous!"
A group of generals stared at the ceiling of the main hall, pretending not to hear anything.
Indeed, as Vice Minister Yang said, all the major families are now tied to businesses in Jiangnan, and these are not small profits!
Nowadays, tea, wine, and silk in Jiangnan are all incredibly expensive!
Countless wealthy people were willing to pursue them, including the scions of their own aristocratic families who were also fascinated by those things. The merchants in Jiangnan were also very shrewd in dealing with people, and as soon as they arrived, they handed over all the management rights to them, with the highest profit sharing reaching 70%!
Which company wouldn't protect such a generous partner?
Moreover, in everyone's eyes, Chen Qing was nothing more than a figurehead with no power or influence, and no military family to support him. He was just taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Jiangnan to dodge and weave around the issues, and was not a threat at all.
These scholars are making a mountain out of a molehill. They clearly can't get involved in those lucrative businesses, yet they spout such high-sounding platitudes!
Seeing that many military officers remained silent, Vice Minister Yang finally had no choice but to turn his attention to the Nine Ministers.
The Ministry of Rites and others exchanged glances. Their family of sorcerers had also handled a lot of business in Jiangnan, but they couldn't be as indifferent to the scholar-official class as the military families. After all, they couldn't compete with powerful bloodline families in the court on their own.
"Your Majesty," the Minister of Ministry of Rites stepped forward and bowed, saying, " Chen Qing of Jiangnan has indeed done many things that are not in accordance with court rules. His unauthorized recruitment of soldiers can be explained by expediency in an emergency, but his current large-scale support for engineering and education, and his coercion of the people to convert to religion, are indeed very problematic, and the court should hold him accountable."
That's it?
Vice Minister Yang was not satisfied with this outcome and quickly stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, Chen Qing's harm does not end here!"
"Is that so?" The Empress's cool voice came from behind the curtain. "Minister Yang, please don't rush, speak slowly."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Vice Minister Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said, " Chen Qing has acted contrary to the established doctrines. Not only has he abused his power in Jiangnan, seizing the official seals of many county magistrates and even prefectural governors without the court's consent, but he has also blatantly denigrated Confucianism, ostracized scholars, and taken advantage of the chaos in Jiangnan to incite unrest!"
"The people are ignorant and don't know what's important. They support him immensely. Now, Chen Qing has turned Jiangnan into his own local kingdom. Is he acting out of a sense of urgency? He just wants to take advantage of the situation to carve up Jiangnan!"
"This can be seen from his large-scale purchases of horses and shipbuilding timber. According to my intelligence, this Chen Qing promotes strange and ingenious crafts, creating something called a cannon that can injure people from a thousand meters away. Moreover, his heavy industry school excludes Confucianism, and he manufactures large quantities of such scourges to the people. His intentions are despicable!"
"If craftsmen take pride in making such wicked things, and the world is filled with instruments that can harm people, what chaos will the world become?"
"Isn't this statement by the Vice Minister biased?" one of the military officers frowned. "Such a powerful weapon, used in military affairs, can turn the tide of battle. How can it be dismissed as a mere trick? Chen Qing faces demons in Jiangnan, and without any blood relatives to help him. To hold on, he must rely on some means. How come, in the Vice Minister's mouth, it's meant to bring disaster to the people?"
"Hmph!" Vice Minister Yang sneered, "General, you also know that Chen Qing has no powerful family to support him? With your military experience, General, do you think Chen Qing, without the assistance of powerful families, could possibly stop the demons you speak of, or Her Highness the Princess, relying only on some militia?"
This remark left the group of military officers speechless!
This left them somewhat speechless, because to refute it would be to diminish their own prestige.
It's laughable that a commoner official, relying on a group of commoners and artisans, could possibly hold off the Princess and her terrifying demons.
Seeing that the generals had nothing to say, Vice Minister Yang sneered, "This humble subject thinks that Chen Qing's claim of being able to deal with Xiao Mingxue is utterly ridiculous. He's clearly in cahoots with the Princess, using money to lower our guard and procuring large quantities of weapons for her. How could ordinary civilians afford to drive Dragon Horse and Elephant Horse? I think he's mostly working for the Princess!"
All the military officers were stunned. You know what, there really is such a possibility.
Upon hearing this, Jiuqing frowned. Given Chen Qing's circumstances, it was indeed a pipe dream to defend Jiangnan under the combined attack of the Eldest Princess and that monster from the West Sea. However, if, as Vice Minister Yang said, the other party had been the Eldest Princess's man from the very beginning, then it would make sense.
Thinking about it this way, Jiangnan's ability to amass wealth through those things and purchase military supplies from the north does indeed pose a significant threat!
"Does Your Excellency have any evidence?" the Empress asked languidly. "After all, according to Vice Minister Wang's intelligence, Chen Qing has always been loyal to the court."
"Whether Vice Minister Wang's words are credible remains to be seen!" Vice Minister Yang said loudly, "I happen to have some informants in Jiangnan who are currently gathering evidence of Chen Qing's crimes, especially information about firearms. I believe they will be delivered to the capital in a few days. When the evidence is conclusive, I urge all officials not to tolerate this villain. Not only is this villain willing to be the Princess's lackey, but he is also distorting the truth and suppressing Confucianism in Jiangnan, a place with a strong literary tradition. If he is allowed to stay there for too long, even if Jiangnan is recovered in the future, the literary tradition of Jiangnan may be lost for a hundred years!"
All the civil officials nodded in agreement, and several other vice ministers stepped forward, saying, "In the imperial examinations, scholars from Jiangnan often make up more than half of the candidates. Jiangnan is the most important center of education in our dynasty. Chen Qing, for a little personal gain, has persecuted the literati on a large scale. This act is extremely harmful and will have far-reaching consequences. It must be stopped as soon as possible!"
"Is it really that dangerous?" the Empress murmured softly.
The other military officers secretly grimaced. These scholars relied most on the Great Jin's policy of tax exemption for those with official titles. They used this to annex land and became old land slaves. Chen Qing's exclusion of scholars proved the strength of engineering and science, which was digging up their roots. Of course, they were anxious.
However, it does sound troublesome now, because the demons under the Princess's command are already troublesome, and if we add the weapon made by Chen Qing, it will indeed be a threat.
They weren't necessarily determined to protect Chen Qing; it was just that they lacked the necessary troops. If they could, they would naturally want to send troops to Jiangnan and take everything in Jiangnan for themselves!
"But the court is short of troops right now." The military officer frowned and said, "Even if what you say is true, that Chen Qing is really Xiao Mingxue's lackey, we are currently short of troops. We are too busy Gu Bei to have any spare strength to conquer Jiangnan."
"That's not right!" Vice Minister Yang perked up, finally managing to convince the group of muscular men.
"According to my intelligence, now is the best time for the imperial court to retake Jiangnan!"
Two more chapters are coming up, but they'll be released later, probably around midnight or even later. Readers who can't wait can read them together with tomorrow's chapters.