What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 203 The Empress actually allowed Su Mo to form a private army!
As soon as Su Mo entered the government office, he saw Leng Xixi holding a magic crossbow, squinting one eye and aiming here and there!

He was instantly left speechless, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Other young ladies preferred embroidery and needlework, or playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting, and composing poetry and songs.

Why is it that most of the women I know are fond of wielding knives and guns, and actually dare to kill?
Lin Moyin, Ning Xiaoxiao, Nangong Sheyue, Chen Qianyu, Liu Siyun, Jiang Lan...

Hmm, and there's also a cult witch... along with a white snake spirit!

Including Leng Xixi!
None of them are normal!

Xue Yishu is a little better, but she is still a big headache.

He's always climbing over walls and running away from home, wearing a jade talisman around his neck that can kill people.

On the contrary, Qin Bier, who makes pancakes, and Yin Rou, who claims to be a disciple, best fit the image of ancient women in Su Mo's mind.

Upon seeing Su Mo appear, the Empress immediately put down the Divine Arm Bow and asked as her first question, "Just now, Commander Nangong said that a hundred-year-old white snake spirit was discovered on Lonely Peak Mountain, my lord?"

Su Mo glanced at Nangong Sheyue, who was expressionless beside him, and said with a wry smile, "That's true."

"This white snake spirit is somewhat useful, so please spare her this time, Commander."

Leng Liuxi nodded: "Such a shapeshifting spirit is indeed rare. I didn't expect there to be one on Lonely Peak Mountain."

As she spoke, her eyes gleamed slightly: "I've heard that many high-ranking officials and powerful families like to keep such bewitching creatures, which are worth thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver..."

Su Mo was both amused and exasperated!

Judging from that cold expression, he probably wants to sell the White Snake Spirit!

They must be desperate for money!

Can't we make a deal with the demons?

Is it legal?
He was too lazy to continue the topic, and frowned, saying, "Lord Leng, why have you come to Lonely Peak Mountain again?"

Leng Liuxi's pretty face instantly showed a resentful look, her expression changing so quickly it was worthy of a little golden statue: "This concubine has come to see the rickshaw that my lord promised!"

"Young Master has already made bicycles for Commander Qianhu, and I heard from Lord Nangong that dozens of them have been sold, earning tens of thousands of taels of silver!"

As she spoke, she blinked her pretty eyes: "But I haven't even seen a shadow of my rickshaw."

"I even run a passenger transport company!"

Su Mo rolled her eyes.

He was already immune to Leng Liuxi's acting skills.

Trust her even half the time and you'll die!

He then instructed Yin Rou: "Yin Qi Guan, go to Zhou Dashu and tell him to bring the rickshaw here."

Yin Rou immediately replied, "Understood, teacher!"

Leng Xixi withdrew his gaze from Yin Rou's petite waist and voluptuous curves.

He secretly thought that Su Mo must like this type, which was why he let the white snake spirit go.

Anyone who believes the snake spirit's excuse about driving away rats is a fool.

The Empress, in any case, didn't believe it.

She feigned surprise and said, "Human-made cars have been made too?"

Su Mo explained, "The most crucial parts of a rickshaw are the bearings and the black rubber tires."

"The blacksmiths will make the bearings and wheels, and the rest will be done by the carpenters. It won't take much effort."

Leng Xixi stopped mentioning the issue and changed the subject, finally getting to the real reason she came to see Su Mo today.

"Does Your Highness know that His Majesty has added Physician Chi to the list of recommended officials?"

As she spoke, she said with a hint of pride, "My lord's Art of War is truly effective."

"His Majesty used a little trickery to manipulate the cabinet and the important ministers of the Six Ministries, and had no choice but to add Physician Chi to the list of recommended officials."

Upon hearing this, Su Mo's spirits immediately lifted.

This concerns the system's task!

Not only can it increase Leng Xi's favorability, but it can also increase the grain production of Lonely Peak Mountain.

It can also activate the strategy target of the Assistant Minister of Personnel!

Leng Xixi truly lives up to her reputation as the Empress's trusted and beloved general; she possesses profound knowledge of court affairs.

The Empress and her high-ranking officials held private discussions, which ordinary courtiers could never have known. Leng Xi, however, was fully aware of the details.

Having such a powerful backer in the court, who knows all sorts of inside information, can indeed save you from many detours and pitfalls!
"The list of candidates has been decided so quickly?" Su Mo took a deep breath and looked straight at Leng Xixi.

Leng Liuxi nodded: "The formal court recommendation will be held tomorrow."

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be Zhang Heng and Zou Hou who are put forward by the court, and His Majesty will make the final decision!"

Su Mo's eyes darted around: "Lord Leng, do you think His Majesty will issue an imperial edict for Zhang Heng or Zou Hou?"

Leng Liuxi blinked: "I am not Your Majesty, how would I know who Your Majesty favors?"

She paused, drawing out her words slightly: "However, if Fengming Division can find evidence of Zou Hou's crimes as soon as possible..."

Su Mo: "How fast?"

Leng Liuxi: "Tonight!"

Su Mo hesitated.

The system message was quite clear: evidence was buried in the backyard of the Fu family residence in Shilipo.

Leng Liuxi and Nangong Sheyue exchanged a glance secretly.

Nangong Sheyue suddenly said calmly, "Zhang Heng is a man of unyielding integrity and has a good reputation. He is a rare upright official in the court and should not have committed any crimes."

"The focus should be placed on Zou Hou!"

She paused slightly: "Zou Hou is a fifth-rank official in the Imperial Observatory, and the Imperial Observatory is of paramount importance. Without solid evidence, His Majesty cannot easily take action against him!"

"But it's difficult to obtain evidence of Zou Houzhi's crimes within a single day!"

Leng Liuxi nodded: "That's exactly right!"

"His Majesty cannot see the evidence of Zou Hou's crimes. After the court's decision tomorrow, he will probably only be able to approve Zhang Heng's case in red ink."

"In this way, Physician Chi will be unable to serve as the chief examiner for the Soul-Fixing Examination."

As she spoke, her gaze fell on Su Mo, and she suddenly changed the subject: "Didn't you say that your concubine once said that Zou Hou had a close relationship with the Fu family?"

"And the Fu family mansion?"

Nangong Sheyue and the Empress were already very skilled at cooperating. Her bright eyes lit up as she stared intently at Su Mo: "Could it be that Zou Hou's incriminating evidence is hidden in the Fu family mansion?"

Su Mo took a deep breath, looked directly at Leng Liuxi and Nangong Sheyue, and said in a deep voice, "My lords, I already asked about my concubine yesterday."

"She's just spouting nonsense because she resents the Fu family's plan to give her to Zou Hou!"

"I have already given her a severe scolding!"

He paused slightly, then said with a very serious expression, "As for what is buried in the backyard of the Fu family in Shili Slope, this humble servant knows absolutely nothing about it!"

Nangong Sheyue said no more.

Leng Liuxi then asked many more questions about the artisan camp with great interest.

He stated unequivocally that he would send three hundred blacksmiths to the artisan battalion the next day, and instructed Su Mo to speed up the production of bicycles.

As everyone was talking.

Zhou Dashu and Yin Rou had arrived at the government office, accompanied by a rather exquisite and luxurious-looking rickshaw.

It's clear that Zhou Dashu put in a tremendous amount of effort.

The rickshaw is made of hard jujube wood, with seamless joints that make it seem as if it were made of one piece. The whole rickshaw is varnished, the seat is made of thick bearskin, and there is a retractable canopy on top.

If this were in later generations, many wealthy people would be willing to pay a high price to collect such an exquisite handmade rickshaw!

Leng Liuxi carefully examined the rickshaw before finally getting on.

"Hmm... this cushion is also made of spring steel? Like my spring mattress?"

The Empress gently pressed the soft bearskin cushion and asked Su Mo curiously.

Su Mo's face instantly darkened.

Is it your own spring mattress?

I was originally planning to enjoy it with Lord Qianhu, but Leng Xixi snatched it away, forcing me to have Ding Bashi make another one!
His gaze fell on Zhou Dashu.

Zhou Dashu quickly replied, "Sir, this bearskin mat has more than eighty soft steel bars inside, providing vertical and horizontal support."

"In addition, a fluffy wool pad left over from manufacturing the spring mattress was added, and a bearskin cover was added to ensure the comfort of the passengers."

Su Mo looked at Zhou Dashu with slight surprise: "Zhou the carpenter is speaking in such a refined manner?"

Zhou Dashu said with a forced smile, "It's all thanks to Lord Yin's guidance."

“The little man works during the day and studies pinyin and characters at night. Now he knows more than a thousand characters.”

Leng Liuxi was stunned upon hearing this, her eyes narrowing sharply: "You can recognize more than a thousand characters in just one month?"

Zhou Dashu quickly replied, "I would never dare to deceive you, sir."

"I can recite the entire Thousand Character Classic written by Yin Qiguan!"

He paused, then continued, "Most of the other craftsmen can recognize several hundred characters, but compared to me, they are a bit lacking."

The Empress's pretty face turned serious as she slowly asked, "The Thousand Character Classic, is it about the chaos and uncertainty of heaven and earth, the primordial universe?"

She remembered that when Su Mo first came to the artisan camp, during her lunch break, Yin Rou showed her a piece of hard-pen writing on a whiteboard.

That Thousand Character Classic had both difficult and easy parts, but it definitely exceeded the level of ordinary elementary education.

If Zhou Dashu's ability to learn the entire text in just one month can be attributed to his innate intelligence, then the fact that all three hundred craftsmen could recognize only a few hundred characters cannot be explained by innate talent!

Two months ago, these craftsmen were barely literate!
If the officials of the prefecture knew about this, they could report it as an auspicious omen, and no one could refute it. The Empress, of course, knew that this was not an auspicious omen at all; it was entirely due to Su Mo!

Zhou Dashu hurriedly replied in a simple voice, "Reporting to Your Excellency, it was indeed the beginning of heaven and earth, the vastness of the universe. Below it were the waxing and waning of the sun and moon, and the array of stars and constellations."

Leng Liuxi said in a deep voice, "Bring me paper and pen, and write it down from memory!"

"Also, summon all craftsmen..."

Su Mo gave a wry smile: "Lord Leng, is this really necessary?"

“The craftsmen are all working, it’s too much trouble for everyone.”

He paused, then said, "Isn't it just a thousand-character classic?"

"Yin Qiguan taught them for more than a month and used points as rewards to motivate the craftsmen to learn. It's not surprising that they learned the Thousand Character Classic in a month."

The Empress and Nangong Sheyue looked at Su Mo speechlessly.

Is that not surprising?

This is absolutely outrageous!

The reason why aristocratic clans were able to rival imperial power was precisely because they controlled the right to disseminate knowledge.
Even though the Empress demoted all her ministers to commoners, the new ones who came to power were still their people!
Once the common people can quickly learn to read and write, the power of the aristocratic clans will surely decline rapidly!
But judging from Su Mo's nonchalant attitude, it seemed that in his heart, this was really just an ordinary thing.

The Empress and Nangong Sheyue were speechless.

Yin Rou quickly explained, "The teacher specially added phonetic annotations to the characters so that the craftsmen could learn to read more easily."

"Once craftsmen learn pinyin, they can know how to pronounce characters. After practicing a few times, they will remember the characters."

The Empress and Nangong Sheyue both became suspicious.

"Pinyin?"

Su Mo laughed and said, "It's just a lazy thing to do."

"It would be a bit difficult for Officer Yin to teach hundreds of craftsmen to read, so I came up with a way to save Officer Yin some trouble."

The Empress took a breath and gave Yin Rou a deep look: "You little flag officer are quite fortunate to have a teacher like Lord Su!"

He paused, then asked, "What exactly is Pinyin? Could you please tell me?"

Yin Rou turned her head and looked at Su Mo.

Seeing Su Mo nod slightly, he then took out a small book from his sleeve.

Despite careful preservation, many wrinkles were visible, clearly caused by frequent handling.

He placed the book on the table and opened it to the first page: "Please look, gentlemen, this is the pinyin written by the teacher."

"Pinyin is further divided into initials and finals..."

"For example, the character '天' (tiān) has the initial consonant 'te' and the final vowel 'an'. Put them together and you get 'te yi an —— tiān'!"

Although the pronunciation of the written language in this world is slightly different from that of Mandarin, Su Mo made slight modifications according to the pronunciation in this world, and it was still generally not a problem.

The Empress and Nangong Sheyue listened patiently as Yin Rou finished her explanation.

They all have amazing memories, able to remember everything they see, and have already memorized the pronunciations of all the initials and finals!
I've mastered all the usage instructions!
As Yin Rou instructed, she easily spelled out the pronunciations of the other characters!

The Empress stared intently at Su Mo.

I was filled with emotion.

This artisan camp is truly a treasure; every visit brings unexpected gains.

Entrusting the artisan battalion and Lone Peak Mountain to Su Mo was the right decision!

Even a single artisan battalion is like this.

If Su Mo diligently manages the fiefdom of Lone Peak Mountain in the future, he will definitely discover even more surprises.

He is very knowledgeable, but it's okay if he keeps it to himself.

If I follow his methods of managing Lonely Peak Mountain to govern Dawu, wouldn't that be the same as learning Su Mo's way of governing the country?
The Empress is already considering whether to convert the three hundred nominal fiefs of Lone Peak Mountain into actual fiefs!
I want to learn from Su Mo's skills in governing his fiefdom!

Seeing Leng Xi staring intently at him, Su Mo quickly coughed twice: "Lord Leng!"

The Empress then came to her senses and couldn't help but exclaim, "My lord, you are truly a man of great talent!"

"If only I could be like Officer Yin and become your disciple!"

Su Mo was both amused and exasperated: "Lord Leng, please don't joke around!"

"Besides, Officer Yin is not my disciple..."

Upon hearing this, Yin Rou immediately looked at Su Mo with a resentful expression.

Leng Xixi also said quietly, "My lord, you still say no!"

"The young master has even taught Su Qiguan the ways of mathematics and the art of pinyin!"

"I asked you, my lord, about Sun Tzu's Art of War, but you refused to explain it to me. Is it because I am not your disciple?"

Yin Rou nodded repeatedly in agreement and looked at Su Mo with anticipation!

Nangong Qianhu's expression turned strange, but his gaze also fell on Su Mo.

Seeing that the three women were all staring straight at him, Su Mo couldn't stand it even with his thick skin, so he coughed twice and said, "Uh... I guess I should barely count as Yin Qiguan."

Yin Rou was overjoyed!

Su Mo then added, "However, mathematics and pinyin are just tricks and shortcuts; they don't count as real knowledge."

Leng Liuxi immediately pressed on, "May I ask, my lord, what constitutes profound learning?"

Su Mo...

I feel like I've fallen into a pit.

I might as well keep quiet!

They act like a dead pig that's not afraid of boiling water!
Do whatever you want!
The Empress was immediately enraged by Su Mo's expression and snorted, "This concubine knows that what my lord truly excels at is the art of slaying dragons, the art of controlling people, the art of maintaining balance, and the art of ruling the world..."

Su Mo, who had been feigning death, was immediately shocked and hurriedly said, "Lord Leng, you can't say such things!"

The Empress sighed softly, "I was not wrong!"

"Such knowledge is certainly not something I can be taught."

"With your talent, sir, you are certainly capable of serving as the emperor's tutor. If you were to become the emperor's tutor in the future, I would indeed be presumptuous!"

Seeing that Leng Xixi's words were getting more and more outrageous, Su Mo glared at her in annoyance: "Lord Leng, next time you have a problem, I'll tell you honestly, okay?"

"Don't ever mention dragon-slaying techniques or the art of checks and balances again!"

The Empress's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Su Mo excitedly: "Is what you said true, my lord?"

Su Mo snorted with a dark face, "This humble servant is well-read and doesn't lie!"

The Empress blinked: "I happen to have a question I'd like to ask you, my lord!"

Su Mo...

The Empress glanced at Carpenter Zhou and said, "You may leave now."

Carpenter Zhou hurriedly left the government office.

The Empress blinked, looking at Su Mo expectantly: "I just heard the carpenter say that the rickshaw seat cushions have been lined with fluffy wool..."

Su Mo's face darkened even more!

"grown ups!"

"This is a secret technique of the Su family, passed down from our ancestors. This humble servant..."

The Empress interrupted Su Mo: "I hereby grant you three hundred fiefs, and you are permitted to form your own fiefdom army!"

Su Mo gasped, staring at Leng Xixi in disbelief. He swallowed hard, and after a long pause, he said, "Lord Leng, what do you mean by this?"

The Empress chuckled lightly: "My meaning is quite clear."

"I can petition His Majesty to grant my lord a fiefdom of three hundred li! And to allow him to form a private army of three hundred!"

Nangong Sheyue and Yin Rou stared at Leng Liuxi in utter shock.

Especially Nangong Qianhu, who knows Leng Xixi's true identity!

Su Mo swallowed hard again: "This... isn't this the power that a feudal lord should have?"

Leng Liuxi blinked: "Does my lord really think that he can form a private army on Lonely Peak Mountain without His Majesty's permission?"

Su Mo fell silent.

For time travelers, a sense of security is undoubtedly the top priority.

The allure of a private army is undeniable!

As long as one possesses a private army, armed with steel and equipped with divine crossbows and other weapons, even if a Daoist sorcerer like Nangong Sheyue, who has reached the Returning to the Origin Realm, were to attack, there would be no fear!

The key to a good army is quality, not quantity; three hundred private soldiers are enough.

Although I am not a special forces soldier.

But even if you've never eaten pork, you've surely seen a pig walk, right?
Which time-travel novel doesn't mention methods for training ancient armies?

Militia Military Training Manual, one of the three great books for transmigrators, which Su Mo happened to have read!
For example, the five Niu brothers are highly skilled in martial arts, and if they were trained as special forces according to the militia training manual and fully armed, who wouldn't be afraid of them?
With three hundred special forces soldiers, even if Zhang Shouning led the Imperial Uncle's guards to attack, they could definitely beat him to a pulp!
Furthermore, building ships and setting sail to find a way out requires trustworthy personnel.

Who could be more loyal to him than the private army of his fief?

Su Mo remained silent for a long time before finally looking directly at Leng Liuxi with an extremely serious expression: "Does Lord Leng take what she said to heart?"

He paused, then added, "Of course, I'm afraid of dying, and I just want to find some men to ensure my own safety!"

The Empress smiled sweetly: "I never lie!"

She then added, "Actually, I'm quite well-read, I wouldn't lie to my lord!"

　Five thousand words per chapter, plus another five thousand words in reserve, and a burst of thirty thousand words on the 29th! Also, I can use the title again on the 27th: "Who Says I Rose Through the Ladies' Merit?", so I probably won't need to change the title again!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)