A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Liu Jingshuang accepted the imperial edict, glanced at it only once, and then put it into her sleeve.

She didn't ask how many pirates there were, nor did she ask how chaotic the three southeastern prefectures were.

Looking at her, Wei Zhao felt more at ease.

That's just the kind of person she is; the more urgent the situation, the less she wastes words.

If you really make her sit down and discuss it for a long time, that would be a real hassle.

"Gather 20,000 cavalry and set off at dawn the next day," Wei Zhao said.

Liu Jingshuang looked up at him.

"it is good."

……

The next day, before dawn, Liu Jingshuang, already in armor and carrying a sword, stood beneath the city gate.

The twenty thousand cavalrymen were completely silent, with only the sound of the morning wind fluttering the flags.

Wei Zhao personally delivered it, handing her a black iron token.

"The garrison troops of the three southeastern prefectures, the branches of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the local militias, upon seeing this order, regard it as seeing the Emperor. Remember, protecting people is more important than protecting territory. If you can't win, withdraw; don't fight head-on."

Liu Jingshuang's hand paused in mid-air for a moment before she finally accepted the heavy token.

She pressed her fingertip heavily on the cold engravings of the token, a small movement, but as if confirming something.

"Is Your Majesty afraid I'll beat them all up?"

Wei Zhao laughed instead.

His temper hasn't changed at all.

He never admits defeat verbally, but his actions are more steady than anyone else's.

"I'm afraid you'll push yourself too hard." Wei Zhao looked at her. "The southeast isn't Yangguan Pass. Cities can be lost, but the soldiers of Xinwu can't die in vain."

Liu Jingshuang didn't reply. She stuffed the token into her bosom, mounted her horse, and moved swiftly and decisively.

She tightened the reins, but instead of urging the horse on immediately, she turned around and took one last look at Wei Zhao.

"His Majesty."

"Um?"

She looked at him, her voice low.

"I can't change the ship after two months, but I can still fight a two-month battle."

Wei Zhao paused for a moment, then nodded.

These words sounded harsh, but they were actually meant to reassure him.

She knew that the southeastern side couldn't wait for Shang Wanqing to finish drawing the new ship, and she also knew that the only thing to do right now was to stabilize the situation on the shore.

She didn't say she was afraid or that it would be difficult; she only said she could fight.

enough.

"Go."

Liu Jingshuang mounted her horse, her plain-colored outfit ripped by the morning breeze, making her look like a spear standing upright.

Twenty thousand cavalrymen were already lined up outside the city, their armor plates clanging together with a low thud.

She reined in her horse, gave Wei Zhao one last look, and then waved her hand.

"Set off."

Wei Zhao stood outside the city gate without saying anything more.

He watched the cavalry roll out into the morning light, the horses at the front landing as the others followed, dust billowing eastward in layers.

If 20,000 cavalry were to spread out and march, they would be like a sinking iron river.

Wei Zhao stared for a long time, until the last rider was swallowed by the sandstorm, before turning back to the palace.

He knew in his heart that if he was even half a step slower on this trip, the three southeastern prefectures would be the first to be torn open by the pirates.

But he knew even better that Liu Jingshuang wouldn't be slow.

This woman never says "I've tried my best".

Even if things really get to the worst point, she won't panic first.

Meanwhile, Shang Wanqing had already left the capital and headed to Quanzhou.

That place was where pirates frequented most frequently, and it was also the port with the most advanced shipbuilding technology.

She only took three people with her when she set off, and said to Wei Zhao before leaving:

"There wasn't enough time to draw the ship's design once it arrived, so I went directly to the beach to see the actual ship."

Wei Zhao looked at her, said nothing, and only slowly nodded and hummed in agreement.

Shang Wanqing only brought three people with her, not because she was arrogant, but because she knew that her trip was not for sightseeing.

In places like the seaside, the first problem to arise is often not the enemy, but people's hearts.

If the shipbuilders get confused and the materials run out, the dock will come to a standstill.

When she went there, her first concern wasn't the boat, but whether she could gather the people together.

When he returned to the Imperial Study, there were already three urgent reports piled up on the desk.

One came from Mingzhou, one from Yuezhou, and one from Quanzhou.

The ink wasn't even completely dry; the messenger must have been nearly out of breath to deliver the letter.

Wei Zhao read through them one by one and then put them aside for the time being.

He pushed the three urgent reports aside and spread out a map of the southeast.

……

Liu Jingshuang has already arrived at the border of the three southeastern states.

When she reined in her horse outside the city, the captain had already been waiting at the embankment for half an hour.

She dismounted, and as soon as her feet touched the ground, she heard the man speak urgently.

"General Liu, you've finally arrived."

Liu Jingshuang didn't reply, but first glanced at the row of prisoners tied with ropes behind him.

The pirates' clothes were soaking wet and tattered, their mouths stuffed with cloth, and some of the more seriously injured ones were still groaning.

She went through it in her mind first.

The fact that the pirates were able to reach this point indicates that the coastline has been breached.

But along the way, the villages were busy, and the market towns were attacked several times, yet they never managed to pursue them deep inland.

That's not right.

"explain."

The captain quickly clasped his hands in greeting.

"The pirates came quickly and retreated just as fast. After looting a market town, they retreated to the coast in less than half an hour. We sent cavalry to pursue them, but they turned back and fired two volleys of arrows without lingering. The furthest they chased us was twenty-eight li, but as if they had calculated it, they didn't go any further."

Liu Jingshuang didn't even blink.

"Twenty-eight li?"

"Yes."

The captain swallowed hard. "I also found it strange. So I grabbed one of the stragglers to try and find out. The man had been stabbed a few times, but he was willing to talk."

Liu Jingshuang turned to look at him.

"Bring it up."

The prisoner was dragged to the front, his knees buckled, and he knelt directly in the mud.

Liu Jingshuang squatted down and stared at him.

"Your leader set the rules, so you should state them yourselves."

The prisoner's eyes flickered, and he made two muffled noises.

The soldier beside him pulled the cloth away, and after catching his breath a few times, he said in a tearful voice:

"We won't enter the city...we won't go more than thirty li. If we go more than thirty li, we'll have to turn back...we'll only plunder grain, not people. We'll massacre the villages, not the cities. The higher-ups said there are soldiers in the cities, and it'll cause trouble if we run into them. There are no soldiers in the villages, so killing them won't do any good."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jingshuang felt a tightness in her chest.

We won't poach people.

We won't go into the city.

No more than thirty li.

This isn't the nature of pirates; it's that someone is using them as weapons.

She stared at the man.

"Who taught you that?"

"No one taught us... it's just the rules..."

The prisoner's lips trembled: "Our leader said, don't touch the poor people's houses, there's nothing of value there. Only rob the government granaries and the wealthy households. The government granaries have grain, and the wealthy households have gold, cloth, and salt. The poor won't really hate us if they see us robbing these things. When we return to the sea, there will be people on shore to guide us..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jingshuang felt somewhat more at ease.

really.

What she fears most is not a hard battle, but this kind of situation where she doesn't fight but directly attacks people.

They don't want land or cities; they want people's hearts.

If the poor rob the government's granaries, they will curse the officials.

When the rich are robbed, the poor secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

The more the pirates appear to "rob without killing," the less likely the public will initially resent them.

These people are sabotaging us.

She couldn't be completely sure whose side she was going to undermine for the time being.

One can roughly guess that there must be someone on the shore to meet them, and someone might even be calculating where to grab what, where chaos would break out, and where the bombs would explode first.

She stood up, her expression unchanged, but she was already calculating the route in her mind.

Once the official granaries were lost, grain prices in the three prefectures immediately fell into chaos.

When wealthy households flee, local military pay is thrown into disarray.

If they continue to be allowed to rob tricycles like this, the people will begin to suspect that the government cannot protect its property.

When that time comes, if the pirates come again, they won't even need to give a warning; the people on the shore will scatter on their own.

"Pass on my order."

She turned to look at the deputy general.

"The three major granaries of the prefecture should be immediately divided and filled. What can be transported should be sent to a stockade fifty miles inland and hidden there. As for the wealthy households, those who can be persuaded to leave should be persuaded to leave. Those who cannot move should be told to take out all their grain, silver, and cloth themselves, and not leave them in the prefecture to be robbed."

The lieutenant was taken aback.

"General, would the wealthy households agree?"

"They have no choice but to agree, whether they want to or not."

Liu Jingshuang's voice was not loud.

"Tell them that the pirates only rob government granaries and wealthy households, they don't touch the poor. If they still think about protecting their meager possessions today, they will become the pirates' targets tomorrow. Let them choose between their lives and their money."

The lieutenant felt a chill run down his spine, but still nodded.

He understood that the order, though it sounded like a coercive command, was actually meant to save lives.

As long as the official granaries are emptied in advance, the pirates will find nothing when they attack.

If the wealthy households were willing to leave, the pirates would not be able to seize any easy prey, and the chaos on the shore would not be able to arise.

……

When Liu Jingshuang returned to her temporary residence, the lights hadn't even been properly turned on yet.

She sat down at the desk, spread out the paper, and picked up her pen to write an urgent report.

I stopped writing halfway through.

She was thinking about how to explain it so that people in the capital would immediately understand that this was not just a simple case of pirate harassment.

This is a knife stabbing into the hearts of the people.

She wrote very quickly.

"The pirates along the southeast coast are unusual. Their leader has a set rule: they will not go more than thirty miles ashore, they will massacre villages but not cities, they will rob grain but not people, they will only rob government granaries and wealthy households, and will not harm the poor. Judging from their actions, they do not seem to be after money, but seem to be intentionally using public resentment to undermine the foundation of our prefecture. I request the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately investigate the background of this group of pirate leaders and whether there is someone remotely controlling them."

She wrote this far, her brow still furrowed.

If you send this message back, Wei Zhao should understand.

That guy is always quick to assess situations; he might not be wrong even sooner than she is.

She added another sentence.

"Shang Wanqing has arrived in Quanzhou. Tell her to be careful. This group has informants on the shore."

After she finished writing, she put down her pen and stared at the letter for a moment.

She disliked this kind of battle where no one was watching.

They also disliked the fact that they could only defend first and not attack first.

But she knew even better that the most valuable thing right now wasn't killing a few pirates, but rather finding out the hand that was hiding on the shore.

As long as that hand is still there, Mingzhou, Yuezhou, and Quanzhou will never be at peace.

"Someone come here."

The guards outside immediately came in.

"Send this letter to the capital tonight."

The guard took the letter and turned to leave.