In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

After Liu Wenyuan opened the document and read it aloud to the public.

Shen An yawned: "Li Huaiyi completely absolved himself of the fact that Yang Ke sent people to attack, saying that Yang Ke brought troops here on his own. This was not unexpected."

Fearing he might say the wrong thing, Liu Wenyuan thought for a moment before speaking, "He's probably trying to stall for time until he resolves his conflict with Yuwen Qin before engaging us in battle!"

"Such thoughts are bound to exist, but Li Huaiyi, who became a military governor, certainly couldn't only have such limited skills."

Shen An stood up and said, "They can't possibly not be interested in our repeating crossbows. We absolutely must hide them well, and all the craftsmen must be protected. At the same time, we must be absolutely vigilant against infiltration!"

Liu Wenyuan hadn't considered this.

He slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, he'll definitely do it again."

"Besides, Li Huaiyi not only didn't blame me, but also said that I had made a contribution and wanted to promote me to the rank of General Who Pacifies the Rebellion. Who knows, he might even want to use this incident to make me his tool," Shen An added.

"Hmph! He thinks he can just become a tool like that? Who does he think he is? We can just ignore them, can't we?" Liao Bing said disdainfully.

"We won't listen, but what if his enemies believe it?" Shen An said.

"My lord, I don't understand. So what if his enemies believe it?" Liao Bing asked, puzzled.

"If the enemy believes that we are a force that Li Huaiyi can mobilize, then they will regard us as a threat. Even though we eliminated Yang Ke's 10,000 troops last time, compared to Li Huaiyi's hundreds of thousands of troops, we are far less threatening than them."

Once a full-scale war breaks out, they might settle for second best and attack us first!

After all, our area is the only place that Li Huaiyi has reversed the investiture of, so it is easy to regard it as Li Huaiyi's confidant.

"They think that by dealing with us, they can cut off Li Huaiyi's right and left arms!" Shen An said.

"But we've killed 10,000 of Yang Ke's men, who would still think we're Li Huaiyi's subordinates?" Liao Bing asked again.

"The infighting among the counties under Li Huaiyi's jurisdiction has a long history, so it's not surprising that Yang Ke led his troops to attack us," Liu Wenyuan interjected. "Many people will believe Li Huaiyi if he says this has nothing to do with him."

"Then let's openly be his enemy and just not admit it!" Liao Bing retorted.

"The enemy might think we're putting on an act, pretending to be enemies while actually trying to preserve our strength!" Liu Wenyuan asked again, "From the enemy's perspective, eliminating us all would make them feel more at ease."

"Damn it, you people are all so complicated!" Liao Bing spat out a mouthful of saliva. "What should we do?"

"What else can we do? Kill whoever comes, and we'll make a name for ourselves and attract more people to join us!" Shen An was secretly excited.

He is now afraid of large-scale wars; if the enemy sends tens of thousands of troops at once, he will not be able to withstand it.

But if ten thousand or twenty thousand come, he can still handle it.

Once you win, you can attract more people to join, and then kill them.

The spoils of war, that's the real prize. Although the enemy's swords and weapons are far inferior to theirs, those are materials that can be melted down and reforged.

Currently, he has enough money and food, but he is in dire need of weapons and materials.

He actually hoped that the arrival of those enemies would give them the opportunity to grow stronger!

"It's you, my lord! You turned the tables so quickly! I'm truly impressed!" Liao Bing's eyes lit up.

"Magistrate Liu's analysis is also quite good; he's very clever!" Shen An praised.

Liu Wenyuan's tense heart relaxed a lot in an instant. He realized that as long as he used his brain as much as possible and abandoned his old ways of thinking, he could still be effective!

Shen An had just analyzed Liu Wenyuan's ability to deduce the enemy's thoughts and felt that he still had some potential to be tapped, so he praised him.

"Alright, Liao Bing, you now order the soldiers to be ready for battle at any time. Liu Wenyuan, in three days, we need to carry out the policy of confiscating land from landlords and distributing it to the people. We must ensure that the land is distributed to the people." Shen An instructed.

"yes!"

Both Liao Bing and Liu Wenyuan had a premonition that Qingyang County was about to undergo earth-shattering changes.

"Oh, right, also send a letter to Li Huaiyi, saying thank you for the title. Since the attack on Qingyang County was done by Yang Ke on his own, we are still officials of Yangnan Prefecture!" Shen An instructed.

Liu Wenyuan knew that Shen An was also trying to buy time, and Li Huaiyi felt that buying time would benefit him.

In reality, however, delaying the inevitable is more beneficial for them.

Liu Wenyuan immediately went to do it.

Shen An had been busy for a day and a night and was very tired. He wanted to go back and take a shower.

Dugu Meng was already aware of Shen An's actions in confiscating land from the wealthy and distributing it to the poor.

This touched Dugu Meng's heart. Her father died because of this policy, and she truly hoped that Shen An could succeed.

If she can return to her position in the future, she can follow Shen An's methods.

To fulfill his father's long-cherished wish!

However, given her father's failure, which resulted in the emperor's execution, she believed that Shen An must also face numerous difficulties.

When she saw Shen An return and noticed his tired face, she didn't ask him anything immediately. Instead, she prepared the bathwater that she had heated in advance.

"Are you tired? Take a shower."

Shen An felt a warmth in his heart. It was really nice to have a woman to serve you when you came back from fighting in the field.

He didn't stand on ceremony and took a comfortable shower.

After he finished dressing in his new clothes, Dugu Meng took some food and watched Shen An finish eating.

She then asked, "Shen An, how's the land redistribution and land reform going? Are there any signs of success?"

"The local tyrants were all killed last night, and the land redistribution will be completed in a few days," Shen An replied.

Dugu Meng was taken aback, then asked, "You mean, it's absolutely guaranteed to succeed?"

"Otherwise what? The local tyrants have been eliminated, so there's no one to suppress the common people, and the land can be distributed smoothly."

"this..."

Dugu Meng originally thought this matter would be very complicated, but after hearing Shen An's words, she realized that to achieve this, no scheme was needed; all that was needed was to have great strength and kill those who stood in her way.

Thinking of this, Dugu Mengxin sank to the bottom.

What she lacks most is strength. Her father was far more powerful than her back then, yet he was still killed.

Even if she goes back, there is absolutely no way she can accomplish this.

As long as she dares, she will still be unable to escape the fate of being killed.

"Are you thinking about something sad? I've heard about your father's affair. Those treacherous officials are incredibly audacious!" Shen An said in a deep voice.

"Alas... I have indeed thought of this matter. My father has always believed that if the country is to be strong, the people must be strong."

"The foundation of a strong nation lies in its own land and people. Now, with the annexation of land causing untold suffering to the people, how can the nation be considered strong?" Dugu Meng shook his head and said.

"Your father acted too hastily back then."

"He's simply not good enough."

"No, your father's failure was not due to a lack of strength. Even if he were powerful and challenged the interests of so many powerful people, they would still try every means to get rid of your father."

Your father's failure was that he forgot to do one thing before doing this.

"As long as he gets that done, I guarantee he'll have at least a 70% chance of success!" Shen An said.

Dugu Meng's heart, which had sunk to the bottom, immediately rekindled with hope: "Shen An, can you tell me what my father forgot to do back then?"