After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"I will have the Imperial City Military Command make preparations. From now on, the ceremonial guards of the palace and the weapons of the palace guards will not all be manufactured by the Armory Bureau. They will be procured through the same channels."

"The Ministry of Revenue should reduce the money allocated to the Ordnance Bureau and the Armory Bureau year by year, so that they can earn their own money. After three years, they should only receive a fixed amount of silver each year to maintain a workforce of about three hundred artisans."

"The Bureau of Armory remains one of the eight bureaus of the Imperial Household Department; this will not change. It will not be completely abolished."

Sun Chengshan's eyes narrowed, and he asked:

"Your Majesty, where do they get their money from...?"

Zhu Cuiwei glanced at Master Sun, who had grasped the crux of the problem, and said:

"They make their money from military procurement. If no military buys their weapons, it means their weapons are inadequate. It's understandable that orders go to the New Weapons Bureau. If they are superior to the New Weapons Bureau, the New Weapons Bureau will be disbanded."

Sun Chengshan's wrinkles deepened, and he solemnly said:

"Then may I ask Your Majesty, where does the silver for the various armies come from?"

The minister, well-versed in history, felt a sudden unease.

If the army were allowed to raise silver and grain locally, wouldn't it lead to regional warlordism and chaos in the land in no time?!

Chen Yuezhi's pupils also contracted.

Zhu Cuiwei glanced at the two ministers' somewhat pale faces, knowing they had misunderstood, and smiled gently:

"Of course, we should ask the Ministry of Revenue."

Sun Chengshan's expression relaxed. He had thought that His Majesty was trying to save money from the national treasury by drinking poison to quench his thirst, and was even abandoning the foundation of the nation.

Zhu Cuiwei calmly said:

"Take it slow. The Five Military Commands and each army will prepare the budgets annually, and the Ministry of Revenue will allocate the funds. They will then use the Ministry of Revenue's receipts to purchase armor and weapons from three different suppliers."

Sun Chengshan's heart sank, and he slowly nodded.

Chen Yuezhi, however, said with concern:

"May I ask Your Majesty, what if..." He took a silent breath, "what if the generals of the various armies collude with the three families?"

For example, the eunuchs in the Bureau of Armory could bribe the general in charge of procurement for the Yongwei Battalion with a sum of money.

The Brave Guard Battalion could simply buy weapons from the Ordnance Bureau, ignoring the Ministry of Works' Ordnance Bureau.

The weapons produced by the Armory could be of lower quality in order to earn more money.

As a result, the quality of military equipment deteriorated, and the national treasury was emptied by corrupt officials.

Zhu Cuiwei said:

"Rely on three methods."

Chen Yuezhi frowned.

The empress at the head of the table continued her eloquent speech:

"First, we rely on investigation. As long as the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Bureau of Investigation finds out that someone has been secretly colluding with another, whoever it is, they will all be imprisoned and subjected to severe punishment."

Yan Yuqing and Wang Bingjun nodded, indicating that the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics would certainly monitor the world on behalf of the emperor.

The Empress continued:

"Secondly, it's based on military merit."

"Military merits?" Chen Yuezhi asked in surprise.

The Empress said calmly:

"The annual fixed budget is overseen by the Ministry of Revenue and won't be much. If the troops want rewards, they can only rely on military merit. The more military merit, the more rewards the entire army will receive."

Wang Bing timely added on behalf of His Majesty:

"In order to gain military merit and reduce casualties, each army will inevitably need better weapons. This will allow each army to spend its money on good weapons instead of losing battles with broken weapons and then being punished by His Majesty."

"At the same time," the eunuch added with a smile, "the three bureaus will have to compete to produce sharper knives, stronger armor, and more powerful firearms in order to win the army's orders."

Sun Chengshan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Weapons are getting stronger and stronger?

Is the military achievement of the dynasty growing ever more impressive?

Chen Yuezhi frowned and said:

"What if each army harbors its own bandits, constantly demanding rewards from the imperial court?"

Yan Yuqing stood up and glared at him, saying:

"Does Lord Chen think our Embroidered Uniform Guard are just sitting around doing nothing? Do you expect us to produce another Li Chengliang? Or another old servant?"

Chen Yuezhi snorted and sneered:

"It has been a common practice since ancient times to support bandits for personal gain. How many garrisons in various regions have colluded with mountain bandits and outlaws? How many families has Commander Yan arrested this time?"

Yan Yuqing's silver hair fluttered as she sneered in unison:

"It's nothing more than arresting one family after another. The disciples of the sage eat the emperor's salary, yet they do not educate the world for His Majesty. They only know how to eat their fill in the court, leading to rampant bandits and thieves in all directions. What can I, Old Woman Yan, do about it?"

"You!" Chen Yuezhi's expression immediately changed.

Yan Yuqing ignored him and sat back down with a thud.

Zhu Cuiwei smiled helplessly.

Civil officials are always like this. Chen Yuezhi speaks as if there's no longer any self-serving patronage or collusion. It's as if all the problems are brought about by the new methods.

But if you want to reform and find a new path, isn't it just as difficult?

The court officials will chatter and oppose you, getting stuck on trivial matters, constantly pressuring you to either come up with a perfect, impeccable solution or to stop thinking about starting and try to seize their power.

Chen Yuezhi was already a rare talent among them.

soon.

She suppressed her smile and said softly.

"Then we'll have to rely on the third method."

Her Majesty the Queen's tone became helpless and solemn:

"Generals are rotated, and civil officials supervise the army."

Chen Yuezhi nodded to himself, realizing that they could only rely on the military governor.

Zhu Cuiwei breathed a soft sigh of relief and said:

"In the future, when the Academy of Sciences has enough weapons..."

The statement, "Once the Academy of Sciences' weapons are sharp enough, especially firearms, then we will no longer need famous generals," reflects this viewpoint.

No longer is it "no one but him can be in charge", so there is no need to worry about someone harboring a bandit to enhance their own power in the future.

You can't do it.

Just replace the general.

But before he could finish speaking, a young eunuch came in and kowtowed to His Majesty, saying that Imperial Censor Liu Zhi had a matter of utmost urgency to report.

Urgent!

Liu Zhi was always humble and modest. After becoming an imperial censor, he became fiercely opposed to evil and impeached many officials and imperial relatives.

Since Liu Zhi said it was extremely urgent, he probably wasn't making things up.

Zhu Cuiwei then set aside some matters and first ordered Liu Zhi to enter the palace for an audience.

"Your subject, Liu Zhi, hereby impeaches Wang Bing, the Grand Eunuch of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics! He is corrupt, abuses his power, and is tyrannical, driving an entire virtuous family from the outskirts of the capital to their deaths! The family was left with only a young child, who fled to the Northern Dynasty and died far from home! We could only recount their misfortunes in the Beijing Daily, each word dripping with blood, making our Great Liang a laughingstock throughout the land!"

Imperial Censor Liu Zhi, his eyes red and face filled with indignation, knelt and kowtowed to the Empress above him.

"Your Majesty, I, Liu Zhi, humbly request that you issue an edict ordering the Ministry of Justice to arrest Wang Bing, so that the truth may come to light!"

"Did you drive an entire kind family to their deaths?"

The Empress frowned and looked at Wang Bing, the chief eunuch whose face had turned deathly pale.

Wang Bing's expression changed the moment Liu Zhigang opened his mouth.

After Liu Zhi said a few words, he knew in his heart that it must be that damned rumor that came from the north yesterday!

This single-minded censor actually believed it?!

Wang Bing immediately knelt down, sweat beading on his forehead, and said:

"Lord Liu is spewing false accusations, fabricating lies, and slandering this servant! Your Majesty, please do justice for this servant!"

Liu Zhi pulled a crumpled newspaper from his sleeve, sneered, and said:

"Wang Bing, the evidence is irrefutable, do you still want to deny it?"

Wang Bing: "It's just a strange tale from the Northern Dynasties. Lord Liu, you take it seriously? Do you really believe there's a Dragon King or some treasure at the bottom of the Qinhuai River?"

Liu Zhi snorted, "Strange tales? It's clearly someone you've persecuted using strange tales as a pretext to discuss family matters! If I didn't have solid evidence, why would I so rashly come to see His Majesty?"

He raised his head, clasped his hands in greeting to the Empress at the head of the table, and said:

"Your Majesty, merchants in Tongzhou and Tianjin have already spread the news, saying that all those numbers are fake. In reality, Wang Bing stole a large number of paintings, calligraphy, and treasures from their family and used numbers to represent them. Merchants in Tongzhou say that Wang Bing sold the stolen treasures and paintings to them at extremely low prices! They resold them in Tongzhou and made tens of thousands of taels of silver in an instant!"

Liu Zhi pointed at Wang Bing and said viciously:

"Wang Bing! Do you dare say that no big merchants from the Northern Dynasties, especially Tianjin and Tongzhou, have come to you these past two days to buy your calligraphy and paintings? They've asked if you still have any 'numerical' items: the 'Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion,' white porcelain, Tang tri-color pottery, seals from the Five Dynasties... Eunuch Wang, how dare you!"

Wang Bing was drenched in cold sweat, on the verge of tears, and could only kowtow and repeat:

"Your Majesty, I have been harmed by the rumors spread by the Northern Dynasty. I beg Your Majesty to do me justice!"

Listening to the two arguing incoherently, Zhu Cuiwei couldn't understand a word they were saying and could only look helpless.

"What exactly happened?"

Liu Zhi presented the newspaper with both hands, saying arrogantly, "Your Majesty will know at a glance!"

A young eunuch took the newspaper and presented it to Zhu Cuiwei. The newspaper, which had been rushed south by a wealthy merchant from Tongzhou who had heard the rumors, had traveled thousands of miles to Nanjing in an attempt to find Wang Bing, the real "Dragon King," and buy the remaining "numbers."

Five breaths later, Zhu Cuiwei found the article that Liu Zhi had mentioned.

The Grand Prince Consort... Xuanwu Lake... Dragon King... India... Numbers... Treasure... Wang Bing... Framed... Shandong... Heading North...

After about sixty breaths, she stared at the newspaper the little eunuch was holding up and read the words on it.

Without the slightest hesitation, her expression turned cold.

He suddenly stood up.

"Return to Qianqing Palace."

A figure in a bright red round-necked dragon robe swept quickly across the arena, leaving Liu Zhi, Wang Bing, and the others kneeling on the ground stunned.

Back to Qianqing Palace.

Chunyu handed over a copy of "Journey to the West".

Fifteen minutes later.

The Empress gave the order.

The emperor summoned Qin's chief minister, Gao's second chief minister, Yan Yuqing, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Luan Zongyuan, minister of war, Fang Xiaofan, minister of revenue, Sun Chengzong, vice minister of revenue, and Wang Bing, supervisor of imperial affairs, to meet him at the Qianqing Palace.

…………

Under the vast darkness of night.

The group rode forward at full speed, and were less than thirty li away from their destination, Miaofeng Mountain.

Ning Nan gripped the reins tightly and exhaled a puff of white breath under the moonlight.