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

Inside the hall was also Wang Bing, the eunuch of the Directorate of Investigation. However, eunuchs were not well-liked in this dynasty. Although Wang Bing was terrified, he remained silent for the time being.

He silently pondered the possibility of this matter in his heart, knowing that His Majesty would surely consult him upon knowing the truth.

Besides Wang Bing, Fang Xiaofan, the Minister of Revenue, and Sun Chengzong, the Right Vice Minister of Revenue, were also present in the hall.

Although the two men were in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, one as the principal and the other as the deputy, they never got along well.

Fang Xiaofan believed that the Northern Dynasties' policies of merging the poll tax into the land tax, abolishing the poll tax and replacing it with a land tax, and abolishing the exemption of gentry from paying grain and corvée labor were evil policies that would only chill the hearts of scholars and cause chaos and loss of popular support.

Sun Chengshan, however, believed this was a good strategy that could alleviate the suffering of the poor who had nowhere to stand, replenish the national treasury, and rectify the administration of state affairs.

The two have been locked in a fierce battle for the past six months. The land survey led by Sun Chengshan has only barely been completed in the Nanjing area, and even Yingtian Prefecture has not been completed.

But faced with such a momentous event, the two immediately exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with solemnity.

Sun Chengshan stood up and said, "Your Majesty," he clasped his hands in a fist salute, "I believe Your Majesty should immediately dispatch the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Director of the Bureau of Investigation to the north to confirm this matter again and again."

Yan Yuqing raised his white eyebrows and said, "Your Majesty, this humble servant will immediately dispatch men north to investigate this matter."

Fang Xiaofan raised his hand: "Commander Yan, if the Northern Dynasty truly intends to march south, there will surely be changes in the supply of provisions. We can start by examining the supply of provisions."

Yan Yuqing had not yet spoken.

Sun Chengshan shook his head, both denying and adding:

"Food and supplies alone are not enough. The Northern Dynasties were already procuring food in Huainan and Shandong, but they always used the pretext of advancing northward."

He frowned and looked at Zhu Cuiwei at the head of the table:

"Your Majesty can send men by sea to investigate whether the Rakshasa are indeed making any moves."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Luan Zongyuan immediately cupped his hands in greeting:

"Your Majesty, we will immediately dispatch a naval force to sail north by sea."

Zhu Cuiwei pursed her lips and nodded first.

But then he immediately looked at Gao Congzhe and asked him for a favor:

"I have a matter to entrust to Minister Gao."

Gao Congzhe immediately bowed.

Zhu Cuiwei narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly:

"I would be grateful if you, Minister Gao, could go and probe Da Chun tomorrow. Tell him that our dynasty plans to send a hundred warships of various sizes north by sea to help your dynasty drive away the Rakshasa."

Gao Congzhe immediately bowed, his tone slightly excited, and raised his voice:

"Your Majesty is wise! If Dachun readily agrees, then the Northern Dynasty will have no intention of advancing south. After all, if our warships head north, we will be able to expose the Rakshasa's southward advance!"

"Admiring virtue,"

A somewhat aged and complex voice suddenly rang out from inside the hall, interrupting him:

"That's not necessarily true."

Gao Congzhe, courtesy name Muxian.

The aged voice addressed the Second Grand Secretary by his courtesy name.

At the head of the left column, a figure dressed in a scarlet robe and a black gauze hat, with snow-white hair but still possessing a profound and dignified demeanor, stood up.

Zhu Cuiwei looked at the seventy-year-old Grand Secretary of Liang and frowned:

"Mr. Qin?"

Gao Congzhe bowed respectfully and asked, "What insightful opinion does Lord Qin have?"

Qin Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "That's not necessarily a brilliant idea."

He looked up at the Southern Dynasty Empress at the head of the table, and calmly cupped his hands in greeting:

"Your Majesty, there is no need to test Dachun. If the Northern Dynasty has truly allied with the Rakshasa and intends to move south, then..."

"Our dynasty's dispatch of warships northward by sea plays right into the hands of the Northern Dynasty's Rakshasa, allowing them to wait in comfort for our warships. Therefore—"

He waved the paper in his hand.

"Whether this is true or not, Da Chun will gladly agree."

"Hmm?" Zhu Cuiwei was taken aback, lowered her eyelids, and thought about it carefully.

Luan Zongyuan asked, "What does the Grand Secretary mean?"

Qin Yuanzhang's gaze was deep, and he didn't care whether the news was true or not:

"Your Majesty, I implore you to completely abandon the risky attack that the Emperor Emeritus has prepared."

"Whether the alliance between the Northern Dynasty and the Rakshasa is true or not, our spies can continue to investigate. Your Majesty need not wait for news."

"War is a matter of vital importance to the state; it is a matter of life and death, a road to survival or ruin. We cannot afford to be negligent in the slightest."

The Grand Secretary solemnly advised the Empress:

"Your Majesty, I request that from this moment forward, the two armies north of the Yangtze River be ordered not to leave the city to take over the cities south of the Huai River, and the Yongwei Battalion must not leave Nanjing."

Fang Xiaofan couldn't help but cup his hands and say:

"Lord Qin, is there no need to be so anxious? Huainan and Yangzhou are both important areas for salt taxes. For more than half a year, we have been discussing this matter with the Northern Dynasty..."

Qin Yuanzhang shook his head, his voice aged as he said:

"No need to rush?"

He looked at the other person, sighed deeply, and said:

"The situation is so dire, aren't you worried?"

"His Majesty,"

The Prime Minister Qin ignored the other party and focused only on the still young Empress on the dragon throne:

"In my opinion, Your Majesty has three urgent matters to attend to. First, you must immediately order Grand Tutor Gu to defend Huguang, especially the camp in Wuchang Prefecture."

"Secondly, order the Chongqing government to hold Chongqing firmly and not to relax its vigilance."

"three,"

Qin Yuanzhang's tone grew increasingly serious and somber, his eyes turning slightly gray.

"Immediately issue an order for Princes Tang and Gui to march north to defend the emperor!"

Swish!

Everyone looked up at each other, and a chill ran down their spines.

Loyal to the Emperor?

Everyone present was well aware of the problems plaguing the dynasty, and in an instant, they realized that the Prime Minister Qin's intentions were probably not truly to support the emperor...

Zhu Cuiwei closed her eyes, and after a few breaths, she slowly opened them.

"What Duke Qin said is quite right."

Her eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Nowadays,"

The woman's tone carried a hint of anxiety and guilt.

"I certainly don't need to wait to see if this news is true or false."

With the safety of the nation at stake, there was no room left to verify the truth. To wait for verification... she secretly resented herself... wasn't it a waste of the information that the young doctor had gone to so much trouble to send back?

A few tears welled up in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed them so that the officials below her wouldn't see them. She felt inexplicably wronged and heartbroken, but it wasn't for her own sake.

The sudden weight of this major event weighed heavily on her shoulders, and her subconscious hope was that the news was false.

in this way,

Only then could she suppress the intense unease in her heart.

If this news is true, then where is the delegation now? Where is Prince Jing's uncle? And where is he...?

But Qin Gong's words, "It's a matter of life and death," suddenly jolted her awake!

Knowing that whether she accepted it or not, whether she was afraid or not, the collapse of the nation and the destruction of the ancestral temples were just a moment away, right before his eyes, how could he afford to think it over any longer?!

"Commander Yan! Wang Bing!"

The Empress's tone suddenly turned cold, filled with an unquestionable firmness and resolve bestowed by imperial power.

The senior officials who had previously disagreed with the news were now all taken aback.

Several ministers in the hall rose and faced the Empress.

"Since this message was sent back by my husband..."

The Empress's voice was cold:

"Then there can be no mistake. The Northern Dynasty is a tiger, and the Rakshasa are wolves. Now that both tiger and wolves are marching south, this is the situation. Gentlemen, there is no need for further objections!"

"Yes!" The ministers quickly bowed.

The Empress decreed:

"Commander Yan, you and Wang Bing should immediately send men to the two cities north of the Yangtze River to secretly inform Governor Shangguan Yun of this matter, and order him to arrange for men to patrol day and night. You also need to send men to keep a close watch on the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty."

"Yes!" The two immediately accepted the order.

"Lord Qin," the Empress continued, "I trouble the cabinet to draft an imperial edict, sent by urgent dispatch, ordering Prince Gui to send 5,000 elite troops north to defend the emperor, without delay; order Prince Tang to dispatch his naval forces to quickly travel north by land and sea and halt at Nanjing..."

…………

Inside the Imperial Palace in Nanjing, Her Majesty the Empress and a group of important officials were finalizing the imperial decree in a flurry of activity.

Huai'an is about 400 miles away from Nanjing.

The Governor-General of Jiangnan, Li Wei, was with Yue Zhongqi, the Grand General Who Pacifies the South.

The reception took two months, with laborers constantly being conscripted along the way, and the cannons were brought from Beijing under the pretext of transporting the Buddha statue.

Ten cannons, a full ten Wucheng Yonggu General Cannons!

Among them, three cannons weighed 3,000 jin each, five cannons weighed 5,000 jin each, and two cannons weighed 7,000 jin each, making them the heaviest cannons!

In addition to the ten Great General Cannons.

There were also a full thirty 500-pound mountain-splitting cannons.

And the ten Divine General Cannons weighing 1,000 jin each, newly manufactured under the supervision of Nian Xiyao.

These cannons have all been dismantled.

The Western multi-wheeled heavy artillery carriage, supervised by Nian Xiyao and constructed with the assistance of a group of Westerners including Lang Shining, Lei Xiaosi, and Ba Duoming, took two months to arrive.

Yue Zhongqi lifted a black cloth, patted the cold, massive cannon barrel, clicked his tongue in admiration a few times, turned to Li Wei, and said:

"Governor Li."

Having been appointed General Who Pacifies the South, he smiled calmly and said:

"We'll wait..."

"It's time to head south."