Their Emperor used the Great Zhou’s grain to supply the people of Xi Liang. Despite the difficulties, he, as Minister of Revenue, still complied because he knew His Majesty’s goal was to unify the realm. Their Emperor had already begun treating the people of Xi Liang as his subjects.

Now, if Great Zhou were to go to war with Yan again, the matter of provisions… would truly be an enormous challenge for him.

But even enormous challenges had to be solved. Sitting in the position of Minister of Revenue, if he didn’t solve difficult problems, what use would His Majesty have for him? He couldn’t just throw up his hands and only know how to cry poverty to His Majesty!

Moreover, given the current situation, His Majesty had just given birth to the prince and fallen asleep, and would leave the city upon waking. Even if he wanted to cry poverty, there was no place to do so. He still had to find a way…

After much thought, he felt he would probably have to target the merchants within Great Zhou’s territory.

After all, the Great Zhou was currently the strongest nation. Once Great Zhou decided to go to war with Yan, the merchants… needless to say, most would flee to Great Zhou.

But His Majesty had only ordered troops stationed at Yan’s borders and hadn’t truly issued an edict to attack Yan yet. He couldn’t very well find an excuse to demand silver from the merchants!

Never mind that—he had to prepare for rainy days. Since His Majesty had already deployed troops, he could say war was imminent and demand silver from them to prepare in advance.

If they didn’t end up fighting, the silver could be returned as it came, and he could seek some commendation from His Majesty for them. They would likely be quite pleased.

Wei Bugong looked up at the sky and heaved a long sigh. Everyone said the Minister of Revenue was the most lucrative position under heaven, but whoever held this position knew—it was difficult! Add to that having a master who wanted to unify the realm, and it was even more difficult.

The palace eunuchs summoned Grand Commandant Lu, Minister of Works Shen, and Minister of Education Dong to enter the palace. But after the three entered the palace, they were stopped outside Bai Qingyan’s sleeping quarters by Empress Dowager Dong Shi.

She said Bai Qingyan was extremely exhausted and had just taken medicine and dozed off. She asked the three ministers to return first, saying everything could wait until Bai Qingyan woke up.

Dong Shi already knew that A’Yu had deliberately turned the tables and entered Yun Jing, and Xiao Qi had probably also been captured and taken to Yun Jing. So she wanted to let her daughter rest first, depart early, and finish the matter early, so she could peacefully observe her confinement period.

Who knew that Grand Commandant Lu, Minister of Works Shen, and Minister of Education Dong had just returned to their residences and hadn’t even had time to remove their official robes when they heard that His Majesty’s convoy was ready to depart.

The three dared not delay. They coincidentally rushed to wait outside the city gates, and upon seeing each other, they hurriedly exchanged formal greetings.

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s carriage slowly approaching from within the city and stopping, the three boarded the carriage and paid their respects to Bai Qingyan.

“Your Majesty, the spring examinations are about to begin. With your departure… what should be done about the palace examinations?” Grand Commandant Lu looked deeply worried. “Moreover, you’ve just given birth to the Princess and Prince and are still in confinement. Traveling such a long distance to Xi Liang, I fear your precious body cannot withstand it!”

Bai Qingyan naturally knew this, but… when Jin previously managed the capital, there were oversights, and many deeply buried spies were difficult to eliminate. This time… Bai Qingyan wanted to use this opportunity to have the Imperial Investigation Bureau root out all these deeply buried spies!

The Great Zhou Emperor had just finished giving birth and immediately rushed to Xi Liang because of the Xi Liang battlefield situation, while also deploying troops to Great Yan’s borders to attack Yan. With such momentous news released, the spies from Xi Liang and Yan would certainly spring into action to quickly transmit the information.

Bai Qingyan’s deployment of troops at Yan’s borders, making a show of attacking Yan, would also make Xi Liang firmly believe that Yan and Zhou would break relations over this matter.

Furthermore, Bai Qingyan was never one to place all her hopes in one basket. Even though she had previously discussed with Xiao Rongyan that after pacifying Yun Jing, they would determine victory through national policies to avoid subjecting the people to war and merge the two nations into one, she still had to prepare for the worst.

Taking a step back, if in the end the matter of determining victory through national policies was truly influenced by Empress Dowager Yan’s forces and couldn’t proceed smoothly, then only fighting would remain.

Stationing troops at Yan’s borders could also be considered preparation. At that time… how exactly the two nations would fight on the front lines, Empress Dowager Yan wouldn’t necessarily be able to control. She could discuss it with A’Yan, and they could always achieve unification!

But regardless, Murong Li and A’Yan were both working hard for the merger, so she too had to do her utmost to pave the way for the merger of the two nations.

“Thank you for the Grand Commandant’s concern. I’ll travel by carriage the whole way, so it won’t matter!” Bai Qingyan kept her words brief. Regarding the palace examinations, I’ll entrust Grand Commandant Lu, Minister of Works Shen, and Minister of Education Dong to jointly oversee them. On the day of the palace examinations, the Empress Dowager and the three ministers will supervise in the great hall. After the papers are collected and reviewed, the Empress Dowager will determine the rankings.”

“Yes!” the three responded in unison.

Bai Qingyan didn’t tell the three ministers about leaving the capital, only to circle and return. Mother wanted her to properly observe her confinement period, and she trusted the abilities of these three ministers. After explaining matters clearly, she would rest well and recuperate after returning to the capital, both for A’Yan’s sake… and to be able to accompany the two children for a long, long time.

“Minister of Works Shen…” Bai Qingyan looked toward Shen Jingzhong. “For this battle between the Great Zhou and Yan, Minister of Works Shen must prepare as if we will truly fight. For provisions, Minister of Works Shen and Minister Wei must find a way! The key point is… we cannot let the soldiers go hungry.”

Major movements like deploying troops and provisions would quickly reach Yan. After leaving the capital, she would also have to send someone to deliver a message to Murong Li and Xiao Rongyan. What she could do for the merger of the two nations was only this much.

“Your Majesty, rest assured! This humble minister understands the gravity!” After Shen Jingzhong finished speaking, he continued, “But this humble minister still believes that after destroying Xi Liang this time, Great Zhou should rest and recuperate rather than continue fighting. We should properly digest the Great Liang territory and population that we’ve recently incorporated into the Great Zhou. Naturally… this humble minister knows Your Majesty has Your Majesty’s considerations. This humble minister only hopes that when Your Majesty isn’t forced into a situation where fighting is unavoidable, Your Majesty might give greater consideration to this humble minister’s words!”

“I understand Minister of Works Shen’s meaning!” Bai Qingyan then turned to look at Dong Qingping. “After destroying Xi Liang, if Great Zhou and Yan make any moves, those harboring evil intentions in Great Liang will likely become restless and will surely take the opportunity to cause trouble. Uncle must handle this carefully. I haven’t moved all the troops from Anping Barracks—when necessary, make an example of a few to warn the rest. Naturally, I also haven’t moved the garrison troops from Yuanping Barracks, leaving the Yuanping Army for when necessary… to eliminate those in Great Liang who harbor ill intentions.”

Shen Jingzhong nodded repeatedly—this was also his concern. Great Liang had only recently been incorporated into Great Zhou, and withdrawing the stationed troops from Liang territory would inevitably make those harboring evil intentions feel they had an opportunity. If Great Zhou and Yan went to war at that time, those attempting to restore Great Liang would surely cause trouble.

Bai Qingyan’s voice was steady: “For the Great Liang territory we’ve just reclaimed, we’ve already used conciliatory policies. If they dare cause trouble again, they must be severely punished to let them know that even when Great Zhou divides its forces between Xi Liang and Yan, we still have the strength to deal with them! Only thus can we show those harboring fantasies and delusions the might of Great Zhou… making them completely and thoroughly fall in line.”