When the Emperor’s decree reached each military camp, the noble families stopped coming to the Yun Family. It was clear that it wasn’t Yun Ye who insisted on cutting off their financial routes, but rather the Emperor who was preparing to reorganize military discipline. When encountering such matters, no one could do anything about it. The Yun Family had perhaps known early on that such a thing would happen, so they expressed their loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor in advance. The nobles all understood—if it were their own families, they would do the same. There was nothing to criticize.

The Wuli Sima? An existence specifically managing various corrupt practices. No one had ever seen these people, nor did anyone know where they had emerged from. Upon arriving at the military camps, the first thing they did was seal the account books, then they brought their own people to review them in an isolated tent. Just looking at those outside the tent wearing cloaks, gripping their sabers with murderous intent, no one dared to provoke them. Some veteran military officers, relying on their seniority and reputation, tried to carry wine and meat over to curry favor, but without exception, they were all driven away. A few who didn’t believe in their authority even got beaten and thrown into dark cells. If not for the commander-in-chief pleading on their behalf, beheading would have been possible.

The officers and soldiers remaining at the Lingnan Naval Camp were very self-aware. The Recording Officer immediately pitched his tent right next to the Wuli Sima’s tent. After having tea sent over once with a message, he informed his superior that he was nearby and would be at their service anytime if there was anything they wanted to ask. His attitude was impeccably good.

The Wuli Sima inspected the granary one by one, inspected the armory, inspected the miscellaneous supplies warehouse, counted the horses and personnel. When they wanted to see the oil depot, they were flatly refused by the remaining Recording Officer. No matter how much they argued, he kept smiling and refusing. The man appeared to be an easygoing fellow, but his attitude was surprisingly firm.

“If Your Excellency wants to see this thing, you must first produce documentation from the Ministry of War. First obtain Minister Li’s written approval, then get my commander’s authorization. Only after obtaining the command arrow from the commander can you proceed. Please don’t make things difficult for this humble official. If there’s a mistake, this humble official’s head alone wouldn’t be enough to chop off. You don’t know—last time when His Majesty wanted to see it, the commander only let His Majesty view it from afar and brought out one barrel for His Majesty to examine. This thing is too dangerous.”

“Your Lingnan Navy relied on this thing to burn the four cities of Liaodong to bare ground. It’s an unparalleled weapon in the military—how can we not investigate it? This official has only examined the account books, so naturally I must see whether the actual items correspond with the accounts. Step aside.”

The Wuli Sima wanted to see it, and the Recording Officer wouldn’t yield an inch. When the dispute was at its most intense, Yun Ye arrived after hearing the news. Seeing both sides with swords drawn and bows bent, he had the Recording Officer stand down and said to the Wuli Sima: “If you want to see it, that’s fine. Sign the document, remove all metal accessories, go in barefoot, and come out after looking. If outsiders learn of the secrets here, the first head I’ll chop off to consecrate the flag will be yours.”

Originally thinking that after such intimidation, the matter would pass—I’m giving you a way out, you take a step back and don’t mention going to the oil depot and it’s done—who would have expected that dead-fish-faced Wuli Sima took the document and signed his name without even thinking, then stared at Yun Ye with his fish eyes that had more white than black.

Where did Li Er find these reckless death warriors? There was no choice but to have the Recording Officer accompany them into the oil depot. Watching the two of them enter the oil depot barefoot carrying wooden buckets, Yun Ye suddenly felt this guy had come specifically for the fierce fire oil. Otherwise, even the most stubborn subordinate wouldn’t antagonize his own commander.

All three oil depots were thoroughly inspected. This guy even extracted some from the large wooden barrels and poured it into the bucket he’d brought in. He didn’t spare the gasoline and diesel in the ceramic jars either, carrying out one jar of each, apparently preparing to test them.

Yun Ye smiled, ready to watch how he would test them. Seeing him prepare to ignite the gasoline on the training ground, the Recording Officer was scared out of his wits. He pulled the Wuli Sima to the riverside, dug two large sand pits, and only then permitted him to light the fire.

The gasoline was still as fierce as ever—wherever it flew, fire followed. One jar of gasoline burned on the riverbank for a full incense stick’s worth of time. The Wuli Sima’s face also turned pale. After completing the inspection, he cupped his fists toward Yun Ye in apology.

“Commander, this subordinate was presumptuous. This is indeed our army’s unparalleled weapon and truly should not be revealed to others. This humble official boldly requests that the commander entrust the responsibility of guarding the oil depot to this official.”

Before Yun Ye could respond, the Recording Officer beside him raised his eyebrows and was about to explode, but was stopped by Yun Ye. Then they heard the commander say with a chuckle: “The oil depot is a critical area—idle persons forbidden. This has always been the motto of our Lingnan Navy. Since you want to guard the oil depot, then you certainly won’t have time to investigate other military affairs. If others engage in misconduct, wouldn’t that put you in an unfavorable position? Have you thought it through?”

“Commander, the Lingnan Navy’s accounts are clear and accurate, not off by a bit. The officers and soldiers all strictly observe military discipline. Even without this official’s supervision, nothing will go wrong. Even if there are minor discrepancies, they’re unavoidable. This official only wishes to guard the oil depot. As for other military matters, I will naturally follow the commander’s deployment.”

With him saying this, Yun Ye understood. This guy only wanted to control the critical department and didn’t care about the rest at all. He probably received instructions before coming to the military camp. Li Er wanted to control all the vital points. This Wuli Sima’s mission was probably exactly this. It’s over—any useful area in the military will undoubtedly be directly controlled by Li Er.

“Very well then. These oil depots will continue to expand. Every month merchant caravans will transport black oil here. You’ll need to oversee the refining, separation, and storage—this entire series of tasks. There are accumulated quantities each month, and I’ll inspect once a month. These matters will keep you busy enough. As for your other official duties, the Recording Officer will be responsible for them. Good, after you’ve trained the people guarding the oil depot, you can officially take over.”

The Recording Officer was quite pleased. The commander still valued his own people after all. That oil depot was dangerous and had no benefits—watching the oil depot was like placing one’s head under a sledgehammer. If something went wrong, there was no second path besides losing one’s head. Now that someone was taking over, it was a relief, and he unexpectedly gained the duty of managing the military camp—that was the truly lucrative assignment.

Perhaps it was each getting what they needed. The Wuli Sima was also very happy. Even his rigid face showed some pleasure, and he didn’t care at all that the Recording Officer had taken away most of his authority.

Through this incident, Yun Ye understood what Li Er actually wanted to do—extreme centralization of power. He had once chatted with him about the idea of separating civil and military authority, and now he was implementing it. Currently, no military general’s authority was great enough to solely control a region. The military never had provisions for more than three months, and the Jinwu Guard was no exception.

When the army mobilized, the tally, insignia, and seal were all indispensable. Missing any one, the Army Supervisor could immediately execute the commander-in-chief. Even if it was a mistake, no one would pursue the matter afterward. He had only roughly chatted with Li Er about these idle matters, yet he had pondered them into this form. Remarkable. Taking advantage of his still vigorous years, he got this done. When Li Chengqian took power, trying to do this would be harder than climbing to heaven.

Leaving the camp and taking a turn, he went to Chang’an. Zhangsun had given birth again. He didn’t know why she was so fertile. Another daughter was born. If he hadn’t miscounted, this should be Princess Jincheng coming into the world. Xinyue had gone to the imperial palace—all the court ladies had to go congratulate the Empress. Yun Ye, however, was invited by Li Chengqian to attend his sister’s baptism ceremony. This child’s safe delivery meant that Zhangsun wouldn’t die next year, because when Yun Ye saw Zhangsun, she was eating heartily. Looking at her rice bowl, it wasn’t small—she ate two full bowls before stopping. Although her head was wrapped with the cloth band for postpartum confinement, her spirit was vigorous enough to beat a tiger to death.

Sun Simiao was taking the Empress’s pulse. He didn’t use a rope—he openly and honestly placed his hand on Zhangsun’s pulse point. After listening for a while, he told the Emperor that the Empress was very healthy. As long as she ate less cold food and was careful not to trigger asthma, there would be no problems.

“Yun Ye, I heard all your children have been vaccinated with cowpox?” Zhangsun asked Yun Ye through the curtain. She had always had reservations about this cowpox thing, and now with the newborn’s arrival, she needed to ask clearly.

“In response to Your Majesty, my son and daughter have both been vaccinated. Several sisters and disciples in the household have also been vaccinated. Looking at it now, there’s no danger. Oh, and by the way, the Crown Prince, Prince Wei, Prince Wu, Prince Shu, and Prince Qi—they’ve all been vaccinated too. You can summon them and ask to know.”

“What? The Crown Prince and the others have all been vaccinated with cowpox? Yun Ye, why did I not know about this?” Li Er stood up and questioned loudly, with a very concerned and nauseating appearance.

No wonder Master Sun said only after vaccinating the Emperor with cowpox would it count as success. Previously, he thought that as long as the reasoning was broken down and explained clearly to them, people would automatically come for cowpox vaccination. The result was unexpected. Even with Sun Simiao personally explaining, those country farmers and even wealthy families didn’t understand. They thought it was burying dirty things into their wounds and wouldn’t accept it no matter what. In comparison, the Academy disciples were much easier to convince. Just after making an announcement at the Academy that those willing to receive the vaccine should report to Master Sun, whoosh—they all went.

Saying “all went” wasn’t entirely accurate. At least Li Hei and Li You were somewhat unwilling to go. Later, seeing Teacher Hypatia in line ahead of them, they forgot their fears. After having an enthusiastic conversation with Teacher Hypatia, they discovered that a cut had already been made on their arms and Master Sun was applying concentrated fluid to the wound…

“Father Emperor, receiving the vaccine was something this son went to find Master Sun for on his own. Yun Ye didn’t know about it. After this son was vaccinated, I only had a low fever for one day and was then perfectly fine. As for Qingque, after Master Sun returned, he went to find Master Sun for vaccination. I heard he even administered it himself. When Xiang’er turns two, this son plans to have little Xiang’er vaccinated as well.”

Li Er opened his son’s outer garment and looked at that small scar, frowning, unable to make up his mind. Yun Ye and Sun Simiao didn’t try to persuade him. This matter of vaccination—whoever was willing could get vaccinated; whoever was unwilling wouldn’t. The vaccine supply wasn’t yet abundant enough for everyone who wanted it to receive it.