The Minister of Works invited the young emperor to his study.

Chu Hongyu was asked to sit in the seat of honor.

He spoke: “I came to find Minister Chen because I wanted to discuss with you how to make this thing retract and extend freely.”

The Minister of Works pondered seriously.

If this “boarding ladder” connecting to enemy warships were truly built and installed on ships, it would indeed need to be retractable. First, there wasn’t enough space on the ship. Second, it would catch the enemy by surprise.

On the battlefield, situations changed in an instant, so the faster and simpler it could be lowered and raised, the better.

He paced back and forth in the study.

Chu Hongyu stood on a chair, browsing books on the upper shelves.

The books here were different from those in the palace library—most were specialized texts recording matters of the Ministry of Works, hydraulics, and machinery.

He found one and opened it, leaning against the chair to read seriously.

Suddenly, he saw an illustration and immediately said excitedly: “Minister Chen, come look quickly. Could this tool work as assistance?”

“This is! A pulley!” The Minister of Works’ eyes immediately widened. “His Majesty is so clever! Why didn’t this minister think of it? Wonderful, truly wonderful! If we successfully use this, we can completely realize His Majesty’s idea!”

Chu Hongyu became excited: “So We haven’t been fantasizing wildly. Can it definitely be implemented?”

“This minister will go discuss the specific details with the Minister of War right now. It would be best if we could add some hidden weapons to this thing for attack… Then find the Minister of Revenue to ask how much silver can be allocated…”

After speaking, the Minister of Works grabbed the blueprint and that book and left in a flurry.

He quickly found the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue. Among the three, the Minister of Revenue was the most high-and-mighty—after all, the nation’s money and people were under his management, making him traditionally first among the Six Ministries.

Though the Minister of War was a civil official, he also knew martial arts and was versed in various areas. When he saw the blueprint, his eyes immediately lit up: “Well done, Old Chen! You’ve quietly developed such a formidable thing. If this can be installed on warships, why would we fear those Dongling boys conducting surprise attacks!”

The Minister of Works proudly stroked his beard: “This is a weapon His Majesty developed, specially designed to deal with Dongling. Install this thing at the bow of the warship, open a hole at the head that can connect to the ship’s boom. At the boom location, place a pulley, tie ropes, and through this method, this boarding ladder can be freely raised and lowered.”

“See these long spikes at the bottom? They can tightly bind two ships together.” He continued, “Our soldiers walk across the boarding ladder and go directly onto the opponent’s ship, killing the Dongling people without leaving anyone alive. Don’t they like to raid and run? Let’s see how they run now. Hehe, they can still run—by jumping into the sea. They can feed the fish too, so they won’t have lived in vain.”

The Minister of War tapped his finger: “If our Great Jin soldiers can cross the boarding ladder, the opposing side can walk across too. I suggest creating some traps on the boarding ladder that only our soldiers know about, such as spikes on the bottom…”

The Minister of Works nodded repeatedly: “Is this difficult to implement?”

“Not particularly difficult.” The Minister of War spoke. “It just requires silver, lots of silver.”

Both looked simultaneously at the Minister of Revenue.

The Minister of Revenue leisurely took a sip of tea: “Not long ago, with various disasters, the national treasury was already nearly emptied. The Empress and Emperor died in succession—you can’t possibly imagine how much the funeral expenses were… Now the Empress Dowager proposes sending reinforcement troops. Do you know how much military pay an army of a hundred thousand requires? Of the hundred and fifty thousand troops previously dispatched, twenty to thirty thousand died. The compensation for that portion alone is fifty to sixty thousand taels of enormous wealth… Your ideas are excellent, but there’s no silver to implement them.”

These words were like a basin of cold water poured over the Minister of Works’ head, making his burning heart instantly ice cold.

The Minister of Revenue stood up: “I have other matters, so I’ll take my leave.”

He went directly to the Prince Regent’s residence.

The residence had many advisors, all newly recruited by Chu Rui. Every day he would take time to discuss practical matters with these people, extracting some useful things from them.

Seeing the Minister of Revenue arrive, Chu Rui had these people withdraw.

“Minister Zhu, please sit.” Chu Rui’s expression was amiable. “Minister Zhu has been working hard recently gathering military funds.”

“Not hard at all—it’s all this minister’s duty.” Minister of Revenue Zhu spoke. “The matter of Your Highness having a dispute with the Empress Dowager has spread throughout the court ministers. It’s probably the Empress Dowager deliberately spreading the news to make the neutral faction quickly choose sides.”

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Chu Rui’s lips: “Since she’s made her move, I need not hold back either.”

Minister Zhu straightened his spine: “Your Highness, please instruct.”

“Spread word that the Empress Dowager proposed sparing no effort to attack Dongling. However, grain supplies and military funds are insufficient, so she intends to raise taxes.” Chu Rui took a sip of tea and continued, “Before tomorrow’s morning court, this prince wants to see this news spread through every alley in the capital.”

Minister Zhu stood up and bowed: “Yes, this minister will handle it immediately.”

That very evening, the capital was filled with various rumors.

“Have you heard? The Empress Dowager advocates attacking Dongling!”

“If Dongling hadn’t killed our Great Jin’s Crown Prince, how would Great Jin now have a child as emperor? Dongling deserves death! The Empress Dowager’s action fully displays the fighting spirit of our Great Jin subjects. I support it!”

“I support it too!”

“Hehe, you people are still too shallow. What does waging war mean? It means requiring silver, lots and lots of silver. Where will this silver come from?”

“Previously when the Empress and Emperor died, do you know how much treasury silver was spent? Now our Great Jin simply has no money to wage war.”

“My wife’s brother’s wife’s maternal family has an uncle who serves as an advisor to court officials. According to him, the Empress Dowager plans to raise commercial and land taxes, extracting silver from us common people as military pay!”

“Good heavens! When the nation wages war, why should we common people pay? Our lives are already hard enough.”

“Why should national affairs be decided by a woman? The Empress Dowager is only in her twenties. What qualifications does she have to rule from behind the curtain and make such major decisions?”

“Waging war is a major matter, raising taxes is also a major matter, yet they were proposed by a woman. Hehe, our Great Jin is finished.”

“Women meddling in politics—won’t Great Jin be finished?”

“…”

Throughout the capital’s streets and alleys, countless people discussed.

Naturally it reached the court.

During morning court, someone stood up first: “Empress Dowager, the common people are now proposing prohibiting women from interfering in politics. What does the Empress Dowager think?”

Yun Chu sat behind the pearl curtain and smiled lightly: “What do you ministers think?”

“The Empress Dowager rules from behind the curtain, first to guide the young emperor, second to stabilize the national foundation. And Great Jin’s foundation is the common people.” Minister of Revenue Zhu spoke. “Water can carry a boat but can also overturn it. When common people gather together, they become an enormous force. At that time, our Great Jin will fall into the predicament of internal troubles and external threats.”

Minister Zhou stepped forward: “To stabilize the people’s hearts, this minister believes the Empress Dowager should end ruling from behind the curtain after His Majesty turns eight years old.”