I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 313 Clarification
Tang Zhao tightly closed her little mouth.

After an unknown amount of time, Gu Ci finally suppressed the pounding in his heart, reluctantly kissed his fair, rounded earlobe one last time, then took a step back, looked down at Tang Zhao, and said, "If you dare say such things again, I will..."

Tang Zhao shook her head so hard it almost flew off. No, no, she didn't want to do anything inappropriate with Gu Ci.

Seeing Tang Zhao like this, Gu Ci felt as if an invisible hand had grabbed his heart, kneading and squeezing it, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

It's his own fault for treating Zhaozhao badly back then; he deserves to end up like this now.

Gu Ci sighed inwardly. Seeing that Tang Zhao's face was red from the cold, he took Tang Zhao's hand and returned to the tent to continue discussing the matchmaking event.

Inside the strategist's tent, soldiers swarmed around Jiang Yiming, eagerly signing up for the matchmaking event.

Jiang Yiming sat in the chair, his mind buzzing. What kind of matchmaking event was this? Who organized this?

The first soldier to sign up happily pleaded for Tang Zhao's merit, saying, "It was the Princess who said it."

Jiang Yiming took a chance and summoned the logistics officer to record the list of soldiers who had registered for the matchmaking event and their details. He then went to Prince Xuan to complain.

King Xuan shut him down with a few words: Zhao Zhao was also thinking of the soldiers. The war is over, and the soldiers should get married, have children, and live normal lives.

Furthermore, the Northwest has a small population and abundant land. If the population is not increased, who will cultivate the surplus land?
Jiang Yiming thought about it and agreed, but surely he, as the strategist, didn't need to personally handle such a trivial matter?
King Xuan scoffed inwardly, "You're nothing compared to him. Zhao Zhao has arranged for him to write tens of thousands of 'double happiness' characters as a wedding gift. Who can he complain to?"

Jiang Yiming shuddered; compared to Prince Xuan, his job was much easier.

In Wuwei Prefecture, Lu Ying and Shen Jiawen saw off the last group of men and women who had registered for the matchmaking event. They rubbed their sore wrists and took a big gulp of tea to quench their thirst.

Looking at the two stacks of papers on the table, which presented a stark contrast, Shen Jiawen said with a headache, "Sir, the number of women who have signed up is less than 30% of the number of men, and that doesn't even include the soldiers in the Northwest Army camp. What should we do?"

Lu Ying was very open-minded, saying, "If we can make a couple, great."

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, amidst much anticipation, the mass matchmaking event for ten thousand people was officially held in Wuwei City.

The open space, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people, was packed with single men and women from all over Northwest China who came to participate in the matchmaking event. The men were handsome and dashing, and the women were gentle and affectionate. Some fell in love at first sight, while others developed feelings for each other at the interactive center.

In a single day, over a thousand couples went to the government office to propose marriage and successfully received a "double happiness" character written by King Xuan himself and a "Hu Guang Mirror" as gifts from the government office.

Indeed, Tang Zhao's long-closed Liuli Workshop quietly reopened with the tacit approval of King Xuan. They worked overtime to produce tens of thousands of Huguang mirrors, half of which were sent to the Wuwei Prefecture as congratulatory gifts, and the other half were sold to Sheli Tuli.

The young couple, stunned by the wedding gifts presented by the government, happily returned home to prepare for their wedding banquet amidst the envious and jealous gazes of the single people.

From the sixteenth day of the first lunar month to the first day of the second lunar month, the reputation of the mass matchmaking event grew, attracting people from Qinzhou and Shuzhou to come and participate.

Tang Zhao accepted all comers and extended the matchmaking event, which was originally scheduled to last only half a month, to the end of March.

As spring plowing began, the fervor of the mass matchmaking event finally subsided. The manager of Liuli Workshop reported that a total of 37,323 mirrors had been sent out, of which 25,110 were sent to the Northwest Army.

The manager was heartbroken. You see, a single Huguang mirror costs two hundred taels of silver, and even that was hard to come by. Now it's being given away for free. The glass shop has lost at least seven hundred thousand taels of silver!

How could Tang Zhao not know this? This was only the apparent loss. After this, the Huguang Mirror fell into the hands of ordinary people, and noble families no longer considered owning a Huguang Mirror an honor; they would only use it as an ordinary mirror.

This is like if everyone suddenly owned a Hermès bag, its brand effect would completely disappear. The wealthy would no longer consider owning a Hermès bag an honor, but would only feel that it lowered their status and class.

But Tang Zhao has no regrets!

Anyway, Liulifang's mirror production technology is now very mature, and the Huguang mirror can be mass-produced so that every household can have one.

The steward suddenly understood and withdrew with a smile.

Throughout March, Chongqing was immersed in the joy of spring plowing, with busy yet peaceful days.

But Tang Zhao knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.

Sure enough, as soon as spring plowing ended, things started to get chaotic in Jiangnan.

The incident began when a student, drunk, berated Grand Secretary Li, accusing him of not only teaching a traitorous emperor but also sacrificing his own life to ensure endless wealth and honor for his descendants—truly a master strategist.

Coincidentally, members of the Li family were also present. How could they tolerate this student's wanton slander and defamation? Thus, a fight broke out, and the Li family member accidentally killed the student!
The onlookers immediately reported the incident to the authorities. When the officials arrived, they discovered that the student who had been beaten to death was none other than a member of the Ming family from Jiangnan.

Who is the Ming family of Jiangnan? They are the maternal family of the Crown Prince's wife!

This time, the government, which had originally intended to downplay the incident, dared not act rashly. They immediately imprisoned the Li family members who had assaulted the man and sent the case file to Luoyang for the Ministry of Justice to handle.

The grieving couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ming, tearfully approached Master Ming, pleading with him to seek justice for their tragically deceased son.

Looking at his gray-haired cousin and his sister-in-law, who were sobbing uncontrollably, Master Ming knew that any words of comfort would be futile. So he wrote a letter and ordered someone to personally deliver it to the residence of Grand Secretary Li in Luoyang.

Upon receiving the letter questioning the Ming family, Grand Secretary Xiao Li changed his usual mild tone and wrote back directly, stating that the Ming family members had insulted His Majesty in the street and that everyone should have the right to kill them.

Upon receiving the reply, Master Ming was furious. He immediately ordered his eldest son to lead a group of men to break into the Li family's ancestral home. He berated Li Grand Secretary for being immoral and incompetent, for raising such an emperor. He said that Li himself was better off dead than to bring disaster to the people of the world. He then smashed the Li family's ancestral hall to pieces before leaving.

The conflict between the Ming and Li families brought up the matter of Emperor Pingyuan's killing of tens of thousands of people to suppress his treasonous acts, which had been painstakingly suppressed.

Emperor Pingyuan was furious. He summoned Grand Secretary Xiao Li to the palace, gave him a severe scolding, and ordered him to find a way to suppress the matter.

Grand Secretary Li agreed, but after leaving the palace, he did not return to his residence. Instead, he went up to the city wall.

The people of Luoyang looked at the people on the city wall with curiosity.

As soon as Grand Secretary Li stepped halfway out of the city wall, the general guarding the city tower dared not make any rash moves and hurriedly sent his men to the palace to report the news.

Some curious people asked, "Young Master Li, what are you doing on the city wall?"

"To clarify something for everyone," Elder Li took a deep breath and said loudly, "you should all have heard that a member of my Li family accidentally killed a member of the Ming family because the Ming family member publicly cursed my father for raising a traitorous emperor."

"Today, I would like to clarify this to the people of the world," said Grand Secretary Xiao Li. "The Ming family members are right to criticize. My father did indeed commit suicide out of grief and indignation because he was ashamed to have raised His Majesty!"