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

The Northern Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Rakshasa, and its ancestral homeland was about to be seized.

Therefore, the Northern Court came south, seeking a marriage alliance with the Great Liang to jointly resist the Rakshasa, even willing to cede the land south of the Huai River as a price for the marriage alliance.

If the reforms of the past few months were a gathering dark cloud, then the marriage alliance initiated by the Northern Dynasty was nothing short of a thunderclap!

The thunder was so powerful and its light so dazzling that it even temporarily dispelled the dark clouds of reform in the imperial court!

……

Inside the study of the Ning family mansion.

"The Northern Expedition..." Her Majesty the Empress of Great Liang gritted her teeth.

The negotiations for the marriage alliance lasted for nearly three months, and the Great Liang Dynasty also secretly prepared for three months.

The Great Beam...

Get ready...

Northern Expedition.

This time, taking advantage of the Northern Dynasty's major defeat, the Great Liang Dynasty will not rely on marriage alliances to reclaim the area south of the Huai River, but will instead seize the opportunity to launch a northern expedition.

This time, the Great Liang will not only reclaim the area south of the Huai River, but will also completely bury the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty south of the Huai River!

Only after annihilating the three major battalions north of the Yangtze River and fully recovering the area south of the Huai River will Daliang have enough time to manage the area south of the Huai River and build a defense line along the Huai River.

Otherwise, even if the land is recovered, it will be nothing more than a mirage, a fleeting illusion, and the defense line will crumble at the slightest touch.

If the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty north of the Yangtze River could be completely annihilated, the Northern Dynasty would not be able to recover for at least several years and would find it difficult to invade the south.

Now the Great Liang is fully mobilized, with supplies, weapons, armor, troop training, restructuring, and the elimination of ghost employees... Some things are going smoothly, while others are not, which is giving her quite a headache.

However, all of these things were done under the pretext of forming an alliance with the Northern Dynasty to jointly resist the Rakshasa.

Only a very small number of high-ranking Grand Secretaries and a few Ministers knew the court's true intentions.

However, because of the need to prepare for war, the reform had to be temporarily put on hold.

Although the reforms spearheaded by Sun Chengshan have not yet been finalized, they have already spread throughout Jiangnan, Huguang, and even Sichuan and the Tang and Gui vassal states.

That would be to defy public opinion and emulate the Northern Dynasties by implementing the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" and the "equalization of taxation for gentry and commoners."

Sun Chengshan knew that it was impossible for "gentry to serve the corvée labor together" so that the gentry could still redeem their corvée labor and not have to serve the corvée labor alongside the peasants.

Such reforms, not only at the moment when the imperial court was about to launch a northern expedition, had already caused a great uproar even before that.

Since she ascended the throne, petitions demanding the removal of Sun Chengshan have been constant throughout the Liang Dynasty.

Most of these were memorials submitted by retired local worthies, saying that "Sun Chengshan brought disaster to the country and the people, a great villain who appeared to be loyal." These people were all high-ranking officials who had made contributions to the country, and their protégés and former subordinates were all over the court.

Grand Tutor Gu submitted several memorials last month, stating that when he was procuring provisions in Huguang, many local gentry enthusiastically donated provisions to the court. However, he also noted:

"I urge Governor Gu to advise His Majesty that he must not emulate the Northern Dynasty!"

Some even said directly: "If the court were to emulate the reforms of the Northern Dynasties and slaughter countless people of our Great Liang, why would Governor Gu need to invite us to a banquet to donate grain and fodder? Why not just come to our house like the Tartars and take it from us!"

The gentry of Jiangnan, Huguang, Sichuan, and everywhere else were wary of her promoting Sun Chengshan and opening the door to reform, as if she were a thief.

If she wanted these people to cooperate with the imperial army in the northern expedition and not hinder the court in matters such as provisions, taxes, iron mines, and able-bodied laborers, she would have to compromise on the reform.

This is also why Sun Chengshan, to this day, is only the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and has not entered the cabinet.

Even the land survey, which had been prepared long ago, was limited to the capital; it had not yet begun in other places.

The howling north wind outside swept past like the howling of wolves.

The study was dimly lit.

Zhu Cuiwei blinked her slightly tired eyes as she looked at the eight-legged essay written by her husband, and couldn't help but bite her pink lips.

Previously, I only felt that the national treasury was becoming increasingly empty and that reform was imperative.

But over the past few months, a flood of official documents from all over the country had suddenly given her a desolate feeling that "any reform would be a disaster," and she couldn't help but feel somewhat constrained.

Just like this Enko.

After Sun Chengshan was appointed as the chief examiner, people from the cabinet and the court kept submitting memorials to oppose it, saying that Sun Chengshan was "lacking in qualifications".

Left with no other choice, the Ministry of Rites was ordered to select Li Xiangsong, a Grand Secretary, as one of the chief examiners, thus balancing the two sides.

In the past few months, she has summoned Yan Yuqing and the eunuch Wang Bing for questioning several times, and all of them have agreed with what the Emperor Emeritus said.

The Northern Expedition recovered the Huai River and left the three major Northern Dynasty camps south of the Huai River.

Only then will the imperial court have enough time and ability to turn its attention to both the issue of the vassal kings' military power and the obstruction of reforms...

The scent of ink filled the study.

The young physician has also completed his essay, "The old state is firmly established by renewal, and the new is used to maintain the old."

She was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, and could tell that the young doctor's writing was quite good, with a hint of profound meaning in it.

But the young doctor's article was neither in the camp of Sun Chengshan nor in the camp of Li Xiangsong, so it didn't please either side... She pursed her lips, her face showing some difficulty, wondering what the examiners would think.

Of course, regardless of whether the young doctor passed the imperial examination or not, the Northern Dynasty could no longer afford to delay.

Once the Northern Dynasty is forced to accept the alliance condition of "giving up the area south of the Huai River even without a marriage alliance," she will no longer need to use the excuse that "there is still a chance for a change in the marriage alliance" to stall the Northern Dynasty... Zhu Cuiwei's face couldn't help but blush slightly... At that time, her "marriage" with the young doctor will also be settled.

After the tentative alliance is established, the Great Liang will send an envoy to escort the princess to the north to continue negotiating the alliance.

Just as the three major camps of the Northern Dynasty were about to break camp and prepare to cross the Huai River to the north... Zhu Cuiwei's eyes flashed with a sharp light... This was the opportunity for the Great Liang to launch its northern expedition...

"What's wrong?"

Ning Nan put down his pen and frowned as he looked at his wife's ever-changing, slightly excited expression. He thought that his wife, who worked as a clerk in the palace, had noticed something was wrong with his essay.

Zhu Cuiwei snorted and deliberately said, "It's just so-so."

Ning Nan glanced at his wife's expression and saw that she was happy. He felt relieved. If his writing was really mediocre, this woman would have praised him with a long face.

He snorted, picked up a corner of the completed eight-legged essay, blew on the ink, dusted it off with his fingers, and said smugly to the woman:

"Ha, Miss Cui Cui, whether you can become the wife of a scholar... depends entirely on your master's writing of this eight-legged essay!"

Zhu Cuiwei's expression shifted, but she said calmly, "Didn't the first exam test seven passages of scripture? And there are a second and a third exam, so why are you only looking at this one?"

Ning Nan smiled and put down the article, saying leisurely, "The rest are just filler; this one is about 80% sure..."

Zhu Cuiwei was stunned for a moment. Before she could ask, "How did you know?" Ning Nan had already put down his formalities, taken her hand, and stared intently at her.

"...Go take a shower first." Her face flushed slightly, and she frowned with a look of disgust.

……

……

Winter has arrived in the Jiangnan region.

Early morning of December 20th.

A light snowflake fell from the sky.

After holding today's court assembly at Fengtian Hall, Zhu Cuiwei slowly walked to Qianqing Palace, her feet sinking into the light snow.

Wrapped in a cloak, they didn't feel the cold.

There was no carriage or sedan chair; only in this way, in the somewhat chilly weather, with the cold wind blowing against my face, could I slowly take my steps, allowing my mind, tormented by memorials and numerous affairs, to get a moment's respite.

Some plum blossoms were planted in the Qianqing Palace.

In the twelfth lunar month, the plum blossoms are still only in bud.

She paused, looked at the buds, wrinkled her nose, and took a breath. The plum blossoms wouldn't truly bloom until the first month of the lunar calendar.

Just then, "thump thump thump thump!" A little eunuch came running in with small, quick steps to report.

"Your Majesty, I must speak to you!"

The young eunuch rushed to Zhu Cuiwei's side, knelt down, and bowed. His breathing was rapid, and his face was flushed. He said urgently:

"Minister Sun...and Grand Secretary Li...they're arguing in the examination hall! They've been arguing all day! Everyone...the examiners are also anxious and don't know what to do...They've reported this to Eunuch Liu...We beg Your Majesty to intervene and uphold justice..."