Even emperors have it tough, so don't be too picky about the entries.

"This is not difficult."

Chen Shao looked at the Empress Dowager and said, "Five million taels of Xie Yong's property were confiscated and put into the national treasury, which can solve our immediate crisis."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager nearly jumped up and began to curse.

She had long regarded the national treasury as her own private treasury.

They're planning to find some pretexts to gradually transfer their assets.

Five million taels of silver—isn't that cutting off her flesh?

But... now that everything is out in the open, even if she's greedy, she wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

He could only grit his teeth and utter two words:

"Granted."

Yu Qi'an smiled bitterly to himself. Five million taels of silver was probably a drop in the bucket. Just the pensions and military pay alone would cost three million taels of silver.

Not to mention weapons, armor, oil, logs, boulders...

Each one is an astronomical figure.

But he knew the emperor's difficulties.

Forcing the ministers to stay behind is already the limit of His Majesty's power.

"Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager are deeply grateful for your great kindness!"

......

After the court session ended, Chen Shaolian walked with a lighter step.

He gave himself a perfect score of 10 for his performance today.

This not only humiliated Han Cao on the spot, but also got the five million taels of silver out of him.

I just opened the door to the Imperial Study.

Then I saw a voluptuous and graceful figure standing there with her hands behind her back.

Shen Qingci!

Chen Shao couldn't help but smile slightly as he said:

"Mr. Shen, do you think I'm awesome? I can turn the world upside down with a flick of my wrist."

After saying that, he had an expression that looked like he was waiting for praise.

Shen Qingci slowly turned around.

There wasn't a trace of a smile on his face.

Instead, he coldly replied, "I'm not watching!"

"You really think you've done something big? You're utterly ignorant."

Chen Shao simply took it as her sharp tongue and didn't bother arguing with her.

"Isn't that right?"

Shen Qingci never skimped on his food, addressing him by his given name.

"Chen Shao, Chen Shao, do you really think that having an army of 100,000 and the money to recruit new soldiers is enough to stop the Northern Barbarians?"

"The capital has the advantage of city walls, and it also has loyal ministers like Yu Qi'an who are willing to fight to the death. There is always a glimmer of hope."

"No!"

Shen Qingci shook his head: "Young man, you are still too young."

"I don't know if you princes are really stupid or just pretending."

"Don't you know that the Great Yan army is rotten to the core?"

"Generals at all levels were receiving salaries without working, and half of the names on the roster were fabricated."

"You probably can't even gather 30,000 out of 100,000 people."

Chen Shao was suddenly startled.

The Three Great Camps were the absolute force protecting the capital, and being right under the emperor's nose, they had already become so rotten.

"It can't be that bad..."

"If you don't believe me, let's make a bet."

"If I can raise the money, I can agree to any condition you set."

"If you can't raise the money, just agree to one condition."

"As long as the conditions are not violated..."

Shen Qingci looked up and saw that Chen Shao had already left the imperial study, but then peeked back in.

"Come on, what are you standing there for?"

"Where to?"

"The Three Major Battalions".

"Oh, oh." Shen Qingci swayed her waist and quickly followed.

.......

When they reached the palace gate, the imperial guards stopped them.

"Your Majesty, please show us the Empress Dowager's..."

This is a moment.

Chen Shao raised his hand and slapped him across the face.

"I am the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty! How dare you, a mere Imperial Guard, stop me? Do you have enough heads to chop off?!"

Today's bloodline incident taught him a lesson.

Perhaps because of his own strength, the other party was already hesitant to act rashly.

If you want to ruin yourself, you need to find a plausible reason.

Since that's the case, for such a trivial matter as leaving the palace, anyone who tries to stop me will be put to death.

The imperial guard covered his face and looked at Chen Shao in astonishment.

I want to get angry.

But Chen Shao said, "A few taels of silver a month, and you're working this hard? Are you willing to risk your entire family?"

Oh, right, why is he arguing with the emperor?

He only needed to report the affairs of these important figures.

After figuring it out, he immediately bowed and stepped aside.

Half an hour later, Chen Shao and Shen Qingci arrived at the three camps.

Upon hearing the news, Yu Qi'an stood trembling in front of the two.

"It was my oversight. I will verify the list immediately."

Yu Qi'an wasn't unaware of the corruption within the Beijing Garrison; he simply hadn't had the time to deal with it.

Now His Majesty has thought of this ahead of time.

It surprised and delighted him.

What surprised me was that I had failed in my duty, and His Majesty himself came.

What is gratifying is that His Majesty was able to perceive this matter, showing the qualities of a wise ruler.

He rushed out in a flurry of activity.

He kicked a nearby guard.

"Beat the drums! Call the troops!"

"Summon all registered soldiers and officers to my presence. Anyone who fails to appear within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn will be punished according to military law!"

That's how Chen Shao finally understood why an army of 500,000 was defeated by 50,000 men.

Yu Qi'an personally beat the drumsticks and called out to people from one barracks to another.

The soldiers, on the other hand, dawdled.

Most of them were disheveled, some even sleepy-eyed and yawning.

They walked towards the training ground in twos and threes, arms around each other.

After standing loosely and casually, they gathered in groups of three or five to joke and banter.

Shen Qingci sneered: "See? When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam is crooked too. You don't need to complain. This is all the fault of you Chen people."

"This is called reaping what you sow."

Chen Shao did not refute, nor did he have the face to refute.

He just stared at the training ground with a gloomy face.

The roll call went smoothly because there were few people.

The result was disheartening, partly because there were too few people.

The entire three battalions had a roster of 100,000 soldiers, but the roll call only showed 10,000!

Shen Qingci gasped.

I knew the Beijing Garrison was corrupt, but I never imagined it was this bad.

That's only a third of the number she predicted.

"Your Majesty... I am utterly guilty and deserve to die a thousand deaths..."

Yu Qi'an was stunned, and knelt down, tears streaming down his face.

Chen Shao hurriedly helped him up.

"Minister Yu, you flatter me. It's not your fault."

"Corruption in the Beijing Garrison has long been an open secret, but neither you nor I knew it; it had already reached a critical stage."

"The most urgent thing right now is how to solve the problem."

Yu Qi'an was not pretentious.

He quickly recovered from the shock and fear that had led him to consider suicide as an atonement.

"Your Majesty is right."

He pondered for a moment:

"I have something to say, and I dare not remain silent."

"Please feel free to speak."

"The matter of receiving salaries without working may involve too many people, including generals at all levels, officials in the Ministry of War, nobles in the capital, and even Yuwen Huagu and Han Cao..."

"If this were a peaceful time, this matter would have to be thoroughly investigated, and those who deserve to be killed would be killed, and those who deserve to be confiscated would be confiscated."

"But now, the Northern Mang army will arrive soon, and if we start a war now, the court will be thrown into chaos."

Chen Shao asked in a deep voice:

"What does Minister Yu mean?"

"The most urgent task is to defend against external threats."

"Your Majesty may issue an edict to abolish the existing roster, abolish the old system of the Three Great Camps, rebuild a new army, and start from scratch."

"Let's not investigate past grievances for now, and let's not dwell on what happened before."

"In this way, all those who fraudulently claim positions will have nowhere to hide."

Shen Qingci clapped her hands and praised generously:

"Minister Yu is indeed a strategist; these two methods can save the Great Yan."

Chen Shao frowned.

"I wholeheartedly support Lord Yu's suggestion to start from scratch."

"But to repel external threats, we must first secure internal stability."