The Empress remarried, and I retaliated by wiping out the court.

The Imperial Study.

Ye Wudao held a memorial that had just been handed over by the Wenyuan Pavilion.

"Shandong has not received a drop of rain for two months. The land is parched and the fields are cracked. In seven prefectures including Qingzhou, Jizhou, Dongchang, and Yanzhou, more than 180 counties have suffered a complete crop failure, and the number of disaster victims has exceeded 500,000."

"The trees and grass along the way are barkless and grass roots are gone. People are exchanging their own children to eat. There are corpses everywhere. The local government's granaries are empty. We urge the court to quickly allocate grain and silver for disaster relief, otherwise we fear that a popular uprising may break out."

He turned to the last page.

The cabinet's draft document consisted of only one short sentence.

The imperial court has no funds or provisions; Shandong is instructed to find its own way to provide relief, and the matter will be discussed again after autumn.

Ye Wudao looked at these eight words and couldn't help but get angry:

"These old bastards in the cabinet, 500,000 disaster victims have no food, and they're telling them to figure it out themselves?"

Luo Hanyan offered him a grape, but Ye Wudao turned his head away and refused to eat it.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The court is short of money and grain. Do you think those old ministers in the cabinet can conjure money and grain out of thin air?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Wudao fell silent.

This incident perfectly illustrates the consequences of the lack of a decisive person in the court.

Everyone shirks responsibility when problems arise, and no one takes responsibility. If this continues, the people will suffer greatly, and the country will cease to exist.

Ye Wudao slammed the memorial heavily onto the table.

"Go and summon Wu Qingxun, the Minister of Revenue."

Not long after, Wu Qingxun arrived late.

Upon arriving at the Imperial Study, Wu Qingxun lazily cupped his hands in greeting and said casually to Ye Wudao:

"Your Majesty, this humble subject pays his respects."

Ye Wudao coldly stared at Wu Qingxun, then threw the memorial at his face:

"Is this how your cabinet reviews documents? Is the court just keeping you lot around to do nothing?"

Wu Qingxun explained, "Your Majesty, the national treasury is empty of money and grain. In some places, we can't even pay the officials' salaries. How can we possibly provide disaster relief?"

"I remember that the Great Yan Dynasty collected 40 million taels of tax revenue every year. Why is it so empty?" Ye Wudao asked with a frown.

Wu Qingxun gave a bitter smile: "Last year's war in the northern border cost the imperial court tens of millions of taels of silver. A plague broke out in Nanling Prefecture, and there was also flooding in Hexi. The imperial court is already running a deficit!"

Ye Wudao interrupted him: "Even with all of this, it wouldn't be enough to spend forty million taels of silver. Tell me! Did you embezzle it?"

"Your Majesty, you are innocent!" Wu Qingxun gritted his teeth and said, "When has the national treasury ever received forty million taels of silver? As early as five years ago, the local vassal kings began to pay less or no tribute under various pretexts."

"And since Your Majesty ascended the throne, not a single vassal king has submitted its annual tribute!"

"Currently, the imperial court's annual tax revenue is less than ten million taels of silver!"

Ye Wudao narrowed his eyes slightly.

King of Tibet!

Another barbarian king!

He should have realized it sooner: how did the vassal kings, who were able to amass powerful armies and have strong and well-equipped troops, get their money?

It turns out they never paid any taxes to the imperial court!

If this continues, the imperial court will be weak while the fiefdoms will be strong, and within ten years, the country will surely fall apart!

Now that he has just taken command of the Imperial Guards, his authority over the local areas is far from sufficient, so he can only address the domestic disaster situation first.

According to dynastic precedent, the poorer the country, the richer the corrupt officials and the wealthy.

He asked, "What is the current market price of rice?"

Wu Qingxun had come to see Ye Wudao make a fool of himself, but upon hearing this question, his expression turned unusually serious:

"Your Majesty, food is in short supply and prices are soaring. At the beginning of the year, ten coins could buy a pound of rice, but now..."

"How many?"

"300 coins."

Upon hearing this, Ye Wudao's heart nearly skipped a beat.

The price increased from 10 coins to 300 coins, a full thirty times!

For ordinary people, this is an astronomical household expense, but they can't refuse it, and they rush to buy it even if it's expensive.

If we don't buy, we'll starve!

Ye Wudao sneered, "If I'm not mistaken, some powerful families will definitely take this opportunity to hoard grain on a large scale and drive up prices?"

Wu Qingxun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Your Majesty, yes, that is indeed the case, especially involving the Fan, Zhong, Jiang, and Cui families. However, they are operating normally and have not violated any national laws. If we take this opportunity to suppress them, we may offend the merchants of the world..."

"You've misunderstood..."

Ye Wudao revealed a benevolent smile, "I have always governed with benevolence and love for my people, how could I commit such a bandit-like act?"

"I admire the business acumen of merchants. Summon the heads of the four companies tomorrow; I wish to learn a thing or two from them!"

"yes!"

…………

While Ye Wudao was handling disaster relief matters, things were not peaceful outside the palace either.

The mutiny a month ago had a butterfly effect, much like throwing a stone into a calm lake, instantly creating a tsunami on the other side.

Xiao Linyuan suffered the most severe losses in this coup, and his power plummeted from his position as the most powerful minister in the Great Yan Dynasty!

"My lord, Ye Wudao has purged the Imperial Guards. Almost all of our trusted confidants within the Imperial Guards have been eliminated. We... have completely lost the Imperial Guards!"

Upon hearing Sima Chang's report, Xiao Linyuan's forehead veins throbbed: "Ye Wudao only controls the Shence Guard and the Dragon Martial Guard, what about the Imperial Guard? His influence doesn't extend that far!"

Sima Chang looked heartbroken and said, "The Imperial Guards are in even worse shape! Behind Sun Yuanlang is Mo Jingyu. All the people we placed in the Imperial Guards have been wiped out in a bloodbath. Even those who were even slightly close to us are either dead or transferred..."

Upon hearing this...

Xiao Linyuan slammed heavily onto the chair.

lost.

He was utterly defeated.

He hadn't expected Ye Wudao to bring 50,000 elite troops from the border. He hadn't expected that the other powerful ministers, who had all agreed to join him in the campaign, would stab him in the back, causing him to fail at the last minute...

Sima Chang advised, "My lord, do not be discouraged! Although we have lost the Imperial Guards, we still hold an absolute position in the court. As long as we manage things well, there is always a chance to turn things around in the future."

Xiao Linyuan let out a long sigh: "I was careless this time. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. I should have known they wanted me to be the one to stick my neck out!"

The nine powerful ministers checked and balanced each other; a single move could have far-reaching consequences. From now on, they could no longer stand at the forefront.

Xiao Linyuan took a sip of tea and said in a deep voice, "Now that Ye Wudao has the Imperial Guards and is gradually gaining power, his next step will definitely be to target the court officials. This time, we shouldn't be at the forefront. Let Li Juzheng and his old cliques fight Ye Wudao, while we fan the flames from the sidelines and seize the opportunity to stab them in the back!"

Sima Chang offered his hand: "Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"

Xiao Linyuan was quite pleased and asked with a smile, "By the way, what has Ye Wudao been up to lately?"

Sima Chang recounted Ye Wudao's disaster relief efforts.

"OK!"

Xiao Linyuan slapped his thigh and said with a smile, "The Fan, Zhong, Jiang, and Cui families have intertwined influence in the court, especially the eldest son of the Zhong family, Zhong Ming, who was killed by Ye Wudao on his wedding day. The Zhong family will definitely not help Ye Wudao. This is going to be a good show!"

"Go and leak Ye Wudao's secret order to the four major families, so they can take precautions!"

"yes!"

Watching Sima Chang's departing figure, the killing intent in Xiao Linyuan's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

"Ye Wudao, do you think you've secured your position in the court just because you won one round against me?"

"The imperial court is never about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and diplomacy!"

"Which of the eight great families of Great Yan hasn't been operating for hundreds of years? Their clansmen are spread throughout the six ministries, prefectures, counties, and districts. If you dare to touch them, you are making an enemy of the entire officialdom of Great Yan."

"Ye Wudao... let's see how you break this game!"