Chapter 604: What comes after being well-fed and well-dressed?

After looking at the spoils of war, the empress ordered them to be sent to the Ministry of Revenue for inventory and storage.

After that, more than ten of those “captive representatives” were sent to the palace.

Under the watchful eyes of the Cardinal Heaven experts, these shabbily dressed captives were led trembling and shivering into the palace.

They weren’t made to kneel down because this wasn’t the custom in Dayao. However, they were made to stand under the scrutiny of the crowd.

Still, being watched by the crowd was torture to them. Just imagine more than ten rabbits being watched by dozens of lions that had prepared sesame, cumin, salt, pots, pans, and barbeque racks. This was probably how they felt at the moment.

From above, the empress sat listlessly with her chin resting on her palm.

Captives like these didn’t interest her at all.

“What kind of work did you do in the Yun Nation?” the empress asked after some time.

Silence followed.

“Are all of you dumb? You have the audacity not to answer her question? Are you tired of living?” Lian Liang from the Ministry of the Army widened his eyes as a bone-piercing spiritual force emanated from his body.

“Spare our lives! Your Majesty, please spare our lives!” Those ten plus people were instantly paralyzed with fear. They were exhausted after suffering hardships en route, felt apprehensive when entering the palace, and became paralyzed after being frightened by Lian Liang.

Someone peed in his pants right away and made everyone frown.

“Forget it. Take them away.” The empress gestured with her hands for them to be taken away. Viewing these captives was considered as having completed the ritual.

“The ways of Great Xia are not interesting,” the empress said after the prisoners had departed.

This ritual must have come from Great Xia, and this was the first time the empress had experienced it. She was disappointed to see these nonentities trembling in front of her. It was boring and uninteresting.

“Your Majesty, these prisoners are certainly of little value. In the future, if we capture the emperor and prime minister of the Yun Nation, we can ask them for their opinion,” said Ren Baqian, who stood among the court officials.

“Indeed, that is also my thought.” The empress nodded. If the senior officials of the Yun Nation were presented, she wouldn’t mind seeing them.

“There is no need for such a ritual. I wonder who was the brainless bastard that arranged for such a disgusting show for Your Majesty?” Tong Zhenye asked disdainfully.

Qin Chuan shot an angry look across.

The rest of the people waited gleefully to watch the show.

Anyway, these two people had been fighting for years, so everyone was used to it.

“That is all. Everyone fall back,” the empress said coldly.

“Your Majesty, I have one more thing to say.” Tong Zhenye quickly went to the front and said, “Your Majesty, the monthly production of Mount Damo is 100,000 kilograms of iron ore, but the transportation capacity is inadequate, causing the iron ore to pile up there. At the same time, the capacity of the furnaces and forging workshops need to be expanded. The salt wells also require more workers and expansion. In addition, the walls and government offices in various cities need to be repaired in certain places.”

While speaking, he pulled out a stack of papers from his bosom that was filled with writing. A guard immediately took the papers and placed them on the desk in front of the empress.

“Your Majesty, the salaries owed to the frontline troops are two months behind. The war has been going on for a few months, causing some of the weapons to have deteriorated so badly that many soldiers are using their blades as iron plates. Moreover, the salaries of these auxiliary soldiers hasn’t been determined. Even if you don’t consider the monthly allowance, Your Majesty should reward them!” Qin Chuan added.

For once, these two individuals were surprisingly in step with each other.

“Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue only paid out 50 percent of the salary to officials last year. If they continue not to pay, many officials will not be able to afford meat!” added Xiong Yaohe from the Ministry of Rites.

It was a typical case of “why don’t they eat meat…”[1.”why don’t they eat meat” – said by Emperor Hui of Jin when told that his people didn’t have enough rice to eat]

“Your Majesty, regarding the Public Order Bureau…”

Zhuo Yan, the Minister of Justice, immediately joined in after the minister from the Ministry of Rites had spoken.

The hall became like a marketplace as a bunch of people jostled to be heard. They were requesting money, materials, and manpower!

“Your Majesty mustn’t allow this. Most of the northern cities were damaged last year, and a large part of the imperial treasury was used to allocate food and money to them. After that, many villages in the northeast were attacked by the Yun Nation, and they also require food to help the people overcome their difficulties.”

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“The transfer of all this money could barely tide those villages over until the spring harvest! There is barely any room to spare!” Tu Wan went to the front with a devastated look and a voice that overwhelmed everyone.

Ren Baqian thought about saying something, but was reminded of the fact that he still owed a few months of provisions and funds to the Rearguard Commandery! The empress couldn’t let her soldiers go hungry!

However, seeing that Tu Wan’s agitated expression had pushed the others to the side, Ren Baqian logically didn’t say anything.

His body wasn’t like that of Tong Zhenye and the others.

It was no problem for them to get hit, but if Ren Baqian was hit, it would cause him to end up half dead.

Still, those baihu in the Rearguard Commandery were rich and shouldn’t die of hunger for the time being even without this little allowance. It was better to discuss this with the empress later.

“Shut up!” The empress’s face turned green, her hair fluttered, and her demeanor became like a towering mountain that suppressed everyone.

“Fall back. We will discuss these matters after further consideration!” the empress declared coldly.

“Your Majesty…” Tong Zhenye was reluctant and still wanted to talk.

“Fall back!” A piece of red brick landed on the forehead of Tong Zhenye and was instantly smashed to pieces.

This was a nice thing to throw, and the empress always threw it accurately.

However, the significance of the brick was greater than its lethality. To Tong Zhenye, it was no different from a piece of tofu landing on his forehead. Actually, it was even less damaging than a piece of tofu landing on the forehead of an ordinary person.

This action told everyone that the empress was in a bad mood and didn’t feel like talking to them. They were to get out of the way quickly, otherwise, they would face her fury.

Everyone saw that the empress was angry and about to throw a temper tantrum. They had to temporarily stop talking and beat a retreat.

Ren Baqian was the last to leave and followed half a step behind the empress as she left.

“Your Majesty, this matter isn’t worth getting angry about,” Ren Baqian consoled the empress from behind.

“Did I get angry?” The empress, who was furious just now, turned to look at him calmly.

“It has been like this for so many years that I’m used to it,” the empress said to him.

“It’s just that they are too noisy.”

Ren Baqian was nonplussed because he was surprised that the empress could also put on an act at times.

“Anyway, they complain when they are rich as well as when they are penniless. When they are rich after conquering the Yun Nation, I guess they should have no complaints,” the empress said.

“When that time comes, they will have other problems to b*tch about,” Ren Baqian said. “When you are hungry, you think of filling your stomach. After filling your stomach, you think of wearing warmer clothes. When you are well-fed and well-dressed, you will long for other things. The ancient people said ‘You become lustful after being well-fed and well-dressed.’”

The empress kicked Ren Baqian on his calf, and he seemed to hear the sound of a bone breaking.

The empress looked at him coldly and asked, “What comes after being well-fed and well-dressed?”

“This is what the ancients said and not what I said! Ouch…!” Ren Baqian grabbed his leg and hopped around.

He didn’t need to be kicked! He seemed to be innocent!

“Hmph!” the empress exclaimed softly.

“In fact, this is false. Everything is just a representation and not real. If I feel pain, then it will hurt, but if I see through the illusion, I will not feel the pain. Amitabha!” Ren Baqian took a long while before putting his leg down and tried hard to look as calm as a decent monk.

He had made great progress in understanding the Buddhist sutras and felt it was great to learn about dharma.

It was very useful at times to keep calm in order to cool down—very useful!

The empress kicked him in the other leg and then asked tenderly, “Is it painful?”

Ren Baqian’s face wrinkled in agony…

“Painful!”