After her rebirth, the empress received a tragic and beautiful script.

"For the court? If Chen Xueshen hadn't embezzled from the warehouse on the plateau, how could there be such a big shortage of military rations? Is Su Lin really thinking about the court? I think he is thinking about the hole in the Ministry of Revenue."

Ye Qinghuai was a little annoyed. When the granary on the plateau caught fire, Chen Yuansi said he would find a way to make up for the shortfall in military rations. Now Ye Qinghuai realized that the way he came up with was to extort money from the people of Yingzhou.

Yet he could still describe Su Lin as a national hero. Su Lin was not thinking about the court at all. He was thinking about Chen Yuansi and his own career, so he worked hard to clean up Chen Xueshen's mess.

Facing the emperor's anger, Chen Yuansi knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the case of the granary on the plateau has been closed, and the relevant people have been punished. But the reality before us cannot be changed. We are surrounded by foreign enemies and the granary is empty. This is the only way to solve the problem of military food. Although this matter was not done by Su Lin at the behest of this old minister, this old minister has seen the policy of Yingzhou's grain collection, and the cabinet has also been watching it. If Your Majesty wants to punish Su Lin, then dismiss this old minister as well."

The 68-year-old cabinet chief was kneeling on the ground, his silver hair showing on both sides of his gauze hat. He lowered his head but his back was straight, like a resolute martyr.

Ye Qinghuai was furious.

Here we go again.

It’s the same trick again - retreat in order to advance.

Whenever Ye Qinghuai mentioned what Chen Xueshen had done in the Yuanshang warehouse, Chen Yuansi would resign from his post to shut Ye Qinghuai up.

He was sure that Ye Qinghuai relied on him in the government and that Ye Qinghuai would not dare to let him resign.

I have to say, he eats pretty accurately.

Every time, Ye Qinghuai could only hold back his anger and put on a smiling face to persuade Chen Yuansi kindly.

But this time, Ye Qinghuai noticed that, unlike usual, Chen Yuansi even brought out the cabinet.

What he meant was that Su Lin's behavior was tacitly approved by the entire cabinet, and even Gu Shihai did not raise any objections. If Su Lin did anything wrong, not only Chen Yuansi, but the entire cabinet should bear joint responsibility.

This made Ye Qinghuai suddenly feel a familiar and strange feeling in his heart.

When she first received the military report about Lu Yanchen's rebellion, she discussed countermeasures with Chen Yuansi and Gu Shihai in this room. She felt strange at that time.

Now she finally knew where that strange feeling came from.

It’s because of Chen Yuansi’s abnormality.

In Ye Qinghuai's mind, this nearly 70-year-old Prime Minister has always been an old fox who is smooth, tactful and self-protective. When there are disputes in the court, he tends not to take sides easily, but only expresses his inclinations in his words, and never speaks too firmly.

But this time was different. From the beginning, he had made his position clear, supporting the actions of the Yingzhou government to put Lu Yanchen to death, and now he even proposed to resign from the cabinet to put pressure on the emperor. Ye Qinghuai had worked with Chen Yuansi for four years since he ascended the throne, but this was the first time he saw Chen Yuansi so serious or so hard on something.

Chen Yuansi behaved so abnormally either because Yingzhou was of irreplaceable importance to him or because he had an extraordinary hatred for Lu Yanchen.

But no matter which of these two reasons, Ye Qinghuai couldn't figure out the reason.

She looked at Chen Yuansi kneeling in front of the desk, pondered in silence, and then put on her usual smile.

"What did Lord Chen say? I am young and I may have said something wrong in a hurry. Lord Chen, please don't take it to heart. After all, we are all doing this for the court." Ye Qinghuai stood up, walked around the desk, and personally helped Chen Yuansi up.

After she helped Chen Yuansi sit down on a chair beside her, she asked, "In your opinion, Lord Chen, how should this matter be handled?"

Seeing that Ye Qinghuai's attitude had softened, Chen Yuansi expressed his opinion directly, saying, "Your Majesty, the grain officer of Qing County rebelled, assassinated his superior, and hijacked the granary. This is an act of disloyalty and contempt for authority. He must be punished severely and promptly, and the world must be informed so that those who want to follow suit will be in awe and dare not cause trouble, otherwise the Nine Provinces will be in chaos. As for Lu Yanchen, he was blessed by the emperor, but he abused his power and colluded with the rebels. He and Your Majesty have a teacher-student relationship. Your Majesty treats him like a real father, and even wrote a "Record of the Holy Filial Piety" for him to inform the court and the public. Your Majesty must have made up his mind on how to deal with him, and there is no need for this old minister to say more."

At this point, Chen Yuansi raised his goldfish eyes and looked at Ye Qinghuai, saying, "I, your majesty, would like to say one more thing. If Lu Yanchen really understood your majesty's good intentions towards him, if he really put your majesty in the most important position like your majesty treats him, and always thought about sharing your majesty's worries, then even if he had ten thousand reasons to join the rebels, he would not do something that embarrassed your majesty in Qing County."

The smile on Ye Qinghuai's face suddenly froze.

I have to say that Chen Yuansi's words were truly heartbreaking.

It has been nearly half a month since the military report on Lu Yanchen's rebellion was delivered to Ye Qinghuai. Whether in the court or in the memorials, Ye Qinghuai has been carrying huge pressure to protect Lu Yanchen. Facing the doubts and accusations of the court officials, Ye Qinghuai has never wavered.

But Chen Yuansi's words seemed to pierce her heart.

It was indeed as he said. It was impossible for Lu Yanchen not to know how much pressure his behavior would cause Ye Qinghuai. Maybe the people of Qing County were really pitiful, maybe he had reasons to do so, maybe he was sticking to his beliefs and morality, but he ignored Ye Qinghuai's situation and feelings.

Compared with the emperor, he cares more about the country and the people. He is loyal, but he is loyal to Dajing, not Ye Qinghuai.

Just like his choice in his previous life. If Ye Qinghuai, who sat on the throne, was a useless and incompetent ruler, he would be a moralist who eliminated harm for the people and get rid of her.

Ye Qinghuai's smile faded, her expression darkened, she calmed herself down, and changed the subject: "The soldiers and civilians in Qing County are united now, and they are closing the city and refusing to surrender. If it is according to what Elder Chen thinks, do you want to kill all the people in Qing County?"

"Your Majesty, the frontline military affairs are not under my jurisdiction. It would be more appropriate for you to consult with the cabinet elders and the governors. But if you want to ask me, I will analyze it from the perspective of household farming and economics. According to the statistics of the second year of Suihe, the registered population of Qing County is 413,000, and there are 350,000 mu of arable land including military farms. These arable lands are mainly planted with wheat. There are two harvests a year, and the yield per mu can reach 300 kilograms. This yield is actually only enough to feed 350,000 people. In other words, 63,000 people are destined to starve, and this is without considering natural disasters and hidden households." (End of this chapter)