Marry my elder sister? Fine! I'll give you the letter of annulment and marry someone else.

Song Zhi said: "Forget it, they don't play a decisive role for me anyway."

Yes, it’s the icing on the cake.

No, and it is not indispensable.

She didn't need to lower herself to please those people and then act according to their wishes.

Mu Nanqi has always known that Song Zhi has his own principles. If those people had proposed this a few months ago, Song Zhi might have considered it.

But now all of Song Zhi's arrangements are on track. There are sufficient troops at the border, Yunshui Youyou's influence is spread across the seventy-two cities, and even the trend in the capital is developing as she expected.

With the cooperation of his secret guards, as long as Song Zhi wanted to, she could immediately rise up in rebellion.

However, since they were not forced into a desperate situation and did not want to cause unnecessary casualties, they wanted to find the most comprehensive solution.

For example, he could find a ring or pendant to prove his identity and ask the emperor to pass the throne to him.

As long as the throne is in our own hands, then the subsequent operations will be much easier, right?

"Okay, I'll tell them." Mu Nanqi agreed.

Song Zhi said softly, "You must have put a lot of effort into gathering them. Isn't it a pity that they're scattered like this now?"

"It's all about cooperation for profit. The relationship isn't as solid as you think. There's nothing to regret." His voice was calm and composed.

Although Mu Nanqi said it so easily, Song Zhi could feel the difficulty involved.

She knew how much effort and hardship it took to achieve these collaborations, and that the pressure and challenges he experienced were far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

But he never said anything to embarrass her, and always took everything on silently.

She also knew some of the situation from her gossip. At the beginning, those people strongly opposed Mu Nanqi's marriage, but in the end they became more and more lenient and asked him to stay away from Song Zhi. They would send him messages every now and then asking him to leave Gouer Lane.

Hearing this news, Song Zhi wanted to laugh.

Those people are very capable and good, but they are not irreplaceable or the key to victory or defeat.

After a long period of laissez-faire, they overestimated their own abilities, forgot Mu Nanqi's methods, and thought that he was someone who could be manipulated.

Mu Nanqi didn't explain anything and simply disbanded this force on the spot. He would not use people who were arrogant because of their talents.

These people had done a lot for Mu Nanqi before, and after he gave them enough benefits, they dispersed without complaints.

The rest are those who are willing to follow Mu Nanqi no matter what.

This includes the master who taught him martial arts.

So, sometimes there is really no need to complicate the problem too much. Although my father’s previous alarmist remarks were so scary, they are actually not that difficult to solve.

Song Zhi nodded. "Aqi, although I need help, I don't want a bunch of bossy people coming here. They look down on me, and their presence will only destroy the cohesion she has worked so hard to build."

No matter when or where, the only thing that can truly convince people is the eternal truth of strength.

Only when she demonstrates strong enough strength can she win the respect and recognition of others.

She knew very well that only by having more cards and greater power could she make others look at her with admiration and ultimately submit to her.

So even though those people have this attitude now, she thinks more about the fact that her own strength still has a lot of room for improvement.

Mu Nanqi knew Song Zhi's character very well. Hearing this, he touched her head and said, "Okay."

……

Now Yunshui Youyou has considerable profits. Song Zhi sent all the profits here to Xin Wanyun to recruit soldiers and purchase military supplies.

The income from her guests and those in Gouer Lane was basically self-sufficient, forming a complete expenditure system, and she didn't need to worry about it.

With stable financial support, Xin Wanyun wrote a letter a few days ago saying that their troops had reached as many as 100,000.

And under Xin Wanyun's training, these soldiers are much more powerful than ordinary soldiers.

Xin Wanyun also knew about Song Zhi's efforts in the capital. Although she did not show any attitude, she was obviously more dedicated in training the soldiers.

There is no doubt that if some time passes, the number of 100,000 will increase a lot.

Song Zhi couldn't help but think that Tianqi is located in a plain, facing the sea in the south, and surrounded by continuous steep mountains and cliffs in the west. It only borders two countries in the north and east.

To the east is the State of Li. The two great powers have never easily started a war, so they tacitly agreed not to heavily guard the area.

Most of the troops, except for the cavalry commanded by the emperor himself and the 100,000-strong army that can provide flexible support, are stationed in the north.

She is spending money like water just to support 100,000 soldiers, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the imperial court.

The cost of winter cotton clothes for so many people is really an astronomical figure.

However, what was surprising was that after Mu Yuanzhi had lobbied the noble families for several rounds, those noble families were also fed up with him.

They discussed it and decided that each family would contribute a portion of money to send Mu Yuanzhi away.

After some random talk, Mu Yuanzhi actually managed to collect enough money.

The emperor was very pleased. During the morning court session that day, he praised Mu Yuanzhi highly in front of all the civil and military officials, and seemed to want to pass the throne to him immediately.

But the emperor was not very old, and everyone knew that he would not step down easily.

Mu Yuanzhi also understood this, so he remained calm and composed, and did not become proud and complacent because he had accomplished this task.

The collected silver was quickly exchanged for cotton clothes and quilts and sent to the border. To avoid any accidents, the emperor also secretly sent many cavalry to escort them.

After knowing this, Song Zhi was not anxious.

This is just the beginning.

Since the snowstorm is a disaster, how could it end so easily?

She remembered that in her previous life, the snow had lasted for more than a month, and the snow piled up more than a person's height, not to mention the terrible blizzards that came from time to time.

At first, the generals only asked for cotton clothes, then quilts, and later charcoal and food...

The heavy snow seemed to have buried them in another isolated world. Every letter for help they sent was piled up with the lives of the soldiers.

They were fully confident that since they had sacrificed their lives for the country, Tianqi would surely support them as quickly as possible and save them from the dire situation.

But they kept waiting and waiting.

Wait until the people around you fall one after another, until there is no hope, until the last grain of food is eaten.

They finally had to accept the fact.

Tianqi abandoned them.

They were left in this white world, and the snow covered their bodies.

Even when they were freezing to death in the snow, the sounds of stringed instruments in the capital were still there, the boats were as warm as spring, and the young masters of the official families were laughing heartily with their beauties in their arms.

Their deaths seemed so insignificant at that moment.