Before the house is confiscated, the enemy's warehouse is emptied and exiled

In the court, about half of the officials submitted their resignations and requested to retire.

In stark contrast, among the ordinary people in Lingnan, only a handful of them choose to leave.

In the final analysis, the occurrence of all these situations is actually due to the planning and preparation made by Xiao Heng and Shen Qingge before.

The local people were all sincerely happy to welcome such a wise king who always cared about whether they had enough food and clothing.

Coupled with the legend of the divine beast's birth, which had long been spread to thousands of households, everyone was more determined to regard Xiao Heng as the man destined by heaven - the true dragon emperor.

If this is the case, why would the people choose to leave?

For them, being able to be Xiao Heng's subjects is something they would never have wished for!

As for those officials who finally decided to leave, whether out of fear of death or wanting to protect themselves and live a stable life in this way, Xiao Heng respected their decision.

Moreover, in accordance with the prior edict, Xiao Heng gave these people a considerable amount of silver to ensure that they could leave in a dignified manner.

It is precisely because of this that today, not even half of the officials who were originally gathered in the court are present.

However, if you think about it from another perspective, this may not be a bad thing!

Without using a single soldier, he could easily purge all the officials in the court, and they left voluntarily without any complaints.

In this way, the officials who stayed behind were all loyal and courageous, and there were also some loyal ministers among them who were capable of taking on important responsibilities.

As for those temporarily vacant official positions, they happened to be an excellent opportunity to recruit talented people from all over the world to serve as officials in the court, thereby injecting a steady stream of fresh vitality and vigor into the entire court.

However, the matter of recruiting talents has to be put aside for the time being, as what they want to discuss today is more urgent.

As everyone knows, once the Kingdom of Nanyue announces its independence from the Kingdom of Beiling, the news will spread like wildfire, and it is inevitable that Emperor Xiaowu Xiao Mo will become angry and immediately send troops to attack.

Therefore, the deployment of defense has become a matter of urgency.

Fortunately, Shen Qingge and his team had anticipated this and went to various counties to collect information on city walls in order to strengthen and defend them.

At this time, Chief Secretary Ma Jing was holding a stack of information tightly in his hands and reporting the situation to Xiao Heng in detail.

"Your Majesty, according to the various data we have collected, the walls of all the fortresses within the territory of Nanyue today are basically built using the ancient rammed earth technology, and it is almost impossible to find walls made of bricks and stones.

Moreover, the area occupied by these city walls is relatively small. Generally speaking, the wall height does not exceed three meters, and the width at the top does not exceed five meters..."

As he was speaking, Ma Changshi stopped, and it seemed that the situation was not optimistic.

Xiao Heng frowned slightly and urged:

"Ma Changshi, don't be afraid, keep talking. We want to know the real situation!"

"As you command, Your Majesty...

In addition, in addition...

Due to years of neglect, most of the city walls have become dilapidated and crumbling, and some have even suffered large-scale collapse. I'm afraid they are simply unable to resist foreign enemies! "

As soon as Ma Jing finished speaking, everyone present couldn't help but gasp.

Although everyone was somewhat prepared, when they heard with their own ears that almost no part of the city wall could truly serve as a defense, they couldn't help but feel a deep sense of anxiety in their hearts.

“What should I do about this?

In this way, wouldn't it be like opening the door wide open and letting the enemy in straight away?"

Someone couldn't help but exclaimed loudly.

Although the others did not lose their composure like him, they also showed worry on their faces.

After all, the defense situation in the entire Lingnan region was so poor, far beyond their initial expectations.

Well, after all, it’s because they are too poor!

In remote and poor areas, starving to death is a big problem. Who has the time to care about whether the city walls are strong or not?

So, a group of officials began to whisper to each other, all worrying about how to build the city wall and how much money it would cost.

It’s a pity that after discussing for a long time, no result was reached.

After all, for these officials who are busy with government affairs on weekdays, the knowledge of construction is too unfamiliar and profound.

The official who had been in charge of construction affairs has now resigned.

As a result, this already difficult matter was instantly deadlocked, and everyone was at a loss as to what to do.

Even Marshal Liu Fu, a veteran of many battles who had commanded the construction of many sturdy fortifications, knew nothing about such extremely professional and meticulous work as measuring the city walls in detail and ensuring their structure was stable and reliable.

Just when everyone was at a loss as to what to do, suddenly, the sharp-eyed Shen Qingge noticed a young official standing in the corner with a slightly immature face.

This person seemed to want to say something but hesitated, as if he had some ideas or suggestions in his mind, but was hesitant and did not dare to speak easily.

After seeing this scene, Shen Qingge immediately took the initiative to step forward and asked:

"May I ask the name of this official? Why have I never seen you before?"

Now Shen Qingge has been pardoned by Xiao Heng. Not only has he been cleared of the crimes he carried in the past, but he has also been appointed as a general, responsible for assisting Marshal Liu Fu in handling various affairs.

Therefore, it was natural for her to appear at the court meeting.

Seeing her sharp eyes, the person she was questioning was obviously a little embarrassed, but he immediately adjusted his mood and responded in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:

"Your Excellency the General, I am a minor official in the Construction Department, named Zhou Ding.

I am truly ashamed. All the other senior officials in our department have resigned, and now I am the only one left here.

Therefore, today I am the only one who can represent the Construction Department to attend this court meeting."

As he spoke, he did not forget to look at Xiao Heng respectfully, fearing that he would say something wrong and offend the emperor.

At this moment, Xiao Heng's expression was still as calm as water.

He simply shifted his gaze away from Zhou Ding and turned to look at General Shen beside him, as if he was quietly waiting to see what questions General Shen would ask next.

Shen Qingge smiled and continued to ask:

“It turned out to be Mr. Zhou from the Construction Department.

I saw that you seemed to be hesitant to speak just now. Do you have any unique insights on the construction of the city wall?

If you have any, please speak up boldly so that we can discuss and deliberate together!"