Dressed as the prince's substitute? I took the throne

The pupils of the generals present, including Wen Tianhai, suddenly shrank and they couldn't help but look at each other.

Wen Tianhai coughed lightly and said, "Your Highness, we, the soldiers at the border, can actually help build the city walls and houses, but we need a little more money from the court!"

Are you kidding? The military pay at the border is being exploited at every level, so which of these generals hasn't received a share? If they really investigate, those officials in the capital all have their own protection umbrellas, then they're doomed, right?

Zhou Chuxuan feigned surprise and said, "Marshal Wen, I'm afraid that's not possible. The soldiers at the border are already working very hard, how can they still build a city wall?"

"Soldiers at the border are responsible for protecting the security of the border. These are part of our responsibilities!" Wen Tianhai said softly with a forced smile.

"Can it really be done?" Zhou Chuxuan said half-doubtfully.

"Absolutely true!"

Zhou Chuxuan nodded and handed a blueprint to Wen Tianhai: "This is the blueprint I drew. You will build the city wall according to it and deploy the archers and sentries on the wall!"

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

"Things at the border are almost done. I will be leaving for the capital tomorrow! I hope that all the generals can protect the border well and defend the Wu Dynasty!"

After sending Zhou Chuxuan away, Wen Tianhai looked at the blueprint in his hand with disdain: "They've been hiding in the inner palace all day. This victory is nothing more than the enemy walking into their own trap. There's an element of luck involved!"

"And the blueprints for building a border wall? I've fought on the battlefield for countless years and guarded the border for over a decade. How could I possibly need him to teach me?"

"That's right, you really don't take our Grand Marshal seriously!"

"If he didn't have powerful weapons like the crossbow and musket, how could he have defeated the Northern Desert aliens so easily?"

"That's right! If we equip our border troops with crossbows and muskets, we can still sweep across the Northern Desert!"

While listening to the discussions of the generals around him, Wen Tianhai opened the drawings in his hand with disdain. The moment his eyes touched the drawings, his gaze suddenly became fixed.

He no longer cared about the voices of the generals around him, and with a frown he slowly observed the city walls drawn on the blueprint and the defense locations marked in various places.

After a long while, Wen Tianhai finally came back to his senses. He stared into the distance with dull eyes and sighed after a while, "Wonderful, wonderful!"

"Grand Marshal, his drawing is so magical? Let me see!" Zhu Wu took the drawing from Wen Tianhai's hand and was attracted in an instant.

Although the two of them were timid and cowardly when guarding the border, they had basic common sense and just didn't want to fight hard.

Zhu Wu quickly scanned the contents on the blueprint, his eyes gradually brightening. After a long moment, he slapped his thigh and said, "Great, great! If we build the city wall like this, we can withstand an army of 100,000!"

Seeing the two main generals were so impressed, the remaining generals looked at each other, kept silent, and felt a burning sensation on their faces.

They just mocked Zhou Chuxuan!

Wen Tianhai looked at the direction Zhou Chuxuan left, took a deep breath and sighed: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is truly a genius!"

"Pass the order down, all soldiers, work hard to build the city walls and houses, and restore the border as quickly as possible!"

"As ordered!"

"Also..." Wen Tianhai whispered in Zhu Wu's ear: "Military Advisor, let's hold off on withholding the soldiers' salaries. I'm afraid..."

"I understand!" Zhu Wu was also a smart man, so he naturally understood what Wen Tianhai meant. If he wanted to go long-term, he had to take it slow and steady, and not make too much at once.

At the same time, Zhou Chuxuan returned to the place where the troops were stationed outside the city, but saw a group of soldiers gathered together and making a commotion in front of him.

When I got closer to take a closer look, I found that the person surrounded in the middle was a girl in her twenties, with her hands tied with ropes, sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes.

"You bitch, how dare you steal our things? I'll beat you to death!"

"How dare you steal this from the government?"

"Look at her, with those shifty eyes, she's not a good person at first glance! She was either a thief or a whore!"

"Haha, brothers, you've all been working hard for many days, why don't we have some fun?"

"Good idea, good idea!"

"Cough cough!"

Just as the soldiers were excited, Zhou Chuxuan coughed lightly, and the lively scene immediately quieted down, and everyone turned around to look.

The moment he saw Zhou Chuxuan, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhou Chuxuan looked at the girl lying on the ground crying with her head bowed, and asked softly, "What did this girl do wrong? Why are you tying her up here?"

"Your Highness, our food has been missing these past few days! Today we finally caught her, the one who stole it!"

A lieutenant general reported: "This damn woman has been stealing from the city gate to the outside of the city. Every day she steals a few portions of our military rations that we are going to cook!"

Zhou Chuxuan waved his hand: "Alright, now that we've caught her, everyone, retreat! I'll leave her to me!"

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

After all the soldiers around had dispersed, Zhou Chuxuan stepped forward, untied the ropes that bound the girl's hands, and gently helped her up.

The girl was obviously still a little scared, her body was shaking, and she didn't even dare to look Zhou Chuxuan in the eye.

Zhou Chuxuan did not ask him anything, but took two flatbreads from the cook's tent next to him and handed them to the girl.

"Take it and go!"

The girl held the pancake in her hands, tears in her eyes, and looked at Zhou Chuxuan in disbelief, obviously not believing that he would let her go like that.

Zhou Chuxuan smiled faintly: "Why, do you still need me to take you there? Forget it! Old Sheep, just take her to where she wants to go!"

"Give her another five taels of silver so she can buy some food. Just don't steal again!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Old Sheep was usually very kind and smiled gently: "Let's go, girl!"

Zhou Chuxuan shook his head and smiled, not taking the matter to heart. After all, in such a war-torn border area, the city gates were destroyed and homeless refugees were common.

If he were to take charge of the Wu Dynasty one day in the future, he would definitely have to come up with a policy to manage these things.

After returning to the tent, Zhou Chuxuan immediately called the scouts and asked if there was any news from Xu Hanyan.

"Your Highness, the Crown Princess sent word yesterday that all the spies from the capital have been intercepted!"

"good very good!"

Zhou Chuxuan slammed his fist lightly on the table, his eyes gleaming with a different light as he muttered to himself, "Prime Minister, it's time to settle the score between us!"

"Sent the Crown Princess immediately and have her send someone to the capital to deliver a message saying that the border has been lost!"