Traveling through the emperor, overthrowing the empress dowager at the beginning

Dusk.

Ye Chen slowly opened his eyes.

He sleeps during the day and can't sleep at night.

"Your Majesty~."

The beauty in my arms exhales as sweet as orchid.

Qin Man twisted her body and hugged Ye Chen tightly.

"Mian'er, are you hungry?"

Ye Chen said softly.

Hearing this, Qin Man nodded slightly, her face flushed.

"Ah."

"Okay, let's eat something first."

Ye Chen hadn't eaten for a day, so he was naturally hungry. Qin Man had been with him for a whole day and had also not eaten.

He then stood up holding Qin Man.

"Your Majesty, let Meng'er help you dress."

Qin Man knelt down and said.

Hearing this, Ye Chen smiled slightly, stretched out his hands, and let Qin Man and other palace maids dress him.

Wait until he puts on the dragon robe and the emperor's crown.

Ye Chen asked Cheng'en to go to the imperial kitchen to say hello, and hugged Qin Man tenderly.

Qin Man was shy but did not resist and was extremely submissive.

And just as Ye Chen was enjoying the warmth and softness of the body.

"Your Majesty, Guard Shen is here."

Cheng En, who had just been to the imperial kitchen, said to Ye Chen.

"Well, let her in."

Ye Chen raised his eyebrows slightly and let go of the beauty in his arms.

Shen Qiu quickly walked into the Yangxin Palace.

"Your Majesty, the troops that followed Di Gui have been investigated."

Shen Qiu clasped his fists towards Ye Chen.

Hearing this, Ye Chen's expression became serious.

"Mian'er, go down and have a rest first."

Ye Chen sent Qin Man away, not because he didn't trust her, but because he didn't want to make any more mistakes after a previous leak.

Even now, even the imperial guards are being purged by the Empress Dowager.

But Yang Dechang still has some spies, some of whom are probably hiding in the dark.

Ye Chen had a deep understanding of this through Madam Xue.

"Your Majesty, this army comes from the Bingzhou governor and is responsible for garrisoning the area around Taiyuan."

Shen Qiu's face was a little serious. He said, "Back then, in order to deal with the banditry in the Taiyuan mountainous area, the governors of Bingzhou and Jizhou obtained the approval of the Secretariat and were given the right to recruit soldiers."

"Originally, both sides said they would recruit 2,000 soldiers each, but this time it's the Bingzhou governor's army that's coming. Judging by their size, it's already over 6,000."

Shen Qiu's face looked very solemn.

We agreed that you would recruit 2,000 soldiers, but you ended up recruiting 6,000.

This is more than three times!

"Bastard!"

Ye Chen's face darkened and he said, "With so many more people, where will the money and food come from?"

"Your Majesty, the annual taxes of these two states have been reduced by half in order to recruit soldiers. However, this amount of money and food should not be enough to support 6,000 soldiers."

Shen Qiu paused and said, "The Queen Mother believes that the governors of these two states are from powerful local families. Perhaps they will take the opportunity to raise private armies. And judging by Yang Dechang's reaction, he should have acquiesced to it. It is even possible that he secretly funded some of it."

Hearing this, Ye Chen understood.

"Now that they have the power to recruit soldiers, will the governors of these two states act recklessly?"

Ye Chen frowned.

The two state governors were born into wealthy families and used their own money to recruit private soldiers.

Even if such a thing was discovered, the governors of the two states could use the excuse that banditry was rampant and they used their own money to recruit more soldiers in order to defend against banditry.

The prefect has the responsibility to protect the people.

This is not only faultless, it is even meritorious!

Yang Dechang's connivance also proves that he knew everything about this matter and even fanned the flames.

"Has this power of recruiting soldiers ever been given to other governors?"

"Your Majesty, among the thirteen governors of Dayu, ten governors have the power to recruit soldiers."

Shen Qiu's eyes became sharp, and he said, "They all said there was a bandit problem."

Hearing this, Ye Chen clenched his fists tightly.

"So that's sixty thousand people?"

Hearing this, Shen Qiu was silent for a moment before turning to Ye Chen and saying, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it's more than that."

"Bingzhou is a mountainous region with a small population, whereas Jizhou and the other states in the Central Plains are much richer and more populous than Bingzhou."

"As long as there is enough money and food, these states can definitely recruit more than 60,000 soldiers and horses. Moreover, the governors of these states are not just local nobles. Many of them are former officials in the court who were sent out to other places."

Hearing this, Ye Chen understood.

Did the wealthy and powerful families around the capital also go to the local areas to recruit soldiers?

"It seems that the power of the powerful minister is even stronger than I imagined."

The powerful officials not only had troops from all over the country, but also had their own private soldiers.

Moreover, this may just be the tip of the iceberg.

"Qiu'er, send more people to various places to conduct secret investigations. Have people from the Supervisory Office go as well. You must find out the specific details of the recruitment of soldiers by the prefects in various places for me."

Ye Chen said immediately.

"promise!"

And just when Shen Qiu was about to retreat.

"By the way, Qiu'er, have you eaten yet? I'm about to have dinner, let's eat together."

Ye Chen suddenly said to Shen Qiu.

Hearing this, a strange color flashed across Shen Qiu's cold eyes.

"Your Majesty, I still have to reply to the Empress Dowager, so I will take my leave now."

"That's fine, but next time you come to my place at noon, you must have a meal with me. No more delays."

Ye Chen smiled slightly, his tone gentle.

He didn't just treat Shen Qiu as a subordinate.

Have a good meal with them to enhance your relationship. Over time, maybe everything will fall into place.

"Your Majesty, I will take my leave now."

Shen Qiu bit his lip and stepped back.

Seeing that Shen Qiu did not refuse, Ye Chen smiled with satisfaction.

Immediately, the imperial kitchen sent someone to deliver the imperial meal.

Ye Chen also called out Qin Man.

After eating a royal meal.

Ye Chen took Qin Man to the courtyard to appreciate the moon, and also sent someone to invite Hua Rui.

The bright moon hangs high.

Ye Chen was surrounded by women, enjoying the happiness of having many wives.

That pistil, although Qin Man was already a concubine, she still looked like a young girl.

Qin Man has a pure temperament, while Hua Rui is full of vitality.

The two women were also extremely obedient to Ye Chen.

However, when Ye Chen wanted to pull the two women into the Yangxin Palace together, both women resisted.

They even claimed to be sick together.

This made Ye Chen very regretful.

Don’t even think about the blessing of sleeping in the same bed any time soon.

You have to take it slow.