Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Zhou Qingfeng raised his eyelids and looked at the assistant commanders who were still arguing, while the First Lady sat on her throne engrossed in reading a book. No one was paying attention to him, so he lowered his head and replied, "Brother, now is not the time for idle chatter."

Upon hearing this, Ma Dalang smiled and said nothing more. The current discussions among the assistant commanders were all important military and political matters concerning the rise and fall of the Sword Tower, and it was indeed not appropriate to chat idly. So he also shut his mouth.

The land of no man, the predecessor of Yumi City, was destroyed and its inhabitants perished by the Renxin Sect. After that, the hundreds of miles of territory were without a city lord. The castles and villages scattered throughout Yumi were independent and had fallen into a long period of war, famine, plague, and demons and monsters roamed the wilderness. Many people had already worshipped evil gods and mad gods.

The northern cities have all installed puppet regimes in the unclaimed lands, intending to annex them.

The territory spans hundreds of miles, with plains, swamps, forests, and lakes everywhere, and is extremely rich in natural resources. However, these places are also teeming with demons and monsters, and many areas are still wilderness.

But it doesn't matter, once we've captured it, the village can be rebuilt and the castle can be repaired.

Sword Tower naturally set its sights on unclaimed lands.

However, the Sword Tower had some reservations and did not personally intervene, because the Sword Tower was a behemoth, a top-tier power standing in the spotlight, and its every move was being watched.

Once Sword Tower openly intervenes and starts a war, it's not something that can be stopped just like that.

Firstly, if the Sword Tower makes a move, the major powers that are hostile to it will inevitably take action, supporting local armed forces in unclaimed lands to deplete the Sword Tower's military strength. Once caught in the vortex of war, the Sword Tower will be extremely passive.

Secondly, some ambitious individuals, seeing an opportunity, will seize the chance and deliberately provoke war to force Sword Tower to engage in multi-front warfare. Sword Tower, with its profound foundation, is unable to support multi-front warfare.

Thirdly, there are many powerful families and clans in Sword Tower City who are fence-sitters. They oppose war because starting a war would not benefit them at all, but would instead greatly damage their interests.

Fourth, the Sword Tower is a very complex place. Many things are not visible on ordinary days, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Once war breaks out, internal strife will inevitably be stirred up in Sword Tower City by those with ulterior motives.

Besides these, there are still many things to consider, both expected and unexpected.

Therefore, the First Lady established a puppet regime in the unclaimed land, secretly promising him the title of baron and a fiefdom, and providing him with food, elixirs, magical artifacts and other supplies. As long as the puppet regime could conquer the unclaimed land, the promised title and fiefdom would be fulfilled.

Today's topic is whether or not to continue the funding, since we've been secretly funding it for ten years. If we do the math, we've already provided nearly 50 billion francs worth of supplies over those ten years.

However, recouping the invested costs seems a long way off, like a bottomless pit, which is very distressing.

The three elders, led by the old guard, believed that it was time to cut losses and annex the territory currently occupied by the puppet regime to recover the losses of the Sword Tower; otherwise, the 50 billion magic coins would be wasted.

Mao Erlang, led by the younger generation, believed that they should continue to invest resources and firmly implement the "Millennium Grand Strategy Breakthrough Plan," first occupying unclaimed lands and using them as a bridge to target Sihai City.

Sihai City is a major maritime trading city with a wealth of resources. If the Sword Tower can successfully occupy this city, the Myriad Realms Void Sea will be completely open to the Sword Tower. At that time, countless riches will pour into the Sword Tower, and it will no longer be subject to the control of the surrounding city lords, thus achieving a complete strategic breakthrough.

It should be noted that at its peak, the Sword Tower's fiefdom was divided into dozens of parts and distributed to other city lords. These city lords were all vicious dogs of the Empire, who firmly curbed the Sword Tower's second expansion.

The First Lady, dressed in a white and gold nightgown, lazily held a small erotic book and read it quietly without raising her head; she simply changed her sitting posture as if it were nothing special.

Seeing this, Qiu Chengde, who was serving ten paces away, immediately understood that his wife was getting impatient. So he cleared his throat and said, "Gentlemen, please stop for a moment. May I say something?"

The assistant commanders immediately fell silent, and then all turned their gazes toward Qiu Chengde.

Qiu Chengde said with a serious expression, "All of you assistant commanders, there is no need to discuss this any further. Now that the matter has been started, there is no reason to give up halfway. Let's carry it out firmly according to the wishes of Young Master Mao and Young Master Ma."

The room fell silent; the decision was final.

Is this what Qiu Chengde meant? No.

That wasn't what Mao Erlang and Ma Dalang meant.

Mao Erlang and Ma Dalang appear to be the ones proposing the strategic plan, but in reality, they are there specifically to protect their own mothers. If the plan fails and causes huge losses to the Sword Tower, then they will be held responsible.

Similarly, what Qiu Chengde just said was also to protect the First Lady. On the surface, he was promoting the smooth implementation of the plan, but in secret, he clearly conveyed the First Lady's decision that if anything went wrong in the future, Qiu Chengde would take responsibility, and the First Lady would have nothing to do with it.

"Finished talking?" The First Lady seemed to have just come back to her senses, looking up at the assistant commanders standing in a row ten steps away.

Qiu Chengde turned around, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and addressed the First Lady, saying, "Your Excellency, after discussion, the assistant commanders have decided to proceed according to the established strategic plan. This year, the assistant commanders will find a way to raise the necessary supplies for the front lines."

The First Lady remained calm and gave a soft "hmm": "Hmm, not bad, let's discuss the next procedure."

The assistant commanders remained silent, having nothing important to report.

"Since there's nothing else to report, then we may disperse." The First Lady glanced around, then rose to leave.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng stepped forward, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "Mother, I have something to report."

The First Lady paused, turned slightly to glance at her fourth son, a hint of a smile involuntarily appearing in her eyes. She then sat back down on her throne and said in a calm tone, "What is it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng took out a report and presented it with both hands, replying solemnly: "This is Zhao Kuo's confession from the Night Patrol Department. He feels that he has failed his mother's trust and has no face to see you, so he asked me to pass it on to you."

The First Lady remained calm and raised her hand to beckon.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Chengde immediately stepped forward to take the confession, turned around and quickly walked to the throne, where he respectfully presented it.

The First Lady took the report, looked down at it quietly, and after reading it, looked up and said, "I have read quite a few reports about impeaching Zhao Kuo recently. The city is in an uproar. What do you think should be done in punishment?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng clasped his hands in response: "Mother, according to the laws of Jianta, Zhao Kuo, as the head of a department, is extremely foolish to have failed in his duty and mishandled a case. He should be dismissed from his post and never be employed again as a warning to others. Otherwise, if everyone follows suit and can escape punishment for making mistakes with a simple excuse of oversight, what will become of the law in the long run?"

At this point, Zhou Qingfeng changed the subject, adding a "but"—a phrase that implies the crucial point to be made, with everything else serving as a prelude.

“But Mother, governing Jianta according to the law must also be done with human touch, otherwise it will chill people’s hearts.”

"Zhao Kuo has worked diligently for the Sword Tower for the past ten years. He has been loyal and responsible, protecting the peace of the Sword Tower for many years. He has worked hard even if he has not made great contributions. His oversight was just a momentary lapse."

"No one is immune to making mistakes. In my opinion, we should give Zhao Kuo a chance, punish him leniently, demote him but retain him in service."

Upon hearing this, the First Lady seemed to understand something, her eyes appearing to see through everything. Then, she calmly closed the report and said, "Alright, let's do it that way."