Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

What was originally a drama aimed at forcing the Empress to compromise with the powerful families was instantly transformed into a plot about holding traitors accountable thanks to Shen Lang's eloquent speech.

This change, completely out of the control of the officials, actually further solidified the Empress's throne.

After today, Jiang Mengxuan's position will be completely solidified solely based on her achievement of expanding Chu's territory by three hundred li.

But these are all things for later.

Right now, their biggest worry is whether they will become the next target of the Empress's wrath.

As for Zhang Kewang's collusion with the Northern Yan to plot a rebellion?

Anyone present with an IQ above 60 would absolutely not believe it.

Would the Northern Yan be so bored as to spend money to bribe a censor to cause trouble in the court, and even exchange secret letters, without destroying them after reading them?

Is Zhang Kewang stupid, or are we stupid?

But none of that matters, because this is clearly a scheme by the Empress.

Use this opportunity to establish your authority, and then purge any parties that oppose you.

"Drag Zhang Kewang away and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review for thorough interrogation. Make sure to extract as much useful information as possible to prevent the possibility of any Northern Yan spies remaining in the court!"

Jiang Mengxuan's words were tantamount to a death sentence for Zhang Kewang's entire family, and also made many officials present, who were afraid of being implicated, tremble with fear.

Many people are already thinking about how to sever ties with the Zhang family, and some are even considering secretly surrendering to the Empress to save their lives.

After a period of busy activity, the Taiji Hall returned to its usual tranquility.

"Shen Xuanwei, is there anything else you want to say?"

"Have."

Shen Lang took out the contract he had signed with Lu Chuan, as well as a border defense map he had drawn himself.

"Your Majesty, these two documents are the 'Chu-Lu-Meng-Jiang Friendship Agreement' signed between the Kingdom of Luchuan and our dynasty, and a brand-new map of the southern border defenses personally drawn by your humble servant."

"The Mengjiang Agreement stipulates that merchants from our Great Chu can freely enter and exit the borders of Luchuan for trade, and also have the privilege of priority in purchasing ores and spices."

In addition, large areas of rubber plantations south of Luchuan are now controlled by powerful gentry of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Before my arrival, I had already discussed this with them, and we agreed to provide at least 300,000 barrels of rubber raw materials annually.

Hearing this, many people, including Ye Mo, were somewhat confused.

They had heard of rubber trees; you could cut a slit in them, put a wooden bucket underneath, and after a few days you could harvest a bunch of sticky sap.

This stuff is good for pasting paper, but what's the point of having so much?

Not to mention them, even people living in the Indochina Peninsula and the Nanzhao Kingdom did not know what the use of rubber was.

Only Jiang Mengxuan, after being privately explained to her by Shen Lang, knew that rubber was an essential strategic material for industry, and she had long ago ordered the Jingwei Division to search for natural rubber production sites and suitable climate environments for planting.

"The contract also stipulated that, in addition to ceding 300 li of land as the new border between Nanzhao and Luchuan,..."

In addition, the war reparations for this invasion of my Great Chu will total ten million taels of gold.

"What? Ten million? In gold?"

If no one had reacted before, Shen Lang's words "ten million taels of gold" immediately made all six ministers widen their eyes.

Historically, wars have always resulted in losses; there's never been a profitable one.

Shen Lang's actions completely overturned their understanding of war.

At this moment, the members of the six departments began to plan how to divide this huge sum of money, having long forgotten about impeaching Shen Lang.

Even the six ministers who were originally on the same side began to subtly change the look in their eyes when they looked at each other.

This is a signal of a "breakup" between them.

There are no allies when it comes to interests; what needs to be fought for must be fought for.

Even Jiang Mengxuan, who was sitting on the dragon throne, was surprised. She hadn't expected that Shen Lang would bring back so much money from his trip to Nanzhao.

But soon, she began to resent Shen Lang for not telling her sooner so that she could have diverted some of the funds to her treasury.

Shen Lang continued, "Of the one million taels, your humble servant, the Prince, and Generals Mu and Tang have decided to retain them in the Nanzhao government office."

A portion of this money will be used by His Majesty to compensate the soldiers who were killed or wounded in this war and the displaced people, as well as to rebuild the homes destroyed in this war.

The remaining funds, besides being used to reward the troops, were used to establish and expand the border defenses and recruit new soldiers.

Upon hearing this, the officials felt their hearts bleed.

What a grand gesture! A whopping one million taels of gold! What kind of place needs so much gold? Wouldn't it be better to leave it for the Six Ministries to allocate and benefit the people?

Fortunately, there are still nine million taels of gold to be distributed, so the loss of one million taels can be temporarily set aside.

"As for the remaining nine million taels of gold, Your Majesty, I have brought them all here. I will personally hand them over to Your Majesty for distribution after the court session."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yu, the Minister of Revenue, could no longer contain himself and hurriedly stepped forward to respectfully bow to Shen Lang: "Commander Shen, this money should still be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue for management."

After all, the provisions for the imperial army's expedition are allocated and distributed by the Ministry of Revenue; why trouble His Majesty further?

Rest assured, all of this money will be used for the benefit of the nation.

The next moment, Minister of War Lü Lin let out a cold laugh: "To hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue? Haha, what a ridiculous joke!"

"Minister Lin, this money was earned through the blood and sweat of my soldiers on the battlefield, and it should rightfully be managed and distributed by my Ministry of War."

"Minister Lü, you are mistaken," Minister of Works Li Youcai suddenly interjected. "Commander Shen has already made it very clear."

How dare you ask for money when your Ministry of War has already retained a portion at the border? Besides, the credit doesn't belong entirely to your Ministry of War.

If it weren't for the Ministry of Works' annual repair and maintenance of the canals and roads leading to Nanzhao, how could the royal army have successfully reached Nanzhao?

Therefore, my Ministry of Works is the most qualified to allocate this money.

"You're kidding me." Zhu Kui, the Minister of Justice, couldn't help but speak up. "Your river channels have been silted up year after year, and you still have the nerve to claim credit for them?"

In my opinion, the Ministry of Justice is the most qualified to allocate this money. When war breaks out, there will inevitably be villains causing trouble.

My prison cells are almost overflowing with criminals and scoundrels; now is the time when I desperately need money to expand the prison and recruit inspectors.

Don't underestimate the contributions of our Ministry of Justice in the expansion of the royal army; in fact, we were the lone travelers working behind the scenes.

These unsung heroes who defend our homeland should not be buried like this. It would be most appropriate for the Ministry of Justice to assign them to suitable positions.

Minister of Rites Cao Xianzhi was still racking his brains for a reason to seize control of the financial distribution, but when he saw Zhu Kui's shameless excuse from the Ministry of Justice, he exclaimed, "Good heavens!"

In an instant, inspiration struck him, and he immediately said to them, "Stop arguing, the Ministry of Rites is the most qualified group to allocate these people."

That treaty was reached through negotiations by Shen Xuanwei, and the Xuanwei envoy was originally an official position separated from the Ministry of Rites.

Therefore, in terms of contribution, my Ministry of Rites undoubtedly deserves to be number one!

"What kind of nonsense is this? What does the Pacification Commissioner have to do with your Ministry of Rites? Tell me what rank he holds!"

"How dare you, the Ministry of Justice, say such a thing? In my forty years of life, this is the first time I've heard such an absurd reason for asking for money."

"They're fighting on the front lines, shouldn't you be responsible for maintaining order in the local area? Is this considered a merit?"

"Oh, does the Ministry of Revenue think it's so great? You've only allocated grain for three months, and you think you're so capable?"

The royal army in Nanzhao provided for its own supplies; how dare they utter such nonsense? It's utterly shameful!

"Hilarious! Your Ministry of War is so powerful, how come you can only allocate five thousand men? You even have to rely on people to gather warhorses from the common people yourself."

Now that you've made a contribution, you're starting to monopolize everything? Ask any of the civil and military officials present, and you'll see that it's not that easy to get things done!

"I'm making this clear today: if your Ministry of War dares to continue vying for this financial allocation right, I'll immediately kill myself right here in the Taiji Hall!"

In an instant, five groups of people stood in the imperial court and began a fierce argument, each arguing until their faces turned red.

Jiang Mengxuan rested her cheek on her arm, watching the scene with great interest, without making any attempt to stop it.

Until Ye Mo could no longer bear it and shouted, "Enough! This is utter nonsense in the Taiji Hall. What kind of behavior is this? The war reparations were negotiated by Shen Xuanwei."

Of course, it's most appropriate for him to decide who should distribute the resources. Why are they all arguing about it? Aren't they afraid of being laughed at?

Ye Mo spoke, and the hall fell silent instantly.

The next moment, the officials from the six ministries who had previously been eyeing Shen Lang with hostility all turned to him with fawning expressions.

When faced with self-interest, people don't care about saving face, especially politicians.

Jiang Mengxuan waved her phoenix sleeve and said, "Alright, Shen Xuanwei, you can hand this money over to Prime Minister Ye for disposal."

"As the head of all officials, who in the entire court is more suitable for making assignments than the Minister of Personnel?"

"The minister obeys the order."

As he spoke, Shen Lang handed Ye Mo a storage ring containing nine million taels of gold.

Ye Mo took it, nodded to Shen Lang, but said nothing.

After dealing with the war reparations, Shen Lang spread out the border defense map again.

"Your Majesty, please look, this is the new border defense line of the Great Chu."

All the officials looked in the same direction and saw that in the area south of Laoshan, on a 300-mile route map of the Indochina Peninsula, there were densely packed watchtowers and fortifications.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mengxuan personally descended the steps and carefully examined the map.

"Shen Xuanwei, tell me in detail, what exactly is the story behind these watchtowers?"