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

"Li Ye! Get out here!"

"You must give us an explanation today!"

"Tell me, did you embezzle military rations for your own enrichment, and then try to fool us with this yellow earth!"

"Li Ye, come out here right now and explain yourself, or we'll have to attack the city!"

Tens of thousands of Dongzhou soldiers gathered outside the east city gate of the capital.

In the most prominent position, a banner made of canvas stands three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high in the air.

He wrote in his memorial: "I have been guarding the border for the country for many years, working hard without complaint. However, I have been oppressed by my superiors and am suffering from hunger and cold. I have no choice but to take this action."

Two other soldiers held up long cloths with eight large characters written on them: "It is only right and proper to ask for pay and food."

In an instant, the scene was packed with people, a truly spectacular sight.

The soldiers' shouts, threats, and whistles created a chaotic and unpleasant atmosphere.

The guards on the city wall were trembling with fear. They had never seen anything like it before, and they huddled behind the battlements, not daring to utter a sound.

"Bah!"

Suddenly, a loud roar rang out, and a burly man with a dark face stepped forward from the army.

"Waaaah!"

He then moved the drum to a war drum, rubbing his hands together while emitting extremely loud and strange cries.

"We need pay and food, we need pay and food! Waaah!"

The burly man, with his dark skin, resembled Zhang Fei descended to earth, shouting and jumping on the drumhead.

His actions drew cheers and applause from the surrounding soldiers.

"Well done, Deng Dajiao!"

"Deng Dajiao, scare those bastards to death! Let them know that the soldiers of my Dongzhou camp are not cowards to be trifled with."

"Keep shouting, Deng Dajiao! The Dongzhou camp is counting on you!"

Amidst the cheers and jeers, Deng Dajiao put on an even more energetic performance.

"Quiet, everyone!"

Suddenly, a powerful sound rang out from the city wall, drowning out the shouts of the soldiers.

Looking up, one sees a monk dressed in a tight-fitting outfit standing on the city wall, his hands clasped together, his eyes bright and piercing.

The previous noise immediately quieted down the moment the air was cleared.

"Lord Li has arrived!"

As soon as Jingkong finished speaking, Li Ye appeared on the city wall.

"Ugh."

Seeing the chaotic scene outside the city, Li Ye felt an unprecedented sense of exhaustion wash over him.

He forced himself to bend down and waved to them: "Soldiers, I know why you've come here today. I know you've been wronged."

Actually, I'm the same way. When the granary in Dongzhou caught fire, you were all anxious, but I was even more anxious than you. But what's the use of being anxious now?

The problem still needs to be solved...

Before he could finish speaking, he was ruthlessly interrupted.

"Enough! What's the point of all this nonsense? You're feeding us dirt? Do you even consider us human beings?"

"Li Ye! I thought you were a good official, and I didn't take those rumors seriously."

If I hadn't seen with my own eyes that the rice bags you brought were full of yellow soil, I would still believe in your character!

We are so disappointed!

"You corrupt official, tell us honestly, did you take our military rations to exchange for money? We're here today to demand justice!"

"Our daily training is already tough enough. Isn't the point of joining the army to have a full meal? Now you know there's no food in Shu? Are you planning to hoard grain and line your own pockets?"

The soldiers started talking, and the previously quiet atmosphere was stirred up again.

In an instant, a deafening roar of curses reached Li Ye's ears.

Li Ye simply chose to silently endure these vile insults, trying his best not to lash out.

At this point, the soldiers had completely lost their senses, and anything they said would be useless.

There is only one key to solving the problem.

That is to let these mentally impaired soldiers see the military rations laid out before them.

"Brothers, smash it!"

Someone in the army gave a spur-of-the-moment suggestion, and the soldiers grabbed stones from their feet and hurled them at the city wall.

"Lord be careful!"

Jingkong reacted quickly, flicking his sleeve to sweep away the stone thrown at Li Ye, and pulled him back a few steps.

Li Ye's guards, shielding themselves from the barrage of stones, retreated continuously.

The situation was completely out of control. The emotionally charged soldiers were like open powder kegs, ready to explode at the slightest spark.

"Sir, let's retreat first and talk to them again after they've calmed down."

"Never mind. Let's go."

Under Jingkong's persuasion, Li Ye had no choice but to temporarily retreat down the city wall.

News of the soldiers in the Dongzhou camp outside the city rioting over their pay quickly reached Shen Lang's ears.

Upon hearing this news, Shen Lang simply smiled slightly.

"As expected, wasn't the purpose of burning down the granaries to cause chaos among the Dongzhou troops without a fight?"

"Currently, the Dongzhou soldiers are only causing trouble but not causing chaos. The key is that the 30,000 shi of grain from Yiwancheng and the grain transported from Langzhong can still feed the soldiers well."

Once the food supplies are exhausted, starving soldiers are capable of anything.

Fa Xiaozhi listened to Shen Lang's account and nodded: "With things developing to this point, last year's plan to convert rice paddies to mulberry fields can be considered a complete success."

Currently, people can purchase cheap grain from the Duke of Zhenguo, and major rice merchants are being squeezed out of profits, so they have no choice but to plant mulberry seedlings to make up for their losses.

To be honest, whether Shu is currently experiencing famine or a bumper harvest depends entirely on the Duke of Zhenguo's decision.

When Fa Xiaozhi said this, cold sweat broke out on his back.

The young emperor before me is meticulous and unfathomable. His schemes are intricately linked, and once you enter, it's hard to escape.

First, they elevated the status of Sichuan silk brocade and issued decrees to encourage wealthy nobles and commoners to use Sichuan brocade. Then, they lured the royal family into their trap with huge profits, concentrating all their financial resources and energy on Sichuan brocade weaving.

Then, they sent people to bribe local people, promote the advantages of Shu brocade, and induce farmers with limited vision to switch to planting mulberry seedlings for profit, which led to a significant drop in the yield of farmland compared to previous years.

Meanwhile, the entry of grain merchants from various regions into Sichuan was also part of the conversion of rice paddies to mulberry fields. They bought up the new grain from farmers at high prices and emptied the rice shops of all the old rice, which directly led to a severe shortage of grain in Sichuan in the second half of the year.

However, this matter could not be carried out when Jiang Chong was around, so Shen Lang made arrangements in advance and asked the Empress for a dispatch order.

He seized upon Jiang Chong's eagerness to befriend the powerful clans of Guanzhong, staged a military campaign, and predicted that Jiang Chong would accept the order to send troops to Liangzhou, inevitably taking a different route, thus successfully transferring him away from the capital.

Finally, with Jiang Chong no longer in charge, the Dongzhou camp fell into disarray. After burning down the Dongzhou granary, Shen Lang had completely seized the initiative.

Now, the power of life and death over the entire Shu region is completely in Shen Lang's hands.

By using grain as bait, we can control the troops of Dongzhou.

Thinking about all this, Fa Xiaozhi couldn't help but find it laughable.

I find Jiang Chong's schemes laughable.

The hundreds of thousands of troops he had painstakingly expanded were thus manipulated by Shen Lang without a single soldier being lost.

"Alright, that's about enough for the game. If we keep this up for a couple more days, it'll be my turn to clean up the mess."

Shen Lang put down his teacup and said calmly.

“Li Ye is a smart man. He knows that only I can calm the current situation. Let’s just wait for him to come to us.”

Fa Xiaozhi: "Duke Zhenguo, shouldn't we hurry? Jiang Chong might already be on his way back."

Shen Lang scoffed: "With Jiang Chong in charge of soldiers, I might still have to be a little wary of him. But now that he's a sick cat without teeth and claws, why should I care what tricks he can pull?"

Upon hearing this, Fa Xiaozhi thought about it carefully and realized that it made sense.

Whether Jiang Chong returns or not, it really won't change the overall situation.