The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Chapter 1074 Donating Grain and Salary

These words were eloquent and sincere, and even Zhou Pu couldn't bring himself to say that Su Zheng was a mere figurehead who did nothing and did not share the burden of the court.

After silently rubbing his temples again, he finally asked, "Are you sure?"

Su Zheng knew what those words meant. Since Yang Chun's death, the chaos had spiraled out of control. The major families only cared about their own interests and neither helped nor intervened, acting like mere decorations. He had tried to change this situation, but although he was clever, those old foxes from the families were not to be trifled with. It was difficult for him to succeed on his own.

Often, one problem is solved only to create another, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted. He has probably used up more brain cells in the past few years than in the previous twenty years.

When Zhou Pu realized that he couldn't accomplish anything on his own, and with pressure from various powerful families both overtly and covertly, he quickly gave up.

This rendered all of Su Zheng's previous efforts futile.

Once the bottom line is lowered, it becomes difficult to raise it again. Currently, Zhou Pu and the major aristocratic families are only maintaining a delicate balance.

Expecting these powerful families to give back what they've taken is harder than climbing to heaven!

But it's difficult, so we have to do it; this is the only path we have.

After taking a deep breath, Su Zheng said firmly, "This is the best way. We have to take this path eventually. Even if we're not sure we can succeed, we have to do it. I'm willing to bear any consequences!"

If things don't go as planned and cause a backlash from the powerful families, Zhou Pu can then shift all the blame onto him and make him the scapegoat.

Even knowing the dangers ahead, he had no choice but to do it.

“Alright, then I will entrust this matter to you,” Zhou Pu agreed.

"However, let me make this clear: if you fail to raise enough provisions from them, I will still cut off the army's supplies as originally planned. If the national treasury is empty, there's nothing I can do!"

In the end, Zhou Pu himself laughed. Back when the late emperor was alive, the capital's wealth was so great that the strings holding the coins together rotted and could not be counted. The grain in the imperial granary was piled up in layers, overflowing and exposed to the elements, until it rotted and became inedible. In less than ten years, the national treasury was about to be depleted. It was truly pitiful and lamentable!

When Su Zheng looked up, he saw the emptiness and dazed look in Zhou Pu's eyes that he hadn't had time to look away from. He felt a sense of unease. He was probably not completely oblivious to the current situation, but he was powerless to do anything about it!

Perhaps he had already prepared for the worst.

After accepting the task, Su Zheng quickly got to work. Time was of the essence, and he had to gather enough provisions and pay in a short period of time.

Huainan, where Zhang Ping'an lives, is a prosperous and stable place, and it is one of the key targets he is recruiting from this time.

When Zhang Ping'an received the urgent letter sent by Su Zheng, he was visiting a military camp in the suburbs with his son.

A few years ago, Xiaoyuer had to rely on the excuse of recruiting workers to secretly recruit and train soldiers. Now, these things are basically no longer managed. Each region is responsible for its own provisions and pay when recruiting soldiers.

Huainan was wealthy, and with Zhang Ping'an's effective governance and diligence in government affairs, coupled with the unexpected wealth from the treasure, the father and son had no shortage of military funds. Therefore, the recruitment of soldiers went incredibly smoothly.

Compared to other places, the private soldiers in Huainan were almost all equipped with firearms, had better equipment, and trained more frequently.

Little Fish would often take them outside the city to suppress bandits, partly to eliminate evil and maintain order, and partly to train them in real-world situations.

Just like my dad said, a soldier who doesn't go to the battlefield isn't a good soldier. He has to see blood to prove himself. Otherwise, he's just a paper tiger, all talk and no action, and not worth using.

The training has indeed been very effective. Huainan is now one of the few remaining safe havens in the country, and people from nearby cities with any spare capacity are flocking to Huainan to settle down.

Safety is more important than the hassle of settling down and buying a new home.

After taking the letter from Chi Bao's hand, Zhang Ping'an unfolded it and looked at it, then smiled: "This letter has finally arrived. I was really afraid that they would make a mistake and cut off the army's food supplies."

“Even if His Majesty is confused, Lord Su will surely offer advice. He is now one of the few wise men around His Majesty,” Xiaoyuer said after wiping the sweat from her face.

In recent years, he has spent most of his time in the military camp leading training, or supervising production progress in the weapons workshop. He has become much darker and has lost his former image as a dashing young master and the demeanor of a pale-faced scholar, becoming more rugged and imposing.

He no longer speaks as politely as before, and occasionally swears. This is unavoidable in the military camp, where soldiers are all hooligans. If you are too weak, you won't be able to get by, let alone lead troops.

However, after thinking about it, Xiaoyuer shook his head and smiled, "It's a pity, no matter how capable he is, he can't reverse this decline. Now it's not just a problem of generals in various places not obeying orders. The Jinwu Kingdom in the north, the Baiyue in the south, and the Japanese pirates in the southeast are all watching us like tigers, wanting to take a bite out of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Anyone would have a headache in this situation."

Moreover, over the years, the heavens have been uncooperative, with harvests getting worse year by year. Every year brings either strong winds, torrential rains, or plagues, resulting in poor harvests for the people. Coupled with rampant land annexation, there's no tax revenue to pay to the state, leaving the treasury empty. Where will the money come from to support the army? The situation will only worsen.”

“Yes, it’s just a vicious cycle,” Zhang Ping’an put the letter away and sighed. “But these are all internal problems. We still need to lend a helping hand to the border areas. Otherwise, if the alien races invade, the world will be in chaos. No one will be spared, and no one can stand by and watch.”

"In the end, it's because the powerful families are too arrogant and His Majesty is too weak and doesn't have enough ability to control his subordinates. Otherwise, how could things have turned out like this?" Xiaoyuer understood clearly.

At the same time, his ambition grew day by day. If someone like that can become emperor, he probably won't last long.

The world still belongs to the capable; it remains to be seen who will take the lead and become the first!