Chapter 368: Division of Labor
Han Ruzi put down the book in his hands and looked up at Yang Feng not far away, asking, “Why do ministers not dare to correct the emperor’s most obvious mistakes, yet they would righteously interfere in the emperor’s palace affairs?”
Han Ruzi discovered he was not the only emperor to suffer such interference. He had just read that a former emperor was admonished by ministers for not sharing a bed with the empress for an entire year, while another emperor was considered a foolish ruler for his excessive favor toward concubines. These matters were all brazenly recorded in the historical records.
Yang Feng also put down his book and thought for a moment. “The emperor takes all under heaven as his family, so ministers naturally regard the emperor’s family affairs as matters of state.”
Han Ruzi smiled. Yang Feng was the only person who dared speak honestly before him, often hitting the nail on the head. “When will Lord Yang leave the Capital?”
“In three days.”
“When will you return to the Capital?”
“A month at the soonest, a year at the latest.”
Yang Feng was to follow the army to Cloud Dream Marsh.
The bandit troubles at Cloud Dream Marsh had persisted for a long time. Previous campaigns to suppress them had been costly but ineffective – when the army arrived, the bandits scattered like birds and beasts, and when the army withdrew, the various strongholds quickly recovered. The Ministry of War had therefore changed tactics, no longer dispatching large armies but establishing positions step by step from outside to inside, building fortifications layer by layer while relocating large numbers of poor people to cultivate wild lands. The government provided seeds and oxen, with three years of tax exemption.