Soon, the twenty army flogs were completed.

Although Shen Jing signaled Du Heng and the others to hold back some strength, after twenty army flogs, Yang Ran's buttocks were bleeding.

However, Yang Ran was quite tough.

Even though twenty army flogs landed on his buttocks, causing him to clench his teeth, he didn't utter a single sound.

After sending Yang Ran back to recuperate, Shen Jing continued to arrange the other layouts of the camp.

This was a temporary camp, so it didn't need to be too elaborate; it just needed to look like a camp, with the main focus on having a training ground.

Yang Ran cursed Shen Jing, that insidious fellow, in his heart all the way, dragging his injured body back home.

“Ran’er, what happened to you?”

Upon learning his son was injured, Yang Zhongheng and Madam Yang rushed over to inquire.

Yang Ran endured the pain, feigning nonchalance, and said, “It’s nothing, just got twenty army flogs.”

“What?”

Yang Zhongheng’s expression changed, “Shen Jing did it?”

“Mm.”

Yang Ran nodded slightly.

“That bastard!”

Yang Zhongheng flew into a rage, roaring furiously, “How dare he beat my son? I’m going to find him and demand an explanation right now!”

With that, Yang Zhongheng stormed out, fuming.

“Father!”

Yang Ran quickly called out to Yang Zhongheng, saying with a bitter expression, “Don’t go bring shame upon yourself. My damn mouth got me into trouble, I brought it on myself!”

“Hmm?”

Yang Zhongheng frowned, and immediately asked him for the reason.

Yang Ran didn't hide anything, recounting the entire incident in detail.

Slap!

As soon as Yang Ran finished speaking, Yang Zhongheng slapped him on the head, scolding him fiercely, “Is your damn brain filled with shit? Everyone else avoided being the early bird, but you had to be the early bird?”

Yang Zhongheng was furious!

How could I have given birth to such a stupid son!

He clearly had a grudge with Shen Jing, yet he still insisted on being the early bird?

Isn't this purely sending himself to Shen Jing to be beaten?

“I…”

Yang Ran lowered his head, cursing Chen Xi and his gang of scoundrels in his heart again.

Madam Yang looked at her son with some heartache, and then tried to say, “My lord, if it’s really not working out, let Ran’er leave the Dragon Martial Army! He’s only been in the Dragon Martial Army for a few days and has already received twenty army flogs. What will happen in the future?”

A blow to the child's body is a pain in the mother's heart!

Originally, he didn't expect Yang Ran to achieve much; he just wanted to leave a descendant for the Yang family in case of a major war in the future.

“I’m not leaving the Dragon Martial Army!”

Yang Ran clenched his fists, his face full of determination, saying, “I will never let that bastard Shen Jing look down on me!”

“Right! That’s the blood of my Yang family!”

Yang Zhongheng slapped his son heavily on the shoulder.

Yang Zhongheng's slap was so forceful that it directly knocked Yang Ran, who was already a bit unsteady on his feet, to the ground.

“Ow…”

The moment his buttocks hit the ground, Yang Ran let out a sharp cry of agony.

...

With the completion of the Dragon Martial Army's formation, Shen Jing and the others also began their vigorous training of the Dragon Martial Army.

At the same time, the Yanyun Guard’s memorial was also sent to the imperial court.

In the imperial court, Emperor Zhou frowned deeply.

Urgent military supplies!

“Minister Yao, why did the Yanyun Guard’s grain supply run out?”

Emperor Zhou’s gaze fell on Yao Jian.

Yao Jian bowed and said, “This is my responsibility. After the imperial assembly, I will immediately order a thorough investigation into the cause!”

Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhou's face immediately fell, “What I want to know now is, when can the Yanyun Guard’s supplies be delivered?”

The Yanyun Guard was the core force defending the northern border of Great Zhou.

If the Yanyun Guard’s supplies were cut off, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yao Jian pondered for a moment and replied, “Currently, we can only urgently dispatch grain from Yinzhou to the Yanyun Guard, but at this time of year, it has already snowed in the north. If the snowmelt makes the roads muddy, this batch of supplies might take at least an extra half month…”

“Half a month?”

Upon hearing this, Pei Ji immediately grew anxious, “The Yanyun Guard only has enough grain to last twenty days. Dispatching grain from Yinzhou already takes nearly twenty days. Now, with an additional half month, do you want the soldiers of the Yanyun Guard to starve to death?”

“Do you think I don’t want to deliver the supplies sooner?” Yao Jian looked at Pei Ji irritably, “The heavens want to snow, can I stop it?”

Pei Ji snorted coldly, “You certainly can’t stop the heavens from snowing, but you can order someone to cut off the Yanyun Guard’s grain supply!”

Pei Ji directly pointed the finger at Yao Jian.

Yao Jian had just been dismissed from his position as prime minister, and the Yanyun Guard’s supplies were cut off.

This must be Yao Jian’s doing!

“You think too highly of me!”

Yao Jian looked at Pei Ji with cold eyes, “The grain for hundreds of thousands of troops, can I cut it off just like that? If I truly had that ability, you wouldn’t dare speak to me like this!”

“You…”

Pei Ji was furious.

In terms of verbal skill, he was clearly no match for Yao Jian.

“Stop arguing!”

Ye Shen spoke up to stop the two, “Can arguing solve the problem? The priority now is to find a way to quickly restore the Yanyun Guard’s supplies, and not let the soldiers of the Yanyun Guard go hungry in the freezing cold!”

Under Ye Shen’s intervention, the two temporarily ceased their argument.

After a moment of silence, Yao Jian offered another suggestion, “The imperial court can order the Yanyun Guard to temporarily borrow grain from the common people of Yan and Yun Prefectures for emergency use, and return it to the common people once the grain supplies arrive!”

“No!”

As soon as Yao Jian’s words fell, Lu Sui immediately objected, “Will the common people be willing to lend it? Even if the common people are willing to lend it, when it's time to return the grain, will it be returned in full?”

Borrowing grain, if not handled well, could easily turn into soldiers plundering grain!

Many soldiers of the Yanyun Guard had settled down in Yan and Yun Prefectures.

The soldiers of the Yanyun Guard were defending the country, but their own families' rations were plundered. What would those soldiers think?

If not handled well, it could lead to a mutiny!

“Then let’s urgently allocate the treasury silver from Yan and Yun Prefectures to buy grain from the common people for now!”

Yao Jian sighed helplessly, “But with a shortage of grain in the army, grain prices are bound to soar. What used to cost one tael of silver might now cost one tael and five mace. This will inevitably deplete a large amount of treasury silver from Yan and Yun Prefectures, and afterwards, the imperial court will certainly have to allocate silver from the national treasury to replenish the treasury silver of Yan and Yun Prefectures…”

Emperor Zhou pondered for a moment, then nodded, “Then let’s first use the treasury silver from Yan and Yun Prefectures to buy grain from the common people!”

The idea of borrowing grain was simply unreliable.

But the soldiers of the Yanyun Guard couldn't be left to starve.

This was the only way for now!

It's just that, needing to replenish military supplies and buy grain at high prices, the national treasury's silver couldn't withstand the expenditure!

For some reason, Emperor Zhou thought of Shen Jing again.

It had been a while since he had seen Shen Jing, and he missed him quite a bit!

Amidst his random thoughts, Emperor Zhou looked at Ye Shen and Ye Zhen again.

Alas!

His own sons, who had received instruction from excellent teachers since childhood, why weren't they as intelligent as Shen Jing?

This… completely defied logic!

Seeing Emperor Zhou look at them, Ye Shen and Ye Zhen couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Just as the two were feeling anxious, Imperial Censor Lin Danchen suddenly stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, I impeach Minister of Revenue Yao Jian!”

Emperor Zhou regained his composure and waved his hand gently, “The matter of the Yanyun Guard’s supply interruption has not yet been investigated. We will discuss it after the investigation is clear!”

“I am not impeaching Minister Yao for this matter!”

Lin Danchen shook his head and said loudly, “The Ministry of Revenue's lax oversight has led to rampant private salt trade in the southeast, with even large quantities of private salt flowing into the north! The imperial court loses millions of taels of silver annually just from salt tax alone…”