Sheng Lengshuang immediately understood the intentions of these ladies and young ladies, and was quite displeased. "Just say that our grandmother and grandchildren have gone up the mountain and we don't know when we will return. If there are such matters in the future, directly decline them, no need to report them."
The steward responded with a "yes" and withdrew.
Sheng Lengshuang casually handed the invitation to a servant and walked towards the courtyard with Madam Sheng and Xiao Feng.
"If it were usual times, I might have met these ladies and young ladies. But now it's wartime, and they are all thinking about these things all day long."
Madam Sheng smiled and changed the subject. For these ladies and young ladies, finding a good marriage was the most important thing. Anyway, the war would not reach the Eastern Capital, and it had nothing to do with them, women.
But—
One day, at the morning court.
Zi Cheng pointed at the officials below and scolded, "Now that the two armies are at war, I don't expect you to come up with great ideas or fight on the battlefield, but I didn't expect you to still be only concerned with your own pleasure."
"Taking concubines, arranging marriages, holding banquets, competing, what else can you people not do?"
He saw that these officials had been too comfortable for too long, disregarding the overall situation and only focusing on their own enjoyment.
The officials all knelt on the ground in a rush: "Please, Your Majesty, forgive us!"
"Forgive?" Zi Cheng smashed the teacup to the ground and said sinisterly, "How should I forgive your sins? At a time when the two armies are at war, you people still have the mind to do these things."
"Alright, if you have the mind to do these things, I'll let you do them for the rest of your lives. Announce my decree..."
After a series of reprimands, more than ten officials were dismissed, some had their families confiscated, and some ladies and young ladies were sent to temples to cultivate.
For the rest of their lives.
With such a precedent, every household closed their doors and lived their lives, no one dared to be as carefree as before, let alone do things they shouldn't.
Even at home, they were cautious, not daring to eat or dress too well, for fear of being discovered by His Majesty and getting into trouble.
Under these circumstances, Zi Cheng called for the collection of military funds for the border generals, and explicitly stated that whoever contributed more money or supplies would be granted a noble title!
As soon as the reward of a noble title was announced, families went mad, trying their best to donate more money or supplies, hoping that the noble title would fall upon their own family.
Therefore, in an extremely short period, tens of thousands of taels of silver and supplies were collected.
This made Sheng Lengshuang sigh, "Look at them, how hard they are working for a noble title. If I had known earlier, I should have done this."
She put away the prepared pills and powders, preparing to arrange for someone to deliver them to the palace to His Majesty another day.
Madam Sheng was very indifferent: "Like most families, they are after high officials, generous emoluments, and noble titles. Noble titles can be passed down to the next generation, but official positions cannot."
"Even if noble titles have no real power, they still have a certain honor, and with a noble title, one can better integrate into circles."
Sheng Lengshuang wasn't ignorant of these things, she just sighed, "If there was a title of 'Pei Xiang Tai Miao', I'm afraid these families would go even crazier."
"Miss, King Mingrui sent someone with a letter." At this moment, a maid walked in and handed a letter to Sheng Lengshuang.
Sheng Lengshuang quickly opened the letter and read it, her eyes full of worry. The letter did not mention anything bad, only good things, a typical case of reporting good news and not bad news, how could this reassure her?
"Mother..." she said, then stopped.
Madam Sheng knew her thoughts: "You want to accompany the army. It's not useful if I agree, it needs His Majesty's agreement. Moreover, can you rest assured about Xiao Feng?"
Sheng Lengshuang found this point difficult. Xiao Feng was too young to be taken to the border, and she was not at ease leaving the child alone in the Eastern Capital.
What to do?
Madam Sheng took her hand and said softly, "There should be no major problems at the border now, you don't need to worry too much. If anything really happens, His Majesty will tell you."
Sheng Lengshuang sighed, "Mother, I'm not just worried about Mo Lingxi, but more so I want to do something for the soldiers."
"His Majesty once said that the medical skills of the army doctors were not very good. I thought, since my medical skills are good, I can help."
She did not want to see border soldiers lose their lives due to minor illnesses or medical issues. They were guarding the border to protect the country.
Madam Sheng understood very well: "Let me tell you, when I accompanied the army before, I personally saw many soldiers lose their lives due to lack of medicine or medical issues, and even amputations."
She showed pity: "Although the person survives after amputation, what use is there? To put it bluntly, they are disliked by their families when they return, and they can't find wives, living a life of melancholy."
Upon hearing this, Sheng Lengshuang thought of the policies for retired soldiers in her previous life and pondered, "Mother, I'm going to the palace. I want to discuss the timing of the soldiers' departure from the army with His Majesty."
Madam Sheng waved her hand: "Go. Years ago, your father also wanted to talk to the late emperor about this matter. Unfortunately, the late emperor was only concerned with pleasure and was extremely incompetent, so your father had to give up."
Now, perhaps, it was a good opportunity.
Sheng Lengshuang gave her a few instructions and entered the palace with a large bag of medicinal powders and pills.
...
Yangxin Hall, side hall.
Sheng Lengshuang saw that Zi Cheng's spirit was good and knew that the border was indeed fine, so she felt relieved. "Your Majesty, these are the medicinal powders and pills I have prepared."
She handed a large bag to Zi Cheng.
Zi Cheng weighed it and teased, "Has Little Aunt been busy day and night?"
Sheng Lengshuang replied, "Not really," and then got to the main point: "Your Majesty, I have come to the palace this time to discuss the welfare of the soldiers. May I?"
Sensing her probing tone, Zi Cheng naturally understood: "Little Aunt, please speak freely. To be honest, I have wanted to improve the situation of the soldiers all these years, but I didn't know where to start."
"Even though I am now the Son of Heaven, it is not so easy to improve things. There are always some civil officials who will object."
Sheng Lengshuang said slowly, "Your Majesty, if the civil officials truly object, why not send them to the border for some rigorous training? I believe that after they return from training, they will be of greater help to Your Majesty."
Zi Cheng thought this was a good idea and smiled sinisterly, "That's indeed the case. These people are too idle, they need more training. Perhaps a few generals can be trained."
"Does Little Aunt have any suggestions to improve the situation of the soldiers?"
Sheng Lengshuang combined the actual situation here with modern policies: "Your Majesty, ordinary soldiers can barely make ends meet. But for those disabled soldiers, they cannot find good jobs, and some cannot even afford to eat."
"If the court could show preferential treatment to these soldiers? As far as I know, the royal family has many industries, which are basically managed by specialists, and these specialists then arrange for their relatives or friends to join... So, can disabled soldiers be arranged, or can these generals be given jobs during their leisure time and receive a certain monthly salary?"