Chapter 343: Wealth moves the hearts of men

"Finally, finally…

His Majesty has not forgotten our navy after all!"

Ruan Xiao Wu and the others felt their eyes welling up with tears at this moment.

His Majesty was still the wise and benevolent Majesty from Liang Shan,

and had not changed after ascending the throne to become the Son of Heaven.

'This battle must be fought beautifully!'

The navy generals looked at each other, and the tacit understanding was among them.

This was their navy's battle for vindication; whoever dared to drag their feet,

or cause trouble, would be the greatest enemy of their navy!

Li Dequan looked around at the jubilant navy generals who were just about to burst into song,

and didn't disturb their good mood, only speaking slowly after a while:

"Commander Ruan, receive the decree and give thanks."

"Subject Ruan Xiao Wu, receives the decree and gives thanks. Long live, long live, long long live our Emperor!"

Ruan Xiao Wu bowed respectfully to the imperial decree in Li Dequan's hand before carefully extending both hands to receive it.

Touching the warm imperial decree in his hands, Ruan Xiao Wu's old face, which was already over thirty years old

and could call himself an old man, smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum.

This was the capital for their navy to settle down and establish their career!

"Eunuch Li, please come inside."

After dismissing the others, Ruan Xiao Wu led several high-ranking Great Gan navy officers to invite Li Dequan into a guest room.

"Commander Ruan, you please as well."

Knowing that everything he had stemmed from Zhang Jie's appreciation, Li Dequan was not arrogant.

"Eunuch Li, please have some tea…"

After drinking a few sips of hot tea and exchanging a few casual pleasantries,

Li Dequan reached into his sleeve, took out a secret letter, and handed it to Ruan Xiao Wu.

Although there were only a few of them here and no one else, he still subconsciously lowered his voice:

"His Majesty has a decree for all the generals."

"This…"

Ruan Xiao Wu, who was originally just entertaining Li Dequan as a matter of routine, saw this scene and his pupils shrank suddenly.

What kind of matter could this be, to be so mysterious?

It wouldn't involve the power struggles of those ladies in the palace, would it?

Thinking of this, Ruan Xiao Wu's heart turned half cold.

What the palace involved was His Majesty's family affairs, and he, an external official, really shouldn't get involved.

But since this Superintendent Li Dequan had come, it didn't look like he could refuse.

For a moment, Ruan Xiao Wu's hand froze in the air: receiving this secret letter was not right,

and not receiving it was not right either. Wasn't this a simple situation becoming a dilemma?

"Commander Ruan, don't overthink it. This secret letter was drafted by Prime Minister Wang."

Young, but having spent many years in the palace, a place of intrigue where saying one wrong word

or misinterpreting one expression meant starting over,

Li Dequan, a human expert who was already accustomed to observing words and expressions,

couldn't see the thoughts in Ruan Xiao Wu's heart, who almost had his thoughts written on his face, so he gave him a reassurance.

'It's Prime Minister Wang's handwriting? Then there doesn't seem to be any big problem.'

Ruan Xiao Wu felt relieved upon hearing this.

Wang Lun, as Prime Minister, was already at the pinnacle of a subject, and deeply understood the way of self-preservation,

so he wouldn't participate in such affairs where one couldn't eat the mutton and instead got a body full of trouble.

He reached out to take the secret letter, broke the wax seal, took out the letter paper, and found that the handwriting on it was indeed Wang Lun's,

and only then did his heart, which had been in his throat, finally return to where it should be.

After a false alarm, upon careful reflection, Ruan Xiao Wu realized he seemed to have been too sensitive:

Although His Majesty doted on all the ladies in the harem,

and the ladies' status was also very high, His Majesty had also set a rule that the harem must not interfere in politics.

Even if that lady had some unspeakable thoughts,

she couldn't possibly order Li Dequan, His Majesty's personal secretary,

and even less could she possess an imperial decree that could only be used with a holy mandate.

'Sigh!'

'This kind of thing is just too scary; it's simply not something a small navy commander like me can participate in.'

Although he was scaring himself, Ruan Xiao Wu didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy.

If possible, he hoped that if he encountered such things in the future, it would always be a false alarm and him scaring himself.

His small arms and legs couldn't withstand such tossing…

Withdrawing the thousands of messy thoughts in his heart,

Ruan Xiao Wu began to focus his attention on the letter paper in his hand.

After a careful browse, he looked solemn and assured Li Dequan:

"Please ask Eunuch Li to convey to His Majesty that our navy will definitely not lose face for him or the Great Gan!

Going to the Wa-Slave State this time, we will definitely crush their spirit, ravage their bodies,

and incorporate these few places into our Great Gan's territory!"

"Commander Ruan's words are excellent. I believe if His Majesty hears them, he will definitely be very happy."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Li Dequan unconsciously pinched his orchid fingers.

Ruan Xiao Wu handed the letter in his hand to the other high-ranking Great Gan navy officers to browse one by one.

'I said so, when has His Majesty ever been so righteous?

To be able to mobilize the masses for a mere merchant, not hesitating to send us navy to cross the sea for a long expedition.'

The navy high-ranking officers who knew the ins and outs of the matter suddenly realized.

Although their Majesty had always been gentle and extremely compassionate towards soldiers and commoners,

saying he loved the people like his own children was definitely not an exaggeration, but there was a problem here, which was who the people were.

Could people who could organize a fleet to cross the sea to the Wa-Slave State to do business, and deal in glass,

glass mirrors, watches, and other industrial products unique to the Great Gan, be ordinary commoners?

For those speculative merchants who took Great Gan's industrial products to other countries in exchange for gold, jewelry, and other local specialties,

and earned high profits, their Great Gan had always turned a blind eye.

At most, they would stand up for them in light of their tax payments, but directly entering the battle was impossible.

After all, their Great Gan was not a country founded on commerce; how could mere merchants hijack the Great Gan's national policy?

Military affairs are the great matters of the state, the ground of life and death, and must be examined.

Every war the Great Gan had fought so far had been carefully deliberated by His Majesty, the ministers of the Cabinet,

and the several Grand Commanders of their Five Armies Governor's Office.

Now it seemed that it was because there were gold and silver mountains that pushed His Majesty to launch this cross-sea expedition.

Thinking of the scene described by His Majesty in the letter, the breathing of several navy high-ranking officers became a bit heavier.

Although they were all high-ranking officials of the Great Gan and theoretically didn't lack money and shouldn't be tempted by these filthy things,

what was depicted inside was silver worth hundreds of millions; these were real gold and silver mountains!

What is called wealth moving the hearts of men?

This is called wealth moving the hearts of men!

So-called high-mindedness, except for a small number of people who truly have persistence in their hearts,

others are nothing more than the price offered not being high enough.

"Please ask Eunuch Li to convey to His Majesty that our navy will definitely bring the gold and silver mountains back for our Great Gan!"

The navy high-ranking officers one by one shouted and patted their chests until they rang to the heavens,

just short of cutting open their chests to let Li Dequan see their red hearts that could shine with the sun and moon. ===== CHAPTER 344 =====