“Are you telling me that the Governor of Yongzhou slaughtered every single member of the Liang clan who stayed behind in Anding?” Yin Shuhuai, who had been brought back to the palace in great haste by Huo Yan, was completely dumbfounded when he heard the news. “And he is offering me one hundred million coins just to title him as a Marquis of the Interior?”

Huo Yan replied, “The Governor of Yongzhou has fully performed his duties and is thoroughly loyal to Your Majesty. Your Majesty ought to reward him well.”

Yin Shuhuai found it even more absurd. “If I remember correctly, this Governor of Yongzhou was recommended by Liang Gong, wasn’t he? He received the favor of Liang Gong’s recommendation, and he was even the very first to respond when the Liang family of Anding spread their manifesto across the realm. Now, taking advantage of the fact that most of the Liang clan’s men are fighting away from home and their home base is unprotected, he has slaughtered the old, the weak, the women, and the children of the Liang family down to the last person. He actually dares to use this to claim credit and ask me to title him a Marquis of ten thousand households? Is he not afraid of public condemnation?”

“Your Majesty is mistaken,” Huo Yan explained in a completely calm and unbothered manner. “When the Governor of Yongzhou responded to the Liang family’s manifesto, he had no idea that Liang Gong was executed for treason, nor that the Liang clan was being wiped out for rebellion. Although the Governor of Yongzhou received Liang Gong’s recommendation, he lives off the stipends of the Yin Dynasty and serves as an official of the imperial court. Eradicating rebels and clearing out the source of trouble is exactly where his duty lies. Having achieved merit in suppressing the rebellion, he naturally has every right to submit a petition for a title.”

Of course, this bit of merit alone was not enough to earn a title as Marquis of the Interior, but that was not a major problem. After all, the Governor of Yongzhou had not only achieved merit in suppressing the rebellion, he had also presented one hundred million coins!

“But those he killed were entirely the old, the weak, the women, and the children of the Liang clan!” Yin Shuhuai still could not get over this obstacle. Even if the Governor of Yongzhou had killed the Liang clan members outside Sishui Pass, Yin Shuhuai would not have found any issue with it. After all, when two armies clash, it is a matter of life or death. However, the Governor of Yongzhou was originally an ally of the Liang family, yet he took advantage of Anding’s vulnerability, directing the local powerful clans to slaughter the old, the weak, the women, and the children of the Liang clan down to the last person. Now, he was holding the heads of these old, weak, women, and children to claim credit from him. Yin Shuhuai felt that this person’s character was deeply flawed.

“If I title him a Marquis of the Interior just for that one hundred million coins, wouldn’t that show that I approve of his actions?” Yin Shuhuai was somewhat unable to describe his current state of mind. “It makes me feel like I am not a good person either.”

“Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven,” Huo Yan said calmly. “The Son of Heaven is inherently not an ordinary human being.”

With that, he looked at Yin Shuhuai, who still failed to grasp the reality of the situation, and said sharply, “Since Your Majesty wants to be the emperor, you ought to know how to be a good emperor. As the saying goes, a kind person cannot command an army, and an incompetent general exhausts the entire force. Do you think that even at this stage, you can still get by simply by playing dumb?”

“You are so soft-hearted and hesitant. Do you honestly think that if Liang Gong and his faction had succeeded, they would have spared you, a deposed emperor?”

Yin Shuhuai was thoroughly scolded and said in embarrassment, “Of course I wouldn’t dare to count on luck”

“It is good that Your Majesty understands! Now that you have taken this seat, do not think about womanly compassion anymore. If killing one person can pacify the realm, then kill them. If eradicating one clan can stun the world, then eradicate them!” Huo Yan’s fierce eyes opened wide, staring intently at Yin Shuhuai like a wild tiger ready to devour its prey. “What the Governor of Yongzhou’s character is like is not for Your Majesty to consider. Your Majesty can question his character and guard against his wavering loyalty, but Your Majesty must still title him a Marquis of the Interior and reward him lavishly to make him an example for the world. Let the world see the benefits of showing loyalty to Your Majesty, and let them fear the consequences of betraying Your Majesty even more!”

Yin Shuhuai listened blankly, his eyes opening slightly wider, revealing a thoroughly naive and bewildered look because his brain was processing things at high speed.

Huo Yan saw this and was filled with uncontrollable rage.

“Hesitation brings nothing but trouble!” Feeling that Yin Shuhuai still appeared completely unbothered after hearing these words, Huo Yan gave a thunderous roar and actually pointed straight at Yin Shuhuai’s nose, scolding him, “If you could have made Liang Gong submit to you back then, the Liang clan would not have been wiped out. If you cannot suppress the civil and military officials and the regional lords of the realm in the future, once the grand structure collapses, the one whose entire clan will be wiped out will be far more than just the Liang family of Anding! You have already executed the entire clan of the betrayers. Do you now want the clan of those who show loyalty to you to be wiped out as well? Since you want to find death so badly, why were you so determined to be the emperor in the first place?”

Yin Shuhuai stared blankly at Huo Yan, and after a long time, he murmured, “But, I was originally supposed to be just a puppet emperor!”

Huo Yan was completely speechless.

It seemed he was thoroughly angered by the excessive innocence and even more excessive foolishness displayed by Yin Shuhuai.

From that day onward, Huo Yan actually began giving Yin Shuhuai lessons. He had the Imperial Secretariat move all the memorials to Chonde Hall, teaching Yin Shuhuai how to read the memorials while constantly drumming into him the family backgrounds, academic histories, governing philosophies, and track records of the officials who submitted them. If the official was a local administrator, he would even introduce the local customs, traditions, and the personnel structure of the local government offices along the way. It was a thoroughly comprehensive approach.

Also from that day onward, Yin Shuhuai discovered that he had unfortunately gone from an idle puppet emperor to a puppet emperor being force-fed like a duck with his neck held tight.

Huo Yan truly lived up to his reputation as a ruthless figure who held supreme power and dared to take on the influential families and powerful clans single-handedly. He knew the personnel structure of the entire court and the major events occurring across the realm inside out.

Aside from teaching the emperor hand-in-hand how to handle government affairs, Huo Yan even had the eunuchs hang maps of the Yin Dynasty inside Chonde Hall, personally teaching Yin Shuhuai how to read maps, how to deploy and train troops based on terrain, how to select officers, and how to provide logistics for the army.

“You do not necessarily have to lead campaigns in person, but you must know how to choose generals and how to secure logistics for the army once a war breaks out.”

After learning in a daze for so long, Yin Shuhuai finally encountered a familiar territory, and his eyes instantly lit up with excitement.

Thus, Huo Yan was surprised to find that while the Emperor was shockingly naive and foolish when it came to court politics and factional struggles, his talent in domestic affairs and logistics was exceptionally outstanding.

Particularly in promoting agriculture, encouraging silk production, and allowing the commoners to rest and recover, Yin Shuhuai could even be described as uniquely gifted.

This was probably because His Majesty grew up among the common people from childhood and was used to seeing their hardships, so he could put himself in their shoes and think on their behalf.

For instance, His Majesty had the Iron Officials open a coal yard to recruit refugees, utilized time-saving and material-saving underground dugouts when settling disaster victims, had the Palace Workshops improve weaving looms and spinning wheels, modified the curved plow upon seeing tenant farmers planting at the imperial estate, and had the workshops and experienced old farmers experiment with making fertilizer through windrow composting, which was said to improve crop yields. Even when the tenant farmers refused to use the compost due to various worries, Yin Shuhuai did not force them to apply it, but instead had them select a portion of the fields to act as a control group.

His Majesty even paid out of his own pocket to plant a vast number of mulberry trees inside and outside the imperial palace, encouraging the inner court to breed silkworms and produce silk. This series of actions proved that except for being a complete mess on a political level, His Majesty was infinitely approaching a qualified, or even an excellent emperor in every other aspect.

More importantly, even though Yin Shuhuai displayed such talent, he was in no hurry to take over the government personally. Aside from the grand court assemblies held twice a month, Yin Shuhuai would not even actively summon court officials.

This brought great comfort to Huo Yan.

Once the one hundred million coins presented by the Governor of Yongzhou were delivered to Luoyang, Huo Yan returned the favor, fulfilling the wish that Yin Shuhuai had been constantly thinking about having the imperial court step forward to open textile workshops, gathering skilled weavers among the commoners to work as female laborers in the workshops.

However, this low-profile move did not attract the attention of the regional lords and powerful clans across the lands. Their entire focus was taken up by the news that the Governor of Yongzhou had slaughtered the entire Liang clan and presented one hundred million coins to bribe His Majesty, and His Majesty had actually titled him a Marquis of the Interior.

First, Shentu Yang presented fifty million coins to be titled the Duke of Yan, and now the Governor of Yongzhou presented one hundred million coins to be titled a Marquis of the Interior. As it turned out, His Majesty truly sold official titles!

For a time, the entire realm was shaken, and those with ambitions were eager to move, wishing they could be the next Governor of Yongzhou or Duke of Yan. Those who had raised troops to fight Huo Yan were gripped by a sense of panic, deeply terrified that their own families might carelessly become stepping stones for local regional lords and powerful clans to gain promotions and titles.