To bring down the general is not something that happens overnight.

Lu Yi knew this very well.

The year before last, Li Heng spoke frankly about the incident and almost convinced His Majesty, leaving Lu Yi with lingering fears.

He had to reflect on what the school affairs office had done over the years, and found that the school affairs office had indeed offended too many people.

Even the Prime Minister Gu Yong was accused by the school affairs office, which led to Gu Yong being reprimanded by Sun Quan, and he even considered replacing the Prime Minister.

If it were not for the fear that Gu Yong would be withdrawn, Taichang Pan Jun, who was guarding Wuchang with Lu Xun, would have been transferred to Jianye to take over the position of prime minister.

It’s hard to say that Lu Yi at that time would really encourage Sun Quan to let Gu Yong go home to retire.

Although all the officials in the court and local officials dared not speak out in anger, Lu Yi knew that an unknown number of people had secretly formed a clique to bring about the death of the school government.

Therefore, in the past two years, the school affairs office has restrained itself a lot.

Especially when it comes to overthrowing a general, you can't rush it, you have to do it bit by bit.

One sentence of praise and criticism today, two sentences of encouragement and criticism tomorrow, and three sentences of backbiting and disgrace the day after tomorrow...

Most emperors are ruthless people, and no matter how important their ministers are in His Majesty's heart, they cannot withstand such piecemeal instigation.

General Shang is in charge of half of the Wu Kingdom, and he stays in Wuchang all year round. He rarely has the opportunity to meet with His Majesty, so he is suspected of having too much authority.

After sowing discord over time, Lu Yi believed that one day, in His Majesty's heart, his relationship with the General would gradually fade away.

As long as it fades to a certain level, then you can seize the opportunity to swoop down and overthrow the general, then it will not be a dream.

Once the general falls, the school affairs office will only have its last opponent, Donggong.

In the incident involving Li Heng's outspoken remarks, the school affairs office was the one targeted, so it was natural that it would try its best to find out the real driving force behind this incident.

As the emperor's most trusted eyes and ears, he is professional in this regard.

So what if I just found out?

The status of the Crown Prince of the East Palace cannot be shaken by the school affairs office.

At least not yet.

It just so happened that General Lu Xun was the biggest supporter of the East Palace.

Of course, since there was no rush to overthrow the general, Lu Yi usually just took advantage of every opportunity to do it without being too deliberate.

Because the school administration has more important things in front of it.

In the past two years, in order to raise military resources, His Majesty has asked Yousi to mint a lot of five hundred coins, called "Daquan Five Hundred".

This has caused private prices to rise a lot, and local complaints have begun to spread.

Therefore, in addition to its own duties, the school affairs office: helps His Majesty to investigate the ministers and spy on local states and counties.

At the same time, we must also find ways to raise money, food and various materials for His Majesty.

As long as you do these two things well, Your Majesty will rely more and more on the school administration.

Speaking of supplies, it seems that the coldest period has already entered, but there is still a batch of woolen materials in Shu that has not been delivered on time.

Lu Yi returned to the school affairs office, first sent someone to Jingzhou to inspect, and then turned back to the post house.

Upon learning of Lu Yi's arrival, Ma Di quickly came out to greet him:

"Lu Zhongshu, why do you bother to come in person in this cold weather? Please come in quickly."

"It's just that it's getting cold, that's why I have to come here all the more!" Lu Yi might have faked a smile to others, but to Ma Su, it was a genuine smile.

"It's cold outside, let's talk about it first."

Ma Di welcomed Lu Yi into the post house and made him a cup of hot tea.

Lu Yi took a sip of hot tea and then exhaled:

"This year's winter seems to be much colder!"

Ma Su nodded: "I took the students to the north of the river a few days ago and found that there were ice formations in some places along the river. It was really cold."

Lu Yi sighed: "Over the years, the riverside has frozen from time to time in winter. It is no longer a rare thing."

"It happens that in spring and summer, there are frequent droughts and floods, and locust plagues occur frequently. Without your country's support in recent years, Wu would not have been able to organize a war this time."

A battle involving a hundred thousand troops marching down Hefei City?

Ma Su smiled slightly:

"Han and Wu are allies, and they echo each other, which is reasonable. This time I brought these young men here to learn the art of sailing. Didn't I also receive strong support from Lu Zhongshu?"

"It should, it should!"

Everyone was carrying the sedan chair, and Lu Yi quickly gave way and said humbly:

"Your Majesty, in order to obtain war horses, has not hesitated to send fleets to Liaodong many times. This skill of maneuvering ships is originally an agreement when exchanging war horses with your country."

In the Battle of Jingzhou, the Shu people lost most of their navy.

Then in the battle of Yiling, the last remaining navy was lost.

No one with any foresight in the Wu Kingdom would be willing to see the Shu people rebuild their navy, let alone teach them step by step how to build and operate ships.

But for Lu Yi, the school affairs office was already in crisis at that time. Who cares whether the Shu people took the opportunity to rebuild the navy?

Besides, the school affairs office is there to relieve His Majesty's worries.

Your Majesty wants war horses, so the school office will naturally try its best to find war horses.

Warships are the most important weapon of Wu's country. Isn't the armored cavalry the most important weapon of Shu people's country?

If you don't have enough sincerity, why should the Shu people help you build an armored cavalry army?

Of course, the most important thing is that the Shu people gave too much.

War horses, wool, brown sugar, grain...

Which of the bulk supplies is not needed by Da Wu?

Ma Su, on the other hand, couldn't help but praise after hearing what Lu Yi said: "Lv Zhongshu is really a trustworthy person!"

Lu Yi was humble again.

But when it comes to the word "integrity", Lu Yi looks at Ma Su:

"Mr. Ma, Wu and Han are allies of each other, so they naturally have to be loyal, right?"

Ma Su nodded: "This is natural."

Lu Yi slapped his thigh: "Let me just say, my husband and I have the same views!"

Then he turned slightly sideways and approached Ma Su:

"Sir, you have also seen that this winter is extremely cold, and the officers and soldiers of the army are eagerly looking for warm clothes."

"However, your country still has a batch of woolen materials that failed to be transported to Jianye as agreed. Is this a breach of trust in the state of Wu?"

For a mere batch of woolen materials, Lu Yi, the official secretary of the school, not only sent people to Jingzhou to check, but also personally went to Ma Su to urge him.

Seems a bit petty.

But Lu Yi knew that the reason why the Northern Expedition was in vain was at least partly due to the early arrival of winter this year.

The 100,000-strong army led by His Majesty did not have enough clothing to keep out the cold. Diseases were prevalent in the army and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. They were unable to capture Hefei in time and had to retreat in a hurry.

Anyone who is older can see that in the past few decades, although there have been occasional mild winters, overall, winters have become colder and colder.

Therefore, the warm clothing in the army has always been a concern for His Majesty.

Lu Yi's response was exactly what His Majesty was worried about.

Having been in contact with Mr. Ma for so long, Lu Yi naturally knew that Mr. Ma had a lot of connections in Shu.

Otherwise, how could we become the leader of this group of students?

Not to mention rare items like brown sugar honey wine and other rare items in the eyes of others, Mr. Ma can always come up with a large inventory.

Ma Su has never concealed his status as a rich man.

He even made a mistake when he was drunk one time. He was close friends with a high-ranking brother-level figure in the Xinghan Society, and he could get material quotas from the Xinghan Society that others could not get.

Xinghanhui now has the potential to be a plutocrat, with Feng Hui as the leader and ten top leaders:

Zhao Guang, Li Yi, Wang Xun, Huang Chong, Li Qiu, Deng Liang, Yang Wanwan, Li Feng, Liu Liang, Xu Xun.

Not to mention Feng Hui leader, these ten brothers alone are either military generals or local officials, and are either in charge of the Xinghan Hui's material transportation or the Xinghan Hui's material allocation.

The Liangzhou Army was invincible in every battle and never had any logistical worries. To a large extent, it relied on the Xinghan Hui, which had a strict system under the leadership of these people.

Lu Yi wanted to make friends with Mr. Ma partly because he wanted to establish a good relationship with a powerful figure in the Xinghan Society through Mr. Ma.

At the worst, you can also get some additional quotas from the Xinghan Association through Mr. Ma.

For His Majesty's sake, Lu Yi didn't even care about his own reputation, let alone just face?

Naturally, Ma Su didn't know what Lu Yi was thinking. When he heard that a batch of woolen materials had not been handed over on time, he was immediately surprised:

"Oh? There is such a thing?"
To be continued...