Wei Yu had just woken up and was still a little dazed. But after being startled by all those eyes staring at him, he became completely awake.

He didn’t know which part of the meeting they were at now, but judging from the looks on his eldest brother and the others’ faces, Wei Yu knew his act of sleeping on the job had definitely been discovered.

Wei Yu felt guilty for a second, then quickly became indifferent.

So what if he got caught? As the saying goes, eating, drinking, and sleeping are just human nature. As long as the Censors didn’t note it down in their little ledgers, it was fine…

While he was busy comforting himself, a voice came from above—Emperor Wei’s voice.

“Does anyone else have opinions regarding the reforging of military equipment?”

Wei Yu blinked rapidly.

Oh, so the meeting had progressed to this topic.

As the Emperor spoke, those who had been staring at Wei Yu quickly withdrew their gazes and refocused on the matter of reforging the military equipment.

With the attention off him, Wei Yu turned his head and glanced at his father, sitting at the head of the hall, just in time to see him staring fixedly back.

That look was cold and carried a clear warning and urge.

Wei Yu: …

Got it, got it, got it!

Damn it, wasn’t it just that his father wanted him to be the “plant,” to help Lord Pei push the reforging project forward?

Fine, he could do that!

Was there really a need to glare at him like that?

Middle-aged men were so petty. Wei Yu missed his student days.

Those days in the study hall hadn’t been easy either, but compared to working now, they felt like heaven…

Wei Yu took a deep breath, put down his brush, stood up, and said loudly, “Reporting to Royal Father, your son has an opinion!”

He didn’t manage to control his volume, so his voice came out a little too loud, clearly audible to everyone in the hall.

The First Prince and the others sitting in the front all turned to look at him, frowning.

Wasn’t this Ninth Prince just asleep? He didn’t even know what was being discussed—what opinion could he possibly have?!

Only Pei Zhi, who knew the truth, remained calm and unmoving.

After all, the reason the reforging could happen was because of the Ninth Prince, and the idea itself was initiated by His Majesty. What was his role? He was just there to kick things off and hold a title.

Let the father and son duo handle it.

Emperor Wei was satisfied with Wei Yu’s perceptiveness and said, “Wise King, if you have something to say, feel free to speak your mind.”

“Reporting to Royal Father, your son believes that the reforging of military equipment is imperative, whether there is war or not.”

Wei Yu kept a serious face, with a proper attitude and earnest expression. It was impossible to tell that before saying these words, he had been fast asleep and heard nothing.

“A great country that loves war will perish; a peaceful world that forgets war will be endangered. Only when our weapons are strong can our soldiers’ strength be enhanced, and thus the army will grow powerful. A nation’s military strength is the cornerstone that can deter petty forces around it.”

Wei Yu said earnestly, “No nation’s strength lies in diplomacy alone. Only with a powerful army can a country remain invincible. This is the foundation of a nation.”

Without waiting for others to speak, Wei Yu continued, “Everyone here knows that Great Wei has a total army of over 600,000 troops, including 130,000 stationed in Youzhou to guard against the northern nomads, 100,000 in Qingzhou to defend against the Miao people, and another 220,000 stationed along the Great Liang border and near the coastal areas of Xu and Hu prefectures.”

“As for the troops garrisoned in cities, fortresses, and grain depots, I will not mention them. But among those guarding the frontiers, which one of them has not faced death and hardship? Border skirmishes happen frequently. Just because no major events were reported does not mean hardships were absent. It’s just that we, living comfortably in the capital, are unaware.”

“The soldiers risk their lives to protect the nation. Without them, how could there be peace in Great Wei today? Now that we have a chance to reforge better equipment to give the soldiers greater security, your son truly cannot see what there is to question.”

After finishing, Wei Yu bowed deeply toward Emperor Wei and said, “This is merely your son’s shallow opinion. I beg Royal Father’s forgiveness.”

Wei Yu felt quite satisfied after finishing his speech, but the hall immediately fell silent.

Even Qi Tishou, who was known for opposing everything, only frowned deeply without jumping up to object.

Although everyone’s arguments were more or less similar, there was one point in Wei Yu’s speech that no one could refute—the safety of the soldiers who fought for Great Wei.

Emperor Wei’s eyebrows moved slightly. Seeing the ministers below remaining silent, he signaled for Wei Yu to sit.

“Wise King’s words are reasonable. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Wei Yu looked toward the ministers below.

Previously, they had been standing in neat rows, but now the formation was a little messy.

The ministers didn’t voice any objections aloud, but they were clearly exchanging glances and subtly shaking their heads.

Everyone knew reforging the military equipment was a good thing. The issue was the same old problem: Great Wei was not at war right now!

The opposition wasn’t because they didn’t understand the need—it was simply that they didn’t want to spend such a huge amount of money.

If they were only reforging a portion of the equipment, it would still be manageable after some calculations.

But with an army of over 600,000, how large a portion were they talking about? And who would get the new equipment first?

The garrisons in various cities aside, all the border forces could reasonably argue that they needed it!

At that point, there would be endless fighting over allocations. Opening up one hole would inevitably lead to more, and soon it would be no different from reforging everything!

Meaning all their arguing now would end up being meaningless.

—

Having sobered up after his own rambling speech, Wei Yu was now sitting in his seat, quietly observing the expressions of those in front.

Because he had been completely out cold earlier, he genuinely didn’t know the ministers’ positions regarding reforging the military equipment.

Some he could guess; others he had to deduce from their reactions on the spot.

Hmm, Lord Pei from the Ministry of Works supported it, and the Minister of War, being from the same faction, definitely supported it too. Grand Marshal Du also supported it. The Prime Minister’s face looked ugly—clearly he did not support it. As for Lord Qi… tsk.

Wei Yu glanced at Qi Tishou’s expression and inwardly clicked his tongue.

[Lord Qi’s expression really looked like a stingy rooster having its feathers plucked.]

Emperor Wei, who also happened to be looking at Qi Tishou: …

He had to admit—although his unfilial son was often disrespectful, at least he didn’t compare him to some stingy rooster in his mind.

So in a way, his son was still somewhat filial, right?

Sometimes, one really needed to comfort oneself.

Feeling inexplicably pleased, Emperor Wei turned to Qi Tishou and said, “Lord Qi, do you have something to say?”

Qi Tishou did indeed have something to say.

He hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said to Emperor Wei, “Reporting to Your Majesty, your humble servant does have one question to ask. May I?”

Though he hadn’t spoken yet, Emperor Wei could already guess what was coming from the look in his eyes.

Emperor Wei’s gaze showed a trace of surprise before turning into a smile full of schadenfreude.

Then, he nodded calmly and said, “Lord Qi, please speak freely.”

Thus, reassured, Qi Tishou turned slightly to the side and stared straight at Wei Yu.

“Your servant dares to ask: Does Your Highness know how much silver remains in the national treasury? If we are to reforge the military equipment, can Your Highness calculate the expenses?”