Ping Bei, with his low military rank as merely a minor commander, he seemed rather shabby in comparison."I, Su Zhen-ting, pay my respects to the Crown Prince. Long live the Crown Prince, thousand ye...Chapter 1778: To Keep, or to Abandon

Zhou Changshou lived a long life without uttering a word, finally sighing with a heavy heart: "The Imperial Court is not my ambition."

But your aspirations must be realized within the imperial court.

Zhou Ping'an plopped down in the chair, took a sip of tea, and replied nonchalantly, completely disregarding Zhou Ping'an's inner turmoil after hearing this.

A sip of warm tea went down Zhou Ping'an's throat, and he felt a sense of contentment.

Back then, I had to go through so much trouble, putting in a lot of effort and performing many tricks just to barely gain the prince's approval. That's how I ended up where I am today.

Even so, the prince was still not at ease with himself and would send himself to another place whenever he got the chance. And even if it was another land, he would never stay in the same place for more than ten months.

Right now, this tax commissioner's position is a temporary one, and he doesn't know how long it will last. Perhaps it will be his longest tenure yet.

Compared to Zhou Ping'an, although the prince never said it, Zhou Changshou guessed that the prince would definitely directly reuse his second brother.

Xing understood that the prince had long seen the huge differences in their personalities, and even if he were given more power, it would never be enough for him to feel at ease. As for Zhou Changshou himself... he had a clear awareness: he was useful but couldn't be heavily relied upon.

The greatest emperor's art lies here.

Whether an emperor reigns well or not is not about his ability to handle government affairs. Even the strongest person, working non-stop for twelve hours a day without eating or sleeping, can only handle so much. Moreover, human energy is finite, and it's impossible for one person to finish everything.

Even a small county government has officials like the County magistrate, clerk, master of ceremonies, and six departments to help with administration. How much more so for a vast empire

So the measure of an emperor's ability lies in his choice of people.

What kind of person is used in what place, and when to use it, is a matter that even the most brilliant minds, after a lifetime of study, may not be able to fully comprehend.

······

And at this time, Li Chen was indeed considering the issue of using people.

Since returning from Yulin Prefecture, Li Chen hadn't even had time to catch his breath before news arrived from the front lines: the Liao army had launched a full-scale attack like rabid dogs.

The Liao army, which was already marching rapidly, accelerated again. Their apparent objective was to utilize their superior mobility to encircle Suiyang County before the Qin army could retreat.

This was exactly what Wu Qingscang wanted, but it brought up a problem... The Liao army's speed was too fast.

The distance between the original front line between the Liao army and the Qin army to Suiyang County was a full one hundred and twenty miles. No matter how you look at it, this one hundred and twenty-mile stretch is a sufficient strategic buffer zone. But once the Liao army disregarded everything and accelerated, their speed of charge still caught the Qin army off guard.

"Your Highness, the most important thing right now is for you to retreat immediately into Wolong Mountain. As for Suiyang County..."

"Suiyang County is not something that can be easily given up."

Li Chen furrowed his brow, picking up on Wu Qingcang's words, and said: "Suiyang County is located at a crucial transportation hub. Most importantly, it controls the intersection of official roads between Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. Moreover, the nearest gathering point to Suiyang County, Yulin Prefecture, is only dozens of miles away. If the Liao army chooses to attack Yulin Prefecture first to obtain supplies, then hundreds of thousands of civilians will become fish on the chopping block."

Let me know if you have other text you'd like translated!Chapter 750: Scolding the Empress