"Little Dust, I, a princess, don't have that much money. Where did you get the money to help this princess support three hundred personal guards?"
"This princess trusts you so much. If I find out you're bragging and can't afford their salaries, causing this princess to be laughed at by Mother Empress and my imperial sisters."
"This princess won't let you off lightly then!"
After leaving the imperial study, Princess Xinyue questioned him fiercely.
"Oh my, don't worry, Your Highness the Princess. Have you forgotten so quickly? We opened shops and did business outside the city before. How could we not have money?"
"That money belongs to Mother Empress, not this princess."
"Could it be!"
"You intend to embezzle Mother Empress's money?"
Princess Xinyue looked shocked.
"You embezzling Mother Empress's money to help this princess is a crime of deceiving the emperor! Moreover, such a thing cannot be hidden from Mother Empress for long."
"Once the accounts are checked, and Mother Empress discovers you have embezzled or even stolen her money, in her rage, this princess will at most be punished, but you will be executed along with your entire family by Mother Empress! At that time, even if you, a mere eunuch, had ten heads, they wouldn't be enough for Mother Empress to chop off!"
"No, no, we should hurry back and tell Mother Empress not to have these people."
Saying that, she prepared to pull Chu Chen back.
Hearing Princess Xinyue's concern for his life, Chu Chen was a little touched.
From being repeatedly killed by this spoiled little princess in the life simulator at the beginning, to now caring about his life, it was truly not easy.
Life is not easy, Chu Chen sighed.
Chu Chen pulled Princess Xinyue back and pretended to be confused, "Your Highness, this subject is not deceiving the emperor. His Majesty has permitted it."
"Mother Empress permitted it?"
"That's right. Of the profits from those shops, thirty percent can be used by this subject for investment. This subject is merely investing in Your Highness the Princess."
"So that's how it is. Little Dust, you should have said so earlier."
Princess Xinyue breathed a sigh of relief, then became excited, "Those shops are so profitable. Even if only thirty percent of them can be used freely, doesn't that mean!"
Chu Chen smiled slightly, "Exactly, just as Your Highness thinks. We are actually very rich. Your Highness can afford to support hundreds of soldiers with plenty to spare."
Chu Chen had opened four shops in total, in the east, west, north, and south of Shuangyue City.
Except for the shop in the north of the city, which was for Princess Xinyue's amusement, thirty percent of the monthly profits from the other three shops, approximately forty thousand taels, could be used freely.
As for expenses, the personal guards' salaries were slightly higher, requiring ten taels per month. The court bore half, and he only needed to bear five taels.
The five hundred strong men recruited as new soldiers would cost about three taels per person per month for food and lodging. Their salaries could be set at two taels per person per month.
The monthly expenditure would be only eleven thousand five hundred taels, accounting for about one-third of the retained income.
Military expenses accounted for a large proportion, but military power was more important than money.
"Wonderful! Then I'll have hundreds of people to play with!"
The next afternoon, an old嬷嬷 (mómó - elderly female attendant/governess) arrived with a troop.
"Your Highness the Princess, this servant has been ordered by His Majesty to bring you your personal guard."
"These are the elite chosen from the imperial guards by His Majesty himself, according to imperial rules. There are three hundred in total."
These soldiers were all silent, with stern expressions, and their physique and appearance were not bad.
Princess Xinyue examined them and was very satisfied, "Granny Lan, please help this princess thank Mother Empress when you return."
"It is good that Your Highness the Princess is satisfied."
"Also, this is an imperial edict that His Majesty asked this servant to give to you, saying you should read it yourself."
The嬷嬷 carefully took out the imperial edict from her embrace and respectfully handed it to Princess Xinyue.
Unexpectedly, Princess Xinyue didn't even look at it. She took it and threw it directly to Chu Chen.
"I know, this princess is busy now. I'll read it later."
Seeing that Princess Xinyue was not interested in the contents of the imperial edict, the嬷嬷 wanted to say something, her lips parted, but in the end, she said nothing.
"This servant will take her leave now."
After the嬷嬷 left, Chu Chen asked, "Your Highness, this imperial edict?"
"You read what it says first. If it's not something important, don't bother me."
With that, she excitedly began to inspect the personal guards.
Chu Chen was helpless. He glanced around; there were no outsiders, so he opened the imperial edict to see what was written.
As for the personal guards, from the moment they were transferred, they belonged to Princess Xinyue's private army.
Theoretically, they could only obey Princess Xinyue's orders alone, so they were not considered outsiders.
By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees.
The beginning of the imperial edict was the eight characters Chu Chen was familiar with from watching ancient costume dramas in his past life.
The first part of the content stated that Princess Xinyue was now an adult and capable of supporting personal guards. Therefore, according to imperial rules, three hundred people were allocated to her from the emperor's personal guards to serve as her personal army. It also expressed hope that she would diligently study various knowledge and treat her guards well.
However, the content that followed made Chu Chen somewhat curious.
Translated into vernacular, it meant that five princesses were specially permitted to recruit five hundred people each in Shuangyue City as reserve personal guards.
Apart from the barracks, all expenses and necessities would have to be handled by the princesses themselves. The court and the emperor would not provide even a single tael of silver.
Finally, it mentioned that to counter potential provocations from the State of Chen, the court planned to expand the army by five thousand men in three days.
Princesses who did not know how to recruit soldiers could entrust the matter to the court, or they could choose not to recruit.
After reading the imperial edict, Chu Chen fell into thought.
What was the Empress Dowager trying to do? Allowing five princesses to have an additional five hundred troops each simultaneously, wasn't she afraid of a palace coup if one of them ascended to the throne?
Or was this the Empress Dowager's attempt to expand the military strength directly under the royal family, thereby increasing her own leverage and intending to govern the strange situation in the court with a strong hand?
And the five thousand expansion of the court army might be a compromise resulting from the political struggle between the Empress Dowager and the ministers.
It was also possible that this change was to deal with the State of Chen, whose national strength was far greater than that of the State of Yunyue, and to prevent Chen from retaliating with war out of anger due to the previous incident.
Regardless of the reason, seizing military power from scratch was the most important thing.
Only by holding military power could one cope with potential crises.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen decided to conduct a new life simulation when he had time to see what changes would occur in the future.
"Little Dust, where did you go? Come here quickly!"
"Coming, coming."
"Your Highness, what is it?"
Chu Chen was a little confused.
"What is it? Ask them yourself. You're really making this princess furious, hmph!"
"My name is Chu Chen, the Little Dust by Your Highness's side. May I know how this general is addressed?"
Chu Chen's tone was very polite, but the general opposite did not give him face.
With a business-like expression, he cupped his hands and replied stiffly, "This subordinate, Wang Biao, greets Eunuch Chu."