20demayo Chapter 329 What I Promised Shen Qing
Chapter 329 What I Promised Shen Qing
If Shen Zheng was present, she would probably fight to the death with Liu Hongzhi after hearing this.
Not only did they ask her to leave Tongan County, but they also asked her to return to Beijing to be a princess teacher, without even having a jurisdiction?!
Liu Hongzhi really has a good plan. In this way, it will be really difficult for her to accomplish anything.
Now the Prosperity System has determined that Tongan County is under her jurisdiction. Shen Zheng does not know where this standard comes from.
She didn't dare to leave her post rashly, for fear that once she left Tongan County, the system would fail, or would still only test Tongan County. Then she would have no place to cry even if she wanted to.
Shen Zheng estimated that she could only change the area of jurisdiction after she developed Tongan County to the system's satisfaction.
Speaking of this, the system is a bit unfair.
It only told Shen Zheng to upgrade the prosperity value of Tongan County, but did not specify to what extent it would be considered a success.
In this case, we can only take one step at a time and see how it goes. The beneficiaries will always be the people, so there is nothing wrong with that.
The atmosphere in the Golden Throne Hall was heavy. All officials either bowed their heads in silence or used their eyes to convey messages to their trusted colleagues.
Some people think that what Liu Hongzhi said makes sense.
——As ministers, they should consider the entire Great Zhou. If they distribute the good things to the court, it will definitely be more effective.
But they overlooked one thing - the court was complicated and if these two items were handed over to the court for distribution, the beneficiaries would not be the people, but the officials in charge.
Some people also understood clearly and felt that Liu Hongzhi was quite unkind.
——The treasure that Lord Shen worked so hard to create was destroyed just by your crying?
If it were them, they would probably have to dig up the Liu family's ancestral tomb overnight.
I don’t know what Your Majesty is thinking?
Someone secretly looked at the emperor sitting high up, only to see that he had an unfathomable expression and uttered slowly:
"How can it be accomplished?"
He laughed softly after he finished speaking, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
He then asked Ji Benchang: "What do you think, Mr. Ji?"
Since the last "Imperial Study" incident, Ji Benchang has firmly stood in the emperor's camp.
Now that the emperor had given him the signal to attack, he took a deep breath, put his hands on his hips and started fighting.
"Sir Liu, I think what you said makes a lot of sense. If there are any good things in each family, they should be handed over to the court for management and distribution. After all, the court is the foundation of the country."
"!!"
Yue Zhenchuan's eyes popped out in shock when he heard this, and he quickly stepped forward, grabbed Ji Benchang's sleeve and whispered to him.
"Master Ji, you are confused! His Majesty didn't call you to hear this. You can still save the situation if you change your words!"
Ji Benchang brushed his hand away, walked in three or two steps to the kneeling Liu Hongzhi, and looked down at him.
"If I remember correctly, your wife's maternal uncle's family, the Yue family of Nanyang, has mastered a unique weaving craft?"
Liu Hongzhi looked at his toes in front of him with a stiff back.
He raised his head slightly, exchanged glances with Ji Benchang for a moment, then moved to another direction and knelt.
He didn't want to appear to others like he was kneeling to Ji Benchang.
"What do you mean, Lord Ji? The Yue family's craftsmanship has been passed down for hundreds of years and is the foundation of the Yue family's existence from generation to generation. Moreover, the Yue family is a major taxpayer in our Great Zhou and pays tribute to the court every year. There is nothing wrong with it. What does it have to do with what we are talking about?"
"Why is it irrelevant?"
Ji Benchang moved his feet lightly, and walked wherever Liu Hongzhi knelt.
"Master Liu, if the Yue family is willing to make their unique craft public, it will also benefit the people of our Great Zhou. Why don't you send a letter and ask the Yue family to set an example for Master Shen of Tong'an County?"
Liu Hongzhi's eyes suddenly widened, he raised his head and said angrily:
"Nonsense! Lord Ji, you are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, so you must be familiar with the Yue family's business, and you know the living standards of the people very well. It's not that I look down on the people, but the fact is, how can ordinary people afford the items sold by the Yue family?!"
“You know you can’t afford it!”
Ji Benchang's voice became even louder, and the tip of his shoe was about to touch the tip of Liu Hongzhi's nose.
"Why can't ordinary people afford it? Are the raw materials of the items sold by the Yue family really that precious? It's the craftsmanship that's precious! If the Yue family is willing to pass on their craftsmanship, why can't ordinary people afford it? Lord Liu is old, doesn't he still understand the saying 'scarcity makes things valuable'?"
Ji Benchang sneered and counted on his fingers the benefits of passing on the skills to Liu Hongzhi.
"By then, the craft will be passed down, the people will have their needs met, and there will be more jobs to be made. How can this not benefit the country and the people?!"
Liu Hongzhi was so angry that he clenched his teeth and his arms trembled.
"Master Ji, I have just said this. That skill is the foundation of the Yue family. How can I be so worthy as to make them hand over their family's wealth and life?"
Ji Benchang sneered again.
"How can you be so immoral and incompetent? Weren't you quite capable just now? You wanted to take away the official hat of Lady Shen of Tong'an, and also asked her to hand over the loom. You and Lady Shen are strangers, but you still want the things in her hands. Why did you back down when you came to your wife's uncle's house?"
This Ji Benchang! Really sharp-tongued!
Liu Hongzhi couldn't win the argument and started to talk nonsense:
"When did I ever take away Lord Shen's official hat and ask her to be the princess's teacher, or to promote..."
"enough!"
When the emperor heard Liu Hongzhi insulting Shen Zheng, he could no longer bear it and shouted angrily to stop him.
"Hong Banban, serve Ji Qing some tea. Liu Hongzhi, kneel down and listen to me!"
The winner and the loser will be immediately apparent.
Ji Benchang was flattered and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Your Majesty, I am not thirsty!"
The emperor directly asked Eunuch Hong to hand the tea to Ji Benchang.
"I think you are thirsty, so drink it if you are asked to!"
"Hey! Hey!"
Ji Benchang held the tea in his arms, reluctant to drink it.
This is different from the previous time when His Majesty served tea to all officials. The cup of tea in his hand is a real reward from His Majesty!
He carefully picked up the teacup, took a sip, and sighed:
"Ah - the tea your majesty gave me is exceptionally sweet."
After sighing, he felt that it was not enough, so he took light steps and came to Liu Hongzhi.
"Master Liu, is your throat dry?"
Bastard! Ji Benchang is a bastard!
Liu Hongzhi could no longer bear this humiliation, so he reached out and pushed Ji Benchang's knee.
Ji Benchang lost his balance and the tea in his hand poured directly onto his head. He cried out in surprise: "Ah——"
Ji Benchang also exclaimed: "Ah - Your Majesty, look at him!"
The emperor held his forehead helplessly and said, "Ji Aiqing, please stand aside first. Hong will serve you some more tea."
The emperor spoke and the war gradually died down.
"I thought my meaning was clear enough. But I didn't expect that if I didn't say some things, some people would not understand them. So... let's start with the rice seeds."
He leaned lightly against the dragon chair, placed his hands on the back of the chair, and tapped his fingers lightly.
"As you all know, the rice seeds of Tongan County are sold to local governments at low prices, and the county government hardly makes any profit from them. The people of Tongan, apart from keeping seeds for themselves, also sell the rest of the rice seeds to popularize rice seeds and earn some money to support their families."
All the officials nodded. They didn't know the news, but they had heard something about it.
"Perhaps some of you may feel that this distribution is unfair to some local governments. But this is what I promised you, Mr. Shen."
What he meant by unfair was that the local government offices a little further away might have to wait another year before they could grow high-yield rice.
Shen Qing and Yu Shizhang both told him about this in their letters. It might sound a little unfair at first, but...
“You should know that high-yield rice has been grown in Tongan County since the beginning!”
"What Shen Qing has been asking for is to make the people of Tong'an rich first within this year, and then the surrounding prefectures and counties will become rich later! Such a small request is nothing compared to the eternal prosperity of our Great Zhou. How can I take it by force and let Shen Qing and the people of Tong'an feel disappointed!"