OBS Chapter 1169 That guy is just as bad as he was from the roots.
Chapter 1169 That guy is just as bad as he was from the roots.
The peaceful life in the Prince Consort's mansion is actually thanks to someone who is bearing the burden.
Inside the Qianqing Palace, the Emperor Zhu's smile was more like a grimace.
"So, do you think we made a profit or a loss this time?"
"Logically speaking, we should have made a profit."
"But we also feel like we're losing out."
Emperor Zhu rambled on like a broken record, while Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Yang Siyi, and several others also wore expressions of inner turmoil and pain.
From the emperor to the Grand Secretary, then to the Minister of Industry, the Minister of Finance, and even several provincial governors, they staged a grand spectacle in the imperial court.
The good news is that the performance was a great success.
The bad news is that the performance was too successful.
Originally, the plan was to squeeze some good stuff out of a certain hated prince consort, but the stuff they managed to squeeze out was so much that anyone would get a headache looking at the thick stack of memorials in front of them.
Li Shanchang seemed resigned to his fate, and even comforted Emperor Zhu: "This is not bad. At least Chen Mo from the Ministry of Railways has not jumped out yet. Zhou Jingxin and Xu Jingyu are not high enough in rank to attend the Grand Court Assembly. Otherwise, it might be even more troublesome."
Compared to Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen was much calmer, and even quite pleased.
After all, the Censorate was just a reform, and it could be carried out step by step. There was no need to worry about this or that like Shangwei and Li Shanchang did.
Forcibly suppressing the urge to curl his lips into a wild smile, Liu Bowen bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "The Duke of Han is right. Chen Mo is full of talk about thousands of pounds of iron and tens of millions of strings of cash. Zhou Jingxin and Xu Jingyu are always making sarcastic remarks. It's a good thing they didn't jump out this time."
Emperor Zhu scoffed, pulled a memorial from the table, and had Chen Zhong give it to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen before saying, "They didn't jump out? They didn't jump out at the grand court assembly!"
"Is this a good thing?"
"What a load of rubbish!"
"Look at what that little bastard Zhou Jingxin has written!"
"Green mountains and clear waters are invaluable assets. Development must not forget the importance of environmental protection, and environmental protection must be tailored to local conditions."
Emperor Zhu couldn't help but rub his forehead and mutter, "Damn it, we asked the people to plant trees and they still got it wrong?"
After flipping through the memorial in his hand and looking at Emperor Zhu's unreasonable but arrogant appearance, Li Shanchang suddenly realized two things.
Why is roast duck the best-selling cooked food in Beijing?
Why did physical altercations frequently erupt in the Ming Dynasty court?
Because he's stubborn and won't admit it.
Because of the principle of "what goes up must come down," the leader is the kind of person who is all talk and no action, and the underlings he trains will naturally be the same.
There's a saying that aptly describes this situation: "Even a dead donkey doesn't lose its frame, and a dead tiger doesn't lose its power."
Li Shanchang handed the memorial in his hand to Liu Bowen, and then bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, Zhou Jingxin is just as wicked as he is, so it's not worth arguing with him."
Emperor Zhu snorted and said, "Why should we lower ourselves to his level? We're just angry."
Seeing the Emperor Zhu looking at him, Liu Bowen felt a chill run down his spine.
It's obvious that the superior doesn't hold a grudge against Zhou Jingxin, but he does hate the Censorate. After all, the whole thing about afforestation is that the Censorate's supervision was lax, and Zhou Jingxin seized on the loophole, which is why he wrote such a disgusting memorial.
But I'm also innocent!
Back when Ningyang County was carrying out afforestation, Emperor Zhu and the Crown Prince suddenly decided to do the same. They ordered each prefecture to plant 10,000 trees and every household in the country to plant 200 jujube and 200 persimmon trees. Prefectural officials who failed to meet their quotas were demoted, and county officials who failed to meet their quotas were exiled to the frontier. They even created a "Timber Administration Inspection Office" with 3,520 archers, almost as large as the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, which was in charge of salt and iron!
But you, Emperor Zhu, also have to think about this. If each prefecture has 10,000 trees, and there are more than 100 prefectures in the Ming Dynasty, plus the jujube and persimmon trees you stipulated, the total number would reach 100 million.
Even if you think about it with your own eyes, you'll know how outrageous this number is!
In Datong Prefecture, willow branches that have "taken root from cuttings" are also considered "mature timber trees".
In Suzhou Prefecture, Zhili Province, mulberry trees were planted everywhere, blatantly switching from rice paddies to mulberry orchards.
Liu Bowen felt increasingly wronged as he thought about it, and couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. He then bowed to Emperor Zhu and said, "Your Majesty, although Zhou Jingxin is not a good person, he made a correct point in his memorial: poplar trees are suitable for planting along fields and roadsides, persimmon and jujube trees are suitable for planting in front of and behind houses, sour jujube trees are suitable for planting on rocky mountains, and large willow trees are suitable for planting at the entrance of villages and hamlets. The matter of planting trees should be based on local conditions."
Emperor Zhu snorted again and said, "Let that scoundrel handle this matter. Anyway, he's now receiving an extra salary as a cabinet advisor. We can't let him just take the money and not do any work."
Upon hearing Emperor Zhu mention the words "cabinet advisor," Li Shanchang immediately beamed with joy again.
Losses are inevitable, and being tormented is unavoidable.
The key question is, if Yang the Madman doesn't become a cabinet advisor, will I stop being tormented by him?
Since we're both going to be tormented anyway, why not let Yang Dianfeng suffer along with us?
Li Shanchang chuckled, just as he was thinking of pushing some more official business onto Yang Shaofeng, when a young eunuch rushed over and bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Your Majesty, someone from the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence has come to report that Princess Funing is bleeding and about to give birth!"
Emperor Zhu stood up abruptly, first saying to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, "We have to go there; we'll talk about the rest later." Then, as he walked out, he looked at the little eunuch and asked, "Has the Empress been informed yet?"
The young eunuch quickly replied, "Your Majesty, someone has already informed her."
……
Yang Shaofeng was originally thinking about how to get a few more kilograms of Xiaolongtuan, and also how to give Lao Deng a good beating.
Mutual harm is something I excel at.
Before Yang Shaofeng could figure things out, Jin'er, who was having tea with him, cried out, "Ouch! This brat is kicking me again! Wait, it looks like she's about to give birth!"
Yu'er noticed that Jin'er's dress was suddenly soaked and quickly called over a female official, instructing, "Quickly, send someone to prepare the delivery room, call two old women to help the elder sister go there to prepare for childbirth, and have everyone in the manor prepare clean bedding, clothes, the eldest young lady's clothes, boiled and cooled water, and chicken soup and ginseng soup."
"Send someone to the palace to inform my adoptive parents."
"Also, send someone to the Zhou Prince's residence to inform him that the Zhou Prince should bring the female obstetrician from Dengzhou Medical College to wait for him."
"Light all the lamps in the mansion."
"Have the guards keep watch on both sides and prevent anyone from rushing over and causing trouble."
"Keep an eye on those four little creatures, and don't let them bark or run around."
Ying'er, the little maid who had been with Yang Shaofeng since Ningyang County, is now a female official of the fourth rank.
After receiving Yu'er's order, Ying'er immediately obeyed and left. Yu'er turned back and glared at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Husband, go to the front courtyard to have some tea and wait. Don't meddle in women's childbirth matters here."