jdhmnovel Chapter 368 The Emperor's Tricks
Chapter 368 The Emperor's Tricks
The ministers called by the emperor weighed the pros and cons again and again, and still believed that the emperor's decision was extremely irrational, so under the leadership of the left prime minister, they began to admonish the emperor.
The left sentence says, "There has never been such a precedent since ancient times, and it is impossible to set a precedent." The right sentence says, "If you receive such a great reward without any merit, it will chill the hearts of the people of the world."
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, seemingly listening attentively to the chatter of his trusted ministers, but in fact, he was listening with one ear and out the other, looking calm and composed.
After nearly half an hour, the imperial study finally returned to peace.
Seeing that his ministers were silent, the emperor coughed softly, and with a warm smile on his face, he asked amiably, "Do you have anything else to say, my dear ministers?"
At this moment, many ministers felt powerless. The emperor's attitude clearly showed that he did not take their earnest advice to heart. If that was the case, why should they waste their breath?
Forget it, what needs to be said has been said, and what needs to be admonished has been admonished. If the emperor insists on his own way and something really goes wrong in the future, it cannot be their fault.
The ministers shook their heads in despair. Seeing this, the emperor's smile deepened a little.
Then, he quickly adjusted his facial expression, put on a solemn look again, sat up straight, and said solemnly: "My sister has sacrificed her precious youth and resolutely left her hometown over the years for the sake of my country's long-term stability and for the people of the world to live and work in peace and contentment."
"Fortunately, God will not let down those who work hard. The hard work and efforts of the royal sister have not been in vain. She has brought back the most advanced salt-making method for the Great Chu. The salt produced is white and delicate, without any bitterness or fishy smell, and the cost is very low. Once this method is implemented, the millions of people in the great Great Chu will no longer have to worry about the high price of salt and the inability to afford salt. For such a great achievement, do you think she should be conferred a title?"
After the emperor said this, he glanced at Zhang Sheng out of the corner of his eye and motioned him to take the salt bag wrapped in oil paper on the table to show the ministers below.
Zhang Sheng understood what he meant and immediately walked around to the table in front of the emperor. He respectfully picked up the bag of salt with both hands, carefully opened the oil paper, and gently held it in front of the many ministers standing below.
The ministers looked at the item in Zhang Sheng's hand with curiosity. However, when they saw what was in the oil paper bag, their jaws dropped.
Although they had experienced hard life, they had never cooked by themselves, but they could still distinguish the basic necessities of life such as firewood, rice, oil and salt. In their memory, salt did not look like what it does now.
The Minister of Revenue, who often dealt with tax affairs, had the most in-depth understanding of salt, a high-tax commodity, and was familiar with its production process.
He was very sure that with the current level of salt-making technology in the Great Chu, it was absolutely impossible to produce salt of such quality. He also couldn't believe that even the great Great Chu couldn't do it, but the surrounding small countries were able to do it. Unless, the thing in front of him was not salt at all, this thought suddenly flashed through the mind of the Minister of Revenue.
In order to verify what he was thinking, the Minister of Revenue carefully stretched out a finger and gently reached out for the bag of snow-white salt.
Finally, his fingertips touched the white particles, and with a little force, he picked up a tiny bit. Then, he held the tiny bit of white particles in front of his eyes and examined it carefully. His eyes were focused and serious, as if he was studying a rare treasure.
After looking at it, the Minister of Revenue put his finger dipped in salt into his mouth and sucked it gently.
When the others saw this, they also turned their eyes to the Minister of Revenue with curiosity. They closely watched his every move, not missing any reaction from the Minister of Revenue.
The Minister of Revenue frowned and savored the white particles in his mouth. His expression quickly changed from questioning to shock.
Finally, after a long tasting, he spoke out his tasting results with indescribable complex emotions: "This salt... is indeed as His Majesty said, it is neither bitter nor has the slightest fishy smell."
After hearing what the Minister of Revenue said, the ministers surrounding him all turned their attention back to the small bag of salt.
They all swallowed unconsciously. Obviously, they all clearly realized how much change this innovation in salt production technology would bring to Da Chu. And His Majesty would certainly be aware of what they could think of.
In this case, it is not difficult to understand why the emperor made such a decision, but the ministers still felt that this decision was inappropriate to receive such a great reward based on this achievement alone.
The emperor has been dealing with this group of old guys for many years. Although he can't say that he fully understands what they are thinking now, he can at least guess about 70% of it.
He knew that they still disagreed with his decision, and he did not intend to convince them all at once. After all, he had more than just the "salt production method" as a bargaining chip.
The emperor calmly threw out the second bargaining chip - the paper-making method.
Once this chip was thrown out, it immediately attracted the attention of many civil servants, headed by the Left Prime Minister.
Once the papermaking method is successfully promoted, the price of paper will drop significantly, and the cost of studying for students will be greatly reduced. In this way, more young talents will devote themselves to the imperial examination. In the long run, why worry about the lack of talents in the court?
The civil servants were filled with excitement, and the balance in their hearts began to tilt towards the emperor.
Seeing that their attitudes had softened, the emperor immediately took advantage of the situation and revealed the remaining three chips one by one, breaking down the ministers' psychological defenses time and time again, and asking "should it be sealed or not" directly hit them in the heart.
The five ways to make money provided by Lin Chuyi are of incomparable help to the country. It would be unreasonable if such a great contribution could not match the power and status given by the emperor.
Unlike civil officials, military generals headed by the Duke of Zhenguo were more concerned with the method of making cement. They understood that once the cement road was built, it would greatly help the army's marching speed and the efficiency of the transportation of food and supplies.
The Duke of Zhenguo has always been sensible. When he was in the army, he was an impartial general who clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments. The emperor offered him one chip after another. Even if he was reluctant to have such a female "feudal king" in the court, he had to admit that her achievements were more than enough to earn these rewards.
After agreeing from the bottom of his heart, the Duke of Zhenguo's thoughts changed completely. He stepped forward and was the first to speak up to express his support for the emperor's decision.
Once there is a first, there will be a second. Soon, other important court officials present also began to respond. The remaining few old-fashioned people were still unwilling to give in, but the situation was hopeless. Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, they finally stepped down the ladder built by their colleagues and chose to agree reluctantly.
After the king and his ministers reached a consensus, they began to discuss the issue of fiefdom.
At the beginning of the founding of the country, there were only three people who were granted titles of king and fiefdom, and the princes had not yet been crowned kings, so there were many states and cities to choose from. According to past practice, the princess' fiefdom should be in a prosperous place.
Regarding the fiefdom, the emperor spoke directly and made the final decision: "The fiefdom was chosen by my sister herself. She asked for Lanzhou, Liuzhou and Qingzhou."
Now it was the ministers' turn to be surprised. Lanzhou could only be considered a medium-sized city in the entire Chu territory. It was neither a rich place nor a poor place. As for the other two states, they were much worse than Lanzhou in all aspects.
There are so many good places to go, why did the princess choose only these few places when choosing her fiefdom?
The emperor was kind enough to explain for his "Goddess of Wealth": "My sister likes doing business. She said she would take good care of these three states for me. She made a ten-year agreement with me, saying that she would use ten years to make these three states look brand new."