jdhmnovel Chapter 550 Better to Die for Your Fellow Daoist Than for This One
Chapter 550 Better to Die for Your Fellow Daoist Than for This One
The two sets of books, "Hongwu Great Dictionary" and "Hongwu Great Encyclopedia," absolutely cannot have any mishaps.
Enko's matter cannot be delayed either.
Li Shanchang became increasingly worried and couldn't help but glance at Liu Bowen.
Liu Bowen was also so worried that he wanted to pluck his hair.
To be honest, Liu Bowen didn't really care about the opinions of the Northern and Southern Schools.
After all, the things the Duke of Yansheng's mansion did were truly disgusting.
For example, the Jin, Yuan, and pseudo-Qi families each had a Duke Yansheng, a behavior that resembled that of a servant of three masters.
For example, there were other scandals exposed by Kong Xida, such as the establishment of a private torture chamber.
What truly troubled Liu Bowen were the "Hongwu Great Dictionary" and the "Hongwu Great Encyclopedia".
To put it bluntly, Emperor Zhu was able to kill Zhang Shicheng and Chen Youliang, and drive the Hu Yuan into the northern deserts, so his military skills were definitely sufficient.
The Hongwu Dictionary and the Hongwu Encyclopedia were meant to fill the gaps in Emperor Zhu's civil administration.
Only after achieving the pinnacle in both civil administration and military prowess could Emperor Zhu be qualified to compete for the title of one of the greatest emperors of all time.
If the compilation of the Hongwu Dictionary and the Hongwu Encyclopedia were affected by the transfer of personnel from the Ministry of Rites, who knows if Emperor Zhu would go mad and bite people?
Liu Bowen's head throbbed with worry. Seeing Li Shanchang glance at him, he silently mouthed, "Yang!"
Li Shanchang was slightly taken aback.
Yeah?
sheep?
Yang?
Yang!
understood!
That old scoundrel Liu Bowen is planning to shift the blame to Yang the Madman in Dengzhou!
Guided by the principle that "even if all my fellow Daoists die, I will not," Li Shanchang immediately nodded slightly and bowed to Zhu Biao, saying, "Your Highness, I believe that next year's imperial examination should strengthen the arithmetic subject."
"After all, it's about selecting talent for the country and choosing officials for the people."
"If an official can't even do basic arithmetic, how can he possibly understand the taxes of a region?"
"The reason why the Prince Consort was able to manage such a large market in Dengzhou Prefecture was related to his good arithmetic skills."
Zhu Biao blinked.
Is my brother-in-law good at math?
How could I not know?
Li Shanchang continued, "Besides arithmetic, there are other subjects like the study of things, which should also be included in the imperial examinations."
"I dare not say that every official selected in this way can be like the Prince Consort, but even if they are not as good, they are still much better than those poor, pedantic scholars."
Li Shanchang's map of the Yan state was not long.
After only a few words of preamble, he pulled out the dagger.
"I think that, since the Prince Consort is going to return to the capital with His Majesty to report on his duties anyway..."
"Why don't we wait until he arrives in the capital and then ask for his opinion?"
Zhu Biao blinked again.
That statement doesn't seem to make any problem.
After all, the example of the students from Ningyang County is enough to demonstrate my brother-in-law's competence in selecting and evaluating talent.
Besides, whether it was the reform of the imperial examination system or the dismantling of the Imperial Academy, these were things that my brother-in-law started first.
Offering suggestions for Nko next year is something he should do.
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao nodded and replied, "Alright, anyway, my father and brother-in-law will be returning to the capital in a few days, so they can make it in time no matter what."
After a slight pause, Zhu Biao picked up a letter from the table and had it handed to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen. He said in a deep voice, "This is a letter that my father had sent back by express courier."
Fast horse?
Urgent?
Upon hearing these two keywords, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, who had been slightly smug, immediately sat up straight.
In the papers, Dengzhou Prefecture had Yang the Epilepsy, and Jinan Prefecture had Wang Guangyang.
In terms of martial prowess, Emperor Zhu had Erhu and Li Wenzhong by his side, and Yang Dianfeng also had Bo Wu, along with a thousand elite guards from the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence.
In addition to the soldiers Li Wenzhong brought, and the various garrisons in Dengzhou, Qingzhou, and Jinan, the military force around Emperor Zhu was definitely not weak.
Moreover, there were inspectors available for Emperor Zhu to mobilize.
In this situation, why would Emperor Zhu send a letter to the capital by express courier? What kind of serious matter must have happened?
Li Shanchang nervously accepted the letter, but after only glancing at it twice, he handed it to Liu Bowen with a dark expression.
After reading the letter, Liu Bowen almost burst into tears.
Not easy.
It's really not easy!
The Plowshare Case and the Blank Seal Case—these two major cases almost wiped out my entire family.
Now, Emperor Zhu and his madman Yang have stirred up an even more shocking case involving illegal coal mines.
Unfortunately, the illegal coal mine case has nothing to do with me!
God has finally opened his eyes!
Forcibly suppressing his overwhelming excitement, Liu Bowen first handed the letter back to Zhu Biao, then bowed deeply and said, "Your Highness, I believe this matter should be thoroughly investigated and severely punished!"
"These bastards dare to knock out beggars and forcibly take them as laborers to work in illegal coal mines today, and tomorrow they will dare to directly rob innocent people on the street."
"Moreover, this incident occurred during His Majesty's return journey to the capital."
"The Prince Consort Yang will certainly not cover for those scoundrels. I'm afraid the whole journey from Laizhou to Jinan has already caused quite a stir."
"If we can't make an example of them to warn others, I'm afraid we won't be able to explain it to the people."
As Liu Bowen finished speaking, Li Shanchang, his face equally dark, said, "Your subject seconds this."
"We really should put these bastards in their place."
The letter was dated the day before yesterday.
In other words, Emperor Zhu's letter was delivered from Laizhou Prefecture to the capital in just three days.
This shows just how much Emperor Zhu valued this illegal coal mine case.
This also proves just how strong Emperor Zhu's murderous intent was.
Zhu Biao nodded and then turned his gaze to Liu Bowen.
"This case of illegal coal mines still needs to be handled by the Censorate."
After Liu Bowen bowed in agreement, Zhu Biao looked at Li Shanchang.
"The Ministry of Works should also send people to find out the mineral deposits in all the prefectures and counties of the country."
"In addition, the Central Secretariat also needs to come up with a solution to see how the mine will be operated in the future and how to ensure the safety of the people who go to work in the mine."
"In particular, we must prevent any further cases of people being forcibly taken to work."
……
Emperor Zhu walked along the streets of Ningyang County, glancing at the shops along the roadside and the pedestrians coming and going.
"Ningyang County has become even richer."
"Moreover, the people of Ningyang County also appear to be in good spirits."
Emperor Zhu said with a hint of sourness, "We traveled all the way from the capital to Dengzhou Prefecture, and then from Dengzhou Prefecture to Jinan Prefecture, and we didn't see any county town that was as good as Ningyang County."
"Well, you can't say that, after all, there's also Dengzhou Prefecture."
"Although it is not quite as good as Ningyang County, it is still much better than other prefectures and counties."
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but feel a little proud, but he put on a humble expression and bowed to Emperor Zhu, saying, "Father-in-law, you flatter me. This is all what I should do."
As it turns out, Emperor Zhu's map of the Yan Kingdom wasn't actually that long.
After a round of polite and modest exchanges between the father-in-law and son-in-law, Emperor Zhu got straight to the point and said, "Take me to your iron mine in Ningyang County?"