Shipin Dalizheng

Chapter 372: All Are His Majesty's Swords

This time the debate died down because of Zheng Changzhi's involvement. Most court officials thought that Zheng Changzhi's opinion was the same as Prime Minister Zheng's.

Most of the people who opposed the proposal most fiercely were from the Prince of Rui and the Prince of Yong. Once one of the prime ministers expressed his attitude, they would have to re-evaluate the cost. After all, on the surface, the left and right prime ministers did not take sides.

Prime Minister Zheng watched helplessly as his eldest son used his prestige to rescue Rong Tang from trouble, and his teeth ached. His two legitimate sons were both excellent sons, but they were also sons he could not control. Just because they were resentful about their mother's death, they turned away from him, their biological father.

But he had no choice. The Cui and Zheng families had to marry each other. If the legitimate daughter died, he would use a concubine's daughter. Who would care how a marriage tool died?

If the two brothers had a problem with Xiao Cui, they could have just settled it privately. Why bother embarrassing everyone? At this point, Prime Minister Zheng felt a mixture of love and hate for his sons, yet he was helpless.

After the court was dismissed, Rong Tang and Zheng Changzhi walked together. Zheng Changzhi said leisurely, "Why, you didn't expect it? I will stand with you. We are both Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, and I was the one who saved your position."

What he meant was that Rong Tang had a very bad reputation, did not have many supporters, and was not as influential as him.

Rong Tang said: "So I am the Left Minister, and you are the Right Minister."

"What do you mean?"

"Believe it or not, the more people oppose me today, the more determined His Majesty is to use me. As for you, you have too many supporters, so you should be more careful."

This is the king's suspicion.

Zheng Changzhi was startled. He was too careless. It was a taboo in officialdom for father and son to serve in the same court. He wanted to enter the court to realize his ambition so much that he forgot to restrain his edge.

But he quickly realized, "This isn't good for you. Right now, you're a good weapon for His Majesty. If His Majesty needs you, he'll protect you. But once he doesn't need you anymore, your bad reputation will become an excuse."

"You too, Zheng Changzhi. I am a sharp knife, and you are a soft one. Both are tools used by His Majesty to serve himself and Dai Viet. Once they are no longer useful, they will naturally be discarded. I will work hard to demonstrate my own value, and you, too, should work hard to demonstrate your own value and not be outdone by me."

Rong Tang himself admits that he is a knife, but he is not anyone's knife. One day everyone will understand that not everyone can hold the knife of Rong Tang.

Zheng Changzhi's first stop in officialdom was as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. His starting point was too high. Prime Minister Zheng was not ready to step down when he was promoted. It was destined that there would be a clash between the father and son.

From then on, Rong Tang officially entered the upper echelons of officialdom. The Marquis's Mansion sent invitations to many mansions in Shangjing, inviting them to come to the Marquis' Mansion for a ceremony. Suddenly, the Jian'an Marquis's Mansion adopted several burly men as heirs, making Shangjing a laughing stock for over a month.

During this month, Rong Zhan quietly entered the Ministry of War and became a seventh-rank official. He was originally a seventh-rank official, so it was reasonable. He had both a military position and an official position and received two monthly salaries.

Of course, this is not the most important thing. The main thing is that with him, the communication between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry has become smoother. The officials of the Ministry of Industry, who have been arrogant in the past year, can now be polite to their peers in the Ministry of War. The officials in charge of weapons feel that they have hired the right person.

Rong Shen's entry into the Dali Temple took considerable effort, requiring him to master some of the Dayue Law, which took him over a month of sleepless nights. Fortunately, Xiao Poyun helped him cram, and he eventually passed the Dali Temple's clerk recruitment exam.

As for the vacant clerk position, Rong Tang paid a large sum of money to bribe an old clerk to resign. It would be ridiculous if Rong Shen failed to get his approval or if someone else snatched the position away from him.

It was easy for Rong Qianqi to join the Ministry of Industry. The Ministry of Industry recruits people all year round, trains them and then sends them to the local areas. It was easy to make room for Rong Qianqi. Moreover, his micro-carving skills were also very good, and he complemented Tang Fuyun very well.

During this month, he had become familiar with the operating procedures of the Ministry of Revenue, but he was only familiar with them and did not participate in them. He left all the tax matters to Zheng Changzhi and focused only on making money.

There was no response, and Emperor Xuanning lost his patience. He summoned him into the palace in the scorching heat and questioned him, "Have you thought of a way to make money?"

Rong Tang said, "There's still a little time."

"When?"

Rong Tang thought for a moment and said, "It's still half a month away."

In half a month, the first batch of beets will be ripe. Although there are only two acres of land, the yield is not very high.

Playing cards and chatting, they brought up the topic, never mentioning anything that could make money. Emperor Xuanning laughed and scolded, "Your ass is able to sit in the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I don't know how many people have seen you make mistakes. Zheng Changzhi is already on the right track, and you are still so leisurely, not afraid of being impeached."

Rong Tang was about to speak when He Daban came to report, "Your Majesty, the Second Young Master Zheng has returned, and with him is Master Xie."

Little Master Xie is Xie Bingzhi. After he watched the "wild" wheat being harvested, he rubbed off the grains, dried them and stored them, but he waited for Zheng Jiuan to come over for many days.

Of course, Zheng Jiuan had an apparent reason for going there, which was to search everywhere to see if there were any other wheat fields. Later, he really couldn't find any, and he got the answer to the question he wanted to find, so he naturally returned to Beijing.

Xie Bingzhi presented auspicious wheat and said that soybeans had been planted on those acres of land. When he arrived, the soybeans had already sprouted big and were growing well, which earned him praise from Emperor Xuanning.

Weighing seven or eight acres of wheat, the harvest was less than 800 kilograms, with a total yield of 100 kilograms per mu, which is an impressive yield.

However, Xie Bingzhi had something to say about this: "Because it is wild wheat, its growth is uneven, with patches of flowers balding. If we sow it properly next year, the yield can still increase."

Li Dequan rolled his eyes at him. "Is that baldness?" He was inexperienced in sowing the seeds, so they weren't spread evenly.

Emperor Xuanning snorted indifferently, "Go back and rest first. The wild wheat still needs the agricultural officials to take a look."

Xie Bingzhi knelt down nervously and glanced at Zheng Jiuan before leaving.

After the people had gone far away, Emperor Xuanning asked Zheng Jiuan, "How is the investigation going?"

Zheng Jiuan glanced at Rong Tang. After not seeing him for more than a month, he became a third-rank court official.

"Your Majesty, we haven't found any evidence that Xie Bingzhi committed murder, but there are indeed traces of a village next to the field..."

Rong Tang stood up in shock, "Canhen? The village is gone?"

"Anyway, there's not enough evidence left to prove that anyone was living here last year. There are only some remnants of foundations under some turf, proving that there was a village many years ago."

Rong Tang sneered, "Was it a village many years ago? No matter how dilapidated a village is, it's impossible for even the broken walls and ruins to remain. We can only find traces by digging up the foundation. If it's handled too cleanly, it will become a flaw."

Zheng Jiuan remained silent. He thought so too, but as a rigorous investigator, he couldn't say anything without evidence.

"Okay, I get it. Since there's no evidence that this wheat field was cultivated, it must be wild."

Rong Tang was about to say something when Emperor Xuanning stopped him with his hand. "He Daban, thank you Bingzhi for discovering the early-maturing summer wheat. Your meritorious service deserves a reward. You shall be promoted to the position of Minister of Agriculture in the Ministry of Revenue. I will be your Honorable Minister Rong."

"The minister is here."

"You will follow up. Xie Bingzhi will be responsible for planting wild barley next spring. If we can achieve a good harvest, or even two crops a year, Xie Bingzhi will have made a great contribution to the country and will be recorded in the history of Dai Viet."

"The minister obeys the order."

Emperor Xuanning looked at the silent Zheng Jiuan and said, "Just go to the Dali Temple and report. There's a place reserved for you there."

Zheng Jiuan retreated, and Rong Tang could not hide his disappointment. After all, Zheng Jiuan was a descendant of a noble family and was naturally more inclined to safeguard the interests of the clan.

Then he would personally push the Xie family into the quagmire.

Aren’t we going to plant spring wheat? Let him plant as much as he wants.