The emperor now deeply feels that he lacks enough capable people. He looks at Yin Li and sighs, "Shoujie, you must take care of your health. I don’t have many usable people at hand now. Alas, it’s a pity that your son’s health is poor. Otherwise, he could take your place in the future, and the crown prince wouldn’t be without soone to rely on..."
Yin Li replied, "Your Majesty is overthinking. Our Great Jin is full of talents, and since you have widely opened the imperial examinations, there will only be more useful people in the future. As for my son... it’s my fault for not being able to relieve Your Majesty’s worries."
However, the emperor suddenly beca enlightened. He pointed to the things on the table and said, "Everything in this world is like this. Look at Yang Chao, it’s a pity that he has a good son. You and I can’t compare to him in this regard."
The emperor clicked his tongue and shook his head, holding a slight disdain for the other but also so envy.
Yin Li pondered for a mont before he understood. The emperor thinks Yang Chao can’t asure up to the two of them, yet he has a good son; while the two of them are much stronger than Yang Chao, they happen to not have a good son?
Yin Li was speechless for a while, secretly thinking: Luckily the crown prince isn’t here, or there would be another round of argunts.
The emperor only felt sour for a mont before quickly finding self-balance, believing that his crown prince is not bad either now.
Seeing that the emperor had returned to normal, Yin Li continued, "How does Your Majesty plan to handle Yang Chao?"
"How can I deal with him?" The emperor snorted coldly, "The patriarchs of the Cui clan, the Wang clan, and the Lu clan have all entered the palace, but there’s no evidence proving his involvent in this matter. It’s just a matter of confiscating so things as a penalty."
"On the side of Yang Heshu..."
The emperor’s gaze fell on the docunts on the desk, which were brought by the crown prince. They were things Yang Heshu had discovered in the Ministry of Revenue over the past year.
If it weren’t for the materials he provided, the emperor wouldn’t have known that the Ministry of Revenue had missed so many things from Jiangnan these years, and his Jiangnan people had been supporting all the households.
He indeed is a talent, and the crown prince also said he could be useful...
"He wants to go to Xiazhou, then let him go to Xiazhou." The emperor said, "I originally intended to make him a prefect, but now, thinking about it, it’s better not to. To avoid pushing him to the forefront, let him do as he wishes, select a middle county for him in Xiazhou, let him stay there for a few years until this matter fades away, and then let him co back step by step."
The emperor murmured, "If he can maintain his original intention, he will surely be a backbone for the crown prince in the future."
Yin Li bowed his head in response, feeling sowhat envious of Marquis Yang too. The emperor is right, Yang Chao’s ability is average, yet he has a good son.
If his son had been healthier, he would certainly not be inferior to Yang Heshu with ti.
This turned Yin Li’s mood sowhat gloomy, but the emperor didn’t notice and held him in conversation about family matters for quite a while before letting him go.
Bai Shan returned ho, took out a package from the bag on the horse’s neck, and Manbao and Bai Erlang were particularly curious, "I wanted to ask you earlier, what is this?"
Bai Shan said, "I don’t know either. Yang Senior Brother gave it to , saying that if in the future we want the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to dical offices across regions, this might be useful."
The three then went to the study to check it out. Bai Shan opened it and found that it contained a stack of papers. He flipped through them and found them sowhat chaotic and scribbled, giving the impression of drafts.
Manbao took so to look at, and after a while, Bai Erlang asked, "Why is it so chaotic here? This is money, isn’t it?"
He pointed at a number and asked.
Bai Shan flipped through several sheets, hesitated, and said, "It seems to be the salt tax collected by the Ministry of Revenue from a certain place, along with the prices of so items. It’s quite ssy."
Manbao scratched her face, asking, "Shouldn’t these things be kept by the Ministry of Revenue? Isn’t Yang Senior Brother violating regulations by giving it to us?"
Bai Shan paused and imdiately understood. He put away all the drafts, ran to the door to look around, found only two servants in the yard, and imdiately returned inside to close the door, whispering, "This must be against regulations, so none of you should speak of this outside."
Bai Erlang was stunned, "If it’s against regulations, why did Yang Senior Brother give it to us?"
Manbao thought and said, "Because he wants us to do it?"
Bai Shan said, "Also because we might need it in the future."
Manbao wrinkled her nose and said, "This is not right."
Bai Shan already put the things away, "That’s correct, it’s not right, so we can’t tell others."
Manbao: ...That’s not what she ant.
Bai Shan asked, "Then what else can we do? Report Yang Senior Brother to the Censorate or the Ministry of Revenue?"
Manbao thought about it but still shook her head.
After a while, the three sat together and sighed. Manbao said, "No wonder there are always people in the bureaucracy abusing their power and bending the law. We’re doing the sa thing now."
Bai Shan nodded deeply in agreent, "Indeed, interpersonal relationships are a double-edged sword."
Bai Erlang also expressed admiration, "So soone like Lord Wei is very rare. He can strictly require others and keep himself in check."
Manbao and Bai Shan nodded together, sighing, "Very rare indeed."
Bai Shan said, "The drafts are too chaotic; it’s inconvenient to take them out. I will study them first, and once sorted, I’ll show them to you."
Because this might involve the Imperial dical Office, Manbao was still quite interested, so she nodded in agreent.
Having experienced the rarity of self-discipline, after the holiday ended, Manbao specifically wandered over to the Three Departnts trying to bump into Lord Wei, to look up to him again.
As a result, Lord Wei wasn’t there. The clerk guarding the door said to her, "The lord has taken on a patrol duty and gone out."
Manbao then looked up at the dreary sky and asked, "In weather like this, he’s out on patrol? This is winter."
"Who says otherwise, but it’s a decree from His Majesty. Even if Lord Wei doesn’t want to go, he has to."
Manbao could only regretfully return to the palace.
At lunchti, Bai Shan sighed and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince has taken on other tasks and gone out of the capital. Without him here, Libationer Kong imdiately focused on us, and in half a day’s ti, all of us have been scolded."
While eating, Manbao curiously asked, "Scolded for what?"
"Scolded for being unenlightened, scolded for lacking diligence," Bai Shan said with every sentence causing Bai Erlang’s shoulders to droop, and eventually, they completely slumped, the two of them sighing together, "Then Libationer Kong assigned us mountains of coursework."
Bai Shan extended his hand to show Manbao his fingers, "I’ve been writing all morning. Look at my fingers, aren’t they swollen now?"
Manbao stared at his white and slender fingers for a while and shook her head, "Where are they swollen?"
Bai Erlang beside him extended his hand, "Look at mine!"
Manbao was surprised, "How did yours get swollen?"
Bai Shan then lowered his head to eat.
Yin Huo couldn’t help but laugh and Bai Erlang said with a face of indignation, "He fought with over our assignnts and pinched my hand."
Bai Shan raised his head, frowned, and said, "I was fighting over my own assignnts. When the assignnts fell to the ground, you leaned over to pick them up and pressed your hand against the table. The table edge has a gap, and you pinched yourself there."
"You pushed the table a bit; otherwise, how could I have gotten pinched?"
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