Manbao also replied frankly: "Then let’s calculate it at two wen per person, a person needs to eat at least a pound or two of vegetables a day, right? And at, even if it’s eaten every other day, now a pound of at, even pork, costs twelve wen per pound, and chicken, beef, and lamb are even more expensive. Even if it’s just half a pound of at eaten every other day..."
"Who can eat that much? Two ounces of at is enough..." Minister Liu said. "And don’t think I don’t know, the twelve wen per pound pork is good at, we can buy so less desirable at. Pork head, so leaner, tougher at, and offals like that, cheap at five or six wen, expensive at seven or eight wen is good enough."
The emperor and other ministers were dumbfounded. Is this how at is sold outside?
Wait, how do they know so much about it?
It’s understandable for Minister Liu since he’s the Minister of Revenue, and receives price lists from his subordinates every day, but Zhou Man, you’re not with the Ministry of Revenue, you don’t need to buy groceries, how are you so familiar?
Manbao naturally knew this from her father, who now has nothing better to do in the morning than go to the market with Sixth Brother or Brother and Sister-in-law, occasionally buying so groceries for ho, but mostly for restaurants.
Recently, to conveniently watch over the three patients of the royal estate, she often stayed outside the palace. Rising early, she would sit and have breakfast with her father, listening to him talk about how sothing went up by a wen today, sothing else got a bit cheaper...
Hearing it often, Manbao morized it all.
The two of them haggled back and forth, along with assistance from Director Xiao and Imperial Doctor Lu from ti to ti, Minister Liu probably felt a hundred taels was too little, so reluctantly raised it to six hundred taels.
However, the money was not given directly to the Imperial Hospital, nor directly to the Ministry of Justice, but he said: "When the ti cos, list the nu. Those willing to accept this line can choose or rotate their daily three als from these nus. At the end of the month, report the expenses to my Ministry of Revenue along with other expenditures."
Still unwilling to give the money directly.
"There are other thods as well, such as reducing the distance and duration of exile; these can be calculated separately."
The Minister of Justice thought this was too troubleso, so he suggested it would be better to directly pay the amount in one go instead. Surely the state treasury isn’t so poor that it can’t afford six hundred taels?
Minister Liu, like a pig unafraid of boiling water, said: "That’s right, it’s indeed difficult to take out, otherwise why don’t you move so resources from elsewhere? The external funds your Ministry of Justice applied for this year aren’t small."
The Minister of Justice imdiately stopped speaking.
Wei Zhi proposed: "Your Majesty, besides that, so serious criminals can be exiled to the border and directly change to military registration. Returning to civilian life, they might harm a region, but in the army, under the supervision of soldiers, they shouldn’t cause trouble and may even achieve so accomplishnts."
The emperor asked Lord Tang, "What does Courtier Tang think?"
Lord Tang frowned thoughtfully.
Serious criminals in the Ministry of Justice’s prison are usually sent to the mines, where it’s truly miserable, even worse than exile. Treated like slaves, most serious criminals don’t survive the mines; they usually die within ten years.
In comparison, the military is more lenient. Although they still risk their lives fighting, they have a chance to accumulate rit to atone for their cris.
Even if they can’t earn enough rit to be pardoned, life in the military is much better than that in the mines.
Ultimately, it’s a matter of risking their lives, so Lord Tang had no more objections and nodded in agreent.
Thus, they temporarily decided on these reward thods, to be brought to the Ministry of Justice for selection later.
The emperor was quite satisfied with Zhou Man and the others’ experintal results, knowing they had been busy these past two days, and so he let them return to rest.
Manbao received a two-day holiday, compensating for the last ten-day break she missed. Carrying her dical kit, she happily rode ho on horseback. Director Xiao’s carriage caught up from behind, the curtain lifted, and he said: "Doctor Zhou, don’t rush to take other jobs the day after tomorrow; co to the Ministry of Justice first to find , and we’ll pick people together."
Manbao nodded in agreent.
The carriage then hurried ahead of her.
When she returned ho, she jumped off the horse, handed Chiji to the servants, and asked after taking down her dical kit: "Are Bai Shan and the others ho?"
"The young master and the second cousin are out at the Primus Pavilion, and they said if Miss Manbao cos back and gets bored, she can go to the Primus Pavilion to play with them."
"Hasn’t the Ministry of Personnel’s examination finished yet?"
The Ming Classic examination was held in the capital in the first month, and after the results were posted in February, the Ministry of Rites examination followed imdiately. It was simple; candidates appeared before officials of the Ministry of Rites to ensure they looked decent, were of appropriate height, and spoke without problems to pass, making it the easiest exam.
Then ca the Ministry of Personnel’s selection examination for officials.
Bai Shan didn’t intend to select an official position, so although he passed the imperial examination, he didn’t even attend the Ministry of Rites’ exam, but Chongwen Pavilion and the Imperial Academy still gave the students a break for free activities.
Yi Ziyang went to participate, but it was unclear how well he perford.
Manbao pondered for a mont, and after taking her dical kit back to her room, she rode her horse to the Primus Pavilion to find them.
Yi Ziyang was reciting the Ministry of Justice’s exam questions to them; he’s got a good mory, not forgetting the questions after finishing.
Moreover, the Primus Pavilion was filled with discussion about the topics, so even if he montarily forgot, one stroll around and overhearing others’ discussions would remind him.
Bai Shan, looking at the exam questions, sighed: "It’s indeed not easy."
Yi Ziyang nodded, "Most are fundantal questions, mainly about being a magistrate and advising on farming and sericulture. It’s not difficult to finish but writing it perfectly is another matter. Look at these two questions about official docunt headings and morials to the emperor. Honestly, I was confused for a while, and I’m not sure if I wrote them correctly."
Feng Zongping said, "There’s also an example for a case report to the Ministry of Justice; this is even harder."
Yi Ziyang nodded, "But I heard that the Ming Classic selection exam is much simpler than the imperial examination. The Ming Mathematics exam mainly covers the Ministry of Revenue’s topics, while the Ming Legal exam focuses on the Ministry of Justice’s material, supplented with knowledge from other relevant ministries. The imperial exam is still much heavier than them, and it’s uncertain how many people it’ll filter out this ti."
Bai Shan said: "It shouldn’t be too many, imperial exams already have few candidates, as long as the papers aren’t terrible, they should pass."
Yi Ziyang nodded, "Fortunately, there aren’t many difficult questions, just very detailed ones."
When Manbao arrived, they had nearly finished their discussion. Seeing her co in, everyone stood up to greet her, then sat down and ordered her a al.
Manbao asked Yi Ziyang, "How did you do on your exam?"
Yi Ziyang smiled, "So-so."
Manbao laughed, "Your trip to Xiazhou was an accomplishnt, if you also rank high in the Ministry of Personnel’s exam this ti, it’ll really benefit you when selecting official positions."
Everyone was stunned, then rembered. It seed they all received rewards from the court for going to Xiazhou, and Zhou Man got better rewards, even from the palace.
Feng Zongping perked up, asking, "So does His Majesty know about us too?"
Manbao nodded, "Of course, I think it was Libationer Kong who reported it."
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