met free Chapter 484 The national treasury has no money!
Chapter 484 The national treasury has no money!
Wang Qiong came in a hurry and left in a hurry, leaving behind a pound of small dragon dumplings and taking away a memorial to the throne.
Then, Emperor Zhu grew increasingly disgusted with that scoundrel.
"Is this ridiculous?"
"This is outrageous!"
Emperor Zhu angrily said to Empress Ma, "Your eldest son sent someone to Dengzhou Prefecture, and all he brought was a pound of small dragon dumplings for that scoundrel."
"That girl also gave Jin'er and Yu'er some rouge and face powder."
"But what do we, the father and the mother, have?"
"Not a single one of them knows how to be filial to us!"
"A bunch of bastards!"
Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu, then pointed to a small box on the table and said, "Who said that? Isn't this the rouge and face powder that my daughter had someone bring?"
The Emperor Zhu felt even more heartbroken.
So we have nothing at all?
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the angrier he became. He couldn't help but snort and say, "Our Biao'er has also been corrupted by that scoundrel!"
Empress Ma glanced at Emperor Zhu again, and coaxed him as if he were a child: "Alright, don't we still have the black tea and green tea that Jin'er and Yu'er gave us? Especially the green tea, I saw that you drank it quite well."
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned black tea or green tea, but the moment he did, Emperor Zhu felt even more distressed.
"The drink is quite good, but was any of the tea leaves actually consumed for free?"
"He got the title of tribute tea, and he made Ningyang green tea and Ningyang black tea famous."
"We'll just drink a few sips of his tea."
“But he’s made a fortune using our name; I don’t know how much money he’s made.”
"..."
Emperor Zhu grew angrier as he spoke: "And what about that beggar's chicken? Sister, tell me, is it fair to talk about one's father-in-law like that? That scoundrel!"
After cursing a few times at that scoundrel, Emperor Zhu stormed out and went straight to find Yang Shaofeng.
"Keep this safe."
Emperor Zhu casually tossed a token into Yang Shaofeng's hand and said with a dark face, "This is a 'horse-riding token.' With this, you can mobilize all the guard posts within a prefecture. The Secretariat and the Grand Commandery have already filed records of it."
Yang Shaofeng picked up the so-called talisman and glanced at it. He saw that the thing was made entirely of iron, two and a half inches wide and five inches long. It had two flying dragons on the top and two qilin on the bottom. The top of the talisman was a round hole, with a red silk ribbon attached. The inscription read: "Where the talisman's decree arrives, it shall be obeyed immediately. Those who disobey shall be punished."
Yang Shaofeng was somewhat bewildered.
No, it's understandable to give such an important item as the horse-riding tally to Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, but why are you giving it to me?
And you old man, have you forgotten that I am a civil official?
Do you understand, civil servant?
When there's nothing to do, I'll have some tea, stroll around the greenery... go to a club for a foot massage, and when I'm free, I'll write a memorial to annoy you.
Fighting and killing are not suitable for this official.
Besides, even if I need to mobilize the soldiers of the garrison, I have the waist token given to me by Zhu Biao. Isn't that more useful than the token given to me by you, old Deng?
Yang Shaofeng mentally complained as he carefully put away the horse-riding talisman.
But Emperor Zhu snorted coldly and said, "By the way, give us a pound of Xiaolongtuan. We're out of drinks."
Yang Shaofeng stared blankly at Emperor Zhu.
So you're trying to exchange your horse-riding token for my little dragon troop?
But regarding that matter at customs, you old man still owe me a pound of small dragon balls!
Yang Shaofeng's eyes darted around. He first said to Jin'er, "Quickly go and get a pound of small dragon balls for your father-in-law." Then he said to Emperor Zhu, "Father-in-law, it's already autumn now, and the students of the community school are about to take the entrance exam for the county school. Why don't you go and take a look?"
Upon hearing Yang Shaofeng's words, Emperor Zhu immediately became wary.
Is this bastard up to something again?
But then he thought about it again and Emperor Zhu felt relieved.
If this bastard wants to scheme against us, then let him scheme.
As long as we don't fall for his tricks, no matter how much he schemes, it won't work.
Thinking of this, Emperor Zhu suddenly felt relieved.
I saved a pound of small dragon balls.
I managed to snatch back another pound of small dragon balls.
This weighs a full two pounds, inside and out.
Tsk tsk.
It's fortunate that it's Zhu Chongba, at least he still has some sense of reason. If it were Chang Heizi, that bastard wouldn't even leave a single tea leaf!
Feeling more and more comfortable, Emperor Zhu simply agreed: "Alright, we'll go with you to take a look."
……
The person in charge of the entrance examination for the county school in Penglai was Xu Jingyu, the magistrate of Penglai.
The exam questions that Xu Jingyu prepared for the students of the Penglai County Academy were also very simple.
Calligraphy, classical studies, mathematics, horsemanship and archery.
There are a total of four subjects.
The calligraphy requirement is simply that the characters are not too ugly to pass. The horse riding and archery subjects are separate. For horse riding, you only need to be able to mount the horse and ride around the examination area once. For archery, it is the same: hitting the target is enough.
It's not that it's not difficult at all, but it's easy enough for anyone with hands.
Emperor Zhu also personally reviewed the math exam questions, which consisted of simple addition and subtraction calculations.
What truly shocked Emperor Zhu was that there were as many as thirty students participating in the county school examination.
"Thirty is a lot?"
Yang Shaofeng pursed his lips and said, "This is just one of the examination rooms."
"In fact, there are four examination rooms for the county school entrance examination in Penglai County."
"There were a total of 150 students taking the exam."
"There will be fewer next year, around eighty."
"By the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, there were probably around two hundred of them."
"..."
Watching Yang Shaofeng's mouth open and close, constantly rattling off one number after another, Emperor Zhu was overjoyed but also felt somewhat bewildered.
I'm happy because the more people take the exam, the more scholars there are, and the Ming Dynasty will never lack scholars again.
The confusion stemmed from the fact that Emperor Zhu simply couldn't understand how this scoundrel was planning to swindle them.
After all, we stole a pound of his small dragon balls and gave him a pound less than he deserved, which adds up to a grudge of two pounds of small dragon balls.
Just as Emperor Zhu was secretly pondering how Yang Shaofeng would set a trap, Yang Shaofeng suddenly whispered, "Father-in-law, as the number of students increases, the expenses for books, clothes, food subsidies, and so on will also increase."
“Our Dengzhou Prefecture is so poor it’s practically bankrupt. There’s hardly any money left in the treasury, what do you think?”
Ok?
So you bastard were waiting for us here?
Damn it, your Dengzhou Prefecture has no money, but our Zhu Chongba's national treasury does?
It’s his mother’s fault!
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and he couldn't help but snort, "There's no money in the national treasury either."
Yang Shaofeng smacked his lips and looked at Emperor Zhu, saying, "The national treasury is empty; this is the responsibility of Han Guogong and Minister Yang."