LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 32
The politics of Great Xia were generally clear.
Being able to grow such high-yielding crops was a great achievement. Where there is merit, there must be reward - this was set in stone. As for what kind of reward and how it would be given, that was the Emperor's business and none of theirs.
However, they could make suggestions regarding the distribution of the grain harvest.
Thus, around the issue of distributing the high-yielding grain, the ministers started another war of words.
Minister A said, "Transport it to the capital and plant it all in the imperial farms."
Minister B, who did not get along with him, immediately objected, "Planting it in the imperial farms is a ruse - you're just trying to secretly plant it in your own family's farms!"
Minister A retorted, "Nonsense! You're talking about yourself!"
Minister B said, "Whether or not I'm talking nonsense, you know full well in your heart. I've heard that certain people sent people to Qingzhou in the middle of the night the day before yesterday."
Minister A was furious, "You bastard, you had me watched! I'll take you on!" He swung a fist at Minister B. Minister B retaliated without showing weakness and they soon became entangled in a brawl.
Seeing the situation worsening, their colleagues nearby immediately tried to separate them, only to get punched in the eye unexpectedly. Now enraged, he thought, "Damn it, I was trying to break up the fight in good faith yet you punch me. I won't be trifled with either," and joined the fray after rolling up his sleeves.
In an instant, the entire court devolved into chaos with caps, tablets, and shoes flying everywhere.
Without the Emperor's order, the guards would not dare enter no matter how loud the ruckus inside. The civil officials wanted to step in and break them up but lacked the strength, while those strong enough feared getting hit.
In the end, it was the military generals, usually looked down upon by the civil officials, who could not stand it anymore and stepped in to haul people apart like chickens, one in each hand.
The disheveled ministers with bruised faces saw the expressionless Emperor sitting imposingly on the dragon throne, and they instantly sobered up.
Only then did they remember what they had just done.
They were screwed!
Emperor Xia Jing looked at the brawling ministers below with an amused expression, "Why did you stop? I haven't watched enough! Esteemed ministers, your martial arts skills are impressive - you look stronger than the General. How about I send you to guard the borders?" Laughter broke out among the crowd.
Suddenly, Emperor Xia Jing stood up and slammed his palm heavily on the table, the deafening "bang" silencing the hall instantly.
The Emperor's face was cold as water, his dragon features furious, "Are you all so impatient? I haven't said anything yet you dare openly scheme before me, trying to seize the hard-earned grains grown by others. Do you think that just because Jiang Wenyuan is a lowly county magistrate, you can toy with him as you wish! Do you deserve to? Don't think I don't know what you're plotting. Let me tell you, no one may touch this batch of grains. Anyone who dares reach out, I will exterminate their entire clan!"
The brawling ministers immediately kneeled in terror, shivering and not daring to defend themselves. The other court officials also knelt and pleaded for the Emperor to quell his anger.
After venting his anger, the Emperor finally felt somewhat relieved. He swiftly punished the brawlers, deducting salary from some, confining some, and demoting others.
Having settled the matter, his mood improved considerably. Seeing no other official make a petition, Emperor Xia Jing flicked his sleeve to dismiss the court.
Three days later, amidst heavy wind and snow, the chief eunuch Li Deshun left the capital with an imperial edict and contingent of men, heading towards Qingzhou in grandeur.
Due to the slippery roads from the snow, progress was difficult and the journey took almost a month before they finally arrived in Qingzhou in the morning of the 13th day of the last lunar month.
Jiang Wenyuan personally led men to welcome the imperial envoy at the city gates.
Long before the envoy departed the capital, Qin Jue had already sent fast horses to relay the news to him.
He was rewarded by His Majesty for growing high-yielding crops and conferred the title "Count of Qingzhou".
The imperial edict bearer this time was the chief eunuch Li Deshun, a favored insider of the Emperor. Qin Jue told him to treat Li Deshun well and avoid offending him at all costs.
The weather was cold so after brief pleasantries, Li Deshun said, "I heard the sweet potatoes are kept in your residence, so let us go there directly to announce the edict!"
Having anticipated this, Jiang Wenyuan immediately agreed. He sent the servant A Ping racing home to notify his family while he accompanied the envoy and procession to follow after.
When Jiang's family received the news, they calmly prepared:
The incense table, braziers, ginger tea and such had long been set up. Now they quickly changed into new clothes and shoes, with the women even taking out hidden jewelry to wear.
Even little Jiang Yuqing wore a brand new big red skirt with white rabbit fur trim, tiger head shoes and hat, and a matching tiger head bag. She looked just like a big red glutinous rice dumpling or lucky doll, so adorable that her brothers' hearts melted.
At the third quarter mark, drumbeats sounded from the village road. The clan youth keeping watch at the village entrance raced back to report, "They're here, they're here! The imperial procession is almost at the village entrance!"
Everyone's expressions immediately tensed up.
Soon they saw the procession spanning over a mile entering the village - gongs and drums led the way followed by "Silence, Make Way" signs. Behind were the imperial ensigns, then six mounted guards with sabres.
In the middle was a vermilion lacquered carriage with imperial canopy. Behind it were two carriages with green canopies, and at the rear another contingent of guards.
The procession slowly halted in front of the Jiang residence.
The Jiangs had opened their gates wide with the rooms swept clean. A red carpet led from the main gate directly into the reception hall, where the incense table was already set up. The Jiang family stood ready and composed at the main gate, prepared to welcome the honored guest.
Li Deshun alighted from his carriage and walked along the red carpet into the Jiangs' hall.
Seeing the incense table prepared inside, he nodded in satisfaction.
Without further ado, he headed directly to the incense table, brought out a scroll of yellow imperial decree, and announced, "Qingzhou Magistrate Jiang Wenyuan, receive the decree - "
The Jiang family immediately knelt before the incense table.
Li Deshun unrolled the decree and started reading. It spoke greatly of Jiang Wenyuan's achievements, praising him profusely.
In summary, because Jiang's father grew high-yielding sweet potatoes that greatly benefitted the country, the overjoyed Emperor conferred him the title "Count of Qingzhou".
He was also awarded 1000 mu of land, a five-courtyard mansion in Qingzhou city, gold, silver, pearls, silks and satins.
The decree then urged Jiang's father to continue his efforts and cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture to promote large-scale sweet potato planting next year.
Normally, when conferred a title, one must travel to the capital to thank the Emperor. However, considering the urgent need to promote sweet potato cultivation next year, they were allowed to do so after the autumn harvest next year.
When the reading ended, the place erupted.
What did they just hear? Jiang Wenyuan became a Count after just half a year as a magistrate!
Heavens, the Jiang ancestors must be pleased!
The excited clan elder even fainted and had to be quickly revived by the clansmen.
To prevent their patriarch from overexcitement, his sons stayed by his side until he calmed down.
Those from other clans said enviously, "The Jiang family's baby daughter is truly a lucky star!
Since her birth less than two years ago, they first found spiritual mushrooms and got rich, then months later her father became a scholar and a jinshi.
Now he's conferred a title in such a short time! No wonder the Jiangs dote on her so, I'd spoil her to death too if I were them!"
Hearing this, the Jiang clansmen retorted sarcastically, "Don't kid yourself! Who doesn't know how your three daughters live - hungry, cold and overworked while your wife beats them!
With how you treat them, it'd be strange if your family prospered! Instead of envying others, you should treat your daughters properly. I suspect your precious son won't be as useful as your three daughters in future..."
Embarrassed by the exposure, the other clansman's face turned purple. He slunk away shamefully into the crowd and left.
Little Jiang Yuqing paid no attention to the clan discussions. She was thinking about what imperial rewards to expect.
The land, silver, and fabrics were tangible.
As for what rank this "Count of Qingzhou" title was, the little dumpling really had no idea. She decided to find an opportunity to ask her father later.
The angels ran around for days, braving wind and snow all the way, and really suffered a lot.
After announcing the decree, they were immediately arranged by the Jiang Family to rest in a warm room, and each was given a bowl of steaming hot ginger soup to dispel the cold. This move really won a lot of goodwill.
Jiang Wenyuan then witnessed the imperial decree of conferring the title in front of the clansmen, and solemnly enshrined it in the ancestral temple of the Jiang Family Clan, announcing to the ancestors that their descendants did not fail their expectations and brought glory to the family once again. This made the old clan elder cry again.
After a short rest, it was time to eat. The Jiang Family prepared a sumptuous feast to entertain the guests who had traveled from afar.
Jiang Wenyuan, his father and brothers, his old father-in-law, eldest maternal uncle, another private advisor Wang from the county government, three agricultural officials accompanied Li Deshun to sit at the main table.
In addition to the usual chicken, duck and fish, there was even a plate of green vegetables, rarely seen in winter, on the table.
These green vegetables were green and oily, clearly just picked from the field. Such quality vegetables were rarely seen even in the palace. As a result, they were snatched up as soon as they were served.
After the meal, Scholar Lu and Uncle Lu bid farewell and left. The Jiang Family was busy arranging places for everyone to stay.
This time Li Deshun brought a total of 66 people including guards.
Plus the three agricultural officials who stayed behind and their three servants, the twenty Feather Guards guarding the warehouse, and 25 servants of the Jiang Family, there were a total of 117 people.
The Jiang Family's yard was quite large, but not enough to accommodate so many people. Fortunately, the old houses were still there, and Jiang Wenyuan had expected today's situation and cleaned up in advance.
Fire pots were placed in each room and thick quilts were laid out before everyone was settled, it was really tiring.
After the meal and a short rest, Li Deshun mentioned that he wanted to see the sweet potatoes. The Jiang Family readily agreed.
Although he already knew that the yield of sweet potatoes was high, after all, that was just a number. When he actually saw the warehouse full of sweet potatoes, he was still shocked.
He asked in detail about when they were planted, how they were planted, and when they were harvested. Jiang Wenyuan answered them one by one.
Li Deshun was almost fifty years old. Braving the wind and snow on such a long journey in the cold winter had really taken a toll on him.
The winter in the south was both wet and cold, the kind that chilled you to the bone. His knees had already started to ache faintly, and he couldn't help kneading them.
Especially since they had to set off back to the capital early tomorrow morning, just thinking about it gave him a headache. But there was no way, they had to go.
Seeing that he didn't look well, Jiang Wenyuan personally escorted him back to the room and left after he was settled in.
Li Deshun's room was arranged in the outer courtyard, originally Jiang Yujiang's room. The outer room was a study, and the inner room was a bedroom, one bright and one dark. The rooms of the Jiang children were all in this layout.
At this time, there were two burning coal pans in the room, making it very warm. In the corner, there was a solid wood flower rack with two pots of orchids, not any famous variety, just wild orchids casually dug up from the mountain.
Having been nourished by Jiang Yuqing's abilities and the spiritual spring, they were full of vigor and had already sprouted flower buds. They would bloom in less than a few days.
The bed curtains, bedding and the like were all brand new, with no incense, only the smell of sunshine, clean and refreshing. A new soft couch was added to the outer study, also neatly stacked with thick new bedding, for the convenience of the little eunuch on night duty to rest.
After looking over the interior layout, Li Deshun nodded in satisfaction.
Although it could not compare to his residence in the palace, it was cleaner and tidier than most places in the countryside, which was rare. It showed that the Jiang Family had put in great effort.
Just the fact that Jiang Wenyuan was able to properly arrange all the people he brought in such a short time demonstrated considerable ability.
Feeding over a hundred people was really no easy task.
Old Lady Hu, Lin, Zhu, plus two older female servants were all hands on deck. Lu also asked for help from several capable sisters-in-law from the clan, only then was the dinner properly arranged that night.
The meal was still sumptuous, according to the guests' requests, one meat dish was reduced and one vegetable dish was added. It was a meal that brought joy to both host and guests.
After working hard all day, everyone was exhausted.
Tired, but happy.
The title of "County Earl" was a third-class earldom, rank 4a, with a fief of three hundred households, and was considered part of the nobility. It could be granted to the wife's clan or mother's clan.
That is to say, an official wife or mother could be granted the title of Lady. Jiang Wenyuan planned to apply for a title for his old mother after the new year.
The old lady had suffered all her life, so in her old age she should also enjoy the blessings of her children.
As for his wife, she could only be wronged for now. When he made another achievement in the future, he would apply for a title for her as well. He believed that with his precious daughter and his own efforts, that day would come soon.