Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 589, "Work Report of the Fourth Year of Hongwu"

Emperor Zhu didn't think there was anything wrong with him taking his son-in-law's tea.

Back then, even though Commander Guo imprisoned us and we almost starved to death, we didn't hold a grudge against him.

I'm craving the pancakes my girlfriend makes again.

The thought of the pancakes made by Empress Ma put Emperor Zhu in a dilemma once again.

Should we go and beat those two little beasts first?

Should we wait until we finish eating the pancakes before we go and beat those two little beasts?

Seeing Emperor Zhu's expression change repeatedly, Empress Ma simply smiled and said, "Alright, I'll go make you a pancake. You sit here and have a cup of tea while we wait..."

Before the words were finished, Zhu Biao's voice rang out from outside Kunning Palace: "Good news! Mother!"

Empress Ma's smile froze instantly, while Emperor Zhu, who had previously had a dark and sour expression, now grinned in a particularly sinister way.

"Well, that little bastard dares to come back!"

Emperor Zhu stood up and walked to the back of the gate of Kunning Palace. After Zhu Biao ran in, he slammed the door shut.

"Come on, tell me, what good news do you have?"

Zhu Biao stopped in his tracks, turned his head to look at the closed door, and was completely dumbfounded.

Emperor Zhu, however, walked toward Zhu Biao with a sinister grin on his face.

"Have you found Miss Liu Si?"

"Or perhaps it's some Miss Zhao Si?"

Zhu Biao roared and rushed behind Empress Ma, shouting, "What great news!"

"Miss Liu was a fabrication by my brother-in-law! It has nothing to do with my child!"

"I might as well take this opportunity to get back a deputy county magistrate and a clerk for each department from him!"

Emperor Zhu stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide as he looked at Zhu Biao: "He slandered your father like that, and you expect to return as a deputy county magistrate and a few clerks?"

Zhu Biao raised his voice and replied, "Well, he's still not willing."

Emperor Zhu's face immediately turned even darker, a multicolored black: "Your father's reputation! Is that all it's worth? A deputy county magistrate, plus a few clerks? You worthless bastard!"

Watching the father and son arguing without getting to the point, Empress Ma suddenly felt inexplicably tired.

Empress Ma reached out to stop Emperor Zhu, who was about to rush over and strike Zhu Biao, and asked, "Let me ask you, do you think Biao sold your reputation for a pittance?"

Emperor Zhu said with righteous indignation, "Isn't that right? I am, after all, the emperor of the mighty Ming Dynasty. Is my reputation only worth a deputy county magistrate and a few clerks?"

Empress Ma turned her head and glared at Zhu Biao, asking, "Do you think you've gotten a great deal?"

Zhu Biao said just as confidently, "That's right, my brother-in-law said that this year's imperial examinations are not going to be successful for students from Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture."

He said that he personally mentored Zhou Jingxin and his cohort of students, and they also continuously practiced in the Sixth Division, learning how to be officials while pursuing their studies. He added that later students, who were not personally mentored by him, might not be as successful as Zhou Jingxin and his cohort.

Empress Ma looked at Zhu Biao with eyes full of concern for someone with intellectual disabilities, and sighed deeply, saying, "Then let me ask you again, whether they are the deputy magistrate of Ningyang County or the clerk, are they subjects of the Ming Dynasty? Does the Ministry of Personnel have their files? Can the Ministry of Personnel transfer them?"

With just an official document from the Ministry of Personnel, the so-called deputy magistrate and clerks of Ningyang County could be transferred at will. Why is it that when it comes to this father and son, they have to trade their reputation?

Is this something that requires reputation?

And the way they both think they're right when they argue is just plain stupid!

Empress Ma sighed helplessly and said, "Alright, I'll go make the pancakes. You two can handle the rest."

Emperor Zhu glared fiercely at Zhu Biao and cursed, "How could we have such a stupid son like you!"

Zhu Biao was slightly taken aback. He first put on a submissive look and accepted the scolding, then secretly complained to himself: "First there were the rulers Yao and Shun, then there were the people Yao and Shun."

Emperor Zhu, his face dark, asked Erhu, "Where is the imperial prison? Is it ready?"

Erhu glanced in the direction Empress Ma had left, then cautiously observed Emperor Zhu's expression before stammering, "It shouldn't be yet. Commander Xia is still busy with the illegal coal mine case."

Emperor Zhu was almost amused by Erhu's antics.

"Keep your cleverness to yourself."

"We didn't say we were going to lock up that bastard."

"Tell Xia Yu to get the imperial prison sorted out as soon as possible. This time, we're going to skin the officials involved in the illegal coal mine case alive!"

Imprisoning the son-in-law in the imperial prison is definitely not an option.

I've been locked up by my father-in-law once, so I know how unpleasant that feeling is.

But there's absolutely no problem putting those officials involved in the illegal coal mines into the imperial prison.

We won't be able to get rid of this pent-up anger until we've really gotten rid of them!

……

Just as Emperor Zhu was about to vent his anger on the officials, Yang Shaofeng was writing a memorial in the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence.

Hongwu Fourth Year Work Report

"In the fourth year of Hongwu, Dengzhou Prefecture completed its transformation from a purely agricultural prefecture to one that was primarily agricultural with industry and semi-commerce as secondary activities. Currently, Dengzhou Prefecture has become a maritime distribution center and a center for trade with foreign vassal states in eastern Shandong. The reform of the prefectural government and the work on education, culture, and health are also underway and are expected to be completed in the fifth year of Hongwu."

"It has attracted 1,200 merchants from all over the Ming Dynasty, built 233 new workshops, and created more than 3,200 new jobs."

"In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign, the annual turnover of the border markets was 350 million strings of cash, with a net profit of 50 million strings of cash, and 20 million strings of cash were turned over to the national treasury."

"Thanks to the benefits of the border markets, the ten counties under the jurisdiction of Dengzhou Prefecture are close to being lifted out of poverty."

"In the fourth year of Hongwu, Dengzhou Prefecture established a university. Currently, the College of Chemical Engineering and the College of Engineering have been completed, and the entire project is expected to be completed in the tenth year of Hongwu."

"In the fourth year of Hongwu, the Dengzhou Prefectural School enrolled a total of 300 students, the ten county schools under its jurisdiction enrolled a total of more than 600 students, and the community schools enrolled more than 1,000 students."

"In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign, Dengzhou Prefecture established a large comprehensive hospital, the Dengzhou University Affiliated Hospital, ten county-level hospitals, and 153 village and community clinics."

"It is expected that by the fifth year of the Hongwu reign, the establishment of community schools and on-site clinics in all villages and communities will be completed."

"..."

These are all data that can be shown to people in the open, and Yang Shaofeng doesn't mind showing them to Lao Deng.

At the very least, I need to let Lao Deng know that, apart from causing him trouble, my son-in-law is also capable of doing real work.

Of course, more importantly, we need to provoke Old Deng and, incidentally, annoy Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.

As for data that cannot be made public, then it really cannot be made public.

For example, how many Koreans and monkey laborers were introduced.

After all, these memorials are archived. The issue of importing laborers is easy to talk about but difficult to understand.

Especially when it comes to things like how much money they swindled from Koreans and monkeys, they can only gloss over it by saying it was pure profit.

After writing a long and detailed piece, Yang Shaofeng suddenly clicked his tongue in anticipation.

I wonder what expressions the officials of the Secretariat and the Six Ministries will have after seeing the data from Dengzhou Prefecture?