Royal Gold Magistrate

Emperor Jing felt slightly disappointed after hearing Fang Zheng’s response.

It was as if he had said nothing at all.

It seemed he still needed more experience.

The Northern Rong sending an envoy was a major event, and such matters naturally needed to be discussed in advance.

However, considering Fang Zheng’s short time in court, it was understandable that he didn’t know much.

Emperor Jing paid it no mind and turned to ask others.

Beside him, Li Yuanzhao was already excited beyond measure!

Hearing about the possibility of war, he was more thrilled than anyone.

Would he finally have a chance to demonstrate his martial prowess?

In his excitement, he kept making animated expressions at Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng, of course, couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to him.

He knew all too well about Li Yuanzhao’s little schemes.

But now wasn’t the time to consider that issue.

After court, he still had to go see the Princess.

He wondered if the Princess had eaten breakfast, and if she missed him after not seeing him for several months.

He had to think of a way to get rid of the Crown Prince first!

Otherwise, he’d keep pestering him about everything!

The court discussion was in full swing.

The two carefree individuals were lost in their own thoughts until the court session ended.

As usual, Li Yuanzhao mischievously approached Fang Zheng first thing.

Seeing no one around, he whispered, “Old Fang, with the Northern Rong rising, there’s bound to be a war with Great Jing in the future!”

“Do you think… when the envoy comes, they might be here to stir up trouble?”

Fang Zheng glanced at him, somewhat speechless.

Talking about stirring up trouble in international diplomacy.

You’re really hoping for a big incident, aren’t you?

They haven’t even mentioned fighting, and you’re already looking forward to it?

The Crown Prince is becoming more and more of a hooligan.

“What trouble? This official doesn’t hope for war. We’ve only had a few good years.”

“In a war, hundreds of millions of taels of silver are easily spent. Who’s going to pay for that?”

“The national treasury is empty now. Are we going to strip silver from the common people? Your Highness, can you bear that?”

Li Yuanzhao chuckled awkwardly, not daring to speak.

Fang Zheng couldn’t help but nod inwardly.

This was the Crown Prince’s one good point: he cared for the people.

“Your Highness, if you have nothing to do, why don’t you go to the newspaper office! They can’t do without you!”

Li Yuanzhao looked puzzled: “Why should I go to the newspaper office? Isn’t Xie Xian managing it? I think he’s doing a good job.”

“I went there yesterday and heard that all the advertising space was sold out in less than a day.”

“They sold 3,600 taels worth! All bought by one company for half a year of advertising.”

Fang Zheng’s face lit up: “Oh? Which company has such resources?”

“Chen’s Grocery Store.”

Fang Zheng smiled, surprised that the once small grocery store owner had risen so quickly.

Indeed, the first to eat crabs reaps the most benefits.

The newspaper work was progressing so smoothly.

Three thousand six hundred taels were enough for the newspaper to survive. At least he wouldn’t have to invest more money.

It was truly good news.

“Old Fang, since we’ve earned so much money, shouldn’t we increase the reporters’ monthly wages?”

Fang Zheng looked at Li Yuanzhao with a troubled expression: “Huh? Didn’t we just increase them a few days ago?!”

Your father isn’t as generous as you!

I might as well work for you…

“I think two taels a month isn’t enough.”

Fang Zheng stroked his chin, sizing up Li Yuanzhao.

Two taels a month was actually quite a lot.

It could be considered a high-end salary in Great Jing. Had the Crown Prince spent too much time with him?

Usually, when talking about money, it was always in thousands or tens of thousands of taels.

Had he become numb and lost concept of money?

“Old Fang, why are you staring at me so lecherously?” Li Yuanzhao looked vigilant.

“Who’s being lecherous!!?”

“I’m thinking… let’s forget about raising their wages! Constantly increasing pay is not good for their growth. What if they become lazy and unwilling to work in the future?”

“Out of this 3,600 taels, let’s use 3,000 to buy a large mansion, put in some landscaping and gardens, maybe add some animals, and let the reporters move in. It’ll improve their working environment.”

“As for the remaining 600 taels, let’s keep it as activity funds. In the future, when they go out for work and need to spend money, the newspaper office can reimburse them.”

“Regarding monthly wages, we should set a standard in the future. They should increase every year, but how much depends on the newspaper’s income.”

At most, he’d support them for another year! Fang Zheng gritted his teeth, being generous once again.

“Your Highness, you need to make them remember the newspaper’s kindness!”

“If we just increase their monthly wages, they might think they earned it on their own merits!”

“Isn’t it our money we’re giving them? Think about it, isn’t that right?”

Li Yuanzhao pondered: “What you say seems correct!”

“Alright, Your Highness, go quickly and share this good news with the reporters. Tell them it was your arrangement!”

Li Yuanzhao hesitated for a moment, then said uncertainly: “Never mind, it’s too far. It doesn’t matter if I tell them now or later. I’ll go another day!”

Fang Zheng was puzzled. This wasn’t right.

This guy used to be more eager than anyone to leave the palace. Why was he causing trouble now that Fang Zheng wanted to see the Princess?

Was he deliberately going against him?

“What’s so interesting about the palace!? Your Highness should hurry over there!”

Li Yuanzhao let out a long sigh: “I can’t. My bottom hurts.”

“Father Emperor beat me again yesterday…”

As he spoke, he started to grind his teeth: “If you and Uncle hadn’t been talking nonsense, I wouldn’t have been beaten!”

“I said the earth was round, and he started beating me!”

“……..”

Ignorant thinking really kills!

This made it difficult to get rid of the Crown Prince… what to do?

Li Yuanzhao kept complaining to him, while Fang Zheng was anxiously scratching his head.

Suddenly, he had an idea: “Oh! Your Highness, didn’t I give you a microscope? How come I haven’t heard you mention it!”

Unexpectedly, Li Yuanzhao looked disdainful: “I suspect there’s something wrong with that thing of yours. How could guards also be transformed tadpoles? That’s impossible! I had it dismantled early on!”

“I thought it was something great, but it’s just a tube with a few layers of glass and some bits and pieces!”

“Liar!”

“What! You dismantled it!?” Fang Zheng wanted to cry.

Wastrel! What a wastrel!

The structure of Taoyuan County’s microscope wasn’t indeed very complex, completely incomparable to those of later times, perhaps even slightly inferior to the county’s looms.

Simply put, it was just a more complex magnifying glass.

It was just a combination of some simple mechanical structures and lens arrangements.

Practice always precedes theory, just as a monkey doesn’t need to understand the principle of leverage to use a stick to pry things.

The people of Taoyuan County didn’t understand optics, but that didn’t stop them from experimenting bit by bit, especially when someone was providing ideas.

His next decision was for the Research Institute to focus all their efforts on this one thing, putting aside all other work.

Just talking about grinding glass, who knows how much effort was wasted.

The county sent letters complaining that many people had gone bald from grinding glass!

All the skilled craftsmen in the county repeatedly experimented, sparing no cost in trial and error, before finally producing one of these.

Even Leeuwenhoek would have to exclaim how amazing it was!

If I hadn’t provided the ideas, even with glass, it might have taken one or two hundred years to research this thing.

You dismantled it like trash?

Fang Zheng wore a bitter expression: “Your Highness, if you can put it back together exactly as it was today, I’ll give you a thousand taels!”

“Deal! It’s settled then!”

Li Yuanzhao’s face lit up with joy as he dashed off in a flash…