The Three Spirit Stones

In the imperial study, Cheng Yu knelt and bowed to Zhao Heng, and then the emperor and his minister sat down separately.

He presented the sugar he brought back from Linping. After the eunuchs tested it for poison, Zhao Heng took a little and put it in his mouth. He said with satisfaction, "Mm, it's very sweet, much sweeter than the usual frosted sugar. My dear, do you think one thousand kilograms of sugarcane can produce one or two hundred kilograms of this frosted sugar?"

"Yes, sir,"

"How much do you plan to sell it for per kilo?"

"About one or two taels of silver,"

"What? Such good candy is only one ounce of silver per pound?"

Zhao Heng was surprised and said that, like Cao Wei, he thought it was too cheap to be true.

"Sir, sugar is used in daily life just like salt. If it is too expensive, ordinary people can't afford it. What's the point?"

"I work at the sugar factory in Linping. One production line can produce 5,000 kilograms of sugarcane every day. If there is enough raw material, we can add more production lines at any time. Now we have to see how the sugarcane yield will be this autumn."

One production line produces 5,000 jin, and ten production lines produce 50,000 jin. That means 7,000 to 8,000 taels of silver a day, and it can be increased.

Zhao Heng’s calculations were also working fine!

"Well, well, my dear, you have done a good job,"

"Your Majesty, I think it would be best if this sugar factory did not belong to the six ministries for the time being. It would be best if it belonged to you and me personally."

"Ah! ... We own it privately? Why?"

"Your Majesty! This sugar factory has just started, and many rules are still being explored. It is under the jurisdiction of the six ministries. Many people will be tempted by such a piece of fat meat, and many people will take advantage of loopholes. The production equipment inside will be easily imitated."

"But it's different when it's privately owned by us. We don't need to go through the six ministries to appoint people. We can hire our own people and take our share of the profits."

"The operation of a sugar factory is actually very simple. It is best to have a simple staff. Complexity is not good. Unless the production expands to the point where a department must be set up to manage it, it will not be too late to assign it to the Sixth Department at that time!"

After hearing Cheng Yu’s explanation, Zhao Heng suddenly understood!

He slapped his thigh and said, "That's right! Why don't I eat this piece of fat myself? Why should it be given to the six ministries? It's not like the sugar factory can't operate without the six ministries!"

Don’t think that the emperor has no shortage of money. The palace, concubines, princes and grandchildren all need money!

Picking up the share contract on the table, Zhao Heng felt a little embarrassed that the emperor would monopolize 60% of the profits.

The more he looked at Cheng Yu, the more he liked him. He was capable, considerate, able to make money, and good-looking. He was simply a perfect minister. Those so-called loyal ministers who always caused trouble for him were no match for him!

"Okay, I'll do as you say, hahaha!"

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. I have a small iron smelting plant on the mountainside. I have smelted a new kind of iron material before, but I was busy traveling south and did not have time to report it to Your Majesty."

When Zhao Heng heard this, he pretended to be surprised and said "Oh", but he was thinking in his heart, you are quite honest. The imperial court has a monopoly on salt and iron, but you secretly opened a furnace to smelt iron. Are you trying to rebel?

Chen Lin had mentioned this matter to him a long time ago, and he wanted to see if he would tell the truth.

Now that he came back and spoke on his own initiative, Zhao Heng felt that he was still loyal.

"I have made some farm tools with this batch of iron materials. Please allow me to present them to you."

"Present it quickly,"

Then the eunuch brought up some hoes, shovels, and hammers.

"My dear, how are these farm tools different from the usual ones?"

"Your Majesty, let's find a piece of land and try it out."

Then, the emperor and his ministers, along with a dozen eunuchs, carried hoes and shovels to the imperial garden, found a piece of wasteland, and had one eunuch reclaim it.

Eunuchs are weaker than men of the same type. The eunuch tried the hoe a few times and found that it was very easy to use. After hoeing a row of fields, the edge of the hoe was still sharp. If it was an ordinary hoe, it would have broken when it hit a stone or something. Then he tried the shovel. Looking at the thin edge of the shovel, it was effortless to shovel mud and stones. After shoveling a row of fields, the edge was still as sharp as new, without any breaks.

Everyone was amazed. With such easy-to-use agricultural tools, there was no need to worry about not being able to reclaim wasteland!

In fact, what the Song Dynasty lacked was not wasteland, but fertile farmland.

Reclaiming wasteland is very hard work, especially when there are no suitable tools. After clearing the land, you also have to take care of the land. It will take at least several years before you can harvest the crops you plant.

The emergence of this new type of agricultural tool will greatly improve farmers' productivity and can be said to be beneficial to the country and the people!

Zhao Heng saw all this and excitedly took Cheng Yu's hand and said, "Xuzhi, Cheng Xuzhi, you... you are very good. You have done a great thing for me, the people and the country!"

Cheng Yu cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, thank you for the compliment!"

"Hahaha……"

"Sir, what are you so happy about?"

At this time, a clear voice was heard, and a noble lady in palace dress came over, surrounded by many palace maids.

When Zhao Heng saw him, he said happily, "Queen, you came just in time. You haven't met your beloved minister Cheng yet, have you?"

Oh! It turned out to be Empress Liu E.

When Cheng Yu saw the phoenix carriage for the first time, he immediately knelt down and saluted, saying, "Your humble servant greets the Queen. May you live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years."

Liu E immediately held him up with both hands and said, "My dear Cheng, please stand up. There is no need to be so polite!"

After he stood up, Liu E took a look and thought, I have heard that Cheng Yu, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, is an elegant and handsome man. Now that I see him, he is indeed extraordinarily handsome!

Although the guy was good-looking, she was too embarrassed to stare at him. Then she turned to Zhao Heng and asked,

"Officials, why were you so happy just now?"

"Queen, come and take a look at these new farm tools. They were presented to you by Minister Cheng."

"Look at the new plot of land I just opened. After using it, the holes on these farm tools are still as good as new, without any cracks. If such easy-to-use farm tools are promoted, it will not be difficult to open up wasteland!"

When Liu E heard this, she was delighted and said, "This is a great thing that benefits the country and the people! If we can open up wasteland, we can grow crops, and the people will have more food to eat!"

"Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor, for meeting such a talented person, and for the peace and prosperity of the country and the people!"

Liu E's words made Zhao Heng very happy.

Food shortage is a problem that countless monarchs have racked their brains to solve. Now that Cheng Yu has appeared, he has hope of a solution. How can he not be happy?

"Cheng Aiqing, obey your orders,"

"I am here,"

"I appoint you as the Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor, and the Deputy Judge of the Salt and Iron Department. You must expand the iron smelting plant within this year and increase the production of new iron materials."

"I respect your order,"

Although the position of Deputy Iron Case Judge is also a deputy, it is much more useful to Cheng Yu. In the future, he can smelt metals to make weapons with justification.

"My dear, you once said that you hoped to give your two wives the position of legal wives. I cannot do that for the time being because I can see your efforts, but the ministers and the people cannot see them for the time being. When they all see them, I will naturally issue an order."

"However, I can still grant your two wives a title."

Cheng Yu was quite happy to hear this.

Now that Acai has the imperial edict, she has an extra layer of protection in the Song Dynasty!

"Come here, draft an imperial decree to confer the title of Left and Right Huaning County Ladies on the two wives of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, with a fief of 2,000 households and a reward of 5,000 gold."

"As you wish,"

There were special eunuchs to draft the imperial edict.

These titles are actually honorary titles and have no practical benefits.

When Liu E heard about the two ladies' positions as the main wives, she felt very strange and asked Zhao Heng what was going on.

Zhao Heng told Liu E about Cheng Yu's love experience.

After hearing this, she found it unbelievable and cried out that it was God's will!

Over here, the Emperor, Empress and Cheng Yu were chatting about family matters in the Imperial Garden. Over there, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery’s Mansion was welcoming the angel with great joy!

When Mrs. Cheng heard the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict congratulating her son on his promotion and her two daughters-in-law on their imperial titles, she was so happy that she immediately set up an incense table to receive the imperial edict.

Ah Cai was taking a nap in bed, and was woken up by Sun Yuechan who told her to go to the main hall to receive the imperial edict.

"...Ah? Receive an imperial edict? Receive what imperial edict?"

"This is the imperial decree that conferred upon us the title of consort. Hurry up and get dressed. Don't keep the angel waiting too long."

Lady of the Imperial Court?!

She understood this, and immediately became alert and got up!

Several people gathered around her to help her dress and do her hair. They were done quickly and then rushed to the main hall together.

When we arrived at the main hall, there were people standing inside and outside. There was an incense table in the middle. Madam Cheng was talking to a eunuch.

As soon as he saw them, the eunuch congratulated them and then announced that they would begin to receive the imperial edict.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims! ... Lady of the County, ... two thousand households, a reward of five thousand golds ..."

The angel opened the imperial edict and read it out loudly with intonation. Everyone present knelt down to listen to the edict. Ah Cai also knelt down. She didn't understand some of the contents, but she understood the last sentence [a reward of five thousand gold coins].

She was shocked!

Five thousand gold? ! ! Five thousand gold coins or five thousand taels of gold? ? ! !

The Emperor is so generous!

Regardless of whether the unit is one or two, this is a huge sum of money!!! One gram of gold is several hundred yuan, and 5,000 taels of gold is equivalent to more than 100 million yuan!

I'm rich! I'm rich!

There was a little Acai in her mind who was dancing and cheering!

At this time, the angel Eunuch Xu asked his men to bring in two sets of clothes for the imperial consort, the imperial eunuch book, and some jewelry. Finally, two eunuchs brought in a box.

She stared at the box, her heart beating wildly!

One hundred million, one hundred million...

Eunuch Xu said to them with a smile, "Two county ladies, please accept the reward!"

OK! OK!

She nodded vigorously, she was so excited. She didn't expect that she could complete a small goal so easily. She thought the eunuch's smile was so kind and amiable!

The maids behind her took the various rewards. She pointed at the box and said excitedly, "Open it quickly, open it quickly!"

With a creak, the lid opened. She immediately leaned over to take a look.

There is no shining gold in it, only copper coins!

Her smile froze immediately; the huge gap was hard for her to accept!

She wondered if she had heard it wrong?

I snatched the imperial edict and opened it. It clearly said "reward 5,000 gold coins", so why did it turn into a pile of copper coins? ? ?

She raised her head and stared at Eunuch Xu. When Eunuch Xu saw that she was looking at him, he smiled at her again.

She felt that the eunuch's smile was too hypocritical. This guy must have taken my gold and exchanged it for copper coins. She saw in TV dramas that these eunuchs were very greedy, and it turned out to be true. They thought I was easy to bully, right?

She suppressed her anger, pointed at the word "gold" on the imperial edict with a fake smile and said to Eunuch Xu, "Angel, what is this word?"

Eunuch Xu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Reply to the county lady, it is a golden word."

"So, what is this?"

She pointed to the copper coins in the box and asked,

Eunuch Xu was a little confused, but still smiled and replied, "Madam, it's copper coins!"

"Then tell me, why did the gold become copper coins? You don't think I can't even tell the difference between gold and copper, do you?"

"I can tolerate you being a little greedy, but you've gone too far and actually taken it all. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"If you don't spit out the gold to me today, I will never let you go!"

……

……

In the Imperial Garden, the King, his ministers and his empress were talking about soap.

Liu E said that the soap from the Cheng family was very useful and she used it to bathe almost every day. Cheng Yu said that he had recently made a batch of scented soaps and would have some delivered tomorrow.

Liu E was very happy when she heard this!

Just as the three of them were chatting harmoniously, a miserable cry was heard.

"The emperor~ The emperor makes the decisions for his servants! The emperor..."

When everyone looked, they saw that Eunuch Xu had disheveled hair, disheveled clothes, and several scratches on his face and neck.

As soon as he saw Zhao Heng, he immediately knelt on the ground, crawled over, and cried loudly.

"The emperor! The emperor makes the decision for me! The emperor makes the decision for me! ..."

Everyone was very surprised!

Zhao Heng asked in confusion, "What's wrong with you? Didn't I ask you to pass on the imperial edict? Why did you end up like this?"

Eunuch Xu sobbed and said, "Sir, I did go to the Marquis' Mansion to convey the order."

As he said this, he glanced at Cheng Yu, and Cheng Yu's heart skipped a beat.

"I delivered the imperial edict properly, but who would have known... who would have known that Lady Hua Ning Zuojun insisted that the five thousand gold on the imperial edict was five thousand taels of gold, and that I had coveted her gold, and that I should spit out the gold, and even beat me like this!... Wow!"

Eunuch Xu pointed at himself and cried aggrievedly,

Everyone was stunned!

Liu E, who was holding a mouthful of tea, spurted out the water with a "puff".

"Ahem...hahaha...I can't laugh anymore! I can't laugh anymore!...Five thousand taels of gold!...Ha! Five thousand taels of gold! Haha! I'm dying of laughter, I'm dying of laughter..."

She laughed so hard that she couldn't catch her breath. The maids beside her were afraid that she would get choked by laughter, so they hurried over to pat her back.

Zhao Heng started to get a little annoyed when he heard this. The angel who delivered the imperial decree was the emperor's face, and hitting him was like hitting the emperor's face.

However, when he saw the usually dignified and virtuous queen laughing so hard that she couldn't sit still, and thought of the scene when he saw Ah Cai before, he also laughed.

Isn't it just a child? Why would you argue with such a child?

At this time, Cheng Yu was kneeling on the ground, bowing and clasping his hands to the emperor to plead guilty.

He secretly groaned in his heart!

My colorful treasure! Is five thousand taels of gold a random reward? If the emperor were to reward five thousand taels of gold for conferring an imperial decree, he would go bankrupt very quickly!

He made up his mind that if Zhao Heng wanted to accuse her to the point where the situation was irreparable, he would break into the palace and hold the crown prince hostage.

Poor little Zhao Shouyi, he had no idea that he would become a bargaining chip in the adults' game!

"My dear, please stand up. It's just a misunderstanding. I won't blame her."

Zhao Heng waved his hand and said,

Only then did Cheng Yu breathe a sigh of relief and stood up to thank Zhao Heng!

Looking at Cheng Yu who was lowering his head and looking docile, Zhao Heng suddenly felt a little sympathetic towards him. Such an outstanding man had to have such a wife, and this woman was the one entrusted to him by his benefactor before his death.

Alas! He sighed inwardly!

A good wife brings less trouble to her husband!