Upon returning to his official residence, Cao Song immediately summoned the magistrate of Taicang.

"I wonder what brings the Grand Minister of Agriculture to summon me here?"

Cao Song asked, "Hmm, has the crude iron produced by the Engineering Institute recently been registered and put into storage?"

The magistrate of Taicang hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the Grand Minister of Agriculture, it has not yet been registered!"

"Huh? What's going on? Why hasn't it been registered yet? What have you been doing all day? Such negligence, do you even want to keep your job?"

Cao Song couldn't help but raise his head and glare at the Taicang magistrate, his expression full of dissatisfaction.

"Reporting to the Grand Minister of Agriculture, it's not that I'm neglecting my duties, but the Minister of Works won't allow me to register those forged iron pieces!"

Upon seeing Cao Song's anger, the Taicang magistrate trembled with fear.

"Hmm? Yuan Zhouyang?"

Upon hearing Yuan Feng's name, Cao Song's expression immediately darkened. Ever since the successful iron smelting and Gongshu Lian's ennoblement, that guy had clearly become arrogant.

Cao Song immediately retorted angrily, "Why shouldn't he let you register? The engineering college was built with funds from the national treasury! Everything produced by the engineering college belongs to the national treasury, surely he knows that??"

The magistrate of Taicang's face fell, and he said timidly, "The Minister of Works didn't say we couldn't register it. He just said that the crude iron still needs to be studied and refined... and that we're preparing to research a new method for refining high-quality iron!"

"Refining refined iron...?"

Cao Song was taken aback. He had only been away from the engineering school for a while, but he hadn't expected them to make so many moves.

Cao Song snorted coldly, "Hmph, no matter what they do, they have to put it in the warehouse first and then apply for permission. He left it on his own, who knows what he's going to do with it?"

Seeing this, the Taicang magistrate lowered his head and dared not speak again, because he had seen several carts of thick iron being pulled out of the engineering college by a few eunuchs and their men. He dared not speak or ask.

"Come on, come with me to the engineering school. I want to see what this Yuan Zhouyang is up to!"

Medical schools are already charging for consultations, but his engineering school is still only taking in money and not giving it out. How can that be acceptable?

After saying this, Cao Song slammed his hand on the table and stormed out, with the Taicang magistrate and several other officials quickly following behind him.

Cao Song led the way, and the group walked out of the government office and headed towards the Southern Palace.

"Hey? Isn't that Zhang Rang?"

Cao Song, who had just stepped out of the Southern Palace, immediately spotted Zhang Rang, who had just alighted from his carriage.

"Grand Minister of Agriculture, what are those large carts behind him?"

The Taicang magistrate, standing to the side, looked at the dozens of large carts behind Zhang Rang and couldn't help but ask a question.

"We'll know once we go and see for ourselves!"

Cao Song's eyes darted around, and he immediately strode towards Zhang Rang and the others.

On the other side, after Zhang Rang got off the carriage, he turned around and looked at the hundred carts full of valuables, his face full of smiles.

Zhang Rang then instructed a junior eunuch beside him, "Go immediately and inform Attendant Lü to send someone to take over these valuables!"

"promise!"

The young eunuch bowed and agreed with a pleased expression. But as soon as he raised his head to look towards the palace, the joy on his face vanished, and he stood there blankly, unable to move.

"Huh? What are you waiting for? Hurry up and go!"

Seeing that the little yellow door hadn't moved, Zhang Rang frowned and urged it on.

"Attendant Zhang, the... the Grand Minister of Agriculture has arrived...!"

"What???"

Zhang Rang's expression changed, and he quickly turned around to look, only to see Cao Song and his men approaching rapidly.

Upon seeing Cao Song approaching with a smile, Zhang Rang's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, Zhang Changshi, when did you get back?"

As he approached, Cao Song smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Rang, but his gaze seemed to drift intentionally or unintentionally toward the large carts, as if trying to see what was on them through the coarse linen.

"Oops!!"

When Zhang Rang noticed Cao Song staring intently at the large carts with a gleam in his eyes, his heart skipped a beat.

"Greetings, Grand Minister of Agriculture. I have just returned to Luoyang and am on my way to report to His Majesty. May I ask where you are headed?"

As Zhang Rang politely returned Cao Song's greeting with a cupped-hand salute, his mind began to race.

"Oh, I have nothing to do, so I'm just taking a stroll! Enjoying the scenery outside the Southern Palace..."

I wonder what's loaded on those big trucks? They're all wrapped up so tightly!

Cao Song smiled and gave a perfunctory reply, then glanced at the large cart behind Zhang Rang again, looking at Zhang Rang with curiosity.

See the scenery? This area outside the South Palace is barren; what scenery is there to see?

Hearing Cao Song's clumsy excuse, Zhang Rang couldn't help but feel contempt.

Zhang Rang then laughed and said, "Hmm~, these are all local specialties that my family brought back from western Liaoning, presented to His Majesty! Because it's cold, we covered them with coarse linen to prevent them from freezing!"

Cao Song glanced at Zhang Rang indifferently. He naturally understood the implication in Zhang Rang's words: these things belonged to His Majesty, and they were afraid of the cold, so they could not be opened to look at them.

"Oh, I see...!"

Cao Song naturally didn't believe Zhang Rang's words, but he couldn't very well go and uncover the document in public.

Zhang Rang laughed and said, "That's right. Then please take your time reading. His Majesty is still waiting for me to return to report in the palace. Farewell!"

After saying this, Zhang Rang bowed to Cao Song to take his leave. As he walked towards the palace, he secretly gestured to the eunuch, signaling him to quickly find Lü Qiang to receive these things.

"Ah! I suddenly remembered something important, and I also need to see His Majesty! Zhang, let's go together since we're going the same way!"

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