Chapter 428: Imperial Decree
Su Xueyi knew that the emperor was kind-hearted and wanted to be a wise ruler, so he couldn't wait to make use of a group of available talents.
Su Xueyi could understand the emperor's feelings.
While Su Xueyi was answering the questions, the emperor was actually thinking about the ranking issue.
The top three are truly selected based on their knowledge, and the ministers will not have any objections.
But there are some people he wants to move to the front row.
For example, put those poor scholars in the front row.
However, we also need to consider giving those aristocratic families some rankings, otherwise the court officials will have objections.
The emperor also knows how to balance the court.
After everyone finished answering the questions, normally the emperor would look at the papers of the top 30, but this time the emperor was not afraid of being tired and directly looked at the papers of the top 50.
The top three places were decided.
The top scorer was naturally Su Xueyi. His knowledge was obvious to everyone and no one could say a word against it.
Court officials may have selfish motives, but if they cheat in the imperial examinations for selecting talents, it will be a very strict matter, and the emperor can directly dismiss the person and investigate him.
The third place winner is from a prominent family, while the second place winner is from a humble family.
Later, the emperor decided the ranking of the top 20 in the second class.
The subsequent rankings are arranged by court officials.
Dong Wenren ranked sixth in the second class, and Feng Xiu'an ranked twentieth in the second class.
Liu Wengu ranked 56th in the second class, and Kang Haozhi ranked 98th in the second class.
Such results made everyone very excited.
Dong Wenren didn't expect that he would be ranked sixth in the second class. Sixth place was a ranking he had never dared to think of before.
He even thought that it would be good if he could be among the top three Jinshi.
He is somewhat self-aware of his own knowledge.
Su Xueyi was the top scholar in the imperial examination and was originally a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, which was the highest position for Jinshi.
However, during the palace examination, after the rankings were determined, the emperor directly took out the document recording high-yield potatoes and sweet potatoes and asked, "I heard that it was your wife who discovered high-yield potatoes and sweet potatoes, and that one acre of land could yield a thousand kilograms."
This sentence shocked all the court officials present.
Everyone couldn't believe how such a high yield of crops could be possible!
Four or five hundred kilograms per acre is considered a very high yield. It is simply unbelievable that one acre of land can produce more than a thousand kilograms of crops.
They instinctively feel that it is fake.
And they have no idea what potatoes and sweet potatoes are.
The emperor knew that this would be everyone’s reaction.
"Your Majesty, this must be a lie. How could this person deceive Your Majesty in this way!"
"This is deceiving the emperor!"
The emperor laughed out loud, looking at the two who were shouting the loudest, and said, "Lord Lin, Lord Yan, since you can't discover such a high-yield crop yourselves, you think others can't discover it either."
"How dare you accuse me of deceiving the emperor? Don't you hope to discover high-yield crops?"
"Of course, are you two gentlemen brave enough to guarantee with your own heads that there are no such crops?"
The emperor's tone of voice suddenly became serious.
The two adults who had been shouting the loudest suddenly changed their expressions and murmured, wanting to say something but not daring to.
They wiped the sweat from their foreheads.
They didn't dare to respond to the emperor's words. If it were true, they would lose their lives.
They just thought that if the emperor took the opportunity to punish the top scholar, he would be able to fill the position for the person they had arranged.
They always thought that the emperor was easy to talk to, but they never expected that when he got angry, he could be so deadly.
"I dare not!"
The two gentlemen did not dare to speak, and the other officials also wanted to observe first.
The emperor looked at everyone and saw that they didn't dare to speak, and he seemed a little regretful.
"I thought you would pledge your lives for this."
"Shouldn't we in the Great Yan Dynasty be excited and happy to have discovered a high-yield crop?"
"Why is it that everyone's first thought is denial?"
"Have you, as officials, forgotten your original intention and your duty to serve the people?"
"If you don't want to work for the people, if you don't want to make sure they have enough food and warm clothes, why do you serve as officials? Do you only want to collect your salary and not do any real work, and then you will cry foul when something goes wrong?"
The emperor wanted to throw the things on the table down.
But he is the emperor, he has to be careful not to show his emotions, so he endures it!
"Does anyone else raise any questions?"
No one dared to speak.
The emperor snorted coldly and said, "In that case, let's go to the back garden with me!"
When the emperor knew about potatoes and sweet potatoes, he asked Lu Yechen to get some and secretly plant them in the back garden. No one knew about these things.
This thing is also easy to store in the ground.
It wasn't for eating, the emperor had it dug out.
Then the ministers discovered that there were so many fruits under such a small pile.
Each one is so big.
"These are potatoes, and the pile next to them is sweet potatoes. If you understand agriculture and know how farmers cultivate their crops, you'll know how high the yield is!"
"And this thing is delicious too. Today I'll ask the kitchen to make some hot and sour shredded potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. Let's all try them."
Su Xueyi looked at the emperor's expression. She had never known about this situation before.
I thought that the emperor should also know about the situation in Liuhe Village.
The emperor was also very excited when looking at the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
It is conceivable how many people will benefit if these two crops are promoted.
But he also knew that promoting new crops was not easy.
After Su Xueyi's capable wife grows more potatoes and sweet potatoes, he will purchase them in the name of the court and promote them as seeds.
The key is that such crops can be planted twice a year. Just thinking about it made the emperor so excited that he could hardly sleep.
All the ministers were stunned when they saw this scene.
They had never seen anything like it, let alone eaten it.
After the kitchen prepared it, the emperor asked everyone to taste it.
After eating it, everyone was really shocked.
They didn't expect it to be so delicious.
"What do you think, my dear ministers?"
Someone couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, this thing may be affected by the climate and environment and can only be grown in one place."
"Yes, yes, perhaps an acre..."
The emperor smiled and said, "Potatoes and sweet potatoes can grow in the cold north. In the village where Su Aiqing lived before, every household planted potatoes and sweet potatoes. One acre of land produced a thousand kilograms of grain. Local officials have records of this, so it cannot be faked."
"I sent people to investigate, and it's true."
"If any of you still have doubts, such as being sent to the North as an official, I believe that if you go and see for yourself, you will know whether it is true or not."
If the emperor really wants to criticize someone, he always has a reason to do so.
The emperor's few words made the ministers afraid to say anything more.
They were actually just finding fault on purpose, but the food they were eating was actually really delicious.
The spicy and sour potato shreds are refreshing.
The roasted sweet potatoes were so sweet that they couldn't help but ask the emperor for some to take home to eat or plant.
The emperor seemed to know what everyone was thinking. He said, "When I distribute some potatoes and sweet potatoes to everyone later, I will give them to the ministers who believe in them first. Lord Yan, you are skeptical and you probably don't like this kind of thing, so I won't give it to you."
Lord Yan and the others listened to the emperor's words and felt like crying but had no tears. They wanted to say something, but they couldn't slap themselves in the face, so they could only hold it in.
The emperor also mentioned on the spot that Su Xueyi's wife invented a waterwheel that could transport water from low places to high places to irrigate fields.
This is a big project.
The emperor gave all the credit to Shen Yueyao.
Shen Yueyao was immediately conferred the title of sixth-rank lady on the spot.
She was awarded the imperial decree because of her own merits.
Su Xueyi's original highest official position after becoming a Jinshi was the sixth-rank Hanlin Academy editor, but the emperor directly conferred him the sixth rank.
The emperor was thinking of promoting them later.
You always have to find reasons little by little.
Lord Yan and the others finally understood that after all the twists and turns, the emperor just wanted to promote Su Xueyi and confer an imperial decree on his wife!
This is truly unprecedented.
Su Xueyi knew that Yao Niang helped to overthrow the Duke of Wei's Mansion and Princess Anping. The emperor could not say this openly, so he could only talk about it in terms of food and water carts.
Even so, Su Xueyi was very grateful in her heart.
He thought that if Yao Niang knew about this, she would definitely be very happy.
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