Chapter 2348 Reward
Manbao waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "We are not military commanders. There is no need to remember such a small contribution."
Lord Tang exclaimed, "Oh!" and said with a smile, "You've already achieved great success in attacking the city, so you don't think highly of this little achievement?"
The three of them looked miserable. "Senior, please stop making fun of us. His Majesty is still angry with us. I wonder if the Censorate has recorded our mistakes and is waiting to punish us."
Tang He laughed and said, "So you also know you're wrong."
He stopped there and didn't lecture them. After a moment's thought, he said, "I don't know about other people, but my father is too lazy to bother with such trivial matters. However, I think that for such minor mistakes, it depends on whether His Majesty is willing to investigate."
"It doesn't matter even if we investigate," Tang He said with a smile, "At worst, I can just make a deal to offset your merits and demerits."
Three people: ...
The court officials were also waiting to see whether the emperor was more angry or more appreciative. Therefore, when the seal was opened on the eighth day of the first lunar month, when everyone rushed to the grand court meeting, apart from wishing a happy new year, no one took the initiative to mention questioning the delegation.
It was Manbao who took the initiative to report on the results of this trip to the Western Regions, mainly the results of the cowpox cultivation experiment.
Xiao Yuanzheng took the opportunity to propose conducting the smallpox vaccination experiment in the imperial farm in the suburbs, the same imperial farm where the experiment was conducted last year.
The emperor agreed and asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate a sum of money to the Imperial Medical Service.
This time the Ministry of Revenue did not complain of being poor. They had already taken ninety-nine steps and spent so much money. They had the prescription and now all that was left was the final step of testing. Naturally, they would not be stingy with money.
The Ministry of Revenue agreed immediately, and the court meeting became a little quiet, with no one speaking for a while.
The emperor raised his eyelids to look at them and asked, "Why, no one has submitted any memorials? It's the New Year, and everyone is safe and sound."
The ministers lowered their heads slightly and said nothing.
Manbao looked around, but still stepped out of the group with his heart in his hands, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."
"Yes, I saw it. I received your apology letters early this morning. Why is it only you who submitted them? Where are the others?"
Manbao knelt down, and the guard took the order and went out to call in the others.
Although Bai Shan and his companions had secretly squeezed into the delegation, since they had become members of the delegation and signed the memorial together, they naturally had to go into the palace together. If the emperor wanted to hear them admit their mistakes in person, they could go in and admit their mistakes.
But I didn't expect it to be so fast. He came out to call for help in just half an hour.
They looked at each other and had no choice but to enter the hall.
Mr. Zhuang, who was at the end of the line at the grand court meeting, also stepped out and knelt with Manbao to apologize to the emperor, saying that they had wasted a lot of time on their return journey and had kept the emperor and the court waiting for a long time, and that they were guilty.
Seeing them all kneeling down and admitting their mistakes, the emperor felt better and asked Wei Zhi, "Qing Wei, how do you think we should punish them?"
Wei Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, it was winter then. The road from Shazhou to the capital is bitterly cold. I don't think they deliberately stopped to waste time. Heavy snow blocking the mountains or making the road difficult are all very normal."
He said, "After all, the diplomatic mission is not an army. We cannot march as fast as General Ashina, so it is normal for the journey to be slow."
Generally speaking, the farther the place the imperial court sent an envoy to, the less time was required.
It was normal for a diplomatic mission to return after two or three years, let alone seven or eight years, let alone a year. As long as the chief officer of the mission did not betray his master and surrender, he was basically a qualified envoy.
Wei Zhi did not want the court to pursue the matter too much, otherwise if too much time was required for the delegation, the freedom of the delegation would be greatly affected in the future.
Therefore, he said: "I think that although they have made mistakes, they are not serious enough to constitute a crime. Since they know their mistakes, Your Majesty should reprimand them."
What I mean is, you can just scold them, there is no need to punish them. What if the diplomatic delegation is distracted by this incident in the future?
emperor:……
Lord Tang also had this idea, but he felt that these children were too lively and naughty. If they were left alone, they might continue to play around and ignore state affairs in the future, so he should be more serious.
The emperor looked at the others.
When the officials who intended to impeach Zhou Man and others heard this, they hesitated between opposing and pretending to be deaf and dumb. The smart ones quietly looked up at the emperor's expression, then silently put down the memorials in their hands and did not step forward to impeach.
Those who were not tactful wanted to go out, but they were used to following the crowd. Now that there were no big trees or even branches blocking the way, they did not dare to stand out.
The emperor snorted in his heart, feeling that the officials were not honest at all.
Especially Wei Zhi, he was very organized in finding out his faults. Even a strand of hair falling on the ground would be criticized for a long time. Zhou Man and the others wasted so much time on the road, but he still made excuses for them.
Fortunately, it was an envoy. If they were marching and fighting, he would have killed them in such a hurry.
Despite this thought, the emperor nodded in agreement, "Wei Qing is absolutely right. Now that you know you are wrong, don't do it again next time."
Manbao breathed a sigh of relief and immediately nodded in agreement with everyone else.
The emperor nodded at the table and reached for another memorial. "General Ashina said that you have made great contributions in this Western Expedition, especially Zhou Man and Bai Shan. You two were the main contributors in the capture of the Kucha Kingdom. Is there anything you would like?"
The emperor had asked them this question privately in his study before, and now he asked it again in front of all the ministers at the grand court meeting. Obviously, the meaning was different.
This time, everyone expressed that serving the emperor and the court was their duty and they did not ask for rewards.
Manbao said sweetly, "If it happens again, I will do the same."
The emperor complained in his heart, hoping it would not happen again, as the first time was enough to embarrass him. He had prepared the rewards early and was waiting, praising the man again and again in front of all the ministers, but in the end, no one showed up.
But I still feel a little happy.
The emperor's expression turned serious. He handed another prepared memorial to Gu Zhong and said, "Although you were delayed on your return journey and made some mistakes, your contribution to the siege should still be rewarded. Zhou Man and Bai Shan will be the chief officials. I will promote Zhou Man to the fourth rank of editor in the Chongwen Academy, and grant Bai Shan the title of county prince..."
The emperor was too lazy to read too much, so he gave Gu Zhong a look, and Gu Zhong unfolded the memorial and read it to them. He granted Bai Shan the title of county magistrate, Bai Cheng and Liu Huan the titles of county barons, and further conferred the title of county magistrate on Yin Huo, granting him a mansion, and promoting Zhuang Xun to the rank of fifth-rank editor. He also gave each of them 20 taels of silver and 6 pieces of cloth...
When Manbao and the others heard this, they looked up slightly in surprise. They had thought it would be good enough to get a reward, but they didn't expect there would be a title as well.
But the reward is less than I thought.
After Gu Zhong finished reading the memorial, all the officials breathed a sigh of relief at the same time, and then looked at the people kneeling in the middle of the hall with sympathy.
See you at 8pm
(End of this chapter)
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