No one knew better than Su Rong that her Uncle Xie had bred Fen Ling and the shadowguards around her, not just to be shadowguards. They got involved in ten times more things than an average person from childhood to adulthood. Especially Fen Ling, you can say, she learned no less than Su Rong did.
Fen Ling knew what was comes into consideration, while she was older than him by only a few months.
She reached out and hugged Zhou Gu’s waist, leaning on him, sighing, "I’m so tired."
Zhou Gu was also tired. Today, without a break, he has been busy in the Ministry of Rites. He was even beginning to doubt whether he could hold a grand wedding within half a year even if he sent Fen Ling and Yanjin.
Even he was unsure.
If the old minister of rites continued to be this busy, he really didn’t know how long he could hold on. He shouldn’t fall ill halfway through, right?
He patted Su Rong’s back, expressing his concerns, "The old minister of rites is indeed working hard. When you came back tonight, did you notice the temperature has dropped again after the recent increase? It’s quite cold, I fear a cold snap is coming. I’m worried the old minister will fall ill."
Su Rong immediately said, "Then hurry up and have Doctor Zhang check his pulse tomorrow." After she finished, she added, "Let Doctor Zhang and Qin Feng enter the Imperial Medical Bureau. I heard that the Imperial Medical Bureau is short of personnel. In the past, more than half of the Imperial Doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau were from the Nangong family. After my father returned to the Royal Capital, the Imperial Medical Bureau broke up. Now there are only a few people barely supporting it."
"Yes, both the director and deputy director have retired." Zhou Gu said.
"Then let Doctor Zhang be the director and Qin Feng be the deputy director." Su Rong said.
Zhou Gu had no objections.
The two chatted briefly, and both were tired. They quickly lay down to sleep. Even the tiniest hint of romantic thoughts from previous days didn’t arise due to their exhaustion. They perfunctorily exchanged a goodnight kiss, just to keep up the appearance.
Before falling asleep, Zhou Gu thought if they kept on being this tired, he didn’t worry about being unable to persist or hold back any longer. He was simply too drained.
The Ministry of Revenue is far more important than the Ministry of Rites, responsible for all civil affairs and finances. This includes land, people, taxes, household registration, salaries, etc. In the past, it was controlled by the Nangong family. Even though the Minister of Revenue was a man of the king, almost all the officials were controlled by the Nangong family, making the Minister of Revenue powerless. After struggling for two years, he just gave up. The Nangong family did not touch him only because they did not want to damage their relationship with the king, so they left a fig leaf of decency. He was that fig leaf.
Now that the Nangong family has fallen, he is the only one left in the Ministry of Revenue.
After the king returned to the Royal Capital, he broke down in tears at the sight of the living king. He wanted to retire, but the king helped him back up and assigned personnel from various departments to help him temporary establish a team for the Ministry of Revenue. However, it didn’t work out well, but at least, it was not an empty shell. He had to grit his teeth to hold on. Otherwise, if he also abandoned his post, it would be the end of the Ministry of Revenue. And the end of the Ministry of Revenue means that the kingdom is on verge of collapse.
The factions of the Nangong family and Prince Liu’an almost destroyed half of the imperial court, and the remaining half had already been shattered in the struggle.
No one knew better than these old ministers that the royal court was facing a big mess after the return of the king, which almost made him die again.
Ye Xiang was so worried that his hair almost turned white. He felt that he would have been better off dying in that valley.
After their return to Beijing, they managed to rebuild the court by piecing together available personnel. But then they heard the news of the aggression of Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Dawei. They all panicked, only to focus all their energy on collecting food and military pay. This left the imperial court empty and piled up with mountains of affairs.
The lack of personnel in the Ministry of Revenue is not as simple as the lack of Zhou Gu.
When Minister of the Revenue, Sun Chunwang, saw Zhou Gu being transferred from the Ministry of Rites to the Ministry of Revenue, he was so happy that he almost cried of joy. He was about to hug Zhou Gu with an overly emotional expression on his face, "Oh, Princess’s husband, I’m so glad you are here at the Ministry of Revenue. If you didn’t come, I would like to submit a report. The affairs of the Ministry of Rites can wait for a while, but we from the Ministry of Revenue, really can’t afford to wait."
In the face of Sun Chunwang’s enthusiasm, Zhou Gu almost wanted to turn and leave. But he held his tongue, quickly responded: "Minister Sun, I know the Ministry of Revenue lacks personnel. This isn’t why I came? If there are any difficult tasks, feel free to assign them to me."
Sun Chunwang was waiting for precisely these words, "Princess’s husband is young, and I’m old. Not to mention my failing eyesight and memory, my legs and feet aren’t doing so well either. The position of Assistant Minister is indeed unfair on you, why don’t you just take my position?"
Zhou Gu was startled, "I can’t do that. I have no idea about the management of the Ministry of Revenue. It can’t go on without you, Minister. When I had dinner last night, my father-in-law specially mentioned to me that it had been hard for you over the years. Despite the Nangong family’s threats, you bravely held on to the Ministry of Revenue. It was indeed not easy. Please don’t say such things anymore; I can’t bear it. If you continue, I may leave."
"Don’t leave! Can I not say it?" Sun Chunwang desperately grabbed Zhou Gu. How could he let such a golden opportunity slip by? He immediately pulled Zhou Gu and said, "Come, come, let me tell you, there are a lot of things piled up in the Ministry of Revenue. I’ve been submitting reports, but I probably won’t be able to cover everything even if I submit eight or ten reports."
Zhou Gu took a deep breath, "Is it that serious?"
"Yes, in these years, the Nangong family held political power and sat idle, accumulating a lot of problems. I alone could not withstand everything. The administration of Nanchu has frostbite due to years of neglect. Even when the king started to make up his mind to change things five or six years ago, it was too late. During these years, what the king could do was limited, and he dared not act recklessly in case the Nangong family became suspicious and destabilized the imperial court. Hence, we are in the current situation."
Zhou Gu also sighed. Indeed, didn’t he? Seventeen years have passed since the peace talks between Dawei and Daliang. His father-in-law wasted eleven or twelve years before he found out about the existence of his daughter. Then he could not explicitly start political reform, he could only try to change the situation secretly. But it wasn’t easy, right? He didn’t understand before, but now he did. The current situation was not surprising at all.
As he walked into the gate of the Ministry of Revenue with Sun Chunwang, stacks of files almost made him dizzy. He knew that he would be mired in mountains of work for the next year, not just half a year.
Well, all his thoughts about rushing the grand wedding have evaporated. He would tell Su Rong when he went home this evening that she should not rush the wedding. Likewise, she should not let her father urge the old minister of rites.
Oh, what was that old minister of rites’ name? Right, his surname was Zhang, called Zhang Lixin.
For Zhang Lixin to live a few more years, he would perform acts of kindness!
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