Fang Zheng was already bored at the door of the imperial study.
He wanted to flirt with the guard at the door, but no one paid any attention to him.
After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Jing slowly walked over, with Guo Tianyang following behind him.
He looked Fang Zhengyi up and down, said nothing, and went straight into the house.
Guo Tianyang whispered, "Come in."
Fang Zhengyi followed him obediently into the imperial study.
It's a pity that there was no seat reserved for him this time.
Emperor Jing still did not speak, but just buried his head in some official documents.
Fang Zhengyi just stood there, feeling as if he was called into the teacher's office to stand as punishment.
sleepy....
"Fang Zhengyi, I demoted you to the position of Tongpan of Jianjiang today. Do you feel resentful?" Emperor Jing still lowered his head and spoke slowly.
"I have no resentment in my heart, but I refuse to accept it." Fang Zhengyi answered honestly.
"Officials are not interested in disaster relief. I am just trying to give them a push. This way... many people can be saved from starvation."
"I am right."
Emperor Jing suddenly stood up and shouted angrily: "Fang Zhengyi! How dare you! Where do you put the laws of the court by doing this?"
"If everyone does what you say, how can the royal family and the imperial court maintain their dignity?"
Fang Zhengyi said calmly, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, the reputation of the officials is not as important as the lives of the people."
"You're looking for death! How dare you talk back! Someone come!"
"Your Majesty, wait a minute!" Fang Zhengyi said, and took out a stack of silver bills from his pocket.
"Your Majesty, this is the profit from the top prize tickets sold by Banshanfang recently, plus other miscellaneous income such as taxes, a total of 23,230 taels."
Emperor Jing suddenly calmed down when he looked at the banknotes.
He sneered, "Why? Do you still want to bribe me?"
"I dare not!"
Then Fang Zhengyi took out another piece of paper from his bosom and said, "This is the amount of grain I have collected from the people. A total of 344 shi, all donated by ordinary people to the disaster area. This is only less than half a day's collection of grain."
"What do you mean? Are you trying to impress me with these and make me change my mind?"
"Are you done? I'll call someone when you're done."
Fang Zhengyi shook his head and then took out the third item.
A small booklet was presented with both hands.
"Your Majesty, a newspaper consumes a huge amount of paper, and it only costs five cents per page. In the past, you would never dare to publish it."
"But I ordered people to study the paper industry and invented a new papermaking method that can increase production fivefold, causing the price of paper to drop significantly."
"It's just that I've been busy with the Prince's Daily recently and haven't had the opportunity to present it to Your Majesty. Now that I have to go on a long journey, I will present it to Your Majesty as well."
"There are also some important matters that happened in Banshanfang before. I just want to explain them clearly. I have no other intentions. Please don't worry about it, Your Majesty."
After saying that, Fang Zhengyi walked straight to that place!
I have handed in a shield today, let’s see the result.
Emperor Jing stared at the booklet on the table in a daze.
Papermaking...five times the output...significant reduction in paper prices, these words kept spinning in his mind.
It took him a long time to come back to his senses and he coughed twice awkwardly.
"I did speak a little loudly just now, please take a seat!"
Fang Zhengyi almost laughed out loud, it was so real, so damn real!
Fang Zhengyi then sat down hurriedly, feeling quite tired after standing for such a long time.
Emperor Jing picked up the booklet and kept flipping through it. Guo Tianyang looked at Fang Zhengyi enviously behind him.
You are really good! You have completely coaxed His Majesty into submission, but we can’t learn this trick!
After Emperor Jing finished reading the book, he couldn't help but sigh.
"This method is very clever. If we had known this method of making paper earlier, wouldn't we have many more talented people in Dajing?"
"Fang Qing! This is a great achievement! Tell me what reward you want."
Fang Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I don't want to go to Jianjiang, so I'll stay in Beijing. I'll do whatever Your Majesty asks me to do."
"Then enter the palace."
Guo Tianyang immediately felt creepy and looked at Emperor Jing with wide eyes.
Your Majesty! You don't want me anymore?
This guy is no better than me except that he is younger!
Then he looked at Fang Zhengyi fiercely.
Fang Zhengyi laughed awkwardly and said, "Your Majesty is really a joker..."
Emperor Jing's expression turned serious again: "You were the one who joked with me first! I asked you to go to Jianjiang in front of all the court officials, and then you told me you didn't want to go. My words were golden, but you changed them in less than a day. How will the world view me?"
"Change it!"
"Then it's all up to your majesty to arrange."
Seeing Fang Zhengyi's attitude, Emperor Jing said earnestly, "Don't hold a grudge about what happened today. How dare you and the Crown Prince not discuss such a big matter with me?"
"It's just that I've been given a light punishment of being demoted. Otherwise, if I don't care, you'll suffer the consequences!"
Fang Zheng asked, "If I tell His Majesty, will His Majesty let me do it?"
Emperor Jing was silent for a while, then replied: "Of course some things can be done, but you shouldn't be so hasty! I think I know you well enough! Why did you act so rudely this time without considering the consequences!"
Fang Zhengyi's expression gradually became serious. He looked at Emperor Jing with a complicated expression and suddenly sighed: "Alas... Your Majesty, I was also hungry before."
"At that time, Taoyuan County was in chaos and many people starved to death. I knelt everywhere and went to other places to beg for food, but I couldn't get much."
"At that time, I was wondering, why didn't a senior official come out to save the people from danger and give them a meal?"
"What a pity... there is no such person. More and more people in Taoyuan County are dying."
Fang Zhengyi let out a bitter smile. "Now that I have become the high official I once thought I was, knowing that the people are suffering, can I live in peace and enjoy life in the capital without doing anything? No!"
Thinking back to the days when he first arrived in Taoyuan County, Fang Zhengyi felt really sad.
Behind Emperor Jing, Guo Tianyang's face turned visibly darker.
Fang Zhengyi, how dare you blatantly imitate me!
Fuck! If I talk to you again, I'll be a dog!
"What's more, this is not just my wish. The prince is also kind-hearted and has racked his brains to think of various ways to raise food and save people!"
"In order to fulfill the wishes of the prince and me, I have neither the slightest regret nor the slightest fear in my heart."
"I am so impulsive and I hope Your Majesty will punish me!"
Emperor Jing couldn't help but feel touched, but he didn't show it on his face at all.
He just said calmly: "I understand. You should be careful when you go to Jianjiang."
Fang Zheng was dumbfounded. All his sentimentality was in vain? In the end, he still had to leave?
Then he asked, "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that I will cause trouble again in Jianjiang and lose face for the court?"
Emperor Jing finally smiled again: "Whether face or life is more important, it all depends on you, Fang Qing."
...............
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