Chapter 112: Dismissal from Office

Yan Ning began to practice her calligraphy with great effort.

Just as she was practicing, the Prince of Nanyang and the Princess Consort arrived together.

It was for the sake of the two children's marriage.

Yan Ning is now thirteen years old, reaching the age where marriage arrangements are soon to be made.

At this time, Xiao Huaijin was already fifteen.

In the Daxia dynasty, men and women generally marry at fifteen, though families of high status will keep them for a few more years.

Yan Ning and Xiao Huaijin were betrothed by the Empress Dowager.

If Yan Ning were an ordinary young lady or Princess, that would be one thing.

But now Yan Ning is the Imperial Crown Princess, and this status is truly somewhat awkward.

One cannot have his son enter the palace, can one?

If Yan Ning were to take on a few more male favorites later, wouldn't his son suffer?

Thus, the Prince and Princess Consort of Nanyang brought Xiao Huaijin to the palace to discuss the two children's marriage.

Yan Ze also guessed their intent; seeing Xiao Huaijin arrive, he had someone take him to the Eastern Palace, where Yan Ning was listening to the Grand Tutor's lecture.

With the children sent away, Xiao Chengtian said, "Your Majesty, the marriage contract between the two children..."

Yan Ze said cheerfully, "Why call me Your Majesty? Is there any need for such formality between you and me?"

The Prince of Nanyang laughed, "I had better not have a charge of treason slapped on me later."

Yan Ze asked him, "Regarding the children's marriage contract, do you have any thoughts?"

Xiao Chengtian spoke directly, "My son likes Ningning, and we feel it is fine for our son to enter the palace, but if Ningning wants three wives and four concubines..."

Yan Ze understood his meaning: they can marry and live in the Eastern Palace, but they cannot quite accept Yan Ning having other male favorites.

Xiao Huaijin is, after all, the Heir of the Prince of Nanyang, and it is truly unacceptable for him to be jealous and compete with other male favorites.

Yan Ze said, "Then there is no problem; I have not even opened an inner palace, so it is even less likely for Ningning."

The Prince and Princess Consort of Nanyang looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Ze said with a smile, "However, the wedding date must be pushed back until Ningning is eighteen."

Yan Ze truly could not accept his daughter getting married at fifteen or sixteen.

She must at least be an adult.

The Prince and Princess Consort of Nanyang had no objections to this.

Yan Ze stood up, preparing to go see how Yan Ning's studies were going.

The Prince and Princess Consort of Nanyang followed behind.

Inside the Eastern Palace study, Yan Ning was practicing calligraphy, and Xiao Huaijin had also taken out paper to practice.

Yan Ning was on the verge of tears; her penmanship was crooked and messy, and she wrote so slowly with the brush that she could only ensure the characters were legible.

Looking at Xiao Huaijin's calligraphy on the side, it was written upright and neat; one could tell at a glance he was a good student.

Seeing the two children getting along harmoniously, he just took a look and left.

For the next three months, Yan Ning would write every afternoon, and Xiao Huaijin often came over to study with her.

With someone else suffering along with her, Yan Ning was not as resistant to the lessons.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed, and the Potato, Sweet Potato, and Corn on the Imperial Farm had all matured.

Taking advantage of the busy period, Yan Ning skipped the Grand Tutor and Grand Master's lectures to find people to promote the high-yield crops.

She wrote down the methods for the three crops, and the people below used Movable Type Printing to print thousands of copies in one go.

These were written in neat script, with several diagrams drawn in the middle, carved by craftsmen and then printed.

Yan Ning summoned one hundred guards who had been through life and death with them and said, "Each of you is responsible for four to five cities; take the high-yield crops there and have the Prefect give these things to the counties under their jurisdiction."

This time, the quantity of matured Seed was large, and everyone was allocated quite a bit.

Yan Ning's face darkened as she continued, "Also, your mission goes far beyond this; take some carrier pigeons with you when you go, and if anyone acts in compliance but secretly opposes, send me a message by pigeon immediately."

The one hundred people said in unison, "Yes!"

Yan Ning gave each person a Pouch containing fifty taels of silver, "If you discover officials who do not cooperate, you will be given one hundred taels of silver for catching one."

Yan Ning had recently gained a rough understanding of the situation in several prefectures; many officials were second-generation officials who went out to serve as County Magistrate to pad their resumes.

Some were Stewards, and some were even too lazy to attend court.

She might as well give these guards some silver and let them deal with those lazy officials who did not do their jobs.

The guards were all shocked.

Was this such a grand gesture?

Then they would have to investigate very carefully.

Yan Ning said, "No need to rush back; observe their situation first."

After the group agreed, they took the detailed planting methods and left directly.

Her father had issued an order some time ago encouraging the people to reclaim wasteland, so there should not be much of a problem with distributing high-yield seeds now.

A month passed, and Yan Ning received over a dozen pigeon messages with official titles and names written on them; no sooner had they left than someone threw away the Sweet Potato and Potato.

Yan Ning was furious.

During the morning court the next day, she brought up this matter.

"The front lines are short of food, yet there are officials acting in compliance but secretly opposing; some let the Sweet Potato rot, while others simply threw away the Sweet Potato and Potato, never once thinking that the soldiers on the front lines have no food and could have their city walls breached at any moment."

The hundred officials were all like quails, saying nothing.

Among those County Magistrate and Prefect, there were surely their own nephews and sons.

Yan Ze pondered for a moment, thinking that beheading was too severe, and if he fined them their salary, they would just go and commit graft; he could not think of a good method for a moment.

Yan Ze asked, "In your view, how should they be dealt with?"

Yan Ning didn't even think about it, saying directly: "Dismiss them from office. These parasites don't take orders seriously; if they are this lazy, why be officials at all?!"

Yan Ze nodded: "I think that is feasible."

Yan Ning immediately reported the names of these people.

"County Magistrate of Songshi County, Song Yunzhe."

"County Magistrate of Anle County: Jin Hezhi."

"County Magistrate of Anyang County: Hu Zhang."

"Prefect of Jincheng, Dan Yunfei."

"..."

Officials who had originally felt indifferent were shocked to hear names they were familiar with.

Quite a few officials stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, this must absolutely not be done. A three-year salary penalty or demotion would suffice; just give them a lesson."

"Your Majesty, dismissing so many officials at once means there will be no one to fill their positions for the time being."

Yan Ning said directly: "Should we keep officials who don't work just to celebrate the New Year? If there are no officials, prepare for the Imperial Examination immediately this year. In any case, those officials don't do any work, so it's about the same as having none. Once talent is selected through the Imperial Examination, they can take office."

Yan Ze nodded: "Mm, do as you say. Dismiss them first, and additionally, prepare for the Imperial Examination immediately."

Seeing that the ministers were about to speak again, Yan Ning said: "If they dare to disobey orders today, they will dare to rebel tomorrow. If everyone thinks dismissal won't do, then I think beheading or exile would work."

"What do you all think?"

The ministers shivered.

Let them be dismissed then.

Why were they so unlucky? One would always talk of exile, another would always talk of execution after autumn, and now this one always talked of dismissal.

Several ministers sighed in their hearts.

Forget it, dismissal is still better than exile or beheading.

The ministers looked at Yan Ning and Yan Ze with complex expressions.

They are usually very approachable, but when it is time to be ruthless, they are more ruthless than anyone else.