Chapter 121: What Exactly Is His Goal?

This time, the Prefect and the Provincial Administration Commissioner colluded, and Wang Zhi and that Provincial Administration Commissioner were sent from Jincheng to the Capital in a prisoner transport cart.

Quite a few people were watching.

It was unclear how they, being far away in the Capital, could know about these actual deeds done by local officials.

But one by one, they soon received the news.

Even in Lingnan, there were people spreading the word, saying that the Prefect and the Provincial Administration Commissioner had colluded, and not long after, their homes were raided, the people were locked in the Ministry of Justice prison, and all the embezzled silver was sent to the national treasury.

Others said that the imperial court had sent people to inspect various places, the national treasury was in deficit, and the Emperor was thinking of raiding the homes of corrupt officials; as long as they dared to embezzle, and as long as they did not work with dedication, they could all be raided.

The officials all tucked their tails between their legs, and no one dared to embezzle; even in relatively poor places where the money donated by the commoners was not enough, officials would pay out of their own pockets to help get things done.

They were terrified of being caught in a mistake.

Not only would they be dismissed from office, but their homes would also be raided; for a time, everyone was in a state of panic.

While the officials were worried about their official hats every day, the commoners were having a great time.

Cases that the County Magistrate had previously been unwilling to handle were now being handled diligently, for fear that someone would seize upon a mistake and not let go.

Ten days later, Yan Ning received carrier pigeon messages from various places.

Her previous raid on Wang Zhi's home and his imprisonment had served as a warning to the other hundred officials.

Following this, academies in various places were set up in full swing.

There was only one problem.

This was a letter sent by Wei Wu, which read:

【The construction of the schools is going smoothly, but in some places, we cannot find scholars to serve as teachers; the scholars are unwilling to go to places that are too remote.】

Yan Ning pondered for a moment, then went to the Imperial Study to discuss it with her father.

At this time, the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works were also in the Imperial Study, and they were arguing incessantly.

"Your Majesty, our Ministry of Works is for building palaces and bridges, and managing water conservancy, flood prevention, and disaster relief; it is not a place to make tables and chairs just to sell them."

The Minister of Revenue on the side also said: "The national treasury hasn't reached the point of being in such a deficit..."

Yan Ze began to act unreasonably: "I don't care; in any case, I won't be renovating gardens or building imperial villas, and there is nothing worth repairing in the Imperial Palace. We only sleep in the Qianqing Palace, and now there are no water conservancy dams for you to repair. If you don't sell things, what use is your Ministry of Works?"

Yan Ze looked at Yan Ning, "But what has happened with the schools again?"

Yan Ning nodded.

Yan Ze said: "You wait a moment; I need to argue with the Minister of Works. What is wrong with opening a woodworking factory to make money?"

Yan Ning nodded: "Right, the national treasury is not enough; anything that can make money should be used to make money."

Both the old and the young loved to act unreasonably, and the Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue were both at their wits' end.

The Vice Minister of Revenue said: "The national treasury is abundant; it hasn't reached the point where the Ministry of Works needs to sell wood carvings to make money."

Yan Ning did the math for them: "You say the national treasury is abundant? Building Cement Roads costs money, building canals costs money, and there is also the development of river and sea transport; building docks is another expense. Then there are the schools in various places; the donated money can at most support the Masters for a few years. After that, shouldn't this money come from the national treasury? And there's more..."

Yan Ning counted the places where money needed to be spent in detail.

The more she spoke, the more the Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue felt a headache.

With tax cuts and various projects underway, how could the money possibly be enough?

The Minister of Revenue sighed: "Money shouldn't be squandered like this, and besides, we don't have much money..."

Yan Ning was dead serious: "We are so strapped for cash, yet the Ministry of Works is still so concerned about saving face, refusing to do this and that. Why keep a bunch of idlers?"

Here it comes, here it comes.

The threat of dismissal from office came again.

The Minister of Works had no choice but to follow Yan Ze's words and open a shop to sell various items, including all kinds of wood carvings, tables, chairs, stools, and miscellaneous handicrafts.

After resolving the issue with the Minister of Works, Yan Ze asked: "What trouble did you encounter this time?"

The Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue, who were originally prepared to leave, pricked up their ears and decided to stay and see first.

Perhaps if they encountered trouble, they could save a sum of money.

Yan Ning did not avoid these two; in any case, the court officials would know sooner or later.

Yan Ning said: "I received a carrier pigeon message saying that some places are poor and remote, and there are no scholars to give lectures. They also asked if they could let child students give lectures."

Yan Ze had long anticipated this, "Indeed, some villages are in mountain hollows, and the journey is treacherous; it is no wonder that some people are unwilling to go. But if they are replaced by child students, how will those children in the mountains ever walk out?"

Yan Ning sighed: "That is why I am starting to worry."

Yan Ning began to rack her brains, thinking that the benefits must be insufficient.

Yan Ning thought for a long time, then asked: "If we give the teachers the Ninth Rank, would that attract some people?"

Yan Ze pondered for a moment, "It might, but the impact might not be enough."

Yan Ning continued to think: "We will conduct an assessment of the teachers every six months. Those who achieve Grade A or Grade B for three consecutive years can be promoted based on their performance. As for what they will do, we can consider that later."

Yan Ze nodded: "Your method is good. What about the assessment method?"

Yan Ning: "For that, there must be supervision. The Village Chief will supervise whether the teacher is teaching seriously, whether the students' problems have been solved, and whether any students have passed the exam to become child students..."

"However, this is a preliminary idea, and I still need to discuss it with you all."

The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works looked at each other, both seeing the helplessness in the other's eyes.

They actually wouldn't even give up on the children in the big mountain hollows.

It was hard to say whether to call him kind-hearted or whimsical.

Yan Ning seemed to remember something and said to her father: "Didn't we dismiss many officials before? Why not let them go too? If they teach for three full years, they can retake the imperial examination."

Yan Ze's eyes lit up, "Fine, let's do it that way!"

The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Works looked at each other, both with somewhat subtle expressions.

It was hard to say whether those people were lucky or unlucky.

If you say they are lucky, they were dismissed from office; if you say they are unlucky, they can still test their way back.

These two imperial edicts were issued, and the effect was quite good; before long, there were people willing to go to remote places to teach.

With the carrot of a promotion dangling ahead, the positions for scholars in good locations were already filled, and those who didn't manage to snatch one went to remote areas just to enter officialdom.

Even then, there were still people who didn't get one and could only wait for others to step down before taking their place.

A few days later, another piece of good news arrived: the Fruit Wine from the Capital Brewery had finished fermenting, and as soon as it was moved to the wine shops, the entire stock was sold out.

The cost of this wine was not high, about fifty wen, but the selling price was not low, with one jar selling for two to three taels of silver.

This wine was not expensive, women could drink it too, and there were many wealthy families in the Capital who would buy ten or twenty jars at a time.

The commoners in the Capital were not poor either, and they could afford to buy some Fruit Wine occasionally.

The Liquor Workshop had already begun to expand its scale, renting two more rooms for brewing.

Even so, it was still in short supply.

The queue at the entrance of the Liquor Workshop stretched very long, and there were even people who specialized in buying wine for others.

The other five branch workshops sent letters back saying it was the same for them.

This day, after the morning court session ended, the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, who had always been at odds with Yan Ning, actually took the initiative to come find Yan Ning.

He flattered her, "His Highness has grown taller, and the suggestion His Highness made today was truly excellent."

Yan Ning:??

What on earth was his goal?