Chapter 493: The Pay-to-Win Palace Intrigue System (28)

Xie San deliberately used the term "bandits" instead of "pirates" because he did not want the Fourth Prince to associate it with his Xie Family.

It wasn't that he didn't feel the sting of parting with five crates of Hand Grenades and two crates of refined Niter all at once, but if this could help repel the Hu people, send them scurrying away in defeat, and keep them from daring to invade Daye again, the old Duke in the afterlife would surely be proud of this descendant of his!

Although he, Xie San, had never entered the imperial court and was neither a scholar nor a warrior, he had still contributed his share to defeating the Hu people and safeguarding the rivers and mountains of Daye!

For the month that followed, Xie San was more actively concerned about the situation at Beiguan than anyone else.

Although he still took his daughter to the teahouse every day, he had no heart for bragging and kept his ears pricked to catch news from the imperial court.

Hearing that a great victory had been won, he excitedly slapped his thigh: "That was a given!"

That was five crates of Hand Grenades!

If that wasn't enough, there were still two crates of refined Niter!

Add some Charcoal and the Sulfur from firecrackers, and one could produce several more large crates of Hand Grenades.

With a combat record of defeating a ship of pirates with two Hand Grenades, with a dozen or twenty crates of Hand Grenades, was there anything to fear from the Hu people outside the pass? Even if they couldn't be killed, they could surely be scared to death, right?

Another month passed, and news came of a victory report from the front lines, saying that the Fourth Prince had taken the head of the Hu leader, captured a cavalry unit, and seized over a hundred high-quality warhorses.

After this battle, the Hu tribe was forced to retreat five hundred miles outside the pass to recuperate, which could ensure peace for Beiguan for at least three to five years.

In this campaign, our dynasty achieved a complete victory.

"Good! Good!"

Once the Emperor was happy, his illness was cured as well.

He was just waiting for the Fourth Prince to return to hold a grand victory banquet and reward the Zhenbei Army.

Xie San was so happy that he couldn't stop humming little tunes.

Don't look at how everyone was happy; his happiness was different from everyone else's.

Others were just happy that the imperial court had won a battle, while he was happy because: this victory had a share of his contribution!

Although there was no place for him at the victory banquet, he was happy in his heart.

Once happy, he took his daughter out to the streets.

"Yang Er, what do you want to eat? Daddy will buy it!"

"Does Daddy have money?"

"..."

What kind of talk was that? How could the head of the household have no money?

The monthly Silver he received from his wife was money too, *cough*.

"Master! Master!"

Having bought a pile of snacks for his daughter and returned to the mansion, he heard the gatekeeper servant running in, flustered.

Xie San straightened his face: "Report if you must report, why be so flustered? What kind of decorum is this!"

"No, Master, someone from the palace is here!"

"..."

Now, Xie San himself panicked.

Someone from the palace? Who was it? They wouldn't be here to arrest him, would they?

But he hadn't committed any crimes!

At most, he had bragged a few times with regular customers at the teahouse...

Could it be that his bragging had displeased the Emperor, and he had sent palace servants to reprimand him?

Feeling uneasy, he burned incense, changed his clothes, and then honestly knelt to receive the imperial decree.

After hearing the imperial decree, Xie San was stunned.

The rest of the Xie Family was also stunned.

Well, except for Xie Yang.

She had heard from the Main System that the Fourth Prince had requested a title for her convenient father as a Sixth-Rank Assistant Minister of the Bureau of Forestry.

Although it was a sinecure, it was still a Sixth-Rank official position, half a rank higher than the position the Second Master had purchased.

Xie San figured it out after a while and broke out in a cold sweat.

He had thought that no one would be able to find out that he had secretly sent the Hand Grenades and Niter to the Fourth Prince's residence!

He didn't expect the Fourth Prince to know everything! And he even helped him request a Sixth-Rank official title.

Thank goodness, thank goodness!

The Fourth Prince had won the battle.

If he had suffered a defeat, wouldn't he have settled the account on his head?

However, the lingering fear was only a tiny bit; there was more wild joy.

Oh my!

At his age, he had actually picked up an official position to hold!

He had originally wanted to purchase a position as a clerk for his son, but it had been delayed; he never expected that when he stopped thinking about purchasing an official position, he would unexpectedly receive an official title.

It truly was a case of "planting flowers with intent but they don't bloom, while planting a willow by chance and it grows into shade."

Regardless, he could now be considered a master with an official title.

And unlike the eldest, who inherited his title, or the second, who purchased his, this official position of his was earned through his own ability!

Xie San usually liked to show off to the eldest and second brothers whenever he encountered a bit of happy news, let alone this time.

He sent off the palace servant who delivered the decree, and immediately sent a servant to report the good news to the Old Matriarch, as well as the first and second branches of the family.

The Old Matriarch was naturally happy: "Lao San has made something of himself!"

The first and second branches, however, were a bit uncomfortable.

The first branch felt that even if the imperial grace was vast and they were to confer titles upon the descendants of the Xie Family, it should have been the Eldest Master.

For one, he is the titled lord, and for another, the imperial consort who birthed a dragon son for His Majesty hails from their first branch; no matter what, it would never be the turn of Lao San.

As for the second branch, there was more awkwardness than dissatisfaction.

The second master had donated for an official position for many years, yet his rank was still not as high as Lao San's, which truly made him lose a bit of face.

But no matter how unwilling they were to face it, the fact that Xie San held a sixth-rank official post was set in stone.

The Old Matriarch provided the Silver and hosted a few tables of banquet.

The first master and second master had not managed to find out the reason why Lao San was conferred an official post, so they simply assumed it was the Emperor's great favor, remembering the late Zhenguo Duke and intending to promote the late Duke's offspring, which was why he had conferred a sixth-rank post upon the idle Lao San.

"Third Brother, since you have entered officialdom, perform your duties well; do not let His Majesty down, and do not lose face for the Zhenguo Duke Mansion."

"Third Brother, although the Vice Director of the Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife is an idle post, you must not treat it lightly; do not oversleep and miss the roll call, for losing face is a small matter, but losing the official post is a big one."

"Do I need my brothers to teach me this? I understand!"

Xie San was in a good mood, so he did not bicker over the tone the eldest and second brothers used, which sounded like they were lecturing a son.

What kind of official post was the Vice Director of the Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife, anyway?

Through the Main System, Xie Yang gained an understanding of the current official positions in the Great Ye Dynasty; it turned out to be in charge of mountains, forests, rivers, and marshes.

It was subordinate to the Ministry of Works, but it was somewhat distant from the main duties of the Ministry of Works; what could barely be considered related was probably that, in addition to protecting mountains, rivers, forests, and marshes and managing the imperial parks, the Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife was also responsible for the approval and supervision of mineral extraction permits.

Xie Yang roughly knew why her father had obtained such an idle post—Niter was also a type of mineral, after all.

The Fourth Prince had likely sent people to investigate her family and learned that Xie San had racked his brains last year trying to donate for an official post; coupled with the Hand Grenade and Niter mine he contributed which played a great role in the battle at Beiguan, he had petitioned the Emperor after the victory banquet ended to request this idle post for her father.

Xie San went to report for duty at the Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife happily.

A new official brings a new broom.

Xie San, serving as an official for the first time, was full of passion; not to mention arriving on time for the roll call, he even got up earlier than the chickens.

It was just that for an idle post without any real power, it was truly idle.

Xie Yang followed along to experience it for a day, and to describe it in one word, it was "loafing."

But in this era, there were no newspapers and no mobile phones; after the roll call, just sitting there doing nothing all the time—not to mention that Xie Yang found it boring, even Xie San, who disliked being busy and was accustomed to being lazy, was bored to the point of molding, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was any need for this position to exist.

Of course, he only dared to think this in his heart.

To question an imperial official post, wouldn't that be a disguised way of questioning the Emperor?

"Logging, hunting, mining... there are local officials for supervision, how would it ever be my turn to point fingers... but besides Niter, I don't know the first thing about other minerals..."

Xie San flipped through the past files collected by the Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife, muttering to himself.

Other minerals?

Xie Yang sat next to her father, swinging her short legs, bored to the point of peeling a pile of melon seeds and peanuts; when she couldn't eat any more, she stuffed them into her father's mouth, and upon suddenly hearing her father's sigh, she immediately thought of that small island in the southern high seas that had once been occupied by pirates and was rich in coal resources.