The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1306: 1302nd: important minister
Chapter 1306: Important Officials
“This matter has been handed over to the Dali Temple. If it is true, then those who should be arrested should be arrested, those who should be imprisoned should be imprisoned, and those who should be killed should be killed! Everything should be handled according to the laws of the Great Zhou.” Bai Qingyan said to Dong, “We must give justice to the people and let those powerful people know that the current Great Zhou is different from the original Jin Dynasty… It is not that as long as you have power and money, you can do whatever you want.”
“I think that they should be severely punished just because they are royal relatives!” said the second wife, Mrs. Liu.
“Just follow the law. If it’s too strict, people will think that our Bai family is putting on a show for the people. There’s no need to do this…” Fifth Madam Qi said with a smile.
“That’s what I meant, and… the clan leader has already gone back to prepare to change the clan laws and regulations. When dealing with external affairs, we should use the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The clan laws just need to be stricter.”
While Bai Qingyan was talking to her mother and several aunts, Wei Zhong received a report from the young eunuch that the Minister of Works Shen Tianzhi had arrived.
Wei Zhong walked in with small steps, stood outside the landscape painting screen, and said in a low voice: “Your Majesty… Lord Shen, the Minister of Works, has arrived.”
Bai Qingyan, who had just put a spoonful of yogurt to his mouth with a small silver spoon, responded, drank the yogurt quickly, put down the silver cup, kissed the two children, and got up to go to the study.
On the way, Bai Qingyan thought about it and asked Wei Zhong to send someone to call Dong Changyuan and Li Mingrui together.
When Bai Qingyan arrived at the study, she saw Shen Tianzhi, who was wearing his official uniform, waiting outside the door in the bright sun. He wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief in his sleeve. She quickened her pace and said to Shen Tianzhi with a smile, “Master Shen is here so quickly!”
“Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!” Shen Tianzhi put away the handkerchief in his hand and bowed to Bai Qingyan with a smile. “Your Majesty summoned me, and I was afraid there was something urgent, so I ran all the way here.”
“Please come in, sir!” Bai Qingyan was the first to step into the main door of the study.
Shen Tianzhi followed him in and knelt behind the table below Bai Qingyan. When Bai Qingyan mentioned that he wanted Shen Tianzhi’s eldest son Shen Yan’an to return to Shuoyang to replace Bai Qingping, Shen Tianzhi agreed.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for thinking of my son…”
“Master Shen is really good at teaching children. Although they are young, they are all very useful!” Bai Qingyan picked up the teacup. “Shen Yancong has performed very well in Hancheng. Whether it was Gao Yijun before or Qin Lang, Lu Yuanqing, and Chen Zhaolu who are currently in Hancheng, they all mentioned Shen Yancong in their memorials, saying that Shen Yancong was a great help to them in ensuring the smooth implementation of the new policy.”
Shen Tianzhi’s eyes were full of smiles, and he said hurriedly: “Our Great Zhou Kingdom is so big, and there are many talented people. It is only because your majesty promoted Yan Cong that Yan Cong had the opportunity to stand out. I would like to thank your majesty here!”
Bai Qingyan was amused by Shen Tianzhi: “Sir Shen, my father regards you as a close friend. I never saw Sir Shen being so polite when we were in Shuoyang. Why is Sir Shen speaking the same tone as County Magistrate Zhou now?”
Ever since Shen Tianzhi was transferred away, the prefect of Shuoyang has been replaced by Lord Zhou. Now he should be called Prefect Zhou, but Bai Qingyan is still accustomed to calling Lord Zhou Magistrate Zhou. After all, Magistrate Zhou left a deep impression on her at that time.
Shen Tianzhi couldn’t help but laugh. He confirmed that Bai Qingyan was still the same as before. He stopped imitating Lord Zhou and said with a smile, “I originally thought that Your Majesty would be different from the previous Princess Zhenguo now that he has ascended the throne. I didn’t expect Your Majesty to still be like this. But speaking of Lord Zhou…”
Bai Qingyan became interested and looked up at Shen Tianzhi, as if waiting for what to come.
“This Lord Zhou is very well-informed and perceptive. A few days after the palace examination results were announced and the test papers were posted, Lord Zhou came to me and asked me whether the promotion and demotion of officials in the future should be considered according to the ‘Outline for the Assessment of Officials of the Great Zhou’ written by Dong Tingzhen,” Shen Tianzhi said with a smile.
Shen Tianzhi had this feeling after Bai Qingyan asked his mother Dong to appoint his cousin Dong Tingzhen as the candidate for the imperial examination. Later, the empress dowager had the examination papers posted, and Shen Tianzhi suddenly realized what Bai Qingyan would do next.
I also understand that there will probably be major changes in the court during the next assessment.
When Lord Zhou was in Shuoyang, he liked to discuss everything with his superior Shen Tianzhi. This time, when he got these papers, he had a bad feeling in his heart, so he quietly rushed to the capital city to meet Shen Tianzhi.
Shen Tianzhi did not give a direct answer, but just said some irrelevant words vaguely. Considering that Lord Zhou, apart from being a scheming person, was not an official who treated the people as worthless, he reminded Lord Zhou to act in the right way.
He also reminded that Lord Zhou liked to cater to Princess Zhenguo when he was in Shuoyang before, so now he must cater to His Majesty’s ideas and strategies and never go against His Majesty, otherwise he will be the next one to be unlucky.
Lord Zhou suddenly realized something, bowed to Shen Tianzhi, and hurried back to Shuoyang, planning to do some outstanding things in Shuoyang. He must not hold on to the position of prefect with the same mentality of muddling through as before, otherwise he might not be able to keep his position as prefect.
Bai Qingyan listened to Shen Tianzhi’s words, rubbing the hand holding the teacup slightly, then looked up at Shen Tianzhi and asked: “Master Shen, what do you think of Master Zhou?”
“Lord Zhou is actually quite capable. He is good at scheming and likes to scheme for personal gain. He is also very aware of the times. It all depends on how the people above him use him. If the people above him use him well, this person can be used! If the people above him are crooked… then Lord Zhou, the lower beam, will definitely be crooked as well.” Shen Tianzhi’s words were very pertinent.
“Then Lord Zhou and Lord Shen should pay more attention to him. If he can be used during the year-end assessment, he can be promoted.”
When Shen Tianzhi heard Bai Qingyan’s words, he smiled and said calmly: “Your Majesty, don’t worry. Just because of our old friendship, Lord Zhou once welcomed Your Majesty outside Shuoyang City together, I will definitely promote him if I can!”
After hearing what Shen Tianzhi said, Bai Qingyan seemed to have returned to the time when she was the Princess of the State. At that time, every time she returned to Shuoyang or left Shuoyang, Lord Shen and Lord Zhou would go to greet her and see her off…
But at that time, Lord Zhou was thinking about his own future, while Lord Shen was more interested in sizing her up to see what kind of person Bai Qishan’s eldest daughter was, and whether she was worthy of being the Bai family’s retreat!
Shen Tianzhi is a person chosen by my father, so his abilities are naturally needless to say. Now that Shen Tianzhi is in the position of Minister of Works, it is already an extraordinary promotion. However, one day in the future, Shen Tianzhi will definitely be an important official in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty.