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Chapter 410: Wrestling (Part )

When this matter was mentioned, Empress Dowager Zheng's face suddenly darkened, and she snorted coldly: "It's that Prime Minister Wang who is obstructing and hindering everything. Otherwise, this matter should have been settled long ago."

Zheng Chen calmly took over the conversation: "The emperor said that the Princess of Nanyang submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting that Cui Du be granted the title of Marquis. This reward is indeed too shocking and unprecedented. Cui Du is not yet an adult. If he is made a Marquis early on, and then makes great contributions in the future, can he be granted the title of Duke?"

"Prime Minister Wang's blocking of this matter was not entirely out of selfish motives."

Empress Dowager Zheng had been receiving generous tributes from Nanyang County for many years, and with Eunuch Zhao always whispering in her ear, her heart had long been inclined towards Jiang Shaohua. Upon hearing this, she said, "Shaohua has already told me in the letter. This is just the first time, and it won't happen again."

Zheng Chen patiently said, "We have been at a standstill for so long, there should be a conclusion. If we take a step back, Prime Minister Wang will also take a step back. Grandaunt may wish to discuss this with the emperor again."

Only then did Empress Dowager Zheng reluctantly nod.

In the evening, Empress Dowager Zheng specially invited the emperor to have dinner at Jingyang Palace.

The emperor had to take charge of the state affairs at a young age, and was troubled by the complicated government affairs every day. What was more troublesome was that he, as the emperor, had no say in the important affairs of the court. He had to weigh everything and suppress the conflicts between the two parties, which was really tiring.

Empress Dowager Zheng was deeply concerned about her grandson, so she didn't rush to talk about the court affairs. She sighed first, "It's really not easy to sit on this dragon throne. Look at how haggard and exhausted you look. I feel really bad for you."

Emperor Taihe thought to himself that if you really love me, you should just pull your hand back and stop interfering in all my affairs.

He just kept these words in his mind and said that he must not say them. Emperor Taihe cheered up and said with a smile: "I feel at ease when my grandmother loves me and supports me."

Empress Dowager Zheng found these words very pleasing to her ears and smiled happily, "I am your grandmother, so I will naturally side with you in everything. The court officials who work hard are all good, like Duke Anguo and Minister Ji, who are all loyal and good officials. Prime Minister Wang, Minister Zhang, Minister Dai, Minister Zhou and others are capable officials, but they have too many distracting thoughts in their minds, forming factions in the court and influencing government affairs, which is very hateful."

That’s right, Empress Dowager Zheng is still the same as before, sparing no effort to belittle Prime Minister Wang and his party in front of the Emperor.

This method may be old-fashioned, but it is definitely effective. If the people closest to you keep saying bad things about others in your ears every day, no matter who you are, you will be affected unconsciously.

The young Emperor Taihe did have many complaints about the powerful Prime Minister Wang. He whispered, "Pingzhou has suffered from the plague. Most of the rebels in Pingzhou have died from the plague and have been defeated. This is God's punishment for the rebels in Pingzhou. I am really happy. However, there are more than 200,000 ordinary people in Pingzhou. How can we abandon them all?"

"Prime Minister Wang refused to send anyone to Pingzhou, but most of the officials in the court agreed. I really have no choice."

Empress Dowager Zheng agreed with Prime Minister Wang on this point: "Pingzhou has become the territory of the rebel army. Even though most of the rebel army has died, they may survive the plague and regroup. We must not be soft-hearted at this time."

"Plague is a natural disaster. Every time a plague breaks out, many people will die. Just seal off Pingzhou to prevent the plague from spreading."

"Besides, didn't Shaohua already send Doctor Sun? Nanyang County is in the north, much closer to Pingzhou. Let Doctor Sun and his team go and cure the plague, which is a great achievement. The court will reward them generously. If something happens, Doctor Sun and his team will die in Pingzhou, and it won't affect the court."

Emperor Taihe remained silent.

He suddenly felt a little envious of Princess Nanyang who was thousands of miles away.

Nanyang County is not very big, it is completely Jiang Shaohua's territory, Jiang Shaohua's words are final. If he wants to do something, he can do it with one order. He, the emperor sitting on the dragon throne, is like a puppet, he can do whatever he wants, he has no control over it.

Empress Dowager Zheng talked for a long time before she brought the topic back to Cui Du's reward: "... Zixian came to the palace to pay his respects to me today and told me about this matter." "I want to ask the emperor what his plan is."

Emperor Taihe was somewhat helpless: "Cousin Shaohua has donated grain to the court time and again, and Cui Du deserves half of the credit in the end. If he hadn't grown new grain, how could Nanyang County have so much grain? I wanted to follow cousin Shaohua's wishes and confer the title of marquis on Cui Du. But Prime Minister Wang and others disagreed."

Empress Dowager Zheng sighed with pity: "Forget it, I will not embarrass the emperor. Otherwise, I will take a step back and make Cui Du an earl. I will write a letter myself to explain everything to Shaohua."

"We have retreated to this point. If Prime Minister Wang still dares to nag, I will go to the Golden Palace to argue with him personally."

……

A few days later, the handwritten letter from Empress Dowager Zheng arrived in Nanyang County.

After reading the letter, Jiang Shaohua relaxed his brows and smiled slightly.

Seeing that the princess was in a good mood, Chen Jinyu also laughed: "Is there any good news from the capital?"

Jiang Shaohua hummed: "I guess so! Whether it can be successful or not, we still have to wait patiently."

The way of the officialdom is actually similar to that of businessmen. Asking for a high price and paying it back. She wrote in the memorial that she wanted to be conferred the title of Marquis, but what she had in mind was actually the title of Earl. Now it seems that she will get what she wants.

Jiang Shaohua asked someone to invite Chen Changshi and Feng Changshi over, and showed the letter from Empress Dowager Zheng to the two Changshi.

Chen Changshi was very satisfied. He stroked his beard and smiled, "Should we tell Master Cui about this great event in advance?"

Jiang Shaohua smiled and said, "Don't worry about it for now. It won't be too late to wait until the official reward and decree from the court arrives. In order to avoid any changes in the middle of the process."

Feng Changshi was concerned about many things: "Should we start preparing the military rations for the imperial court now?"

"No hurry," Jiang Shaohua said calmly, "The grain in our Nanyang County was not blown by the wind. When the imperial court awards us, we will give 50% first. The other 50% will be sent to the court next year."

Feng Changshi breathed a sigh of relief and bowed to accept the order.

After another half month, there was finally some movement from the court. Emperor Taihe sent an imperial envoy to confer awards and read the imperial edict.

It was already the coldest time of the year, and when the imperial envoy arrived in Nanyang, it would be the end of the year. The county magistrates of the fourteen counties were able to come and participate in this grand event.

The Nanyang Palace was busy with this matter. Cui Du, who had been busy at the farm, also returned to the Nanyang Palace at the urging of Cui Ping and others.

The first thing to do when returning to the palace is naturally to meet the princess and thank her for her grace.

Under the smiling gazes of the officials in the royal palace, Cui Du bowed with gratitude.