Chapter 122: Marquis Shen
It wasn’t until the two had walked far away that the crowd stood up.
Chu Tianyu looked at their departing figures, his gaze sinister!
Crown Prince, Crown Prince! Crown Prince! Father Emperor keeps saying Crown Prince, Crown Prince!
Clearly, a few years ago, Father Emperor had stopped mentioning Crown Prince so often!
And these ministers, they’re all a bunch of opportunists!
Before Chu Tiankuo returned, they were all so respectful to me.
Now they keep saying how great the Crown Prince’s contributions are!
The Crown Prince has made great contributions!
The Crown Prince is deeply blessed!
Bah!
That damned Chu Tiankuo, I truly underestimated him!
The Second Prince glared at Prime Minister Liang and the others, then strode away!
He was furious!
Prime Minister Liang frowned. The Second Prince still hadn’t learned to be patient.
What’s the rush?
We still have a trump card.
Even if he has made great contributions, as long as his scandal of liking men is exposed, he will still be ruined!
The most important thing now is to find the person who cultivated the high-yield grain seeds and the person who invented the three farming tools, bring them over to our side, and use them for our own purposes! If they can’t be won over, then destroy them!
The high-yield grain seeds of the Zhao Kingdom need to be re-bred every year, so it’s likely that the ones cultivated in our Chu Kingdom are the same.
So as long as we find the person who cultivated the high-yield grain seeds, we also have a way to turn the tables!
~
Imperial Study
The Emperor gestured for the eunuch to dismiss everyone around. All the guards outside were stationed two meters away before he asked, “Who cultivated this high-yield grain seed? I must reward him handsomely! And those farming tools, I must also reward her generously.”
Chu Tiankuo’s tone was respectful yet distant, “Cultivating high-yield grain seeds is a great contribution to the world and future generations. How does Father Emperor intend to reward them? And for the invention of the three farming tools, how does Father Emperor intend to reward her?”
The Emperor glanced at his son, who no longer showed the closeness he had in his youth. His lips twitched, but he ultimately didn’t say anything. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “What kind of reward does Kuo’er think is appropriate? You were right before, the cultivation method and location of these high-yield grain seeds are secrets that cannot be leaked. To protect them, the rewards for these two people cannot be publicly announced for now, but they will definitely be rewarded.”
A mocking smile played on Chu Tiankuo’s lips, “Will Father Emperor reward them as I suggest?”
The Emperor looked at him, his heart skipping a beat. Could it be that these high-yield grain seeds were really cultivated by him?
Thinking of this, the Emperor nodded, “Yes, Kuo’er can decide the reward!”
Chu Tiankuo didn’t hold back, “Inventing high-yield grain seeds, benefiting the people, and benefiting future generations is a great contribution. I believe they should be granted the title of Marquis.”
The Emperor frowned upon hearing this, “Grant the title of Marquis?”
Could it be that he wants to exonerate Marquis Changping and posthumously grant him the title?
But there’s no need for that!
The Emperor pondered for a moment, “The current Marquises were all granted their titles for accompanying Emperor Taizu in conquering the world. These are hereditary titles passed down through generations! All those with titles were those who helped conquer the world. Granting titles symbolizes the sharing of the empire. No one has been granted the title of Marquis since the founding of the Chu Kingdom! There is no precedent for granting a title in this situation.”
Chu Tiankuo, “Since ancient times, conquering the world is easy, but governing it is difficult! I believe that cultivating high-yield grain seeds with a yield of nearly a thousand jin per mu will contribute to the stability of the Chu Kingdom’s society and its future. Moreover, this contribution is long-term, permanent, and will benefit generations to come! Therefore, I believe that granting the title of Marquis, or even King, is not excessive! If there is no precedent, we can create one!”
Grant the title of King?
He really dares to say that?
Let’s just grant the title of Marquis!
The Emperor looked at him and thought for a moment, “You’re right. Then grant him the title of Marquis of World Peace. This title can be announced to the world, but the identity of the person will not be revealed for now.”
Chu Tiankuo knew that his Father Emperor was always hesitant and afraid of this and that. If he didn’t want to announce it, then so be it. As long as there was a title, it was fine!
Besides, if it were announced, that girl would probably be annoyed by the trouble!
As for granting the title of King?
✿✿✿
Oh, his girl is so capable, becoming a King is only a matter of time!
Chu Tiankuo nodded, “Father Emperor is thoughtful. In addition to this, cultivating grain seeds requires land.”
The Emperor readily agreed, “Then reward them with another thousand mu of fertile land! And ten thousand taels of silver! How about that?”
It just so happened that he still had some fertile land from his time as Crown Prince, which had not been incorporated into the imperial farmland.
No one in the court knew about it.
All these years, it was those fields that had been supporting those soldiers.
Now, although he was taking out a thousand mu of land as experimental fields for seed breeding, if the grain yield could reach a thousand jin per mu, the harvest from the remaining land would still be enough to feed the soldiers.
But he had recently ordered the expansion of the army, and tens of thousands of soldiers had been secretly added.
Their daily food consumption was not insignificant.
It seemed that he would have to ask Prince Ding to secretly purchase more fertile land.
Chu Tiankuo, “I thank Father Emperor for the reward on behalf of the Marquis of World Peace! As for the reward for the three farming tools, the foot-pedaled thresher is the most practical…”
The Emperor already knew who invented the three farming tools. He planned to grant her the title of Princess later, so there was no rush.
The Emperor interrupted him, “The contribution of these three farming tools is far less than that of the high-yield grain seeds. Granting the title of Marquis is impossible. I will reward her with an imperial decree archway, a three-entry house in the capital, and a pair of jade ruyi.”
Another imperial decree archway? What’s the use of that thing?
Although that girl didn’t say anything when she was rewarded with an imperial decree archway last time, he knew that she disliked it immensely! After all, it wasn’t practical at all!
Chu Tiankuo shook his head, “Once the imperial decree archway is built, everyone will know where the inventor of the farming tools lives. Therefore, although the imperial decree archway is good and brings great honor, I believe that such a talented individual, besides secrecy, needs protection. Father Emperor, why not reward her with a gold token! A gold token that can command the Embroidered Uniform Guards everywhere to protect her. A gold token that even local officials cannot challenge!”
He was also intentionally testing whether the Emperor had secretly sent Embroidered Uniform Guards to protect her.
The Emperor readily nodded, “The Crown Prince is thoughtful. Such a talented individual does need to be protected secretly. Then I will grant her a gold token equivalent to my presence!”
This reward of a gold token is actually what I had in mind.
He had originally intended to reward her with a gold token to facilitate the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ protection of her.
Hearing this, Chu Tiankuo glanced at the Emperor. It seemed that it was indeed Father Emperor who had sent Embroidered Uniform Guards to protect her.
This definitely wasn’t because of the oil-saving lamp.
Then what was it for?
Formations?
Could it be that Old Master Tang has a connection with Father Emperor?
What is the purpose of their connection?
Why is Master hiding it from me?
Chu Tiankuo continued, “The gold token equivalent to your presence, a three-entry house in the capital, and a pair of jade ruyi are the rewards for the foot-pedaled thresher. Then what reward does Father Emperor intend to give for the manual reaper?”
Emperor: “…”
Thank you to all the readers who have donated and voted~
Bonus chapter today
