Chapter 88

"Both County Magistrate Cai and County Magistrate Qin were demoted to the Lingnan region, and they were demoted to county military officers, and also sentenced for private crimes, so they will spend the rest of their lives in Lingnan. Prefect Zhou was also demoted to Jinghu South Road and became a vice prefect. This time, are you satisfied?"

Also, the eldest son of the Lu family was sentenced to be executed in the autumn, as decided by the Dali Temple, and there is no way to overturn the case.

The murderer, Fu Xiaozhuang, had good luck; it just so happened that Sima Guang was in the capital. Upon hearing the news, he immediately wrote a memorial, praising the filial piety of the man who had no choice but to take such action for his mother's illness. In reality, he was speaking to Emperor Zhao Shu, suggesting that even a commoner could go to such lengths, so why shouldn't the emperor show mercy?

Therefore, Fu Xiaozhuang was only sentenced to exile, and his life was spared.

The father and son of the Ding family, along with several others, were all sentenced to exile.

The Niu family also suffered greatly. To raise the 30,000 guan, they had to sell their property, becoming the second Ding family. When the Niu family moved out of their large house, Zhu Huan bought many firecrackers and set them off.

How could they not be happy, given their long-standing feud?

To see their family reduced to this, even if his son suffered, it was enough.

Moreover, Cheng Kan's financial situation had improved. He managed to gather over 60,000 guan in "donations." With this money, the future of Yan Prefecture would far surpass its historical counterpart.

Wang Ju smiled and said, "What a pity."

"What a pity about what?"

"Mr. Cheng, if not for this incident, how much would the sales of Jade Salt have increased in a year? Even now, the market only extends to the capital, not yet reaching the regions of Jidong, Huainan, Jiangnan, Liangzhe, and Fujian, which are the most densely populated and economically prosperous areas of our dynasty. If it continued to develop, wouldn't the sales double or even triple?"

"So what?"

"Wouldn't that bring in over 600,000 to 700,000 guan in revenue for the court each year? But with this release, in two years, they won't be as obedient in buying the salt certificates and producing salt."

Even if it brought in 700,000 guan a year for the Song Dynasty, it wouldn't all go to the treasury. After layers of embezzlement, 400,000 to 500,000 guan would be a good amount. But if it were fully released, the state might not even get 100,000 guan a year.

"Do you have the heart for the state?"

"The rise and fall of the state is the responsibility of every citizen. I can't be as carefree as my teacher, nor can I be as noble as Fan Zhongyan, but if I have the ability, I want the state to become stronger."

"Then why did you hand over that technology?"

"Everything is difficult at the beginning. Good things need a start, and bad things need a start. Once this start is made, it's impossible for Jade Salt to come together again. Handing over the technology can buy two more years, but if it's not handed over, it might fall apart this year."

This logic was clear not only to Cheng Kan but also to the large merchants.

Cheng Kan sighed slightly.

"I don't blame you for this, but I'm curious why none of those who opposed you had a good end."

Wang Ju blushed and said after a long pause, "Not all of them. There were major and minor issues. For example, one year, a clerk went to Wang Family Village to extort commercial taxes. I was scared, and I let it go without taking it to heart."

"Tell me more."

Wang Ju explained briefly.

"You're teaching them to be bad."

"Do these clerks need to be taught to be bad? If I didn't do that, the incident wouldn't have ended that day, and even if it did, there would be many more troubles afterward."

"These corrupt officials."

"Mr. Cheng, you must also consider that they are clerks and officials. Although the court says these positions should be filled by people from wealthy families, how many of these clerks are actually from wealthy families? They have no salary and no benefits, so how can they not reach out?"

Cheng Kan was speechless.

This was a flaw, but could salaries be given? How many clerks and officials were there in the country?

Whether it could be done or not, it could, but the court's finances needed to be healthy, and the system needed to be further improved.

"Mr. Cheng, how is the steel-making technology I submitted?"

"I handed it over to the court, and it is now managed by the Office of Works. I am not in a position to ask."

That was the initial technology, which still needed further development, as Wang Ju had clearly written on the paper. After all, small-scale production and large-scale production are different.

The Office of Works might be developing it, but with the many events in recent years, it might not have received funding from the court, so it hasn't been developed.

But in Yan Prefecture, Cheng Kan saw that the quality of the weapons and armor transported by the court had not improved.

On the contrary, the small village continued to improve its technology after Wang Ju left. Out of curiosity, he spent 90 guan to buy the best Taoxi sword, which sold for 200 to 300 guan in the capital. He wanted to know what made it so good, so he used the court's saber to test it. The saber was immediately damaged with a large notch, while the Taoxi sword remained unscathed.

The quality difference was significant.

Moreover, the horse breeding strategy he submitted made sense. Why raise horses if not to strengthen the army and form a powerful cavalry? He submitted a memorial to the court, but it was ignored. The most unfortunate part was the light mud and side.

He worked hard in Yan Prefecture but was repeatedly criticized by Sima Guang, which made Cheng Kan feel disheartened.

He clearly didn't want to mention this, so he said, "I called you here to inform you of something. I plan to hold the autumn examination after the Mid-Yuan Festival (July 15th), in late July."

"So early?" Wang Ju was surprised.

In the Song Dynasty, the imperial examinations usually took place in September, when the farming season was over. There wasn't much to do in winter, and then the candidates were sent to the capital. They took the provincial examination in January, and the results were graded and announced, so the palace examination was held in late February, and the names were announced at the Donghua Gate in March. Those who failed hurried home, though it delayed the spring planting, they could still catch the summer harvest.

Cheng Kan had advanced the examination by two months!

"Do you want to wait longer?"

"It doesn't matter to me. It might be better for me to take it earlier."

"Then go ahead."

Cheng Kan called Wang Ju out of kindness. The matter was over, so he shouldn't cause any more trouble and should focus on his studies. By telling him the time, he wanted Wang Ju to prepare early. Yan Prefecture's education was backward, and this year, only eight candidates were allowed to take the examination.

Compared to previous years, it wasn't a small number. Cheng Kan never doubted Wang Ju's ability to pass the examination. Even for the imperial examination, he had no doubt, and he believed Wang Ju had a 95% chance of being named at the Donghua Gate next year.

He was very confident.

However, those named at the Donghua Gate were also ranked.

Therefore, he wanted Wang Ju to be well-prepared. Passing the examination wasn't enough; he needed to be the top candidate, which would give him more confidence to aim for higher ranks in the provincial and palace examinations, at least third or second class. As for the first class... well, no one could say for sure.

Although Cheng Kan really wanted it, if Wang Ju could make it to the first class, how much confidence would it bring to the students of Yan Prefecture?

Wang Ju didn't go home but went to the Li family.

"Father-in-law, the case is over. The eldest son of the Lu family was sentenced to execution in the autumn by the Dali Temple. The father and son of the Ding family, Fu Xiaozhuang, and others were exiled. County Magistrate Cai and County Magistrate Qin were demoted to Lingnan for private crimes and became county military officers. The Jade Salt shares were returned to the Zhu family."

"That's good."

Qin's wife, however, scolded, "Wang Ju, how can I go back to my parents' home now?"

PS: In the Song Dynasty, officials who were found guilty of corruption were usually not imprisoned or executed but were given the name of a private crime. Once this crime was added, they could only be demoted and never promoted, and they would be ridiculed by their colleagues.

Thank you to the readers 130126183613263 for the 200, Gong Sun Tang for the 1888, and 141114111826937 for the 100 Qidian coins. I will add one more update, making it 16 updates in total.

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