Extra 3-15: New Department, New Atmosphere

That morning, Lord Li, who was far away in Ling State, received an invitation from Emperor Xiao Ze of Great Zhou. After reading the letter, he frowned and set it aside.

Princess Wen Yi came to the palace to offer Lord Li some freshly made scented tea. Upon seeing the invitation, she smiled and said they hadn’t been to the capital of Great Zhou for some time. Since the Emperor had invited them, they had to go.

But Lord Li shook his fan and said, “I don’t really want to go this time.”

Lord Li didn’t want to be involved in state affairs and only wanted to live a quiet and wealthy life. However, Xiao Ze, who saw it as his duty to revive the country, would make all his leisure activities serve his “great cause.”

These two people had very different personalities, but for some reason, they always got along well when drinking, playing drinking games, or bragging together.

Last year, Xiao Ze went to Chengde to escape the summer heat and inspected the vassal states in the northwest. At the welcome banquet, he got Lord Li drunk and unconscious. He was dizzy and unable to get out of bed for three days. Even a year and a half later, Lord Li still had lingering fears about meeting Xiao Ze.

Moreover, he had been to the Great Zhou Royal City several times before, so it no longer held much appeal.

Lord Li decided to wait and see.

A few days later, another imperial decree came from the capital, but this time, it was not a regular letter, but an imperial edict. So Prince Li had no choice but to go.

Lord Li felt Xiao Ze was acting a bit unusually this time. He rarely issued such a formal decree for something as simple as asking him to come to the capital.

As the saying goes, unusual things often signal something amiss. Lord Li began to worry there was some conspiracy behind Great Zhou’s invitation to him.

However, Princess Wen Yi soon found out that it wasn’t just King Li who was called to the capital by Xiao Ze, but also the kings of several other vassal states.

Lord Li immediately felt much more at ease.

It was possible Xiao Ze targeted him alone, but unlikely he would target all the rulers of Great Zhou’s vassal states.

In that case, let’s go.

Prince Li and his entourage arrived at the post station tired, and the eunuchs in the palace told them that the princes had arrived at a coincidence, as there would be a military parade in the western suburbs camp the next day, and His Majesty invited them to watch.

Upon hearing this, Lord Li began to feel uneasy. When high-ranking guests visited the capital, they were usually escorted with luxurious carriages, accompanied by dancing women, and entertained at banquets. Why were they suddenly being taken to the parade ground?

Several kings were confused, but since they had already arrived in the capital and the emperor had spoken, no one expressed any other opinions, so they could only follow his request.

However, after arriving at the western suburbs camp, the kings saw that this military review was very different from what they expected. Instead of conventional weapons like cavalry, infantry, and engineers, they saw powerful weapons with great lethality.

The soldiers of the Firearms Battalion were in uniform, and the smoke filled the air, which was very shocking.

Even after the review was over, the kings were still stunned.

Xiao Ze was pleased with the outcome. Just as he expected, these kings had lived in the northwest for many years, complacent and unwilling to progress. They were like quails, having never seen the world. By letting the Firearms Battalion show off their skills, they were all left speechless.

Xiao Ze took Tao Sheng back to Xuanzheng Hall and expressed his feelings for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered something very important: “It’s time to fulfill our original agreement. I plan to upgrade the rank of the Ministry of Investigation after the New Year.”

Xiao Ze was particularly interested in this newly established department. He wanted to set it up as a first-class department right from the start and give Tao Sheng a first-class minister position.

Tao Sheng thought Xiao Ze was being a bit hasty, so she tactfully suggested that starting with such a high rank was too much. The court already had a low acceptance of the Ministry of Gewu, and raising it to the same level as the six ministries would make it even less convincing.

We can first decide on the third rank. After all, the Taiyue Bureau was promoted from the sixth rank to the fourth rank. Once actual achievements are made and everyone agrees, it will be easy to promote it to the first or second rank.

Xiao Ze and Ji Yanming had agreed that Tao Sheng could work peacefully and comfortably after returning. Tao Sheng’s reasoning was sound.

After thinking it over, Xiao Ze finally agreed.

The groundwork for the Ministry of Gewu was well prepared, and it developed smoothly after its creation.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. After the children celebrated their fourth birthday, it was also the third anniversary of the Ministry’s founding.

Xiao Ze started bringing up the old issue again.

In these years, the Firearms Battalion under the Ministry of Gewu had developed well, with visible progress in various fields.

Xiao Ze was someone who didn’t like to keep good things to himself. If he didn’t show people now, it would feel like walking in the dark with fine clothes. So, he invited Lord Li and others to see it during the New Year celebrations.

It wasn’t just the Firearms Battalion parade that he wanted them to see, but also how the capital had changed under the influence of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Tao Sheng still had work to do that day. After the military parade, she didn’t stay with the Emperor to imagine the future but returned to the Ministry of Gewu to work on the year-end report.

The Ministry of Personnel was evaluating all officials before the New Year. After the New Year, each department would report on their work and evaluate performance.

The Ministry of Gewu was different from the old Taiyue Bureau.

This document had to include a summary of the department’s highlights for the year and plans for the next year. When Tao Sheng worked in the Taile Office, the report content was similar, so she just made some changes and reused last year’s format.

But the Ministry of Gewu was different. Its responsibilities were varied and new, so she couldn’t rely on other departments’ reports.

Tao Sheng had followed the Queen’s advice and selected several talented women from the palace to serve in the Ministry of Investigation. Now, the court was more open to the idea of women serving as officials.

In addition to these female officials, Tao Sheng also hired two experts from the Hanlin Academy to help with official documents.

Still, she had to make her own decisions for the final draft.

After revising it three times, Tao Sheng wasn’t fully satisfied. As she left home, she ran into Xie Huaian and asked him to take a look.

Xie Huaian had a dinner that evening but agreed to revise the document and send it to the Ministry after he was done.

Xie Huaian was a first-class writer in the Hanlin Academy and now worked for the Ministry of Revenue. He was very skilled at official documents.

Tao Sheng happily agreed.

Ji Yanming had returned home early. When he saw Tao Sheng, he said, “When I went to pick you up from the Ministry of Investigation, Lord Lin told me you were worried about a document. Why don’t you show it to me?”

“I happened to run into Xie Huaian, and I asked him to help me revise it,” Tao Sheng said. “He’s always so enthusiastic, he agreed right away.”

She meant Xie Huaian was a good person.

Ji Yanming frowned. He had seen them talking and laughing earlier and didn’t expect Tao Sheng would give Xie Huaian the task of revising official documents.

“Isn’t this seeking help from far away instead of near?” he thought.

Tao Sheng noticed Ji Yanming’s expression and said, “Xie Huaian is a professional.”

Ji Yanming raised his eyebrows. “I remember during the palace examination, I was first, and he was only third.”

Tao Sheng was confused. Was Ji Yanming competing with Xie Huaian?

“It’s like this…” Tao Sheng explained, “You’ve been handling important national matters for the past few years, so you may be unfamiliar with writing official documents. That’s why I didn’t think of asking you for help.”

Ji Yanming took out a pen and paper and said, “Do you remember the general content? Why not write it down now?”

Since Tao Sheng had already revised the document three times, she remembered the content clearly.

She wrote the report, and Ji Yanming spent an hour refining it perfectly. Tao Sheng was happy with the result and praised, “Master Ji, your skills are still as good as ever.”

Ji Yanming then said, “Shengsheng, I’m not yet thirty.”

Tao Sheng was still thinking about the perfect document when Ji Yanming suddenly said this. Why were they talking about age?

He continued in a deep voice, “With the New Year approaching, I’ve been busy lately and might have neglected you. Maybe that’s why you’re thinking like this.”

Ji Yanming kissed Tao Sheng, and the document she had just worked on slipped from her hands.

The reinforced Huanghuali bed in the study came in handy again. Ji Yanming showed what it meant to be “still in good shape.”