Chapter 59: Truly a Fine Dog Under Yang Chuan

In just three short days, with the assistance of Junior Minister Zuo Ci, Yang Chuan had reaped a bountiful harvest. The silver now deposited in the imperial treasury was more than enough to sustain the royal family's expenses for the next five years.

Moreover, true to his previous promise, he had refrained from giving Zuo Ci any further trouble. As for whether the other officials would target him in the future, that remained unknown.

After organizing the series of ledgers, Yang Chuan headed straight to the Yulong Hall to report the good news to Tian Yueying.

Along the way, he continuously pondered the thoughts of the high-ranking officials within the imperial court.

Although he had been the only top-tier official on par with the Empress when he first arrived in the state of Qi, his direct opposition to Chancellor An Xunlu had resulted in his actual power being stripped away right in the imperial court.

Later on, so that he could continue getting things done, the Empress had arranged an additional title of Second-Rank Governor for him.

According to the reports from the Ministry of Justice, more than half of the corrupt officials arrested this time were members of the Chancellor's faction.

That meant he had once again offended this veteran statesman who had served two dynasties.

Yet, over the past few days, he had not heard any movement from the Chancellor whatsoever, as if the latter had no intention of protecting his subordinates.

"Hmm, that's not right. Why is the usually arrogant and prideful Chancellor showing such remarkable composure?"

...

On the other side, having finished his final errand for Yang Chuan, Zuo Ci walked back toward his residence in low spirits.

As he passed the Chancellor's estate, he merely glanced up at the plaque on the gates, then lowered his head guiltily and quickened his pace, hoping to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible.

To his surprise, the moment he took another step forward, a deep voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Halt!"

Zuo Ci looked up to see the Chancellor abruptly stepping out of the estate, glaring at him with a furious expression.

"Ch-Chancellor!"

"Hmph, Junior Minister Zuo, you truly are a fine dog obeying Yang Chuan! But I find it curious—that fellow has only been in Qi for a few days, so how on earth did you end up sharing a pair of trousers with him?"

"Lord Chancellor, I truly had no choice! Th-that Yang Chuan, he got hold of my weakness and threatened me thoroughly, leaving me with no option but to provide him with clues."

With that, Zuo Ci drooped his head, wishing he could dig a hole and bury it.

Over the past couple of days, under Yang Chuan's relentless "threats," he had been forced to hand over intelligence concerning many of the Chancellor's faction members.

As a veteran official who had served in Qi for a decade, how could Zuo Ci not know the Chancellor's temperament?

Presumably, the Chancellor had known he would pass by here today and had deliberately waited for him.

Since matters had come to this, whether he was to be killed or dismembered, he would simply have to accept his fate!

Expecting the Chancellor to summon a few thugs to thoroughly humiliate a second-rank official like himself, Zuo Ci waited for a long time without receiving any reaction.

When he looked up again, he saw the Chancellor maintaining the exact same stern posture.

"Lord Zuo, you should just keep being a good dog for that Yang Chuan. When the day comes that you're thoroughly addicted to it, there will be plenty of people waiting to teach you a lesson!"

Flinging down those words, An Xunlu slammed the door shut in a rage and retreated into his estate.

...

Meanwhile.

After Yang Chuan handed over the ledgers of the past few days to Tian Yueying, she was simultaneously overjoyed by this windfall and worried for Yang Chuan's safety.

Having offended so many high-ranking court officials all at once, his days ahead would likely be far from easy.

To her astonishment, far from being concerned, Yang Chuan simply smiled and replied, "Your Majesty, capturing these corrupt officials this time is entirely thanks to Junior Minister Zuo Ci."

"To think that a proper second-rank official was made to act as a shield for a nominal governor like me while also providing intelligence—he has truly been wronged."

"Pfft."

Hearing the name Zuo Ci, Tian Yueying suddenly remembered that Yang Chuan had mentioned this to her a couple of days ago.

It was said that Zuo Ci had been a hundred times unwilling to render such assistance.

After all, even if he helped Yang Chuan achieve a meritorious service, in the end, he would merely receive some useless imperial reward.

Yet, facing the overbearing Yang Chuan, advancing or retreating felt equally wrong; whichever step he took meant plunging into an endless abyss.

Having finished discussing the replenishment of the imperial treasury, Yang Chuan turned to another serious matter.

"Your Majesty, over the past few days, I have been pondering some novel concepts."

Hearing Yang Chuan abruptly change his form of address, Tian Yueying shot him a look of utter disdain.

"I say, Yang Chuan, my dear Young Master Yang, can you dispense with these formal titles in front of me? Calling yourself 'this official' sounds simply dreadful!"

"You, just speak to me plainly and drop all these formalities from now on!"

"Very well."

Seeing the Empress's growing affection for him, he almost yielded to the impulse to reach out and pat her adorable little head.

However, considering they were currently inside the Yulong Hall, maintaining a degree of solemnity was probably best.

With that, he began to earnestly introduce the two new projects he intended to establish.

First, he proposed setting up an Academy of Sciences within the imperial capital to recruit capable scholars and talents from all across the State of Qi to research new technologies alongside him.

Second, using the smaller counties surrounding the capital as a starting point, he wanted to establish compulsory academies to educate the children of ordinary commoners, ensuring that they would have access to free books from birth.

As the saying goes: to strengthen a country, one must first strengthen education.

In these turbulent times, the children who could afford an education were almost exclusively the offspring of wealthy families or high-ranking court officials.

As for the children of ordinary commoners, the only skill they learned from birth was farming the fields alongside their parents.

Over the past few days, due to the crackdown on corruption, many important positions within the imperial court had become vacant.

And because those corrupt officials bore heavy crimes, most of them would spend years behind bars, making it difficult for them to ever return to their former posts.

This made the importance of compulsory education all the more evident.

In an era where imperial examinations had never yet been held, the only way for the imperial court to discover talent was through mutual recommendations by local officials in various cities.

Yet, personnel recommended through personal connections invariably carried private interests.

Consequently, whether those officials were truly suited for central government posts remained highly questionable.

After listening to Yang Chuan's two proposals, Tian Yueying agreed almost without hesitation.

"Yang Chuan, I have said it before: within the borders of the State of Qi, whatever you wish to do, you need not explain it to me in detail. I trust in your ability to transform Qi into a mighty empire!"

"I listened carefully to your explanation just now. Whether it is establishing a science academy or founding free schools, both will require a considerable amount of silver. However, our treasury has only just begun to recover from its deficits, and those funds might not be enough to sustain your projects."