eurekapd Chapter 216 Wen Yunhong's Request
Chapter 216 Wen Yunhong's Request
"Your Majesty, Minister Xue is getting on in years. Do you think it necessary to transfer him back to the capital to rest for a few days?" Wen Yunhong felt sorry for the old man Xue Yifeng and pleaded on his behalf before Xia Yichen.
Xia Yichen looked troubled. The officials of the Ministry of Works were all formidable figures; without Minister Xue Yifeng present, none of them would likely submit to anyone else.
"I know that Minister Xue is not suited for long-term travel, and without a suitable replacement, I cannot rashly recall him," Xia Yichen said with some distress.
Wen Yunhong said confidently, "Your Majesty, how could you forget about Brother Jiarui?"
Li Jiarui was well-read and also had expertise in architecture, so assigning him to manage the officials in the Ministry of Works was a good use of his talents.
Xia Yichen laughed happily, "How could I have forgotten about Jia Rui? Eunuch Zhang, hurry, quickly draft an edict to transfer Li Jia Rui back to the capital!"
"Your Majesty, I have a request," Wen Yunhong said somewhat awkwardly. Having served in the court for many years, this was the first time he had asked the Emperor for a personal matter; he was quite embarrassed.
Xia Yichen slowly asked, "What is it?"
Thinking of Yang's tearful account, Wen Yunhong gritted his teeth and said, "My cousin, Wen Yunhai, has been in Wei County for many years. Could Your Majesty please transfer him back to the capital?"
After hearing this, Xia Yichen frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. He had arranged for Wen Yunhai to take up his post in Wei County, originally thinking that Wei County was wealthy and it would be easier for him to achieve political success as magistrate there.
Unexpectedly, Wen Yunhai stayed in Weixian County for more than a decade. During his tenure, his performance was mediocre, with nothing particularly outstanding. His name never appeared on the list of candidates for promotion.
However, Wen Yunhai and his sister Wen Yunhong were very close. Out of respect for Wen Yunhong, and since she had brought it up, he had to find a solution. Xia Yichen slowly explained his method:
"It's difficult to convince the public to arbitrarily transfer officials who aren't on the promotion nomination list. At the end of the year, I'll find a way to put Wen Yunhai's name on the promotion list."
Wen Yunhong immediately knelt down to express his gratitude, secretly overjoyed. Yang had missed Wen Yunhai for many years, and now that the Emperor had spoken, Wen Yunhai could finally return.
Meanwhile, Li Jiarui, who was serving as the county magistrate of Anyang County, Wen Yuxia's hometown, received the imperial edict and quickly handed over the reins to the person sent by Xia Yichen to take over as county magistrate, and set off for Beijing overnight.
On the day Li Jiarui returned to the capital, Xia Yichen left the palace incognito, accompanied by Empress Xie Qianlian. Meanwhile...
Li Jiating, Li Jiarui, Zhang Jinxuan, Meng Xiaoyi, An Chiyu, and Wen Yuxia and her brother all arrived at Yunyi Tower, in Xia Yichen's old private room.
Xia Yichen and Xie Qianlian appeared silently at the door of the private room. Zhang Jinxuan and the others quickly got up to greet them and closed the door.
"Your subordinates pay their respects to Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress," Li Jiating and Zhang Jinxuan said in unison, kneeling on one knee.
Wen Yuxia performed a standard curtsy and said softly, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress."
Wen Yunhong and the others bowed respectfully to Xia Yichen and his wife.
Having finally managed to sneak out, Xia Yichen wasn't there to watch them put on airs of greeting. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Alright, stop pretending when there are no outsiders around."
Xie Qianlian personally stepped forward to help Wen Yuxia up, and said with a smile, "Mu Hua, why don't you come to the palace to play with me?"
Counting the timeline, after Xia Yichen ascended the throne, Wen Yuxia sent quite a few things to the palace, but she herself never entered the palace. Xie Qianlian wanted to invite her to the palace, but Xia Yichen stopped her.
Wen Yuxia smiled faintly and remained silent, nodding slightly in Xia Yichen's direction, as if she wanted him to explain why she hadn't entered the palace.
Xia Yichen understood her meaning and laughed, "Mu Hua doesn't like going to the palace. If you want to see her, you have to sneak out of the palace."
Wen Yuxia said there were too many rules in the palace. When the old emperor was on the throne, Wen Yuxia had made an agreement with him that after he ascended the throne, he should try not to summon her to the palace, keep the other women in check, and not bother her.
Xie Qianlian was speechless upon hearing this. Everyone wanted to curry favor with her, the Empress, and the wives of Li Jiating and others were no exception, considering it an honor to receive her invitation.
Wen Yuxia was truly an oddball; she didn't want to enter the palace to meet the emperor, didn't want to associate with the empress, and didn't want to deal with the concubines. Xie Qianlian said softly, "Muhua, if I miss you in the future, I'll come to the princess's residence to find you."
Wen Yuxia calmly nodded and changed the subject: "Your Majesty, what brings you out of the palace today?" Xia Yichen smiled and said, "I do indeed have important matters to discuss with you all."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Jinxuan and the others looked up at Xia Yichen, adopting an attentive listening posture, waiting for him to continue. Xia Yichen coughed lightly twice and slowly began to speak:
"Firstly, Minister Xue is getting old, and I intend to send him back to the capital so that Jia Rui can take over his current duties; secondly, I want the people of Great Xia to know about all the important and minor matters discussed in the court."
Xia Yichen's first task was easy: to appoint Li Jiarui as Minister Xue's deputy. Once Li Jiarui could keep the officials in the Ministry of Works in check, Minister Xue could return to the capital to recuperate.
Li Jiating suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "We can find some storytellers and have them weave together stories about the major and minor events happening in the court, and tell them in teahouses all over the country."
Xia Yichen shook his head, "That's not appropriate." The storyteller told jokes to keep customers in the teahouse; the tea drinkers might not like to hear about the affairs of the court, and they would get tired of hearing it every day.
Wen Yunhong continued, "The market has a large flow of people, so we can set up a notice board at the market entrance and write down the court's recent decisions on it."
Xia Yichen smiled with satisfaction, "Yun Hong's idea is good. Do you have any other ideas?"
Wen Yuxia said with a faint smile, "We can print important events of the court on paper and sell them to the people to read."
Upon hearing this, Xia Yichen and the others stared wide-eyed in astonishment. Wen Yunhong was the first to recover, "Sister, are you out of your mind? Selling it to the common people to read? How could the common people possibly spend money to buy it?"
Wen Yuxia calmly explained that the paper could contain not only recent court affairs, but also recent weather changes, and even some interesting anecdotes...
"Let me demonstrate for you," Wen Yuxia said, asking Zhang Jinxuan to get her paper and charcoal pencils.
She folded the paper in half, then in half again, before smoothing it out and placing it on the table. She then buried herself in writing, while Xia Yichen and the others stood around the table watching her.
Li Jiarui was appointed as the deputy to Xue Yifeng, the Minister of Works. Recently, there had been light rain in the capital, and the aroma of a new fruit wine filled the air… These were the kinds of news that appeared on paper.
The last little story piqued the interest of Xia Yichen and the others. An Chiyu asked what everyone was thinking, "Sun Wukong's Three Battles with the White Bone Demon, Mu Hua, how did you come up with that? Is there a sequel?"
Wen Yuxia calmly stated, "I only wrote one small story within it. There's a sequel, but the author is long gone. You can plagiarize it."
Xia Yichen thought about it seriously for a moment, then instructed Zhang Jinxuan to print 500 copies for trial sale according to Wen Yuxia's instructions. Afterwards, everyone chatted for a few more minutes and then dispersed.