Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Emperor Jing felt a slight disappointment after listening. It was as if he hadn't heard anything at all. It seemed Fang Zheng needed more experience. Dispatching an envoy from the Northern Rong was a major event, and such matters naturally needed to be discussed in advance. However, considering that Fang Zheng had only recently entered the court, his lack of understanding was understandable. Emperor Jing didn't dwell on it and turned to ask others. Li Yuanzhao, standing nearby, was already ecstatic! Hearing about the possibility of war excited him more than anyone else. Could it be that his martial prowess would finally have a chance to be displayed? In his excitement, he kept winking and raising his eyebrows at Fang Zheng. Fang Zheng naturally couldn't be bothered with him. He knew exactly what Li Yuanzhao was thinking. However, now was not the time to consider that issue. After the court session, he still had to meet the princess. He wondered if she had eaten breakfast and if she missed him after not seeing him for months. He had to find a way to get the crown prince out of the way first! To avoid him constantly bothering him whether there was something to do or not! The court was buzzing with lively discussions. The two carefree individuals were preoccupied with their own thoughts, enduring until the end of the court session. As before, Li Yuanzhao stealthily approached him at the first opportunity. Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, he whispered, "Lao Fang, if the Northern Rong are involved, there will inevitably be a battle with Da Jing in the future!"

"You say the envoy is coming... could it be to stir up trouble?" Fang Zheng glanced at him, speechless. Two countries engaging in diplomacy, and you say stir up trouble. Are you afraid the matter isn't big enough! They haven't even said they want to fight, and you're already looking forward to it? The crown prince is becoming more and more like a rogue. "Stir up what trouble? I don't want a war. We've only had a few years of good times." "A war, hundreds of millions of taels of silver easily spent, who will pay for it?" "The national treasury has no money now, are we going to squeeze silver from the people? Your Highness, can you bear to do that?" Li Yuanzhao chuckled sheepishly and didn't dare to speak. Fang Zheng couldn't help but nod inwardly. The crown prince was good in this respect, he knew how to care for people. "Your Highness, if there's nothing else, go to the newspaper office! They can't do without you!" Li Yuanzhao looked puzzled: "Why would I go to the newspaper office? Isn't Xie Xian in charge there? I think he's managing it quite well." "I even went there yesterday and heard that all the advertising space in the newspaper was sold out in less than a day."

"Sold for three thousand six hundred taels! All bought by one company, advertising in the newspaper for half a year." Fang Zheng's face lit up: "Oh? Which company is so powerful?" "Chen's General Store." Fang Zheng smiled, not expecting a small general store owner to rise so quickly. Sure enough, the first person to eat a crab gets the most benefits. The newspaper office was progressing so smoothly. Three thousand six hundred taels was enough for the newspaper office to survive, at least he wouldn't have to invest any more money. It was really a happy occasion. "Lao Fang, now that we've made so much money, shouldn't we increase the reporters' monthly pay?" Fang Zheng looked at Li Yuanzhao with a troubled expression: "Huh? Didn't we just increase it a few days ago?!" Why isn't your father as generous as you! I might as well work for you.... "Two taels a month, I don't think it's enough." Fang Zheng stroked his chin, sizing up Li Yuanzhao. Two taels a month was actually not a small amount. It was practically a high-level job in Da Jing, has the crown prince been with him for too long? Usually, when talking about silver, it's always in terms of thousands or tens of thousands of taels. Is he numb, losing his sense of money? "Lao Fang, why are you staring at me so creepily?" Li Yuanzhao looked wary. "Who's staring creepily!!!?"

"I was thinking... increasing the monthly pay is out of the question! Constantly increasing money is not conducive to their growth, what if they become lazy in the future?" "With these three thousand six hundred taels, take three thousand taels to buy a large house, create some landscape gardens inside, and add some animals, let the reporters move in and improve their working environment." "The remaining six hundred taels, leave it for their activity funds, so they can get reimbursed for expenses when they go out to work in the future." "As for the monthly pay, a standard must be set in the future, it must increase every year, and the amount of the increase will depend on the newspaper's revenue." At worst, he would support them for another year! Fang Zheng gritted his teeth and was generous once again. "Your Highness, you must make them remember the newspaper office's kindness!" "If you just increase their monthly pay, they might think they earned it through their own abilities!" "Isn't that our money! Think about it, is that right!" Li Yuanzhao pondered: "What you said seems right!" "Alright, Your Highness, go quickly, tell the reporters the good news, and say it was your arrangement!" Li Yuanzhao hesitated for a moment, and then said tentatively: "Forget it, it's too far, it's the same whether I say it sooner or later, I'll go another day!" Fang Zheng was puzzled, that's not right. This guy used to be more eager than anyone else to leave the palace, why is he causing trouble here as soon as I want to see the princess? Is he deliberately going against me? "What's interesting in the palace!? Your Highness, please go quickly!" Then he heard Li Yuanzhao sigh: "No, my butt hurts."

"Father Emperor hit me again yesterday..." Saying that, he began to grind his teeth: "If it weren't for you and Imperial Uncle talking nonsense, this prince wouldn't have been beaten!" "I said the earth is round, and he started hitting me!" "........" Ignorant thinking kills people! It's not good to chase the crown prince away like this... what to do? Suddenly, an idea struck him: "Hey! Your Highness, didn't I give you a microscope! Why haven't I heard you mention it!" Unexpectedly, Li Yuanzhao showed a disdainful expression: "I suspect there's something wrong with your thing, are the guards also made of tadpoles? That's impossible! I already had it dismantled!" "I thought it was something good, but it turned out to be just a tube with several layers of glass, plus a little bit of spare parts!" "Liar!" "What! You dismantled it for me!?" Fang Zheng wanted to cry but had no tears. A spendthrift! A spendthrift! The microscope in Taoyuan County was indeed not very complex in structure, completely incomparable to the one in later generations, even slightly inferior to the weaving machine in the county. Simply put, it was a complex magnifying glass. It was just some simple mechanical structures plus the arrangement and combination of lenses. Practice always comes before theory, just like a monkey doesn't understand the principle of leverage, it doesn't stop it from using a wooden stick to pry things. The people of Taoyuan County don't understand optics, but that doesn't stop them from experimenting bit by bit, not to mention that someone is providing ideas. He made the next decision, the entire research institute would focus on this one thing, and all other work would be put down. Just grinding the glass alone took a lot of effort. Letters from the county complained that many people were grinding the glass until they were bald! All the skilled craftsmen in the county experimented repeatedly, regardless of cost, trying out all possible errors, and finally came up with this one. Even Leeuwenhoek would have to shout "Awesome!" if he saw it! If I hadn't provided the idea, even if there was glass, it would have taken one or two hundred years to research this thing. And you treated it like garbage and dismantled it for me? Fang Zheng had a bitter face: "Your Highness, if you can reassemble it perfectly today, I'll give you a thousand taels!" "Okay! It's a deal!" Li Yuanzhao's face lit up, and he ran away in a puff of smoke...