Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Chapter 198 New Yuan Ceremony

Ever since the new rules formulated by Lu Chen were a great success in the Promise Palace, and he proved that he was not just relying on the empress's favor and shit luck, but a talented person with real talents, the atmosphere of the Ministry of Industry has completely changed. .

Lu Chen's prestige is getting higher and higher, and his influence is getting bigger and bigger.

Today's Ministry of Industry does not have a minister, only Sun Michang, the left servant, and Lu Chen, the right servant, each in charge of a part of the affairs of the Ministry of Industry, and they have never violated the river.

Lu Chen was in charge of palace and garden repairs, construction and maintenance of official roads and civilian roads, casting weapons, spiritual outfits, and city defense formations, etc., while Sun Michang was in charge of farmland water conservancy, imperial mausoleum construction, and ceremonial guards. Manufacture and maintenance of things.

Sun Michang's authority cannot be said to be low, but compared with Lu Chen, the gap is quite obvious.

Of course, Zhongzhou has respected the left since ancient times. Theoretically, the Zuo Shilang has a slightly higher status than the Right Shilang.

But who let Lu Chen be favored?

After all, respecting the left is no match for the supremacy of imperial power.

And this person, what he is most afraid of is comparison. Both are ministers of the Ministry of Industry and senior officials of the third rank. Lu Chen shines with the new regulations, while Sun Michang has been sticking to the rules and doing nothing.

Even if the empress doesn't love Lu Chen as much as she does now, Sun Michang, who has no achievements other than qualifications, can't compete with Lu Chen for the vacant position of minister of the Ministry of Industry based on his ability and achievements.

And anyone with a discerning eye can see that the reason why the Empress has been vacating the position of minister of the Ministry of Industry is to facilitate Lu Chen's work. Lu Chen is nominally the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, but in fact, he has far more authority than this.

After the Wuji Palace incident, the Empress intended to let Lu Chen be directly promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and take charge of the world's fortifications, but Lu Chen refused because of his junior qualifications and lack of political achievements.

So in the end, they only rewarded some gold and silver treasures and spirit stone treasures, and at the same time promoted Wang Qi, Zhang Xuan and others to the ranks of officials, filling the vacancies of several mediocre officials from the Ministry of Industry who were expelled by Lu Chen.

After that, Xiao Yi, who was fishing in the Ministry of Rites, was transferred to the Tiangong Department as the deputy director. Among the five young ministers who stood on Lu Chen's side in the case of Gu Simiao, they were also transferred to The Ministry of Industry held the post of Yuanwailang.

Almost everyone who has a good relationship with Lu Chen has been promoted.

The world of the Ministry of Industry has also completely changed.

As the department that is most likely to be manipulated among the six ministries of the imperial court, the impact of such a big change in the Ministry of Industry will naturally not be small.

At the very least, those wealthy merchants who are accustomed to relying on orders from the imperial court to thrive, as well as the dignitaries, aristocratic families, and clans behind them, are obviously having a much harder time.

At this time, the government of Yan State.

Zheng Yue, the current Duke of Yan, was sitting at the head seat in the living room, looking expressionlessly at the old steward who bowed to him in front of him.

"Then Lu Chen returned the greeting card from the Duke's Mansion again?"

He spoke slowly, with obvious coldness in his words.

The reason for saying "again" is because when Lu Chen was promoted to the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, he handed over the greeting card, hoping to get along well with senior officials of the Ministry of Industry as before.

The result is of course rejected.

After being rejected three times in a row, he even went to visit the house in person. As a result, Lu Chen was clearly at home, but the Lu residence closed the door to thank the guests.

Even when they tried to get close to him, they were directly ignored and ignored a word.

To him, the contemporary Patriarch of the Yan State Duke's Mansion who has been hereditary since Emperor Guangwu's restoration of the country, he didn't give him any face at all, and he didn't pay attention to him at all.

How arrogant, how defiant, how rebellious.

But no matter how angry he is, he can't help Lu Chen, who is now in full swing. For this kind of person, even if he can't make friends with him, he can't make enemies with him.

So he endured it, and was going to take a look at the situation first, and then look for an opportunity to see if he could make friends.

In his opinion, as long as a person is human, he must have weaknesses, and it depends on how much he has to pay to take advantage of this weakness.

And there is a prerequisite for all this, that is, you must sit down and have a good chat with Lu Chen, otherwise Lu Chen will keep ignoring him, no matter how eloquent he is, it will be meaningless.

In the end, before he could find an opportunity and entry point, Lu Chen directly used the new regulations to give them a blow to Duke Yan's government.

Not to mention other things, this bidding system alone is quite fatal to the Yan State Duke's Mansion.

So he directly asked someone to send a greeting card with gold and jade as the cover and silk as the paper, begging to see Lu Chen with the greatest sincerity.

The result was obvious, and the greeting post was returned directly.

Old Xu wiped the cold sweat off his face, then nodded.

"If you're going back to the Duke, the little one went over early this morning to hand in the greeting card, but before the villain returned to the mansion, the servants of the Lu Mansion chased him out and returned the greeting card that you specially made. I gave it to the villain, and their Lord Lu has something to tell the villain to the Lord..."

Zheng Yue's eyes turned cold: "What are you talking about?"

"They asked the little one to tell... tell the Duke, that you should not send invitations to the Lu family in the future, and they will not see Mr. Lu... See you..."

Having said that, he subconsciously hesitated, but he didn't dare to continue.

Zheng Yue's face suddenly became more and more ugly.

"Finish!"

"yes!"

Old Xu responded loudly almost instinctively, and then tremblingly said:

"The servants of Lu's mansion told the villain that they...Grandpa Lu will never meet people with evil intentions...with other plans."

Snapped! !

The moment Lao Xu's voice fell, the tea cup in Zheng Yue's hand suddenly shattered without warning, and the hot tea splashed directly into Zheng Yue's hand.

However, Zheng Yue acted like a normal person, the right hand scalded by the hot tea did not tremble at all.

Hearing this sudden sound, Lao Xu shuddered suddenly, showing fear, and then quickly knelt down on the ground, begging Zheng Yue to appease his anger.

"Okay, okay! Lu Qingtian, who is upright and dedicated to public affairs, is really wonderful!"

Zheng Yue smiled coldly, a haze flashed in his eyes.

He has fully realized that there is no question of sincerity or insincerity between the government of Yan State and the first favorite of the dynasty. Then Lu Chen had no intention of making friends with him from the beginning, and even planned to target Yan. Duke's Mansion, attack him.

After realizing this, Zheng Yue stood up slowly, and paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back, his face full of thought.

Old Xu bowed obediently and stood where he was, not daring to show his breath, patiently waiting for the Patriarch to finish thinking.

After a while, Zheng Yue stopped.

"Old Xu."

"The little one is here."

As if he had been pardoned, Old Xu raised his sleeves and wiped the sweat off his face.

"What's your order, my lord?"

"Immediately give it to Duke Zhao, Duke Xing, Duke Yuanping, King Fu, Consort Mingde, Prince Yongqing."

Zheng Yue listed dozens of nobles, aristocratic families, and relatives of the emperor in one breath, and then said in a deep voice: "Give them an invitation card, saying that my country's Duke accidentally obtained a heaven-level spiritual outfit and a fairy family a few days ago." Treasures, as well as a map of a cave, invite them to come and taste it together."

Hearing this, Old Xu nodded hurriedly.

"Yes! Grandpa, let's do it now, little one!"

"etc."

Just when Lao Xu couldn't wait to leave here, Zheng Yue suddenly spoke again.

Old Xu stopped instantly.

Zheng Yue continued: "Go to Dongcheng first to deliver a gold and jade invitation to Yan Songyan Pavilion's old mansion, and at the same time inform Liao Bujuan to prepare a heavy gift. My country's father will visit Yan Pavilion tonight."

Old Xu nodded subconsciously.

"Go."

"Yes, my lord!"

Luo Jing's undercurrent has never stopped, after all, no one will sit back and watch their interests be taken away.

Taking people's money is like killing their parents. As long as their fundamental interests are threatened, they dare to fight anyone, even if the other party is the emperor.

Lu Chen is naturally aware of this, and he is not afraid, otherwise he would not have gone to the Promise Palace to check the warehouses of various departments, check the accounts and cashier details, and then directly find out various problems existing in the Ministry of Industry. And formulate new regulations in a targeted manner.

For him, no matter who the opponent is or how powerful the enemy is, there is nothing to be afraid of.

Anyway, in the officialdom, except for promotion, no matter what the result is, he can't wait for it.

Therefore, with his growing prestige, he began to vigorously promote the reform of the Ministry of Industry, and made comprehensive adjustments to all aspects of his jurisdiction.

For example, stop purchasing raw materials directly from noble and powerful families such as the Duke of Yan, consume spirit stones and mithril that have filled more than half of the warehouse, and start promoting the bidding system.

The administrative organization of the Ministry of Industry has also made corresponding adjustments for the purpose of improving efficiency.

The abolition that should be abolished, the substitution that should be replaced, the simplified process should be simplified, and the areas that should be improved will be improved immediately.

Not long after, under his drastic restructuring, almost all the departments of the Ministry of Industry under his jurisdiction took on a new look, showing unprecedented vitality.

However, after the completion of the project of the Promise Palace, the serving people received a sum of "travel expenses" enough for a family's expenses for three months, they did not leave Luojing City immediately, but knelt outside the palace, begging Lu Chen to arrange them Go to work on other construction sites.

Even if you don't pay the travel expenses back, as long as you have enough to eat.

Lu Chen's reputation of benevolence and righteousness, love for the people like a child, and with the "help" of their spare no efforts and their own experiences, began to spread around Luojing at a terrifying speed, and the storytellers in Beijing also began to talk about Lu Chen's love in some teahouses for no reason. The story since its inception.

Soon, most Luojing people knew that there was a loyal Lu Xianggong who was loyal to the country and the people.

Lu Chen's reputation has never been better.

At the same time, after Lu Chen implemented the new regulations for projects within his jurisdiction, its terrifying effects gradually emerged.

The common people working in various construction sites suddenly burst out with extremely strong work efficiency. The progress of the project was very slow, but the work efficiency of the active workers almost challenged their own limits every day and became fast.

Lu Chen solved their worries for the future, and with the spread of his benevolence, the laborers finally stopped hiding their clumsiness and saving effort, and they became more active in doing things.

The project that originally took 20 days to complete was actually completed within 15 days ahead of schedule. The construction period was shortened by five days than expected, but the budget did not increase at all, and the consumption of spirit stones was much slower than before. The loss rate is so low that it makes the speed of raw material inventory destocking completely slow down.

Great achievements.

The name of the national scholar is well deserved.

On the other hand, Sun Michang's side is still a pool of stagnant water.

Compared with Lu Chen, he is a proper mediocre official.

In the constant busyness, time flies by.

In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the New Year Ceremony.

With the Eight Pillars Kingdom, various clans, and local political envoys entering Beijing one after another, the huge city of Luojing was completely immersed in a sea of celebration on the ninth day of March.

There are lights and festoons everywhere on the street, and the sound of firecrackers is endless.

Luo Jing's people left their homes one after another, some gathered near Zhuque Street, and some went to Wuji Palace to watch the ceremony.

Da da da……

At this time, on the Suzaku Avenue that runs from north to south, under the leadership of the black heavy armored Xuanwu soldier Fu Wei, formed a square formation with a unit of one hundred people, and strode towards Ziji City.

The extremely solemn military appearance made the people watching the ceremony on both sides of the road unbearably terrified, and dared not show their atmosphere.

It seemed that he was afraid of provoking these killing gods who defeated the demon queen's forbidden army and made blood flow into rivers.

Although King Cangming has already returned to the holy land, he still left 20,000 Xuanwu troops in Luojing, waiting for the empress to dispatch. With extremely strong combat power, he shocked the world, frightened Xiaoxiao, and established the supreme authority of the empress.

Don't be too kind to the empress.

This alone is enough to see the deep love and righteousness of the Holy King Cangming, and the empress's return to the Holy King is obvious to all. The relationship between the two is seen by many courtiers. If the empress does not have an emperor, the Holy King Cangming One hundred percent is the Taoist companion of the empress.

Soon, all the Xuanwu guards passed through the Xuanji Gate and disappeared from everyone's sight.

"What a master of tigers and wolves."

In the Promise Palace, on the viewing platform, a middle-aged man in military uniform couldn't help admiring from the bottom of his heart when he saw the military appearance of the Xuanwu Guards below.

"Such a powerful army, although only 20,000 in number, can fight against 100,000 aliens, and firmly hold the upper hand, and can even defeat the enemy with a crushing force."

"hehe…"

Another veteran in heavy armor beside him caressed his long beard, and said with a chuckle: "At the beginning, it was this guard army who descended from the sky, defeated the Demon Queen's tens of thousands of forbidden troops, saved His Majesty from danger, and directly established the victory. An army that has experienced such unimaginable things is naturally extraordinary, and I am afraid that only the Holy King Army in the Holy Realm can have such combat power in this world."

"With such a master of tigers and wolves, Luo Jing will surely be as strong as gold, and His Majesty can rest easy."

"I might as well wait!"

Obviously, they were all people who knew how to fight, and they could see the extraordinaryness of Xuanwuwei at a glance, and they all admired Xuanwuwei.

These armored men stood at the front of the ranks of military officers, even Wang Gan, the general of the Qingning Army, was behind them, and only Gu Simiao, the great general of martial arts, was in front of them.

Obviously, their status in the army far exceeds that of the military attache in the capital, second only to Gu Simiao.

In fact, they are just like Gu Simiao in the past. They are the generals of the Eight Pillars Kingdom who are in charge of the military and political secrets of one side and command hundreds of thousands of troops to guard the eight directions for the Great Xia Empire. They are one of the strongest combat forces in the Great Xia. Return to the strong in one realm.

As for the civil service system, the traditional civil officials headed by Yan Song didn't show any expression on this, they just looked at their noses and noses and their hearts without saying a word.

At this time, a loud and clear shout suddenly sounded from behind:

"His Majesty is here!"

Hearing this, everyone immediately restrained their minds, and then looked behind.

After a while, the empress in full attire gradually appeared in front of everyone.

"My minister sees Your Majesty!"

"Long live Your Majesty!"

After seeing the empress, everyone bowed down at the same time, with the utmost respect on their faces.

"Everyone is in peace."

The Empress walked slowly, and said calmly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After receiving the order from the empress, everyone got up and then focused their attention on the empress.

Under everyone's gaze, the empress didn't show a trace of timidity on her face, she walked slowly through the crowd as usual.