Chapter 23 Humph! I have become a young master!
"This is impossible!"

Wang Ben was dumbfounded, staring in disbelief at the mountain of refined salt in front of him.

"How is this possible? The entire Qin Empire can't refine so much refined salt in a year!"

He thought to himself, could it be that the Thirteenth Young Master was so bold as to move all the salt from the Qin State's treasury here?
As soon as the thought came to his mind, he quickly stopped himself in his heart and decided not to dwell on such things. It had nothing to do with him and was pure daydreaming.

"Never mind where it comes from."

Wang Ben changed his mind and couldn't help but show his joy. He held the bag of precious salt and couldn't stop smiling.

"This bag of salt is enough for my troops to eat for three years!"

"We just need to let the soldiers take some salt every day for half a month before the battle, and we can ensure that everyone can be full of energy and vitality, without the worry of being weak and helpless!"

"Hey, I made a lot of money from all the hard work of moving stones this time!"

Wang Ben accepted the salt without hesitation, avoided asking about its origin, and did not even mention a word of gratitude.

"Girl, I have no idea where you got this salt. If you get into trouble in the future, don't involve me."

He smiled rudely, picked up the bag of salt and prepared to leave.

"I've accepted the gift. Thank your young master for me. Wang Ben, take your leave. Hahahahaha!"

The woman in green had a frosty face as she stared coldly at Wang Ben, a country bumpkin. Noticing that he showed no gratitude at all, she felt quite dissatisfied.

But she still followed the young master's instructions and spoke coldly.

"My master said that since General Wang advocates fair trade, he is willing to be honest with you."

"He said that next time he sends you on an errand, he will pay you with salt as well."

Qingyi was indignant and quite dissatisfied with the warrior's rude behavior.

She turned around quickly, her skirt fluttering as she disappeared into the depths of the courtyard, leaving behind only a cold silhouette.

I thought to myself: How dare this crude warrior be so rude to you, I don't know why you value him so much, huh!
Wang Ben stood there in a daze, feeling as if struck by lightning by Qingyi's last words.

"He still has salt?"

He was full of confusion and his face was full of disbelief!

You know, in that era, salt is a strategic material, how could there be such a large amount of stock?
Wang Ben led his troops back to the military camp in a trance. Along the way, he was still puzzled as to why the Thirteenth Young Master had such a large amount of refined salt.

However, this did not prevent him from being overjoyed, as today's harvest was extremely rich!

With the method of making ice, the soldiers will no longer have to endure the hot summer.

Having salt on hand also means that when going to war, there is no need to worry about soldiers becoming exhausted or even dying on the battlefield due to lack of salt.

At the same time, in the court, Li Si and Feng Quji were making intensive arrangements.

They dismissed many officials and only kept the key figures among the Nine Ministers, such as the wise and brave Meng Yi, the upright Feng Jie, the highly respected Li You, the brave and warlike Li Xin, and the powerful Wang Li.

Their intention was to first establish the Thirteenth Prince's core position within the core circle of the imperial court and lay the foundation for future plans.

When the Thirteenth Prince comes to power again in the future, this decision will be particularly crucial in order to prevent the people from being dissatisfied with his policies and thus causing chaos.

However, at this moment, they encountered unprecedented strong resistance.

At this time in the court, without having witnessed Ying Heng's actual governing ability, the civil servant camp headed by Shangqing Meng Yi expressed their objections to the decisions of the two prime ministers.

Meng Yi was even more blunt: "The Thirteenth Young Master has always only known how to have fun and feast. How can we let such a person govern the country?"

Meng Yi recalled the past with a firm expression: "I once ate at the same table and slept on the same bed with the late emperor. The late emperor had already made it clear that a hundred years later, Prince Fusu should inherit the throne."

"Now, even if you say that the late emperor did not leave a clear will, whether in accordance with the late emperor's wishes or in accordance with etiquette and law, the important task of supervising the country should belong to Prince Fusu."

He further questioned: "Moreover, how much does the Thirteenth Master know about the laws of governing a country?"

“Does he advocate the Legalist approach of strict punishment and harsh laws, or does he advocate the Confucian approach of governing the country with virtue?”

"I am even worried that he may not even know the basic theories of the various schools of thought! In summary, I firmly oppose this decision!"

Meng Yi's words were powerful and unquestionable.

As staunch supporters of Fusu's Confucian ideas, the Meng family held great weight in the court, and their opinions could not be ignored by the two prime ministers.

At the northern border of the Great Wall, General Meng Tian commanded 300,000 soldiers, and the Meng brothers held a pivotal position and voice in both the military and political circles. Seeing that Meng Yi always insisted on his own opinion, Li Si and Feng Quji could only sigh helplessly.

Obviously, to solve this problem, the young master needs to take action himself.

So, after some discussion about other government affairs, everyone ended the court meeting.

As the setting sun hung low in the sky, in a secret room in the Xianyang Palace, the Black Ice Platform leader, Nameless, returned quietly after having been out all day.

Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng, who had been practicing quietly here for some time, now had a ruddy complexion and was in high spirits as he ended his practice for the day.

Because today's practice was quite effective, Ying Zheng was in a particularly good mood.

"Tell me, what has happened recently?"

Ying Zheng was in a peaceful mood, and his words were gentler.

The black-clad leader saluted respectfully: "Reporting to His Majesty."

"Nothing particularly serious happened this afternoon, but you may be a little angry after hearing this. Please calm down first."

Ying Zheng laughed out loud: "What a joke! What happened this morning is already in the past. Is there any trivial matter in this world that can easily stir up my emotions?"

"Just tell me!"

"In the afternoon, I will follow the Thirteenth Master to his manor in the eastern suburbs of the city..."

"Wait a minute!"

Ying Zheng interrupted him.

"Manor? Xianyang City is limited in area, how could he own a manor in the suburbs?"

The black-clad leader responded: "There is indeed a garden in the eastern suburbs."

Ying Zheng raised his eyebrows slightly and said calmly, "Oh? It's in the suburbs. How big is the garden? How many mansions can it accommodate?"

"Well, this house is not famous for its many buildings, but mainly for its fascinating landscape."

"According to my rough estimate, it covers an area of ​​about 1,000 acres."

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng's tone instantly rose, "Thousand acres?!!"

The man in black remained calm but thought to himself: You just said you were not angry.

"How big is my Xianyang Palace?" Ying Zheng asked.

The man in black respectfully responded, "Your Majesty, the Xianyang Palace has undergone several generations of renovation and expansion, and now occupies almost half of the city of Xianyang. I'm afraid it covers tens of thousands of acres."

Ying Zheng nodded slightly. After comparison, he felt that a thousand acres did not seem too much, so he asked casually again.

"What about the Zhangtai Palace where I usually live and govern?"

Beads of sweat appeared on the man in black clothes' forehead. He glanced cautiously at the table and answered carefully.

"Your Majesty, as a single building complex, the Zhangtai Palace is naturally more compact in size, covering approximately twenty acres."

Ying Zheng's face darkened.

"Humph! The place that guy lives in can accommodate more than 40 Zhangtai Palaces? Does he still have me, his father, in his eyes?"

"What about the Afang Palace that I had planned to build but was blocked by that fellow?"

The man in black hurriedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Your Majesty, the Afang Palace originally planned to cover an area of ​​about 800 acres..."

"Humph! It is indeed more magnificent than the Afang Palace. No wonder this lunatic wants to stop the construction of the Afang Palace!"

"He obviously looks down on everything about me!"

"This is simply an insult to our clan!"

"This kid's place is even more spacious than mine!"

"If my palace didn't have better scenery and living supplies, people would really mistake him for the emperor, and I would be the young master!"

(End of this chapter)