Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

Although the results of whether the new plows made by the four companies were good or bad were obvious, the competition process still had to be repeated.

Otherwise, the people from the other three departments might go back and regret it, which would cause unnecessary trouble.

Yu Chang responded respectfully: "As you wish!"

While Yu Chang was going down to make arrangements, Du He also walked back to the platform and watched their competition from above.

Not long after, Yu Chang walked up to the platform with a gong and said to Du He.

"Minister Du, everyone from the four departments is ready."

Du He said directly: "Let them start."

As Yu Chang struck the gong loudly, the four officials in charge of plowing the fields drove the oxen quickly.

This time they plowed the land with all their strength, and their speed was much faster than Li Chengqian's. In order to come first, the people from the four divisions took bamboo sticks and whipped the oxen's backs.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, the people from Yubu Si were already far ahead.

The people from the other three departments looked at the Yubu Department, whose speed was getting faster and faster. They all shouted at their colleagues who were plowing the fields, asking them to whip the oxen harder to speed up.

However, their plows were not as good as Yubusi's. No matter how hard they hit the oxen's backs, they could not catch up with Yubusi's plowing speed.

By the time the people from the Yubu Division had finished plowing one acre of land, the people from the other three divisions still had nearly two-fifths of the fields to turn over.

"we won!"

Xiao Kai yelled excitedly.

Then all the officials of the Yu Department rushed to Xiao Kai excitedly and started yelling with him.

Especially the young men with gray hair on their temples, they were so excited that they secretly wiped away their tears.

Du He said in astonishment: "Even if you win first place, you will only receive more reward money. Is it necessary to be so excited?"

These officials are so excited, don't they think the reward this time is too much?

There were more than 200 officials with high ranks and officials without high ranks in the Ministry of Works. Although Li Shimin rewarded them generously, he would not give them too much silver.

Thinking of getting rich by relying on this small achievement is nothing but a foolish dream.

Unless the curved plow was presented to the court in the name of one person, it might be possible to obtain a large sum of silver.

Yu Chang said softly: "Minister Du, the salary of a first-class subordinate official outside the official ranks is only 4 guan per year, and the salary of a seventh-class official outside the official ranks is less than 3 guan per year."

"Even if each of them only received 200 coins as a reward, that would be nearly a month's salary. This amount of money is not a small amount for them!"

The price of grain in the Tang Dynasty is the cheapest now, 5 cents per dou of rice. 200 cents can buy 40 dou of rice, enough for a family to eat for several months.

Nowadays, many officials not only have a wife, but also a concubine.

Their family may have more than ten people, or as few as six or seven.

Du He said with confidence: "If that's the case, then I'm relieved."

"Minister Yu, since the winner has been decided, you will announce the final result."

When Du He was thinking about the issue of reward just now, he was thinking from his personal perspective.

A few hundred coins can't really do much for a high-spending person like Du He. It's not even enough to pay his guards' monthly wages.

"Yes!" Yu Chang responded, and then shouted to the people from the four departments: "The people from the Yu Department won the competition to make a new plow!"

Where the people from the Yubu Division gathered, a loud shout broke out again.

"Great!"

"Thank you, Mr. Du!"

As the people from the Yubu Division shouted their thanks to Du He, the people from the other three divisions followed suit.

"Thank you, Mr. Du!"

If Du He had not drawn the patterns of the new plow and asked them to make it according to his model, they would not even have the chance to get the reward.

The officials who originally had doubts about Du He were now full of admiration for him and had a greater recognition of him as the Minister of Works.

In all their years as officials, they had only met Du He, the only superior who could help them achieve merit and win rewards.

The previous Minister of Works, Du Chuke, was a complete and incompetent waste.

Not to mention getting rewards for leading them, it is common for their salaries to be deducted due to insufficient political achievements.

Du He waved his hand and said, "Since the results of the competition have been revealed, those who didn't win should not be discouraged. There are still things to be accomplished in the future."

"Everyone needs to cooperate with Minister Yu to complete the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel."

When everyone heard that Du He would continue to lead them to accomplish meritorious deeds, they all showed excitement on their faces.

Du Shangshu’s words are golden, he will definitely do what he says!

When they returned to the Ministry of Works, the people from the Yu Department were talking and laughing in high spirits, while the faces of the people from the other three departments were full of envy and jealousy.

Although they knew that the people of Yubusi were able to win thanks to the help of Junior Supervisor Li Daoyou and Chief Secretary Zhang Bi, this was also within the rules.

Who made their doctor's connections and relationships inferior to that playboy Xiao Kai?

After returning to the Ministry of Industry, Du He sat in his office drinking tea and reading, and the sound of his subordinates' discussions could still be heard outside the lobby.

Especially that guy Xiao Kai, who was always showing off outside, and his voice was the voice of the entire Ministry of Industry.

Yu Chang walked in and asked in a low voice: "Du Shangshu, do we need to ask them to be quiet?"

Du He waved his hand and said, "Let them celebrate for a day. Everyone has been working hard on the new plows, so it's time to let them show off."

Yu Chang nodded and then left Du He's office.

...

The next day.

A meeting of hundreds of officials.

After the heads of the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples and five academies reported on the government affairs of their departments, the officials then focused their attention on Li Shimin and Du He.

Everyone is now looking forward to seeing how much reward His Majesty will give to the Ministry of Works.

Li Shimin smiled and said, "My dear ministers, you all saw the plow that the Ministry of Works innovated yesterday. Do you think it's good?"

All the civil and military officials shouted in unison without any hesitation.

"very good!"

The lame prince could plow the soil faster with a new plow than the strong and healthy imperial guards, so it goes without saying whether the effect was good or not.

As for the possibility that the imperial guards were intentionally yielding when plowing the fields, that was obviously impossible.

These old ministers were very knowledgeable about farming and could tell at a glance whether the ox was struggling or not.

Li Shimin then said in a loud voice: "The Ministry of Works innovated the plow yesterday. I named it the Curved Plow. What do you think of it, my dear ministers?"

A group of ministers held up their tablets and shouted in unison once again.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Even if Li Shimin named his name "Aijiaoli", these ministers would loudly praise it and would take the initiative to explain to Li Shimin why this name was good.

Li Shimin stroked his beard and nodded slightly, then waved to the eunuch standing on the side.

The eunuch hurriedly walked to a corner of the imperial platform with an imperial edict and read it in a sharp voice.

"The Emperor of the Great Tang Dynasty decrees that the Ministry of Works shall be rewarded with 300 strings of gold and silver, 300 shi of grain, and 300 dou of refined salt for its contribution to the innovation of the curved plow!"

"For the first contribution to the innovation of the curved plow, Minister of Works Du He is awarded an additional seven square six yuan Khotan jade belt!"