Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Old Wang."

"This guilty subject is here."

Upon hearing Shen Lang call his name, Wang Daorong immediately scurried to his side.

Shen Lang pointed to the lights above the factory and said with a smile, "You've worked hard these past few years. In a few days, the Ministry of Justice will issue the amnesty document, and you'll be free. Is there anything you want to do?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Daorong immediately knelt on the ground: "Since this sinful subject has been pardoned and spared punishment, I should naturally assume the role of regent... With the Duke of Zhenguo supporting me from behind, this sinful subject should continue to serve the Duke of Zhenguo."

Shen Lang smiled and then clapped his hands.

The next moment, under the watchful eyes of all the craftsmen, a cart loaded with wooden crates was slowly pushed in front of Huang Daorong.

The moment it opened, a flash of silver light appeared, and even the husky guarding the gate nearby covered its eyes with its front paws, almost blinded by the light.

"This is a reward from the Ministry of Works and His Majesty. Here is 30,000 taels of silver, and another 100,000 taels are temporarily deposited in the newly opened Central Bank. You can withdraw them at any time after the Lantern Festival."

"Oh, by the way, the imperial court has established a patent system. Your electricity patent will be taken over by the imperial court first. You will receive at least 20,000 taels of silver in patent fees every year for the next thirty years."

Wang Daorong kept swallowing, his hand unconsciously stroking the silver ingot.

"Ouch~"

The familiar touch made him let out a groan.

Even when he was a salt official, he never amassed such enormous wealth through embezzlement and bribery.

Wang Daorong earned all of this through his own abilities; the money came honestly, and he spent it with a clear conscience.

But Wang Daorong quickly realized what was happening, immediately pushed the silver aside, and turned to kneel in front of Shen Lang.

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, but Duke Zhenguo, this humble subject cannot accept this money."

"What, is it not enough?"

"No, Duke Zhenguo, you misunderstand," Wang Daorong hurriedly said. "This power system was not the work of this disgraced official alone."

Without the strong support of the Duke of Zhenguo and the alchemy masters of the work area, this sinful subject would never have achieved what he has today.

"This guilty subject dares not claim such a great achievement; I implore the Duke of Zhenguo to rescind his decree."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang smiled nonchalantly: "Keep it. It's what you deserve. What our Great Chu needs most right now is technical talent!"

Then, he looked at the other craftsmen and said loudly, "The reason I am informing you of Wang Daorong's reward today is to tell you something..."

As long as one possesses genuine talent and learning, even if one cannot enter the imperial court or understands the ways of business, one can still have a wealthy and prosperous life.

Wang Daorong is the best example for you. If you have an idea, then boldly put it into practice.

Use your wisdom to change the world and your own lives!

The Great Chu will not let any useful talent slip by, and will protect your hard work!

A few simple words wouldn't normally resonate much, but with that pile of gleaming silver right in front of them, the visual appeal made them feel a surge of excitement.

The first year of Xuan Sheng will mark the beginning of a golden forty years of technological development in the Great Chu, soon to change the entire landscape of the Taiwu Continent...

After dealing with matters in the industrial zone, Shen Lang made a detour to the construction site of the Floating Pagoda.

He nodded with satisfaction as he watched the foundation gradually take shape and the workers busily working.

After giving Li Youcai a few instructions, he returned to Weiyang Palace.

Since officially stepping down as regent three days ago, he has had an unusually large amount of time and can now focus on some previously overlooked details.

Upon entering Shuixuan Residence, Jiang Mengxuan had just returned from court and was currently reviewing memorials submitted from various regions.

Upon seeing Shen Lang return, she immediately put down her imperial brush and smiled as she invited him to sit down beside her.

"Ah Lang, you're back?"

"Yes, I went to the industrial zone and also inspected the progress of the Pagoda project."

Everything is going very smoothly so far, and Wang Daorong can be assigned to the research department after the Lantern Festival.

Jiang Mengxuan's cool face flushed slightly, and she leaned back in her chair with her legs crossed.

"Ah Lang, I didn't expect you to handle court affairs so efficiently in the past ten months. Today at court, I was surprised to find that all the major and minor matters from various places were recorded in the cabinet's documents."

Shen Lang smiled slightly: "Delegating power to the six ministries to fulfill their duties is naturally much smoother than handling everything individually. The cabinet was formed to improve the efficiency of administrative operations."

Jiang Mengxuan frowned: "Today I listened to the discussions about cabinet affairs in court, and it is indeed as Ah Lang said, that it can relieve me of a lot of official duties, but..."

She hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Shen Lang immediately understood her concerns and confidently replied, "No, what you're worried about will never happen. Moreover, if this cabinet administration is perfected, the Great Chu can continue indefinitely."

Jiang Mengxuan: "But I still don't understand. The formation of the cabinet will inevitably weaken the influence of the imperial power, just like the prime minister system of the past, which held all the power. Is this really appropriate?"

She was still afraid that another powerful minister would emerge in the future. Even if her generation was strong, what about the next generation?

This is a problem that Jiang Mengxuan must consider.

Shen Lang replied, "What if we add a term of office?"

"term of office?"

Jiang Mengxuan was taken aback.

Shen Lang replied, "The prime minister system in Chu is practically defunct; its power has been entirely replaced by the Six Ministries. The reason for this is twofold."

The prime minister system lacked sufficient constraints; the only threat to him came from the emperor himself. This was a major drawback and the root cause of chaos in the court.

If an oversight body could be established to check and supervise the Prime Minister's office and prevent the abuse of power, would the situation change?

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Secondly, the prime minister's term is too long. If he is not impeached with solid evidence during his term, he may continue to serve until he dies."

This could easily lead to serious obstruction and stagnation of new reforms, hindering long-term development. Therefore, imposing term limits on the prime minister could largely prevent this situation from occurring.

Jiang Mengxuan sighed: "If you had been born during the reign of Emperor Taizu, perhaps the political reforms of our Great Chu Dynasty could have been implemented hundreds of years earlier."

“It’s not too late now,” Shen Lang replied. “All members of the cabinet must be officials of the fourth rank or above from either the capital or the six ministries in the provinces.”

At the same time, officials of the seventh rank with a proven track record can participate in cabinet proposals alongside members of parliament.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mengxuan lowered her eyes and fell into thought.

Soon, after sorting out the relationships, her gaze towards Shen Lang lit up.

This man is incredibly talented.

He exploited human nature to enact the Cabinet Act.

Ultimately, this is a game of power.

When all officials start competing for political achievements and striving to enter the cabinet, do they still have the mind to scheme for imperial power?

As long as one holds military power, maintains control over the overall situation, and establishes a supervisory body that obeys one's will, one can sit securely on the throne and control everything.

She couldn't help but recall a sentence Shen Lang had once told her: No matter how noble a regime's starting point may be, it will only become more and more corrupt under the existing circumstances.

Corruption is never the root cause of a country's downfall; the unequal distribution of benefits at all levels is the real issue.

From a materialist perspective, the essence of each dynastic cycle in China was the inability to effectively distribute benefits (except for the Song Dynasty).

This was true of the Han and Tang dynasties, the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty, and especially of the Ma dynasty.

Even in today's world order, the reason why the Middle East and Africa are still plagued by war is still due to the uneven distribution of benefits.

To say that corruption leads to the decline of a dynasty is merely an ambiguous statement, because corruption is inevitable for all regimes from the moment they are born.

“Ah Lang”.

Jiang Mengxuan held Shen Lang's hand and whispered softly in his ear, "Let's go see our child."

"Well, let's go."