After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Chapter 753 Zhenhai Returns Home

Before the start of autumn, the clamor in the imperial court gradually subsided.

News of the Zhenhai fleet's imminent return reached the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, news from Tongzhou Wharf indicates that the fleet will be returning in three days."

"Oh? Is it the method of sending messages by carrier pigeon that you left for Captain Lin, sir?"

"Yes, ordinary carrier pigeons can't deliver messages this far in advance. The ship still has three days to arrive at the port, which shows how amazing Jiang Shaoqing's carrier pigeons are."

Chen Lin presented the original document of the message sent by carrier pigeon.

"I heard that he is a disciple of the great scholar Ouyang. Now that the great scholar Ouyang has agreed to serve as the headmaster of the academy in the capital, it is all thanks to the gentleman's persuasion."

In private, Emperor Zhao Hongchang still habitually addressed Jiang Xiaoqi as "Teacher," as he felt that Jiang Xiaoqi had taught him a great deal.

Many of my current methods and habits are influenced by it, and of course, in a positive way.

"Yes, the Ouyang family and the Empress Dowager's unconditional support for His Majesty also owes much to Jiang Shaoqing's efforts with the great scholar Ouyang."

For a long time, the great scholar Ouyang was detached from worldly affairs and had long since severed ties with the main branch of the Ouyang family.

The Empress Dowager couldn't sever this bond between siblings, and the Ouyang family also hoped to have such a highly respected scholar in their household.

In fact, the return of the great scholar Ouyang Zheng to the capital was a win-win situation.

If even a eunuch like Chen Lin could see things so clearly, how much more so the emperor?

“That’s right. Everything that Mr. has done is for me, his student. Brother Lin, tell me, how should I repay him?”

Now, you are only a fourth-rank official, which is too low a rank. However, there are no ministers in the Six Ministries who are about to retire.

"Sigh...why isn't anyone just about to retire and return to their hometown? I'll certainly send them plenty of travel expenses."

Chen Lin was speechless. It wasn't that jumping from the fourth rank to the third rank was impossible, after all, there were precedents in this dynasty.

But those were all ministers who had made unparalleled contributions. Although Lord Jiang's contributions were also great, many of them could not be mentioned openly.

Are we to say that Lord Jiang helped His Majesty the Crown Prince gather intelligence on other princes? That wouldn't do.

Furthermore, the Zhenhai fleet was funded by Lord Jiang, which is unacceptable; it feels like buying official positions.

Furthermore, helping His Highness open a pastry shop is something that absolutely cannot be discussed openly; it would be utterly laughable.

The most respectable achievement was actually his contribution to translating the Japanese language, but that was a merit from the previous dynasty, and the late emperor had already rewarded him, so this reason could not be used again.

Another merit was his role in recommending people, as he recommended many capable and virtuous officials to the new emperor.

However, this isn't enough to secure three consecutive wins.

This can't be said, that can't be said; it feels like Lord Jiang's achievements were all done secretly.

The emperor himself seemed to have thought of this as well, and the two exchanged a glance, somewhat helpless.

Rewarding someone with gold and silver jewels? Those are things that Lord Jiang has no shortage of. Rewarding someone with beautiful women? Which woman could be more beautiful than Lord Jiang himself?

Money and beautiful women are not suitable, but land and estates are acceptable, since it seems that Lord Jiang quite likes farming.

I heard that the lemon slices brought out by the dozen or so ships of the Zhenhai all came from Lord Jiang's estate. Lord Jiang didn't keep any for himself; he donated them all free of charge.

"We seem to have the same idea, so let's do it this way for now, so as not to make it difficult to convince the public."

"Yes, Your Highness. Which estates would be suitable?"

"Of course, we picked the best ones. We raided many houses recently, and countless farms and estates were confiscated."

Choose the one closest to the Jiang family's residence, with the most beautiful scenery, and preferably one with hot springs—basically, the best one possible.

"This servant understands and will certainly handle this matter properly."

Chen Lin had a clear idea of ​​what was going on. He had seen the list of confiscated land and could basically pinpoint the best locations.

The emperor honored Jiang Xiaoqi as his teacher, but in Chen Lin's heart, he also regarded Jiang Xiaoqi as his mentor.

However, knowing his own lowly status, he dared not aspire to such a position.

But that respect cannot be faked.

Therefore, Chen Lin will definitely put his heart into dealing with Jiang Shaoqing, with whom he has a mentor-mentee relationship.

Jiang Xiaoqi, who was at the Jiang family home playing with carrier pigeons, had no idea that several more properties were about to be added to his name.

After all, he was engrossed in his new skill: chatting with birds.

I have a lot of homing pigeons, and in the past I could only judge their health status by observation and system scanning.

Some of the homing pigeons that recently flew back from the sea have caught a cold. It wasn't him who noticed it; the pigeons themselves said so.

Jiang Xiaoqi thought he was hallucinating, but having a precedent of being able to communicate with the cat team members, he adapted well.

He had the system find other carrier pigeons, and he also went to the wild to catch some sparrows, magpies, larks, and other different birds.

Great, we can communicate almost smoothly. Does this mean I'll be adding a huge air force to my arsenal in the future?

Haha, just thinking about it makes me excited.

Some even wanted to catch a few seagulls and eagles to come and chat with them.

Seagulls can help him keep an eye on what's happening at sea and can even provide early warnings.

Eagles are even more useful. In frontline operations, eagles are better scouts than any other scout, and they will not be exposed or attract the attention of any enemy.

Hehe ~

However, this ability is somewhat overpowered, so it's best to keep it a secret.

Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; even the deepest friendships sometimes cannot withstand the test of reality.

After all, even emperors are human. Jiang Xiaoqi believes that one should never try to test human nature.

Human nature is most vulnerable to testing.

A ruler and his subjects are ruler and his subjects; don't presume to become close friends.

What he didn't tell His Majesty was that the Emperor might really be a little lonely.

After all, no one dares to truly and openly get close anymore.