CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER THIRTY I’M NOT INTERESTED IN THAT POSITION

Liang Run had always been worried that his sister was being bullied in the palace and wasn’t living well. He was also concerned that Liang Zhaoyi might be killed in the palace, after all, the harem is a place where people are devoured without leaving bones.

Even if he worried more, it was useless because the Liang family had no power or influence and couldn’t help Liang Zhaoyi or protect his sister.

After Liang Zhaoyi entered the palace, she completely lost contact with the family, which made Liang Run even more worried about her safety. He always felt that Liang Zhaoyi had been killed.

Two or three years after losing contact with Liang Zhaoyi, the Liang family far away in Yangzhou finally received news of her. They learned that Liang Zhaoyi had given birth to a prince for the emperor and was conferred the title of Zhaoyi, which made the Liang family both happy and uneasy.

The joy was that Liang Zhaoyi was still alive and had successfully given birth to a prince. The unease was that Liang Zhaoyi was unsupported in the palace, and having given birth to a prince, could this make her situation even more dangerous?

After careful consideration, Liang Run decided to go to the capital. Even if he couldn’t help Liang Zhaoyi, it was good to get some news about her.

He originally planned to become an official and be a support for his sister, but the Great Zhou Dynasty did not allow the purchase of official positions. Their family didn’t know any high-ranking officials who could recommend him to be an official, so he had to give up the decision to become an official.

He also hoped to rely on his father, after all, his father was the only official in their family, but his father was just a small County Magistrate and hadn’t been promoted for over ten or twenty years.

The reason his father, this County Magistrate, had never been promoted was that his position was bought. More than twenty years ago, when the Great Zhou Dynasty wasn’t established yet, it was still the previous dynasty. In the previous dynasty, it was possible to buy and sell official positions. The Liang family had money and bought Mr. Liang a County Magistrate role. Mr. Liang did a decent job, so when the Great Zhou Dynasty was established, they didn’t remove his position as a County Magistrate.

When the Great Zhou Dynasty was first established, it abolished many things from the previous dynasty, including the buying and selling of official positions. During the period of Emperor Xia Ling of the previous dynasty, official positions were sold at fixed prices, and anyone with money could become an official. The court and bureaucratic world were in chaos. Those officials who bought their positions frantically amassed wealth and exploited the people, making them suffer terribly.

This was a lesson learned from the previous dynasty, which the Great Zhou Dynasty must not repeat.

To recommend officials to the court, typically in-office officials would make the recommendations. Of course, the position of the recommending official couldn’t be too low. The Great Zhou Dynasty stipulated that only officials at the fifth rank or above were qualified to recommend talent. Another special case was that contemporary great scholars or highly respected individuals could also recommend talent.

Even with the recommendation of an official or a great scholar, it required multiple levels of scrutiny. During the review process, not only was the ability of the recommended person examined, but also their character and, most importantly, whether they had committed any illegal or immoral acts.

If reviewing officials were bribed and allowed the recommended person to pass scrutiny, and it was later found that there were issues with the recommended person, the officials who initially reviewed them would face severe punishment.

The Liang family had previously considered giving money to the Yangzhou Prefecture Magistrate and asking him to recommend Liang Run to become an official, but this was bribery and would be a severe crime if discovered. Moreover, if they did this, it might endanger Liang Zhaoyi in the palace.

Liang Run and his family thought it over carefully and decided not to bribe the Yangzhou Prefecture Magistrate.

Since he couldn’t become an official, he could only continue doing business. After much deliberation, Liang Run decided to come to the capital to do business.

By doing business in the capital, he could both get news about Liang Zhaoyi and also send silver to her.

Liang Run felt that his sister had no influence in the palace and needed silver to pave the way to live well. Back when Liang Zhaoyi went to the capital, Mr. Liang sent her a lot of money to use in the palace.

The Liang family had some fame in Yangzhou, but upon reaching the capital, they were nothing. If business was not done carefully, there could be trouble, or even danger to life, considering the many officials in the capital who could not be offended.

Liang Run felt that his business couldn’t be too large, as growing too big would attract attention and envy. If too small, it wouldn’t make enough money to help Liang Zhaoyi in the palace. He thought carefully and decided to do a moderately-sized business.

He planned to do their family’s old business—herbs, but he wasn’t familiar with the pathways for acquiring herbs in the capital. Furthermore, many people were in the herbal business, and they had many connections, which he couldn’t compete against.

While he was conflicted about what business to do, Zhao Yao approached him. Zhao Yao originally wanted Liang Run to start a restaurant business, bringing out the delicious food from Zhao Yao’s dream, which would definitely sell massively, but doing so would be too conspicuous.

Zhao Yao discussed with Liang Zhaoyi and decided to have Liang Run engage in inconspicuous business. This unnoticed business not only could make money but also collect information. That was selling vegetables.

Like Liang Zhaoyi, Liang Run had loved growing herbs, vegetables, and flowers since childhood, and he was pretty good at it. Zhao Yao told Liang Run to buy some land on the outskirts of the capital, specifically for growing vegetables.

Initially, he set up a stall in the capital’s vegetable market to sell vegetables, then started delivering vegetables door-to-door. Liang Run also had a good business mind, and within a year or two, his door-to-door vegetable delivery business was doing quite well. Currently, many officials and wealthy merchants in the capital have their vegetables delivered by Liang Run.

Through delivering vegetables, Liang Run collected a lot of information in the capital. Most of this information was very useful.

At this time, Zhao Yao was enjoying a hearty hot pot meal.

Seeing his nephew eating happily, Liang Run’s appetite also improved quite a bit.

The uncle and nephew were enjoying the hot pot while chatting about recent events.

"Ever since the news of Prince Dai’s great victory in Liangzhou reached the capital, stories of his past military achievements have been spreading like wildfire. Now, when Prince Dai is mentioned, people call him a great hero."

"This must be the handiwork of Marquis Xuanping. He wants to let the people of the capital know about the various achievements of my second brother so that the people think that the peace in Great Zhou now is brought by Prince Dai." Zhao Yao’s small mouth was flushed red from eating, "Marquis Xuanping is doing this to build momentum for my second brother."

"Now the people think they should award Prince Dai with pearls and believe it’s deserved," said Liang Run. "Actually, bestowing pearls on Prince Dai is also a good thing for you. When you grow up and become a prince, you will definitely be awarded pearls as well."

Zhao Yao waved his hand and said, "I am not interested in whether or not I receive pearls." To be more accurate, he was indifferent. When he grew up, who knew what the situation would be like. Besides, he wasn’t interested in that position; receiving or not receiving pearls was of no use to him.

"I’ve heard that getting pearls means your fiefdom will expand and your salary will increase, aren’t you interested?"

"Second uncle, I am not favored, and when I grow up and become a prince, Father is most likely to grant Qingzhou to me." Qingzhou was the smallest among all the states, geographically unimportant, and most importantly, Qingzhou was currently very poor and frequently plagued by pirates. "By the way, earlier you mentioned that eldest uncle was acquiring a restaurant. Has he acquired it yet?"

"Yes, he’s acquired it, but it’s a small restaurant." Liang Run cooked some meat, picked it up, and put it into Zhao Yao’s bowl. "Your eldest uncle is currently renovating the restaurant, which will take some time."

Zhao Yao’s eldest uncle was called Liang Yu. Before going to Qingzhou, he first went to the capital to see Zhao Yao and the others. Zhao Yao gave him many things, like modern food from dreams Zhao Yao had eaten and blueprints for restaurant renovations.

With these things, Liang Yu’s restaurant was sure to make money.

"In the latter half of the year, the restaurant is sure to open," Liang Run continued. "Your eldest uncle, besides being busy with restaurant matters, also specifically went to visit local officials and wealthy gentry in Qingzhou."

Seeing Liang Run suddenly furrow his brows, Zhao Yao put down his chopsticks and asked, "Are the officials and wealthy gentry in Qingzhou difficult to deal with?"

Liang Run lightly nodded, "Although Qingzhou is small, the forces there are very complex, making it quite difficult to penetrate them."

"Money makes the mare go," Zhao Yao said. "As long as there’s enough money, you can break into their circles."

"You’re right." This nephew was as smart as his sister. Unfortunately, the Liang family had no influence. Not only could they not help him fight for that position, but they might also hold him back, causing his sister and him to not dare fight for it.

With the intelligence of his sister and Yao Yao, not fighting for that position really was a pity.