CHAPTER 1551: CHAPTER 1526: SALARY AND STIPEND (PART 4)

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were dumbfounded, only finding their voices after a while, "Is it wasteland?"

Manbao shook her head repeatedly, beaming with joy, "No, it’s official land, allocated from the official land, my share is over in Yongzhou."

Officials of Great Jin are accounted for—retired, unexpectedly resigning, imprisoned or dismissed for crimes, or transferred elsewhere, all official lands must be reclaimed or reassigned.

Land ownership belongs to the state, officials only have usage rights, the output belongs to the individual, once you leave, the land stays behind.

So, Manbao doesn’t worry about not having land assigned.

The officials in the capital were already understaffed, often one person doing the work of one and a half, last year when the Prince of Yizhou rebelled, many officials were dismissed, now one person is doing the work of two, so there’s no shortage of official land.

Moreover, official land is only given to those in official positions, honorary positions don’t receive official land; otherwise, Manbao might not even get Yongzhou’s official land, probably being allotted to Shangzhou, Longzhou, or even Liangzhou.

Of course, the clerk was able to tell her she could get Yongzhou’s official land because she’s currently quite favored.

Not only favored by the Eastern Palace but also by the Emperor and Empress, seeing her daily trips to the Daming Palace, and with their lord Minister personally instructing him to record her entry, the clerk specially picked a good plot of official land for her.

Of course, Manbao at this point doesn’t know the intricacies involved in the allocation of official land, and Minister Liu didn’t expect his words to have such an impact on Zhou Man.

At this moment, Minister Liu is troubled by the national treasury, while Manbao is excited about the recently approved salary.

After the excitement, she felt it would be terribly wrong to slack off after receiving so much money, it wouldn’t do justice to these two salaries.

Therefore, Manbao is now excited and full of enthusiasm for her work.

She looked at her two little companions with eyes sparkling, "You guys must work hard too, graduate soon, pass the imperial examination and the Ministry of Personnel’s assessment soon, and become officials to receive salaries faster."

It was only Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, who collectively had a hundred mu of land, waking up and asking, "So much official land?"

Manbao nodded, longing in her heart, "Libationer Kong is impressive, he holds multiple positions, having twenty-eight qing just in official land."

That was after knowing her two plots together amounted to ten qing, which made her couldn’t help but ask the clerk, "I also asked my teacher, my teacher’s official land is two hundred mu, I requested the clerk to try his best to arrange my teacher’s land next to mine, so we can look after each other."

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang couldn’t help but say, "The Emperor is really wealthy."

Manbao nodded repeatedly, then softly said, "I feel that what I did last time was really wrong, tomorrow I should go to the Daming Palace and confess to the Emperor."

Bai Shan looked at her inexplicably, asking, "Then if there’s a next time, and he forbids you from making medical records..."

Manbao said, "For minor illnesses and pains, I still have to follow the rules, but for major illnesses and pains, of course, I listen to him."

A major illness of the Emperor could involve the dynasty’s succession, naturally, one has to listen to the Emperor.

So, what she means is, she’ll admit her mistake, but she’ll proceed as she sees fit in the future.

Bai Erlang felt this was not good, "Then you might as well not confess."

Manbao: "I can’t do that, receiving such a big favor and then giving people a bad time, if my father knew, he’d blame me too."

Bai Shan finally snapped out of the shock of the official land and said, "This land belongs to the world, you shouldn’t think the Emperor gave it to you, you should think the common people gave it to you."

Manbao tilted her head, thinking, and asked, "The salary and grain stipend are indeed provided by the people, but isn’t the land? That’s given by the Emperor."

"How is it not, these lands were reclaimed by people, official land has always been cultivated under enslavement," Bai Shan thought and said, "It’s not wrong to think the Emperor gave it, but after the Emperor, you should add the people."

Manbao curiously looked at him, "Why so clear-cut?"

Bai Shan with a serious face, "It’s better to be clear, so in the future, you won’t make mistakes thinking only about the Emperor."

Manbao confidently said, "I won’t make mistakes."

Bai Shan said, "One thing, your heart wants to go left, going left benefits the people more, but the Emperor wants you to go right, now do you go left or right?"

Manbao answered decisively, "Of course, go left."

Bai Shan: "What if going right gets you twenty qing of land from the Emperor?"

Manbao said, "Go left!"

"Thirty qing!"

Manbao without hesitation, "Still go left."

"What if all thirty qing is awarded to you as Yongye Fields, not official land?"

Manbao hesitated for a moment, "Go left then."

"What if it’s fifty qing?"

Manbao: "That’s a huge matter, even Libationer Kong, such a high officer, only has twenty-eight qing."

"Don’t worry about what it is, just say if you’d perform a benefit exchange when the benefit Emperor offers is large enough."

Manbao was silent longer this time, after a while, she said, "For an issue needing fifty qing of land in exchange, why would the Emperor oppose the people?"

Bai Shan blinked.

Manbao then counted on her fingers, "If I oppose vigorously, would the Emperor have me executed?"

Bai Shan scared her, "He would."

Manbao thought for a moment and said, "Then I’ll... resign?"

Bai Shan, seeing she wasn’t overwhelmed by the official land and was still thinking rationally, nodded approvingly, "Alright, then we’ll resign together."

Beside them, Bai Erlang felt a toothache, couldn’t help but mutter, "Still don’t know if we can pass the exams..."

Bai Shan directly ignored him, telling Manbao, "Alright, you get busy, make sure to rest at night, lack of sleep won’t let you grow tall."

Manbao, who was planning to stay up overnight for the Emperor, immediately decided to sleep on time, and write tomorrow instead.

After all, Manbao’s official position was given by the Emperor and the Crown Prince, especially the Crown Prince, so on her way to Daming Palace the next day, she made a point to detour via the Office of Palace Affairs.

Earlier in the morning, the Crown Prince had attended a lecture by Libationer Kong, now he was handling official business.

Manbao wasn’t familiar with the officials at the Office of Palace Affairs, but she was able to get through quite smoothly, despite everyone being very serious, they seemed somewhat displeased with her presence.

But since she had rendered services to the Eastern Palace, they reluctantly nodded to her and pointed the way.

As Manbao looked at these officials of the Eastern Palace, she mused: The Emperor’s officials are quite interesting, why are the Crown Prince’s officials so stiff? They don’t seem warm or friendly at all.

When Eunuch Wu saw her, he immediately went inside to report to the Crown Prince, and soon came out to lead Manbao in.

The Crown Prince, bent over his desk writing rapidly, looked up at the sound of her arrival and asked, "Why have you come?"

Recalling what she saw yesterday evening, he paused his writing and asked, "Did something happen with the Crown Princess?"

"No," Manbao replied, taking a packet from her medicine box for the Crown Prince, with a cheerful smile, "This is herbal tea I mixed to remove summer heat, for Your Highness to brew and enjoy."