On such a happy day, Wanli rarely paid out of his own pocket to hold a banquet in the palace and entertain the ministers.

Many ministers no longer remember how long it took for the emperor to have a banquet for the ministers.

Anyway, since the incident in the country has been in trouble, Wanli has even withdrawn the banquet for the New Year's Day ceremony. With your attitude, I still want me to treat you, but there is no door.

Therefore, this time, I must eat to death and eat back all the losses I had lost before.

Empress Dowager Li didn't like this kind of occasion, but she was in a good mood today. Her son is promising, so how could her mother be unhappy? So she gave Wanli a little face and attended the banquet.

"Wang Jiaping meets with the Queen Mother."

Wang Jiaping came to Empress Dowager Li and bowed.

Empress Dowager Li hurriedly said, "Sir Wang, please give up the gift." After she got up, she smiled and said, "I just met the prince, so I asked the prince about his studies. The prince answered it well, which was very good. Thanks to Mr. Wang's careful teaching on weekdays, Mr. Wang has worked so hard."

Wang Jiaping hurriedly said, "I dare not. The crown prince is talented, generous and kind, and never let me work for him. With the trust of Your Majesty and the Queen Mother, it is a blessing for me to become the crown prince's army."

Empress Dowager Li said: "Master Wang is humble. The most difficult teacher in the world is the prince's teacher. I know this very well."

"yes."

Wang Jiaping nodded awkwardly.

When it comes to educating the emperor, Empress Dowager Li is definitely the most qualified person to speak, because Wanli was trained by her.

Empress Dowager Li suddenly said, "I haven't heard of the government for a long time. Today I was invited by the emperor to attend this triumphal ceremony. It seems that the emperor's governance is really good. It's even better than the prosperous era of Yongle in the past! Is this true?"

Wang Jiaping said truthfully: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, this is true. Now that the national treasury is full, the country is strong, the people are rich, and living and working in peace and contentment are better than the prosperous era of Yongle."

In terms of national strength, Yongle is no longer as good as today.

At its peak, Zheng He's fleet of seven voyages to the West was not as large as the current fleet of Fengchi Group. This was not the country's money. If the treasury gave it a certain amount of support, it would be amazing.

"That's good!"

Empress Dowager Li breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I am worried that the emperor is so happy that he is so happy for the ceremony. He is just for himself." Speaking of this, she suddenly asked again, "But why has the country changed so much in just a few years?"

Wang Jiaping pondered for a moment and said, "I am dissatisfied with the Queen Mother, this is because of Guo Dan."

He is the kind of person who will not lie until he is right. In fact, the ministers in the court have accepted this fact, but they just don’t say it.

"Guo Dan?"

Empress Dowager Li frowned slightly and said, "Guo Dan is not just a businessman. Does he have such great ability?"

Wang Jiaping said: "The way of valuing business and management he brought has its own subtleties. I will not hide it from the empress dowager, and I have not fully understood the mystery of it yet."

Empress Dowager Li nodded, suddenly became worried and said, "In this way, it is inevitable that big business roads will be open to you?"

Wang Jiaping nodded.

Empress Dowager Li murmured to herself: "No wonder Your Majesty asked Xun'er to study at Guo Dan."

When Wang Jiaping heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned.

......\n

Wuying Palace.

"The medal of the literati?"

Wanli blinked a little awkwardly.

Grand Secretary Wei Xinghai said: "Did Your Majesty prepare medals only for military officers?"

The other ministers looked at Wanli one after another.

This time the triumphal ceremony was so grand that the civil servants were full of sour water. You can't just give it to the military officers, not to us civil servants.

This doesn't work.

"I... Of course I am prepared. Haha!" Wanli laughed a little, and was also wondering in his heart that there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. How can he award medals to literati?

Just then, the eunuch at the door reported that Guo Dan had arrived.

Wanli quickly let Guo Dan come in.

Guo Dan came to the hall, and before he could even pay his respects, Wanli asked, "Guo Dan, I ordered you to be awarded the medal from a literati. How did you do?"

Is there something like this? Why don’t I remember? Guo Dan was asked about it and was sweating. If such a big thing was forgotten, it would be embarrassing. He stared at Wanli blankly.

Wanli's eyes flashed a few times.

Guo Dan immediately understood and changed his mind, and said, "Your Majesty is referring to the outstanding contribution award?"

"Outstanding contribution...yes, I mean this." Wanli coughed lightly and pointed casually, "You can explain to my beloved, this...this award for outstanding contribution."

"yes."

Guo Tan said: "According to Your Majesty's intention, this outstanding contribution award is the highest award in the Ming Dynasty. It is selected every three years, and the standard is to see who has made the greatest contribution to the country."

"That's it." Wanli nodded, feeling secretly happy. This kid is really a talented man. He reacted so quickly and said that he has a nose and eyes.

Wei Xinghai is not stupid, he is so easy to be fooled, so he asked: "How to judge the greatest contribution?"

Guo Dan reached out to Wang Xijue and said, "For example, Grand Secretary Wang has made great contributions to the country. Some of his ideas have been well implemented in practice and have improved all aspects of the country. For example, Gu Xiancheng and Li Zhi from Yinuo Academy have also made outstanding contributions in my country's education industry. For example, Academician Zhao Shizhen and Academician Zhao have made outstanding contributions to the development of our affairs. There is also Shi Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, who has made outstanding contributions in the management of rivers, and the newly promoted Shi Lang Xu of the Ministry of Works, who has made outstanding contributions in agriculture and water conservancy."

This is not right!

Is this a literati award?

No Hanlin Academy has won the award.

Wei Xinghai snorted: "In my opinion, you, Consultant Guo."

Guo Tan smiled and said, "I am different from them. They are all dedicated to the country, but I am dedicated to myself, but I am not worthy of this award."

Wei Xinghai said: "You know yourself!"

Guo Dan said, "This is my greatest advantage."

Another white-bearded university sir said, "This is not a literati award, right?"

Guo Tan smiled and said, "Who is not a literati from the person I mentioned just now? If illiterate people can win this award, I think literati really should reflect on themselves."

Wei Xinghai immediately said: "Don't this literary award be judged by his wonderful calligraphy."

"It turns out that the Grand Secretary is referring to this."

"Am I wrong?"

“It’s not wrong.”

Guo Dan nodded and said, "But Mr. I have considered that Your Majesty's duty is to govern the world. Then the object of Your Majesty's awards must be to make contributions to the country, and the military merits are also the same. If the master only points to the wonderful writing, but has no much to do with Your Majesty and the country, it is unreasonable if he is praised as the honor of the emperor and the national honor. As far as the literati themselves are concerned, they must follow the award of self-cultivation, management of the family, governing the country, and pacifying the world. This is the award of outstanding contributions!"

Zhang Heming stood up and said, "Isn't the article written also the way to govern the country?"

Guo Dan said: "If the content of this article has a profound impact and is ultimately used in practice, of course, you can also win the Outstanding Contribution Award. The Outstanding Contribution Award refers to the contribution to the country, whether you are writing articles or painting."

Speaking of this, a sudden flash of inspiration in his mind, "But our Yipu Institute will set up a literary award next year. Poetry, articles, and novels can be participated in, and they are all judged from the perspective of pure literature. If you are interested...!"

"Pooh!"

Wei Xinghai angrily exclaimed: "Where did you get the qualification to award this literary award for Yinuo Academy? I doubt whether your dean can understand the articles of our Hanlin Academy."

Zou Yongde suddenly had an idea and said, "Your Majesty, I think you can award a literary award in the name of the Hanlin Academy."

The ministers' eyes lit up.

This can be available!

Wanli was eating melons so excited that he couldn't help but be stunned, nodded and said, "This is OK."

Since he has issued a military medal, he must be justified and cannot treat the literati unfairly. He just wants to change the current status of the soldiers, give more respect to the soldiers, and revitalize the glory of the Ming Dynasty. According to national policies, military strength has become crucial.

However, the system of using civil servants to control martial arts cannot be changed. If a general is above civil servants, there will be a big trouble, and it will definitely become a war for war. What will the military officers do if they don’t fight? War is just a continuation of politics. This is actually what it means to control martial arts by civil servants.

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

Guo Dan suddenly said.

Zou Yongde asked angrily: "Do you have any objections?"

Guo Dan said embarrassedly: "But I'll come up with a promise of a literary prize first, so I can't let me withdraw it."

Wei Xinghai laughed and said, "We did not ask you to withdraw, as long as you are not afraid of embarrassing."

Guo Dan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid that if your Hanlin Academy's Literature Award loses to our Literature Award, then... Then you will hold a grudge against me again and ask me to withdraw this Literature Award, but this is not fair, it is obviously what I thought of first."

Wei Xinghai was furious and said, "Will our Hanlin Academy lose to you, Yinuo Academy?"

"You boy is so arrogant."

"I've never seen someone as shameless as you."

......\n

The great scholars of the Hanlin Academy could no longer help, and jumped out one after another, blew their beards and stared at them, and angrily whispered Guo Dan.

It’s okay if you don’t have to, even if you want to talk about the way of governing the country, we will endure it.

But if you talk about literature, if you can't compare with this, then let's hang it.

Wanli had a great time eating melons and said with a smile: "Then let's make it this way. The court has no right to allow you Yinuo Academy to award a literary award. I also approved the Hanlin Academy to establish a literary award, which will be run by the Grand Secretary of the Hanlin Academy. The national treasury will provide certain support, and the prize will be as good as Yinuo Academy's Literature Award."
To be continued...