After the morning court, the civil and military officials gradually left the Hall of Governance.
Upon exiting, they looked at Chu Chen with expressions of surprise.
No one had expected that Chu Chen, having returned to officialdom, would immediately slap the faces of many Ministry of Works officials.
The weapons he forged caused military officials to shamelessly scramble for them in the hall, and even the Empress herself had directly claimed a treasure saber.
"This Chu Chen is truly a remarkable person. I increasingly fail to understand the young people of this era. I am old, old."
Marquis Zhenning stroked his beard, sighing wistfully.
"Haha, when you were young, Marquis Zhenning, weren't you also unwilling to admit old age, claiming you were not as forthright as you are today? How have you changed so much to sigh about being old?"
Marquis Wei Wu teased with a smile.
"When I was young and impetuous, I didn't understand. I was unwilling to bow to fate. Now that I am old, I know the terror of fate, so it is naturally different."
Marquis Zhenning gave a wry smile and continued, "If the heavens were willing to lend me another five hundred years, I would surely be unrestrained."
"You old scoundrel, you have quite a beautiful dream," Marquis Wei Wu said gruffly.
On the other side, among the civil officials, Yi Ji, the Minister of Works, cornered Hu Youwei, the Langzhong of the Armory Division.
"Uh~ Minister, what is this?"
Hu Youwei looked guilty, his small, beady eyes darting about.
"Hu Youwei, you've got some nerve. You were quite impressive in court."
Yi Ji said with dissatisfaction, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"This, your subordinate does not understand what you mean, Minister."
Yi Ji replied weakly.
"Heh heh~ Where has the astute Minister Hu from the court gone? Weren't you quite capable when you were targeting Lord Chu just now?"
"Speak plainly, who is behind you? Why are you targeting Lord Chu?"
Yi Ji, unwilling to quibble with the subordinate of his subordinate, asked with a cold smile.
"Alas, Minister, why must you involve yourself? Your subordinate is helpless, but you are not like this."
Hu Youwei, seeing that he could not evade the question, also brought the topic to the forefront. He said, "Your subordinate truly did not act of his own volition. There is someone behind him who instructed him. Your subordinate can only say that it is a great figure comparable to Princess Xin Yue."
"Beyond that, your subordinate dares not say more. If the Minister has no other business, then your subordinate will take his leave."
After Hu Youwei finished speaking, he waited for a moment. Seeing that Yi Ji did not object, he left on his own accord.
"A great figure comparable to Princess Xin Yue? Could it be that this dog, Hu Youwei, was instigated by one of the princesses?"
Yi Ji's heart sank as he watched Hu Youwei's retreating figure.
He thought, "Could this involve a clash between several princesses? If so, Lord Chu might be in danger."
"Although I am a Minister now, I cannot assist Lord Chu. Alas."
Yi Ji shook his head and left, quite troubled.
Two days later, at the morning court in the Hall of Governance.
After the customary shouts of "Long live the Emperor," Chu Chen waited as usual for the Empress and the ministers to finish their state affairs.
Then, he stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the one hundred treasure sabers made of initial steel that you requested have all been completed!"
The Empress was somewhat surprised. "Lord Chu, I gave you three days, and I did not expect you to finish in just two. You have truly impressed me."
"Since that is the case, let us begin the distribution."
As soon as the Empress finished speaking, the military officials below cried out impatiently.
"Your Majesty! This subject requests one!"
"Your Majesty! This subject also requests one!"
"Your Majesty! I wonder if I could request an extra one? My family has two generals. I wish to obtain one for my unfilial son who is guarding the border."
"Scram, you old scoundrel, you have a good imagination. Your son is not in a hurry anyway. We can discuss it later when there are more."
"Exactly, there are only so many. You are thinking of your son, while I am thinking of all my sons."
"Enough, all of you, be quiet!" The Empress's stern reprimands finally brought the situation under control.
"Seeing you all like this, if I let you distribute them, it would not be a good thing. Therefore, I will distribute them according to rank."
"Those of higher rank will have priority, and so on, until they are all distributed. What do you say?"
"Your Majesty is wise!"
The senior military officials naturally had no objections. The mid and lower-ranking military officials dared not protest, sighing with longing.
Since learning two days ago that there might be treasure sabers awarded at court, some ministers who did not usually attend court had actively shown up.
For example, the Duke of Founding and the Duke of Pillar, the only two Dukes of the Yun Yue Kingdom who had survived for over three hundred years, shamelessly came to court.
Dukes, Marquises, Earls, civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above, military officials of the seventh rank and above from the Five City Patrols and the Imperial Guard, as well as the generals of the Empress and the Princess's personal guard.
With such a distribution, the one hundred treasure sabers were quickly allocated.
Looking at the smiling military officials, the civil officials standing opposite them felt a pang of sourness for some unknown reason.
In the past, whenever there were benefits, the civil officials were always the first to benefit. How could things be so different today, with the military officials receiving the benefits first?
No, this absolutely will not do! If we civil officials do not get sabers, we can get swords!
With this thought, a group of civil officials turned their gaze to Meng Yuan, the Minister of Works, giving him significant, suggestive glances and applying pressure.
Meng Yuan's mouth twitched. He glanced at the beaming Chu Chen and, steeling himself, stepped forward.
He shouted, "Your Majesty, your subject has a memorial to present!"
The Empress, in a good mood, asked with a smile, "Oh? Minister Meng, what other matter do you have?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, all the civil and military officials in court are the pillars of the Yun Yue Kingdom. Now that the military officials have all received rewards, your subject believes that the civil officials should also be rewarded."
"Your subject requests to be assigned the task of supervising the Ministry of Works to forge one hundred treasure swords using the new method of refined steel, to be presented to Your Majesty as rewards. Your subject implores Your Majesty to grant this request."
After speaking, Meng Yuan bowed deeply, covering his face.
"Ha? You are not like us warriors who need to fight on the battlefield and train troops. What use do you have for treasure swords? It is better not to waste good things. Let us use the materials and time to forge more and award them to the soldiers in the army."
"The soldiers in the army are eagerly awaiting such treasure sabers to fight for Your Majesty on the battlefield and serve the country."
Marquis Zhenning, Fang Du, said with dissatisfaction, his words laced with sarcasm and personal revenge.
"Exactly. Who knows if you fellows with your wicked minds truly want treasure swords, or if you, the Minister of Works, have taken a fancy to Lord Chu's refined steel method."
"This is truly hard to say!"
Marquis Wei Wu, Zhao Zhong, smiled slightly and openly sowed discord among the civil officials.
"You!"
"What about you? Are you so stubborn that you want to spar with this old man? Come, come, I'll let you have one hand!"
"Enough, stop arguing." The Empress waved her hand, feeling a headache.
After a moment of thought, she said, "Chu Chen, you have improved the casting technology and contributed treasure sabers. I hereby promote you to Langzhong of the Armory Division of the Ministry of Works, effective immediately."
"The original Langzhong of the Armory Division will temporarily await orders at home!"
"Your subject Chu Chen thanks Your Majesty for your grace!"
"Damn, I got promoted just like that? This promotion is like riding a rocket!"
Chu Chen thought to himself with secret delight.