Mu Yong admitted that he had embezzled 13,000 taels of silver and caused Jingguo to lose more than 50,000 taels of silver. According to Jingguo's laws, Fang Yun sentenced Mu Yong to have his family's property confiscated as compensation and banished to the army for 20 years.
Steward Zhao thanked Fang Yun, promised to pay 2,000 taels of silver, and left.
Mu Yong had already realized that he was most likely a sacrifice in the struggle between Fang Yun and Prince Kang. The young royal prince wouldn't have a full conflict with Fang Yun for him. Although Fang Yun's surname wasn't Zhao, it was no different in Jingguo.
After the verdict, Ao Huang said, "Workshop Owner Liang and Workshop Owner Mu both committed crimes. Why didn't you punish Workshop Owner Liang and instead heavily reward him?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Yes, Workshop Owner Liang sent some of his relatives to the workshop and also embezzled some money himself. He was wrong. However, he once brought the workshop back to life and created great value for Ning An County and Jingguo. His mistakes weren't irreparable. To the workshops of Ning An County, it was just a small flaw. As the official of a region, if he couldn't even tolerate such a small flaw, how could he obtain greater benefits for Ning An County and Jingguo? If he can't use it, then there are very few people who can! No gold is pure, and no one is perfect. It's only right to select and use talents. "
Ao Huang said, "That's right, Workshop Owner Liang should be rewarded. If everyone was like Workshop Owner Liang, Jingguo's workshops would be the best in the world long ago! There are very few people like the stubborn old man Liu Yu. Oh right, why didn't you reward the stubborn old man? "
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Don't you hate him?"
Ao Huang chuckled and said, "I hate him because he always follows the rules. At first, he didn't trust you. Later, he trusted you and realized that he wasn't that annoying. This dragon is very magnanimous. How can I not tolerate a little old man? Moreover, Liu Yu's temper is a bit stubborn, but his character and morals are the role model of the human race. He's more useful to these workshops than Workshop Owner Liang. He lives a difficult life and is a disgrace to the country! "
Fang Yun looked at Ao Huang seriously. He said, "Not bad, you've improved a lot!"
"Hehe …" Ao Huang happily wagged his tail. Dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky.
Ao Huang could not help but roll its eyes and stop wagging its tail. Only then did the dark clouds in the sky slowly dissipate.
Ao Huang sighed and said sighed and said, "It's so lonely. Our True Dragon Clan is so powerful that even a fart can summon wind and rain. "
Fang Yun rolled his eyes at Ao Huang and continued the discussion.
Fang ''s punishments were different.
He would not tolerate the workshop owners who had serious problems. Even if they were relatives of the Empress Dowager or had connections with the Prime Minister's party, Fang Yun would be strict with them.
Fang Yun would only punish the incompetent workshop owners who were not a big problem and let them continue to be workshop owners. He would slowly replace them in the future.
As for the talented workshop owners who did not have serious problems … Fang Yun punished them first and rewarded them later.
There were too many people who needed to be interviewed. At night, Fang Yun had no choice but to speed up the interview. At two o 'clock in the morning, he had only dealt with 60 people. After that, Fang Yun drew the blueprint of the new spinning machine before going to bed.
From the next day onwards, new news spread in Saint Origin World. Fang Yun had not only obtained excellent results in the prison examination. He seemed to have made a breakthrough in the construction examination too, but the Punishment Hall and Workshop Hall did not disclose it. Those who knew about it did not dare to spread it. Many people who did not know about it could only wait for the news to be published on the first day of every month.
On the first day of every month, the Wen Pao would publish the monthly rankings of the Ten Nations Palace Examinations. However, only the top 50 would be listed.
The evaluation of the Palace Examinations was not directly judged at the end but rather, it would be increased step by step.
There were thousands of Ten Nations Palace Examinations and many people knew that it would be difficult for them to enter the top 50 even if they did not become the top scholar. Hence, they would do their best to get better results and be listed on the Wen Pao. It was an honor to be listed on the Wen Pao's Palace Examinations as it would bring honor to their ancestors.
A few days ago, Fang Yun sent a letter to County Magistrate Duan of Ji County to talk about the memorial archways. County Magistrate Duan said helplessly that the craftsmen from the Capital had already settled down in Ji County because Fang Yun had too many honors and there were too many memorial archways that needed to be built. The essay "Holy Dao" was one such archway, and so was the poem "Mingzhou".
In the end, County Magistrate Duan also said that the street in front of Fang Yun's old residence was now known as Memorial Archway Street because the archways that were connected to the door frames were forming a corridor.
That was not all. The property prices on both sides of the street had skyrocketed! In particular, the property prices of the dozens of houses closest to Fang Yun's house were comparable to those in the Capital! An ordinary house would cost at least 20,000 taels of silver!
A prince's annual salary was only 10,000 taels of silver.
More than half of the houses on Memorial Archway Street had been sold, but the owners of the other half said that they would not sell for less than 100,000 taels of silver. This was because all the houses around Half-saint's old residence were priced at more than 100,000 taels of silver!
There were even some who made it clear that they would not sell their houses. They wanted their children and grandchildren to study hard in their houses so that they would become talents in the future.
The houses that had been sold off had been demolished and rebuilt. Most of them had been turned into dedicated study rooms. Many scholars had already moved in to live there. They were either the sons of famous families or the descendants of wealthy families. They all hoped to borrow Fang Yun's strength to achieve better results.
One of the buyers was the most peculiar. It was actually a scholar from the Qi Kingdom. He did not have much time left, so he moved to the Enlightenment River and used 100,000 taels of silver and a Scholar's Literature Treasure to buy the house next to Fang Yun's old residence. He staked everything on this one throw, hoping to have a breakthrough and become a great scholar.
The people living around Fang Yun's old residence were not blind or stupid. Historically, there had been people who had calculated that the students living around Half-saint's old residence would obtain better results as the Half-saint's strength grew. This was especially true in the second year of Half-saint's canonization. A portion of the students would obtain excellent results.
However, this effect only applied to those below the Hanlin Academy. Normally, those who reached the Hanlin Academy would not be affected.
However, there was the Enlightenment River in Ji County. It was more special than the usual Half-saint's old residence, so even the scholars wanted to live next to Fang Yun's old residence.
No one knew why Half-saint's old residence had such a magical power. They could only guess that it was the gathering of the people's hearts. It changed the surrounding environment and vitality, making people smarter.
As for Fang Yun's house, a wealthy family had offered 10 million taels of silver to buy it. Fang Yun was too lazy to respond.
Now, the Enlightenment River in Ji County had become the most important place in Jingguo. A thousand soldiers were even sent to guard it. Scholars from all over the world continuously poured into the Enlightenment River. Naturally, there was a monthly Enlightenment Literary Meeting, which made the culture of literature in Ji County flourish.
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