Chapter 1422 You are not Empress Lu!
Although Ye Mingsheng's answer was very firm, An Miaoyi and Jing Ren still looked a little skeptical, especially An Miaoyi. Although she did not ask again, it was obvious from her expression that she still did not believe it!
Although Ye Mingsheng was somewhat helpless about this, he could also understand An Miaoyi's idea. After all, for people today, one acre of land can produce five or six hundred kilograms of grain, people can build hundreds of meters high buildings, and travel in the sky by vehicle. It is indeed an unimaginable thing!

If Ye Mingsheng had not seen these things with his own eyes, it would have been hard for him to believe that these things would happen!

After this topic came to an end, Ye Mingsheng also looked at the other contents of Jingren's homework. In it, Jingren described that he saw those scholars with very simple clothes in the quiet room of Yijing Library, who were studying and reading eagerly. Jingren was also shocked by this!

This also inspired Jingren, making him feel that if others could study hard and persevere in such a poor environment, he, as the crown prince in such a favorable environment, should work harder and learn more knowledge instead of spending his precious time on playing.

After reading Jingren's homework, Ye Mingsheng was also very pleased. Jingren was able to have such insights, which showed that the purpose of taking him out for inspection and research had been achieved.

Ye Mingsheng therefore praised Jingren and encouraged Jingren to continue to maintain such empathy and study hard for the prosperity of Daqian!
After saying this, Ye Mingsheng also chatted with An Miaoyi Jingren about some trivial matters. At this time, the attendant Zhang Yufeng suddenly came over and reported:
"Your Majesty, there is news to report from the Yijing Library..."

Upon hearing the news about Yijing Library, Ye Mingsheng immediately became interested and said:
"Say!"

"Xu Xiaojun, the newly appointed director of Yijing Library by the Ministry of Rites, has just reported that of the 328 books that Yijing Library had loaned out in the past few days, 273 have been returned!"

"In addition, Yijing Library currently has 107 registered members, including 9 first-tier members, 21 second-tier members, and 77 third-tier members, with a total income of 339 taels of silver!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded with satisfaction. The membership system had only been launched for a few days, but it had already earned three hundred and thirty-nine taels of silver. This showed that the library membership system had a very good first shot. These more than three hundred taels of silver were enough to support the operating expenses of Yijing Library for a year!
After being satisfied, Ye Mingsheng seemed to remember something and asked:
"How many books did you say you returned?"

Zhang Yufeng said without hesitation:
"Xu Xiaojun said that he had loaned out 328 books and received back 273!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng's eyes flashed with coldness and he said coldly:

"Who hasn't returned the remaining fifty-five books?"

Faced with Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhang Yufeng looked a little hesitant, and subconsciously looked at An Miaoyi beside him.

Feeling Zhang Yufeng's eyes, An Miaoyi was also a little surprised. Although she knew that Ye Mingsheng was very dissatisfied with some conditions in Yijing Library after inspecting it, in her impression, she had nothing to do with this matter. In fact, she did not place any people in the Ministry of Rites...

Ye Mingsheng also noticed Zhang Yufeng's gaze, and immediately realized something, and subconsciously said:
"Did Yasuda Yu borrow it?"

Zhang Yufeng said immediately after hearing this:

"Your Majesty, although the uncle had borrowed a few books from Yijing Library before, he returned the books intact on the first day after the notice was posted at Yijing Library!"

Hearing Zhang Yufeng say this, An Miaoyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When Ye Mingsheng mentioned An Tianyu's name just now, her heart couldn't help but rise, worried that her brother didn't understand the situation and would run into Ye Mingsheng's trap at this time!

But my younger brother is still very reliable. Although he borrowed books in violation of regulations, he returned the books on the first day, so he can still clear himself of any connection with the matter!
But since the matter has nothing to do with Tian Yu, why would Zhang Yufeng look at him?

Just as An Miaoyi was confused, Zhang Yufeng also spoke:
"Your Majesty, according to the list provided by Yijing Library, there are a total of nine people who have borrowed books and have not returned them. Seven of them are from the Ye family, and the other two are from the An family!"

Ye Mingsheng was not surprised to hear this, because Liu Ning's appearance that day and his incognito visit to inspect Yijing Library were no secret.

So even though the words "Ye Mingsheng's order" did not appear in the notice in Yijing Library that day, Ye Mingsheng believed that anyone with a decent brain would be able to realize that this order was related to him...

Therefore, if one still does not return the book after knowing that it is related to him/her, he/she is either really stupid and has no ZZ sensitivity at all, or he/she thinks that he/she can get away with it because of his/her strong background.

So before Zhang Yufeng mentioned the identities of those who hadn't returned the books, Ye Mingsheng had already realized that there might be some "royal relatives" among these people!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng said without any further ado:

"Notify Ye Kui to arrest all nine of these people and put them in jail tonight!"

When Ye Mingsheng said this, Zhang Yufeng was also stunned and then he spoke again:
"Your Majesty, among these nine people..."

Seeing that Zhang Yufeng was about to speak, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand to signal Zhang Yufeng to shut up, and then continued to instruct:
"It doesn't matter who they are. I've already given them a chance and told them that they will bear the consequences if they don't return the books on time. If they still insist on doing so, then there's nothing more to say!"

Zhang Yufeng didn't dare to speak anymore after hearing this, and immediately bowed and took the order. Seeing Ye Mingsheng's attitude, An Miaoyi, who was still hesitating whether to ask for mercy, didn't dare to say anything more. But at this moment, Jing Ren suddenly said:
"Father, the income of Yijing Library is only more than 300 taels of silver. Why are you so happy?"

Hearing his son's question, Ye Mingsheng also restrained the coldness in his expression, then smiled and said:
"Jingren, silver is very important in this world, but silver cannot measure everything!" Jingren nodded as if he understood, and Ye Mingsheng continued to speak:
"Take education for example. This is not something that can be fully measured with money!"

“In order to ensure the operation of public schools in various places, the imperial court and local provincial governments invest more than 150,000 taels of silver every year. This is a considerable expense, but this kind of expenditure will not bring any benefits in the short term. However, we still have to insist on investing, and we have to increase investment…”

"Jingren, why do you think the court would do this?"

Jingren fell into hesitation after hearing this. Seeing this, An Miaoyi, who was standing beside him, remained calm on the surface, but was very anxious in her heart and wanted to answer for her son.

Seeing that Jingren couldn't answer, Ye Mingsheng was a little disappointed, but Ye Mingsheng didn't say much. After all, Jingren's qualifications were only mediocre, so it was normal that he couldn't answer such a question!
Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng continued to guide:

"Jingren, do you still remember the eight words I told you about your homework just now?"

"Of course I remember! Work hard to develop science and technology!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:

"Whether it is to work hard to govern or to develop science and technology, we need to educate the people. To educate the people, we must first improve the literacy rate of the people and eliminate illiteracy among the people. Only on this basis can we continue to cultivate outstanding talents!"

"If a country wants to develop, it cannot do without talents. Talents are the most scarce resource and are more precious than gold and land! Excellent talents will promote the progress of the country and use the power of science and technology to help the country develop better!"

"This is why even though the government's finances are tight, we have to tighten our belts and invest in education!"

His father's words might still be a little profound to Jingren. He was confused for a while and then asked again:

"Father, what does this have to do with the Yijing Library making money?"

Seeing that Jingren hadn't figured it out yet, Ye Mingsheng remained patient and said:

"Both public schools and libraries are measures taken by the imperial court to invest in education. Their purpose is to improve the literacy rate of the people of Daqian and reduce the number of illiterate people as much as possible..."

"My goal is to eliminate illiteracy in Daqian through these measures in the next 20 to 30 years, so that every citizen can read and write!"

"But public schools are different from libraries. Public schools are for children who are too young to work. Therefore, the court should use financial subsidies to ensure that all children in Daqian have the opportunity to study!"

"The library serves all the common people, most of whom are adults. Therefore, the imperial court can no longer provide financial subsidies. The library must generate its own income to maintain its own operations, forming a virtuous circle for the sustainable development of the library!"

"Yijing Library is a pilot project. Jingren, you saw that day that all the 200 seats in Yijing Library were occupied. This is just one Yijing Library. Imagine if we built a hundred such libraries in Daqian?"

Hearing this, Jingren seemed to realize something and said subconsciously:
“That’s more than 20,000 people!”

"That's right, more than 20,000 people can learn knowledge for free through the library! Although Yijing Library looks like just a library, it is actually more than just a library. It is Daqian's exploration and innovation in the development of education!"

"It's a brand-new model! That's why I'm so happy. Yijing Library can make profits and maintain its operations independently. We may be able to transplant this model to other places and let them help more people who want to learn in other cities in Daqian..."

Jingren looked confused when he heard this, but An Miaoyi at the side understood Ye Mingsheng's thoughts, and a strange look flashed in her beautiful eyes!
Although she had been married to Ye Mingsheng for many years and knew that Ye Mingsheng had many ideas, An Miaoyi had always believed that Ye Mingsheng, who came from a military family, did not have a high level of education. She really did not expect that Ye Mingsheng could have such cognition and insights on the issue of education!

Seeing that Jingren still didn't fully understand his thoughts, Ye Mingsheng felt somewhat helpless, but he could also understand that Jingren was still young after all. As long as he patiently guided him, Ye Mingsheng believed that he would understand his feelings one day!
Although he thought so, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but have a question in his mind: if it was Jingxuan, would he be able to fully understand his thoughts?
Realizing this problem, Ye Mingsheng was shocked, and then subconsciously glanced at An Miaoyi next to him!
Ye Mingsheng knew very well that if An Miaoyi knew that he had this idea, this woman would probably become even more aggressive!
Although An Miaoyi seemed to have a reasonable and well-founded case in the previous affair, and people could not say anything, Ye Mingsheng was not a fool. The two had been married for so many years, and just as An Miaoyi understood Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng also knew his queen very well!
Ye Mingsheng knew in his heart that An Miaoyi was dissatisfied with Jingxuan's rising prominence, so she deliberately used the affair to oppress Pei Zhixiu and Jingxuan...
Although Ye Mingsheng understood this, the key point was that first, there was real evidence against An Miaoyi. Ye Mingsheng had also asked Ye Cheng to investigate. All the evidence was present, and the chain of evidence was complete. In addition, the matter of adultery was indeed very sensitive in the harem. Once any exception occurred, there might be some chain reactions in the future.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Ye Mingsheng could only adopt the method of making a big deal out of a small matter and a small matter out of nothing, and protect Pei Zhixiu by reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors.

Although this matter has come to an end for the time being, Ye Mingsheng knows in his heart that if An Miaoyi feels threatened again, she will not give up.

Ye Mingsheng was a bit troubled by this, but because Ye Mingsheng was still very satisfied with Prince Jingren, and Ye Mingsheng did not want any internal friction to occur within Daqian because of the issue of the throne, Ye Mingsheng was indifferent to some of An Miaoyi's practices!

However, this does not mean that Ye Mingsheng will tolerate An Miaoyi becoming a replica of Lu Zhi in Daqian!
If An Miaoyi takes any excessive actions in the future, Ye Mingsheng will not hesitate to take measures to let his queen understand that Daqian is not the Han Dynasty, he, Ye, is not Liu Bang, and you are certainly not Lu Zhi!
Of course, there are still big differences between An Miaoyi and Lu Zhi. The most important point is that except for being close to her younger brother An Tianyu, An Miaoyi has a bad relationship with many members of her mother's family, the An family, because of some previous events!

Secondly, although An Miaoyi is close to the Cui family, they are just using each other under the current situation.