The group of people who stood up in a dark crowd were all the Huang Bo faction in the Shu Yi dispute. They were the opponents of Zhao Zongquan who wanted to respect Xian Xian Shu Wang as the emperor.
The meaning of standing up now is obvious. According to Zhao Zongquan, we people have objections to you, so we have left the court affairs alone.
But what you do is completely in line with the wishes of the Huangkao faction headed by Han Zhang, and these people have no objection to you.
These people haven't left the court alone, so you can send Han Zhang to check the salt for a while.
It was a collective expression of dissatisfaction with Zhao Zongquan's use of the topic.
"Hahaha, you don't need to take this opportunity to ridicule me. There is no reason for a prime minister to inspect eight provinces."
Zhao Zongquan first sneered a few times, and then scolded loudly.
"Bah, there is no such thing as an adopted son in the world. After devouring his adopted father's property, he has to recognize his own father again."
Sheng Changbai couldn't help but mutter in his heart, this is the consequence of breaking the etiquette system and having no rules.
The main problem was that the emperor was shamelessly quibbling and did not want his own people to do things that offended others.
This group of people has already offended most of the court for Zhao Zongquan, and they haven't received any awards yet. How can they send people to do such a thing again?
In fact, even if Han Zhang, the prime minister, cannot go, and Ouyang, who is involved in political affairs, the deputy prime minister is not suitable, and there are so many officials under Zhongshu's sect led by the prime minister, it is impossible to find someone to take charge.
"I don't dare (I don't dare)."
The emperor of the old Zhao family can indeed ridicule and scold him in person, but he cannot admit such things, and he still has to give the emperor face.
"Who can patrol the salt for the imperial court?"
After recommending Han Zhangzhifeng, Zhao Zongquan continued to ask.
"Your Majesty, although the salt tax is a chronic problem for the imperial court, the situation is not as serious as what King Huan said. If the salt tax was really such a big problem, the world would not be as peaceful as it is now. Therefore, in my opinion
, it is better to correct the etiquette and laws first, distinguish the superior and inferior, sort out the clans, and then deal with the salt tax."
Censor Zhongcheng took the opportunity to say that everyone knew the emperor's plan and wanted to delay it until he became more powerful before forcing it through.
Of course, Wen Chen did not want to make it more difficult to object, and wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible while Zhao Zongquan wanted something from Wen Chen.
"There is no need to say anything more about this matter. I said we would wait until the late Emperor has discussed it in detail, so we will discuss it after he has discussed it in detail."
Zhao Zongquan reacted strongly when this was mentioned. He got angry and scolded with an angry look: "Don't think that the court can't do without you. Without you, we can still inspect the salt affairs. Even if I go to inspect the salt myself,
, we must also check this account clearly to ensure that the world has food to eat."
"Your Majesty is wise," the ministers praised Zhao Zongquan.
Zhao Zongquan's words are very beautiful, but they are completely lacking in credibility.
It has been more than a year since Zhao Zongquan became the country's top leader.
Except for his own Yuzhou who was full for a while, no one else enjoyed any benefits from Zhao Zongquan.
There were many distinguished officials, not to mention that they were full, Zhao Zong was all responsible.
…
"I don't know what's going on. Now that the officials have taken office, things happen one after another in the court."
After returning home from the Yamen, Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai were discussing, feeling troubled by the current situation in the court.
The current chaotic situation in the court is not suitable for Sheng Hong to display his abilities.
Sheng Hong still needs a peaceful court in order to display his ability to be graceful and dance with long sleeves.
When there were several groups of people fighting in the court, it was difficult for Sheng Hong to make good friends with both sides and try to get the best of both sides.
"Now this person is different from the late emperor. The late emperor advocated rule by inaction. This one haha...does not have the broad-mindedness of the late emperor."
You can tell from the fact that Zhao Zongquan wants to hold every power in his own hands. Because he picked up the throne, he is very insecure.
Either he inherited his fortune from his father, or he is not strong-willed.
"So we must be careful in our behavior in the future. Today you have bumped into the officials again. The officials have just promoted you. Even if you don't accept it, you should show some respect to the officials.
Where has your previous stability gone? You need to think more about what you do. It’s not just about you. You also have your parents, your wife, and soon you will have children. Can you please stop making us worry about you all day long? ?”
Sheng Hong spoke earnestly and said to Sheng Changbai in a lecturing tone, which has not happened in all these years.
It was probably Sheng Changbai's operations during this period that really frightened Sheng Hong.
That is to say, Sheng Hong didn't have any heart problems, otherwise he would have had to be whipped several times.
"Understood, I will keep a low profile during this period. Except for the matter of ascending the throne for King Xian Shu, I will not speak for other things in the court."
After some reflection, Sheng Changbai determined that he should really restrain himself.
After opening up my true nature and getting used to trolling others, I have really lost control of myself during this period.
We still have to deal with the issue rather than the person. We cannot completely deny Zhao Zongquan just because he started a dispute over the Imperial Examination.
Zhao Zongquan could not do anything without principled objection.
In fact, it is definitely a good thing that Zhao Zongquan wants to investigate the salt tax.
The country's necessary expenditures have always existed. No matter whether the income is so large or not, some money must be spent.
The imperial court was now short of money. If Zhao Zongquan did not raise more money from salt affairs, he could only increase exorbitant taxes and raise money from the common people.
Rather than exploiting the people and affecting their power, it is of course more appropriate to make money from salt merchants and officials. These should be the country's normal income.
After thinking about it, Sheng Changbai decided not to take the initiative to cause trouble during the emperor's inspection of the salt tax.
Without much trouble, Sheng Changbai spent more time at home.
I just happened to witness the whole process of Minglan's wedding, the ceremony of asking for names, Najib, and Nazheng.
Because He's mother was in poor health, she might die immediately after falling ill.
When the mother dies, the children must observe mourning for their mother for three years and cannot get married.
Now that He Hongwen is not too young, he is still quite eager to get married.
After passing the wedding gift directly, that is, the betrothal gift was sent to the Sheng family, and they prepared to get married as soon as possible.
The He family's betrothal gift still has the characteristics of a medical family, in addition to the money and goods that ordinary families would prepare.
The He family also prepared various precious medicinal materials such as ginseng, safflower, Ganoderma lucidum, Gastrodia elata, etc.
The two families have made a preliminary agreement that after Minglan's hairpin ceremony next summer, they will get married.
Minglan didn't escape either, and she was going to get married at the age of fifteen.
"Sixth sister, when our family returned to Bianliang, you were still a little girl, and you were about to get married in the blink of an eye. Your sister-in-law and I didn't know what to buy you, so we just prepared some gold and silver for you.
, whatever you want to buy, just buy it yourself.”
Now that the He family has sent the betrothal gift, the Sheng family has to start preparing for Minglan's dowry.
Sheng Changbai added makeup to Minglan, which was very tacky, just gold and silver ingots.
Because the He family that Minglan married into was just a medical family, she didn't go out to socialize that much.
There is no need to prepare any luxurious headdress or fabrics for Minglan, just give her the most practical hard currency.
Other items can be said to be collectibles. If they really need to be exchanged for money, they will be discounted a lot.
Even if Minglan is favored by the old lady, the old lady will use a lot of her dowry to subsidize Minglan more.
But when it comes to money, it is definitely right to prepare more, and there is not much bad reason.
"Second brother, after I go out, please take care of my mother and Xiaoqi."
There were still a few months left, but when Minglan said this, it felt like she was going to get married soon.
"You don't have to worry about them, your sister-in-law and I will take good care of them. Besides, even if you go out, you are still living in Bianliang. You can come back to visit them at any time like Mo Lan and Ru Lan. I think I can take care of them.
"
Minglan married He Hongwen, and another advantage was also reflected.
The reason why He Hongwen didn't take the Jinshi examination and become an official was that he didn't have to go to other places to serve.
Just live in Bianliang with peace of mind. Even if He Hongwen enters Tai Hospital as an imperial doctor in the future, he will not leave Bianliang.
There is no need to follow her husband to work as an official and endure ten or twenty years of poverty and travel.
Ming Lan's marriage is progressing in the Sheng family, and the affairs of patrolling salt in the imperial court are also progressing.
The officials of the Emperor's Party were unwilling to do such offending things for the emperor.
The members of the Imperial Examination Party had just offended most of the court for the sake of the Emperor and committed suicide in Shilin.
It is not good for the emperor to send these people again and continue to offend people.
When no one was available, Zhao Zongquan sent his eldest son and brother-in-law to handle the matter.
At critical moments, your relatives are the most reliable.
Zhao Zongquan had just issued the order, but Zhao Jiying and Shen Congxing had not yet set off from Bianliang.
This led to a counterattack from vested interests in the salt tax.
"Your Majesty, I have my own memorial. I want to participate in the memorial of Shen Congxing. He forms cliques for personal gain, invades people's fields, indulges his family members, seeks wealth and murders..."
"Investigation, we must investigate strictly, we must get to the bottom of everything and make Uncle Shen innocent. How can our great uncle allow others to slander us like this." This time it was the Queen Mother who spoke first.
Someone was impeaching someone over there, and the Queen Mother here directly expressed her position to investigate strictly.
The vested interests in the salt tax obviously reached a certain tacit understanding with the Queen Mother.
The purpose there is to obstruct the salt patrol and not to destroy her own financial path. The Queen Mother's purpose is to undermine Zhao Zongquan's prestige and prove the need for her to drop the curtain.
"Let's investigate. We must get to the bottom of the matter."
The Queen Mother has already expressed her attitude, so Zhao Zongquan naturally has a hard time saying that he will not let his brother-in-law be investigated.
After all, the Queen Mother is also a master of palace fighting, and she wants to clear Shen Congxing's name.
The Queen Mother was willing to "support" her brother-in-law, so it was certainly not easy for the Emperor to show his unwillingness.
"The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable."
After the investigation, it was found that Shen Congxing was certainly not clean.
Everyone knows that a group of people in Yuzhou formed a clique for personal gain.
However, since this crime was neither admitted by me nor recognized by the emperor, it was irrelevant.
Of course there are also people's land occupations, and dignified uncles and upstarts in the court, of course, want to race and enclose land near Bianliang.
Bullying some people can actually be said to mean losing some money.
The last two are talking about the same thing. Shen Congxing’s ex-wife’s family, the Zou family, and Shen Congxing’s son are lending money outside.
Usury of money was not illegal in the Zhou Dynasty, but everyone knew that loan sharking was a sinister thing, and it was something that everyone openly despised.
If the family members of an honorable official put money outside, if someone finds out about it, they will inevitably be said to be ugly, degrading and embarrassing.
Originally this was not a big deal, but the Shen and Zou families were lending money at usurious rates.
Debt collectors drove people to death, and people's lives were at stake. Shen Congxing was in a situation where the Empress Dowager strongly advocated, and Shen Congxing certainly couldn't get away with it.
Although it was not a direct murder, Uncle Shen Guo was a relative, so he could atone for his sin by killing someone.
But having just made a mistake, Shen Congxing is not suitable for patrolling salt.
"Then let General Duan accompany you."
Then the emperor arranged for General Duan to accompany Zhao Jiying on a salt inspection.
"Rape women and force them to death in broad daylight, which is appalling."
In the case of Duan Chengyong, the process was that a fisherman sued Duan Chengyong for raping her, and then she chose to commit suicide, and she died without any evidence.
Xiao Duan was indeed a little unjust and was arranged to perform a fairy dance.
But it was also the four generals under Zhao Zongquan, Gu Tingye, Shen Congxing, Duan Chengyong, and Geng Jiechuan, who liked to go to prostitutes so much that they could easily be tricked if their weaknesses were caught.
This directly eliminated another Duan Chengyong. He died without any symptoms and was in trouble. It was impossible to protect King Huan on his salt patrol.
"Zecheng, I'm going on a salt patrol. I probably won't be able to return to Bianliang this year. I'll come over and have a drink with you in advance."
Both of them were involved in lawsuits, and the only military attachés the emperor could trust were Gu Tingye and Duan Chengyong.
"Okay, you are also familiar with salt affairs, so this can be your practice wine."
"If I can't come back during the Chinese New Year, you can take Sister Rong to your home during the Chinese New Year."
Even though Gu Tingye was leaving tomorrow, he came to see Sheng Changbai today. Of course, it wasn't really just for a drink. The most important thing was to take care of his children.
"No problem, I will bring you back after the school is suspended."
Thinking about it, Gu Tingye must have said good things to Zhao Zongquan during this period.
Sheng Changbai was able to accept the matter calmly without being targeted or hesitating.
This time Zhao Zongquan sent Gu Tingye, and there was no problem. He successfully led his troops and followed King Huan to leave the capital to inspect salt.
According to the importance of the four generals to the emperor, Gu Tingye should be regarded as the most important.
Of course the emperor trusted Shen Congxing the most, but in terms of ability, Gu Tingye was the strongest.
According to the principle of keeping the strongest by your side to protect yourself, Geng Jiechuan should be sent out next.
After all, this was just a salt patrol, and some soldiers were needed to protect the safety. It was not to quell the rioters. The requirements for military officers were not so high. It was enough that they could be trusted. No one would have thought that the emperor would directly send Gu Tingye out.
This also disrupted the plans of those with vested interests in the salt tax.
It was originally planned to attack Geng Jiechuan in the next wave, after Geng Jiechuan also failed to go.
Gu Tingye was dealt with last, and Gu Tingye directly passed Geng Jiechuan, catching his opponent off guard.
