Report the trip to the emperor and present the golden ticket.
Emperor Yongkang took it and rummaged through the box, with no expression on his face. But he frowned as he looked at the list of pledges written down by Mu Yan.
He tapped his fingers on the roster and said, "This Gong..." was the first to pledge a donation, and the amount pledged was huge. He seemed to be the leader of the Lianghuai Saltworks.
"Back to the Emperor, the young head of the Gong family is now the son-in-law of Uncle Ping Jiang."
"Uncle Ping Jiang's son-in-law?"
"Yes, Ping Jiangbo's third concubine married Gong Ziyi, the young master of the Gong family."
Thinking of Gong Ziyi's help this time, which saved him from many twists and turns in his dealings with the Lianghuai salt merchants, he couldn't help but say a few kind words to him without leaving a trace.
Those who stand out are easy to be targeted. Marriages between officials and businessmen are always likely to make the person in power think too much.
"Uncle Ping Jiang is now the commander-in-chief of water transportation, stationed in Huai'an, and in charge of water affairs. Thanks to the help of his in-laws, otherwise, no matter how powerful Uncle Ping Jiang is, he will not be able to use it in Huai'an."
Emperor Yongkang said nothing.
Count Ping Jiang was a person he trusted. At that time, Chen Xuan was the naval commander of the Jianwen Dynasty. Later, he led the Yan army south, and Chen Xuan surrendered to him. He was the hero of Jingnan, and Count Ping Jiang's title was conferred by him personally.
He has used Chen Xuan very well over the years...
Mu Yan glanced at Emperor Yongkang out of the corner of his eye and continued to study the floor tiles in the imperial study with his head down.
Ping Jiangbo is a descendant of Chen Youliang. His ancestors occupied political power in Huguang and other places and were finally defeated by Taizu. Chen Xuan's father later joined Taizu and was appointed by Taizu as the commander of Chengdu's right guard. After Chen's father left,
, Chen Xuan took over his father's position. During the Jianwen Dynasty, he was also appointed as the commander-in-chief of the navy, supervising the navy in the Yangtze River area.
Later, when the Jingnan War broke out, Chen Xuan did not defend the late emperor and took refuge with Emperor Yongkang.
Because of Emperor Yongkang's trust, he granted Pingjiang Bo the title of Bo, and now he is also allowed to command the water affairs of seven provinces...
While Mu Yan was studying the floor tiles of the palace, he was thinking about Ping Jiangbo, his former boss. After all, he had obeyed his orders when he suppressed the pirates. Ping Jiangbo was indeed a capable minister, and it’s no wonder that Yongkang Nobuzhong, who had taken orders from him over the years,
The water affairs were managed very well, which reassured Emperor Yongkang.
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard Emperor Yongkang say: "You have done a good job in this matter."
"Thank you for the emperor's praise. I dare not slack off at all times for fear of betraying the emperor's favor."
Emperor Yongkang smiled and praised him again.
Although the emperor was suspicious, no matter how talented and strategic he was, he would inevitably be suspicious of his ministers. However, Emperor Yongkang was still willing to use the ministers he trusted with confidence.
Emperor Yongkang thought that Mu Yan had just made a trip to Lianghuai and got back a lot of money. He remembered that the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue often called him poor, and he couldn't help but have some thoughts in his heart.
Then he asked Mu Yan about the situation in detail.
Then I asked him: "According to your opinion, do you think I should maintain the status quo?"
Emperor Yongkang was jealous of his enemies. Mu Yan had just gone out and got so much money back. If he ransacked a few salt merchants' homes, would the treasury be full? He wouldn't have to tie his hands to do anything.
Mu Yan thought for a while and said cautiously: "The emperor's goal of knocking on the mountain and instigating the tiger has been achieved. After the year, people can be ordered to investigate secretly. If the salt class cannot be improved, we will discuss a solution. Wei Chen believes that the salt class
This matter is an important policy of the country and is related to the fundamentals of the imperial court. I still recommend that deterrence should be the main thing and not be too hasty. Now the top priority is still to move the capital."
Emperor Yongkang was silent for a long time, then raised his eyes and glanced at Mu Yan.
He lowered his head and could not see the expression on his face clearly, but he had kept Mu Yan under his eyes for several years and had some understanding of this man's character. He nodded secretly in his heart.
However, as an emperor, even if he agrees with his minister's wishes, he cannot say it openly. Doesn't that mean that his minister is teaching him how to do things?
The emperor is shameless?
"My beloved, you have done a great job in handling this matter, and I will reward you for it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After returning to the palace, Huo Xi looked at the rewards he had brought back from the palace, including some gold and silver ingots, a few pieces of cloud brocade, and a set of jade zodiac signs exquisitely made by the palace craftsman's workshop.
"This zodiac sign is very beautiful, just right for little fishermen to play with."
Seeing Mu Yan's brows furrowed, he glared at him: "Are you telling me not to coax him to play with things all the time, for fear that he will lose his temper by playing with things?"
Mu Yan didn't speak. She couldn't say anything, but she was always right. When he said something, she could say three or five words to refute him.
I didn't want to make her angry and make myself angry, so I didn't speak.
But Huo Xi couldn't help but said: "Don't ask your son to use your standards. You didn't play with these things when you were a child, so you don't allow your son to play? Narrow. How old is he? He is less than three years old. Don't play now, wait until he grows up.
Use it to play with? Didn’t you say that you would give him a husband when he turns three years old? How long can my son play with it? "
The poor son only has such a short time to play carefree, and his strict father doesn't allow him to do this or that.
"I haven't said a word, how many words have you said?" Mu Yan finally couldn't help but speak.
"What you did was wrong, why don't you let me talk about it? You kept a straight face in the yamen and couldn't say a few words. When you faced the prisoner, you had a cold face and was scary. You didn't even have to say a word, and the prisoner knelt down to you.
Don’t do this when you go home..."
He stepped forward and stretched his face with both hands, "Yes, that's it, smile. Don't scare my son."
Mu Yan stood obediently and let her stretch him, which made his face hurt and he didn't even cry out.
Only when Huo Xi put down her hands did she hold her tightly in her arms, resting her chin on her head: "How can I be like that at home? My son is kissing me."
I remembered that every time he went out, his son would run to the door of the house to wait for him, sitting on the threshold, looking left and right with his little head, looking forward to his return home. I couldn't help but twitching the corners of my mouth.
How lucky he was to have met her.
His life was too gloomy to see the light of day, but with her, it was filled with sunshine, so warm that people wanted to indulge in it.
Huo Xi divided some pieces of cloud brocade and gave one to Yu Wenying in the fourth room, and took two more pieces to the sewing room to help make clothes for Zhang Fu and Nian'er.
Nowadays, there is no mistress in the British palace to take care of the life of the father and son. Although there are Aunt Liu and Aunt Wang, Huo Xi always wants to help.
Yu Wenying came to thank Huo Xi with little Mu Chen in her arms.
Yu Wenying now has two sons and a daughter. The fourth master still loves him and the house is clean. Mu Jie, the first daughter of the princess, still respects him and loves his two younger siblings. If he goes to the palace to visit the emperor's grandfather, he will always give a share of the reward to his younger siblings.
.
Now she alone is in charge of all four houses, and Yu Wenying has been living quite proudly in recent years.
Chengri had a smile on her face, looking much happier and more open-minded than when Huo Xi first met her a few years ago.
Huo Xi took Mu Chen and teased him in her arms.
Yu Wenying looked at it with a smile and talked to Huo Xi, "I heard that Yunnan has also sent people to Shuntian Prefecture to purchase real estate. With Princess Zhao here, I guess there is no need to worry."