On December 29, the seventeenth year of Hongde's reign, Zhao Hongrun returned to Daliang, the capital, almost at the end of the year.
After returning to Daliang, Zhao Hongrun called Mi Jiang, Oona, and Prince Su's guards to return to Prince Su's Mansion first. Only Shen Yu, Mu Qing, and a few other guards rode to the palace.
"Congratulations to His Highness Prince Su on his triumphant return from the expedition to Sanchuan!"
Jin Ju, the commander of the imperial guards guarding the palace gate, and the nearby imperial guards bowed to congratulate His Highness Prince Su.
It's no wonder, after all, many people in both the government and the public calculated that it would be impossible for Zhao Hongrun to return to Daliang early before this year, so they did not organize a triumphal ceremony for the army and waited until the next spring to make up for it.
It is for this reason that the Ministry of War did not issue a document urging the Dangshan Army and Shangshui Army to return to Daliang.
I have to say that there are quite a lot of smart people in this world.
"Haha, thank you all...for the reward."
Zhao Hongrun accepted the congratulations from the guards. After all, when he was still a prince in the palace, the relationship between the guards and him was quite good.
And Zhao Hongrun's character is that if you are polite to me, I will be more polite to you. And vice versa.
After dispatching the imperial guards, Zhao Hongrun took the lead in arriving at Ningxiang Palace to pay his respects to his mother, Concubine Shen Shu.
Since Concubine Shen Shu had already learned from Emperor Wei a month or two ago that his son Zhao Hongrun had successfully pacified Sanchuan, she was not worried day and night on weekdays. She looked quite good and couldn't help teasing her son, "Why?" Don't bring the new daughter-in-law named Oona to her for a look.
He was teased and teased by his own mother, which made Zhao Hongrun secretly hate his talkative father.
And after chatting with Concubine Shen Shu for half an hour, and making various promises to come to Ningxiang Palace for dinner tomorrow and the next day, and to bring Mi Jiang, Oona, Miss Su, Yang Tongue and others to Ningxiang Palace as guests, Zhao Hongrun was able to escape and went to Chui Gong Hall.
When Zhao Hongrun came to Chui Gong Hall, it was probably around two o'clock in the afternoon. At that time, the Emperor of Wei and three ministers were reviewing memorials in Chui Gong Hall.
But after Zhao Hongrun entered, the three ministers Lin Yuyang, Yu Ziqi, and Feng Yu actually used various excuses to ask the emperor to allow them to take sick leave.
Lin Yuyang said that he had a headache, Yu Ziqi said that he had a stomachache, and even more outrageous, Feng Yu actually said that his daughter-in-law was giving birth and had to rush back to celebrate.
Zhao Hongrun shook his head as he watched the three Zhongshu ministers leaving Chui Gong Hall as if they were fleeing.
"As far as I know, the son of Mr. Feng Yu, the Prime Minister of Zhongshu, is only nine years old this year, right? He is quite capable!" Recalling that outrageous excuse, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but say.
"Haha." Emperor Wei laughed twice and said, "Tong Xian, remember to remind me when you come back to buy a gift for Feng Aiqing to congratulate him on his beloved grandson."
The great eunuch Tong Xian was such a smooth man. Hearing this, he took the opportunity to say: "Old slave, go and prepare immediately."
After saying that, he also left Chui Gong Hall, leaving only Emperor Wei and Zhao Hongrun and his son staring at each other.
After a long time, Zhao Hongrun licked his lips and said with a half-smile: "The city gate is on fire, which affects the fish in the pond...the fish in the pond have learned well."
"Yes." Emperor Wei said deeply, "The city gate hasn't been burned yet, and all the fish in this pond have run away."
Just when he said this, he suddenly heard Zhao Hongrun say lightly: "The grass and trees outside Ningxiang Palace have seen it. It's very good."
"..." Emperor Wei stared at his son for a moment, nodded and said, "It seems that the city gate has been burned, and it is the right time to run away."
Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this, and said with some surprise: "I haven't seen you for a few months, my father is very interesting."
Emperor Wei stood up and called his son to walk to the back hall of Chui Gong Hall. He said with a wry smile: "These days, you have taken that Chu girl and that woman from the Shei tribe out to enjoy the mountains and rivers. How do you know my troubles?"
?”
After that, he casually summoned a young eunuch who was cleaning the back hall and ordered: "Ask the imperial dining room to prepare some more exquisite wine and dishes."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The little eunuch hurried away.
At this time, Emperor Wei led the day to sit across from each other in the back hall, picked up the tea handed to him by another young eunuch, and said, "Tell me about the situation over there first." After that, he waved his hand and dismissed.
The little eunuchs in the apse.
After all the young eunuchs had withdrawn from the palace, Zhao Hongrun said: "In general, I have conquered most of the tribes in Sanchuan during my expedition to Sanchuan. However, the Wusu Royal Court is somewhat resistant to this.
It may be that the Luoshui Alliance will affect his status...but it may also be that there is a fierce struggle for power within the Wusu King's court, and the sons of King Wusu are so quarrelsome with each other that they have no time to pay attention to Sanchuan's affairs."
"Among the sons of King Wu Xu, are there any who are friendly to Wei?" Emperor Wei asked.
Zhao Hongrun picked up the teacup, shrugged and said: "It is said that there are, but I have never been in contact with them, so I can't say for sure... Anyway, now that the Sanchuan tribe has tasted the sweetness, it is almost impossible for them to abandon me, the Wei Dynasty. Is there any Wu?
It must be supported, it will not have much influence on me, the great Wei Dynasty."
Emperor Wei nodded and asked again: "Where are the Yi, Ling and Jie?"
Zhao Hongrun put down the tea cup and said: "The Yi tribe and the Wubian tribe have joined forces to resist the Qin who is showing signs of invading Sanchuan... On the Jiling side, in accordance with the wishes of the father, I promised them that I, the Great Wei, will be there
They secretly support Jie Ling to attack the Ba Kingdom, but the Badi minerals they don’t need must be sold to me, the Wei Dynasty... Do you believe that the Ministry of Revenue is already preparing for this? "
"Hmm." Emperor Wei nodded, and then asked: "About Qin...what do you think?"
"We must fight!" Zhao Hongrun said seriously: "If Qin extends his hand into Sanchuan, it will not be in the interests of our great Wei Dynasty."
"It makes sense." Emperor Wei agreed, and then he was about to speak again, but Zhao Hongrun raised his hand to stop him, and then said jokingly: "Father, is that enough?"
"What?" Wei Tianzi asked with a puzzled look on his face, as if there was a ripple in his eyes.
"There's no point in pretending, father." Zhao Hongrun snorted and said calmly: "I promised my mother and concubine to go to Ningxiang Palace for dinner later. I don't have time to talk nonsense with my father. Let's get down to business and talk about business.
.”
This brat...
Emperor Wei looked gloomy. In fact, he had already guessed that Zhao Hongrun would have dinner at Ningxiang Palace today. In this way, as long as he messed around until it was time to eat, the day would be over. But he didn't expect that it would happen so soon.
Then his son found out.
"What do you want to ask me?" Emperor Wei asked.
Zhao Hongrun stared at Emperor Wei for a while, then suddenly asked: "Father, you sold your son, right?"
Hearing this, Emperor Wei's eyelids twitched and he smiled unnaturally: "Why do you say this?"
However, Zhao Hongrun didn't answer anything and asked again: "How much did it cost?"
Perhaps because his son was staring at him intently, Emperor Wei's expression became more and more unnatural, and he said with a smile: "Hongrun, do you think I am a profit-seeker?"
However, Zhao Hongrun still ignored him and asked, "What benefit did you get? Is it a mineral? Where's the mineral?"
Glancing at Zhao Hongrun, whose expression was getting worse and worse, Emperor Wei unnaturally changed his sitting position and muttered: "It seems that the city gate will not be the only one that is burned..."
Zhao Hongrun was very happy. Hearing this, he chuckled and said: "While I am amused by my father's humor at this moment, it would be better for my father to tell me everything."
Emperor Wei was stunned, and after looking at Zhao Hongrun, he quickly said: "Xianling, Chengqiu, Anling, Yangzhai, eleven mines, those people are willing to hand over to the imperial court... In addition, I heard that Hongrun needs
A large amount of clay, and I will also help you get three earth mines in Taoqiu. These mines, including the miners, will be left intact and all handed over to the imperial court."
"That's it?" Zhao Hongrun frowned.
"Also." Emperor Wei crossed his fingers and whispered: "Those people agreed to increase the commercial tax to 25%, and immediately made up for the money owed to the court over the years, and paid an additional 30% profit."
Having said this, Emperor Wei glanced at his son and said warmly: "Hongrun, my father knows that you have made outstanding contributions this time, but you have to know that in order to support you, the Ministry of Revenue mobilized grain and grass from various places and emptied the granary.
, and also collecting food from the market, the cost is quite huge..."
Zhao Hongrun remained silent.
In fact, when he led the Dangshan Army and the Shangshui Army to fight the Jiejiao Tribe, the consumption of food and grass was not serious. The real cost was after he defeated the Jiejiao Tribe and subdued hundreds of thousands of slaves.
, the ration consumption used to feed these people.
Even more, this does not include Zhao Hongrun's use to support tribes like the Lun tribe who lost their flocks in the war, and provided them with enough food for the winter in order to further win over them.
Thanks to this, the market price of rice in Wei State has increased by 30% compared with previous years. This is the result of the Ministry of Revenue's efforts to contain it.
It is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Hongrun lost two years of Wei's tax revenue in this battle.
Even Zhao Hongrun himself owed millions of taels to the Ministry of Revenue for this reason.
For example, the Ministry of Revenue did not understand the significance of Zhao Hongrun's creation of those commemorative coins, but Zhao Hongrun forced them to do it, so he had to pay for it himself.
"Is the national treasury... short of money?" Zhao Hongrun asked.
"I can't make ends meet, I almost have nothing to spend." Seeing his son's face softening slightly, Emperor Wei naturally knew how to speak more harshly.
After a long while, Zhao Hongrun nodded and said: "That's it...well, considering that it's not cheap for my father to sell his son's land, let's forget it this time."
"Forget it for now?" Emperor Wei was surprised and looked at his son in disbelief.
Maybe he guessed his father's thoughts, Zhao Hongrun curled his lips and said: "Isn't it strange that I am not angry?...Because I am very clear that in this case, my father will definitely sell his son..."
The emperor has sold his son two or three times, and I have become accustomed to it. If one day the father no longer sells his son, I will feel puzzled."
Emperor Wei, who said this like I was, was full of embarrassment.
"My son went to Ningxiang Palace first. My mother-in-law said that she would cook some dishes today, so my father might as well come earlier. Oh, by the way, I will take care of those people on my own. I hope my father will not interfere.
...My father has already taken advantage, and now it is my son's turn to negotiate with them."
"Well, I won't interfere..."
Emperor Wei, who had already benefited greatly from this matter, nodded suspiciously and watched his son with a bad temper walk out of the back hall.
Did this bad boy become more stable after a trip to Sanchuan, or is it really like what he said, that he is used to being sold by his own father?
If it's the latter...
Emperor Wei felt a hint of sadness in his heart, for himself as a father.
Suddenly, his expression suddenly changed, and he exclaimed something bad. He quickly called the eunuch Tong Xian, who was actually hiding in the corner of the back hall, and asked eagerly: "Tong Xian, my fish, my bamboo..."
Because he did not dare to eavesdrop on the conversation between the Emperor and Prince Su, Tong Xian had no idea what was going on, and said with a smile on his face: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the golden-scaled fish, the purple bamboo, and the mottled bamboo have all been moved to Prince Su's Mansion. I believe Prince Su will see it."
After that, with joy, I will never again... Your Majesty? Your Majesty? Come, come, call the imperial doctor quickly!" (To be continued.)