He felt her arms tighten around her waist, and the blood in his body seemed to boil all of a sudden.
Xu Qinghuan closed her eyes, and a faint aroma came from her nose. The brocade robe he wore back from the palace was incense-scented. She used spices such as nard and moonlin incense. She didn't like it very much, but she got used to it after she got used to it.
, the incense seemed to fade away, leaving only his breath.
The precious brocade robe, full of secretly embroidered patterns, stuck to her face, as if it wanted to imprint the texture into her heart and dispel the deepest haze.
Time passed little by little, and Xu Qinghuan began to feel embarrassed. The most important thing was that she felt something was not right. At some point, his hand reached out and his fingertips began to rub her cheek. She raised her head and looked at him, his eyes
The very hot, deep eyes were different from the clear and bright eyes in the past, and there seemed to be an undercurrent surging in them.
Xu Qinghuan immediately felt a rush of heat rush to her cheeks, and the breath on his body became thicker, making her feel dizzy.
"cough."
There was a cough outside.
Xu Qinghuan immediately sobered up a little. The housekeeper's mother was still waiting outside, wondering how she was going to see her mother later.
She pushed Song Chengxuan gently. She just thought of those things, and her heart seemed to be hit, so she hugged him and could not continue.
"Let go," Xu Qinghuan lowered his voice, as if he was whispering, "It's not good to be seen. I told my mother that I only came to have a few words with you."
He hesitated and did not let go of his hand immediately. It was a rare time like this when his chest was full of softness and no longer so stiff and polite. Although it was only for a moment, the soft sideburns, stretched brows, and a touch of rosy cheeks
, all made him nostalgic, even a little distracted.
He didn't want to do anything arrogant in the Xu family, but after saying goodbye to Changzhou, he often felt that something was missing in his heart. He followed the path she had taken, and finally entered Beijing and came to the Marquis Mansion of Anyi.
, the distance between him and her was a bit torturous.
I don't know since when, his concentration was not as good as before, and he was too indulgent. Song Chengxuan tried to calm down his heart.
"Does Mrs. Xu disagree with our marriage?" Song Chengxuan asked.
He had already sensed when he followed An Yihou into the house just now that the Xu family was somewhat disgusted and defensive about him, which was completely different from when he entertained his savior before leaving the capital.
There are many people who don't like him, including Madam Xu and Xu Qing'an, but the one who has the most say is probably the Tai Madam.
Xu Qinghuan nodded.
Song Chengxuan also thought about it along the way. He would inevitably encounter problems of one kind or another. If he wanted to marry her as soon as possible, he would inevitably encounter resistance from the Xu family.
He is not good at pleasing his elders. When he was a child in Prince Wei's Mansion, he learned etiquette from his husband early on. Whether it was endorsement, writing or talking to others, he could handle it calmly, so most of the elders around him liked him. After the incident in Prince Wei's Mansion,
He survived as Song Chengxuan. In the first few years, he was cautious for fear of being recognized. He could only float on the sea without a fixed residence. He faced merchants and pirates and had no chance to get along with his elders or interact with his former friends.
Compared with the Crown Prince of Wei, he has a stiff temper and is cold to others. He is no longer the type that his elders like.
But these are not important. Mrs. Xu is thinking about Qing Huan. He will explain the reasons to Mrs. Xu and ask Mrs. Xu to agree.
Song Chengxuan said: "I will go see Mrs. Tai later."
Song Chengxuan finally put down his hand, and Xu Qinghuan pursed her lips: "Then I'll go out first."
Song Chengxuan's eyes fell on the bookshelf again: "There are books about farming. What do you want to do?"
"It's nothing," Xu Qinghuan smiled slightly, "I think the land in Changzhou is good, but due to the proliferation of smuggling in recent years, a lot of land has been abandoned, and some people have even used it for military households, causing the land in military settlements to be abandoned."
Xu Qinghuan said as he went to get the map on the bookshelf: "Here, here, are the lands that have been reported to the imperial court for reclamation in recent years, but in fact they are still barren.
When the Zhang family was in charge of Changzhou Prefecture, they used the money earned from business to fill the tax bank, because private military households grew sugar cane, lychees, cotton, and mulberry trees, and the money earned from smuggling was much more than rice.
In addition, the Changzhou General Army has been complicit in misappropriating military resources to help the Zhang family maintain superficial peace. Now that all these officials have been replaced, the superficial peace is no longer sustainable. What should we do? The imperial court will transfer officials to Changzhou, and it will soon be
It was found that it was a mess and was leaking everywhere. Unless the new Changzhou magistrate acted according to the Zhang family's previous methods, the people and the court would definitely not agree.
Now it is too late to farm. The inability to pay taxes in Changzhou is a trivial matter. The inability to feed the guards and the people is a major matter. The navy seems to have won the battle, but the losses are very serious. The ships borrowed from merchants must be repaired and returned to others.
, the imperial court's large ships are out of use, and if they want to quickly restore military defense, they don't know how much money is needed to fill it.
The Changzhou General Soldier secretly misappropriated the imperial pension money. For an incompetent person like the Changzhou General Soldier to be in office for so many years, he naturally had to do something about it. Even if the imperial court confiscated his home, he wouldn't be able to convert much money into it.
If these pensions are not reissued, it will be difficult to appease the morale of the military. Who will get the money?
The emperor wants a close relative to go to Changzhou. No matter who he sends, he will soon become the emperor's debt scapegoat and will be unable to do anything except reach out to the court.
Taking over the guards and government offices and pacifying the people is not something that can be accomplished in a day. Changzhou is in disarray, and can an unfamiliar official win the trust of the people?
After the New Year, spring plowing begins. How to grow crops as quickly as possible will inevitably become a top priority. There is so much land, and poor planning will become a burden. You must know that more land is not always better.
, the land is too much and the taxes are heavy, and if you can’t pay the rice in the second year, it will still be a crime of beheading.”
Xu Qinghuan's eyes shone when she looked at the map. She asked someone to help draw this map when she was in Changzhou. Although it was not as accurate as the map used to lead troops in war, the amount of land in it was not bad at all.
"Don't you think it's too much?"
Song Chengxuan's voice came.
"Of course I don't mind. The more land, the better. Only with land and grain can we raise troops and horses, and we need to build a few more Aocangs," Xu Qinghuan calculated, "But... Changzhou alone is too little. Before the spring of next year,
Songjiang Mansion also needs to be ours, so that we can use our skills."
After Xu Qinghuan finished speaking, he looked at Song Chengxuan.
Song Chengxuan remained calm.
Xu Qinghuan continued: "If Mr. Song wants to borrow Songjiang Mansion, he should start early. He will win Changzhou and Songjiang, and then look at Fuzhou and Yingtian."
