In the 17th year of Jiaqing, Ruan Yuan was appointed as the right minister of the Ministry of Industry and returned to the ranks of the second rank of ministers. This also meant that the book revision of Ruan Yuan Wenying Hall and the History Hall was about to come to an end. Sure enough, after Ruan Yuan was promoted,

Even after receiving the imperial edict from Jiaqing, this time Jiaqing sent Ruan Yuanxin a mission. Shanxi businessman Guo Changxin accused the governor Heng Ling of taking bribes, so he sent Ruan Yuan and cabinet bachelor Wen Fu to solve the case. At the same time, many Shanxi Luyan managers

The merchants believe that the Jilantai Salt Pond in the Alxa region of Mongolia produces too much salt at this time, and is often in danger of being dumped in Shanxi, making Lu salt unsalable. This time Ruan Yuan went west, he also needed to meet with local officials to renegotiate the salt affairs.

Shanxi salt merchants not only suffered losses.

Thinking that he had just been promoted to minister and had received a new mission from Jiaqing, Ruan Yuan was extra cautious. He thought of returning home early, and after getting ready, he would go west with Wenfu. So Ruan Yuan also asked Jiang Er to drive back to the city that day. The sky was dark

Shang Ming arrived outside the Fucheng Gate. But at this moment, the carriage driven by Jiang Er gradually slowed down. Ruan Yuan was puzzled and hurriedly leaned out to take a look. He saw in front of the carriage, under the Fucheng Gate.

, at this time, a man in brocade and blue robes was standing to greet the car. This man was dressed luxuriously, but he was just a servant. He was probably a servant of the princes and nobles in Beijing.

Seeing Ruan Yuan's carriage gradually slowing down, this man was not polite and walked directly towards the carriage. When he saw Ruan Yuan, he gave a salute and said to Ruan Yuan: "My lord, you are the Minister Ruan who was appointed as the Minister of Works the day before yesterday."

?My master heard that Minister Ruan has been promoted to high rank and has set up a banquet in the De Feng Building in the city today. He also wanted to see Minister Ruan as a favor. How about going there for a while?" The man's voice was shrill and shrill, like that of a eunuch. Ruan Yuan also knew that.

At this time, apart from the royal palace, ordinary bannermen and dignitaries were not allowed to use eunuchs, so this master was naturally a nobleman from Tianhuang.

"My father-in-law, I'm really sorry. I have important matters at home today. The emperor has also given me a new assignment. He will be leaving the capital in the near future, so I ask my father-in-law for your forgiveness." Ruan Yuan naturally understood.

Due to the strict ban of Jiaqing, as a foreign minister, it was inconvenient for me to interact with the prince. Previously, Yongxuan was very interested in his Huashan Monument. He only sent someone to send it to him, but never visited the prince's palace in person. Although this day was other

The princes and princes invited each other, but it was not convenient for him to violate the rules.

"Shilang Ruan, you don't have to worry. Your trip to the capital is not limited to just one or two days. Besides, the prince is also very kind to you, so why should Shilang Ruan refuse?" The eunuch said as he walked up.

When he came, he picked up a sign and gave it to Ruan Yuan. When Ruan Yuan saw the sign, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He felt that the sign was quite heavy. There were two pythons intertwined on the sign. He had used such a sign to become a prince.

Yongxuan also had one, and Yongxuan told him at that time that only he, Yongxuan, Yonglin and several hereditary princes could use this token. I thought that Yongxuan would not have to spend so much money to see him.

Zhou Zhang and Yongxuan are old and suffering from many diseases, and Yonglin never takes the initiative to interact with foreign ministers. In this way, the person who wants to invite him to the banquet is actually an iron hat king.

Thinking about walking around in the capital, although the Iron Hat King did not need to have a close friendship, he could not afford to offend him. In desperation, Ruan Yuan had no choice but to say to the eunuch: "In that case... then... please lead the way, Jiang Er, follow."

Let's go with the father-in-law. When we get to De Feng Tower, you go back and tell my wife, and then take me home." Jiang Er also agreed. When the father-in-law saw that Ruan Yuan agreed to attend the banquet, he drove his own carriage to lead the way.

, the group also quickly entered Fuchengmen.

The Defeng Tower is located south of the West Fourth Archway. It is not too far away from the Fucheng Gate. Ruan Yuan and his party arrived at the Defeng Tower. When they got off the bus, it was already dusk. After the eunuch and Ruan Yuan parked the car, they were about to

Ruan Yuan led to the back door. It seemed that the "Prince" did not want to be too public about this banquet. When he arrived at the door, it was quite quiet. The eunuch immediately went upstairs to announce. But for a moment, only the sound of footsteps was heard.

The man in silk shirt walked down.

"Haha, it is indeed Mr. Ruan. I never expected that the minister would take the initiative to come to this banquet hosted by me. It is really brilliant." The man in the silk shirt looked polite, but his expression and words were so harsh.

It is quite frivolous and does not seem to be a truly knowledgeable person: "Shilang Ruan, when I was young, I knew that the young minister was the only one in this country to have a young minister. So when I heard that the minister returned to the capital, I

I have always wanted to meet the Minister, but unfortunately there were some unpleasant things happened before. No, I just heard yesterday that the Minister was replaced and his official rank was restored. Today, the banquet is held! Minister Ruan, I know that the Minister has always been

The official is clean and simple, but today’s banquet is hosted by this king, so don’t be polite, Minister Ruan, right? Haha.”

If this "Prince" was just an ordinary scholar, or an old relative of the Ruan family, Ruan Yuan might have already said goodbye to him. But when he looked at the appearance of this "Prince", he was shocked. It turned out that this person

As expected, this is not an ordinary clan, but Prince Hengfeng of Henan, one of the nine "iron hat kings" in Beijing. The prince Hengfeng inherited was the one who established the throne earlier in the Qing Dynasty, and his status was higher than that of Rui, Zhuang, Yi, Keqin and Shuncheng.

Kings, Hengfeng took the title in the fifty-second year of Qianlong. Among the iron-hatted kings, he was second only to Prince Su Yongxi. Since he was such a prince, how could Ruan Yuan resist? Seeing helplessness, he had no choice but to confront Heng

Feng replied: "Replying to the prince, I have a low status. I am grateful for the prince's love. Since the prince is hosting the banquet, there is no reason for me not to attend the banquet. It's just the prince, but I also heard that the emperor had previously

There was an edict stating that the prince was not allowed to associate with his subordinates. Today, the prince insists on having a banquet with the subordinates. I am afraid that if the news spreads, it will have some impact on the prince's status in the court."

"Haha, Minister Ruan, don't worry about this. The emperor's edict should not be taken literally. It needs to be read in a flexible way. In fact, the emperor said that the prince was not allowed to see the ministers. What he meant was just those one or two.

It's just a human being. Although I am a prince, I am just an idler in a python robe, and you don't have to worry, Minister Ruan." Hengfeng listened to Ruan Yuan's advice, but he felt confident. However, Hengfeng was also polite and personally led the way, leading Ruan Yuan.

After going up to the second floor, there seemed to be a large private room inside. Hengfeng also turned around at this time and said to Ruan Yuan: "Servant Ruan, to be honest, I have been waiting for a long time for today's banquet.

It's been a year, but I still want to do something well. There are still a few adults here. When you meet Mr. Ruan, please don't be formal."

"Of course." Ruan Yuan had no choice but to return to Hengfeng.

"Haha, that's good." Hengfeng said as he entered the private room first and said to the people inside: "My lords, Minister Ruan is here. Haha, today's banquet can begin. Come on.

, let’s welcome Mr. Ruan to his seat together!” Ruan Yuan knew that under such circumstances, he could not escape anyway, so he had no choice but to walk in with Hengfeng.

Looking at the people in the seats, Ruan Yuan was also a little surprised. It turned out that there were three people sitting in the top position in the elegant room at this time. One of them was old and his beard and hair were all white. The other had a gray beard and seemed to be a little tired.

The other person was only in his early fifties, not much older than himself. Ruan Yuan happened to know all three of them. The oldest one was Jin Guangti, the Minister of Punishment, and the one with gray beard and hair was Ji Lun, the admiral of the Nine Sects. Ruan Yuan and Jiaqing planned to eradicate He Shen.

, one of the people who served Jiaqing in the infantry commander's office was Ji Lun. Later Ji Lun was also reused by Jiaqing, until he became the admiral of the Nine Gates. The last person was Wen Chenghui, the governor of Zhili, who spent several years in charge

Zhili has a good reputation for governance. It seems that among those attending the meeting that day, he has the lowest official position.

"Your Majesty, Ruan Yuan, I have met these three adults." Ruan Yuan also took the initiative to step forward and bow to the three of them. The three of them responded one by one, and Ruan Yuan immediately sat at the lowest position to show his humility.

"Okay, since everyone is here today, let's not be polite. Let's talk and serve the food at the same time, how about it?" Hengfeng said, while gently waving his hand to the side, and soon,

More than a dozen restaurant waiters came forward one by one and brought food and wine to everyone at the table. The last dish brought by these waiters was a roasted whole lamb that had been cut into pieces and shared with the four guests.

Everyone got a plate of lamb legs, and most of the lamb bodies were given to Hengfeng.

"My lords, please!" Seeing that the dishes had been served, Hengfeng took the initiative to say to everyone. The following four people saw that Hengfeng had already taken action. Ji Lun, Wen Chenghui, and Ruan Yuan also picked up the knives on the table and started.

When the mutton was cut, Jin Guangti was the only one who seemed to turn a blind eye to the leg of lamb. Not only did he not touch the leg of lamb, he even sighed softly a few times.

"Haha, today is such a good day!" Hengfeng ate with gusto, while looking at Ruan Yuan who was standing next to him, and said with a smile: "Servant Ruan, Commander Ji and President Wen, I used to be familiar with them, but

Mr. Ruan, you are a scholar, but you are so skilled at using a knife to eat meat. Haha, this is beyond my expectation. Mr. Ruan, does this roast leg of lamb taste good?"

"Your Majesty is so complimentary. To be honest, Xiaguan has eaten this roasted leg of lamb. Nine years ago in Chengde, Xiaguan went hunting with the emperor. One day, he was given a chance to eat a yellow sheep. So the matter of cutting the mutton, Xiaguan

It’s not unfamiliar.” In fact, apart from fish, Ruan Yuan’s daily diet does not include meat dishes most of the time, so this roasted lamb leg is dispensable to him. But now that Hengfeng has already done it, he will not eat it anymore.

, it seemed a bit rude. But the mutton roasted that day was also fragrant and tender. For a moment, Ruan Yuan was reluctant to part with it.

"Sir Ruan, how come you are still eating this mutton with gusto when you look at it so old?" Unexpectedly, at this moment, Jin Guangti on the side suddenly spoke: "Sir Ruan, this heaven has the virtue of good life, and all living beings will have it.

You should grow up harmoniously, and you shouldn't commit indiscriminate killings? Lao Chan has been in the Ministry of Punishment for a long time and has executed many prisoners. At this age, he often feels frightened. Therefore, three years ago, Lao Chan vowed not to eat meat again. Ruan Shilang, Lao Chan heard that

When you were the governor of Zhejiang, you executed many people. What happened? Aren't you afraid that these people have spirits in heaven and will take revenge on you in the future?"

"Master Jin, this..." Ruan Yuanben also wanted to refute Jin Guangti, saying that most of the pirates he executed deserved their punishment, and he had dealt with those who had not committed enough crimes. But then he thought about it, Su Jiumei committed suicide that year,

But he couldn't escape the involvement. He was speechless for a moment and couldn't say this. He could only reply gently: "Master Jin, what you said... makes sense. It's just that this sheep, no matter whether the subordinate takes action or not,
Chapter completed!