"Master Ying, what you did today is the same as Emperor Shizong?" Tang Jinzhao also retorted again: "Emperor Shizong's investigation of Huohao Caoxian was targeted. Huohao cannot be abolished, so the government will uniformly levy Huohao.

The same is true for Caoxian. But what this involves is only the two specific bad regulations of Huohua and Caoxian. What about you, Mr. Ying? You want to ask all the provinces to check all the bad regulations in the world and determine their existence and abolishment in one fell swoop? Each province

There are many bad regulations with different names, but how to determine the items to be kept and abolished? All the bad regulations can only be handed over to the public for disposal. However, ordinary people even pay more for some of the bad regulations, because the items are different in each province, and may not be known in other provinces and counties.

If Mr. Ying continues to do what he does about the bad regulations, the people all over the world will know that there are so many bad regulations in various provinces that they have never heard of or seen. What will the people think at that time, and what will the officials think? Among the people, there must be

If there is an evil party that confuses right and wrong, among the officials, there will also be evil regulations that are not found in this province and that are found in other provinces. They will all add to the affairs of this province. Then the world will be in chaos, just in the blink of an eye! If it is said that Emperor Sejong will reform Huohao

Caoxian, the hunting ground designated certain animals for special hunting. What Lord Ying did, I thought, was that when hunting, he burned the hunting ground clean with just one fire regardless of how much prey there was in the hunting ground! Lord Ying,

Do you think your approach is indeed a sound strategy?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the bad regulations in each province are based on customs. There is often a bad regulation that is only seen in this province and not in other provinces. For example, those provinces with few salt merchants generally do not have salt stores, and the provinces south of the Yangtze River do not have any bad regulations.

With the exception of Sichuan, tax deeds are rarely heard of in other provinces. If the emperor issued an edict today that salt, tax deeds, and corvees would all be collected and distributed by the government in a unified manner, imitating the old practice of returning taxes to the public, then the provinces with less salt would

, more salt will be added, and the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River will also collect corvee money again. Seventeen provinces outside Sichuan will regard tax deeds as large inputs. As a result, the bad regulations that each province will collect in the future will only be several times what they are today.

Ah?" Chen Guanjun also added.

"You...what you two said are all alarmist! Your Majesty, I believe that empty words are useless. Whether the pros or cons are completely seen in practice, I would like to ask Your Majesty to still approve the old proposal and continue to implement the method of checking out the bad regulations and not replacing them. If so,

As expected, the disadvantages mentioned by the two of them have appeared, so it is not too late to carry out reforms!" Seeing that Yinghe was talking about truth, he no longer had much advantage, so he had to ask Minning to implement the method of checking the existence and elimination first.

Go down and change it at any time later.

"Your Majesty, if it is true as Lord Ying said, then if there are any shortcomings after the implementation, it will be too late to make reforms!" Tang Jinzhao also kowtowed to Minning again.

"Okay, you are all loyal to the country, but please don't let the dispute of tempers hurt the harmony." Seeing everyone arguing fiercely, Minning couldn't make up his mind for a moment, so he had to say to everyone: "You

Everything you say makes sense, and I will think about it carefully. Nowadays, there are still many provincial governors who have not reported the bad regulations. These provinces cannot represent the whole world. It is always a bit urgent to make rash decisions now. It's not as good as you

Let's wait a little longer and take a look at what's going on in other provinces. Then we can make a decision. Is it feasible to decide on these bad regulations and choose whether to use them or not? Especially Tang Jinzhao, you and Ying He are the same.

As the second minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Yinghe is the chief, so you must not lose your etiquette. It is a good thing that you all have your own opinions when discussing things here today. I don't blame you, but when you return to the Ministry of Personnel, please don't act out of emotion and do anything irrelevant.

We started arguing again. Okay, you can all stand down today."

"I obey the order!" Yinghe, Tang Jinzhao, and Chen Guanjun kowtowed and thanked each other, and left the Yangxin Hall one after another.

However, Yinghe faintly realized that at this time, Minning's trust in him was no longer what it used to be...

Ying He did not know that while he was debating with Tang Jinzhao and others, Ruan Yuan and Kang Shaoyong had also decided to report to Minning. They each reported that Guangdong Yanglian had been embezzled completely in four kinds of deductions, and all state funds had been misappropriated.

It was already unusable and the bad rules could only be kept unchanged for the time being. Even if further reforms were needed, it would have to wait until four years later. But Ruan Yuan thought about his many years of dealings with Yinghe and the teacher-student friendship between Yinghe and Jiao Xun, and finally

He didn't want to ruin the old friendship between the two, so after the meeting, Ruan Yuan also wrote a letter to Ruan Changsheng, asking him to keep in touch with Ying He. He could also visit Ying He's door to give gifts, but only calligraphy, painting, pens and inkstones, and no cash was allowed.

Although he and Yinghe have different views on political affairs, it does not affect their personal friendship.

But even when he returned to the inner room, Ruan Yuan felt uncomfortable thinking back to the fact that he had agreed to help Ying He at the governor's meeting, but only a year later, he and Ying He had to part ways.

"Master, according to the time and date, Emperor Renzong's mourning period has already passed the day before yesterday?" Kong Luhua saw Ruan Yuan returning to the inner room, but she was a little confused, and she took the initiative to remind him: "Don't we always think about it, if it is the mourning period,

After that, are you going to visit the General's Mansion in Guangzhou? Why, Master, have you forgotten about this again?"

"Mom, please stop laughing at Daddy. My child remembers clearly that the last time Daddy invited other adults to have dinner together was seven years ago at Zhenhuai Tower." Ruan An also came to Ruan's house that day, and Kong Luhua

Chatting together and watching Ruan Yuan come back, it was inevitable to have some fun.

"An'er, you finally came back here just to make fun of daddy?" Ruan Yuan listened to his wife and daughter's teasing words and couldn't help but laugh: "Daddy has been thinking about this matter with General Mengzhu.

It’s just that when it comes to methods of communication... it really takes a lot of effort to find an effective method.”

"Haha, Master, you told me yesterday that you had a quarrel with Mr. Ying in Beijing. You were embarrassed and wanted to bring Chang Sheng a few square inkstones and ask him to transfer them to Mr. Ying. How come you don't even do this?

Your sons have been sent out, but you can’t do it yourself?” Kong Luhua also smiled at Ruan Yuan and said, “Master, aren’t you still worried that this Meng Zhu is just like Bai Ling? He drank our tea but didn’t help you with anything?

?In fact, from Madam's point of view, Master does not need to think about it like this. The reason why Bai Ling was not moved by Master back then was firstly because Bai Ling was the governor of Liangjiang. He wanted to monopolize power in Jiangsu, and Master's official status was low.

He is only half a rank, so he naturally has no confidence when speaking. But this Meng Zhu is just a general in Guangzhou, and he can't control the flag camp on weekdays. He has no conflict with the Master in any case, and he and the Master are of the same rank. Why does he insist on being superior to the Master?

Secondly, Bai Ling has always been arrogant, fearing that others will compete with him for power. This Meng Zhuruo is also an ambitious man. Why did Emperor Renzong never use him in any important role? Now the emperor can only replace him as a Guangzhou general.

Instead of General Yili? It can be seen that he is mediocre in terms of talent and ambition. This is also a good thing. He will not deliberately embarrass the master? Also, master, if this Meng Zhu is really just a mediocre person, then the master will also

Be careful, Master wants to form an offensive and defensive alliance with him to fight against the opium smugglers. What would they think if there were some other officials who secretly colluded with the opium smugglers? They would also fawn over Meng Zhu.

If I don't take action in advance, but are beaten to the punch by them, my subsequent anti-smuggling operations will be much more difficult."

"Yes, it seems that we have to show off our ability to treat guests to dinner again." Ruan Yuan naturally knew that it had been seven years since he had taken the initiative to invite other officials to a banquet. This was not considered in any way.

It was too much, so after listening to Kong Luhua's explanation, she also firmed up this idea and said: "Then... I will go to the General's Mansion tomorrow and invite General Meng to our home, and we can also have a taste of Kong Shun's craftsmanship.

,how?"

"Okay, Master, you don't have to worry." Kong Luhua also smiled at Ruan Yuan: "An'er and I have already discussed this matter. Tomorrow we will go to the General's Mansion, and we won't see General Meng either.

Go find the general’s wife. Let’s let the ladies talk. It will be much more convenient for you to talk about official business. Master, just think more about what kind of dishes you should cook at home to convince General Meng. Let’s do one too.

'Man and Han banquet', Master, what do you think?"

"Madam, you said... a banquet between Manchu and Han Dynasties?" Ruan Yuan couldn't help but smile after listening to Kong Luhua's words, and said: "Madam, Kong Shun can cook Huaiyang cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Shandong cuisine, and now he seems to have learned some Cantonese cuisine.

I believe him, but can Kong Shun also cook the Manchu cuisine from the Banner people?"

"Master, you underestimate Brother Kong Shun too much. Let me tell you, Brother Kong Shun came to Beijing with us twice. Not only did he learn a lot about Bannerman skills, but he also became at least eight successful. When An'er was in Huai'an,

Uncle Kong Shun is pestering her every day to make cakes, right, An'er? Master, when she married into the Ruan family, there were four chefs in our Yanshenggong Mansion. Now in the Governor's Court, only Kong is left.

Brother Shun is alone, can't you delay him any longer and prevent him from using his skills for the rest of his life?" It turns out that one of the four famous chefs from the Kong family who entered the Ruan family together has passed away, and Ruan Yuan's expansion in the capital has

One person was left in the Shenggong Mansion for Ruan Changsheng and his wife, while the other had returned to Qufu to die due to old age. Only Kong Shun was left in the Guangzhou Governor's Palace, and he was also the well-deserved chief chef of the Ruan family.

"Haha, okay, I will also talk to Kong Shun tomorrow. I am familiar with Mr. Ying and Dongfu. I will definitely choose some good dishes this time. But... what the madam means is that I will also bring An with me tomorrow.

Are you going to the General's Mansion?" Ruan Yuan also asked Kong Luhua.

"Yes, An'er is your child after all. I was also thinking that if Xi'er can really achieve something in the future, An'er might also be able to get a royal title. By then, there won't be enough social activities outside.

?So it’s better that I take An’er to see the world from now on. Master, you are smarter than all of us, but Xi’er may not be as successful as you when he becomes an official and studies in the future? This is what a female family member should do.

But I have to study hard." Kong Luhua looked at Ruan An and replied to Ruan Yuan. It seemed that Kong Luhua was very satisfied with her plan.

"Yes, dad, in fact, a few days ago, mother sent someone to inquire about the general's mansion. This general Meng's wife is cheerful and not mean. If the child is more well-behaved, maybe she will be very happy.

"Daddy, just let the child go. The child will definitely study hard with his mother." Ruan An also took the initiative to ask Ruan Yuan for help.

"Haha, Madam is right. Although we don't want to go out and ask others to do things for us, necessary social interactions are still indispensable. Since An'er is willing to go to the General's Mansion, then let's go." Ruan Yuan also agreed.

Ruan An's thoughts were just looking at Ruan An, but Ruan Yuan also remembered Zhang Xi's studies and asked Ruan An: "Also, An'er, how is Xi'er's studies recently? I remember telling him before,

If he has knowledge that he is interested in, he can study it on his own. Now is the time when academics are booming. If he can grow a little longer, he will be able to study, but I wonder what Xi'er is thinking about?"

"Dad, Master, he has been working very hard recently." Ruan An also replied to Ruan Yuan: "Master often told me that Guangdong is located in Lingnan, and the flowers and plants in Guangdong are very different from those in the Central Plains. However, he unexpectedly discovered that many of the flowers and plants here

The trees are actually the same as those written in ancient books. Perhaps during the pre-Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, the climate was warm and could be seen in the Central Plains. Now the weather is much colder than before, so it can only be seen in Lingnan. Confucius said,
Chapter completed!