It wasn't until the afternoon that Yu Yanran came back from Chengyuan. When she saw Qin Hao accompanying her daughter all over the yard, she shook her head helplessly.

Then, at the court meeting, someone once again brought up the salt tax reform. This time it was not just one censor who proposed it, but several courtiers reconsidered it.

Qin Hao's heart moved. It seemed that Zhao Zongquan planned to compete with Empress Dowager Cao today.

Empress Dowager Cao had obviously made preparations this time. Several officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Personnel immediately stood up to oppose the salt tax reform.

For a while, there was an endless debate in the court, and both sides were in a quarrel.

Qin Hao and other noble generals basically watched with cold eyes. Zhao Zongquan's prestige was not enough to overwhelm these nobles. What's more, the salt tax reform that they are fighting for has nothing to do with the interests of the nobles. The previous salt tax was basically controlled by the Cao family.

Here, the nobles cannot get involved, and Zhao Zongquan wants to reform the salt tax. In the end, only the civil servants will benefit, so they simply do not help each other and watch the fire from the other side.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this moment, Gu Tingye stood up from the group of nobles.

"Officials and ministers believe that salt tax reform is imperative. This is a major national plan and cannot be delayed."

Immediately, Shen Congxin and others from Yuzhou all stood up and expressed their support. It was obvious that Zhao Zongquan was determined to implement the salt tax reform.

Some officials also noticed the signs and began to take sides. Zhao Zongquan's power suddenly increased significantly.

What was strange was that the Empress Dowager Cao behind the curtain remained silent. She did not speak, and all the ministers in the Empress Dowager's party were also silent, which made Zhao Zongquan a little surprised for a moment.

In this strange atmosphere, Zhao Zongquan accepted the order of King Huan as the transshipment envoy to lead the salt tax reform, and then accepted the order of General Xiao Duan to lead the troops to Jiangnan Road to deploy defenses. Apparently, he was afraid that the Cao family would jump over the wall and do something extraordinary.

After the court meeting, Gu Tingye said to Qin Hao uneasily: "Why do I feel so anxious?"

Qin Hao said in a low voice: "The Empress Dowager is hiding and not saying anything. I guess the officials are also wondering now. In short, you should be careful recently and don't let anyone take advantage of her."

Sure enough, within two days, General Xiao Duan was involved in a life-and-death lawsuit. This lawsuit was also very strange. General Xiao Duan drank wine with Shen Congxin and the others before leaving, and ended up inexplicably sleeping with a decent woman who came to deliver rouge.

What's even more puzzling is that the other party later committed suicide inexplicably, and even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he couldn't clean himself up.

General Xiao Duan was sued for his life, so naturally he could not go to Jiangnan Road to set up defenses. That was the territory of the Cao family. If there were no soldiers to protect him, it was unclear whether King Huan could successfully reach Jiangnan Road.

Zhao Zongquan's imperial edict had been issued, so it was naturally impossible to take it back. It would undoubtedly be a huge blow to his prestige, so he had to re-select candidates.

Qin Hao originally thought that Zhao Zongquan would choose Gu Tingye to replace General Xiao Duan, but what he didn't expect was that Zhao Zongquan actually announced that he would come to the palace to see him.

In the palace, Zhao Zongquan was planting rice seedlings barefoot when he saw Qin Haole pointing to a piece of land in front of him: "Qin Aiqing, if this Taoism can be promoted throughout the world, the people of the Song Dynasty will no longer suffer from famine in the future."

Qin Hao shook his head secretly. Although the yield of Champa rice is indeed higher than that of previous rice varieties and can be grown two or even three times a year, the yield is not much higher without chemical fertilizers.

Even in later generations, if there were no Mr. Yuan and no mature chemical industry supporting facilities, ordinary people would still face the problem of not having enough to eat.

Of course, in the Song Dynasty, people did not have so many requirements for food, as long as they did not starve to death. If Champa Rice could be fully promoted, it would indeed solve part of the food crisis.

Zhao Zongquan stopped what he was doing, sat on the ground, and said to Qin Hao: "Qin Aiqing, what do you think of the salt tax reform?"

Qin Hao said seriously: "The merit lies in the present generation, but the benefit lies in the future."

"Okay, that's good. We still need Qin Aiqing's help in this matter!" Zhao Zongquan said in a sincere tone.

Qin Hao hesitated for a while. This matter actually had both risks and opportunities. After all, Prince Huan was the most popular candidate for the crown prince and was likely to inherit the throne in the future. This trip to Jiangnan Road was full of dangers and might lead to death. If we can keep King Huan, it will be a fateful friendship in the future.

But this would inevitably put him on the opposite side of the Empress Dowager Cao. After weighing the situation, Qin Hao still agreed.

Zhao Zongquan has firmly established his rightful name, and it is difficult for Empress Dowager Cao to have a chance to make a comeback. The princes in the court will not agree, and the nobles do not want to be forced to take sides again. The power of the Cao family alone has basically no hope of winning.

"Haha, Qin Aiqing is indeed a pillar of talent. I can rest assured that Prince Huan will hand it over to you." Zhao Zongquan was very satisfied with Qin Hao's choice. This was undoubtedly a statement that Dongchang Houfu and Jinghaihoufu were on his side.

, and also set a good example for other honorable men.

"It is your duty as a minister to perform your duties for the court and to be loyal to the officials. You should not be praised by the officials." Qin Hao said righteously. He always has to do superficial work. Qin Hao is convinced that what he has learned here is

This kind of acting skills will definitely be much better than those young talents if he debuts in the future.

Zhao Zongquan praised Qin Hao again, and then asked people to send him out of the palace. However, before he could walk out of the palace, he was stopped by someone, and an old eunuch said in a pinched voice.

"Master Hou, the Queen Mother invites you."

－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
Chapter completed!