Chapter 1164 Desperate Mo Lan inspects the salt tax
In Minglan's opinion, life in the Duke of Qi's palace is already relatively comfortable. Her father-in-law is very kind. Although the officials have a childish temper, they really love her. Even though her mother-in-law doesn't think much of her, she doesn't treat her harshly.
.
Therefore, in comparison, life in the Duke's Mansion of Qi is actually better than that in the Sheng Mansion.
She was nervous at this time. After all, Mo Lan's incident was very embarrassing. She was afraid that her mother-in-law would take advantage of the situation and teach her a lesson.
But something unexpected happened to her.
Princess Pingning looked at Minglan coldly and said: "The rumors about your Sheng Mansion have spread throughout Bianjing City. I have also seen the fourth girl in your family. She is just a show-off.
I'm not surprised at all that she did something like that."
Seeing Minglan lowering her head and not daring to breathe, Qi Heng felt extremely distressed.
"Mother……"
"Yuan Ruo, don't talk, listen to your mother." Qi Guogong stopped Qi Heng's words of defense.
Princess Pingning glanced at Qi Heng, quite dissatisfied with her son who had a wife and forgot about his mother.
But when she looked at Minglan again, her eyes softened slightly.
"Don't worry, our Duke of Qi is different from those common people. We have our own judgment. Your concubine sister is embarrassing, but we will not implicate you because of her fault. She is her, and you are
you."
Minglan raised her head in shock and looked at Princess Pingning in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe what she heard was coming from her mother-in-law's mouth.
As if seeing Minglan's surprise, Princess Pingning continued: "I know you may have opinions about me. Yes, I did look down on your Sheng Mansion before.
Don’t deny that you are flaunting your power in the name of Duke Jingguo. Maybe you don’t think so, but everyone in Bianjing City thinks so.”
Minglan was silent. She really didn't know how to refute, because what Princess Pingning said was right. When the Sheng Mansion came to Beijing, the head of the family, Sheng Hong, was only a sixth-rank official. If it weren't for the eldest sister Hua
Lan married into the Zhongjing Marquis Mansion, and Zhou Chen later made great achievements, rose to prominence, and even became the Zhongjing Marquis. No one would take Sheng Mansion seriously.
"But since you have married into the Duke of Qi's Palace, you are a member of the Duke of Qi's Palace. We will not have any objections to you because of this matter."
Minglan was stunned for a moment, then saluted: "Minglan thanked his father and thanked his mother."
Princess Pingning waved her hands and said, "Go back with Yuan Ruo. As for the Sheng Mansion, don't go back for the time being."
"Yes, mother."
Minglan left with Qi Heng and walked out of the yard. She still felt that it was not real. Was this really her mother-in-law who made people scared just by looking at her? She actually spoke for her.
The simple Qi Heng was even more happy. He felt that what his mother said was very right, and his mother's attitude towards Minglan seemed to have changed. This was a good start.
Sheng Hong's courage was still a bit lacking. One day passed and rumors were swirling outside, but he still hadn't made a decision. He still thought that he could solve the problem better.
It's just that neither Wang Ruofu nor the old lady wanted to go to Lingguogong's Mansion to propose marriage. Zhou Chen also showed his attitude, and Minglan didn't even return home. However, Rulan came back, but Rulan cried as soon as she came back.
Heaven and earth screamed, saying that Mo Lan's incident had embarrassed her in her husband's family, and asked Sheng Hong to punish Mo Lan severely and solve this problem quickly.
This also made Sheng Hong, who already had a headache, even more uncomfortable.
Hualan knew who his father was, so he returned to Sheng Mansion the next day, hoping to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
"Father, the matter has come to this. If Ling Guogong's Mansion had given an explanation, they would have sent someone here long ago. But they haven't given a reply yet, which means that it is impossible for Ling Guogong's Mansion to let Mo Lan enter the palace. You
Do you want to continue the stalemate and let outsiders see the Sheng family's embarrassment?"
Among the children of Sheng Mansion, Hua Lan was the only one who dared to talk to Sheng Hong like this, but Sheng Hong really couldn't do anything to Hua Lan.
"You, you will force me, Mo'er is my daughter, and you ask me to deal with my own daughter, how can I do it?"
Wang Ruofu immediately expressed his attitude: "Official, if you can't do it, then leave it to me. I promise to make that girl Mo Lan become a nun and become a nun."
"Shut up, can you stop adding fuel to the fire?" Sheng Hong shouted angrily.
Hua Lan was very disappointed and said slowly: "Father, the longer you delay like this, the less good it will be to the Sheng Mansion. My officials have said that no matter how my father handles it, even if the news of Mo Lan's affair is spread, it will not be good for Duke Jingguo."
The government will not have much impact, and the Sheng family will be the most affected; because in the end, the Zhou family and the Sheng family are not one family, so father, you don’t have to tell the officials that one family will be prosperous and suffer.
That’s it.”
"To put it bluntly, if something like this happened, even if the officials divorced me, I would have no complaints, because what happened was because I had brought shame to the Zhou family."
Wang Ruofu was startled and asked eagerly: "Hua'er, did the Duke say he wants to divorce you?"
"No."
Hua Lan said calmly: "The official did not say that he wanted to divorce me, but comforted me. But because of this, I felt even more guilty and wanted to solve this matter better and faster. I have asked the official to
It's humiliating and we can't let the situation get worse."
"Father, I am here to persuade you not only for my own reputation, but also for the Sheng family. If my father doesn't even care about the Sheng family's reputation, then I, as a daughter, will not do this anymore."
After saying that, she turned around and walked out of the yard, and Changbai's wife Haishi hurriedly chased after her.
"Sister, do you really not care?"
Hua Lan sighed: "It's not that I don't care, but that my father doesn't want me to care."
Hai Chaoyun said: "The officials also tried to persuade my father-in-law, but my father-in-law has his own ideas and the officials can't change him."
"Eldest sister, the fourth sister is kneeling in the ancestral hall. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Hualan's expression changed, and she finally said: "We are sisters after all. She did such a thing. I also want to know why she did it."
"Then let's go there together, big sister."
Hai Chaoyun took Hualan to the Sheng Family Ancestral Hall.
Sheng Molan, who was resting on the futon, heard the footsteps and immediately struggled to kneel down again. When she turned around and saw that the people who came in were Hua Lan and Hai Chaoyun, her body relaxed again.
"What, big sister, are you here to see my joke?"
Hua Lan snorted coldly: "Do you think I have time to watch your jokes?"
Mo Lan sneered contemptuously and said: "Yes, eldest sister is now the eldest daughter of the Duke's palace, how can she take my sister, who is a concubine, in her eyes? But eldest sister, what is there to be proud of? You are just lucky.
Well, thanks to the old lady and my age, if I were the same size as you back then, it’s hard to say who the Duke of Jingguo and his wife are today."
Hua Lan and Hai Chaoyun were stunned by these words. They couldn't believe their ears. Hua Lan was even more speechless.
"I am indeed lucky, but I really don't know where you got the confidence from. Even if you are the eldest wife of the Duke of Jingguo, with your behavior, even if you become a concubine for an official in my family, he will not consider it."
.”
Mo Lan's breathing suddenly became heavy, and she took a deep breath to calm down her anger.
"I can't be the eldest daughter of Duke Jingguo, but I can become the eldest daughter of Duke Lingguo. I am the fourth girl of the Sheng family. For the sake of the face of the Sheng family and the face of all of you, you must
Let me marry into the palace of Duke Lingguo."
Hearing Mo Lan's arrogant words, Hua Lan was furious. Even Hai Chaoyun, who was always kind and talkative, showed anger on his face.
Since Hai Chaoyun married into the Sheng family, she is a member of the Sheng family, and her thoughts and worries are naturally about the official Chang Bai and the Sheng family, so she is also very angry when Mo Lan threatens the Sheng family.
It has been more than two years since she married into the Sheng family. All the brothers and sisters in the Sheng family are good. Even Sheng Changfeng, who was also born to Lin Xiaoniang, although a bit naughty, has not really ruined the Sheng family's family tradition, except for that time
Apart from being drunk and talking nonsense, he didn't do anything that harmed the Sheng family.
But as for Mo Lan, she was the most favored by Sheng Hong among the four sisters, more favored than her brother Chang Feng, but what she did happened to bring shame to the entire Sheng family.
"Stop your wishful thinking. My family has already decided that we will not go to Duke Ling's Mansion to propose marriage for you, so you should stop thinking about marrying into Duke Ling's Mansion."
"impossible."
Mo Lan screamed loudly: "Impossible, how could Daddy not help me to marry him? I'm already like Ling Guogong's youngest son. If he doesn't marry me, wouldn't Daddy even give up the face of the Sheng family?
?Aren’t you also afraid of being implicated?”
Hua Lan snorted coldly: "You and Lin have a good plan. You want to use this method to marry into the Duke's palace. But it's a pity that no matter how you plan, things can't develop exactly as you want. According to
Grandma means that if you do such a thing, you should be beaten to death."
When Mo Lan heard this, she was completely panicked and asked eagerly: "No, dad will not do this. He loves me so much, how could he beat me to death? Don't even think about scaring me."
"At this time, do I still need to scare you? Fourth sister, although we have had conflicts, to be honest, I have never thought of targeting you. We are a family, and we are all daughters of the Sheng family. Even though
I don't like you, but I still hope you can marry well."
Hua Lan said with a disappointed look: "But what about you? I don't know why you have to use this method to have an affair regardless of your own face and the face of the Sheng family. This kind of behavior makes the Duke of Guo's government
How can anyone like you?"
Mo Lan screamed angrily: "What qualifications do you have to speak against me? You have no right to speak against me. You are now the eldest lady of the Duke of Jingguo, with a high status and respect. But you can see that you look the same in front of me, but you look the same in front of others.
I feel disgusted by your face. I don’t think anyone can pretend better than you."
Hua Lan was not angry either, and just said: "There is a conflict between us. In your eyes, I am this image, and I am not surprised. Since I already have this image, then I will just be a bad guy and do it to the end. Fourth sister, now
There are only two choices available to you."
"One is to beat you to death to save the Sheng family's face; the other is to keep you alive, but for the sake of the Sheng family's face, you become a monk and become a sister-in-law."
When Mo Lan heard this, he couldn't care about anything else. He stood up and shouted at Hua Lan: "You are dreaming. How dare you ask me to be your aunt? I am going to marry into the Duke's palace and be the wife of the prince. How dare you?"
Let me be your sister-in-law, and I will fight with you."
When she learned that she could not marry into the Duke's palace and become his wife, she couldn't bear it any longer and rushed towards Hua Lan like crazy.
"Fourth sister, eldest sister."
Hai Chaoyun didn't expect that Mo Lan would suddenly attack. He was startled and rushed over to stop Mo Lan.
But before she could stop her, Mo Lan fell to the ground on her own. She had been kneeling for so long and just stood up because she was so excited. But when she wanted to move, she found that her legs didn't obey orders at all and she couldn't even stand.
Unsteady, he fell to the ground.
Hua Lan was not frightened by Mo Lan's fierce look, and looked very calm. Looking at Mo Lan who fell to the ground, her face gradually became cold.
"Whether you want it or not, your fate is doomed from the moment you do that kind of thing, and you can't blame others."
"Next, you should reflect carefully here. What your outcome will be depends on what your father decides."
After saying that, she no longer cared about Mo Lan, turned around and left the ancestral hall.
Hai Chaoyun looked at Mo Lan who was lying on the ground and wanted to help her up, but Mo Lan pushed her away angrily.
"Go away, I don't need you to be hypocritical. In fact, you are laughing at me in your heart, right?"
"Fourth sister, you..."
Hai Chaoyun wanted to persuade, but when he saw Mo Lan's angry and hateful eyes, he could no longer say what he wanted to say. In the end, he could only sigh.
"Just take care of yourself."
…………
The atmosphere of today's court meeting is very wrong, mainly because the officials actually proposed to inspect the salt affairs. In fact, this is not a bad thing, but a good thing, because salt tax is a large part of the national treasury revenue, but in fact the salt collected
Compared with the real salt tax, the tax is more than half the difference.
It is a good thing to check the salt tax and increase the revenue of the state treasury, but the problem is that the officials now cannot even fully control the government bureau, so they have begun to plan to check the salt tax.
You must know that the embezzled salt tax went into the pockets of officials and gentry in various places. The involvement was so extensive that it is unimaginable. Even the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government were probably involved in many people.
If we want to investigate the salt tax, it will undoubtedly touch the cake of many people. From top to bottom, they will be interfered with and targeted.
In the plot, when King Huan went to inspect the salt tax, he was assassinated many times. If it weren't for his good luck, he would have died long ago.
Zhou Chen could understand the thoughts of the officials. Since they wanted military power, they also wanted to control the government, and they also wanted to increase the national treasury.
Power, money, food...
He didn't want to let anyone go.
But doing so is really taking too big a step, and you might get yourself in trouble if you're not careful.
The plot does not explain in detail what happened during this salt tax inspection trip, but you can guess that the process was not smooth.
In Zhou Chen's view, the most correct choice for officials is to first stabilize their power, and then slowly investigate salt tax, corruption, etc.
It's not impossible to investigate by force now, but we need to use thunderous means, and it won't be a problem to have a lot of heads by then.
The officials wanted to ask someone to check the salt tax, but after shouting for a long time, no one came forward. Instead, they encountered opposition from many people. The angry officials became furious and roared in the court.
Finally, the officials forcibly issued an order and decided that King Huan, Shen Congxing, Sheng Changbai and others would inspect the salt affairs of the eight provinces together.
Zhou Chen frowned slightly when he saw that the arrangements had not changed from the plot. Among these people, the one he cared about most was naturally Sheng Changbai, who was his wife's biological brother after all.
In the next court, when Zhou Chen was about to go find Sheng Changbai, the British Duke suddenly came over.
"Shu Yuan."
"Old Duke."
The British Duke smiled and said: "Shu Yuan is free today. May I invite you to have dinner at Fanlou?"
"If the old man invites you, even if you don't have time, you must still make time."
"Haha, okay, let's go there now."
"Old Duke, please."
Zhou Chen came to the Fan Building with the British father-in-law, and then went straight to the private room. When he entered the room, he found that there was another person.
"Lingguo Gong."
"Jingguo Gong."
Zhou Chen was not surprised when he saw Ling Guogong. He knew that the British Duke would definitely not come to him for dinner for no reason, and there were not many people who could invite the British Duke, so on the way here, he had already guessed the most interesting person.
There are several possible people, and Ling Guogong is one of them.
The purpose of Ling Guogong looking for Zhou Chen was naturally for the matter of his youngest son and Mo Lan, but before he could say anything, Zhou Chen spoke first, saying that he didn't care about this matter, and Ling Guogong could do whatever he wanted.
, which made Ling Guogong not know what to say.
Fortunately, the British Duke came to make peace with him and made Duke Ling understand that what Zhou Chen said was the truth. Then he felt relieved and the three of them drank in harmony.
After returning home, Hua Lan saw that Zhou Chen smelled of alcohol again, so she asked Cui Chan to make sobering soup for Zhou Chen.
Although Zhou Chen was not drunk, he did not refuse, so he took it and drank it.
"Officer, I went to my parents' house again today, and my father still hasn't made a decision." Hua Lan didn't look good.
Zhou Chen said: "It doesn't matter. Your Majesty specially asked the British Duke to come to me today and invite me to have a drink in Fanlou."
When Hua Lan heard this, he immediately asked: "Did Duke invite you to drink? What did he say?"
"As I told your father, Duke Ling's intention is very clear. He does not want his son to marry your fourth sister as a wife, or at best a concubine."
"Then my father will definitely not agree."
"So I told Ling Guogong that I would not care about this matter. He would handle it how he should handle it."
Zhou Chen did not completely tell the truth. In fact, although Ling Guogong was unwilling, there was still room for negotiation in his words. He just listened to Ling Guogong's wishes. If he asked for mercy, he might agree, but he would definitely have to
Pay a certain price.
But how could Zhou Chen be willing? Mo Lan's affairs were none of his business. He had to pay the price and let Mo Lan marry into the Duke's palace. It was just a dream.
So he made his attitude clear on the spot that he didn't care about this matter. Although the Duke was a little disappointed, he understood what Zhou Chen meant and didn't bother any more.
My body has recovered more than half, and I will resume two updates tomorrow. I don’t know why, but since the sun passed, every cold and fever seems to be much more serious than before. In the past, I could recover after just two days of recovery, but now I still feel the same after five or six days.
I feel very uncomfortable and my head feels dizzy. The doctor said it is due to insufficient blood supply to the brain. It has happened three or four times and I feel uncomfortable.
