Yan Fu rushed back and gave Emperor Qianwen a detailed report of what he saw and heard. Then he stood aside, looking at his nose and nose, giving Emperor Qianwen enough time to think about it. .
Emperor Qianwen's face twitched slightly.
He thought that King Xiang would not give up, but he never thought that King Xiang himself would go to Guochanglongxingshi in person to question him, and he never thought that he would not get any advantage at all. Not only was he scolded, but even his car was beaten to pieces. broken.
If you are not sure, don't do it. For the sake of the Lu family's 10% benefit, you have to do everything yourself, and you have lost the image of a superior person. What's even more annoying is that when someone comes, they haven't taken advantage of it at all. It’s really unteachable.
Standing behind the prince was the King of Jin, who was so powerful that Emperor Qianwen was afraid of him. He was afraid that a hundred years later, his position would be given to the prince, and in the end the prince would lose to the King of Jin, and his family property would be swallowed up by others. After thinking about it, he came up with a way to restrict it, which was to enhance the status of King Xiang and let him confront the prince. He could control the balance and use it to consume his opponent and benefit himself.
After all, behind King Xiang is King Qi, who is also one of the powerful vassal kings. He holds the land of the four states and is capable of competing with King Jin to support the prince. But now it seems that King Xiang is really too stupid. , how could such a person be trusted to pass on the throne to him? I'm afraid that in that case, without the vassal king taking action, King Xiang himself would mess up Da Qian, giving others an opportunity to take advantage of him.
Emperor Qianwen was angry that he would not fight, and wished he could just ignore King Xiang now and send him anywhere to become Prince Taiping. But if he did this, he would definitely offend King Qi, which would be very detrimental to the stability of Daqian. In order to Due to the great cause, Emperor Qianwen still had to suppress his anger and continue to support Prince Xiang against his will.
Even if we can't abandon King Xiang now, we must give an explanation for the smashing of his car. "Publish an edict to fine Marquis Zhongcheng half a year's salary and send someone to warn him. If he does it next time, he will not be spared a severe punishment."
Take it lightly, this is Emperor Qianwen's attitude. He will not weaken King Xiang's influence, which is the best result. After all, he will be left to compete with the prince. As for Zhongcheng, who has hurt King Xiang's face Hou, as expected, he was fined half a year's salary as the other party said.
"No, I will send someone to deliver the order." Yan Fu, who was standing by, was very clear in his heart. The result was almost the same as what he thought. King Xiang is really a man who cannot be cultivated, but because he is still useful now, Not being punished is already the greatest grace.
...
King Xiang made a fuss to no avail, and even suffered a loss. This scene was seen by many people.
Even Prince Xiang could not shake Shen Ao's position in the prosperity of the country. Those who wanted to apply for membership cards could finally relax. Today's emperor thinks so highly of Duke Zhongguo, what else do they have to fear?
When I thought about becoming a member, not only could I buy iodized salt, which was in short supply, but I could also go to Xianweiju to enjoy it at any time. The membership card counter was quickly filled with people queuing up.
Shen Ao did not stay at the front desk, but returned to the inner courtyard. The eunuch in the palace just sent a decree and fined Marquis Zhongcheng half a year's salary. Seeing this scene in Shen Ao's eyes, he was filled with admiration. It seemed like this uncle had a lot of weight in the emperor's heart, so he could rely on him even more.
"Uncle, don't worry, isn't it just half a year's salary? When you leave later, ask Uncle Xing to drive the bullock cart back with you. I'll give you 50,000 taels first. If you don't have enough, I'll add more."
These words Shen Ao said were very heroic. To paraphrase a very pretentious saying from later generations, he is now so poor that all he has left is money.
"This is good. My uncle needs to feed a lot of people, so he accepted it." Shen Yunyi smiled and adapted, and then went to find Shen Xing to get the money. With the matter of Prince Xiang, it will not happen in a short time. Someone is looking for trouble without opening their eyes. If there is such a person, there is no need for him to take action. The twenty golden armored guards left behind will teach him how to be a good person.
There was no one else in the room, and the original smile on Shen Ao's face also disappeared. He had just received news that Cai Yue, the female official of Juhe Palace, had someone send a message, saying that Concubine Yuan wanted to make a suggestion to the emperor and put the fifth princess to death. Marry to the Western Man and become the wife of the King of the Western Man.
This news really made Shen Ao angry.
The fifth princess is her aunt's beloved daughter. She has lived in the palace since she was a child. She has tender skin and tender flesh. She doesn't know what it means to endure hardship and what evil people are. If she goes to the Western Barbarians and wants to be the barbarian princess, I'm afraid she won't be able to use it. She will be set up to death by other barbarian princesses in a few days.
Go! You will definitely die. I am afraid that Concubine Yuan Gui also saw this and came up with this dirty trick. This is obviously because she has no way to deal with it, so she is thinking of causing trouble from the fifth princess, making her aunt sad and causing trouble for herself. .
Thinking of this, Shen Ao was furious. He wished he could rush into the palace right now, slap Concubine Yuan twice, and warn her not to make random ideas or talk nonsense in the future. But he couldn't do it. You can't do this either.
If he really acted like this, his own life and death would be a trivial matter, and his aunt's family would definitely be implicated. I was afraid that the sixth prince and the fifth princess would also be implicated. In that case, he would really become a sinner.
"Damn, I'm still not strong enough." In anger, Shen Ao cursed. He hated that he was still too weak. If he had the influence and ability of King Qi or King Jin, who would be able to control it? My aunt's family will have to think deeply about it.
"Young Master, Master Fu Ma is here. He said he has something to see you." While Shen Ao was still thinking bitterly about how to quickly improve his strength, guard Shi Lei walked in and reported softly.
"But are you attached to Ma Lu Shun? Haha, it seems that he is acting as a lobbyist under the order of the prince, that's all, please invite him in." Shen Ao's face returned to calmness. Before his strength was not enough, he He will not reveal his thoughts to others.
Lu Shun came, eight feet tall (one foot is 23.1cm today), with a face as beautiful as a crown jewel, but he was born with a good skin.
To be able to become a horse-bearer, there must be no problem with appearance and a clean family background. As for one's own talent, it is secondary. In short, it only needs to satisfy the princess, be able to perform well, and not lose the royal family's face.
"Haha, Duke Zhongguo is indeed young and promising, and he is a talented person." After Lu Shun entered the main hall, he said with a smile on his face and clasped his fists.
"No, a man with a horse is handsome and more than handsome." Shen Ao said very politely as he entered the sedan chair.
The two of them didn't feel like they were meeting for the first time. They were like good friends who hadn't seen each other for a while. They quickly chatted together. Through chatting, Shen Ao discovered that the Fu Ma in front of him was not entirely a fool. He still had some literary background. He also knows a lot about Confucius and Mencius. As a scholar, he is a good friend.
After Shi Lei served the tea, he left. There was no one else in the main hall. Lu Shun had an awkward smile on his face. When Shen Ao saw it, he knew that he was about to talk about the topic.
"Mr. Zhongguo, as the ancients said, enemies are easy to resolve but not easy to make. Can you sit down and have a good talk about the affairs with the Lu family?" Lu Shun thought of several ways to talk on the way here until he met Shen Ao. After meeting the real person, he decided to use the most direct method. This was not because he was worried that Shen Ao would not understand if he talked in an obscure way, but because from the conversation just now, he saw that Shen Ao was an extremely smart person. Such a person He often pretends to be confused. If that is the case, his task will not be completed, and it would be better to get straight to the point.
Shen Ao was waiting for Lu Shun to mention business. Once the other party spoke, he smiled coldly and said: "My dear Ma, it's not that I don't show respect, it's that the Lu family has been too bullying before. He didn't provide supplies to the country. That's all, Changlong actually threatened to the outside world that if anyone becomes a member of Guochanglong, he will not be sold rice paper to him in the future. This is obviously to suppress Guochanglong and also want to see the joke of his father. Even so, now How could a certain person choose to sit down and talk with them when he had the upper hand? I guess if you were a Fu Ma Ye and someone was riding on your neck to catch shit, you wouldn't be lenient when you have the chance to retaliate."
"Uh... this is natural." A look of unnaturalness flashed across Fu Ma Lu Shun's face. Thinking that Shen Ao was right, the Lu family suppressed Guo Changlong so hard before, and now they have lost power, they wanted to sit down. Let’s talk about it, how can there be so many good things in the world?
Knowing that this is the case, but since His Highness the Crown Prince has left this matter to him, he always wants to give the Lu family an explanation. "Lord Guo, you have to be merciful and merciful. Now that the Shen family's rice paper is out, the quality The price is still cheap, but it is a heavy blow to the Lu family. Otherwise, you can raise your hand and raise the price of rice paper to two taels of silver per knife. How about the same as the Lu family? In this way, everyone's price will be the same. , the quality of Shen’s rice paper is better, and you don’t have to worry about sales, but you can also make more money, isn’t it the best of both worlds?”
"No." Shen Ao decisively rejected the proposal. "Attached to Mr. Ma, it's not that I don't give face, the price has been announced, and now the price suddenly increases, what will others think of our country's prosperity? If you don't do what you say, Isn’t counting just like child’s play? Without everyone’s trust, who would apply for a membership card at Guochanglong? It’s better not to mention the price increase again.”
Two suggestions in a row were rejected by Shen Ao, and Fu Ma Lushun's face was a little ugly. He couldn't understand Shen Ao's thoughts, so he simply did not put forward conditions, but handed the initiative to Shen Ao and said: " So according to Duke Zhongguo’s wishes, how should we prepare? Isn’t it possible that the Lu family cannot hold its head high if it has to fight? In terms of development over the years, the Lu family also has some strength. If a fight must be fought, both sides will inevitably suffer losses. , when doing business, you must not act out of anger, it will not be good for Lord Zhongguo, right?"