"As far as I know, the Lu family of Fan Yang falsely accused the Qi family of Youzhou of collaborating with the enemy and treason. After the verdict was overturned by Xie Yuan and the surviving son of General Qi, the three clans were wiped out."
Queen Wang slowly sat up, glanced to the side at Zongzi who was sleeping soundly, and then played with the cardamom carelessly.
"As the only descendant of Fan Yang's Lu family, don't you plan to avenge your father and your people - Lu Zhong."
Except for the queen and the young man kneeling in the center of the hall, there was no other person in the palace.
Lu Zhong clenched his fists slightly, lowered his head and said softly: "I don't know what the queen means by this."
A chuckle came from behind the screen, and Lu Zhong heard a rustling sound, but in a moment, a pair of small and exquisite bare feet appeared in front of him.
Lu Zhong's pupils shrank and he buried his head lower.
"There are rumors in the government and the public that Shu Ling is beautiful and favored by the ladies of the noble family. He raised his head and told me to take a good look." A lazy voice sounded above his head.
After hesitating for a moment, Lawrence Lu slowly raised his head.
Queen Wang looked carefully, then reached out to lift the young man's chin. Seeing that his ears turned red instantly, she couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle.
"He does have a good skin."
Lu Zhong saw Empress Wang's smile and saw the same contempt in her eyes for a down-and-out person like Wang Dazai.
In order to climb to the position of Zhongshu Ling, he was ordered by Wang Dazai to work as a servant in his mansion for a month.
No, not even a servant.
He competed with the dog for food, and he competed with the dog for favor in front of Wang Dazai——
Even...he had to put the dog on a leash and put on a flattering look to face that arrogant person.
This month of humiliation earned him the position of Zhongshu Ling.
But this is not enough, he has to climb higher.
"The queen is so complimentary." Lu Zhong suppressed the dim light in his eyes and smiled slightly.
Empress Wang retracted her fingers and said calmly: "As Yu Mianshou, I will use the power of my cousin Wang to help you suppress the poor family and help you take revenge."
The pupils of the boy in the hall shrank slightly.
Face...
"Queen..."
Queen Wang stared at Lu Zhong and smiled——
"What should they think if they know that the son of a traitor who is the leader of the three barbarian tribes has become a Zhongshu Ling and is in charge of power?"
She slowly bowed her head, listening to the soft but without any warmth voice in the young man's ears,
"You have no right to refuse me, unless you want all your efforts to be wasted, unless you want your Lu family to be infamy forever."
The woman's breath is like orchid, and the beauty on her chest is looming.
Lu Zhong didn't pay attention, just listened to her words and was stunned.
Eternally infamy...
Since ancient times, there have been successful kings and defeated bandits. The king will leave his name in history, while the bandit will remain infamy for thousands of years.
However, history is written by the victors. As long as those people's mouths are blocked, he can tamper with the history books at will.
Thinking of this, the last fire in the young man's eyes slowly disappeared.
A smile that was exactly the same as Queen Wang's appeared on his lips, he stood up, picked up Queen Wang and walked into the inner hall with great swagger.
Queen Wang slowly hooked her arms around the young man's neck, smiling like a flower: "This is right."
Then the bead curtain fell, leaving behind a deep dream.
Outside the palace, on the second floor of an attic somewhere, a pair of eyes looked at the carriage parked at the entrance of the palace, and after a long time, they slowly smiled.
Xie Yuan, Qi Yan, Huo...
Your good days are coming to an end.
…
At the end of the first year, everyone finished their busy work and had a moment of leisure.
After sending the recommendation list, Huo Qubing received a letter from Lu Zhong.
Lu Zhong was worshiped as the crown prince and tutor, and also served as Zhongshu Ling.
"Shaohan has only been an official for one year, and he has reached a position where one person is less than ten thousand people. Will this not arouse the jealousy and suppression of other nobles?" After Huo Qubing was happy, he couldn't help but worry, and told this matter
Xie Yuan was informed.
Xie Yuan shook his head.
Lu Zhong chose his own path to become an official, and he also chose the position he reached.
Since he has reached that position, he should be prepared to be feared and suppressed by the nobles' children.
However, Lu Zhong was able to achieve what he did today, and he was also happy for him from the bottom of his heart.
This time Lu Zhong sent a letter, intending to let Xie Yuan and Huo Qubing go to Jiankang to attend his housewarming party.
Because Xie Yuan was busy dealing with a private salt trafficking case, he asked Huo Qubing to bring a gift to him to wish Lu Zhong good health.
In the Jin Dynasty, people were not allowed to make salt privately, especially those near the seaside, and the government was very strict about it.
When Emperor Tianwu was still alive, he made a law -
Once anyone is found to be making salt privately or selling salt privately, regardless of whether he is a nobleman or a commoner, he will be sentenced to death.
It can be seen that the strict control of salt is no different from that of swords, guns and weapons.
And just today, Xie Yuan received a letter of complaint from people on the southern border.
The letter said that there was a nobleman on the border who secretly made salt, bribed local officials, smuggled and sold the salt in the name of the court, and made huge profits.
Because of the protection of the local government, these things were never discovered by the court.
And the salt mine they secretly operated made an astonishing amount of money in just five years.
They not only smuggled and sold salt, but also captured local people to work as slaves and hard labor.
Those who tried to escape and report were all caught and exposed to death.
As for this letter of report, it was because Xie Yuan sent retainers to inspect the border, so the local prefect and the aristocratic family relaxed their guard because of a guilty conscience, so a few people escaped and wrote this letter and sent it to the governor's office in Yangzhou.
As for whether he was captured later, Xie Yuan didn't know.
Looking at the blood mark on the letter, Xie Yuan pursed his lips for a moment, then led his people to the southern border that day.
…
February 8, southeastern border of Nanhai County.
This area was once under the jurisdiction of the ancient Nanyue tribe under the Baiyue branch. Later, it was unified under the Qin Dynasty and Nanhai County was established.
Because this place is located in Lingnan, it is very poor and backward. In the pre-Qin Dynasty, the First Emperor sent people to move 500,000 people from the Central Plains to Lingnan to promote local economic development.
Perhaps it's because of the desolation here that even the Han Dynasty can only account for more than 300,000 people.
In today's Dajin, it has become a place for prisoners to be distributed due to environmental problems.
Due to the war, Nanhai County was sparsely populated all year round. Although there were wealthy noble families, most of them were not under the control of the imperial court, and the territory was ruled by the king.
Because the common people were far away from the court, they could only listen to the words of the local nobles.
This also led to some people smuggling and selling salt for several years, but no one reported it to the court.
Xie Yuan looked at the deserted road and couldn't help but sigh.
In his time, this was a famous economic development zone and was very prosperous and developed.
No one would have thought that a long, long time ago, even the backward birds here were not willing to stay.
"My lord, are you planning to go directly to see the local governor?" Cui Heng came over and asked.
"They have been able to smuggle secretly for so long, so they must be very strict. They can't do it openly." Xie Yuan shook his head.