Qin Hao has been back for more than a month. It is reasonable to say that he should return to Mingzhou and resume his duties at this time, but Zhao Zongquan's order has not been issued.
After thinking about it carefully, Qin Hao roughly guessed what Zhao Zongquan was thinking. At this time, the number of Mingzhou navy had reached 30,000, and there were fifteen giant ships with 5,000 materials, which seemed to be a considerable military force.
According to the Song Dynasty emperor's defensive mentality towards generals, it was unlikely that Zhao Zongquan would let Qin Hao continue to develop.
Therefore, Qin Hao directly sent a memorial to Zhao Zongquan, recommending Cui Hao to be promoted to deputy commander of the Mingzhou Navy.
This time the decree was issued quickly. Zhao Zongquan praised Qin Hao and gave him the position of Tongzhi Privy Councilor, which was equivalent to the deputy minister of the Privy Council, and he was considered a very popular minister.
Qin Hao accepted this result calmly. To be honest, he didn't want to run around on the sea all year round. Ancient navigation was not only dangerous, but also boring. There were so many entertainment activities. He looked at the same sea every day and couldn't even see a piece of land.
Yeah, sometimes it can drive people crazy.
This kind of remote control command is not bad. Anyway, the Mingzhou Navy has already trained it. As long as it continues to implement the plan formulated by Qin Hao, it can continuously seize wealth from overseas. Cui Hao is also one of his own and can be trusted.
Qin Hao readily handed over his rights, which made Zhao Zongquan feel at ease with him. I heard that Qin Hao loved his daughter very much, and specially gave Sister Lan the title of Lord of Qinglan County, and asked her to recognize Prince Huan as her godfather.
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When Yu Yanran received the imperial edict, she felt a little complicated. Qin Hao hugged his daughter to receive the edict. Upon seeing this, he joked: "My daughter will be of a higher rank than you in the future. According to the rules, you have to bow."
"Huh, no matter how high your rank is, I am still her mother. If she dares to ask me to salute, I will spank her!" Yu Yanran said arrogantly.
Sister Lan looked blankly at the envious eyes of the people around her, and used her little hands to grab the imperial edict. Maybe she thought the imperial edict looked good when it was shining brightly.
Yu Yanran was afraid that she would damage the imperial edict, so she quickly had someone put it away. It was to be enshrined in the ancestral hall. What would happen if she broke it?
"Wow~~~" Sister Lan didn't care about that much. She cried loudly when she saw her beloved toy being taken away.
Qin Hao glared at Yu Yanran, turned around and told Bu Qi to find a brighter colored cloth for his daughter to play with.
The little girl was immediately happy when she got the new toy, tearing and biting it. Qin Hao even wondered if she wanted to grind her teeth.
After a while, the little girl got tired of playing, so she pinched the piece of cloth in the little fat hand, and then sweetly shouted: "Daddy, give me a hug."
This shout made Qin Hao's heart melt, and he quickly picked up his daughter.
Yu Yanran felt sour. That is to say, in ancient times, there was no such thing as a daughter being her husband's lover in his previous life. Otherwise, Yu Yanran would definitely wonder if God had come to cause trouble for her because she was living too comfortably.
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Depressed, Yu Yanran went to complain to her little sister Minglan, but when she arrived at Chengyuan, she found that the backyard of Chengyuan was in a mess, especially the maids, who were all arrogant, not like slaves but masters.
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When Yu Yanran came to Minglan's yard, she reminded her: "Minglan, you are too soft-tempered. These slaves are used to looking at people's orders. They need to be kind and powerful at the same time. Giving kindness blindly will only make them think that you are
Weakness can be bullied.”
Minglan smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Why don't I want to use kindness and power at the same time, but those slaves were either sent by my mother-in-law, or they were sent by the two ladies from the fourth and fifth bedrooms. I couldn't beat them and scolded them.
You can’t scold me.”
Hearing this, Yu Yanran also felt a little troublesome. After thinking for a long time, her eyes suddenly lit up: "How about I be the villain?"
"No need, sister Yanran, let me handle this matter." Minglan quickly stopped her.
But Yu Yanran waved her sleeves and said dissatisfied: "What difference do we have between you and me? Besides, your mother-in-law is the aunt of the Marquis, and I am not an outsider. What can I do if I teach a few servants a lesson?"
?”
After saying that, Yu Yanran said to Dan Ju: "Go and call all the servants who came from Ningyuan Hou Mansion!"
Danju was so happy that she could finally deal with these guys after enduring it for so long, so she quickly took Xiaotao to gather people.
Soon, the people here gathered in the open space of the courtyard. It was hot summer at this time, and Danjue also played a trick and arranged them under the sun. Yu Yanran and Minglan sat in the shade of the eaves.
Yu Yanran was about to get angry when suddenly someone came to report that the eldest lady from the fourth room was here.
No need to think about it, these people must have reported the letter to Ningyuan Houfu, so this person arrived in such time. Yu Yanran glanced at the servants present. In her opinion, this was the behavior of a seller. If it were placed in Jinghai
In the Hou Mansion, she had already been dragged out for interrogation.
"Hey, Mrs. Yu, why do you have time to come here today?" The fourth wife pretended to be an elder and sat down directly.
Yu Yanran has been tempered over the years, of course, mainly because she has Qin Hao's support behind her, and she has gained a lot of courage.
"Minglan is Yanran's good friend. Yanran always sits with Minglan when she has nothing to do. But it's not common for the Fourth Madam to come here. Why are you free to come here today?"
The fourth wife couldn't help but feel depressed after hearing this. A junior dared to talk to her like this, but who knew her husband had the ability? She could only hold back for the time being, and turned to Minglan with a smile on her face.
"Ms. Sheng, this elder is afraid that you will not have enough manpower after you divide the house, so he sent some people to serve you. But I heard that you never arrange work. Is it because you are dissatisfied with the arrangement of the elders?"
Yu Yanran was about to speak, but Minglan smiled and said: "No matter what the fourth wife said, we are all one family. How can the elders still harm us? But Minglan has no knowledge and has never managed such a large industry.
, I don’t know how to arrange it for the moment, so why don’t I ask them to ask them today so that we can arrange the duties.”
The fourth wife couldn't find fault for the moment. After all, she admitted that she was ignorant. If she held on to her, it would seem like she looked down on her small family. She could only say in a low voice: "If you have anything to ask, these are all
Children born from home are much more reliable than those from outsiders."
At this time, Lai's mother, who was standing in the yard, couldn't stand the scorching sun and said, "Ms. Shanda, even if you want to ask questions, why don't you find a shady place..."
Yu Yanran slapped the table directly: "How dare you, my master is talking here, how can you speak? You can't stand it after just being exposed for a while? Are you here to be servants or masters?"
Mother Lai sweatdropped after what she said, and the fourth wife also scolded: "Quickly step aside, you have no place to interrupt here!"
Minglan looked at Yu Yanran gratefully, smiled, and then said to Lai's mother: "Originally, I thought it would be enough to just ask a few questions, but unexpectedly the fourth wife came, so I made everyone wait for this.
It’s been a while, but I haven’t thought about it well enough, so let’s just stand under the eaves and answer the question.”
"Thank you Madam for your kindness." Everyone thanked them quickly.
The corners of the fourth wife's lips twitched, which clearly meant that she shouldn't come. Looking at Minglan's harmless pretty face, she couldn't help but murmur in her heart that this concubine from a low-level official's family seemed to be difficult to deal with.
Minglan continued: "Don't be nervous, everyone. I called you here today because I want to ask you what you did in the Ningyuan Marquis Mansion in the past, what you are good at, what rewards and punishments you have received, I will let you know
Register the people one by one, and arrange the work afterwards so that you can arrange what you are good at."
"Of course, Chengyuan also has the rules of Chengyuan. No matter what you have done before, you will not be blamed when you arrive in the new place. But if you hide it from the master's family, you will be suspected of deception at the end of your term. You are all from the Hou Mansion, so we need to investigate
It's easy to get up, but don't lose the face of the Hou Mansion."
Yu Yanran looked at Minglan with some surprise. What she said was so level and watertight. If someone lied and was charged with deceiving the master, there would be no reason for the Hou Mansion to interfere.
The fourth wife's expression changed after hearing this. It seemed that she still underestimated this concubine from a low-level official family. She originally thought that she could gain some benefits for the fourth wife in the future, but now it seems that she is a hard nut to crack.
, don’t eat the meat, but knock out your front teeth.
Next, Dan Ju asked about the status of these slaves one by one. As expected, those old mothers were all marginalized people who were incompetent. The Marquis Mansion sent them here with the intention of reusing the waste.
On the other hand, many of the maids are of good color, and it is obvious that they want to rise to the top through their beauty.
"Okay, I understand what you have done before. I will assign errands to you in the future. Please go down." Minglan waved her hand.
Upon seeing this, the fourth wife quickly got up and left, so as not to be choked by the words of these two juniors again and unable to eat when she went back.
Back inside, Yu Yanran asked curiously: "Are you really planning to arrange errands for them?"
Minglan smiled: "Of course it has to be arranged. Isn't it necessary to raise them for free meals?"
"Those old mothers are okay, but what about those pretty maids? What if..." Yu Yanran said worriedly.
Minglan said quietly: "Sister Yanran, if a man in this world is a playboy, no one can stop him. What's more, with the status of the Marquis, is it possible for him not to take concubines? Doesn't a man like my brother-in-law have two concubines?
.”
Yu Yanran pursed her lips: "That's different. Feicui is my personal maid, and Qingmei is my roommate. I can handle them all, but those are obviously sent by Ningyuan Houfu to destroy your relationship as husband and wife. If they succeed,
, there will be enough headaches for you in the future."
Minglan was about to say something when she suddenly heard Dan Jue coughing and noticed something was wrong. She turned around and found that Gu Tingye had been standing behind them at some point.
Yu Yanran was also shocked. Gu Tingye ignored her and said to Minglan: "Do you really think I am such a lustful person?"
Minglan thought of Gu Tingye's behavior like a hungry wolf at night, and looked at him doubtfully, as if to say: Isn't it true?
Gu Tingye lost his temper after being stared at and turned away.
Minglan looked at Gu Tingye's back curiously and asked, "Sister Yanran, is Master Hou angry?"
Yu Yanran also shook her head for a while. She had never encountered such a situation. Usually if Qin Hao was angry, he would tell her what he had done wrong and then give her "punishment".
Gu Tingye was very depressed here and ran to Qin Hao to complain.
Qin Hao was lying on a recliner with his daughter in his arms. As he swayed, the little girl fell asleep on his belly.
As for what happened to Gu Tingye, Qin Hao could only say: "He deserves it."
Gu Tingye became even more depressed: "Why doesn't she understand me?"
"Nonsense, you are tall and thick-looking. Who would have thought that your mind is so delicate and sensitive? Minglan has lived in such a family environment since she was a child. Naturally, she is always cautious and acts based on people's looks. If you have any needs, you can tell her directly.
If you have to guess, aren't you asking for trouble?" Qin Hao said angrily.
Gu Tingye scratched his hair depressedly: "But, wouldn't it be boring to say this kind of thing?"
Qin Hao was speechless. He even wondered whether Gu Tingye was a modern person who traveled through time and was still full of thoughts about free love.
"You are just being pretentious!"
Gu Tingye sighed and said, "Just be pretentious. Don't tell your siblings about this. We will solve our own problems."
Qin Hao didn't bother to care about him, so he asked his servants to prepare a thin blanket to cover his daughter in case she caught a cold, and he fell asleep in a daze.
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－－－－－
That’s it for today. I couldn’t write any words all morning due to the review, so I caught up on the drama again. Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve followed the drama, and it’s quite interesting.