The Wife is First

Chapter 108
"This is the 'fairy medicine' that Mo Bei gave Xiaosi." Jing Shao pouted. The little nun thought that the medicine that the master gave to the emperor's grandson must be extraordinary, so she stole a bag while Mo Bei was not paying attention. He was searched.

Mu Hanzhang poured half of the medicine powder into a small porcelain bottle, and wrapped the other half in yellow paper: "Small spoon, I don't think you can hide this from brother."

Jing Shao frowned, he wanted to find out the matter before he said it. After all, these were all their guesses. It must be heartbreaking for his elder brother to lose his youngest son. Wouldn't it poke his heart to speak nonsense before he figured it out?
Mu Hanzhang put the small porcelain bottle away, got up and took Jing Shao's hand, and stuffed the yellow paper bag into his palm: "This matter is by no means so simple, no matter what the purpose of the person behind it is, I'm sure, to provoke you brothers Relationships are at least half the story."

Jing Shao raised his head suddenly: "What do you mean?"

"Whether this medicine is what killed Xiaosi or not, we can't ask someone to test it." Mu Hanzhang held Jing Shao's hand. If this matter was known, it would be hard to tell, "Listen Mine, give this medicine and the little nun to my brother."

Now it is the cusp of the storm, if it is not for cherishing this brotherhood, who would be willing to take this muddy water?With Jingchen's wisdom, he will be able to understand his brother's sincerity. As long as the two brothers are of one mind, nothing else matters.

After Jing Shao listened in a daze, he gradually tightened his grip on the yellow paper in his hand, and lived a new life. If someone provoked the brotherhood again, his life would be in vain.

Jing Chen got the medicine powder and the confession, did not speak for a long time, and took a deep look at Jing Shao: "The imperial doctor tested this medicine when she gave it to Xiaosi before."

Jing Shao was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head: "I just think Mo Bei's death is very suspicious, and I haven't found out anything else yet."

Jing Chen looked at him for a while, then slowly reached out and touched Jing Shao's head.

Half a month later, the fourth prince arrived in Jiangnan.

The terrain in the south of the Yangtze River is flat, there are not many natural moats, and it is easy to attack and difficult to defend, but Jing Yu forgot, he understands this truth, and the King of Huainan naturally understands it too.Therefore, before the army of the Fourth Prince had settled in the camp, the Huainan army took the initiative to attack
Standing on the tower, Gu Huaiqing looked at the arrogant fourth prince, and slowly pursed her lips.

"My lord, let the last general go, and I will beat the shit out of that kid!" The generals beside him were all gearing up, watching the fourth prince agitated like a pack of wolves seeing fat.

"Hush," Gu Huaiqing stretched out a slender index finger on her pale lips, "This is the prince, you can't say such vulgar words."

"My lord, what should I say?" The general blinked.

Gu Huaiqing glanced at him, and slapped his head: "What are you talking about, if you can't win, you won't have dinner tonight."

"Yes!" The general got a slap in the face flatteredly, and ran away in a hurry.

The Jiangnan battle report hadn't had time to be sent to Beijing, and the court and the central government were busy discussing maritime business these days.

"Maritime business has a long history. There was an order to ban the sea in the previous dynasty, but it was repeatedly banned. It is only because the merchants value profits, and the maritime merchants are so profitable that they are willing to risk their lives." Mu Hanzhang stood in the center of the hall, his voice was not loud, but his words Clear, neither rush nor slow, in the quiet court where you can hear the sound of falling needles, every word and sentence is clearly transmitted to everyone's ears, "I think it's better to be sparse than to be blocked."

Marquis Wen Yuan’s articles of association have been transcribed for a few minutes, and all the important ministers in the court have read it. It lists in detail the price comparison between Fanren’s gold coins and Dachen’s products. The most exciting thing is the establishment of a maritime tax.With such huge profits, the imperial court only needs to set up ports and maintain order to collect huge taxes.In this way, the annual tax revenue of the national treasury can be increased by at least [-]%.

"I think this method is feasible," said Minister of the Household Department who was the first to stand up for reconsideration. As a person who manages the treasury's account books, he naturally knows how much benefit this will bring to the Chen Dynasty. Maritime tax just solved the urgent need."

"The establishment of a port will inevitably attract the prying eyes of foreign people, and it is very time-consuming and labor-intensive to increase the strength of the marine merchants along the coast. I think this matter needs to be discussed." The Minister of the Ministry of War disagreed.

"If you want to allow maritime trade, you must establish corresponding laws. These are also mentioned in the articles of association of Marquis Wenyuan, but I think it is not detailed enough." Minister of the Ministry of Justice said.

"If you want to open a port, you need to set up a corresponding yamen, and the official rank and salary have to be reset." The Minister of the Ministry of Officials did not say that he opposed or agreed, but only raised the corresponding issues that he was responsible for.

Only the most irrelevant minister of the Ministry of Rites did not intervene, and stood silently in his place.

Listening to everyone's discussion, Mu Hanzhang still had a calm expression, and he didn't feel any retreat because of many obstacles.

After listening quietly, Emperor Hongzheng turned to look at the two remaining princes: "Jing Rong, what do you think?"

The eldest prince's body has recovered to its original state. At this time, his eyes were burning, and he was waiting for the opportunity to speak. Hearing the words, he immediately came out and said: "I have also studied the regulations of Marquis Wen Yuan carefully. I think that a scholar of Marquis Wen Yuan said that Talking about these ways of doing business is tantamount to talking about war on paper. There must be a reason for the sea ban in the previous dynasty, and opening the port rashly may cause disaster."

Hearing this, Mu Hanzhang frowned, the eldest prince clearly opposed it when he said this, and there must be many veteran officials in the court who also had this kind of thought in mind, so what he said won the hearts of many veteran officials.

Sure enough, after the eldest prince finished speaking, many old officials from the conservative faction came out to speak.

Emperor Hongzheng still didn't say a word, and asked Prince Rui's opinion again.

Jingchen came out, paused for a moment and said: "My son thinks that if this method is feasible, it will be a good thing for me, but it will be shallow on paper, so it's better to draw up the things mentioned by the adults. Here is a provisional regulation, try to open a port first, if it doesn’t work then ban it.”

This matter has been debated in the court for several days, Jing Chen's words can be regarded as convincing people of both sides, if he thinks it is right, it is natural to wait and see, if he thinks it is not good, he will wait and see the joke.

"What the second emperor said is very true. It's just that the person in charge of the port must record all the omissions in detail. My minister thinks that he should appoint someone who knows the matter best." Xiang Mu Hanzhang.

But Mu Hanzhang didn't speak, just stood quietly, he naturally understood what the eldest prince meant, and this matter was exactly what he wanted, but it was not the right time.

Sure enough, Emperor Hongzheng didn't answer the eldest prince's words: "What Jing Chen said makes sense, and each ministry draws up a regulation within seven days according to what he said, so I can review it."

After the court, Mu Hanzhang didn't say much to the crowd, and went directly to the carriage of Prince Cheng's mansion to go back.

"My lord." Hou Dingnan walked a few steps quickly, and caught up with Jing Chen who was dressed in Prince Yuebai's attire.

"Master Hou." Jing Chen replied politely.

Dingnan Hou saw that Jingchen still had a deep and steady look, and the expression on his face was also indifferent, without the slightest warmth, so he couldn't help but become more enthusiastic: "I heard that the princess has been feeling unwell recently, and her mother is very worried, and wants to visit the palace. , and clamored for me to ask the prince when the princess will be free."

Usually female family members do not need to report in this way, because Dingnan Hou knew that his daughter was grounded by Prince Rui, so saying this is naturally a polite way of saying it.

Thinking of Mrs. Xiao, Jing Chen resisted the urge to frown, and said lightly: "Today is enough. The princess has been thinking too much recently, so I ask my wife to help me with a few words of comfort."

When Dingnanhou heard the words, he immediately laughed: "That's natural."

Mu Hanzhang's complexion was a little bad. Last night Jing Shao was a little late to toss, and this morning he procrastinated for a long time. After standing for nearly two hours, he felt sore all over his body.As soon as he got into the carriage, he was tightly held by a pair of strong hands.

The curtain was drawn in the carriage, and it was very dark. Mu Hanzhang was taken aback, and then he was hugged into a familiar warm embrace, before he slowly relaxed: "Why are you here?"

Jing Shao hugged him well, ordered the driver to drive the car, and kissed the tired face along the way: "I saw that you haven't come back for a long time, so I thought you would be late this morning. I'm afraid you'll be tired, so I came to pick you up."

Jing Shao continued kneading and kneading everywhere, eating tofu while massaging: "A letter from the stew bird came today, saying that the house in Pingjiang has been bought."

(End of this chapter)