Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 169 Salt Tax Reform (seeking a monthly ticket!!!)
Qin Hao has been back for more than a month, and it stands to reason that he should return to Mingzhou to resume his job at this time, but Zhao Zongquan's will has not come down.

After thinking about it carefully, Qin Hao probably guessed Zhao Zongquan's thoughts. At this time, the number of Mingzhou Navy has reached [-], and [-] giant ships with [-] materials have become a considerable military force.

According to the Song Dynasty emperor's defense against military generals, Zhao Zongquan is unlikely to let Qin Hao continue to develop.

Therefore, Qin Hao directly wrote a memorial to Zhao Zongquan, recommending Cui Hao to be promoted to the deputy commander of the Mingzhou Navy.

This time the decree came down very quickly, Zhao Zongquan praised Qin Hao, and arranged for him to be a privy councilor, which was equivalent to the deputy envoy of the privy council, and he could be regarded as an extremely human minister.

Qin Hao accepted this result calmly. To be honest, he didn’t want to travel on the sea all year round. Ancient sailing was not only dangerous, but also boring. There were so many entertainment activities. Looking at the same sea every day, he couldn’t even see a piece of land. Yes, it can drive people crazy sometimes.

This kind of remote command is also good. Anyway, the Mingzhou Navy has been trained. As long as it continues to implement the plan formulated by Qin Hao, it can continuously grab wealth from overseas. Cui Hao is also his own and can be trusted.

Qin Hao readily handed over his rights, which also made Zhao Zongquan feel at ease with him. Hearing that Qin Hao loved his daughter very much, he specially gave Sister Lan the title of Lord Qinglan, and made her recognize King Huan as her godfather. .

When Yu Yanran received the imperial decree, she was in a complicated mood. Qin Hao hugged his daughter to accept the decree, and joked when he saw it: "From now on, my daughter's grade will be higher than yours, so you have to salute according to the rules."

"Hmph, no matter how high my grade is, I'm still her mother. If she dares to ask me to salute, I'll spank her ass!" Yu Yanran said proudly.

Sister Lan looked blankly at the envious eyes of the people around her, she was trying to grab the imperial edict with her small hands, probably because she thought the imperial edict was bright and beautiful.

Yu Yanran was afraid that she would damage the imperial decree, so she hurriedly got someone to put it away. It was to be enshrined in the ancestral hall, what would happen if it was broken.

"Wow~~~" Sister Lan didn't care so much, seeing her beloved toy being taken away, she burst into tears.

Qin Hao glared at Yu Yanran, then turned around and ordered Buqi to find a piece of cloth with a brighter color for his daughter to play with.

The little girl who got the new toy was immediately happy, tearing and biting, Qin Hao even wondered if she wanted to grind her teeth.

After a while, the little girl got tired of playing, pinched the piece of cloth in Xiaopang's hands, and then sweetly called out: "Daddy, give me a hug."

This cry made Qin Hao's heart melt, and he quickly picked up his daughter.

Yu Yanran looked sour, that is to say, in ancient times, there was no daughter who was the lover of her husband's previous life. Otherwise, Yu Yanran must have wondered whether this daughter was here to add trouble to her because she saw her life was too comfortable. .

Depressed, Yu Yanran went to complain to her little sister Minglan, but when she got to Chengyuan, she found that the backyard of Chengyuan was in a mess, especially the maids, who were all arrogant, not like slaves but masters .

When Yu Yanran came to Minglan's courtyard, she reminded her: "Minglan, you are too soft-tempered. These servants are used to watching people order dishes, and they only need to be kind and powerful. Blindly giving kindness will only make them feel inferior. Weak and deceptive."

Minglan smiled wryly and shook her head: "Why don't I want to show both kindness and power, but those servants were either sent by my mother-in-law, or sent by the fourth and fifth wives. Can't scold."

Yu Yanran also felt a little tricky when she heard the words, she thought for a long time, and suddenly her eyes lit up: "Why don't I come to be this villain?"

"No need for Sister Yanran, let me handle this matter." Ming Lan hurriedly stopped her.

But Yu Yanran waved her sleeves, and said dissatisfiedly: "What is there between you and me? Besides, your mother-in-law is the aunt of Lord Hou, and I am not an outsider, so what can I do if I teach a few servants a lesson?" ?”

Speaking of which, Yu Yanran said to Danju: "Go and call all the servants who have been stuffed in by the Ningyuan Hou Mansion!"

Danju was overjoyed, after enduring it for so long, he was finally able to deal with these guys, so he quickly dragged Xiaotao to call people.

Soon, the people from here were gathered in the open area of ​​the courtyard. It was hot summer, and Danju also played tricks, and arranged people under the sun, while Yu Yanran and Minglan sat in the shade of the eaves.

Yu Yanran was about to lose her temper when suddenly someone came to report that the fourth wife had come.

Don't think about it, these people must have reported the letter to the Ningyuan Hou Mansion, and this person came so timely. Yu Yanran glanced at the servants present. In her opinion, this is the behavior of the seller. If it is placed in Jinghai Hou Mansion, she had already been dragged out for interrogation.

"Yo, Madam Yu, why are you free to come here today?" The fourth wife acted like an elder, and sat down straight away.

Yu Yanran has been tempered in these years, of course, the main reason is that Qin Hao is behind her, and she has a lot of courage.

"Minglan is Yanran's good friend, Yanran always finds Minglan to sit with her when she has nothing to do, but the Fourth Wife doesn't see her very often, why come here today?"

The fourth wife couldn't help being depressed when she heard the words, a junior dared to talk to her like that, but who made her husband capable, so she could only hold back for now, turned her head and said to Ming Lan with a smile on her face.

"Ms. Sheng, the elder was afraid that you would not have enough manpower after the division of the mansion, so he sent some people to take care of you. But I heard that you never arrange work. Could it be that you are dissatisfied with the elder's arrangement?"

Yu Yanran was about to speak, but Minglan smiled and said, "Whatever the fourth wife said, they are all a family. Would the elders still harm us? It's just that Minglan has no experience and has never managed such a large property. , I don’t know how to arrange it for a while, so why don’t I ask them to ask today, so that I can arrange the duties.”

The fourth wife couldn't find fault for a while, after all, she admitted she was ignorant, if she persisted, she would look down on the small family, so she could only say in a muffled voice, "What are you asking, these are all Having children at home is much more reliable than outsiders."

At this time, Mama Lai who was standing in the yard couldn't stand the scorching sun, and said, "Miss Sheng, even if you want to ask questions, why don't you find a shaded place."

Yu Yanran slapped the table directly: "Bold, the master is talking here, how can you have the part to talk? I can't bear it after just sitting in the sun for a while? Are you here to be servants or masters?"

Mama Lai was sweating profusely from what she had said, and the fourth wife reprimanded her: "Quickly back down, there's no place for you to interrupt here!"

Minglan looked at Yu Yanran gratefully, smiled, and then said to Lai's mother, "At first, I thought it would be fine after asking a few questions, but I didn't expect the fourth wife to come, so I asked everyone to wait for this." It's been a long time, but I didn't think well enough, how about this, you guys stand under the eaves and talk back."

"Thank you, Ma'am, for your kindness." Everyone thanked quickly.

The corners of the fourth wife's lips twitched. Didn't she clearly say that she shouldn't come? Looking at Minglan's pretty face that was harmless to humans and animals, she couldn't help muttering in her heart, this concubine from a small official family seemed difficult to deal with.

Minglan went on to say: "Everyone, don't be nervous. I called you here today, just to ask, what did you do in Ningyuan Hou's Mansion in the past, what kind of work you are good at, and what rewards and punishments you have received. I will let you 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 can forget about it when you come to the new place, but if you hide it from the master, you will be suspected of cheating after the expiration of the term. You are all from the Houfu. You need to investigate It's easy to say, don't lose the face of the Hou Mansion."

Yu Yanran looked at Minglan in surprise, her words were so level and impeccable, if anyone lied, they would be accused of deceiving the master, and there would be no reason to interfere with how to deal with the Houfu.

The fourth wife's complexion also changed when she heard the words. It seems that she still underestimated the concubine of this small official family. She originally thought that she could hold her in order to benefit the fourth room in the future, but now it seems that she is a tough nut to crack. , Don’t knock off your front teeth instead of eating meat.

Next, Danju asked about the situation of these servants one by one. As expected, those old mothers were some incompetent marginal figures, and the Hou Mansion sent them here because they wanted to reuse the waste.

On the contrary, many of those maids are of good color, and it is obvious that they want to rely on their beauty to get ahead.

"Okay, I understand everything you did before, and I will assign errands to you in the future, so go down." Ming Lan waved her hand.

Seeing this, the fourth wife hurriedly got up and left, so as not to be choked by the words of these two juniors again, and would not be able to eat later.

Back inside, Yu Yanran asked curiously: "Are you really going to arrange errands for them?"

Minglan smiled: "Naturally, we have to arrange it. Could it be that they are specially raised for leisure?"

"Those old mothers are fine, what about those delicate maids? What if?" Yu Yanran said worriedly.

Minglan said quietly: "Sister Yanran, if a man in this world is a man with a heart, no one can stop him, let alone the status of Marquis, is it possible for him not to take concubines? Doesn't a brother-in-law have two concubines?" .”

Yu Yanran pursed her lips: "That's different, Fei Cui is my personal maid, and Qingmei is the maid of the same room, I can take care of them, but those are obviously sent by the Ningyuan Houfu to destroy the relationship between your husband and wife, if they get their way , there will be enough headaches for you in the future."

Minglan was about to say something when she suddenly heard Danju coughing and felt something was wrong, and turned around to find that Gu Tingye had been standing behind them at some point.

Yu Yanran was also taken aback, Gu Tingye ignored her, but said to Ming Lan: "Do you really think I'm such a womanizer?"

Minglan thought of Gu Tingye's behavior like a hungry wolf at night, and looked at him suspiciously, as if to say: Isn't it?
Gu Tingye lost his temper after being stared at, turned around and left.

Minglan looked at Gu Tingye's back curiously, and asked, "Sister Yanran, is Lord Hou angry?"

Yu Yanran also shook her head for a while, she has never encountered such a situation, usually if Qin Hao gets angry, he will tell her what he did wrong, and then make a "punishment".

Here Gu Tingye was very depressed, and ran to Qin Hao to complain.

Qin Hao was lying on a recliner with his daughter in his arms, and while he was rocking, the little girl fell asleep lying on his belly.

Regarding what happened to Gu Tingye, Qin Hao could only say: "It deserves it."

Gu Tingye became even more depressed: "Why doesn't she understand me?"

"Nonsense, you are tall and thick, who would have thought that your mind would be so delicate and sensitive? Minglan has lived in such a family environment since she was a child, so she is always careful and acts on the eyes of others. If you have any needs, you can tell her directly. If you insist on guessing, aren't you asking for trouble?" Qin Hao said angrily.

Gu Tingye scratched his hair depressedly: "But, wouldn't it be boring to say such a thing?"

Qin Hao was a little speechless. He even wondered if Gu Tingye had traveled through time from modern times, and his mind was still full of thoughts of free love.

"You are hypocritical!"

Gu Tingye sighed: "Just be hypocritical, don't tell your younger siblings about this, we will settle things by ourselves."

Qin Hao didn't bother to care about him, and 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. Seeing that Qin Hao was going crazy with his daughter again, she shook her head helplessly.

Another day, at the court meeting, someone again brought up the reform of the salt tax. This time, it was not just a censor who proposed it, but several courtiers reconsidered it one after another.

Qin Hao's heart moved. It seemed that Zhao Zongquan planned to compete with Empress Dowager Cao today.

Empress Dowager Cao obviously also made preparations this time, and several officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials immediately stood up to oppose the reform of the salt tax.

For a while, there was endless debate in the court, and the two sides quarreled.

The honorable generals like Qin Hao are basically on the sidelines. Zhao Zongquan's prestige is not enough to overwhelm these nobles. What's more, the salt tax reform has no intersection with the interests of the nobles. The previous salt tax was basically in the hands of the Cao family. Here, the nobles are out of their hands, and Zhao Zongquan wants to reform the salt tax. In the end, only the civil servants will benefit.

At this moment, Gu Tingye stood up from the noble group.

"The officials and ministers believe that the reform of the salt tax is imperative. This is the country's major 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 stand in line one after another, and Zhao Zongquan's power suddenly increased.

What's more strange is that the Empress Dowager Cao behind the curtain remained silent all the time. When she didn't speak, all the ministers of the Empress Dowager's party also fell silent, which surprised Zhao Zongquan for a while.

In this strange atmosphere, Zhao Zongquan accepted the appointment of King Huan as the transshipment envoy to lead the salt tax reform, and then ordered General Xiao Duan to lead the troops to Jiangnan Road to deploy defenses. Obviously, he was afraid that Cao's dog would jump over the wall and do something out of the ordinary.

After the court meeting, Gu Tingye said to Qin Hao a little uneasy: "Why do I feel that my heart is up and down?"

Qin Hao said in a low voice: "The empress dowager keeps her secret. I guess the officials are also wondering now. In short, you should be careful recently, and don't be caught by others."

Sure enough, within two days, General Xiao Duan got involved in a life lawsuit. This lawsuit was also very strange. Before leaving, General Xiao Duan drank flowers and wine with Shen Congxin and the others, and ended up sleeping with a woman from a good family who came to give rouge out of nowhere.

What is even more puzzling is that the other party committed suicide inexplicably later, and even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he would not be able to clean up.

General Xiao Duan has been charged with the life lawsuit, so naturally he can't go to Jiangnan Road to set up defenses, which is the territory of the Cao family. If there are no soldiers to guard, whether King Huan can reach Jiangnan Road smoothly is a matter of opinion.

Zhao Zongquan's imperial decree has been issued, so it is naturally impossible to take it back. It will undoubtedly be a huge blow to his prestige, so he can only choose a new candidate.

Originally, Qin Hao thought that Zhao Zongquan would choose Gu Tingye to replace General Duan, but what he didn't expect was that Zhao Zongquan actually announced him to the palace for an audience.

In the imperial palace, Zhao Zongquan was planting rice seedlings barefoot, and saw Qin Haole pointing to a piece of land in front of him: "Qin Aiqing, if this kind of Taoism can be carried out in the world, the people of Song Dynasty will not suffer from famine in the future."

Qin Hao shook his head secretly. Although the harvest of Champa rice is indeed higher than that of the previous rice species, and two or even three crops can be planted a year, the yield is not much higher without chemical fertilizers.

Even in later generations, if there is no old man Yuan and a mature supporting chemical industry, ordinary people will still face the problem of not having enough to eat.

Of course, in the Song Dynasty, the common people didn’t have so many requirements for food, as long as they didn’t 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 down on the ground, and said to Qin Hao, "Qin Aiqing, what do you think of the salt tax reform?"

Qin Hao said solemnly: "Gong is in the present age, benefit in the future."

"Okay, that's well said, this matter requires Qin Aiqing's help!" Zhao Zongquan said earnestly.

Qin Hao hesitated for a while. In fact, risks and opportunities coexist in this matter. After all, King Huan is the most popular candidate for the crown prince, and he is likely to inherit the throne in the future. This trip to the south of the Yangtze River is full of dangers. If King Huan can be kept, it will be a fateful friendship in the future.

But in this way, he would definitely be on the opposite side of the Empress Dowager Cao. After weighing it, Qin Hao still agreed.

Zhao Zongquan has already established his righteous reputation, and it is difficult for the Empress Dowager Cao to have a chance to come back. The princes in the court will not agree, and the nobles do not want to be forced to stand in line. There is basically no hope of winning by relying on the power of the Cao family alone.

"Haha, Qin Aiqing really deserves to be a pillar. I can rest assured that King Huan will leave it to you." Zhao Zongquan is very satisfied with Qin Hao's choice. , It also played a good role model for other nobles.

"Fulfilling responsibilities for the court and being loyal to the officials is the duty of a subject, and should not be praised by the officials." Qin Hao said solemnly, superficial skills must always be done, Qin Hao is sure that he has practiced here This acting skill, if he debuts in the future, will definitely be much better than those little fresh meats.

Zhao Zongquan praised Qin Hao fiercely again, and then he was escorted out of the palace, but before he could walk out of the palace gate, he was stopped by someone, an old eunuch said with a choked voice.

"Master Hou, the Queen Mother is here to invite you."

　That’s all for today’s chapter. After being audited, I didn’t have any code words all morning, so I followed the drama again. Hehe, I haven’t followed the drama for a long time. It’s quite interesting.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)