Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 171
Beijing Palace,

An attic near the courtyard,
There was a stove burning in the room, and tea was being boiled. A woolen blanket was spread on the seat near the window, and Princess Beijing was sitting on it. Looking at the princess's clothes, the fox fur jacket and the long skirt, it was obvious that the temperature in the room was hot.

There were melons and fruits, pastries and tea on the table next to her. From time to time, she squeezed a few pieces and put them into her mouth. Her red lips were twitching, seductive, and Princess Bei was still pretty.

Princess Beijing looked at the budding plum blossoms in the yard, and she was naturally in a good mood. However, the prince is often absent-minded these days, and some time ago, he was not as calm and stable as before. After a few years of rest, he finally returned to his original state these days. look.

There must be difficulties.

This is still the case today, the concubine yelled a few times but still did not respond, so she had to call lord a little louder.

Shui Rong, who was thinking about something, realized this in astonishment, and asked,

"Well, what's the matter, princess?"

Seeing the somewhat perfunctory Beijing Jing Wang Shui Rong, Princess Zhen also had complaints in her heart, so she said,

"My lord, since the frontier soldiers came to the capital, I see that you are very preoccupied, why? Thinking about the past, I think it would be good if those soldiers were gone, and there wouldn't be so many things to worry about!"

Bei Jing Wang Shui Rong's face changed slightly, he naturally knew that Princess Zhen had guessed something, but this matter is top secret, and there must be no news of it, even if others guessed it.

"You, what are you talking about? What suspicion, what else do you want now that I am like this!"

Seeing Shui Rong's somewhat angry appearance, Princess Zhen knew that she had guessed right, so she said angrily,
"Am I talking nonsense? The prince knows in his heart that the current situation depends on the attitudes of the West King and the South King, and even Luo Yunhou's attitude is very important. Unless there is a big change, the backup left by the father may not be really useful. .”

Princess Zhen directly pointed out what Shui Rong was thinking, and told Shui Rong bluntly that it is not appropriate to take any action now.

Wang Shuirong of Beijing listened with a gloomy face, even though he said that, if he had the chance, he would definitely fight for it.

"My concubine's words are justified, but this king is not reconciled. If there is no change in the current situation, I will definitely not act rashly. Now it's just a rainy day."

Seeing the prince like this, Princess Zhen also sighed secretly, probably all men are like this.

"Then, my lord, be careful. The Imperial City Secretary and the hidden guards, the lord has also been taught, don't capsize in the gutter."

Shui Rong's face turned cold, and he said coldly,
"I know, those cockroaches in the gutter have killed batches after batches. They are smelly and hard. They are controlled by their own people on the Taiping Mountain. I want to increase the trade volume this year. If you Jiangnan Zhen's family provides more Order some goods, get some more money."

Princess Zhen frowned when she heard the words, and looked at the prince to see something from that, but the calm expression on Shui Rong's face showed no flaws.

"My lord, why is this? Now that the cargo volume is already so large, it would be dangerous if it was added. The governor of the river on the canal was replaced by Shen Xueshi. My brother wrote many times, worrying about the safety of water transportation. Your lord doesn't know, right?"

Beijing Wang Shui Rong naturally knew about this matter, and he knew more. The key position in the middle of the water transport has been taken by Shen Xueshi, and the main force of the guard army has also been controlled. It will be a matter of time before the entire water transport power is taken, and it still needs to be done through the Jia family. Finish.

I can't come forward, the Jia family is a very good pawn, I heard that the Jia family's caravan has already opened the trade route outside the customs, then give Jia Amnesty a little more share from the Taiping Mountain, and the matter will be settled.

"There is no need to worry about this. It is really not possible to go the way of the Jia family. They are going to go out of the merchant customs recently, and we will share some of it. Besides, they are not taking their business routes for nothing."

Princess Zhen thought it was an idea, she nodded and said,
"Well, I'm writing a letter to my brother about this matter. I will increase the amount this year. There is another matter. The salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River have written to complain, saying that Lin Ruhai, the inspector of salt, will increase the salt tax again. Add every year!"

Shui Rong was only thinking about the frontier customs and the border army, so he didn't even think about asking a few salt merchants, they were all so rich that they dared to cry about being poor.

"You listen to the nonsense of those profiteers, which one is not rich enough to rival the country, how much can you increase by increasing taxes, not to mention so many small salt merchants, the six major salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are firmly in control of the salt industry, and they are making a lot of money just from private salt. of."

Princess Zhen certainly knew that what the prince said was correct, but my brother also had a headache about this matter, so he insisted on asking,
"Then how do you respond to my brother?"

"Don't worry about it, just let them do it if you don't pay the money. It has nothing to do with us. One more thing is worse than one less thing. Besides, it depends on what Dong Wang wants, that's his territory."

Concubine Zhen understood, so she didn't say much.

The maid behind her also delivered new tea with fast eyes and fast hands. She took a sip from Shui Rong and relaxed.

And outside the door,

The steward of the concierge of the Wangfu stood outside, holding the invitation card for the Chunlou of Yichun Courtyard in his hand, and he also stood outside the house in some embarrassment, not knowing whether to knock or not.

But I saw that the time for the winter meeting in Xiachunlou was tonight, and it was already [-]:[-] Shenshi, so there was no delay.

and knocked on the door with his hand,
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Hearing the knock on the door, Princess Zhen was immediately displeased. Normally, when nothing happened, the princess told the mansion not to disturb her and the prince's rest.

But what comes is not a small matter,

"come in."

"Thank you, princess."

The porter wiped his cold sweat outside, responded loudly, carefully opened the door, and walked into the house.

Come to the hall, bow respectfully,

"The slave pays homage to the prince and princess."

"Get up and tell me what's the matter."

As soon as the princess waved her hand, she asked him to get up and talk. The porter quickly got up, and he hesitated and couldn't speak.

When Shui Rong saw it, he knew that there were some things that he couldn't say in person, so he asked,
"Is there anything for the king?"

"Yes, my lord, the slaves have sent people to inquire, and many honorable civil servants have received invitations."

After speaking, the steward took out the invitation card and handed it over. Shui Rong took it in his hand and opened it, a little surprised, what does King Zhongshun want to do?
"Who wants to invite you?"

Concubine Zhen asked nonchalantly, Shui Rong waved her hand at the steward, signaling to go on, the steward retreated respectfully, turned around and closed the door.

Water soluble directly replied,

"The invitation card for the Chunlou in Yichun Courtyard, where others don't know, we don't know, it's the private property of King Zhongshun, and I don't know what to do, and held a so-called winter meeting, obviously Zhou Jianan didn't care about it. liquor."

Princess Zhen is very disgusted with brothels, especially those who run brothels, and asked angrily when she heard the words,

"He is not afraid that the emperor will know!"

"Who can say for sure, after all, they are brothers, so it's the emperor's intention to be sure!"

Princess Zhen looked at Shui Rong with a cold smile, and was speechless.

There is no family affection in the royal family.

And one of the stewards of Chunlou who delivered the letter outside,

I also came out of the city, and it took me a long time to ride in a carriage. Then I came to a forest in the west. Not far away is a magnificent Zhuangzi. hospital.

Looking at the guards and sergeants outside, it seemed that they were not ordinary people. The steward was stopped outside the carriage in a carriage. When the guard asked what was going on, the steward said that he was here to deliver invitations. The guard checked the carriage and then After letting go, when they arrived at the gate of Zhuangzi, they handed the invitation to the manager of Zhuangzi without entering the door, and then left.

The manager took the invitation, entered the Zhuangzi, and ran to the back.

At this time, in Zhuangzi, Mu Shi, King of Dongping County, was talking with a person. This person was already gray and not young, but his complexion was rosy and full of energy. It was none other than the eunuch Qiu Shi'an.

The two had a great time drinking and eating meat in the Zhuangzi of the King of Dongping County. There was no one else in the house to serve them, only the two of them were drinking alone, and there was a fireplace with flames on the side.

"Are you all right in the palace?"

The King of Dongping personally handed over a cup of tea, and Qiu Shi'an took it with both hands, quietly took a sip, as if he was sober, and then slowly replied;

"What's the matter, it's still the same. The palace is not dominated by Director Dai and Director Xia. It's hard for us side managers now."

Qiu Shi'an also had a downcast face. Thinking of this made him feel uncomfortable. He put down the tea bowl and picked up the wine cup to drink it all up. Mu Shi repeatedly persuaded,
"Drink slowly, drink slowly, it's free if you don't have anything to do, let's eat and drink well, don't worry about it."

Dongping County King actually had a free and easy expression on his face, and his unrestrained appearance also attracted attention. After drinking, Qiu Shi'an laughed when he saw such a situation;
"Xiao Xian, what the king of the county said is not good enough. You think they will let you go if you don't fight. How is it possible? It's like the prince really let go?"

Mu Shi was taken aback by Qiu Shi'an's pointed words, yes, did he really let go, but after so many years, he couldn't help it.

Thinking about what my father said before he left, he either married the three kings to resist the royal family, or gave up his military power and wanted wealth and wealth for a lifetime, but at that time the three kings were all retreating, so they had no choice but to give up their military power and leave their financial power, as well as the Yanzheng. The oil and water are there.

Unexpectedly, the imperial court is persecuted every year, and now Lin Ruhai, a salt inspector, is added, and he is pressing every step of the way, raising taxes every year, and forgetting the agreement back then. As for the military power, only the frontier army of Shanyang County is still there. I am secretly under my command, and the others have already been dismantled and scattered to various places in the south of the Yangtze River, so I am afraid it will be useless.

Mu Shi, king of Dongping County, shook his head helplessly and said;
"This king is powerless now. It was done a few years ago. Now that he has no military power in his hands, he is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Let's be honest."

Seeing this, Qiu Shi'an cursed angrily;
"Coward, if your father sees you like this, does he regret leaving the throne to you? Besides, the old prince also left you a frontier general in Shanyang County. How can you be worthy of the old days at the border? Subordinates of the palace, ah!"

"Ah, hate."

(End of this chapter)