Do you know: I am Yuan Wenshao

Chapter 98 Changwu comes to Beijing (please subscribe)

Yuan Wenshao ignored what happened outside and was happy teasing his daughter at home every day.

On this day, Yuan Wenshao was playing with his daughter in the garden, and Zhang An hurried over.

"Your Majesty, King Yong, sent someone to send an invitation, asking your Majesty to attend a banquet at Prince Yong's Mansion tomorrow evening," Zhang An said.

"what?"

Yuan Wenshao was startled. How dare King Yong openly entertain a general like him before the situation was clear.

Aren't you afraid of official suspicion?

"Sister Wen, daddy has something to do. You can play here for now, and daddy will come over to accompany you later." Yuan Wenshao said to his daughter.

Sister Wen pouted and said, "Daddy, please hurry up."

"Well, daddy will be with you soon."

Yuan Wenshao rubbed his daughter's head and left with Zhang An in her dissatisfied eyes.

"Go, go and invite Mr. Ning." Yuan Wenshao said.

"Yes." Zhang An responded and hurried away.

Yuan Wenshao came to the main hall and sat for a while. Zhang An led an old man in his sixties and walked in.

"I've met the general." The old man saluted.

Yuan Wenshao waved his hand and said, "Mr. Ning, you don't have to be polite, just sit down."

Mr. Ning's name is Ning Zhiguang. He was once a member of the Ministry of Etiquette of the fourth rank, Shizhong.

Because he opposed reform, the current officials found an excuse to demote him to Lingnan.

The prince was born five years ago, and the official family issued a general amnesty to the world, so he was pardoned, but he was not reinstated.

By chance, he was met by Yuan Wenshao and hired as a staff member in his family.

"Zhang An should have told you, right? What does Mr. Ning think of King Yong's sudden banquet for me?" Yuan Wenshao asked.

"General, after I heard about it, I thought about it carefully. The reason why King Yong is eager to win over the general is probably because of money." Ning Zhiguang said.

Yuan Wenshao frowned slightly and said, "Mr. Ning, do you mean because of Liuli Pavilion?"

Liuli Pavilion was something he had tinkered with over the years to make money.

Yuan Wenshao thought of many ways to make money, and finally chose to get out of the glass.

Although he didn't know much about glass firing, he knew the approximate materials needed for glass.

It took more than two years for the craftsmen to finally hammer out the glass.

In fact, Dazhou also had glass, which was called colored glaze.

Glaze is very beautiful, but its transparency is far inferior to that of glass.

However, no one had ever seen glass in ancient times. This kind of transparent glass was very popular among the upper class nobles.

Yuan Wenshao knew very well that rare things are valuable and he was always reluctant to sell them.

In fact, with Da Zhou's consumption level, he could supply a large amount of it, and relying on glass, it would be easy to become as rich as the entire country.

But Yuan Wenshao didn't dare. Too much money would inevitably attract people to covet him, and even officials would be suspicious of him.

He is a military commander and has a lot of wealth. It is strange that the officials can rest assured.

Because of this, he did not sell on a large scale.

Even so, within a few years, he earned millions of taels of silver.

You must know that the income of the imperial court is only about 8000 to [-] million taels of silver a year.

But after deducting all necessary expenses, there is only thirty to five million taels left at most. If there is a natural disaster or war somewhere, it will even be impossible to make ends meet.

He earns millions of silver a year, which is already very enviable.

"Although King Yong is not as powerful as King Yan, he is not a fool. In addition, there are many officials who have taken refuge in him to help him with ideas. It is impossible for him not to know that now is not the right time to win over military commanders. But he did it anyway. After thinking about it, , this is the only possibility." Ning Zhiguang said.

After hearing the words, Yuan Wenshao pondered for a while and nodded in agreement.

Those who are eager to take sides at this time are just for promotion and fortune.

At present, the two princes cannot achieve promotion, so they can only give money.

If they want to get more people's support, they will naturally have to spend money to win over them.

Although King Yong and King Yan are both princes, the treatment of the clan in the Great Zhou Dynasty is not very high. They are usually wealthy, but at times like this, money is not enough.

Queen Yan's mother's clan is a large clan in the north, and her family also has considerable influence in the northern army.

Since ancient times, how many of those who failed to compete for the position of crown prince had a good ending?

If King Yan fails, his mother clan will also be greatly affected. At this time, they will naturally support King Yan unreservedly.

In this aspect, King Yong is much worse than King Yan.

The power behind King Yan and the officials he has attracted are more than those of King Yong, so King Yan now has the highest voice.

In this case, King Yong didn't care so much. If he could win over Yuan Wenshao, he could get a lot of money to reverse the situation.

"Mr. Ning, what do you think I should do now?" Yuan Wenshao frowned and tapped the table gently with his hand, looking a little irritated.

"The general's identity is sensitive and he cannot take sides early. It would be best to refuse directly. However, Prince Yong is most likely to become the crown prince, and he cannot be offended. The general can report illness and recuperate at home." Ning Zhiguang said.

"Mr. Ning is optimistic about King Yong?" Yuan Wenshao asked in surprise.

He knew the plot well and naturally knew that King Yong won in the end.

However, because he was too proud and doted on his daughter too much, he sent someone to kidnap Rong Feiyan.

Although Rong Feiyan is just the sister of the official family's favorite concubine, Rong Fei's brother controls the imperial army.

King Yong directly pushed people towards King Yan, giving King Yan an opportunity to launch a mutiny.

Otherwise, nothing would happen to Zhao Zongquan.

But Ning Zhiguang could see early that King Yong had the best chance, which was surprising.

"Haha, although King Yan is very capable, he has two shortcomings. First, he has few heirs and only has one son. The official family may want to choose a more capable one, but they are also worried that the same situation will happen to King Yan in the future. Second Second, the power behind King Yan is too great, and it is also from the military. Once King Yan comes to the throne, in order to control the world's troops, he will inevitably reuse the northern generals, which is something the officials are very unwilling to see."

"But King Yong is different. Although he is a bit mediocre, he does not have any big power behind him and has many heirs. Overall, he has a greater chance of becoming the crown prince." Ning Zhiguang said.

Yuan Wenshao nodded and said, "Thank you, Mr. Ning, for reminding me. I will send someone to the palace to report the illness later."

Ning Zhiguang thought for a moment and said, "General, you'd better be careful with Mr. Han."

Yuan Wenshao raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "What do you mean?"

"It only took me these two days to figure it out. Mr. Han was the first to submit a petition to allow the official family to adopt an heir. This matter was indeed related to the safety of the world. Mr. Han was the first to submit the petition, and all the scholars in the world admired him. However, after he raised his head, he let the Others were left to their own devices, but he himself remained silent. Although the officials agreed to adopt an heir, they were very angry about the hundreds of officials forcing the palace that day. In the past few days, they have successively dismissed Chen Xianggong and a dozen other people who originally advocated adoptive heirs. Official."

"The conservative faction was suppressed by the officials back then, and the neutral faction headed by Chen Xianggong was demoted and demoted because of the appointment of the crown prince. Now there is no one in the DPRK who can compete with Mr. Han."

"I have to say that Mr. Han's methods are really clever. By using the matter of establishing a prince, he not only enhanced his own reputation, but also attacked his political opponents." Ning Zhiguang sighed with a look on his face.

Yuan Wenshao did not expect that there was such an inside story, and asked doubtfully: "Isn't the Grand Prime Minister of Han afraid that the official family will demote him as well?" "Haha, he is the Grand Prime Minister, he must stand up for this kind of thing, otherwise the world will What do you think of him? He just raised his head and stayed out of the matter, just to show the officials that he was only responsible for his duties. The officials must be angry, but they will not demote him because of this. The position of the Grand Prime Minister is very important , the DPRK is already in turmoil because of the appointment of the crown prince. If the Grand Prime Minister is moved, the situation will be even more chaotic. Even for the sake of stability, the officials cannot move him," Ning Zhiguang said.

"Thank you, Mr. Ning, for reminding me. I will pay attention." Yuan Wenshao said solemnly.

His father had told him many times to be careful of Mr. Han, and Ning Zhiguang said the same now, so Yuan Wenshao naturally did not dare to look down upon him.

"General, if nothing happens, I will resign." Ning Zhiguang stood up and saluted.

"Mr. Ning, walk slowly."

After Ning Zhiguang left, Yuan Wenshao thought for a while and asked Zhang An to go to the Imperial City Privy Council to take sick leave for him.

Then he told Hua Lan about pretending to be sick and asked her to warn the family members not to talk nonsense, and then went to play with her daughter.

……

Prince Yong's Mansion

King Yong looked a little ugly when he heard the news that Yuan Wenshao was ill.

There is no such coincidence in the world. As soon as he sent the invitation, Yuan Wenshao fell ill.

In addition to money, the reason why he chose to pull Yuan Wenshao was because he had other considerations.

He does not have much power in the army. Even if he ascends the throne in the future, he will still need some trustworthy generals to control the troops.

As for whether he would be suspected by officials, after analysis by his staff, he was not too worried at all.

Yuan Wenshao has made great achievements in the northwest and is considered a member of the northwest faction. Recruiting Yuan Wenshao can show goodwill to the northwest faction.

And Yuan Wenshao has no deep contacts with the northwest faction. The officials will definitely have some ideas about wooing him, but they won't care too much.

Now that Yuan Wenshao pretended to be ill and refused, all his plans came to nothing.

There is no rush to show favor to the northwest faction, but he is very short of money now.

Not being able to get Yuan Wenshao's money was what made him most annoyed.

In the evening, King Yong sent people to invite the most senior officials who had taken refuge in him. After the banquet, King Yong invited several people to the study.

"Everyone, I am very short of money right now. I wonder what you can do?"

"Your Majesty, aren't there many noble families who have taken refuge with the Prince? Although these noble families are all gone, they are not short of money, and it is their turn to contribute." Yang Renqin, the right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, what Mr. Yang said makes sense. Many of your family members have accumulated a lot of money from their ancestors for generations. They can't just wave flags and shout from behind when supporting the prince, right?"

King Yong hesitated when he heard this and said, "If I ask them for money, will it cause their dissatisfaction?"

He was also worried that asking for money from the lords who had taken refuge in him would make these people dissatisfied and turn to King Yan.

Although the lords who took refuge in him have all declined, these families were all heroes in the founding period and still have influence.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, no one likes two-faced people. Even if they switch to Prince Yan, they won't be taken seriously. Moreover, if His Majesty asks them for money, they will feel that His Majesty can give them greater rewards in the future, and they may be very happy." Here." Yang Shilang smiled.

King Yong thought about it carefully and felt that it made sense and felt relieved.

The next day, he invited all the nobles who supported him.

Those who are so eager to take sides are those who have long since declined and have empty titles but no real power.

It is somewhat similar to the Yuan family before.

But unlike the Yuan family, they are much richer than the Yuan family.

After all, their ancestral property was not confiscated like the Yuan family.

Although Taizu set the tone of emphasizing civility over military affairs, he was still very generous with his lord in terms of money.

These founding families were given large amounts of land.

After nearly a hundred years of accumulation, there is quite a lot of money.

Just as Yang Shilang said, when these noble families heard that King Yong asked for money, not only were they not unhappy, but they were very happy and donated generously.

In their view, they had little influence in the court. Even if King Yong became emperor in the future, they would not be ranked among the top in terms of rewards for their merits.

It's fine now. King Yong has taken their money and will definitely not treat them badly in the future.

The lords who took refuge with King Yong included two princes, five marquises and thirteen uncles, a total of twenty families.

These people contributed a total of 150 million taels of silver to King Yong, which must be said to be really rich.

King Yong was overjoyed after getting the money. He invited officials to have banquets every day and gave them gifts. Under his courtesy corporal, he managed to win over many officials, and for a time he had the potential to compete with King Yan on the same court.

Naturally, King Yong's movements could not be hidden from King Yan. King Yan followed suit and made a lot of money, which once again overshadowed King Yong.

The officials turned a blind eye to this, as if they acquiesced in what the two men did.

Yuan Wenshao also knew about the situation outside, but he had been reporting illness and recuperating at home. Even Sun Hao, Liu Lei and the others refused to visit him.

On this day, the Sheng family school was closed for bathing, and Yuan Siwen was clamoring to go to the Sheng family to play.

Yuan Wenshao counted the days and found that he had been pretending to be sick for seven or eight days. It was time to get better, so he took Hualan's daughter to the Sheng family.

Last time I mentioned sending pens, but later I forgot about it because of the appointment of the crown prince. This time Yuan Wenshao specially told Hua Lan to bring a few pens.

……

"A few girls study and learn to understand. Why do we need such an expensive pen? Girl Ming is not good at writing the word Ming Yatou. With such an expensive pen, I am afraid she will not dare to write." Old Mrs. Sheng said with a smile.

"Grandma." Minglan stamped her feet shyly.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything anymore. Now that I'm a big girl, I know I'm shy." Mrs. Sheng said with a smile.

"Grandma, it's just a few pens. It's a waste to keep them in the warehouse." Yuan Wenshao said with a smile.

"Great-grandmother, I want to go out and play with my fifth and sixth aunts." Yuan Siwen was at an active age and couldn't sit still.

"Sister Wen!" Hua Lan glared at her dissatisfied.

"The sun is nice outside today, you can take Sister Wen to play." The old lady said.

"Oh, let's go play." Yuan Siwen stuck out her tongue at her mother, ran over and pulled Rulan Minglan and walked out.

"Grandma, Sister Wen has a naughty temper. It's because I didn't teach her well," Hua Lan said.

"She is still a child, isn't it normal to be lively?" The old lady waved her hand indifferently.

"What mother said is that I think Sister Wen's character is a bit similar to Ru'er's when she was a child. It will be better when she grows up." Mrs. Wang said with a smile.

Hualan: "..."

She didn't feel that Ru Lan was any different from when she was a child. When she thought that her daughter would be like this when she grew up, she felt a little headache.

Mo Lan bowed and saluted: "Grandma, mother, and daughter also want to follow."

Madam Wang's face fell as soon as she saw Mo Lan. Just when she was about to speak, the old lady waved her hand and said, "Go ahead."

"Thank you, grandma." Mo Lan bowed and walked out.

"A few days ago, a letter came from Dafang, saying that this year he would give gifts to Chang Wu and that he would come with him. He would not go back and see if he could find a job in Bianjing." Old Mrs. Sheng said.

(End of this chapter)