Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 44 Who has the upper hand?

On this day, the time of dawn and dusk is settled.

Inside Jiamu's courtyard.

Aunt Lai sat on the pony in front of Jia Mu.

He smiled and said, "I am happy too, and so are the masters. If it were not for the grace of the masters, where would our happiness come from? Yesterday, my wife sent gifts from Zhou Rui's family, and my grandson kowtowed to the door."

Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang smiled and said, "How early and late do you do things?"

Aunt Lai smiled and said, "It's all his mother-in-law who is busy. On the 22nd of this month, he seemed to be fine. My former son was kowtowing to me at home. I had nothing nice to say, so I said: Brother, don't say anything." You are a Juren, and you forget your own heels!

You have lived to be 20 years old this year. Although you are someone else's slave, once you were born into a mother's womb, you were released by the grace of your master. You are entrusted with the blessings of the master, and you are entrusted with your mother. Her breasts are like holding phoenixes, they have grown so big.

Do you know how to write the word slave?I only know how to enjoy happiness, but I don’t know the hardships your grandfather and I endured. It took them two or three lifetimes to earn something like you.

Now that the master thinks highly of him, he is willing to arrange this happy event for you. You, a slave, have carefully broken the blessing!
You can't stand your ground, serve your country with all your loyalty, and honor your master. I'm afraid that God won't let you do it. "

Jia Mu smiled and said, "Old sister! I think you are worrying too much! I think that child is good. He is doing his best in teaching in the school, and he is quite organized in handling things."

Li Wan smiled and said, "Isn't it right? My ex-son always said that he never had the chance to thank him for teaching Lan'er. This time I finally got a chance!"

Sister Feng joked: "This is a happy event for him, and it's your time to be happy. Now that you have some free time, you can just use what you have. I'm afraid I'll have a great-grandson tomorrow, but you may not remember to come over and play cards with the old lady." , let’s talk.”

Jia Mu smiled and said, "Let them worry about those trivial matters. Besides, he still has his wife! At our age, it's time to think about happiness. Come in in a sedan chair and accompany me to relieve your boredom."

Just as I was talking, I saw Lai everyone coming in.

Sister Feng smiled and said, "The daughter-in-law is here to pick up the mother-in-law."

Everyone laughed and said, "I'm not picking him up, but I'm asking about old ladies, grandmas, and girls!"

Jia Mu smiled and said, "Your mother-in-law asked just now. I can't control others. Anyway, I will definitely go!"

Jia Mu all said to go, and others naturally followed suit, except Yuanyang, who was not thinking, and was in a daze.

Jia's mother and others felt that it would be a good thing for their slaves to marry You's sister as a concubine.However, she was worried about how her status could be compared with that of Second Sister You, and she couldn't help but worry that the theory of being a good concubine was still unfulfilled.

…………

The palace, in the imperial study.

Emperor Zhenglong was sitting on the Kang. Sitting on three stools opposite him were King Zhongshun, Commander Qi Ning of the Imperial Guard, and a middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar.

"Tian Chang, it's been a few days, how is the improved papermaking process going?"

The middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar bowed and said, "Go back to the emperor! Using a steam engine can indeed save some manpower, but it is not as much as what Prince Zhongshun said. Moreover, using wood as raw material can save raw material costs, but removing Impurities take time and effort.”

"Oh?" Emperor Zhenglong looked at King Zhongshun.

"Go back to the emperor! There is absolutely no problem with my calculations. Maybe there is something that I haven't figured out yet. If I ask my brother, we might as well take the person directly. With Jin Yiwei's methods, there is nothing we can't get!"

Emperor Zhenglong shook his head and pointed at Qi Ning.

"Tell him about it!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Qining paused and said: "In March this year, Lai Shangrong was named by Jia Zheng, a member of the Ministry of Industry, to join the Jia family to teach. In the same month, he purchased a custom-made steam engine entrusted by the Emperor to the Ministry of Industry, and at the same time secretly improved papermaking outside the city."

"The emperor means that he was instructed by Jia Zheng to improve papermaking?" King Zhongshun immediately realized: This makes sense. He is not diligent in raising people, and does not distinguish between grains. How can he know papermaking? On the contrary, Jia Zheng Even if you don't understand it, it's easy to get a few craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry to take advantage of your position.

Emperor Zhenglong nodded and said: "In the past, we only paid attention to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs, but ignored the Ministry of Industry! Qining, please continue!"

"At the end of last month, the papermaking workshop distributed the accumulated paper to several bookstores including the Four Kings and Eight Gongs at [-]% of the market price."

"Ah! Did they work together to do it?"

Emperor Zhenglong smiled and said: "If the cost calculated by Tian Chang is used, it is possible. If it is calculated by you, I'm afraid it may not be possible."

King Zhongshun figured out the key in an instant and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise! Then should we publicize this matter? His Jia family eats alone, so it would be good if we can take the opportunity to drive a wedge between them."

Tian Chang said hurriedly: "Your Majesty! I'm afraid your idea is wrong. This price is already [-]% lower than the market price. After all, we haven't found out the inside story yet. If we act rashly, we might scare the snake."

"What should we do? Lin Ruhai is dead, and the salt tax is completely cut off! Seeing that we can't touch this piece of fat, we just watch them make money?"

Emperor Zhenglong waved his hand and said impatiently: "Just making money is fine, I'm afraid they don't just want to make money!"

Qi Ning exclaimed: "Your Majesty, are you saying that they want to take this opportunity to gain fame and gain both fame and wealth?"

Emperor Zhenglong nodded and said: "I'm afraid they want to take this opportunity to support Yu Shilin!"

"After listening to the emperor's words, I remembered that Jia Zheng was an outlier among the nobles. He was favored by the emperor and became an official, which was not the right way to take the imperial examination. Therefore, the elite civil servants in the yamen kept a distance from him, but he just kept his head down. Riminato."

Emperor Zhenglong did not hesitate anymore and ordered: "Qining! Keep an eye on the Jia family and that Lai Shangrong. When the time comes, control them first, or even confront the Supreme Emperor!"

"It's the emperor!"

"Isn't that why we should solve it early?"

"After all, there is no solid evidence. This time you used your identity and seniority to deliberately compete with Shui Rong to overpower him. Didn't you really realize that you were the father? If you get bitten back again..."

…………

"Tell me who has the upper hand this time?"

In the private room on the second floor of Changchun Garden, Xue Pan looked at Lai Shangrong and Feng Ziying with confusion.

Feng Ziying pondered and said: "Generally speaking, Prince Zhongshun has the upper hand. After all, he is of royal blood and has a higher seniority. Prince Beijing is only a relative after all. The Supreme Emperor does not want to lose the dignity of the royal family."

Xue Pan asked in confusion: "Then why did King Zhongshun give King Beijing 10 taels of silver again?"

Lai Shangrong said with a smile: "It should be a deliberate beating. After all, King Beijing first took a fancy to this Qiguan. The Supreme Emperor probably knew that King Zhongshun took the opportunity to cause trouble, but he gave it to King Zhongshun out of consideration for the dignity of the royal family. King Beijing didn't get a penny." Hua, although I have lost face, I have lost some benefits, so let’s just say they each have a fifty-fifty advantage!”

Wei Ruolan said with a smile: "But this is not a loss of face for the King of Beijing. Who still doesn't know that King Zhongshun gave 10 taels to the King of Beijing for an actor! Let me tell you that this time Prince Lizi of Beijing I lost all my face, but King Zhongshun only got one actor!"

"Hahaha……"

"That's true!" Feng Ziying agreed.

Lai Shangrong smiled. Although it seemed that King Beijing had the upper hand this time, he didn't think so.

The reason why the Supreme Emperor allowed King Zhongshun to acquire the man was to preserve the dignity of the royal family, so the 10 taels were given in private. King Beijing, on the other hand, took the 10 taels and publicized them everywhere, making everyone aware of the incident.

It seems that all the favor has been taken, but doesn’t the Supreme Emperor have any ideas?Is the royal decency not necessary?
In the long run, it may not be a good thing. King Beijing is still too young after all!

(End of this chapter)