Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 729: Nangong Family, Fairy's Words

The waves crash against the shore, and the sky and sea are boundless.

Chaoping County in Chuanhai, as a coastal city of the Wei Dynasty, was not affected by pirates and was considered a prosperous county. In addition, the imperial court reopened the Maritime Customs Office and lifted the maritime ban in the past two years. Countless merchants who smelled the scent of money flocked in. In just over a year, Chaoping County became bustling and prosperous, even comparable to Xiangyang City in Linzhou.

The prosperity and bustle, coupled with the magnificent scenery where the mountains and the sea meet, also attracted many literati and poets.

Wu Changlin, who was arranged by Chen Mo to take office in Chuanhai, also has a business mind. He immediately thought of building Chaoping County into a tourist city, and the construction is now in full swing.

But all this was extremely irritating to the Nangong family, and they felt uncomfortable wherever they were.

As the local tyrant, Chaoping County's current development is based on damaging the interests of the Nangong family.

Especially after Nangong Jin secretly transferred his private army to the country of Boliu, publicly announced the disbandment of the private army, and distributed the land under the name of the clan, this situation was considered a cowardly act in the eyes of the outside world, and the prestige created by the Nangong family in Chaoping County was gradually weakened.

The people here no longer have such a strong sense of awe towards the Nangong family.

Later, as Wu Changlin led his troops to Chuanhai and became the prefect of Chuanhai and took over the port that originally belonged to the Nangong family, in order to enforce the law, he used the Nangong family as an example to warn the Nangong family and to establish his own prestige.

"Brother-in-law, I can't stand it anymore. Wu Changlin is a bastard who is ruthless. Our goods that just arrived at the port were seized by his people without any mercy." Zhang Feng walked into the hall of Nangong's house with a gloomy face and complained to Nangong Jin, who was enjoying the shoulder massage by the maid.

"Flustered"

Nangong Jin, who was dozing off, opened his eyes, raised his hand and waved. The maid who was massaging his shoulders behind him immediately stopped what she was doing, bowed and left the hall.

Nangong Jin sat up straight, frowned and asked, "How much did you lose this time?"

"A rough estimate is no less than 100,000 taels." Zhang Feng sat down next to Nangong Jin, picked up the teapot on the table, and began to drink from the spout in big gulps. It was obvious that he was very angry about this matter.

After quenching his thirst, he put the teapot down heavily, making a loud noise. He still said angrily, "This is really too much. The court wanted a port, and we gave it to them. They didn't allow us to have a private army, and we did it. They rebuilt the Maritime Customs and asked us for overseas trade routes, and we gave them to them. Even when Wu Changlin wanted to establish his authority, we gave him enough face.

But he has seized our goods seven times, worth a million taels, without showing any mercy. This is simply too much."

After saying that, seeing that Nangong Jin didn't say anything, Zhang Feng changed his tone and said coldly: "Brother-in-law, in my opinion, since he is not merciful, then there is no need for us to show him mercy. After all, he is only a fourth-rank."

Zhang Feng had murderous intention.

"Don't do anything rash." Nangong Jin hurriedly dissuaded him, fearing that he would act rashly, and said, "It's easy to touch him, but have you ever thought about the consequences? Moreover, if this matter is based on the laws of the Song Dynasty, we are not in the right either."

That’s right, the Nangong family’s goods were seized more than a dozen times because of smuggling.

Although the Nangong family's private army was transferred to the country of Boliu, it required a large sum of money to support it.

The country of Boliu is rich in gems and medicinal herbs, but these cannot be eaten after all. If you want to turn them into food, you must sell them for money.

However, those small countries overseas simply could not digest all of these, and in the end, they could only take them to the Song Dynasty and sell them.

If you sell it through formal channels, you will definitely have to pay taxes to the Maritime Customs.

Since ancient times, commercial taxes have been the highest, not to mention customs duties.

After paying taxes, there won’t be much profit left for the Nangong family.

Of course, this so-called not much is only in the eyes of the Nangong family themselves.

After all, the Nangong family is used to seeing big money, and they are used to being wealthy. They earn a lot and spend a lot, so they look down on these "small money".

But in the eyes of other businessmen, it is still a lot of money.

So the Nangong family thought of smuggling.

The Nangong family has controlled Chaoping County for so many years that they have already established a complete smuggling system.

In Nangong Jin's view, he is more or less related to the King of Wei by marriage, and to your Wu family, he is also a "brother-in-law". As the saying goes, "one should not consider the monk's face, but the Buddha's face". Nangong Jin thinks that even if the smuggling is discovered, Wu Changlin will turn a blind eye and let it go.

So Nangong Jin did whatever he thought.

But the facts were different from what he thought.

The Nangong family engaged in smuggling for the first time.

He was caught by the Maritime Customs.

At first, Nangong Jin thought that Wu Changlin was just doing it for show. But Wu Changlin not only did not return the goods to them, but the Maritime Customs still sealed up the Nangong family's smuggling several times.

So Nangong Jin asked someone to find Wu Changlin.

But who would have thought that Wu Changlin was so ruthless and impartial.

"So we're just going to let him keep hindering us? If this goes on, we won't have money to support anyone." Zhang Feng said unwillingly.

"No, although we can't touch him, we can't let him control us. The most urgent task is to find out the traitor in the team. If the traitor finds out that we did not disband the navy, but moved to the country of Boliu, and spreads it to Wu Changlin's ears, it will be a disaster." Nangong Jin said.

"Traitor?" Zhang Feng was stunned.

"If they seized us once or twice, we could still stubbornly think that it was bad luck. But if they seized us seven times, then we can't just say it was bad luck. Someone down there must have tipped off Wu Changlin."

After Wu Changlin's ruthlessness, Nangong Jin changed his tactics. Smuggling was extremely covert, and it would have been impossible for it to be seized so many times without the help of his own people.

"Damn it! There is actually someone who dares to betray me. If I catch him, I will skin him alive. Don't worry, brother-in-law. Leave this matter to me." A fierce light flashed in Zhang Feng's eyes.

"Yeah." Nangong Jin nodded and asked, "How is the matter on the fairy island going?"

Zhang Feng frowned: "It was smooth at the beginning. Although hundreds of people died, two people later saw the fairy island. However, before they could land on the island, they were sent out by the white-clothed fairy inside and warned.

I guessed that the Fairy in White was kindhearted, so I ignored her warning and continued to send people to try. I told the people who tried that if they saw the Fairy in White again, they should tell me their purpose. This time, another person successfully saw the Fairy in White, but this was the last time our people saw the Fairy in White. After that, no matter how many times we tried, no one came out alive. "

Nangong Jin frowned and asked hurriedly, "What did the person who saw the fairy for the last time say?"

"That person said that this time the fairy not only warned us again, but also said that we are not worthy of this fruit, so we should not force it."

"Gone?"

"That's all I got."

"I am not worthy of it?" Nangong Jin frowned and muttered to himself, "What does the fairy mean by this?"

"Brother-in-law, in my opinion, such powerful people who are out of touch with the world like to talk about mysterious fate, cause and effect and so on. We are not worthy of such talk. If they say that we are not blessed, then there must be people who meet the definition of blessed people as described by the fairy." Zhang Feng said.

Nangong Jin's eyes lit up, and when he was about to say something, someone came to report that the prefect had arrived.

Nangong Jin and Zhang Feng looked at each other, and both frowned at the same time.

Wu Changlin came alone in his official uniform. As soon as he arrived at the hall, he bowed and smiled, "I congratulate the Marquis of Chaoping County and General Zhang."

When Zhang Feng heard this, he thought that Wu Changlin came here deliberately to be sarcastic. They had just lost a sum of goods worth one hundred thousand taels, and Wu Changlin could not have been unaware of it. Coming here to report the good news at this time, wasn't it the same as shitting on the Nangong family's head?
Just as he was about to stand up and get angry, Nangong Jin reached out and pressed the back of his hand, shook his head slightly, then looked at Wu Changlin and said with a fake smile: "Master Wu, I wonder where this joy comes from?"

Without waiting for Nangong Jin's invitation, Wu Changlin sat down on the other side of Nangong Jin and said with a smile: "This is a document issued by the court. On August 7, the fourth year of Yong'an, the emperor of the previous dynasty abdicated to the King of Wei at Mingyang Mountain. On the same day, the King of Wei ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, changing the country's name to Da Wei and the reign title to Zhenghe.

The next day, Nangong was conferred the title of Princess Yuan. Madam Ling was conferred the title of Lady of the First Rank, and General Zhang was conferred the title of Earl of Yongning and Earl of the Third Rank. It will probably not take long before the official edict is delivered to the two of you. Isn’t this a great event? "

"The King of Wei proclaimed himself emperor?" Nangong Jin and Zhang Feng looked at each other and were stunned.

In Nangong Jin's opinion, Chen Mo would definitely take this step in the end, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

"You two don't know. Your Majesty is loyal and kind-hearted. He wanted to help the world and return power to the previous emperor when the country was stable. But who would have thought that the previous emperor knew that he was incapable and had offered the throne to Your Majesty twice before. Your Majesty refused each time. Helplessly, the people and officials petitioned, and the heavens sent down prophecies. There was even a scene of a dog eclipsing the sun at the beginning of the month. In order to prevent the heavens from blaming the people, Your Majesty had no choice but to take on this heavy responsibility."

Wu Changlin said this with deep emotion.

When Nangong Jin and Zhang Feng heard this, the corners of their mouths couldn't help but twitch.

Can you believe what you said?
Nangong Jin forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, he has served the country and the people, so he deserves this high position."

"The county lord and I are truly bosom friends. My thoughts coincide with his." Wu Changlin said with a smile.

Nangong Jin: “…”

"How can this be considered joyful for me? The one who should be congratulating is Lord Wu. The Prince of Wei has ascended the throne, and from now on, the Princess of Wei will be the mother of a country. The Wu family will be able to share the same fate with the country." Nangong Jin said.

"Alas, the fate is still unknown. Your Majesty has so many concubines, and many of them have children. Who can say for sure?" Wu Changlin said.

"Lord Wu is too modest. Your sister was married to your majesty before he ascended the throne, and she gave birth to a prince for your majesty. Who can shake your sister's position?"

(End of this chapter)