Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 222 I don’t know about Jin

In the noisy wine shop, Guo Zhenyu and Chen Yuanming were talking as if no one else was around.

"Brother Yuan Ming, how did you gain from this trip?"

Chen Yuanming did not answer directly, but smiled and said:

"To be honest, brother Zhenyu, this year Mr. Liang reformed the commercial tax. When traveling from Chang'an to Yinchuan, passing through fifteen counties, 30% of the customs duty alone will be deducted, but Chen is prepared to wait for some time before making another trip. "

Huan Xi began to impose repeated tariffs at the beginning of this year. Every time he passed through a county, he had to pay a 2% tariff. Chen Yuanming had to pay a 30% tariff if he wanted to transport goods to Yinchuan.

Under such high tariffs, Chen Yuanming is still willing to sell goods to Yinchuan, which shows what kind of huge profits Chen Yuanming made last year.

Under the past policy, the government would not impose repeated tariffs, and would only need to pay a one-time 2% overtax. The northwest is as big as you can go.

Therefore, it is not difficult to make huge profits as long as you spot the business opportunities.

However, with the changes in policies, such good times have no longer returned.

Guo Zhenyu sighed after hearing this:

"The Queen Mother has been in power for eleven years. She has made great contributions to the country and is extremely honorable. How can you allow you to slander her chastity?"

"My brother is very tight-lipped and has never mentioned it, but since it was ordered by Mr. Liang in person, it must not be an easy job."

In an instant, everyone burst into laughter.

Saying that, Chen Yuanming asked:

In the wine shop, Chen Yuanming said with a strange air:

"I asked who it was. Judging from the accent, it turned out to be a southerner.

"I heard that your brother was ordered to go to Jiangdong on business. I don't know why?"

Wen Shizhi's face was livid, and he was trembling with anger. With a bang, Wen Shizhi slapped the table hard, and his laughter suddenly stopped.

Wen Shizhi said angrily:

Of course, what was even more difficult was being separated from my family. I was gone for a year and a half, and I couldn’t take care of my parents, wife, and children at all.

As he said that, Guo Zhenyu glanced at Wen Shizhi and Shen Chiqian at the next table with the corner of his eye, just to let the two people with higher eyes understand his power.

"My parents are here, so if you don't travel far away, you must have a way to travel. My brother is running around on errands for Mr. Liang. You should stay at home to serve your parents. How can you travel all over the country with me?"

"If I had known this, I should have gone to various places with you to do business."

Being a businessman is much harder than working as a merchant, and it is common to eat and sleep in the open air.

His elder brother Guo Zhenchi worked for Duke Liang. He was once summoned by Duke Liang and gave him errands in person. He didn't really think that he was just a small bookseller without a backer.

Hearing this, Guo Zhenyu straightened his back and raised his voice deliberately:

As soon as Guo Zhenyu finished speaking, a rough man took advantage of the alcohol and shouted:

"Now that the Queen Mother is a widow in the palace, my brother went to Jiangdong. Could it be that he was ordered to send a token of love to the Queen Mother!"

With a bang, the laughter suddenly stopped, and everyone looked at Wen Shizhi who stood up and slapped the case in shock, not knowing why.

Everyone looked at Wen Shizhi in surprise, not knowing why.

"My husband said it well, the Queen Mother has made great contributions to the country.

Chen Yuanming shook his head and said:

Wen Shizhi looked at the rough man and the laughing diners, and felt indignant at their disrespect for the Queen Mother, and said angrily:

"It's just that Chen is a little confused. I don't know if the credit my husband mentioned is that the Queen Mother appointed her father to go to the Northern Expedition, or that she favored Yin Hao, which ruined many years of business."

Wen Shi was speechless.

Guo Zhenyu was already dissatisfied with Wen Shizhi, but when his friend rebutted him, he immediately responded:

"When Jie Zhao was poisoning the lives of the north, where was the Queen Mother! Where was the Jin Dynasty!

"If Liang Gong hadn't regained Guanlong and protected the country and the people, An Neng and I would be chatting here!

“The Queen Mother did not distinguish between right and wrong, and reused treacherous ministers such as King Kuaiji and Yin Hao to obstruct the Duke of Chu’s Northern Expedition, while sitting back and watching the people of Guandong live in dire straits.

"You dare to claim that you have done meritorious service to the country by doing this kind of thing!"

The rough guy who openly criticized the Queen Mother before also echoed:

"We people in the north only know that there is Liang, but we don't know that there is Jin.

"The so-called Queen Mother is just a woman to us!"

Everyone in the wine shop said yes.

Wen Shizhi's face was extremely ugly. Just when Shen Chiqian was hesitating whether he should reveal his identity, Wen Shizhi stood up and left the wine shop angrily.

Shen Chiqian hurriedly chased after him and walked out of the door of the wine shop. Shen Chiqian comforted him and said:

"Mr. Wen, calm down. I will send someone to notify the government to arrest you. If you dare to be disrespectful to the Queen Mother, none of these people in the wine shop can escape."

However, Wen Shizhi shook his head and said:

"They are just ignorant people, so why bother with them."

After this incident, Wen Shizhi lost all interest in traveling. He and Shen Chiqian left Dongshi and went straight back to Jinling Pavilion.

In the Jinling Pavilion, Wen Shizhi sat alone in the wing and sighed:

"The Sima family has been ruling the world for ninety years. Now, I'm afraid that I'm really going to die."

There is no doubt that what happened in the wine shop gave Wen Shizhi a huge impact.

Of course he knew that Huan Xi was deeply popular in Guanzhong, but he really didn't expect that the people in the north had such a weak sense of belonging to the Jin Dynasty.

After a long time, Wen Shizhi took out paper and pen and wrote a letter to his brother Wen Fangzhi, who was serving as governor of Jiaozhou, telling him what he had seen in Chang'an. The letter wrote: "According to my brother's opinion, Jin Zuo will not last long, and Huan will not last long." I hope my brother will think carefully and act with caution. '

Previously, the imperial court granted Huan Wen the title of "Recorder of Secretariat" and "Fake Huang Yue", as well as supervising the military affairs of the three prefectures of Ji, Bing, and Hebei. At the same time, the imperial court asked Huan Wen to give up military power in the two prefectures of Jiao, Guang, and Guang. However, Huan Wen refused, preferring not to accept this favor. He also refused to hand over the military power of the two states.

It is conceivable that the ownership of Jiaozhou and Guangzhou will be the focus of competition between the imperial court and the Chu State in the future.

The attitudes of Xie Feng, the governor of Guangzhou, and Wen Fangzhi, the governor of Jiaozhou, were the decisive factors.

This is also the reason why Huan Xi treats Wen Shizhi with courtesy.

Xie Feng, the governor of Guangzhou, came from the Xie family of Shanyin and belonged to a branch of the Xie family of Chen County. However, he moved to Shanyin County of Kuaiji County as early as the Han Dynasty. Xie An lived in seclusion in Shanyin County of Kuaiji County. In addition to the beautiful scenery here, The meaning of close relationship with Sanin Xie family.

Shen Chiqian returned to Weiyang Palace and immediately reported to Huan Xi about the wine shop.

Huan Xi has never strictly controlled public opinion.

It can be said that his preference for orphans and widowed mothers is well known to everyone, and it is not a matter of a day or two for the people of Chang'an to use this as a source of conversation.

No matter whose widow Huan Xi falls in love with or whose mother he marries, as long as he can protect the peace of one party and let the people of Guanlong live a good life, who will care about the little thing in his crotch.

The reason why Huan Xi relaxed his control over public opinion was because after he took charge of Chang'an, his achievements were obvious to all and he was deeply loved by the people. Even if people ridiculed his hobbies, they did not mean any harm.

Shen Chiqian had not made an attack on the spot in the wine shop before, precisely because the diners were all biased towards Huan Xi in their words.

Of course, they were criticizing Huan Xi's policies and inciting people's resentment against Huan Xi. How could Shen Chiqian ask Wen Shizhi for his opinion and arrest him on the spot.

Huan Xi patiently listened to Shen Chiqian's story and had no plans to pursue the matter or open a prison.

But he also did not allow others to make fun of his favorite things. Huan Xi said in a deep voice:

"The Queen Mother is the mother of the country, and Huan Mou respects her as a god, how can she allow others to criticize her.

"Besides, the failure of the Northern Expedition was due to the King of Kuaiji's manipulation of power, Yin Hao's arrogance and lack of talent, and the civil and military leaders of the Manchu Dynasty were deceived by Yin Hao, so why should we blame a woman harshly for not noticing it in advance.

"Chi Qian, go to Zhongshu Province and tell Quan Zhongshu that the world must know that anyone who dares to disrespect the Queen Mother in the future is an enemy of me, Huan Xi, and Huan will be severely punished!"

Shen Chiqian took the order and left. On the same day, Quan Yi wrote an official document and gave it to Huan Xi to read and then sent it to Shangshu Province. Wang Meng arranged for people to post it in various cities in Chang'an.

Quan Yi adhered to Huan Xi's wishes and excused the Queen Mother in the article, placing all the blame on Sima Yu, Yin Hao and others.

The diners who were in the restaurant with Wen Shizhi and Shen Chiqian that day were all frightened and sweating when they saw the official document posted.

They teased the Queen Mother in front of an old man from Jiangdong in a wine shop at noon. In the afternoon, the government issued a notice to defend the Queen Mother and at the same time prohibited people from talking about the Queen Mother.

Reminiscing that the Jiangdong Mission was in Chang'an, it was not difficult to guess that the old man in luxurious clothes must be a member of the mission.

Chen Yuanming, Guo Zhenyu and others fled Chang'an in panic. It was not until their families sent news that the government did not send anyone to hunt them down that they had the courage to return home.

Of course, these are things to follow.

Wen Shizhi stayed in Chang'an for five days. He seemed not to be affected by the unpleasantness that happened in the wine shop. When he was occasionally invited to Weiyang Palace, he chatted and had banquets with Huan Xi.

When Wen Shizhi left, Huan Xi held hands with him at the city gate to say goodbye, and the two reluctantly parted.

It seems that Huan Xi and Wen Shizhi had already forged a deep friendship during his mission to Liang.

In the eleventh year of Yonghe (AD 355), the twentieth day of the first month.

Aman and others were escorted back to Chang'an by Huan Qian. The happiest people were naturally Xie Daoyun, Li Yuan, Han Yan and others.

How could one be overjoyed to see mother and son reunited?

"My dear, please pay homage to grandpa."

Aman got out of his mother's arms and led his younger brothers and sisters to pay tribute to their father.

"Everyone, get up."

Huan Xi rubbed Aman's little head and picked up Luo Niang.

The brothers Aman and Luoniang are already five years old. In a few years, Huan Xi will have to be careful if he wants to be intimate with his daughter again.

As the saying goes, children should avoid their mothers, and daughters should avoid their fathers. The defense between men and women naturally includes parents and children.

Huan Xi hugged Luo Niang and asked Aman:

"Did you study hard when you were with your grandfather?"

Aman laughed and avoided answering.

Huan Xi shook his head, the answer was obvious.

He had long known that there would be such a result. After all, Huan Wen was busy with official duties on weekdays, and when he had free time, he wanted to entertain his grandchildren and enjoy family happiness.

However, Sima Xingnan did not pay much attention to education. Huan Xi was worried about this at the beginning, so he resolutely refused to send Aman to Jiangling and kept him by his side to educate him.

Huan Xi said helplessly:

"That's all. As long as you study and work hard on weekdays, your father won't blame you anymore. You just returned to Chang'an and can't slack off any more."

Aman cheered and nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)