Chapter 231 Brewing
Upon hearing this, Madam Wang's face darkened. Although she was impatient and often acted stupidly when she met Madam Lin, it did not mean that she was really stupid.
Mrs. Kang came to see her a few days ago and talked about Rulan.
After Rulan went to the Eastern Palace, she was always worried and complained to Queen Kang.
Princess Kang volunteered to go to the East Palace to see Rulan on her behalf.
Madam Wang was moved when she heard this. In fact, she also wanted to go to the East Palace to visit Rulan, but was lectured by Sheng Hong.
Sheng Hong said that Rulan had only been in the Eastern Palace for half a month, but she was in a hurry to visit her, as if she was worried that Rulan was being abused in the Eastern Palace, so she decided to wait a while before going to visit her.
When Lady Kang mentioned this, she could no longer restrain herself and asked Lady Kang to do it for her.
As a result, Princess Kang came back and told her that Ruolan was living well in the Eastern Palace, but Minglan was the only one who came with the dowry, and even Ruolan was not favored.
Princess Kang also said many bad things about Minglan, saying that Rulan was very scheming. Rulan, who had a simple mind, was no match for Minglan.
Compared to Minglan, Madam Wang naturally trusts her sister more.
In addition, when Minglan was poisoned before, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was so concerned about it, which left a shadow of doubt in Madam Wang's heart. With this preconceived notion, Madam Wang believed it even more.
After Rulan came back, she also asked about it. Although Rulan didn't say anything, it seemed that she had a very good relationship with Minglan from her words. Madam Wang felt that her daughter was fooled by Minglan.
As for her asking Rulan to do something for her, Wang Kang just mentioned it casually.
Mrs. Wang was thinking about her daughter and didn't think much about it, and she didn't think it was a big deal.
But after Minglan said this, she realized that this was not a trivial matter.
Asking His Highness to help arrange an errand is nothing.
However, no concubine in the entire Eastern Palace had ever asked His Highness for help, or perhaps they had asked but His Highness did not agree, and outsiders did not know about it.
If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince agrees, what will the other concubines in the Eastern Palace, including the Crown Princess, think?
If Your Highness does not agree, it will leave a bad impression on Your Highness.
No matter which one it is, it is not a good thing for Rulan to ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for help.
Minglan smiled secretly when she saw Madam Wang's expression changing from gloomy to happy.
If you want to make Madam Wang do something stupid, mentioning Madam Lin is the most effective way.
If you want to make Madam Wang more rational, mentioning her children is the most effective way.
Given Madam Wang's personality, no matter how she explained, she would think she was just quibbling.
But when it comes to Rulan, Madam Wang will start thinking rationally.
"Minglan, let's go."
Just then, Rulan came out from the inner room.
She didn't notice anything wrong with the atmosphere, and looked at her mother and said, "Mom, it's getting late, Minglan and I will go back to the East Palace first. I'll come back to visit you when I have time. You can also go to the East Palace to visit your daughter if you have nothing to do. I asked His Highness, and it's okay to go once a month."
"Yes, I understand." Madam Wang glanced at Minglan, then looked away and said with a smile, "Don't forget what mother told you."
"Got it." Rulan replied impatiently and pulled Minglan out.
"Mom, I'm going to talk to Dad."
"Why are you in such a hurry? Let me take you there." Madam Wang quickly got up and followed.
…………
Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen entered the palace, had dinner with their father and mother, and watched the moon until late at night before leaving the palace.
He thought it was actually a good idea not to hold a banquet, as Mid-Autumn Festival was a day for family reunion, allowing officials to stay at home and reunite with their families.
It’s more comfortable to celebrate the festival with your family, and there’s no need to be so formal.
After getting on the carriage, Zhang Guifen said, "My husband, my mother asked me to go to the palace for an hour every afternoon to talk with her."
Zhao Xing smiled when he heard this: "My mother asked you to go to the palace because she probably wanted to teach you something. Although my mother is not an orphan, she treats me as her own child and will not embarrass you."
"Yes." Zhang Guifen nodded, feeling relieved, and said, "My husband, the weather is cooler now. I want to go to Jinmingchi Villa to play polo in a few days."
Speaking of the latter part, Zhang Guifen felt a little embarrassed and worried.
She is the Crown Princess now, so she can go to the Wu family polo field, but it would be inappropriate for her to play polo there.
There is a royal villa over there at Jinming Lake, but it's nothing special.
But she was a little worried that Zhao Xing would be unhappy.
Women playing polo are considered unusual in the eyes of men. Zhao Xing didn't care about it before, but that may not be the case now.
"Okay, I haven't played polo for a while. I'll accompany you when the time comes." Zhao Xing said.
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After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the wheat in the Central Plains gradually matured and the people were busy with the autumn harvest.
This year, the Central Plains region has had good weather and it is a bumper year. Although the people are tired, their faces are filled with happy smiles.
The people at this time actually didn't have high demands.
As long as we can have enough food and clothing, and eat something good during the New Year after a year of hard work, that's enough.
When a country prospers, the people suffer; when a country perishes, the people also suffer.
This does sound cruel, but it is the truth.
But for many people in Kaifeng Prefecture, the mood was even more exciting.
Just last year, they went from being tenants of landlords to tenants of the government.
Although their status seemed unchanged, the rent collected by the officials was very low, only 20%. Although they also had to pay taxes, all the other taxes added up to about 20%, so they only got 60% in the end.
Even so, it is much better than renting from a landlord.
Su Xun said in "Land System": "Rich people have large lands and extensive farms, with roads and paths connecting each other. They recruit idlers to share the land, whip them and drive them to work, treating them like slaves. They sit and look around, commanding them. The people under their command hoe the land in summer and harvest the crops in autumn. Not a single one violates the rules and plays around. And the income from the land is already half of what they earn."
This passage talks about how the landlord treats the tenants, and at the end it says that the landlord rents the land to the tenants, and the landlord gets half of the land's output.
And this is only half of what is paid after all taxes are paid. Add in other miscellaneous taxes, and the people can only get about 30% in the end.
The difference between 30% and 60% is half. One can imagine how grateful the people who rented the government’s land will be when Kaifeng Prefecture completes the autumn harvest.
When the news spreads, people all over the world will certainly support the court in measuring the land.
In fact, the people do not understand those big principles. They do not understand the significance of reform and change. They only care about whether they can benefit from it.
In history, Wang Anshi's reforms were all for the benefit of the people.
However, the people did not gain any tangible benefits. Instead, they suffered more exploitation because of the reforms.
This led to widespread criticism from the public.
Although the people are somewhat short-sighted, they are very simple and honest.
Zhao Xing was not paying attention to these things, but was paying attention to the situation in the court.
He previously thought that it was useless for his father to pretend to be furious in order to intimidate those who opposed him.
In fact, it is of no use.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor was furious and cancelled the banquet. However, a few days later, many officials, led by Prime Minister Zhou, again submitted a petition requesting the recall of Prime Minister Yu and the postponement of the land measurement.
Whether last time or this time, they did not mention the harm of measuring the land in their memorials.
After all, there is no real harm in measuring the fields.
The target of their criticism was Mr. Yu.
Yu Xianggong went directly to Zhengzhou on behalf of Tian for inspection.
Although the government issued an imperial decree stating that any official who refused to cooperate or failed to take action would be directly dismissed and investigated.
But Zhengzhou officials still disagree.
The emperor was well-known for his kindness, and in their opinion, what he said was just a way to scare them.
And they didn't think that Mr. Yu would use such tough measures.
However, Yu Xianggong used facts to tell them that he dared!
Only two days after Yu Xianggong arrived in Zhengzhou, he resigned from his posts as prefect and magistrate of Zhengzhou and personally led people to the fields to measure the land.
The reason that Mr. Zhou and others wrote to the emperor was that Mr. Yu abused his power and caused cholera.
Some even said that Mr. Yu was taking revenge because he failed to extort bribes.
The government was furious, but because there were too many people reporting the incident, he said he would send someone to investigate.
…………
"Do you understand what I said?" Zhao Xing said to Yin Hanzhang.
"I understand!" Yin Hanzhang said respectfully.
"Go ahead and do it beautifully!" Zhao Xing waved his hand.
"Yes!" Yin Hanzhang bowed and hurried away.
"The good show is about to begin. I wonder if this can be considered as giving someone a taste of his own medicine." Zhao Xing murmured.
After Yin Hanzhang left the Eastern Palace, he summoned the leaders of his subordinates in Bian Jing, gave them careful instructions, and carried out the arrangements that Zhao Xing had instructed.
…………
"Have you heard that Mr. Zhou had an affair with one of his son's concubines, and they gave birth to a child not long ago?"
"I also heard that a child of a distant relative of mine was sold to the mansion of Prime Minister Zhou as a slave. He secretly told me that Prime Minister Zhou was old and was worried that taking a concubine would affect his reputation, so he said that the concubine was his son's."
"Mr. Zhou is so old, how could he still let his concubine get pregnant? I think the child might be Mr. Zhou's son. I've heard that those officials' families are very chaotic."
In a corner of a teahouse, two men in their twenties were drinking tea and chatting in low voices.
They deliberately lowered their voices when they spoke, but perhaps because their voices were too loud, even though the teahouse was very noisy, the guests sitting at nearby tables could still hear them clearly.
In their spare time, the people of Bianjing liked to talk about gossip about the imperial court and officials' families.
When the guests at the next table heard that someone was gossiping about the emperor, they were not afraid. Instead, they pricked up their ears and listened carefully.
The two people who were talking threw out some explosive news, then paid the bill and left the teahouse, disappearing in the vast crowd.
Similar things happened in many crowded places such as teahouses, restaurants, brothels and theaters in Bianjing.
Not only the gossip about Prime Minister Zhou, but also many gossips about the court were spread.
Most of the news is similar, either he is having an affair with his son's concubine, or he has a mistress, or he is having an affair with a married woman.
If there is news that someone is corrupt, even if he is a prime minister, the people may not be interested in talking about it.
Maybe in their opinion this is a normal thing and there is nothing to talk about.
(End of this chapter)