Chapter 240: Qingmiao Method Appears
"Thank you for your advice, Sir."
Shen Xianggong thanked him and said, "In fact, both publicly and privately, I support what the emperor and His Royal Highness have done. It's just that His Royal Highness was a little too impatient before, which may not be a good thing."
What he meant by Yu Gong was that measuring the land would indeed be beneficial to the court.
And private refers to Qi Heng.
Qi Heng is his son-in-law, and now he is highly valued by the Crown Prince, who has allowed Qi Heng to study under Yu Xianggong.
Although the land inventory was an order from the government, tracing back to the source, it was still related to Zhao Xing.
Therefore, he couldn't stop it privately, otherwise it would affect his son-in-law's future.
He just felt that Zhao Xing was a little too impatient. The matter of measuring the land had not yet been completed, and he came up with the Qingmiao Law.
Moreover, Zhao Xing's previous method of dealing with Zhou Yi Zhong made him somewhat resistant.
Han Zhang got the hint from Shen Xianggong's words and said with a smile, "Bo Ming is temporarily investigating the land together, and you think that the Crown Prince's methods are a bit despicable, right?"
"My dear husband, you..."
Minister Shen looked at Han Zhang in shock. He indeed had this idea, but this kind of thing can only be understood but not expressed in words. Yet Han Zhang actually said it out loud.
"Haha, there are only two of us here, there is no need to hide anything." Han Zhang smiled and said nonchalantly: "I think the opposite of you. Special measures should be used in special times. When the government implemented the New Deal, the means were very gentle, but what was the result? Although the means used by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were not very good, there are almost no voices in the court opposing the land inventory. Hasn't the purpose been achieved?"
Zhou Yi Zhong died, and there was a lack of a leader. In addition, many officials were still afraid of Zhao Xing's time. For a time, there was almost no voice in the court opposing the land measurement.
Han Zhang is a person who sometimes pays more attention to the results and doesn't really care about the process.
In the original drama, he agreed to Zhao Zongquan posthumously conferring the title on his biological father and cooperated with Gu Tingye to steal the imperial seal from the empress dowager, because he knew that as long as the empress dowager continued to rule the country from behind the curtain, the fight between Zhao Zongquan and the empress dowager would not subside.
For the stability of the imperial court, Zhao Zongquan must win as soon as possible.
Although what he did was contrary to etiquette and law, he still did it for the stability of the court.
Han Zhang has the world in his heart and is devoted to his country. He looks at everything from the country's perspective and does not care whether the means are fair or not.
"But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the heir to the throne. It is not good to use such means." Prime Minister Shen retorted.
"Bo Ming, you are a modest gentleman who knows etiquette and observes propriety. However, it is useless to govern the world with integrity. As long as the goal is for the good of the Song Dynasty and it can be achieved in the end, why bother about the process?" Han Zhang said.
"I cannot agree with what you said, sir. I won't bother you any more and will take my leave now!" said Sensei Shen as he stood up.
Mr. Shen is neither pedantic nor conservative.
He believed that the land inventory was beneficial to the country, and he supported some of the previous new policies.
He was not as pedantic as some literati who believed that the laws of their ancestors could not be changed.
But as Han Zhang said, he is a humble gentleman.
He supported it, but he felt that a ruler should be upright and upright, and he was disgusted by the practice of using any means to achieve the goal.
"I'll see Bo Ming off."
Han Zhang stood up and escorted Shen Xianggong out the door, and reminded him: "Bo Ming, when you came to see me this time, you were actually influenced by those people without realizing it."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xianggong was startled, pondered for a moment, and bowed and said, "Thank you, my Lord!"
Given his personality, although he had some complaints about the methods used by Zhao Xing, he would not care about it, and it was even less likely that he would come to Han Zhang to talk about these things.
But he came anyway.
Han Zhang didn't say that he didn't feel anything yet. It was only after Han Zhang's reminder that he realized that he had been influenced by those people unknowingly.
…………
"What a beautiful tiger skin, there is not even a scratch on it."
Zhang Guifen stroked the soaked tiger skin and was amazed.
Tiger skin is still precious in this era, but it is not rare.
Tigers are somewhat rampant in this era, and they are often hunted.
But given the tiger's speed, it is very difficult to kill it with one arrow.
Most of the tiger skins on the market have significant damage, which is caused when the tigers are killed.
The tiger presented by Gu Tingye was shot in the head, but there was no damage on the tiger's body. It can be said to be a masterpiece among masterpieces and very rare.
"This is what Zhong Huai hunted and gave to me. You can give this tiger skin to your mother-in-law. The weather will be cold soon, and this will keep you warm." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhang Guifen said happily.
A tiger skin is nothing. What matters is that Zhao Xing has this intention.
"Why are you being so polite to me?" Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "By the way, has Li Liang Di been behaving herself lately?"
"After what I said that day, he almost never left the courtyard except for coming to pay his respects to me every day. He was very honest." Zhang Guifen said with a smile.
"You are the one who played tricks on her. She is busy copying Buddhist scriptures every day and has no time to go out." Zhao Xing wanted to laugh when talking about this. He didn't expect that Zhang Guifen had such a bad taste.
"I hate people who make trouble out of nothing. Your Highness will have more and more concubines in the future. If you don't set up some rules now, there will be trouble in the future." Zhang Guifen said, looking at Zhao Xing and smiled: "Is Your Highness feeling distressed?"
"I've already said it before, you have the final say on matters concerning the harem." Zhao Xing shook his head and said, "I'm just a little curious. You were a little lazy in managing the concubines before. Could it be that your mother taught you that?"
Zhang Guifen had a cheerful personality with a hint of arrogance. After becoming the Crown Princess, although she was in charge of all matters big and small in the Eastern Palace and the harem, she did not pay much attention to them.
She would hardly pay any attention to the concubines' minor mistakes.
But this time, not only did she give a domineering warning, she also disciplined Li Liangdi under the pretext of copying Buddhist scriptures as a birthday gift for the queen.
"I am not lazy at all. I just think that Your Highness doesn't have many concubines, and it's good for everyone to live in harmony. I am not a jealous person."
Zhang Guifen refuted for a moment, then continued, "But mother did teach me a lot. Mother said that there are not many concubines in the Eastern Palace now, and we must set up rules. Otherwise, when there are more and more people in the future, it will be difficult to manage. I think what mother said makes sense. It just so happens that Li Liangdi is making trouble, so I can take this opportunity to set up rules for them."
"Well, there is no order without rules. As long as they make mistakes, we will deal with them accordingly. Even if it is Yanran and the others, they should not worry about me." Zhao Xing said.
It is true that he dotes on Minglan and the others, but rules are rules.
It is good for everyone to abide by the rules. If you break the rules like Sheng Hong did, it will cause unrest in the family.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. You know my temper. I don't care whether I am your favorite or not. As long as someone breaks the rules, I will show no mercy." Zhang Guifen said with a smile.
That being said, if Yu Yanran and the others were really spoiled, she would be somewhat cautious in dealing with them.
Fortunately, Yu Yanran and the others are very dutiful, so it’s not a big deal.
Zhao Xing held Zhang Guifen's waist and whispered in her ear, "You are the apple of my eye."
Zhang Guifen pushed Zhao Xing away with a red face, and said coquettishly: "Your Highness's mouth is like honey, and he will make me happy. But no matter how many sweet words Your Highness says, don't expect me to agree to your bad intentions."
"I don't have any bad intentions. You actually wronged me. You must compensate me." Zhao Xing said.
"Your Highness, I have something serious to tell you." Zhang Guifen was worried that Zhao Xing would make another embarrassing request, so she quickly changed the subject.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Xing asked puzzledly.
"It is already the beginning of September, and the Princess of Xixia will enter the palace in about two months. Now the larger courtyards in the East Palace and the harem are occupied. The Princess of Xixia is of noble status and is also a concubine. I am thinking of having the two vacant courtyards in the west connected for the Princess of Xixia to live in." Zhang Guifen said.
In fact, there is no such thing as concubines in the Eastern Palace.
The Crown Princess is of the first rank, below her is the Liang Di of the third rank, and then the Liang Yuan of the fourth rank.
The courtyards of the Eastern Palace and the harem were also built according to the ranks of the crown prince's concubines, with people of different ranks living in different courtyards.
Because of her status, the Emperor conferred upon the Princess of Western Xia the title of the Crown Prince's concubine of the second rank.
In terms of rank, she is second only to the Crown Princess, but because there was no such organization originally, there is naturally no corresponding courtyard.
There are only two places for Liangdi and they are all full. We can't let them move out to free up the yard.
There is still a vacancy for Liangyuan, but it does not suit the identity of the eldest princess of Western Xia.
Zhao Xing pondered and said, "Let her live in the east courtyard. There are several empty courtyards next to Shuanglan Pavilion. Let's have them connected and repaired so that she can live there."
Zhao Xing felt that based on the impression Princess Xixia had of him, it would not be easy to get anything out of her when someone arrived.
But it doesn’t matter, he can let Minglan go.
With Minglan's intelligence and the fact that they were neighbors, they would visit each other and chat from time to time, and they became familiar with each other after a few visits.
Given Yun Chu's inexperienced nature, Minglan was afraid that she could extract all the information she knew from her.
"Yeah." Zhang Guifen also knew some of Zhao Xing's plans. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded.
She felt that Yun Chu was a simple-minded person, and she felt a little bit reluctant to see Zhao Xing plotting against her.
However, she still knew the seriousness of the matter, and even though she felt reluctant, she did not say it out loud.
…………
By mid-September, the autumn harvest was completed in all counties of Kaifeng Prefecture.
Whether they were tenant farmers or common people with fields at home, they were all filled with the joy of a good harvest.
After the grains were stored in the warehouse, the people began to plow the fields and apply fertilizers in preparation for the planting of winter wheat.
At this time, the people who rented land from the government encountered trouble.
They lacked farm tools. Although they had just had a good harvest and had grain, the price of grain was at its lowest at that time and the people were reluctant to sell it.
Even if they sold them, they could still buy ordinary farm tools, but they couldn't afford cows.
Just when these people were worried about whether to sell their grain to buy farm tools, the government sent yamen runners to the countryside to spread a piece of news everywhere.
If the people who own land are short of money to buy farm tools and seeds, they can go to the government to borrow money. After passing the review, they can get the money with an interest rate of only one tenth.
(End of this chapter)