This page looks best with JavaScript enabled
Chapter 96
Gu Huaiqing stood on the city gate tower and looked at the fourth prince, who was carrying himself arrogantly and in high spirits, and his lips slowly curved up.
âWang Ye, permit this general to go. I will definitely beat that kid until he pisses himself!â The generals around him all rolled up their sleeves one by one, ready to charge into battle as they looked at the fourth prince and stirred restlessly, as if they were a pack of wolves who had seen a fat piece of meat.
Â
Â
âShh.â Gu Huaiqing raised his slender index finger to his pale lips. âThis is a prince. You canât say such vulgar words.â
âWang Ye, then what should we say?â The general blinked.Â
Gu Huaiqing glanced at him and slapped him on the head. âSay nothing; if you donât win, you wonât get dinner tonight.â
Â
âYes!â The general happily received the slap and immediately ran out.
Before a report on the war in Jiangnan was sent to the imperial court, the imperial court was busy discussing the matter of maritime commerce.
âWe have a long history with overseas merchants. In the last dynasty, there was a ban on overseas trade; it was only because of the massive profits that merchants were willing to risk their lives.â Mu Hanzhang stood in the center of the hall. His voice wasnât loud, but his words were clear, and neither too fast nor too slow. In the quiet court hall where one could hear a needle drop, every word clearly reached everyoneâs ears. âThis subject feels that rather than ban it, we should allow it to proceed to our benefit.â
Â
The articles of regulation which Marquis Wenyuan had written had already been copied several times, and the important court officials had all read them. Included in the regulations were thorough and detailed logs of the price exchange for foreign gold coins and Dachen products. The most important was the establishment of a maritime tax. With such huge profits, the imperial court only needed to set up ports and maintain order, and could then collect large taxes. In this way, the annual revenue of the state treasury would increase by at least 10%.
âThis official thinks this method is feasible.â The Minister of Revenue was the first to come forward and respond. As the person who managed the state treasury, he naturally knew how much benefit this would be to the Chen Dynasty. âAfter the past ten years, the Treasury is in urgent need of being replenished; the maritime tax would perfectly solve this urgent problem.â
The Minister of War disagreed. âThe establishment of a port is bound to attract the prying eyes of some people; it will also be time-consuming and laborious to increase the military force to protect the maritime merchants along the coast. This official thinks this matter needs to be further discussed.âÂ
âPo kf kjca ab jiibk wjglalwf agjvf, kf wera rfa eq mbggfrqbcvlcu ijkr, ktlmt tjnf jirb yffc wfcalbcfv lc Zjgdelr Qfcsejcâr gfueijalbcr; tbkfnfg, atlr boolmlji offir atfs jgfcâa vfajlifv fcbeut,â atf Zlclrafg bo Aeralmf rjlv.Â
âPo kf kjca ab bqfc qbgar, kf wera rfa eq mbggfrqbcvlcu ubnfgcwfca boolmfr, jcv atf boolmlji gjcxr jcv rjijglfr bo boolmljir cffv ab yf rfa.â Ktf Zlclrafg bo Cqqblcawfcar vlvcâa rjs ktfatfg tf kjr jujlcra bg obg atf lrref, jcv bcis gjlrfv j mbggfrqbcvlcu defralbc klat gfujgv ab tlr bkc gfrqbcrlylilalfr.
Only the Minister of Rites who was the least relevant to the conversation didnât interrupt as he remained silent.
Mu Hanzhang listened to everyoneâs comments with a light expression; none of the numerous obstacles presented seemed to engender any hint of retreat.
After listening quietly, Emperor Hong Zheng turned to the two remaining princes. âJing Rong, what do you think?âÂ
The eldest prince was already fully recovered. His eyes burned; he was just waiting for a chance to speak. Hearing this, he immediately stepped forward and said, âErchen has also carefully studied the regulations of Marquis Wenyuan. Erchen feels that such a scholar like Marquis Wenyuan talking about this business, itâs all just theoretical and will not work in practice. There must be a reason why there was a ban on overseas trade in the previous dynasties. If a port is opened rashly, Iâm afraid it may bring disaster.â
Mu Hanzhang heard these words and frowned. The eldest prince saying this showed that he was obviously against it, and many old officials in court certainly had this kind of thought as well. It could even be said that he had won quite a few old officialsâ hearts with these words.
Sure enough, after the eldest princeâs speech, many conservative senior officials stepped forward to speak.
Emperor Hong Zheng still didnât say a word, and asked for Rui Wangâs opinion.Â
Jing Chen stepped forth and said after a pause, âErchen thinks that if this method is feasible, it will be a good thing for Dachen. However, the regulations arenât detailed enough. Itâs better to draft up an interim statute addressing everyoneâs concerns, and try to open one port first. If it doesnât go well, maritime trade can be banned again.â
This matter had already been debated in court for several days. Jing Chenâs words appealed to both sides. Those who thought that it would work could wait and see. Those who felt it wouldnât work would wait to laugh and say, âI told you so.â
Â
âWhat second imperial younger brother said is very true, but the person in charge of the port must write down everything in detail. Erchen feels someone who knows the most about this should be appointed.â The eldest prince lowered his head, but glanced at Mu Hanzhang out of the corner of his eye.
Mu Hanzhang didnât speak, and just stood quietly. He naturally understood what the eldest prince meant. He had brought this matter to fruition, but it wasnât the right time to give him such a responsibility.Â
Sure enough, Emperor Hong Zheng didnât heed the words of the eldest prince. âWhat Jing Chen said is reasonable. Each ministry will draw up a constitution based on what they believe is necessary, and show Zhen in seven days.â
After court, Mu Hanzhang didnât talk much with everyone else, but directly took a carriage back to Cheng Wangâs residence.
âWang Ye.â The Marquis of Dingnan quickly strode forward a few steps to catch up with Jing Chen, who was dressed in the moon-white court uniform for princes.
âMarquis,â Jing Chen answered politely.Â
The Marquis of Dingnan, saw that Jing Chen still looked as reserved and steady as ever. The expression on his face was also light and didnât carry any hint of warmth, so the marquis couldnât help but attempt to be more cordial. âI heard that the Wang Fei endured some discomfort recently; her mother is very worried and wants to go to the palace to have a look, so urged me to ask Wang Ye when the Wang Fei will be free.â
Usually, there was no need to report the communication between female family members. The Marquis of Dingnan knew that Rui Wang had forbidden his daughter to go out, so naturally, such a statement was a tactful and polite pretext.
Thinking of Consort Xiao, Jing Chen resisted the impulse to frown and said, âToday is fine. The Wang Fei has been thinking too much recently. Please have your wife come and console her.â
The Marquis of Dingnan heard this and immediately smiled. âOf course.âÂ
Mu Hanzhangâs complexion wasnât good. Jing Shao tossed him around in bed last night for a little too long. Todayâs morning court also dragged on for a long time. After standing for nearly two hours, he felt sore everywhere. As soon as he got into the carriage, he was held tightly in a pair of powerful arms.
Mu Hanzhang had been startled when he pulled the curtain aside at the entrance of the carriage. Then, he was pulled into a familiar warm embrace before he relaxed slowly. âHow come youâre here?â
Jing Shao hugged the man tightly, told the coachman to set off, and gave Mu Hanzhang a kiss on his exhausted face. âI saw you didnât come back after a long time, so I assumed court dragged on this morning. I was afraid youâd be tired, so I came to pick you up.â
Mu Hanzhang moved, found a comfortable place in his arms, and yawned. âYou know I would be tired, so you should have restrained yourself last night.âÂ
Jing Shao stretched out his hand to rub Mu Hanzhangâs aching waist and hummed. âItâs not my fault. Who told you to look at me with those eyes? They were obviously begging your husband to do it again.â Thinking of how he had bullied Jun Qing until his eyes were teary last night, he suddenly felt his mouth turn dry.
âYouâŚâ Mu Hanzhang wanted to look up and glare at him, but to no avail and with little result as the interior of the carriage was dark. He turned his body away and buried his face in Jing Shaoâs chest; what the eyes didnât see, the heart wouldnât grieve over. He planned to sleep for a while.
Jing Shao continued to knead and rub every place he could reach, eating tofu during the massage. âA letter came from Lu Niao today, saying that the residence in Pingjiang has been purchased.â
âEn,â Mu Hanzhang answered vaguely.Â
âAs soon as Jing Yu arrived, Gu Huaiqing gave him a fierce beating. I wonder how he plans to write his war report.â Thinking about Lu Zhanpengâs schadenfreude tone in his letter, Jing Shao couldnât help laughing. âHow is the matter of maritime trade coming along?â
âBrother has already brought it up. Imperial father had all the ministries write some regulations. Itâs unclear how much is set in stone yet.â Mu Hanzhang was so sleepy that he couldnât keep his eyes open. He responded in a clear and orderly way, then rubbed against Jing Shaoâs chest unconsciously.
Â
Jing Shaoâs heart was tickled by the rubbing, but he restrained himself and didnât move. Knowing that Jun Qing was really too sleepy, he stopped talking and let the person in his arms sleep peacefully for a while.
âCheng Wang already canât succeed the throne anymore. It is to Wang Yeâs benefit to draw him over to this side. Why bother to make trouble with him?â The Marchioness of Dingnan sighed as she looked at Rui Wang Fei, who was lying on the bed with a pale face. These were the words that the marquis had asked her to pass on. She wasnât Rui Wang Feiâs biological mother, but the second official wife the marquis married after Rui Wang Fei was born. It wasnât convenient to say many words, but the marquisâs words had to be relayed.Â
âThe bastard is still living in the other palace, but my Xiao Si is gone.â When Rui Wang Fei said this, tears began to appear in her eyes again. âThe great sage calculated that, besides that lowly⌠bastard, the only other person who could have restrained Xiao Siâs spirit is Cheng Wang!â Saying this, her eyes filled with some hate; she heard that Cheng Wang had held the child before he was a full month old. Because he killed on the battlefield all year round, his body was full of the resentful energy of vengeful ghosts. If such a weak child was infected, wouldnât he have a short life?
âAiyo!â the Marchioness of Dingnan exclaimed. She looked left and right, then got up to drive away the maid outside the door, before she came back again and sad down. âYou canât say such nonsense. Listen carefully to Rui Wang.â