The Great Zhou Dynasty was prosperous, and gold was found everywhere in Yongjing.
But that was the situation several generations ago. Today, only the appearance of prosperity remains in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Under the Bei Quezhu Palace, the national treasury is empty and the people have no money left. They are like a fallen rich and beautiful woman, wearing the old Chinese cloak. Inside he was already skinny and hungry.
Where did the money go?
Qi Lingzhan once said in a note to Emperor Changning: "Since Pingkang League and Yanyun surrendered the city, all the fields north of the Yellow River have been abandoned, the population is desolate, and the land tax is almost nonexistent. Today, there are three departments of taxation and four departments. 100% comes from the land tax in the Huaihe River, and 60% comes from miscellaneous tasks such as industry and commerce, special inquiries, and taxation. Compared with before Pingkang, the country has lost both farming and tax savings. As a result, the national treasury has been in surplus year after year, and the people have become increasingly miserable. Increase taxes.”
The Sixteenth City of Yanyun cut off not only the city, but also the stable farming in Youzhou. Now that all the land in the north has been lost, most of the financial resources of the Great Zhou Dynasty have to rely on industry and commerce and other chores.
Whether it was the salt and iron that the imperial court was specializing in, or the commercial tax of 10%, they were now firmly in the hands of Yao Heshou. The officials of the third division did not listen to the emperor's orders, and the common people complained, but only looked at the face of Prime Minister Yao.
Yao Heshou would never let the imperial court have money to raise troops and generals, otherwise he would not be able to explain to Beijin, and his position as prime minister would be unsafe.
Emperor Changning promoted Qi Lingzhan from a Hanlin scholar to a second-rank political advisor just to confront Yao Heshou. It was just a short deputy prime minister promoted by the short emperor, and there was nothing he could do for the time being.
In August last year, after the failure to replace the doctor of the Salt and Iron Division, Emperor Changning was quite disheartened. He issued an edict to close the court for a month and indulged in drunkenness in Funing Palace day and night. Concubine Yao tried to persuade her, but Emperor Changning got into trouble. He lifted the jar of wine and threw it at Concubine Yao's feet. The wine on the ground soaked her skirt with gold threads and wishful thinking patterns.
His words of scolding Concubine Yao were heard by Qi Lingzhan who came after hearing the news.
"You father and daughter of the Yao family have misled one family and the other the country. I am Leilei's husband and the emperor. I can't be devoted to getting a wife at home, and I can't make my own decisions in state affairs. You want me to take off this emperor's robe and work exclusively for your Yao family. Only the son-in-law who comes to your door will satisfy you, right?"
When Concubine Yao heard this, she knelt down and wept, expressing her sincere love.
Emperor Changning cursed even more viciously, but Qi Lingzhan stopped him. He winked at Zhang Zhi, the supervisor of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and said: "Your Majesty is so drunk and uncomfortable. If you don't serve him well, how dare you let your concubine take it for you?" ?”
Zhang Zhi understood, and several chamberlains stepped forward to lift Emperor Changning up and coax him to the inner room.
Qi Lingzhan bowed to Concubine Yao and reassured her that your Majesty's anger was not directed at the concubine. Concubine Yao turned around, wiped her tears, straightened her clothes, turned her back to Qi Lingzhan and said, "I understand what Sir Qi means. Don't worry, sir, what happened today will not be spread." To the Prime Minister’s ears.”
Qi Lingzhan watched her leave the palace and went into the inner room to see Emperor Changning. Seeing that Emperor Changning had fallen asleep on the couch, he stayed by until he woke up.
It was dusk, the sky was as dark as rouge, and when the palace gate was about to be locked, Emperor Changning slowly woke up.
He stood up stroking his painful forehead, thinking about the past, and sighed after a long time: "It's my fault for being so abrupt, I'm afraid I'm going to get the blame from Yao."
Qi Lingzhan waited until now not to waste words on persuading him. After Emperor Changning drank the hangover tea and calmed down, Qi Lingzhan explained the purpose of his visit: "Let's start directly with the Third Secretary and let Yao Dang take the money he swallowed." It would be too hasty to spit it out. I have a roundabout idea. It is better to start from the local area and set up separate officials and businessmen to directly obey your Majesty's orders. Bypassing the transfer envoys and the third envoys, we may be able to take back part of the land power authority from the Yao party."
Emperor Changning wanted to think carefully, but felt a splitting headache, and asked: "How much planning does Ziwang have in mind about this matter?"
When Qi Lingzhan took it out of his arms, he drafted the chapter and presented it to Emperor Changning.
"How to bypass the three divisions, how to persuade the prime minister, and the first batch of officials and businessmen candidates, I have already detailed them, please see your Majesty."
Emperor Changning took the chapter and sighed: "I understand."
He reluctantly cheered up and agreed to give it a try. Qi Lingzhan went through many twists and turns until the beginning of the twelfth twelfth lunar month. Come to Beijing to do big business.
Rong Yuqing and Zhaowei ran around all day, visiting all the cloth and grain stores in Yongjing. It was already You hour when they returned home, the sky was dark, and the servants lit up lanterns inside and outside the courtyard.
Under the Yingying candlestick, Qi Lingzhan was reading a volume of poems from the previous dynasty. He seemed to have something in his heart, and suddenly he raised his head and looked out the window.
"Brother! Brother!"
Zhaowei shouted loudly as she stepped into the courtyard. Hingyan pointed towards the small study, and she was swept through the door like a gust of wind.
The candle flame on the desk flickered and shone on the pages of the book, seeming to be a little brighter.
Qi Lingzhan buttoned up the poem scroll, still thinking about the unpleasantness of the Lantern Festival, and said quietly to himself: "What's the noise in the book pavilion?"
Zhaowei propped up the case with his elbows and said to himself: "Brother, do you have anyone who is familiar with Yongjing Commercial Affairs? Lend me a few."
"what are you up to?"
"Do a good deed and help your uncle inquire about the market in Yongjing, so that you can book a hotel in Yongjing in advance."
This was serious business. Qi Lingzhan called Ping Yan in, told him a few names, and asked them to meet the second girl early tomorrow morning. Pingyan wrote it down and was about to leave when Zhaoweizhi said to him: "Ask someone to bring you a plate of crystal dumplings. I'm going to starve to death."
Qi Lingzhan refused, "Go back to your yard, don't eat here."
Zhaowei: "Add half a white chopped chicken."
Qi Lingzhan: "..."
The crystal dumplings and white chicken were finally delivered. A long case was three feet wide. Qi Lingzhan was holding the file beside the case. Zhaowei was feasting on the case. Every time he turned the page, one less crystal dumpling was left on the plate. When he was the last one left, Zhaowei finally remembered that there was a living person sitting across from him and asked, "Brother, are you hungry?"
Qi Lingzhan glanced at the plate and said, "I won't eat the rest."
"Okay, I'll let you eat first next time."
That's it this time.
Qi Lingzhan put down the book in his hand again and asked her, "Why do you have anything else to do if you stay here and don't leave?"
"Actually, it's nothing." Zhaowei took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth, then stood up and poured himself tea, "I just stopped by to see if my brother is still angry with me."
What does it mean to be angry with her? It sounds like he was making trouble unreasonably first.
Qi Lingzhan said: "I never act out of anger, and I don't have to be angry with anyone. It's not the fisherman's fault that the fish bites the hook. Although I invited Zheng Wuniang, you are angry with Han Feng and you shouldn't blame me. .”
Zhaowei said: "This is an injustice to me. When did I implicate you because of Han Feng?"
Qi Lingzhan asked: "You didn't, who was the person who threw up his sleeves and walked away on the day of Shangyuan?"
Zhaowei sometimes has a strong temper and can't bear any grievance, but he gets over it quickly afterwards. Therefore, Qi Lingzhan is still worried about it at the moment, but Zhaowei was stunned for a while before he remembered the reason.
She suddenly said: "That's because you went back on your word. You were the one who promised to let me go to Xizhou before. After hearing a few words from Sister Yao Ning, you were the one who went back on your word. Don't say you don't know. Ms. Jinqiu After staying at our house for several days, I returned to the palace to resume my life as soon as I heard that my engagement with the Han family was cancelled."
Qi Lingzhan said: "I really didn't mean that."
The color of the copper shear is like honey gold, and it is pinched in the slender hand of black ink. It is as delicate as a precious artifact.
Qi Lingzhan very patiently cut off a section of each candle on the candlestick. The candlestick suddenly lit up, making the silhouettes of the two people clearly visible.
This wasn't the first thing Zhao Wei misunderstood about him. Qi Lingzhan thought to himself, for example, he always suspected that he disliked her because of his emphasis on rules. Later, he gave up martial arts and became literary. After the scientific examination, he worshiped and sat down with Prime Minister Yao. Then he suspected that he was weak because of his power and really wanted to be Prime Minister Yao. obedient disciple.
Many people think so, but Qi Lingzhan never has the intention to explain. But what happened during the Shangyuan Festival was different. Qi Lingzhan secretly thought that telling her the truth might be fairer to her.
Besides, this was the first time that Zhaowei ran up to him and asked him for an explanation openly and openly.
So after a long silence, Qi Lingzhan finally spoke and told her the conversation he had with Qi Yaoning on the day of the audience in Kunming Palace, sentence by sentence, but omitted the real purpose of Yaoning's letting Qi Pingzhi into the palace.
After saying this, he put down the copper scissors in his hand, gently rubbed his sore wrists, and said softly: "Today, I just want to make it clear to you. Yao Ning hopes that you will enter the palace and marry the emperor for the sake of the prince, and also for the sake of eternity." Pinghou Mansion. It’s not that she doesn’t care about you, it’s just that she’s in a difficult situation and has too much time to take care of herself. This is her only choice after careful consideration. I hope you can understand.”
Zhaowei stared at him closely and asked, "What about brother, what choice do you have in mind?"
A pair of lacquered eyes, the pupils were clearly black, but there were a few stars hidden in them. When they met his eyes, their brilliance could actually outshine the bright lights in the room.
Is it curiosity, expectation, or... fear.
Qi Lingzhan thought to himself. She already regarded him as a flatterer, but she still cared about his choice. It was an honor.
"I am Yao Ning's brother, the eldest son of the Hou family. If it is for the overall situation, it is indeed a wise move for you to enter the palace. I have no reason to object."
Qi Lingzhan lowered his eyes and looked at the candlestick, recalling some old memories. A sudden smile appeared on his face, but it was like a drop of water for a moment, and then disappeared.
He looked at Zhaowei, and his long eyelashes cast shadows, covering up the gentleness that was already vague and hard to see.
"But Zhaowei, you are also my sister. Just like Yaoning, there is no difference in my heart. In the past, every time you were beaten, you always suspected that I was partial, and that was it. However, this matter concerns your life, and I don't want to see it. If you make a mistake in one moment, the rest of your life will be wasted.”
"For the sake of the overall situation" was what Qi Lingzhan often used to teach her in the past, but now he put it aside.
After hearing this, Zhaowei was a little unsure of his attitude, "Brother, please speak more clearly."
"Let me be clear. Privately, I don't want to see you enter the palace. The rest of my life will be restricted by strict rules. But Zhaowei, you still have to make your own choice. This is also the agreement between me and Yao Ning. If you are willing to enter the palace, I will do my best. I will protect you for the rest of my life, and if you don’t want to, I won’t let anyone force you.”
What he said couldn't be more clear, but Zhaowei felt hesitant in his heart.
She longed to return to Xizhou, where she had the roots and the freedom she sought. In her eighteen years of life, she had never imagined the possibility of entering the palace.
However, although she was born in Xizhou, she grew up in Yongpinghou's mansion. She has already regarded Qi Yaoning as her sister and Qi Lingzhan as her brother. She is a goose full of vitality. If she is forced to be locked in a cage and loses her freedom, she would rather collide with the golden cage and be shattered to pieces. If there was no cage, but only blessings and instructions to send you off, she would linger for a long time, unable to bear to leave, and rest on her shoulder several times.
Qi Lingzhan often said that she was rebellious, but it turned out that he had never been wrong about her.
There was a long silence, and Qi Lingzhan did not press her for a reply. He was very patient tonight, closed the poem scroll, laid out paper and studied ink, and leisurely read the posts of the late calligrapher of this dynasty.
The title of the post is "Fellow the Crane". When I write the last sentence, the ink becomes lighter and the strength becomes weaker. The wolf hairs sweep across, just like the shadow of crane feathers.
It said: "Go back, go back, don't stay in Xishan for long."
This was an unspoken partiality, and it was rare for Zhaowei to be so in tune with him. It's just that she clearly understood, but she didn't stop there. She turned around and left, packing her bags to leave Beijing with Rong Yuqing.
Instead, he took a step forward and leaned forward to block the light and shadow of the candlestick on the paper.
She asked in a very soft voice: "If I leave and never come back, how will my brother clean up the mess left behind by his sister?"
"It's not a mess, but we'll see."
"Should I allow Concubine Yao to take over the palace, or should I appoint someone else? Either the family is weak and the family is weak, or the Yao clan is still top-notch? Will I end up dead if I don't enter the palace?"
Qi Lingzhan put down his pen and sighed: "Zhaowei, there are some things you shouldn't ask."
On one side is Yao Ning, on the other side is Zhaowei. For Qi Lingzhan, this is a confusing account that cannot be calculated in detail.
What will happen next? If Zhaoweisu turns a blind eye, he can still deceive himself and think that not persuading or stopping means being impartial. But she asked so clearly, forcing him to see clearly how willful his attitude is, how biased he is, So much so that he has to throw away his sister, his nephew, and even the future of the East Palace.
Why is it so shocking?
"Let's do that." Before waiting for his answer, Zhaowei smiled and said to herself, "If you call me good sister, I won't leave."
