Although there are still more than twenty days before the end of the year, most of the wealthy families in the capital have already begun to prepare gifts for the New Year, and the whole palace of Prince Jia has already been busy. The chief steward of the palace is called Du Chong, a slightly fat middle-aged man. Du Chong was originally a centurion resident in Qingxi County. In the autumn famine of that year, some refugees went into the mountains and became grass bandits. From time to time they went to neighboring villages to rob and steal, and caused many lives. Du Chong was ordered to go to the mountains to suppress bandits. Unfortunately, he was stabbed in the waist and abdomen during the fight. Although he recovered from the injury, the damage to his organs eventually left the root of the disease and he could no longer lead the army. At that time, Xia Muchao was sent to Qingxi County by Emperor Yonghua to supervise local defense. After accidentally learning about this incident, he transferred Du Chong to his side. In this way, Du Chong stayed by Xia Muchao's side for seventeen years, and gradually became the steward of Prince Jia's palace, and was actually Xia Muchao's most trusted confidant.
The steward of the Prince's Mansion is a special military position. Although it is a sixth-grade military position, it does not wear the official beast robe of the Great China Dynasty. Although it receives a grade salary from the Ministry of War, it does not have any registered soldiers under its jurisdiction. Du Chong had his own courtyard in the palace. It was on Genjia Er, close to the side door. It had three halls, front and back, and twelve large and small rooms, connected by four corridors. Five years ago, without knowing what he was planning, a younger brother from his hometown in Qingxi came straight to seek refuge with his whole family. Since there was no communication beforehand and he came all the way from a long distance away, it was obvious that he had already decided to leave for a long time. It is said in ancient times that "when a person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." What's more, these are all close relatives of flesh and blood, how can we bear to refuse? It's just that he is still a guest of the imperial court and does not have a mansion. Du Chong was really embarrassed for a while. When Xia Muchao learned about this, he immediately asked people to vacate the large courtyard and asked the Du family to move in. Money was allocated every month to provide for daily living. Du Chong was reserved and aloof by nature, and he never spoke much of the kindness he received from Xia Muchao. However, he was meticulous and dedicated in managing the palace on a daily basis.
The Prince's Mansion of Jaw was built by Emperor Yonghua's decree during the Xia Mu Dynasty when he was promoted to a prince, so it was the most prestigious place. The palace has more than 700 soldiers, more than 200 servants, and nearly 100 dependents. Over the years, Du Chong has taken care of everything from the top to the bottom, but all the complicated things are managed properly. The palace guards were tight on the outside and loose on the inside. There were more than a hundred internal guards, who changed defense at three quarters of the hour and three quarters of Xu. There were more than 600 external guards, one each at Mao, Wei, and Haichu. Du Chong would personally supervise these five daily defense changes. Du Chong believed that his ability to detect words and change his mood was not as good as Zhou Xukuan's, and his martial arts skills were not as good as Lu Jianting's. Moreover, the two men were no less loyal to the King of Jaws than themselves, and they were only able to be appointed as stewards of the palace with "principle".
"Sir, I have just received a greeting card from Prince Yi's Mansion. His Highness Prince Yi has just arrived for a visit. At three o'clock in the morning, the palace's sedan chair has already set off." The postman in the side hall of the palace reported to Du Chong.
"Oh, yes, let's go down!" Du Chong answered, accepted the invitation and walked quickly to the main hall. Taking into account the distance between the two palaces and the distance of the sedan team, Du Chong estimated that it would only take a cup of tea for the Yiwang Palace sedan team to get off the sedan, so there was no time to delay and the king of jaw needed to be informed immediately. According to Duchong's many years of experience as an attendant, he knew that King Jaw was in the main hall at the moment.
There are two large gardens separated between the side hall and the main hall of the palace, and the pavilions, corridors and gardens in the middle are connected, which is a few miles away. Du Chong had just approached the main hall and was speechless. Xia Muchao knew he was coming when he heard his footsteps. He quickly wrote two lines in the memorial and put down his pen. When Du Chong came closer to him, he was about ten feet away. He looked at his description and saw that he was walking in a hurry but not angry. Then he smiled and asked, "Tell me, what's the matter?" while motioning to the waiter to serve tea. "It's very cold, drink some hot tea!"
Du Chong made a bow and took the tea as instructed, but did not drink it. He bowed and reported, "His Royal Highness is coming over and will be there in the next moment." After saying that, he committed himself and stood aside.
Xia Muchao took a sip of tea, stood up from the desk, walked a few steps, and told the attendant, "Go and invite Siyuan!" Then he said to Du Chong, "You go to the house and wait first. Brother Yi Wang is here. Just come here."
At this time, the appointment documents of the Ministry of Personnel had already been issued, and Mei Siyuan was a senior official of the second rank. According to common law and common sense, when local officials go to Beijing to report on their duties, they can stay in the posthouse temporarily as soon as they come with them. Mei Siyuan also asked to move out of the palace, but was rejected by Xia Muchao, "This palace is very big, and most of the rooms are vacant. You can live in Yuqiong Langyuan. You have a lot to prepare before taking office. Xu Kuanhe Du Chongzheng can help you and save you a lot of time. Moreover, my father has always been generous, and he will understand that it is difficult for you to do things from afar, so there is no need to avoid suspicion." Although Mei Siyuan still has concerns in his heart, it may be the right time for him to take up his new position. Inside, there was a long way to go and all the facts were not fully prepared, so I had no choice but to live quietly with my family. In the past ten days or so, King Jaw has arranged for Mei Yuanchen and his eldest son Xia Chengxuan to work together. The two are children of aristocratic families of similar age. Although there was no shortage of people of the same age around him before, after all, they rarely have similar companions. They had the same class, shared meals, and Yun Yao taught martial arts together after class, so they became even closer.
Since the meeting with the King of Jaws at Jinghu Pavilion, Mei Siyuan has been working hard to formulate a strategy to solve the salt shortage. After reviewing it several times, he has already made several calculations in his mind. However, in recent days, Mei Siyuan was investigating the way to transport salt from Fuzhou to Anxian County. Unexpectedly, the documents related to the official road and the post house of the Ministry of Industry were last entered more than 30 years ago, which is not enough for inspection. I was depressed, but I heard Fu Zuo come to report, "Sir, the prince's personal soldiers are here to invite you!"
Mei Siyuan hurriedly stood up from the desk. At this time, the soldier who was summoning him had arrived. He could only hear him say, "Master Mei, the prince is in the main hall. He ordered me to come and invite you."
"Oh, please lead the way," Mei Siyuan said with an invitation gesture, and then walked towards the main hall. Along the way, Mei Siyuan had some thoughts and had an idea of what the Jaw King was doing.
My thoughts don’t stop, my steps don’t stop, and I don’t even realize I’ve arrived.
I saw a middle-aged man sitting on the right side of the main hall. He was elegantly dressed and had a solemn face. He had just taken his seat. There were two people sitting under the table of a middle-aged man in rich clothes, one tall and thin in a green fur coat, and the other with gray hair in a black fur fur coat. These two people thanked King Jaw. Just as they were about to sit down, King Jaw stood up and said cheerfully to the person in front of the guests, "Yi Brother Wang, Master Mei is here!"
The two men in green and black fur clothes had just landed on the chair and stood up immediately. Mei Siyuan paid no attention to the two of them and approached them, nodding and bowing in turn, saying, "Your Highness, Mei Siyuan, has met His Royal Highness King Jia and His Highness King Yi!" After the ceremony, he bowed to the two people seated on the lower right of the guests. The person sitting in the first seat on the right side of the main hall is none other than the third son of the current emperor, Prince Yi Xia Muren, known as the "Benevolent King". Xia Muren is Xia Muchao's brother, and both of them are princes. According to the ceremony, Mei Siyuan was supposed to salute Xia Muren first. However, this is the palace of Prince Jia, and Xia Muchao is the master of the ceremony, so the salute should be from the jaw to Yi.
After everyone had finished their courtesy and sat down, Xia Muchao smiled at Xia Muren and said, "Brother Yiwang, I expected you to visit today to discuss matters related to Anxian salt transportation, so I invited Lord Mei here. You should come to my place less often. At home."
"You and I have heavy responsibilities, and it is difficult to clear up the common affairs, so we have very little leisure time. It is true that I have not been to your house for several years." After speaking, he slowly looked at Mei Siyuan, who was sitting on the front seat on the left side of the guest.
