Maybe Li Qing likes children, or maybe since the little guy is an old friend, Li Qing is very fond of the little guy, loves him very much, and dotes on him very much.
The father and son walked around the street for a long time, and Li Qing bought a lot of messy things for the little guy.
It was near noon that the two of them walked back.
The little guy was happy, but also a little worried: "Godfather, don't you still have to do something? Did Hong'er delay you?"
"There's no rush," Li Qing smiled: "It's not too late to do it later. Where are you going at noon?"
"Go to your godfather's house."
"Um."
…
Not long after lunch, the little guy took a nap, and then Li Qing left for the Weaving Bureau.
When Xiao Liuzi heard that Li Qing was coming, he immediately put down everything he was doing and rushed to see him.
As soon as they met, Xiao Liuzi was extremely flattering.
He naturally knew about such a big matter as changing the emperor. Of course, basically the whole world knew about it.
The emperor is the king of a country. How can a new emperor ascend the throne secretly? The court will not hide such a thing.
"Congratulations to Mr. Li on your promotion." Xiao Liuzi said with a flattering smile, "Sir, you are the pillar of the country. I heard that the new emperor is particularly dependent on you."
Li Qing smiled and said: "My father-in-law is quite well informed."
"Our family eats food from the palace, so naturally we don't dare not take it seriously." Xiao Liuzi smiled, dug into his sleeve, and handed over a wad of silver notes.
Li Qing took a look and saw that they were all banknotes in denominations of one thousand taels, and there were tens of thousands of taels in total.
"It seems that my father-in-law is very nourished here!"
Xiao Liuzi tightened his skin and said with a smile: "What the hell, sir, you misunderstood. This is almost half of our family's wealth."
He said miserably: "Our family dare not forget the teachings of the adults. All major matters are business affairs. Hahaha... These are Boss Shen's filial piety."
"That's good." Li Qing thought for a while and accepted the banknote.
Seeing him collecting the money, Xiao Liuzi felt relieved and smiled like Maitreya Buddha.
"Father, how was the business in Jinling during my absence?" Li Qing asked. He was very concerned about the economy, which was related to the national economy and people's livelihood.
Xiao Liuzi smiled and said: "Okay, that's great. I made a lot of money."ωＷω.ＧoＮЬ.οrＧ
"I'm talking about private business." Li Qing added.
"This." Xiao Liuzi pondered for a while and said: "It was not good at the beginning. Except for Shen Xin, almost everyone was losing money. At the worst time, Shen Xin couldn't bear it. But in the past two months, things have gotten better. few."
After a pause, he lowered his voice and said: "It's mainly because of the Emperor... The share of overseas trade set by the Supreme Emperor is in name only. The military strength was tense some time ago, and the soldiers stationed at the port were withdrawn. Now smuggling is happening everywhere."
"Smuggling?" Li Qing frowned, "Why didn't I... didn't you report it to the court?"
"Ah? This..." Xiao Liuzi said sarcastically, "The Supreme Emperor is out hunting in the north, and the new emperor... I don't know if it is the new emperor's intention. Besides..."
After a pause, "Our family is also afraid of offending others."
Xiao Liuzi was indeed afraid. Even Wang Zhen was beaten to death. How could he not be afraid?
Everyone in the Dao Daoer bureau here knows that as an eunuch, he does not have much moral integrity and cannot do selfless dedication.
Who can guarantee that even if the report is really reported and it reaches the hands of the emperor, a new emperor who has just ascended the throne will be able to deal with it?
If it doesn't work well, the new emperor will kill the people who reported it in order to win people's hearts and consolidate his position.
"Master Li, we really treat you as one of our own, that's why we are telling you this!" Xiao Liuzi said with a sad face, "You can't sell our family."
"Ang, don't worry, I know your difficulties." Li Qing nodded.
This situation is also reasonable. The pressure was too harsh before, but now the emperor has changed, it will definitely rebound. Li Qing is not surprised, but he feels very unhappy.
These individuals are so greedy that they don't even pay taxes, which is totally unreasonable!
Seeing that Li Qing's face was not good-looking, Xiao Liuzi quickly deflected Li Qing's anger: "Since smuggling became popular, Shen Xin has stopped cooperating well and has been squeezing goods. He has hoarded a lot of goods now and just won't sell them to the court."
After a pause, "I heard that he is hooking up with a Beijing official and is also smuggling secretly."
Li Qing nodded slightly: "I understand."
Businessmen are always profit-seeking, and Li Qing didn't expect Shen Xin to have much integrity. The reason why he mentioned it before was because he dragged him into trouble.
But Shen Xin himself is not very glorious. Of course, Shen Xin is not an exception. Most of the wealthy gentry in this era are like this.
"I'm going to see him." Li Qing stood up and said, "Father-in-law, you can go about your business."
"Hey." Xiao Liuzi nodded and said nonchalantly: "Please don't say it was our family who said this. He is a little complicated about these things."
How complicated it can be, it's just that Shen Xin paid you, but you stabbed you in the back... Li Qing nodded perfunctorily, "Let's go."
"Sir, walk slowly."
…
Shen family.
When Shen Xin saw Li Qing again, his face was full of surprise. He didn't expect that the emperor had changed and Li Qing was still standing.
Unlike Xiao Liuzi, he didn't know much about the situation in Beijing, and he didn't know about Li Qing's upcoming promotion to the position of Minister.
"When did Mr. Li come back?" Shen Xin felt guilty. He had almost violated everything Li Qing had told him before.
However, he is not too weak, now he has a new backer.
"Boss Shen, I told you before that if you cooperate with the imperial court, you will definitely make money without losing anything." Li Qing got straight to the point, "For the sake of our past friendship, I will give you a chance to immediately stop the unfair operations and return to the right path. .”
"The common people don't understand what Mr. Li said!" Shen Xin smiled apologetically and greeted people: "Master Li is coming to my humble residence, why don't you prepare some food and drinks quickly."
Then, he looked at Li Qing and asked carefully, "Did you hear some gossip?"
Li Qing smiled: "Boss Shen, you are a businessman, you should understand something."
"Please enlighten me, sir."
"Businessmen do not fight with officials." Li Qing said, "I have arranged a way for you to make money. As long as you do what I say, I guarantee that you will make a fortune and your family wealth will be several times greater than before!
But don’t forget, wealth is just an adjective. Do you think the court will really tolerate a businessman whose wealth far exceeds the national treasury? "
Shen Xin paused for a moment, his expression ugly.
Li Qing sneered and said: "Originally, you were directly dealing with the court and the emperor, but you insisted on bringing in some middlemen. Aren't you looking for trouble for yourself?
Those people are all blood-sucking maniacs. If you follow them, not only will you not make more money, but you will be divided up by them;
One day, they will suck all the blood out of you, and then, holding high the banner of justice, they will kick you away;
Just wait, just wait for your family to be destroyed! "
Shen Xin's forehead was filled with breath and cold sweat, but he didn't completely believe it.
First, he didn't think those people were as vicious as Li Qing said, and second, he thought Li Qing was deliberately scaring him.
"Sir, Shen has always respected you and is grateful to you." Shen Xin smiled apologetically. He did not want to offend Li Qing, "But the common people have never done anything to disgrace the imperial court!"
"You know better than me whether I have done it or not." Li Qing said lightly, "I will go back soon. Think about it carefully. If you miss this time, when bad luck comes, don't blame me for not helping."
Having said that, he left without stopping.
~
As soon as he got home, Zhu Yunwen greeted him.
"Senior brother, someone from the capital sent you a letter." Zhu Yunwen handed over the letter sealed with lacquer.
Li Qing knew that due to his popularity, no one would write to him except Yu Qian.
There is still a long time before the two-month period. Yu Qian is so anxious to write to him, obviously he has encountered a difficult situation.
Li Qing took it and opened it immediately.
The letter was indeed sent by Yu Qian. After reading the content, Li Qing's face darkened.
"What's wrong, senior brother?" Zhu Yunwen asked nervously, "Something big happened in the capital?"
"Well... I guess." Li Qing sighed quietly, "It seems I have to go back early."
"Is it tricky?"
"It's tricky, but it's not unsolvable." Li Qing smiled, "Don't worry, I'm sure to solve it."
Hearing this, Zhu Yunwen was no longer so nervous, "After dinner, can we leave tomorrow?"
"Yeah, okay." Li Qing nodded, "I'm not in a hurry."
The content of the letter was very simple, with only three items. The first was that the ministers requested that he be removed from his position as Minister of War. The second was that the ministers demanded that the travel and shipping tax be cancelled. The third was the cliché that the state does not compete with the people for profit.
What Li Qing is most angry about is the second one!
In this era, the vehicle and vessel tax is, in a sense, a commercial tax.
With the abolition of the vehicle and vessel tax, the commercial tax on maritime trade was lost. This loss was too great and must not be allowed. However, Zhu Qiyu, who had just taken office, could not withstand the pressure of that group of people.
Yu Qian could barely bear it, but he couldn't think of any other way besides compromise, so he asked Li Qing for help.
