"Father-in-law, how are you?"

In the open space outside the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Chongzhen raised his hand towards Zhou Kui.

Zhou Kui was immediately flattered. He quickly came to Chongzhen and prepared to salute: "Old minister Zhou Kui greets Your Majesty."

"There are no outsiders here, so there is no need to follow the etiquette between the emperor and his subjects." Chongzhen personally reached out and helped Zhou Kui up.

Zhou Kui was so excited that he couldn't express it in words.

The other party is the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!

He hunched over, trembling all over, his eyes moistened: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Bring a stool for Lord Jiading."

Different from the caution last time.

After Zhou Kui declined several times, seeing that Chongzhen insisted, he boldly sat on the stool.

This time he was not afraid of Chongzhen plotting against him.

Because he got real benefits through Chongzhen.

The money he earned in just a few months was almost as much as he had saved in the previous decade.

Even if the stool was charged, he would accept it.

After some polite words, Chongzhen lowered his voice and said, "Father-in-law, there have been many wars recently. Have you also become rich?"

Zhou Kui had no idea what Chongzhen was up to, so he could only answer cautiously: "Your Majesty, I did make a little money, but it was all hard-earned money."

Chongzhen smiled slightly.

There is no such thing as hard-earned money, it's all about abusing power for profit.

Without power, there is no strength, and there is no benefit.

There were two ways for officials and nobles in the Ming Dynasty to make money.

One is exploiting businessmen, and the other is exploiting the people.

The ones being exploited are the disobedient businessmen; the obedient businessmen have already cooperated with the officials.

If you need money, give money; if you need people, provide people.

As long as the officials and nobles say a word, the merchants will obey their orders.

Of course, businessmen do this for profit.

Where do the benefits come from?

In the final analysis, it is the people who bear the brunt.

The longer a dynasty exists, the larger the number of privileged classes becomes, and the more severe the exploitation of the people becomes.

When the growth of the common people cannot keep up with the growth of the privileged class, conflicts within the dynasty will be aroused.

To put it another way, there are more wolves than sheep, and there is not enough meat to eat.

The reasonable approach is to reduce the number of wolves.

The reality is quite the opposite...

"I wonder why Your Majesty summoned me here?" Seeing that Chongzhen didn't speak, Zhou Kui asked cautiously.

Chongzhen recovered and smiled, then continued to ask in a mysterious tone, "The queen was ill a few days ago. Did the father-in-law know about this?"

"Yes, I found a famous doctor from Shanxi at that time. I didn't expect that the queen's illness would be cured as soon as he arrived in the capital."

"Oh? Is it very famous?" Chongzhen became interested.

The death of the queen's eunuch made him realize that the palace had been infiltrated.

It is possible that the Imperial Medical Service has also been infiltrated.

It is not clear who the enemy is, but it will definitely not be Zhou Kui.

Because everything Zhou Kui has comes from Queen Zhou, and everything Queen Zhou has comes from him.

Zhou Kui is a smart man and he wouldn't be so stupid as to not understand this kind of truth.

"Your Majesty, this man's surname is Fu, his given name is Shan, and his courtesy name is Qingzhu. He is from Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province."

"Fu Shan...Fu Qingzhu?" Under the glaring sunlight, Chongzhen squinted and repeated the name.

Good job!

This is a very famous character in martial arts novels.

Of course, the real Fu Qingzhu did not know martial arts, but he was proficient in medicine just like in the novel.

He holds a master-level status in the history of traditional Chinese medicine.

"Father-in-law, please write down this man's address. I will ask the people from the Imperial Hospital to test his medical skills later."

Zhou Kui did not dare to delay. He took the paper and pen from Wang Chengen and wrote down a line of address.

After he put down the paper and pen, Chongzhen continued to ask: "Does the father-in-law know why the queen is sick?"

"This...I don't know."

"It's caused by overwork. You also know that fine salt comes from the palace, and all the fine salt is made under the supervision of the queen."

Zhou Kui didn't know how to answer, so he could only sit there and remain silent.

Chongzhen saw that the time was right and changed the subject: "Father-in-law, do you have any fine salt in the palace?"

"Yes...no...not much!" Zhou Kui revised this short sentence twice.

"What do you think of this fine salt business?"

"Your Majesty, the fine salt business can be described as booming!"

Chongzhen smiled secretly in his heart, but his face showed a look of cutting flesh: "Father-in-law, after this illness, the Queen will no longer be able to manage the fine salt business."

"But fine salt can make money, and I don't want to push away the money that's delivered to my door."

"So, I want you to help me find someone to take over this fine salt business."

Zhou Kui lowered his head, his brain working rapidly.

He is thinking...

What exactly did Chongzhen mean by this sentence?

Is he really planning to transfer the fine salt to someone else, or is he targeting the Earl of Jiading?

"I wonder how much your Majesty plans to sell this fine salt for?"

"Of course the more the better. I have never done business, so please ask the father-in-law to come and discuss it with us." Chongzhen looked serious.

I see......

Zhou Kui's heart was finally at peace.

It wasn't that Chongzhen wanted to trick him, but that Chongzhen didn't understand and wanted to ask him for advice.

In fact, if you think about it, you will understand that the people in the palace are not from a business family, and their business capabilities are much worse than those of real businessmen.

In terms of professionalism, people like him are the most reliable.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou Kui told Chongzhen a bunch of nonsense.

Chongzhen didn't hear a word.

Seeing that Zhou Kui had not taken the bait, Chongzhen became a little anxious and asked, "Father-in-law, are you interested in taking over this business?"

"Me? Is this appropriate?" Zhou Kui almost drooled all over the floor.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!