Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Chapter 19
Kangxi suddenly woke up from his anger and looked down at Yinyou holding his fingers and crying.
A closer look revealed two obvious teeth marks on his finger. He couldn't help but chuckle as he took him out of Yinreng's arms, smiling and comforting him, "Be good and don't cry. Let me blow on your finger."
As he said this, he blew on Yinyou's fingers and patted his back to comfort him with some heartache.
The scene of fine wine and delicious food, and the splendor on the screen just can't be erased from my mind.
He's living frugally every day now, and why? Isn't it because of this year's drought, which has left the treasury with little money?!
As a result, these salt merchants actually engaged in such blatant extravagance and waste, and even charged three thousand gold for a pair of ivory chopsticks!
If he could gather this silver into the national treasury, he wouldn't be afraid of war.
Thinking of this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and his eyes sparkled.
Looking at the expression on Kangxi's face, Yinreng couldn't help but raise his hand and touch his nose. His father was blaming even him.
He was once the treasure in his father's arms, so how come he is not even as valuable as one of Fifteen's fingers now?
But those people are really going too far. Even the Yangxin Palace doesn't have such splendor and splendor. How dare these people live such a lavish life so brazenly?!
He was envious of what he saw.
Yinzhi also looked at Yinyu with heartache, but his mind was still on the coral screen. He was silent for a long while before comforting Yinyu: "Be good, Shiwu, don't cry. We won't eat snacks from now on."
As he spoke, he pulled out a jade pendant from his bosom, waved it twice in front of Yinyu, and said to him, "Fifteen, look at what your elder brother got you?"
The red color of the bloodstone is so bright that it is not easy to obtain.
If he hadn't seen Fifteen crying so hard, with his little fingers all red, he wouldn't have been willing to take them out to comfort him.
No, to be exact, if I hadn't heard those two people say that the entire screen was made of coral, and then looked at the bloodstone that I treated as a treasure, I would have felt scared.
Only then did he feel willing to give it to Yinyou.
Through his tearful eyes, Yinyu saw the jade pendant right before his eyes. He sobbed and stretched out his chubby little hand, accurately grasping the jade pendant. Looking at the blood-red color, he couldn't let it go. He asked softly in his heart, "What material is this? The red on it is so beautiful."
The 679 system looked at the jade pendant in Yinyu's hand and said, "It should be chicken blood stone, but this color is really rare. Your cheap brother really spent a lot of money."
Yinyu clutched the jade pendant in his hand, grinned broadly at Yinzhi, and said in a childish voice, "Although it's not as valuable as the salt merchant's coral screen, it's still a gem after all."
When Yinzhen listened to Yinwei's words, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He turned his head to look away. After his complexion recovered, he looked at Yinwei with a smile.
Kangxi took a deep breath and responded to Yinreng's words, "Yinreng is right. The salt tax is related to the foundation of the country and must not be reduced. However, the harvest is not good now. If the salt tax is not reduced, the people may not even be able to eat salt."
"If you don't eat salt, you'll feel weak all over, and it will affect the harvest next year."
When he saw the memorial a few days ago, he thought of this problem and wanted to discuss it in front of Fifteen to see if the 679 system could give Fifteen a solution.
Now that we are talking about this issue, I might as well ask it through Fifteen's mouth.
Upon hearing this, Yinreng picked up a piece of pastry and placed it in Yinyu's hand. He said with a somewhat sorrowful look, "Father, what if we lower the salt tax, but the salt merchants don't lower it, but instead raise the price of salt?"
"By then, any reduction in salt taxes we make will be a boon to the salt merchants."
This is also what he is most worried about.
Yinyu took the snack from Yinreng's hand, nibbled on it bit by bit, and then thought to himself, "Why is the salt tax related to the country's foundation? I remember it seemed to be very cheap."
Nowadays, salt can cost as little as one or two yuan a bag, or as much as dozens or even hundreds of yuan a bag. The difference lies in the workmanship and production cost.
But the sea is there, and there are salt lakes and saline lands. Can't we all make salt from them?
Why are prices so high?
System 679 sighed and said in a childish, mechanical voice, "The production process is different, and the people in charge are different. Coupled with the tax policy, this has led to the current imperfections, which also makes salt a very important tax payer at this time."
At this point, he paused slightly, then continued, "Of course, if your cheap father collected the salt tax at the Ministry of Revenue and randomly changed the person in charge of the salt tax every year, it would still be possible to effectively prevent collusion between officials and businessmen."
"All officials who can manage the salt tax have connections. For example, the person sitting in this position now is Zhang Wu. Zhang Wu looks big and strong, but he is a ruthless person. Most importantly, he is your eldest brother's man."
As he spoke, a picture suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. In the picture, Yinzhen was holding a jar of wine and talking about the past and present with Zhang Wu. His unrestrained and bold appearance made it clear that this was not the first time.
In addition to this, at the end, when Zhang Wu left, he also took away two jars of wine from Yinzhen.
Zhang Wu staggered with the wine in his hand and said to Yinzhen, "Prince Zhi is righteous. I will come to drink with you again when I have time."
Yinyu looked at the screen, his fingers holding the snack paused slightly, and then he looked at Yinzhi with his bright black eyes flashing. Zhang Wu was actually Yinzhi's man, which made things a bit complicated.
Yinzhen was so frightened by the scene on the screen that his face turned pale. Could he say that the video was taken out of context?
Who was Zhang Wu? He had only met him a few times, so how could he be his man? Furthermore, he really had only met this person a few times, and Zhang Wu wasn't the only one drinking this time?!
Why are there only scenes of him and Zhang Wu together in the short video?
Thinking of this, he quietly raised his head and looked towards Kangxi. He was met with a cold gaze from Kangxi, and he quickly lowered his head in fear. He gritted his teeth and said to Kangxi, "Father, the salt tax is now in charge of Zhang Wu. If you trust him, please hand it over to your son."
At this point, he gritted his teeth and said, "If we can find anyone who is corrupt and abuses the law, my son will confiscate their property!"
Didn't we just say that the salt merchants' families were as wealthy as a nation? Didn't Zhang Wu embezzle the salt tax?
Then I will just copy them all for you. Wouldn’t the lost silver be returned to the national treasury?
He has already raided Zhang Wu's house, so his royal father won't bother him anymore, right?
Thinking of this, his tense heart relaxed a little, and then he raised his eyes and looked at Kangxi pitifully.
Yinyu was a little shocked and said in his heart: "Wow, my cheap brother's method is really good. This confiscation of property has filled the hole in the national treasury."
System 679 listened to Yinyu's words, and its childish mechanical voice was full of ridicule: "You two are really of the same lineage. Your cheap father has the intention but not the courage. However, he will find some people to confiscate their property and make some extra money."
"Your cheap fourth brother completely treated corrupt officials as his own backup food. If the treasury was short of money, he would confiscate their property. If there was a drought, he would confiscate their property. If there was a war, he would confiscate their property. Anyway, he just loved to confiscate property. Later generations even gave him a nickname: the Confiscating Emperor."
At this point, he said to Yinyu with some disdain: "No wonder you can't become emperor, you don't dare to think about it, and you don't dare to do it."
Kangxi listened to System 679's words, his fingers unconsciously tightening, trying to stop himself from bursting out in laughter. He hadn't expected Xiao Si to do such a thing. Truly, the disciple surpasses the master.
Thinking of this, he coughed lightly and said to Yinzhi, "Yinzhi, it's okay to confiscate the property, but you must investigate thoroughly before doing so. There must be no false charges or wrongful convictions."
Yinzhen and Yinreng looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. They didn't expect that Yinzhen would do this to the extent of being an emperor, confiscating the emperor's property.
How many houses must have been confiscated to deserve such a title?
But upon hearing Kangxi's words, Yinzhen quickly nodded and said, "Yes, son, I remember."
Yinyu munched on the snack in his hand, listening to the conversation between the two, and his mind was not idle either: "Even if I dare to think about it, I won't do it. I won't even be the emperor. Let me search my house all day long. I don't know how many people want to kill me every day. Anyway, I won't do this."
The emperor who confiscated property looked very majestic, but no one knew how many people would hate him.
Thinking of this, he said to System 679, "If Big Brother confiscates those two salt merchants we saw, will the national treasury be filled with silver all of a sudden?"
As soon as this thought came into his mind, his eyes suddenly brightened.
Yinzhen's eyes suddenly brightened. He looked down at the pottery figurine on the table, thinking about the magnificent decorations that appeared in the short video just now, as well as the priceless ivory chopsticks and the red coral screen.
There were only a few of these things in the palace, but the salt merchants actually had them all.
Especially the food, which makes people drool. There are all kinds of creatures, including those that swim in the water, fly in the sky, and run on the ground.
Such is the wealth and extravagance of the salt merchants.
If he really caught these two people and arrested them, the national treasury might really be full.
System 679 nodded to Yinyu and said, "You are right. Your fourth brother thinks the same."
At this moment, Kangxi, Yinzhen and Yinreng were all silent.
The next morning, Yinyu opened his eyes and saw Sun. A bright smile suddenly appeared on his face. He opened his arms and said to her happily, "Hug me."
Sun took the clothes and walked forward two steps. She held Yinyou in her arms. After a moment of silence, she smiled and said, "Fifteenth Prince, I will help you put on the clothes."
She had only been gone for a few days when the Fifteenth Prince could already speak.
Yinyou looked at Sun's familiar face, her chubby little face full of a bright smile.
System 679 looked at Yin Yu's happy expression and said with a smile, "Host, Liang Jiugong is really useless. He didn't even investigate who was going to attack you. If you are willing, we can watch a few more short videos and we will be able to find the person."
There are still many restrictions on short videos. Either you directly specify the characters, or they are random.
Just like the salt merchants we talked about yesterday, the 679 system directly gave out the two richest ones.
The clips captured were also taken when these two people were together, but if you want to find the man in black who contacted Sun's husband, you may have to keep watching. If you are lucky, you can see who it is in a day's video.
If you are unlucky, it may take many days to see a person's true face.
Yinyu obediently raised his arm and let Sun put the clothes on him. Then he said with some disdain, "Watch a few more days? Judging by the length of your short videos, I'm afraid I won't be able to find the person behind the scenes even if I watch them for a month. There are only three videos a day, and including fast forward, it's less than a minute. How do you think I'm going to find them?"
As for the man in the black cloak, no one knows who he is or who he is in contact with. If we just track him, it will take less than three short videos a day for 24 hours, and if we are unlucky, it will be strange if he can find him.
System 679 also knew that it was in the wrong. As he listened to Yinyou's words of disbelief, he fell into silence.
Sun dressed Yinyu, took out some goat milk and chicken porridge, and placed them on the table. She turned around, held Yinyu in her arms, helped him wash and feed him.
When they were almost done eating, Sun took a handkerchief and wiped Yinyou's mouth. She smiled and said, "The Emperor said that I will take you to see the young lady today. Since you are going out, you should dress warmly. It's very cold outside."
As she spoke, she took out a heavy cloak and put it on Yinyou.
She picked him up, lifted the door curtain and walked outside.
As soon as he went out, Yinyou felt a biting cold wind blowing towards him, carrying the snow on the trees and falling down.
System 679 looked at the snow falling from the trees and said to Yinyu, "Sun has returned this time and has become a female official. Everyone in her family, except for her son, has died."
These words were somewhat heavy, and Yinyu was slightly startled. He put his arms around Sun's neck and asked in his heart, "What happened?"
The childish voice of System 679 said in a low voice, "The person who ordered Sun's husband to kill to silence him. He killed the entire family and then set it on fire. If Sun's son hadn't been neglected and thrown into the pigpen outside, he probably wouldn't have survived."
"That child also suffered a lot. If Sun had gone a day later, he would have been eaten by pigs."
Yinyu was silent for a moment after hearing this. Looking at the expression on Sun's face, he couldn't help but hold her hand tightly. He thought to himself, "When I grow up and need a study companion, I'll see what this child can do. If he's capable, I'll let him enter the palace as my study companion."
"Sun can also see him every day."
System 679 nodded and said, "That's fine. Sun's son is currently being looked after by his mother's family. He grew up in the countryside and must know a lot. You can let him take you out to play."
Children who grew up in the countryside are generally tough. They are proficient in climbing mountains and swimming in water, but the only thing they are not good at is studying.
But if she follows Yinyu, she can become a martial artist and achieve great things in the future.
The prerequisite is that he works hard.
As the two were chatting, Sun carried the person into Zhongcui Palace.
Zhongcui Palace seemed a little deserted, and there was not a single person on the road. Yinyu hugged Sun's neck and looked around in some confusion. There were not many people usually, but it was not as few as it was now.
Sun obviously noticed something was wrong. She frowned and quickened her pace.
Yinzhen walked in from outside. After seeing Yinyu being held in Sun's arms, he smiled and called out, "Fifteen, what a coincidence! Are you here to see your mother too?"
When Sun heard the voice, she naturally couldn't just leave. She stopped, turned around and saluted Yinzhen: "Greetings, Prince Zhi."
Yinzhen smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Get up. I'm here to pay my respects to my mother as well. I just walked here."
He touched Yinyu's head with his hand and said with a smile, "Let's go."
Yinyu looked at the smile on Yinzhi's face and asked System 679 with confusion, "Isn't he going to investigate Zhang Wu? How did he still have time to pay his respects to Concubine Hui?"
Zhang Wu is in charge of the salt tax. If he hears the news and runs away, it will be difficult to catch him.
System 679 laughed and said, "Who knows? Maybe he came to tell Concubine Hui before leaving."
He said with some confusion: "Zhongcui Palace is so strange today. Why don't we see anyone? Where did everyone go?"
Yinzhen listened to the words of the unified leader, looked at Yinyou's chubby little face, raised his hand and pinched it.
He originally wanted to leave, but his royal father did not have time to follow Fifteen to Zhongcui Palace, and was worried that there would be loopholes in the salt tax issue discussed yesterday, so he asked him to come here specifically.
He had already left the city in a carriage, but when he woke up, he found himself back in the palace.
At this moment, a little palace maid ran over with a pale face and a panicked look.
Yinzhen looked at the pale face of the little palace maid and frowned, "Stop! How can you be so flustered?"
The young maid raised her eyes and saw Yinzhen. Her expression suddenly changed. She knelt on the ground and kowtowed to him, saying, "Empress Hui is furious. I beg Prince Zhi to save my life."
The little palace maid spoke tremblingly, and it was obvious that she was really scared.
Yinzhen frowned, reached out and picked up Yinyu from Sun's arms, and with a tap of his toes, he leaped several feet forward. Then he said calmly to Sun, "Hurry up and catch up."
After saying this, he disappeared on the road to Zhongcui Palace.
Sun looked at the little palace maid kneeling on the ground, and started to chase after her. After two steps, she paused slightly, turned around and walked quickly towards the Qianqing Palace.
It was the first time that Yinyou was carried by someone and flew. It couldn’t be said that he was flying, but he could jump several meters and be as light as a swallow. It was simply a miracle.
He looked at the receding scenery, took a deep breath, and said excitedly, "System, I want to learn this too. I want to fly too!"
Upon hearing this, System 679 said in a childish, mechanical voice, "Host, this system isn't trying to discourage you. You can't endure hardship or fatigue, so you won't be able to learn this Qinggong."
"Be good, just be your rice bug and eat, drink and have fun every day."
Yinzhen listened to the 679 system's words and slipped, almost causing them both to fall to the ground. Is this Qinggong easy to practice? He thought it was quite simple.
Yinyu put his arm around Yinzhi's neck and said unhappily, "When I grow up, I'll find my elder brother and ask him to teach me. This Qinggong technique looks really cool."
Even if it's tiring, he still wants to study.
In his previous life, when he watched those martial arts palace examinations, what he envied most were those chivalrous heroes who were brave and righteous. Now that he finally saw one, how could he not learn from them?
Yinzhen was very fast and reached the gate of the courtyard while everyone was talking.
After seeing everything in the yard clearly, Yinzhen's eyes went dark and he almost fainted.
He repeatedly warned his mother not to cause trouble for Concubine Wang, but now Concubine Wang was kneeling on the ground. What was going on?
Thinking of this, he coughed lightly and said to Concubine Hui: "Mother, what's wrong? Why are you so angry?"
When Concubine Hui heard this, the anger on her face suddenly subsided. She looked up at Yinzhen and said angrily, "Why are you here? Didn't you accept the mission and leave?"
Holding Yinyu in one hand, Yinzhen smiled and took two steps forward, explaining to her, "I was originally planning to leave, but then I remembered that I hadn't told Mother yet, so I came back to tell her that I'm leaving and won't be able to pay my respects to her during this period. I hope Mother takes care of herself."
Concubine Hui was amused by Yinzhen's words and started to giggle. She wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and said with a smile: "Okay, you are the only one who can say it."
Yinzhen looked at Concubine Wang kneeling on the ground and said with a smile, "Mother, why did you let Concubine Wang kneel here? Fifteenth Prince would be so distressed if he saw this."
Yinyu reacted suddenly. He looked at Concubine Wang who was kneeling on the ground and burst into tears. While crying, he said to Concubine Wang, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
Concubine Wang knelt on the ground, watching Yinyou's big tears falling down, and her heart felt as if someone was squeezing it.
But when she thought of Fuling who was taken away, she took a few deep breaths and whispered, "Don't cry, Shiwu, mother is fine."
Listening to Yinyu's cries, Concubine Hui said to Wang Shi impatiently, "Noble Lady Wang, you are making things difficult for me. It is only natural to be punished for one's mistakes. Why can't I send your Fuling to the Ministry of Punishment for her mistakes?"
"If I had been like this before, not only would Fuling be beaten to death, but you would have to kneel for several hours before you could leave."
"Don't think that just because I'm in a good mood, you can push your luck."
Wang lowered her head and looked at the ground. A serious expression on her face said, "Empress Hui, it's not me who's trying to stop you. It's Fuling who's been wronged. She's been by my side since I entered the palace. It's impossible for her to do such a thing."
At this point, she couldn't help but let out a wry laugh. "Besides, Fuling is my personal maid. She's served me for so many years. You say you believe I didn't do this, but I don't believe it myself. Is it wrong for me to want Concubine Hui to conduct a thorough investigation?"
She believed that Fuling was wrongly accused, but she had no evidence to prove that Fuling was wrongly accused.
If she pleaded for Fuling, maybe Fuling could survive. If she ignored it, Fuling would definitely not survive. Even if Concubine Hui did not pursue her now, she would still attack her if she had the chance in the future.
It would be better to take this opportunity now to find out the truth.
Yinyu's sobs gradually subsided as he listened to Concubine Wang's words. In his mind, he asked System 679, "679, what exactly happened? Why did Concubine Hui become so angry that she ignored her elder brother and sent Fuling directly to the Ministry of Punishment?"
He has a very good relationship with Yinzhi now, and is useful to Yinzhi. No matter what, Huifei will not give face to others and will not make things difficult for his adopted mother. Now she is so angry, there must be something wrong.
The 679 system didn't say anything and directly released the short video.
On the screen of the short video, there was a woman dressed as a palace maid. She squatted under a tree, digging the ground hard, and then put something wrapped in cloth inside.
Fuling came over from a distance, and the moment she saw the man, she frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"
The man raised his eyes and glanced at Fuling, then ran away.
Seeing that the person had disappeared, Fuling walked towards the big tree, squatted down and picked up the half-buried cloth bag. Before she opened it, Concubine Hui came over from not far away.
Concubine Hui frowned as she looked at the thing in Fuling's hand. She asked Yuexiu to take it and open it. At the first glance, she was so angry that her whole body was shaking. She pointed her finger at her nose and cursed, "How dare you practice witchcraft on my son!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
