Meng Lie shook off Wu Jue's hand and said expressionlessly, "Master Xuan Yangzi, why do you think I would tell you the news before you do?"
Wu Jue chased after him and said with an apologetic smile: "You are still angry... I wonder when will you calm down?"
Meng Lie was too lazy to pay attention, but Wu Jue blocked his way again. He raised his hands helplessly and bowed repeatedly, saying: "Okay, okay, it was all my fault back then..."
Meng Lie frowned and looked suspiciously at Wu Jue who was diligently bringing up old scores. It was common to bring up old scores, but it was unusual for the debtor to take the initiative to bring up old scores and seek scolding.
Wu Jue sighed heavily: "How about this, I will punish myself by drinking three cups today and formally apologize to you!"
After saying this, he extended his hand to Meng Lie and smiled cheekily: "Give me ten taels of silver, and I'll go to the street to buy some wine, and come back to apologize to you!"
“……”Meng Lie laughed.
It turned out that he had no money to buy wine, so he was asking him for money in various ways.
"I can't give it to you!"
Ah Dian suddenly appeared, strode forward, blocked the two of them, and looked at Wu Jue with a stern face: "I told you that you can only drink twice a month!"
Having said that, he turned to face Meng Lie, straightened his chest and said sternly: "Uncle Meng, you have to listen to me on this matter! Your Highness... Xiao Suining has appointed me as the Supervisor of Health Preservation!"
Wu Jue looked bitter. What kind of health care commander is this? He only has one soldier under his command! He is in charge of only one person! Wu Jue was stared at by A Dian every day. At first, in order to distract A Dian's attention, he wanted to drag Chang Kuo to suffer together. But when he went to Chang Kuo that day, he saw Chang Kuo, who only had one good leg left, was still practicing boxing with a wooden stake in the yard...
At that time, the Grand Princess Xuan'an came over, and Old Chang took off his shirt again and practiced even harder...
Chang Kuo had an outstanding body of muscular muscles, which were old but not dry. The beads of sweat hanging on them were enough to blind Wu Jue's eyes.
Wu Jue immediately fled in panic - it was obviously not a good thing to suffer with such a person.
Therefore, he had to be watched by Adian every day. Just because he had drunk wine twice, his private money was confiscated. Even the money bag he secretly hid under the bed was ruthlessly dug out by Hei Li.
If not for this, he would not have resorted to such a desperate measure as to ask Meng Lie for money for the wine.
"Our Adian is getting more and more powerful." Meng Lie smiled and patted Adian on the shoulder: "Do a good job, and Uncle Meng will have someone buy snacks for Adian later."
Ah Dian nodded rapidly, and immediately grabbed Wu Jue to continue practicing.
At this time, Chang Suining had just finished his morning exercises. When he heard that Meng Lie had returned, he directly asked someone to come to the courtyard to talk to him.
In the corridor, Meng Lie bowed to Chang Suining and said, "Sir, everything went well on this trip. We have settled the people properly."
"Okay." Chang Suining just nodded without saying another word. Instead, he asked Meng Lie, "Can we have breakfast now?"
Meng Lie answered truthfully: "No, sir."
Chang Suining smiled and said, "That's perfect, stay and eat together."
After she finished speaking, she raised her leg and walked forward. Meng Lie responded "yes" and followed respectfully.
The breakfast was relatively simple, and as there were only two of them, they did not eat at separate tables. Meng Lie was not used to eating at the same table with his own prince, but in front of Xier and other servants, it would be weird to refuse too much, so he had to sit down boldly.
But Xier's job was snatched away -
Meng Lie frequently picked and served dishes to Chang Suining, mostly the ones that Chang Suining liked to eat.
Because of the age difference between the two, when Xier saw this scene and thought about the many caring actions that Meng Dongjia showed to his daughter, Xier couldn't help but feel that Meng Dongjia, who had no children, might have awakened a belated fatherly love that had nowhere to go when treating her daughter...? No, fatherly love is mostly silent and rough, and this kind of care and meticulousness is more like motherly love.
This thought formed in Xier's mind. When she looked at Meng Dongjia again, she felt that his whole body was emitting dazzling rays of maternal love.
Meng Lie did not disappoint Xier's evaluation. After the meal, he specially talked to Xier alone. He first asked about Chang Suining's recent diet and physical condition, and then gave detailed suggestions. These suggestions covered a wide range, even precise to the incense burning in the room and the types of flowers in the vase. Not only should the color matching be paid attention to, it should not appear too noisy visually, and the fragrance of the flowers should also be as light and soothing as possible...
By the time she got to the end, the booklet in Xier's hand was almost full.
Finally, Meng Lie summarized the key points. In short, although daily necessities do not have to be luxurious, comfort must be the first priority; daily life should be as simple and neat as possible, putting aside fancy and cumbersome things, and focusing on simplicity and practicality, so that more time can be left for adults to rest.
Xi'er's face was full of enjoyment, and she clutched the book in her hand: "I will explain and implement them one by one later!"
In fact, ever since her daughter was promoted to Jiedushi, Xier has been quite anxious. She feels that her previous way of serving is indeed not keeping up with the girl's pace, but she doesn't know where to start if she wants to improve it... What Mr. Meng said today can be regarded as her timely rain and guiding light.
Xier's eyes were full of admiration, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Mrs. Meng was a woman, and younger...how could Xier have stayed with that girl?
However, Mr. Meng is so proficient in this, it can be seen that he is very knowledgeable about lifestyle, but why doesn't Mr. Meng pay attention to these things at all? Especially after coming to Jiangdu, Mr. Meng kept everything simple, from the inside to the outside, very simple and even sloppy, and there is no trace of wealth and enjoyment.
But it just happened that this kind of Meng Dongjia gave her a very strange feeling... It was as if the Meng Dongjia who appeared in Dengtai Tower in the capital before, wearing rich and luxurious clothes and treating people with a smile, was a businessman who pretended to be in order to do business, and now this kind of Meng Dongjia who "has no worldly desires" is his original true appearance.
Nowadays, Mr. Meng is busy in Jiangdu every day, arranging everything around the girl. He is active and meticulous. Although he is dressed simply and has a head of white hair, he gives people a feeling that he is more energetic than before.
To put it simply, it means the feeling of living a meaningful life.
But he didn't seek food and clothing, nor did he seem to seek any power or benefit, so where did his motivation come from? In the past six months, Xier and Meng Lie had met many times in taking care of Chang Suining's daily life, so they became familiar with each other. Xier was curious at the moment, so she held the book and asked a question in a roundabout way.
Meng Lie smiled and replied, "Everyone wants different things. As long as I am happy to see you, I will be happy everywhere."
Xier was stunned for a moment, then a look of sudden realization appeared on her face... This is probably how a mother feels.
After she suddenly realized it, Xier felt emotional in her heart. Although the girl had a hard life and had no father or mother since childhood, but until now, from an emotional point of view, she had both parents... No, more than both, it was more than enough.
Chang Suining, whose parents were "oversubscribed", went to the outer study room as usual to listen to Yao Ran and Wang Luo's reports on official business.
It has been more than 20 days since the official report of Chang Suining taking over as the governor of Jiangdu was released. In the Huainan Dao area, apart from the three states that responded first, the remaining nine states have successively sent people from the three states to Jiangdu to congratulate the new governor in the past half month. Although they may not be sincere, they have at least expressed their stance.
Of the remaining six states, four are still playing dumb, while Shenzhou and Huangzhou are unwilling to follow suit and voices of dissatisfaction have been heard. Yao Ran relayed without emotion: "The governors of Shenzhou and Huangzhou both said in private that they would never be inferior to a mere little woman."
Chang Suining, who was always good at discovering the strengths of others, nodded in appreciation: "Not bad, although you don't have brains, you have courage."
Yao Ran also reported in detail the specific circumstances of the six states brought back by the spies.
At this point, half of the people in Huainan Dao were unwilling to obey the orders of the new governor. In Chang Suining's opinion, the real reason was mostly due to the current turbulent times and people's hearts, rather than the so-called "can't be inferior to a mere woman" that was always on their lips.
After Yao Ran finished speaking, Chang Suining just nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."
Luo Ze secretly glanced at the governor who was still calm and composed, and felt that beneath this calm appearance, there must be a sword ready to be unsheathed - after all, the governor had said before that he would only give those people half a month, and now the deadline has arrived.
Chang Suining had already made up her mind, but she did not rush to say anything. She had another important matter today that she needed to discuss with the officials in Jiangdu.
A few days ago, Japan sent someone to present to Chang Suining the progress of capturing Japanese pirates, along with seasonal products from Japan.
In addition, the garrison sent by Dasheng to garrison the Wa Island has also arrived, and everything is being implemented in an orderly manner according to the peace terms that Chang Suining had forced Wa to make.
The sea is calm now, and in three days it will be time for the sea to open again this year.
Chang Suining promised the fishermen that the fishing would resume as usual this year, and the fishermen's boats and nets were ready for fishing. However, Chang Suining had a bigger ambition and planned to take action.
Yesterday, Chang Suining had someone notify the officials in Jiangdu to come and discuss the matter.
In the meeting hall, Chang Suining first listened to the officials' reports on their respective affairs before he brought up the main point of why everyone was here today.
She told everyone that she wanted to reopen the Jiangdu Maritime Customs.
The so-called Shibosi was an official office established by the Great Sheng Dynasty at the coastal port about a hundred years ago, responsible for overseas diplomatic and trade affairs. There were two such Shibosi in the Great Sheng Dynasty, one in Guangzhou and the other in Yangzhou.
However, due to the unstable maritime situation and the uncertain foreign policy, the implementation of the Maritime Customs was not smooth. It was gradually abandoned and even completely abolished decades after its establishment. Nowadays, few people mention its existence.
At this moment, Chang Suining suddenly mentioned that he wanted to reopen the Maritime Customs Office. The officials immediately became noisy. Some officials who had just entered the officialdom even asked the person next to them in a low voice, "...What is the Maritime Customs Office? What is its purpose?"
Chang Suining asked Yao Ran to come forward and explain her plan in detail.
Chang Suining not only intends to reopen the Maritime Customs Office, but also intends to reorganize and improve its old system. She has discussed this with Luo Guanlin and others in general these days.
In addition to foreign diplomacy, the rebuilt Maritime Customs will be more focused on overseas trade routes.
Trading caravans can be divided into two categories: one is official merchants, and the other is private caravans. Private caravans must obtain a pass from the Maritime Customs before going out to sea for trade. The Maritime Customs is responsible for monitoring their fleets and collecting corresponding shipping taxes.
After hearing this, all the officials couldn't help but talk about it.
"Although you are now in charge of the finances and taxes of Huainan Road, this matter concerns national affairs..." An official reminded: "Maybe it still needs the approval of the court first."
"Of course, I have sent someone to report to the capital." Chang Suining smiled and said, "Now the sea outside Jiangdu has been calmed down. I believe the Saint and the Ministry of Revenue will be happy to see this."
If this is accomplished, it will bring a considerable amount of financial income to Dasheng. In addition to finance, Chang Suining also values unknown products and new things from overseas.
After discussing it for a while, most people thought that this was feasible.
Just as Chang Suining said, now that Jiangdu and overseas have been pacified, although she showed some brutality in the battle with the Japanese army, she did deter the overseas countries very well. At such a time, as the person who personally quelled the rebellion at sea, it is most reasonable for her to come forward and propose this strategy.
And she built a shipyard in Jiangdu last year... Now that she thinks about it, it seems like she had planned it long ago.
This included making a name for himself by killing a lot of people at sea, getting Japan to sign an agreement to eliminate pirates, and having Sheng’s army stationed on Japanese islands...all of these things showed signs of paving the way for this event.
This gentleman has spent a lot of effort on this for a long time, so the timing and location are all right. With this, how could there be any discord among these people?
Although the Huainan Province is not united yet, Chang Suining's policies in Jiangdu have never failed to be implemented. All the policies proposed by her, even if the people below do not agree with them at first, have to try them out to some extent.
Putting aside Chang Suining's tyranny, everyone present knew that foreign trade, as long as it was carried out smoothly, would inevitably bring huge profits...
Thinking of the huge wealth that this move would bring, many officials' eyes lit up and they spoke out in favor of it.
So Chang Suining took the opportunity to propose that a Maritime Customs Commissioner be selected first to be responsible for the preparations for the reconstruction of the Maritime Customs Office. She also planned to organize a fleet as soon as possible to go out to sea, bringing goods from the silk weaving and porcelain workshops to explore the shipping routes first. The old shipping routes had not been used for a long time, and they needed to be explored again and revised to prepare for future trade.
All these follow-up matters require the participation of the Commissioner of Maritime Customs.
As soon as this was said, all the officials began to recommend each other or nominate their trusted confidants.
This is obviously a lucrative job, the kind that can't be any lucrative! Since Chang Suining took over Jiangdu, in order to unite the people, she has never been reluctant to let everyone share the profits within a controllable range. Her "generosity" is written on the surface.
But this time, Chang Suining had a slightly different idea. Or rather, she already had a candidate in mind.
Chang Suining looked past those enthusiastic officials and towards a person who was sitting far back and had never said a word about nominating the Commissioner of Maritime Customs.
It was a very young face, and he was wearing the official robes of a county magistrate.
I caught up! On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, I still wish you all a happy new year! Addendum on the 13th: I can’t update today. I declare that visiting relatives is really the most tiring thing in the world...
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