The enclosure issue had not been resolved, and the war in Xuantong Prefecture was imminent. No one could guarantee that no one would plot against the Taifu. The Taifu followed the Second Madam to live in the West Mountain Villa for a few days, just in time to avoid these two things.
"Thank you, second sister-in-law!" Xu Lingyi bowed to the second wife, "Then I'll trouble you to take care of me and stay at the West Mountain Villa for a few days!"
The second lady nodded and turned to go into the house.
"Let Jie'er and Ying'er take Ting'er and Zhuang'er to live with them for a few days!" Shiyi Niang and Xu Lingyi strolled side by side on the bluestone-paved corridor, "It will be more lively this way!"
"You arrange it!" Xu Lingyi said, "I might be very busy these days!" He then pondered, "This matter should be done sooner rather than later."
Eleventh Lady agreed, and when she got home, she called Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie and their spouses over: "Jie'er and Yingniang will take the children to accompany grandmother and second aunt to stay in the West Mountain Villa for a few days; Zhun'er will go to second aunt to get an auspicious date for departure and arrange the trivial matters for the short stay in West Mountain. Sese will stay at home to help me entertain the guests, and Yingniang will help the children pack the boxes." After that, she instructed the two separately, "Zhun'er, remember to send more guards to the West Mountain Villa to prevent anyone from disturbing grandmother; Jie'er will accompany grandmother well there to prevent her from getting bored and wanting to come back!"
The news that Lord Chen suggested taking back the granted lands from the dukes and nobles had already spread throughout Yanjing, and they were worried about this very thing - without the granted lands, only those with jobs and titles would have an annual salary, and those without jobs and titles would have no annual salary. In this way, only Xu Lingyi, Xu Lingkuan, Xu Sizhun, and Xu Sijin in the Xu family would have an annual salary, and their income would be reduced by at least nine-tenths, not to mention those families with only a title.
Everyone in Beijing was staring at Zhou Shizheng and Xu Lingyi. What would they say? Even if they were not politically sensitive, they knew that this was not an easy matter.
Xu Sizhun and Xu Sijie agreed in unison and acted separately.
The lady-in-waiting thought that it was the Second Lady who wanted to go, and that Yingniang, who loved to talk, was there with Ting'er and Zhuang'er, so she immediately agreed with a smile.
The second lady cut the Gordian knot and set the departure date for two days later.
Packing up boxes and boxes, planning to follow up with the maids, daughters-in-law, old women, kitchen staff, night watchmen... Jiang was so busy that she finally sent away the old lady and others, and had to re-arrange the night watchmen in the mansion and the maids who cleaned each room. After finally taking a breath, several ladies in charge of the household affairs of Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, Weibei Marquis's Mansion, Zhongshan Marquis's Mansion, Dingguo Duke's Mansion, and even the Fifth Madam's maiden family Dingnan Marquis's Mansion and the Zhennan Marquis's Mansion Wang family, which she didn't usually interact with, came to visit from time to time, arranging tea and snacks, meals, seeing off guests, and talking to the young ladies who came to serve their mothers-in-law. Jiang was busy, but she also understood from the occasional words she heard - the war in the northwest was tense and military pay was in short supply. The emperor decided to take back all the land granted by the nobles to pay for the military pay. The ladies were trying to get each other's attention so that several marquises and earls could write letters at the same time to create a sense of public outrage.
"Don't worry, Madam Tang, this is not a family matter," Eleventh Lady repeatedly stated, "Even if our Marquis doesn't care about things anymore, he can't keep silent about this matter."
Madam Tang sighed: "This time, these elders have gone too far. Aren't they trying to cut off our chance of survival?"
"Even rabbits bite when they are cornered. Besides, he is trying to cut off our livelihood." The wife of the Marquis of Zhennan, who was so thin that she was just a bag of bones but still able to speak, laughed coldly, "Didn't the emperor say that the war in the northwest was tight and the treasury was empty? Chen Zixiang has been innovating and issuing new policies every year, so how come the treasury is empty? Now he even wants people like us to help clean up his mess. How can such a good thing happen in the world?"
Chen Zixiang is the name of Mr. Chen.
Mrs. Tang said nothing, but her eyes flickered.
The wife of the Marquis of Zhennan glanced at Madam Tang quickly, then smiled and said goodbye: "I have received Madam's approval, and I can go back to report to our Marquis. I will go back first. When Madam is free one day, come and visit me. After all, our two families are also in-laws."
Eleventh Lady responded with a smile and personally escorted the wife of the Prince of Zhennan to the door.
When they came back, Madam Tang also stood up to say goodbye: "Our Lord's idea is to take advantage of the day when there is a victory report from Xuantong Mansion to submit a letter. Once the Emperor is happy, it will be easier." She added, "I still have to go to Madam Zhou's place to sit down."
"You should go, you should go." Eleventh Lady saw her out, "I will also tell the Marquis what the Madam said."
Mrs. Tang nodded and left.
Jiang helped Shiyi Niang to sit down in the inner room and said hesitantly, "Mother, just as Madam Wang said, the court has often introduced new policies in recent years. It happened more than once when the previous emperor was in power. The country is rich and the people are strong, all because of Elder Chen. Now the emperor said that the treasury is empty, maybe it's an excuse? Since the emperor is determined... will it be useful to write a letter like this?"
Eleventh Lady smiled and said, "Have you ever thought about this before Madam Wang said these words?"
My mother-in-law is as gentle as the gentle breeze and drizzle.
Jiang was bolder: "I've thought about that, too!"
"Look, you've thought about it, and so has Lady Wang. Naturally, other people have thought about it, too." Eleventh Lady said with a smile, "But why do you all send your wives to visit and make private appointments? Isn't it because you want to see which family can't wait and jump out first? Sese, our family has always been moderate. We will neither go ahead of others nor behind others. But how to step out at the right time is a science." She added, "Sese, you have to remember what I said. Our family is not an official family that emphasizes 'death for literary remonstrance'. Even if none of our children are officials, we can still be respected with such a reputation. We are nobles. As long as we don't make mistakes, our wealth and honor will prosper for a long time;"
Jiang was sweating profusely and responded respectfully.
* * * * * *
Liu Hong, the rear commander of the Five Military Commands, was given the title of General of the Western Expedition and led a 100,000-man army to Xuantong to cooperate with Fan Weigang in fighting the enemy. It seemed as if God was mocking these officials and nobles who were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. For half a month, all the news coming from Xuantong was bad news.
Princess Changning's son Ren Kun was the first to launch an attack, impeaching Chen Ge Lao for deceiving the emperor. Otherwise, how could the treasury be empty after the implementation of the new policy? He demanded that the tea tax be levied according to the old system. Then, Zhongshan Hou responded by impeaching Li Tingzhong, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, for his own benefit. Princess Suiping's husband impeached Xing An, the secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, for taking bribes and embezzling... Chen Ge Lao, Li Ting and Xing An all wrote letters to refute... When the emperor received the news that Xuantong had broken the city... He immediately threw the memorial in the face of Princess Suiping's husband: "While I am working hard to preserve the foundation of my ancestors, you are arguing over petty personal gains here!" Then he immediately issued an order to confiscate all the land granted to the nobles before the beginning of winter. When the news came, the nobles were in an uproar. Several princesses wore sackcloth outside the east gate and cried and shouted that they wanted to go to Fengxian Hall to cry for the late emperor... Yanjing was bustling and chaotic, and people's hearts were unsettled.
For several days in a row, after Shiyi Niang fell asleep, Xu Lingyi would sit up and lean against the head of the bed, staring at the light gradually coming through the window.
How could Eleventh Lady sleep?
Zhou Shizheng came to see Xu Lingyi two days ago and accused Xu Lingyi of not showing up at the critical moment. He left angrily without waiting for Xu Lingyi to explain.
She was just pretending to be asleep to give Xu Lingyi some time to think.
Seeing him staying awake all night, she felt distressed again, so she simply put on her clothes and sat down with the quilt: "My Lord, are you still thinking about what Lord Zhou said?"
"No!" Xu Lingyi smiled and hugged her in his arms, "We grew up together, he just wanted to provoke me. If he was really angry, he would just ignore me instead of running to my house and scolding me!"
Eleventh Lady leaned her head on his chest: "So you are worried about taking back the granted land?"
"Who would want to collect the granted land at this time?" Xu Lingyi shook his head slightly. "If the war is not fair, no one will take charge of collecting the granted land. As long as it has not started, there is room for easing."
Then it can only be for the war of Xuantong.
Eleventh Lady didn't want to mention it.
Just like everyone has a weak spot, war is Xu Lingyi's weak spot.
"Then what is your Majesty worried about?" She sat up and looked at him with a smile, "Your Majesty, please go to sleep quickly! I can't sleep well if you are like this!"
Xu Lingyi looked at her deeply, smiled and said "Okay", then lay down obediently.
Eleventh Lady hugged his waist tightly.
Xu Lingyi did not respond to her enthusiastically as usual, but instead stroked her hair from time to time.
Eleventh Lady leaned against him quietly, waiting for him to fall asleep, but she kept hearing the sound of the little maid getting up and washing outside the room, and Xu Lingyi didn't close his eyes either.
This can't go on!
Eleventh Lady asked Amber to make ginseng tea for Xu Lingyi and personally brought it to the study.
Xu Lingyi was a little surprised and smiled at her.
Eleventh Lady had never been so attentive before. She lowered her head to help Xu Lingyi clean up his desk and told him, "Drink it quickly. It will taste good when it gets cold."
Xu Lingyi sat on the armchair beside him and sipped ginseng tea.
Denghua hurried in: "My Lord, Prince Yong is here!"
Both the couple were a little surprised.
What was he doing here at this time? Or was he delivering a message to the Emperor?
Xu Lingyi thought for a moment and said to Shiyi Niang, "I'll be back soon!"
Eleventh Lady escorted Xu Lingyi out of the study.
"Uncle, you don't have to be so polite to me." Prince Yong was wearing a royal blue robe with a cloud dragon pattern. His phoenix eyes were as bright as stars. He smiled as he spoke and walked to the center of the courtyard. "It's very troublesome to open the middle door. If the emperor finds out, he will scold me for being idle and running around all day... Just open the side door and let me in!"
Xu Lingyi smiled and stepped forward to salute Prince Yong.
Prince Yong held his arm before he bowed, "Uncle, I have something to say. Let's talk in the room!"
Xu Lingyi and Prince Yong went to the small study.
Eleventh Lady had already avoided it.
Prince Yong also came here often some time ago, and he liked the Drunkard's Chair in Xu Lingyi's study the most.
He sat down on the chair casually.
"Uncle, the emperor has issued an order to let Ouyang Ming take over Liu Hong as the General of the Western Expedition and go to Xuantong today. Let's get Jin Ge'er back. I'll talk to Ouyang and let Jin Ge'er help transport food and grass. If there are any military achievements, he will definitely get a share. It will be a piece of cake for him to be conferred the title of Marquis or something like that."
"This is not a good idea!" Xu Lingyi refused without thinking, "His mother will never let him go to Xuantong. I appreciate your kindness, but I can only ask the prince for help in planning when there is a chance in the future!"
Prince Yong suddenly understood and said with a smile: "Uncle, are you afraid of losing the battle?" He said, laughing, "Don't worry. This time the emperor has mobilized 400,000 troops from Shandong and Shanxi. The Tartars are only 80,000 or 90,000. Even if everyone spits, they can drown them!"