394, it's true
394, it's true
The two men walked out of the palace. Lu Mingfei turned around and looked at the person who sent him out. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "What did you just say to your father..."
"It's true." Zhao Lang replied.
They all knew that this sentence really only referred to something.
Zhao Lang just told his father that he would never marry and have children in his life. If he became emperor, he would pass the throne to his younger brother instead of to his own descendants.
Zhao Lang had never told him about this plan before, so Lu Mingfei didn't know that Zhao Lang was planning to exchange his offspring with his father.
Zhao Lang looked at his Lord Lu, his gaze falling from the young man's handsome eyebrows to his pair of black eyes. No matter how many years had passed, the look in these eyes had never changed, and they were still as clear as ever.
He watched Lu Mingfei grow up. He had been looking at this face for more than ten years. From Lu Mingfei's childhood to his adolescence, and then to his youth, he had seen and remembered Lu Mingfei's appearance at every stage. He had memorized it all in his heart and engraved it in his mind.
The two of them looked at each other calmly. After a while, he asked the young man in front of him, "Have you forgotten what you said?"
"It's not that I forgot, it's just..." Lu Mingfei naturally did not forget. When Zhao Lang said that he liked him that year, he said that he would only be with her for the rest of her life. If they were together, Zhao Lang would not be allowed to have anyone else, and he would not be allowed to marry or have children.
But, back then, they were still teenagers with nothing. At that time, Zhao Lang was still a hostage imprisoned in Beijing.
Now, Zhao Lang has become the regent with great power. If nothing unexpected happens, this person may very well be the next emperor. A man who is about to become an emperor is willing to give up his harem of 3,000 concubines and even his offspring for him.
He was not without emotion, but also with disbelief, because he had already made up his mind that Zhao Lang might have a child with a woman...
He even thought that if Zhao Lang had someone else, their relationship would naturally end. However, if it really came to that, the price he would have to pay to get out of Zhao Lang's situation would probably be very high.
It can be said that he has always been an insecure person in their relationship.
Even though their relationship had been stable for so many years, he still didn't believe in the eternity and durability of human nature. It wasn't that he didn't trust Zhao Lang, but he didn't believe that one person could love another for so long and be willing to give up so much for someone.
"It's good that you haven't forgotten. I won't forget what you said, don't worry. Similarly, don't forget what I said. I will definitely give you what I promised, my Lord Lu." Zhao Lang held the young man's hand, placed it on his lips and kissed it, looking at the young man with a pair of tender eyes.
When Lu Mingfei met Zhao Lang's gaze and felt a soft kiss on the back of his hand, his ears turned red, but he quickly pulled his hand back the next second.
He glanced around nervously, and when he saw that there were only the guards following them, he glared at the man.
Don’t you even look at where you are?
Fortunately there is no one here!
If someone saw them, what happened between them would spread throughout Kyoto City that day, and might even spread outside!
"There are some urgent matters to deal with at the Ministry of Revenue, so I have to go back there to get busy. I'll come here to attend the banquet later." After saying this, Lu Mingfei quickly got on the carriage and urged the guards driving the carriage outside to hurry up.
The horse guard bowed to their former master, then quickly got on the carriage and drove away.
Behind them were guards on horseback.
Now, even in Kyoto City, they will always follow their masters wherever they go, for fear that their masters might encounter any accidents in Kyoto.
Seeing that he had guards accompanying him, Zhao Lang was not worried about what might happen to Lu Mingfei in Kyoto. Even if he encountered those ignorant people, as long as they were in the city, his people would be able to rush over to rescue them quickly.
However, now that his father and Zhao Rui are here, they have to be more careful.
Thinking of his father, Zhao Lang didn't completely trust him. Especially with Zhao Rui around, he was afraid things might change. He wondered if his father would turn against him if he dealt with Zhao Rui.
***
“Da Da——”
Hearing the sound of horse hooves, I knew the carriage had left.
Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, then pulled open the curtains and looked behind him. Unexpectedly, he saw Zhao Lang still standing behind him, looking at him. When he looked over, Zhao Lang smiled and waved at him.
"..." He quickly retracted his head, lowered the curtains, and sat up straight. Reaching out to touch his face, Lu Mingfei quickly put his hand down, picked up the document at hand, and pretended to read it seriously.
When he arrived at the Ministry of Revenue that day, he stayed there all day, dealing with the pile of things on his desk.
Even his lunch was eaten at the Ministry of Revenue, where he ate the big steamed meat buns and egg drop soup that were served in the yamen.
Considering that the income of some minor officials in various government offices was not high and many of them did not have servants to deliver lunch to their homes, lunch became a problem for many people.
Therefore, after taking charge of the Ministry of Revenue and having a small balance in the account books, Lu Mingfei took out a sum of money to build a stove for each ministry. Every day, steamed buns and soup were heated on the stove, and anyone who was hungry could take them to eat.
These buns and soup are supplied by a restaurant in Kyoto Prefecture. They taste good and are large in quantity and filling.
But there weren't many varieties, just buns. If you were hungry, you could take some and eat them. If you thought they were not good enough, you could ask your servants to bring you food.
However, what Lu Mingfei did not expect was that since the various government offices began to supply buns and soup, many officials chose to eat in the government offices and did not allow their servants to bring meals to the government offices.
Later, when he asked, he found out that this was because the buns and soup provided by the yamen were hot. Especially when the weather was cold, the food brought by the servants at home had already gone cold, so everyone felt it was more convenient and warm to eat directly in the yamen.
In fact, he knew that there was another very important reason, which was that these officials did not have much money in their pockets.
Apart from the gray income of high-ranking officials, many ordinary officials did not have much source of income. Especially in Kyoto Prefecture, a monthly salary was not enough to support a large family.
This also made Lu Mingfei realize that the monthly salaries of officials in the court were not high. Especially when the Ministry of Revenue was short of money, it would delay the payment of the officials' monthly salaries, which directly led to some officials having trouble even having food at home.
Not all officials have family businesses. The families of some minor officials are also very ordinary.
Especially for officials who come from poor families, their family has already spent so much money to raise their son, and now the whole family is waiting to support this son who becomes an official.
If a country is poor, not only the people are poor, but the officials are also poor.
Therefore, since the yamen started providing lunch, many officials would choose to eat free lunch in the yamen.
This directly resulted in the expenditure on free lunches provided to officials exceeding his original budget.
Once they have taken control of the government and stabilized the situation, these policies will definitely be extended to local areas, and the expenditure in this area will be even greater.
It's impossible that only the officials in the capital have these palaces, and the local officials don't have them, right? Then the local officials will definitely have opinions. The problem is not that everyone has nothing, but that the problem is not that there is too little, but that there is inequality. This principle applies everywhere.
However, rather than saving resources, Lu Mingfei would rather find ways to increase revenue.
Moreover, if Prince Ding agreed to the conditions proposed by Zhao Lang, and Zhao Lang became emperor in the future, the court would definitely not be able to withhold the military pay of the Zhenbei Army, and would even have to pay the military pay that the court withheld in previous years.
Once the salaries of the Zhenbei Army are repaid, the salaries of soldiers in other places must also be repaid, and the salaries of soldiers in various places cannot be delayed in the future.
If you calculate it this way, the annual expenditure on military salaries and supplies is a huge sum of money.
As for the Ministry of Revenue, in addition to the military expenses every year, there are also the monthly salaries of officials and various disaster relief expenses in the local area... When you add it up, the money the Ministry of Revenue has is not enough to do anything.
Moreover, if they wanted the local princes and people to submit to the imperial court without some benefits, the princes would not be stupid. As for the people, whoever could make their lives better would be their king.
"Make money, make money, how can I make money?" Lu Mingfei sat at the desk, holding a pen in his hand and writing and drawing on rice paper.
Hey? This world doesn't just belong to their country!
Since the country is poor, why not turn our attention overseas?
Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei had an idea in his mind. Picking up the pen in his hand, he began to write a new plan on the rice paper.
He wrote until the sun set and the guards outside came to remind him.
"Sir, it's getting late. You have to attend a banquet at Prince Ding's mansion today."
Normally, if their master was busy, the guards wouldn't dare to disturb him. But today, there was a banquet at Prince Ding's mansion, and their master was bound to attend.
"Okay, I understand." Lu Mingfei responded, put the half-written document into a box, and locked it from the outside.
Many of the boxes in his study are basically locked.
Moreover, there are mechanisms set by him in these boxes. He is not afraid of those who are ignorant enough to steal things. When the time comes, he will let the thieves taste the power of these mechanisms!
After packing up the things in the house, he went out and left with the guards waiting for him.
The door behind him closed after he left, and the person who closed the door also locked it.
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