Chapter 1115 Part 2

Zhu Lan knew she had stumbled upon something big when she heard it. She thought about it carefully and asked, "What's your last name, Gu?"

She remembered that the Zhang family changed their surname to Gu.

Zhou Shuren smiled, "No, this girl's surname is Liu, but her mother's surname is Gu. The girl said she fled to Beijing during the drought. Her parents died, so she went to live with her uncle. Unexpectedly, her uncle sold her to a merchant as a concubine. When we were going to pick her up today, she ran away when no one was paying attention."

Zhulan knew what happened yesterday, but she didn't take it to heart. Just like she told her grandchildren, these were all small calculations. "Is there something wrong with this girl?"

Seeing Zhou Shuren still smiling, Zhulan responded, "To be precise, there is something wrong with the merchant!"

Zhou Shuren, "Smart, everything needs Shangjia's cooperation. Once this person was sent to the Dali Temple, Shangjia's family disappeared. It's a pity that this girl probably doesn't know much."

Zhu Lan smiled, "No, a lot has been exposed. You see, all along the way, whether it was the plot against the Xu family or the salt tax later, it all had a lot to do with merchants. Do you think the Zhang family would deliberately become merchants to hide their identities? Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants are the most easily overlooked."

The Rong family has many tricks, but inheritance is engraved in their bones. The emperor's uncle would rather hide in the village and be a commoner than a merchant in the future, which shows that the Rong family still wants to pursue a career in politics. This is the nobility engraved in their bones.

Even my own mother-in-law finally married my father-in-law, mostly because he was a scholar. If he was a businessman, my mother-in-law would definitely not even look at him.

Zhou Shuren's eyes lit up, "My wife is really smart. The Zhang family has the intention of rebellion. They don't care whether they are merchants or not, so the investigation is still narrow-minded."

Zhu Lan narrowed her eyes. "The economy has developed rapidly in recent years, and with the merchants from overseas, there have been some chaos. Do you think it's time to introduce some rules? In addition, some merchants' transactions are too complicated, and the court's control is still inadequate. I think we can increase control and classify merchants and transactions."

Zhou Shuren had been in the Ministry of Revenue for quite some time, dealing with money every day, and he had already made up his mind. He smiled and said, "In the future, merchants will have to apply for a business name to do business, and have digital records. When applying, they will need to register and show some fixed guarantees."

Zhulan gave the hint and stopped talking. This was ancient times, and Zhou Shuren knew better than her how to make the best arrangements.

In the palace, the emperor held the child in his arms and whispered, "Linxi, I am also a grandfather."

The child is still young and has fallen asleep, sleeping very soundly.

The queen was unwilling and reached out to hug him. The emperor even dodged for a moment. The queen frowned and said, "She is tired after a day and is sleeping now."

The Emperor reluctantly handed it to the Empress, "This child is well-raised. I heard that Rongchuan doesn't even need a maid. He just stays at home and takes care of the child himself."

The queen's heart softened when she saw the child in her arms. She kissed the child before handing him over to the court lady, "Well, this child is very adorable."

Why was the child in the palace? It was because her mother had been looking after the child every day since she came out of confinement. The child felt a little uncomfortable a few days ago, and she knew it was not good. So when the child got better, she met her youngest son and told him about her years of pain and suffering. Now they could not recognize each other, so she wanted to keep the child for a while.

In the end, the child stayed in the palace. She wanted to keep the child, but she couldn't. She said that she loved the child so much that she could keep him for a few more days, but she couldn't keep him forever. Of course, she couldn't bear to separate her son from her granddaughter.

Two days later, Zhou Shuren sorted out the information, wrote a letter and sent it up.

The Emperor read the letter and handed it to the Crown Prince, "What do you think?"

When the prince saw the letter, he suddenly felt enlightened. "Father, I have also thought about how to control the merchants. Now I have read Zhou Shuren's letter. Zhou Shuren's ideas are more complete and mature. Mine cannot compare to them."

Zhou Shuren felt embarrassed when he heard this. They were hundreds of years apart. In modern times, supervision was already very mature and was still being improved. What he had come up with now was mature for the prince, but in fact, for Zhou Shuren and his wife, it was just a framework with too many loopholes.

The emperor asked, "What else did you see from the doctor and this fold?"

The prince replied, "Overall perspective, Zhou Shuren has an overall perspective, and it is of long-term significance. This time, the flood in the south showed the benefits of controlling the doctors. As long as it is constantly improved, it will be a complete doctor system, which will be of long-term significance to the people and the court. This time, the letter is also the same. As long as it is gradually improved, there will be fewer business disasters in the previous dynasty."

The emperor was very satisfied, "I also saw two future departments."

When he founded his dynasty, he continued many of the systems of the previous dynasty. He was eager to achieve perfection, so he attached more importance to this matter, especially since he had suffered too many losses from merchants.

The prince took the folder and asked, "Who should I give it to?"

Privately, he thought Zhou Shuren was the most suitable, but the Ministry of Revenue could not do without Zhou Shuren.

The emperor asked, "Who do you think is suitable?"

The prince touched the folder, the job with the King of Chu was over, the King of Qi now only had the job of tracking down the Zhang family, "Actually, Rongchuan is the most suitable, but I am not up to it yet."

It seems that his own younger brother is the most suitable. If he registers, Rongchuan can help him a lot and also restrain the King of Qi and the King of Chu.

The prince saw his father drinking tea, "How is the fourth brother? This time the fourth brother also made a contribution."

The Emperor paused with the teacup in his hand. He understood that the Crown Prince could not get over the grudge against the Fourth Prince. Also, the Fourth Prince was ruthless and the Crown Princess was injured. The Crown Princess was not aware of it, but he and the Crown Prince knew. They thought that the Fourth Prince would not come back with the results of the investigation so soon. Who could have thought that?

The prince added, "The fourth brother is decisive and he is the most suitable one because he can do it."

The Emperor knew that the Crown Prince was right. The Prince of Qi was unwilling to get involved in major events. The Third Prince was tearing up the past and had been busy cleaning up the mess recently. Only the Fourth Prince was stubborn and the one who could do the most to clean things up. He said with a tired tone, "I'll listen to you."

The crown prince curled his lips. This was his father's concession. He could give the third brother a chance, but not the fourth brother. He still remembered that the fourth brother attacked Rong Chuan. "Thank you, father."

Time passed quickly and the results of the provincial examination would be announced soon. There were many scholars from the Zhou family who came to take the exam, including Ming and Qing.

Tomorrow is the day to get the results. Ming Qing couldn't eat and stared at Uncle Chang Zhi while he was eating. "Uncle Chang Zhi, aren't you worried?"

After Changzhi finished his exams, he kept working out and gained some weight. "It's over once you put pen to paper. Since it's over, what's the point of worrying? You are still young."

Ming Qing felt that Uncle Chang Zhi had not changed and was very carefree. You know, it was okay for him to fail the exam, but Uncle Chang Zhi was different. The clan was waiting for good news from Uncle Chang Zhi, and the capital must be waiting too. What if Grandpa Shu Ren’s people were lost?

Changzhi didn’t know what Mingqing was thinking, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.

The next day, Su Xuan arranged for someone to guard the palace early. Chang Zhi did not go, so Ming Qing and others went to guard the palace. Chang Zhi was reading and fell asleep. Firecrackers were heard outside the palace. Shen Xing ran to the backyard and said, "Fourth Master, you passed the exam and ranked second."

Changzhi was stunned, "Second?"

The first place that was sure to win is gone!

(End of this chapter)