The banquet ended late at night. Zhao Hao and Zhao Xian saw off the guests and returned to their respective courtyards.

Now that Zhao Hao had a large family, Zhao Shouzheng moved to the main courtyard to keep the old man company, and gave the west courtyard and west wing to his family.

But when he returned to the west courtyard, he saw his father waiting for him in the hall, drinking strong tea.

"You're not sleeping after drinking so much?" Zhao Hao looked at Mr. Zhao in surprise. Normally, he should have been drunk as a dog.

"Alas, I have no desire to sleep at all." Zhao Shouzheng put down his teacup and sighed, "Could this be what Fan Wenzheng meant by 'If you advance, you will be sincere in worrying about the country and the people'?"

"Good fellow, this is 'worrying about the world before worrying about yourself'." Young Master Zhao sat down next to him, took the hot milk from Sister Ma, and teased his father, "I thought Dad was so happy that he couldn't sleep?"

"No. I started to worry after being confused today. I haven't felt happy yet." Zhao Shouzheng frowned and said, "People say that if one's virtue is not worthy of his position, there will be disaster. Son, do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Haha, so that's what you're worried about." Zhao Hao smiled and pointed to his father and Hua Zi, "I admit that Dad is incompetent, but you are definitely worthy of being called a man of great virtue. If you don't deserve it, who else can?"

"Lack of ability is not enough. Finance is the lifeline of a country. Now the power of the Ming Dynasty falls into the hands of your father. If I break it in a few moves, won't I become a sinner for all eternity?" Zhao Shouzheng said worriedly.

"You think too much." Zhao Hao also lit himself a specially supplied Zhonghua brand cigarette, took a puff and said, "The purpose of my father-in-law's reform is to improve the finances. This aspect must be in charge of him, just like the military. You and Shen Zhuangyuan are just his mouthpieces. Do whatever he tells you to do. At the same time, watch carefully and study hard, and you will naturally learn it slowly."

"Is that so? As long as you don't bring harm to the country and the people, it's good. Otherwise, it would be better for me to submit my resignation." Lord Zhao finally put his heart back in his stomach.

"Don't worry, your father-in-law will catch you before you become a disaster to the country and the people." Zhao Hao wanted to laugh, but the children were asleep, so he couldn't help but lower his voice and said:

"Mr. Qingteng and Mr. Sheyang have already gone north and will be able to enter Beijing before the New Year."

"Oh, you two gentlemen are here? I'm relieved if you had told me earlier." Zhao Shouzheng's worries were gone and he stood up happily. "I'm going back."

Zhao Hao stood up to see his father out, but Zhao Shouzheng turned around and hugged him.

"What?" Zhao Hao's hair stood on end.

"Thank you, son." I only heard the old man whisper: "It has always been like this all these years."

"You're crazy." Zhao Hao laughed and said, "You're drunk. Go back to sleep."

"Dad is not drunk, he is very sober. The proudest thing in my life will always be having a son like you!" Zhao Shouzheng patted him on the back, then let go of Zhao Hao. With the help of his attendant, he walked back to the main courtyard.

It was already eleven o'clock now. Zhao Shouzheng guessed that his father must be asleep, so he did not disturb him and went straight back to his own residence, ready to let Xiaohong give him a massage before he could go to sleep.

Who knew that when he opened the bedroom door, he saw a gorgeous lady sitting in the bedroom, wearing a simple dress, looking at him with fiery eyes.

If she is not the current princess, then who is Princess Ning'an?

"Zhao Lang..." Ning An's eyes were as charming as silk, and her shoulders were half exposed. "You are finally back."

"Hey, Ning An, why are you here?" Zhao Shouzheng was startled and subconsciously looked out the door. If his father found out, he would be so angry that he would curse his mother again.

"You bastard, you haven't visited me for a month. If you don't go, I will come." Ning An's voice was so sweet that it made water come out. She stretched her feet with red nail polish between his legs and said, "Today is your big day. I specially dressed like this to congratulate you. Are you happy?"

"Of course I am happy..." Zhao Shouzheng swallowed his saliva and said, "But now that I am the prime minister, I have to pay attention to my manners."

"I know." Ning An bit her red lips and said, "At worst, I'll let you be on top today."

"No, that's not what I meant." Zhao Shouzheng was sweating.

"Okay, okay, it's your turn to tie me up today..." Ning An's nimble toes flicked lightly, and Mr. Zhao started to move, saying, "Are you excited? What are you still standing there for?"

"Alas, Ning An, you are making me make a mistake..." Zhao Shouzheng sighed solemnly, stepped forward and pushed her down, saying: "You must be punished!"

"Master Zhao, please spare my life..." Ning An dodged with a sweet smile. For a moment, the candlelight flickered red, and the night was short as they drank.

Later generations wrote a poem called "Shengchazi" to praise this night:

The whip shadow falls on the spring embankment, and the green brocade is rolled up in the mud. The tender water chestnut silk is teased, and the eyes of Wu Ji are tender and watery.

Gnawing my knees and bringing the fragrance home, who will prepare the cherry banquet? The wax tears annoy the east wind, and the new swallows sleep on the old nest.

"Witch!" Zhao Liben snorted angrily.

~~

Wang Xijue's information was correct. In that month, the newly appointed Minister of Personnel, Wang Guoguang, requested to hold a leap year inspection to examine the officials in the two capitals on the grounds of astrological changes.

This was originally instructed by Prime Minister Zhang, so Emperor Wanli naturally approved it.

Originally, the officials in the capital were inspected once every six years, which was called the Beijing inspection. The inspection that was not held in the year of the Beijing inspection was called the "leap inspection". This was a bad example left by Zhang Cai, the Minister of Personnel of the eunuch party, who asked Liu Jin, who was in power during the Zhengde period of Emperor Wuzong, to exclude dissidents, and asked him to inspect the officials in the capital from time to time in the name of the emperor.

When Gao Gong rose to power, he also used the Runcha to exclude those who opposed him. Now it was finally Zhang Xianggong's turn to use this notorious weapon to severely punish those who opposed him in the love-stealing incident.

It seems that the so-called success is to live the way you hate...

In this imperial inspection, all the monsters who had previously opposed Prime Minister Zhang, except those who had backers, were dismissed from their posts.

Among them were the Minister of Punishments Liu Yingjie, the Minister of Works Guo Chaobin, the Left Censor-in-Chief Chen Zan, the Nanjing Minister of Personnel He Weibai, the Nanjing Minister of Rites Tao Chengwang... as well as the Nanjing Caojiang Censor Zhang Yue, the Hanlin Attendant Zhao Zhigao, the Director of the Imperial College Zhang Wei and more than 60 other officials from the two capitals.

Adding the resignation of the Minister of Personnel Zhang Han, four of the Seven Ministers were dismissed due to the love affair incident! The power of Prime Minister Zhang is really great!

There were also many officials like Wang Xijue who had a keen sense of smell and resigned and returned home before the leap year.

Therefore, after this leap year inspection, the forces opposing Prime Minister Zhang were wiped out, and there was no more noise in the court.

When someone leaves, someone has to fill his place. After another imperial recommendation at the end of the month, Yin Zhengmao took over the position of Minister of Revenue vacated by Wang Guoguang.

Pan Sheng took over the position of Minister of Rites vacated by Ma Ziqiang.

Wu Baipeng took over the position of Minister of Justice vacated by Liu Yingjie.

Li Youzi took over the position of Minister of Works vacated by Guo Chaobin.

Chen Yu took over the position of Left Censor-in-Chief vacated by Chen Zan.

The seven ministers taking office at the same time was an unprecedented event in the imperial court. After this imperial election, all the high officials in the imperial court became Zhang Xianggong's peers and accomplices, and the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty completely became his one-man show!

~~

But these have nothing to do with Zhao Hao anymore. He has achieved his goal and no longer has to worry about the issue of protection in the next few years.

At the end of winter, Zhao Hao rushed to Kaiping to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the Tangshan Coal and Steel Joint Production Base.

Then we went straight to Caofeidian to board the ship, went out to sea along the unfrozen ocean current, and arrived at the new port city of Jeju Island on the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month to attend the group's 10th anniversary meeting, the 2nd Five-Year Plan summary meeting, and the 3rd Five-Year Plan release meeting held here!

When the Encyclopedia slowly docked at the Xingang Pier, Mr. Zhao, who had been feeling a little depressed by the bumpy winter sea, couldn't help but cheer up when he saw the prosperous scene before him.

The docks are lined with masts and filled with cargo ships of all sizes. Even though it is already the twelfth lunar month, the docks are still very busy. Tall man-powered cranes are constantly turning to load and unload ships.

Around the dock, there is a constant stream of traffic, and shops specializing in wholesale business are lined up one after another. Horse-drawn carriages loaded with goods shuttle back and forth between the warehouse area and the dock area. It really has the feel of a Northeast Asian trade center.

Moreover, Tamra Island is currently the group’s most important livestock base.

As the group's industry and agriculture developed rapidly, the living standards of the people in Jiangnan were improving day by day, and the demand for animal power and meat was also increasing day by day. Although the New Port Management Committee had taken over the entire Tamra Island as a livestock base through continuous purchases and long-term leases, the number of farmers and workers in the entire ranch reached 100,000.

The barren arable land on Jeju Island also completely abandoned the cultivation of food grains and switched to growing livestock grains such as oats, rye, and alfalfa. This allowed the pastures to change from natural grazing to a combination of artificial breeding and grazing, which greatly increased the livestock output rate, but still could not meet the strong demand.

Seeing the profitability, merchants from the Tamra Chamber of Commerce even purchased large quantities of horses, cattle and sheep from Japan, Korea and Liaodong, and transported them to Xingang City for sale, at prices that could be multiplied several times.

In addition, the population of New Port City is nearly 500,000, and all food and daily necessities are imported, which has stimulated the prosperity of the city's business. Now, after ten years of construction, New Port City has already replaced Jeju City and become the most prosperous city on Jeju Island.

According to merchants from the Tamra Chamber of Commerce, even the Joseon capital of Seoul is much inferior to this place.

The magnificent New Port Fort was much more magnificent than the cramped Gyeongbokgung Palace of their king. The tall and beautiful buildings and wide and clean roads in the city were incomparable to the low-rise houses and narrow streets full of stinking water in Seoul.

There are also luxurious red double-decker carriages, convenient living facilities, and rich entertainment activities, which are not available in the entire North Korea.

Here, you can almost synchronize the enjoyment of the rich people in the Ming Dynasty...

Therefore, not only have all the wealthy families in Jeju moved here, but even the ministers of the two classes on the peninsula have also bought properties here and come here for vacation every year. Many wealthy and idle people linger here and simply stay there.

It is said that the current fashion among Seoul's upper class is no longer looking at Beijing, but keeping a close eye on Xingang.

Because it is more influenced by Jiangnan, it is often half a year before the fashion in Beijing becomes popular in Xingang. The ministers of the Li Dynasty are not good at anything and are the best at internal fighting, including fighting for wealth. They have keenly discovered that Xingang can allow them to grasp the fashion of the Ming Dynasty before their opponents.

And he regarded Newport City as the pearl given by his father to his son...

Although the rule of the Joseon Dynasty has completely become a mere formality, not to mention Xingang, but even the entire Jeonra Island, they just like to flatter themselves, and what can you do about it?

p.s. Sorry, I had something to do at home today, so the update is late. Keep writing...