The next morning, Li Maocai came again to welcome his master to a banquet.

Li's Mansion is also on West Chang'an Street, adjacent to the former Xu Jie's Mansion.

When passing by, Zhao Hao discovered that the plaque of "Xu Mansion" had not been removed and there were still people living inside.

Following the master's gaze, Li Maocai said from the side: "This is the private property of the Xu family. Now there is a steward named Xu Wu who is managing it. A while ago, a man named Lu Guang came and worshipped gods everywhere in Beijing."

Zhao Hao glanced at Li Maocai. Needless to say, Lu Guang must have been to his house.

He knew Lu Guang, a social activist as famous as Shao Fang. Well, actually he was just a broker.

Speaking of which, that hero Shao is also in the capital now, and has been working hard for Gao Gong's restoration, and it seems like there is some chaos going on.

As they were talking, they arrived at Li's residence. But the carriage did not stop because there were people queuing up at the door waiting to pay their respects, so Li Maocai apologized to his master and asked the driver to drive to the back door.

Zhao Hao looked through the car window at the well-dressed crowd, some posting posters, some queuing, there were hundreds of people in total.

Mr. Zhao couldn't help but sigh. They all said that Li Chunfang was a paper prime minister, but there were still many high-ranking officials who came to worship the gods. That saying was indeed true. People respect your official position, not whether the person sitting on the seat is a human or a dog.

~~

Li Chunfang was having a day off today. She was wearing a plain robe and was waiting for Zhao Hao in front of Huayin Hall in the backyard with a smile on her face.

"Greetings, Prime Minister."

"Hahaha, Master Zhao, you look even more youthful and charming than before after not seeing him for so many years." He took a step forward, supported Zhao Hao who was about to bow, and pulled him to the table affectionately. "You are my son's teacher, so let's not be formal."

The Prime Minister is more approachable than his predecessor.

The two of them sat down as host and guest in Huayin Hall. Li Maocai stood beside them, took the teacup brought by the maid, and personally served the fragrant tea to the two of them.

"This is the Mingqian Longjing tea that His Majesty gave me the day before yesterday. It should not have come down when Master Zhao left Jiangnan." Li Chunfang picked up the teacup and gently stroked the water with the lid.

"No." Zhao Hao smiled and shook his head. In fact, among the various gifts he brought to the Prime Minister, there was ten kilograms of Mingqian Longjing tea.

He took a sip, said a few words of praise, then put down the teacup and started chatting with Li Chunfang.

Li Chunfang's way of speaking does not deviate from the traditional literati's stereotypes. He likes to be subtle and implicit. Talking to him can be summed up in one word: tiring.

Zhao Hao listened patiently to his confusing talk, but at least he understood that he wanted him to take care of Lord Xu and asked Hai Rui not to kill him.

Master Zhao laughed secretly when he heard this. Even the Prime Minister's personal letter didn't work, and now he was the one asking for help. How could this be disgraceful?

If the times were peaceful and the country was prosperous, it would be nice to have a good-tempered and low-key leader like him.

Unfortunately, the ship of the Ming Dynasty is riddled with holes from front to back, inside to outside. The helmsman is still tepid and doesn't want to offend anyone, which is very inappropriate.

Zhao Hao smiled bitterly and said that he would try his best to persuade him, but who could sway a man like Hai Gong? So he couldn't hold too high expectations.

"Ah, yes..." Li Chunfang agreed and gathered his sleeves, smiling bitterly, "It's true that Hai Gangfeng is wholeheartedly serving the people, but he is too hasty. Lord Huating has done meritorious services to the country, and has done favors to the officials, and even more to him. He is so reckless that he will inevitably be called 'ungrateful'."

"You don't know that there are more than one or two people impeaching him. They say that Hai Gangfeng is a man who seeks fame and reputation, disrupts the law and order, and has no idea how to be an official. He allows the unruly people to sue the gentry at will and bully the scholars and officials. This has led to the rumor among the people that 'it is better to sue a poor person than to plant a fat field.'" After a pause, the Prime Minister sighed and said:

"They also said that Hai Rui's forced implementation of his Yingtian New Deal caused silver to become expensive and goods to become cheap, luggage to be blocked, fireworks to be cut off, and people to suffer. I suppressed all these complaints, but he should also restrain himself. You must know that it is difficult to offend the public anger, and I don't have the ability to cover the sky with one hand."

Zhao Hao couldn't hold back his anger when he heard this, and sneered, "I've really learned a lot today. What a bully the scholar-officials are, they can actually confuse right and wrong to such an extent. No wonder people say 'all censors can be killed'!"

"Haha, Mr. Zhao is still full of youthful vigor." Li Chunfang couldn't help but smile bitterly, "It's fine to say this to me, but don't say it outside."

As he said this, he advised Zhao Hao earnestly, "Those censors are very difficult to deal with. If you want to achieve something, you'd better try not to provoke them."

"I will take your advice." Zhao Hao nodded. This was good advice. The censors in the Ming Dynasty were a nightmare. Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng couldn't stand it. The past two years were a critical period for his career. If he went up against the Paw Patrol, although he wouldn't lose a piece of meat, he would be a big drag.

Li Chunfang stopped talking when he had made his point. Since he had already expressed his opinion, he would not go on and on. He changed the subject and asked about the scenery in the south of the Yangtze River, the news of old friends, etc., and specifically asked about Xu Wei.

When the painter Gudan was still a double egg, he worked as a teacher in Li Chunfang's house for a while. Although they parted unhappily at that time, the situation has changed, and the Prime Minister must show his prime minister's heart. In fact, it was Li Xianggong who wrote a note to the Southern Ministry of Justice that Zhao Hao was able to arrange for Xu Wei to be executed outside the prison.

Turning to this topic, the conversation atmosphere became much more harmonious.

After chatting for a cup of tea, the butler came over and asked the guests to move to the front hall for dinner.

Zhao Hao and Li Chunfang and his son came to the front hall where the breeze was gentle and the flowers were in the shade. On the large round table were placed four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes and eight cold dishes, sixteen kinds of exquisite Huaiyang dishes.

The tableware is also a set of Chenghua colorful porcelain. Although Chenghua is less than a hundred years old, it is the most valuable porcelain of this dynasty. It is said that "a pair of Chenghua cups is worth 100,000 yuan." This complete set must have dozens or even hundreds of pieces, right?

The Prime Minister’s family dinner was indeed extraordinary.

Fortunately, Mr. Zhao now drinks tea from Jianzhan teacups, and has become immune to these things that are worth billions in later generations.

Li Chunfang invited Zhao Hao to take the table, and the two of them sat down as host and guest, with Li Maocai sitting at the last seat.

Zhao Hao was now able to drink some plain wine, so he started drinking with Mr. Li.

"Come, try this famous dish of Xinghua, 'Stewed Wild Turtle and Pigeon Eggs'." Li Chunfang personally held the public spoon and chopsticks, picked up a turtle leg and scooped a pigeon egg for Zhao Hao. She greeted him with a smile: "See if you are qualified to have a taste of the delicious food?"

Looking at the turtle legs and pigeon eggs in the colorful dish, Master Zhao thought to himself, isn't this a 'turtle bastard'?

Zhao Hao secretly suppressed his laughter and tasted it. The meat was indeed tender, fresh and tasty, and could be considered a feast delicacy. Naturally, he had to follow the table etiquette and praise it.

"It's a pity that they used local soft-shelled turtles instead of the old turtles from Gaoyou Lake. The taste is still a little bit worse." Li Chunfang sighed regretfully: "Alas, I don't know when I can taste the turtles from my hometown again?"

Zhao Hao thought to himself, "Well, in ancient times, there was Zhang Jiying, a Jiangdong infantryman, who had the thought of water chestnuts and perch, and now there is Li Shilu, a Huaizuo cavalryman, who has the thought of turtles. Mr. Li, don't let the ancients take the cake."

He complained in his heart, but nodded in agreement, saying deliberately: "Indeed, now that the canal is cut off, the north-south freight is blocked. At least if we want to eat southern food, it will be difficult."

"Yes." Li Chunfang nodded and sighed, "For at least two years, we can no longer rely on the grain transport."

Young Master Zhao smiled and said, "But if Yuanfu wants to eat Xinghua old turtles, what's the problem? I'll ask the fleet to bring you dozens of them next time."

"Hahaha, why would you need that much?" Li Chunfang couldn't help but laugh, "You'll get a nosebleed from eating so much."

"You can keep it and eat it slowly." Zhao Hao laughed and said, "But the advantage of sea transportation is that it is convenient. It takes about ten days for a ship to reach Beijing from Jiangnan. There is really no need to transport so much at once. You can eat it as it arrives."

"Don't bother, just try it." Li Chunfang nodded vaguely, picked up another dish for Zhao Hao and said, "Come, try this taro stewed meat, it's made with authentic dragon taro."

What I mean is, this is our local product in Xinghua, so you have nothing to say about it, right?

Young Master Zhao took a bite and found it to be soft and chewy. The more he chewed, the more fragrant it became. He put down his chopsticks and said, "The Yuanfu family's Dragon Fragrant Taro is running low, right? Next time I'll have someone bring a few baskets over from the sea."

Li Chunfang's mouth twitched, and the spoon in his hand almost fell to the ground. He thought to himself that this boy was really persistent, and every word he said was about shipping. It seemed that as long as he didn't express his opinion, he would not be able to have a peaceful meal.

He smiled and pointed at the fish dish, imitating Zhao Hao's words and saying, "This is the famous 'first-class white striped fish' in Huaiyang. It is said that this white striped fish usually lives in the canal and eats the grain that leaks from the canal boats, so it is fat and big, and tastes delicious."

Zhao Hao's heart was moved. Was the Prime Minister talking about him? It shouldn't be the case. Then he must be talking about the Caoyun Group.

"Although this whitefish is delicious, it is very ferocious. If you are not careful when catching it, it will bite you." Li Chunfang said meaningfully.

Zhao Hao thought, are you bullying me because I've never fished before? It's okay for a black fish to bite a human, but can a whitefish bite a turtle?

But Prime Minister Li was just making a comparison, so of course he couldn't get bogged down in such details, and nodded with a look of acceptance.

"With the interruption of the canal transportation, the whitefish will have a hard time and become even more ferocious." Li Chunfang looked at Zhao Hao deeply and said, "It's better not to push them too hard, otherwise not only will you not be able to eat the meat, but you will also be bitten hard."

"Just don't touch them." Zhao Hao smiled faintly and said, "In fact, river fish are earthy and have many bones, and are far less delicious and easy to eat than sea fish."

"But everyone is used to eating river fish and may not be able to accept sea fish." Li Chunfang sighed.

"That's because they haven't eaten it before. After a few times, they get addicted." Zhao Hao said with a firm smile: "Sea fish is delicious. Anyone who has eaten it says it's delicious."

"Yeah." Li Maocai nodded and said, "I had a dish of steamed rhubarb flowers at Weijixian last time. It was extremely delicious and melted in the mouth. It didn't have any bones. It was definitely better than this white fish..."

"Shut up!" Li Chunfang glanced at his son unhappily.

"Eat your meal." Zhao Hao said helplessly.

"Oh..." The current harmless little cabinet minister shrank his neck and thought to himself, I thought you were really talking about fish.