Chapter 451 Handle
“I didn’t expect that the Tan family would get such benefits. The Ye family will naturally support the new policy, but what should we do?
If we continue to oppose, His Majesty will be suspicious of us, and our lives will become difficult. If we support the implementation of the new policy at this time, we will fall behind again. ”
The head of the He family looked at the other three and said, everyone has his own thoughts, and they all want to get more benefits for themselves at this time.
"I heard that Duke Xu and Duke Xuan are now in Yunhe Mountain. I wonder what they think about this. Duke Xuan is the in-law of the Tan family." The head of the Cui family added meaningfully.
"Master, His Royal Highness Prince Xiang and Marquis Wuning came to visit and said that...the promise to you can be fulfilled." The butler outside the door reported nervously.
"What?" Not only the head of the Jiang family, but the others also spoke in surprise.
"Okay, so you have been secretly communicating with His Royal Highness Prince Xiang for a long time, but you gathered us here to discuss countermeasures. It's obvious that you want to plot against us!"
The head of the He family was so angry that he pointed at the nose of the head of the Jiang family and scolded him.
"Brother He, I am wronged! This matter is not what you think... Oh, why don't you invite His Royal Highness Prince Xiang and Marquis Wuning! Brother He, Brother Li, now that things have come to this, why don't you meet them together? Don't accuse me of having an affair anymore."
The head of the Jiang family was in a state of panic and was in a difficult situation both inside and outside.
The family heads looked at each other and decided that this was the only way. Otherwise, they would be the only three left and would suffer the most in the future.
The four family heads hurried out to greet them. Prince Xiang and Qin Hanzhang were welcomed in with Su Qianqian and Xue Zhiqing, who were dressed as men. They were invited to the water pavilion in the garden, where refreshments were served, the view was wide and the breeze was gentle, making it a good place to talk about things.
"Your Highness Prince Xiang and Marquis Wuning have taken time out of their busy schedules to visit us, which really makes us panic. We were unable to prepare in such a hurry, so please forgive us, Your Highness and the Marquis." The head of the Jiang family started out with some polite remarks.
"Master, you don't have to be polite. This king and Marquis Wuning were passing by here, and we were in a hurry to bother you. You don't have to be polite, and these masters are all here. It's better to meet by chance than to invite them. It's also a coincidence."
King Xiang smiled as if in spring breeze. The heads of the families nodded repeatedly in embarrassment and looked at each other as if they were being roasted on a fire.
[The head of the Jiang family mined iron ore in Jiuxing Mountain in Qingzhou. Privately buying and selling pig iron is a serious crime. This alone is enough to make him willingly accept the new policy.
The head of the He family has poor personal morals and raised a son like He Liansheng. How good can his character be? There are countless corpses buried under the peony garden in his backyard. If the corpses are dug out, he will be skinned alive if not killed, and the He family will also be implicated.
The Li family is the weakest among the aristocratic families in the south of the Yangtze River. There are no mineral resources in the two states where they are located. Their main business is raising silkworms and selling raw silk. Due to the monopoly on the raw silk trade, silkworm farmers are forced to sell raw silk to the Li family at a low price.
In the past two years, there have been several cases in which silk farmers were forced to hang themselves because of low silk prices. All of them were caused by the Li family. They just bribed the prefect to suppress the cases. If the case is investigated, the Li family will be in big trouble.
The Cui family was mainly based in Zibo, which produced fine inkstones and rice paper.
In order to seize the lotus paper making technology developed by a small workshop, the son of the head of the Cui family set a trap and forced the owner of the workshop to sell the shop at a loss, and had to resell the technology at a low price. This is how Cui's lotus paper came about, and now it has become a tribute. 】
The system dug out the gossip about the four family heads. Su Qianqian ate the gossip while looking at the four family heads, and felt more confident.
[None of these aristocratic families have clean bottoms. They all have done some dirty things. If you dig up their past and have the evidence, are you still afraid that they will not behave themselves? 】Su Qianqian felt proud.
Qin Hanzhang didn't like to talk much. He drank his tea silently and smiled as he saw Su Qianqian's smug expression.
"Your Highness Prince Xiang, it is indeed hard work to implement the new policy in Jiangnan this time. However, I am afraid that it may be difficult to implement this new policy..." the head of the Jiang family said tentatively.
"Whether the new policy can be implemented smoothly depends on the concerted efforts of all the family heads. After all, most of the land and businesses in the twelve states of Minqing are in the hands of all the family heads." King Xiang said with a smile.
"We are terrified! It is only because of the inheritance passed down from generation to generation by our ancestors and the protection of the people by wise rulers that we have this prosperous and wealthy country. How can we claim that everything is in our hands?"
The head of the Jiang family quickly stated humbly that although these noble families behind the scenes almost controlled the lifeline of the entire Da Qi, they still had to be respectful to the royal family on the surface, otherwise they would be plotting something illegal.
"What Patriarch Jiang said is exactly what I mean. For many years, land has been too concentrated, so many people have no land to farm and are displaced. Merchants have lost a lot of taxes, leaving the treasury empty. That's why I am implementing new policies to bring peace to the people of the world."
King Xiang took the opportunity to explain his purpose and also test the opinions of these family heads.
The He family is in Hongzhou. When the weather on both sides of Hongzhou is good, it is the main grain-producing area of Da Qi. This time, the He family was the most affected by the new land policy.
Therefore, the He family is the most resistant to the new policy, and this is also the biggest contradiction between He Liansheng and Prime Minister Xue. In order to safeguard the interests of the He family and do things for the people of Daqi, He Liansheng spares no effort.
"Your Highness Prince Xiang, the new policy is to distribute land to villagers according to the number of people. Then won't the previous land deeds be just a piece of waste paper? I wonder if the land of the fiefs of the princes and marquises will be distributed in the same way?"
The head of the He family opened his mouth and raised the most pointed question.
"The new policy is being piloted in Jiangnan. If there happens to be a prince with a fiefdom, it will definitely be distributed according to the new policy." Prince Xiang said to the head of the He family.
"Then I will wait and see what His Royal Highness Prince Xiang will do. If that is the case, the He family will definitely comply with the new policy."
The head of the He family said this calmly, which actually meant that he had decided to wait and see.
After hearing this, the Patriarchs of the Cui and Li families gritted their teeth and nodded: "Yes, yes, it's better to have a reference."
"It's okay to borrow from others, but it's not as good as 'cheap'. If I remember correctly, I heard that the name of Cui's Lotus Xuan should not be Cui, but He." Su Qianqian said with a smile at this time.
The face of the head of the Cui family suddenly changed. The Cui family has always kept such a secret secret, and even the wives in the family did not know about it. How did this young medical officer know about it?
The eyes of the four family heads all fell on Su Qianqian, and then they came to their senses. Why did the prince and the marquis bring a small medical officer with them when they went out to visit others? The person next to her is said to be a disaster relief envoy, but she is clearly a girl.
Su Qianqian: Why don’t I look like a girl anymore?
"Master Cui, should I continue? Tell me how the young master surnamed He lost his shop due to a trap set up by someone, and had to sell the lotus paper technology he had just developed at a low price, which is why we have the Cui family's lotus paper today?"
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