Chapter 178 Report to the Court
This is what Jiang Wan likes most about Li Chengxiu. Although he has many flaws, he is always responsible.
He raised his hand and poured another cup of tea.
"Li Song has already left for the capital, right? Did you write the memorial as we agreed?"
"OK."
But Li Chengxiu was a little confused.
"Why do you insist on me getting a name from the emperor? We can handle matters in our own fiefdom ourselves and just pay the taxes we owe. Why do we have to go through the old man?"
Thinking that the salt-making recipe would no longer be in my hands in a few years, I felt a pang of sadness even before I even started making any money. I took a sip of water unhappily, mumbling something to myself.
"The eldest and second brothers also have mines in their fiefdoms, and I've never heard of anyone giving away their money-making formula to the imperial court for free. Wouldn't it be a bit foolish for us to do this?"
"Who's stupid? This is called taking precautions."
Jiang Wan poured himself a cup of tea and explained his thoughts with a smile while drinking it.
"Now that our father is in power, as long as we don't do anything out of line, as parents we always hope that our children will have a bright future.
But what if the prince takes the throne in the future?
I know you and your brother have a good relationship, but since you're all married and have children, it's inevitable that you'll be selfish and think more about yourself. Even if you don't think about yourself, you still have to think about your children, your family, your country, and the world.
Salt and iron have always been important national treasures. We are now trying to make money from them, but it is not a long-term solution.
Even someone like you knows that this one is bound to make a fortune, so how could others not know? Let's talk it over with the Emperor and the Crown Prince right now, and keep this recipe for five years.
Five years should be enough to prop up our Dongling Prefecture. From now on, no matter how much money Snowflake Salt makes, it will be directly handed over to the court for management."
Her eyes were bright and she looked particularly clear-headed as she looked at her husband.
"Li Chengxiu, can you understand my thoughts?"
"able."
Although his tone was not very enthusiastic, he nodded quickly.
"To put it bluntly, they also want to get the imperial court to join them directly. It will be easier to overturn the table if we all share the same pot of rice.
Our Dongling Mansion is like the cook who cooks. We can first pick up a piece of food with chopsticks to taste the saltiness, but we cannot keep lying on the edge of the pot without getting up.
Otherwise, by then, not to mention the entire court, my father and brother will have to kick me down first."
"Don't you think you're quite smart?"
"That hurts me too! To be honest, wife, I've been begging enough these past few years, and I have to please others wherever I go.
Do you think I'm throwing a tantrum and acting like a scoundrel without feeling embarrassed? Isn't this all because I'm being forced into a corner? If I could just hang onto the stove in the future, I'd rather die than go out and beg for food! "
The man put down the teacup in his hand and rushed directly to his wife, rubbing his head back and forth on the princess's shoulder.
"Wife, you've always been smarter than me since we were little. Now that you're the head of our family, you have to find a way to make money to support me!
To be honest, the military doctor has examined me. He said my teeth aren't very good, so I'm only suitable for a simple life. From now on, you'll be responsible for earning the money to support the family, and I'll be responsible for looking beautiful.
As for my father and brother, you can rest assured. Let them come at me if they have the guts. I'm not afraid at all.
Is it okay, wife~~~"
Jiang Wan laughed when he rubbed her.
"You, the dignified Prince of Qi, are so obsessed with wanting to live off your wife? Will you still listen if this gets out?"
"If this gets out, they'll all be so jealous of me!"
Li Chengxiu stood up with a chuckle, and shook his head proudly.
"You don't know how envious and jealous the people under my command are when they see me every day. Hehehe, who would want to go out and beg for food when they can have a ready-made meal?
They don't look down on those who live off their wife; they look down on others who do. If they could just snatch a bite themselves, who wouldn't want to lie down and do it? Life is short, so who would hate to enjoy the good life?
"You always have a lot of crooked ideas."
Jiang Wan smiled and patted him, then raised his chin in a pretentious manner, putting on the look of a smug villain.
"As long as you don't mind hurting your manly reputation, then this princess, well, it's not impossible for me to reluctantly agree."
"I don't mind, I don't mind! Hehehe, thank you so much, my beautiful and kind princess!
Just say I have good luck, right?
I used to rely on my parents, now I rely on my wife, and when I get old I can rely on my children. I was born to enjoy happiness in this life! Hehehehehe..."
His trademark villainous laugh echoed through the room, and Jiang Wan didn't bother to correct him. She simply reaffirmed one point: living with a love-brained man wasn't bad at all; it wasn't a chore at all.
Time passed quickly, just as Li Chengxiu had predicted. Before the three-day deadline was up, almost every household with a name and surname in Dongling Prefecture had invested in the venture.
With the full support of the local king and the unity of all the officials and businessmen in the fiefdom, Dongling Prefecture's first external industry, snowflake salt, built a workshop at a lightning speed, and then collected brine to make salt.
Everything is going well. We are just waiting for the court to issue the sales license so that we can start our business openly.
Meanwhile, in the capital, there was also a huge uproar.
"Your Majesty, salt and iron are the most important treasures of our nation. They must not be used privately by the Prince of Qi! If this precedent is set and other princes follow suit, what will we do then?"
Prince Jing's father-in-law, Lord Liu, the current Secretary of the Imperial Censorate, nearly died from knocking his head against the throne. Whether he had selfish motives or not is beyond question, but Duke Ping, Song Qingshan, who stood by him and strenuously opposed the proposal, was determined not to give in, no matter how hard he tried.
"Lord Liu is absolutely right! Your Majesty, I do not yet know the true purpose of His Highness the Prince of Qi's actions. However, I know how important salt is to the court! How can we allow the Dongling Mansion to sell it privately?"
"Old Song, what you said is unreasonable. I didn't want to say anything at first, but you keep talking nonsense like that. I, Old Jiang, can't stand it anymore."
Duke Ling was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.
"What could the King of Qi possibly be thinking about? He only has one thought: loyalty to the emperor and respect for his father!
If he hadn't reported it to the court, it would be called private selling. But now the Dongling Mansion is eagerly waiting for permission from the court before it dares to open for business. How can this be considered private selling?
We are all generals who have come all the way from the battlefield. You really don't know what life is like for the soldiers now? Although you haven't been to Dongling Mansion, I have!
"This wasn't a very wealthy place to begin with, with many mountains and few fields to grow much decent food. And it's been exploited for so long by the remnants of the previous dynasty, and they've basically taken everything they could. Now we're left with a bunch of people struggling to make ends meet!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
