Fenghou

Zhou Kuan was stunned, "Only 2 people?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Most poor people at the bottom do not live to reach the age of 60, and those who can pass the age of 60 are basically from good families or high-ranking officials, so there are only 60 people over the age of 2, but among the 2 people , at least half of them are well-off families or high-ranking officials. They don't care about the subsidy of 1 cash per month, and they don't even bother to queue up to receive it. Thousands of money, [-] yuan a year, in fact, can't be subsidized for a few years, does Ji'er have any questions?"

Chen Ji hesitated and asked, "Why did father set three hundred Wen per month? Not other amounts."

Chen Qing chuckled, "The price of rice in Lin'an is [-] cents per bucket of rice, and I just subsidize the old man with five buckets of rice per month."

"The child understands!"

Chen Qing went back to his room to write a letter, Zhou Kuan poured a cup of tea for Chen Ji and said with a smile: "It is indeed a coup to break through from the old man, and it occupies the moral high ground. If the imperial court interferes, they will definitely be scolded to death. Unless they also take a sum of money to compete with us, surely the imperial court will not do this kind of thing?"

"Why won't the court do it?"

"The imperial court is too risky. If you give money to the elderly in Lin'an, what about other places? The imperial court will definitely lose more than the gains."

"That's right! Other places will be dissatisfied."

Zhou Kuan lowered his voice and laughed again: "Have you discovered your father's foresight?"

Chen Ji shook his head, puzzled and said: "The junior didn't find out!"

Zhou Kuan smiled slightly and said, "Your father has long ordered the intelligence station to investigate the number of elderly people over 60 years old in Lin'an. Meeting the elderly today is not a whim! Even today's visit to Qiantang River has been planned."

Chen Ji nodded silently, this is really the case.

The first thousand and 410 chapter four sincerity

At night, a carriage parked in front of Wang Mu's mansion. Wang Mu's mansion was Chen Qing's old house in Lin'an. Chen Qing gave it to the newspaper office. Now there are eight members of Wang Mu's family and more than a dozen maidservants. maid.

Lu Gang got off the carriage and asked his men to go up and knock on the door. After a while, the door opened a crack, and the butler asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Special Envoy Lu, looking for your master!"

The steward hurriedly ran to report, after a while, Wang Mu greeted him, and said with a smile, "I kept the special envoy waiting for a long time."

Lu Gang apologized, "I'm sorry to disturb you so late!"

Wang Mu hurriedly invited Lu Gang into the gate, and asked him to sit in the study. Lu Gang waved his hand, "I have something urgent? Has tomorrow's newspaper been printed?"

"Probably not yet, it's still typesetting!"

Lu Gang hurriedly said: "Hurry up and stop, I want to insert an urgent message."

"Okay! Let's go to the newspaper office first."

Wang Mu took a robe from his wife, put it on briefly, and got into Lu Gang's carriage. The carriage turned around and drove towards the newspaper office two miles away.

In the carriage, Lu Gang handed a warrant to Wang Mu, "Your Highness just sent someone to deliver it, take a look!"

Wang Mu quickly opened the warrant and saw a few words written on it, "From this month, the elderly over 60 years old in Lin'an City will receive a monthly subsidy of [-] Wen, which can be collected at the special envoy's office at the end of the month. Please report it immediately! "

Wang Mu smiled and said, "This is to strike while the iron is hot, so as to further penetrate the east wind brought by His Highness today."

"That's right! The old man is a good entry point, but I'm under a lot of pressure."

"Is it money?"

Lu Gang shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I don't have to worry about money. Hu Yun handed over 30 yuan to me. I just need to make preparations. I want to make a 2 yuan sign. I will receive the money based on the sign. You can lend me a few more at the end of the month. I may not be manned enough."

Wang Mu chuckled: "You can borrow as many people as you want, if it's not enough, I'll help you too!"

The carriage stopped in front of the newspaper office, and the two entered the newspaper office. Fortunately, the craftsmen were composing typesetting, and there was still half an hour before printing. At this time, Wang Mu suddenly discovered a problem. Jiangfu is gone, if Lin'an changes the front page but other prefectures don't, there will be chaos.

"Special envoy, why don't you publish it in the newspaper the day after tomorrow! The manuscript has already been sent to other states."

"Is there any other way? Can special news be used?"

Special news is an extra issue, which is usually a major event that occurs suddenly after the typesetting is completed. It is too late to revise, so we can only print a separate copy and put it in the newspaper.

But the news of the special subsidy for the elderly is not a major event, it cannot reach the level of special news.

Wang Mu hesitated for a while, but still agreed, "If it must be published tomorrow, then only special news can be used."

……

The next day, there was a drizzle in Lin'an. Although the heat subsided somewhat, the heat remained undiminished. The weather seemed to be more stuffy, making people feel like they were in a steamer.

It was only a day since Chen Qing visited Lin'an, but there was no sound in the court, and no one dared to mention it, as if it had never happened at all.

But the popularity among the people has not diminished, and all the teahouses, restaurants and brothels are still talking about it.

At noon, newspaper sellers appeared on the street, and they shouted as they ran, "Special news, His Royal Highness King Yong subsidizes the elderly over 60 years old!"

Special news has always been what everyone is most interested in. Hearing that there is special news, everyone ran out to buy newspapers. Soon, various teahouses and restaurants exploded. Elderly people over 60 years old in Lin'an City received a monthly subsidy of [-] Wen money.

The news blew across the city like a gust of wind, and countless families were extremely excited, especially the poor families at the bottom. Three hundred cash was not a small amount to them. It could buy five buckets of rice, which meant that the whole family could have enough to eat and no longer need to go hungry.

But for the rich and powerful, there was no disturbance. They simply dismissed it as only three hundred Wen. They couldn't imagine how important three hundred Wen was to poor families, especially for the elderly of poor families. Charcoal in the snow.

But the reason why this news caused a sensation in the whole city was not the three hundred Wen coins themselves, but that everyone saw King Yong's sincerity through the three hundred Wen coins, saw King Yong's care for the poor people, his love for the poor old people, It is like a clear spring, flowing into everyone's heart.

……

Qin Hui walked across the square of Ziwei Hall, walked quickly to the emperor's study room, and at the gate of the main hall, he met Kang Lu, an eunuch from the study room who was specially waiting for him here.

Qin Hui took out a small cloth bag, took out a gold leaf and stuffed it for him. A gold leaf weighed three qian and was worth six guan. Mind, this is the real reason why his aspect has not fallen for a long time.

Kang Lu said in a low voice: "The special news in the newspaper today made the officials very upset, but they didn't get angry. I guess they are looking for a husband for this matter."

"Did the officials know about the news outside the city yesterday?" Qin Hui asked again.

"I probably know a little bit. Yan Xin reported the matter, but vaguely passed the number."

Qin Hui let go of his heart, he knew how to deal with the emperor.

He walked quickly to the imperial study room, and saw the emperor Zhao Gou pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. He could see that he was very troubled, but it was not in an atmosphere of rage.

Qin Hui walked into the room and bowed to salute, "My minister sees Your Majesty!"

Zhao Gou glanced at him and asked, "How was the situation yesterday?"

"Overall, it's not bad. Most of the people are afraid of the war and don't go out. Only a few people go out. The gates of various cities are under control. I heard that some people ran out from the Yongjin Gate, but there are not many people. They are still in our Within the acceptable range, the minister also sent people to the riverside to investigate, basically the people outside the city, not many people inside the city."

This is Qin Hui's cunning, he left room for himself everywhere, if someone reported that there was a crowd of people, he could explain that it was the people outside the city, Qin Hui knew that officials didn't like to listen to the truth.

Zhao Gou nodded, "I can't stop the people outside the city from going. Fortunately, the time is short and there are no serious consequences. It's worth not to mention it, but did Mr. Qin read the newspaper today? It really gave me eye drops! "

Zhao Gou slammed the newspaper on the table and said angrily, "My people, do you need him to protect you?"

Qin Hui was reminded by Kang Lu in advance that he already had an excuse in his mind. He smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. It seems that Chen Qing is trying to buy people's hearts, but in fact it won't have any effect. Chen Qing knows it all too well." Ming, it’s all just pretending!”

"How do you say that?" Zhao Gou asked anxiously.

"Weichen's father-in-law is already 70 years old, but Weichen knows that he will never receive the three hundred Wen. They receive money as if they were begging for food. They can’t afford to lose this person. Those who really go to receive money are those from poor families who have no food to eat. Here comes the problem. People from poor families eat chaff and vegetables all day long and live to 60 How many people are over the age of 50? There is probably no one in ten families, if he is sincere, why not relax the age limit to [-]?"

Qin Hui's explanation made Zhao Gou feel a little better, but he still said bitterly: "He just wants to gain public opinion all day long. Don't think that I don't know his purpose. He thinks that the Great Song Dynasty is so easy to win? How many can you win?" The people at the bottom can buy people's hearts? Hmph! He thinks things too simply."

"Your Majesty is right. It is indeed easy for Chen Qing to think about the problem. Da Song Sheji is not the businessman and the poor. He doesn't understand. It has something to do with his background. It is useless for him to please the businessman and the people at the bottom. So Your Majesty don’t need to worry too much, just let him do what he wants to do, it’s a good thing to let him go astray and go deeper and deeper, just in case he wakes up and wins over a wealthy family, that’s our trouble .”

With Qin Hui's mouth, the dead can speak. Chen Qing's act of caring for the common people has turned into a misguided, wrong class choice, and turned into a good thing in his mouth.

Zhao Gou was completely convinced by Qin Hui, and he nodded happily, "Qin Xianggong is right, if he wants to care about the people at the bottom, he can do whatever he wants. As long as he doesn't collude with the rich and powerful families, why should I worry?"

Qin Hui secretly sighed, how could it be unimportant to care about the people at the bottom?The soldiers all came from the bottom, and since the officials refused to face the reality and always wanted to listen to pleasant words to numb themselves, they had no choice but to let him go.

The first thousand 410 chapter five

After entering August, the weather is not so hot, and there is a hint of coolness in the morning and evening.

The small Dangtu County on the banks of the Yangtze River suddenly became lively. A large number of businessmen came from Lin'an one after another. They all came with their families. They brought all their belongings and rented a yard for short-term.

Since late June, there have been rumors that the imperial court will issue clubs to all businessmen. Everyone knows that this kind of clubs issued for special groups is essentially robbing money.

Some large merchants began to move upon hearing the news, transferring property overnight, some to Quanzhou, some to Jiangnan West Road, but many large merchants also fled to Dangtu County.

As time went by, more and more news began to spread. It was said that the imperial court had started to print the meeting, and the entire Lin'an City panicked.

Almost all the money from Lin'an Baoji Cabinet was withdrawn and transferred to Wanbao Cabinet and Jiangnan Cabinet, through which the wealth was transported to branches in Yangzhou, Jingzhao or Quanzhou.

Wealth was stored in cabinets, and merchants fled overnight with their families carrying gold and silver.

Most of the businessmen fled to Yangzhou, mainly because they still had real estate such as houses and shops. They were worried and waited and watched the situation in the nearest safest place.

Of course, Dangtu County is only a transit point. From here, you can take a boat to Jingzhao, Bashu, or Yangzhou on the other side. Some businessmen have discovered the business opportunities in Dangtu and began to consider investing and operating here.

After several years of operation, Dangtu County is now one of the best freight transit places on the Yangtze River. It has three docks and stretches of warehouses. The key is that the land price is much cheaper than that in Wuhu.

In a newly opened teahouse in Dangtu County, a group of businessmen from Lin'an were chatting together.

"Mr. Anfu, you have a lot of news, what's going on in Lin'an, tell me!"

All eyes were on an old man. This old man was called Wang Anfu. He opened an Anfu Restaurant in Lin'an. He was one of the dozen or so old men Chen Qing met. Chen Qing told him about the road in Dangtu County. road.

Wang Anfu was one of the first businessmen to come to pangtu. He bought this teahouse. He only spent [-] guan for this teahouse, but the Anfu restaurant in Lin'an was worth tens of thousands of guan. He didn't worry about it.

Wang Anfu sighed: "I heard that there are many objections from the imperial court, and the dignitaries in Lin'an are also opposed to plundering merchants, so the plan cannot be implemented for a long time."

"Without competitors like us, those rich and powerful should be happy. What are they against?" a businessman asked puzzled.

Wang Anfu shook his head and said: "Things are not as simple as you think. Now half of the shops in Lin'an are closed, the market is in a slump, under the overturned nest, there are no eggs in An, and those shops of the rich and powerful have also been severely impacted. It is said that Fengle The number of customers in the restaurant has dropped by [-]%, Baoji Cabinet has been unable to withdraw money, and there are almost no customers in the top ten restaurants, these dignitaries are in a hurry."

"I don't know who came up with the stupid way to kill the chicken and get the eggs. I guess the minister would not dare to come up with such an idea. It must be the one at the top."

"Who else is there besides him? There is no money to pay the military salary, and you dare not touch the rich and powerful, so you can only use the merchants. The first two years were to plunder the maritime merchants and big merchants. At that time, some people said that the target of the above It’s the entire merchant class that robbed the big merchants, and the next is the small and medium merchants, it’s true!”

"No wonder so many businessmen ran away last year and the year before. Did they get the news in advance?"

"Fart news!"

Wang Anfu said with a sneer: "It's because others are smart. They know that the court's taxes can no longer support so many troops. Sooner or later, the court will attack the merchants, so they ran to Jingzhao first. Almost all of their shops in Lin'an were sold. Who is our store sold to? Who will take over?"

The merchants in the teahouse were silent. This is a very serious problem, and everyone is unwilling to talk about it. At least half of their wealth is bet on real estate and shops. Although the housing prices in Lin’an are still high, there are almost no transactions. Every day There are a lot of shops and houses rushing to sell, but no one buys?

Those who can afford it are rich and powerful, but they are not willing to buy real estate, but are trying to exchange their money for silver and gold, causing the price of gold and silver to rise again on the black market. On the black market, one tael of silver can be exchanged for ten The money was raised, and one tael of gold even rose to [-] guan. Although facing the threat of a full-scale depression, the court still did not cancel the idea of ​​plundering merchants.

At this time, a bell sounded in the distance, "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

This is the pier urging the guests to board the boat. A businessman stood up and said, "Everyone, I'll take a step first. We will meet again in the future!"

"Master Fang, are you going to Yangzhou?" Wang Anfu asked.

The businessman shook his head, "My brother is going to Yangzhou, and I am going to Jingzhao. Everyone, your future is in Jingzhao. If you don't go, you will have no chance."

The businessman gave a salute, turned around and hurried to the pier, followed by two attendants carrying large boxes.

Wang Anfu said to himself: "Yes! I should go to Jingzhao to have a look."

……

There is no rain in Jingzhao in August, the sky is high and the clouds are light, the sun is abundant, and the sun is warm, but the downside is that the air is a little dry.

It has been almost a month since Chen Qing came back from Fujian Road. This month, he has been extremely busy, and he has a backlog of important documents that need to be reviewed by him. The princess is also pregnant and has no energy to review for him.

After nearly a month of busy work, I finished reviewing all the backlog of documents.

Today is a holiday, and the weather is not bad. On this day, Chen Qing plans to take his family to see the new house.

The new Taiji Palace has been built for a full year and a half, and it was officially completed in two months. The Zhongshu, Menxia, ​​and Shangshu have all been moved there, leaving only the Xuanwu Hall, Baihu Hall, and the Privy Council.

Xuanwu Hall is where Chen Qing's official residence is located. Of course, Chen Qing's official residence is also preparing to move in the past two days. Everyone is packing up paperwork and will begin to move large items tomorrow.

But today, Chen Qing wants to take his family to see the new Yongwang Palace. Of course, he just wants to see it. If he wants to move there, he will have to wait until the end of the year or early next year at least.

Two maids helped the pregnant princess to carefully board the carriage. Interestingly, Zhao Yingluo and Yu Ying were also pregnant. Half of the six wives and concubines were pregnant.

The children were led by the wet nurse and sat in another cart, chattering and chattering, quite lively.

Chen Qing sat down next to his wife, and seeing beads of sweat on her forehead, he smiled and said, "It's not convenient, so don't go!"

Lu Xiu smiled and said: "Doctor Liu said that you can still go out today, but you can't go out in two days. If you don't go today, you will have to wait for a few months."

At this time, the carriage started and the carriage shook. Lu Xiu's face suddenly changed, her stomach began to hurt, her face became pale, and beads of sweat flowed down.

Chen Qing immediately stopped the carriage and ordered the female guard, "Hurry up and get the rattan bed!"

A few female guards rushed away, carrying the rattan bed for a while, Chen Qing carefully carried his wife onto the rattan bed and lay down, covering her with a quilt.

Dr. Liu also rushed over, she asked a few questions, and knowing that the amniotic fluid had broken, she said to the midwives behind her, "Go and tidy up the room, the princess is about to give birth."

A large group of female guards carried the rattan bed and entered the inner house covered by the green umbrella. Fortunately, they were still in the palace, and it would be troublesome if they went out.

The concubine's fetal gas moved, so she couldn't visit the new palace.

An hour later, news came out from the delivery room that the princess gave birth to a baby boy, and the mother and baby were safe.