Difficult for a son-in-law

No matter how people feel about Ming Zhan, Princess Wei's birthday comes at a very timely time.

Princess Wei has always adhered to the principle of keeping a low profile, and she is not planning to make a big deal, but this year, there are a lot of people giving gifts, and there are many people asking for greetings, so it is unreasonable not to do it.

Princess Wei said, "It's been a long time since it was so lively."

Ming Zhan smiled, "Occasionally it's nice to be lively and lively. Tomorrow I'll come over to have breakfast with my mother."

"Okay, I'll let the chef prepare your favorite dishes."

Ming Zhan didn't even go to the court meeting in the morning, he asked for leave, and then ran to the dining room, startling all the cooks with arrhythmia.

Ming Zhan actually knows how to cook. Although he hasn't done it for many years, he still remembers the general process.He was ready to show his filial piety, and he was not arrogant enough to think that he could make noodles. The noodles were prepared by the chef, and he asked people to chop dried fragrant, diced duck, fresh mushrooms, green onion, ginger and garlic and other seasonings.

"Light it up." Ming Zhan ordered.

The head chef was about to cry, and begged, "Your Highness, the slave will do it. You are doing important things, so let the slave do the potting and bowl work."

"Too much nonsense. Hurry up and start a fire." Ming Zhan said again.

The head chef had no choice but to snatch the fireman's job and raise the stove himself. Ming Zhan asked which one was oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar, and under the horrified eyes of a group of trembling cooks, he made a small cup of toppings for longevity noodles.

Regardless of the taste, the head chef is almost ready to serve up the toppings. Ancestor, the son is really an all-rounder. If it is said that the son is proficient in four books and five classics, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, everyone will believe this, and he will learn it when he was born.To say that the son still has some cooking skills, it would be impossible to tell anyone.Who has the guts to teach the prince how to cook?

But his family's son insisted on making a topping not very fluently.

Genius, genius.

The chef's moved eyes were hot, he twitched twice, and said, "My son's pure and filial heart really makes the servants... admire..."

On the other stove, after the water boiled, Ming Zhan put his face down neatly. After a while, under the eyes of everyone looking up at him like a god, Ming Zhan ordered He Yu to carry the face to Princess Wei's courtyard.

Don't underestimate this bowl of noodles. Ming Zhan didn't remind the kitchen before, so there was a lot of delay. After the morning meeting in Fengjingnan, Princess Wei came here. The two were talking, and Ming Zhan came over.

As soon as Feng Jingnan saw Ming Zhan, he asked, "Didn't you say you have a headache?"

"Oh, I went to prepare a birthday gift for my mother. I was afraid that those ministers would be troubled, so I just said it casually." Ming Zhan didn't care at all, although Feng Jingnan was slightly displeased, Princess Wei had already accepted the words and asked with a smile , "What is it? It's going to delay the morning meeting. It's not allowed to do that in the future. Our own family is fine, so it's not good to spread the word."

Feng Jingnan didn't say much, Ming Zhan had already straightened his clothes, bowed to his mother in a proper manner, licked three heads, and said in a clear voice, "May my mother live a long life."

"Get up quickly." Princess Wei leaned forward to help her son.

Ming Zhan took his mother's arm and said with a smile, "I have always wanted to prepare some birthday gifts for my mother to please her. Mother has all the gold, jade and antiques. I got up early on purpose to make longevity noodles for you."

Princess Wei was taken aback, and quickly asked Ming Zhan, "Has it ever been scalded. The kitchen is not a fun place, hot water and hot oil, it hurts a little bit."

"I am fine."

The maid went to pass on the breakfast, and Princess Wei saw that Ming Zhan was intact, and said with a smile, "I'm happy if you have this kind of heart. There's no need for you to do these things yourself, just give orders."

"What's the same? Although the cooks make the taste better, I made it with a different intention." Ming Zhan has his own way of coaxing people, not to mention being filial and pleasing to his mother who always loves him. , Princess Wei was really very happy, and she looked at Ming Zhan with love in her eyes.

The feeling in Feng Jingnan's heart, on the one hand, Ming Zhan is indeed filial, on the other hand, damn it, didn't I celebrate my birthday?I have never seen this kid make a bowl of noodles for himself.Not to mention noodles, there is not even a bowl of noodle soup!

For a while, breakfast is ready.

Although it has the flavors of the north and the south and is full of beautiful things in eyes, today it is Ming Zhan's birthday noodles that are the protagonists.

The maid Sheng came forward, poured the toppings, and the first bowl had to be held in front of Feng Jingnan, Princess Wei kept smiling, and the corners of her mouth raised, "My lord, try it too, how can Ming Zhan know how to cook? Come to be filial to us, but I don't know how it tastes?"

Feng Jingnan picked up the noodles in the bowl with his chopsticks, raised his eyebrows, glanced at Ming Zhan and said, "I've been honored by the princess."

Ming Zhan smiled, "Mother doesn't think my son is ugly. I have to practice my skills before I dare to show my ugliness in front of my father."

Princess Wei had already tasted it first. Although she was not as good as a chef, she could still eat it. Princess Wei praised, "It tastes very good."

If someone else made such a meal, Feng Jingnan would have to reward the board directly, but Ming Zhan had such a handicraft for the first time, which made Feng Jingnan look at him with admiration. Let's do face-to-face things.

On Princess Wei's happy day, Feng Jingnan would not intentionally embarrass Ming Zhan, not to mention that this is his son's craftsmanship, so it is naturally different, Feng Jingnan nodded, "It's okay."

Ming Zhan smiled.

After breakfast, first Feng Jingnan's side concubine Ji concubine came to greet Princess Wei and wish her birthday, and then Ming Zhan brought his brothers and sisters to salute.Then, Feng Jingnan and Princess Wei went to the front hall to receive congratulations from his servants.

Princess Wei went back to the back to accept the kowtows of the wives, following the rules and pomp, which was extremely cumbersome.

Ming Zhan followed Feng Jingnan, although there was an arrangement by the Internal Affairs Bureau for everything, and even if they had eight guts, they wouldn't dare to make a mistake, but Ming Zhan was the third protagonist, and it was his mother's birthday. Who would he see? Everyone had to be happy, laughing all day, almost paralyzed.

However, Princess Wei made a small fortune.Flipping through the registered items, Princess Wei smiled lightly. It seemed that Ming Zhan's seat was indeed quite secure.

Feng Jingnan received Zhu Zizheng's letter of invitation, and hurriedly ordered Ming Zhan to come and read it together.

Ming Zhan was discussing matters with his subordinates, when he heard the letter, he got up suddenly, and when he walked around the desk, he turned over a cup of tea in his sleeve, and it landed on the ground with a bang, splashing the tea on Ming Zhan's shoe, Ming Zhan laughed and waved his hands , didn't take it seriously, "I'll talk about it in the afternoon if I have something to do, I'll go to my father's place first." As soon as he lifted his clothes, he walked out of the study quickly, He Yu, Chen Qing and others hurriedly followed.

Ming Zhan almost trotted over. Outside Feng Jingnan's study, there were several ministers waiting to be summoned. When they saw Ming Zhan, they all saluted. Ming Zhan smiled, "My lords, please forgive me." The prince hurriedly bowed and led the prince in.

Feng Jingnan had already looked at it briefly, and he was also in a good mood when he saw Ming Zhan. He smiled and said, "Come and see, the Zizheng has been negotiated, basically according to what we discussed earlier." No concessions at all. Possibly, Tibetan Khan is not a fool.

Ming Zhan lamented that people in the world really don't pay much attention to merchants, otherwise it is normal for such economic negotiations to last for three to five years.Taking the memorial in Feng Jingnan's hand, and reading it at a glance, Ming Zhan repeatedly praised, "Master Zhu is indeed mature and prudent, and his grasp of proportion is not bad at all." , not to mention that he was born in a family of merchants, and he knew a little about these things.

Fan Wenzhou said, "According to the contract, the sooner the trade zone is opened, the better. Zanghan means that it will be fully opened before the year. The construction of the trade zone here is a big project."

"Yeah, Tibet gave up three percentage points in terms of tariffs, so I had to build this house myself." Ming Zhan thought for a while and smiled, "Since it is a house for Tibetan-border trade, leave the job to me, and I will do it. Arrangements. Hope to have it built before winter.”

Feng Shansi asked, "I don't know how much money is needed, so I can let someone arrange it." Thinking about the amount of money in the treasury, his face is not very good-looking.

"10 taels is enough, and 5 taels is enough."

Feng Shansi asked in amazement, "My lord sees that there are as many as a hundred trade projects between our palace and Tibet. The scale of the trade zone can be imagined. To tell you the truth, it is the vegetables, melons and fruits on our Yunnan East Street, where the house was built at the beginning. It took 17 taels." Although I feel sorry for silver, don't fool me.

Ming Zhan said, "Due to the news of the opening of the Tibetan-border trade this year, the tea-horse trade is not good. I probably know the number of banks. It is not necessary to build all the houses in advance, and our trade with Tibetans is not guaranteed. It needs to be opened up all at once. Merchants have held a wait-and-see attitude so far. We can’t force them to do business with Tibetans. For example, tea, salt and silk, etc., first select a few items to open trade, and they don’t need many houses. Expenditures are also limited. When the first group of people earn money, other businessmen will naturally come to share the pie, needless to say."

Feng Shansi breathed a sigh of relief, showing a little smile, "Your Majesty is very thoughtful." The money was finally saved.

Ming Zhan then prepared the first bidding meeting.

The merchants opened their horizons again before they cleared up the Tibet-border trade.

Without mentioning Ming Zhan's identity, his high-level operation skills are enough to make people astonished. This will save money, and it will make a group of professionals want to hit the wall.

Zhou Yungui held the draft market regulations brought back by his grandson from the Yamen, and read them carefully under the lamp. Zhou Yu waited on the side, explaining a few words to his grandfather from time to time. Putting the brochure on the table, he rubbed his eyebrows and sighed, "We in business are not afraid of corrupt officials, not afraid of capable officials, but those who don't know how to do it. .”

Zhou Yu looked puzzled, "It's a good thing that the market is more regulated."

"Yu'er." Zhou Yungui sighed, "It is a good thing that the market is more regulated, and the rules you drafted are both beneficial and harmless. Since the time of Han Wu, salt and iron were collected as official operations, but later, due to the imperial court's We are not good at managing this way, so our merchants are responsible for the operation of the salt mines, and we hand over the silver taels to the imperial salt department every year. This is where our eight major salt merchants come from.”

"Unfortunately, it's only our generation." Zhou Yungui sighed softly.

Zhou Yungui suddenly seemed to be ten years older, "Although we control the salt mine, we have to manage it up and down to support the people of the clan, so the price of salt has always been high. Now the prince broke the routine and directly sold salt tickets, small amounts up to Two hundred catties, large amount to five thousand catties, you can buy salt from a salt dealer with silver and the seal of the local county government. The price of salt will definitely drop, and we have no advantage to speak of."

"This policy, for the common people, is a wise policy through the ages." Zhou Yungui said, "For the palace, the money sold by the palace for salt will not be less than the annual salt tax, and there will be no harm in any way. For us, although He smashed our jobs, but reopening the Tibetan-border trade is equivalent to giving us another bowl of rice. Although this bowl of rice is not as sweet as before, it will not starve to death after all. Anyway."

Zhou Yungui was secretly angry in his heart. In fact, even if he didn't take it, someone would still take it, such as: Cai's family; another example: Chu's family.

As long as someone follows Ming Zhan, once the opening of the reform of the salt administration is opened, it will be like a flood that has burst its embankment, and no one can stop its direction.

Zhu Zizheng came back after a long journey, his face was much thinner, but he was in good spirits. Ming Zhan waited for Zhu Zizheng and Feng Jingnan to greet him, and said with a smile, "It's been a hard trip, Mr. Zhu is dark."

Although Zhu Zizheng was in his old age, he was in high spirits. He bowed and bowed and was lifted up by Ming Zhan. He said with a smile, "I haven't seen your son for a long time, and his demeanor is even more prosperous than before."

The two looked at each other and smiled, quite a tacit understanding.

Feng Jingnan said, "Zizheng has made a great contribution. I have read all your previous excerpts. You go back to freshen up first. Tonight, I will host a banquet for you."

"Thanks to the well-planned plan of the prince and son, the minister has fulfilled his mission, so how dare he attack?" Zhu Zizheng's words were extremely ironic no matter what.Now, though, it's more poised.

Feng Jingnan smiled, "Then go back first, the king's decree for the reward has been drawn up, you can go back and receive the decree."

Zhu Zizheng thanked you respectfully.

After Zhu Zizheng left, Ming Zhan let out a long sigh, sat back in his chair, Feng Jingnan said, "It's fine, why are you sighing?"

"I'm not sighing, I'm tired." Ming Zhan thumped his waist pretendingly, "After this incident, I have to take a long vacation. Don't send me any errands. I'm going to lose my energy and live well." Make up."

Feng Jingnan opened his eyes wide, and looked at Ming Zhan in disbelief, "What are you doing? If I remember correctly, you only have limited time to leave the palace. , everything is to tell the subordinates to work hard, where are you tired? Come and show me."

"I'm tired." Ming Zhan sighed again, "I worry about it every day, for fear that something might go wrong. Haven't you noticed that I've lost weight?"

"That's what you say." Feng Jingnan said, "This king has also lost weight, do you see it?" "Where, my father is becoming more and more dignified."

Feng Jingnan amused Ming Zhan, and said with a smile, "I think you are getting more and more cunning. You always say you are thin, but according to me, it's not that you are tired from work, it's because your mind is too tired. Did you notice it? Not only have you lost weight, but you haven’t grown much. At the beginning of the year, you were half a head behind me, and you are still the same now. In the past half a year, you haven’t grown any height at all.”

Ming Zhan's eyes widened, and he almost fainted in anger. Is this what people say?

Feng Jingnan laughed out loud.

The return of Zhu Zizheng is a signal that the Tibet-border trade is about to start.

Famous businessmen from the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou seemed to smell the fragrance of silver, and gathered in Kunming by coincidence, hoping to find out the latest news.

However, Ming Zhan had to endure a new round of heated discussions on tax rates among ministers during the morning meeting.

Ming Zhan is very easy-going, he doesn't have too much airs towards others, and he is also generous to those around him. Coupled with his status, everyone says it is a blessing to be able to work by Shizi's side.

But in the eyes of the salt merchants, Ming Zhan is really cunning and domineering.

It's really difficult.

Of course, some people are willing to be a bridge of communication, such as: Cai Bei; another example: Chu Yan.

Ming Zhan would also invite two people to drink tea and chat. Chu Yan was not as humble as ordinary merchants. He was young, handsome and confident, and he had a certain demeanor in front of Ming Zhan, and what he said was the truth , "Your Highness, now it is nothing more than the tax you want to collect. A tax of [-]% is completely acceptable in the eyes of grassroots. It's just that some people are worried that you will continue to impose heavier taxes, Your Highness. Therefore, they have been lingering on your reform."

Cai Bei continued, "Caomin looks like it's stuck here."

Ming Zhan rubbed his brows. The courtiers kept talking about him imposing heavy taxes, exploiting merchants and so on. He was also annoyed, but he didn't expect it to be rooted here.Ming Zhan smiled, "What do you think the palace is, do you follow my advice?"

"Well, Mr. Zhu has come back. I also need to make arrangements for the Tibet-border trade. There will be a question-and-answer meeting for the outside world. If you are interested, you can come and participate. I will discuss why the [-]% tax is levied. And explain." It is true that a press conference is needed, Ming Zhan thought for a while.

Cai Bei Chuyan looked at each other, exchanged glances, and said tacitly, "The grassroots have little knowledge, and the Q&A meeting, I have never heard of this."

"It didn't happen before, of course you haven't heard of it." Ming Zhan said, "There will be a specific explanation about the process of Tibet-border trade, the types of items open for trading, and market regulations. You can come and listen when you have time." Listen, the trading market is already under construction, and it is estimated that it will be completed before the winter solstice."

Chu Yan glanced at Cai Bei indiscriminately, but was robbed by this kid. It was strange that Cai's second son had started buying wood early in the morning, but he didn't know when this kid got in touch with the prince.

Little did he know that Cai Bei was also full of bitterness, and nine out of ten of his batch of wood was still in his hands. He didn't earn any money from his hard work, but it was worthwhile to talk to the prince anyway.

The question-and-answer meeting has not yet started, but Ming Zhan has encountered a big trouble.

Feng Jingnan's complexion was really bad, and he asked Ming Zhan, "What is a Q&A meeting?"

"If there is any question, they can ask it directly, and I will answer it directly, which is better than asking them to guess."

"Weak and incompetent thing! Why are you going to explain to a group of businessmen!" Feng Jingnan almost spat at Ming Zhan, angrily, staring and questioning, "What is your identity!" If you have to die, what Feng Jingnan said is the law. Facing a group of businessmen, Feng Jingnan doesn't have much patience.What's more, because of this idea, Ming Zhan dragged his feet and couldn't figure it out, and Feng Jingnan felt annoyed when he saw it.

Ming Zhan breathed a sigh of relief, he thought why Feng Jingnan was angry, it was just because he couldn't save face.Ming Zhan didn't care, he poured a cup of tea, and said with a smile, "As my father said, their identities cannot be compared with mine, so what's the point of explaining to a group of people who are not threatening, it's just coaxing They are just playing, and it is worth the father's anger."

Feng Jingnan calmed down a little, sat down on the couch, and took the tea from Ming Zhan, still a little displeased, "Then you don't need to come forward in person, I don't think you have such patience with ministers. "

Ming Zhan smiled, "What are you talking about, I have to bore them to death every morning meeting, and I didn't kill one or two, I'm not patient enough."

When Ming Zhan spoke, his voice was not high, with a slight smile on his face, he said it like a joke, but there was a sense of chilling, it was not a joke.Of course he doesn't mind killing people to gain power, but he won't do that unless it is absolutely necessary.

Feng Jingnan used to think that Ming Zhan was quite a courageous person, but now he seems a little soft-hearted, and reminded him with a frown, "Remember, don't be kind to a woman."

Ming Zhan stared at Feng Jingnan for a long while, then suddenly put his arm around Feng Jingnan's neck, leaned forward and smiled, "Are you worried about me?" "Idiot, idiot." Feng Jingnan scolded, "Don't be so hippie now, do you think what you do is beautiful? Others are three fires when they take office, so you bow your head to the businessmen. Where is your temper? It's all fucking on me."

Of course, Ming Zhan had a bad temper, and he had quarreled with Feng Jingnan a few times. At that time, Feng Jingnan wished he could beat him to death with a stick.However, Feng Jingnan felt even more uncomfortable knowing that his son was going to give in to the businessman.

Based on how Feng Jingnan scolded, Ming Zhan was determined, and put aside the harsh words first, "Don't worry about it, I will finish what I promised you. Don't worry about what I do."

"If you don't know good and bad things, you will be responsible for the accident."

Ming Zhan raised his mouth and asked trickily, "Do it yourself? Do everything by yourself? Then what do you want Dad to do?"

What kind of bullshit is this? Feng Jingnan almost vomited blood, grabbed Ming Zhan and beat him, and answered Ming Zhan's question viciously, "I'll tell you, what does daddy do! Do you know? Do you know? Is it gone!"