[Red House] Release a concubine and have children

Fu Li couldn't eat it, but those ministers ate it to their heart's content. After listening to Emperor Yonghe's question, they all smiled and praised the hot pot with extremely gorgeous rhetoric. What a fairy dish.

Gu Xueshi, he looks like a beautiful person, but his personality is a bit narrow.

After hearing what these ministers said, he didn't know what was in his mind. He interrupted the compliments of the crowd loudly, but Fu Liyao, who was sitting in the group of female relatives opposite, cupped his hands and praised with a smile: "Although the hot pot made by the imperial chef tastes good. , but the official still feels that the taste is not as good as the original one in Zhougong hot pot restaurant. The clear soup made by the chef is not bad, but it is not fragrant enough, and the red soup is even more..."

He shook his head with a sad expression, "It doesn't taste spicy at all, it doesn't taste like red soup, how can it be called red soup? Let me tell you, if the emperor really wants to eat hot pot, when will he go to Zhougong hot pot shop on the palace road?" Eat it once, and keep it after eating. You feel that this trip is worthwhile, and you even want to go out of the palace to Zhougong Hot Pot Restaurant to eat again."

When the other ministers heard this, they were immediately unhappy.

Let’s not mention how the food in Zhou Gong’s hotpot restaurant can be compared to those produced in the palace. Even if the food in Zhougong’s hotpot restaurant is really more delicious than what they eat now, it must not be in front of the emperor on the Longevity Day. Is it belittled like this?

Among them, several civil servants dance the most fiercely

Who made Xueshi Gu gain a lot of limelight by relying on hot pot half a year ago, surpassing the reputation of many veteran officials in the court, and almost becoming a male god-level figure in the whole people of Daxia?His poem spread all over the country, and as more people knew about that poem, Gu Xueshi's reputation naturally rose. Many people who liked that poem deliberately found out all the poems written by Gu Xueshi before. I specially made a collection of Gu Xueshi's poems, not to mention, the sales are quite hot.

What made these civil servants most angry was the title of "poetry glutton" given by those "fans" of Gu Xueshi.

The so-called poetry gluttony probably means that Gu Xueshi is the best poetry writer among the old gluttons, and he is also the best and the best at eating among the poetry writers?

This title itself has a joking taste, but those civil servants are a little jealous

These literati study and become officials, don't they only seek fame, fortune and fame?Others think that the common people have done a lot of things, and they are not sure whether they can leave their names in the history books. This scholar Gu did nothing, only relying on this poem, relying on this name , I am afraid that he will be able to make his name spread in later generations.

A literati's pen, a murderous knife.

Although they don't have pens now, the mouths of these civil servants are quite unforgiving.

"Scholar Gu, the food in this world is really delicious only if you think it's delicious? Can't we think it's really delicious if it's delicious?"

"That's right, Gu Xueshi, you are too arbitrary, right? Don't think that just because you have a few notorious reputations, you feel that you are number one in the world, and no one cares about you."

"Bachelor Gu, I advise you to be more modest. This hot pot comes from the royal chef. The craftsmanship of the royal chef in the palace is the best in the world. It's just a hot pot. Could it be that the cooking of the royal chef is not as good as that of the countryside outside?" Wild Chef?"

As he said that, the man actually set his eyes on Fu Li contemptuously.

Instantly remembering the difference between men and women, he set his eyes on Wei Yan's head again.

Wei Yan was eating hot pot happily, and he didn't pay attention to that person at all. Even if the person's eyes were eager, Wei Yan just pretended not to notice, and still ate very happily.

Wei Yan didn't do anything, so he got very angry with that minister.

……

If it was normal, being so "raged" by people, Gu Xueshi would have started to fight against the Confucianists long ago, and he would never feel happy if he didn't argue these people down.

however……

Gu Xueshi carefully glanced at the emperor sitting on the high platform, and it was no surprise that he saw the storm accumulated to the peak in his eyes, he couldn't help but let out a low laugh, and simply sat down.

A scolding battle came to an abrupt end.

The entire hall fell into silence.Even the bubbling and bubbling sound of the hot pot sounded like thunder, clear and obvious.

But no one thought the voice was pleasant, and everyone just felt that the atmosphere was stagnant.

The people who had reached out to pick up the vegetables all silently stopped.

Wei Yan glanced at Emperor Yonghe who was in the high position, a smile flashed in his eyes, then he looked up at Fu Li who was opposite, and nodded to her.

Then, the family quietly stretched out their hands and continued to eat.

Because they moved very carefully, except for the people on both sides of them, no one else noticed their movements.

It stands to reason that sitting down in the middle of a quarrel and not speaking again is already an expression of admitting defeat. As the winning party, these ministers should feel happy.However, Gu Xueshi never greeted anyone before sitting down, and he never saluted the civil servants who participated in the "crusade" to admit defeat.

He also laughed.

Gu Xueshi just sat down like that, not only did not make people feel that he had won heartily, but he was like a big white goose being pinched by the neck. Everyone only felt suffocating embarrassment.

It was as if they stood up and "punished" Gu Xueshi as a rude act of deliberately finding fault.

They stood there, seeing the curious or displeased, amused or mocking eyes of other people looking at them, their hearts were filled with grief and indignation for a moment.

But they can't imitate Gu Xueshi and just sit down like this, can they?If you sit down like this, wouldn't it be picking up people's teeth and making you look even more embarrassed?

There was a minister with a quick mind, his eyes rolled, and he was about to point the finger at Fu Li who had been eating in silence and watching the show: "Let's not talk about the hot pot made by the imperial chef in the palace or the hot pot by Zhou Gong. Who is better? , After all, this kind of thing has always been based on everyone's taste. If there is an argument, it will be that the public says the public is right, and the woman says that the woman is right.

As soon as the words fell, everyone looked at the minister with very complicated eyes

Since you know it's hard to tell, why did you stand up when Xueshi Gu stood up before?

The minister himself felt ashamed of slapping himself like this, but the others didn't speak up, so he had to build a ladder for himself to get down, didn't he?

So he just pretended that he was blind and didn't see the sight of other people looking at him: "But there is one thing that I don't understand. This week, there are hundreds of Zhougong food chain stores. The reputation of this chain store was very good before. Big, but because I have never been to the Zhou Gong gourmet chain store, I always feel that the things sold in these stores are so cheap that I can’t make much money. But before the capital also opened many shops with the Zhou Gong brand... ..."

He paused, looked at Fu Li, "Mrs. Dingweihou, you should be the one who opened these shops, right?"

Fu Li took a deep breath, put down his chopsticks, and looked up at the other party helplessly: "My lord guessed right. At present, all the shops in the capital with the word Zhou Gong are opened by me."

After listening to Gu Xueshi's words before, Fu Li felt that the soup was no longer delicious, and the dishes were also hot.

But because they were worried that after Emperor Yonghe's attack, all the ministers, women, children, etc. would be trapped in the palace and they would not be able to go home to eat, and it would be difficult for them to eat when officers and soldiers arrested people...

So I thought that I would eat my fill first, so that even if I was trapped in the palace for a night later, I wouldn't be hungry.

Who knew Gu Xueshi would suddenly come out like this?

but……

She raised her head, turned her head and forced a smile at Gu Xueshi, and then looked at the minister who was asking the question: "Although I am very grateful for Gu Xueshi's great love for Zhougong Hot Pot Restaurant, I also feel that several adults are doing it for what I have in my heart. It is admirable that Ai is willing to argue with a well-known figure like Gu Xueshi, but I still have to tell you that the hot pot we ate just now was actually made by the chef of my Zhougong hot pot restaurant. If the grown-ups look down on country cooks, I'm afraid you won't be able to eat these dishes."

"puff"

Gu Xueshi was drinking water, when he heard this, he spit it out.

The only good thing is that he still remembered not to lose face in front of the emperor, so he turned his head ahead of time and just sprayed the tea on the ground.

Gu Xueshi is like this, those ministers who are not strong enough, and see a gap and ignore it like a fly, can they still maintain their composure?

Everyone's faces were as black as the bottom of a pot. I believe that if the emperor hadn't been sitting on it, these people would have pointed at Fu Li's nose and cursed people on the spot.

Emperor Yonghe should have been scolded, why didn't he tell everyone in advance that these hot pots were made by the chef of Zhou Gong's hot pot restaurant?Even if he thought there was no need to say it before, then Scholar Gu stood up and belittled the imperial chef to that extent, how could the emperor still sit still and not let someone come out to explain one or two things?

Isn't it funny to see them jumping up and down like monkeys?

but yong

Hedi is the emperor, and he is also an emperor who loves to steal houses...

They dare not.

So they can only pinch the soft persimmon of Fu Li.

To say that Fu Li's current status is actually very high, at least much higher than the standing ministers, but maybe she has too much businessman's imprint on her body. When everyone sees her, the first thing that flashes in their minds is This identity is not Mrs. Dingweihou who was appointed by the emperor, but a very rich... businesswoman.

Scholars, farmers, businessmen, these literati and bureaucrats looked down on businessmen, and Fu Li was a woman who was supposed to be a husband and son in a backyard. She disregarded her status to show her face, which naturally made these people feel even more contemptuous.

Fu Li lowered his head, showing a respectful and docile smile, but what he said was not the case: "The emperor really took great pains to let you taste the authentic hot pot, and he also specially confessed to his wife to let you The cook in the store developed a method to solidify the hot pot soup base, which is convenient for transportation and storage, and then heated and boiled. The finished product is called hot pot bottom material. It was prepared before and sent to the palace, and the emperor and queen tasted it and proposed amendments. , I also asked the imperial chef for suggestions, and in the end, in order to cater to the tastes of most people, I got the hot pot taste that everyone tasted. If you adults don’t like it, you can put forward your suggestions, and I will definitely ask people to modify it as appropriate after I go back.”

The faces of the adults turned green, but they couldn't say a word to Fu Li's smiling face.

Wei Yan looked at Fu Li speaking freely, his eyes were full of doting.

Fu Li has already mentioned this point. According to the thinking of normal people, no matter what the original plan of these ministers is, they should stop here, right?However, the official who questioned Fu Li before was stunned by her words, so he leaned forward like a fighting cock, and put on a fighting posture: "I just want to know if the owners of those shops in the capital are Dingwei?" Mrs. Hou, why did you answer the wrong question and talk about so many topics that have nothing to do with the lower official's question? Could it be that you have a guilty conscience?"

Fu Li blinked, took a long breath, and raised his hand to signal to him: "Just say what you have to say, and just ask if you have any questions. I can assure you in front of the emperor, I will know everything without saying anything." Endless."

The official sneered: "I just want to know, the shop under Mrs. Dingweihou's name should make a lot of money every year? I don't know, how much tax does Mrs. Dingweihou pay every year?"

Fu Li was stunned for a moment, and looked at Wei Yan in disbelief.

Is this person really not arranged by you?

Wei Yan shook his head, turned to look at Gu Xueshi, Gu Xueshi was also surprised, as if he didn't expect that this person would turn the problem from the original taste dispute to a thousand miles away, and directly give today's finale to the audience. poked out.

Seeing that Fu Li didn't answer, the official immediately laughed: "Why, didn't Mrs. Dingwei Hou say that she knew everything before and said everything? Why is she dumb now and doesn't say a word?"

Fu Li turned his head and looked at him with pity.

The official was stunned by Fu Li's eyes. Before he could figure out what was going on, Emperor Yonghe, who was sitting silently in the high position, suddenly said, "Since Hu Aiqing asked, Mrs. Wei should tell you something." Right. How much tax have you paid in these years, and what evidence do you have?"

Emperor Yonghe's tone was cold, but his eyes did not fall on Fu Li, but he scanned the whole hall, paying attention to the reactions of the civil and military ministers, and he did not let go of any small movements.

The official realized that something was wrong, and quickly raised his head to look at Emperor Yonghe, and then his legs were so frightened by his eyes that he almost staggered in front of everyone.

This is not what scares him the most. The best thing about him is that when he cast his eyes for help to other colleagues, he found that several colleagues who had a good relationship with him glared at him one after another. The anger in their eyes was not only strong, but also There was also a ruthless desire to drag him into the flames and die together.

The official was at a loss: "???"

When the emperor asked questions, Fu Li could no longer sit in his seat and answer the same as before.

She looked back at Dong Xia, nodded at her, waited for her to take the wooden box containing the ledgers and tax receipts that she brought into the palace today, then stood up from her seat and walked straight to the right in the middle.

She first knelt down and shouted long live to Emperor Yonghe three times, and when Emperor Yonghe let her die, she got up and said, "How much tax my wife has paid in these years, and what evidence is there? Naturally, it can't just rely on The minister made it clear as soon as she opened her mouth. Even if the minister said it, Mr. Hu would not believe it. Fortunately, the minister brought something today."

After finishing speaking, Fu Li turned around and took the wooden box from Dongxia's hand, knelt down again, and raised the wooden box above his head, "Please also ask the emperor to check the contents in person."

As soon as the words fell, the faces of many ministers sitting in the hall changed instantly.

Everyone realized that Fu Li definitely came prepared today.

Looking at the calm expressions of Wei Yan and Gu Xueshi, and the dark and calm face of Emperor Yonghe before the storm, each of them couldn't help shivering, almost wanting to rush out and kneel down to Emperor Yonghe, and then beg for mercy

Although those who embezzled taxes were all local officials, after all, Fu Li had never opened the Zhou Gong gourmet chain store in the capital before. Even if these Beijing officials wanted to be greedy, they had no place to be greedy, but those local officials never did it for their own future. If there are fewer Beijing officials and more filial money received, it is inevitable that they will be curious and ask where the money comes from.If so much money is all plundered by the people's fat and people's anointing, when the time comes, there will be a lot of public resentment, and those who accept bribes will not be able to fall.

Naturally they have to proceed with caution.

So they have always been clear about the origin of those silver taels.

But they never knew that the money intercepted from Fu Li's tax payment actually allowed Fu Li to leave evidence!

People doing things? ! ! !

What the hell are you planning to embezzle the money handed over to the country, and you even left the evidence?

All the officials scolded their mothers in their hearts, wishing to drag out all those who implicated themselves in stupid things and put them to death.

But the current situation is very critical, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is on the verge of breaking out. This kind of thought just swirled in their minds, and then they were squeezed out by great panic.All the officials involved were about to be stunned. Everyone moved around in their seats, as if their butts were on fire and burned people.

A few hesitated, and really planned to stand up and plead guilty before Fu Li handed over the things, thinking that if they did this, Emperor Yonghe might be able to forgive them and punish them lightly.

However, Emperor Yonghe fixed all these people in his seats with a light look, not daring to make a single move.

Their wives sat across from each other, watching their master's face instantly sweat like a waterfall, the sweat dripped from their foreheads and flowed from their eyelids, almost making them unable to open their eyes.

All the ladies: "..."

They didn't know what happened, but they knew one thing from their master's reaction

I'm afraid that disaster is imminent for my family.

Sure enough, the high-ranking Emperor Yonghe and the Queen looked at each other with a smile, then raised their hands, and asked Su Gonggong to walk in front of Fu Li himself, and took the wooden box into his hands.

But after the emperor and empress opened the wooden box and saw the contents inside...

砰

Everyone was startled by the sound of the heavy object falling to the ground, and some of them even jumped up from their positions, then walked quickly to the main hall, knelt down on the ground with a few plops, and said, "Your Majesty, spare me!"

"Excuse me?" Emperor Yonghe originally thought that the evidence investigated by Ming Jing and Gu Aiqing was shocking enough, but after reading the annual general ledger of Zhougong Food Chain Stores submitted by Fu Li, and the receipts she received after paying taxes for each store in these years and left a receipt...

"If I spare your lives, where should those ordinary people who have been lost because of your corruption go, and what should they find to make decisions for them?" Emperor Yonghe stood up from his chair in anger, "At the beginning, when you Why didn't you think about sparing the lives of those innocent people when you were greedy for the money? Do you know that if all the money goes into the national treasury and is used for real purposes, how many lives can be saved? Ah, tell me? Who spared their lives again?!"

bang bang

Emperor Yonghe directly swept all the things on the table to the ground. After doing this, he still felt that it was not enough to relieve his anger, and then kicked the table in front of him directly.

The table rolled down the stairs, and finally fell to the ground, only half a meter away from several kneeling ministers.

Emperor Yonghe sneered: "This table is not eye-catching, why didn't it just turn over in front of you?"

Because of his early experience, Emperor Yonghe was mean and ungrateful and rarely showed mercy to others, but he was also a very forbearing person.

But he had never been so angry with the courtiers, nor had he said such harsh words.

Even the empress, who was calm when he kicked the table over and didn't even frown, showed a bit of surprise when she heard these words from Emperor Yonghe.

It is enough to see what kind of anger Emperor Yonghe became.

Although the other ministers did not know Emperor Yonghe as well as the Empress, seeing him so angry, they couldn't help guessing what Fu Li sent up to make him so angry.

No one believes that Faury just handed over some ledgers and receipts

If it really only contained these two things, how could the emperor be so angry?

But the fact is that there are only those two things in it.

Seven or eight ledgers

At the end of the year, Fu Li used to ask all the shops to hand in all the ledgers, and he compiled a general ledger by himself.One book per year, the more stores you open, the thicker the book, the bigger the numbers in the book will naturally be.

And the receipt received after paying the tax

In the beginning, those officials were actually unwilling to write receipts to Fu Li. After all, since they had shameful thoughts in their hearts, they naturally didn't want to give Fu Li a talk.They were not really stupid. On the one hand, they hid more than half of the taxes she paid without telling Fu Li, but on the other hand, they wished that she could not get the handle, and handed her the receipt with the official seal.

But Fu Li is a real person sometimes, and he likes to think wildly, which is a bit of paranoia. If she can't get the receipt, she always feels that these officials will wrong her for not receiving the tax. , and then ask her to resubmit again.

So she always handed over the money with one hand and the receipt with the other.

What if someone is unwilling to give her a receipt?Fu Li is also good at doing things. She can directly "threat" the officials who collect the money: "Anyway, the signboard of my Duke Zhou was first hung in Bazhou Prefecture. If you don't want to give me a receipt, I will not pay the tax." If the money is handed over to your yamen, it makes sense to turn around and hand it directly to the Bazhou government."

Fu Li has said so, what else can others do?Naturally, I can only write her a receipt that is exactly what she wants.

Before speaking, the white money that Fu Li took out was swaying under their noses. How could they let go of the fat that had slipped to their lips?

This is also the reason why Fu Li was relentless when he gave money before, and he really took care of it: when Fu Li gave money to these people before, and hoped that they would take care of his shop, he was never vague, and now they are on time. If you come here to pay taxes, if you make things difficult for others, you will feel that something is not good.

Even if he was a bit cruel, he didn't really want to kill such a golden bump that could always lay golden eggs.

Besides, for the matter of paying taxes, no matter how much money Fu Li paid, as long as the higher-ups didn't want to check, how could a businessman Fu Li know that most of the tax money she handed in had been embezzled?Even if she knew, where did she come from to pursue her position and identity?After these people figured it out, they felt confident, so they didn't do much.

If there were no accidents, Fu Li might not have known for the rest of his life that the tax money he had handed in had not been charged into the national treasury, but had been scraped off layer by layer halfway through, and the point that finally entered the national treasury was still stolen. Some "officials who couldn't make it through" were borrowed to "support their families".

But who would say that there is such a person in this world who not only does not want to be greedy for a share of the people's fat and anointment, but also does not hesitate to offend all officials for this in order to get promoted?

But who told me that after this official did this, he would really be promoted?

But who knows, this person's character is really good, how can he still remember Fu Li's kindness after being promoted?

Although no one knows whether he did this to please Fu Li, who is now Mrs. Dingweihou, or if he really wanted to show Fu Li a face in front of the emperor, but the final result was In that case, who would go into detail about his original motives?

Fu Li wouldn't, Wei Yan wouldn't, and Emperor Yonghe wouldn't either.

Not only would it not be possible, Emperor Yonghe would probably reward the other party greatly, maybe after this incident, the official's official position could be promoted again.

Back to the scene.

After Emperor Yonghe finished his interrogation, not only the officials who were already kneeling in the hall, but also the officials sitting on both sides of the hall and their wives also lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.

The queen looked at the silence of the crowd, who did not even dare to take a breath, chuckled lightly, raised her hand and pulled Emperor Yonghe's sleeve: "Your Majesty, today is your big day, if you get angry, you will not be well." You should calm down first, and when you regain your composure, think about how to punish these national thieves and ghosts, and then you will make a more rational decision, and you will not be a target for others, what do you think?"

Emperor Yonghe was originally angry with the empress, but after hearing her soft-spoken and orderly words, the anger in his heart really slowly subsided.

He didn't bother to look at the civil and military officials below, as well as the courtesans in gold and silver.

After turning around and sitting on his chair, Emperor Yonghe lowered his head and began to calm down the anger that almost filled his chest.

Everyone started to reduce their sense of existence in unison, not daring to attract Emperor Yonghe's attention at such a time.

Under such circumstances, I am afraid that only the queen can remain calm.

Her eyes fell on the main hall, she paused, and patted Emperor Yonghe's hand: "Your Majesty, Mrs. Dingweihou is still kneeling on the ground. She is not a criminal, but she has made great achievements. You just let people kneel like this." ?”

Emperor Yonghe looked up at Fu Li and waved his hands: "Mrs. Wei is flat, step back."

After finishing speaking, he continued to bow his head in silence.

Fu Li also felt obedient, and got up quietly and went back to his seat directly, without making any noise during the whole process.

After sitting down, she raised her head and looked opposite, just in time to meet the gaze of Wei Yan who was looking over, her gaze froze, the two just looked at each other for a while, then Wei Yan smiled and nodded to Fu Li.

Fu Li heaved a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at the positions of the two old men, saw that they were well, and then looked at the two children beside them.

The two children were very calm and respectful, and did not make any inappropriate noises.

Xu Shi noticed Fu Li's gaze, and Brother Jin looked up. After meeting Fu Li's eyes, he narrowed his eyes at Fu Li, and silently shouted "Mother, I'm fine", and then Turning his head and poking Wei Ruolan's hand, after he looked up, he turned his head and motioned him to look at Fu Li, and after they both confirmed that the other was safe, the three of them turned their heads and continued to remain silent.

The waiting time is the most unbearable, let alone waiting for him to calm down under the pressure of Emperor Yonghe?

Everyone just feels that seconds are like years.

But at this time, the hot pot was still gurgling and boiling, and the strong or spicy smell lingered at the tip of the nose, making everyone feel irritable.

But no one dared to urge Emperor Yonghe, and even wished that he could calm down a little longer, so that his anger would not erupt again later.

After about half an hour, Emperor Yonghe let out a sigh of relief: "Gu Aiqing, present the evidence you have collected."

If the evidence presented by Fu Li proves how much money those officials have embezzled in total, the evidence in Gu Xueshi’s hands directly records the names, official positions and the money they received of each corrupt official. And it is irrefutable.

Because Emperor Yonghe had read this evidence before, when he saw it this time, he was not as angry as he was when he saw the evidence presented by Fu Li, but his expression was gloomy and a little scary.

However, Emperor Yonghe usually cherishes words like gold, and often has a deadpan expression on his face, so he put on such an expression, but it did not increase the pressure on others.

Emperor Yonghe looked at the officials in the main hall who were sweating profusely, with empty and hopeless eyes, turned his gaze, and then looked at several officials who did not stand up, sneered three times, and said: "Wei Yan, your soldiers, can you The homes of these national thieves Lu Gui have been copied?"

Everyone was shocked, and those ministers who harbored evil intentions couldn't help but look up, but they fell limply on the ground after seeing Emperor Yonghe's cold eyes

Emperor Yonghe was really ruthless, he didn't even care about his own birthday, and ransacked the homes of all the officials involved in this case on this day.Everyone couldn't help but wonder, did the emperor have their homes confiscated immediately after they entered the palace?

If so, wouldn't it be that when they were laughing and laughing inside the palace, their home outside the palace...

Already gone?

Someone looked up at Emperor Yonghe with a dismal smile: "Your Majesty, you are so ruthless and ruthless, you are not leaving us a way out?"

After finishing speaking, the man stood up abruptly and slammed into the pillar behind him.

砰

The person slipped from the pillar, and someone met the eyes of the person who was dying, and immediately screamed: "Dead!"