lady, please calm down

Chapter 423 The Style of a Virtuous Queen

On the 22nd, evening.

The meeting of the Six Prefectures of Huaibei Province held on the 20th has come to the last day. At this meeting, all the chief officials of the six prefectures were present.

During the three-day meeting, in addition to the reports on each government's work plan for the second half of the year, the most important outcome of the meeting was the 'transfer payment' between the governments.

This matter will naturally be of great benefit to Shouzhou, which was ravaged by the rebel army a few years ago, and to Suzhou and Sizhou, which are far away from the ruling center of Huaibei.

However, the three states of Tang, Cai, and Ying, which have relatively good economic development and need to spend real money, are inevitably a little bit pained.

However, this matter was promoted by the King of Chu with a very firm attitude, and he said: "You need to enlarge the pattern. A single flower does not count as spring. Only when all the flowers bloom and move forward together can we consolidate our Huaibei foundation."

The King of Chu also explained the logical basis for transfer payments. In recent years, in order to avoid labor shortages in the three prefectures of Cai, Ying, and Tang, which are prosperous in industry and trade, Huaibei has adopted a very flexible household registration system, allowing people to move freely between prefectures.

As a result, the industrial area centered on Caizhou naturally formed a huge population siphon effect on the surrounding areas.

People are the foundation of the country, and the same is true for each prefecture and county. If the population is small, it will be impossible to raise taxes for each prefecture.

Furthermore, due to the construction of a large number of factories near Caizhou, part of the farmland has been occupied, and the agricultural population has also been reduced repeatedly.

Chen Jingyan, who had just sat down, had to stand up again, but he always felt weird. Hey, the fifth son praised his wife, but asked his father-in-law to keep thanking him and give him a reward?

This matter does not seem to be difficult, but without a strong centralized agency to mediate and coordinate, each government will never use its own taxes for other governments.

Under such circumstances, appropriate food production subsidies have become a necessary measure to stabilize the agricultural population.

Shouzhou, which was included in the territory controlled by Huaibei a few years ago, is better. However, Su and Si prefectures not only experienced major floods and military disasters a few years ago, but also were exploited by the gentry for many years. Not only did the local agricultural production infrastructure need to be vigorously rebuilt, but the people were also weak. , the treasury is empty.

"But this matter is also a wake-up call! My Lords, after several years of vomiting blood and hard work, we have established the foundation of Huaibei. If we cannot restrain our families, the skyscraper may collapse at any time! From now on, please, Lords Do a thorough internal investigation to see if there are any family members who obtained official positions through abnormal means!

It will last for one month. After one month, Caizhou Prison will promote Gou Sheng, Supervisor Cao Xiaojian, and Jinyi command envoy He Bei to make secret visits to various places. If by that time, some silverfish are found to be related to you, sir, you will It doesn’t look good on your face, and it ruins our friendship, so it’s not worth it.”

The Cai family has a long-standing reputation for being domineering and vicious. The King of Chu came to protect him time and time again. It took a lot of courage for Zuo Guoen to dare to mention this matter.

However, Lao Chen also understood that because Brother Chu said this, Xu Wanjun's matter became a silverfish discovered by the Chen family's internal self-examination.

Now he can be regarded as an important minister in Huaibei who has the trust of the King of Chu. But after he mentioned this matter on the spot, all the officials in the meeting hall breathed lightly.

The reason why Zuo Guoen dared to stand up at the risk of King Chu's anger this time was because he represented the vital interests of most officials at the moment.

Unexpectedly, before the meeting ended, Zuo Guoen, the magistrate of Yingzhou, suddenly mentioned something unrelated to the meeting, "King Chu, I recently heard from the officials that on the 18th, Jinyi soldiers suddenly came to Yingchuan to capture people, but they led the team man of"

The thoughts of Tang Jing'an, the prefect of Sizhou, who has nothing to do with this matter, are the most representative among officials. The Jin Yi Envoy targets officials. If there is no strong restraint, this kind of spy agency will be nothing more than a scourge to them.

Zuo Guoen served as the magistrate of Caizhou in his early years, and he still bears the imprint of the factions of Li Xiang and Fan Gongzhi.

Therefore, officials are naturally resistant to Jinyi envoys.

'In the early years, agriculture subsidized industry, but now it's time for industry to feed back agriculture. '

Cai Yun, the prefect of Tangzhou, had slightly drooped eyelids and no change in his expression, as if the person Zuo Guoen was talking about was not his sister.

Chen Chu looked at Chen Jingyan and continued: "How did Xu Wanjun change from a gangster to an official? The magistrate of Yancheng must be involved! Fortunately, Chen Jinglue's beloved daughter learned about this matter and took the initiative to report it, which not only removed the sore for the family , and she has maintained our hard-earned official reputation! This daughter Chen Jingwei is truly a blessing to our family and should be rewarded."

When Chen Jingyan and Chen Jing'an heard Chen Chu praising their Qianliju, they both stood up and raised their hands to express their gratitude.

The Chen Jingyan brothers are also in trouble. Speaking of which, they are also involved in the other party.

Avoid corruption and waste.

In the eleventh year of Fuchang, Prime Minister Li "accidentally" died in the rebellion between Liu Lin and Liu Chi. Fan Gongzhi also quickly defected to the King of Chu. Zuo Guoen, who had long had a good relationship with Tongshan, was naturally absorbed into the army. In the Huaibei system.

The tone of his voice got higher and higher, and Chen Jingyan, who was Chen Chu's father-in-law, rubbed his butt uncomfortably.

Chen Chu waved his hand and motioned for the two of them to sit down, but then he changed the subject and said, "However, among the children of a wealthy family, there are inevitably those who have unfilial sons and unworthy grandchildren. Xu Wanjun of Yancheng was born a rogue, and in his early years, he had engaged in all kinds of evil deeds, such as stealing chickens and stalking dogs. OK, after becoming a county lieutenant, not only did she not know how to restrain herself, but she raised thugs who took pleasure in bullying the market and teasing good families! This person has not only ruined the reputation of a certain family and clan, but also ruined the reputation of our Huaibei officials!"

In order to ensure food security in Huaibei, some prefectures and counties must shoulder the heavy responsibility of growing grain, where the return is far lower than industry and trade.

Although Xu Wanjun was annoying, the day before his mother's sixtieth birthday, Cai Hua came to lock her door with envoys in brocade clothes, which made Liang very angry and made her seriously ill. The birthday almost turned into a memorial day. The true thoughts of the two brothers were unknown to outsiders.

Although Chen Chu never named the wealthy family from which this dirty thing happened, everyone knew what happened.

"Yes"

Speaking out, it sounds better than a relative of the Chen family who committed a crime and was caught by the Jin Yishi, and it saved Lao Chen's face.

In short, the debate on this matter was finalized after King Chu's statement.

But when he was in office, the relationship with the Kiriyama Clique was handled well.

"I already know about this matter." When Chen Chu opened his mouth, his tone was calm. He didn't seem to be angry because Zuo Guoen mentioned the Cai family in a subtle way. Everyone present could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Rewarding Ayu, wouldn’t that be rewarding your Lao Wu family?

Everyone in the hall had different expressions.

Afterwards, there was a discussion on the specific amount of transfer payments borne by each government. After a whole day of bargaining, it was finally agreed that Cai, Ying, and Tang Prefectures would allocate 1.7 million taels, 900,000 taels, and 500,000 taels respectively. Two special funds were given to Shou, Su and Si prefectures to rebuild local water conservancy, purchase cattle, and reward land reclamation.

Then a supervision team composed of Jinyi Institute, Huaibei Dayamen, liberal arts college scholars, and retired soldiers will patrol to monitor the use of special funds.

The youngest person present was also the prefect of the same prefecture, and they all had their own channels. Who knew that the "person who led the team without a position in Huaibei" he was talking about was the Cai family of the Prince of Chu's palace!

Xu Bang looked at Cai Yun, then at the Chen brothers, with a meaningful look on his face.

This attitude of not being surprised is a bit like the true legacy of 'Cai Lao Fox'.

But I heard him continue: "Huaibei's employees never shy away from the children of each family. Handsome and handsome are all the rising talents of Huaibei."

Nowadays, the three prefectures of Shou, Su and Si in Huaibei have good water and heat conditions and their jurisdictions are all plains, so they are naturally positioned as grain production bases.

If you want to develop infrastructure and rebuild the capabilities of grassroots organizations, you cannot do without money!

Zuo Guoen bowed his head, his tone was extremely humble and his attitude was extremely cautious, "The person leading the team does not hold any position in Huaibei. The Jinyi army is responsible for supervising hundreds of officials. Every time they run an errand, they should strictly follow the rules and procedures. . If such an important weapon falls into private hands, it may cause panic among officials, which will be detrimental to us in Huaibei."

The matter of transfer payment has been agreed upon, and all topics of this meeting have been concluded.

When Chen Chu said this, he had a warm smile on his face from beginning to end, but everyone couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.

Gou Sheng, Cao Xiaojian, and He Bei were all Chen Chu's closest confidants, and no one would doubt their loyalty to the King of Chu.

Moreover, as early as the ninth year of Fuchang, Zhao Kaiyuan, a relative of the princess, died under mysterious circumstances simply because he colluded with the Wen family to sell counterfeit medicines to the army.

Since the princess's relatives were like this, no one doubted King Chu's determination. However, King Chu finally gave him a one-month period. This action of picketing officials from various places sounded more like a shock.

After all, Huaibei was still in the entrepreneurial stage, and the King of Chu saved everyone's face so as not to ruin the friendship between the monarch and his ministers.

But all the officials felt that something was wrong. Zuo Guoen took the initiative to bring up this matter in order to restrain the power of the Jin Yi Envoy. But now it seems that the Jin Yi Envoy will expand his authority through the picketing behavior in one month.

Xu Bang glanced at Zuo Guoen dissatisfiedly, feeling that he had too many things to do, and that he was losing a lot of money by stealing chickens.

Zuo Guoen, who was still standing awkwardly in the hall, saw that Chen Chu was about to announce the breakup of the meeting, but he still said bravely, "King Chu! Then, the private brocade clothes and the army on the 18th are against the rules."

Chen Chu didn't wait for him to finish, and said calmly: "I will punish Concubine Cai myself."

This sentence is so ridiculous that the King of Chu has already said that he will be punished. What else do you want?

It seems that this time King Chu will protect her like before. No one believes that King Chu will really punish Concubine Cai. At most, he will scold Concubine Cai at the end of the bed.

At dusk, the meeting ended.

Tomorrow all the prefects will return to their respective prefectures for administration. In the evening, Chen Chu will hold a farewell banquet.

Drinking with the genteel civil servants was far less enjoyable than drinking with the eldest son, Kui Geer and other rough brothers, so they left early before the time of Haishi.

After Chen Chu left, Zuo Guoen, who had mustered up great courage to remonstrate today, felt depressed.

Firstly, they are worried about the increasingly active Jin Yishi, and secondly, the King of Chu's unbridled love for the erratic Concubine Cai is also worrying.

Cai Yun and You Zhifu, two generals of the Cai family, were at the forefront.

Tang Jing'an and Xu Bang, who were counselors to the King of Chu, walked in the middle.

The Chen brothers and Zuo Guoen walked last.

Although scholars are very particular about not talking about the fault behind the scenes, Zuo Guoen still couldn't hold it back and whispered: "Master Chen and Mr. Yanagawa, you are always around the King of Chu, so you need more advice! The King of Chu is young, so you can't do it." It is definitely not a good thing to be too obsessed with women and women to interfere with politics! We must not let the King of Chu ruin the good situation in Huaibei because of his wife."

When Chen Jingyan heard this, he first glanced at the Cai family in front of him, lowered his voice, and said doubtfully: "In the past, Yuan Zhang treated his family very well, but he would not indulge the Cai family like this! The Jinyi envoy has a very important relationship, and outsiders Putting aside the matter for now, isn’t Yuan Zhang afraid that Cai will threaten the princess in the future?”

Chen Jing'an, who was also frowning and thinking about this matter, was suddenly opened up by his brother's words, and couldn't help but said: "I guess Yuan Zhang didn't intend to punish Cai because he had no children."

Chen Jingyan was enlightened and was woken up by his second brother. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Cai, You, Tang and others in front of him stopped one after another. Beside the Moon Gate, a maid led several maids and was waiting. there.

When Chen Jing'an got closer, he recognized that waiting here was Han Lu, the princess's personal maid.

As the saying goes, Chen Jing'an, a seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister's door, would not look down on Han Lu for no reason. He cupped his hands and said with a smile: "Why is Ms. Chen waiting here? The King of Chu left a moment ago. Didn't he greet anyone?"

Han Lu made a Wanfu gift and unexpectedly said: "This servant is not waiting for my prince here, but is waiting for you all under the orders of the princess."

"Oh? Is there something wrong, Princess?"

Zuo Guoen asked curiously.

Han Lu gave another gift, then waved, and a group of maids came over holding gift boxes of different sizes.

Just listen to Han Lu say: "My lords and their families have abandoned their hometown to serve as officials in another place. You need to take care of your health. The princess knows that you will leave Caizhou tomorrow, so she specially prepared some good warming and tonic medicinal materials, as well as skin care products for the female family members. Cream, adults please take it back."

Everyone was stunned. As a prefect, there is no shortage of all kinds of good things in the house, but the princess is so considerate.

Tang Jing'an, the youngest and closest to the King of Chu's family, immediately stepped forward, looked at the gift box, and laughed slightly exaggeratedly: "Oh, isn't this the pearl beauty cream just released by Yurong Xiangzhuang! I'm Before I came to Caizhou this time, my wife specifically told me to buy a few boxes for her to use, but unexpectedly the ointment was sold out! I was worried about how to explain it when I go back! Hahaha, Sister Hanlu, you must tell the princess for me when you go back. Say thank you”

Tang Jing'an's hearty laughter made big bosses everywhere smile.

He was more than ten years older than Han Lu, but there was no sense of disobedience in calling her sister. After all, Tang Jing'an was born in the direct line of the King of Chu, so it was understandable to use this to express his closeness to the prince's family.

There is no need to be pretentious about the gifts given by the princess. After everyone received the gifts, they realized how thoughtful the princess was.

Needless to say, the warming and tonic medicines given to the adults are all of the best quality.

The skin care products and fragrances used by the female family members show the princess's attentiveness even more. Even the concubines in several adults' homes have a share. Of course, in order to show the dignity of the mistress, the concubines' income is far less rich in variety than the main wife.

This time, I can avoid the jealousy in the back house after returning home.

Seeing that Zuo Guoen had received four or five perfume gift boxes, Xu Bang couldn't help but joke about Zuo Zhifu, "Master Zuo, what a blessing! I remember that you only had two aunts last year, but the princess prepared them for you. With four sets of fragrances, could it be that the old tree has sprouted new branches?"

"Hahaha"

Zuo Guoen, who was originally unhappy, suddenly felt better just because of this little thing, but he saw him arching his hands in the direction of the palace, "I'm worried about you, Prince and Princess. Lian Xiaguan has a new apartment this year." I remember all the little things like my concubine’s room.”

The atmosphere was good, and Cai Yun, who was calm and restrained, also made a rare joke: "One more room for concubines means one more gift. Mr. Zuo will make a profit!"

"Prefect Cai, if you are greedy, you can also take in a few more aunts. Then the princess will naturally give you more."

Chen Jingyan also started joking.

Cai Yun pretended to be bitter and said helplessly: "Chen Jinglue, I am very willing to serve as a subordinate, but the tigress in the family refuses!"

"Hahaha~"

"Ha ha."

Laughter melted into the slightly sultry summer night. The Cai and Chen families in the Huaibei family, who had a vague sense of competition, rarely had such relaxed exchanges.

The big bosses who have always been serious about words and always pay attention to their dignity in front of others are now as cheerful as young people.

At the beginning of Haishi, the streets in Caizhou City were decorated with lights and bustling with pedestrians.

Two brothers, Chen Jingyan and Chen Jing'an, were walking on the street.

Behind him are the servants accompanying him holding gift boxes.

After walking more than a hundred steps side by side, Chen Jing'an suddenly laughed.

Chen Jingyan, who was immersed in the prosperous times under his rule, couldn't help but be surprised. He turned around and asked, "Why is Shou Qian laughing?"

Chen Jing'an said, "What we were worried about just now seems to be unfounded."

Chen Jingyan nodded with deep approval, "Yes! The Zhao family is dignified and elegant, with the style of a virtuous queen in ancient times. Both internal and external affairs are organized, and her handling skills are becoming more and more skillful! As long as she is here, the palace and back palace will not be in chaos."

(End of this chapter)