A very spacious mansion in the capital is very quiet. There is a small vegetable patch in the corner of the backyard.
It was already May, and the weather was beginning to warm up. A gray-haired old man was holding a water ladle and wearing a pair of worn cloth shoes, watering the vegetable field with great interest. This had been his hobby for half his life. , from selecting seeds to cultivating cabbages and radishes, he did everything himself, and he had a very weird temper. Although the entire mansion belonged to him, only this vegetable garden was the real forbidden land. Without his permission, No one is allowed to come near.
He is over seventy years old. Since the founding of the country, he has experienced several generations of emperors. From a small secretary, he finally became the Minister of Rites of the Great Chu Empire. This journey has been very difficult, but no one in the government or the public doubts it. He relied on his own character and strength to get where he is today.
As we get older, many things become incompetent.
Although he holds the title of Minister of Rites, in recent years he has just asked his subordinates to handle many things.
Since ancient times, heroes are like beauties, and they are not allowed to grow old in the world.
Originally, he had been preparing to resign and become an official. However, during the Qinhuai War when he was the first emperor, it was difficult for the old minister to resign and go into seclusion during the war. He originally thought that after the war was over, the situation would be more stable, so he asked the emperor to resign. , who knew that the previous emperor died suddenly and the new emperor ascended the throne.
The little emperor has become a king for the first time, and it is even more difficult for the old minister to leave, so he can only continue to hold on.
The wedding of the young emperor and Princess Dong Qi was arranged by the old minister himself and was very thorough. This also comforted the old minister. After the wedding, the old minister had fewer things to take care of. He thought of waiting for a while. Really take all the burdens off your hands.
There are not many veterans who have been in the court for three dynasties. Once the emperor and the ministers, both public and private, the old minister felt that it was time to leave.
No matter how busy he is, he has to take some time to work in the vegetable garden every day. Recently, there are less things, so he spends more time in the garden. It is already dusk. Looking at the green garden, the old minister Feeling very comfortable, I put the water ladle in my hand into the bucket and sat down on a bamboo chair next to the vegetable garden, leaning on my waist.
He raised his hand on his forehead and looked to the west. The sun was setting and everything seemed peaceful and quiet.
At this moment, he saw two figures in the distance walking towards him quickly. The old minister frowned, and when the two people approached, the old minister's face looked a little ugly.
Of course he had seen clearly who was coming, his son and grandson, but without his permission, even the closest people came without his permission, which made the old minister very unhappy.
Although the Yuan family is not considered a powerful family in Beijing, no one dares to underestimate the existence of this family. Someone once said that the Yuan family represents the heart of the world's scholars. Every word spoken by Mr. Yuan, That’s what the world’s scholars want to say.
Qingliu scribes have always been in awe of the Yuan family, and because of this, the Yuan family also has an unusual status in the court.
The old minister is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, and his eldest son Yuan Moxian is now also a doctor in the Ministry of Rites. In fact, when the late emperor was still alive, the late emperor had planned to promote Yuan Moxian to the position of minister of the Ministry of Rites, but the old minister firmly opposed it. He only said that there were many talented people in the Ministry of Rites, and Yuan Moxian's ability was not enough. Taking up the post of minister, because of this, Lao Shangshu's character was praised by the scholars.
Although the eldest grandson Yuan Rong did not have an official status, he had a wide network of friends and was considered a number one figure among the scholars in the capital.
In fact, with Yuan Rong's talents and his background in the Yuan family, it is not difficult to find an official position. However, the temperament of this eldest son Yuan Rong is very strange, and he does not want to pursue an official career, which is strange to say. , the old minister didn't take it seriously. Sometimes Yuan Moxian got angry with Yuan Rong because of this, but the old minister came forward to defend him. Yuan Moxian was in awe of the old minister. Since Yuan Rong had the support of the old minister, Yuan Moxian stopped taking care of it. , as long as Yuan Rong doesn't cause anything too outrageous, let him go.
However, Yuan Rong suddenly restrained himself a few years ago. The imperial court wanted to establish the Haibo Division. Yuan Rong actively attracted several important families in the south of the Yangtze River and raised 500,000 taels of silver. The emperor soon issued a decree to formally establish the Haipo Division. The Yamen appointed Yuan Rong as the admiral of Haibo Division, and all matters of Haipo Division were entrusted to Yuan Rong.
There was no big objection from the whole court to this.
Since the founding of the country, we have never heard of Haibosi. The ministers were all muttering about this new thing. No one knew what it could be done with. However, the court established this yamen without paying a tael of silver. It was Yuan Rong who raised the silver by himself. In addition, the Yuan family had an excellent reputation. Now that the eldest son Yuan was also serving the court, the officials would naturally not embarrass the Yuan family.
What's more important is that at the beginning, almost all trade with overseas countries was in the hands of the Donghai family. Although they had to pay taxes to the Ministry of Household Affairs every year, the taxes paid were only one-tenth. Now the imperial court has established the Haibo Division. It is of course a dream to directly control overseas trade in the hands of the imperial court and bring a large amount of income to the imperial court every year.
Therefore, after the establishment of Haibosi, the relevant yamen actively cooperated.
Yuan Rong personally went to the East China Sea to build merchant ships and establish trade transfer stations. This is easy to say, but to actually do it, it is a lot of work. Several major merchants in Jiangnan and the Tian family are responsible for supplying goods. , but other matters still require Yuan Rong to lead people to handle them step by step.
Due to busy affairs, Lao Shangshu often couldn't see his grandson for ten days and a half. Now when he saw Yuan Moxian and his son coming over without his permission, although he was a little unhappy, after all, his grandson came over and his expression softened.
Yuan Moxian and his son came forward, and the old minister observed their words. When he saw that their faces were a little ugly, he knew there was trouble, but he was calm and composed.
"Father!"
Yuan Moxian cupped his hands and said, Yuan Rong also saluted the old minister from behind. From a scholarly family, etiquette is important. Even if there are no other people, the Yuan family will not lose etiquette.
The old minister nodded slightly, glanced at Yuan Rong, and then said, "Did something happen to Haibosi?"
Yuan Rong hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Grandpa, not only has something happened, but... it's also a big deal!"
"A big thing?" The old minister raised his hand and stroked his beard and said: "When Haibosi was first established, I told you that you either don't do it. Since you do it, you will always encounter a lot of troubles, so you have to face the difficulties. And go up and solve it one by one.”
Yuan Rong smiled bitterly and said: "Grandpa, if you want to say that it's entirely Haibosi's fault, it's not really that. It's just some involvement with Haiposi." After looking at Yuan Moxian, Yuan Moxian looked stern and said, "You will Just tell your grandpa, don’t hide it.”
"Yes!" Yuan Rong pondered for a moment before saying, "Grandpa, the Haibosi court has not appropriated any money. You know this."
"Yes." The old minister nodded slightly: "Didn't you raise the silver by yourself? Is it because you don't have enough money?"
"It's not that the money is not enough." Yuan Rong came closer to the old minister: "The money raised is naturally more than enough. We started building merchant ships last year. The Jiang family used to conduct overseas trade and already had a fleet. Governor Xin is not a bad person. , those merchant ships had already been included in the East China Sea Navy, but Governor Xin still transferred two of them and gave them to our Haibo Division. The new ships built were also based on the style of the previous merchant ships. In addition, there are many other things such as routes and sailors. Everything has been done, and the first batch of trade preparations will start in August or September."
The old minister said: "Since everything is ready, what's the problem?"
"Tian Family Medicine Store." Yuan Rong whispered: "The Protector of the State told me at the beginning that Tian Family Medicine Store has a share in Haibosi. All kinds of medicinal materials must be transported from Tian Family Medicine Store. Tian Family Medicine Store has already prepared these two. Many medicinal materials should be transported to the East China Sea in the future. Before I leave, I plan to check the accounts with the Tian family medicine store. After all, she is a member of the Protector of the Country. I have personally handled all matters related to the Tian family...!" After a slight pause, he lowered his voice. The voice said: "But now I know that the owner of Tian Family Medicine Store has been imprisoned!"
"Imprisoned in prison?" Old Shangshu was also startled: "Then what happened?"
"I inquired and heard that something happened at the Tai Hospital." Yuan Rong said: "The medicinal materials of the Tai Hospital have been supplied by Tianjia Medicine Store. However, two days ago, Taiyuan Hospital said that Tianjia Medicine Store was passing off inferior quality products and taking the fake ones as genuine. This matter is left to the Kyoto Prefecture, and Kyoto Prefecture Tie Zheng sent people to put Tian Dong’s family in prison early this morning.”
The old minister stroked his beard and said: "The imperial hospital diagnoses and treats people in the palace, and those medicinal materials are also used by the nobles in the palace. The Tian family medicine shop actually takes the fake ones as the real ones. Isn't that asking for death?"
Yuan Rong said: "Grandpa, even the peddlers and footmen know that the Imperial Hospital is for the treatment of nobles, so don't the Tian Family Medicine Stores know this truth? Although the doctors at the Imperial Hospital are not all experts in the apricot forest, they are not good at identifying medicinal materials. What's the problem? Tian's medicine store sends fake medicinal materials to the store, isn't it asking for death? No matter how stupid Mr. Tian is, he won't make such a mistake, right? "
"Father, what Rong Er said is not unreasonable." Yuan Moxian finally said: "This case is always a little weird."
"Tian Dong's family is related to Haibosi. If something like this happened, I wanted to go to Kyoto Prefecture to find Tie Zheng to find out." Yuan Rong said, "But I'm worried that if I act rashly, I might get involved in something that I shouldn't be involved in." The Tian Family Medicine Store has a very close relationship with the Jin Yi Qi Family, so after thinking about it, I thought it would be better to tell the Jin Yi Qi Family about this matter first and let the Jin Yi Qi Family come forward."
Yuan Moxian nodded slightly and said: "You are not stupid about this matter. You know better than to get ahead easily."
"But before arriving at the Protector's Mansion, the child was stopped at the street." Yuan Rong's expression became serious and he whispered: "People from the Criminal Department were ambushing around the Protector's Mansion, and every road leading to the Protector's Mansion was People from the Ministry of Punishment were in and out of the streets, and they asked the child where he was going, and as soon as the child mentioned the Protector's Palace, they told him to leave quickly."
The old minister's face tightened and he frowned: "You mean... the Duke Protector's Mansion is being watched by people from the Ministry of Punishment?"