There have been big news in the capital these days. People don't know the story of the Rong family, but they know how big Rong Garden is, so you can imagine how prosperous the Rong family is. The Rong family has descendants, and they are still good officials with a reputation in the eyes of the people. Yes, in the hearts of the people, Zhou Shuren is the representative of a good official who does practical things, especially when the emperor counted Zhou Shuren's achievements in the court, it has spread among the people.
Now the treasury of the Rong family has made the people of the capital city excited. If those boxes of gold were not covered with lids, it would easily make people lose their minds.
Today, a notice was posted that the road construction will start from the capital, and the Rong family’s treasury will provide gold for the road construction.
Originally Zhou Shuren was worried that even though the Rong family had a lot of gold in their treasury, it would not be enough to build all the roads in the country. Later, after reading the prince's memorial, Zhou Shuren was relieved. Building roads with the Rong family's gold was just an introduction. The prince's memorial had already written down the method, with each state capital managing other states, and everything including road expenses and maintenance was very detailed.
Zhou Shuren stroked his beard and stood silently in the court as a background wall. In fact, the previous dynasty also collected tolls, but the dirt road could only be considered flat and was still muddy on rainy days, so people evaded tolls everywhere.
But it is different now. The road is made of cement and is not afraid of rain. It is smoother than dirt roads, and the loss of carriages and transportation is less. Merchants will not lose the watermelons for sesame seeds by paying tolls.
Zhou Shuren was lost in some memories. From what he learned in history, he knew that tolls were also collected during the Ming Dynasty. There were many ways to evade paying tolls, and he had watched them as amusement.
Zhou Shuren's distraction ended. The prince's memorial had already been approved and was just waiting to be drafted and published.
Zhou Shuren was still happy because the money collected from the tolls had to be deposited in the Ministry of Revenue. The money would be collected first, and then the Ministry of Revenue would allocate funds for road construction and maintenance.
Zhou Shuren could already imagine the silver flying into the national treasury like wings, and he thought it would be better to set up more at each port.
In the days that followed, half of the capital's main streets were under repair and the other half were open to traffic, which made the officials who went to and from the yamen every day cry. If Zhou Shuren didn't leave early, there would be traffic jams on his way home.
Zhulan frowned, "Can't you take it slow?"
Zhou Shuren, "The emperor is not prepared to take his time. The emperor is in a hurry."
Zhulan was stunned for a moment, then she thought of the emperor's intention to abdicate. He wanted to repair the roads in the capital before abdicating. "If the roads are not repaired quickly, why should we wait?"
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "No one would be dissatisfied with their own achievements. No one is a saint."
Zhulan muttered quietly, "Will the prince be anxious?"
Zhou Shuren felt that the prince would be anxious, and he was probably also afraid that the emperor wanted to do more than just repair the capital.
In the Prince's Mansion, the Prince was indeed anxious, but the more anxious he was, the more stable he had to be. At this moment, he did not dare to show any impatience, and he had to do the task assigned by his father well.
The prince was not jealous of his father's achievements. He had his own pride. He could create brilliant achievements on his own and leave them in history books instead of thinking about his father's achievements. Besides, it was indeed his father who built the roads during his reign.
The Crown Princess was worried about her cousin, so she made some soup and sent it to the study.
The prince was surprised that the princess brought him soup. He thought that something must have happened. He drank the soup before returning to the backyard. "Xun Gu, is there something wrong?"
The Crown Princess handed over a cup of tea and said, "He is my cousin. The Crown Prince knows that he does not have much ability, so his family wants to find him a sinecure."
The prince knows the princess's family better than the princess knows her own family. The prince's brothers are indeed good, but he doesn't like others. "So he doesn't want to leave the capital."
The Crown Princess: "Yes."
The prince stood up and said, "I know."
This thing can still be done, but "only this once."
This was also for the Crown Princess's sake, and he was also afraid of causing trouble if he went out, so he decided to stay in the capital and work as a minor official.
When the Crown Princess saw that the Crown Prince was about to leave, she did not stop him even though the words were on her lips. In the end, she sighed. As the Crown Prince became more and more adept at handling state affairs, the couple had less time to meet each other. The Crown Prince was too busy and was becoming increasingly good at hiding his emotions.
They have been married for many years. In the past, the prince was young, and she could understand her husband a little after years of living together. Now she can't feel his pulse.
Although she said she was visiting her parents' home today, she also wanted to see her husband, talk to him a little more, and calm her anxiety.
The Crown Princess's maid whispered, "Your Highness, it's getting late."
The Crown Princess stood up and said to the female official, "Husband and wife need to manage each other, but, forget it, take a rest."
The prince is slowly transforming into an emperor. The heart of an emperor is hard to guess. Even the person next to you has changed. She used to be her husband, but now she has to be much more careful with the prince. More than one person in the couple has changed.
In a blink of an eye, Xuzhou received an expedited letter from the capital. After reading the letter, Mrs. Dong opened her mouth wide. She came back to her senses and called the housekeeper, "Quick, go and deliver the letter to the master. Our family has become an earl's mansion and has been rewarded with a large house. Yes, our family is the bloodline of the Rong family."
The butler was brought up by a servant from the capital. After coming back to his senses, he jumped up in surprise and said, "Yes."
Mrs. Dong waited for the housekeeper to run away, then clapped her hands. She didn't explain clearly, so forget it. She said to the servant, "Send the letter to the master."
The servant responded and ran away quickly.
Dong said that the monthly salary would be doubled, and she happily got off the ground, "Yes, look at me, I want to reply."
The mother-in-law asked, "Does this happy event need to be kept secret?"
Dong said meaningfully: "Why keep it secret and spread it out?"
At the Marine Department, the butler was caught up by the servant, who handed the letter to the master. The butler said, "Congratulations, master. Congratulations, master."
Chang Lian quickly read the letter and laughed, "Good, good, great news, this month's salary will be doubled."
The housekeeper doesn't care about the doubled money. They, the servants, only care about whether their master is good or not. The better the master is, the more respectable they, the servants, will be. This is the reason why they are the seventh-rank officials in front of the prime minister.
Chang Lian basically stopped talking to Zhao Ji, but others were curious and asked what the happy event was.
Chang Lian said generously: "Who would have thought that my grandmother was actually the sixth daughter of the Rong family's direct lineage? Now the other direct lines of the Rong family have been found, the emperor has given rewards, and my father has also been given a title and has become an earl."
The yamen was quiet for a moment, their minds racing, the point was not the earl's title, but the fact that the Rong family was the emperor's maternal family. Even if they were cousins, Lord Zhou was related to the royal family, and the royal family had no relatives, so a living one was precious.
Zhao Ji regretted it so much at this time. If he had stopped his mother, things wouldn't have been so tense. Unfortunately, there is no if.
The officials of the yamen came forward to congratulate him sincerely. Chang Lian was in a good mood and accepted all the congratulations, even those from Zhao Ji, whom he disliked. However, he still ignored Zhao Ji's flattery!