Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 523 The prince's brother-in-law is here too! (Subscribe please!!)
White snowflakes fell all over the sky.

The entire capital city is covered in a layer of silver, with many red colors amidst the white snow. Lanterns, red silk, and spring couplets all indicate that the New Year is coming, or has already arrived.

There was a festive and peaceful atmosphere inside and outside the capital. Adults were walking between the streets and shops, buying all kinds of New Year goods, and children were playing and frolicking in groups on the streets.

Outside the clan's mansion.

Officials gathered at the door early in the morning. They were all the so-called officials of the Prince Consort's Party. They wanted to take advantage of the heavy snow today to come and wish the Prince Consort a happy new year.

"Hey, Master Wu, you're here too!"

"Isn't Master Mao here too?"

"Haha, we all want to come and wish the Prince Consort a happy new year, and ask about next year's plans, so that we can start our work next year!"

"We really thought of a lot."

The door of the clan government office had not been opened yet, and none of the officials went up to knock on the door. Instead, they started chatting outside the door.

"The snow this year is really good. In just one night, the entire capital city was covered."

"Auspicious snow means a good harvest. This is a good sign. Next year will definitely be better!"

"I haven't thought much about next year. The Huaixi Party has been really quiet during this period. I've always thought that the Huaixi Party would make some moves, so I've been nervous."

"At first, I was like you. After all, the Huaixi Party has never been so honest in these years."

"Things are different now. In the past, the Huaixi Party was the only one in power and we had to look after their faces. Now our Prince Consort is in the cabinet and in charge of the national treasury. If anyone dares to give us a hard time, he won't want to have a good New Year!"

"That's right. Now even the leader of the Huaixi Party, Li Shanchang, is working under our Prince Consort. We have to capture the leader. What kind of trouble can a little brother like you make?"

"You can't say that. Although the Huaixi Party has weakened a lot in the past two years, they are still very powerful. Especially the Duke of Liang Lan Yu, who is a young generation of generals among the founding generals of the Ming Dynasty. He has also made great achievements in the war. In addition to sending out the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Xin Tang He, who are of the older generation, Lan Yu is the undisputed number one general of the Ming Dynasty. With Lan Yu, the Huaixi Party is still very combat-effective."

"So what about Lan Yu? I heard that the Prince Consort sent someone to warn Lan Yu some time ago, telling him not to cause trouble during the New Year!"

"So that's how it is. I thought the Huaixi Party members would be so honest. It turns out that the Prince Consort has already warned them."

"It has to be the Prince Consort! Awesome."

While the officials were chatting, the gate of the clan house slowly opened, and Zhou Bao walked out, smiling and said, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time. I'm sure you all know my master's habits. He basically sleeps until noon before getting up. Thanks to your kindness, I'll take the new one for my master. When he wakes up, I'll tell him about your visit."

"The weather is too cold. I would like to invite you all to have a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up. After that, you can go back and do your own things."

The officials were somewhat disappointed when they heard Zhou Bao's words, but they had no power to choose.

"Thank you, Butler Zhou!"

"Yes." Zhou Bao nodded and waved his hand. Several maids came out with hot tea and gave each official a cup.

“Good tea!”

“This tea smells so good!”

“It’s worth it to drink this cup of tea!”

"Could this be the prince consort's red robe?"

"I've heard that the Prince Consort has four specialties: wine, food, tea, and fragrance. It's a blessing in life to be able to taste one of them!"

All the officials drank the hot tea and exclaimed in praise. The disappointment on their faces disappeared, replaced by excitement.

"This is indeed Da Hong Pao. Everyone, drink your tea and then go away!"

"Yes!"

boom!
boom!
Bang!

At the same time, at the Duke of Liang’s mansion.

Lan Yu was like a madman, throwing all kinds of things around the room.

"You said that all the officials went to pay New Year's greetings to Ouyang Lun?"

"In reply to the master, yes." The housekeeper said cautiously, "It is said that there is a long queue at the clan residence."

"What about my place? Has anyone been here?" Lan Yu asked in a deep voice.

"In reply to the master, no one has come so far," the butler said cautiously.

Ah!
Hearing this, Lan Yu started throwing things around crazily again.

"Ouyang Lun! You forced me to do this!"

"Go, tell Duke Song and the others that I have something important to discuss with them, and ask them to come over!"

After venting for a long time, Lan Yu said in a deep voice.

"Yes, sir!" The butler agreed and left quickly.

Zongren Mansion.

Ouyang Lun slowly opened his eyes and found that Princess Anqing was lying on his left, Xu Miaoyun was on the other side, and Tang Miaomiao was lying on top of him!

The three women were still sleeping soundly, looking very weak.

Ouyang Lun gently pushed the three women aside and was able to stand up.

"They say married women are as fierce as tigers. It's true. These three fairies almost drained me dry!"

Ouyang Lun walked out of the hall while muttering to himself.

Looking at the heavy snow, he was also surprised, "This snow is really heavy!"

At this time Zhou Bao came over and said, "Master, earlier today, quite a few adults came to see you, but I sent them away."

"Well done."

Ouyang Lun praised, "If I really see them all, I won't be able to sleep! Let's do this from now on."

Things are different now. Ouyang Lun is now almost at the top of the court. There are so many people who want to meet Ouyang Lun every day. Even though the Clan House is inside the Imperial Palace, there are still many people who can enter the Clan House.

Even the high entry fee is not a deterrent.

If people still only required an entrance fee to meet him once as they did in the past, then this place would become a tourist check-in spot.

"Yes, sir." Zhou Bao nodded, "Then I'll ask the kitchen to prepare breakfast for you right away?"

"I'm not hungry yet, but go ask the kitchen to prepare it first. When the ladies get up, we can eat together." Ouyang Lun said, "Also remember to get me a glass of ginseng, deer antler and wolfberry water."

"Yes." Zhou Bao nodded.

Just at this moment, a servant came running over.

"Master, the Crown Prince is here." "Huh!? Why is my brother-in-law the Crown Prince here to join in the fun?" Ouyang Lun was stunned.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao is not like those ministers, so he cannot simply refuse to meet them.

"If you don't want to see me, I will go and tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that you haven't gotten up yet. I believe the Crown Prince will understand." Zhou Bao said.

"No need to let him in." Ouyang Lun waved his hand. Although Zhu Biao was much kinder than Zhu Yuanzhang, he was also stubborn, even more stubborn than Zhu Yuanzhang. If he didn't want to see him today, Zhu Biao would come in the afternoon, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and would insist on seeing him, Ouyang Lun.

Since we have to meet each other, we might as well meet early.

"Yes!"

The servant who reported the news withdrew immediately.

Why did Zhu Biao come to see me at this time? It's Chinese New Year, couldn't something big happen?

But don't do anything weird!
We just want to have a good new year.

Just as Ouyang Lun was muttering to himself, Zhu Biao walked in, "Brother-in-law, I thought you should be awake by now. It seems I came just in time!"

Seeing Ouyang Lun's relaxed look, Zhu Biao said with a smile.

"Brother Prince, it's snowing heavily outside, and you still come to see me. There must be something wrong, right?"

Ouyang Lun asked.

"It snowed heavily last night. This is a good sign. Other officials have come to wish you a happy new year. I can also come to wish you and sister Anqing a happy new year!"

Zhu Biao said with a smile.

"My eldest brother-in-law came to wish my brother-in-law and sister a happy new year. If my father-in-law, the emperor, knew about this, he would probably grumble about me behind my back again."

Ouyang Lun then asked, "Brother Crown Prince, you are similar to my father-in-law, the Emperor. You are also a person who will not come to me for no reason. Just tell me directly, why do you come to me?"

"Let me make this clear first. The New Year is coming soon. If it's not an important matter, let's not talk about it. Even if it's an important matter, as long as the sky isn't falling, can we wait until after the New Year to talk about it? I've been tired for a year, and I just want to have a good New Year!"

"Also, if you don't bring gifts during New Year's greetings, you will get a bad review!!"

Forehead.
Zhu Biao was also quite embarrassed when he heard Ouyang Lun's words.

The people around were secretly amazed when they heard the conversation between Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, apart from His Majesty the Emperor, probably only their Prince Consort could speak to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in this way.

Although the Prince Consort is the Crown Prince's brother-in-law, the Crown Prince is extremely respectful to them and often even treats them as his disciple.

All the servants were silently saying in their hearts: The Prince Consort is awesome!
Zhu Biao was not angry about what Ouyang Lun said, but hurriedly explained: "Brother-in-law, I came in a hurry today and didn't bring you a gift. This is my fault!"

"But brother-in-law, you are right. I came here today to discuss something with you. What do you think? Should we find a place to sit down and talk slowly?" Zhu Biao asked with a smile on his face.

Seeing Zhu Biao's attitude, Ouyang Lun didn't know what to say anymore. After all, you shouldn't hit someone who smiles at you.

"Brother-in-law, have you had breakfast or lunch?" Ouyang Lun asked unhappily.

"I have eaten breakfast and lunch, but I can eat again!" Zhu Biao certainly understood what Ouyang Lun meant and answered immediately.

"Hehe, brother-in-law the Crown Prince, you have to promise me that you must not behave like this when my father-in-law, the Emperor, is around, otherwise it will easily lead to misunderstandings." Ouyang Lun warned.

"What will cause father to misunderstand?" Zhu Biao asked curiously.

I misunderstood you as my lackey!!
Damn it, if Zhu Yuanzhang really saw this scene, seeing his son being so flattering to his son-in-law, the old guy would probably have murderous intentions in his heart again.

Although Ouyang Lun was not afraid, he didn't want to get into trouble.

Of course, this cannot be said directly to Zhu Biao as it would hurt his self-esteem. After all, he is the crown prince, so he should be given some face.

"You misunderstood that we were plotting something." Ouyang Lun changed his excuse.

"Father is not that kind of person. He will definitely not think too much about it. Don't worry too much, brother-in-law." Zhu Biao comforted with a smile.

"Let's go, let's go eat first and talk while we eat!" Ouyang Lun didn't want to continue talking about this topic, so he turned and walked towards the living room.

"This is steamed buns, millet porridge, fried dough sticks and soy milk. You can try it."

Ouyang Lun introduced the breakfast on the table.

"I've heard that you, my brother-in-law, have a lot of delicious food here. I won't be polite then!"

Zhu Biao picked up a steamed bun and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately. "It smells so good! The soup is so rich and delicious!"

Next, Zhu Biao started eating like crazy and soon cleared everything on the table.

"Ahem, I'm sorry, brother-in-law. It's just that the food here is so delicious and flavourful that I accidentally ate too much. Uh." Zhu Biao said while burping.

"It's okay. If it's not enough for you, I can ask the kitchen to make more for you." Ouyang Lun ate the millet porridge calmly.

"Enough, enough. I want to eat, but my stomach can't hold it anymore." Zhu Biao said with a smile.

"Now tell me about your story." Ouyang Lun said calmly.

"Brother-in-law, this is the case. Didn't we build two steel mills before? I took a look at the memorial from the Ministry of Industry. These two steel mills not only produced a lot of high-quality steel for construction, but also made a lot of money for the Ming Dynasty!"

"I'm thinking again, should we build eight or ten more steel mills? It would be even better if we could build hundreds!"

"By then, there will be no need to worry about money at all."

Zhu Biao said with anticipation.

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Ouyang Lun immediately felt that this guy was going to follow the wrong "Great Leap Forward" plan!

Seeing Ouyang Lun's silence, Zhu Biao asked quickly, "Brother-in-law, is there any problem here? I asked the officials of the Ministry of Industry, and they told me that based on the current situation, building more steel mills is an inevitable trend. Steel is really too important!"

"You know what? Buildings made of steel and cement are truly impregnable. Armor and weapons made of steel are simply divine weapons! No one can defeat them!"

Ouyang Lun waved his hand, "My brother-in-law, please calm down first!"

"I know the importance of steel better than you do, but do you think that steelmaking is just about building a few more steel mills?"

"Steel mills require large amounts of iron ore and iron. If there are not enough raw materials, it will be useless no matter how many steel mills you build!"

"Don't tell me you're planning to use the people's iron products to make steel!"

"Ahem." Zhu Biao was a little surprised and said, "Brother-in-law, you are amazing. How did you know that I thought about using iron products from the public to make steel?"

"Uh..." Ouyang Lun's face was full of black lines, and he said speechlessly: "Brother-in-law, the two steel mills we are building now have almost consumed all the iron ore in Daming. Without solving the supply of iron ore raw materials, I don't recommend building more steel mills!"

“Steel is indeed very good, but just because it is very good, we cannot make all iron into steel!”

"People also need iron tools, such as iron pots, hoes, sickles, etc. It is too wasteful to use steel, iron is just right!"

“Don’t go to extremes in anything!”

(End of this chapter)