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

Today, Ming Dynasty has so many projects to carry out, such as the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway, education reform, the relocation of villagers from deep mountains, foreign trade, etc.

All of these require Ouyang Lun to take the helm and command. Without Ouyang Lun, the entire Ming Dynasty would become blind, and everyone would lose their goals and path forward.

Only if he could afford these costs could he take action against Ouyang Lun, but it was obvious that not only Zhu Yuanzhang could not afford it, but also the civil and military officials, the people of the Ming Dynasty and even the entire Ming Dynasty could not afford these costs.

Over the years, the Ming Dynasty was like a pile of building blocks, piling higher and higher. Ouyang Lun seemed to have become the foundation of the building blocks. Once the foundation was removed, the entire building block would collapse!
Of course, Zhu Biao's performance was getting better and better, which made Zhu Yuanzhang quite pleased. Zhu Biao was originally the best successor to the Ming Dynasty in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind. Now after he succeeded to the throne, he had also made some achievements of his own.

Moreover, Zhu Biao cooperated very well with Ouyang Lun using his own methods, which reduced Zhu Yuanzhang's worries a lot.

Since I, Zhu Yuanzhang, can coexist with Ouyang Lun, and now my son Zhu Biao gets along better with Ouyang Lun, there should not be any major problems in the short term. As for how Zhu Biao, that is, his grandson Zhu Yuanzhang, will get along with Ouyang Lun, Zhu Yuanzhang has not thought about it yet, but the distance is still too long.

"Let's take another look."

Zhu Yuanzhang muttered something and stopped talking, and the entire study fell into silence.

The Spring Festival is coming.

The entire Ming Dynasty was plunged into a festive atmosphere.

Not only in the capital, but everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, people were celebrating the New Year. Smiles were on their faces, and a year's hard work completely disappeared at this moment.

The past year has undoubtedly been busy and fulfilling for the people of the Ming Dynasty.

The people who owned land, under the guidance of agricultural experts sent by the court, planted a variety of crops, and the output was much higher than before, a bumper harvest. Although their income was not as much as those who went to work in towns, it was not only enough to solve the problem of food and clothing, but also there was a lot of surplus food at home, so they could survive safely even in a year of famine!

Not only that, the court also issued an announcement that the court would organize the people to reclaim wasteland together next year. At that time, the land reclaimed by a family would belong to that family, and the court would exempt taxes for the first three years and subsidize seeds!
It can be said that life is getting better and better.

Farming is not the only option for farmers. The imperial court also guides the people to raise chickens, ducks, geese, and even cattle, sheep, and pigs. Some farmers are average at farming, but they are good at breeding. With the support of the imperial court, they raise thousands of chickens, ducks, geese, and hundreds of cattle, sheep, and pigs!
In addition to farmers, the Ming Dynasty is now increasingly recognizing the group of "workers".

The workers include craftsmen, servants, workshop employees, etc. They are an extremely large group. Many of them are originally farmers. They work as workers on construction sites, as employees in various trading companies in towns, etc.

Although it is a bit tiring, the income is much more than that of simply farming. Some capable workers have already bought houses and settled down in towns. They also spent this year's Chinese New Year in their new homes in towns. Their children can also enjoy the educational resources in towns. If they can go to university, they will have the opportunity to become civil servants in the future, or even take the imperial examinations and become officials that everyone envies!

For being able to live like this, the people, in addition to thanking the court and the emperor, are extremely grateful to the current Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, Ouyang Lun. The people have sharp eyes and they know very well who allows them to live a good life.

In addition to the excitement of the Chinese New Year, there is another major "program", and that is gift-giving!

The most popular gift this year is "health products" given by the imperial court as year-end bonuses to civil and military officials, civil servants, soldiers, and workers.

Strictly selected by the imperial court, endorsed by officials, soldiers and workers, and with their efficacy, health products immediately became the best choice for gifts. If anyone goes to give gifts during the New Year without a box of health products in hand, he or she will have no face at all!

Zongren Mansion.

There is also a long queue at this moment!
This has become a major scene in the imperial palace every year. Those who can enter the palace are not simple people. They are not here to meet the emperor, but come specifically to give gifts to the son-in-law Ouyang Lun.

There are officials and businessmen.

The palace even opened a special channel for sending gifts.

Cartloads and boxes of gifts were delivered to the clan house.

These gifts are not health supplements, but real treasures!
As for these things, both the Imperial Palace Guards and the Imperial Guards were already used to them. They all pretended not to see anything and even took the initiative to run over to maintain order. After all, the Emperor lived next door to Ouyang Lun. If the Emperor didn't say anything, what right did they have to say anything?!
Provincial governors, generals, and princes from various places also sent people to give gifts to Ouyang Lun.

Are you kidding? Ouyang Lun is now the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and also controls key departments such as the Ministry of Revenue and the Tax Inspection Bureau. Whether there will be a budget to work next year depends entirely on Ouyang Lun's stroke of the pen!
If others give gifts to you but you don’t, you will just stay where you are!
In the clan's mansion.

Looking at the boxes of gift being moved in, I suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"Oh! You guys really made me suffer!"

Ouyang Lun couldn't help but shake his head and said, "If this gets to the ears of the Emperor, what will they think of me? You have ruined my whole life!"

In the yard, more than half of the open space was filled with boxes, and more boxes were constantly being carried in. One of the servants was lifting a box and accidentally let go, causing the box to fall to the ground. The box fell to the ground, and gold bricks fell out of it.

The sunlight shines on the gold bricks, and the reflected golden light appears particularly dazzling.

"Oh! These people are trying to put me in an unjust situation!"

Ouyang Lun shook his head and glared at Zhou Bao. "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and have someone put it away. Do you really want the emperor to cause trouble for me?"

"Yes, yes, sir!" Zhou Bao nodded repeatedly, and then quickly asked his servants to put away the scattered gold bricks.

"Master, there are obviously more people coming to give gifts this year, and the gifts are much more expensive!"

"Especially those border vassal kings, each of them gave more gifts than the other!"

"Oh, by the way, the gifts sent by these princes also come with letters written by the princes themselves."

Zhou Bao looked at the gift list and secretly clicked his tongue. He was a big boss now after all, but when he saw those gifts, he realized that his assets were completely insignificant compared to them.

Other businessmen and officials were more restrained in giving gifts. Most of them gave antiques, calligraphy and paintings. These elegant items could be explained away. At most, they would hide some silver bills in these antiques, calligraphy and paintings.

However, the gifts sent by these princes were all made of gold. Some were gold bricks of the same size, some were simply made into golden Buddhas, and there was even one prince who made the gift box out of gold.

You have to know that in order to reassure Zhu Yuanzhang, there are Jinyiwei in the Zongrenfu, which is equivalent to giving money in front of Jinyiwei!
If it were any other official, a large group of Jinyiwei would have rushed in and confiscated his house at this moment.

But this is the Imperial Clan Court, and those who send gifts are all princes of the Ming Dynasty. The princes of the Ming Dynasty are those who hold real power. Without the orders of the emperor or the emperor emeritus, the Jinyiwei dare not go against these princes.

Zhou Bao continued to mutter, "Master, don't these princes have much money? How come they are so rich all of a sudden? I heard that they not only gave gifts to you, Master, but also to the Emperor and the Retired Emperor!"

“The key is that it’s still so neat.”

Just as Zhou Bao finished speaking, Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao also came out. "My husband, there are so many people giving gifts this year? Will something go wrong?" Princess Anqing looked at the gift boxes that almost filled the entire yard and couldn't help but worry.

"Husband, I heard that many princes have sent gifts, and they are all gold? What is going on?" Xu Miaoyun also asked.

"Wow! There are so many gifts. My two sisters and I will choose first!" Tang Miaomiao didn't care about that and ran straight to the gift box to choose.

Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao all knew that their husbands were extremely capable. They also understood that with their husbands' current power and status, there were countless people in the entire Ming Dynasty who wanted to curry favor with them.

But now this situation still surprises them.

If they didn't know their men well, they would have thought that their men were going to rebel with a group of vassal kings!

Ouyang Lun calmed down and said calmly, "Zhou Bao, are you a toad? You have to move only when I poke you, right?"

"Master, me?" Zhou Bao was confused when he was suddenly scolded.

"No, don't you see that our yard is almost full? As the steward of the clan house, shouldn't you quickly find a warehouse to store these gifts?" Ouyang Lun said unhappily.

"Master, the original warehouse is already full." Zhou Bao said helplessly.

"Then go dig a new warehouse! Are you really planning to pile these gift boxes in this yard?" Ouyang Lun said.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Zhou Bao did not dare to delay and took action immediately.

Princess Anqing and Xu Miaoyun also walked to the group of gift boxes, and soon they came back with a thick stack of letters.

"Husband, I see that these seem to be handwritten letters written to you by princes and other gift-givers. Do you want to take a look?" Xu Miaoyun said.

"My husband, I have received a favor from someone and I am obliged to return it. This box may contain the needs of my brothers. Why don't you take a look at it? If you can't do it, we can return the gift box." Princess Anqing said.

Ever since Princess Anqing "eloped" with Ouyang Lun to Northern Zhili, she had actually prepared to stay in the remote area of ​​Northern Zhili for the rest of her life. However, she never expected that her man would actually change the entire Northern Zhili, and rise step by step to become the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty's Cabinet!

Now he has become the head of all officials with great power in the court!

But Princess Anqing was born into the royal family, so she naturally knew that the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Moreover, being in such a high position, she didn't know how many eyes were watching her, so she hoped that her man would be safe.

However, this situation is obviously not acceptable now. There will definitely be people with bad intentions who will deal with her man, so she has to be careful.

"Husband, my sister is right. If someone finds a reason for your wrongdoing, you will be in big trouble!"

Xu Miaoyun also followed suit.

Although she was not born into a royal family like Princess Anqing, she was the eldest daughter of Xu Da, Duke of Wei, and knew a lot about the intrigues in the court. Seeing so many gifts and more gifts coming in continuously, she was very worried about Ouyang Lun's situation.

"My two sisters, my husband is such a powerful person. It's not that easy to give him back just by giving him some gifts!"

Tang Miaomiao held the things she had chosen from the gift box in her hand and said with a smile, "Even if someone really wants to harm my husband, I will definitely be able to deal with it. We don't need to worry about it at all!"

"Besides, doesn't our husband still have our support behind him?"

Haha!

Hearing Tang Miaomiao's words, Ouyang Lun laughed, "Anqing, Miaoyun, you two haven't seen it as clearly as Miaomiao."

"I have been accepting gifts during the Chinese New Year for many years. If the emperor wanted to do something to me, he would have done it long ago."

"If someone sends it to us, we will be embarrassed to refuse it."

"I never promised them anything, so who can say anything? Who doesn't want to receive some gifts during the Chinese New Year?"

"Don't worry, I know what's going on."

Seeing Ouyang Lun say this, Princess Anqing and Xu Miaoyun thought about it and felt that he was being too concerned. If this little gift could be used to deal with their men, then how could their men have been the Prime Minister of the Cabinet for so long.

"Husband, what about these letters?"

"Of course I won't read it." Ouyang Lun took the thick stack of letters and threw them into the brazier beside him. "I'll take the money, but I won't read the letters. If they have the guts, come and take the gift box back!"

Ouyang Lun could roughly guess the content of these letters. They simply wanted Ouyang Lun to help more. After all, the imperial court had enormous power. Project approval, fund allocation, personnel appointment, etc., all had to go through the Ming imperial court.

"My husband, you are also..."

Seeing that Ouyang Lun directly burned the letter, Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun and Tang Miaomiao were all stunned.

"You want to call me a rogue?"

"Some of the letters here may really wish me a happy new year. It doesn't matter whether I read these letters or not. After all, I accept the gifts and their kindness."

"There are also people who really want me to do something in the letter. In that case, it's better for me not to read it and pretend I don't know anything! For those with impure intentions, giving them something is considered compensation for me."

"So does it matter if I watch it or not?"

Ouyang Lun said slowly.

"This"

Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao were stunned again.

Can it still be understood this way?!
But after thinking about it carefully, they suddenly felt that Ouyang Lun was right. After burning the letters and accepting the gifts, they no longer had any burden in their hearts!
"Husband, you are still the best!" (End of this chapter)