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

Chapter 655: A Box of Gold as a New Year's Red Envelope (Subscribe!!)

"Anqing, Miaoyun, you guys go pick out a few things you like, and also take a few boxes of gold. This will be the New Year's red envelopes that I, as a father, give to my son and daughter."

Ouyang Lun pointed to the gift boxes in front filled with gold bars.

"A box of gold as a New Year's red envelope?!"

Hearing Ouyang Lun's words, even noble ladies like Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao were shocked.

"My children, Ouyang Lun, what's wrong with taking some red envelopes? It's settled. You can use this money to teach them how to manage money!" Ouyang Lun said, "Let them understand where the money comes from and how to use it well!"

"We also need to let them know that money is not everything, but without money, nothing can be done. After all, nine out of ten things in the world can be solved with money. But they have to wait until they have dealt with these nine out of ten things before they are qualified to deal with those things that cannot be solved with money!"

After hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Princess Anqing and Xu Miaoyun were thoughtful.

"Husband, we understand."

Princess Anqing and the other two also understood Ouyang Lun's intentions.

At this moment, Zhou Bao ran over in a panic, "Master, it's bad, the Emperor is here!"

"What should I do?"

"Look at what you have accomplished!" Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes at Zhou Bao, "Just go and bring His Majesty the Emperor in."

"Yes." Seeing Ouyang Lun so calm, Zhou Bao also calmed down a lot. If the master is not afraid, then what should he be afraid of?

"Husband, is this okay? Do you want me to tell my brother?" Princess Anqing asked.

"Don't worry, ma'am. Leave this to me. You can just go back to the backyard with peace of mind." Ouyang Lun comforted.

"Ah."

Hearing Ouyang Lun say this, Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao also knew that they were at the scene. Ouyang Lun was not in a good position to deal with it, so he took his things and left.

And at the gate of the clan house.

Zhu Biao had already arrived at the gate of the clan house, but there were only Zhu Biao and Xiao Lizi there, and both of them were wearing casual clothes and even had a simple disguise, which made others think that Zhu Biao and Xiao Lizi were also people who came to give gifts.

Zhu Biao looked at the long queue in front of the Zongrenfu, and saw people constantly carrying gift boxes to the Zongrenfu. This scene stunned Zhu Biao.

If Zhu Biao had not known that this was the Imperial Clan Court, he would have thought it was the entrance to the Ming Dynasty's treasury!

Before Zhu Biao came, he had heard that many people came to pay New Year's greetings and give gifts to Ouyang Lun. He also knew that Ouyang Lun received gifts every year. This showed that the officials and businessmen of the Ming Dynasty respected and loved Ouyang Lun.

But I never expected it to be so big!
"Your Majesty, I just heard that the princes of various places have also sent people to give Prince Consort Ouyang a lot of gifts this year!"

"Could this be it?"

Little Leo whispered.

"Shut up, is this something you can just guess about?"

Zhu Biao said in a deep voice.

Zhu Biao was not at all bothered by the gifts given to Ouyang Lun by his younger brothers, as they were fake. However, he could also understand it. After all, the princes in various places now held real power. However, their control over the land was relatively limited, and they were restricted and guided by the court in many aspects.

The most important point is taxation!

The taxes of the Ming Dynasty were all collected uniformly by the Ministry of Revenue, and the budgets of various local fiefs were also reviewed and approved by the Ministry of Revenue, as well as many other items.

Especially now that the imperial court has relaxed restrictions on the territories of the vassal kings, all the occupied territories can be directly assigned to the vassal kings and become part of their fiefdoms. The larger the fiefdom, the more resources, the more population, and the more money they will get in the end!

Of course, it is not so easy to expand territory, and it also requires the guidance of an expert. Who is this expert? It is undoubtedly Ouyang Lun.

It was because of Ouyang Lun that these princes had greater autonomy, and they all wanted Ouyang Lun to give them advice.

So whether it was for next year's budget or to ask for advice, the princes from all over the country asked Ouyang Lun for help, so giving gifts was easy to understand.

Thinking of this, Zhu Biao felt a sense of crisis. He was not worried that Ouyang Lun would collude with the princes, but that Ouyang Lun would abandon him and choose to assist other princes. Although this possibility was very small, it was possible.

"Come on, let's go in and take a look first."

Zhu Biao was too lazy to pay attention to those who gave him gifts and walked towards the clan residence.

Soon Zhu Biao and Ouyang Lun met.

"Your Highness Ouyang Lun pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor!"

Ouyang Lun saluted Zhu Biao.

"Brother-in-law, why do we need to be polite to each other? You are making things too distant!" Zhu Biao said hurriedly.

"Brother Emperor, aren't you busy with government affairs? How do you have time to come to me?" Ouyang Lun asked curiously.

"Ahem." Zhu Biao looked at the gift boxes that filled half the yard.

What am I doing here? Don't you know?!

Zhu Biao was more reserved and did not say what was in his mind directly. Instead, he said, "Brother-in-law, there are much fewer government affairs today than usual. I just happened to have some free time, so I came to take a look."

"I also want to personally thank my brother-in-law. He has helped me a lot over the past year, and I have learned a lot from him!"

"I have also prepared some gifts for you, my brother-in-law, Little Li."

As soon as Zhu Biao finished speaking, Little Li clapped his hands, and several guards came in carrying two boxes.

As the box was opened, precious treasures, exquisite porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, etc. were revealed.

"I originally planned to give you some gold and silver, but in the end I decided to go to the storehouse to select them myself. These are priceless items, and I hope you can accept them, brother-in-law!"

Zhu Biao said sincerely.

Zhou Bao and the other servants were stunned.

It was fine if the merchants came to give gifts, but they were quite surprised when the princes came to give gifts. However, now even the rich people came to give gifts, this was too outrageous!
It is unprecedented that the emperor personally came to give gifts to his subjects!

"Your Majesty, you are really too polite!"

"You are our brother-in-law, why would we need to give you gifts before?"

"I am very happy that you can come!"

"If this gets to know, I'm afraid someone will report that I, Ouyang Lun, don't know the rules and don't abide by the moral code between the ruler and his subjects!" Although Ouyang Lun said this, he was still very happy in his heart. Zhu Biao was really kind and had no airs. To be honest, if you want to find a leader, you have to find someone like Zhu Biao.

"Zhou Bao, hurry up and move the gift sent by His Majesty to the new storehouse. Make sure to put it in the safest place. If anything goes wrong with this thing, I will not forgive you!"

Ouyang Lun continued.

"Yes, sir!"

Zhou Bao was also very skilled, and he took his men to move the two large boxes that Zhu Biao had sent. His movements were so fast and skillful that Zhu Biao was dumbfounded.

Didn't you just say you didn't need it? And it was taken away in the blink of an eye?

My brother-in-law's personality is really hard to figure out!

"Your Majesty, brother-in-law, do you have anything else to do? You see, I'm very busy here, and I'm afraid I can't entertain you!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

"I have one more thing to do. Today, besides coming to see you, my brother-in-law, I also want to pay my respects to my father. Why don't you bring your sister Anqing with you and follow me to the Taile Palace next door so that we can have a family reunion dinner?"

Zhu Biao said.

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Ouyang Lun couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

Ouyang Lun subconsciously wanted to refuse. He didn't really like getting involved in these things.

But on second thought, he had seldom visited Zhu Yuanzhang since he moved into Taile Palace. Now it was New Year, he should go see him and wish Zhu Yuanzhang a happy new year. No matter what Zhu Yuanzhang had done to him, he was still the father of his wife, Princess Anqing, the grandfather of his children, and his father-in-law.

Moreover, they had had intersections since northern Zhili. After so many years, they had accomplished a lot together. Zhu Yuanzhang was also old, and perhaps they would see each other less and less.

"Okay, then I will take Princess Anqing and follow Your Majesty to the Taile Palace."

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

In fact, although Ouyang Lun seldom went to Taile Palace, Princess Anqing would go there every day to pay her respects to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma. Empress Ma was not in good health during this period, and Princess Anqing often went there to take care of her.

So, Ouyang Lun took Princess Anqing and followed Zhu Biao to Taile Palace.

Since the Zongrenfu and Taiyue Palace were right next to each other, the three of them arrived there almost just by turning a corner.

When they arrived at Taile Palace, Empress Ma was being kept in the house. Zhu Biao and Ouyang Lun paid their respects and then left. Princess Anqing stayed behind to take care of her.

Zhu Yuanzhang was drinking alone in the pavilion in the garden.

Seeing this, Ouyang Lun sat down carelessly, "Old Zhu, you are so mean! Drinking here alone!"

"Looking at the style, it should be the Moutai liquor in my house. Where did you get it from? I don't give away much of this Moutai liquor. I keep it for myself."

Zhu Biao was afraid that his father would be exposed for stealing Ouyang Lun's things, so he said quickly: "Brother-in-law, why are we discussing where this wine came from during the New Year? Come on, let's drink a few glasses with our father."

After saying this, Zhu Biao kept winking at Ouyang Lun.

Ouyang Lun also understood what Zhu Biao meant. He realized at this moment that Empress Ma's health was getting worse and worse, and that was why Zhu Yuanzhang was drinking here alone.

Of course, Ouyang Lun had already noticed this, otherwise he would not have said that just now.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang also put down his wine bowl and looked at Zhu Biao and Ouyang Lun, "Aren't you two going to drink with me? Why don't you pour it quickly?"

"oh oh!"

Zhu Biao immediately picked up the wine jar and filled it for Zhu Yuanzhang first, then poured a bowl for himself and Ouyang Lun.

"Come and drink!"

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the wine bowl heroically and drank it all in one gulp.

"Dry!"

Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao also finished their wine.

"continue!"

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the wine bowl and signaled Zhu Biao to continue pouring wine.

In this way, the three of them drank several bowls in a row. After these bowls of wine, the atmosphere on the scene immediately became much more harmonious.

"Father, would you please drink less? Your health is the most important thing!" Zhu Biao said hurriedly.

"That's just the beginning. When I was in the Red Turban Army with Tang He, Xu Da and others, we drank wine in a forum, and they couldn't drink more than us!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Father, the situation is different now. Besides, wouldn't it be bad for your stomach if we just keep drinking like this?" Zhu Biao continued to persuade.

"What's the difference? We are Zhu Yuanzhang!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head.

"How about this? I'll ask someone to get some dishes over, and we can eat and drink at the same time. It's much better than just drinking like this!" Ouyang Lun looked at the stalemate between the father and son and immediately made a suggestion.

"Okay, brother-in-law, please make arrangements quickly. We will eat and drink with our father." Zhu Biao also knew that he could not persuade Zhu Yuanzhang at all. Ouyang Lun's suggestion was undoubtedly the best.

"That's fine. I haven't eaten the food cooked by your kitchen for several days. I miss it a lot. Remember to add more chili." Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded.

"Huh!? Has Your Majesty come to my clan residence for dinner recently? How come I didn't know?" Ouyang Lun was full of confusion.

Zhu Biao hurriedly explained, "Ah! This is what my brother-in-law said. Sister Anqing has been here to take care of our mother. She occasionally brings some food from the clan residence. Isn't that what father is eating now?"

"Brother-in-law, the emperor really likes the food in your clan residence."

"So that's how it is!" Ouyang Lun nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, I'll have someone prepare some hot dishes and get a few more jars of wine. I'm afraid this isn't enough!"

Ouyang Lun had drunk with Zhu Yuanzhang many times, so he naturally knew Zhu Yuanzhang's alcohol tolerance. The wine here might be enough for Zhu Yuanzhang alone, but if he and Zhu Biao were added, it would definitely not be enough.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to drink, he would fulfill his wish and drink with him.

Ouyang Lun was still clear that if Empress Ma died, it would be a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang. Birth, aging, sickness and death are the laws of nature, and Empress Ma had actually lived several more years thanks to Ouyang Lun's intervention.

The chefs in the clan house were all trained by Ouyang Lun himself, and they cook quickly and deliciously.

Soon, several hot dishes appeared on the stone table in the pavilion. The wine was also warmed up at this time, as drinking cold wine in winter was unbearable.

As soon as the dishes were served, Zhu Yuanzhang began to eat them with relish.

“Mmm, it tastes good!”

"Biao'er, Ouyang, you two should eat too."

"Come on, let's have a drink!"

Ouyang Lun and Zhu Biao also tried their best to accompany Zhu Yuanzhang.

With the help of the delicious dishes, the three of them drank more happily, and Zhu Yuanzhang's mood also improved completely.

"Old Zhu, you are the emperor after all. If the way you eat gets out, people will probably say that my brother-in-law, the emperor, is abusing you!"

Ouyang Lun said angrily.

"What's the matter with this, Guan Biao? This is a habit we developed in the past. We only think about it when we eat, and we only do this when we eat something delicious. Don't take advantage of me, kid!"

Zhu Yuanzhang responded directly.

"When I first became emperor, there was famine everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. Even if we had food, we couldn't eat safely. But now that the people can have enough to eat, why can't we eat to our heart's content?" Zhu Yuanzhang continued.

(End of this chapter)