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

"What a pity. The common people and merchants don't use it. I feel like all my tricks are useless."

Mao Youde said somewhat uncomfortably.

As a former big businessman and now the commander of the Tax Inspection Bureau, he has a great influence among the people and businessmen. He originally wanted to show off in front of Ouyang Lun, but now it turns out that nothing can happen to him at all.

"It's the same here. The Ministry of Revenue was supposed to be the most important tool in the hands of the Prince Consort, but now it has to stand aside. Sigh."

Guo Zi also felt a little disappointed.

Seeing the expressions of Mao Youde and Guo Zi, Ouyang Lun smiled and said, "You two are really weird. When other people encounter problems, they try to avoid them. But you two are so stubborn that you just do it. Even if I don't ask you to do it, you still feel uncomfortable!"

"My Lord, we also want to help you solve your problems!"

"Yes! Others say that the two of us are your right-hand men, Your Highness. In fact, Youde and I know in our hearts that we can do things under your protection. If it weren't for your protection, Your Highness, Youde and I would have been eaten up by the Huaixi Party, and not even a bone would have been left."

What Mao Youde and Guo Zi said were both true.

So when they learned that Ouyang Lun was in trouble, they both thought about how they could help Ouyang Lun.

"Yeah, I know what you two are thinking!"

"You're right, I won't need you for logistics for the time being, but there are some things you still need to do, and I will only feel at ease if you do it!"

Ouyang Lun said.

After hearing this, the two people who were originally a little depressed immediately showed anticipation on their faces.

"My Lord, what's the matter? Just tell me!"

"We two will definitely make it beautiful for you!"

Guo Zi and Mao Youde asked hurriedly.

Ouyang Lun nodded and said, "It's still about the people and merchants. Although the army's logistics will not use the people and merchants this time, the war of public opinion cannot be missed at all!"

"The first task is to use newspapers and other media companies!"

"My Lord, this time we are not dealing with those evil people in Confucianism, why do we still need a war of public opinion?" Mao Youde said in confusion.

Guo Zi also looked at Ouyang Lun in confusion.

"Hehe, you don't understand this, right?" Ouyang Lun smiled slightly, "Public opinion war is important at all times. You must not underestimate this point. Public opinion is the foundation of everything. To put it simply, we are preventing someone from stabbing us in the back. We work so hard to get supplies to the front line, but later on, rumors spread that our logistics preparations are not good, which leads to a tight war situation. If the rebellion fails, won't the blame fall on us?"

hiss--

After hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Guo Zi and Mao Youde felt a chill on their backs, and suddenly realized that such things had happened many times!
"Of course, if it's just this point, then we don't need to take it so seriously. Let's talk about the bigger picture. Although we are suppressing the rebellion for a just cause, and we have a legitimate reason, and the people and soldiers all support us, if we don't control public opinion, then it will inevitably affect the morale of the army, and even rumors will spread, which will be detrimental to suppressing the rebellion!"

"Although the commander this time is the Duke of Song Feng Sheng of the Huaixi Party, he represents the Ming Dynasty and we must not lose!"

Ouyang Lun's last words made Guo Zi and Mao Youde feel at ease.

This is the prince consort they admire and follow!

Have ability and vision.

Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party are still thinking about internal strife and party struggles, but the Prince Consort stands much higher than them!

"My Lord, what should we do?"

Guo Zi's expression also became serious.

"It's simple. First, you need to have all the major newspapers publish a report detailing how the imperial court supported the construction of Yunnan and made the lives of the indigenous people of Yunnan better and better! There are a lot of examples and no shortage of materials, such as the grain allocated by the imperial court, the seeds given to the indigenous people, the houses built, etc.!"

"Then publish another report, detailing how these Yunnan natives colluded with the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and brutally murdered the officials and commissioners sent by our Ming Dynasty!"

"After reading this report, as long as the people of Ming Dynasty are in their hearts, they will definitely not be misled by other opinions! This gives us a firm basis for public opinion. Of course, this time we can also see how much the people recognize Ming Dynasty!"

"As public opinion ferments, the people will spontaneously make their own efforts to quell the riot!"

After hearing Ouyang Lun's arrangement, Guo Zi and Mao Youde's eyes gradually became clear, and they nodded and applauded repeatedly.

"My Lord, didn't you just say that you couldn't use the common people and merchants? Why are you doing that again now?"

After thinking about it carefully, Guo Zi asked again.

"Haha, you don't understand this, do you?" Ouyang Lun smiled and continued, "The common people are just like my wife. Their personalities change very quickly. The more you beg her, the more she will be unwilling to do it. The more you force her, she may do as you say because of your power, but she is not happy in her heart. She may even be angry with you, jealous and petty! She will definitely find trouble with you later, unless you can suppress her all the time, but this kind of suppression is hard to last a lifetime!"

"So the correct way to treat her is to respect her and understand her needs. Of course, you can't obey her 100%. The most important thing is to let her make her own decisions. Only by doing this will she feel that you are really good to her and will be devoted to you!"

"The reason why I didn't use the people is that I don't want to bribe or coerce them, and I don't want to disrupt their peaceful lives. But if we can get the support and help of the people, Yunnan's rebellion will be more effective! Especially the people of Yunnan!"

"You should know that in Yunnan Province today, in addition to the natives who are determined to rebel against the Ming Dynasty, there are also many people who are kept in the dark and coerced!"

"I think you guys should understand what I'm saying, right?!"

After Ouyang Lun finished speaking, he looked towards Guo Zi and Mao Youde.

The two of them nodded suddenly.

"My Lord, I understand!"

"I know how to handle the newspaper business. I am becoming more and more familiar with newspaper affairs nowadays. I can definitely complete this task!"

Guo Zi clasped his hands together and said solemnly.

"Sir, what about me? What can I do?" Mao Youde asked hurriedly. He had come to Guo Zi to discuss ways to help the prince and make some achievements, but now Guo Zi has been entrusted with an important task, and he has not received any tasks yet, so he was very anxious.

"Don't worry, Youde. I've already thought of your mission!"

Ouyang Lun smiled and looked at Mao Youde, "Tax audit is your job. Apart from the Ministry of Revenue, you are the government office that knows the economic situation of the Ming Dynasty best. In fact, the data in your hands is the economic lifeline of the Ming Dynasty!"

"This time the imperial court sent troops to suppress the rebellion in Yunnan. If the war breaks out again, there will definitely be merchants who will hoard goods and use this war to make money. I want you, the Tax Inspection Department, to keep a close eye on them!"

"Whoever dares to make a fortune from this national crisis, I will take his head!"

There was a hint of murderous intent in Ouyang Lun's words.

"understand!"

Mao Youde nodded heavily.

To be honest, when he first took the position of the commander of the Tax Inspection Department, Mao Youde naively thought that he was just a person who specialized in collecting bad debts from the Ministry of Revenue. However, as he served as the commander of the Tax Inspection Department, Mao Youde felt more and more that something was not right.

Combating tax evasion and collecting bad debts is just the simplest and most superficial job of the Tax Inspection Bureau.

Their biggest and most important responsibility is to collect various economic data and intelligence, monitor the flow of money of officials and businessmen, and combat economic crimes!
Today, the Tax Inspection Department has grown to an extremely large scale, with its minions spread all over Ming Dynasty and even the surrounding countries, and it also has its own special prisons!

The counterpart to the Tax Inspection Bureau was not the Ministry of Revenue, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Many people have realized this, and some have even spread the news. Although they all entered vertically, the Jinyiwei came out horizontally, and the Commissioner of Taxation was broken into countless parts. Everyone who entered the Commissioner of Taxation was squeezed dry.

Some people even called the Commissioner of Taxation Ouyang Lun's lackey!

After gradually understanding all this, Mao Youde began to completely change. In addition to normal duties and responsibilities, the biggest goal of the Tax Inspection Department is to surpass the Jinyiwei and crush them to the ground!

With Ouyang Lun's arrangements, the worries in the hearts of Guo Zi and Mao Youde were completely gone. Although they were not the main force in arranging logistics for the army this time, they also received tasks from Ouyang Lun, and these tasks were extremely important, which was enough to show their importance in Ouyang Lun's mind!
This made Guo Zi and Mao Youde very happy.

Next, the two discussed many details with Ouyang Lun, especially the three sheds and the two wheels. They were very curious and wanted to see their true appearance, but they were temporarily rejected by Ouyang Lun on the grounds that they were military secrets and that the things were too advanced to be convenient to display!

In the end, seeing that Ouyang Lun refused to give in, he had no choice but to leave.

The Yunnan rebellion suppression campaign officially began.

The incident happened suddenly, but Ouyang Lun, who was in charge of the army's logistics, did not panic at all, and everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

This greatly disappointed many ministers who wanted to see Ouyang Lun make a fool of himself!
This cannot be blamed on these ministers, there is no other way. Ouyang Lun is so outstanding that it is no exaggeration to say that Ouyang Lun knows everything about astronomy and geography and is omnipotent. Ouyang Lun is like a mountain pressing on the heads of the ministers, especially the senior ministers represented by Li Shanchang. These senior ministers are relatively old and have made many contributions to the Ming Dynasty. However, with age, their brains are not as flexible as when they were young, and they have also lost their past fighting and fearless mentality!
In the past, they could easily suppress the younger generation in the court by relying on their seniority and past achievements. It can be said that as long as these senior ministers are alive, the right to speak in the court will never be passed on to the younger generation. Moreover, these senior ministers also have a say in the decision to hand over power to the younger generation, and their attitude is even decisive.

But with the rise of Ouyang Lun, all this changed!

Ouyang Lun has made outstanding achievements and political accomplishments at a young age, and now he sits in the position of Prime Minister of the Ming Cabinet.

Even if all the achievements of these senior ministers were added together, they would probably not be as good as the achievements of Ouyang Lun alone. Therefore, no matter how hard these senior ministers tried, facing Ouyang Lun's age and political achievements, they had no chance of winning.

The gap is really too big.

So if they could see Ouyang Lun fall at this time, it would make them feel balanced and satisfied!
Looking at what Ouyang Lun has done over the years, it is equivalent to changing the entire Ming Dynasty. The key is that the effect is surprisingly good. The pressure on them is getting greater and greater, and they are becoming more and more unable to cope with it.

I'm afraid that in a few years, they won't even be able to handle the government affairs in the court.

In Ouyang Lun’s words, “Times have changed and we can’t keep up with them.”

Not only Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party, but even many neutral officials could not bear it anymore. If they did not remove the big mountain of Ouyang Lun, they would never be able to make a breakthrough and would always become Ouyang Lun's background!

This is also the fundamental reason why other officials want to make fun of Ouyang Lun.

In the officialdom, you can win countless times, but as long as you make a mistake once, your opponent will have the opportunity to completely defeat you. Countless examples throughout history have proved this.

If Ouyang Lun fails to supply logistics to the army to suppress the rebellion, it will be a great opportunity for these officials. They will be besieged by the ministers. Even with the support of the Prince Consort's Party, they will not be able to withstand the beating of all the officials except the Prince Consort's Party. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao have no way to protect themselves in such a situation!
In fact, it was destined from the beginning that Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort's party would become thorns in the eyes and bones in the flesh of other officials. To be honest, if the Prince Consort's party had not been growing in power, other officials would have taken action against Ouyang Lun long ago.

The court seemed calm, but in fact, undercurrents were surging inside and outside the court surrounding the suppression of the rebellion in Yunnan.

"Master, Master Huizu is here."

Ouyang Lun was drawing cards when Zhou Bao ran in to report.

"Oh, what about others?"

Ouyang Lun raised his head and saw no one else except Zhou Bao.

"Young Master Huizu was first called over by the madam, and then came to pay his respects to the master after meeting the madam. The madam asked me to come and talk to you first." Zhou Bao replied.

"Well, the two siblings haven't seen each other for a long time. It's time for them to have a good talk."

"Zhou Bao, pick some fruits from the orchard and send them over. Let them chat slowly. I'm not in a hurry here."

Ouyang Lun arranged.

"Yes, sir!"

After Zhou Bao bowed, he quickly retreated to do his work.

Ouyang Lun continued to draw cards at his desk, but after finishing one, he frowned and said, "My drawing skills are still not good enough. It doesn't look like the original at all!"

"But it's enough to have a general idea. Then let the artist draw it, carve the plate, and finally print it directly!"

"Having this item may be of great help in suppressing the rebellion!" (End of this chapter)