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

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he stamped his feet: "You are so good, Ouyang Lun! Have you learned to use moral principles to pressure me? Why didn't you tell me the rules when you asked to marry Anqing?" He became more and more angry. Suddenly, he saw the box of 100,000 taels of silver notes left on the table when he pretended to be a businessman. He was even more angry. "What about the 100,000 taels of silver? Did you also collect it according to the rules?"

Ouyang Lun opened the box calmly, took out the banknote and shook it gently in his hand: "This 100,000 taels, I intend to use as military pay for the northwest. If the emperor insists on opening a silk and satin shop, this silver can be used as a deposit paid by the merchant, and it will be returned in full after verification." He put the banknote back into the box and pushed it in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, "But this procedure really can't be rushed."

Zhu Biao was sweating as he listened, fearing that his father would get angry again. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the banknote box for a long time, and suddenly laughed out loud: "Good boy, you have a good plan! Okay, I'll do as you say!" He grabbed the box and patted Ouyang Lun's shoulder hard, "But I have to say it first. If you dare to trip me up, Anqing will make trouble when he returns!"

Ouyang Lun nodded in agreement, but secretly felt lucky. He knew his father-in-law too well. He seemed irritable and stubborn, but in fact he was very clear-headed. This "farce" was both a warning and a test. If he had really been partial and corrupt, he would have been beheaded by now.

After Zhu Yuanzhang and his party left, Ouyang Lun sat on the armchair, looking at the mess on the ground, and muttered to himself: "It is true that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger."

After saying this, he called for the clerk to clean up the hall, while he continued to handle official business at his desk - after all, there were still more difficult problems waiting for him to deal with.

When the clerk stumbled over the threshold, his black boots embroidered with flowing cloud patterns slipped on the blue bricks, and he almost fell among the gold and silver on the ground.

He raised his head tremblingly, his eyes swept over Ouyang Lun's crooked official hat and the shadow of Zhu Yuanzhang's robe corner when he left with his sleeves swung. His Adam's apple rolled violently, and he even forgot to salute: "My Lord, I just heard the roar of the Emperor Retired, and my calves are still cramped!"

Ouyang Lun slowly straightened his official hat, and his fingertips stroked the table that was shaking from being slapped by Zhu Yuanzhang, and suddenly he chuckled. The laughter startled the clerk so much that he almost knelt down again, but Ouyang Lun took out a warm jade pendant from his sleeve, which was the one the clerk had asked for before: "Stand up, and see what this is?"

The clerk stared at the dragon pattern on the jade pendant, and his pupils suddenly shrank. Just now, he relied on his reputation as the prince consort to extort the rich businessman, and the jade pendant was still shining coldly in the sun. Cold sweat flowed down his back, and he knelt straight with a plop: "I am blind! Please spare my life, Prince Consort!"

"What are you panicking about?" Ouyang Lun gently placed the jade pendant on the clerk's palm. The warm touch of the jade made the other party's stiff fingers relax slightly. "Have you kept a clear account of the 100,000 taels of silver notes you received just now?" Seeing the clerk nod hurriedly, he leaned back in the armchair and glanced at the messy documents on the ground: "Go and get the "Merchant Registration Book" and make a pot of strong tea by the way - we should clean up this muddy water in the Ministry of Revenue."

The clerk crawled over to fetch the account book, but suddenly stopped when he handed it over. The edge of the book was still stained with tea stains from when he was making things difficult for the rich businessman this morning. Under Ouyang Lun's calm gaze, it actually burned his palms. "My Lord, my Lord, those merchants who colluded with the Japanese pirates..." He swallowed, "I know a few names, and I've written them down."

"No need to say more." Ouyang Lun raised his hand to stop him from speaking, and suddenly paused in his action of flipping through the account book. The candlelight reflected the flickering shadows in his eyes, and he seemed to remember the way Zhu Yuanzhang clenched the jade pendant when he was angry just now, and whispered: "Starting tomorrow, all merchant registrations must be double-checked. You are responsible for checking the documents, and then send them to me for personal review and seal."

The clerk patted his chest loudly and said, "I will open my eyes wider than bells! If there is any fishy thing." Before he finished speaking, Ouyang Lun suddenly put the teacup down heavily. The crisp sound of the porcelain cup hitting the table made him shiver.

"Remember, you are just following the rules, it doesn't matter who comes!"

"You've behaved well before, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Ouyang Lun said calmly.

"What if the emperor comes again?" the clerk asked nervously, swallowing his saliva.

"Of course it is the same!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile: "Didn't you just hear it outside? The emperor also approves of my approach, so what are you afraid of?"

"Yes, yes, I will strictly follow the rules of the Prince Consort!" The clerk wiped the sweat from his forehead and quickly retreated. What happened today was enough to brag about for the rest of his life. He blackmailed the emperor and nothing happened!

It really is nice to enjoy the shade under a big tree!

The morning light pierced through the mist, and a long winding queue once again formed on the bluestone slabs in front of the Ministry of Revenue.

Merchants wrapped in fox furs crowded outside the red lacquered fence, their visiting cards in their arms wrinkled and their voices boiling like boiling water: "I heard that Portuguese people came to register yesterday with gold and jade!" "That's right, we have been freezing here for three nights, but they were invited directly to the back hall for tea!"

Ouyang Lun leaned against the window on the second floor, looking at the blond foreign businessman walking into the courtyard.

The man wore a soft hat decorated with gems, and his attendant held a coral bonsai. In full view of everyone, he was respectfully led to the side door by a minor official.

His fingertips unconsciously stroked the "New Investment Promotion Policy" on the desk. The scent of ink was mixed with the smell of gunpowder that lingered last night - urgent news from the northwest: Tatar cavalry appeared in the Hetao area again.

"Your Majesty, the people from the East City Chamber of Commerce are making a fuss!" The clerk pushed open the door, his official uniform still stained with tea on the front. "They said we broke the rules and let the foreigners cut in line!" Before he finished speaking, there was a sound of porcelain breaking downstairs. Ouyang Lun leaned over to look, and saw several wealthy businessmen wearing melon-shaped hats overturning the registration table, and yellow paper documents were flying in the sky like snowflakes.

He turned around and grabbed his official robe, and the jade belt around his waist made the copper rings jingle.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, he ran into the eunuch sent by the retired emperor: "Your Highness, go to Taile Palace quickly! The retired emperor was furious when he heard about the foreign merchants!" Ouyang Lun's steps paused slightly, and the smile and scolding that Zhu Yuanzhang showed when he patted his shoulder the day before flashed before his eyes. A trace of bitterness arose in his heart - this old Zhu is really getting more and more impatient as he gets older.

Inside the Taile Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang threw the memorial on the dragon-patterned floor tiles, and the yellow silk cover made a dull sound: "Ouyang Lun! Do you know how much resentment this action has aroused? Merchants jointly wrote a letter saying that you are worshipping foreigners!"

Veins throbbed on his forehead. On the secret report spread out on the desk, the words "Privileges for Foreign Merchants" were circled in blood red with cinnabar. "What did I tell you yesterday? I told you to do it well, but it's only been less than a day since you left, and you've already done something like this again!"

"Are you deliberately making things difficult for us?"

"We gave you a chance!"

Ouyang Lun bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the Portuguese brought a lot of foreign technology that can help the development of our Ming Dynasty's science and technology." He took out a roll of parchment from his sleeve, which was full of sophisticated mechanical structures. "They are willing to exchange technology for trade rights. This is a rare opportunity."

Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed the blueprint and tore it into pieces. The scraps of paper fell on Ouyang Lun's shoulders. "A golden opportunity? Now the whole city is saying that you accepted bribes from foreign countries!" He suddenly remembered the palace servant's report last night, saying that the lights in Ouyang Lun's mansion were on all night, and it seemed that there were foreign envoys coming in and out. "Those gold, pearls and jades, were they really used as military pay?"

Ouyang Lun was silent for a moment, then took out a thick account book from his pocket. Between the pages with wet ink, there was a half-broken jadeite - it was a gift from the Portuguese merchant the day before, which he smashed on the spot. "The military supervisor signed every transaction of property." He looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang, his eyes sharp, "But if we stop recruiting merchants, how can the soldiers in the northwest resist the Tatar cavalry?"

At the same time, the commotion outside the Ministry of Revenue intensified.

The salt merchants from Jiangnan held up white cloth banners with "Strike" written on them and confronted the Jinyiwei guards. Suddenly, a lame old man rushed out of the crowd, leaning on a jujube wood cane and rushed straight to Ouyang Lun's official sedan chair: "Sir! My family has been doing business for three generations, and I have never seen such partiality to foreign countries!" He opened his clothes, revealing the hideous scar on his chest, "This wound was left by the Japanese pirates, and now you let the red-haired devils pass unhindered!"

Ouyang Lun lifted the curtain and came down, the cold wind blew up the corners of his robe. Looking at the old man's trembling white hair, he remembered the people who fell under the swords of the Japanese pirates when he followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight in his childhood. "Old man, do you know that many of the Portuguese's technologies can strengthen our Ming Dynasty technology?" He took off his cloak and put it on the old man's shoulders, "If we can absorb and master them, our warships will sail farther, our artillery will be able to fire farther, and our soldiers will shed less blood."

The crowd suddenly quieted down, and only the rustling sound of snowflakes falling on the cloth banners could be heard. But soon, more intense objections were raised: "It sounds good! Who knows what those red-haired devils are up to?" "That's right! They can't even speak clearly, what if" When the commotion started again, Ouyang Lun suddenly drew out the sword from the guard's waist, and the cold light startled everyone and made them take a half step back.

"I, Ouyang Lun, swear here!" The blade cut through his fingertips, and blood dripped onto the bluestone slab. "If the Ming Dynasty is harmed in the slightest because of the foreign merchants, I am willing to be cut into pieces!" His voice echoed in the cold wind, startling the jackdaws perched on the eaves. Some people in the crowd silently put down their sticks, but some who were not convinced sneered, "Can oaths be eaten?"

"Your Majesty, you fought against Chen Youliang in Poyang Lake. If you had stuck to the old system of the navy, how could you have established the Ming Dynasty?" He suddenly stepped forward and drew an arc on the sand table with a branch. "The firearms of foreign countries today are like the huge ships of the past. If we don't catch up, we will be able to defeat them."

Ouyang Lun turned around abruptly, his sleeves sweeping away the scraps of paper on the desk, and stared at Zhu Yuanzhang with a sharp gaze: "Your Majesty! Giving privileges to foreign merchants is actually using small profits for the greater good! They invest in building factories and purchasing land in the Ming Dynasty, and silver flows into our dynasty like running water. Just like the Salt Merchant Street in Yangzhou, it was originally a wasteland, but after merchants gathered here, the tax silver has increased by 30% every year!"

He walked quickly to the window, pushed open the carved window frame, and the cold wind brought in the noise in front of the Ministry of Revenue: "Look at those quarreling Han merchants. They are dissatisfied now, but when the foreign merchants bring new looms and build heavy workshops, the silk and porcelain of the Ming Dynasty will be exported overseas, and they will profit from it. Who will object? This is a long-term treasure pot. Today's privileges will be exchanged for the grand occasion of all nations coming to pay tribute tomorrow!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up suddenly, and his sleeves swept away half of the sand table. But when he looked at Ouyang Lun, a trace of praise flashed in his eyes: "You kid, you have some of my ruthlessness back then." He bent down to pick up the scattered black stones, "But remember, no matter what method you use, you have to protect the foundation of the Ming Dynasty for us!"

When he returned to the Ministry of Revenue, Ouyang Lun discovered that a new long queue had formed in front of the yamen gate.

Several foreign merchants were bargaining with the clerk in stiff Chinese, and at the end of the team, the lame old man was standing on tiptoe to look around. The clerk came up and whispered: "Those merchants who made trouble have come back after hearing that you swore a blood oath in front of the emperor."

Ouyang Lun didn't wait for him to finish and walked straight to the registration office. In the flickering candlelight, he stamped the official seal on the Portuguese merchant's document. Before the ink dried, he picked up a pen and wrote a note: "All foreign merchants must have three Han merchants as guarantors for transactions." The snow outside the window was getting heavier and heavier. He looked at the flying catkins and suddenly remembered Princess Anqing's parting advice: "Be careful in everything, don't make things difficult for your father and brother."

Ouyang Lun had just put the last document under the paperweight when he heard hurried footsteps outside the corridor. Zhu Biao was wearing casual clothes, his jade belt was askew, and there were a few snowflakes in his hair. He was obviously riding a horse and galloping. When he opened the door, a cold wind blew, making the candlelight sway from side to side: "Brother-in-law!"

Ouyang Lun stood up to greet him, but saw Zhu Biao holding his shoulder, his eyes swept across his bloody fingertips, his expression solemn: "I am late for today's matter!" He paced back and forth in the room, the corner of his robe sweeping across the messy paper scraps on the ground, "Just now I ran into my father smashing the sand table in Taile Palace, and then I knew you had left. I should have expected that my father would have a bad temper..."

Ouyang Lun looked at the anxiety between Zhu Biao's brows and felt a little warm in his heart.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind," he bent down and picked up the investment invitation charter on the ground. "We have already made preparations. But I am afraid that it will be difficult for Your Majesty to swear in front of everyone today."

Zhu Biao suddenly stopped and turned around with a trace of guilt in his eyes: "It's my fault! If I hadn't kept the matter of the foreign merchants for two days before reporting it to my father, it wouldn't have come to this." He thought of the secret report he received this morning. The joint letters from merchants flew to the Ministry of Public Administration like snowflakes, and the words were full of impeachment of Ouyang Lun. "Those old ministers, when they got the chance, they said you were arrogant because of your favor. Even the Minister of Rites wrote a letter saying that this action violated the ancestral system."

"But I know very well that everything you did was for the Ming Dynasty! No matter what, I will always stand by you!"

"I have decided. During this period of time, I will accompany my father every day. You just need to deal with the investment promotion!"

After saying that, Zhu Biao said with some embarrassment: "But brother-in-law, you have to hurry up. You know my father's temper. If he really explodes, I will not be able to appease him at all!"

"Besides, Father is old, we can't keep making him angry!" (End of this chapter)