Do you know: I have a different surname: Wang, uncle Minglan.

Chapter 191 Lin Zhaoyuan asks Zhang Guifen to marry him

Sheng family, in Shou'an hall.

Mrs. Sheng looked unhappy and said:

"Didn't Dafang come here during the new year? At that time, you should have gotten the answer from Uncle Zhongyong!"

Sheng Hong said: "What mother said is that this shipping is the first of its kind in our Zhou Dynasty. My cousin doesn't want to miss it either."

If the Sheng family also participates in the shipping business, they will definitely make a small fortune.

And the small profit here is enough to keep the Sheng family's three-bedroom family wealthy for many years.

The big house is engaged in business, the second house is engaged in politics, and the third house is engaged in farming, which is also the most unfavorable and often requires subsidies from the big house.

But Sheng Hong and Sheng Wei both knew that the third room was the Sheng family's last resort.

If the second-fang's career fails, Dafang's business will inevitably be hindered. At that time, the third-fang, who has land, will be the support of the other two-fangs of the Sheng family.

"I've watched this girl grow up, no one should treat her badly!"

If word gets out that Sheng Hong has made the old lady unhappy or has some reputation for being unfilial.
His career was over.

"Minglan won't go either!"

"Mom, don't be angry, the child knows you are wrong!"

In fact, without relying on Wei Yuan, the Sheng Family Dafang could also participate in maritime trade.

Mrs. Sheng said this.

"I'm not going anywhere!"

Sheng Hong knew that his idea failed.

Sheng Hong was scolded all over his head and face, and immediately became frightened and knelt down quickly.

Nowadays, among the civil servants, they all respect this old man who has dedicated his life to the Sheng family.

"When it comes to thinking about girl Ming, you are far inferior to that uncle of hers!"

However, Wei Yuan had already paid a lot for Ming Yatou and had already repaid Wei Shuyi's kindness to the Wei family.

However, the Sheng family had no chance to participate in the first official opening of sea transportation with Fuzhou as a pilot project.

"When you first arrived in the capital, you used Minglan's uncle's reputation to wantonly collude with powerful people. Do you think I don't know?"

"On the contrary, you took a lot of the various properties that the British Duke and Uncle Zhongyong gave to the two of them and gave them to Mo Lan and Brother Bo. What else do you want?!"

"It's just that you have never thought that no matter how close a relative is, this favor will eventually be used up."

"Minglan, after all, her surname is Sheng!"

This is what worries Mrs. Sheng.

"As a father, have you ever thought about girl Ming?"

"As a father, when did you put yourself in her shoes and really think about that girl Minglan?"

For many noble heads or wives today, Mrs. Sheng is also their elder.

"Brother Yuan has always been fond of Miss Ming, so he will definitely give my Sheng family an opportunity to participate in shipping."

"Don't you think Minglan and his wife owe you something? How many of the things they wore today were given by you?"

"I advise you to get rid of some thoughts that you shouldn't have!"

Old Mrs. Sheng groaned: "You want me to show off my old face, but you are worried that I am the only one who can do it, so you call Ming Ming."

Minglan helped Sheng Hong sit down and asked, "Father, grandmother, what's wrong with you?"

"Now, for the sake of the Sheng family, you have to consume the kinship between Minglan and Brother Yuan!"

However, it is worth mentioning that the three daughters of the Sheng family often received help from their eldest brother, but sometimes behaved in a ungrateful way.

This is also the plan of Sheng Hong and Sheng Wei. They want to participate in the opening of sea transportation for the first time.

But just at this moment, Minglan came here and helped Sheng Hong up.

The people of Fuzhou caught it, but whether the merchants, aristocratic families, and officials in other places could catch it all depended on Wei Yuan's wishes.

Sheng Hong sighed: "Mother, this is an opportunity for our Sheng family!"

But she really couldn't stand it anymore.

If things go on like this, after the girl gets married, if she encounters trouble, will Wei Yuan still lend a hand to help?

"Remember, the two of them don't owe you anything, and I don't owe your Sheng family anything!"

Old Mrs. Sheng has some prestige in the capital. There are almost no people in the hierarchy who don't know her.

In the early days of shipping, the most profitable opportunity was the overwhelming wealth that came to Fuzhou.

Seeing this, Mrs. Sheng didn't say anything, but just sat on the chair again.

Hearing this, Mrs. Sheng stood up suddenly and became furious.
"You bastard!"

Your surname is Sheng?

What Mrs. Sheng said was really too serious.

Sheng Hong looked at Minglan and felt a little ashamed for a moment. He pretended to cough twice and said:
"It's nothing. Ming girl is here to see your grandmother? Let's talk, grandfather and grandson. We have other things to do as fathers."

After a pause, he looked at Mrs. Sheng again, bowed and said:
"My son, please leave now and come back to greet your mother tomorrow."

Mrs. Sheng snorted coldly and ignored it.

Sheng Hong was extremely embarrassed and left here.

As soon as he left, Minglan came to the old lady and squeezed her shoulders.

After a while, Mrs. Sheng asked:

"Why don't you ask what happened between me and your father just now?"

Minglan said: "Grandma, you were so angry just now. My grandson heard it outside the yard."

Mrs. Sheng sighed, "It's only my fault that you, as a father, think too much."

"I don't seek to improve myself, but I always place my hopes on others."

After hearing this, Minglan stood in front of the old lady, thought for a moment, and said seriously:

"Grandma, my grandson misses Shulan and Pinlan a little bit."

"My grandson has never seen Sister Shulan since she got married."

Sheng Weisheng has two boys and two girls.

The Shulan and Pinlan mentioned by Minglan are the legitimate daughters of the eldest family member of the Sheng family, and Shulan is the eldest.

In addition, there are two legitimate sons, Sheng Changsong and Sheng Changwu.

After hearing what Minglan said, Mrs. Sheng was stunned for a moment and said:

"Girl Ming, if you do this, your uncle might be displeased."

Minglan lowered her eyebrows thoughtfully, feeling guilty in her heart. She looked up at Mrs. Sheng and said with a smile:

"My uncle treats his grandson well. He will never be able to repay his kindness for the rest of his life. How can he still trouble his uncle because of this?"

"When we get to the southeast, if my uncle intends to use his grandson to cling to him, his grandson will explain it to his uncle in advance."

"In this way, I will not embarrass you, grandma, nor trouble my grandson's uncle."

Minglan originally felt that she owed a lot to Wei Yuan, so how could she help the Sheng family instead of her uncle because of this matter?

In this case, Minglan felt that it should be no big deal.

As for the Sheng family's desire to get involved in the shipping business, it's okay, but not if it involves their own uncle.

This is Minglan's bottom line.

Mrs. Sheng said: "According to what you said, it's not impossible, but I'm just afraid that things will change."

Minglan said: "Grandma, even if my grandson goes, he will not tell my uncle that he will give the Sheng family a chance to participate in shipping. Instead, he will advise my uncle not to pay attention to my uncle and the others. How can anything change? "

"My grandson is going. I just don't want to embarrass you, grandma. My grandson knows that you have worked hard to manage the Sheng family for many years and carefully maintain the relationship between you and the Sheng family."

"My grandson doesn't want to see you in trouble over this matter."

Mrs. Sheng took Minglan's little hand, trembling her lips, and said:

"The Sheng family is so lucky to have a descendant like you."

"That's all. Let's go back to our hometown. While my grandma and I can still move around, I'll take you for a walk."

"Otherwise, grandma is also worried that she will never have such an opportunity again."

Minglan knelt in front of Mrs. Sheng, "Grandma."

Ever since she started following the old lady, the old lady taught her many things and treated her very well.

The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is getting stronger day by day.

Therefore, Minglan did not want to see the old lady becoming increasingly estranged from her father Sheng Hong because of such things.

When Minglan went to school to study. Mrs. Sheng deliberately took a look at some of the wealth she had accumulated in her life, such as real estate, land deeds, etc.

Seeing this, Fang's mother asked curiously: "Old madam, why did you take out these things again?"

Mrs. Sheng said: "I plan to leave most of these to that girl Minglan."

"There is another small part. I am thinking that in my own name, I will give a gift to Uncle Zhongyong when he marries the only daughter of the Zhang family."

Fang’s mother was surprised and said: “You want to give Uncle Zhongyong such a big gift?”

Mrs. Sheng smiled and said, "We think it's heavy, but Uncle Zhongyong may not think so."

"Since our Sheng family came to the capital, it seems that Uncle Zhongyong has done nothing. But without him, our Sheng family would not have been able to establish a foothold in the capital so quickly."

Minglan felt ashamed of Wei Yuan, so she thought of using her marriage to contribute to the prosperity of Zhongyongbo's house.

But Minglan never thought that Wei Yuan, who treated her like his own daughter, would sacrifice her marriage to fulfill his political future?
This is something only Sheng Hong can do.

As for Mrs. Sheng, she felt ashamed.

Their Sheng family, when Wei Yuan was not yet prosperous, owed a lot to Wei Shuyi and his daughter. Now, no matter how good they are to their mother and daughter, it is of little use.

Even so, Uncle Zhongyong was still able to ignore past grudges.

In the eyes of Mrs. Sheng, this is commendable. She likes this younger generation Wei Yuan.

But the Sheng family couldn't say anything.

"Perhaps the most promising person in our Sheng family will be Brother Pao."

"I hope that this kid, Brother Bai, can help Uncle Zhongyong's family in the future, so that our Sheng family won't always be in debt to his family's family."

"When I go to Youyang, I have to give Brother Bai some advice."

The old lady has paid too much for the Sheng family in her life, and she has considered everyone, including Minglan.

But he never thought about himself.

Wei Yuan and Xu Changzhi both respected this old lady.
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The imperial court issued an explicit decree to prepare for the establishment of a naval army.

Over at the Ministry of Revenue, money is being prepared.

When the money from the Ministry of Household Affairs is in place, Lin Zhaoyuan will escort the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the batch of millions of taels of silver to the southeast.

One million taels of silver is just the beginning.

Everyone knows that one million taels alone is not enough to build a navy and consolidate coastal defense.

However, the Ministry of Revenue was able to come up with this million taels of silver at the critical moment of restructuring the salt industry. It can be seen that it also hopes to see a worry-free situation in the southeast.

In any case, as long as the establishment of the navy and coastal defense construction are put on the agenda, Wei Yuan's achievements will be comparable to those of Zhang Fu and others.

This is no exaggeration at all.

In the history of Wei Yuan's previous life, at the end of the feudal dynasty, there was an official named Li Hongzhang. In the first half of his life, he often told people that the two biggest things he did in his life were to establish Westernization and build the navy.

Later, due to a defeat, he gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

From this point of view, Wei Yuan's maritime transportation, coastal defense and even naval construction at this time were similar to what Li Hongzhang did.

It's just that the national conditions are different. Now and then, Wei Yuan is more likely to do such a thing.

From now on, history books will inevitably write a close-up on this matter.

But to be honest, there are no heroes in the country, because to accomplish something, it requires the full support of all departments of the court, and it is not the credit of Wei Yuan alone.

Without the money from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works to build ships, even if Wei Yuan had great ability, he would only be able to make suggestions.

It is for this reason that Han Zhang asked all departments of the court to actively participate. After all, the credit and reputation cannot fall on Wei Yuan alone.

Lin Zhaoyuan knew that his stay in the capital would not be long.

Following Wei Yuan on the expedition for several months this time, Lin Zhaoyuan had some thoughts. He wanted to start a family.

Otherwise, after the triumphant return to the capital, there won’t even be anyone to warm you to.

Unlike Wei Yuan, when he comes back, he will get married, and there will be two sisters who love and protect him.

Lin Zhaoyuan is from the Gyeonggi area. His family is poor and he only has an old mother. He also suffers from dementia.

When Lin Zhaoyuan and others first arrived in the capital, Wei Yuan sent someone to fetch his old mother, and bought two slaves to take care of her day and night.

From this moment on, Lin Zhaoyuan became determined to work for Wei Yuan.

It can be said without hesitation that if Wei Yuan rebelled one moment, Lin Zhaoyuan would order someone to make a dragon robe and a dragon chair the next.

The old mother at home was suffering from dementia and it was difficult for him to marry her. It was hard for him to tell Wei Yuan about this.

Lin Zhaoyuan did not even say hello to Wei Yuan beforehand, so he took the liberty to come to the front door of the British government. Just because he returned home this time, a doctor said that his mother had only been around for a year or two, and might not even be able to survive this year. Winter season.

Lin Zhaoyuan wanted to get married as soon as possible while his mother was still alive. This was human nature.

After thinking about it, in the capital, it seems that only the unmarried sister-in-law who has been recognized by all the brothers can legitimately help him propose a marriage.

Although Zhang Guifen has not married, she is already engaged and is about to get married. In addition, she is the daughter of a general, so she does not stick to common etiquette.

Moreover, the person who asked her to help her marry her was a member of her own family, so it was unlikely that anyone would spread the news.

Therefore, Lin Zhaoyuan came to the door of the British Duke's Mansion without hesitation, hesitating for a long time before stepping into the door.

It just so happened that today the British father-in-law and his wife went to Daxiangguo Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha.

Zhang Guifen's brothers all went hunting outside the city again.

Therefore, Zhang Guifen was the only one in the house.

When the servants of the British government saw a general in armor walking back and forth outside the palace gate, they became curious and stepped forward to ask.

"I wonder who the general is looking for?"

Lin Zhaoyuan said quickly: "This is my greeting card. I am the brother of General Zhongyong Bowei. I want to see my sister-in-law."

He hesitated for a long time, not even saying a complete sentence.

This is just asking someone to say goodbye.

If he met the woman he admired, Lin Zhaoyuan would be too embarrassed to speak.

Sister-in-law?

The servant of the British government murmured, took the invitation, and quickly returned to the house to find Zhang Guifen and presented the invitation to her.
"That general is very strange. He doesn't know what he wants to do."

Zhang Guifen saw the name 'Lin Zhaoyuan' written on the greeting card and immediately asked, "Where is he?"

The servant said: "He is outside the house."

Zhang Guifen said: "Please invite someone in quickly."

Later, in the main hall of Zhang Mansion.

Zhang Guifen sat in the first place.

Lin Zhaoyuan came here slowly, bowed to Zhang Guifen and said:
"My younger brother Lin Zhaoyuan has met my sister-in-law!"

Hearing the word sister-in-law, Zhang Guifen blushed and said carelessly:
"Brother Zhaoyuan, why are you here today? But what letter did Brother Wei send you?"

Lin Zhaoyuan shook his head.

Zhang Guifen felt a sense of loss in her heart, "Why did brother Zhaoyuan come here today?"

Lin Zhaoyuan hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said:

"I want to ask my sister-in-law to propose marriage to me."

Say goodbye?

Hearing this, Zhang Guifen's eyes widened and she felt incredible.

Lin Zhaoyuan explained: "My younger brother's mother is suffering from dementia, and there are no elders in my younger brother's family."

"Brother Wei is the elder brother of the younger brother, so... so the younger brother came to look for his elder sister-in-law."

"In this desperate situation, I can't think of a more suitable candidate than you, sister-in-law."

"Little brother. Alas!"

Zhang Guifen saw his embarrassed look, shook her head and said:

"I know a little about your family affairs."

"Before you went on the expedition, Brother Wei also specifically told me to find a doctor regularly to diagnose and treat your mother."

"Auntie, she doesn't know which girl you have fallen in love with? You have been guarding the border with Brother Wei for many years, and you are determined to find some daughters from high-class families. If you call me sister-in-law, I will naturally help you with this matter."

After all, she hasn't been here yet, so gossip is inevitable among this group.

Lin Zhaoyuan said bluntly: "Thank you, sister-in-law."

"The woman I have chosen is the first-class female envoy next to the eldest sister of the Sheng family, Sheng Wei. Her name is Xiaodie."

As Wei Shuyi's status in the Sheng family has risen, Xiaodie's status has naturally been raised a lot.

(End of this chapter)