jdhmnovel Chapter 365 Adding to Old Deng's Trouble
Chapter 365 Adding to Old Deng's Trouble
It's obvious that Physician Yang doesn't want to directly participate in the technically unskilled topic of "how to make the short and ugly people sick," but he also wants to take a few of the short and ugly people back to disassemble and study, which is why he came to me to cause trouble.
Pah! This old man is a perfect example of wanting both ways.
After silently cursing in his heart again, Yang Shaofeng simply went back into the house and quietly watched Jin'er brew tea.
Jin'er blushed as she brewed a pot of Xiaolongtuan tea for Yang Shaofeng. She first whispered, "Husband, please have some tea," and then whispered again, "Husband, should we stay in Dengzhou Prefecture or go back to Ningyang County for the New Year this year?"
After Jin'er said that, Yang Shaofeng was surprised to find that it was already the end of November in the third year of Hongwu, and December was just around the corner, with the New Year approaching.
Then, Yang Shaofeng felt somewhat displeased.
Look at this year. At the beginning of the year, he married two beautiful wives. Before he could even properly cultivate their relationship, he ran off to Dengzhou to become the prefect. As a result, he encountered the Plow Case just two days after arriving in Dengzhou. Then he ran back to Ningyang County to preside over the county examination. And then there was the Sun Gupu Rebellion Case.
Calm down and think it over carefully. Good heavens, these two major cases helped Old Deng get rid of a large number of disobedient officials and gentry and scholars with ulterior motives. He also saved Liu Bowen's entire family. But not only did I not get any benefit, I even neglected my two beautiful wives.
Following this line of thought, Yang Shaofeng felt increasingly distressed.
I got to eat scorpion claws in February, but I didn't get to eat mulberries in May, cicada nymphs in June, or boiled edamame in July. Although I did get to eat mooncakes in August, how dare they call mooncakes from the Hongwu era?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Yang Shaofeng first told Jin'er that he was going back to Ningyang for the New Year, and then he started thinking about how to make things worse for Lao Deng, who was far away in the capital.
Land allocation?
This matter has been mentioned before, and Emperor Deng had already issued an edict requiring all prefectures and counties in the country to allocate land to the people according to the standard of 15 mu per adult male.
Relocate the people?
Old Deng had already begun relocating the people. It was estimated that in about ten days, the people who had migrated from Shanxi to Shandong would arrive in Penglai. Then, the various counties of Dengzhou would take them all back and settle them.
Do you want policies and benefits?
Old Deng was also given. Although Dengzhou Prefecture is still nominally under the jurisdiction of Shandong Province, Wang Guangyang never interferes with the affairs of Dengzhou Prefecture. Dengzhou is not a directly administered prefecture, but it is better than a directly administered prefecture.
Moreover, Old Deng was indeed unusually generous this time. He agreed to all of Old Deng's requests, such as setting up iron smelting workshops and small coal mines in Dengzhou Prefecture. Apart from not sending any craftsmen, it can be said that Old Deng provided all the support he could.
Aside from these two urgent matters, the remaining messy issues, such as tax rates and the royal land system, cannot be resolved in a day or two; we can only wait patiently.
Needless to say, the issue of invoices is even more problematic. The blank printing case hasn't even come to light yet, but leaking the invoices could very well kill the blank printing case, and the Terengganu government might lose tens of thousands of workers as a result.
More importantly, the Empty Seal Case is fundamentally different from the Guo Huan Case, the Hu Weiyong Case, and the Lan Yu Case. To put it bluntly, the Empty Seal Case was a probing counterattack by officials and gentry forces who were loyal to Hu Yuan. Killing them in advance would only allow them to lie low for longer and potentially cause even greater trouble in the future. Therefore, the Empty Seal Case could only be ignited in advance, but it absolutely could not be killed in advance.
But if you calculate it that way, then for the time being, wouldn't I have nothing to do to annoy Lao Deng?
Seeing the constantly changing expression on Yang Shaofeng's face, Jin'er couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Husband, is something troubling you?"
Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly and said, "I just feel a little guilty that I haven't been able to spend time with you and Yu'er this past year due to all the running around."
Jin'er smiled and then lowered her head, saying softly, "Although I would like my husband to accompany me, I know that you are a man who does great things. The livelihoods of the people of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture depend on you. No matter how immature I may be, I cannot delay your life and the lives of the people because of my feelings for my lover."
Ok?
Given condition one: Jin'er and Yu'er, these two little maids, grew up by Empress Ma's side, and their words and actions were deeply influenced by Empress Ma.
Since Jin'er understands the principle of prioritizing the people, Empress Ma, who has no major flaws in history, must also understand this principle.
Known condition two: Zhu Chongba, that old man, is a watchdog, a notorious wife-doting maniac, and also a henpecked husband.
The answer is obvious: as long as we find some legitimate reason for serving the country and the people, so that old tyrant Zhu Chongba doesn't have time to fawn over Empress Ma, he'll be miserable.
Zhu Biao must have had enough of being fed dog food in the palace by now, right?
After thinking for a moment, Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said to Jin'er, "Wife, how much do you know about the glass workshops in Ningyang County?"
Jin'er nodded and said, "Because there are members of our family in the workshop, I have seen the workshop's account books and met several of the craftsmen. I have a general understanding of the workshop's situation. I wonder what you would like to ask, my husband?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "It's that glass tea set that Madam had Yu'er bring over last time. How many sets can the workshop make a day?"
Jin'er thought for a moment and replied, "If it's better than my husband's set, let alone making several sets a day, it might not even be possible to collect one set in a month. If it's similar to my husband's set, or slightly inferior, I can probably make eight or ten sets a day?"
That's fine.
Have the glass workshop produce dozens more sets of glass teaware, and send them to the capital along with green tea from Ningyang County. Give one set to Lao Deng, and another set to Lao Xu, Chang Heitan, and Li Shanchang.
Then, ask for the title of tribute for the glass teaware, propose that the glass teaware be brought into the market, and then tell Lao Deng in a private message about the cost of the teaware, and ask him to discuss the tax rate for glass with Li Shanchang and Hu Weiyong.
Let’s live together!
Zhang Xiaohua, a well-known staff member of the Transmigrator Management Bureau, once said that Zhu Chongba's expertise in economics was not much better than that of a carpenter.
Modern glass teaware can be considered a luxury item, precisely hitting the sore spot of the Ming Dynasty's current tax system—the cost of glass teaware is frighteningly low, but the profit is shockingly high. Even charging a commercial tax of one-thirtieth of the selling price would be pure nonsense.
If we just let Old Man know about the luxury goods tax rate, even if it doesn't make him lose a couple of pounds of hair, it will at least make him lose his appetite for three days.
Not right either.
I am not the kind of young man who only knows how to cause trouble for his father-in-law.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Shaofeng simply looked at Jin'er and said, "My wife, I'll have someone prepare some gifts, and then send them to His Majesty and the Empress in your and Yu'er's names. What do you think?"
Jin'er was slightly taken aback and asked, "What gift does my husband want to prepare?"