Tianliangyuan

Chapter 373 Emperor Yong'an was extremely satisfied!

The marriage between Princess Leyang and Cui Shu, the heir of Duke Cui Yue, naturally attracted much attention.

On the day of the wedding, His Majesty sent his chief steward to deliver an imperial edict and presented several boxes of gifts to demonstrate his trust in the Duke of Yue.

Seeing such a grand wedding inevitably brings to mind Xu Zhaozhao and Xie Zheng's wedding last year. Although it wasn't as grand as the princess's wedding, it was still a topic of much discussion.

The Jiang family members sat at the banquet, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

If Jiang Ning hadn't caused any trouble, she would have been qualified to marry into the Duke's household as his principal wife. If she had behaved herself, and with the help of the Grand Tutor and the Imperial Concubine, it would have been possible for her to marry a prince as his principal wife.

But now, she has only become a concubine.

Jiang Fu is long gone.

Jiang Ning's act of willingly becoming a concubine has clearly tarnished the reputation of the Jiang family, and no family with a good reputation is willing to form a marriage alliance with the Jiang family again.

Now, Jiang Yuan is not young anymore, but her marriage has not been settled yet. It is because of the examples of Jiang Fu and Jiang Ning that no one dares to marry her.

Jiang Fu was accused of being unfaithful, and Jiang Ning willingly became a concubine; neither of them had a good reputation.

Jiang Yuan was not originally the eldest daughter of the main branch. First, she suffered the blow of her father being demoted, and then her cousin had an accident. Now, her marriage has become a major problem.

If Xu Zhaozhao hadn't intervened, Fu Pei might have been forced to marry Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan's marriage is actually more difficult than that of the two illegitimate daughters of the Xie family.

The second wife of the Jiang family sat here, her heart filled with mixed feelings, but mostly with hatred.

Why should the eldest son's family reap all the benefits, while the second son's family has to bear the unfortunate consequences?

But when she thought of Grand Tutor Jiang and Consort Jiang in the palace, Song had to suppress all her resentment.

Xu Zhaozhao took some time to go to the palace and, through Xie Zheng, delivered the generous gift she had prepared for His Majesty.

Emperor Yong'an didn't care about the hundred coins a month, but he did care about the attitude of his subordinates.

He may not care, he may disdain, but those below him must be sensible!

Clearly, Xu Zhaozhao is the kind of person who is sensible and won't cause him any trouble.

Emperor Yong'an read Xu Zhaozhao's proposal and was quite looking forward to what it contained.

"The character '昭昭' has indeed improved."

Xie Zheng smiled and said, "My wife has been practicing calligraphy diligently since we got married. She said that His Majesty once laughed at her ugly handwriting. She's holding back her determination to prove to you that she can write well."

Emperor Yong'an laughed heartily: "This Zhaozhao! Even after getting married, she's still as childlike as ever. You're a military general, but not a boor. I know you're skilled in both literature and martial arts, so I won't beat around the bush. Although Zhaozhao isn't my daughter, I treat her like a junior member of my own family. You mustn't bully her, or not only will you, her father-in-law, be unhappy, but I won't allow it either!"

Xie Zheng quickly cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Your humble servant dares not."

"Well, that's good! Zhao Zhao seems steady, but she's actually a bit impulsive. She's still young, so please be more tolerant of her."

"Yes, Wei Chen understands."

What Emperor Yong'an was most satisfied with was not the proposal that Xu Zhaozhao had presented, but that it was signed by her, not Xie Zheng.

Xu Zhaozhao only used Xie Zheng to deliver the goods, but did not attribute the credit to Xie Zheng, which was what Emperor Yong'an liked the most.

After all, Xie Zheng was a military general, and among his peers, he was already an outstanding figure. Having too many merits was not necessarily a good thing.

Emperor Yong'an had a view of the entire Daxing Dynasty and considered all his ministers. He could not promote or demote officials based on his own likes and dislikes; this was not the behavior of a wise ruler.

At present, Xu Zhaozhao is quite sensible. The things she sent have nothing to do with Xie Zheng, so Emperor Yong'an can do whatever he wants with the rewards.

Ultimately, Xu Zhaozhao was just a woman, not a high-ranking official, so no reward was too much.

Xie Zheng had seen the proposal, and to be honest, he really didn't expect Xu Zhaozhao to be so bold.

The key question is, who could have imagined that a small town like Yunqi could have such a significant impact?

"You've seen this thing?"

"Your Majesty, I have seen it."

"Hmm, what are your thoughts?"

Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment, but still answered honestly, "Your Majesty, I had never thought of that. However, Lantian County has always been famous for its fine jade, and there are indeed several mines there, one of which belongs to the national treasury. If this comes to fruition, it will certainly be beneficial to our Daxing."

Emperor Yong'an nodded, deeply agreeing.

There aren't many businesses currently operating in Yunqi Town, but it's very close to the official road, so merchants traveling north and south would often stop there, have a meal, stay at a shop, admire the jade, and then have the idea of ​​taking the jade away.

Relying on jade mines to vigorously develop the jade industry is indeed a feasible approach.

However, most of the jade mines in Lantian County are privately owned, and Xu Zhaozhao also stated that a jade mine was discovered in the mountain that His Majesty had previously granted to her.

The idea that the imperial court should regulate the jade industry is not a recent development.

In fact, Emperor Yong'an had long had this idea.

Daxing had strict controls on ironware, but its control over salt was relatively lenient.

That's why salt prices aren't high, and ordinary people can afford snow salt.

However, because the right to produce and sell salt was never nationalized, the national treasury was empty.

Xu Zhaozhao's strategy was very clever.

Because the buyers of jade are all wealthy people, ordinary people can't even afford to eat, so who would have the time to buy jade?

So, Xu Zhaozhao wants to make money from the rich while also paying heavy taxes to the country!

Previously, the Ministry of Revenue had suggested starting with jade mines, but no practical solution had been found.

Now, here comes this solution.

"Go ahead, but first summon the Minister of Revenue to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gu Dongyang was still cursing when he learned of the Emperor's summons. Naturally, he dared not delay and rushed to the Taiji Hall in a hurry.

"Wei Chen has met your Majesty."

"No need for formalities, Minister Gu, come and take a look at this."

Gu Dongyang looked on with curiosity. What was this thing that could make His Majesty so happy?

Where has the grain harvest been plentiful?

No, the season isn't here yet.

But His Majesty's smile, which he couldn't suppress, clearly indicated that he was in a very good mood.

After reading it, Gu Dongyang's eyes widened in shock: "This, this is simply the work of a genius! Your Majesty, who wrote this?"

Gu Dongyang only saw the first few pages, and Xu Zhaozhao's signature was not on them, which is why he asked out of curiosity.

Emperor Yong'an smiled and said, "It doesn't matter who came up with this idea. What matters is whether Minister Gu thinks this plan is feasible?"