Chapter 051 The Emperor Changes into Casual Clothes
Zhao Yulin said this was simple. One option was to imprison them according to the old rules and await their sentencing. The other option was to not wait for a written notice to send them into exile, but to immediately take those prisoners whose crimes were not serious enough to warrant beheading out for labor reform, and not let them eat for free.
After hearing this, Yang Zhishan went back to discuss with Chen Yun and decided to adopt his opinion. Instead of waiting for the written judgment from above, he directly took this group of more than 80 people to build the road leading to Rongde County.
What Zhao Yulin meant was that instead of letting these people eat for free, it would be better to let them eat their fill and then undergo labor reform.
Building roads is the best way to transform it.
In this way, the high-standard road from Yibin to Rongde County was managed by craftsmen, worked by prisoners and escorted by soldiers.
Zhao Yulin felt that in order to prosper the economy, roads must be opened up, so he proposed first build a road to Rongde County because there were abundant salt and coal there.
Once the road is built, there will be a steady stream of wealth.
The onlookers in the city were noisy again. One moment they said that the street kid from the Li family was arrested by the Shenwei Army , and the next moment they said that the gangster from the Rong family was in police station. The storyteller made up another story, and the money board made a loud clacking sound: It is said that the Shenwei Army cleared out Yibin's...
In the Lin'an Palace, the empress dowager received a report from the eunuch Jia Gonggong that none of the 250 imperial guards sent out survived, and also lost 100 elite soldiers from Jiazhou. She was so angry that she gnashed her teeth and smashed two glasses in succession.
She questioned harshly, what could a Shenwei Army, whose name she had just heard of, have that could devour her Royal Guards?
The Queen Mother was ignorant. Not only Zhao Yulin's Shenwei Army could be defeated, but any army that dared to fight against the Jin and Mongolian armies could be defeated. It was because the Imperial Guards were in the flashy world of Lin'an and had not fought for a long time, so they had long lost their sharpness.
The emperor was still enjoying his drink, holding the glass made by Zhao Yulin and reading the Cuiping Morning Post with relish.
The accompanying eunuch said that Eunuch Jia had returned, looking very unhappy, and hurried to the Empress Dowager's Changshou Palace.
The emperor said "Oh" and continued reading the newspaper.
The eunuch said that none of the soldiers who went out with Eunuch Jia came back. Chen Yun of Xuzhou secretly reported that there was a fierce battle in Cuiping Mountain with the government troops disguised as local soldiers. All the fake local soldiers were wiped out, and even the only three remaining captives were killed to commemorate the soldiers who died in the battle.
Zhao Yulin is a ruthless guy. I’m afraid that Changshou Palace will take action again, which will cause unrest in Shu.
After a short rest, the emperor summoned Shi Miyuan to come in.
Prime Minister Shi Miyuan had just returned home from the Empress Dowager's and hurried to the palace. The emperor had only one sentence to say: Chen Yun of Xuzhou was promoted to the governor of Xuzhou, and Zhao Yulin of Yibin was promoted to the rank of Yibin county lieutenant and commander of the Shenwei Army.
Shi Miyuan immediately reported to the emperor, saying that Zhao Yulin now had 5,000 soldiers and horses, and his power had greatly increased. He then pointedly said that Zhao Yulin had written a poem Qinyuanchun, which showed that he regarded the princes as dirt and had lofty ambitions.
Because of the long journey and the inaccurate information, if Lao Shi knew that the Shenwei Army now had 5,000 soldiers, he would definitely say it was 50,000, and he would start an uprising against the Song Dynasty and persuade the emperor to launch a suppression campaign.
The emperor snorted and said that he knew everything. It seemed that he needed to appease him. He asked him if the position of county lieutenant was too low.
How about promoting Zhao Yulin to be the military commander of Xuzhou?
Shi Miyuan quickly said that the emperor was wise, Zhao Yulin was young and still needed experience, and it was just right for the emperor to reward him with the position of county lieutenant.
The emperor was unhappy and asked the maid to bring a glass to Shi Miyuan and asked him to drink. Without even looking at him, he said that no matter how much he played, he could not lose the country. Without the country, what was the use of being a prime minister?
Shi Miyuan knew that he had offended the emperor, so he nodded in agreement, drank the glass, and then made an excuse to leave.
The emperor was very angry. He was thirty years old and still had no say in anything. He couldn't even ask for an eighteen-year-old child from an ordinary family. The child had already made his own decisions, married, had children, started a business, and traveled around the country to support his family.
The emperor drank the wine in the glass, stood up and smashed the glass to pieces. He looked at the glass on the ground with some distress and hummed that he was going to leave the palace. The eunuch immediately led him to take a bath and change clothes.
The emperor changed into casual clothes and got into a green-topped sedan chair. Two bearers dressed as palace masters carried him straight to the courtyard of Kuang Sisi, a famous prostitute from Lin'an, by the West Lake.
When the empress dowager in Changshou Palace heard that her son had been rewarded with an official position in Xuzhou, she said angrily that her son had grown up and was now against her, so she let it go and would deal with the matter later.
Zhao Yulin on Cuiping Mountain certainly didn't know what was happening in Lin'an. He was talking to his mother.
His mother said that Cuiping Trading Company did all kinds of business, but there were as many as twelve shopkeepers, and she couldn't manage it.
Because of the abundant grains and wines in Sanjiangkou, merchants of all sizes are flocking here. There are only a few wholesale businesses left in Yibin City, and most of the people are retailers who come to the city to do small business.
His fourth sister said happily that this was the best way and that all the cloth merchants in Jiangbei should go bankrupt.
His fourth mother yelled at her and asked her what she said. Wouldn't that mean that the Zhao family would all be left starving?
Si Niang said this to ask him.
Zhao Sihan leaned on her brother and said that Brother Yuqing had come and said that the family was having a hard time and had no money to repair the warehouse. The cloth was almost wet by the rain when they bought goods the first few times, and they couldn't do business anymore.
Zhao Yulin asked her with a smile what ideas she had.
My fourth sister said that they were the ones who drove us out, and we should starve them to death.
Zhao Yulin knew that his sister was speaking in a sarcastic way, and said with a smile that the fourth sister would send some money over on our behalf. The two sisters would each give 500 taels, and we would give them 1,000 taels of silver.
The fourth sister pouted and said she would not go.
Zhao Yulin said he had a way to help Duan Xiaolin stay?
His fourth sister's face immediately lit up with joy and she asked him "Really?" but her expression quickly disappeared again.
After a short rest, Zhao Sihan said nonchalantly, "Okay, I'll go to Jiangbei with great reluctance." Zhao Yulin told his fourth mother and asked the accountant to give his sister one thousand taels of silver in cash to take across the river.
Then, he took Zhao Sihan to the study, quickly wrote a letter and asked his sister to take it to Master Jueming.
Zhao Sihan asked him weakly: Is there any way to keep Xiao Linzi? Xiao Linzi is so pitiful.
Zhao Yulin smiled and scratched his sister's nose, asking her what was so pitiful about Xiao Linzi? Her brother was the pitiful one, and his elbows began to turn outward.
Zhao Sihan kept saying "No" and became embarrassed.
He said, however, if our sister can cut off the livelihood of the Duan family on the Jinsha River, I will help her cut off the livelihood of the people in Wuzishan, and I guarantee that someone from the Duan family will come to her for help.
Zhao Sihan understood immediately and went out happily with the letter.
Zhao Yulin quickly nodded to Fan Zheng, and he immediately called for the guards to follow.
Sihan went to the accounting office to collect the silver. Seeing his brother's guards following him, he happily asked them to carry the money and skipped towards the dock.
Chen Xiaomin and Zhao Yulin saw this scene on the tower and said that he doted on his sister, which made people jealous. He said happily that he would ask his father to have a child someday so that they could dote on him together.
The two of them went down the city wall and went to the winery. Chen Zhongshun was accompanying Aunt Wu in raising chickens in the back mountain. The natural breeding method suggested by Zhao Yulin to her was really effective. The chicken farm was divided into three areas, and the chicks of all sizes were chirping happily.
Seeing that Chen Zhongshun was very happy, he said, "Marry Aunt Wu." Xiaomin really wanted to have a younger brother.
Chen Zhongshun was delighted at first, but then he was stunned. He probably asked:
Is there anyone who talks to his father-in-law like this?
That's nonsense.
Zhao Yulin heard from Chen Xiaomin that her mother died early and her father vowed to treat her well for fear that the woman he remarried would bully her.
So even though he met Aunt Wu, a caring person, he still didn't make up his mind to marry her.
Zhao Yulin smiled when he saw his expression, looked at Aunt Wu in the distance and said, "Don't make it hard on yourself. If you like her, marry her. I'll take care of Xiaomin. We will go further and further apart in the future. Who will take care of you?"
Without waiting for Chen Zhongshun to react, Zhao Yulin turned around, pulled Xiaomin up and asked her to go see the chicks.
This huge chicken farm lays eggs, and the eggs no longer need to be artificially hatched. Every day, chicks that meet the standards for slaughter are selected and sent to the beggar chickens in the bamboo forest by the river.
When Zhao Sihan crossed the river and entered the Zhao Mansion, the Zhao family immediately welcomed him warmly.
All the servants were eager to see Zhao Yulin and Zhao Sihan, and the siblings were very generous. The last time the pawnshop owner and clerk came back, they said that the third young master gave out ten taels of silver as rewards.
Zhao Sihan went to the account office and told the shopkeeper that the third and fourth wives saw that the family was in dire straits, so they sent 1,000 taels of silver for emergency assistance. Tell the master to be frugal and not let the prodigal son empty the house.
Her sister-in-law happened to pass by. She was extremely upset when she heard what Zhao Sihan said She came in and asked her what she was talking about. She was going to teach her family a lesson for just one thousand taels of silver.
What qualifications does a useless person who has been kicked out of the family have to point fingers at the Zhao family?
Zhao Sihan asked her sister-in-law without any anger: "Really? I forgot that I had been kicked out of the family. Since you don't recognize this relationship, then return the silver to me, Fan Zheng, carry it and leave."
Just as the shopkeeper was about to accept it, Fan Zheng took it out and asked the guards to escort Zhao Sihan out of the house.
At this time, her mother came out and said that her sister-in-law was just speaking in anger. What was Fourth Miss fussing about? She should go into the room and sit down quickly, because the master would be out soon.
Zhao Sihan said that she just happened to have something to ask Master Jueming, and then ran to the west wing and delivered Zhao Yulin's letter to Jueming.
When she came back, her father was already sitting in the living room.
Zhao Sihan explained the idea of sending money, but his father said that this amount of money was just a drop in the bucket. The Zhao family's business was shrinking rapidly, but the expenses were not decreasing at all. How could they sustain the family in the long run?
He asked Zhao Sihan to go back and talk to her third brother, and hand over the Beggar Chicken in Baita to her eldest brother to run. Wouldn't the Zhao family survive?
Zhao Sihan didn't dare to take it after hearing what she said. That was a gift from her third brother to Ma Ling's wife. How could she just give it away?
Her father repeated the same old tune, saying that it was only natural for him to eat and spend some money on San'er's food, so what was wrong with that?
Zhao Sihan asked his father how he had the nerve to say that, since he had kicked out the family, how could he have the nerve to eat other people's food and spend other people's money?
Her father heard that he was being lectured, and he became angry and humiliated, and yelled at him, "Get out of here, get out of here!"
Zhao Sihan said, "Go away? That won't work. My brother said that I should be brave and move forward. I'll take the money back. Don't come to us if you have any problems in the future."
The group carried the silver and walked out of the mansion.
Mr. Zhao's first wife was anxious and immediately discouraged him. Why was he angry with a child? But where was the 1,000 taels of silver? Should the warehouse on the dock be repaired?
