Empress Dowager Cao wanted to see Qin Hao obviously to win over him, and it happened just after Zhao Zongquan met him.
But who wants to be the Queen Mother? This face must be given, so Qin Hao followed the old eunuch to the Queen Mother's palace.
"Qin Aiqing is here, please give me a seat." Empress Dowager Cao looked kind and kind.
However, Qin Hao did not dare to be careless. This Queen Mother was definitely not a fuel-efficient lamp.
"Thank you, Queen Mother."
There was a hint of yearning and sadness in Queen Mother Cao's tone, "When the late emperor was still here, he told the Ai family that Qin Aiqing was a rare talent. , when you offended King Yong, the late emperor sent you to Japan to protect you. Alas, this scene seems to have happened yesterday."
"Qin Aiqing has indeed made extraordinary achievements as the late emperor said, and now. Not only is he a second-rank official, but he also has to be granted the title of Marquis of the Kingdom. His future is limitless. It’s a pity that the late emperor has passed away and will not be able to see this day.”
This is obviously a trick. Although Qin Hao is right. Emperor Renzong had a good impression, but that was all. Besides, Empress Dowager Cao was not Emperor Renzong. Based on this statement, it was a bit fanciful to want him to risk his wealth and life to overthrow Zhao Zongquan's regime.
Of course, some superficial work still needs to be done. Qin Hao bowed and said, "Wei Chen has always kept in mind the late emperor's kindness to Wei Chen."
Empress Dowager Cao wiped it out. Wiping away tears, the conversation suddenly changed, "This harem is so deserted. An old woman from the Ai family has lived in the palace for a long time. She is lonely. Qin Aiqing has two children. She is really envious of others. I heard that Qin Aiqing's daughter is very cute and has won many awards." It is better to send her to the palace to teach her the rules so that the Ai family can find a good family for her in the future."
As soon as these words came out, the old eunuchs next to her looked very sensible. Send your daughter to the palace quickly, the expression on her face.
Qin Hao felt angry when he heard this, and held up his hand, "The youngest daughter in the family is only two years old now, and she is very naughty. The Queen Mother has many things to do, so I don't want to bother the Queen Mother."
After Qin Hao finished speaking, He turned around and left immediately.
An old eunuch screamed "Bold" behind him
Qin Hao turned his head and glanced sideways at him, locking the old eunuch with murderous intent, and then gave Empress Dowager Cao a warning. The look in his eyes walked away.
The moment the old eunuch was enveloped in Qin Hao's murderous aura, he peed his pants. After all, the eunuch's urinary system was already damaged, and he could easily lose control after being frightened.
Empress Dowager Cao also didn’t expect that Qin Hao would fall out with her over a daughter. In her opinion, in a noble family, daughters are just bargaining chips. Take herself as an example, isn’t it the same? Her status sent her to the palace. For the benefit of the family, what does a mere daughter mean?
However, she did not know that the child was Qin Hao's inverse, and Qin Hao did not have a patriarchal mentality. On the contrary, in the ancient environment where sons were generally favored over daughters, Qin Hao felt even more sorry for his daughter.
The moment he walked out of the palace, Qin Hao even had the urge to chop the old witch directly..
It was already late at night when we got home all the way.
Yu Yanran immediately came up to her. Seeing that Qin Hao’s expression was not right, she asked with concern, “Mr. Hou, what’s wrong?”
Qin Hao did not answer, but asked, “Sister Lan. "Where are the children?"
Yu Yanran said with some amusement, "The children have fallen asleep now."
Qin Hao came to the next room, where the two little guys were snoring. Sleeping, especially the little girl, stretched out like a big character, her mouth moving, I don't know if she is dreaming about breastfeeding.
When the maid on night duty in the "Master Marquis" room saw Qin Hao coming, she woke up instantly and hurriedly saluted.
Qin Hao made a shushing gesture to them, saw that the children were sleeping soundly, and left.
This also alerted the maids at home. They must not doze off during the night watch in the future, otherwise they would be in trouble if the Marquis saw them.
Yu Yanran saw Qin Hao go to the next room and come back for a while, and became even more curious, "Master Hou, what's wrong with you?"
Qin Hao did not hide it, telling Zhao Zongquan and Cao tonight The Empress Dowager explained the circumstances of the successive summons.
Yu Yanran was also shocked. Recently, the most popular topic among the nobles in Bianjing City was the power struggle between the officials and the Queen Mother, and they were all afraid of falling into it.
Seeing Yu Yanran's worried look, Qin Hao comforted her and said, "Don't worry, I have my own sense of discretion."
"But, after all, the Queen Mother is still the mother of an official family in name only. Song Dynasty has always respected filial piety. If the Queen Mother insists on letting Sister Lan enter the palace, I am afraid that the officials will not be able to stop her." Yu Yanran said with a trembling voice.
Qin Hao said extremely seriously, "Just remember, no matter what, don't let the two children out of your sight. Even if the Queen Mother issued an edict, you can still use the excuse that the children are sick." , I have everything."
Yu Yanran leaned lightly on Qin Hao's chest. She was really scared, that was the Queen Mother.
Of course, Yu Yanran was reluctant to let Sister Lan enter the palace. After all, she was the flesh that fell from her own body. Although she often scolded her, it was because of her deep love and responsibility.
"Let's do this. I'll leave a hundred guards at home. During the time I'm away, you will stay at home and wait until I come back to talk about everything." Qin Hao remembered that when King Yan rebelled, First, he deceived the noble family's family papers into the palace, so that those nobles would not dare to act rashly. There is no guarantee that the Queen Mother would not follow suit.
"It's dangerous for the Marquis to go on this trip, so we'd better take everyone with us. I'll just close the door tightly. No one will dare to attack the Marquis' mansion."
Yu Yanran What worries him most is Qin Hao's safety.
Qin Hao shook his head and said, "This time the government sends me to Jiangnan Road to set up defenses, I will definitely arrange the most capable soldiers. I don't care about the personal guards. I won't have any worries if you are safe."
p>"Then, Lord Marquis, please be careful. The children and I are waiting for your safe return." Yu Yanran's eyes turned red as she spoke.
Qin Hao smiled and comforted, "Okay, it's just some shrimps and crabs."General, who is your husband's opponent? Compared with the strong winds and waves on the sea, this danger is not worth mentioning at all. ”
Five days later, Qin Hao and King Huan left Bianjing City. In addition to King Huan’s 1,000 bodyguards, Qin Hao also commanded a Dragon Guard Army of 5,000 people. A relatively powerful force among the Forbidden Army.
Zhao Zongquan also spent a lot of money this time. You must know that these elite troops of the Forbidden Army are basically in the hands of some veteran nobles. Zhao Zongquan has not fully obtained these honors. With your support, this is already the most effective team he can control.
Qin Hao also specially requested the transfer of two battleships and a thousand naval troops from the Mingzhou Navy to Jiangnan. The canals are well developed, and most of the local navy has been completely infiltrated by the Cao family. If you want to carry out salt tax reform, you must investigate illegal salt, and it will definitely not work without the support of the navy.
Song History Volume 93. According to the records of the Bianhe River, the Bianhe River transported five to seven million dendrobiums of rice each year, which shows the importance of the Bianqu. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Bianqu was even called the foundation of the country.
Because there are 1.5 million people living in Bianjing City alone, and nearly 800,000 forbidden troops are stationed around it, and most of the food is transported to Bianjing City through the Bianhe River.
Once Bianjing City is reached. There is a problem with the river, and the entire Bianjing city will starve. Coupled with the presence of 800,000 forbidden troops, once these people are extremely hungry and start a mutiny, the Song Dynasty may change its dynasty.
Huan Wang Zhao Yingce. He said to Qin Hao with some emotion, "This is the lifeline of our Song Dynasty. ”
Qin Hao shook his head secretly. Zhao Yingce was definitely considered a hero in ancient times, but his vision was still a bit narrow. In fact, from a historical perspective, Bianjing was not suitable as the capital.
On the one hand, there is no danger to defend here. There are no Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures in the north as a barrier. Once the northern nomads move south, they will face the danger of subjugation. On the other hand, the terrain of Bianjing is too low. Without sufficient water conservancy facilities, , once the upstream embankment bursts, or there are continuous heavy rains, Bianjing will be extremely flooded.
But it is no wonder that moving the capital is not a decision that can be made easily. After the Qin Dynasty unified and established the feudal dynasty system, It seems that during the non-turbulent period of the dynasty, Zhu Di was the only one who successfully moved the capital.
Only a decisive and confident emperor like Zhu Di could withstand the pressure of his ministers and complete the move of the capital. Zhao Zongquan. Zhao Yingce doesn't have Zhu Di's ability, let alone his courage.
After Zhao Yingce sighed, he said seriously, "This salt tax reform is of great importance. Where does Zihan think we should start?"
p>In fact, this is the main reason why Zhao Zongquan did not choose Gu Tingye, who was more trustworthy, but handed over the important task to Qin Hao.
In terms of bravery, Gu Tingye is naturally capable, but in terms of wisdom, Gu Tingye was about to beat Qin Hao by more than one step.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Hao put tea on his hand and wrote two words on the table: "Yan Yin." ”
Zhao Yingce was a little confused, “How to explain this method?”
Qin HaoHe smiled and said, "His Royal Highness King Huan, why does the Cao family have control over the official salt trade?"
Zhao Yingce suddenly realized, "Zi Han means to cancel the official salt monopoly."
Qin Hao nodded, Then he shook his head, "It's not cancelling, but apportioning. Your Highness might as well think about it. The Cao family has always controlled the official salt business. Isn't there anyone who is greedy for it?"
"To put it bluntly, it's just because of the Queen Mother." Support, others don’t dare to offend. Now that the government has issued a decree to carry out salt tax reform, there will definitely be people who are interested, and what we have to do is to intensify the conflict between them and the Cao family and draw these people into our camp. "
"If you have good luck, you will get more help, but if you don't have good luck, you will get less help. In this way, the Cao family's monopoly on official salt will naturally be destroyed."
Zhao Yingce's eyes lit up and he praised, "Zi Han really has a clever plan." There are so many possibilities.”
“But how can we win over these people? After all, they themselves have a competitive relationship.”
In fact, most people don’t hate monopolies; they just hate monopolies. It’s not just me.
Qin Haodan smiled, "It's very simple. We divide the salt yin into regional sales. The Song Dynasty is divided into thirteen channels. We can use this as a unit to distribute salt yin. Only one area is allowed. A merchant sells official salt and at the same time severely cracks down on illegal salt sales and illegal sales. In this way, everyone benefits and will naturally be on our side."
I have to admit that the energy of the Cao family is indeed It is so powerful that it even monopolizes the salt production in the country. After so many years, you can imagine how much money the Cao family has made.
It is no wonder that the salt tax reform became the flash point of the conflict between Zhao Zongquan and the Empress Dowager Cao.
"Haha, with Zihan here, this trip will be worry-free." Zhao Yingce thought about it for a moment and understood the powerful relationship.
This has two advantages. On the one hand, it can attract other forces to cooperate with him. On the other hand, selling salt in a region can not only ensure a certain monopoly, but also allow them to compete with each other. Relationships, avoid collusion with each other, and the court will expire.
But Zhao Yingce's good mood soon disappeared. On the third day after leaving Bianjing, he was warned and a crossbow arrow was nailed to the bow of his boat.
Zhao Yingce broke off the crossbow arrow with a livid face, gritted his teeth and said, "What a courageous dog, I want to see what they can do to me."
Qin Hao was also wary, and spent the night Let people strengthen the protection.
However, in the next few days, everything was calm. As they were approaching Jinling City, a group of water thieves suddenly attacked the fleet.
This group of water thieves were all well-equipped, and even had an eight-niu crossbow. Qin Hao quickly pulled Zhao Yingce into the cabin. This was not the time to show off as a hero. The eight-niu crossbow at this time was equivalent to Mortars from later generations would basically fail when encountered.
After a fierce fight, the Mingzhou navy defeated the enemy. Seeing that the water thieves were helpless, they did not fight to the death and jumped into the river one by one to escape.
However, in terms of water properties, the Mingzhou navy is a force that can overcome obstacles in the sea.Now, naturally they would not let them escape easily, and captured a dozen water thieves who were half drowned.
The injured on the boat all bitten the poison and committed suicide. Zhao Yingce gritted his teeth when he saw this scene.
"They actually used dead soldiers. This Cao family really wants to get rid of this king for the sake of his queen."
Qin Hao felt that something was wrong. If he really wanted to assassinate Zhao Yingce, why not? It would be such a blatant attack, and only such a small number of people would be sent, so it was obviously impossible to succeed.
"Cui Zhi."
"Master Hou."
"Suppress these people and interrogate them individually"
"Nuo ."
The remaining half-dead soldiers who were drowned became the key to the breakthrough.
After two days and two nights of torture, someone finally spoke up, and the answer they got surprised Qin Hao and Zhao Yingce. It turned out to be Manichaeism
Manicheism The purpose of assassinating Zhao Yingce was also very simple. It was to explode the conflict between Zhao Zongquan and the Queen Mother, so that they would both lose in the fight and take the opportunity to overthrow the Song Dynasty.
Zhao Yingce didn't know whether to believe the confessions of these dead soldiers for a moment, and even suspected that it was arranged by the Cao family in advance to remove suspicion.
Qin Hao knew that the Manichaeans in all dynasties had the ambition to subvert the political power, and they were actually allowed to do it in the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, Zhu Chongba was not a leader who kept his promises and established the country. Immediately afterwards, Manichaeism, also known as Mingjiao, was required to locate the cult and carry out encirclement and suppression.
In this way, the situation becomes more complicated. In addition to the Cao family, we also have to beware of Manichaeism.
Qin Hao once again strengthened his vigilance along the way. Every day’s meals and drinking water were tried by others before being given to Zhao Yingce. This also directly caused Zhao Yingce to always eat cold dishes and cold rice. Fortunately, the weather is hot, so you don’t have to worry about damaging your stomach.
When they arrived at Jinling City, Qin Hao did not relax his vigilance and immediately reorganized Jinling's naval forces. Zhao Yingce was a little brave and did not fear the assassination. That night, he hosted a banquet for all the nobles and nobles of Jinling. Civil servants and big businessmen.
At the banquet, Zhao Yingce hinted that the salt supply would be redistributed, which immediately aroused the interest of many distinguished merchants.
What is more interesting is that Qin Hao also met Sheng Wei, the head of the Sheng family, at the banquet. Being able to appear at a banquet of this level is enough to illustrate Sheng Wei's strength.
"It turns out he is Zecheng's uncle, so there is no need to be so polite. Just call me Zihan."
Sheng Wei was flattered when he heard this and said quickly, "Master Hou Zhe What a villain."
When the people next to him saw that Sheng Wei was actually able to establish a relationship with Marquis Jinghai, they immediately looked at him with admiration and planned to talk to him after the banquet.
After the banquet, Zhao Yingce also curiously asked Qin Hao, "Zi Han recognizes that merchant?"
Qin Hao smiled and said, "This man is Sheng Changbai's uncle. At that time, the Sheng family was in a wealthy family." Luo, he can stand firm in the ups and downs of this business world, but it is also a personaltalent. "
"Zihan means"
"Sheng Wei is indeed a good candidate. His Highness also saw the people in Jinling City today. If they don't see rabbits, they will not let go of eagles. We are still worried about the Cao family. If we don’t put some pressure on them, they won’t take any action,” Qin Hao said seriously.
“Furthermore, Sheng Wei’s foundation is weak and he can only rely on His Highness to keep his salt. Yin, I will definitely serve His Highness wholeheartedly in the future. ”
Zhao Yingce was moved. As King Huan, although he had a fiefdom, as the future prince, the income from the fiefdom was not enough for him to spend. A penny would stump the heroes, and Zhao Yingce was no exception. Not to mention anything else, if you want people to work for him, you must give them the rewards they deserve. If you don’t have money, just by writing a bad check, your subordinates will inevitably feel disappointed after a long time.
That night, Sheng. Wei was invited by a group of guards to where King Huan Zhao Yingce was staying. Looking at the dazzling swords and guns, Sheng Wei felt a little nervous and felt a little weak.
But after entering the room, Sheng Wei breathed a sigh of relief. , Qin Hao was also in the room, playing chess with Zhao Yingce
Zhao Yingce suddenly dropped the chess pieces, stood up and said to Sheng Wei who was kneeling on the ground, "No courtesy. ”
The corners of Qin Hao’s mouth twitched. It was too obvious that he was cheating and he had obviously lost.
Sheng Wei stood up timidly, not even daring to raise his eyelids for fear of offending. Zhao Yingce came forward.
Zhao Yingce stepped forward and patted Sheng Wei on the shoulder, comforting him and said, "The third family of the Sheng family has become an official, and the third family has done well in business. The ancestors of the Sheng family are very discerning." . "
Sheng Wei smiled bitterly when he heard this, "I dare not deceive Your Highness. Back then, my father spoiled his concubine, killed his wife, and took a girl from a brothel into his house, which caused the family to fall into ruin. It was thanks to the old lady from the third house who upheld justice that it was not in ruins. . "
This kind of thing that damages the image of the ancestors is usually not told to outsiders. Zhao Yingce was very satisfied with Sheng Wei's confession after hearing this.
"In this way, you She is quite capable."
Sheng Wei quickly bowed and said, "I don't dare to boast, but I still have some business ability. "
Zhao Yingce tapped his fingers on the table and said casually, "Oh, what will you do if you get the salt?"
Sheng Wei's brain exploded with a "buzz" Of course, he knew that Zhao Yingce was busy with work, and calling him here was definitely not just a joke. He also knew very well the risks and opportunities involved.
If this step is taken correctly, the Sheng Family House will be in danger. It will fall into the eyes of the future prince. If he makes a mistake, it may bring down the entire Sheng family.
But Sheng Wei still decided to take a gamble. Please remember to save it. The latest and fastest free reading without anti-theft