In July, Meng Niang entered the Zhang family's house and became Mr. Zhang's concubine.

Taking a concubine is not as good as having a wife. Mr. Zhang made the decision, so he set up three banquet tables and invited some close friends.

As a female, Ye Ci was unable to attend, so she had a separate banquet in the backyard.

She also went to visit Mengniang, which was a bit of a pity.

But Meng Niang was very satisfied, "It is my lifelong wish to be entrusted to my husband for the rest of my life. Now that I am satisfied, I have nothing more to ask for. As a wife or concubine, as long as I can stay with my husband, I don't care."

"Madam, you are quite considerate."

Mengniang smiled, a happy smile, "Compared with the past life, the life now is so beautiful that it is unreal. Miss Ye, I am not afraid of your jokes, I can laugh even in my dreams now."

Alas, with such a small request, Ye Ci couldn't say anything else.

"My foster father is still drinking outside. I will arrange for someone to remind him to drink less. He is quite old. What will happen if he continues to drink like this?"

Even if the alcohol content is very low these days, I can't afford to drink it like water every day.

"Ms. Ye is very considerate. I am also worried that my husband will be harmed by drinking."

"From now on, I will rely on my wife to take care of my adoptive father. He will listen to you."

Meng Niang lowered her head and smiled, a little shy.

Then, she hurriedly said: "Miss Ye, please don't call me madam from now on. I am a concubine, so I don't deserve to be called madam."

"It doesn't matter, this is at home."

…

After taking the concubine, Mr. Zhang lived a sweet newlywed life. He was so happy every day with Mengniang's red sleeves adding fragrance to his concubine.

In July, the heat makes people feel anxious all over, and they are covered in sweat every time they move.

A heavy rain came suddenly, but it only lasted for half an hour. The rain stopped without even watering the ground. So the geothermal heat was set off along with the rain, and the entire capital seemed to be stuffed into a steamer with ice cubes in the room.

It can't reduce the heat either.

Oh my god, if it continues to be this hot, I'm afraid it will kill people.

The capital is really getting more and more chaotic.

Emperor Yuan Kang issued an order, and Yuan Youren took over the city defense. Several city gates are now in Yuan Youren's hands.

He set up checkpoints at the city gates and collected a poll tax.

In fact, the poll tax was collected in the past, but most of the time it was just a symbolic collection, and the control was not so strict. Generally, more was collected in the morning, and it was more casual in the afternoon.

After Yuan Youren took over the city defense, he strictly implemented the head tax. Regardless of the elderly and children, all individuals had to pay the tax before they could enter the capital.

The tax is not high, one penny per person.

However, this is a very heavy burden for ordinary people. Especially for small businessmen and hawkers, they go in and out several times a day, and a few pennies are still money.

Not only a poll tax was levied, but a carriage and horse tax was also levied.

After all, it’s all about collecting tolls.

Yuan Youren even wanted to get involved in the freight terminal on the outskirts of Beijing and take over the freight tax card.

However, the freight terminal tax card has always been the exclusive domain of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. Even Jing Zhaoyin is not qualified to intervene. If Yuan Youren wants to intervene, he will offend the interests of these two yamen.

Mr. Bai, the Minister of Household Affairs, was the first one not to agree.

After the commotion for such a long time, finally, a big boss came forward and wanted to publicly impeach Yuan Youren. It would be too ugly to do so.

Master Bai asked King Liu Heng, "Can the prince join me in impeaching the person named Yuan? All you need to do is sign."

King Ding Liu Heng did not rush to agree, "How sure are you, Sir?"

Master Bai told the truth, "We are not sure, but it is necessary to let His Majesty know the truth. Yuan Youren amassed money wantonly in the capital and extended his poisonous hands to the common people, causing people's livelihood to decline. This is evil!"

Now, he is eyeing Chaoguan Wharf in the suburbs again, trying to steal food from the Ministry of Household Affairs. I would like to ask him, where did he go and what did he do after collecting so much money? Could it be that he was doing it secretly?

Raising troops with the intention of rebelling."

"I am also very curious. After collecting so much money, could it be that it is all piled up in the cellar waiting to rust? This is really the behavior of wealthy landlords."

"If he piles money in the cellar to rust, this person is not a worry. If he has ulterior motives, such as secretly raising dead soldiers, this is a big problem. Your Majesty, you have to think clearly, whether you want to put it on my memorial

signature?"

"As a member of the Household Department, if you are in need, of course I cannot refuse. I have decided to sign!"

Master Bai was overjoyed, and his opinion of Prince Ding Liu Heng instantly rose several levels. Prince Ding is responsible! He is not the kind of person who is afraid of getting into trouble.

Liu Heng thought very clearly that when he was working in the Ministry of Revenue, he had to sell his face to Mr. Bai.

As for whether it will offend Yuan Youren, even if he doesn't sign, he will still be offended as long as he is still in the household department.

Besides, Yuan Youren doesn't have a good impression of these princes.

There are rumors that the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince were both beaten with royal sticks while in the palace. The source of this incident lies with Yuan Youren.

Yuan Youren complained in the ear of Emperor Yuan Kang. After a while of encouragement, Emperor Yuan Kang immediately ordered the two princes to be punished with a stick.

Fortunately, the imperial guards restrained their strength and the two princes were not injured.

This incident reached the capital and caused an uproar in the court.

The Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince are all honest children, and they have been doing their duty since childhood. Honest children will inevitably be beaten in battles, like Liu Heng and Liu Pu, the noisy princes, I am afraid they will be beaten to death.

Just thinking about it makes me grit my teeth.

Yuan Youren deceived others too much and wanted to offend everyone.

Logically speaking, Yuan Youren's method of deceiving Emperor Yuan Kang was definitely a smart man. Knowing how to amass money and gain power is what a smart man does.

It's really abnormal that such a smart person doesn't know how to make allies and don't know how to stay safe today so that we can meet again tomorrow.

What he did seemed to be deliberately going against everyone and deliberately turning the court upside down.

What are the benefits of becoming the public enemy of everyone in the world?

Master Bai angrily scolded: "The person named Yuan is a treacherous villain and a fool. He doesn't know what to choose and how to do things appropriately."

Liu Heng disagreed, "It's true to say that he is a treacherous villain, but to say that he is a fool, I don't think so. He is not an ordinary sycophant. He knows how to seize power for himself and how to make money.

He knows how to win over the people below and how to recruit party members.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! What he did was not something that a fool could do. Take the embroidered guard, he only used one move to gather the embroidered guard.

How many people can do this?"

Master Bai frowned and thought deeply. He always looked down upon Yuan Youren in his heart. It didn't matter if he was capable. History would only write that he was a sycophant and a man's favorite. As for the others, haha, unless you are a history buff, ordinary people

It is simply impossible to get the truth from popular books.

Liu Heng continued: "What I mean is, don't underestimate Yuan Youren. This person should not be underestimated. Everyone must regard him as an opponent. Every step he takes, whether it is controlling the Xiuyi Guards or the current defense of Beijing Camp City,

So, in the final analysis, it all comes down to one word: soldier!

He does not need to train generals from scratch, let alone secretly train dead soldiers. He only needs to hold the military power of the capital in his hands, especially the military power of several key places, and we will become a turtle in a urn. When the time comes, once the city gate is closed, we will

What else can be done?”

Master Bai took a deep breath when he heard this.

"What does the prince mean, is Yuan Youren going to rebel?"

"I don't know. But judging from his arrangement, he is amassing money while holding military power, and using money to win people's hearts. It's hard to say what he wants."

"With just a few soldiers, he wants to rebel. Could it be that his big head is too much of a hindrance."

"He may not be able to rebel, but if he blocks the capital, it will be easy to kill us."

Master Bai's heart felt so cold.

He frowned, his heart agitated, "No, I must remind your majesty to pay attention to this person's movements. It is best to remove all military power from this person?"

"I'm afraid it won't work."

"You have to try it even if it doesn't work."

Master Bai was filled with righteous indignation and looked worried about the country and the people.

But he is not a reckless man and will not act hastily. He plans to discuss it with the cabinet first and try to figure it out. He will also first submit the memorial to impeach Yuan Youren for making money to test His Majesty's reaction.

If His Majesty's reaction is what he hopes, then taking away the military power from Yuan Youren will be a matter of course.

If His Majesty's response does not meet expectations, or even if His Majesty does not respond at all, things will be bad.

Master Bai left in a hurry, and Liu Heng also followed him out of the Yamen.

With nothing to do, he planned to go talk to King Wu Liu Pu and talk about his concerns.

Now, the two of them can be regarded as brothers in need. They are both trapped in the capital, and there is no news from the palace.

Before seeing King Wu, his subordinates hurriedly brought a message.

Deng Shaotong hurriedly reported, "Prince Qi, it's confirmed, it's finally confirmed."

"What's confirmed?"
To be continued...