In his previous life, Lin Yuan liked cats very much, but because of some of his own reasons, Lin Yuan has not fulfilled this wish, and now he will never let go of one sent to the door. After carefully observing the direction of the footprints, Lin Yuan slowly approached the bookshelf, lay on the ground and looked at the bottom of the bookshelf, and sure enough, he saw a white kitten, and when he saw Lin Yuan's head leaning over, he actually murdered Lin Yuan, and his heart was happy, Lin Yuan got up and shouted: "Cai Quan, where are people?" ”

"Young Master, what's the matter?" Cai Quan hurriedly ran in.

"Go find some jerky." Lin Yuan commanded.

"Jerky? Good. Cai Quan turned around and went out. After a while, he sent the jerky that Lin Yuan wanted. Taking the jerky, Lin Yuan broke it into small pieces and slowly put it under the bookcase.

I saw that the kitten first came to the front and sniffed, then stretched out his tongue and licked it, and then devoured it, and after being led out by Lin Yuanyou's jerky, Lin Yuan pinched the back of his neck and lifted it up. The cat is not big, although it is white, but it is a little dirty.

Cai Quan found out that Lin Yuan was leading a cat, and seeing that Lin Yuan liked it tightly, he didn't say much. The kitten was lifted on the back of the neck, Lin Yuan put it on the table, and put some jerky in front of it, Xu was a little angry when he was caught, and shouted at Lin Yuan a few times, but the voice was so soft and cute that he didn't feel any lethality.

"Someone in this village has a cat?" Lin Yuan asked, teasing the kitten on the table.

"Every family has a grain store, and almost all of them have raised it to prevent rats." Cai Quan replied.

Lin Yuan nodded and said to Cai Quan: "I'm going back to Beijing today, I didn't expect there to be this harvest, you go to the warehouse to find a few glass dishes, clean up and go home." ”

"Yes, young master." Cai Quan turned around and went out to prepare.

After cleaning up, Muramasa went to the door, and when he saw that Lin Yuan was leaving, he stepped forward to say goodbye: "Grandpa has a safe journey." ”

Lin Yuan nodded, stroked the sleeping kitten in his arms in his hand, and said: "You prepare the school first, and you must start building it after the year, it doesn't matter if you are older, if you need money and manpower, go to the house to find Cai Quan or Uncle Lin, as for the matter of Mr., I will find a way." ”

"Yes, young master." Muramasa bowed in response.

Lin Yuan got into the carriage with the kitten in his arms, waved his hand to the villagers who saw them off, and the carriage left. The kitten sitting in the car twitched its ears and drilled into Lin Yuan's arms again. Looking at the sleeping kitten, Lin Yuan thought to himself, sure enough, he was right, no matter how bad the mood was, the cat would always get better.

Before the city gate was closed, Lin Yuan and his party finally returned to the capital. After returning to the house, seeing the white cat in Lin Yuan's arms, Lin Guangyuan was a little curious and asked, "Young Master, what is this?" ”

"Pets." Lin Yuan said with a smile.

The corners of Lin Guangyuan's eyes twitched, the successive fathers of the Yasukuni Mansion have always liked war horses, and Lin Yuan's grandfather had only raised a hunting dog, and it was the first time he had seen a cat.

"Grandpa likes it." Lin Guangyuan said.

Lin Yuan didn't pay attention to Lin Guangyuan's expression, nodded and returned to the study. Instructed Cai Quan to bring the basin of water, and after a desperate struggle, he finally washed the cat, calmed it and put it in the simple cat kennel next to the stove, and slowly dried the wet hair.

Seeing that the cat was slowly falling asleep, Lin Yuan, who had been tossing for a day, was also a little tired, so he turned off the lights and fell asleep after cleaning up, and he still had important things to do tomorrow.

It has entered the end of the year, and this is the last court meeting of the ten years of Great Zhou Qide. Before dawn, officials at all levels waited at the gate of the palace early. There are a lot of things to discuss today, most of them are a summary of this year, and there is also a discussion of the decree to be implemented in the new year after the beginning of spring.

Compared with the complacent ambition on the side of the civil officials, the atmosphere on the side of the military attaché is much more relaxed, everyone is smiling, but this is normal, after this year's war, although there are rewards, but today is the highlight. After each war, the most abundant harvest is this group of military nobles, both materially and spiritually.

Lin Yuan came late, just got off the carriage, and saw that there were many people gathered in the square, so he planned to sit in the car and wait for a while, it was too cold outside. But halfway through his body, a voice came from behind him.

"What's the matter, it's cold outside?" This voice was too familiar, Lin Yuan got out of the car with a dry smile, looked at Yang Zhao who was standing next to the car, and said, "Isn't this the door still open?" ”

"Come down, dignified general, you can't even stand this cold, look at the person present who is younger than you." Yang Zhao didn't have a good airway.

"Yes, it's down." Lin Yuan felt that it was really unreasonable, when the title was the same, age became a hard injury. I still have to listen to my words.

As Yang Zhao came to the general's side, many people stepped forward to say hello to Lin Yuan, as the hottest nobleman this year, not to mention the great achievements made in the north, even in the past few months, he has done extremely beautiful things in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. plus the one in the palace, even the ordinary royal family had to be polite when they saw Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan was not suitable for this kind of occasion, and finally stayed up until the palace gate opened, Lin Yuan took a breath and followed the people into the palace gate, and today's court meeting was held in the Taiji Hall. Because it is among the national princes, the position of Lin Yuan Station is relatively forward, and Lin Yuan didn't sleep well last night, so he found a place close to the pillar, planning to take the time to squint for a while.

After the ministers stood in line, the prince walked to the front of the palace and said loudly: "The emperor has arrived." As soon as the words fell, all the courtiers knelt on the ground and saluted.

"Flat." A majestic voice remembered, and the courtier stood up. Wang Wei glanced at the emperor, saw him nodding, and said, "Do something." ”

The first to stand up was Ma Yi, the head of the household department, and Lin Yuan lost any interest after hearing a few words, but just reported to the emperor about this year's court expenses there. There are more wars this year, and most of the money of the imperial court is spent on the military department, Ma Yi expressed his dissatisfaction with the military department, which is almost an annual drama, but this year is slightly better, the military department is finally not the one who only knows how to spend money and does not know how to make money.

This time, the Golden Horde was used with troops, and after the war, a large amount of materials were requested, which could more or less make up for the shortfall. Ma Yi had just finished talking about the military department, and the spearhead instantly turned to the Caoyun Yamen and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang official mansions.

"Report to the emperor, Jiangsu and Zhejiang began to overhaul the river dam three years ago, costing 9.6 million taels of silver, but an autumn flood will burst the dam more than 10 places, the imperial court sent people to check the accounts and found that the Caoyun Yamen and the 13 counties of Jiangsu and Zhejiang more or less intercepted a lot of silver taels, before the people have been investigated, but the dam has been destroyed, the imperial court still has to pay for repairs. The household department has calculated the total amount of silver taels required for three million taels, and the minister's intention is to pay for it by the localities. Ma Yi said.

The Caoyun Yamen and officials from various provinces in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who were present were shocked, didn't this kill them? If the flood destroys the fields, will we be able to collect the agricultural taxes next year, and where can we find money to build river dams and borrow money from various families?

Yang Tai in the crowd also had a bitterness that he couldn't say, he knew more than some people, this time the court not only didn't pay money, but also asked for money, and Ma Yi had not finished talking about what he wanted to play.

Sure enough, someone couldn't sit still, and the prefect of Anqing Mansion stood up first and said: "Ma Rulong, the prefect of Anqing, is the emperor, everyone knows about the disaster in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and whether the agricultural tax can be collected next year is a problem, where will the money come from to repair the river dam." ”

The emperor didn't speak, glanced at Ma Yi, only to see Ma Yi glance at Ma Rulong faintly, and said: "Master Ma, the emperor has decreed that the agricultural tax will be exempted, and you will not have a penny of agricultural tax in Jiangsu and Zhejiang next year." ”

The officials of the first department of Jiangsu and Zhejiang were shocked, what kind of joke is this, let them pawn the yamen of the government department? Ma Rulong was stunned and asked, "Then how do you ask me to raise silver taels?" ”

"Master Ma, the richest people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are not farmers, but rich businessmen." Ma Yi ignored it after speaking, saluted the emperor, and then said: "Your Majesty, the minister still has something to do." ”

"Say." The emperor said.

"Your Majesty, the tax law of our dynasty is inherited from the previous dynasty, and only a simple agricultural tax is collected, and the burden on farmers will become greater and greater over time. The ministers discussed and improved the new tax law with their colleagues in the household department, intending to impose a certain tax on commerce and the like, so as to balance the disadvantages of a single agricultural tax. Ma Yi said.

Li Yuan nodded, this tax law has been improved many times, although there are still some deficiencies, but it can already be tried. Looking at Yan Shixun, who was standing in the front row, Li Yuan asked, "Can the cabinet see it?" ”

Yan Shixun stood up and replied: "Back to the emperor, the cabinet has already discussed, and you can choose one place for trial, and most of Jiangsu and Zhejiang meet these conditions." The minister has already prepared the recital and is waiting for the emperor's approval. As he spoke, he handed the fold out. Wang Wei took the notebook and gave it to the emperor, Li Yuan looked at it roughly, nodded with satisfaction, picked up the red pen on the table and approved the correct word on the concerto.

The officials of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the court couldn't help but sigh when they saw it, it was obviously a matter of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they didn't ask about the meaning of Jiangsu and Zhejiang throughout the whole process, this time, so that the court no longer trusted them, if the trial of the new tax law was not effective, I am afraid that the next moment will move the head.

Seeing that Jiangsu, Zhejiang and the new tax law had landed, everyone was a little relieved. Ma Yi retreated to the team, Yan Shixun stood up again, and reported: "Your Majesty, the scientific examination has been scheduled for April 3 after the year, and it is only three months before the examination starts. ”

Li Yuan has been thinking about this matter, but he has not found a suitable candidate until now, either because he is involved with this family, or because he is a protégé of another family. This made Li Yuan, who planned to choose a few malleable talents in this scientific expedition, a headache.

"What kind of person does Aiqing recommend?" Li Yuan kicked the ball back, but Yan Shixun seemed to be prepared, and said, "The minister thinks that Yao Lian, the attendant of the Hanlin Academy, can take on this great responsibility." ”

"Yao Lian?" Li Yuan frowned and thought about it, vaguely impressed. Yan Shixun reminded at this time: "Yao Lian is the champion of the second year of Qide. ”

The emperor and the courtiers then remembered who this Yao Lian was, it is said that every time he is the champion of the scientific examination, the future is bright, and the speed of promotion is beyond the reach of others, as long as he does not die, no matter how bad he is in five or six years, he is also a high-ranking official in a state, but this Yao Lian is an outlier, just high school, he played the court, and the disadvantages of the wealthy family of the Chen family were forced, and the Xue family at that time was offended very thoroughly, but because of the face of the court, this Yao Lian was refrigerated to the Hanlin Academy. Eight years as a bachelor-in-waiting, it's really unlucky.

When Li Yuan heard this person, his eyes also lit up, this is an existence that has nothing to do with various families, but then he is a little sad, this person's temper doesn't seem to be very good, and sometimes it's not a good thing to be too straight, so you have to take a deputy.

His eyes swept over the court, and Li Yuan suddenly found that Lin Yuan was leaning against the pillar and pretending to sleep, and he was immediately angry. He said loudly: "The candidate recommended by Yan Aiqing is good, but there will always be omissions in one person's main affairs, this scientific examination, Yuzhou is the focus, I chose Yao Lian as the main examiner, is this deputy examiner candidate, I think that the Duke of Yasukuni can also be this big responsibility." ”

As if hearing someone mention his name, Lin Yuan hurriedly stood up straight, seeing that all the courtiers were looking at him, and then at Li Yuan on the throne looking at him with a smile on his face, Lin Yuan hurriedly stood up and said, "The ministers listen to the order." ”

Li Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Then this matter is decided, after the year, the Duke of Yasukuni and Yao Lian will go to Yuzhou, and we must do a good job in the selection of talents in this imperial examination." ”

Lin Yuan was stunned, why did he suddenly get involved with the imperial examination, and who is this Yao Lian. Lin Yuan, who was in a trance, still didn't listen much to the subsequent court meeting, and Lin Yuan would not come to his senses until the court meeting was over. was about to go back with the crowd, but was suddenly stopped by Wang Wei reaching out his hand.

"Grandpa, go slowly, the emperor still wants to see you." Wang Wei smiled.

"Please ask my father-in-law to lead the way." Lin Yuan said.

The place where they met was still the study, and Lin Yuan was a little skeptical that the emperor was waiting outside the door, and Wang Wei went to report first.

Lin Yuan thought that it should be said upward, and he was a little helpless, he was going out again after this year, this time he went to Yuzhou, and he would meet the Xue family without accident. I just killed the young talent of the Xue family, is it really good to do this?