Uncle Shen Guo found his seat, sat down, and the palace maid who was waiting on the side stepped forward to pour him a glass of wine, Uncle Shen Guo picked up the wine glass and looked around, although he was in a high position, but the people who attended the wedding today were basically high-ranking officials and magnates from the third rank or above, and did not surround him like middle and low-level officials, which made Uncle Shen Guo have a rare quiet and leisurely.

Everyone gathered in twos and threes to talk, and Uncle Shen suddenly found that at the farthest table, there was a person sitting alone, it was Qi Mao, the son of the Qi family, who was sitting at the table alone, and he didn't talk to others, just drinking silently alone.

Uncle Shen Guo smiled and walked up with a wine glass.

The Qi family is the only guest who is not a high-ranking official or a powerful person except for the woman's Su family, although the invitation card is to invite the old lady Qi to participate, but the old lady Qi is no longer in the capital, and can only be attended by the eldest son Qi Mao's father.

Since the last Qi family's birthday banquet, the Qi family has completely adopted Wu Jin's suggestion, actively looking for direct supporters, and faded out of the elite circle in a low-key manner, and they have prepared four generous gifts to send to Empress Shen, Shen Ruyi, Ma Gonggong and the Empress Dowager, including giving Qi Ruifu Villa to Empress Shen.

The effect of gift-giving was very significant, and three days later, the old man Qi was re-named a county baron by the emperor, and he was once again knighted and re-entered the ranks of the nobility.

At the same time, the Qi family also began the road to return to the south, moving the headquarters of Qi Ruifu to Jiangning Mansion, the old man Qi went to Jiangning Mansion, and the eldest son Qi Mao was left in the capital, although the Qi Mansion in the capital was still nominally there, but the center of gravity of the Qi family had begun to move south, and the Qi family began to be low-key and no longer publicized, including several later court magnates invited guests, they only gave gifts, and did not attend.

Out of gratitude to the emperor and the flattery of the queen mother, this time the marriage of the Wu Jin, the Qi family made an unprecedented gift, not only gave Wu Jin a Jiangning mansion, but also sent a night lamp inlaid with one hundred and eight pigeon eggs, which was a treasure purchased by the Qi family twenty years ago for 80,000 taels of silver from a big Nanyang businessman, and now it is a priceless treasure.

There are only two of these lamps in the world, and the other is in the palace, which is used by Queen Shen, and the Qi family's generous hand has been appreciated by the Queen Mother, just now Qi Mao was specially summoned by the Queen Mother, which is more than the last special gift to make the Queen Mother happy, she ordered someone to hang this lamp in the newlyweds' cave room.

Qi Mao was not as depressed as others looked, he was excited in his heart, and he was carefully recalling the moment when the Queen Mother summoned him.

"Why is the eldest son of Qi sitting here drinking alone?" Uncle Shen Guo walked up with a wine glass and a smile.

Qi Mao hurriedly got up and saluted, "See Xiangguo!" ”

"We're all guests, so there's no need to be polite, please take a seat!"

Uncle Shen Guo sat down, picked up his wine glass and said with a smile: "I want to toast the Qi family with a glass of wine and congratulate the Qi family on restoring the title." ”

Qi Mao hurriedly picked up the wine glass and saluted: "Thank you Xiangguo, restore the title, the Qi family has been looking forward to it for ten years." ”

Uncle Shen was very satisfied with the Qi family's main hall moving back to Jiangning Mansion, Jiangning Mansion was his hometown, and it was also under his control, as long as the Qi family returned to Chuzhou, the prince would not get the Qi family's financial resources, and the Qi family's financial resources were finally used by him.

He smiled again and asked, "I heard that Qi Ruifu General Hall moved south to Jiangning, is it a temporary move to the south, or will it be there for a long time in the future?" ”

Qi Mao sighed and said: "The main reason is that my father is old and misses his hometown, so the Qi family decided to move south to his homeland, this time he moved south, and he will not come back for at least twenty years. ”

"I'm welcome to this!"

Uncle Shen patted him on the shoulder and exclaimed: "I am the head of the household, I know better than anyone else about the tax situation of the Daning Dynasty, the Qi family has to pay more than 500,000 taels of taxes to the court every year, more than a county to pay taxes, a few days ago the emperor also publicly stated at the court meeting that he wants to protect the big tax payers like the Qi family, this is the foundation of the Daning Dynasty's financial resources, if you have any difficulties in the future, just tell me, I will solve it for you." ”

"Thank you Xiangguo for your concern, the Qi family will do their duty as a businessman and pay taxes steadily, which will increase every year."

Qi Mao also sighed in his heart, he still saw Wu Jin wisely, as soon as the Qi family withdrew from the power field and resumed its position as a businessman, the emperor's attitude towards the Qi family immediately changed, not only restoring the title of the Qi family, but also publicly commending the Qi family, the Qi family was lost for so many years, and finally returned to the right track.

Uncle Shen shook his head again and sighed: "The emperor not only commended the Qi family, but also criticized Donglai Commercial Bank and Baifu Commercial Bank by name, saying that these two are rich and unkind, known as the first and second largest commercial houses in the world, and the annual tax payment of the two families adds up to only 50,000 taels of silver, only the Qi family is one percent, the emperor is very annoyed with them, and it is estimated that there will be action this year." ”

Qi Mao hurriedly asked, "I don't know how much tax the emperor plans to let them pay?" ”

"I estimate the emperor's meaning, at least on par with your Qi Ruifu firm, not in total, but in every family is the same as you."

At this moment, I heard a shout from outside the lobby: "His Royal Highness King Qi has arrived!" His Royal Highness the King of Chu has arrived! ”

Uncle Shen Guo was stunned for a moment, turned around and looked out of the hall, only to see the King of Qi Huangfu Tian and the King of Chu Huangfu Tian walking in hand in hand, looking very intimate, although Huangfu Tian is still young, and he is half a head shorter than Huangfu Tian, but he is majestic and graceful, and he is even more eye-catching than King Qi.

Uncle Shen Guo felt a little strange in his heart, he had obviously asked, saying that the king of Chu didn't come today, why did he still come?

The hall was full of royal relatives and relatives, and there was no need for anyone to greet them, the King of Qi and the King of Chu themselves melted into the guests, and Uncle Shen hurriedly said to Qi Mao: "The eldest son of Qi sits slowly, I will be lost first." ”

"Xiangguo, please feel free."

Uncle Shen Guo picked up the wine glass and walked towards the king of Chu, the king of Chu, Huangfu Tian, was talking to several county kings such as Huangfu Yibiao, the king of Dunhuang County, Huangfu Yibiao was sitting in the front row, he was talking with Huangfu Luosong, the king of Pengcheng County, the king of Huai'an County, Juncheng and the prince of Ruyang County.

These four county kings are known as the Zhongnanshan faction of the royal family, and they are an important force in the royal family, and the second largest commercial bank in the world, Baifu Commercial Bank, was established by the four of them in partnership, bringing them a lot of money, and they are also the hardcore supporters of the king of Chu.

The four county kings have been in a bad mood these days, because the emperor is preparing to tax Baifu Commercial Bank and Donglai Commercial Bank, and first attack Baifu Commercial Bank, Donglai Commercial Bank will be postponed until next year, which makes them very unconvinced, in the final analysis, their power is not as good as that of King Qi.

The four county kings pulled the king of Chu over, ready to put pressure on him, they supported the king of Chu for hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year, how could the king of Chu not speak for them at this critical time.

"Your Royal Highness, the Baifu Firm has a small profit, and basically does not make money every year, we support His Highness with the old book, we are very worried, if the imperial court wants to tax the Baifu Firm, we will have no money to support His Highness, the stakes are very high, His Highness must convince the Emperor that he cannot tax the Baifu Firm."

The implication of Huangfu Yibiao is that the annual tax silver is given to you King Chu, and if the court wants to take it, then your King Chu will not have it.

The king of Chu was surrounded by four old men, he made a circle, and said with a wry smile: "I understand the hardships of the old princes, I will try my best to persuade the emperor, but I can only do my best." ”

"Your Highness, you can't do your best, but you have to be sure, as long as Your Highness convinces the emperor, we will increase our support for Your Highness."

"Ahem! Cough! ”

There was a heavy cough next to him, and everyone turned their heads together, only to see Uncle Shen Guo walking forward with a smile on his hand, although the four county kings supported the King of Chu, they did not obey Uncle Shen, but they had a little friendship, but in the past two months, the relationship between Huangfu Yibiao and Uncle Shen Guo has not been so harmonious.

The reason was that Huangfu Yibiao's grandson, Huangfu Yingjun, was dismissed from Xiuyiwei, and in this way, Huangfu Yingjun's title was also hopeless because he was dismissed, which made Huangfu Yibiao full of resentment towards Uncle Shen.

The resentment was because Huangfu Yingjun was instigated by Shen Qiwu, the son of Uncle Shen, to make trouble in Lanling County, and Uncle Shen obviously put the responsibility on his grandson in order to protect Shao Jingwen, and what made Huangfu Yibiao even more angry was that Shen Qiwu, the son of Uncle Shen, not only did not have anything to do, but finally won the fourth place in the Jinshi and was officially awarded the Jiangning County Order, which made Huangfu Yibiao's heart full of resentment.

When Huang Fuyi saw Uncle Shen come forward, he turned his head and ignored him coldly, but the other three county kings surrounded Uncle Shen Guo, who was a scholar of the household department and more influential than the king of Chu.

The three of them said in a gossipy manner: "Xiangguo, we have supported the King of Chu for so many years without complaint, and at a critical time, you can't leave us." ”

Uncle Shen gave the king of Chu a look and asked him to leave temporarily, and he whispered to everyone: "This time, the emperor's attitude is very tough, and it is estimated that it is useless to plead with the emperor, but there is still a way to pay less taxes." ”

Everyone also knew that there was no way to escape paying taxes, but it would be good if they could pay less taxes, so they immediately asked, "Please teach us Xiangguo!" ”

Uncle Shen Guo glanced back at Qi Mao, and said coldly: "The emperor's tax amount on Donglai Commercial Bank and Baifu Commercial Bank is the same as Qi Ruifu Commercial Bank, if you want to pay less, then you can only let Qi Ruifu pay less first, understand?" ”

Although Huangfu Yibiao ignored Uncle Shen, he listened to every word of Uncle Shen, and Uncle Shen's last sentence suddenly gave birth to a vicious thought in his heart.

....... "When! While! While! ”

Three crisp bells rang, heralding the arrival of the auspicious time, the guests returned to their seats, the dancers who performed in the hall also retreated, the families of both men and women sat at the front, more than 30 people came to the Su family, men, women and children, and the man's family were all royal, and there were also more than 30 royal children who had a good relationship with the king of Lanling County, and they sat on the right.

In the middle of the wall placed five chairs, this is the elders of both men and women sitting, the Su family is Su Xun and his wife Mrs. Lu, the Wujin family is the king and princess of Lanling County, and the golden-backed dragon chair in the middle is the seat of the queen mother, she is both a witness and the man's grandmother today.

There is a red carpet in front of the elders, and there is a red silk hydrangea on the carpet, and two red ribbons extend to the doors on both sides, the bride on the left and the groom on the right.

At this time, the hall was quiet, just waiting for the master of ceremonies to announce the start of the wedding, today's wedding master of ceremonies is no longer Zhao Zhen, but has become the crown prince Fu Heng, he took the initiative to come to this errand.

Huangfu Heng smiled and was about to announce, but a loud shout suddenly came from outside the gate, "His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" ”

(To be continued)