--On the evening of the 17th day of the 20th year of Hongwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Prime Minister's Mansion--

It was lunchtime, but the head of the eldest grandson's family, Yin Gong, was still in his study, reviewing the recent recitals.

Yin Gong, surnamed the eldest grandson, the name is Yin, since today's son Li Ji personally went to the house for a banquet on his 50th birthday, and presented a pair of handwritten congratulatory messages written in it [Yin Gong], the people of Jijing began to use Yin Gong to call the eldest grandson Prime Minister.

So far, it has been more than ten years.

The door of the "Squeak ......" study was pushed open, and the eldest grandson Xiangyu, who had had a few encounters with Xie An, walked in with a beautiful robe.

As soon as Yin Gong raised his head, his eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Rare guest, what a rare guest, good grandson, how can I have time to visit my grandfather today?" Didn't you quarrel with your father again? ”

Hearing Yin Gong call himself a good grandson, the eldest grandson Xiangyu frowned slightly, and said flatly, "What is the point of arguing with such a superficial and vulgar person?" ”

"You actually call your father [superficial and vulgar people]......" Yin Gong smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Good grandson, tell grandpa, what did your father do that made you dissatisfied?" ”

"It's nothing, it's just a marriage for me on your own initiative......" The eldest grandson Xiangyu said lightly, but it could be seen from the look in her eyes that she was quite annoyed by the matter.

"Hehehe," Yin Gong smiled with his long gray beard, and said with a smile in a somewhat narrow tone, "Isn't it the son of the Wang family who was seriously injured by a few of my Jijing gentlemen on the west side of Dongqu Street yesterday?" ”

"......" Eldest Sun Xiangyu's gaze suddenly turned cold, and then he sneered and giggled, "Oh, there is such a thing?" -- What a delight! ”

Yin Gong shook his head with a smile, and then sighed and said, "Good grandson, you have gone too far, if you are not satisfied with your father's marriage for you, you tell your grandfather that your grandfather will go to your father to theorize, why do you want to incite those gentlemen in the city to harm that prince of the royal family?" They also told them to threaten each other and stay away from you in the future...... Do you know that the son of the Wang family is the third son of the Shangshu family of the Criminal Department, learning of this, Wang Shangshu was furious, when the son surnamed Zhang, who was about to lead the matter, was caught by the criminal department to ask for the crime, and imposed a heavy punishment, and then, the uncle of the prince surnamed Zhang, I Chao Taishi ordered Zhang Wenting to hurry to ask for someone, and saw that his nephew was seriously injured by torture, and he was also furious, so that this morning, the two court officials impeached each other, Wang Shangshu participated in Zhang Daren's connivance with his nephew to commit murder on the street, and Zhang Daren participated in Wang Shangshu's abuse of the criminal law and the communiqué for personal vendetta, and the whole court meeting made a miasma...... ”

"Heh," the eldest grandson Xiangyu chuckled, turned his head to look at the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall in the room, and said lightly, "That's really a joy to see!" ”

"You ......" Yin Gong was angry and funny, and couldn't help but shake his head when he heard the words, and then sighed and said, "That's it, even if grandpa says too much, I'm afraid my good grandson won't listen to half of it...... How many days are you going to stay at Grandpa's Mansion this time? ――In the other courtyard, grandpa has asked someone to take care of it every day! ”

"Let's stay in March or May!" Leaning on his grandfather's desk, the eldest grandson Xiangyu glanced at the table table boringly, saw a few letters on the table, and picked one at the end of the folding fan in his hand very casually.

March and May?

Do you want to stay first?

Yin Gong was taken aback, and was about to speak, but saw the eldest grandson Xiangyu knock on the table with his left hand, and said lightly, "Grandfather, who wrote this edict?" ”

"Call grandpa, and there is no one else...... That's it! Yin Gong sighed slightly, puzzled and said, "It's Lord Langtian, the head of the household......"

"Has my grandfather ever seen it?"

"This ...... It's just because it's a draft of the edict to return to the old man, so the old man hasn't read it yet, what? Yin Gong was stunned, you must know that the so-called draft edict refers to the fact that in the case that the emperor has issued a holy decree, Shang Shutai will also draft an identical edict and send it to the Prime Minister's Mansion, in order to let the Prime Minister read it and let him know about it, and then, the officials under the Prime Minister's Mansion will also send this edict to the Imperial Historical Observatory afterwards, and ask the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory to keep it properly as a basis for the future.

It was precisely because he was not in a hurry to issue the draft of the edict that he was in no hurry to read it, but now when he saw his granddaughter say it, he immediately lowered his head and read it carefully.

"Don't look at it," the folding fan in the hand of the eldest grandson Xiangyu knocked on the fold, and said expressionlessly, "Pull the fool who drafted this edict directly to the noon gate and behead it!" -- Thanks to that fool, this year's household department is afraid that it will lose at least tens of thousands of silver in taxes! ”

"Count...... Tens of millions of taels? Rao is Duke Yin, as the prime minister, couldn't help but change his face when he heard the words, but when he looked down and looked at the edict carefully, he was puzzled and found that the words in the edict were rigorous, and he didn't feel any negligence.

But after thinking about it, Yin Gong didn't think that his extremely smart granddaughter would talk about it, and then carefully looked at it from the beginning.

Suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed tightly, after all, he was an old minister who had been sitting in the position of prime minister for more than 30 years, and after receiving a reminder from his granddaughter, where could he not see the negligence in this edict.

"As the good grandson said, that Lord Tian really deserves to die!" Yin Gong sighed and shook his head.

"Don't worry, grandfather, you can't see it at first, where would ordinary people see through the ......negligence," the eldest grandson Xiangyu said lightly, although she was comforting her grandfather, but the tone of her words was vaguely ironic, sarcastic Yin Gong, the old prime minister who had been in power for more than 30 years, failed to detect the flaws in the edict at the first time.

Yin Gong was not annoyed when he heard this, but shook his head with a wry smile, and said in a slightly joking tone, "Didn't the good grandson classify his grandfather as [mortal] in the early years, and now this kind of negligence is also common sense, isn't it?" As he spoke, he blinked and looked narrowly at his granddaughter.

The eldest grandson Xiangyu was stunned, for some reason, the indifference in his eyes receded a little, and he smiled faintly, "It's still self-aware." - Well, although he is a mortal, he is also the best among mortals......"

"Hahaha," Yin Gong was very happy when he heard this, and laughed loudly, "Grandpa is really flattered to be praised by his good grandson......"

"Of course!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu was not polite when he heard this, played with the folding fan in his hand, and said lightly, "What can make me look at it, throughout the entire Great Zhou, there are only six people so far, and my grandfather is a ......."

"Haha, it's really grandpa...... Not? As he was speaking, Yin Gong was stunned, stroked his white beard and asked in surprise, "Aren't there still five people a year ago?" When will there be one more? ”

"Well...... this one" The eldest grandson Xiangyu played with the folding fan in his hand, revealing an expression of reluctance to speak.

Seeing that his granddaughter was reluctant to reveal the identity of that person, Yin Gong didn't ask, but just stroked his white beard and said with a smile, "The first person, most of them are the good grandson's close friend, the little girl of the Liangqiu family, the second and third people, it should be the fourth prince and the eighth prince...... Well, these three people are all talents that I have not met in a hundred years of the Great Zhou, and it seems that ordinary people like the old man can be ranked fourth, which is enough to comfort this life! ”

"Who said grandfather was going to be fourth?"

"Huh? This ......" Yin Gong was stunned, how could he not understand the deep meaning of his granddaughter's words, and said in surprise when he heard the words, "Grandpa, as the prime minister of the court, even if he can't compare to the three wizards, but the fourth position is ......."

"Let's see......" Eldest Sun Xiangyu pouted.

"See?"

"Ah, I recently met a pretty interesting guy, if nothing else, that guy knows something I don't know......" frowned slightly, and the eldest grandson Xiangyu said lightly.

"Something that you don't even know about your good grandson?" Yin Gong raised his eyebrows, and he could see that he was very surprised, after all, he knew that his granddaughter's talent was simply incomparable compared to her unsuccessful father, and even Yin Gong himself was not sure to beat this little girl.

Yin Gong still remembers that on that drizzly morning seventeen years ago, he and his son Changsun Jing stood in the courtyard of the backyard, waiting with great anticipation for the birth of the first grandchild member of the Changsun family.

Then, a loud baby cry washed away the tension and anxiety in the yard.

How can the family endure for decades, if not centuries?

Relying on wealth? Is it power? Is it status?

No!

It's a human being!

In Jijing, there are families that have been inherited for decades and hundreds of years, and the clansmen in their genealogy are like big trees, with countless branches, fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, two generations together, a few people, more than dozens of people, among these people, although there will be some mediocrity and ruin the family, but there will be at least one or two materials that can be made, and these two are enough to shoulder the prosperity of the family for at least 30 years.

Even Yin Gong is not immune to vulgarity, he desperately hopes that the eldest grandson's family can give birth to a male son of grandchildren, but to his disappointment, his son's concubine Wang, who is in labor, gave birth to a baby girl.

It is undeniable that the father and grandfather of the baby girl were very disappointed, you must know that before this, the father and son were planning to take the name [Sheng] as the name of the first grandchild member of the family, but they did not want to be so unexpected and give birth to a baby girl.

[Just called...... Xiangyu bar! ]

Looking up at the drizzly sky, Yin Gong said with some disappointment.

The eldest grandson, Xiangyu......

Somewhat casually, Yin Gong named his eldest granddaughter, where would Yin Gong have thought at that time that his eldest grandson's family had given birth to a demonic genius!

A genius in the world who can play tricks and tricks at the age of nine, and almost play the entire eldest grandson family between applause!

But when he thought of this genius's temperament, Yin Gong secretly sighed.

Since the death of her granddaughter's biological mother, Wang, three years ago, Yin Gong has gradually felt that she is becoming more and more disobedient and unrestrained, and in her eyes, the name of the eldest grandson family is worthless.

If it weren't for her docile and knowledgeable mother who told her on her deathbed, perhaps she would have left long ago, leaving the eldest grandson's family, which was dispensable to her and did not feel the warmth of her relatives.

In this regard, Yin Gong has no choice, he can only use the only remaining trace of family affection to maintain the relationship between her and the eldest grandson's family, but how long can this last?

Yin Gong sighed secretly, and suddenly, there was a knock on the door outside the door, and then, his only son, Changsun Jing, walked in.

As soon as he saw his daughter Changsun Xiangyu, Changsun Jing's face suddenly sank, and he scolded angrily, "Son, look at the good things you have done!" ”

Recalling the farce on Dongqu Street yesterday and the farce in the early dynasty today, even if he is not talented, it is not difficult to see that those two things have an inseparable relationship with his daughter.

After all, this has happened more than once.

"Humph!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu chuckled lightly and said lightly, "What the father is referring to, the daughter doesn't understand......"

Hearing this, Eldest Sun Jing's eyes were even more gloomy, and he glared angrily and reprimanded, "Put away your hypocritical smile!" As a father, don't you know the nature of your son? So saying, he walked over and raised his right hand to strike at his daughter.

Seeing this, Yin Gong frowned and shouted, "Jing'er, don't stop yet!" ”

Hearing this, Eldest Sun Jing was stunned, and subconsciously turned his head to look at his old father, seeing that he was annoyed, he hurriedly withdrew his right hand and said, "Yes, father!" -- Stop it, don't be angry, father! ”

"Huh!" On the side, the eldest grandson Xiangyu opened the folding fan in her hand with a snap, and the sneering smile on her face made the eldest grandson Jing even more angry in his heart, but because of the presence of his father, it was not easy to attack.

"Okay, okay, good grandson also take a step back, don't provoke your father's anger...... Didn't the good grandson say that he was an ordinary man, and if he argued with him, the good grandson was not afraid of losing his identity? "Yin Gong was half-joking, and finally said that the eldest grandson Xiangyu would no longer stimulate his father.

"Father, it's really ...... for you to defend this son like this."

"Okay, okay," Seeing that the father and daughter were no longer making trouble, Yingong waved his hand and said, "Jing'er, I know everything about Xiao Xiangyu, she doesn't want to marry, why do you have to work hard?" - In this way, the good grandson will stay in the old man's mansion for a few days, stay for a few days, and then return to your mansion, so good? ”

"When the father speaks, how dare the son disobey ......"

"That's good, anyway, your house is only a wall away from the house, if Xiao Xiangyu stays bored in the old man's house, he will go back ......"

"Yes......"

Nodding with satisfaction, Yin Gong remembered his son's hurried steps when he entered the door, and said, "You left so quickly, isn't there something important?" ”

Seeing that Yin Gong asked, the eldest grandson Jing remembered the purpose of his trip, and saluted and said, "Yes, the child just went to Lord Han's mansion for a banquet, and he didn't want to hear about an important matter on the way, and it didn't feel right, so he hurriedly returned to the house and told his father......

"What?"

I saw that Changsun Jing paused slightly, and said with an anxious look on his face, "Didn't Your Majesty promulgate the holy decree to reduce the military expenses of the four towns yesterday? ――Just now, the child heard that the Donggong Mansion rushed to make 200 copies of the road guide overnight, and sold it to the wealthy merchants in the capital of Ji, each of which cost 50,000 taels of silver......"

When Yin Gong heard this, he chuckled in his heart, and muttered, "I really didn't expect that Xiao Xiangyu was still talking about this ......matter with her husband," he said, he was stunned, and muttered to himself with his white beard, "There is someone in Donggong Mansion who can see the flaws in that holy decree?" It's really not simple, the old man also said that his house is full of reckless men who dance knives and guns......"

"......" glanced at his grandfather who was frowning and sighing, and the eldest grandson Xiangyu turned his eyes, and Xie An's figure appeared in his mind.

Not bad......

Xie An......

I'm getting more and more interested in that guy, well, let's see tomorrow, and by the way, what that guy said that day......

Hee-hee!

Covering his face with an open fan, the eldest grandson Xiangyu showed an inscrutable smile in his eyes.

Thinking of this, the eldest grandson Xiangyu walked straight out of the study, ignoring her father, and was looking at her departing back with annoyed eyes.

"Son of a, you are so disrespectful!"

Looking at his son's face flushed with anger, Yingong sighed helplessly and said, "In the four towns, what is the movement of the other three?" ”

Hearing this, the eldest grandson Jing owed a debt, and said respectfully, "The child has inquired, and the Nangong Mansion has also secretly asked the servants to prepare this kind of road guide, but it is much less than the Donggong Mansion, about seventy or eighty copies, as for the term and the selling price, these two are the same, both are 50,000 taels of silver, and the deadline is one year!" - The other two, no movement! ”

"Oh?" Seeing that it was not only the Donggong Mansion but also the Nangong Mansion that took this opportunity to collect money, Yin Gong couldn't help but be a little surprised, but when he thought that the Liang Qiu family and the Lu family had a good friendship over the years, he was also relieved.

"It's probably the little girl from the Donggong Mansion, secretly reminding the Lu family, or ......" As he spoke, the old prime minister narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Or in the Nangong Mansion, there are also capable people who can see through the flaws of the holy decree!" ”

"Father, how should I deal with this?"

"What else?" Yin Gong smiled bitterly, and then said in a deep voice, "You personally go to the palace and ask Your Majesty to make up an edict, if the other two families are also aware of this matter and get involved, then the loss of the household department this year will be more than forty or fifty million taels!" - Hurry up! ”

"Yes, Father!" Nodding, Changsun Jing turned around and walked away, leaving only Yin Gong, who was standing at the door of the study with his hands on his back.

"That old guy from the Liangqiu family is not in Jijing right now, it stands to reason that that little girl shouldn't be able to see the flaws in that holy decree...... Who is it? ”

Looking at the grass and trees in the flower garden outside the study, Yin Gong frowned slightly.

In the early morning of the next day, as Xie An expected, the imperial court really noticed the omission in the holy decree, and hurriedly reissued a holy decree, telling the four towns not to privately build roads to lead out to merchants in Jijing, but for the road guides that had been sold, the imperial court had nothing to do, after all, the fault this time was the dereliction of duty of the household officials. Therefore, in the end, it can only be stopped.

On that day, the Lord Tian, who was going to write the edict, was dismissed from his post and handed over to the Criminal Department for questioning.

After all, according to the statistical calculations of the household officials, the road guides that have been sold will make the household department lose 820,000 or even 10,000 taels of silver, which is almost close to about 10% of the total annual tax revenue in the whole country of the Great Zhou Dynasty......