The imperial palace of the Lanfang Empire covers an extremely wide area, the towering buildings are simple and majestic, and the layers of buildings and palaces are magnificent, showing the strong national strength of the Lanfang Empire and the majesty of the emperor. When he came to the palace gate, one of the emperor's attendants was already waiting here, and when he saw Fang Rui and the other three coming, he immediately stepped forward and led them into the palace.

The tall Qinzheng Palace was the place where the emperors of the Lanfang Empire presided over political affairs, and when he came to the door, Fang Xiaoyu secretly looked inside. I saw a middle-aged man in his fifties wearing a crown and a luxurious brocade robe sitting on a high throne, he had a gray beard, and his face was a little pale after overindulgence, but the whole person had an indescribable majesty, this was Xiahou Ying, the fourteenth emperor of the Lanfang Empire.

There were four people on both sides of the throne steps, and the one closest to the throne on the left was a short and fat man, who was gently stroking his stomach with his hand, and looked at Fang Xiaoyu and the other three who walked in with a pair of thin eyes and a smile on his tender white face. Next to him was a tall and thin man, the man did not look at Fang Xiaoyu and the others, but stared at the opposite side, his left hand unconsciously combing a few long beards. The two on the right are Fang Xiaoyu's old acquaintances, close to the throne is Marshal Xia Jun, and next to him is the prince of the royal family, Marshal Xiahou Feng, the younger brother of the current emperor.

Fang Rui and Fang Qiong walked into the main hall and bowed to Xiahou Ying and stood on both sides, Fang Xiaoyu realized that the left and right were standing with civil and military forces, and he also stepped forward quickly and said, "Weichen Fang Xiaoyu has seen His Majesty. Xiahou Ying nodded and said, "You are Fang Xiaoyu?" That orchid candy is what you made? Fang Xiaoyu immediately replied: "Entrusted to His Majesty Hongfu, Weichen occasionally got this method, and he succeeded by luck." ”

Fang Xiaoyu had never been to the palace, and it was the first time he had seen such a big person, although the two grandfathers had taken care of how he saluted and how to reply, but it was all taught temporarily, so he didn't know what to say after coming up. Fortunately, Fang Xiaoyu didn't watch the Qing palace drama in his previous life, so he learned the lines in it and said such a sentence, but he didn't expect that the Lanfang Empire had never slapped the emperor like this, which made Xiahou win extremely useful.

Xiahou Ying nodded with satisfaction and said, "Yes, he is a talent that can be created." Seeing that the emperor was so satisfied, Xiahou Feng continued: "Your Majesty, Fang Xiaoyu not only made sugar, but even the person who had to modify three kinds of firearms was he last time. Xiahou Ying nodded: "According to the minister's brother, he should be given an official position in the Ministry of Industry." ”

At this time, the short and fat old man smiled and said: "Not really, I think it is okay to reward him with some gold and silver, if he is made an official, I am afraid it is not appropriate." Marshal Xia Jun frowned and said, "What's wrong?" The short and fat old man said: "He is already in the army, and it is not good to reward another official of the Ministry of Industry." It seems that there are only three lords in the Lanfang Empire who can be in charge of the military and political worlds, and if he is a big official at such a young age, he will make his country laugh at the fact that there is no one in my empire, and such a young child can be in a high position. ”

Marshal Xia Jun said: "Cheng Shoufu's words are not right, meritorious service will be rewarded, why care about age, not to mention that the imperial law has never stipulated that military members cannot participate in politics." After listening to Marshal Xia Jun's words, Fang Xiaoyu immediately understood that this short and fat old man had always been at odds with Marshal Xia Jun, and Cheng Yuhuan, the head of the cabinet of the Cheng family, who ranked third among the four families.

The Cheng family controls most of the officials in the political circles, so they often suppress the Xia family in front of the emperor, but fortunately, Marshal Xia Jun has made outstanding achievements, and even the emperor is polite and gives three points, so he often confronts him in the court, and the two sides are on the same page. This is the tall thin man next to Cheng Yuhuan and said with a smile: "I also think it's inappropriate to seal the official, what does he know as a child, these kinds of firearms are so complicated, maybe he is taking the name of someone else." I heard that Fang Xiaoyu is about to marry Marshal Xia's granddaughter, isn't Marshal Xia wanting to pave the way for his future grandson-in-law for personal gain? ”

As soon as his words fell, Marshal Xia Jun didn't answer, and Fang Rui on the side said coldly: "Do you think that others are as stupid as you?" What a joke. The tall and thin man pointed at Fang Rui and said, "You." Before he could say anything, Marshal Xia Jun said, "What are you?" If you are not Cheng Yuhuan's son, how can you become a household secretary with a waste like you. "You." The tall and thin man doesn't know what to say. After listening to the words of a few people, Fang Xiaoyu knew that this thin and tall man was Cheng Yuhuan's eldest son Cheng Wei, but he really didn't expect such a big gap between their father and son. This Cheng Wei won't be someone else's seed, Fang Xiaoyu thought a little obscenely.

Cheng Yuhuan opened his eyes slightly, glared at Cheng Wei fiercely and said, "Don't retreat." Cheng Yuhuan secretly ruthlessly said that his son couldn't speak, and he offended the two families when he opened his mouth, so he hurriedly came out to play a round and said: "The dog can't speak, so the two marshals misunderstood." In fact, it is good for soldiers not to do government affairs, at least to avoid dictatorship. ”

Cheng Yuhuan's words were ruthless enough, and he directly buttoned down the big hat of autocracy, originally Xia Jun wanted Fang Xiaoyu to enter the Ministry of Industry, so that with Fang Xiaoyu's genius design, his army will definitely have a steady stream of good weapons in the future. However, he was reluctant to let him leave the army, because the detailed and forward-looking training plan had already made Xia Jun excited by Fang Xiaoyu's military talent, and he even had plans to train him to be his successor.

Fang Xiaoyu was also shocked by Cheng Yuhuan's words, he couldn't imagine that he already had the consciousness of separating the military and the government to avoid dictatorship, and he didn't know if he wanted to make Marshal Xia look ugly temporarily, or if he had such an idea. Seeing the tension on both sides, Xiahou Feng came out and said: "What the two of you said is not unreasonable, it is better for the imperial brother to only promote Fang Xiaoyu's military position." ”

Xiahou Ying nodded: "Since this is the case, let's promote Fang Xiaoyu to lieutenant colonel, and if there is any merit, he will be rewarded separately." "Xiahou won half of each, and the two sides were in harmony, of course, in order to appease Xia Jun, this official position was not small, and he was directly promoted to three levels. Seeing that Xiahou Ying had already decided, everyone had no choice but to thank him.

On the way home, Fang Qiong asked, "Big brother, are you so against Cheng Wei, aren't you afraid of the Cheng family's revenge?" Fang Rui said with a smile: "Since they know that we and the Xia family want to get married, they will naturally be more restrained, not to mention that we are one of the four major families, we can't be bullied casually, otherwise they will become even worse." ”

Fang Qiong nodded: "What the eldest brother said is true, but the Xia Cheng family is the descendants of the founding heroes, and they have been in business for hundreds of years, which is much deeper than our decades of development." Now that we have found out about our marriage with the Xia family, if the two of them fight each other, I am afraid that our Fang family will be the first victim. Fang Rui also nodded and said: "I also understand this, so I wanted to secretly make a marriage before, and I won't announce it first." Now that it is already daylight, we simply take the initiative to attack openly, which makes the Cheng family a little jealous of us, not to mention that the Xia family will never watch us fall. Fang Qiong nodded to the side. Fang Xiaoyu, who listened for a long time, said: "Two grandfathers, you should have something to say to me." Marry the Xia family? I don't know how to do it. ”

Fang Rui looked at Fang Xiaoyu with a smile and said, "We did decide with the Xia family in private to let you marry Marshal Xia's youngest granddaughter, Xia Tingyun." This is what your mother and your Aunt Ping agreed on first. Marshal Xia went to our house that day to see you, and later he was very satisfied with you, so the marriage was decided first. Listening to Fang Rui's words, Fang Xiaoyu was dizzy for a while, and he didn't expect that he had also become a victim of an arranged marriage. However, Fang Xiaoyu knew that in such a big family, even in the free and open era of the previous life, arranged marriages could still not be avoided. This is an alliance between the big families in order to maintain their power, and there is nothing wrong with it in terms of family interests.

Fang Xiaoyu thought for a while, looked up at the two grandfathers and smiled: "If that's the case, then I have sacrificed a lot for the family, can you compensate me." Fang Qiong scolded with a smile: "You kid, monkey spirit, monkey spirit, what other conditions do you mention, do you know how bright your future is with the support of Marshal Xia Jun?" Besides, your aunts and uncles are like that, and they don't ask for any compensation. Fang Xiaoyu smiled: "They don't want it because they don't need it, but I'm going to get more things like Lan Fang Sugar to revitalize the family industry, don't compare me with them." "Fang Xiaoyu gave the second grandfather a little bait, he is in urgent need of manpower now.

Before Fang Qiong could answer, the eldest grandfather on the side, Fang Rui, spoke first: "Xiaoyu, I know that your ambitions are not small, if you want any help, you can say it clearly." Fang Xiaoyu said: "I need a bigger place to start more industries, and of course, the safety problem also needs to be solved at home." Fang Rui nodded: "This is no problem, after the New Year, I will let people buy the land near Lanting Villa and let you develop freely, and at the same time, I am sending a thousand guards to be responsible for the safety of Lanting Villa." Fang Qiong continued: "Xiao Yu, if you want to develop with such fanfare, you naturally have your own ideas, can you talk to the second grandfather." "Fang Qiong, who is the secretary of the Ministry of Labor, is more sensitive to this. Fang Xiaoyu smiled weirdly and took out a crystal porcelain bottle from his arms.

Seeing the porcelain vase in Fang Xiaoyu's hand, Fang Rui and Fang Qiong showed puzzled looks. Fang Qiong took the porcelain bottle and opened the lid, a rich aroma of wine slowly spread, Fang Rui sniffled and exclaimed: "It's so fragrant, it seems to be wine." Fang Qiong also said: "It's indeed very fragrant, but how can there be such fragrant wine?" ”

"And that's not all." Fang Xiaoyu smiled and took out the porcelain cup for drinking water from the drawer under the seat and said, "Second grandfather, you pour it out and take a look." Fang Qiong took the glass and carefully tilted the porcelain bottle slightly, and a clear wine line flowed out of the mouth of the bottle and quickly filled the glass.

Looking at the crystal clear wine in the glass, Fang Rui said, "Why is this wine so clear?" Fang Qiong raised the cup and put it under his nose to smell it, and then couldn't help but raise his head and drink it. After drinking it all, Fang Qiong took a breath and said, "It's a strong wine, but it's really fragrant." "Fang Qiong is the most greedy of the three brothers, and he has always had no resistance to delicious things. Hearing Fang Qiong's words, Fang Rui also took the cup, poured a glass of wine and drank it, then nodded and said, "It's really good, the taste is very good, it is very suitable for the taste of our soldiers."