The next morning, the king of Shang sat down, and everyone made a big salute.

Jiang Jia was about to step forward to continue persuading Shang Rong, and the king of Shang took the lead in speaking: "Jiang Jia, you said yesterday that you couldn't afford to kneel for a long time, why did I ask Jiao Fang to bring you dinner when no one was gone? Could it be that you are deceiving Yu Me?"

Jiang Jia was taken aback when he heard this, he just said it in passing yesterday, no one took it seriously, who would have thought that the king of Shang would make trouble on this matter?

He didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly stepped forward and kowtowed: "The king, yesterday he suddenly fainted when he was seriously ill, and Weichen was so anxious that he forgot to tell the king, please forgive the king." ”

King Shang bowed his head and said, "Since there is such an urgent matter, then forget it." What about you, are you also someone in your family who suddenly fainted from a serious illness?" he said, pointing to the doctors who came with Jiang Jia yesterday.

The dozen or so doctors also hurriedly came out and kowtowed, and said one after another: "King, Weichen was a concubine who gave birth suddenly yesterday and was called back." "Weichen was suddenly seriously ill yesterday by his mother. "Weichen came to visit yesterday because of the eldest aunt. "The king, the ...... of the ministers"

The corner of King Shang's mouth showed a hint of mockery, and he said, "It seems that yesterday was really lively." Okay, okay, let's not talk about yesterday, so let's all go back and stand. ”

Seeing that Jiang Jia and the others were silent, Shang Wang said: "Ladies and gentlemen, I discussed with Jiang Jia and them yesterday, although Shang Rong did not respect the Son of Heaven, he also worked hard, so I decided to invite him to return to the court as an official and worship the doctor." What do you think?"

At this time, Jiang Jia and the others did not dare to speak anymore, and although the ministers were discussing, they no longer stepped forward to speak.

So, Wang Shuzigan, Wucheng Wang Huang Feihu, Anping Wang Weiziqi, Chengping Wang Wei Ziyan, and Wang Di Jizi stepped forward and bowed: "The king is merciful. Seeing that several princes took the lead, the rest of the ministers did not dare to lag behind, and they also bowed down one after another: "King Shengming." ”

Jiang Jia and the others saw that the overall situation had been decided, so they had to follow the ministers to bow down.

As for Shang Rong's mood at that time, it is no longer in everyone's consideration, and even Jiang Jia and the others don't care.

King Shang said: "The position of prime minister has been vacant for many days, who do you think Aiqing can do?"

At this time, a figure flashed out and said: "Wang, Weichen thinks that the senior doctor Jiang Jia is highly respected and has outstanding merits, and he should be competent." King Shang fixed his eyes and saw that this person was none other than the doctor You Hun.

It turned out that You Hun and Fei Zhong were originally Jiang Jia's party, but You Hun had been imprisoned in prison for more than ten days before, and Fei Zhong was injured a little, so both of them took leave in the past few days and were still recuperating at home.

Today, You Hun is the first day of recuperation, and as for Fei Zhong, he continues to recuperate at home.

Seeing that he couldn't do his best in the matter of Shang Rong a few days ago, You Hun was afraid that Jiang Jia would blame him in the future, so he was the first to jump out and recommend Jiang Jia.

When the ministers heard this, they looked at King Shang, and then at Jiang Jia, who was only twenty-seven years old and "highly respected and made outstanding contributions", and they were all speechless for a while. Mo said that no one else agreed, even Jiang Jia himself, all of them were blushing.

A smile appeared at the corner of King Shang's mouth, and he said, "Let's talk about it specifically, why do you think Jiang Jia can do it?"

You Hun thought that someone from Jiang Jia's party would come out to support him, but he didn't expect to see no one in the queue for a long time, so he had to say alone: "This ...... The king, Lord Jiang is the queen's brother, and he is a relative. Speaking of this, the ministers looked at Jiang Jia, a national relative, and then at Uncle Wang.

You Hun continued: "Also, this ...... Mr. Jiang is the most kind person on weekdays, and we love him very much. Speaking of this, the ministers looked at the well-known good old man of the imperial court, Anping Wang Weiziqi.

You Hun thought for a while, and then said: "Also, Lord Jiang is the best at managing money on weekdays, this ...... By the way, last time Master Jiang was full moon and set up a banquet, there was only a difference of less than 100 yuan between the silver money sent by Weichen and the gift list, which was seen by Lord Jiang at a glance. If Lord Jiang is the prime minister, he will definitely be able to save a lot of expenses for the treasury. The ministers looked at Jiang Jia at this time, and saw that his face was as red as a boiled shrimp, and his body had begun to tremble slightly.

The smile on the corner of King Shang's mouth rippled, and he said, "Is there anything else?"

"And!" You Hun seemed to suddenly remember something, his voice raised an octave, and said: "Lord Jiang's name is Jia, Jia is the first of the twelve heavenly stems, the king, this is a great auspicious omen......."

"Shut up!" A voice came, but it was none other than Jiang Jia himself, he didn't care about the loss of honor in front of the king, and shouted angrily: "You rammer, Hugh is here, go back quickly, don't make a sound again." ”

You Hun trembled when he heard this, glanced at Jiang Jia in a bit of confusion, saw that he looked ruthless, he didn't dare to say more, and hurriedly said: "King, Weichen is finished." Then he got up and returned to the crowd.

King Shang also ignored the two of them anymore, and said solemnly: "Everyone, Aiqing, do you think there is anyone more competent than Jiang Jia?"

King Wucheng saw that it was already a mess, so he played: "King, Weichen thinks that the position of prime minister is none other than Lord Zigan. ”

The ministers were all relieved when they heard this, in today's imperial court, who can outperform Yaxiangzigan's background, prestige, and merits, and they didn't speak out before, but they were afraid that Jiang Jia and his family would hold a grudge. At this time, with King Wucheng taking the lead, the ministers no longer had any fear, and they all spoke up.

King Shang smiled and said, "What everyone Aiqing said is deeply in line with my intentions. Uncle Wang, are you willing to take on this important responsibility for me?"

Zigan stepped forward and bowed: "The king is so loving, the minister is willing to serve the king and serve my great business." ”

Jiang Jia saw that the general trend was gone, and closed his eyes in some despair.

The deception above the court has nothing to do with Huang Xue, and at this time she is still in the kitchen of Ronghua Palace, directing several cooks to be busy.

Since she and the king of Shang had eaten called flower chicken that day, she decided not to grieve her stomach anymore, anyway, she had nothing to do recently, so she was ready to reproduce the simple and easy-to-make delicacies in her previous life. Today, she prepares to make a dish called smoked bacon, which is a delicacy that every household in her village would make in her last life.

In this era, meat was still a luxury among ordinary people, not because of the high cost of meat farming, but because of the backward means of preservation.

Fearing that the meat would spoil the next day, the merchants had a very small supply every day, preferring that many people would not be able to buy it rather than throw away the excess meat that could not be sold, so the limited supply led to high meat prices. This situation was not alleviated until the advent of cured meat and sauced meat in later generations. And Huang Xue decided to bring the means of marinating meat to this world in advance.

Huang Xue instructed the cooks to clean the fresh pork, and then salted it with salt and spices. After three days, hang the meat in a ventilated place with an iron hook to dry the water. After air drying, it can be smoked, and the pine branch is smoked until the meat color turns dark yellow, and the smoked bacon can be stored for half a year.

So, a few days later, when the king of Shang came to the Ronghua Palace, he saw pieces of meat hanging in the garden. He asked Huang Xue with a smile: "Daji, why is it so wasteful, isn't this meat bad when it hangs here?"

Huang Xue smiled mysteriously and said, "King, this is a newly developed cooking method developed by the concubine, so naturally the meat will not spoil." After a while, I naturally invite the king to come and enjoy it. ”

Although the king of Shang was a little unconvinced, he had to nod and let her go.

On this day, the king of Shang was resting in the study, and suddenly an attendant came to report, Zigan, King Anping and other five princes came to meet him.

The king of Shang immediately got up and followed Jiao Fang to the Nine Palaces, where he saw several princes all with angry expressions on their faces, discussing something. Seeing the king of Shang come in, he stopped his mouth and stepped forward to salute.

The new prime minister, Zigan, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I waited to come today, but I found out some clues about Shang Rong. ”

King Shang nodded and said, "I guess this is also the case, since the last time I named him a doctor, he has been sick at home, and if he does not come to work, I guess that he will make a move." ”

The new Yaxiang Jizi said: "King, if you want to come in a few days, Shang Rong will play, and you will return to your hometown." ”

The Shang King perked up and said, "Come on, what is his action?"

Zigan said: "I think the king can guess that Shang Rong has not been sick these days. The minister has found out that he is busy transporting the money and wealth of the Shang Mansion out of Chaoge these days. ”

The king of Shang was shocked: "How much money do you have, and you need to transport it for so many days?"

Zi Gan sighed: "The minister arranged for a number of detailed investigations, and also bought off a housekeeper of the Shang Mansion, and only after many calculations did I know that this Shang Rong's family actually had no less than 40 million dollars, and now it has been folded into gold and jade." ”

"Forty million!" exclaimed the king of Shang, "how can there be so much money? ”

Zigan said: "When the minister heard this number that day, he was as surprised as the king. ”

At this time, the king of Shang's face was so gloomy that he seemed to be dripping water, and said, "Could it be that this old thief has emptied my treasury?"

Wei Ziyan said: "King, this is also the strangest place, since Uncle Wang took over the position of prime minister, Wei Chen was invited by Uncle Wang to count the treasury accounts in the past few years. It's hard to believe that the treasury accounts are exactly right. ”

Shang Wang Qi said: "Exactly the same, then where did this old thief get so much money?"

Wei Ziyan said: "Wei Chen can't figure this out. ”

Ji Zi played: "King, can you allow your brother to make a bold conjecture with Uncle Wang?"

King Shang nodded, "But it's okay to say it." ”

Jizi said: "The king, there is a lot of money of unknown origin in the Shangrong Mansion, and there is also some unclear relationship with the Dongbohou Mansion, if these two things are connected, the younger brother can only think of one thing." ”

Hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought, and suddenly Wei Ziyan and Wei Ziqi glanced at each other, and the two said one word in unison: "Salt tax!"