When Fang Huai said this, he deliberately said it so loudly, making it clear that he wanted to embarrass Xue Ji.

The officials of the Manchu Dynasty either chuckled a few times playfully, or looked at Xue Ji above gloatingly, only a few things that had nothing to do with themselves and would not be involved.

If Xue Ji can be frightened by this situation, then he has been in vain for decades. There is no need for him to speak in person, there are naturally officials who are towards him to stand up for him.

I saw Xu Lang look back at Fang Huai, and teased with a smile on his face, "Lord Fang, there is no basis for rumors...... I'm afraid you won't even be as good as Yang An in the future."

Fang Huai sighed again: "The dignified Shangshu Ling is actually the dog under the Prime Minister's seat."

"Then whose dog are you Fang Huai? Chen Shao?" Xu Lang chuckled disdainfully: "Then you are more promising, your master is the son of a prostitute."

As soon as these words came out, the faces of many officials in the court had changed, especially Chen Shao's party, the topic of origin on weekdays was almost a forbidden area for them, and they tried not to mention it as much as possible whether the main owner was in front of him or not. But this Xu Lang put the topic they avoided on the surface in front of everyone today.

"Look at it, Fang Huai's face is blue."

"Thanks to Chen Shao, he went on a tour with the Holy Driver."

There were a few whispers from below, which were not too big to see the excitement.

Finally, Xu Yan, who had been silent for a long time, spoke: "If you have any personal grievances, you can mention them in private, this is the court, and it is rude!"

Without waiting for others to say more, Xue Ji immediately dropped the sentence "Scattered Dynasty" and turned to leave.

Qin Xu returned to the court, and hundreds of officials wore court clothes to greet each other outside the palace in the morning.

As expected, the first thing he did when he returned to the palace was to ask about the increase in business taxes.

Xue Ji had already prepared, and when he heard him ask, he took a half step forward and said calmly, "The minister thinks that this move must not be done." As he spoke, he presented a fold of music, which was exactly what he remembered after being ordered by the crown prince Qin He.

Qin Xu glanced at it, and was very unhappy in his heart, as an emperor, what he didn't like the most was that his courtiers disobeyed the holy will, even if Xue Ji was his old minister and had followed him for more than twenty years, he was no exception.

"Lord Chen, look at it, what do you think?"

As he spoke, he turned his hand and pushed the song to Chen Shao on the side.

Chen Shao raised his head and inadvertently met Xue Ji's eyes, both of them seeing disdain and hatred in each other's gazes. It was only in the blink of an eye that he looked away again, stepped forward to take the song, and opened it to glance at it cursoryly.

In the middle of the night, a chuckle sounded in the hall.

"If all the people of the world are men and women weaving and self-sufficient, what is the use of merchants? Lord Xue's concern is not unreasonable, but it is not a cause for concern."

A good Chen Shao, a good Chen family.

Hearing his words, Xue Ji couldn't help sneering in his heart, he really forgot that he was from the Chen family, a famous merchant family in Jiangling! It's just that I don't know what Chen You means, or if he Chen Shao has forgotten his ancestors.

Xue Ji said in a deep voice, "According to Lord Chen's meaning, I don't need business in Da Zhou? Why did you go to so much trouble last year because of the trade issue?"

Chen Shao looked at him with a smile neither humble nor arrogant, and said indifferently: "Commerce still needs to be had, but it is enough to have officials and businessmen, and trade with neighboring countries for the imperial court naturally belongs to officials and businessmen, does Lord Xue still have problems?"

It's no wonder that the Chen family has taken over the right to trade in Nanjing, and now they are proposing to raise taxes and abandon other businessmen, which has been premeditated a long time ago.

Xue Ji thought about it in his heart and understood everything. Looking at Chen Shao's proud appearance in the spring breeze, he was even more angry, but because of Qin Xu's presence, no matter how angry he was, he couldn't tear his face in front of him, so he could only tolerate it for the time being.

"Lord Chan is thoughtful."

Chen Shao listened to his gritted teeth, and his heart was extremely happy, as if all the anger he had endured over the years had been brought back today.

"Lord Xue praises falsely."

The two fought against each other, and Qin Xu saw it in his eyes, but he didn't mean to ease or stop it at all. It wasn't until Xue Ji lost the upper hand now that he got back to business: "Back to business, since Lord Xue has no objections, the tax increase will be decided."

elapse

After thinking about it for so many days, Xue Ji was no longer as impulsive as when he first received the news, knowing that Qin Xu had made up his mind, he naturally wouldn't rush to fight him.

Not to mention that there is still room for reversal before the decree is issued, even if it is truly announced to the world, it may be affected by various reasons and changed.

In that case, why bother not to be happy.

Thinking about this, Xue Ji spoke again, "The minister has another matter."

"Say."

"Lord Chen deserves to be rewarded for proposing such a good policy for the country and the people."

Hearing this, Qin Xu and Chen Shao were stunned.

Fang Cai is still competing against each other, why did he ask for a reward for him in a blink of an eye?

Then I listened to Xue Ji explain: "Such a loyal and good minister, a hundred years later, it should have a good name in the history."

This time, both of them understood, and they had to listen to the opposite, to put it bluntly, they were wronged and had a debtor, and they rewarded Chen Shao today, and he could only be scolded in the future.

The look on Chen Shao's face froze, and he could only raise his eyes to look at Qin Xu's face to see how he decided.

Qin Xu chuckled, not only did he not get angry, but he also wanted to praise the prime minister for his quick thinking.

"In that case, according to what the prime minister said." Qin Xu knocked on the table with a pair or not, and said thoughtfully: "Since it is the prime minister who mentioned this matter, how to reward it, the prime minister will decide."

After saying this, Qin Xu looked tired and waved his hand at the two, obviously wanting to chase away the guests.

Xue Ji's heart was greatly happy, and he glanced at Chen Shao beside him, then bowed his head and knelt down, turned around and left.

Not long after walking out of the imperial study, he noticed that Chen Shao was following behind, Xue Ji deliberately slowed down, and when he approached and rubbed his shoulders, he suddenly stopped in place, looking at him with a smile.

"Jie'an, where can you comprehend this emperor's mental technique?"

The word 'Jie'an' was poking at Chen Shao's pain point, and Xue Ji's yin and yang weird tone was clearly disgusting him.

Chen Shao pulled out a stiff smile and replied, "Thank you Prime Minister, Prime Minister should think about how to protect himself."

A few days later, the two edicts of increasing the commercial tax and rewarding Chen Shao were drafted at the same time, both of which were personally tried by Xue Ji to show the importance of the saints.

The Xue family and the Shen family are all century-old merchants, and as the son-in-law of the Shen family, the heir of the Xue family, Xue Ji can't easily give up protecting the interests of businessmen, but he can't be tough.

After the court meeting was dispersed, Xu Lang avoided the eyes and ears of others, and waited in the front hall of the political affairs hall.

I saw him take off the black gauze hat on his head, put it upright on the low table beside him, walked forward with a folding fan in his hand, and sat down in the main seat of the hall.

"How's that movement that got you staring?"

Xu Lang smiled in his eyes, and said, "Your expectations are good, there will be disasters in the New Year. Three days ago, Shu County was shaken, and houses in more than ten counties collapsed, with heavy casualties. According to the speed of the officials below, it will be delivered to Zhongshu Province within two days today and tomorrow."

Xue Ji was taken aback, the ground movement is not as good as the drought and flood, and the imperial court must spend a lot of money on disaster relief, but His Majesty has just toured the east, and the treasury is really not rich...... The household department is busy.

"The catastrophe of the earth shaking must be delivered urgently, and it will be directly submitted to the palace when it arrives in Zhongshu Province." Xue Ji frowned slightly, and said thoughtfully, "Can you delay?"

Xu Lang hesitated, pacing back and forth in front of the hall with his hands in his hands, carefully calculating in his heart.

After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "Ji Baiqing is in Zhongshu Province, and the pressure can be suppressed for a while, but this kind of fold, Your Majesty can see through it as soon as he counts the days, why should you take risks."

Xue Ji made a rough calculation in his heart, and what he said was true. He rested his head a little tiredly, leaning on the armrest of the chair, rubbing his thumb against his forehead.

After hesitating for a while, a plan flashed in his heart, and he sat up straight, reached out and opened several documents on the table, reading them word by word.

Xu Lang didn't know what he was thinking, so he could only stand in place and wait for him to speak.

Finally, Xue Ji raised his head and glanced at him and asked, "Can the edict of increasing commercial taxes be urgent?"

"As soon as tomorrow morning."

Xu Lang replied.

The corners of Xue Ji's mouth were hooked, and he already had a decision in his heart. The left is just a few hours away, even if Qin Xu calculates the problem, he can prevaricate.

"Then issue an edict at noon tomorrow, if Shu County's performance is neglected to Zhongshu Province, let Lord Ji press it to Shenshi and then deliver it to the palace."