Several people entered the house noisily, Deng Wenjiao smiled and saluted his grandfather and father, and then jumped on the kang where Duchess An Guo was sitting, and hugged his grandmother.

"Monkeys! Stop rubbing and tell Grandma to take a good look at you! Mrs. Deng said dotingly.

An Guogong glanced at the room and asked quietly, "Why didn't King Ning come back with you?" ”

Deng Wenjiao said disapprerovingly: "We had a quarrel on the road, and I asked him to go back to the palace by himself." Otherwise, he followed all the way, wouldn't it be a disappointment! ”

"Nonsense!" An Guogong slapped the table, startling Deng Wenjiao.

"What are you doing?" Old Madam Deng was not happy, glared at the old man, and said, "Hong'er is so easy to go to sea and come back, Wen Jiao only got married yesterday, it was when the family was reunited, what kind of evil spirit did you have?" ”

"On the second day of marriage, I quarreled with my husband, and you are an ordinary peddler and pawn when your son-in-law is an ordinary pawn, can you be humiliated at will?" An Guogong was very angry.

"Grandfather, you're too cautious!" Deng Wenjiao said angrily, "Chen Ting is a very cowardly person, he doesn't dare to do anything to me." Don't you often say that the only person behind him is the Queen Mother, so he has to hold on to our family. If he dares to do anything to me, does he want to offend his aunt and the prince? ”

Deng Hong's brows furrowed more and more tightly, it seems that this family business is not just as inappropriate as he thinks, but a big mistake!

Before An Guogong was furious, Deng Hong stopped his sister's words and smiled at An Guogong: "I went to sea this time, and these rare treasures I brought back are not counted, there are three trade routes for our family alone." ”

He spread out a map, pointed to the sea south of the Yan Dynasty, and said: "Siam and Chenla are rich in ivory, rhino horn, precious stones, and spices of all kinds. These things are not to mention the people, just in the palace, it costs a lot every year. With my aunt in the harem, these goods of our family are not worried. ”

"Although these things can also be transported to the Central Plains through Yunnan-Guizhou and other places, first, the terrain is steep and the roads are not smooth, and secondly, the people are fierce, and it is difficult to ensure the safety of the trade routes. It's better to take the sea route, which is convenient, fast and safe. ”

Hearing Deng Hong's words, An Guogong put Deng Wenjiao's bad things behind him, and said with a smile: "Hong'er has the same aggressiveness and drive as I did when I was young!" It's just a sea route, thousands of miles away, if you get less goods at one time, I'm afraid you won't even be able to recover the cost......"

Deng Hong said with a smile: "Grandfather is worried, so my grandson wants to build a dock in Tianjin, which is close to the capital, and I will go over to check it from time to time." If not, Weihai can too. ”

Prince An Guo frowned and said: "Such a big move, I'm afraid it will only be approved by the emperor." ”

An Guogong sighed and said, "This matter has to be considered in the long run. ”

Deng Hong looked at everyone and was quite puzzled. He went to sea for more than half a year, and stayed in Huguang and Zhejiang and Fujian for a long time, but after he came back, his family was as depressed as if he had been robbed of his title.

He tried to pretend to smile indifferently, "What's going on at home?" How is it so different from when I left home? ”

An Guogong glanced at his son, and the prince told Deng Hong in a low voice about what had happened before.

"Oops!" After hearing this, Deng Hong was so anxious that beads of sweat appeared on his head, "You are confused!" The emperor is no better than those mediocre kings of the previous dynasty, he is the emperor who founded the country! Literary talent, martial arts, ambition, how can ordinary people compare? How can you persecute him like this? ”

An Guogong frowned and looked at his grandson, and said: "Looking back, there is something wrong with our family, but the emperor doesn't take much ...... When I first discussed with our family, I said that I would take away the benefits that I would take, how could this be done by a gentleman? If it's really like this, then why do we have to follow him to do such a head-wrenching deal? The county order that broke the family, the prefect who destroyed the door, our family has reached this point, is it still slaughtered by others like before? ”

"Grandfather, our family is no longer a merchant!" Deng Hong said angrily, "My aunt is the queen in the palace, and my cousin is the prince in the East Palace, are you still not satisfied?" At this time, it is time to keep your head in the dark and make a fortune! ”

"You said that the emperor wanted to take away the benefits promised to us at the beginning, but the treasury was empty during the southern expedition, and he reached out to you to ask for some silver! Don't say that our family can afford that money, but we can't afford it, and we have to smash the pot and sell iron! You see that it is like this now, our family's money has also come out, and our strength has come out, and it has not fallen in front of the emperor at all, but it is becoming more and more unwelcome! ”

Seeing that An Guogong was about to refute, Deng Hong waved his hand and said, "Grandfather, listen to me first." Do you think that now that the prince is firmly seated in the East Palace, he is a little fearless? But don't forget, the emperor is only forty years old this year! used to say that the emperor was not a good woman, but now isn't there a Qian Zhaorong in the palace? ”

Deng Wenjiao was a little dissatisfied with her brother's harsh tone, and interjected: "She is the princess of the dead country, even if she gave birth to ten or eight sons, there is absolutely no reason to call her son the prince......

"I know!" Deng Hong said angrily, "I said Qian Zhaorong, not just to talk about her, but what her appearance represents!" ”

"What?" Deng Wenjiao asked blankly.

"If there is money Zhaorong, there will be Sun Zhaorong and Li Zhaoyi!" Deng Hong said, "It shows that the emperor doesn't like fresh faces, but he hasn't met good ones!" Once there is this precedent and people know the emperor's preference, will those who have stunning daughters in each family not be tempted? Even if the emperor's son was born at the age of forty-five, he would be fifteen when he was sixty years old! Looking at the emperor's current physique, do you think it is difficult for him to live to be sixty years old? ”

"As a result, not only did you not keep your eyes on the throne and think about the prince, but you jumped up and down, for hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, for a straw bale Chen Ting, and offended the emperor to this point!" The more Deng Hong talked, the more angry he became, thinking that his plan might have to be postponed for several years, he couldn't help but be angry.

"You dragged Chen Ting over to be your son-in-law, do you want power in the army? Is it for our own family, or for the prince? The emperor now asked Chen Xi and Lin Lang to take turns to teach the prince to ride and shoot, in order to add arms to the prince in the army? Since they are all going to force their wives to death, you might as well go and choose one of the three sons of Dingguo Gong! ”

Seeing that his father was speechless, the prince of An Guo hurriedly scolded his son: "What nonsense are you talking about? If our family hadn't been for the family business that your grandfather had worked so hard to save back then, would you have the scenery you have today? How old have you lived, how many bowls of rice have you eaten, and you dislike your grandfather's eyes? ”

An Guogong didn't speak, all he thought about was what the prince said to him when he left the palace that day: "...... Hurry up and call the eldest grandson back, only he can carry it clearly......"

Could it be that he is really old?