Only Sima Xunian and Shen Jiyue were left in the room.

He was still holding her hand tightly, and she felt a slight pain, and subconsciously retracted it.

Sima Xunian felt it, quickly came back to his senses, and relaxed his strength, "I'm sorry, did it hurt you?" ”

Sima Xunian's voice was slightly hoarse, but it was extremely gentle, and Shen Jiyue was a little sunk...... She didn't seem to have reacted from the bustle just now, and after a long while, she asked word by word, "What does the doctor mean, am I going to be a mother?" ”

Sima Xunian suddenly cried and laughed, "Yes! You're going to be a mother, I'm going to be a father! Yue'er, thank you, really, I really can't think of ......"

Looking at his face that was so excited that he was about to cry, Shen Jiyue understood in her heart that he wanted this child...... There was a warm current in my heart, probably, happiness is this feeling......

Sima Xunian looked at her, couldn't help but lean down, and when his lips were about to seal hers, she gently closed her eyes......

The two have forgotten everything around them, as if there is only each other.

This kiss is gentle, far-reaching, and slender, Shen Jiyue only feels that she is about to melt......

After leaving her lips, Sima Xunian pressed his forehead contentedly, reluctant to leave.

"Yue'er, will you marry me?"

When Shen Jiyue heard this, she opened her eyes.

Sima Xunian left her slightly at a distance and looked at her fixedly.

"You...... Are you sure you want to marry me? ”

"Of course, you have to give the child a name."

It turned out that it was because the child was ...... Shen Jiyue smiled bitterly in her heart, of course it was for the sake of the child, otherwise......

Sima Xunian's face suddenly darkened when he saw her joy, and he thought she was uncomfortable, so he hurriedly asked, "Is there something uncomfortable?" I'll pour you a cup of tea. With that, he got up and walked outside.

Shen Jiyue looked at his leaving figure in a daze, feeling as if something had fallen into the abyss in her heart, a very scared and powerless feeling, she wanted to catch it, but what she caught was nothingness.

Sima Xunian walked in with water, helped her up, and carefully fed her to drink.

At this time, he felt that she was his everything, he could no longer care about the old things, nor the treacherous situation in the court, he only wanted her, and then formed a small family with her, and then lived a plain life.

Sima Xunian, who put down the teacup, gently hugged Shen Jiyue in his arms and kissed her hair.

Full of the fragrance of plants and trees, this fragrance, I haven't smelled it for a long time, Shen Jiyue seems to be greedily encircling his waist and burying herself in his arms.

Feeling her initiative, Sima Xunian was overjoyed, "Yue'er, shall we get married?" If you want to ask your father's opinion, I will immediately repair a letter and ask Sima You to take it to Yangzhou to your brother and ask him to pass it on to your father. ”

"My ......, my lord"

"Call me Sunny Year."

Shen Jiyue was silent, and she was ...... This title has been silently recited countless times in her heart, she wants to follow her heart, and call him so intimately, but there is not only one voice in her heart, but there is another voice, and that voice shouts to warn her not to sink again, not to get close to him again, the grievances and hatreds of the two families will only make the two more and more painful!

She closed her eyes and said, "Anyway, I have to ask my father's permission." ”

"Well, I know. Yue'er, is it okay for me to move to Yuehua? ”

Unexpectedly, Sima Xunian suddenly said this, and Shen Jiyue's flush that had just disappeared quietly climbed up again.

"This is your mansion, where you want to live is your freedom", Shen Jiyue wanted to refuse, but when she thought of his joyful appearance just now, she finally did not refuse.

Although the beauty was noncommittal, she did not refuse after all, Sima Xunian was a little happier in her heart and hugged her tighter.

Sima Xunian wants to move to another garden to live, and the whole house can't understand it, shouldn't it be to take Shen Jiyue to the main house? I wonder if this master doesn't live in the spacious and comfortable main hall facing the excellent main house, and it sounds fresh if he doesn't move to the other garden in the corner. But it's one thing to not figure it out, you have to clean up what should be cleaned up.

Yiming was a straight man, and he couldn't bear to have something in his heart, so he asked Sima Xunian on behalf of the whole house, "Young Master, why didn't you take Miss Shen to the main room, but you ran over?" ”

Sima Xunian was directing everyone to be busy, and at the same time he personally arranged the small things, and he didn't even look at him, "I'm about to get married, can't the main house be properly arranged?" People come and go when arranging, what if you hurt Yue'er? No brains! ”

"Oh! So that's the case, no wonder. ”

"I'll go to Sima You's mansion later, you prepare a horse for me, and go with me."

"Just go yourself......"

"Do you have a problem?"

"Mingxin told me to go to the market with her to buy something...... said it was for Miss Shen! "He's clever for a while.

"Okay, you prepare a horse for me, and I'll go by myself."

"Okay", and ran out after saying that.

Sima Xunian looked at his back and shook his head, thinking that he would not marry again, this kid was afraid that he would have to climb in front of him.

He walked into the room and saw Shen Jiyue reading a book, so he went straight to the washbasin and said while washing his hands, "Yue'er, I'll go to Sima You's mansion and ask him to help deliver the letter." Sima You, this kid, was afraid that I would be unfavorable to your father and brother, so he has not told me where they are hiding. ”

Shen Jiyue raised her head, "Will you hurt them?" She didn't know about the grievances between her fathers, but judging from the fact that he had dug three feet into the ground to find her, it wouldn't be easy.

Sima Xunian was slightly stunned for a moment, walked over, sat down beside her, and looked at her, "No matter what your father has done, right or wrong, he always owes my father an explanation." ”

"For the sake of the child, you can't let it go?"

Sima Xunian pursed his lips and said after a while, "I will definitely give you an explanation." With that, he got up and walked out.

Shen Jiyue instantly felt that she had fallen into a bleak helplessness, she had seen his determination, if what happened back then really became an irresolvable resentment, then where should she go, where should the child go......

Thinking of the child, Shen Jiyue unconsciously touched her lower abdomen, and her face was covered with gloom.

Dali Temple Qing Mansion

"What? Shen Yong went to sea to arrest Xue Yang? Who gave you the guts?! Sima Xunian roared.

"Old Man Shen must go, what can I do." Sima You looked helpless.

"He was originally a wanted criminal by the imperial court, if you show up at this time, if you are discovered, you will first investigate your harboring crime!"

"What are you worried about? Afraid that my father-in-law will have three longs and two shorts in the future, and he will not be able to explain to his wife? Sima You actually looked joking.

"Sima You, I hope you still remember how tragic the political turmoil was six years ago."

"Of course I remember, it is precisely because I remember that I want to uproot Xue Yangzhi and his surroundings, and leave no one behind!" Sima You's words changed.

Sima Xu's young man saw Sima Youyi's righteous expression, and suddenly reminded him of the unjust case six years ago, "I have heard a little about the Tibetan slave law, you can tell me in detail what the problem is, maybe we have the same goal." ”

Sima You squinted at him for a while, deliberately frowned, and said, "Actually, the ultimate goal may not be the same, but the short-term goal must be the same." It is said that although it was Shen Yong who strongly advocated the formulation of Tibetan slave laws, Yang Hui, who was the Zhongshu Order, supported it, otherwise it would be impossible to put it into practice, and it is rumored that he once wanted to promote Shen Yong to the governor of Zhongshu Province from the three ranks, but the officials above the three grades needed to be approved by the Son of Heaven. ”

Sima Xu came to be interested.

"It's impossible to send a letter to Shen Yong at present, so is it okay for you to be a dear?"

He said something coldly, Sima Xunian was about to concentrate on listening to history, and suddenly became angry, "Of course!" Shen Jiyue, I must do it! ”

Sima You was taken aback, "Okay, good, no one dares to rob you...... Uh, keep telling you about the slave law......"

Sima Xunian snorted coldly.

"The people of my Dacheng country, in addition to criminals, belong to the nine classes of 'officials, soldiers, officials, civilians, farmers, merchants, musicians, and slaves'.

"I know that the Joy and Slave have been sold, and that it is reasonable for the Lord's family to pay the population tax."

"Of course. At the beginning of the founding of the country, the people's livelihood withered, the population was very small, the household registration management was also very strict, and the collection of population tax was relatively controllable. However, with the passage of peace, the population has become denser and denser, and the household registration management has gradually failed, and a large number of people who have lost their land and peasants, civilians who have lost their livelihood, and even dilapidated officials, soldiers, officials, merchants, etc., have sold themselves or been sold into slavery, but these people have disappeared in the household registration documents. ”

"Gone?"

"Yes, I bought out their wealthy families, and I didn't go to the yamen to change the identity of these people, and of course, they didn't include them in their own household registration, so the records of these people in the yamen are still the original identities and original hometowns, but they can't find people, and naturally, they can't collect taxes."

"Doesn't the yamen check and count the population every year?"

"It has long been abandoned, and besides, such a large number of population changes cannot be controlled at all."

"Therefore, the slave law is to find out these hidden people......"

"That's right, comprehensively investigate the folk musicians and slaves, and reflect them on the household registration documents of the yamen, so that you can receive taxes, continue to receive taxes, and only then can the treasury have a stable source of finance."

"It's really a good thing for the imperial court."

"The laws of Tibetan slaves are very strict, first give three months, take the initiative to declare the number of people in the household, update the household registration documents, three months later, the imperial court began to investigate, found that the omission, not reported, each person less, fined 100 taels, less than ten people, regarded as disobedience and disobedience, the light one heavy fine, the heavy one to go to prison."

After listening to Sima You's narration, Sima Xunian pondered for a while, and finally stood up, paced with his hands behind his back, and said, "If the laws and regulations of Tibetan slaves are enforced, it will inevitably hit the interests of the wealthy and bigwigs." According to the laws of our dynasty, in order to limit the population to become private property, the slave population tax is different from that of other ordinary people, and it is a progressive tax system, with less than 100 people no different from ordinary people, 10 taels for men and 8 taels for women, but it is doubled for those over 100, and doubled for those over 300. There are dozens of servants in the middle family, hundreds of people in the upper family, and if it is a wealthy family, there are hundreds or thousands, and the tax alone is unbearable. ”

Sima You clapped his hands and smiled, "Lord Sima is really smart, what you are talking about is another effect of the Tibetan slave law, which is to release the redundant population." ”

"What does that mean?"

"In Yangzhou alone, maritime trade and handicrafts are very prosperous, but whether it is business, transportation, or manual work, a large number of personnel are needed, and a large number of slaves are taken by wealthy families as private property, which makes the already scarce manpower even more scarce. Moreover, the wealthy families work with private slaves, and the cost is very low, which forms a great cost advantage for their peers, forcing many small merchants to go bankrupt and be annexed. As mergers become more and more intense, the big ones are too big, and the weak ones are more than the weak, and the entire industry will be completely controlled by a small number of people. ”

"You mean, Xue Yang and the like?" Sima Xunian's expression was a little serious.

Sima You looked at him and snorted coldly, "You only know one Xue Yang, but you don't know that there are dozens of 'Xue Yang' in Yangzhou alone!" The slavery law was to force the wealthy and even the middle families to free the redundant slaves. After they were freed, they had to pay their own population taxes, but their trade and handicrafts were so prosperous that they would not worry about making a living. If the wealthy man feels that he has enough money to continue to support them, then he has to pay taxes in full. ”

Sima Xunian sneered again, "So this law, the imperial court will benefit no matter what, because no matter who pays the tax, the money will always go into the pockets of the imperial court." However, once the slaves regain their freedom, there will be more people who can be hired by small and medium-sized merchants, so they are also the beneficiaries, and the only ones who cannot benefit are the wealthy families...... Moreover, even if the wealthy families are willing to pay taxes to support them, they must be registered, and their life and death will be monitored by the government, and then these big slave owners will not be free. "Sima Xunian has been fighting for many years, and he has seen a lot of tragic incidents of slaves being humiliated and killed by their masters, especially those who are not in the household register, and no one knows whether they are alive or dead.

That's right, Shen Yong had been a magistrate in Yangzhou for ten years, and he understood the scourge of Tibetan slavery and the benefits of freeing the population, so he pushed for this law. But as soon as the law came out, it was strongly resisted by these people. ”