When Meng Wanning and Zhu Houzhao finished greeting, Jiang Ning pulled the latter aside and whispered:

"Your Majesty, I heard that Gonggong Zhang and Gonggong Liu had a quarrel, what happened?"

Zhu Houzhao said impatiently:

"These two idiots really quarreled because of a little sesame big or small thing, and they fought. I was not interested in persuasion, so I asked you to mediate with them.

I have ordered someone to set up a table and a banquet in the side hall, and you should have a drink with them, and persuade them by the way. ”

Jiang Ning answered yes and hurried to the side hall.

As soon as he pushed open the palace door and walked into the hall, he saw Zhang Yong and Liu Jin sitting far away from each other, each hugging their chests and waists, not saying a word, and ignoring anyone.

"Ah, Lord Jiang is here?"

Liu Jin put away his solemn look, put on a smile, and walked up with a smile:

"Our family is bored alone in this hall, but it can be regarded as waiting for Master Jiang.

Come on, come on, take a seat, and we're going to have a drink today. ”

Zhang Yong heard Liu Jin's words and directly lost himself, so angry that his nose was crooked, and he got up angrily and said:

"Liu Jin, now that Lord Jiang is here, you have the ability to tell the truth about things, and see which side Lord Jiang will stand on!"

After Jiang Ning sat down, he poured a glass of wine and said curiously: "Dare to ask the two fathers-in-law, what is going on?" ”

Zhang Yong showed indignation and told the story with tears in his eyes.

Finally, the sob:

"Lord Jiang, you are commenting, is it easy for our family to be the commander of these twelve regiments and battalions.

On weekdays, the soldiers secretly talked about and scorned them behind their backs, but our family did not want to deal with them, but tried their best to ask for money.

But this Liu Jin didn't understand the suffering of our family, so he still pushed back on the salary, refused to distribute it, and even asked our family to ask the adults to withdraw it.

You say, how can our family not be angry! ”

Liu Jin clenched his teeth and said hatefully:

"How many times have I told you, since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the construction of the imperial mausoleum, the military expenses of the Tatars, and the construction of the leopard house are not large expenditures.

By the way, there is also the Henan flood, not to mention the disaster relief, and the tax has been directly reduced for several years.

Now it's the opening of the sea in the south of the Yangtze River, and the grassland is in the market, and a child hasn't entered the account yet, and countless silver taels have been spent!

Where do you want our family to cut out the money for you?! ”

Zhang Yong sneered: "It's not easy, but if you are less greedy, you will have the salary and silver of the million-strong army!" ”

"Shut up, you dare to slander our family!"

Liu Jin's old face was red, and he directly picked up the wine glass and smashed it.

Zhang Yong flashed easily and shouted coldly:

"Our family doesn't care about so much, today in front of Lord Jiang, you give our family a word, when will the salary be allocated?"

Liu Jin smiled coldly and said:

"We won't hide it from you, the silver taels collected by the tax supervision departments in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and other places have been directly transferred to Jinling Shipyard, and they can't get a penny.

So when the salary will be paid, we don't know. ”

"Bastard! Master Jiang is here, you still dare to deceive!

Our family has already found out that the tax money of the two lakes is already on the way, and it will arrive in Beijing in three days at the latest.

You can't get any money?! ”

The more Zhang Yong spoke, the more angry he became, and he directly lifted the table.

Dishes and drinks spilled all over the floor, and plates shattered into pieces, making a crackling sound.

Jiang Ning was still holding a wine glass in his hand, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.

It's a good fight!

He wasn't interested in really persuading these two people.

"Okay, you Zhang Yong, you dare to ruin the banquet carefully prepared by Your Majesty, and our family wants to ask Your Majesty for a copy!"

"Join me? We'll beat you up first! ”

Zhang Yong rushed forward quickly and punched Liu Jin's eyes twice.

"You shameless man, you dare to sneak attack our house!"

Not to be outdone, Liu Jin directly bent down and pushed over with his body.

The two scuffled again.

Jiang Ning hurriedly got up and kept chanting:

"Two fathers-in-law, don't fight, don't fight......"

In a garden where fierce birds and beasts of prey are raised.

Zhu Houzhao and Meng Wanning were roasting the meat while throwing the raw meat into the cage for the tiger and leopard to snatch.

"Xiao Huang, let's roast this meat and eat it, won't Your Majesty blame you?"

Meng Wanning glanced at the tiger and leopard who opened her mouth of blood, and shrank down in fear.

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly blocked her sight, handed over a plate of roast with a smile, and said:

"Out of the way, the leopard house feeds these many beasts every day, and prepares a lot of raw meat.

Occasionally, I secretly got some to eat for myself, and His Majesty also turned a blind eye.

Many of the palace maids and eunuchs here did this. ”

Meng Wanning relieved her heart and ate the barbecue with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao saw that she was eating happily, and he was extremely happy in his heart, squatting down, supporting his side face with one hand, and looking at her motionlessly.

"What do you think I have done? You can eat it too. ”

Meng Wanning rolled her eyes in disgust.

"You eat, you eat, Xiao Huang is not hungry."

At this time, Zhu Houzhao caught a glimpse of a small yellow door running over in a hurry.

He hurriedly dodged over and whispered, "What's wrong?" Helter-skelter? ”

"Your Majesty, it's not good......"

After listening to Xiao Huangmen's story, Zhu Houzhao showed anger in his eyes, turned to Meng Wanning and said:

"Miss Wanning, I have some official business to do here, I'll be back soon, you can play by yourself for a while.

If there is anything missing, tell the palace maids directly. ”

"Well, there you go."

After Zhu Houzhao disappeared from view, Xirong and Zhou Ruo, who had been standing on the side before, suddenly walked in front of Meng Wanning.

"Miss Wanning, is this leopard room your interest?"

Meng Wanning shook her head and said, "Although the scenery is beautiful, there are mostly fierce beasts, and it will be boring to watch it for a long time." ”

Zhou Ruo looked at Xi Rong and gestured with his eyes.

Xi Rong understood, and hurriedly opened the palace maids and eunuchs who were waiting on the side for various reasons.

"It's not a secret, before the two sisters entered the palace, they were performing on the rivers and lakes, and they knew some fun tricks.

I wonder if Miss Wanning is interested in playing together and relieving boredom? ”

"Okay, what's going on?"

Meng Wanning responded with a smile.

Xi Rong smiled, took out the Maitreya Buddha statue in his arms, pinched the rope and began to shake slightly.

"Miss Wanning, as long as you keep your eyes on it, don't take it off."

Meng Wanning bowed slightly, and her beautiful eyes gradually dimmed.

In the side hall.

As soon as Zhu Houzhao entered the door, he saw Zhang Yong and the two scuffling, and Jiang Ning couldn't persuade the chaotic scene.

He immediately caught fire and grabbed a vase from the side and smashed it down.

The shrill voice quickly brought the two of them back to their senses, and they looked at each other.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yong and Liu Jin hurriedly knelt on the ground and bowed.

"Presumptuous! What presumptuous! ”

I kindly found Jiang Shiyu to make peace with you, but I didn't expect you to get even worse!

That's great! ”

"Your Majesty is angry!"

The two fathers-in-law knelt on the ground and shivered, unable to care about the pain in their bodies.

"Humph!"

Zhu Houzhao snorted heavily, walked up to Jiang Ning and said:

"Jiang Shiyu, tell me, what's going on?"

Jiang Ning did not exaggerate, nor did he deliberately cover it up, but told it truthfully.

After all, military pay is a very important state matter, and it must not be careless.

You must know that the Ming Dynasty will die because it will not be able to pay the silver.

Otherwise, the Ming soldiers would not have lost their morale and were beaten so badly by thieves and wild boar skins.

After speaking, Jiang Ning suggested:

"Your Majesty, there are many affairs in the country this year, and there is indeed a large amount of silver taels to be spent.

And the benefits will need to wait for a year, and it is reasonable to be stretched.

Otherwise, the minister was willing to transfer a part of the rebate to the nobles of Beijing from the inner factory as the military salary of the twelve regiments and battalions.

It is considered to be loaned to Father-in-law Liu, and when Father-in-law Liu has plenty of money, it is not too late to return it.

And the nobles have cooperated with the inner factory for a long time, and they will not care about this occasional borrowing. ”

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, he patted Jiang Ning's shoulder with emotion: "Jiang Shiyu, I have you to worry about everything." ”

As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Yong and the others and shouted, "You two, don't you come over and thank Jiang Shiyu!" ”

"Yes, yes."

Zhang Yong hurriedly responded, bowing to Jiang Ning again and again: "Lord Jiang's kindness, our family is unforgettable." ”

"Grandpa Zhang doesn't have to be like this."

Zhang Yong was grateful, sobbed for a while, ignored Liu Jin, and left directly.

Seeing this, Liu Jin's eyes flashed with anger.

Then he pretended to thank Jiang Ning a few words, and also walked out of the side hall.

Zhu Houzhao said unhappily: "It's rare for me to invite Miss Wanning to the leopard room, but I was interrupted by these two bastards."

Jiang Shiyu, you don't know how much fun Miss Wanning and I had just now. ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, Wanning likes you, and the ministers can see it at home.

It's just that I'm afraid that she will be straightforward and lively, and if she enters the palace in the future, she may not be tolerated by those concubines. ”

Zhu Houzhao patted his chest and said:

"Jiang Shiyu, don't worry, with me for a day, I will never let her be bullied a little.

In the future, I will also abolish the queen and let Miss Wanning sit as the lord of the six palaces! ”

"Your Majesty, no!"

Jiang Ning hurriedly dissuaded:

"The queen is virtuous and virtuous, and she keeps the harem in good order, which is praised by others.

If His Majesty really has this idea, not to mention that the ministers of the foreign court will jointly oppose it, even the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager will not agree. ”

If he could, of course he hoped that Wanning could become the queen.

But this is not feasible now, and for a long time to come.

At least until he really overwhelms the court.