Chai Rong did not become His Highness as Xu Xian had expected. Guo Wei named him the governor of Chanzhou, the governor of the Zhenning army, the imperial tutor of the school, the false title of Ping Zhangshi under Zhongshu sect, and the title of Marquis of Taiyuan County.

title.

In Guo Wei's mind, perhaps Chai Rong has not yet been confirmed as his heir. After all, in addition to Chai Rong, his adopted son, he also has nephew Li Chongjin and son-in-law Zhang Yongde.

However, judging from the current positions of the three of them, Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde, who were well known to their predecessors in the palace, were far less valued by Guo Wei than Chai Rong, the leader of the Henan clan who had left the town.

After taking care of the funeral at home, Chai Rong set off for the north, accompanied by Zhao Kuangyin, the new deputy commander of Huazhou. I heard that Zhao Kuangyin came here on his own initiative.

A small deputy commander, who does not seem to have the majesty of the leader of the east and west squad in front of the palace, has to go all the way to Chanzhou to be separated from his family. It seems that the gain outweighs the gain. Everyone else felt sorry for Zhao Kuangyin, but Xu Xian secretly admired Lao Zhao's

vision.

Outside Caomen, Hong Baoer and Zhao Ningxiu saw off Zhao Kuangyin. Hong Baoer bowed and said, "I wish my brother a safe journey and a speedy return."

Zhao Ningxiu stuffed a big bundle into Lao Zhao's arms, "These are newly made clothes for the four seasons. Brother, please remember to add or remove them in time to avoid getting sick. My sister-in-law is pregnant and my mother and I will take care of it. Just don't worry." She said and took out the clothes.

A big paper bag, "This is Changlelou's stinky tofu, save it for the road."

Zhao Kuangyin took it out and took a bite in his mouth, chewing it. "It's still hot, but it's a pity that we can't eat it when we get to Chanzhou. Thank you Brother Xian for frying such a big bag for me so early in the morning and going out of the city to deliver it in person."

I."

"Your sister gave me a hundred cents just to let you eat a pot of hot stinky tofu. How could I not fulfill the love between brother and sister? Besides, I'm not here to give you a gift today. My business partner is also today.

Let’s go, I’m here to see him off.”

"No matter who you give it to, you are here to give it to me anyway when I run into a lunch box! Hehe... I won't tell you more, I can't keep your husband waiting any longer."

Chai Rong had already dismounted and said, "It is enviable to have relatives and friends in Yuen Long to see you off. You can just talk and finish eating before leaving."

Zhao Kuangyin took two bunches of stinky tofu and gave them to Chai Rong, "Your Majesty, try it. This is called stinky tofu. It smells bad but tastes delicious."

Zhao Kuangyin did not call him the Marquis of Chai Rong, simply because these days, no matter what the Duke, the Marquis or the Prince is, they are not as majestic as the command to come.

Chai Rong took it and bit into a piece of stinky tofu, "I have never seen such food before when I traveled all over the country to do business. It really has a unique flavor."

"Brothers, please try it!" Zhao Kuangyin distributed the remaining stinky tofu to everyone, "I don't know, but this stinky tofu is delicious when dipped in Changlelou's secret cornel sauce."

"Then there is a chance that Yuen Long will take so-and-so to try it!" Chai Rong threw away the bamboo stick in his hand and looked at Xu Xian, "Are you Xu Xian? So-and-so met you in Liuhe Bay, and you are now waiting in front of the palace?"

Xu Xian cupped his hands and said, "I have met your father! I have been favored by the emperor, and I am now in charge of taking care of A Bao in front of the palace."

"Well, the emperor likes your stupid pig very much. With him, the emperor can always laugh a few more times every day. Just work hard and the emperor will not treat you badly."

"Don't worry, sir, I will take good care of the stupid pig!"

As he was talking, he saw Guo Ji coming out of the city gate with a few men, followed closely by two tough-looking men. One was blind and had his fingers broken, and the other was missing an arm.

The two were retired brothers from Lao Zhang's army. Lao Zhang recruited them to serve as Guo Ji's followers. In fact, monitoring him to prevent him from running away with money was completely unnecessary in Xu Xian's opinion.

Xu Xian stepped forward to greet him and said, "Brother Guo, you are finally here. I will be on duty in the palace a little later."

Guo Ji smiled bitterly and said: "When I went to Jiangling, I thought I would leave the city through the south gate, but these two had to let us see you together before we left. We walked around the city before we found you."

"It turns out that your tea comes from Jiangling. I thought it came from Jiangnan. Jiangling is good. The merchants in Jiangnan are too smart to learn our business." Xu Xian said to the two veterans again: "

Uncle Chen, Uncle Deng, please pay more attention to shopkeeper Guo on the way and listen to his instructions in everything."

"Don't worry, Young Master! If he takes the money and runs away, I'll twist his head off immediately."

Guo Ji winced and smiled bitterly: "Guo has a family and a family in Bianliang, so where can he go? Brother Xu, just don't worry."

Chai Rong suddenly came up and looked at Guo Jida: "Are you brother Qingrui? I haven't seen you for many years and I almost didn't recognize you."

Guo Ji was startled and then excitedly grabbed Chai Rong's hand, "It's Brother Fu Ying! Aren't you from Shanxi? Why are you here in Bianliang? Are you here to do business?"

He almost forgot that Chai Rong was also a tea seller in the past. Seeing the passionate love between the two of them, Xu Xian felt that he had chosen the most inappropriate partner since he was the older of the two.

Guo Wei was a follower of advice. Ever since he listened to Feng Dao's advice, he had been thinking about how to reduce taxes for the people. The books on his desk were piled as high as a hill and he didn't bother to read them. He asked people to list the people's taxes and various methods of expropriation.

The items were listed, and he was frightened when he looked at the huge piece of paper filled with writing.

"It seems that I only scratched the surface of civil affairs in the past. I never thought that the burden on the people would be so heavy. Didn't it mean that Shi Jingtang had already been exempted from many taxes and servitudes when he was in power?"

Sitting under him holding a tea bowl was a middle-aged civil servant about forty years old, with a dark face, a goatee, and a smiling appearance. This man was named Wei Renpu, who was born as a small official. When the war between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Khitan broke out,

At that time, I met Guo Wei in Hebei.

Guo Wei was good at recruiting talents. When he saw that Wei Renpu was a talented person, he quickly took him under his wing and took him with him wherever he went. He was regarded as Guo Wei's most important confidant.

When Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, he naturally followed suit and became the Vice Minister of Zhongshu and the Privy Councilor. Although he was not the eldest among the civil servants, he was certainly the most trusted by Guo Wei.

"Shi Jingtang exempted one, Shi Chonggui added ten, and even sent people directly to rob people's homes. When the Liu family and his son were in power, the court also established many new carving methods, such as the cowhide tax, which was really harsh."

"It is harsh to be beheaded if you hide even an inch, but leather is also indispensable for making armor. As for how to modify it, you should consider it carefully before submitting it."

"Your Majesty has thought carefully. I am a humble minister who was born in poverty and knows the hardships of the people. To reduce the burden on the people should not damage the vitality of the imperial court and cannot be too hasty."

"Yeah!" Guo Wei nodded, "Take a look!"

As soon as he lowered his head, he saw a shadow sweeping across the door. When he looked up, he saw a figure lingering outside the door, playing with the brilliant sunlight that shone into the room.

"What's wrong with this bastard?" Guo Wei lowered his head again and pointed at the piece of paper, "What is this cow rental? The government rents cows to the common people. Where did they get so many cows?"

Wei Renpu smiled: "I did rent it, but it was rented during the Puppet Liang Dynasty. Zhu Quanzhong once led an army to conquer Yang Xingmi and robbed hundreds of thousands of cattle. They distributed them all to the farmers and only collected a small amount of cattle rent every year."

Just because Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty and established itself, the next four generations did not recognize the legitimacy of Zhu Liang's regime, and they were all called Pseudo Liang. In addition, Zhu Wen killed Confucian scholars and removed their ashes and other scandals. His reputation at that time was worse than

Shi Jingtang still smells bad.

Guo Wei laughed and said: "I can't believe it, I can't believe that Zhu Quanzhong did such a thing. Could it be that the Tang, Jin, and Han dynasties still collected the cattle rent? This is not their cattle, and the bones of the cattle should have rotted long ago."

Alright."

Wei Renpu said with a smile: "No, the cattle rent has been paid to this day. People who rented cattle back then probably never imagined that they would have to pay rent for cattle that have been dead for many years in the rest of their lives."

"It was originally a good thing but turned out to be a bad thing. It's also because Zhu Quanzhong was stingy. If he gave it directly to the people, it would never happen. As for the remaining bastard emperors, they are worse than Zhu Quanzhong. Isn't it said that Shi Jingtang was very considerate of the people? How could he not do it?

Are you exempted?"

"I don't know about this Weichen. Maybe because cattle rent is not available in every household, I didn't pay attention."

"Since they can't avoid it, I will exempt it!" Guo Wei wiped out the line on the paper with a stroke of his pen.

"Your Majesty is wise, the people will surely remember your kindness."

"I have known you since we were young. Don't flatter me like others do. You must treat me with sincerity. Reducing your tax is not something that can be done overnight. Let's stop here today. I want to read the memorial and you will go to work."

Wei Renpu bowed to leave, and Guo Wei took a memorial and looked through it, but there was always a shadow dangling on the paper, which made him dizzy and angry.

He slapped the table and shouted: "Xu Xian, come here!"

Xu Xian heard the sound and bowed in, "Your Majesty, what are your orders? But do you want to see A Bao? He just fell asleep."

"It has nothing to do with you idiot. I asked you why you were wandering around outside. It made me dizzy."

Xu Xian was worried that two tea traders, Chai Rong and Guo Ji, would join forces to rob him of his business. He was thinking of countermeasures to prepare for emergencies. He didn't know where Guo Wei's bad luck was, so he could only say: "The villain was not aware of it for a moment."

I unintentionally disturbed Your Majesty, please punish me!"

"Go outside and guard the door with Old Mutou and the others. Old Mutou is keeping an eye on me. If he dares to move, I'll whip him. Why don't you go quickly and do nothing?"

Sure enough, the emperor's companion is like a tiger, the emperor's pillow... No, it's because the people around him are not so easy to be with. Xu Xian had no choice but to bow and accept the promise and retreat. Old Mu Tou was already waiting for him with a whip, "Hey

...Boy, you have to stand firm!"

Guo Wei immersed himself in reading the memorial for more than half an hour before he got up. He looked up and saw Old Mutou sneaking in, as if he was afraid of disturbing anything. If he didn't have absolute trust in Old Mutou, he would have planned to assassinate him.

"Old Mutou, what are you doing?"

Old Mu Tou walked up to Guo Wei and said softly: "Your Majesty, there is something strange outside!"

"What's weird?"

"Your Majesty, just come and take a look and you will know!" Old Mu Tou led Guo Wei to the window and pointed at Xu Xian outside, "Your Majesty, look!"

Guo Wei looked at Xu Xian who was standing outside the corridor like a javelin, and laughed and said: "Standing there is really weird!"

"Your Majesty, this is not strange. What is strange is that he has been standing like this for almost an hour without moving. I have been holding my whip for a long time and I can't draw it."

Guo Wei was slightly startled and said, "What do you mean you said you didn't move?"

"He didn't move at all. If his eyelids hadn't blinked from time to time, I would have thought he had died standing there."

Guo Wei frowned and said: "Impossible, I will get cramps if I stand like this for an hour."

"How can I lie to you? I've already noticed that this kid doesn't like me and I want to deal with him, but I can't do anything if he doesn't move. Just now a bee flew out of the flower bed and almost landed on his face, but he didn't seem to see it."

Guo Wei looked at the several guards in the corridor who were staggering around, picking their teeth and picking their feet, scratching their heads and picking their noses, and some were dozing off against the pillars of the corridor. They were as different as clouds and mud.

Guo Wei turned his head and said softly to Old Mutou: "Go behind him and scare him!"

Old Mu Tou responded quietly and walked out of the corridor. When he got behind Xu Xian, he shouted, "There is an assassin!"

Xu Xian's body trembled slightly, but he didn't make any move. However, the guards in the corridor drew their swords and guns and shouted, "Boss Mu, where is the assassin?"

Unexpectedly, Old Mutou kicked each of them angrily, "You don't have any determination at all. It's a good thing you are veterans in the army."

Old Mu returned to the back room and saw that the joking look on Guo Wei's face had disappeared, "Just stare and see how long he can last."

After finishing lunch, Guo Wei took another look at the window and saw that Xu Xian was still standing there upright. It had been two hours, and his calves were not shaking yet.

He himself was impatient and said to Old Mutou: "Call him over!"
To be continued...