Are you full, sweetie?

When she woke up the next morning, Qiu Xin took Yun Ze to the garden.

Qiu Xin said to Yun Ze with a mysterious face: "Young Master Yun, today our Highness will show you something you have never seen before."

Unknown, Yunze went in: "What?"

Qiu Xin pouted.

After a while, Yunze saw a snow-white baby elephant coming from behind the rockery led by a guard.

Qiu Xin said: "My lord, have you ever seen it? Many people in Mingdu have never heard or seen it. This is a tribute from the southwest."

Yunze had heard of paying tribute to tea, melons and fruits, and this was the first time he saw an elephant paying tribute.

Yunze was often taken to the zoo by his parents when he was a child. He has seen many things, including elephants.But it was the first time he had seen a white elephant. This elephant looked very clean, obediently following behind the guards, and did not trample on the nearby trees.

The guard brought the little elephant in front of Yunze: "Young Master Yun, it won't hurt anyone. If you like it, His Highness will give it to you."

Yunze stroked the little elephant's head.

Yunze received many gifts when he was a child, but this was the first time he was given a baby elephant.When he was at home, Yunze's parents would never allow him to raise an elephant, and the law also did not allow private elephant raising.

The little elephant let Yunze caress meekly, and didn't hit Yunze with its trunk.

Yunze was dubious: "Is it really for me?"

The guard nodded: "Young master can ride it to play in the garden. His Highness said that he is busy with work and has no time to accompany you, so he has to find you something fun."

Yunze took a handful of peanuts from the basket carried by the guard and fed them to the elephant. Although the elephant looked big, Yunze was worried that it would not grow taller: "I don't want to ride."

After the elephant ate up all the peanuts, Yunze fed it many berries: "Where do you put it?"

"It's on the southwest side of the garden. It's kept together with dogs and horses. There are servants who will wash and feed it." The guard said, "Your Highness is going to Wanjing Garden in a few days. If you like it, my lord, we can bring it together." go."

Yunze touched the little elephant's nose tentatively, and the little elephant raised its nose and put it on Yunze's hand.

Zhong Xing came back very late yesterday, Yunze didn't know when he came back, Zhong Xing was not in the mansion early this morning, he was really busy usually.

Yunze played with the little elephant all morning. The weather has become warmer and warmer these days. Yunze was sweating all over. He took a bath and changed clothes in the afternoon, lying on the couch while writing articles and eating the hawthorn pancakes newly made by the cook.

Qiu Xin and the others brought the wedding dress, but Yunze didn't have time to look at it, so he let them put it aside.

After a long time, it was finally finished, and I just waited for Xu Jing to come back to check his homework for today.

After playing too tired in the morning, Yunze took a pillow and lay down on it after writing. He had ink on his wrist, and because he was too lazy to wash it off, the ink slowly dried on his skin.

After an unknown amount of time, Yunze felt the cool wind blowing outside the window chilling his body. While half awake and half asleep, he wanted to touch a quilt to cover his body, but he touched a piece of icy corner of his clothes.

Yun Ze slowly opened his eyes: "Jun Wang."

Zhong Xing held the article that Yunze had written before taking a nap in his hand: "It's well written."

Yunze wrote about the ever-changing taxation system since the founding of the Qi Dynasty, and analyzed the pros and cons of the relevant systems at each stage.

When the Qi Dynasty was first established, the emperor was clear and bright, and the emperor himself was thrifty and thrifty. He advocated doing nothing and governing lightly and lightly paying taxes. After recuperating for many years, the Qi Dynasty finally ushered in a prosperous age.Subsequent emperors became more and more extravagant, corruption among officials emerged in an endless stream, and miscellaneous taxes increased more and more, and the people suffered unspeakably.

Yunze touched the teacup, he got up and took a sip of tea: "What do you think the king of the county is?"

"You want to simplify exorbitant taxes, reduce the burden on ordinary people, supervise the officials who collect taxes, and make them less corrupt. This idea is really good." Zhong Xing rubbed Yunze's head, "However, it only treats the symptoms but not the root cause , can only be relieved for a while, and will return to its original state after a long time."

In addition to land tax, business tax, etc., Yunze thinks that some taxes are completely unnecessary, such as bridge tolls for crossing a bridge, city tolls for entering the city, marriage tax for marriages, and the need to raise a cow at home. To pay taxes... all kinds of accumulation together, how do people live.

Moreover, many messy local tax revenues cannot go to the national treasury, but to the hands of local officials who cleverly set up taxes to collect taxes.

The Weizhou refugees rebelled, not because they were naturally troublemakers, but because they couldn't survive anymore. The first two emperors caused great harm to the country and finally suffered backlash.

Therefore, Yunze wants to simplify the types of tax collection and supervise officials, and has proposed many methods in this regard.

After all, he didn't enter the court, let alone go out to learn about the situation in various places, so many ideas seemed to Zhong Xing to be just theory and could not be implemented at all.

He held Yunze's hand and analyzed the unreasonable points one by one.

Yun Ze said: "The king of the county really has a long-term view. I don't have a deep understanding of the situation of the Qi Dynasty. I didn't think so complicated at all. I can't think of a better one now."

Zhong Xing noticed that Yunze's hands were a bit cold, so he took off his coat and covered Yunze: "Don't worry about this, I will handle everything, and I will teach you what you don't know."

Zhong Xing is the most reliable and patient man Yunze has ever met in this place.

Yunze said: "I have already seen the baby elephant sent by the king of the county. Since it was a tribute sent to the palace by the southwest, why did it fall into the hands of the king of the county?"

"It was paid by Yue King Meng Biao." Zhong Xingdao, "Meng Biao is the leader of the Yue Yan tribe. He is young and ambitious. He has conquered all the tribes around the southwest and is eyeing the land of the Central Plains. Last night, the regent accepted him. I saw this little elephant is beautiful, let you play with it."

It's really rare, and most people really can't think of giving someone a baby elephant.

Yun Ze turned around: "Jun Wang, can your salary afford so many things? Most of your property should be used to decorate this house, right?"

There are many maids and guards in the mansion, as well as many cooks, and they live in such a big house. Yunze saw that his mansion covers about [-] or [-] mu of land, and there is another mansion in another place. They have to pay, and now they have to raise a baby elephant that eats a lot, Yunze is worried that Zhong Xing's purse won't be able to support him.

Zhong Xing's personal wealth is several times more than that in the state treasury, and it is not uncommon to say that wealth is incomparable to a country.

Under the rule of several Liao kings, the people of Liaozhou were prosperous, and the royal family of Liaozhou was richer than other royal families. Zhong Xing robbed so much land from Beidi and got countless rare treasures.

He has talented people under him, and most of them come for his wealth and power.

This was the first time that Zhong Xing was questioned about his family background.

Zhong Xing said: "It's okay, there are some leftovers."

Yunze thought about it carefully: "I still have the 5 taels of silver you gave me here. I spent a few thousand taels to open a pharmacy earlier, and the pharmacy can make a profit of tens of taels of silver every month. If the king of the county doesn't have enough money one day , I will share some of the 5 taels of silver with you."

These banknotes were originally given to him by Zhong Xing, even though Zhong Xing borrowed the name of Mrs. Wang, Yun Ze thought that Zhong Xing had a share.

Although Yunze has had a hard time for a long time, he himself is not so attached to things outside of him. He has always felt that everything is enough to use, and there is no need to be too full.

Zhong Xing wrapped Yunze in his own clothes and rolled it up: "Put away your pocket money yourself, and you can find me for anything you want. It's not enough to support other people, but it's more than enough to support you."

Yun Ze rested on Zhong Xing's lap.

Zhong Xing caressed Yunze's thin back with one hand. Yunze often stroked cats. He never expected that people would be so comfortable being gently rubbed. Zhong Xing's strength was neither light nor heavy. He leaned deeper, buried his face in Zhong Xing's waist and fell asleep.

When Xu Jing came in, he saw Yunze sleeping in Zhong Xing's arms, so he leaned into Zhong Xing's ear and whispered: "Your Highness, King Yue has brought someone to see you."

Zhong Xing didn't have much affection for Meng Biao.

Meng Biao is like a replica of Zhong Xing, the situation of the two is too similar, but one is in the south and the other is in the north.

Zhong Xing knew that Meng Biao was not an easy person to dismiss. Meng Biao was in his prime of life eyeing the Central Plains covetously, and giving him the southwest corner would definitely not satisfy his appetite.

Besides—Zhong Ji was willing to carve up part of the land of the Qi Dynasty to Meng Biao, but Zhong Xing was not.

Zhong Xing has been domineering since childhood, and has never been weak to others.

Zhong Xing made a gesture.

Xu Jing instantly understood what Zhong Xing meant.

After he went out, he said to Meng Biao: "My Highness is not at home today, so I won't keep King Yue."

Sometimes Meng Biao couldn't understand the overtones of these old foxes in Mingdu, so he hired a counselor from the Central Plains.The counselor's name was Qiu Wei, and Qiu Wei leaned close to Meng Biao's ear and whispered: "King Liao doesn't want to see you, this is an excuse to refuse."

Meng Biao snorted coldly and said directly: "Why don't you want to see me when you are in the mansion?"

He stared, and the people from the Yueyan tribe behind him immediately screamed strangely in the palace.

Xu Jing's face darkened, and the guards behind him took a step forward.

Qiu Wei hurriedly said to Meng Biao: "You can't play wild with him, Your Majesty, you can't play wild with him."

Meng Biao said: "Could it be that King Liao despises my humble gift today? Let go of these things first, and I will bring a thicker gift to see King Liao tomorrow."

Xu Jing's face softened a lot: "Please."

After going out, Meng Biao said to Qiu Wei: "From the emperor to the ministers, everyone is polite to me, only King Liao doesn't know how to treat guests, and he doesn't even let me see him face to face."

Qiu Wei said: "He has always been like this. He doesn't believe that the king went to any wine shop in Mingdu for an afternoon, and he could hear many rumors about King Liao. His brutal reputation spread throughout the Qi dynasty."

Meng Biao said, "Is he better than me? I'll go and hear."

After Meng Biao left, Xu Jing sent the gift presented by the other party to Zhong Xing.

The jungle in the southwest is dense and there are many wild animals. Among the gifts presented by Meng Biao, there are many animal skins, animal bones, and animal teeth. Aside: "What's in this box?"

Xu Jing opened the box.

Meng Biao's tribe had trade relations with places farther south, and the spices contained in it included dipteroin, agarwood, benzoin, etc., all of which were of the highest quality, and were more expensive than gold in the Qi dynasty.

The upper layer of another box is full of south beads, and the lower layer is full of dazzling jewels.

Xu Jingdao: "There is an eunuch in the palace who has overheard the conversation between the emperor and Princess Huaishu. Princess Huaishu wants to give Princess Yuanxiang to Yue Wang, so that Yue Wang can form an alliance with them."

Zhong Xing said casually: "Mr. Xu, what do you think?"

Xu Jingdao: "Meng Biao is majestic, and his ambition is not small. I heard that he has inquired about the topography of various places along the way. Small foreign countries come to our Central Plains to pay tribute. Generally, the tribute items are not too precious, and we want our country to give back more. "

"Right now, Meng Biao has brought beauties and gold to the Qi Dynasty. It can be seen that he is generous and doesn't value property. He even treats property as dung. Then what he wants must be the land of the Qi Dynasty."

Zhong Xing took a pearl, closed his palms, and when he opened them again, there was a piece of powder on his hands.

"The emperor thinks that a woman can satisfy King Yue's appetite, it's ridiculous," Zhong Xing sneered, "Beauty can only satisfy the appetite of a waste like him."

Internal and external troubles, as well as idiots like Princess Huai Shu and the emperor who couldn't see the situation clearly, Xu Jing knew that Zhong Xing was in a bad mood, even a little irritable.

When Zhong Xing is in a bad mood, he won't show it. People close to him with sharper eyes will speculate on it and be careful during this time.

Xu Jing didn't dare to say anything.

"You go down."

Xu Jing heaved a sigh of relief and quickly backed away.

Because he hadn't comforted Yunze for a long time, Yunze had some signs of awakening, Zhong Xing saw him rubbing his face in his arms, and lightly patted Yunze on the shoulder.

Yunze changed his posture, wrapping his arms around Zhong Xing's waist.

Zhong Xing lifted his chin, and took a serious look at Yun Ze.Even with Yunze's beauty, Zhong Xing couldn't let Zhong Xing abandon his ambition and indulge in the gentle village, so what could that princess do?

Yun Ze looked more and more beautiful, the skin in the palm of his hand was so delicate that it could melt one's heart, Zhong Xing lowered his head and bit his neck.

Sure enough, Yunze woke up after being bitten.

He covered his neck in confusion: "Jun Wang?"

Zhong Xing chuckled: "Are you awake?"

There were clear bite marks on Yunze's neck, his sparkling eyes were full of astonishment, Zhong Xing saw how innocent he looked, and stretched out his hand to pull him into his arms.

Yunze was still rubbing the place where he was bitten, Zhong Xing squeezed his fingertips: "Don't rub it anymore, it will bleed if you rub it again."

Yunze nodded, he saw the jewels, fragrant wood, and animal skins scattered beside him, Yunze said: "Where did this come from?"

Zhong Xingdao: "Aren't you worried that my family can't make ends meet? Someone took the jewelry from the warehouse and showed it to you. Do you like it?"

Yun Ze: "..."

Yunze took back what he said earlier, he shouldn't be worried that a county king with a backing can't afford to support a big family.

"The gold and silver artifacts don't look like the craftsmanship of the Qi Dynasty, and they don't conform to the aesthetics here," Yunze said, "Don't you guys like this in Liaozhou?"

Eyes are fine.

Zhong Xing rubbed Yunze's hair: "King Yue came here as a tribute, you can keep whatever you like, and reward the people below if you don't like it."

Yunze was not very interested in these things, after being bitten awake by Zhong Xing, he still wanted to sleep again.

Yun Ze found a comfortable position, and put Zhong Xing's hand on his body: "Jun Wang continues."

Being coaxed to sleep by Zhong Xing is very reassuring.

Zhong Xing felt a little regretful that he didn't come to Mingdu earlier to meet Yunze. It would have been nice if he had kept Yunze by his side a few years earlier, so perhaps Yunze would have liked and relied on him more.

Zhong Xing lay down with his arms around him, patted him on the back, and Yunze closed his eyes comfortably.

Zhong Xing was in a bad mood, and none of his advisers or soldiers could share it with him, and he didn't need these people to share it with him.

Yunze is very good, Zhong Xing knew at first sight that this was the person he wanted.Just like when Zhong Xing saw his father go to war when he was young, he knew that he would be an existence above King Liao after seeing that scene.

Many of Zhong Xing's decisions were made on the fly.

Yun Ze squinted his eyes for a while, and after a while he saw Zhong Xing who was holding him also closed his eyes.

Yun Ze didn't know what he was thinking, so he leaned forward and kissed Zhong Xing's face.

Zhong Xing's eyelashes moved, but there was no other movement.