Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!

Chapter 1115: Chapter 115 Section 2

Zhulan knew immediately that she had stumbled upon something big upon hearing it. Carefully thinking it over, ”Surname Gu?”

She remembered that the Zhang family had changed their surname to Gu.

Zhou Shuren smiled, ”No, this girl’s surname is Liu. However, her mother’s surname is Gu. The girl said she fled to the capital during the drought, her parents died, and she sought refuge with her uncle. Unexpectedly, he sold her to a merchant to be a concubine. Today, as they were receiving people, she took the opportunity to run away when no one was looking.”

Zhulan was aware of yesterday’s events, but she hadn’t taken them to heart, just as she had told her grandchildren, all these were nothing but petty schemes, ”Is there something problematic about this girl?”

Seeing Zhou Shuren still smiling, Zhulan reacted, ”To put it precisely, it’s the merchant who has a problem!”

Zhou Shuren said, ”Smart. Everything requires the cooperation of the merchant. Now that this person has been sent to the Ministry of Justice, the entire merchant’s family seems to have vanished into thin air. It’s just a pity that this girl probably doesn’t know much.”

Zhulan smiled, ”No, she has exposed a lot. Look, during our journey here, be it dealing with the Xu family or the salt taxes that follow, they all have significant connections with merchants. Do you think the Zhang family might have become merchants on purpose to hide their identity? Among ’Scholar, Farmer, Artisan, Merchant,’ the merchants are the ones most easily overlooked.”

The Rong family had many schemes, but their heritage was ingrained in their very bones. The Emperor’s young uncle would rather hide away in a village and live on as a commoner in the future than become a merchant, which shows the Rong family still aspires for officialdom, an inherent nobility in their bones.

Even her own mother-in-law had ultimately married a scholar. If he had been a merchant, her mother-in-law would not even have spared him a glance.

Zhou Shuren’s eyes lit up, ”My wife is the smart one. The Zhang family harbors rebellious intentions, so they wouldn’t care about being merchants. Therefore, our investigation has been too narrow.”

Zhulan’s eyes curved, ”In recent years, the economy has developed rapidly, along with the traders from overseas, which has already caused some disorder. Do you think it’s about time to introduce some rules? Moreover, some merchants’ dealings are too disordered, the imperial court’s control is still not in place. I think we can tighten the control and categorize merchants and their business into different grades.”

Zhou Shuren, who had spent quite some time in the Ministry of Revenue and dealt with silver daily, started to churn his thoughts, a corner of his mouth hooked in contemplation, ”In the future, merchants will need to apply for a trade license, and having a digital record makes things clearer. When applying, they should register and show some fixed assets as a guarantee.”

Zhulan stopped talking after giving the hint, because this was ancient times, and Zhou Shuren knew better than her how to handle things appropriately.

In the Palace, the Emperor held the child, whispering, ”Lin Xi, I’m your grandfather.”

The child was still young and deep asleep.

The Empress couldn’t stand it and reached out to take the baby. The Emperor dodged her, and she frowned, ”She has had a tiring day and is now sleeping.”

Reluctantly handing over the child to the Empress, the Emperor remarked, ”This child is well raised. I heard that Rongchuan doesn’t use nannies. Whenever he’s home, he personally takes care of the child.”

The Empress’ heart softened as she looked at the child in her arms, kissed the child, and then handed it over to a Female Officer, ”Mhm, this child is truly endearing.”

The reason the child was in the Palace was because her mother, since the child’s infancy, would spend every day with her. When the child felt a bit ill some days ago, she couldn’t bear it. Once the child got better, she visited her younger son, shared her many years of pain and suffering, stating they couldn’t recognize each other now, so she wanted to take care of the child for some time.

In the end, the child stayed in the Palace. She did want to keep the child always, but that wasn’t possible. It was one thing to dote on the child for a few days, but indefinitely was inexcusable. Currently, Rongchuan hadn’t acknowledged the child, and of course, she also couldn’t bear to separate her son from his daughter.

Two days later, Zhou Shuren had finished preparing and sent up his Zhezi.

The Emperor read the Zhezi and handed it to the Crown Prince, ”What do you think?”

The Crown Prince had an epiphany upon seeing the Zhezi, ”Your Majesty, I’ve also considered how to control the merchants. Now, after reading Zhou Shuren’s Zhezi, I see that his ideas are more complete and mature. My thoughts are no match.”

Zhou Shuren must have felt too embarrassed when he heard that; they were separated by several centuries. In the present day, oversight had already become very mature and was still continuously improving. What he had brought up now was considered mature for the Crown Prince, but for Zhou Shuren and his wife, it was merely a framework riddled with too many loopholes.

The Emperor asked, ”From the last time you regulated the doctors and from the contents of this zhezi, what else have you observed?”

The Crown Prince replied, ”Strategic vision, Zhou Shuren has a strategic vision, and its significance is long-term. The recent southern floods have shown the benefits of regulating the doctors. As long as we keep improving, it can become a complete doctor system, deeply meaningful for both the common people and the Imperial court. The same goes for this zhezi. With gradual improvement, the chaos created by merchants in the previous dynasty can be greatly reduced.”

The Emperor was very satisfied. ”I also envision two future departments.”

When founding the dynasty, he continued many systems from the former dynasty. He longed for perfection, so he valued this zhezi even more, especially after suffering many losses at the hands of merchants.

Holding the zhezi, the Crown Prince asked, ”Who should be tasked with this?”

Privately, he thought Zhou Shuren was the most suitable, but the Ministry of Revenue could not do without Zhou Shuren.

The Emperor counter-asked, ”Whom do you think is suitable?”

Touching the zhezi, the Crown Prince thought that since Prince Chu no longer held his previous position and Prince Qi was now only tasked with investigating the Zhang family, ”In truth, Rongchuan is the most suitable, but this younger brother is still not strong enough.”

Therefore, his own younger brother was the most suitable. Once he ascended to the throne, Rongchuan would be able to help him greatly, not only in keeping Prince Qi and Prince Chu in check but also in handling affairs.

Seeing his father sipping tea, the Crown Prince said, ”How about the fourth brother? He also made a contribution when searching for people last time.”

The Emperor stopped with his tea cup in hand; he understood that the Crown Prince’s grudge against the fourth brother was unsolvable. Indeed, the fourth brother was merciless, and the Crown Princess Consort had been injured. The Crown Princess Consort might not be aware of it, but both he and the Crown Prince knew all too well. He had thought the fourth brother would not have returned from his investigation so soon, but who could have expected it.

The Crown Prince continued, ”The fourth brother is decisive, and he has the will to act. He is also the most suitable.”

The Emperor knew the Crown Prince was right; currently, Prince Qi was unwilling to get involved in major matters, and the third was busy ripping open past issues, lately preoccupied with how to clean up the aftermath. Only the fourth was single-minded and capable of taking the necessary actions to reform, his tone somewhat weary, ”As you wish.”

The Crown Prince’s mouth curled into a smile; this was his father’s concession. He could give the third brother a chance, but not the fourth. He still remembered how the fourth had treated Rongchuan, ”Thank you, Father.”

Time passed quickly, and the results of the provincial examination were soon to be announced. The Zhou family had many Scholars who had come to participate; Ming Qing was among them.

Tomorrow was the day the results would be announced, and Ming Qing, unable to swallow his food, stared straight at Uncle Changzhi eating, ”Uncle Changzhi, aren’t you worried?”

Since the end of the examination, Changzhi had been focusing on recuperating and had grown a bit plumper from the effort, ”The moment the pen was set down, it was all over. Since it’s over, what use is there in worrying? You are still young.”

Ming Qing felt that Uncle Changzhi hadn’t changed, nonchalant to the core. You had to know, if he didn’t pass, it wouldn’t matter much, but it was different for Uncle Changzhi — the clan back home was waiting for his good news, and the whole capital must be waiting too. What if he failed to live up to Grandfather Zhou’s reputation?

Changzhi was unaware of Ming Qing’s thoughts, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care.

The next day, Su Xuan had arranged for people to wait early. Changzhi hadn’t bothered to go, but Ming Qing and a few others did. As Changzhi read his book, dozing off, the sound of firecrackers exploded outside. Shen Xing ran to the backyard, ”Fourth Young Master, you’ve passed, second place.”

Changzhi was stunned, ”Second?”

The surefire first place was lost!