Chapter 761 The Thorn in the Heart

Here we go again, this kind of approach of taking on too much is simply a big pie. Zhou Sheng thought to himself that when Jinxia City carried out currency reform and issued its own banknotes, he knew that the rebels' finances had problems.

When the Bureau of Affairs set up schools and allowed all the children in the city to go to school, he realized that this day would come sooner or later. A large part of Yancheng's income comes from the salt industry, but now Jinxia has been regarded as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh by the court, and it is naturally impossible to obtain a large amount of salt money from the capital as before. Expenditure is far greater than income, and it would be strange if the inner treasury is not increasingly tense.

And in order to prevent the public from noticing, Princess Guangping and others naturally have to make new big moves.

The current prosperity of Jinxia City is actually built on a shaky attic - even if he can't see the accounts of the Bureau of Affairs, he can guess that the current government must be heavily in debt.

It's a pity that a small place is still a small place, and not many people can see this clearly.

"How about it, Brother Zhou, do you want to give it a try? I can recommend you." Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, the other party continued to persuade.

"...Why can't you understand, Brother Chen?" Zhou Sheng said impatiently, "There are so many examples in the book that prove that rebels are just a wisp of smoke after all. Even if they can flourish for a while in the early stage, it is also a waste of the foundation laid by the court. To become a country, it is not enough to have an army. Without the support of scholars and family clans, it cannot be considered to have a real foothold. Now I ask you, apart from Shenzhou, are there any other states that stand on the side of the princess?"

Mr. Chen was speechless.

Even if the other party did not answer, Zhou Sheng knew that of course there was no one. It would be strange if the set of policies promulgated by Her Royal Highness the Princess could get the support of the gentry in other places.

"But...Jinxia City defeated the Ten States Coalition..."

"The Ten States Coalition is only the power of Qi State." Zhou Sheng shook his head. When he went to the capital before, he had seen that there was a powerful force that was already unifying the countries on the continent. "If you listen to my advice, you should resign from the office and stay at home."

"Brother Zhou--"

Before Chen Qiran finished speaking, he picked up the teacup on the table.

This was his way of sending him away.

The latter could only swallow his words, stared at him for a long time, and then bowed helplessly, "If you change your mind, you can come to me at any time."

"Goodbye." Zhou Sheng snorted.

"By the way." When he reached the door, Mr. Chen suddenly turned around, "Do you know? Miss Liu is getting married."

"What did you say!?" His fingers trembled violently, and he almost dropped the cup to the ground.

"The man who married her is also an official in the office. I heard that her life experience and background are quite good."

"She is just a prostitute. How could anyone--" Zhou Sheng gritted his teeth.

"That was all in the past." Chen Qiran's tone was slightly emotional. "Now Miss Liu is already a well-known figure in the Ministry of Education. Half of the students who graduated from the school have been taught by her. In a few years, she might be directly promoted to an official in the Ministry of Education. In the past, she would at least be a sixth-rank assistant official. How could such a person be a concubine?"

"..." Zhou Sheng felt a fire burning in his heart.

He thought he had forgotten this person long ago. Even if he occasionally noticed her, he would look down on her and see how miserable she was.

When the rebels collapsed and everything in Jinxia City returned to normal, she would naturally understand how stupid it was to reject him.

However, when he found that things were not going as he wished, this name pierced his heart like a needle.

"When the time comes, Mr. Hu and I plan to go and celebrate, and say goodbye to the absurdity before." Chen Qiran touched the back of his head, "Anyway... I think I should tell you about this. Even if you don't want to go, we can celebrate on your behalf. Then... I'll take my leave first."

The gate of the courtyard was closed, and the house returned to silence.

Zhou Sheng sat at the table in a daze, and the drunkenness had disappeared.

Liu Ruyan was actually going to get married, and she was married in a formal way, and the object was not considered to be of the upper and lower classes. This situation was completely beyond his acceptance.

What was even more unreasonable was that Mr. Chen and others actually recognized this situation, and did not think it was absurd to let a brothel girl ascend to the position of wife, or even the position of an official in the affairs bureau.

Sixth-rank official...

Even if he ranked among the top three in the palace examination, the starting point was about the sixth rank.

Then wouldn't his years of hard study become a joke?

Of course, studying is definitely not wrong, but the mistake is that these rebels treat the regime as a joke!

After a moment, Zhou Sheng clenched his fists and made up his mind.

He took out a pen, paper and ink box from the mess and began to write letters. He had written many such letters before. At the beginning, there would be secret agents from the Privy Council to contact him. Later, when the Ten States Coalition was defeated, he commissioned a caravan to send letters to the capital, and he did not stop every month.

These letters were all the intelligence he had collected, such as where the Jinxia Army was stationed and what strange things the Machinery Bureau had tinkered with. Unfortunately, all the secret letters fell into the sea and he never received a reply.

Until recently, Zhou Sheng also became discouraged and buried himself in wine bottles all day to suppress his fear of being exposed.

But the news brought by Master Chen cheered him up again.

After finishing the letter, Zhou Sheng carefully folded it, stuffed it into an envelope, and then walked out of the courtyard. This time, he did not carry a wine pot.

……

Two weeks later.

In a private house in the west district of Jinxia, ​​Zhou Sheng was making final preparations. He had obviously lost weight recently, his clothes were no longer as neat and clean as before, and his face was covered with layers of stubble.

After the house was sold, he got a large sum of cash. Originally, he planned to rent a smaller house with this money, and send the rest to his parents, neither failing his own responsibilities nor failing the Zhou family. But now, the money has a more important purpose.

"Sir, the carriage is ready." A servant rubbed his hands and said.

The quality of these helpers hired from the surrounding towns is far lower than that of his own servants, but now he has no better choice. Zhou Sheng lifted the curtain calmly and looked out. It was already three o'clock in the morning. According to the new timekeeping method stipulated by Jinxia, ​​it was one o'clock in the morning. Logically speaking, most people would have gone to bed at this time, and the city would be shrouded in darkness, but in Jinxia City recently, even in the middle of the night, some fires could still be seen in the yard area and the direction of the harbor terminal. He heard that the elves' sea fishing would continue until the night. In order to ensure the freshness of the food, some fish would be slaughtered after midnight, and those merchants who pursued the best products would also gather between the harbor and the warehouse as soon as possible to select the goods they liked.

Thanks to this group of people, even if he drove the carriage in the early morning, he would not attract the attention of the surrounding residents.

"Very good, follow me." Zhou Sheng said in a deep voice.