The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

Wan Lianxing frowned again when he heard this, "Brother, why are you saying such discouraging words? Your health will recover sooner or later."

"Big brother knows how many days he has to live, so there's no need to hide it from you. I'm not mentioning this to make you look sad, but to tell you that you only have this one nephew, so don't order him around all the time. It's been going on for days, and Feng'er and his wife are leaving early and coming back late every day. If you ask them carefully, you'll find out that they're going to live in the mountains."

Before Wan Lianxing could say anything, Cheng Feng interrupted, "Dad, my uncle treats me like a fool all day long. Not only does he order me around, he even scolds me. You have to support me."

Wan Lianxing raised his hand and hit him: "Good boy, I haven't visited you for a long time. Today is a rare occasion for me to leave the house. I haven't even sat down and had a cup of tea, but you're already complaining. You don't want me to feel comfortable, do you?"

Cheng Feng didn't want to give in at all, because his father was sitting there. As long as his father was there, his uncle couldn't do anything to him even if he had eight hundred tricks. "Who told you to call me a money-grubbing person, full of calculations?"

"Did that mean I was scolding you?" Wan Lianxing said as he thrust his hand hard at Cheng Feng, completely oblivious to his status as the Supreme Emperor. At this moment, all he wanted was to vent his anger. Ever since he ascended the throne, no one dared to challenge him so brazenly. Cheng Youning had already irritated him, but now there was another Cheng Feng. Even if they were the only child of the Wan family, he would have to prune them, otherwise it would be difficult for Cheng Feng and Cheng Youning, father and son, to thrive as he wished.

One fought and the other dodged, and the old people, children, maids and old women in the house were all giggling at the amusements of the uncle and nephew.

Cheng Feng's eyes widened. "You're not just scolding me, you're just short of calling me heartless and profit-driven."

"Nonsense, I was praising you for your shrewdness and your increasing business acumen. Sooner or later, our Wan family's business will continue to grow in your hands."

Wan Lianxing stopped fighting, and Cheng Feng stopped hiding. However, Wan Lianxing's words reminded Cheng Feng of something. He said slowly, "It is indeed growing stronger, but the commercial taxes are not low! The commercial taxes paid every year are a huge expense."

Wan Lianxing said: "We are begging to encourage the people to engage in business, so commercial taxes are naturally inevitable. You can go out and ask around and see if the taxes we beg for are much lower than those of the Yan Kingdom in the south. The commercial taxes of the Great Lang Kingdom are even more amazing. You merchants should be content. The commercial taxes are not set by me. They are set by the Ministry of Revenue and the Maritime Customs. They are already very favorable to you merchants. They are much lower than the taxes of the surrounding countries. If you think you pay a lot of commercial taxes every year, it means you earn a lot of money. Just close all your businesses and see, the court will not ask you to pay a single tax."

Wan Lianxing was telling the truth, and Cheng Feng knew it, but Cheng Feng wanted to talk about more than just commercial taxes. "What my uncle said is of course reasonable. Let's not talk about commercial taxes for now. Let me talk about grain. The people's grain tax has been exempted, so why is our Prince Pang's Mansion being levied on grain every year? Is this also a preferential treatment?"

Wan Lianxing said, "All princes and ministers must hand over grain to the court. Is there any objection to this?"

Cheng Feng said, "That's a big objection. Other princes and ministers pay grain twice a year, but why does our Prince Pang's Palace pay three times? The grain we just harvested a few days ago was taken away by the government before it was even stored. We've been busy farming for several months, and we're looking forward to filling the granary with grain, but in the end, I haven't even seen a trace of grain."

Wan Lianxing was good at making sarcastic remarks, and he started to say, "Isn't that great? Everyone else has to haul the grain to the government office, but you, a government official, have to haul it yourself. It saves both work and effort. You should be secretly happy."

"Uncle, you're making a specious argument. We have three granaries in the Pang Prince's Mansion, and now two are empty, and the other is not full. I've worked so hard to improve the fields and increase production and income, and now there's no food in the granaries of the Pang Prince's Mansion. Isn't this nonsense? What's the point of me farming this land?"

Wan Lianxing once again picked up the fan at hand and hit Cheng Feng on the head, "You are so petty. The prince of Prince Pang's mansion has no generosity at all."

"I'm not so arrogant. Who among all the princes and ministers doesn't have more grain stored than Prince Pang's mansion? Didn't you see the three days when Prince Pang's mansion harvested the grain? It was a spectacular sight. So many people from your court came out, some to carry the scales, some to keep the accounts. The most abominable thing is that they took away all the grain I worked so hard to grow, leaving not a single grain behind."

Wan Lianxing laughed when he heard this. "This year there's a drought, and many places have collected and stored grain for disaster relief. I can't let you spend this grain for nothing. So, tomorrow you send people to Liulichang to get glazed tiles, and I'll pay for it and buy them for Prince Pang's palace to repair."

"Really?"

"A gentleman has no jokes."

Just as Cheng Feng was grinning, Master Wan spoke up, "No, glazed tiles are extremely precious. How can Prince Pang's Mansion use glazed tiles before the Imperial Palace? The rules must be followed."

Wan Lianxing smiled and said, "Brother, let's not renovate the Lianxing Palace for now. I've made up my mind not to start any major construction projects until the livelihoods of these refugees are resolved. I just had a thought: if the refugees can't afford bricks, then let them make them themselves. A few years ago, the people of Fengqi used a similar method to get bricks for free. Although these refugees haven't yet been incorporated into our Fengqi ancestral home, they will sooner or later become my subjects."

Master Wan nodded again in agreement, "Lian Xing is right. They are all your people. Improving people's livelihood is the long-term plan."

Wan Lianxing said, "I have an idea. I will have someone build a brick kiln outside Beicheng. The refugees who can contribute manpower can contribute manpower, and those who can contribute labor can contribute labor."

Wan Lianxing, who was quick to act, immediately stood up and said, "Brother and sister-in-law, I won't stay here for long. I need to go back to the palace to discuss this matter with the ministers."

Master Wan was very understanding of Wan Lianxing's daily workload. He said, "Go quickly. I won't die anytime soon. Don't worry about me or come to me all the time. The doctors from the Imperial Hospital come to check my pulse every day. If there's anything wrong, they'll tell me long ago."

At this time, Madam Wan stood up hurriedly. "Hey? Didn't we agree to have dinner at home? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Sister-in-law, I'm busy with official business, so I won't have dinner today."

"How can you not eat? I haven't seen you for a long time and haven't had a good talk with you yet. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Madam Wan almost reached out to grab Wan Lianxing who was about to leave. She finally got the chance that Wan Lianxing came to her house, and she really had something to say to Wan Lianxing.