First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 505: Changing a State into a County

Thinking of this, Emperor Longchang couldn't help but glare at the disappointing Cui Yushan again.

He felt unwilling!

Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng managed the northern region so well, how could he ask Wei Ling to give up the political affairs of the northern region?

"Your Majesty," Xie Yingfeng guessed what Emperor Longchang was thinking and said with a fist clasped, "As Your Majesty has seen, the Northern Territory has been exempted from border taxes and other levies over the years thanks to Your Majesty's grace. This has enabled the people of the Northern Territory to live and work in peace, and I have been able to repair the city walls of the Northern Territory. The Marquis of Zhenbei and the people of the Northern Territory are grateful for Your Majesty's grace and are willing to present the border taxes and trade taxes as a gift to Your Majesty. We congratulate the Empress Dowager on her long life and Your Majesty on her eternal life."

As soon as Xie Yingfeng said this, Emperor Longchang's eyes lit up instantly.

He had just seen the accounts, and it clearly stated that in the past three years, the border tax and transaction tax output of the Mangcheng market was 7 million taels of silver!

This is comparable to the tax revenue of a wealthy prefecture in Jiangnan!

At the beginning, he said that he would exempt the border towns from corvée labor, head tax and other harsh taxes, but these border taxes and transaction taxes were not collected from the people in the border towns, but from the merchants who came to the border towns to trade.

According to his previous promise to Wei Ling, these taxes could be kept in the north for use and did not need to be handed over to the court. Now that Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng were willing to hand over the taxes on their own initiative, it was no wonder that he went back on his word!

It must be said that Xie Yingfeng's words instantly cleared up Emperor Longchang's groggy mind, and also instantly dispelled the dark clouds that had been surrounding his head these days.

Life has been very difficult for Emperor Longchang recently. There has not been a single piece of good news, only things that give him a headache!

And now Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng actually took the initiative to pay the border tax and transaction tax. It can be said that these two people took the initiative to express their loyalty to him!

"Good, good, good!" Emperor Longchang's face was immediately filled with smiles. He stood up and walked to Xie Yingfeng, holding Xie Yingfeng's hand. "Oh, my dear Xie, it has to be the Marquis of Zhenbei and you! You really are deeply in my heart."

"It's all to help Your Majesty relieve his worries!" Xie Yingfeng said with a smile.

"Li Dequan, go tell the Minister of Rites and tell him that I have officially appointed you, Mr. Xie, to the rank of Third Rank, and assume the post of Governor of Mangcheng!" Emperor Longchang said with a smile, "Oh, and tell the Ministry of Rites that I previously wanted to change the name of Mangcheng to Linchuan, but now I won't change it and will retain the name of Mangcheng. The territory of Mangcheng has more than doubled in size, so this prefecture should be made a county, and Mr. Xie will be the governor of Mangcheng."

"Yes." Li Dequan bowed and saluted, then smiled and bowed to Xie Yingfeng, "Congratulations, Master Xie!"

Xie Yingfeng bowed to Li Dequan.

Originally, Emperor Longchang wanted to change Mangcheng to Linchuan, just to take Mangcheng back, but now he doesn't want to change it for the time being. After all, the merchants from the surrounding foreign countries recognize the market of Mangcheng. In the past, the border trade tax of Mangcheng market belonged to Mangcheng, but now the tax can be paid to him. Emperor Longchang also doesn't want to make those foreign merchants feel too unfamiliar because of the name change of Mangcheng, thus affecting border trade.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if Xie Yingfeng becomes the county magistrate. Since the official is appointed by the Ministry of Personnel, he, Xie Yingfeng, will also be evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel in the future.

He might as well be generous. He couldn't move into the Northland right now, thanks to the presence of the Prince of Chenliu. Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng had given him such a generous gift, so he couldn't let them feel disappointed at this moment. Upgrading Mangcheng to a prefecture was, firstly, because the population and scale of the town there were already county-level, even exceeding the size of many prefectures. Secondly, it was a way to return the favor and appease Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng, allowing them to effectively guard the border while earning money for him.

When Emperor Longchang thought about the fact that his treasury would have millions more taels of silver to use every year, he couldn't stop smiling.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xie Yingfeng said with a smile. "I obey your command!"

"As you should. You've done such a good job in Mangcheng! This is what you deserve!" Emperor Longchang said with a smile, then patted Xie Yingfeng's shoulder vigorously. "It's getting late today, so you can accompany me in the palace for dinner. After dinner, I will send someone to escort you out of the palace."

"Then I'd rather obey than be disrespectful!" Xie Yingfeng said with a smile, "I've been away from the capital for many years, and it's been a while since I've had dinner with Your Majesty."

Xie Yingfeng's words immediately reminded Emperor Longchang of the hard times they had fought for their country together. They often gathered together to eat pickles and steamed buns. They were so poor back then that any money they had was spent on recruiting soldiers. Fortunately, Xie Yingfeng had seized the iron mine in Mangcheng. Although the mine had collapsed, they could still dig out some ore to forge some weapons. Otherwise, their situation would have been even worse.

Emperor Longchang smiled heartily and patted Xie Yingfeng's shoulder vigorously. "My dear Xie, what you said is absolutely right! Okay, I'll summon the Marquis of Wei to the palace as well. We won't leave until we're drunk today!"

"Okay, that's perfect!" Xie Yingfeng said with a smile, "Oh, right. Your Majesty hasn't even seen the gifts that the Marquis of Zhenbei and I presented to you yet!"

"Oh! That's right! Then let me see what you two gave me!" Emperor Longchang was in a good mood now, and he was also interested in the mahogany box that Xie Yingfeng had solemnly brought just now.

Just now, he was preoccupied with the lawsuit and had no interest in anything. He thought that what Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng could give him were only some jewelry, curios and some specialties from Mangcheng.

Emperor Longchang was about to go back to his desk to get the mahogany box, but when he turned around he saw Cui Yushan still kneeling beside him.

"What are you still kneeling for? Get out!" Emperor Longchang angrily addressed Cui Yushan. "I'm warning you, this is the only time you won't be summoned back to the capital. This is the Empress Dowager's birthday, after all. You've come back under the guise of celebrating her, so I'll tolerate you this once. If you continue to disregard the laws of the court, I will not forgive you!"

"Yes! I'll take my leave!" Cui Yushan had a layer of cold sweat on his forehead. Just as he was about to get up and leave, he was stopped by Emperor Longchang again.

"Your father-in-law is the Minister of Revenue," Emperor Longchang said in a deep voice, "Take your wife back home, and don't visit her parents' home for the next few days! Do you understand?"

"Yes!" When Cui Yushan heard this, his heart felt as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He did not attend court today and was staying with the Empress Dowager. He didn't know what happened in the court, but from Emperor Longchang's words, it was not difficult to infer that something happened in the Ministry of Revenue!

His wife is the daughter of the Minister of Revenue. If he doesn't let his wife go back to her parents' home, I'm afraid something must have happened in the Minister's Mansion!