Chapter 1091: Cui Mansion’s Full Moon Banquet!
On December 1st, it was snowing lightly in Yijing’s sky, and a grand banquet was being held at Cui Mansion, located on Fuxing Road, one of Yijing’s most prosperous streets. However, the protagonist of the banquet this time was not Cui Shao, the current Minister of Revenue, but a baby boy who had just turned one month old...
A month ago, Cui Zibo's wife Gongsun Qiaoqing gave birth to a baby boy for Cui Zibo. With the expectation of all Cui family members, the child has grown up healthily and is now one month old. Everyone in the Cui family is very happy about this!
You know, this baby boy is very precious. Since Cui Zibo and Gongsun Qiaoqing got married a few years ago, Gongsun Qiaoqing's belly has been very strong. She successfully discovered she was pregnant three months later, and after ten months of pregnancy, she gave birth to a boy for Cui Zibo!
Because this child was Cui Zibo's first son at the time, and was born to his first wife, Gongsun Qiaoqing, so according to etiquette and law, he was the eldest son!

The birth of the eldest son made the Cui family very happy, but unfortunately, the eldest son died before he was even a month old. This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the family!
Especially for Gongsun Qiaoqing, who persisted for ten months, the emotional and physical damage was enormous!
However, a big family like the Cui family needs a legitimate heir, so as Cui Zibo’s legal wife, Gongsun Qiaoqing has the obligation to complete this mission...
A few months later, Gongsun Qiaoqing, who had just recovered, once again devoted herself to the cause of having children. In three years, she successfully gave birth to two children.
Fortunately, Gongsun Qiaoqing's children did not die prematurely during these two births, and Gongsun Qiaoqing did not have to experience the grief of losing her son again. But unfortunately, both times she gave birth to daughters!

Although the girl is also very good, for a big family like the Cui family, it undoubtedly needs a boy to inherit the family!
However, after giving birth to two girls in succession, Cui Shao seemed to be a little disappointed with Gongsun Qiaoqing and no longer expected Gongsun Qiaoqing to continue the Cui family's bloodline. Although he did not say anything, he found two concubines for Cui Zibo.

Gongsun Qiaoqing felt very aggrieved about this, but she couldn't say anything and could only blame herself!
Although her mother's family felt sorry for their child and wanted to support Gongsun Qiaoqing, Cui Shao was now so powerful in the Fengwu Army that he was second to none and had already completely widened the gap between them and the Gongsun family!
The Gongsun family had no say in front of Cui Shao. If they provoked Cui Shao, the old guy might ask Cui Zibo to divorce his wife.

After all, Cui Shao agreed to Cui Zibo’s marriage to Gongsun Qiaoqing mainly because he wanted the power of the Gongsun family to help Cui Zibo go further. But now the Gongsun family has been marginalized in the Fengwu Army and can’t provide any help to Cui Zibo in his career. Cui Zibo even needs their help in many things...
With Cui Shao's current power, even if Cui Zibo remarried, there would be many daughters of noble families willing to marry him. Therefore, considering all these circumstances, the Gongsun family was not only powerless, but also sent a letter to persuade Gongsun Qiaoqing to be more generous and not to care too much.
Although Cui Zibo felt sorry for his wife, he did not dare to say anything under his father's order and could only continue to fulfill his responsibilities.

It has to be said that these two concubines were very lucky. What Gongsun Qiaoqing had failed three times, they succeeded once in succession. They gave birth to two boys in a year, making Cui Zibo a father and Cui Shao a grandfather!
This was a good thing for the Cui family, but it was not good news for Gongsun Qiaoqing. She fell seriously ill and almost died.

After slowly recovering, Gongsun Qiaoqing and Cui Zibo resumed their married life. Perhaps God had mercy on this unfortunate woman and gave her another chance, allowing her to finally give birth to a healthy baby boy!

Although he is no longer the eldest son, he is still the legitimate son after all. Cui Shao is very happy about this. Not only did he personally name the child Cui Wenzhe, he also wanted to hold a special party for this child who is about to turn one month old!
Although he wanted to hold one, Cui Shao also knew that his identity was sensitive so he wanted to hold it in a low profile and only invite a few people from his own family and the Gongsun family to do a simple thing························

However, what Cui Shao did not expect was that Ye Mingsheng also knew about this matter. For this reason, Ye Mingsheng specially sent someone to send a gift and asked people from the Ministry of Rites to come over and prepare for the ceremony in a grand manner!
In this case, Cui Shao could not keep a low profile even if he wanted to, and could only hold a grand celebration with the whole government. For this reason, the senior officials of the Yijing court all sent people to deliver congratulatory gifts. Some middle-level officials who had close relations with Cui Shao even personally came to celebrate the birth of Cui Shao's grandson. Even Murong Yuliang, the governor of Ji and Yu, who had always been at odds with Cui Shao, sent people from Ji and Yu to deliver congratulatory gifts.

During the banquet, Cui Shao drank a few glasses of wine as an exception amid everyone's congratulations. However, he returned to his room to rest on the pretext of being too drunk. While Cui Shao was resting his eyes in his study, a servant came over and reported:

"Master, Lord Ye Haoye wants to see you!"

Cui Shao hesitated for a moment after hearing this but still nodded. A moment later, a middle-aged man with a simple and honest face walked into Cui Shao's study. This man was Ye Mingsheng's cousin, the current Yunbing Governor Ye Hao!
When Ye Hao saw Cui Shao, he smiled and bowed, saying:

"Congratulations, Uncle San. I've seen Wenzhe, a chubby kid who is likable at first sight. This child will definitely have a bright future and will carry forward the Cui family..."

Although he understood that Ye Hao was being polite, Cui Shao was in a very good mood when he heard him say that. He stroked his beard and said with a smile:

"This time, God has mercy on our Cui family and allowed Qiaoqing to give birth to this child smoothly. Qiaoqing has suffered so much over the years!"

"I don't ask this child to make our Cui family prosperous. As long as he grows up healthy and becomes a good person, that's enough!"

Ye Hao nodded and agreed when he heard this:

"Yes, yes, but Uncle San, your grandson is definitely not wrong!"

Cui Shao smiled when he heard this, and then he seemed to have thought of something and said to Ye Hao:

"Ye Hao, I saw the jade pendant you gave to my child Wenzhe. It is a good thing, but it is too valuable. Our family accepts your kindness, but you should take it back later!"

Hearing what Cui Shao said, Ye Hao became a little anxious and said:

"Uncle San, aren't you embarrassing me by bringing back the things you gave away?"

“Moreover, this jade pendant is for the child Wenzhe, not for you. The child is happy when he sees the jade pendant, which shows that Wenzhe and this jade pendant are destined to be together. As the old saying goes, jade is given to those for whom it is destined. Wenzhe is the one for whom this jade is destined to be together…”

Cui Shao was also somewhat tempted when he heard this. Just now when Ye Hao met Cui Wenzhe, he gave him a piece of beautiful jade worth at least a thousand taels of silver.

At that time, Cui Shao wanted to refuse, but the guests were all there and Ye Hao insisted on seeing him off. If he refused in person, it would be too embarrassing for Ye Hao and he would be unable to save face!

So Cui Shao could only let Cui Zibo accept it first, planning to find a chance to return the jade to him later. But now, listening to Ye Hao's words and recalling the bright smile on little Wenzhe's face when he took the jade just now, Cui Shao couldn't help but feel a little hesitant!

Ye Hao seemed to have seen through Cui Shao's thoughts, and immediately added fuel to the fire and said, "Third uncle, take back the things I gave away. If this gets out, I, Ye Hao, will become a joke in Yijing, and I will never have the face to come to you again!"

After hearing Ye Hao say this and looking at Ye Hao's sincere face, Cui Shao understood that if he refused at this time, it would be equivalent to slapping Ye Hao in the face, and the relationship between the two parties would be completely broken!

Cui Shao shook his head and said:

"In that case, Uncle San would like to thank you on behalf of Wenzhe!"

Ye Hao quickly declined:
“Uncle San, thanking you is really too polite. I, Ye Hao, will always remember your help and care for me over the years. Everyone in the Fengwu Army knows that apart from the Marshal, the person I, Ye Hao, admire the most is you, Uncle San,…”

Hearing Ye Hao flatter him, Cui Shao was not happy but worried. A solemn expression appeared on his face. After talking politely for a while, Cui Shao asked:
"Ye Hao, have you reported to the Marshal?"

Ye Hao nodded and said:

"I went there right after I came back. The Marshal seemed to attach great importance to Yun Bing's situation. According to the arrangement of the Attendant Department, I might not be able to report to the Marshal now, but the Marshal let me jump the queue, so I was able to report to the Marshal!"

"I introduced the current situation of Yunbing to the Marshal, as well as the results of my work during this period. Yunbing was originally located in the northern border area, and its foundation was not very good to begin with. Later, it encountered several wars in succession, which made the situation of Yunbing even worse!"

"Although the Marshal exempted the entire Yunbing territory from taxes for three years, and several banks also gave Yunbing some agricultural loans, Yunbing's problems are still very serious!"

After saying that, Ye Hao also looked at Cui Shao. As the Minister of Finance of the Yijing court, Cui Shao has a very high say in economic and people's livelihood issues. He also has a great influence on Ye Mingsheng's formulation and implementation of some policies related to the economy and people's livelihood!

In fact, when Ye Hao returned to Yijing to report on his work this time, he had already decided to have a good talk with Cui Shao. The opportunity of the full moon banquet at Cui Mansion gave him the chance to meet Cui Hao.

Ye Hao's idea is very simple. Currently, Ye Mingsheng promotes officials based on their political achievements and moral character. Moral character can only be determined by oneself, but political achievements are very feasible...

As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice. Even if you are very capable, it will be difficult to achieve any political achievements without money and people!
Therefore, Yun Bing's current situation made Ye Hao want to retreat. That's why after he discovered the opportunity of being the Governor of Youyan, he was tempted and started to take action!
Although Yunbing and Youyan are adjacent to each other, the situations are completely different. In Youyan, you have money and people, and as long as you don't mess around, it's very easy to achieve some results!

Originally, Ye Hao was very confident that he could defeat Jin Zaicheng and capture the governor of Youyan, but he never expected that Sun Jingan would suddenly appear!

Although the Marshal has not made an official decision yet, judging from the current rumors, Sun Jing'an's transfer to the position of Youyan Governor is almost a foregone conclusion!
This made Ye Hao feel complicated. On the one hand, it was because the fat piece of meat that was almost in his hands was snatched away by someone else. On the other hand, although Sun Jing'an was transferred to the post of Governor of Youyan, his original position of Governor of Qilu was vacant!
Although Qilu and Youyan are slightly worse, the difference is not much, and the situation is much better than Yunbing!
So even if he can't go to Youyan, being able to be transferred to Qilu is also very good, and Ye Hao will be very satisfied!

It was with this idea in mind that Ye Hao wanted to find Cui Shao, hoping that Cui Shao would help him say a word in front of the Marshal...
Of course, Ye Hao was also very clear that it would be very difficult to be transferred to Qi and Lu. After all, he had not been the governor of Yunbing for a long time, and he was promoted out of turn at that time. The possibility of being transferred to Qi and Lu in a short time would not be very high!

This brings us to Ye Hao's second purpose. As the saying goes, the crying child gets the milk. I cannot be transferred to other places. The situation in Yunbing is so bad. Shouldn't the court give more tax exemptions and the Dadongsheng Company give more loans to farmers? Shouldn't they also waive the interest on the loans?
Cui Shao also saw through Ye Hao's thoughts and spoke directly:

"Don't even think about Ye Hao's transfer. Gu Sansi has already recommended Ma Runchuan to the Marshal as the governor of Qi and Lu. This matter has basically been decided!"

"And you'd better not even mention the transfer to the Marshal. The Marshal has already made an exception to promote you by making you the governor of Yunbing. If you want to quit at this time, then you are really ignorant and irresponsible!"

Cui Shao's incisive analysis also made Ye Hao's face change. After a moment, Ye Hao forced a smile and said:

"Uncle San, don't worry, I will not leave Yunbing unless Ye Hao makes achievements in Yunbing. But you can see that the situation in Yunbing is very serious. Can the court give more support? There are too many places where money and people are needed!"

Cui Shao shook his head and said:

“Ye Hao, all places are asking me, the Minister of Finance, for money. The court doesn’t have much money. It’s already good enough that I can squeeze out some for you. Don’t cry poor anymore…”

(End of this chapter)