Chapter 140 The Watery Yun Family
Wang An glared and said, "You don't listen, do you? Ask your mother to come live here, and then just live here!"

Yun Zhao felt embarrassed when he heard this, but he didn't dare to refute when he saw Wang An's stern look.

After all, Yun Zhao was just a slave, and theoretically every hair on his body belonged to Wang An.

Not to mention that Wang An also took care of her mother Yun for free. Not only did he save Yun's life, he also provided her with free food, clothing and shelter during this period. If she disobeyed Wang An's orders, it would be really ungrateful.

At the dinner table, Wang An told Yun in front of her that he wanted her to move to the main house, and Yun was quite surprised.

However, Yun was the wife of a wealthy family after all, so her composure was stronger than Yun Zhao's, and she didn't say anything.

But the look she gave Wang An became a little watery.

I have to say, Yun was able to become the wife of a local rich man, her appearance was beyond words.

And she is in her thirties, which makes her look like a middle-aged woman.

During this time, she ate well and slept well at Wang An's place. Her complexion gradually became more radiant, and her mature and beautiful mature woman's temperament became more and more intense.

Wang An felt a little itchy when he was looked at by this gaze, but the feeling soon disappeared.

After dinner, Wang An returned to his new room, where he packed up some small items and studied Wei Zhongxian's other treasures.

The fifth and sixth graders left one by one, some went to clean the house, some went to boil water, leaving only the Yun mother and daughter to clean the table.

Seeing that everyone had left, Yun Zhao said in a somewhat reproachful tone, "Mother, the master just asked you to move into the main room, why didn't you refuse?"

"After all, we are no longer the same as before. My daughter has been sold into slavery. We need to be more sensible about certain things."

Seeing her daughter blaming her, Yun looked around to make sure that Xiaowu and Xiaoliu had left. Then she smiled and scolded Yun Zhao: "Little girl, you have grown up. Do you think your mother doesn't know what's going on?"

Yun Zhao sighed and said helplessly: "Mother, that's not what I meant. It's just that we are servants after all. It's not appropriate for us to live in the master's main room."

Yun Shi did not answer, but asked: "Mother asked you, did the master tell you in advance that he wanted me to move to the main house?"

Yun Zhao nodded and said, "I said, I didn't agree at the time, but the master seemed determined and I couldn't refuse. I thought you would have the idea to refuse the master, but who knew..."

Yun Shi did not listen to what Yun Zhao said. She just showed a thoughtful expression. After a moment, she chuckled and said, "Silly girl, don't you understand the master's intention?"

“What’s your intention?” Yun Zhao blushed, as if he remembered something extremely shameful, and said, “Mom, please don’t tell me. Last time, I listened to your and Ergou’s nonsense, and that’s why… I was so embarrassed!”

However, Yun tapped Yun Zhao's forehead and said with a smile, "I want to ask you, did the master say that time that he didn't want you to serve him?"

Yun Zhao blushed, but still answered: "No, but the master just asked me to help him find a quilt cover."

"That's it!" Yun said with a smile, "Men are all fake. They want you to die, but they have to find other things to say. In fact, they want to throw you on the bed right now!"

Seeing that Yun's words were so explicit, Yun Zhao stamped her feet and said coquettishly, "Mother, what are you talking about!"

Yun shook her head and sighed, "I shouldn't have told you this back then, but our family is in trouble now. An Ge'er is the only one we can rely on. And you sold your body to him, so you will belong to him sooner or later."

"Instead of waiting until An Ge'er gets married, then you can at best be a concubine, and if you're unlucky you might just end up being a maid, it's better to take advantage of An Ge'er's unmarried period, and maybe you can even try to get a position as the first wife!"

Yun Zhao's face turned red, and for some reason he did not refute Yun's words, but just listened quietly.

Yun continued, "Think about it, silly child. Can the main room of the master's house be given to a servant to live in casually?"

"Now that An Ge'er asked me to move over, he either wants me to be his second wife, or he wants to..."

When Yun said this, she chuckled and said, "Or maybe he thinks of me as his mother. Tell me, why does Brother An think of me as his mother?"

Yun Zhao was initially shocked when he heard Yun say that Wang An might want to marry Yun's second wife. But when he heard Yun's next words, he immediately asked nervously, "What are you thinking about?"

Yun looked at her teasingly and said, "Little girl, are you nervous now?"

After teasing her, Yun continued, "Mom is already over 30 years old, how could Brother An possibly like you? He let me live in the main room, he must have wanted you."

"Think about us, mother and daughter, we have been living in the west wing all the time, and we have never been apart. Sometimes, even if An Ge wants to climb into your bed in the middle of the night, it is not convenient."

"Is that really the case?" Yun Zhao surprisingly did not refute, but instead asked.

Yun said with certainty, "That must be the case. Otherwise, how could the main house be given to servants in this world?"

Yun Zhao thought about it carefully and it seemed that it was indeed not the case.

After all, she was originally the daughter of a wealthy family and knew what being the principal wife meant.

It is indeed as Yun said. If the head of the family allows a woman to move into the main house, he must have some feelings for this woman.

Thinking of this, Yun Zhao looked his mother up and down again, and for some reason he became a little nervous.

After a moment of silence, Yun Zhao said shyly, "The master is a very strange person, no one knows what he is thinking!"

"I don't want to think about it anymore. No matter what he wants to do, my daughter is now a member of the Wang family. She can't resist him no matter what he wants to do."

After saying that, he picked up the bowl and turned to leave.

Yun realized that her daughter was shy, and she curled her lips slightly without saying anything more.

I was thinking that I would move out of the west wing tonight and make room for Wang An.

It would be convenient for this young couple to do something.

If Yun's behavior were to be made public, it would be unpleasant to hear. She would be suspected of selling out her own daughter in exchange for a stable life.

But this is not her fault. After all, she suddenly turned from a wealthy lady into a refugee, and her daughter even almost fell into the fire pit while trying to save her.

Yun knew too well what a tragic end a woman would suffer if she had no one to rely on these days.

So she tried her best to match her daughter with Wang An, not only for herself, but also for Yun Zhao's consideration.

Just as Yun Zhao said, she is now Wang An's woman, and she will have to give her body to Wang An sooner or later anyway, rather than ending up in a mediocre position like a maid.

It’s better to give it a try, maybe you can have a stable life for the rest of your life.

Chapter 141: Melancholy Chongzhen
Wang An hid in the room and scattered all the treasures he had taken out of the secret compartment on the bed. Looking at the golden treasures, Wang An's previous depression was swept away. Although there was a huge gap with his expectations, if these dozen treasures in front of him were sold, they would be worth at least 10,000 or 20,000 taels of silver.

Although it doesn't sound like much, in the past it would have been enough to pay Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang soldiers a month's salary.

With this money, Wang An did not need Chongzhen's support for many of his ideas and could put them into action on his own.

Wang An randomly picked up a night pearl and put it in his arms, then prepared to go out to find a pawnshop to pawn it and exchange it for some silver.

As soon as he walked into the yard, he met Xiaowu leading Chongzhen and Wang Chengen walking in.

Wang An was a little angry at first, and then a little surprised.

Come to think of it, my little brother hasn't come to see me for almost a month.

Wang An was naturally talkative, so he started by saying, "Hey, whose nobleman is here?"

Chongzhen had known Wang An for some time and had long known Wang An's character. Hearing this, he did not take it seriously and smiled slightly, saying, "Brother, please don't make fun of me. I miss you so much after not seeing you for so long!"

"I just happened to have some free time today, so I came here to have a few drinks with you, brother."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Chengen behind him hurriedly carried ten boxes to the stone table in the yard, opened the food boxes, and took out some exquisite side dishes and two pots of fine wine.

Wang An felt relieved when he saw this, as his cousin still cared about him.

So Wang An and Chongzhen sat down together, and Wang An directly picked up the wine pot and poured a glass for each of them.

But before the wine pot was put down, Chongzhen, who usually didn't like drinking, actually picked up the wine glass and said, "Here's a toast, brother."

After he finished speaking, he tilted his head back and drank the wine in the glass.

Wang An raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He also picked up the wine glass and drank it all, then filled it up again.

Chongzhen raised his cup and drank without saying a word.

Wang An also accompanied him, drinking one cup after another.

After drinking three or four cups in a row, Chongzhen put down his glass and sighed.

Seeing this, Wang An's original anger had completely dissipated. Instead, he asked with some concern: "Brother, is there anything on your mind? Why don't you tell me? I will give you some advice."

Chongzhen first sighed, and after a long time he expressed his insights in the Wenhua Hall, but he changed the way he phrased it.

When Wang An heard this, he was reborn and lamented that his old business in Liaodong was facing competition from outsiders and internal corruption. There were even shopkeepers who colluded with outsiders to sell business intelligence and sell their own unique supply to others.

Chongzhen lamented that these people made their livings from their own businesses, yet they were the ones who most wanted the businesses to go bankrupt.

Wang An gave some advice and suggestions to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen just listened perfunctorily, and finally extended the matter to the Ming court, saying: "The sage said, to govern the family and the country, you must pacify the world."

"I have gained a lot of insights recently. I feel that running a business is similar to the current emperor governing the Ming Dynasty."

Wang An was slightly surprised. It was very rare for people of this era to have such awareness. He immediately became interested and asked, "How did you come up with such an insight? Tell me in detail."

Seeing Wang An taking the bait, Chongzhen smiled smugly and said, "I have been with you for a while and have heard you predict the fate of the Ming Dynasty. I have also heard about many recent events, so I have this insight."

"Nowadays, bandits are everywhere in Ming Dynasty. This is the same reason why my customers no longer support me and want to open their own business to compete with me."

"Secondly, the Eastern and Northern Tartars are eyeing the Central Plains covetously, and their intention to destroy the Ming Dynasty is undiminished, just like other competitors wanting to destroy my business."

"And my assistants and shopkeepers, each of them uses their little power to engage in corruption, steal my goods, and take my kickbacks. Isn't this exactly the same as the corrupt officials in the court?"

"Brother, tell me, if you were the current emperor, what would you do to turn the tide?"

As Chongzhen's last words fell, Wang Chengen's eyelids behind him couldn't help but twitch.

I thought that Emperor Chongzhen really treated Wang An as an outsider and actually asked him to think about the problem from the emperor's perspective.

However, the person who said this was Chongzhen himself, so Wang Chengen certainly wouldn't jump out and say anything disrespectful.

Wang An listened to Chongzhen's question and suddenly asked seriously, "What do you think is the biggest problem of the Ming Dynasty now?"

Chongzhen was stunned, but then he said: "We are in trouble both internally and externally, the people are poor, and the court is corrupt!"

Wang An nodded and praised: "It's a pity that you don't become the emperor, my dear brother. You have summarized the current predicament of the court very well."

Chongzhen just smiled slightly in response to Wang An's praise and said nothing.

Wang An continued: "Although it is a cliché, there is a saying from a sage: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it!"

"No matter what time it is, my dear brother, you must remember that the Ming Dynasty can have nothing, no money, no army, and even no officials, but it cannot be without the support of the people!"

"So I think the most important thing is to let the people live a good life. Only when the people can have enough food and live a good life will they truly support the court."

"Even if the imperial court has no army, when national disaster strikes, these people will spontaneously fight against foreign invaders for the country!"

"So no matter how many problems there are, if I were Emperor Chongzhen, I would first find a way to ensure that the people have enough food and clothing. This is the most important thing."

Chongzhen had imagined many answers, but he did not expect that Wang An's answer would be the people.

Chongzhen frowned slightly and said, "In fact, the emperor of this day does not want the people to live a good life, but for some reason, the heavens seem to have cursed the Ming Dynasty with constant disasters and man-made calamities, floods in the south and droughts in the north!"

"The imperial court wants to provide disaster relief but the treasury has no money. Even if they scrape together some relief money, 70% to 80% of it will be taken away before it reaches the local level. Only 10% of it will be left in the hands of the people. It is not easy to let the people live a good life..."

Chongzhen said this and sighed heavily again.

In fact, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen did not dare to say that he loved the people like his own children, but at least he never treated the people as grass, nor did he ever think that the people were a group of people who could be sacrificed at will.

It’s just that there were too many problems in the Ming Dynasty, which resulted in him not being able to focus much energy on the people.

In the original history, any money the Ming Dynasty had was given priority to supplying to the front-line troops. Even if some money was occasionally allocated for disaster relief, as he said, 70% to 80% of it would have been gone before it reached the people.

(End of this chapter)