Yang Peng took a sip of tea and asked: "How does Mr. Li's family live now?" Li Yan said: "The family has a small business, and there are several acres of farmland outside the city. Although they are not considered a wealthy family, they are still able to have enough food and clothing. ."
"How is it compared to the period of Emperor Zhao?" Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "During the period of Emperor Zhao, there was no need to pay taxes. After all, I am a scholar. But the situation now is much better than that."
Yang Peng said with a smile: "When the Emperor of the Zhao family did not need to pay taxes, now we need to pay taxes. How come our lives are better?" Li Yan said: "When the Emperor of the Zhao family was in power, those of us who were famous, although in name only There is no need to pay taxes, but there are a lot of various apportionments, such as the birthday of the Grand Master, the birthday of the Prime Minister. It’s okay for ordinary people, but those of us who are famous have to pay gifts! Otherwise, don’t even think about living anymore! In addition, during festivals, the emperor’s birthday, concubines entering the palace, the palace being completed, etc., in short, there are all kinds of names, only you can’t think of it, no one can’t think of it, we all have to give gifts! All year round, we work hard to earn A little money is not enough to give gifts! Hey!" Li Yan picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.
Putting down the tea bowl, he continued: "These are only one aspect of the problem; on the other hand, the governments at all levels continue to exploit us, so that many of us have to borrow money to survive! If we don't comply, hum, I’ll just pick you up and put you in jail, and you won’t be able to get out unless your family members use money to ransom you! Hey, it’s really hard to look back on the past!”
After a pause, his frowning eyebrows relaxed, and his clouds cleared up. He said happily: "It's fine now! In addition to paying some taxes, I no longer have to worry about officials' exploitation and random gifts, so although I have to pay Tax, but life is many times better than when Emperor Zhao was the emperor!" He frowned and thought: "After experiencing the situation during the Emperor Zhao's period and the current situation, I feel that we must govern the country well, and the law Confucianism is the correct way, and Confucianism is completely nonsense! It can neither enrich the country or strengthen the army, nor benefit the people!"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "Perhaps with a wise emperor, the Confucian approach would also work."
Li Yan shook his head, "No! According to Confucian thought, it can be said that 'emotion is greater than law'. According to Confucian thought, in fact, the emperor protects his favored ministers. That is a very correct approach and is understandable! According to Confucian thought , this is the emperor's expression of friendship, what is there to blame! Confucianism also pays attention to the distinction between superiors and inferiors, etiquette and rules. 'Heaven and Earth, Lord, Prince, Master' are enshrined as gods. Doesn't this mean that those who are kings should be officials? Of course, they should be a superior group of people? In this case, what's wrong with enslaving all the people in the world? Under the guidance of this kind of thinking, it is difficult for officials to have good officials who do things for the people, and it is also difficult for emperors to truly serve the world. A good emperor who fulfills his own responsibilities! Therefore, cowardly kings and sycophants have become the mainstream. The reason why all dynasties in the past dynasties ended up in chaos can be said to be caused by Confucianism! Before the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism, the Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty, The country is more than five hundred years old, but after Confucianism became popular, no dynasty can live longer than three hundred years! This illustrates a problem!"
"King Yan said it well, everyone is born between heaven and earth, and experiences birth, old age, illness and death, so why should we say that the country belongs to a certain person? The world belongs to the people of the world, so the duty of the government and the emperor is to seek benefits for the people of the world. Benefits! To achieve this, Confucianism can never do it. Only Legalism can do it! Since the world belongs to the people of the world, then we can never allow a certain person or a certain group of people to become the authority. Only when the law outside of human beings becomes a supreme authority can the world serve the people of the world!"
Yang Peng smiled and nodded. Li Yan smiled and clasped his fists and said, "I'm talking nonsense, sir. It's best if you don't laugh at me!"
Yang Peng waved his hand and said: "What you said is very good! It would be great if all Confucian scholars had the same awareness as you!" He asked the waiter to bring pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and then Wang started grinding and Yang Peng took up the pen to write. I wrote a text message and handed it to Li Yan. Li Yan looked at it curiously and was surprised to find that it was actually a letter of recommendation, recommending him to enter the university. The few dozen words were not calligraphy at all, and it was not beautiful at all, but it conveyed a powerful feeling. The aura of bravery makes people feel that this must be from the hands of a military commander at a glance! Li Yan couldn't help but confirm his previous judgment. This young man with extraordinary talent and heroic spirit must be a famous general in the Yanyun Army!
Li Yan couldn't help but asked curiously: "Who is the general? Xiao Ke is really flattered by taking such good care of Xiao Ke!" Yang Peng smiled and said, "You will know about it later." Then he stood up and said, "I have something else to do. I'll take my leave. ." Li Yan quickly stood up to see him off, watching the other person's leaving figure, constantly guessing about his identity. After the other party came downstairs, Li Yan sat down again, picked up the recommendation letter and looked at it, but he became suspicious again: "Who is making a joke on me? Why don't you take this letter to the university tomorrow?" . If it’s wrong, it won’t delay your preparation for the exam.” He then put the letter away close to his body.
Yang Peng and Wang Kai came out of Rongsheng Tea House and continued to wander on the streets. Unknowingly, we came to the street where Tianjing Hotel is located. Tianjing Hotel, the most famous restaurant in the world, is grand and magnificent, with brilliant lights. It is said to be a place where all the delicacies in the world can be cooked. The huge crowds and loud noises can be heard from all floors of the Fan Building.
Seeing this scene, Yang Peng knew that there must be no seats inside, so he wanted to turn around and go back to the palace. At this moment, scolding and yelling suddenly came from one side. Yang Peng couldn't help but follow the sound and saw a thin scholar supporting another thin scholar, surrounded by a group of gangsters. The gangsters yelled and cursed ferociously, saying something like: "I'm sorry, you don't have eyes." That’s it? ''Damn it, if you hit the uncle, you have to pay! '...
Yang Peng frowned and walked over.
At this time, the thin scholar who was supporting his companion said with a frightened look on his face: "We, we really didn't mean it! My young master was drunk, so he accidentally bumped into this young master. Please forgive me, gentlemen!" "The voice was thin, not like a man's voice. Yang Peng felt a little surprised. He looked at her carefully and couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that this thin scholar was no longer a man. He was clearly a girl disguised as a man. The companion she was supporting could only see the profile of her face. However, She has red lips and white teeth, smooth and fair skin, long and curly eyelashes, and there are clearly holes under her ears left by earrings. She is also a daughter. These two women who were disguised as men were most likely the young ladies and maids of some family, who had put on men's clothes and sneaked out to play!
The girl kept apologizing and begging for mercy, but the gangsters became more and more enthusiastic and refused to give up. Their voices became louder and louder. Many of the people watching could no longer go on and yelled at her. However, rogues are rogues after all, so they are not afraid of criticism from others. Some of them even yell at the people around them fiercely.
A rogue grabbed the girl's wrist and said fiercely: "You can't leave until you get fifty taels of silver!" The girl turned pale with fright, and said with a trembling voice: "We, we came out in a hurry, no, we didn't bring such How much money!"
The rogue glanced at the woman being supported by the girl and said, "That's easy to do. Leave your young master as a mortgage and you go back and get the money to redeem him!" The girl was startled and shouted: "What's going on? Okay?" The rogue was furious and raised his hand to slap her. The girl was so frightened that she closed her eyes, but for a long time she didn't feel the other person's palm fall. She couldn't help but feel strange. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the naughty wrist was grabbed by an extraordinary young man. The girl was immediately surprised.
Seeing that someone actually came forward, the ruffian was very angry and yelled: "You are so f*cking brave, come and take care of the third master's business!"
"Fuck you Third Master!" A sudden shout came from the crowd. Almost at the same time, a stone flew out and hit the 'Third Master' on the forehead. His head was broken and bleeding immediately. The 'Third Master' Ouch, a cry of pain. The people were already very angry. When someone took the lead, everyone picked up stones and threw them at the gangsters. For a while, the stones fell like raindrops. The gangsters had no way to avoid them. They were jumped and screamed repeatedly. . When the gangsters saw that they had offended the public, they lost all the arrogance they had just now. They rolled around and ran away, and the people laughed. In the blink of an eye, all the gangsters were gone.
The girl was so grateful that she supported her young lady and bowed deeply to everyone, saying, "Thank you uncles and uncles, thank you aunts and uncles!" A middle-aged man said, "Little girl, go home quickly!" The girl responded. There was a sound. Everyone dispersed, and Yang Peng also turned around to leave. "Yan, Brother Yang!" The girl's voice suddenly came. Yang Peng turned around in surprise and asked, "Little sister, do you know me?"
The girl helped the young lady to come to Yang Peng, bowed, looked around, and lowered her voice and said: "Slave, I have followed my master to meet King Yan." When Yang Peng heard what she said, he couldn't help but look at her again. The young lady she was supporting leaned against the girl. Her whole body seemed to have no bones. Her eyes were closed, and the strong smell of alcohol came from her. She kept mumbling nonsense in her red lips. Yang Peng saw the young lady's appearance clearly and showed surprise, "Is it you?" Then he frowned and turned to ask the girl, "Why is she so drunk? Does she also have the habit of drinking?"
The girl shook her head, "Master basically didn't drink in the past! Today it's because, it's because," she glanced at Yang Peng, looking at a loss. Yang Peng saw that she looked worried, so he stopped asking and said, "I'll accompany you back." The girl was very happy, "Great! I'm really worried about meeting rogues on the road again!"
The group of people walked towards Dangxiang Street. The so-called Dangxiang Street is a street in Tianjing New City close to the official hall. Because the Dangxiang royal family and nobles who surrendered were settled here, it was called Dangxiang Street by the local people.
The group of people turned from the main street into Dangxiang Street, and the surrounding area immediately became quiet. There were only a few pedestrians on the street and the lights were dim. Compared with the world just now, this place seemed to be another world.
The group of people came to the gate of the largest mansion on the street. The plaque on the gate said 'Helanhou Mansion'. After the fall of Xixia, several important members of the royal family and some important members of the nobility in Dangxiang were canonized with titles. This 'Marquis of Helan' was Li Qingxia's title. It turned out that the young lady the girl was supporting was Helan Hou Li Qingxia, the female emperor of Xixia who led the entire Xixia against Yan Yun.
Wang Kai stepped forward and knocked on the door. Then the door creaked open, and a middle-aged slave came out. When he saw Wang Kai knocking on the door, he was stunned for a moment, and then he saw Li Qingxia walking up with the support of the girl. There was a look of surprise in her eyes, and she hurried forward to meet Li Qingxia and supported Li Qingxia from the other side. Seeing that Li Qingxia was full of alcohol and unconscious, she couldn't help but be very surprised and asked: "Why did the master drink so much wine?" The girl couldn't help but glance at Yang Peng and shook her head. The middle-aged slave was very surprised to see that the girl was very afraid of that man. She looked at Yang Peng and asked, "Who is this young master...?"
Yang Peng smiled and said, "Since your master has arrived home safely, I'll take my leave." Then he turned around and left, and Wang Kai trotted down the steps to follow him. The middle-aged slave looked at the girl, frowned and asked: "Who is that person? Is he trying to trick our master? Humph, it's really a toad that wants to eat swan meat!..."
The girl hurriedly said: "Don't talk nonsense, do you know who he is?" The middle-aged slave said: "I have never seen him, how do I know who he is." The girl said hurriedly: "He is King Yan! "The middle-aged slave was stunned, then her face turned pale, and she said with trembling lips: "He, he, he is the King of Yan who destroyed our Great Xia Kingdom?!" The girl nodded and frowned; "Isn't that right? Him!" Then he said angrily: "Let's help the master in quickly. Standing at the door like this is really outrageous!"
The middle-aged slave turned her head and glanced at Yang Peng's back, swallowed involuntarily, and helped Li Qingxia in together with the girl.
Yang Peng and Wang Kai walked along the street and walked outside. Suddenly there was a splashing sound, and a bucket of hot water fell from the sky. The two of them did not expect to encounter this, and they were immediately drenched. Wang Kai was furious, raised his head and cursed: "Don't you have eyes?" Yang Peng was also a little annoyed and looked up. I saw a woman's graceful figure peeking out from the wooden building, saying in panic: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't pay attention!"
Yang Peng heard the voice that was familiar, and saw that the woman's figure was also familiar. He suddenly remembered a woman with whom he had a romantic relationship, Li Ruolan, the noble concubine of Xixia back then, the empress dowager, and now Mrs. Hanhai. Thinking of the romance that day, Yang Peng couldn't help but feel his heart tremble.
"Excuse me, is this His Highness Prince Yan?" Li Ruolan asked in surprise. Yang Peng smiled and said: "Isn't it just me? You are really good at pouring water in this basin!"
"Please wait a moment, King Yan. I'll be out right away!" Immediately, there were rapid footsteps in the wooden building. After a while, the side door next to the wooden building opened. Li Ruolan led a personal maid to Yang Peng and saw Yang Peng, looking very excited, bowed Yingying: "I pay my respects to King Yan! I have offended you so much, please forgive me!" Yang Peng looked at the beautiful and voluptuous woman in front of him, and couldn't help but move his index finger. , this Li Ruolan is certainly beautiful, but what attracts Yang Peng most is her identity and the sneaky excitement. The two together make Yang Peng so excited that he can't control himself.
Li Ruolan's face was red and she said with a hopeful look on her face: "Please, King Yan, come and sit with me, so that you can change your clothes."
Yang Peng's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously wanted to agree. At this moment, Wang Kai next to him whispered: "King Yan, it's getting late, I'm afraid you ladies will be worried." What Wang Kai really meant was that he was worried that it would be unsafe for the master to stay here, but it was hard to say this. , so I changed the way of saying it. Yang Peng heard Wang Kai's intention and missed his wife and children at home, so he said to Li Ruolan: "It's getting late. I should go back. I'll see you next time when I have time." After that, he got ready. left.
Li Ruolan was very anxious and hated the talkative Wang Kai. She hurriedly said sadly: "I wonder when I can see King Yan again?"
Yang Peng's heart trembled, and he felt a little sorry for Li Ruolan. He thought for a while and said, "Well, you don't want to live here anymore. There is a Songzhu Garden outside the city. You can move there." Yan Yunru After the Tianjing New City was established, all the properties of the former Zhao and Song Dynasty royal families, including many properties of nobles, gentry, and wealthy people, were included in the Yanyun public treasury as ownerless properties. A considerable number of them were various properties, and Songzhuyuan was among them. One was a manor built outside the city by a prince of Zhao and Song Dynasties. It was small in scale but had a quiet environment.
Li Ruolan was really overjoyed after hearing Yang Peng's words, because Yang Peng basically treated her as an outsider by doing this. Although she was still far from the goal she hoped for, it was very different from her previous identity. Although she had a romantic relationship with King Yan before, she was still basically just a minister who forgot about the country. Although she had a title, the common people of Yanyun would probably not think highly of her; and if she became King Yan's concubine, the situation would be different. It’s very different. Although she is not a princess yet, she can be said to be equivalent to a princess in many cases. It can be said that she has jumped over the dragon’s gate!
Yang Peng said: "I will explain it. You can go to the governor's office tomorrow to ask about this matter, and they will send someone to take you to Songzhuyuan outside the city." Li Ruolan Yingying bowed: "Thank you, King Yan, for your grace!" Then she expressed affectionately. He looked at Yang Peng and said: "King Yan, please don't forget me. You must come to see me often! I don't dare to ask for anything. I just hope to see King Yan from time to time, and I will be satisfied!"
Yang Peng's heart skipped a beat, and then he felt a little guilty. He nodded with a smile and said, "I have to go back. I will come to Songzhuyuan to see you when I have time!" Li Ruolan bowed, "I send you to King Yan! "Yang Peng led Wang Kai away.
Li Ruolan waited until Yang Peng had gone far away, then stood up, looked at Yang Peng's back from a distance, an excited smile appeared on her beautiful face, and couldn't help but murmured: "This is really God's will!"
Yang Peng and Wang Kai walked towards Prince Yan's Mansion. Yang Peng couldn't help but asked: "Do you think I am too sentimental?"
Wang Kai sighed and said, "This subordinate doesn't understand very well..."
Yang Peng smiled and said: "It's okay if you don't understand! If you don't understand, you won't have troubles!" He sighed and said: "I originally thought I was a very dedicated person, but I didn't expect to meet someone and fall in love with someone. Now, There are a lot of princesses in my family! Some people say that passionate people are the most ruthless. Do you think I have no love at all, only desire?"
Wang Kaidao: "This, I think you can't say that. Each of you empresses is beautiful and talented, and what's even more rare is that they are passionately devoted to their masters. The masters can't help but fall in love. This is a normal thing. Oh! If such a good woman is so affectionate towards me, if she doesn’t have feelings for him, that kind of person is simply not a human being! Therefore, I believe that the master loves every empress deeply, and he will never be the only one. Desire! Although this subordinate has never experienced this kind of thing, he believes that it is not the lack of affection that is called affection. For a person who is indifferent to a good woman who is deeply passionate about him, he is either deliberately pretentious or just trying to gain fame. In short, he is not. What a good thing!”
Yang Peng chuckled and patted Wang Kai on the shoulder. ...After Yang Peng had breakfast, he came to the main hall to discuss matters with the civil and military officials in Tianjing New City.
Huang Guang came out and cupped his fists and said: "To report to King Yan, the battle in Sichuan was very fruitful. A total of 75,530,000 taels of gold, silver and coins entered the public treasury. After deducting all expenses and Yan The reconstruction cost of Yunliu Prefecture is 20 million, and there is still a surplus of 55.53 million; in addition, there are countless grain and grass harvests, and there are antique calligraphy and paintings whose total value is temporarily incalculable!"
Yang Peng smiled and said: "As long as you don't spend all the money, it will be very bad!" Everyone laughed. Yang Peng looked at Li Xu and asked: "Li Xu, how did you do with the task I gave you?" Li Xu clasped his fists and said: "The total value of the secret organization's excavations under my subordinates is still being calculated. It is estimated that The total value could exceed five million taels of silver.”
Yang Peng's eyes lit up and he said with a smile: "Good guy! I didn't expect so much money buried underground!" Li Xu said: "My subordinates only dug out a small part. If they can all be dug out, the value will be immeasurable." Yes! It’s such a waste to have so much treasure buried underground!”
Yang Peng smiled and nodded. Zhang Xiang said: "I'm afraid that these treasures obtained from the ground now will have to be buried again in the future." Everyone looked at Zhang Xiang in confusion. Yang Peng smiled and said: "Zhang Xiang, there is something in your words!" Zhang Xiang clasped his fists and said. : "Back then, Cao Cao dug ancient tombs in order to raise military funds. Later, he worried that his own tomb would one day be robbed, so he spent countless hours setting up seventy-two tombs. All the property he gained from robbing ancient tombs was eventually returned. Underground!"
What happened after all, let’s see what happens next.
