Going to Beijing, April ushered in the first rain.
The light rain fell on the bright and clean glazed tiles, and then condensed into drops, and then gathered into streams, flowing down the tiles, forming a rain curtain in front of the window.
Bai Dongjiang, the old man of Bai Pavilion, was neatly dressed and looked again and again in front of the mirror.
"Ma'am, are you ready?"
Bai Dongjiang's wife, Xie, came from a well-known family. She was also neatly dressed at this time, wearing a grand ceremony, and was being served by the maids.
"It has been prepared for a long time, but I don't know if it is in line with Prime Minister Lin's wishes."
Bai Dongjiang waved his hand: "As long as our intentions are met!"
He looked at his attire in the mirror again, and after it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it, he said to the attendant outside the door: "Prepare the carriage and horses immediately to go to Prime Minister Lin's house."
Shangjing was an extremely large city during the Dachen Dynasty. Qinglong Street and Zhuque Street ran vertically and horizontally, dividing Shangjing into four parts except the imperial city.
Among them, the left and right sides of Zhuque Street are almost all official residences, the most shabby of which is the residence of Right Prime Minister Lin Ruoquan.
It was a two-entry courtyard, which was much different from other official residences. Not only is it small in scale, but the materials used are also ordinary, and there is no sense of nobility in the entire courtyard.
But it happened that the owner of this courtyard was very popular in Shangjing and was extremely expensive.
In the Chen Dynasty, there were left and right prime ministers, with the left as the most respected. The left prime minister Li Youdao was also inferior to one person and more than ten thousand people, even half a rank higher than Lin Ruoquan, but for some reason, he did not receive the favor.
Right Prime Minister Lin Ruoquan is obviously lower than Li Youdao, but the Holy Family is prosperous. Even the official department that was originally managed by Li Youdao has now been assigned to Lin Ruoquan.
So much so that no matter day or night, there are always people lining up in front of Lin Ruoquan's house, waiting to be received by Lin Ruoquan.
"Master Prime Minister! Mr. Bai Ge is here to visit!" the servant whispered in Lin Ruoquan's ear.
Lin Ruoquan's eyes showed a little surprise.
Everyone knew that Li Youdao, the left prime minister, had a rift with Bai Dongjiang, the great scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, so that he, the right prime minister, had to keep a distance from the two of them to avoid getting into trouble.
There was little contact between the three of them, so Lin Ruoquan was stunned for a moment when he heard the servant's report.
"He came alone, or..."
The servant quickly reported back: "In addition to Master Bai, there is also Mrs. Bai, who seems to be bringing her family."
Lin Ruoquan put down what he was doing, got up and walked to the east wing.
"Take care of the central hall and call Xiaoqian out. I'll go change my clothes."
Xiaoqian is the name of Lin Ruoquan's wife. Since Bai Dongjiang brought his family with him when he came to visit, his family should also come out to greet him.
Obviously, we should not treat the bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion as an ordinary person. Others can wait in line outside the Lin Mansion, but Bai Dongjiang obviously cannot.
The servants also cleaned up quickly. Fresh fruits and fragrant tea were prepared one by one, and the central hall was wiped spotlessly. Next, the doormen dispersed the people waiting to see Lin Mansion. The doors to the small courtyard were opened wide, and Lin Ruoquan stood at the door to greet them.
As a pavilion elder, Bai Dongjiang belongs to one of the three parties of "emperor, prime minister, and pavilion elder" in court politics.
As for Lin Ruoquan, although he is the Right Prime Minister, he is also one of the three parties. From the perspective of power, they both belong to the same level. Therefore, Lin Ruoquan stood at the door to greet him.
From a distance, Lin Ruoquan saw three carriages slowly approaching along Zhuque Street.
The first carriage, with its horse wearing feathers on its head, was obviously Ge Lao Bai Dongjiang's carriage.
Because the courtyard was too small to park a carriage inside, Bai Dongjiang got off the carriage in front of Lin Ruoquan's door.
"Haha! How dare you let Mr. Lin greet you at the door? I'm being rude!"
Lin Ruoquan cupped his hands and said calmly: "You're welcome, Mr. Baige, please come inside!"
Bai Longjiang's wife, Ms. Xie, also got out of the car. First, she gave a slight salute, then walked a few steps quickly, took Mrs. Lin Ruoquan's hand and said with a smile, "My sister is still so beautiful!"
Mrs. Lin wanted to return the gift, but Mrs. Xie held her hand. She had no choice but to smile and said: "Sister, you are so polite." As she said this, her eyes drifted to the third carriage.
The servant opened the curtain, and a thin and frail girl stepped out of the carriage.
"Sister, I wonder who this is..."
Xie shook her head slightly and said, "It's not convenient to go into details here."
The group of people entered the central hall, and the guests and hosts took their seats. Only then did Lin Ruoquan notice the girl following behind.
"Huh? Brother Bai, I wonder who this is..."
Bai Dongjiang laughed and said, "I'll give it a try and tell you the reason for your visit today."
As soon as Lin Ruoquan heard this, he immediately sat upright and said, "Brother Bai, please speak."
Bai Dongjiang cast his gaze out the window, sighed slightly and said, "I want to persuade the Holy One to move the capital."
Lin Ruoquan's eyes narrowed.
Because Shangjing is located in the far north and has a cold climate, it can be considered a bitterly cold place. Every winter, tens of thousands of kilograms of charcoal are burned in the imperial city. But even so, the working conditions are still miserable.
The ministers were deeply tortured and had long proposed moving the capital, but every time they were rejected by the Holy Father.
Among them, Lin Ruoquan was the first to propose moving the capital. However, the emperor, who almost never dismissed Lin Ruoquan's advice, rejected this memorial without hesitation.
The politics of the Chen Dynasty were all based on the small circle of "the emperor, the prime minister, and the elders". If the memorial to move the capital can get the support of the elders, then even if two against one, the emperor would not be able to defeat the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty.
But Bai Dongjiang, who represents the elder of the pavilion, does not support moving the capital. Lin Ruoquan and Li Youdao were unable to do anything about this, but today they didn't know what kind of medicine Bai Dongjiang took wrongly, and he actually talked about moving the capital.
"I wonder where Mr. Ge plans to move to?" Although Bai Dongjiang first proposed the matter of moving the capital, Lin Ruoquan still didn't believe it, so he asked.
In his earliest memorial, he wanted to move the capital to Zhongjing. Lin Ruoquan had his own considerations for moving to Zhongjing.
The Chen Dynasty took advantage of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Most of the domestic cargo transportation relied on canal water transportation to reduce costs.
However, Shangjing is in the north and is frozen for half a year. The road from Zhongjing to Shangjing cannot be transported by water and can only be transported by land.
This undoubtedly increases the cost of goods, which is not a good thing for the people.
If the capital is moved to Zhongjing, it will undoubtedly make the circulation of goods and goods more convenient and faster. Moreover, Zhongjing is the place where the He family thrives, and Zhongjing has a stronger political meaning.
So when Lin Ruoquan heard that Bai Dongjiang was actually planning to persuade the emperor to move the capital, he wanted to hear where he was planning to move. If it was to move to the lower capital, in Lin Ruoquan's heart, it was better not to move.
