An hour later.
Yang Fan walked out of the pawn shop, followed by the fat shopkeeper with a smile on his face.
He kept saying that he must come to him next time if there is any good stuff, and he would give him a good price.
Yang Fan walked out of the pawn shop holding a small cloth bag tightly in his hand.
Except for a house deed and a shop deed in the east of Chang'an City, the rest of the bag was filled with gold leaves.
Under Chen Desheng's "fooling", Yang Fan took advantage of the situation to make a fool of himself and priced the lighter at 1,200 taels of gold.
You know, officials in North Korea and China generally have low salaries.
Even for a fifth-grade official, the monthly salary is only about 10 copper coins.
Therefore, 1,200 taels of gold can make you a billionaire with great purchasing power.
He directly used part of the money to replace the house and shop that were pawned in the pawn shop from the fat shopkeeper.
Chen Desheng, who felt that he had made a lot of money, even directly and generously helped transfer the house and shop. At this point, Yang Fan also had a place to stay in the capital at this time.
Then he immediately called the maids and servants to clean up the shop.
When Yang Fan was worrying about what kind of stickers to use to renovate the shop.
******
The Political Affairs Hall of the Imperial City.
Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Wei Zheng, Cheng Yaojin and other ministers gathered together. It can be said that the top figures of the Tang Dynasty were all gathered here.
During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was no prime minister in the court during this period.
The prime ministers are all three high-ranking officials. Therefore, although the senior official in Zhongshu, Guan Zhongshu Ling, the senior official in the family, the minister in charge, and the senior official in Shangshu, Shangshu Ling, do not have the name of prime minister, they still perform the duties of the prime minister.
Under normal circumstances, they discuss matters in the political hall in the morning and return to the province to handle public works at noon.
Today, Li Shimin left them alone.
You must know that the political hall is a place where major military and confidential matters are discussed, as well as the promotion, demotion, and dismissal of officials above the fifth rank.
As long as the matters discussed in the political hall are not trivial, ordinary people are not allowed to approach.
There are forbidden troops guarding the outside, and others are not allowed to hear about it. After the meeting is agreed upon, the emperor will be reported to the court for the final decision.
In this way, the Political Affairs Hall became the decision-making organ that assisted the emperor in ruling the country during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, and was the real heart of the empire.
At this time, Li Shimin was sitting in the upper position, looking down at everyone and asking.
"Xuanling, how is the vaccination against cowpox going? What is the effect?"
Fang Xuanling stood up and replied:
"Thanks to His Majesty's grace, all people in the prefectures and counties near Chang'an City have been vaccinated against cowpox. The markets in the east and west cities of the city have also opened normally. Food prices have returned to normal levels. All people who fled have returned home. The smallpox plague has been effectively controlled. "
Hearing Fang Xuanling's answer, Li Shimin laughed happily and cheered repeatedly.
After all, the outside world attributes the smallpox plague to him as a punishment from God for killing too many people. Now these censors and remonstrators have nothing to say!
No one wants to wear such a hat, let alone him who wants to be the emperor for eternity.
"As for the county man of Wannian County, this son has served the country and the people, contributed methods to prevent and control smallpox, benefited the people, and stabilized the country. I intend to make him the founding county prince, and he will live in the city for thousands of households... Dear friends, do you have any objections? ?”
Only then did everyone realize that Li Er had left them here to discuss how to reward them.
As the big bosses in the DPRK, they knew that Wannian County men provided a method to prevent smallpox. After all, promoting this method requires everyone's collective efforts.
But the reward was all of a sudden from a county boy to a county marquis. This is too exaggerated.
After all, there are nine levels of nobility in the Tang Dynasty, and the rank of a male from Kaiguo County is from the fifth level, which is the lowest level.
And the Marquis of Kaiguo County was from the third rank, which belonged to the upper-middle-class title. How could they not be surprised when he was promoted to several grades at once.
You must know that the title is a representative of status, and you can meet officials of the same level without bowing. Of course, the bowing here refers to saluting.
Whoever can be named the Founding County Marquis is a person with great achievements.
"Your Majesty, I believe that Wannian County County Man, as the founding lord of the country, should serve the imperial court and provide methods to prevent smallpox. It is his duty, and he can be rewarded with one million gold..." Zhongshu Ling Changsun Wuji Be the first to speak.
After listening to Changsun Wuji's words, as an upright old troll, Wei Zheng's face straightened.
"Your Majesty, I think what Zhongshu Ling said is a little inappropriate. The men of Wannian County should be given a large reward for their meritorious service. This can reflect your Majesty's love for talents and inspire the world's knowledgeable people to serve the country. The love of the county man fulfilled his innocent heart..."
"Your Majesty, you have made a rule since you came to the throne. If you don't have outstanding military achievements, you will not be granted a title. Wannian County Prince already has a title and can be promoted to one level. If you make him a county prince all at once, it will inevitably arouse people's opinions..."
Li Jing, who usually rarely spoke, also interjected at this time.
Cheng Yaojin, with a naive look on his face, said in a rough voice:
"I, Old Cheng, am a rough man who only knows how to march and fight, but I know that on the battlefield, merit will be rewarded and mistakes will be punished. Only in this way can we be victorious in every battle..."
Seeing several important ministers put forward different opinions, Li Er, who was a little hot-headed, also calmed down.
He didn't expect that there would be so many different opinions on the reward.
If the reward is given as Changsun Wuji said, it would seem too harsh.
After all, the ten thousand gold mentioned in the Tang Dynasty was not a reward of ten thousand taels of gold, but a reward of 10,000 copper coins. Even a million gold was only equivalent to 1,000 taels of silver (1,000 copper coins).
But if the reward is given according to what he just said, as Li Jing said, it is indeed difficult to convince the public.
He couldn't help but rub his frowned brow with his fingers, and looked at Fang Xuanling involuntarily.
After all, Fang Xuanling, as Li Shimin's right-hand man, has the title of Fang's plan and decision-making, and making suggestions is his strength.
Seeing Li Shimin looking at her, Fang Xuanling knew it was time for her to appear.
"Your Majesty, what all your colleagues said makes sense. Why not combine the opinions of the ministers with both promotion and rewards? This will not only honor your Majesty's promise but also comply with the opinions of the princes."
Well, this strategy is exactly what I want, so I will reward you accordingly.
It's just that I promised him at the beginning that if the method of preventing the smallpox plague worked, I would reward him with beauties. Where did the beauties come from?
That greedy and lustful boy wants to marry his daughter, but there is no way.
"How about choosing a maid from the palace for him..."
After a moment of silence, Fang Xuanling was a little embarrassed and said cautiously.
The remaining people whispered: "It's a little inappropriate to treat a hero like this."
After pondering for a while, Li Er also felt something was wrong and shouted: "Wang Huangui..."
An old eunuch walked out of the side hall next to him and responded softly: "Everyone, what are your orders?"
The old eunuch looked very old, his eyebrows were white, his eyebrows were white, his face was covered with wrinkles and ridges, like the old bark of a pine tree that was about to fall off.
But his body bones looked very strong, his back straight, he walked briskly and quietly to Li Er, bowed and saluted.
As soon as the princes saw the old eunuch, they all quickly saluted: "I have met the king."
Facing these important officials and Li Er's confidants, the old eunuch just nodded lightly and said yes.
The old eunuch bowed forward and Li Er asked: "I want to reward a beautiful woman to the hero. Who are the candidates?"
The old eunuch replied directly: "Last month, the palace selected a girl for everyone, and everyone has seen the pictures. Why don't we give the second daughter of the warrior Yu to the man from Wannian County?"
Speaking of Samurai Xun's second daughter, to be honest, Li Shimin was really entangled in his heart and a little reluctant to let go.
This Wu girl was only fourteen years old, and she was the daughter of the hero Ying Guogong, the warrior Xun.
This girl has beautiful face and graceful figure, especially after seeing her portrait, Li Er was thinking about her.
This girl is naturally charming and charming, she is definitely a rare beauty.
All men are lustful, and of course he is no exception. Otherwise, at this age, there would be no need for a big draft girl.
But there was a knot in his heart - the heroine King Wu.
This is what Yuan Tiangang said.
I don't know who spread the word, but this sentence became a prophecy circulated in the palace. Therefore, he ordered several palace maids and eunuchs to be killed with a stick.
No matter what age, rumors are terrible.
What's more, people in this era have great faith in the prophecies of ghosts and gods.
The words of the old magic stick Yuan Tiangang are naturally more convincing.
Therefore, even His Majesty Li Er, who prides himself on being wise and powerful, is no exception. This prophecy has become a thorn in his heart.
Sometimes he even wanted to kill Wu's daughter, but after all, Wu's daughter was the hero. If he really killed her because of an unfounded crime, not to mention that the officials and censors would cause trouble, even Li Shimin himself would be worried about it. Can't bear it.
As Wang Huangui, the roundworm in Li Er's belly, he was certainly aware of Li Shimin's concerns during this period.
In this case, it is better to suggest that Li Shimin give Wu's daughter to the hero. As long as Wu's daughter is not in the palace, there will be no rumors about "the female protagonist of King Wu".
This not only reassured Li Shimin, but also won the favor of everyone, killing two birds with one stone.
Although the old eunuch knew Li Er very well, he was not a man after all and did not understand the dirty thoughts and possessiveness in a man's heart.
At this time, Li Shimin's mood was complicated. If the Wu daughter was given to Yang Fan, it would be troublesome to send it away, but he was not willing to part with it.
After all, Wu's daughter is so charming that I feel pity for her. If she is brought into the house, she will definitely be a man's treasure.
Seeing the hopeful looks in the eyes of all the important ministers, in order to become the emperor for eternity, I could only reluctantly nod and said yes. After saying this, I suddenly became a little distracted.
Wang Huangui took the order and left, and Fang Xuanling and others also left the political palace.
But Yang Fan, who was still decorating his shop with wallpaper in Chang'an, had no idea that a love affair was about to come unexpectedly.
