The prince couldn't match Zhang Yang's strange strength, so he saw the Supreme Emperor laughing and chatting with the old people in the village.
Zhang Yang smiled and said: "I want the prince to stay for dinner, it is a rare New Year's Eve banquet." Li Yuan looked up and said,
"Then we'll use it for dinner." Lao Wang stopped struggling, and there was more confusion and struggle in his eyes. Zhang Yang smiled and said: "You see, the Supreme Emperor and his elders have said so. It is important to return to His Majesty, but we cannot disobey the Supreme Emperor's wishes."
"The County Marquis is really..."
"Three pigs were killed in our village, and we held a big banquet only a few days a year." Lao Wang sighed.
"County Marquis, this old slave has to go back to the palace after finishing his meal." Zhang Yang arranged a place for him on the long table in the village, and brought basins of fragrant and steaming meals to him.
"You must eat and drink well tonight. When you are full, you will return to the palace to report to His Majesty."
"I'm sorry for the kindness of the Marquis of the County." Zhang Yang smiled and said to Niu Chuang: "Brother Niu, let us all sit down and have a banquet." Niu Chuang nodded with a smile, shouted at the villagers, and finally The children from the village were quickly seated.
Li Yuan, Zhang Gongjin, Ouyang Xun, and Sun Simiao sat on the seats. After that came the warriors Xun and Shangguan Yi, as well as Niu Chuang and others.
The winter night is very cold, but the village is very lively on New Year's Eve, and it seems that it is not so cold anymore.
Zhang Yang returned to his home at the foot of Lishan Mountain. There was also a banquet here, and the children were already seated. The two aunts cooked the meals themselves, and put large cakes on the table.
Zhang Yang took out two marinated chickens and put them in the pot to fry. Li Tai came as soon as he smelled it,
"As expected! I knew you would make fried chicken today." The two fried chickens came out of the pan, and the fat man started to eat them.
Zhang Yang drank tea,
"There must be a banquet going on in the palace right now." Li Tai tore off a chicken leg and ate it.
"The fried chicken had a unique taste before, but when I tasted it now, it was indeed not as delicious as the scallion chicken and roast duck." The fat man wiped his mouth after eating and left, as if the purpose of his trip was just to eat.
Zhang Yang glanced at some of the little milk bears in the yard. They kept crawling on the little bears, and the little bears would push them away every time.
However, these little milk bears regard it as their only relative. In the end, the little bear gave up and let them crawl on him, as long as it didn't affect him from eating the fried chicken.
When the banquet in the village dispersed, Lao Wang was about to leave, but he saw the Supreme Emperor standing at the entrance of the village. He bowed and saluted,
"Old slave, I will return to the palace to report to Your Majesty." Li Yuan said in a deep voice: "Erlang, why did you come to Lishan?" Lao Wang told the story of the cause and effect of the matter, from the Luoyang incident to the discussions between the court and the present, and now Come to Lishan to deliver oral instructions.
"Zhang Yang is a good boy. Erlang shouldn't be so guarded against him. You can also give him a message. Just say that if he dares to attack Lishan, I can't do it."
"Here!" Wang Gonggong hurriedly walked out of Lishan and got into a carriage returning to the palace. The children were still playing around. It was a holiday, but they were left alone for the time being.
Gao Yang and Li Zhizheng were quarreling over a little milk bear, and Qinghe and Princess Lanling were also quarreling over building blocks.
The yard was noisy, and Xiao Qingqing was also lively. A group of her uncles and aunts walked around and did some mischief from time to time.
She overturned the block house she had just built and tore apart the windmill, making a group of aunts annoyed with the little niece and reluctant to be angry with her.
One-year-old little Qingqing started to make trouble in order to show how naughty she will be in the future. The two aunts could not help but notice how much they doted on the little princess.
There was an explosion in the night sky, and huge fireworks bloomed in the night sky. Xiao Qingqing pointed at the night sky and said, she babbling, she could only express her joyful emotions in this way.
The yard and the village were quiet at the moment, and everyone was watching the fireworks blooming on the top of Lishan Mountain.
The old prince was riding in a carriage, and the sound of fireworks exploding in the night sky frightened the horse.
The driver pulled the reins to control the horse. Lao Wang held on to the door of the carriage, leaned out and looked back at Lishan. The light of the fireworks shone in his cloudy eyes, and he said tremblingly: "It should be Lishan, it should be him." Wuduo. The fireworks finished blooming, celebrating the tenth anniversary of Zhenguan.
At this moment in the palace, the banquet had just dispersed, but the auspicious night sky of Lishan Mountain could not see the auspicious Chang'an city. Perhaps tomorrow morning, villagers near Lishan will spread the news to Chang'an City.
All the guests in the Taiji Hall dispersed, but Li Shimin still looked at the memorial in his hand. This was Li Chengqian's preparation for the official policy. He prepared a thousand concubines. Some of these concubines were people who failed the imperial examination, and some were officials after the imperial examination. Not satisfied with the current situation, he plans to become a wife.
Many people think that those who can be masters are old people, but in the decision-making process between Cen Wenwen and Li Chengqian, they chose ministers under forty years old.
These people are young, and after serving as teachers in remote places, they will be able to serve as officials in the court again in the future. If it were an elderly person, he might not be able to reach remote places.
Li Shimin then thought of Wang Gui, who was originally going to Liaodong to serve as county governor. He fell ill on the way and went to his hometown in Taiyuan to recuperate.
Li Junxian walked into the palace,
"Your Majesty, there is auspiciousness in the direction of Lishan Mountain, just like in previous years." Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand and said solemnly: "I know, you send someone to Lishan Mountain to inquire."
"Here." The prince walked into the palace and saluted.
"Your Majesty, Lishan's oral edict has been delivered. The Supreme Emperor has kept the old slave for two hours." Li Shimin said solemnly: "Is there any auspiciousness in Lishan?" The Manlu Palace was very quiet, and the prince's eyes were tired. He had already He is very old and has served His Majesty for a long time.
His energy at this age can no longer cope with it. The prince whispered: "Your Majesty, the old slave did not see the auspiciousness in the night sky when he came." This was the first time that the prince lied to his majesty. The distance from Lishan Mountain was not too far at that time. If it was such auspiciousness, What was going on, the county magistrate of Lishan at that time must have known best.
Even if he said it, what could he do? Li Junxian had been investigating this matter for four years, but he had not been able to find the person behind it in these four years.
Even if His Majesty has doubts, he cannot tell who is responsible. Li Shimin frowned and glanced at him. He was a little surprised to get this reply. He didn't think much and just said calmly: "What did Zhang Yang say after the oral edict was delivered."
"The county prince said that he does not want to owe His Majesty any favors."
"Favours? I didn't want him to owe any favors." Seeing that he was still standing in front of him, Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "You should also go and have a rest." Wang Gonggong bowed and nodded.
"Here." When Queen Changsun came back, Li Shimin whispered: "Year after year, I feel that this palace is getting more and more deserted." Queen Changsun asked the palace servants to bring the brazier into the palace.
"The weather is still so cold, your Majesty should also pay attention to keeping warm." Li Shimin nodded slightly.
"That auspicious sign has appeared again." Queen Changsun poured a cup of tea and said
"This matter has troubled Your Majesty for a long time, have you found out anything about it?"
"I doubt Li Shan."
"I have never heard of someone being able to create abnormalities in the night sky before. If it is man-made, does your Majesty doubt Zhang Yang?"
"There's no evidence, so how can we say it was Zhang Yang who did it." As he spoke, Li Shimin sighed.
"It's the New Year's Eve. Your Majesty shouldn't sigh like this." Li Shimin said with a smile: "There will be many things in the court in the coming year, and I will never dare to relax." When it was just dawn, there were officials on the bell tower of Chang'an City holding their hands. His Majesty's New Year's decree was recited loudly.
Zhang Yang and Li Yue brought a group of younger brothers, sisters, and daughters to pay New Year greetings to His Majesty. The carriage arrived at Chunming Gate. After receiving the news, Wang Gonggong waited in front of the city gate early in the morning.
"I have met Her Royal Highness the Princess and the County Marquis." The children played until very late last night before going to bed. All the children were drowsy at the moment.
Zhang Yang took out the soap,
"Today is the New Year. Just keep this piece of soap. It's not a valuable thing, so I hope you don't dislike it." Such a piece of soap only cost twenty coins.
The prince took the soap and said with a smile: "County Marquis, Your Royal Highness the Princess, come with this old slave." On the first day of the New Year, Chang'an City was very lively.
With a group of princesses and princes, they walked in through Chunming Gate and then walked towards the Imperial College. Passing by the Imperial College was the Zhuque Gate.
Zhuque Street is bustling with activity. Walking into the imperial city of Zhuque Gate, the place seems deserted and empty.
It seemed that the small world suddenly became quiet. Gao Yang and Li Zhi were playing around fighting for a piece of cake.
Echoes can be heard in this imperial city. After walking from the Imperial City and entering Chengtian Gate, Li Chengqian was waiting here.
The couple saluted together,
"Your Highness the Crown Prince." Li Chengqian looked back at the children. Zhang Yang said loudly: "Report the count!"
"One! Two! Three...six...eleven." Although the voice of counting was sparse, Zhang Yang smiled and said: "Your Highness, please see, none of these children are missing." Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly,
"It's a novel and easy-to-use method." Li Shimin has many children, so calling them by name is not as convenient as counting them.
Zhang Yang folded his hands and said, "Actually, I thought this method could also be used in the military."
"When I am alone, I will remonstrate with my father. Now it is a good idea to lead the army guard and the Qianniu Guards on the left and right to run the army." Zhang Yang and Li Chengqian walked in the front, and behind the children Li Yue drove a row of children from Gao Gao When the time came, there was another queue.
After walking to Xingqing Hall, the children saw their father and mother before entering the hall and saluting one after another.
The dishes were already on the table. When the monarch and his ministers met, they talked for a while and smiled in tacit understanding.
"You come with me."
"Here." Zhang Yang followed the emperor's footsteps towards the backyard of Xingqing Palace. The pool here was still covered with a thin layer of ice, and there was a hint of cold air on the ice.
There are only two people in the backyard, the emperor and his ministers. Here you can still hear the laughter of the children in the palace.
"It makes you and Yue'er happy to take care of them." Zhang Yang heard this and sat down by the pool.
"The ones who are heartless are all my younger brothers and sisters. As a brother-in-law, I should also watch over them."
"The incident in Luoyang is so big that the province has piled up memorials from all over the country. I will discuss with the Zhongshu Province how to calm down this matter."
"So your Majesty wants to restrict merchants?" Li Shimin said solemnly: "The Tang Dynasty needs merchants, but the Tang Dynasty cannot have a second Lishan Mountain." Just one Lishan Mountain is enough to give the court a headache, let alone Another Lishan comes out.
After deliberation, the Zhongshu Province defined this matter as a scam by businessmen. In this way, North Korea and China can also minimize the impact of this incident.
Seeing that Zhang Yang didn't answer, Li Shimin said again: "I hope you can keep your promise back then and promise that the technology of Lishan in the DPRK will never be leaked."
"I understand." Zhang Yang looked at the pond. The water was as black as the emperor's heart.
"Lishan accepted all the five hundred thousand guan from Luoyang?"
"Take it."
"How do you plan to arrange this money?" Zhang Yang fell into silence again this time. Li Shimin smiled and said: "Many people in this world love money, but I thought you were a minister of the Tang Dynasty, and even an important minister in the court. Sheji will consider it." The emperor almost said that all the money would be handed over to the court to contribute to Sheji.
Don't think that the emperor is a contented person, especially an emperor like Li Shimin, who has a huge appetite.
Even if all the 500,000 guan are handed over to the court this time, Li Shimin will only want more, and the 500,000 guan will not satisfy his appetite.
"Your Majesty, they all say that Lishan is rich. In fact, they only see the surface. Lishan's production requires costs. Putting aside the taxes paid to the court, including labor and huge resources, these costs have made Lishan Overwhelmed." Walking to the emperor's side, Zhang Yang whispered: "Xue Yantuo has a batch of coal mines to be sent to Chang'an City. I hope that the government can give me a fair price by then."
"Mr. Zhao is doing things decently, please relax."
"Speaking of Duke Zhao, at the beginning he advocated treating the children of the aristocratic families with care, and even wanted to let them go. What are your Majesty's plans now?"
"What do you want me to do?" Zhang Yang bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the two scholars in Luoyang were beaten to death by them. They wanted to shut up the scholars, but they thought that justice could not kill them all, and they would not kill them all in the future. There will be more people like this coming forward, not just scholars, but perhaps many villagers."
"I also hope that Your Majesty can stand on the side of the masses, stick to the ideals in your heart and never give up. The prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty is just around the corner."
"The prosperous age..." Li Shimin looked into the distance and said slowly: "The Tang Dynasty has only been based in the Central Plains for thirty years. In these thirty years, it has been recuperating and recuperating, and the household registrations in each county have also increased. But can I see this prosperous age?" Former Sui Dynasty The chaos caused great damage to the vitality of the Central Plains, and countless people were lost.
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the state policy of levying light corvees and low taxes and encouraging population growth has been pursued. Only with population can we have productivity, and with productivity can we boost national strength.
Merchants do not engage in farming or production, which is contrary to the government. After the Luoyang Incident, the court once again firmly took measures to restrict merchants.
Perhaps reaching the level of prosperity is not something that can be accomplished in one generation. It may take two generations, three generations.
It is a good thing that the emperor is ambitious, but it is not a good thing that the emperor has a big appetite. You can probably guess what the emperor was thinking about this matter, how he could shamelessly share a piece of the five hundred thousand yuan to the imperial court, and do so in a just and justified manner.
Tian Khan is sage and benevolent, but all bad things have nothing to do with him. Even if the emperor of Luoyang is half an accomplice in the scam, he will not admit it.
