In the sixth year of Zhenguan, March 5, at the end of Shenshi, Ganlu Hall
Li Shimin rubbed his brows, threw the memorial in his hand on the document, and stretched.
At the end of last month, Li Shimin had just finished hosting the Spring Plowing Ceremony, and he hadn't had time to relax yet!
The annual spring festival is about to begin again!
Therefore, Li Shimin has been working overtime to deal with government affairs these days, and he is very busy.
It’s been two days in a row that I haven’t gone to the harem to hang out with my beloved concubines!
Fortunately, after working day and night for the past two days, he finally finished processing the remaining memorials!
Li Shimin leaned back in his chair and squinted his eyes, wondering which palace to sleep in tonight!
The Queen is virtuous and graceful!
Concubine Wei is mature and plump!
Concubine Yan De has slender legs and fair skin!
As for Concubine Yang Shu, she has a graceful figure and is cold on the outside but fiery on the inside!
Hey, sometimes having too many choices can be a hassle!
But thinking of Concubine Yang Shu, Li Shimin suddenly remembered a small incident reported by the secret guards a few days ago.
Then Li Shimin straightened up, and while sorting out the memorials on the documents, he shouted casually.
"Tongueless."
The old eunuch standing by the side heard Li Shimin's words, took two steps, came to stand in front of Li Shimin, bowed and saluted:
"The old slave is here."
Li Shimin glanced at Wu Tongue, then lowered his head to play with a small amber seal.
"Is there any other news in Xingdaofang these days?"
Wuji thought for a while and said:
"The secret guard of Xiao Mansion sent word that Xiao Mansion has no visitors as usual these days!"
"Mrs. Xiao still transcribes scriptures step by step every day and has never left the backyard."
"As for Xiao Shiyi, he has gone out twice in the past few days, but he never went to the Qin Mansion."
"One time I went to Qunfang Pavilion in Pingkangfang. I called two waiters to drink and have fun with him. I returned to Xiao Mansion just before the curfew."
"Once I went to Dongshi. I wandered on the street for half an hour. I bought some random things on the street and then returned home."
Li Shimin lowered his head and glanced at the seal on his hand, and said calmly:
"Where's Butler Xiao from the Qin Mansion?"
Wuji lowered his eyebrows and thought for a while before saying:
"The news came back from the Qin Mansion. Apart from going to the old residence of the Prince of Hejian County on Fushou Street in Pingkangfang every other day, she just stayed in the Qin Mansion behind closed doors."
When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes were dim and unclear, and he didn't know what he was thinking!
After being silent for a while, Li Shimin suddenly asked:
"What is that boy Qin Ming doing recently? Although I promised him that he would not have to go to court during the road construction period, has this boy almost forgotten that he is an official of the court?"
"If he doesn't even write a decent memorial, does he still have me in his eyes?"
The more Li Shimin talked, the angrier he became!
Whenever he thinks of Qin Ming now, the two four-wheeled carriages that the Crown Prince and King Wei sent into the palace two days ago will appear in his mind!
A carriage given to his little daughter, but its appearance is particularly eye-catching. Qin Ming actually made the entire carriage pink!
The interior is even more exquisite. Not only does it have a special small sofa, it is also inlaid with many glazed gemstones and gold and silver ornaments on the inner wall of the carriage!
So much so that Sizi spent most of his time in the carriage these days!
Now that pink carriage has become a beautiful scenery in the palace!
Compared to Sizi's pink four-wheeled carriage, the carriage built for him by his two sons, out of their "family wealth", was simply unsightly!
Because Li Shimin's carriage not only had an ordinary appearance, just dyed a layer of black, but the interior was even more simple, with just two sofas and no other furnishings!
Overall unremarkable!
What made Li Shimin feel even more outrageous was that the carriage looked quite big from the outside, but the interior space was smaller than Sizi's carriage!
As the saying goes, there is no harm without comparison!
If Li Shimin hadn't been too busy recently, that four-wheeled carriage would indeed be much more comfortable than his previous rides.
He had already taken people to Qinjiazhuang to "raise troops to investigate the crime"!
...
After hearing Li Shimin's question, Wu Shi lowered his head and thought for a moment before bowing and answering:
"Reporting to your majesty, according to reports from people below, the man from Qin County has just bought the Hongluan Ferry in Huaxu Town, Lantian County, and more than two thousand acres of land around the ferry in the past two days."
Li Shimin was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then continued without tongue:
"It is said that the Qin Mansion invited many shipwrights and boatmen from Yangzhou a few days ago!"
"The man from Qin County bought Hongluan Ferry to build a giant dock!"
"As of yesterday, the Qin Mansion has recruited more than 2,000 people for this purpose! Not only that, the Qin County man also ordered that part of the labor force for the construction of Changlan Cement Road be transferred."
"Starting building a new cement road between Qin Mansion and Hongluan Ferry!"
Li Shimin frowned slightly after hearing this, thought for a while and asked:
"Have you ever found out why Qin Ming built a dock?"
"Now people in Zhuangzi are spreading rumors that Qin County Man wants to build a large number of merchant ships to sell the goods produced by Qinjiazhuang along the waterways to all parts of the Tang Dynasty!"
Li Shimin nodded when he heard this. This reason sounds reasonable!
After all, he also knew that the Qin Mansion had sent two caravans to Taiyuan and Yangzhou respectively before the Shangyuan Festival!
Wu Shi on the side said something strange, a flash of weirdness flashed across his face. After thinking about it for a while, he still said:
"Your Majesty, this old slave also received some uncertain news."
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and asked:
"tell me the story."
Wuji took a deep breath and said:
"It is said that the Qin Mansion plans to build a fleet consisting of hundreds of cargo ships, and the Supreme Emperor will be the first commander of this fleet!"
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin sprayed the tea he just drank into his mouth onto the ground in one breath.
After coughing twice, Li Shimin stared and asked:
"Is this true?"
Wu Tongue nodded and said:
"I heard that the Supreme Emperor often rides a carriage to inspect Hongluan Ferry today. I think the rumors are not groundless!"
Li Shimin frowned when he heard this. After a while, he sighed and murmured softly:
"That's it, that's all, let him be."
At this moment, a figure appeared at the door of Ganlu Hall. It was Xiao Dongzi, the "successor of the Mantle" without tongue.
Xiao Dongzi tiptoed into the Manna Hall and handed a letter stamped with fire paint to Wuyu's hand.
Wu Shi took the letter and read it, then bowed to Li Shimin and said:
"Your Majesty, this is a secret letter sent from Qinjiazhuang."
Li Shimin hummed, raised his head and said calmly:
"open to take a look."
"Here."
After saying that Wuji checked the fire paint and confirmed that the fire paint was intact, Wuji tore open the secret letter.
When Wuji unfolded the secret letter and saw clearly the contents of the secret letter, he was stunned!
Li Shimin couldn't help but feel his heart tightening when he saw Wu Ji's dumbfounded look, and he tightly grasped the amber seal with his right hand.
"What happened?"
Wuji came back to his senses after hearing the words, and his face was suddenly filled with a smile. He took two steps and came to the jade case, raised the secret letter above his head, and said:
"Your Majesty is so happy! This old slave congratulates your Majesty! Congratulations to the Tang Dynasty!"
........
