In the Kaiyuan era, a minister who was sent abroad was recalled by the emperor without completing his assigned work. Not only did this happen many times, but the reasons for being recalled were also different and cannot be generalized.
Sometimes it's because things were done so badly that Brother Ji couldn't stand it at all, so he called him back in advance to make plans.
But there are also some individual cases, such as Pei Yaoqing's reform of water transportation. Brother Ji felt that the effect was good and Pei Yaoqing no longer needed to spend money to mess around, so he stopped.
Therefore, Zheng Shuqing was very nervous when he returned to Chang'an this time. He was directly recalled by the eunuchs in the palace and did not go through the procedures of the foreign court. This is very unusual!
After taking the post road back to Chang'an from Luoyang, Zheng Shuqing didn't even have time to go home to bathe and change clothes, and he didn't even have the chance to go to Li Linfu's house in Pingkangfang to inquire about the news. Then he was taken directly to the Qinzheng Building of Xingqing Palace!
It only took less than three days from the time he received Li Longji's order to meeting Li Longji! Who knows how he got here in the past three days? He was always on the road even at night!
The carriage's axles were almost smoking, and the road was as bumpy as a boat sailing in a storm.
However, when Zheng Shuqing appeared outside the Qinzhengwu main building, a woman's moans could be heard inside. Gao Lishi blocked the door with an expressionless face and shook his head gently at him without saying a word.
I have worked so hard to come back from Luoyang without stopping, and you are actually having sex with a woman while riding a horse!
Zheng Shuqing was furious...that's weird!
Li Longji is the emperor and he can do whatever he wants. How can he be evaluated at will by a foreign minister?
If you are angry in your heart, you can express it casually when no one is around, but be sure not to be seen!
Zheng Shuqing didn't have any complaints in his heart. He just asked Li Longji not to play any tricks. After finishing the matter, he would return to Luoyang and continue his official business.
An hour later, Gao Lishi brought Zheng Shuqing into the study room of Qin Zheng Wu's main building.
Only then did Lao Zheng see Li Longji's face was abnormally flushed, and he was wiping sweat from his forehead with a sweat towel, looking very tired.
In that "fierce battle" just now, the saint used all his strength, right?
Zheng Shuqing lowered his head and did not look at Li Longji, thinking about dirty and obscene things in his mind, similar to the strange scene of those dry palms brushing against the white and smooth skin, which gave people a strong impact of nausea and excitement.
He tried hard to keep his face serious, solemn and upright, so outsiders couldn't tell anything.
Zheng Shuqing did not dare to comment on the emperor's private life, but he did secretly sigh in his heart: Sure enough, the daughter-in-law is better, and ordinary concubines really can't make this saint enter the "overclocking" state.
"We arrived in Chang'an in less than three days, which is quite fast."
Li Longji said with an embarrassed smile, and then regained his majesty as an emperor, looking at Zheng Shuqing intently without saying a word.
"Please tell me from the sage, a humble minister will definitely be embarrassed and will not hesitate to do anything."
Zheng Shuqing said excitedly and expressed his loyalty.
"Well, there's no need to mess up your liver and brain."
Li Longji nodded slightly and continued: "Aiqing went to Hanjiacang, and the plummeting trend of his grain reserves was immediately stopped. I deeply believe that Aiqing has the talent for governance."
"Weak ministers dare not take credit. These are reasonable arrangements made by the saint and the right minister. They cannot be done by one person."
Zheng Shuqing quickly expressed his attitude humbly, and he seemed to feel the familiar atmosphere again.
When a leader scolds you, it's probably because he is angry in his heart and wants to vent his anger.
What's scary is not the boss scolding you, but the boss complimenting you!
The emperor's golden words are too long-winded to say anything more. It would be frightening to praise a minister for nothing!
"It's like this. Niu Xianke went to Liuzhou to recruit miscellaneous Hus, and he may not be able to return smoothly in the past two years. But the Minister of the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court cannot wait for him to come back. So I think that there needs to be a People who are capable and know how to handle affairs serve as ministers of the Ministry of Industry.
What do you think, Aiqing? "
Li Longji almost didn't name him directly. The person who "has the ability and can do things" is Zheng Shuqing.
His intention to win over and promote him is very obvious.
If it were other courtiers, they would probably have knelt down to express gratitude at this time. But Lao Zheng was the person whose experience points were tricked by Li Longji. How could he not know the principle of "showing courtesy for nothing is either a traitor or a thief".
Just listen to what Li Longji said.
If you are asked to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, then of course you have to do the work of the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. The official position cannot be given to you for nothing!
"If you need anything from me, please ask the sage for instructions, and I will definitely do it well."
Zheng Shuqing stepped forward and crossed his arms to show his loyalty.
"Okay! I just like how cheerful you are."
Li Longji laughed loudly, then walked up to Zheng Shuqing and lowered his voice and said, "I want to repair the Huaqing Palace, but I don't know if Aiqing can do anything about it."
Repair the Huaqing Palace?
Zheng Shuqing was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said:
"The saint really thinks too highly of his humble ministers. Things like building a palace require dedicated people to do it. Talents like Yu Wenkai from the previous dynasty.
Even if Wei Chen wants to be loyal to the saint, he has a specialization in the art, and acting randomly will only ruin the saint's affairs. Wei Chen really has no choice in this matter. Even if the nine tribes of Wei Chen are punished, Wei Chen can only say that he is not capable enough. ah. "
Zheng Shuqing quickly refused with an extremely firm attitude.
In fact, asking him to supervise the construction and expansion of Huaqing Palace is not very different from directly killing the Nine Clan.
In this era, the construction of palaces, including expansion, renovation, reconstruction, etc., was very professional. The person who supervises its construction must be responsible for everything in the palace complex!
Even the poplar trees planted in the palace had to be demolished and rebuilt, let alone the others.
These people should not only be proficient in architecture, but also be extremely familiar with Feng Shui, astronomy, mathematics and other subjects and be able to use them freely.
A slight mistake can cause serious consequences that are beyond control.
Not to mention that Zheng Shuqing was a layman with no experience in supervising the construction of palaces. Even if he was proficient in this skill, he wouldn't be able to take on this job.
"Maybe I didn't make it clear."
Li Longji laughed loudly, waved his hands and said: "How can I leave the supervision of the construction of Huaqing Palace to a layman like you? I am not a fool, don't I know that there is a reason to specialize in the arts?"
"The saint said..."
Zheng Shuqing was confused by Li Longji.
"My internal treasury is relatively tight, and the funds I can provide are limited.
The treasury needs to be approved by foreign countries and is not easy to use.
I also know that you are a master of financial management. The matter of Hanjiacang in Luoyang was solved so quickly, which shows that Aiqing has outstanding abilities and is beyond the reach of others.
I would like to ask you if there is any way to get some money to replenish the internal treasury and use it to expand Huaqing Palace. "
Li Longji said with a somewhat unnatural expression.
Isn't that place big enough?
Zheng Shuqing was lucky enough to visit Huaqing Palace once, and was shocked by the luxurious palace there. Unexpectedly, Brother Ji thought it was not big enough and wanted to expand it!
"Sage, Huaqing Palace... it's not easy to expand. Many houses over there have been repaired."
Zheng Shuqing remonstrated.
"It's in the way. You can tear it down and build a bigger one. Start repairing it now, and it will be ready for use again this winter. I think this is a good idea."
Li Longji said forcefully that he was not discussing this matter with Zheng Shuqing at all.
Today's Huaqing Palace doesn't even have a hot spring bath specializing in Yuanyang bathing. How can you have fun with Huanhuan?
Brother Ji thinks it doesn't matter whether the world is happy or not, what matters is whether he is happy or not!
If he is unhappy, everything in the world will be unhappy!
So what's the use of this prosperous age?
"However, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry does not have the ability to amass wealth. Even if I become the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, I will not be able to get the money to build a palace."
Zheng Shuqing spread his hands slightly and said with an embarrassed look on his face.
"Hey, that's wrong. The Minister of Industry is just an official position. I will also give you a registered permanent envoy to allocate manpower and corvee services, and interview and deposed envoys to supervise the promotion of officials in various parts of the capital to prevent them from getting in the way.
If you still need any other positions, just bring them up and I will take care of them. "
Li Longji assured Zheng Shuqing that it was basically equivalent to giving him whatever power he wanted.
But one thing needs to be done, that is, the Huaqing Palace must be repaired well, quickly, and with enough style, and it must not lose Li Longji's face.
The emperor gave so much power, if Zheng Shuqing could not provide strong financial guarantee for building the palace.
Then his official career will have great twists and turns, and he may even disappear from official circles and never be seen again.
This errand, whether to accept it or not, is a big problem.
Zheng Shuqing fell into extreme entanglement and struggle in his heart.
After accepting it, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry was achieved in one step, and he also had several real-power positions, such as the household registration envoy, interviewing the deposed envoy, etc.
With this power, he is only one step away from becoming the prime minister. He can even form his own faction without having to look at Li Linfu's face!
However, this thought just turned around in my mind and was replaced by endless fear. The most unreasonable part of Li Longji's request is: Why doesn't Li Longji leave it to Li Linfu to handle such a big matter?
There is only one answer, and that is that even Li Linfu feels that this is a big pit that cannot be jumped. After jumping in, there will be endless troubles!
Besides, if he took this job privately without going through Li Linfu's channels, wouldn't the right prime minister of the Tang Dynasty be constrained by it? Will he watch his former henchmen escape from control?
After only hesitating for a few seconds, Zheng Shuqing immediately knelt down and begged, made a bowing salute, and wailed regardless of the image:
"Weichen really wants to contribute to the saint. But making money outside the court system is not Weichen's specialty.
It doesn't matter if the minister is not the minister of the Ministry of Industry, but if he delays the important affairs of the saint, he will be blamed for his death. Let's ask the saint to hire another Gaoming. There must be someone in the court who is more suitable than the humble minister. "
Seeing Zheng Shuqing's helpless look, Li Longji held back the nausea in his heart, helped him up with a smile, straightened his clothes and said:
"Loving you and being loyal to the country is an example for all officials. Since I don't want to love you, let's drop this matter.
Things in Hanjiacang are already running normally, and Aiqing doesn't need to worry about it. I will send someone to deal with this matter. My dear, you don't have to run back to Luoyang anymore. You can just go to Chang'an for business and go to the Ministry of Household Affairs every day to do your duty. "
Li Longji waved his hand calmly and said.
On the surface, this was showing sympathy for Zheng Shuqing, but in fact, it was extremely ruthless.
The matter of "flying money" to transport grain was proposed by Zheng Shuqing. According to common sense, the follow-up processing of receiving political results should also be handled by Zheng Shuqing. As a result, Zheng Shuqing had planted the tree. When it was his turn to enjoy the shade under the tree, Li Longji transferred him back to Chang'an with a transfer order.
It's like the previous things were done in vain, and the transporter's errand was also gone.
Now he has become a minister of the Ministry of Finance with "an official position but no position". He goes to work in the Ministry of household affairs every day to read copywriting and spend his time doing nothing. He doesn't know when he will be demoted.
This is the price for rejecting Li Longji!
If the saint accepts the conditions offered by his ministers, there will naturally be countless benefits; but if the minister refuses, he will definitely not be in a good position.
It would be too naive to expect that nothing would happen. Not only did Li Longji's reprimand come, but he came on the spot, without waiting for Zheng Shuqing to walk out of the study room in the Qinzhengwu main building!
"Thank you saint for your grace."
Zheng Shuqing bowed deeply to Li Longji.
"Well, back off."
After Zheng Shuqing left, Li Longji sat on a high stool, squinting his eyes and thinking, not knowing what he was thinking.
…
Although Baitinghai does not have the reality of a sea, it has the shape of a sea.
The water is clear, the sand is white, the sky is blue and the clouds are white. Being in Baiting Castle in the middle of Baiting Sea, Fang Chongyong felt relaxed and happy, as if he had come to the seaside.
If you can get a deck chair, a parasol, sunglasses, and a glass of freshly brewed wine, it will really be equivalent to a vacation in Hexi.
At this moment, as the deputy envoy of the Baiting Army, he stood on the narrow tower of Baiting Fort, looking at the endless water plants and white sand on the north bank, and couldn't help but want to moan in pleasure.
Bai Dinh Hai Resort is truly worthy of its name. Apart from anything else, the meal last night, which was mainly made from river fresh food, made him feel like he was in a quiet small town near a lake and a river.
Rather than facing the Turks to the north and the strategic location of Tibet to the south, it may face boundless war at any time.
"I heard what Commander Xin said, Bai Ting's army is short of horses, right?"
Fang Chongyong suddenly asked Xin Yunjing beside him.
This matter is obvious. Xin Yunjing smiled bitterly and said: "The Chishui Army has a strength of thirteen thousand horses, half of which need to be provided by the pastures on the Baitinghai side, and the other part is provided by Chiwu Town. Although the Baiting Army is He looks after Bai Ting Hai’s pasture, but he has no right to use the horses here.”
The Chishui Army's war horse strength is 13,000, but it does not mean that it only needs so many horses. In addition to war horses, there were also horses used for transporting supplies. The rivers west of Hexi could not be transported by water. Whether it was cavalry or infantry, strategic mobility relied on horses. Therefore, the demand for horses in this area must not be underestimated.
"The Baiting Army keeps private horses in the hope of gaining something in the war, rather than serving as a garrison guarding the fortress, right?"
Fang Chongyong continued to ask, his tone calm.
Xin Yunjing nodded slightly and said:
"Generals die in a hundred battles, and soldiers return in ten years. We are all licking blood at the edge of the knife, and who wants to waste time. If you don't plan for the present, you should also plan for the future.
But without horses, nothing can be done.
Hexi war horses are not expensive, and they cost thirty pieces each. If you buy more, you can get even lower prices. This time Bai Tingjun suffered a big loss, his financial path was cut off, and life would be difficult in the future. "
Xin Yunjing sighed.
"The source of money for robbery is indeed cut off."
Fang Chongyong looked indifferent and continued:
"But the channels for making money have not been cut off at all. It just depends on how to make money, how much to make, and how to use it.
If you need horses, I will find a way to earn tens of thousands of dollars. It is not difficult to get some private horses. "
Fang Chongyong said thoughtfully.
Tens of thousands of dollars in his mouth were as easy as a few pennies.
"Can you really get money?"
Xin Yunjing asked with excitement on his face.
"It's not bad. I'll walk around Baitinghai first to see if there are any opportunities. It shouldn't be too difficult."
In Fang Chongyong’s view, Liangzhou is similar to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in previous lives. There is wealth everywhere, and even some unknown corners contain gold bars and silver coins that were hidden by the plundered caravans to avoid the bandits.
If he came to the Western Regions of the prosperous Tang Dynasty but couldn't get money, Fang Chongyong would be embarrassed to tell others that he was a time traveler.
(End of chapter)
