Another Taoist priest?
"Pinting, who is the Taoist priest?" Li Qingzhao looked suspicious.
Pingting slowly explained: "Sister Qingzhao, don't you know? It's in Nantong Alley near Mahang Street. It used to be a bookstore. I heard that it came here recently, and its predictions are more accurate than ordinary fortune tellers. .”
Li Qingzhao was thinking, could it be that guy? It couldn't be possible, he was just a liar. No, there's nothing else to do now, so there's no harm in going and taking a look.
Soon, Li Qingzhao came to this area and saw the so-called "Qingwei Daomen".
Li Qingzhao looked there, where was the cloth sign: Bai Banxian? Heaven and earth, omnipresent and omniscient.
She was thinking, is it really this bastard, why is he here, but to be honest, she really has to thank him for that fortune-telling, otherwise the marriage with Zhao Mingcheng may have been decided long ago, and now it may be ruined.
She had previously investigated Bai Meng's traces just because she wanted her servant to help her vent her anger and give this guy a slap in the face so that he would have a long memory.
Later, her father told the Zhao family about this, and she laughed at that time, thinking: Just let the Zhao family trouble you. Don't blame me. Anyway, you are so powerful, you can definitely count on the Zhao family. Coming to trouble you.
If you hadn't calculated it, you deserved to suffer such a fate, or receive a severe beating, so that you wouldn't have to go around lying to others.
She wanted to go in and meet Bai Banxian for a while, but she found that the shop was locked from the outside. She was a little surprised: Bai Banxian was not open today, could he really be capable? Guess I'll come? No, it must be a coincidence, it must be a coincidence.
Li Qingzhao left and returned to Jinshi Society.
Bai Meng really didn't plan to open business today. Last night's celestial phenomena told him that something big would happen in the near future. He was worried that the Zhao Guan family would join forces with the Jin Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty and use this to regain the Sixteenth State of Yanyun, right?
Bai Meng didn't know any other officials, so he simply asked Li Qingzhao's father, Li Gefei, to find out more about the situation. Normally, his daughter wouldn't be at home at this time, and it was just as he expected.
"Master, is that person here again?"
Li Gefei asked: "Who?"
"It's my uncle."
Uncle, which uncle? Li Gefei looked shocked, "Good guy, you still dare to come. Last time you came here, you defrauded me of 30 guan of money, and now you dare to come to me to see how I will deal with you."
In the blink of an eye, the two met again in the wing, and the scene was extremely embarrassing. Li Gefei's kind face showed an evil look, and he wanted to eat this guy.
"Mr. Li, you are well. Do you still remember me? Why don't you, the old man, pour me a cup of tea if you come here uninvited?" Bai Meng smiled playfully to resolve the embarrassment.
Li Gefei asked angrily: "You bastard, I will recognize you even if you turn into ashes, but you still want to drink tea without paying me back my money? I have lived for most of my life, and I have never seen anyone thicker-skinned than you. How dare you lie to me and tell me that you have the Huilong Jade Pendant or Wang Xizhi’s genuine product? You can do it, you are so courageous. Besides, I haven’t recognized you as my son-in-law yet, you are simply inhumane!”
Moreover, Bai Meng was confused and completely confused. He only made a joke last time to get into Li's house. Everyone knew that Li Qingzhao had a hot temper. Wouldn't anyone who married her have to suffer domestic violence every day?
"Oh, Mr. Li, you really offended me by saying that! I'm going to give you a gift to make amends." Bai Meng responded with a smile, and then groped in his arms, trying to take out the gift.
Li Gefei thought to himself, this young man is really nice and sensible. Since you are already here, why should you bring any gifts? It’s really embarrassing.
"Boy, if you still have some conscience, what good things did you bring me?" Li Gefei smiled broadly.
Is this posture a jade pendant? If you have this good thing, just take it out as soon as possible. Just when Li Gefei was still thinking about what the gift was, the gift was placed on the table.
It turned out to be thirty taels of silver.
Li Gefei's face was gloomy, and he was filled with anger: You are really capable. It turns out that you are indeed here to pay back the money, every penny is exactly 30 guan. It's obviously just to pay back money, but you insist on saying it's a gift. I have never seen such a shameless scholar, he is simply inhuman.
Li Gefei's face turned green with anger, and then he gritted his teeth and said: "You guy, I have never seen such a shameless person. You said paying back the money is a gift. How can you have the nerve to say it?"
"Master Li, what you said is wrong. This is just one of the gifts. Is there a big gift behind it?"
"Ah? There are also gifts. You can come as soon as you say. Why don't you bring any gifts? How embarrassing. By the way, where are the gifts?" Li Gefei's voice was slightly hoarse, but the joy in his tone was Can't hide it. His eyes narrowed into slits, as happy as eating honey.
"Don't be anxious, Mr. Li. The gifts are still to come. Let me ask Mr. Li first, are there any recent developments in the court? How did I hear that the court asked the border troops to strengthen their defenses? What happened?"
"Isn't this what people from the Taishi Bureau said about the appearance of Sirius? The officials are worried about the Liao people's wolf ambitions, and they will invade our border after giving them Sui coins. According to the previous spies' response, the Liao army is indeed gathering, and a few days ago the Jin envoy came to ask for Join us in the Song Dynasty to fight against the Liao Dynasty." Li Gefei was very curious. This young man is not an official, so why should he care about this?
Bai Meng got what he wanted to know, but was the Zhao Guan family really trying to prevent the Liao people from invading? Or are you trying to unite with the Jin people to regain the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun?
"Master Li, what do you think of this? Do you think we should unite with the Jin Kingdom to fight against the Liao Dynasty?" Bai Meng asked curiously. He wanted to hear what Li Qingzhao's father thought.
"Neither the Liao nor the gold thieves are good people. The gold thieves are ambitious. To join forces with them is to seek the skin of a tiger." As the father of the most talented woman in history, Li Gefei was also a student of Su Shi. Naturally, his talents and knowledge were unrivaled.
Bai Meng nodded in agreement, and then said: "Master Li has a unique vision, and I also have the same intention. We cannot join forces. The golden thieves are ambitious. They can destroy the Liao people, and they can also destroy our Song Dynasty in the future. Under the overthrow of the nest, An Complete egg."
Bai Meng was right, Song and Liao could still be called a country of brothers, but after uniting with Jin to fight against Liao, they became the nephew of the gold thief.
Bai Meng added: "As long as we, the Song Dynasty, sit still and wait and see what happens, Liao and Jin go to war. Neither side is a good enemy. If the Liao people defeat the Jin thieves in the north, we, the Song Dynasty, can take advantage of this moment to regain the lost territory." In the name of the name, we sent troops to seize the sixteen states of Yanyun. The Liao people had just experienced a battle with the Jin soldiers, and their vitality was bound to be severely damaged, and they could only suffer the loss of being dumb."
"If the Jin thieves defeat the Liao people and retreat, then our Song army will support the Liao army to protect the country of brothers, and the army will march northward. It is justified and upright. Moreover, the Jin army has just finished fighting the Liao army, and the Jin army will definitely lose its troops and generals. The Song and Liao coalition forces repelled the Jin army, and then settled the score with the Liao people, so wouldn’t the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures be within easy reach?”
"No matter what the outcome is, as long as we, the Song Dynasty, march northward with our army at the critical moment, we can not only regain the sixteen states of Yanyun. Moreover, our Song Dynasty's national power is not comparable to that of the barbarian countries. As long as we increase our military expenditure, we can even annex the Liao and Jin Dynasties and flatten Xixia. , unify the nine states and pacify the world."
"Of course, there will inevitably be officials and scholar-bureaucrats who are worried about the military generals gaining power. This can be easily solved by giving the title of general to the young or unborn prince, and letting other generals take temporary posts."
"Then why should we increase military spending? If the national treasury is tight, then we should charge more business taxes. The more income we have, the more taxes we pay. The profiteering industries will charge three or four taxes per ten, and small businesses will charge a little less."
"Don't worry about what the court officials say about tyranny and tyranny. They won't object if you increase their salaries."
"If the tax collection efficiency of the Ministry of Revenue is poor at the court level, tax reform will be initiated in the capital first. The imperial court will send the imperial army to form a special team, and the official will authorize the eunuchs in the palace to collect taxes together with the personnel of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Thus building a new tax system. After the taxes are collected, the government will provide them with protection to ensure that merchants are not disturbed by rogues. For those merchants who refuse to obey, the imperial court will send imperial troops to disguise themselves as rogues and charge high amounts for protection Fees. In this way, we can not only effectively collect commercial taxes, but also make merchants pay taxes willingly."
"If they don't know how to praise, don't blame the imperial court for being tough and closing down business? That would be giving a piece of "fat meat" to their competitors. How could they see this as their original intention? In this way, If the treasury is rich, it can increase military expenditures, even increase officials' salaries, and regain the world. Zhao Guan's family will not disagree. After all, the income of those big businessmen in the capital is a huge sum of money in one day, and the officials will be jealous of it."
Li Gefei listened to Bai Meng's talk. If he was just shocked at the beginning, by the end he was just scared.
And this guy had such a plan to unite Jin and resist Liao. As he said, both situations were extremely beneficial to the Song Dynasty.
Moreover, he also proposed increasing military spending. Isn't this a new law proposed by Wang Anshi, an old man? At first, he thought that this guy had joined the new faction, but he found that there was no such thing.
What he proposed to collect business taxes was really a stunt. A good court would use such despicable methods, and it was legal to collect bribes and share the spoils. It was so shameless and inhuman to even think of such a scheme.
There is also the distribution of bribes and increased salaries for officials. For this benefit, the court officials will definitely support it.
Li Gefei recovered from the shock and his attitude changed drastically. He changed his words and said: "Xian son-in-law, where did you learn this shameless method? Unify the nine states and pacify the world. Those above the court dare not mention it. , something that I dare not think about, actually comes from the mouth of a young junior like you. With such ability, you should have passed the imperial examination long ago, why haven't you been appointed an official in the court? "
Bai Meng originally planned to visit him, ask about the situation of the court, and return the money to the old man, thanking him for his financial support, so that he could find a place to stay and have a foundation to settle down.
But he didn't expect that he would become Li Gefei's virtuous son-in-law unknowingly. He had a look of confusion on his face. He just made up an excuse to find Li Gefei to enter the Li Mansion.
But he didn't expect that it would develop to this point. If Li Qingzhao knew about it, wouldn't he become a trapper who took advantage of her reputation?
Also, he didn't know why Li Qingzhao helped him hide it, which made him confused. Shouldn't he say that he was a big liar? What does it mean to help him cover it up?
Bai Mengmeng never thought that his sudden appearance would become the biggest stumbling block between Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng. He turned into a shield and became Zhao Mingcheng's primary target. His appearance shattered the fate between Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng.
Although Li Qingzhao and Zhao Mingcheng did not have any status in the present world of the afterlife, his actions were simply a matter of hatred for his wife and they were not worthy of being sons of human beings.
Bai Meng was dumbfounded and responded: "I really don't care about fame and wealth. It's just that everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the country. I have no intention of appointing officials and worshiping the prime minister, but the country is not peaceful. I have no intention of being in the prison of officialdom, but as a Song Dynasty person, I want to I just want to contribute to the Song Dynasty and seek some welfare for the people."
He further explained: "What's more, the old and new party disputes are about to break out, which should involve many people, and I don't want to get involved."
"Are you so sure that the struggle between the old and new parties will break out and involve the entire old faction?" Li Gefei still had a sense of luck.
Bai Meng secretly sighed in his heart: Li Qingzhao's father was in such hardship for the rest of his life. If you can, please help. Li Qingzhao, you owe me a favor.
He then explained to Li Gefei: "The official suppression of the conservative faction stems from the fact that you, as members of the Yuanyou party, are the old forces of the Queen Mother Xiang. In order to stabilize the throne, he must eliminate the influence of the Queen Mother Xiang in the court. If Mr. Li If you want to avoid being involved, you should report to the officials in detail the strategies for increasing commercial tax revenue, analyzing Liao and Jin affairs, unifying Kyushu, and pacifying the world that I will discuss with you today. In this way, you may be able to stay in the whirlpool of old and new party struggles in the court. You can protect yourself from being implicated."
Li Gefei continued to ask: "What if the officials insist on letting you join the court as an official?"
Li Gefei sighed in his heart: It would be a pity if such a person could not be used by the court.
Bai Meng warned with a firm look: "Master Li, there is no need to mention me, and there is no need to worry about the court burying me. I will mention it to you when I have ideas, just think of it as my advice to you. "
It wasn't that Bai Meng really didn't want to be an official in the court. He still wanted to do something for the Song people in this afterlife world. However, he had a mission, which meant that he couldn't be an official in the court.
"Master Li, are you satisfied with the gift I gave you?" Bai Meng smiled sweetly.
Li Gefei felt as if he had woken up from a dream. It turned out that the gift he was referring to was exactly this thing. The excitement in his heart was beyond words, and he almost burst into tears in admiration. This is not just a gift. It is clearly a way to not be involved in party disputes, a step towards promotion and nobility, and an opportunity to be remembered in history.
Li Gefei never thought that he would give himself such an opportunity. Could he find another son-in-law like this in the entire Song Dynasty?
It was getting late, and it was time for Bai Meng to leave the Li Mansion, otherwise there would be something good to see when Li Qingzhao came back, and he didn't want this to happen.
Li Gefei sent Bai Meng to the door.
