"You can't blame her!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "It may be a trivial matter to you and me, but to her it is a disaster. She can't distinguish between government duties. In her eyes, you and I are It’s the court, it’s the government. How could we finally seize the opportunity and not ask the matter clearly? How much energy can I waste if I say a few more words? I can relieve one person’s worries, isn’t it great!”
"Mr. Lang really has the heart of a Bodhisattva!" Hei Te Changzhi said with a smile.
"This is not a bodhisattva's heart, but something that should be done!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "Often, Chang'an was peaceful a few days ago, but in the blink of an eye, the ground was filled with smoke. Why is this? It's not that the emotions between the upper and lower are incomprehensible. , Those at the top think they have nothing to do, and lie down and sleep soundly; those at the bottom are miserable, but have nowhere to complain. Once disaster strikes, everything will be destroyed. Since I am eating the king's salary, I will naturally do something within the scope of my ability. What you need to do, a few words can relieve the worries of the king and father, and calm the hearts of the people at the bottom, so why not do it?"
"That's what Lang Jun taught you!" Black Teeth Changzhi nodded: "When I was in Baekje, I thought that a country like the Tang Dynasty was a peaceful world. After I came to Chang'an, I discovered that there were noble people wearing brocade clothes, eating well and living leisurely all day long. There are also poor people who are running around all day long but with incomplete clothes and insufficient food. They are no different from Baekje. If there is any difference, it is that the nobles in Chang'an live much more comfortably than the nobles in Baekje! "
"Yes!" Wang Wenzuo sighed: "People in the Tang Dynasty are human beings, and people in Baekje are also human beings. In this matter, everything is the same in the world. There are rich and poor, high and low. This is not something I can change. But the rich Those who are poor must also abide by the laws and not act arbitrarily; the poor and humble also have their place, and we must not let them have no way out. This is indeed what we can do, so that the world can be peaceful!"
"Is this just rough and rude?" Hei Te Changzhi laughed: "According to my subordinates, if this can be done, it will already be a prosperous age!"
"It's really just rough security!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The next step is to select talents, build schools, build water conservancy and factories, reward trade, and make the people rich. Let's put it this way! Let farmers have a chicken in the pot every seven or eight days , reaching this level can almost be called a prosperous age!"
"Every seven or eight days a farmer has a chicken in the pot?" Hei Te Changzhi shook his head and said with a smile: "How is this possible? Lang Jun's idea is too good. Then wouldn't there be hundreds of chickens in the farmer's home? Where it is a farmer, it is clearly a landowner! No, even if it is a landowner, an ordinary landowner would not be willing to eat like this!"
"Of course it's impossible now, but it won't be possible in the future!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "When we return to Baekje, you will know that it may not be possible! First from a village to a market town, and then from a market town to a township , and then from one township to one county, step by step."
"Wang Sima, Wang Sima!" Dinghui's voice interrupted the conversation between Wang Wenzuo and Hei Te Changzhi. He was seen wearing iron armor and a robe, coming in from the outside: "The officers and soldiers are here!"
"Officers and soldiers? Where are they?" Wang Wenzuo immediately raised his hand.
"It's at the east gate of the West City, and Ijirenbod is dealing with it outside!"
"You're here just in time, Black Teeth Changzhi, go and call Cao Yena, and we'll deal with it together!"
"Here!"
The night was thick, like thick ink splashed out. A group of cavalry passed through the burning Fang City and came towards the West City. The firelight illuminated the metal helmets and dyed their armor orange. One of them held a spear high, with a flag waving at the tip. Wang Wenzuo thought the flag should be red, but he couldn't tell the difference at night. The firelight everywhere made everything look either red, black or orange.
The fire was burning, and Wang Wenzuo saw that the one- and two-story houses in the neighboring neighborhood were engulfed in flames. The tongues of flames shuttled between the eaves. The houses seemed to be wearing fluttering bright orange robes, in sharp contrast with the night. At this time, all the people who were still alive in the West City woke up. They climbed up the wall and looked at these new strangers on the street with frightened and alert eyes.
The cavalry tightened their reins a dozen steps away from the gate of Fangshi, "Who are you?" A knight with two long feathers on his head said loudly: "We are officers and soldiers, open the door quickly! "
"Wang Sima Mo must agree to him, at least wait until dawn before opening the gate!" Cao Ye said in a low voice.
"Why is this?" Wang Wenzuo whispered: "These people should not be
Thief, otherwise why would there be so many armor flags! "
"Wang Sima, please wait a little longer. I'll wait until dawn. I will be very grateful!" Cao Ye said with a strong smile. With the help of the firelight, Wang Wenzuo could see the fear in his eyes. Suddenly, he understood what Cao Ye was doing. Na's thoughts: It's a dark and windy night, and it's a day of murder and arson. At this time, even the officers and soldiers will inevitably take advantage of the money and take advantage of the darkness to kill all these businessmen, steal their property, and then burn them all. Not great? Anyway, all the blame can be placed on tonight's riot, and even the dead can't bear witness.
"Are you worried that these officers and soldiers will use force?"
Cao Yena did not answer Wang Wenzuo's question, but whispered: "Wang Sima is a kind-hearted person. As long as we get through tonight safely, the treasury in the temple belongs to the king, and you can use it as you like!"
"That's not necessary!" Wang Wenzuo laughed in a low voice and said loudly: "I, Wang Wenzuo, am the marching commander of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion. These are my bodyguards and retinues. They are under the orders of General Jin Renwen Jin. Suppressing the rebels and protecting the Western City, who are you?"
"The Marching Sima of Xiongjin Governor's Mansion?" The knight laughed and said, "You guys can't make up a similar story. Xiongjin Governor's Mansion is in Haidong, and this is Chang'an, thousands of miles away! Open the door quickly, or else You’re welcome, Mr. Er!”
"I followed Jin Ren and asked General Jin to return to Chang'an to pay homage to the Emperor. Is there anything strange about it?" Wang Wenzuo sneered: "Besides, what happened tonight was based on the Emperor's verbal edict. If you want to enter, wait until after dawn. !」
"Following the imperial edict?" The knight hesitated after hearing this. Murder and robbery were certainly a serious crime, but it was nothing compared to the edict. Not to mention that this was Chang'an, and there was no place to run. The man in front of him dared to Saying this, the truth is very great.
"That's right!" Wang Wenzuo said solemnly: "I have eliminated all the thieves in the West City. You go to suppress other places first! We will talk about other things after dawn!"
The knight was sitting on the horse, and while he was hesitating, the entourage beside him shouted loudly: "It's midnight, the palace door is closed, where is the emperor's decree? It's obviously a thief in disguise, open the door quickly, Otherwise you are thieves!"
Wang Wenzuo snorted coldly and pointed at the shouting man. Hei Te Changzhi understood the idea, drew an arrow from his full-horned bow, and hit the shouting man's throat, stuffing his curse back into his mouth.
Angry roars resounded from the crowd, followed by the sound of horses' hooves falling and the collision of paving stones. Wang Wenzuo raised his right arm and shouted in a high-pitched voice: "Those who disobey the edict will die!"
Knight Yuying jumped off his horse and checked the injuries of his men. The arrow that penetrated his throat made him feel a cold current running down his spine. It was not difficult to shoot through the throat at this distance, but it was daytime. Even if there was firelight, it was difficult to shoot in such a late night. Having a throat pierced is another story. He got on his horse and raised his hands towards the wall: "Is this Wang Sima of the Xiongjin Governor's Mansion? Someone has taken note of what happened tonight!" After saying that, he raised his right hand and said loudly: "Let's go!"
When the last cavalry shadow disappeared at the end of the street, Wang Wenzuo couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It would be best if the other party was willing to give in. He turned around and said to Hei Qichang: "Let the soldiers be divided into two groups and take turns. Rest, no one is allowed to disarm, and no one is allowed to drink alcohol!"
"My subordinates understand!"
Back in the temple, Wang Wenzuo was no longer interested in drinking. He rinsed his mouth and wanted to find a place to take a nap. However, he heard the voice of the guard outside: "Lang Jun, Cao Dongzhu of Cao Ye wants to see you!"
"Let him come in!" Wang Wenzuo sighed in disappointment and said to Cao Ye who walked in: "Dongzhu Cao, there are so many things going on today, why don't you take a break?"
"Mr. Lang saved Mr. Cao twice tonight. I really don't know how to repay Mr. Lang for his great kindness!" Cao Yena bent his knees and knelt down to Wang Wenzuo with difficulty. He tried his best to shrink his huge belly so that his forehead would be as wide as possible. He was close to the ground, but no matter how hard he tried, he was still still some distance away from kowtowing.
"Proprietor, get up!" Wang Wenzuo smiled bitterly and helped him up: "I already understand your intention. If you really want to be grateful, just give me more things!"
"That's natural!" Cao Ye stood up with difficulty, kneeling and standing like this. His forehead was already covered with sweat beads: "The villain has just said that as long as Mr. Cao still prays in the temple for a day,
, the treasury in the temple is your own, you can use it as you like! "
"Temple blessing? What kind of job is this?"
Cao Yena hurriedly explained that it turned out that the temple blessing was originally the person in charge of the incense in the temple in ancient times. After the Zoroastrian religion came to China and followed the local customs, it would also be in charge of the treasury in the Zoroastrian temple. People who miscellaneous things called it the temple blessing. Cao Yena is one of the five temple blessings of Chang'an Zoroastrian Temple.
Wang Wenzuo is also a smart man, and he immediately heard the other party's implication: "Listen to the proprietor, your position as the temple's blessing is not very secure now, right?"
"Not bad!" At this time, Cao Ye did not beat around the bush and admitted frankly: "Originally, the villain did a lot of hard work in the construction of the Chang'an Temple, but the compatriots in the sect thought of this little bit of affection and gave it away. You save a little face. But the losses tonight are huge, and the villain will most likely be pulled out as a scapegoat!"
"I can't blame you for this, right? After all, you didn't cause this riot? Is it a reward for a certain family? But so far I have only received one load of gold and one load of silver, and the rest only require a receipt. Was there much more going on at that time?"
"What did Lang Jun say?" Cao Yena hurriedly shook his head: "If Lang Jun hadn't taken action tonight, our lives would not have been saved, and all the property in the treasury would have been looted. It was natural for Lang Jun to take it all away. , not to mention that we only took this little, how can we say more?"
"Then why?"
"Mr. Lang, it's not just the Western Market that was robbed tonight. Most of our religious compatriots have some belongings around them, and we are foreigners. Our business will definitely be affected a lot. Tomorrow, many people will come to take out the stored belongings. For a while, the temple was a little overwhelmed, so——"
"Oh oh oh, I understand!" When Wang Wenzuo heard this, he immediately understood. Zoroastrianism in the Tang Dynasty was a foreign religion, and most of its followers were barbarians, especially Sogdians who were engaged in business, especially long-distance trade. These shrewd Sogdian businessmen will naturally not put the gold and silver stored in other people's treasury in there to collect ashes, but let it circulate and obtain huge profits. It is precisely because of this that the construction of the Zoroastrian Temple is an important step. It is an extremely profitable thing. After all, the most difficult thing about absorbing public funds is establishing credit, and common religious beliefs are the best source of credit. But just like black swans in the modern financial industry, Cao Yena and the others also encountered unexpected things. The sudden riots in Chang'an caused great economic damage to many Hu businessmen. As a result, they would be in trouble. To get back your own deposits, but the Zoroastrian Temple's treasury cannot temporarily take out so much gold and silver. This is a very classic cash run phenomenon.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Wang Wenzuo asked, "They just want to get back their belongings. This is a matter of course. I can't stop them, right?"
"Lang Jun, I don't have this idea!" Cao Ye said with a smile, "This is actually a good thing!"
"A good thing?" Wang Wenzuo was stunned when he heard this: "This kind of thing has a great impact on you, right? If it spreads, who will dare to deposit money in your temple in the future?"
"You don't have to worry about this husband. Think about it, there are so many families in the West Market tonight who have been ruined. Don't talk about money. Every family is dead. The property stored in their store will be ruined." No matter what! In our Zoroastrian Temple, the people are still there and the temple is still there. It’s just that the money was taken for turnover and won’t come back for a while. We can repay one-tenth or five percent first and divide the rest If they pay it back gradually over ten to five years, or pay some interest first, and not pay back the principal for the time being, who can say that the temple is not good? After all, if they didn't save the money in the temple, they might have been robbed by now. In this way, The reputation of the temple might even be even better!"
"This fat guy is so dark!" Wang Wenzuo said inwardly. Sure enough, there is nothing new under the sun. All kinds of comparisons are bad, such as debt rollover, perpetual debt, short-term debt turning into long-term debt. Some of them existed in modern times thousands of years ago. This is Just changed the name. It is estimated that all the people who stayed there were killed and must have been embezzled by this fat man. Others are cheating. It is difficult for this fat man to make money from teaching, and it is the fellow monks who are being cheated.
"If, as you said, what happened tonight is a good thing for your temple, then what are you worried about?"
"Mr. Lang, it is indeed a good thing for the temple, but Chang'an Zoroastrian Temple has five temple blessings!"
After hearing this, Wang Wenzuo fully understood: "You mean the other four people will be detrimental to you?"
"As the saying goes, you must be on guard against others! The villain is the oldest in the temple and has the greatest power, so——" At this point, Cao Ye stopped talking and looked at Wang Wenzuo with a pair of eyes, which seemed a little a little bit... Poor!
