191-210

Chapter 191 Maintenance

Due to various natural and man-made disasters in Dacheng in recent years, the Ministry of Household Affairs has been unable to make ends meet, resulting in an empty national treasury. The imperial court has no money, and he, the emperor, cannot do anything he wants to do. Now that he finally has a minister who can share the emperor's worries and solve his troubles, some people who are short-sighted will jump out to cause trouble. How can this be allowed? The emperor was happy.

On one side is an official who is useless and only knows how to find trouble all day long; on the other side is him, a young and promising minister who was appointed by the emperor as the number one scholar and supported by one hand. What's more, Li Liuyuan has already informed him of these things in advance. , do things with his permission.

Now that these ministers are saying something wrong about Li Liuyuan, aren't they slapping him, the emperor, in the face in front of all the civil and military officials of the court?

Therefore, Emperor Zhaozong's face did not look very good at that time.

Emperor Zhaozong naturally knew who was right in the commotion in the court today. He punished several officials who were looking for trouble in the morning. The emperor used his attitude to show that he stood by Li Liuyuan. The end of the ceremony was "

withdrawing from

the court." "I will respectfully send you off to the emperor. Long live the emperor."

The emperor's guard of honor left amidst the respectful farewell sounds of the officials, and the ministers behind him got up one after another.

Today, more officials in the court still hold a wait-and-see attitude. They all know that Li Liuyuan is now favored and is working for the emperor. Facing Li Liuyuan at this time is undoubtedly asking for trouble. With Zhu Guangquan's incident at hand, some officials who had not taken Li Wen seriously before were a little more wary of Li Wen.

These officials were naturally aware of what was going on in the capital. Li Wen dared to do these things blatantly, and he would never dare to do these things without the emperor's permission.

Most officials are aloof and aloof, and they are ashamed to get involved in the affairs of merchants. However, Li Wen did the opposite and got involved in the affairs of these merchants. For this reason, he created a Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which was already criticized by others. Sick. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is not under the jurisdiction of the Six Ministries and is independent of the Six Ministries. Where does that put the Six Ministries? This inevitably made some officials in the Sixth Department feel dissatisfied.

However, this Li Wen was really capable. He gained such trust from the emperor in such a short period of time, which many people did not expect.

The emperor's defense of Li Wen today was seen by all the ministers in the court, and they wanted to see what he could do in the end. Instead of looking for trouble with Li Wen at this time, it would be better to see if he has any loopholes and find out what loopholes he has, so that he can sue him in front of the emperor!

After the court is over, the officials can leave on their own.

After temporarily taking over the post of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Yang Shaomu knew what the situation of the Ministry of Household Affairs was like now. The taxes of the imperial court were increasing year after year, but the taxes collected by the imperial court were getting less and less. Where does the problem arise? Apart from the reasons why officials in the DPRK and China are corrupt and enriching themselves, the most important point is actually the issue of land ownership.

But now the land must not be touched. These scholar-bureaucrats hold large amounts of land in their hands. They must be unwilling to hand over the land in their hands to the state. Once it is touched, it will inevitably cause resistance and dissatisfaction among these people. However, given the current situation of the imperial court, if there is no way to increase revenue, the Ministry of Revenue may not be able to support the expenses of the entire imperial court, as well as the disaster relief funds allocated by various regions, and other such things.

From this point of view, Yang Shaomu understood why Li Wen put his mind into business. This was a good way out. It is true that businessmen value profits, but the same businessmen can also make money, so he supports Li Wen in organizing these conferences and using businessmen. If these businessmen are used properly, they may actually bring some benefits to the court.

"Your Highness, look..."

The eldest prince and his people walked in front of His Highness in a swaggering manner. Naturally, the officials from the Prince's faction were dissatisfied. Doesn't this make it clear that they do not take His Highness into consideration? ?

Yang Shaomu raised his hand, without any sign of anger on his face, and said calmly, "It's okay, maybe the emperor has something urgent to do." He looked at the person walking in front of him and strode away, and just looked at him. The moment he looked back, a sharp light flashed in his eyes.

The fourth prince Yang Shaojian walked with the prince, and the two of them talked about matters in the court.

The third prince, Yang Shaokang, did not go with them, but took another road, apparently to the harem, and presumably to Concubine Shu.

At this time, Yang Shaoyong had already led his people away. The eldest prince's face was filled with anger. This damn Li Wen had caused him to lose his troops every time!

"What kind of enchanting potion did Li Wen give to his father to make him trust him so much?" Yang Shaoyong had

long been dissatisfied with Li Wen when he failed to win over him. This Li Wen also ruined so many of his good things, and caused him heavy losses in Xiangzhou... If this Li Wen falls into his hands, he will definitely make him unable to live or die!

But before killing someone, you can let him have a taste of Li Liuyuan first~

When I think of this Li Wen wearing an official uniform, standing in the hall and confronting many ministers, I don't know how high-spirited he looks. How beautiful the body covered by the official uniform is... If you want to press someone on your body and let him do whatever he wants, when he thinks of this, Yang Shaoyong's eyes are filled with undisguised lust.

"Your Highness, Li Wen can't move for the time being." The confidants who were following the eldest prince knew about their highness's hobbies, and they knew what their highness was thinking by looking at their expressions. Not to mention that Li Wen was trusted and favored by the emperor, with Li Wen's name and identity of Liuyuan, he was not someone that His Highness could touch casually.

"Hmph! You think I don't know!"

Yang Shaoyong naturally knew that he couldn't touch Li Wen at this time, but when he became the emperor, it wasn't him who had the final say on what kind of beauty he wanted? He is just a mere little Liuyuan. When that time comes and he has someone tie Li Wen to his dragon bed, he can...

Heihehe...

"Your Highness, this Li Wen is quite capable. What about them?" For some kind of conference, one person had to pay one hundred taels of silver. Xianguan sent someone to take a look, and many people rushed to line up... Xianguan did some calculations and found that if they did this, they would have to pay at least one hundred thousand taels. Eighty thousand taels of silver came in." A confidant said in his ear. Yang Shaoyong was surprised and asked, "Is it that much?"

"It's just a lot more," the confidant said with certainty.

"That's really a lot." Hearing this, Yang Shaoyong narrowed his eyes slightly. Originally, the officials in Xiangzhou could give him a large amount of income every year, but after Li Wen did this, All the officials in Xiangzhou went in.

But it was also at that time that he realized that the officials in Xiangzhou had done so many things by using his name as the eldest prince. The thing that made him most angry was that most of them were under the leadership of Lu Xingbang, the prefect of Xiangzhou who had already been interrogated and beheaded. In his hands, what he got here was just a small profit! It was simply an unjust crime, and he was even punished by his father to stay behind closed doors for three months without being allowed to go out!

If it weren't for the officials in Xiangzhou who were already dead, he would have sent people to dig out the bones and whip the corpses!

But there was a very urgent problem in front of him that needed to be solved. He was short of money, very short of money!

Although he is the eldest prince, because he is not a legitimate legitimate son or a crown prince personally named by the emperor, some people may not necessarily agree with him. Therefore, it costs money to recruit talents, and there is a lot of effort to establish relationships. Everything is Come down, everything costs money.

Also, he kept a private army, and armor and weapons were a huge expense.

If there is no money, in the eyes of these people, he, the eldest prince, is probably nothing. Now they have taken ninety-nine steps. If they are stuck at the last step, Yang Shaoyong will not give in anyway and wants to fight for it. With one hand, he will get more silver to increase his victory chips. It's just that the previous money lines have been cut off. It's a bit difficult for him to get some money now.

"Your Highness." Seeing that His Highness suddenly stood here and refused to leave, the officials who followed him couldn't help but remind him, "This is not the place to talk. Why don't we go back and make plans?" "

Let's go!" Yang Shaoyong came back to his senses. He gritted his teeth and strode away with his men.

After leaving the court, Li Wen followed the little Eunuch Su who came to see the emperor in the royal study, "I pay homage to the emperor, long live the emperor."

"Li Liuyuan, please get up." Emperor Zhaozong's health was getting worse day by day. On the same day, there was a sick air on his face.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Wen stood up and accidentally caught a glimpse of the emperor's face. This made him a little shocked. How could the emperor look so old in just a short period of time?

He thought to himself that the emperor's face showed signs of decline, which was not a good thing...

"I know that you feel aggrieved about what happened today. I understand in my heart what you have done for the court." Emperor Zhaozong is an emperor. It was not easy either. His body was getting weaker and weaker. On the contrary, his sons were getting stronger and stronger, and their power in their hands was getting bigger and bigger. They were all thinking about the chair under his buttocks and wished they could Instead.

The officials below all stood in line and had made plans for themselves early. The emperor naturally knew this, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Although he is the emperor, he does not have many useful ministers at his disposal. The few old ministers who are loyal to him are

conservative and , without much progress, and cannot bring him any practical benefits. At this time, Li Wen appeared in front of him. This minister was young, smart, and loyal to him, the emperor. He was a man of great use. Therefore, no matter what, the emperor had to comfort this aggrieved man. Minister.

"I don't dare." Upon hearing this, Li Wen understood why the emperor summoned him. He said he was not aggrieved, but that was not what he said on his face.

Looking at this young minister, Emperor Zhaozong sometimes felt like he was his own child. He liked this about Li Wen, that he was loyal and honest enough to him as the emperor, unlike some people who always thought that he was The emperor is a fool, he will lie if he can. There is nothing the emperor dislikes about such a loyal and sincere minister.

The emperor chuckled lightly and said, "You said no, three pounds of pork can hang in this mouth."

Li Wen wrinkled his nose: I don't have that look on his face!

If this expression were made by an old minister with a wrinkled face, this scene... would probably be a bit difficult to look at directly? But if it were made by the young and tender-faced Li Liuyuan, it would be a bit like the emperor's coquettishness. Emperor Zhaozong was not angry about this. He turned to Eunuch Sun who was following him and said, "Isn't there a pair of luminous pearls from the South China Sea as tribute below? Go and get them."

"Yes, I will go and get them now." Eunuch Sun He responded, and not long after he left, he came in with a box in his hand. The box was opened, revealing a pair of fist-sized luminous pearls. The emperor waved his hand and asked Eunuch Sun to give the box to Li Wen and said, "I'll give you these two gadgets to take back and play with."

"Your Majesty..." Li Wen was hesitating whether to accept it or not. Eunuch Sun thrust the box into his hand and said with a smile, "Master Li, the Emperor has rewarded you, so please take it." "

Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Wen took it and thanked the Emperor.

"Okay, no more grievances. Whatever you want to do, just go ahead and do it. I will be responsible for it." Emperor Zhaozong spoke in a calm tone, showing his support and attitude towards what Li Wen was doing. , Li Wen was asked to do whatever he wanted to do, as long as it was beneficial to the court, he, the emperor, would support him.

"I thank the emperor for the reward. I will definitely live up to the emperor's expectations..." Li Wen didn't understand the principle of giving a candy to a stick. He understood the emperor's intention in doing this. He hit him in front and then in the back. He also rewarded him with some gadgets.

Another hidden meaning in the emperor's behavior was to tell him that he, the emperor, was the emperor of Dacheng and someone he could rely on. But for now, it is indeed true.

Emperors are inevitably suspicious, so the emperor does not trust him as much as he thinks. What the emperor values ​​only is the benefits he can bring to him, not who he is. Li Wen also knows this in his heart. At least the trust in the emperor in him needs to be reduced by half. I don't know if it will happen again. Not much more.

But after what happened today, I hope some people can brighten up their masks and stop looking for trouble all day long. He is too lazy to deal with it!

But with the emperor's words, he could do the rest.

When Li Wen came out of the palace, he was holding a wooden box in his hand. Some people with sharp eyes recognized that it was the South China Sea Night Pearl that had been paid tribute last time. There were only two of them in the whole palace, and they were rewarded by the emperor to Li Liuyuan. . News in the capital spread quickly, and without Li Wen even knowing it, the news spread like wildfire that he came out of the imperial study with something gifted by the emperor in his hand.

The emperor's obvious protection of him prevented him from unnecessary trouble. At least no one came to trouble him for a long time.

Chapter 192:

Several ticket outlets under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce open on time every day to sell tickets. The number of tickets sold every day is limited. Because there are too many people buying tickets, only those at the front can grab them. When the tickets arrive, those at the back will have to wait for the next ticket release.

In order to buy a ticket, some people stayed up all night and waited outside the ticket office.

Li Wen himself didn't expect that his tickets would be so easy to sell. At this time, not everyone wanted to get tickets through his connections, and everyone who came to Liuyuan Mansion to give gifts was blocked from the door. Because his face is still recognized by many people here in the capital, he has been going out less recently. In fact, whenever someone recognizes him when he goes out, he gets entangled and has difficulty getting out.

He knew that at this time, there were definitely not only people who wanted to gain connections with him, but also people who wanted to start with people within their Ministry of Industry and Commerce. When holding a meeting with the people below, Li Wen emphasized, "These two conferences are crucial to our Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and they are the key to our foothold in the court."

"At this time, we don't know how many people are out there. People are laughing at our jokes. We don't want others to laugh at us, so we have to do it ourselves."

This business conference and investment conference are the first major events that their commercial department has organized since its establishment, and they must do it well. , so that their special department can be established in the court, so that those who see their jokes can't say anything.

"There are many people outside now waiting to buy tickets. This at least means that many businessmen have the intention and idea to participate in business conferences and investment fairs." At the very least, this is a good thing for them, and they must seize it. this opportunity.

Li Wen continued, "So, we have to do the preliminary work well so that the subsequent conference can be held as scheduled. I would like to emphasize here that I don't want any problems to occur internally or anything to be discovered that shouldn't have happened. ..."

What he said was tantamount to slapping the people below, telling everyone that they must act according to the rules and cannot sell tickets privately in violation of regulations or do anything that damages the image of their department. Once discovered, they will not be severely punished. loan!

"Yes, sir, we understand that

most of the members in this newly established department are energetic young people, and the youngest among them is undoubtedly their minister. Li Wen is the youngest among this group of people, but he is not Some people will speak out because of his young age. This group of people regard him as a leader and obey his orders.

It is not easy to manage so many people under his command. If you want people to obey your orders, you must show up. Reasons to convince others.

Li Wen is not only strict with his subordinates, he is also strict with himself. Basically, he is the last one to leave the government office every day. He has carried it all by himself, and now he is just asking them all to do their internal work well. If they can't even do this, then he will consider replacing others.

"If there are any problems, you should report them first. Master Du, come here. When the time comes, Master Du, you can sort it out and give it to me. "Li Wen told Du Ruoheng that because he was not always in the government office, he left some matters to Du Ruoheng to handle.

Du Ruoheng stood beside their adults and silently handled their affairs.

"There is nothing down there . It's over, let's go do whatever you need to do. "

The small meeting ended here, and everyone dispersed and went about their own business.

It has rained in the past two days, and there is still some water on the road.

After this re-planning, the roads in the entire capital look much wider. , the carriage passed through the street without being blocked by crowded pedestrians.

The two carriages passed back and forth, and there was a little splash on the wheels.

Li Wen led the people to the North District to see the ground. , the terrain in the North District is low-lying, and the environment here is dirty, which doesn't look very good.

The North District is a slum in the capital, and the people living here are doing ordinary hard work. Common people, hawkers doing small business, and some beggars and homeless people live here.

Officials in the capital rarely set foot here. It is the first time for these officials to follow Li Liuyuan here. Come this way, everyone got off the carriage, with expressions of disgust on their faces. It's really impossible to move here.

"Let's go forward. "Li Wen didn't care. This place will be different soon. He is still confident about this.

He led a group of people inside and didn't care if the shoes on his feet were dirty. When he

saw Mr. Li, he was very excited. Not caring, the officials behind didn't dare to say anything, and they all walked behind Li Liuyuan.

The thin child was hiding by the door and looked at them curiously, and was carried into the yard by the woman

. When the officials arrived, some people had unspeakable curiosity on their faces, as if it was a strange thing for this group of people to appear here.

"My plan is to use this vegetable market as the center, and the market will be demolished by then. , and this row of houses will be demolished together... So it means that this area will be demolished, and then the trade market will be built here. "Li Wen had been here before and had a general understanding of this place. Today he brought everyone here to see the place.

"It's just Mr. Li, if the houses here are demolished, then these people living here...are going to How to deal with it? "Someone asked.

"Well, this is a problem we have to deal with in the early stage. When the time comes, the people living here will arrange to live in another place. "Li Wen nodded. This involves the issue of demolition and the arrangement of people's residence. This issue is really troublesome.

If you just want to build a trade market in the city, it will inevitably involve these issues, which are unavoidable. Yes, unless they build this trade market outside the city.

However, there is no unclaimed land near the capital. Most of it is land owned by wealthy clans. Negotiating with those people is more troublesome than negotiating with common people, as he mentioned earlier. In order to prohibit land enclosures and want to touch the land in the hands of those people, if he dares to raise the issue of land recovery again, he will definitely touch the sensitive nerves of these clans. Presumably, the impeachment papers on the emperor's desk must be two inches higher. .

So he has considered these issues before. It is better to come here directly to encircle a piece of land to build a market. Firstly, the problem is easier to negotiate and deal with. Secondly, if the trade market is established here, it can also promote this area in the future. Economic development.

"There is also the issue of compensation for house demolition. Specific regulations will be issued by then. We must deal with it before demolishing the house, and let the people living here move out, so that we can start construction here..." There are many issues involved in the demolition, and this issue needs to be discussed in detail. Li Wen turned around and discussed a few words with Shen Zijing.

The thankless matter of demolition will definitely have to be handled by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. At that time, he plans to hand over this matter to Shen Zijing. The issues involving demolition will be more complicated and should be left to his own people. It would be safer to deal with him.

Shen Zijing knew that Li Wen had this plan. He knew that this was a troublesome matter, but it was not a challenge for him, so he had no objection to

Li Wen's invitation today . People from the Ministry of Industry are here. After all, this trade market was built by the government. It is definitely not easy to bypass the Ministry of Industry and hire other construction teams to do it. So it is better to ask people from the Ministry of Industry to come over and discuss the matter. Matters related to the construction of the trade market can be handed over to the Ministry of Industry.

The Ministry of Industry is responsible for these things, so it must be more professional than a dilettante like him.

"The terrain here is too low, and there will be serious water accumulation when it comes to the sky below, so we will have to fill the land here higher and deal with the drainage problem. Also, the entrances of these alleys are too narrow, and carriages cannot enter. There will definitely be many vehicles carrying goods coming and going here in the future. After the re-planning in the future, the main street should be wider, at least two carriages must be able to pass by side by side, and the small alleys must be able to be passed by at least one carriage... ..." So after calculating this, every transaction costs money. The money he just put into his pocket has not yet warmed up, and he will spit it out so soon. Li Wen felt a little sad in his heart.

"Yes, yes, these roads are too narrow."

Everyone nodded. The roads here were too narrow, otherwise they wouldn't have to get off the carriage and walk in, because the carriage couldn't come.

If they hadn't come here, they wouldn't even know there were so many places in the capital.

"I predict that the construction period will be tight by then... We will try our best to handle the relocation of personnel, and then leave it to your Ministry of Industry to handle it peacefully." They will hold an investment conference in mid-to-late August, at least in August There must be a prototype of the market, and then it will not affect their investment promotion meeting.

It only takes less than two months, so the construction period is definitely tight, but as long as there is money and people, the progress should be slightly faster. Li Wen said, "I see there are a lot of people here, why not hire some people to do the work when the time comes?"

"Yes, yes, when we are short of people, we will hire some people to do the work." from the Ministry of Works the official replied.

Li Wen led a group of people to walk and look around. No one was taking care of this place. It was quite messy. There were many houses built haphazardly. These houses would have to be demolished by then. Fortunately, many of the houses here were made of mud bricks and pillars. It is not like the houses in later generations that were built with cement and steel bars, so it is not too difficult to dismantle them.

When they came out after walking around, no one could see the shoes on their feet, and the hems of their clothes were still stained with

splashed mud.

At noon, Li Wen invited everyone to have dinner at Yipinlou, mainly to talk in detail about the construction of the trade market.

It took me two full hours to finish this meal before finalizing some related issues.

Chapter 193 Arranged to

return to the government office in the afternoon. Li Wen and Shen Zijing talked for a long time, finalized all relevant matters regarding demolition arrangements and compensation, and formulated a specific charter, "This matter I'll leave it to you, okay?"

"Okay, no problem." Shen Zijing nodded, having no objection to this arrangement.

"I will arrange a team of people to go with you tomorrow. That's all for today. If there are any problems later, we will discuss it." They didn't have enough manpower here, so Li Wen went to borrow people every two days. Unfortunately, His face is easy to use. If you need anything, others will come to help you without saying a word.

If someone else comes forward, I don't know if they can borrow people. It was getting dark

outside now. Although there was no curfew at night in the capital, it was just that it was difficult to walk after dark.

On the way out of the government office, the two men talked about some safety issues.

"When the time comes, go over there and remember to try not to conflict with the people. Explain the arrangements and compensation to everyone clearly. If there are any problems, let's sit down and negotiate. There will always be a better solution." Li asked We know that managing demolition is a thankless task, and one bad word can easily lead to conflicts with the people living there.

After all, this is asking people to move out of the place where they originally lived and demolishing other people's houses. How can others be happy

?

The compensation they gave for demolition is within a reasonable range. If you are dissatisfied with this, you can sit down and discuss it. . The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is responsible for this matter. He can't guarantee anything else. At least on their side, the compensation will definitely be distributed to the people.

This trade market must be built, but personal safety must still be the first consideration when it comes to work issues. There is no need to take action on issues that can be sat down and discussed.

There were still some procedures that needed to be completed. With the emperor's approval, the people below did not dare to hold on. Li Wen went to complete them in advance and greeted some relevant departments. At this time, the emperor is a very useful companion card. Basically no official dares not to give the emperor face.

Su Yuan is now in charge of some internal affairs of the government office, and he knows more or less what Shen Zijing and Li Wen said. But compared to Li Wen and Shen Zijing, who are often running around outside, his personality is more suitable for handling such trivial and detailed matters, so he will not feel bored or unhappy with what he is currently doing.

When Shen Zijing turned around, he could always see the people following him, which made him feel at ease.

When they got out of the door, the Shen family's carriage was waiting to pick them up. Shen Zijing asked, "How about we take you back on the way?"

"Don't bother me. I'll just walk back. You guys can go back first. If you have any questions tomorrow, Besides." Li Wen didn't get on the carriage. The place where Shen Zijing and Su Yuan lived was far away, so he had to take a carriage only a few steps away.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Seeing this, Shen Zijing had no choice but to get into the carriage with Su Yuan.

"See you tomorrow. Ah Chen, let's go." Seeing Shen Zijing and Su Yuan get on the carriage and leave, Li Wen led his people back on foot. It wasn't far to walk back to Liuyuan Mansion, so he didn't need to go there if it was necessary. Instead of taking a carriage, I walked back and forth every day, which was supposed to be exercise.

After being assassinated last time, he realized that even in the capital, it was not as safe as he thought, so now when he goes out, he always takes Ah Chen or Ah Wu with him. One of the people is by his side, and when he encounters any danger, there is someone by his side to protect him.

After making sure that no one was going to harm him, Zhao Xiangyi withdrew the people who were following him. I don't know if the man sent someone to protect him secretly to prevent him from knowing.

At this time, the plan to build an arsenal was also put on the agenda. After much thought, Emperor Zhaozong handed the matter over to Zhao Xiangyi. The location of the arsenal was chosen at the foot of the West Mountain, which is close to the main camp on the outskirts of Beijing. Outsiders are not allowed to approach at will, which facilitates the construction of a secret arsenal there.

The emperor had asked him about the candidates before, and Li Wen knew that the emperor wanted him to be responsible. After all, he was the one who proposed the plan. It's just that he is already busy here, and he is really overwhelmed, and he has no extra energy to be responsible for things there. His task of making money for the treasury was indeed very important, so the emperor had no choice but to give up on him and choose someone else.

However, Li Wen was not surprised that the emperor chose Zhao Xiangyi to take charge of this matter. In other words, it was expected. Zhao Xiangyi was indeed a good candidate. Otherwise, it might have been General Wang and his son. Zhao Xiangyi is now in charge of the camp on the outskirts of Beijing. Perhaps for this reason, the emperor gave this task to Zhao Xiangyi.

Since the Emperor has left this matter to Zhao Xiangyi, he naturally has no intention of avoiding the prince, and he

will definitely know about it.

As for whether the other eldest princes and third princes knew about this matter, it was hard to say for the time being.

In fact, the emperor's thoughts are not difficult to guess, but the prince is still the prince after all. As long as nothing unexpected happens, the success will still be handed over to the prince's hands, but the emperor is always a little unwilling to do so.

No powerful ruler is willing to face the possibility that he will grow old or even die one day. So when faced with sons who are getting stronger and stronger, how can the emperor like these sons?

However, the emperor's health has been deteriorating recently and he is unable to do what he wants, so even if the emperor is unwilling to do so, he still has to face the fact that he is getting old. The imperial power could not end with him. He needed a successor to hand over the world to his son. This was probably the reason why the emperor suddenly changed his attitude towards the prince.

The emperor's thoughts were still too unpredictable. Li Wen shook his head and stopped thinking about these things. Back at home, he ate a few bites of food in a hurry, then went into the study to get busy.

The lights in the study stayed on until late at night, and no one came out.

Seeing that the fire in the study was on, their young master had no intention of coming out. Li Tong, who was guarding the door, felt a little worried. After much hesitation, he reached out and knocked on the door, reminding him, "Master, Master... It's late at night, do you want to go back to sleep? "

If you don't go back to sleep, you will have to go to court!" My young master...

Mr. Zhao hasn't been coming over recently. Their young master has been staying up late and late at night, so it's better to have Mr. Zhao come over. At least when Mr. Zhao is around, their young master won't be busy in the study. So late.

"What time is it?" His head was bent for too long, and his neck hurt. Li Wen was about to turn around and call someone to give him a squeeze, but then he remembered that the person hadn't been here recently. Recently, Zhao Xiangyi has been busy building an arsenal, and he is busy with various trivial matters at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Both of them are busy.

Zhao Xiangyi's people haven't been here for some days, and the two of them can't even see each other.

I'm used to being alone by my side for a long time. I usually sit at my desk for a long time. If that person is there, I don't need to call him, that person will reach out and give him a squeeze on his shoulder. In the past few days, that person has not been around. When I turn around, I don't see anyone. It's really What's more, it makes people a little uncomfortable.

With a helpless smile on his face, Li Wen reached out and hammered himself twice.

"It's just past the third watch." Li Tong saw his master stretching out his hand to thump his shoulder, and walked over hurriedly, "Master, are your shoulders uncomfortable? I'll give you a massage." He knew that his master had been at the desk for a long time, and his shoulders If he doesn't feel well in bed, usually when he sees Mr. Zhao, he will give this place to his master.

"Oh, it's so late..." There are too many things going on recently, and I forget the time when I get busy.

The intensity of the massage on his shoulders was alternately light and sometimes heavy. Compared with the technique of the person who often massaged him, it was a bit disgusting. Li Wen asked people to stop pressing him, "Okay, I'll go back to sleep now." "I opened my mouth and yawned. I can still sleep for two hours now, about four hours, but the sleep time is still too short.

If he continued to work like this, he suspected that he would age prematurely.

Look at the old ministers in the court, all of them have wrinkles on their faces, they have to be carried when they walk, and they talk to him all day long when they have nothing to do, ha! He was out of breath without even saying a few words, so he just bullied an honest person.

After tidying up the documents on the desk, Li Wen came out of the study and went back to the bedroom where he slept.

Not long after he fell asleep at night, he had to get up to go to court. As much as he didn't want to get up, Li Wen hated going to court!

He struggled to get up every day, letting others take care of him, changing clothes and washing his face. For so many years, he had only a book boy by his side to take care of him. He thought that this little slave went to bed later than his master and woke up earlier than his master every day. , Li Wen suddenly thought, should he arrange for one more person to come over?

But as soon as he brought up this topic, the loyal slave looked at him with tears in his eyes, "Master, did I serve you poorly, and you don't want a slave anymore?" On weekdays, the master would not take him with him when he went out. I was waiting by my side, but now that I'm back, I want someone else to take care of me. Did the master dislike him? The more Li Tong thought about it, the more he became afraid that his master would not want him.

"It's not that I don't want you, I'm just worried that you will be too tired to serve me alone, and I want one more person to share the burden with you." Li Wen looked at the little slave who looked like he was about to cry, and explained with a bit of laughter and tears. Hearing his master's words, Li Tongcai burst into laughter and said, "No, it's not tiring at all. I like to serve the master."

"Okay, as long as you like it." Li Wen treated this little slave like half of his family.

He has been outside for so many years and has been served by this little slave. The two of them have grown up together, and Li Tong is one year younger than him. I don't know if it was because I was hungry when I was little. I had to eat three big bowls of rice every meal, but I haven't grown taller. Plus, I have a bun face, which makes me look even smaller.

Maybe I'm just young and haven't grown up yet?

After leaving the mansion, Li Wen went out to go to court. The boy walking in front held a lantern to light the way.

This official really wakes up earlier than a chicken and goes to bed later than a dog. When he went out in the morning, their big black boy

was still sleeping in front of the yard! It's really not as good as a dog's life...

Chapter 194: Invite for a Drink

The demolition of the West District was smoother than Li Wen expected. I don't know if it was because of the involvement of government officials, but things went smoothly. Basically, there were no conflicts. It must be said that Shen Zijing handled this matter very well.

Before the end of June, all the people living here will have to move out and move to places arranged by the government for temporary residence. In fact, many people living in this area live in rented houses. Now that the owners want to take their houses back, the government has arranged another place for them to live. There is nothing objectionable about these people.

Those who can own a yard here in the capital, even in the West District, are small landlords who have certain assets and money in their hands. One of the greatest advantages of these people is that they know current affairs. They know that there is little benefit to be gained from going against the government officials. Now the government wants to take over their houses and give them reasonable compensation. There is no need for them to go against the government officials. Therefore, After negotiating the conditions, these people signed the document agreeing to the relocation.

By the time they stood here again, most of the residents in this area had moved away.

The next step is to hand it over to the Ministry of Industry. Li Wen talked with the person in charge sent by the Minister of Industry, and negotiated the relevant matters for the later construction. After that, it was handed over to the people from the Ministry of Industry

. Invite everyone to have a meal, and I hope you will show your respect. "This time things went so smoothly thanks to the officials who came to help. He borrowed a team of people from Wang Hao. These people came over. Most of them are officials patrolling the city. Everyone comes here to help every day, and he wants to treat everyone at this meal.

"Haha, let's be respectful instead of obeying orders."

"Yes, yes, Master Li invites you to dinner, and we must go."

These officers and soldiers all knew that their young general had a good relationship with Master Li, so the young general asked them Come and help, this kind of thing is just a small favor for them. Not to mention that Mr. Li has always been polite to people like them. He usually asks these brothers to help with something without being bossy at all. They are very happy to help Mr. Li.

There are many people here who admire Mr. Li. This one is Li Liuyuan, who is the best at reading in the world. Those who have children studying at home want to take the opportunity to get Mr. Li closer so that they can take advantage of Li Liuyuan's blessings and see if they can pass it on to others. The youngest child in the family. In the future, the youngest child in the family will be as smart as Li Liuyuan, be able to read, and come back as a top scholar...

After hearing a brother who came to help leak something, Li Wen finally understood why these people always like to get close to him. reason. The person who leaked the information was not embarrassed. Instead, he shamelessly asked him to give him a gift, saying it was for the child in the family. This caused a group of people to besiege him, and they all asked him to give him a gift.

He didn't know that people in this era were also starting to blindly chase stars.

After knowing the reason, Li Wen couldn't laugh or cry. However, he asked the bookstore to send a batch of "Drawings of the Three Kingdoms" to those who asked for words. He wrote some words of encouragement by hand, and then gave these comic books to these people. Brothers who are here to help. It's just that not only those with children at home are rushing to get it, but also those without children at home are rushing to get it. The euphemistic reason is that they are preparing it for future children...

To this, he can't refute.

"Let's go over together and have a meal together." Shen Zijing had become tanned and lost a lot of weight during this period. There was not much else to say between the brothers. Li Wen knew about this demolition. The fact that the matter was settled was largely due to Shen Zijing.

"Of course." Shen Zijing had nothing to disagree with.

After finishing their work here, Li Wen invited everyone to go to Shili Piaoxiang to eat grilled fish.

Although Shili Piaoxiang is not as high-end as Yipinlou, Shili Piaoxiang is now a well-known restaurant in Beijing. The dishes here are delicious and well-priced. This is why the old diners here in Beijing flock to it. It's like a bird. Moreover, the location here does not accept advance reservations. If you don't arrive early, you may not be able to get a seat.

However, for the boss Li Wen, it is not a problem to let people leave two wing rooms.

In the evening, he entertained everyone at Shili Piaoxiang to eat grilled fish, and even invited Wang Hao to come over. Wang Hao was very considerate and brought several of his friends with him, and seven or eight people gathered at the table. . Li Wen sent someone back to his house in advance to bring over a dozen jars of wine. As soon as the lid of the wine was opened, the group of drunkards in the box smelled something different.

"Well, this wine is really fragrant. What kind of wine is this? I really I have never smelled such a fragrant wine!" Wang Hao sat next to Li Liuyuan and snatched away the wine jar as soon as he smelled the smell of wine. As soon as he smelled the smell, he swallowed before drinking. Wang Xiaojiang stared. Looking at Li Wen, he asked, "Is this what you said...the good wine you brewed?"

Li Wen nodded with a smile and said, "Yeah, I'm not inviting you all to drink. I'm not allowed to give you a drink."

Can you show some sincerity? This is sorghum liquid. How do you like it?"

Before the waiter standing nearby came to pour the wine, these people started pouring the wine themselves.

"I'll go, if I had known I wouldn't have brought you guys here today!" Wang Hao saw these bastards rushing to pour the wine like wolves, pouring down bowls of wine like this, just a few jars. It was empty, and he beat his chest in anger!

He hugged the jar in his hand tightly, meaning that this jar belonged to him and no one could steal it from him!

"Haha... Good brother, if you have something good to share with your brothers, how can you hide and drink it secretly by yourself?" A buddy sitting next to Wang Xiaojiang grabbed Wang Xiaojiang's neck and looked like two brothers. With a good look, he picked up the wine bowl in front of him and said to the brothers present, "Brothers, let's toast Li Liuyuan. Thank you Li Liuyuan for treating us brothers to drink such good wine and eat such good food today."

" I have to thank our brothers Wang San for not forgetting our brothers when there are good things."

"Haha... That's right, that's right."

"Li Liuyuan, let's give you a

drink." "Everyone just likes it. I always treat everyone to it . I have never been able to find free time for wine, so today I have this opportunity to invite you all to have a meal together. I am glad that you all can come over. "Li Wen also used a wine bowl today, but others had a full bowl. Of the wine in the bowl, he only had a little wine poured from the bottom of the bowl.

Shen Zijing's drinking capacity is slightly better than Li Wen's, and he can drink a pound and a half without any problem.

"I would also like to thank you all for your cooperation and help in the work of our Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and I would like to toast you all here." Li Wen said.

"Hey, why are you saying such polite words?"

"Come on, let's drink this bowl!"

"Do it!"

"Brothers, drink..."

After everyone drank two bowls of wine, the atmosphere became lively.

Li Wen's drinking capacity is not as good as these people. He always takes a small sip. However, each of these people takes turns to toast him. It's okay if he doesn't drink. There are too many people who can't resist the toast. A small sip. After drinking it in a small sip, he drank a lot of wine later.

"No, no, you drink..." If he drinks any more, he will roll under the table.

Shen Zijing prided himself on being a good drinker, but in front of these military attachés, he was completely insatiable. After half a bowl of wine, his face turned red.

"Haha, Li Liuyuan, you are very good at reading, but you can't beat us when it comes to drinking." Someone said very proudly.

"Fart, you are a great drinker. If you have the ability to read like Li Liuyuan, and come back as a top scholar, our group of people will call you big brother." Wang Haodao said this to his brother. As soon as they heard about studying, these people waved their hands in a hurry and said, "Let's just drink bars and read whatever books we want. If we don't study... It's not bad for us to be a leader. These

people talked about how they didn't want to study when they were young. I was beaten with a stick.

Except for Li Wen and Shen Zijing, who had never experienced this kind of thing when they were young, all the second-generation soldiers in Beijing refused to study when they were young, and were often beaten by their families. I chased and beat these people with sticks.

Li Wen listened to their talk and found it very interesting.

Li Wen whispered in Shen Zijing's ear, telling him not to fight with these people. He said that there were only two civil servants here, and even the entire department couldn't compete with these military attachés.

In the end, these people drank all the wine he brought. On average, each person drank at least one. Jar, the wine in his small jar is two kilograms, which means that each of these people drank at least two kilograms of liquor without changing their expressions.

But Li Wen was not able to do it. He probably drank it all. After finishing the meal, his feet felt weak when he left.

"Let's meet up for a drink tomorrow when we are free. "Wang Hao drank a lot of wine, and his face didn't even turn red. He made a mistake today. If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have brought these people with him. Then all the wine in the room belongs to him. Think about it. My heart hurts...

Next time Li Liuyuan invites you for a drink, he will definitely not bring this group of people!

"Okay, I'll make an appointment next time. "Li Wen's reaction was a little slow. He waved to Wang Hao and the others and said goodbye to everyone. Two carriages stopped at the door. Ah Chen helped their master get into the carriage next to him. There was another man in Tsing Yi. The servant came over and helped Shen Zijing into the carriage behind.

When Li Wen got up, a hand stretched out from the carriage and pulled the person inside.

If others had been shocked, Li Wen grabbed him instead. She stopped holding his hand and recognized the owner of this hand. Wang Hao and others behind him were drinking, and the people sitting in the carriage deliberately lowered their heads, so the group outside did not. I didn't notice that there was another person in the compartment of the car that just left in front of me.

"Why are you here? "The young man who had drunk leaned against him and looked at him with bright eyes. Zhao Xiangyi got closer and smelled the smell of alcohol on the young man. He looked like he was drunk and asked, "What are you doing? How much wine did you drink to make you drunk? "

Li Wen stretched out his hand. In fact, he was not completely drunk at this moment. At least he knew who was coming to pick him up. "Just one bowl...I'm not drunk!" "The two of them hadn't seen each other for nearly half a month. He was still very happy to see Zhao Xiangyi here. He grabbed Zhao Xiangyi's collar with one hand and asked, "Why are you here? "

Looking at the silly smiling people, Zhao Xiangyi knew that the bowl mentioned here was a big bowl. These people used big bowls for drinking. No wonder this little guy was drunk. The young man turned his nose and said, "You are the only one who drank with them?

"Why can't I drink with...others? " "Li Wen hummed.

Still not convinced?

Zhao Xiangyi raised his eyebrows. When he thought about this little guy going out to drink with other men behind his back, and getting drunk like this

, he wanted to spank him, and why? Don't you dare to be dissatisfied with him! "I'll take care of you when I get back!

"

The drunk man nestled in his arms, found a comfortable position, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

General Zhao: "..."

Looking at the young man who fell asleep in his arms, Zhao Xiangyi felt that I was angry, but I couldn't really get angry with the boy. The carriage came on the street, and the wheels made a gurgling sound. The man in the carriage put his arm around the boy in his arms, letting the boy sleep more comfortably against him. ...

Chapter 194 Returning Homeward

In early July, Li Wen arranged a convoy and troops to escort his younger brother and sister back home.

The carriage was already waiting outside the house early in the morning, and he borrowed a team of guards from Zhao Xiangyi to help send people back. The road back to Qingping from the capital was long, and it was not that safe. He was afraid of encountering bandits on the road, so he had to arrange a team of people to escort him back to reassure him.

"When you return to Nanyang, I sent a letter to my father. My father should send someone to meet you in Nanyang." Li Wen sent a letter to his family in advance. His family should receive the letter earlier and send someone by then. Go to Nanyang to pick someone up. Taking the waterway back from Nanyang can save several days on the road. This time adds up to nearly ten days saved. This saved time can be used to stay at home for a few more days.

He has official duties and is not allowed to leave the capital without any reason, so he cannot accompany him back.

Now that Bai Yu and Li Jinwan are engaged, they are already engaged and there is no need to avoid anything. This time, Li Jinwan took her fiancé back to meet her parents and elders at home. With Bai Yu accompanying him back, Li Wen should feel more at ease. Otherwise, he would not be too relieved if one was a half-year-old child and the other was from a girl's family.

"When you arrive in Nanyang, help me deliver a letter to my teacher." Li Wen took out two written letters and said, "There is also this one, which is for my father. You go back and send this letter Leave it to my father. I am in charge of your marriage. Your family will not make things difficult for you. It will not be too late to discuss the marriage after you arrive in the capital."

In his opinion, it is fifteen or sixteen years old. The little girls are still underage, so they are talking about whether it is too early to get married. It's just that in this era, girls who are fifteen or sixteen years old have reached the age to talk about marriage, and even earlier, they are getting married at the age of twelve or thirteen, so the times are different. The marriage of the girl in the family can be arranged first, but the marriage is not Let's talk about it two years later!

The marriages of several cousins ​​in the family were arranged by his grandmother. The eldest brother is like the father. As his elder brother, he arranged the marriage for his sister on his behalf. I don't think anyone who came to the family would have any objections. His girl is not bad, and Bai Yu is young and promising. The most important thing is that these two people see eye to eye and like each other, otherwise he would not have made the decision to support their marriage.

"Thank you, third brother. We will send the letter to you. I will also give this letter to my uncle when I get back." Li Jinwan took the letter and knew that her brother had planned everything for her. She couldn't express it in her heart. I was so moved that my eyes suddenly turned red.

"Silly girl, why are you crying? This time you can take Bai Yu back, and you can have an explanation with your family." Li Wen rubbed the little girl's head. No matter whether the girl was sixteen or six years old, in In his eyes, she was just a picture of a half-grown girl.

He has been born in two lives. In his last life, he was an only son with few brothers and sisters around him. In this life, he has a biological brother, a cousin who has grown up behind him since he was a child. How could he expect that he would grow up so big in the blink of an eye and reach the age of marriage.

As an elder brother, you should take care of your younger brothers and sisters, and now he also has this ability.

"Third brother, I'm not crying! A gust of wind just blew sand into my eyes." Li Jinwan lowered her head and wiped the corners of her eyes, refusing to admit that she shed tears.

"Yes, it's all because of the strange wind just now." Li Wen knew that this girl was dissatisfied with the marriage plan her parents told her at home, so she ran to Nanyang alone to look for her. Fortunately, she was lucky and didn't miss her on the way. Something happened. This girl has been very courageous since she was a child, and she is not inferior to men at all. It is a pity that as a girl, the world is too harsh on women.

"After you go back, you and your second uncle and second aunt should admit your mistake... After all, they are the ones who gave birth to you. There is no grudge too big in the world that cannot be let go." Li Wen knew the knot in this girl's heart. As a daughter, , what's wrong with parents, why can't they be remembered for the rest of their lives?

He knew more or less what his second uncle and his second aunt were like, and he could just get over some things, so he didn't have to keep them in mind, and he didn't let them go. Knowing that those things are unchangeable, why not just let them go? How about letting yourself go?

"Yes, third brother, I understand." Li Jinwan understood the meaning of his brother's words. In fact, after so long, the original resentment towards his parents became less deep. After all, they are her parents, the same parents in the world, and as children, this is something she cannot choose.

I heard that her father later took a concubine and gave birth to a son. This must have fulfilled her father's long-cherished wish for a son. She just didn't know how her mother-in-law was living, and what kind of person her mother-in-law was. Li Jinwan also knew in her heart...

Thinking of the people and things at home, she sighed in her heart.

Seeing his brother looking towards him, Li Haopeng called out "Brother".

At the academy, Li Wen asked for leave for the two boys. They will not be able to return to the capital for at least two or three months after this trip. During this time, they will not be able to study. "You two, you have to go to school on the way." "Listen to the adults and

don't run around. If you lose it on the road, you can't find it."

This is not to scare the two boys. They will be kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to no one knows where.

"Well, we will listen to what the fourth sister and brother-in-law say." Li Haopeng hugged his brother, groaning in his arms, holding his brother with both hands and refusing to let go.

"You've grown so big and you still act like a spoiled child with your brother. You have to be with adults on the road. No matter where you go, you and Yangyang are not allowed to leave the team." Li Wen put his arm around the little boy. He could feel the child's attitude toward him. Brother's love and attachment.

This boy has liked his brother since he was a child. Even if he only goes home once a year, every time he goes back, this boy will follow him and shout "big brother" or "big brother". Naturally, he likes this younger brother very much.

In the past, his mother-in-law's health was not good, and he thought that his parents would only give birth to him as a child in this life. He didn't expect that his mother-in-law would be healthy and pregnant with a child later. This younger brother was a big gift from her mother-in-law. Naturally, Li Wen couldn't wait to hold this little boy in his hands. In the blink of an eye, the little boy was born. He's grown so big.

Fortunately, this boy was not spoiled by the whole family, so I hope he can grow up safely.

"When you go back, you should spend time with grandma, grandma, and daddy. They all miss you when you are not at home. Brother doesn't have time to go back. You go back and spend time with grandma, grandma, and daddy for brother. Tell grandma and grandma Grandma, I miss them too. I asked Grandma to take care of her health. When my brother is free, he will go back to visit them..." There are too many things going on here in the capital. I wonder if he can go back in another three to five years. At home, Li Wen felt a little helpless about this, but there was nothing he could do.

There are no planes or trains in this world, and it would take a month or two to go back and forth on the road. If there were planes, you could go back and forth in one day. So this is the backwardness of technology in this era and the inconvenience of going out.

It may be thousands of years before airplanes and trains come out, so don't think about it now.

"Well, brother, I will tell grandma, grandma, and daddy." Li Haopeng grabbed his brother's clothes and wanted to take him away with him.

"Okay, it's getting late, you guys get on the carriage and set off as early as possible." Li Wen patted the boy on the head and asked him to get on the carriage. Li Wen said to Bai Yu who was standing next to him, "It's a long way back from the capital. Please pay attention to safety on the way. I'll trouble you to take care of them along the way."

Bai Yu left the capital at this time, and he would definitely not be able to come back in time to participate. Business conferences and investment promotion conferences held after the Mid-Autumn Festival. However, they told him not to worry about these matters. He would arrange for people to take care of them. For this reason, Bai Yu could go back with his fiancée to meet his future father-in-law and mother-in-law.

He glanced at the woman next to him. She was his future wife. The two met each other, and Li Jinwan turned her head away in embarrassment. Bai Yu's eyes showed a smile and he said to the adults, "It's not troublesome. Don't worry, adults, I will take good care of everyone."

These are his family members, and it is his responsibility and obligation to protect them.

Even though he was engaged to be married to your lord's sister, Bai Yu still used to call him "sir" and did not change his title

. Li Wen corrected him twice, but when he saw that this man still insisted on calling him "sir", he let him go. At first, he was worried about whether Bai Yu was willing to arrange this marriage because he wanted to repay his gratitude. However, seeing the way these two people got along, it was obvious that they were in love, so how could he not be unhappy at all?

Bai Jingyang followed his brother. This time he went to his sister-in-law's house to meet people.

"Brother, let's go."

"Have a nice journey. I'll wait for you to come back here in the capital."

The two children happened to have a companion on the way, so Li Wen sent the two children back together. , it's better to just send it back together. Seeing everyone getting on the carriage, he gave a few instructions to the captain who came to escort the people back, and stuffed them with a money bag, which contained two hundred taels of silver notes and dozens of taels of broken silver for use on the road. cost.

The captain pushed him back for a while, but when he refused, he had no choice but to accept it and get on his horse with the people behind him.

Xihe went back with their young lady, while Yingchun stayed at the house.

Li Wen later found out that the little beggar he had taken in was a girl. Yingchun discovered this first, and then told him that after asking the girl why she concealed her gender, he saw the tomboy transform into As a beautiful little girl, let's just accept the reasons explained by the little girl.

If it weren't for this, he would have almost forgotten that he had taken in a little beggar.

However, it was a bit inconvenient to send a little girl to take care of the boys, so he transferred two other boys to take care of the two boys' daily life.

Seeing that Xiaoyue was smart, Li Jinwan asked the person over and arranged for the person to work in Zhuangmeng Pavilion. Now Xiaoyue has become the manager of Zhuangmeng Pavilion, and she knows everything about the store. It just so happened that Li Jinwan returned to her hometown this time

, so she handed over Zhuangmeng Pavilion to Xiaoyue to manage, so that she could return home with peace of mind.

"Have a good trip."

"Brother, wait until we come back..."

"Okay."

Seeing the carriage clattering away, followed by a guard on horseback.

It wasn't until the convoy was far away that Li Wen withdrew his gaze, went back to the house, changed his clothes and went out.

Chapter 195 First Update

By the beginning of July, the area designated for building a trade market in the West District had been cleared. All the residents who originally lived here had moved to other places for temporary residence. Construction and demolition of houses had begun here. .

Under the bright sun, Li Wen followed the person in charge of the Ministry of Works here to watch people demolishing the house. "How many people are working here now?"

The manager in charge reported an approximate number of people, and Li Wen squinted at it. Not far away, he said, "It's still a little short."

The later construction was handled by people from the Ministry of Industry, but the money was paid by their Ministry of Industry and Commerce themselves to build this trade market. Their Ministry of Industry and Commerce did not apply to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Want money. But the little money they got from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce can't go to the Ministry of Accounts for the time being. Once the money goes to the Ministry of Accounts, it's not that easy to get it out.

There is a trade market built here, as well as shops and warehouses on both sides of the street. It is not known how much silver will be burned. Li Wen is also worried that they will not have enough money later, as they will have to borrow money from the Ministry of Finance!

This little money was hard-earned, but he still risked being impeached to get it. He knew there were some tricks in the officialdom, and Li Wen didn't want the money he had worked so hard to get to feed some people.

In the past, the Ministry of Works handled various projects, and every year they repaired the palace, and an unknown amount of money went into the pockets of their officials. If these people really want to check one by one, they will be accurate and no one can escape. But as long as no one falls into his hands, there is no need for him to make trouble with others.

Here he sent Shen Zijing to be the supervisor. If you have any problems, you can report them to him at any time.

They have an independent financial department within the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which is currently managed by Su Yuan. Every amount of money that comes in and out is first reviewed by their internal financial department before it can be approved, so if you want to tamper with it, It's not that easy to prevent them from finding out.

As for petty greed and taking kickbacks, it is difficult to completely avoid it. As long as it is not excessive, he can turn a blind eye. Today's officialdom is like this. If you want someone to do things for you, you can't do anything for others.

This time we need a lot of manpower, and there is a group of craftsmen under the Ministry of Industry. In addition, we have recruited a group of people from here to work, and construction has started here.

Several adult strong men hugged a large pillar and hit it against the wall. After hitting it several times, the wall, which was not very strong, fell down with a roar. Dust was flying all over the sky, and they could choke even if they stood so far away. Li Wen coughed twice, took two steps back with the others, and said to the people around him, "You have to make sure that everyone in every room is there." Only when everything is gone can the house be demolished. Don't let anyone inside..."

If there are still people inside, they will definitely be crushed to death when the house falls down.

"Don't worry, Mr. Li, we sent people to look at this before demolishing the house," said the person in charge of the Ministry of Works.

Li Wen saw that these craftsmen did not wear safety helmets on their heads and did not have any safety measures on their bodies. He always felt that this was not very safe. But there is no such thing as a safety helmet in this era, right? He was a little skeptical. Regarding some safety issues, he repeatedly emphasized to the people in charge here that the personal safety of the craftsmen must be the first prerequisite for everything.

"Yes, yes, we all know this."

Naturally, they certainly don't want to have any accidents. Once someone is killed, someone will make trouble. If they don't do it well, they themselves will be in trouble.

The original simple vegetable market here has been completely demolished, and some of the yards in front are being demolished.

Seeing a large group of people moving things like a swarm of ants under the sun, Li Wen lamented in his heart that the technology and tools of this era are really too backward, and everything can only rely on human power. If this were to happen in future generations, if a few excavators and forklifts were brought over to transport such a house, and large trucks would be used to transport it, the whole place could be demolished in one day, and all the garbage would be transported away.

Of course, this efficiency is incomparable.

Li Wen was now worried about whether the prototype of the trade market could be built for him before August 15th. "See if you can recruit more people to work here. At most, we can clear this area as soon as possible. On the side of the house Remove one side of the cover and arrange for manpower to do the rest..."

"Okay, let's take a look at this and try to recruit as many men as possible," the steward in charge replied without hesitation. "I know there is a kind of wheelbarrow that can be used by one person." Li Wen saw that people were pulling things there, so he drew a wheelbarrow on the ground that one person could push. It is the best way to carry things. It couldn't be better, "See if you can find someone to make it and distribute it to the people below."

"Okay, this is fine." Director Zhang saw the advantages of this kind of unicycle at a glance. This kind of unicycle is small and flexible. One person can push it and use it, which is very convenient.

After the two people discussed, Li Wen said that they were willing to pay the money to hire someone to build this kind of unicycle.

Naturally, the people from the Ministry of Industry were not unhappy, and the two parties quickly reached an agreement. The most indispensable thing for the Ministry of Works is this kind of capable and skilled craftsmen. They have craftsmen who are responsible for this kind of woodworking. When the time comes, the craftsmen below them can also be responsible for building it."

Soon it was noon, and the workers stopped. Everyone can go to rest and receive lunch. Lunch is provided for free by them, including steamed buns or pancakes, as well as hot soup for free. The food may not be very good, but it can fill you up.

There are large cages placed on several tables arranged in a row under the shadow of the tree. Inside are multi-grain steamed buns as big as an adult's fist. Each person can receive two. There is no limit on the soup next to it. You can take it yourself.

During the lunch break, workers came here to line up to receive food.

"Sir."

They just happened to meet each other. Li Wen asked his men to line up to get a few slow cookers and a few bowls of soup. A table and a few benches were temporarily set up under the shade of the tree. He and Several stewards here sat down around a table and said with a smile, "Let's try the food here today."

"Yes.

" "These sour buns are solid and you will be full after eating one." . "

The taste of the wild food provided for free is naturally not very good. The steamed buns are made from a mixture of coarse grains. They are full and have a rough texture. These officials in the Ministry of Industry used to eat fine grain meat, so they eat better than these. The food is so good, why would they eat such rough food?

But since Mr. Li has eaten it, they can't say they won't eat it, right?

"It's better that we, Mr. Li, are kind-hearted and provide meals for everyone. "Everyone here is a smart person. You know that this meal was provided by Mr. Li. Anyway, it is Mr. Li's money. Naturally, they will not stop you.

Thousands of wears are worn, but flattery cannot be worn . , someone patted Mr. Li's horse.

This man is now a popular figure in front of the emperor. He was promoted to the fifth rank at a young age, and now he is in charge of a department. Looking at the entire court, there is no one like him. They are such a small person. It is difficult for them to even sit at the same table with Master Li. Now that they have a rare opportunity, they will definitely have to flatter Master Li

after hearing these compliments . Li Wen just smiled and said, "As long as everyone works hard, thank you for the hard work of the masters here. "The men he does here are all hard-working men. It is inevitable that some people would rather go hungry and skip lunch in order to save money for lunch. Working on an hungry stomach can cause hypoglycemia, which can lead to dizziness and dizziness. In severe cases, You will faint, so it is easy to kill someone if you are not careful.

They spent a lot of money, and there was no need for them to spend the small money. This was the reason for providing free lunch to the workers, and at the same time, it was also used to attract redundant labor from nearby to come and work.

The men who had received the food found a cool place under the tree to sit down, and started to eat a mouthful of steamed buns and a mouthful of soup. Each of them received two slow heads. This big steamed bun was very filling. After eating one steamed bun, Drinking a big bowl of soup will make your stomach half full, and the extra bit can be taken home to eat at night.

The workers all recognized the foremen and stewards, but they didn't know who the young man sitting in the middle was. Seeing how the foremen and stewards were fawning over the young man, could this man be some kind of big shot?

"Eat quickly, you can go to work when you are full."

Li Daniu has no other skills but strength. Now that he works here, he has a free steamed bun leader. He can eat two big steamed buns in one meal and drink After eating two large bowls of soup, I was barely seventy percent full. These people are illiterate and cannot read a word. There is nothing else they can do in the capital except doing odd jobs and physical labor. However, this job is not easy to find.

Knowing that the government wanted to build a house here and recruit people, he could do a day's work here and pay for a day's work, and he was not afraid of the government people defaulting on their debts, so he brought a few brothers to work here.

Several people sat on the ground and ate the food they received, feeling very satisfied.

Most of the clothes on the men who came to work were patched. The weather was hot, and some of them took off their upper body clothes and were shirtless.

He had to go back to the government office in the afternoon. As he was leaving, Li Wen exchanged a few words with Shen Zijing, "There are a lot of people here, and people are demolishing houses everywhere. You should also be careful here."

"I will. , You don't have to worry about me." In the past, he only knew how to immerse himself in reading and didn't know anything about other things besides studying. It wasn't until he came to the capital that he came into contact with many different things, which were beneficial to him in writing articles and making policies.

Shen Zijing somewhat understood why Zhishu Lu wanted to be transferred to a certain place to be the county magistrate, but

it was not as if they had learned something while working with Li Wen in Beijing. They were now half-footed into the officialdom. Li Wen had previously asked them whether they wanted to register with the Ministry of Civil Affairs or continue to participate in the scientific examination the following year. Besides,

they had been preparing for this for so many years. So, so After thinking about it, he still thought of giving it a try when the time came, otherwise it would inevitably be a regret in his heart.

The two chatted for a few words, and then Li Wen got on the carriage and went back to the government office, while Shen Zijing continued to work here.

Chapter 196 Second

Update As the news spread, more and more businessmen outside the capital learned that the government was going to hold a business conference and investment conference. Mr. Li Liuyuan was still responsible for this matter. Nowadays, in the entire Dacheng Kingdom, anyone who is not a closed-door person has heard of Li Liuyuan's name. The fact that Li Liuyuan brought down so many corrupt officials has made the ordinary people below talk about it a lot.

Also, starting from last month, caravans no longer need to pay customs fees to transport goods into the capital. Many miscellaneous taxes have also been exempted from the capital. Officials below are not allowed to charge arbitrary fees. This has really reduced the burden on their merchants. . It is a pity that this new tax law is currently only implemented in the capital and has not been implemented in other provinces and places. I don't know when it will be implemented in other places.

Businessmen from other places were hoping that the imperial court would reduce or exempt them from more taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

If the court had more good officials like Mr. Li, they wouldn't have to face the exploitation of corrupt officials all day long.

This business conference was the first time that the government organized a meeting for their businessmen and invited their businessmen to the capital to discuss business development plans. The subsequent investment conference also gave many preferential policies to these businessmen. Therefore, after knowing the news, businessmen from all over the country wrote letters to persuade their acquaintances in Beijing to buy tickets and reserve quotas, or sent domestic slaves to the capital in advance. handle this matter.

It's just that it's hard to buy a ticket in the capital now. A large number of people queue up to buy tickets at several ticket sales points every day. It's not easy to buy a ticket. 9

After receiving the news, merchants outside the capital , are all preparing to go to Beijing.

Seeing so many people queuing up to send money to the newly established Ministry of Industry and Commerce inevitably made the other officials in the capital jealous.

At first, these officials were just watching the excitement, but now they are eager to get involved. However, this matter is the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. It is not that easy for officials from other departments to get involved.

However, some veterans who pride themselves on being noble and have stubborn ideas think that the officials are so angry that they are holding their chests: You, an official of the central government, dare to participate in business affairs so blatantly. This is simply ruining the atmosphere of the court and ruining the reputation of their officials...

Li Wen: It sounded like the atmosphere in the court was very good and the officials had a good reputation. He almost believed it! Since last month, the

capital

city has waived the cent tax for entering the city. For some individual vendors, they only charge a fixed stall fee. Those who bring mules, cattle and horses into the city are charged an additional cleaning and management fee, but there are no livestock brought into the city. There is no need to give this money. All other incidental fees are waived.

Therefore, in a short period of time, the number of small vendors selling things in the capital increased a lot.

Most of these people are people living in villages near the capital making small crafts, or bringing excess agricultural products from home to the city to sell.

Seeing last month's account books and statements, the statements were statistics that Li Wen asked the people below to make according to his requirements. The numbers were clear at a glance, "Well, not bad. According to this trend, the numbers of these small vendors will only increase a lot. "Reducing the street vendor tax will only increase, not reduce." Don't underestimate these small vendors who only give a few dollars each. As long as there are more people, it will be a huge sum.

For example, in later generations, China has a population of more than one billion. If each person spends one dollar, it will be more than one billion. Will this still be less?

In the past, it was the official bullies in the city who forced these small traders not to do business in the city, but now there are clear regulations that do not allow officials to collect money privately. Every time the officials patrolling the city give out a brand to the small vendors in the city, they can get a profit from it. The more brands they hand out, the more money they can get. As long as they are more diligent, they can make a lot of money in one day. Dozens of brands have been issued.

According to this calculation, the dividends they can get in one month are more than their original monthly money!

In the past, when these officials collected extra money, no one cared about it. This has long been an unwritten rule. Secondly, their original monthly money was less. If the family lived here in the capital, this little monthly payment would not be enough. The money is not enough for family expenses. So when the monthly money is not enough to support their family, they can only find ways to earn some other money privately.

But it's different now. As long as they work hard, on top of their previous monthly money, plus the extra profits they can get, this money will be far more than their monthly money.

If there is an open and honest path, how many people would be willing to take the evil path?

Now when they go to distribute the signs, there are small vendors who offer to pay for the signs. The attitude towards these officials has completely changed. It's not like they wanted to push their things and hide when they saw them before. , and would take the initiative to say hello to the officials, which made the feeling completely different.

As for some bullies and scoundrels in the city, the officials in the city suppressed them, and these people

no longer dare to come out to collect the so-called protection fees.

After such rectification, there are now no more groups of people coming to collect protection fees every day, which gives small traders a way to survive. The government only gives a few fixed stall fees, and once you get the sign, you can set up a stall in the city to sell things for a day. Naturally, these small vendors are very cooperative, and basically no one dares to evade taxes. Because once tax evasion is caught, not only the goods sold will be confiscated, but also fines will be imposed.

This is also the reason why more and more small businesses are selling things in the city, but no one is evading taxes.

"My lord, the method you came up with is still effective." Du Ruoheng patted their lord's horse and was really convinced. The longer he followed their lord, the more he admired their lord's brain. He had worked in the Ministry of Household Affairs before, so he naturally knew about the taxes collected by the Ministry of Household Affairs every year. These local miscellaneous taxes came from the top to the Ministry of Household Affairs. "Where did this money go to the Ministry of Household Affairs before? The local officials have all been sorted out, and there are not many left to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"That's because we are here in the capital, and I don't know if it will have this effect if it is implemented at the local level. "Li Wen had already expected this possibility. He expected that the number of vendors in the city was increasing every day, but seeing the amount of vendor tax collected last month still made him feel sad. was surprised.

The bulk of it was the business tax from the merchants, which was more than he expected.

As for the local situation, it is much more complicated than here in the capital. The water in the local area is not shallower than that in the capital. If we want to implement it on the ground, this will involve the direct interests of local officials. I am afraid that many officials below will It's all about obedience and disobedience, and the policy may not be so easy to implement.

Here in the capital, he had a "killing name" and helped the emperor kill two gangs of corrupt officials. With the emperor's favor and support, and secretly the support of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Zhao Xiangyi, ordinary people would try to touch him. Not that easy. What's more, he doesn't have anything to arrest people here, but it's different for other officials. If they have a lot of handles, if they want to die, just hit him at the muzzle of his gun. He will definitely not be merciful!

But this time, it was mainly with the help of General Wang. As long as the officials in the city cooperated, the implementation of this policy would be half successful. As for the imperial court, he has the golden thigh of the emperor, and no one wants to cause trouble yet.

"Let's go, take the people, put the boxes on the bars, and let's go to the household department." Li Wen patted the stunned Chief Du with the account book in his hand, and asked Du Ruoheng to call someone to move things. Different from the money from selling tickets, these collected taxes and fees, together with the accounts, must be transferred to the Ministry of Accounts, and these must be paid into the national treasury.

"Oh, little one, let's go right now." Du Ruoheng went to call someone to move things.

Carrying the box to the Ministry of Finance like this was too eye-catching, so Li Wen had people load the box onto a carriage and transport it to the Ministry of Finance.

A group of them came to the Ministry of Household Affairs, where His Royal Highness happened to be. Li Wen handed over the accounts and silver to His Highness the Prince. Yang Shaomu was stunned for a moment when he saw the account book. He didn't expect there to be so many.

"Your Highness, here are last month's accounts. We will hand them over to the Ministry of Accounts here. If you have no problem with them after reading them, Your Highness, please sign and seal them here." Li Wen put the list in His Highness's office. In front of you, it means that after you take the money, please stamp a seal to represent the handover of the money.

Yang Shaomu believed in Li Wen, and did not ask anyone to come to check on the spot. He waved his hand and asked people to move him down. "It's hard to see you, why don't you stay and drink tea with me?" The prince asked someone to serve tea. It was hard for Li Wen to refuse, and he happened to have something to say to His Highness the Crown Prince, so he sat down on a chair nearby.

"You've been very busy lately. I can't even see anyone even if I want to see you." His Royal Highness the Crown Prince smiled.

"Where is it? Your Highness, if you want to see the official, send someone to inform him. The official is here to see you." Li Wen stretched out his hand and touched his nose. Recently, he has been running outside a lot. His Highness, the Crown Prince, must not be found. There's really nothing strange about him.

However, he comes and goes in just a few places, and His Highness the Prince will not be unable to find him if he really wants to find him.

The two people talked for a few off-topic words and then got down to business.

Yang Shaomu did not expect that the commercial tax collected this month would be so high. Li Wen said, "This is just the beginning, and there will definitely be more in the future. And this is only limited to the capital, and other places have not yet Implementation. At present, I do not recommend that it be implemented in local areas so quickly. It must be implemented in the capital for at least half a year before it can be implemented in local areas. Moreover, there is a problem, we do not have enough manpower..."

The manpower he mentioned refers to For the manpower within their Ministry of Industry and Commerce, their Ministry of Commerce is responsible for commercial taxes. Naturally, a separate department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will be set up locally, and relevant manpower will be needed to take charge and handle it.

In addition, local governments currently do not have the conditions to implement the new tax law, and there are also some problems with officials, etc.

"It seems that it is not easy to implement it locally." Yang Shaomu looked thoughtful, knowing that this matter was not urgent yet. The results achieved in the capital have already surprised him.

After staying in Hubu for a while, Li Wen said goodbye to His Royal Highness and took his people back first.

Chapter 197 Based on

that day, a booklet was presented to the emperor's desk. After reading it, the emperor said three words "good" in a row, which shows the emperor's joy, "This is Li Liuyuan's contribution, Li Liuyuan should be "Reward." The treasury has been in deficit for so many years, and the Ministry of Revenue has no money. When the court wants to do things, the Ministry of Revenue cannot come up with money. At this time, all the ministers are silent. Sitting in this high position, the emperor has only one problem. The emperor himself knows.

The founding of Dacheng was less than a hundred years ago, and the foundation was not deep at all. Emperor Zhaozong took over the throne from the late emperor. At that time, Dacheng was not as good as it is now. The emperor spent decades working hard and diligently serving the people. I managed to achieve today's great success.

But this is not enough. The barbarians in the northwest have not been wiped out, the officials in the court are corrupt, the emperor's body is getting older, and the prince underneath is ready to make a move. This matter of makeup is hanging on the emperor's heart.

Now that he has a minister who can share his worries as the emperor, so much silver has been added to the national treasury in just one month. With money in the treasury, money was invested in the arsenal at the foot of the Western Mountain. In the future, he would not have to worry about money for anything he wanted to do. How could this not make Emperor Zhaozong happy?

"I don't dare to do things for the court and be loyal to the emperor. This is what I should do. I don't dare to take credit." Li Wen knelt in front of the emperor and said.

When he first proposed the commercial reform, many ministers in the court opposed it, and some even pointed at his nose and cursed, accusing him of being involved in the business affairs of the low-end merchants, ruining the reputation of officials in the court, and even asking the emperor to remove him from his official position. In just one month, Li Wen slapped these officials in the face with this bill and blocked the mouths of these ministers. No one dared to question him anymore.

This time, the officials in the court unexpectedly unanimously acquiesced to the emperor's decree to promote Li Liuyuan from the fifth rank to the fourth rank, and no one raised any objection.

If you have the ability, you can get so much silver for the emperor in just one month. Otherwise, don't beep.

At this time, Li Wen was in the limelight, and few people who could serve as officials in the court were fools. He would be too conspicuous if he jumped out at this time. These officials in the court could all see that the emperor was favoring Li Wen. There was no need for them to jump out and provoke the emperor at this time. If the emperor was displeased, it would be of little benefit to their official career.

The officials in the court watched Li Wen rise from the seventh rank to the fourth rank, and he rose all the way up. When others become officials, I also become an official. Others are promoted several times a year, but I have been squatting in this position for three to five years without moving. It makes me cry if I talk about it too much.

Seeing Li Wen's promotions one after another, the officials in the court had gone from jealousy at the beginning to numbness and staring.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Wen accepted the order respectfully, showing no sign of arrogance or complacency. .

This time the emperor only promoted him to an official position and rewarded him with a lot of jewelry. There was not much change in his position. He still continued to be in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. For him, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is his root in the government. How far he can go in the officialdom in the future depends on how far this department can go.

But it doesn't matter if the emperor gives him a promotion. As the Minister of Industry and Commerce, his official title is higher, and he can bluff people better when he is promoted.

Compared with several big bosses in the Sixth Department, all of them are high-ranking officials. He is no different from others, so in comparison, their Industrial and Commercial Department seems a bit inferior. So from a certain perspective, the official title of the highest officer in his department actually represents the strength and existence of the entire department.

This time, their Ministry of Industry and Commerce produced good results. He had an explanation from the emperor and gained confidence in the court. Their Ministry of Industry and Commerce has used its strength to prove that their department is not just playing house, but a real department that can serve the imperial court.

"I really didn't expect that this kid Li Wen is really capable..."

"Who would have thought!"

The officials in the court began to take a serious look at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce that that kid Li Wen had created. Now, The tickets that everyone in the capital rushed to buy were one hundred taels each! One thousand pieces, how much money is that?

That guy got so much money by himself without asking the Ministry of Household Affairs for a copper plate, and even the money went into the state treasury.

This inevitably made the officials in the court look at Li Wen again.

"I would like to see if Li Wen, this kid, is really that powerful!"

Hearing the officials in the court talking about Li Wen, Dong Xiang snorted. He was waiting to see how high this kid could climb. The fall was so ugly. The confidants who followed Prime Minister Dong all knew that their Prime Minister did not like Li Liuyuan, and they all agreed, "He is just a boy with no hair on his head. He does not know the heights of the sky all day long..."

Naturally, these officials did not like him either. A boy no bigger than their grandson climbed on top of them, all of them looking like they were waiting for a good show.

Seeing this, Dong Xian felt a little more comfortable. The news in

Shui Chao Hall quickly spread to all departments. When their elders returned to the government office, a group of people surrounded their elders, and everyone came to say congratulations, "Congratulations, sir. We have heard about what happened in court today." "Yes, sir, congratulations, sir ." "The success we have achieved today is not due to me alone, but to everyone within us. Without you, there would be no such thing as our department." Li Wen didn't think this was the case . It is his alone's credit, and it includes the sweat and dedication of everyone in their department, to produce this report card. Li Wen knew that not everyone was optimistic about their department at the beginning, and not everyone who came in from below wanted to work with him. However, now that they have used facts to prove the significance and value of their department's existence, it should also be able to eliminate some people's uneasiness and doubts. They are a team. If this team is compared to a ship, then everyone on the ship must work together so that the ship can sail far. If there is even one disunited person here, it may cause their ship to have an accident halfway. Li Wen hopes that everyone here can be twisted into a rope, so that their department can go further in the future. "We should not be proud of the emperor's commendation. We should do things as we should on weekdays. We should be careful and careful not to make any mistakes." Although their department is not the Ministry of Accounts, its nature is almost the same as that of the Ministry of Accounts. These are all monetary accounts, which requires everyone to be careful and avoid making any mistakes. However, the only advantage they have compared to the Household Department is that the things they are responsible for are relatively simple, and the personnel inside are not that complicated. This facilitates his management and the department's behavior is correct. This is why he requested The reason why the Ministry of Industry and Commerce is independent from the six ministries. Rather than spending time on internal struggles, it is better to seize the time to establish a department, which is a more urgent matter at the moment. They don't have many people here, but everyone works together, which is the most important thing. Seeing that everyone was happy, Li Wen also had a smile on his face and said, "We will have a business conference and an investment conference later. We have to handle these two important events. The emperor will definitely reward us all. We will organize the two sessions. Okay, do you have any confidence? '' "Yes!" "Everyone shouted in unison. But, the business conference and investment promotion conference are still to come. They have to do these two important things well. Will the emperor not reward them enough?

Some people here feel that there is no future for being transferred to this newly established department and working with Li Liuyuan. Now they are gradually gaining confidence. As long as they stand firm in the court, are the people who follow them still worried about having no future? ? Maybe in the future, their department will be able to work side by side with the Sixth Department.

Seeing everyone's happy and excited faces, Li Wen didn't feel the slightest bit relieved. He knew that now was just the beginning, and the road ahead would be longer. How should this department develop in order to give full play to their abilities? The biggest role of the department. And the higher the emperor's expectations for them, the greater the pressure on them. Once they make a mistake in the future, these problems can easily be amplified by interested people, and the officials in the court are watching them...

However, Why do you want to go so far!

The most important thing for them now is to take every step steadily and take care of every detail. Li Wen announced with a smile, "I'm going to treat guests to dinner tonight. After I get off the post office, we can all go have a meal together." I hope everyone can enjoy

it."

〇

"Your Majesty invites you to dinner, of course we will go, right?"

"Of course."

I couldn't hold back my joy when I saw everyone making noises.

"Okay, if you have anything to do, go and do your work. If you don't have anything to do, tell me..." As soon as Li Wen said this, the people surrounding him dispersed and everyone ran to do their work.

"Oh, my account just now was only half correct..."

"That's right, how busy was I just now?"

What a joke, they can't even finish what they are doing, how can they have no work to do! Everyone ran away quickly.

Seeing that everyone around him had fled, Li Wen smiled and shook his head. He returned to his office room and sat down to handle official business. "Ruoheng, you will go and inform us soon. After you leave the office, we will Let's go have a meal together.

"Okay, sir, I'll go and inform everyone. "Du Ruoheng went to inform everyone happily.

Not everyone in their department is sitting in the government office, there are also people outside, so the department

must be notified of the dinner party. This is the first dinner party for their department. , everyone has been busy before, so there has never been a chance. Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Li Wen proposed to invite the entire department to have a meal.

There were many unprocessed official matters piled up on the table, and Li Wen started to take action. It is not an easy task to be in charge of a department .

All the matters, big and small, are handed over to him and he needs to make a decision and handle the accounts. He needs to review them and approve them. Only then will it be announced and implemented. If something goes wrong, he will be the first person in charge. Therefore, as a Shangguan, he is not allowed to be careless.

Recently, Shen Zijing was transferred to the Western District as the director. The West District is the first step in his plan, so he needs to arrange for someone he trusts to go there. Su Yuan is responsible for the internal affairs of the government office, and he is also holding many positions.

There are still many available people . Missing, Li Wen thought.

The people under his command still need him to teach them many things, and they need him to take care of them personally. In fact, in the final analysis, it is because this era only values ​​liberal arts and science talents are scarce. The economic department should send a group of people studying liberal arts to do it!

But there is no way now. It does not have the ability to train a large number of science talents.

However, if the conditions are there, it should still open universities like modern times. Establish various disciplines, classify them, and train various talents according to various majors, so that people can be assigned to do things according to various majors and disciplines. But now, we can only just grab a few and use them. He had to rely on himself to cultivate a group of people.

He was busy all the way to the Yamen. All the people outside returned to the Yamen, and a group of people went to the reserved restaurant for dinner.

Chapter 198: Arsenal

The armory at the foot of the west mountain has been completed. A large number of craftsmen have been raised under the government. These craftsmen are under the jurisdiction of the government. A group of craftsmen have been transferred here, and the armory has been officially put into use. The plan to build the arsenal was proposed by Li Wen, but because he had other tasks, the emperor gave Zhao Xiangyi the responsibility for the arsenal.

One thing Li Wen was sure of was that the emperor probably didn't know about his relationship with Zhao Xiangyi. Of course, if the prince knew about it, he would definitely not tell it to anyone else, let alone the emperor.

Because Zhao Xiangyi was responsible for building the arsenal, even if he was not responsible for it, he still learned about the progress of the arsenal from Zhao Xiangyi.

The main function of the arsenal is to develop and manufacture weapons. The weapons here refer not only to swords, but also to anything that can be used on the battlefield. In this era, weapons represent a country's military strength. The side with more advanced weapons on a battlefield is more likely to lose.

Take the competition between Zhao Xiangyi and the Hu warriors as an example. Zhao Xiangyi was one of the top masters in the imperial court,

but in the match between him and the Tarim warriors, the sword in his hand was directly cut into two pieces by the opponent's broadsword. If Zhao Xiangyi had not carried a second weapon on his body at that time, he must have been injured by the knife in the hand of the Hu warrior.

This proves from one aspect that the barbarian's steel-making skills are better than their Dacheng, and the swords they use are stronger and sharper than their Dacheng's.

The Hu people grew up on horses and advocated force. Originally, the riding skills and archery of the Hu people were better than their Dacheng counterparts, not to mention that the weapons used by others are now better than their Dacheng ones? Once they become Dacheng on the battlefield, The soldiers and horses faced the Hu soldiers. If they wanted to win, they would probably have to pay a heavy price for it. But if they can improve their weapons, the results may be greatly different.

Dacheng's weapons have always been purchased from outside by the Ministry of War. I don't know how many layers of oil and water have been drained in the process. In the end, the weapons that can be purchased with the little money left are the worst. The manufacturing of weapons should have been in the hands of the imperial court itself, but due to the selfish desires of some officials, it was manufactured by outside businessmen so that they could make money from it.

The quality of weapons can directly affect the success or failure of a competition or even a battlefield. If they want to strengthen their country, weapons are a key. They must take back the initiative to make weapons and put them in their own hands. This is also The reason why the emperor listened to his advice and wanted to build this arsenal.

A carriage drove towards the foot of the Western Mountain, followed by soldiers on horseback.

Li Wen was sitting in the carriage, and sitting next to him was General Zhao Xiangyi. He knew that the arsenal had been built, but this was his first time here.

As the person who proposed this plan, the emperor would naturally not allow him to come here and have a look.

He himself also wanted to come here to see how the situation was. From Zhao Xiangyi, he only knew about the progress. It would be difficult for this man to describe it in detail in words. It would be better to come over and see for himself to understand the situation clearly. .

The carriage stopped, and the two people got off the carriage. The guard outside the door recognized the person who was their general, "Young general, see you."

"Open the door." Zhao Xiangyi waved his hand, indicating to the guard to open the door.

"Yes." The guard stood up and opened the door.

There are two layers of guards here, inside and outside, and soldiers from the imperial court are stationed here at the foot of the Western Mountain. Ordinary people generally will not go near this place.

The stone door opened, and there was another scene inside.

"Eunuororun——"

There were bursts of blacksmithing sounds inside, and shirtless blacksmiths were swinging hammers to forge iron blocks in their hands. Their arrival did not affect these craftsmen, who were still busy with what they were doing.

To make a good weapon, in addition to forging a hammer, the impurities in the fine iron must be eliminated through repeated tempering. Another factor is the temperature of fire. Only at high temperatures can sharp weapons be forged. This is thanks to the fact that they found coal. The temperature burned by coal is higher than that burned by ordinary firewood, which is necessary for forging sharp swords. one of the conditions.

Another one is the use of blowers. There was no electricity at this time, so the blowers could only be pulled by manpower. This was the inconvenience of this era without electricity.

Li Wen just put forward ideas. The realization of these weapons still depends on these craftsmen. But what does power generation rely on? The most important power generation in later generations was thermal power, as well as wind energy and hydropower. Later, nuclear power generation received more and more attention. However, if an accident occurs in nuclear power generation, the danger is also very high.

But now, let alone nuclear power generation, he didn't even understand what thermal power generation was about.

The little physics knowledge he learned in the previous life had long been returned to the teacher. Now his mind was completely blank on the subject of electricity. It was not easy to make a generator to generate electricity.

Zhao Xiangyi took out the drawings of crossbows and asked the craftsmen here to make a batch of crossbows. The cost of making crossbows is higher than ordinary bows and arrows, but these things basically do not require selection, and recruits can start using them directly. Another advantage of the crossbow is that it can be loaded quickly and there is almost no pause time. If this thing can be used in military camps, it will be of great benefit to combat.

There was a row of crossbows on the table, and Li Wen reached over and picked up one.

"Is this the crossbow that was made?" The drawing of the crossbow came from his own hand, so Li Wen was naturally familiar with this thing. With a pull on his hand, he picked up a short arrow and put it in. He aimed it at the unoccupied wall and shot it.

With a sudden sound, the arrow pierced into the wall.

"Sure enough, the crossbow made by a professional master is different." It is much easier to use than the small crossbow he asked the blacksmith to make before.

"Is this a triple crossbow?"

''Hmm."

Li Wen thought of the sniper rifles of later generations. If a scope could be installed on it, this thing could be used as a sniper gun. But this has to do with the glass. There is a production problem. It is not that there were no mirrors in this era, but they were generally bronze mirrors, which were relatively blurry. Glass mirrors had not yet been produced. Glass mirrors seemed to have been introduced to the Central Plains from the West in later generations, so they may not be available now. This thing.

What is the glass mirror made of?

Li Wen's mind was spinning when he thought about the creation and production of one thing. He remembered that making a mirror was not difficult. The most important material is silver nitrate. Silver nitrate is a colorless crystal. This kind of thing was widely used in later generations. However, in this era where we don't even know what chemical industry is, it is completely uninhabited. The blank areas involved.

After going around here, Li Wen exchanged a few words with the master in charge. In fact, he provided several methods for these craftsmen to consider to see which method was better. To create stronger and sharper swords,

most of the skills of these craftsmen have been passed down from generation to generation, but their minds are too rigid and they are lacking in innovation. What they need is a group of professional experts. Technical talents, but they currently don't have any talents in this area. Even this arsenal has just been established, let alone any professional talents.

These craftsmen are not useless. In fact, the main reason is that most craftsmen are raised by the government. They have been inherited from generation to generation and are squeezed by the government. If things go on like this, these craftsmen will lose their enthusiasm and become numb day after day. work without any innovation or technical improvement.

If you want to mobilize the enthusiasm of these craftsmen, you must put forward a reward system, so Li Wen said, "I would suggest that if any master in the future can come up with suggestions for improvements in weapons, or create better weapons, We should reward good weapons as appropriate." He briefly explained the reward system to Zhao Xiangyi,

"Yes, I think it works." Zhao Xiangyi agreed, turned around and gave instructions to the steward who followed him. Just follow what Mr. Li said just now.

"Yes, General." The steward knew that the person following their general was the famous Li Liuyuan and Lord Li in the court, so his attitude towards this Lord Li was extremely respectful.

On this hot day, the temperature inside was very high. They went in and walked around for a while before coming out. They didn't stay for too long and he was already covered in sweat, not to mention the craftsmen inside who had been staying inside all the time. How hard it is.

"I thought of something. If this thing can be produced, it will be a huge profit." Not only a huge profit, if this mirror can be produced, it will be a violent industry. Li Wen thought that in later generations in the West, such a small piece of mirror could be exchanged for a piece of gold from the Central Plains. The price of mirrors in this era is comparable to that of gold!

Um? Zhao Xiangyi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Well, he was a little too happy now. Li Wen asked Zhao Xiangyi about the mirror and the benefits of the sight, which involved the focal length and imaging issues of concave and convex mirrors, etc. After he finished speaking, he found that the man's expression was even more confused.

"..." Li asked.

"What I mean is to install a mirror on this crossbow. We can ambush at a high point and aim at

the enemy in the distance and give the enemy a fatal blow. Do you understand?"

"I don't need this thing, as long as I have it in my hand. If I shoot an arrow, I can shoot at the enemy far away." General Zhao is so confident.

Li asked, "..."

You are amazing!

Chapter 199: The camp

came out of the armory and they were ready to leave.

After walking around here, Li Wen roughly knew some of the problems. Only by implementing the reward system could they mobilize people's enthusiasm. There is also a need to be busy looking for talents in this area. It is best to cultivate a group of technical talents who are professional in weapons production, so that they can have the support of a steady stream of scientific and technological talents

. The former is easy to handle, but the latter In other words, talents in this field are very rare even in later generations,

let alone in this era where weapons and technology are still very backward.

"Well, I will instruct the people below to take care of it." Zhao Xiangyi understood the importance of this matter.

As a general who leads the army, Zhao Xiangyi naturally supports the construction of this arsenal. He knows the importance of weapons. The northwest army uses old swords and guns. In recent years, not to mention the food and wages owed by the northwest army to the northwest army, it is military supplies. There are no supplies at all. Over the years, the Hu people in the northwest have been restless. People from both sides often take action, and they have to find ways to solve the weapons needed in the army.

The officials in the imperial court were all corrupt. It was good to have 30% of the silver coins approved by the imperial court to purchase military supplies. However, 70% of them were taken away by officials at different levels. Does the emperor really not know these things? If these things are to be investigated, most of the officials in the DPRK will be investigated and dealt with, which will inevitably shake the foundation and foundation of the entire Dacheng.

Now the emperor has ordered him to build this arsenal. If the imperial court can build better weapons on its own, it will not only stop some officials from extracting financial benefits from purchasing military supplies, but the most important thing is to create a batch of truly useful weapons. Weapons are provided to the soldiers in the army.

It's rare for them to leave the city and come here today. The main camp is not far from here.

While helping Li Wen get on the carriage, Zhao Xiangyi suddenly asked, "This is not far from the camp. Do you want to go to the camp to have a look?" The soldiers stationed at the Xishan Camp are the guards who protect the safety of the imperial city. Here He is currently in charge.

"Can I go?" Li asked, his eyes lit up.

He really wanted to visit the camp. After all, it was where his man worked. He had never been there yet. But is it really okay for him to go to the military camp as a civilian official?

"Why not?" Zhao Xiangyi asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Haha, of course we have to go! Let's go." Li Wen took Zhao Xiangyi's hand and got on the carriage. Zhao Xiangyi followed and ordered the driver in front to go to the camp. The vegetation on both sides of the road was lush and green, and a carriage was walking ahead, heading towards the gate of the military camp.

When the guards at the gate of the military camp saw that it was their general arriving, they did not stop him and gave him a pass.

_--''

The soldiers were practicing on the playground. Li Wen got off the carriage and saw the soldiers practicing not far away. This was his first time in the army and he heard the roar of drills. , people can't help but feel a burst of pride in their hearts. He was invited into the big tent. It turned out that this big tent was where the military general lived. There were only a few tables and chairs and no other furnishings.

"Have a cup of tea." Zhao Xiangyi asked someone to serve tea. The army only had coarse tea, and there was no good tea.

Li Wen picked up the tea and took a sip. It was not a little bit worse than the tea His Highness the Prince invited him to drink, but he didn't mean to dislike it. The rough tea was unique in the rough tea... He saw that Zhao Xiangyi was bored when he drank the tea. It's a waste of good tea to these rough people.

I'm afraid this person likes drinking more than tea. I just made a batch of good wine some time ago. I can take it out for everyone to drink when I find a time.

"General, I heard that Mr. Li is here."

The voice came before the person arrived.

When Xie Yunfei heard that their boss was coming with Li Liuyuan, he ran over in a hurry.

As soon as he opened the door curtain and came in, he saw Li Liuyuan sitting in the big tent. This was the first time Li Liuyuan came back to their camp. Xie Yunfei couldn't hide the surprise on his face and said, "Li Liuyuan has come to our camp. Daying is really shining."

"Haha, don't dare." Li Wen and Xie Yunfei were old acquaintances, and he knew it was a welcome to Daying. He explained, "We just went. I'll come and take a look at the armory."

"Boss, if you hadn't informed us earlier, I would have led people to line up at the door to welcome Li Liuyuan." Xie Yunfei was free next to Li Wen. He sat down and as soon as he saw Li Wen, he had a lot to say to Li Wen.

Zhang Mingyu and Shan Cong outside knew that Mr. Li was coming. All the soldiers who had gone hunting and drinking with Mr. Li ran over, and the small tent was suddenly filled with people. Zhao Xiangyi had a dark look on his face

and ordered the people to be kicked out.

This group of talents left unwillingly, and before leaving, each of them winked at Mr. Li.

Li Wen couldn't help laughing, these living treasures!

"Ignore these boys, let's talk about business." Xie Yunfei knew that Li Wen had just come from the arsenal. The arsenal was built in the camp. Their young general was in charge of it, so some things still happened. With his hand, Xie Yunfei naturally knew everything about the situation in the workshop.

And it was Li Wen who proposed the arsenal. There was no better person to discuss the matter with than the owner who originally proposed the plan.

As soon as this topic came up, the two talked about coal and blowers from the forging method of steel, and how to save time and manpower to build better steel knives. Xie Yunfei studied a variety of things, and he was slightly interested in the manufacture of weapons. I have learned some things about these before.

Li Wen was a military fan in his previous life and had some knowledge of ancient weapons.

The use of steel in later generations has been very extensive. Of course, the steel forging of this era relied on human power, which is completely incomparable with the production of steel in later generations, which relied on machines.

When talking about crossbows, Li Wen mentioned the sight, "If there is such a thing, as long as it is within the range of the crossbow, we can not only miss the target, but it can at least increase the hit rate by more than 70%!" It's even better to have a probability of 90%, or higher than 90%..."

"Is there really such a magical thing?" I didn't expect Xie Yunfei to be very interested in the sight,

because not everyone is like Zhao. The young general would be a sharpshooter, while Military Advisor Xie is a weakling who can't even hit an arrow. If there is such a blessed artifact, he, a flesh-footed military advisor, can become a sharpshooter!

So, thank you, weak-footed military advisor, how can you not be interested in this?

The two of them talked about the scope and the mirror in great interest. Li Wen mentioned the concave mirror and the convex mirror. In fact, it is very simple to use a mirror to polish it into a concave and convex surface. "It's just two mirrors with different mirror surfaces. One mirror." The middle is convex outward, and one side is concave inward. One side can shrink big things, and the other can enlarge small things... You can imagine, if we have such a mirror installed on the crossbow, we It is completely possible to aim at the enemy and hit the enemy with the arrow when the enemy is unprepared. "

"The mirror I am talking about is not the bronze mirror used by women and girls today, but a... transparent, The one with higher clarity is called a glass mirror."

Of course, the mirror he is talking about is not the bronze mirror used by women and ladies today, but the glass mirror of later generations. "Isn't it a bronze mirror?...Glass...mirror?" , can magnify enemies thousands of miles away, and capture people invisible to the naked eye into the lens. This... can really kill enemies thousands of miles away!

If the two armies are facing each other, they can completely find the enemy's commander at a high place, make people hide in the dark, and kill the commander invisibly! Once you kill the commander, you can lower the enemy's morale before the battle and increase our army's chance of victory...

Thinking of this, Military Master Xie's face turned red, simply because he was too excited, "Tell me quickly. "What is this glass mirror? Where have you seen it?"

"...How did you get it?"

Is it true? There must be some!

Have you ever seen it? You must have seen it before! Not only has he seen it, he has also used it! ...It's just that these are things that only come to later generations.

Li Wen did have a rough memory of the making of glass mirrors. It was true that there were too many glass products in later generations. Small family workshops could make glass mirrors. The production of mirrors was not difficult for later generations. But for this era where no conditions are met, it is a bit difficult to make a mirror. He only remembered a rough idea. He stumbled and said what little he remembered, "...I have been in the country for a long time." I read it in a book before, I don't remember where I went, but the making of a mirror probably requires these few things. "

And if they can make a mirror, it can be used in addition to making weapons. , and another advantage is that you can sell it for money! "As long as this thing can be manufactured, the production cost will not be too high... Women love beauty, and the ladies in Beijing will definitely like it very much. By then we can produce it in large quantities and sell it at a high price?, '

When the time comes, why worry about not having money to invest in the arsenal? As long as there are a few ways to make money, the operation of the arsenal will not need to be funded by the court in the future. You can run it yourself and maybe make a fortune!

"You think so?

"Yes, that's it! " "However, Xie Yunfei's mind is a bit different from ordinary people's, and he is very interested in these strange and skillful things. No, the two of them got out of control as soon as they started chatting, completely forgetting that there was a big living person sitting next to them.

General Zhao, who was left alone, "..."

Zhao Xiangyi began to regret bringing Li Wen to the military camp. What a bad place to go. He had to come to the military camp! This time, he met Xie Yunfei, a dog-headed military advisor. The two people were chatting enthusiastically, but they didn't even look at him. The most important thing was that he couldn't understand half of what they were talking about!

Chapter 200 Qiqiao Festival

July 7th is the Qiqiao Festival. According to folklore, it is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet on the Magpie Bridge. Every day on this day, countless loving men and women in the capital go up the mountain to worship at Yuelao Temple, burn incense, and pray for marriage. Therefore, on this day, the capital is very lively, and there are more merchants and hawkers in the city than before.

Since there are no official bullies collecting "protection fees" in the city, there are more and more vendors selling things in the city, and the vendors on the street are constantly shouting to sell things.

The carriages and sedans in the city were passing by the Yuelao Temple in a steady stream, and inside were the beautifully dressed ladies and ladies. Wearing the most fashionable new clothes with wide sleeves and wide hem in the capital, with sachets and jade pendants hanging on their waists, young men from wealthy families went to Yuelao Temple in groups to see the beautiful young ladies. In the past, these young ladies were hidden away. It was rare to see each other in the boudoir, and only on such days could they have a chance to take a peek.

"Can Yi'er come back to your house today?" I went to say hello to my mother-in-law this morning. The eldest son, Mrs. Huo, deliberately mentioned her son's marriage in front of her mother-in-law. Her words all hinted at her son's fate. The mother-in-law accused her as a mother of not caring about her son's marriage and not finding a good marriage for her son.

Why doesn't she want to find a marriage for her son? Speaking of this matter, Wang was filled with anger and grievance.

Over the years, my mother-in-law has always been partial to the eldest family. She said that the eldest husband, Huo, lost her husband at a young age and became a widow. She was pitiful and asked their second wife to give everything to the eldest family. Could it be that her man is not dead? She deserves to have Da Fang and let Huo trample her under his feet because of this, right?

Bah bah...her man will not die!

The old lady who was waiting next to her replied, "Reporting to Madam, the eldest young master went out this morning and has not come back to the house yet."

"This child has been away from home all day long. He is so busy that even a mother like me wants to see him. No one." Mrs. Wang sighed, her son's previous marriages had not come to fruition, and now every family in the capital refused in every possible way when they heard that it was their general's house who was proposing a marriage.

Now she has slightly lowered the requirements for finding a daughter-in-law. She does not require that the daughter-in-law must be a good match for the general's family. As long as she has a decent family background and is filial and sensible. In fact, it's not that no one wants to climb up to their general's mansion and marry their daughter into their family, but... they really don't have that kind of luck...

There are rumors that her son is destined to be a lonely star and a wife, so why don't you see her as your biological mother? Kill yourself? Nothing happened to those closest to them? These rumors are pure nonsense. Someone deliberately slandered their second wife! It's not that Mrs. Wang doesn't know where these rumors came from, it's just that she doesn't want to cause conflicts with her family members, so she can tolerate it as long as she can.

It's just that her son is busy with military affairs all day long, and he doesn't even care about his own life-long affairs. Mrs. Wang hates iron and can't make steel. "This child doesn't even look at what day it is, and he doesn't know how to go out for a walk. He might meet someone." Have you seen each other? "

Is the old woman waiting next to her the dowry of the Wang family? The one who followed her all the way from the Wang family is the old slave of the Wang family. Madam's years in the General's Mansion were not so satisfactory. I don't know what the old lady was thinking. Their wife gave birth to two sons for the General. If it were someone else's family, she would have been pampered by heaven long ago, and she would be pampered all day long. He only helped the first house to bully their second house. These things were seen by the maids and slaves who served Wang.

Knowing that their wife was concerned about the eldest young master's marriage, Wu Ma hesitated and said, "Madam, there is something that I don't know whether to talk about or not."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Wang asked.

Wu Ma glanced around and saw that everyone in the room was her own, so she leaned over and whispered in their wife's ear. Mrs. Wang looked thoughtful, thought for a moment, and asked, "No one in the other courtyards knows about this, right? I'll ask Yi'er when he comes back." After saying this, Mrs. Wang also discovered the secret of her eldest son. Something's wrong. It's not normal to be so busy that you can't leave home all day long. "You all should keep your mouths shut. If you shouldn't say anything, don't go out and mess around."

"Yes, Madam." The old lady responded.

The baby was conceived the year her husband returned to Beijing to report on his work, and they had sex together. So her belly was already very promising. She got pregnant with her eldest son not long after the wedding, and then they had sex with her husband. Come back, my stomach is full again. No wonder Mrs. Huo hates her so much. If you can't give birth to a son because of your own dissatisfaction, why should you blame someone else for giving birth to a son?

After all, Ms. Wang is not a vicious person. Thinking of Ms. Huo now being a widow guarding a yard, and Sister Hui marrying into someone else's family, it's not like her two sons are around, and her husband is still alive and well. What on earth is she doing? He is much happier than Huo Shi. The power of the head of the family is in the hands of the Huo family. The servants in the General's Mansion all know who is the real head of the family, so what if they give way to the Huo family? She didn't have to worry about the business of running the house. She still had more time to accompany her son

and asked about her son. Knowing that her son was studying with the invited gentleman, Mrs. Wang did not go to disturb her and asked the maid who was waiting to bring a book of poems and lay down on the bed. I started looking through it on the chair, but I was looking a little absent-mindedly.

Originally, there were not many people in the mansion, but now half of them were gone. There were only a few cooks and the concierges left in Nuo Da's mansion, and the entire Liuyuan Mansion suddenly became deserted.

By July, summer is almost over, and it is now around the beginning of autumn, but the weather in the capital is still very hot. After the sun went down, he didn't feel so hot anymore. Li Wen asked the kitchen to cook a few dishes and brought a bottle of good wine over. He placed it in the pavilion in the yard and had a drink with Zhao Xiangyi. "Haha, Yue Lao today." I'm afraid it will be very busy. Those of us who have already found a partner don't need to make trouble for Yue Lao and him^ "

It was very lively outside the capital today, but Li Wen did not drag Zhao Xiangyi outside to join in the fun.

Those of them who have already found someone they like, there is no need to go to Yuelao Temple to pray for a good marriage. Those young men and young men who go to Yuelao Temple only want to pick up girls. When they go out, it is still troublesome to send a matchmaker to come to arrange marriage in case someone takes a fancy to them.

However, some people in the capital have never given up on asking matchmakers to come to their homes to propose marriage. Every month, the concierge will block matchmakers who come to their homes several times. The owner is not at home, and the matchmaker cannot find the owner to propose marriage

. " You're right, it would be nice if we had some drinks here." Zhao Xiangyi picked up the wine glass in front of him and clinked the glasses with the young man.

Zhao Xiangyi was not worried that he would be attracted by a woman. After all, he was known as a "wife-killer" and people outside were afraid of him, so why would they want to marry him. But the boy is different. The boy is now a celebrity around the emperor. He is a new dignitary in the capital. Although his family is a bit thin, he has been promoted to a fourth-grade official position at a young age, and his responsibilities are still poor. Looking at the whole The court couldn't find anyone else.

In another ten or twenty years, who can say for sure who will take the blame in this capital?

On weekdays, young people like to go out and join in the fun. Fortunately, today he didn't drag him out for a walk. Zhao Xiangyi wanted to hide him so that the young man wouldn't be coveted by people outside all day long.

At this moment, Li Wen didn't know what the man was thinking, so he clinked glasses with the man.

"I wonder where Xiaobao and the others have returned." Half of the people in the house are gone, but there is another advantage. Li Wen doesn't have to worry about his siblings discovering that he has hidden a man in his courtyard. Except for Ah Chen and Ah Wu, who were the guards assigned to him by his teacher, the rest were all assigned by Zhao Xiangyi. At this point, he trusted Zhao Xiangyi very much.

Zhao Xiangyi comes in and out of his place. The maids and slaves below can hide it, but the guards in the mansion cannot. These people protect the safety of Liuyuan Mansion. This requires people to climb over the wall every night. If you don't even know at all, then he, the guard of Liuyuan Mansion, will have to be replaced by someone else.

Ah Chen and Ah Wu are his people now. Even if they know this, they will definitely not tell it. As for the people arranged by Zhao Xiangyi, that is even less true. In fact, the most important thing is to prevent people from outside from meeting him, otherwise General Zhao will come in and out of his Liuyuan Mansion in the middle of the night, which he himself cannot explain clearly.

Now that the situation in the DPRK is unclear, if the relationship between the two of them is exposed, it will not be of any benefit to them or His Royal Highness. So from this point of view, the less people know about the relationship between the two of them, the better. It's just that those people around them who can be trusted know about it, so it doesn't matter.

"It's your birthday in a few days. Do you want any birthday gift?" Li Wen remembered that it was Zhao Xiangyi's birthday in a few days. He thought about it for several days and couldn't think of a gift to give this person. Zhao Xiangyi must be lacking in everything. He can't give away things that are too ordinary, and he doesn't know what to give to others to make them like unique things.

"Yes." Zhao Xiangyi stared at the young man in front of him, and the meaning in his eyes couldn't be more obvious.

Li Wen said, "..."

Seeing the meaning in the man's eyes, Li Wen's face suddenly turned red, and even the base of his ears burned. This man... is really, so shameless!

"Eat vegetables, eat vegetables, drink wine." Li Wen changed the subject and grabbed chopsticks to pick up the vegetables.

The chopsticks in Zhao Xiangyi's hand followed Li Wen to pick up the same dish, but when the dish was put into his mouth, his smiling eyes were staring at the blushing boy. Sure enough, his young man is smart and can understand everything at a glance without him having to explain it too carefully.

Li asked: Your eyes have betrayed your heart. Don't I know what you are thinking? !

Tonight, the moon is clear and the sky is full of stars. A Milky Way runs across the north and south. On each of the east and west banks of the Milky Way, there is a shining star, facing each other across the river and far away. They are Altair and Vega. The young man who had eaten and drank enough rested his head on the man's lap, looking at the Altair and the Vega stars in the sky, with a slight smile on his face, and was talking to the man...

Chapter 201 - Spending Money Like Flowing Water

The comprehensive trade market in the North District is under construction, and a lot of manpower and material resources have been invested in it. The initial investment is a huge amount, and a lot of money has been invested in it. Now the project has just begun, and it is time to spend money. I don't know how much money will be invested later.

Li Wencheng covered his heart every time he saw the bills presented to him and the huge expenses on them. He spent a lot of money and his heart ached. "This is just like burning money!"

Su Yuan handed over the account book. Yes, he is responsible for managing the discrepancies in these accounts. No one knows better than him how much money is spent in the West District every day and how much manpower is invested in it.

In order to recruit more people to work, the wages were still paid!

"It's not even enough for us to open a bank!" Li Wen flipped through the account books, closed them, and stopped reading. His little heart couldn't stand it, so he still stopped reading. Now he finally understands that real estate is the most expensive investment. They are building a small comprehensive market here, and the money is burning as fast as a rocket rising into the sky.

"Sit down, let's discuss this matter carefully." Li Wen asked someone to pour two cups of tea.

Su Yuan sat down on the vacant chair, picked up the tea at hand and took a sip. The tea was good and had a refreshing fragrance.

He also had a box of tea given by Li Wen. I heard that Li Wen got it from His Highness the Crown Prince. This kind of tribute tea is usually only available in the palace and cannot be bought with money, so Li Wen gave it to him. Tea, he accepted it politely. He usually only grabs a small handful when making his own tea, and is reluctant to waste it.

"Let's talk about this money issue." Li Wen's heart was crackling as he calculated their income and expenses. The income was far behind the rate of expenses. He focused on increasing tickets, "The tickets at the ticket office should be almost sold out, right? There are still many people outside who can't buy tickets. We can add more tickets later."

This is The plan they had originally was not improvised.

"Yes." Su Yuan nodded, agreeing with this approach.

However, this increase in votes certainly cannot be increased indefinitely. If there are too many, it will be worthless. You just have to control it within that level. Li Wen said, "I'm wondering whether to increase the number of people on both sides, or just increase the number of people in the business conference."

"The purpose of our business conference is to allow representative businessmen from all over the country to discuss how to develop better. For business, it is easier to formulate some related charters and plans. The main thing is to sell the shops in the West District. For the former, it should be OK to add more votes. For the investment conference, I think it is. But we don't have to increase it. After all, our shops are limited and we don't have that many shops for sale." Since

he has already put forward the purpose of this conference, many businessmen must be willing to spend a hundred taels of silver to participate in formulating business rules. Go inside the game. Of course, he also needs to make these businessmen realize that it is worth spending the money. Only after next year's business conference, these businessmen will come to support him.

These businessmen are far smarter than them. If these businessmen feel that it is not worth spending the money, they will not come next year, and their next business conference will be a mess! These businessmen must be able to taste the sweetness before they are willing to come every year. Li Wen didn't just quit because he wanted to make a fortune, he wanted to make these businessmen rush to come every year.

"My personal idea is that we can add some to both sides. If there is excess, it doesn't matter if we deal with the rest when the time comes." Su Yuan said.

"An increase of one hundred on each side?"

"Almost."

"It's just... I'm afraid this little money is just a drop in the bucket." An additional two hundred tickets would only add twenty thousand taels of silver, which was far from enough. Li Wen roughly calculated the number in his mind and was very distressed, "Can you estimate whether the money on our account can last until then?"

"It's hard to say." Su Yuan had already made a mental estimate. According to the current expenditure, With money flowing so fast, the money in their accounts may not be able to last until that time.

They all know that once the funds are cut off, the construction of the West District will be in danger of stopping. Li Wen said, "Our plan is to hold a business conference and then an investment promotion conference after August 15th. By then, the comprehensive market must be built before formal sales can be carried out.

At least we here The second large amount of funds will not come in until after the investment conference. "So it's not that there is no money, the second amount of funds will come in later, but before that they need a large amount of funds to invest.

The comprehensive market they built is actually somewhat similar to the wholesale market of later generations. Li Wen wanted more merchants to gather here, so as to provide a platform for merchants to cooperate with each other. The government plays a guiding and management role here, and at the same time provides some discounts and conveniences to merchants. They are currently using

these discounts and policies to attract many merchants.

The market must be put into operation before October at the latest, so that merchants can start making money. Then the second batch of shops will be opened. As long as the response is good, there will be no fear that no merchant will come to buy.

Li Wen's idea is that if this comprehensive market operates smoothly and successfully, they can start the next project, which can connect and revitalize the entire Dacheng merchants in the shortest time. The more money the merchants make, the more naturally they will The more taxes you pay, the less you have to worry about the state treasury running out of money.

"Actually, I have an idea here." Su Yuan said.

Li Wen signaled Su Yuan to continue speaking. There were no outsiders here, and Du Ruoheng went out to guard the door.

Su Yuanlue mentioned that some people outside bought tickets and sold them privately, and Li Wen understood. Nowadays, many scalpers outside the capital are deliberately raising ticket prices. The ticket prices outside are higher than those at their ticket outlets. Paying more than three times, some businessmen who can't buy tickets don't care about the money, so naturally they are willing to spend that money to buy them. It's

not like they can't make a fuss about it...

Why do they work so hard, but let the outsiders Are scalpers making crazy money? They just earn a hard fee.

"If you didn't mention it, I almost forgot about it." Li Wen smiled slightly, already knowing how to get some money next.

"Only on this account?" I'm afraid it's not easy to do, right?

"I'm not here?" Su Yuan said with a slight smile.

"Haha..." That's true! Li Wen was relieved.

Both of them are smart people, and with many years of tacit understanding, some issues don't need to be said in detail. Only a brief mention will make both parties understand. Su Yuan drank a cup of tea at Li Wen's place. The two talked about some things about the conference, and Su Yuan went out to get busy.

What happened next went smoothly as they planned. Half of July

this year

is the Ghost Festival, which is also known as the "Ghost Festival" among the people. In some places, customs such as worshiping ancestors, burning paper money, jumping sky lanterns, and releasing river lanterns are also practiced.

Here in the capital, every day on this day, those who have deceased relatives at home will burn paper money outside their doors.

Li Wen remembered that this day was Zhao Xiangyi's birthday. A man's birthday is quite special. Last year, today was his birthday with Zhao Xiangyi, so this year he naturally remembered that today was a man's birthday. At this time last year, they had not officially confirmed their relationship and were just celebrating Zhao Xiangyi's birthday as friends. Special Operations Group

Of course, he never thought that his relationship with Zhao Xiangyi would develop into the relationship he has today. After all, he himself had never liked a man in his previous life. Perhaps she didn't realize that she liked men, or was it because the people she met were not the ones she liked? This has little to do with whether the object is a man or a woman.

At first, he found out that he fell in love with a man, and he was a little entangled in his heart, but this little entanglement dissipated instantly when he found out that the other person also liked him. There is no one in this world that you like more than you. The other person also happens to like you. It comes at a pleasant time. It's not too early and not too late. It's just right and the two of them get together naturally.

The year before last, they had not moved to Liuyuan Mansion, and they still lived in the original courtyard. The place there was small and the whole family lived together. He celebrated Zhao Xiangyi's birthday in a small restaurant outside.

But this year, Li Wen planned to celebrate the man's birthday at his house, and asked Xie Yunfei, Zhang Mingyu and the others to come over for a meal. These people were Zhao Xiangyi's brothers through life and death, and they were all his own people, so there was no need to worry about formal things. Everyone just finds an opportunity to sit down and have a drink and have a meal together, it's that simple.

It just so happens that the court is closed today and the officials have a day off.

Zhao Xiangyi went back from his place early in the morning. The two of them agreed that the man would come over later. Li Wen went into the kitchen and planned to prepare a bowl of longevity noodles for the man himself.

How can you celebrate your birthday without longevity noodles? However, he had no plans to make cakes. Firstly, making cakes would be too much work and too troublesome. Secondly, Zhao Xiangyi does not like sweets. People here do not pay attention to eating cakes for birthdays. Instead, they just eat a bowl of longevity noodles. So he planned to make a bowl of longevity noodles.

When Wu, the cook, saw their adults coming into the kitchen, she was so frightened that she wanted to beg their master to go out quickly, "Master, tell us what you want to eat, and we will cook it for you. Why did you run away in person? Are you coming to the kitchen?"

^Li Wen looked cheerful. He didn't think that men could no longer go to the kitchen. You still have to make some things by yourself to show sincerity, right? "It's okay. I have a few friends over for dinner today, so I'd like to ask Aunt Wu to prepare a few more dishes."

He reported a few dish names, and Mrs. Wu said it was no problem.

But seeing that their master insisted on staying in the kitchen, Wu had no choice but to follow their master and help him along the

way.

Chapter 202 After half and half

returned to the General's Mansion, Zhao Xiangyi went back to his courtyard, changed his clothes, came out, and went to the backyard. In the past, he would go out early in the morning to go to court or go to the camp. Therefore, if there was nothing special, he would always come to the back house on the first day of the month every month. Greetings to grandmothers, mothers and elders.

But every year on his birthday, Zhao Xiangyi would come here to say hello to his mother to show his filial piety, "My son, please say hello to my mother."

"Hey, Yi'er is here." Mrs. Wang saw her son coming over. She was very happy. She knew that her son would come to her to say hello on his birthday, so she waited in the house early.

"Chen'er has met my brother." Zhao Ruichen stepped forward and saluted his brother. When he saw his brother coming back, he felt very happy in his heart.

He was born with poor health and did not go to school like other children in the family. When he became enlightened at the age of five, his family hired another teacher to teach him how to read and write. In the past, he studied with his husband, taking ten days off and one day off, so he could take three days off a month, but most of the time he was at home.

On weekdays, his brother is very busy, so it is difficult for him to see him. Zhao Ruichen remembered that today was his brother's birthday and knew that his brother would come to grandma's place, so he came to grandma's place early to wait. "Happy birthday, brother. Chen'er wishes brother good health and happiness. This is Chen'er A gift for my brother." He handed over the birthday gift prepared for his brother with his own hands.

Zhao Xiangyi said "hmm", reached out to take the gift prepared by the child, raised his hand and touched the child's head, and said, "Thank you Chen'er for the gift, Chen'er has grown a little taller." This is He was a biological brother from the same mother, and his father did not take any concubines except his mother-in-law, so they had no other concubine brothers and sisters.

The men of the Zhao family are particularly dedicated in this regard. Most of the men of the Zhao family have only one wife in their lives, and rarely take concubines. This is probably why the Zhao family's back house can be so harmonious.

Zhao Ruichen was very happy. Brother Chen said that Brother Chen has grown taller!

"I missed you just now, why haven't you come yet? Have you just been to your grandma's place?" Today is my son's birthday, but because my son was born on the Ghost Festival, I have never had a big birthday celebration since he was a child. But as a mother-in-law, she never wants to see her child feel wronged. Remembering that this day is her son's birthday, Mrs. Wang will ask the kitchen to prepare some food that the child likes.

Over the years, my son has grown up. After he came back to the capital and took up a public position, he left early and came back late every day. He didn't have much time at home. Every time, he would come over in a hurry to say hello to her and then leave. Both mother and son The time we spend together is getting less and less.

"Yes, I've been there." Zhao Xiangyi had just come from his grandmother's courtyard. Since he came to his mother's place, he had to go and greet his grandmother. When the old lady saw him, she just asked a few words as usual and had nothing else to do. After saying hello, he came to his grandma's place.

"Just go." Wang didn't say anything and asked the servant to pass the meal over.

Knowing that his mother would stay with him for dinner today, Zhao Xiangyi was not in a hurry to leave.

"Madam, eldest young master, young master, please use it slowly^"

After a while, the people below brought food over, and Mrs. Wang said, "Sit down, my mother-in-law has asked people to prepare your favorite food. Yi'er, it's not easy for you. I just came to Aniang's place, and I can't see anyone even if I want to see you. "It's hard to catch my son, but I have to stay with someone for a meal. It's been a long time since mother and son sat together and had a meal.

This is true. She hadn't gotten up before her son went out in the morning. When his son came back in the middle of the night, she had already fallen asleep. Where could she see anyone?

"Yes, Auntie."

Both brothers obeyed their mother's words and sat down on the stool.

"It's gained some flesh." Zhao Xiangyi saw that the child had gained some flesh on his face, and suddenly reached out and pinched it. It felt good.

"Huh? ',

Zhao Ruichen stretched out his hand to cover his face, and his brother pinched him painfully!

Brother Chen looked at his brother with an accusing look, and then looked at his mother-in-law. Wang had a smile on his face, wishing that the two brothers The relationship between the two was better, but when she saw her younger son's face turned red, he looked at her pitifully, "Yi'er, please be gentler next time, look at you, Brother Chen Er's face turned red. "

This is not to tell the eldest son not to bully the younger son. It is to tell the eldest son to be gentler when bullying the younger son and just bully him lightly.

Zhao Ruichen, "..." He must have been picked up by his mother from outside. Yes!

Zhao Xiangyi lowered his head and glanced at the child's face. Is it true that the skin is so tender that it turns red when pinched? "Next time, follow me to the camp and I will take you to practice. "Tan your skin darker and fuck it thicker, so it won't turn red when you pinch it! The Zhao family

man is going to fight to kill the enemy, how can he look like a pretty boy!

"Really? Brother Chen's eyes lit up. He also wanted to go to the military camp with his elder brother!

Zhao Xiangyi nodded and said, "Really, if you eat more in the future and grow taller, I will teach you marksmanship." I'll take you to the camp and see how the soldiers drill every day. "

"Um! Okay, Chen'er must eat more and grow taller! "The child's face turned red with excitement.

Mrs. Wang looked at her two sons with a smile on her face. With her two sons by her side and seeing her two children growing up healthily, there is nothing better than now.

Mrs. Wang remembered However, when it came time to eat, the child had been in poor health since he was a child and had a weak spleen and stomach. His usual appetite was small, so no

matter how much he wanted to eat, he couldn't eat it. Zhao Xiangyi has a good appetite and a big appetite. He can finish a sour bun in a few mouthfuls and eat five or six braised buns in one meal. This does not include other things.

He eats gracefully but not at all slow. Knowing the food arrangement of her younger son, she saw that her younger son still wanted to eat, so she stopped him with a dumbfounded expression, "Okay, okay, how can you become fat after just one meal?" Listen to your brother and eat three meals a day from now on. Don't be picky about food. You will soon be as tall as your father and brother. "

My youngest son is bad at this. He has a picky mouth. He feels bitter when summer comes, and he keeps fussing and refuses to eat.

But last winter, my son was raised well and he didn't get sick very often. This year, he only gets sick in the spring. After a few days, she was in better health than in previous years and had a bigger appetite, so she had grown a lot taller and had a little fat on her face. As long as her little son was free from illness and pain, she wanted nothing more. Yes.

"Yeah! good! "Brother Chen put down his chopsticks, but when it came to his father, he could no longer remember his appearance...

General Zhao, who was forgotten by his younger son at the border, said: "..."

After

the meal, Wang Shi pushed her younger son away and left her eldest son alone. She asked her son in a roundabout way if he had met a girl he liked. As a mother, she took a closer look at this slight change in her son and found it to be true. She discovered that her son used to have a cold face, but now he actually smiled several times. He was in a good mood, and she, as a mother, could feel it.

As a person who has been here, Wang was also young, of course. She knows the kind of change that happens when you first fall in love and meet someone you like.

If the old slave beside her hadn't reminded her, she would have really missed this point.

Ms. Wang knew her son's temperament. If she, the mother-in-law, didn't ask, her son would definitely not take the initiative to talk to her, the mother-in-law. At this point, Mrs. Wang has lowered the conditions for finding a daughter-in-law again and again. "My requirements are not high. I don't want you to marry a princess... As long as she has a clean family background, a good character, and can be successful in the future." Just support and live with you.

It would be great if you can find someone you like. I was still worried that you were not enlightened on this matter, but now it seems that I am still worried." Individual marriages are mostly dictated by parents or matchmakers. But, the capital is a big or small place. Everyone can easily meet each other as soon as they go out. If her son can find the girl he likes on his own, then Naturally, nothing could be better.

"Grandma, he is very good." Zhao Xiangyi thought for a while and said to his grandma.

So you can be more demanding. The person he is looking for is better than any princess or princess!

Of course, it goes without saying about his character. He has never seen the boy angry, and the two of them have never had a quarrel. They will definitely be able to support each other and live together in the future!

"Does this mean that we really have one?... Haha, Yi'er likes her, right?" Wang's eyes lit up, she didn't expect her son to actually find someone! ! How could this make her unhappy? Wang was so happy that she almost jumped up.

She is a mother, so she must be more restrained in front of her son and not lose her image.

"Yes, which girl is she from? How old is she? How does she look? Does she look good?..." Wang couldn't restrain her inner joy and asked a series of questions, making people wonder which answer to her was best. Zhao Xiangyi nodded, thinking of the young man's appearance, and affirmed, "Good-looking."

Even if she is not a girl, the rest will meet your requirements. Zhao Xiangyi added in his heart.

"Haha... The one our Yi'er can like must be good-looking!" Mrs. Wang smiled so hard that wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes. In this regard, like the child's father, the child's father is looking for a good-looking wife, otherwise Was it possible to fall in love with her at first glance? When she was young, she was a famous beauty in the capital!

This looks like Dad, good!

Mrs. Wang smiled so hard that she almost couldn't open her mouth from ear to ear, and said, "It's not enough to just be good-looking. You also have to have a good personality and a good temper." "Zhao Xiangyi thought of the young man who always had a smile on his face. He didn't have a bad character. He had a good personality

and a good temper. He was also good-looking. There was no one better-looking than his young man!

"Do you know A Niang? Which girl is she from? ...Then when will Yi'er bring the person to Aniang? "Ms. Wang asked.

When will you bring it back to Auntie? Auntie, you have seen it, more than once. Zhao Xiangyi was tangled in his heart.

As soon as he saw his son's appearance, Mrs. Wang knew that it was possible to bring him back. It's not very good, that's what I said, it's not good to have a girl come to my door. She hurriedly changed her words and said, "It's not good to have a girl come to my door. Why don't you tell my mother-in-law which family the girl is from, and she can go and have a look secretly? If that's what you want, I'll ask the matchmaker to arrange a marriage for you and settle the marriage first. "

Zhao Xiangyi paused and said, "Aniang, you have seen it before.

"Have I seen it? " "Wang's eyes widened. Has she seen it? When and where has she seen it? Why doesn't she know? She has seen so many people. Which one is her daughter-in-law? Why is this child so different? Didn't you tell her anything about it? If

she didn't ask about it today, would this kid have kept it secret?

But really... let her know what she said!

. "Zhao Xiangyi nodded. As for the rest, he didn't say much. "Auntie, wait until I go and ask." He must have been brought back to his grandma, but now was not the time. He didn't expect him. Mother suddenly asked about this matter.

Zhao Xiangyi did not intend to deceive his mother for the rest of his life. He could reveal it to his mother for the time being, so that his mother could be mentally prepared. Auntie, you have to ask the young man what he means. The two of you need to discuss how to deal with this matter.

"How long have you been together? Is she... okay?" "Ms. Wang asked if anything happened when the other girl was with her son.

Zhao Xiangyi shook his head, what could happen?

"That's good, that's good. "Whoever spread the rumors about her son being a wife-killer is just talking nonsense! In her heart, Mrs. Wang angrily scolded those people who spread the rumors. They are irresponsible at all. Who said her son couldn't get a wife! I'll marry you back home tomorrow and let you all see, hum!

"If my mother has nothing else to do, I'll leave first. " Zhao Xiangyi stood up and said.

"Yeah, let's go, let's go..." After her son got up to say goodbye and left, Mrs. Wang was still sitting there in a daze, with a silly smile on her face. Her son had found someone he liked, and he was a grown-up man. She is good, has a good character, and is not afraid of the rumors about her son. She is fine. This is more important than anything else.

Who said that her son's life is too strong to beat his wife? Huh... who will hear such nonsense in the future? She had to tear that man's mouth open!

"Madam, the young master has left. "

The old woman who was waiting next to her saw the eldest young master going out. She was listening in the room just now, and naturally heard the eldest young master saying that he had a girl he liked. She couldn't hide her joy, "Madam, the eldest young master... This is a great good thing. ,,

"No." A smile appeared on Mrs. Wang's face, and she stretched out her hands to comb her hair. Knowing that her son had found someone he fell in love with, she felt relieved. She, as a mother, was ten years younger. .

"But don't go out and talk nonsense about this matter. Before it is determined, don't let other people in the courtyard know about it..." After all, this matter is related to the reputation of other girls, a girl who has not yet left the court. When a woman has an affair with a man, it doesn't sound good if she tells it.

After their son confirmed the relationship, they invited a matchmaker to come to discuss the marriage and the marriage was finalized. Mrs. Wang believed that her son's taste would not be too bad if he could be liked by her, and his family would definitely not be too opposed to the wedding!

That's it, that's right!

Mrs. Wang was already imagining in her mind the scene of her son riding a tall horse to get married and bring her daughter-in-law back to her...

Chapter 203: How can one life be enough?

"Master, General Zhao is here."

"Oh, are you here? Please come soon."

As soon as Li Wen came out of the kitchen, he heard Yingchun say that Zhao Xiangyi was here. It was rare for this man to walk back to the door of his house. He Naturally, I want to go out to greet him. He didn't have time to go back inside and change his clothes. There was some flour on his clothes. He flicked them twice and went out to pick up someone.

When he came out, he saw the man who had been welcomed into the door.

The two of them kept a proper distance in front of others. When they arrived at the yard where he lived, Li Wen waved away the people around him, leaving only Li Tong to wait on him. Zhao Xiangyi climbed over the wall of Liuyuan Mansion every night, but rarely came in through the main door during the day. There was something in the eyes of the two people that they both understood tacitly, even without saying it.

Li Wen asked someone to serve tea and asked, "Why did it take you so long to come back?" He thought that this person would come soon after returning, but he didn't expect to see someone come until now. "I've prepared it for you." The noodles are in the kitchen, ready to be cooked for you. Sit down for a while and I'll cook them for you. "

The noodles must be made by him to show sincerity, right?"

If the noodles are cooked too early, they will become lumpy after being left for a long time, which will make them unpalatable. They must be eaten as soon as they are cooked for the best texture. It only took less than a quarter of an hour to walk from the General's Mansion to the Liuyuan Mansion. He guessed that this man must have something to do when he returned home, and it took him so long to come here.

"I went back to my grandma's courtyard and stayed there for a while." Zhao Xiangyi stopped the person who was leaving and said, "Don't be in a hurry, just sit down for a while. Have you eaten the morning meal?" "He just had something to eat at his grandma's place, and his stomach is still full at the moment, but he doesn't know if the boy is waiting for him. He is worried about being hungry.

For his birthday last year, the boy personally made him a bowl of longevity noodles, and he still remembers the taste. It's just that he has no virtue or ability to let the young man cook for him in person.

As soon as Li Wen looked at Zhao Xiangyi, he knew that he might have come over after eating at home. He smiled at the man, sat down next to him, and said, "I just had something to eat." He wanted to Waiting for this man to come and have breakfast with him, he got hungry because he didn't want to wait. He smelled the aroma of meat buns in the kitchen and couldn't help but ate two meat buns, so he wasn't hungry yet.

Neither of those two people are hungry, so don't worry about it now, let's sit down for a while.

"I haven't seen your grandma for a long time. How is she? And where is Brother Chen? Why don't you bring him over? How is Chen'er's health lately?" Li Wen heard Zhao Xiangyi talking about his grandma. Did Li Wen remember it? They had a good relationship with Mrs. Zhao, who was beautiful and gentle. He had a good impression of Mrs. Zhao.

Liuyuan Mansion and General Mansion are not far apart, but he rarely goes to General Mansion. After all, he is a civil servant, and he has to avoid suspicion where he should. This is why he and Zhao Xiangyi have always maintained a relationship in public

. However, the children of the two families are similar in age, so they often play together.

It's just that his child recently went back to his hometown to visit his parents. He is not at home and will not be able to come back until two or three months later.

"It's all good. If you don't bring that boy here, doesn't it mean that Xiaobao is not in the capital? I brought that boy and you still have to play with him." It's rare for the two of them to have leisure time together, and besides, it's still his today On his birthday, Zhao Xiangyi doesn't want to bring that boy here. If you have the ability, you can find a wife by yourself. This is his wife and she can only accompany him

.

If General Zhao has learned modern vocabulary, he will know that there is a word It's called a "light bulb". Who would bring a "little light bulb" with them when going on a date? Not even brothers!

Listen, what are these words? Li Wen looked dumbfounded and said, "That's your brother." How could he not know that the jealousy in their family was getting bigger and bigger?

General Zhao: Brothers have no mercy, if you don't take them with you, you won't take them with you!

"My mother asked about you, and she said she wanted to see you." Zhao Xiangyi remembered what his mother asked him today, and planned to discuss this matter with the boy.

Mrs. Zhao wants to see me? Li Wen was confused and didn't know what was going on. "What did your mother-in-law actually say?" Was it because she simply wanted to see him, or because she wanted to see him for someone else. Based on his current relationship with Zhao Xiangyi, meeting parents has two different meanings.

"My grandma asked me today and asked me if I have someone I love." Zhao Xiangyi thought about it for a moment, then remembered his grandma's original words and relayed them to the boy.

"Oh, then how did you answer?" Li Wen asked, raising his eyebrows.

He guessed that this man must have said so, because the Zhao Xiangyi he knew was not a person who was tactful in speaking and doing things. As expected, I heard Zhao Xiangyi say, "Of course I said yes. Later, my mother-in-law asked about your appearance, your conduct, and whether you are a nice person..."

So this is the reason why Mrs. Zhao didn't know that the person her son was looking for was him. Bar? Li Wen raised his forehead and asked, "What do you say

?",

"Very good." " Zhao Xiangyi said without even the slightest hesitation.

Li Wen smiled, but he remembered something, "You didn't stay at home at night. Did your mother-in-law find out about this? "Otherwise, why would he ask about Zhao Xiangyi for no reason? There must be a reason for it, so it is very likely that the reason comes from here.

The population of the General's Mansion is not as simple as his Liuyuan Mansion. He is the biggest here, and he can do everything. It has the final say. But there are several families living in the general's mansion, and there are many maids and servants below. It is difficult to keep any secrets in the mansion.

The best way is to find out if you are not careful. He stayed at home and came to his place halfway.

Li Wen said, "Why don't you come to my place every now and then?" You didn't stay at your house at night. If something happened at home and they came to find you in the middle of the night and found no one there, how would you explain it?

"It's not far back from you. " "If something happens, he can return in the blink of an eye. So what this means is that it is impossible for him to stay in the General's Mansion at night and not come to Liuyuan Mansion, unless he is not here in the capital. Zhao Xiangyi said, "If it is discovered, I will have a way to deal with it, so you don't have to worry. "

So maybe his mother-in-law found out that he didn't stay at the house at night?

Zhao Xiangyi really never thought about this reason. Everyone in his courtyard is his people, but there is no guarantee that his mother-in-law will know about it. After all, he stayed at the boy's place every night.

"Okay, as long as you can handle it. "Li Wen was actually used to Zhao Xiangyi being by his side. Occasionally when this person was not around, he would toss and turn at night unable to sleep. It's hard to break the habit of being alone. Even before he even noticed it, He was already used to this man being by his side, so it would take ten and a half months for him to quit.

But he couldn't ask Zhao Xiangyi to move out of the General's Mansion and live outside. ? If Zhao Xiangyi takes the initiative to go outside, then Zhao Xiangyi does not have to go back to the General's Mansion at night and come to him, and has to rush back to the General's Mansion from him the next morning.

But the problem they are facing now is. Should the two of them come out to their families and be honest with their family about their relationship?

His parents are far away in Qingping, and he is the eldest son in the family. It may be difficult for his family to accept that he likes men. Fortunately, he He is still young now and can still wait for a few more years. In a few years, when Xiaobao is a little older and he is not the only son in the family, the family may be more accepting of the matter between him and Zhao Xiangyi.

But the Zhao family is here in the capital, and Zhao Xiangyi is a few years older than him. With Zhao Xiangyi's age, the family may have been worrying about his marriage, hoping that he can get married early, marry a wife and have children. And speaking of it, Zhao Xiangyi is the eldest son of the Zhao family. If he hadn't been known as a "wife-suppressant", he would have married and had children long ago, and the children would have been spoiled, and the family would not have accepted it so easily. He likes men.

Thinking of these things gives them a headache, but they cannot avoid dealing with these things.

If they want to have an underground affair for a lifetime and not let their family find out, then that's a different matter. But if one day they want each other to stand by their side openly, then their relationship must be brought to the surface. Whether their family can accept it is also very important to them.

Li Wen leaned his head next to Zhao Xiangyi, tilted his head and looked at the man, and asked, "How do you plan to deal with this matter? Confess it directly to your family? If you tell your family that you like men, your family will How should people react? "

This is a very real question.

"Don't worry about this, I have my own way to deal with it." Zhao Xiangyi already had a plan in his mind and said, "Don't forget, there are rumors that I am destined to beat my wife. No woman in the capital wants to marry me. ." Several marriages arranged for him by his family resulted in either death or injury, which is why no one in the capital dared to marry him.

When Li Wen heard this, he understood that this person was going to make an issue out of the rumors outside...

But there was one question that he had to confirm first, "Ayi, are you really sure that you want to be with me for the rest of your life?" Are we together?" In fact, he asked this man this question more than once. In such a short moment, he felt uneasy. He didn't know if this man would turn around again when he gave his sincerity and everything. Married and had children with another woman.

"How can one life be enough? I want to be with you for all eternity." Zhao Xiangyi stretched out his arms and hugged the boy. Through the boy's eyes, he seemed to see through the thoughts in the boy's heart. Li Wen pushed the man and said with a smile, "Shameless, who wants to be with you for the rest of his life!"

This shameless man wants to occupy him for the rest of his life!

But why was he so secretly happy?

"Haha..." Zhao Xiangyi lowered his head and placed a kiss on the young man's forehead. In the eyes of the two people who met each other, there was deep affection and love for each other. Li Wen closed his eyes and let the man's kiss fall on his lips. He raised his hand and touched the man's neck...

Li Tong, who was watching not far away, turned his head and saw their young master and Mr. Zhao hugging each other. Together, he immediately blushed, turned around quickly, and guarded nervously at the door, for fear that others would see him.

Chapter 204: The World Is Worth

If I hadn't remembered that he also invited other guests, the two of them would have rolled onto the bed right now.

Li Wen put his hand on the man's chin, opened the distance between the two people, and promptly stopped the man who wanted to go further, and asked, "Master Zhao, do you want to show off your... obscenity in daylight? "In broad daylight, I just wanted to put him on the bed, and I wanted to be shameless.

"I also invited Yunfei and the others to come over. Maybe they will come soon."

So if the two of them went to have sex at this moment, they would probably be "caught in bed" by the guests who came.

"Why did you invite them here?" Mr. Zhao was very dissatisfied. He didn't want to invite anyone. He just wanted to show off his sex in the daytime. "

Puch

..." Li Wen couldn't help but smile, and he could spot this person at a glance. Dissatisfied with his desire, he rubbed the man's chin with his palm and reasoned with the man who was trying to pull him back into the house, "Today is not your birthday? How many more people can come to make it more lively? Haven't you been with Yun Fei for a long time?" Mingyu and the others have had a drink, so let's invite them over for a meal today and let's get together."

He didn't even invite Wang Hao. If he wanted to invite Wang Xiaofu, he would definitely bring another group. Many people in Wang Hao's group are second-generation officials. Everyone's circles are different and their friends are different^ He himself came from a poor family. Li Wen knew that some of them actually did it because of Wang Hao's face. Not everyone from a high-ranking family would look down upon someone from a humble family if they were friendly with him.

After all, not everyone knew each other well, so he didn't invite anyone else. Today was Zhao Xiangyi's birthday, so he only invited Xie Yunfei and others to come over, so that everyone could get together and have fun.

"You just met them a few days ago, just a few days ago." Zhao Xiangyi was talking about Li Wentai going to the camp a few days ago and meeting Xie Yunfei and the others. He didn't think it was necessary to meet them every once in a while. one side.

What made Zhao Xiangyi furious the most was that whenever Xie Yunfei was around, Li Wen would have endless things to say to Xie Yunfei and completely ignore him. He had disliked the dog-headed military advisor for a long time. Zhao Xiangyi gritted his teeth in his heart. He didn't want to see his subordinates at all. He saw them every day and every day. What was there to get together with? !

"This is different."

As expected, men who are dissatisfied with desire are the most unreasonable. Li Wen held the man's face in his hands and said seriously, "Today is your birthday. I want a few more people to celebrate with you. Every day The arrival of every life is something worth celebrating, so everyone's birthday is a very important day. I want to help you celebrate it and invite your friends and brothers to help you celebrate it." He

learned about it from Xie Yunfei . Something about this man, I know how wronged he was.

Who says that the lives of people born on the Ghost Festival are bad? The rumors outside about this man are all nonsense. Maybe they were spread by someone with good intentions, with the purpose of targeting this man and not wanting him to feel better.

It was because he knew that this man had never celebrated his birthday before, so Li Wen solemnly celebrated his birthday for him. From now on, as long as he is around, he will celebrate this man's birthday on this day every year.

"Master Zhao, because you are here, I feel that this trip to this world is worth it." Li Wen's eyes were shining, and he looked at the man in front of him intently and told him. In this world, they are the only one and the most important person to each other.

Mr. Zhao, suddenly felt that... celebrating birthdays is actually not a bad idea? If those irrelevant people want to come, just come...

Because you are here, I feel that this trip to the world is worth it. When he heard the young man's words, Zhao Xiangyi's throat rolled. Isn't he the same?

''Well,

seeing that this man's hair was smoothed by him, Li Wen turned the topic back to the issue they just discussed, "Okay, let's talk about what we didn't finish just now."

Pressed him What it means is that they first deal with the people in their respective families, boiling frogs in warm water first. Accepting everything requires a process. They can first reveal some information to the people at home. There is such a process first, and later It's a matter of course.

The "goodness of Longyang" and "the habit of cutting sleeves" have existed since ancient times. There were King Wei and Lord Longyang, as well as the founding emperor of Dacheng. Emperor Wu once made a man a noble prince. In some villages, there are still men who form brotherhoods with men. When two men are together, except that they have no offspring, their lives are no different from those of a normal couple.

In addition to brothels and brothels here in the capital, there is also the Nanfeng Pavilion. Needless to say, the Nanfeng Pavilion is a place for men. It is also popular among the powerful in the capital to keep men in captivity, but it is not made public. It can be seen from these things that people in this era are more tolerant of two men being together than people in later generations. In this era, at least people do not regard homosexuality as a

is a disease.

So if it is handled properly, the families of the two families may not necessarily disapprove of their affairs.

It's just that most people in the world look down upon a man and a woman lying under a man. When the two of them are together, it is easy for outsiders to see that he is the one below. And he is still an official in the court. If his relationship with Zhao Xiangyi is known to outsiders, outsiders may not view him very well.

At worst, he could just follow his teacher's example and resign his official position to become a teacher. Li Wen thought to himself

that now he and Zhao Xiangyi were both talented people in the younger generation of the court, and Zhao Xiangyi was still the prince's companion. He said that if the prince could sit on the throne of God, both of them would be able to be put into great use by the prince. It's just that they are both civil and military, and the relationship between the two of them is just because they are afraid that the prince will think too much about it. Civil officials and military generals in the court have never gotten too close. Firstly, it is because their respective positions are different. Secondly, they are actually afraid that the one above them will be suspicious, so the boundary between civil servants and military generals has always been very clear. distinct.

In fact, for Li Wen, he didn't think he had to become an official to find a way out. When he took the imperial examination, it was just for the official position, and now he has obtained it. But now that being an official can use what he has learned to do more things for the people, he feels that being an official is not bad. In addition to being an official, there are actually many things you can do, such as being a successful businessman? He thought it was pretty good.

But before that, he needs to standardize the business system, plan the business market, and improve the status of businessmen... these are what he is currently doing. The

concierge

came in and announced that someone was outside.

Li Tong, who was guarding the door, stretched his head in and took a look. Fortunately, the young master and Mr. Zhao were not hugging each other. He hurried over and said, "Master, the concierge came to report that there are guests outside. "

"Oh, please come in." Li Wen sat up straight. Knowing that it was Xie Yunfei and the others, he asked someone to invite them in. At the same time, he asked someone to inform the kitchen that cooking was ready. Zhao Xiangyi kept his posture with his back against the guardrail unchanged, waiting for people to come.

"Yes, I'll go right away."

After a while, I heard footsteps approaching and saw Xie Yunfei and the others arriving.

"Haha, I thought you should have arrived by now."

Li Wen stood up, asked Xie Yunfei to sit down, and asked the people waiting next to him to serve tea, "The people here today are our own people, so there is no need to be polite. "

What bothered him the most was the need to salute when meeting someone. A lower official must salute when meeting a superior official, and a low-ranking official must salute when meeting a high-ranking official. The one with the highest official position here is Zhao Xiangyi, followed by him, and Zhao Xiangyi is also the superior of Xie Yunfei and several others.

Xie Yunfei and others arrived, and when they saw Zhao Xiangyi, they all bowed their hands and saluted.

"Okay, everyone, sit down." Zhao Xiangyi raised his hand and asked everyone to sit down. Only Xie Yunfei and the others sat down.

Li Wen sat down and went up to where he was. Now that everyone is here, he can no longer squeeze in with Zhao Xiangyi. Among this group of people, Xie Yunfei knew about his relationship with Zhao Xiangyi. As for whether the others knew about it, Li Wen didn't know yet, but they still had to pay attention to what they should pay attention to.

Xie Yunfei sat down next to Li Wen, greeted Li Wen with a smile, and continued the discussion about the production of mirrors last time.

Zhao Xiangyi, "..." I can't wait to throw this dog-headed military advisor away!

Noticing the man's eyes falling on him, Li Wen stretched out his hand under the table and held the man's hand on his knee.

With such a small movement, Li Wen found that all the hair on the man's body fell down instantly.

If I had to use an animal to describe this man, it would feel a bit like... an aloof white wolf? It looks cold on the outside, but in fact, in front of its partner, it is as obedient as a domestic rabbit?

Mr. Zhao, who had no idea that he was being compared to a rabbit, couldn't bear to let go of the young man's soft hand.

Ben

and the others were drinking tea and talking, and cooking was being done in the kitchen. After a while, the dishes started to be served. Li Wen asked someone to bring the dishes to the table in the pavilion, and asked everyone to move to the pavilion.

The table was filled with dishes, wine and meat, and everyone sat down one after another.

There was a lot of wine stored in the cellar, all of which were packed in large jars. Before they were divided into small jars, Li Wen asked someone to bring a large jar up directly. The jar was full of wine. "Old rule, wine and meat are in charge," he said. That's enough. I have a room and a bed here, so just feel free to drink!"

"Haha... I like Li Liuyuan's cheerfulness!"

"We're not welcome."

These guys are all drunkards. I have no other hobbies on weekdays. My biggest hobby is drinking and eating.

Everyone drank from big bowls, and Li Wen also used a big bowl. This was his home anyway, so he wasn't afraid of getting drunk.

Today is Zhao Xiangyi's birthday, and everyone is toasting to Zhao Xiangyi. None of these soldiers have any ink in their stomachs, and they don't know what to say. They just drink up the big bowl of wine.

"I'll drink this bowl first as a token of respect!"

"Boss, here's to you!"

Zhang Mingyu smacked his mouth twice, "Li Liuyuan's wine tastes so good. I don't even know if the wine I bought outside has been filled with water." Ah, it doesn't taste like anything when you drink it. "That's it. The wine outside tastes like water and has no taste. It's not like Li Liuyuan's wine, which is fragrant and spicy. It should at least be like this. Wine!

"Yes, the wine smells like Li Liuyuan's." Others all agreed.

"If you like, drink more. There is a big jar here, which weighs fifty kilograms. It's not enough for me to have people move it." Li Wen pointed to the big jar of wine next to him. Brewing is a bit wasteful of food, so it's okay to brew some and drink it yourself. The imperial court prohibits private brewing for sale, but they can't even drink enough for themselves, so they have to sell it somewhere else.

"Haha...enough, enough."

Each of them can share several kilograms here!

Li Wen knew that although this group of people were Zhao Xiangyi's subordinates, they were all brothers who had lived and died at the border with Zhao Xiangyi. They were all his own people here, there were no outsiders, so everyone came as they pleased, and he didn't need to greet them.

Take good care of the wine and meat on the table. If there is not enough, let the kitchen fix it.

This is in someone else's house, and it doesn't look good when you're drunk. It's not that these guys don't know the rules, they still have to follow the rules when they should. So although everyone likes to drink, no one gets drunk later. At sunset, before the sun went down, they said goodbye to their host's house, got on their horses one by one, and the group rode away

. "I'm going back first."

"Okay."

Zhao Xiangyi led the people back to the general's mansion on foot.

Outside It was getting dark, and Li Wen was a little heady after drinking a little wine. He had taken a shower, and he only wore a thin piece of obscene clothing. He didn't even wear any trousers on his lower body. He just leaned on the chaise longue by the window, with two strips of light. Liu Liu's long legs were exposed outside.

Mr. Zhao, who had returned to the General's Mansion, found the young man's location accurately and saw this picture of a drunken beauty

. "Someone was sitting next to him. Li Wen opened his closed eyes. He was not asleep just now. When he saw the man next to him, a smile appeared on his face. Zhao Xiangyi said "Huh", his throat unknowingly He rolled around and raised his hand to touch the young man's face. I don't know if it was because of drinking, but the young man's face felt a little hot and he asked, "Are you waiting for me?

"Yes, otherwise who do you think I am waiting for? " "Li Wen asked with a smile.

"Besides me, who else do you want to wait for? "I don't know if it's because of drinking, but the young man's smile tonight is particularly... attractive? Zhao Xiangyi lowered his head, pressed his forehead against the young man's forehead, placed a kiss on the tip of the young man's nose, and slowly moved it to the young man's lips.

The man's voice was low and hoarse, and he asked, "Baby, can I accept my birthday... gift, eh?" ''

"Aren't you opening...'the gift'?" The young man had a smile in his eyes, opened his mouth and bit the man's

lip.

The two people were very close, and their breaths blended together.

It's time for Mr. Zhao to open the gifts later...

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Chapter 205:

The summer heat begins at the second watch, mid-July. Where it stops, the summer heat stops here.

After the end of summer, the temperature in various places has obviously dropped, and the tail of summer is gradually leaving. The temperature difference between day and night is large, the hottest at noon, and the weather is cool in the morning and evening, which means that we are slowly entering autumn, one of the four seasons of the year. .

Crops are about to be ready in most places in the south. There is a farmer's proverb: "In the summer, the ground is covered with yellow, and every family builds a granary." At this time of year, every household begins to organize the granary and prepare for harvesting grain. However, due to the climate in the north and south, crops in the north mature a little later, but most are harvested in July and August. This year, the weather has been smooth everywhere, and there have been no major disasters. The food in the fields is growing well. At this time, we need to prevent pests. As long as we don't encounter severe natural disasters such as heavy winds and rains before the crops are harvested, this year Grain harvests everywhere should be no problem.

In a village far away in Nanyang, a large area of ​​cotton was planted in the ground. The cotton had spun out and it was almost time to pick the cotton. The millet in the field is bent over by the fruits, and it is golden. There are figures bent over and busy in the field. The millet planted earlier is already mature and can be harvested at this time.

The original one textile workshop on Zhuangzi expanded to three workshops, and there were hundreds or thousands of weavers working here. Nowadays, the green cloth produced in Nanyang is sold throughout Dacheng, and is widely loved by ordinary people because of its low price and good quality.

In the past two years, a large number of refugees arrived in Nanyang, and Zhuangzi made a lot of money. Now all the refugees are arranged to work in Zhuangzi. For these refugees, as long as they can have a mouthful of food to eat and stay hungry, they are willing to do any work, not to mention that the owner of Zhuangzi is kind-hearted, not only giving them food and houses to live in, but also allowing them to go to the workshop. Working, not only getting paid every month, but also getting extra rewards for doing well, these are things that you can't even dream of.

Therefore, there are not many lazy people in the entire Zhuangzi. Everyone is working hard, and the various outputs in Zhuangzi are naturally getting better and better.

The old farmers in Zhuangzi all remember the young master who came to Zhuangzi on a donkey. The young master brought out a group of people who knew how to farm. Now the young master has gone to the capital to serve as an official, but the old farmers brought out by the young master are still here. With the guidance of these experienced farmers, the output of the land in Zhuangzi is getting better and better year by year.

Although the young master has gone to the capital, the old farmers in Zhuangzi still remember the young master. Someone will mention him from time to time. Now when he mentions it again, the person who calls him is "Master Li".

"Master, there's

a letter from the capital." The housekeeper hurried into the inner courtyard with a letter from the capital and presented the letter to their master. "It's a letter from the young master."

The young master used to live in the mansion. Above, the housekeeper and the servants all treated the young master as their master. Ever since the young master went to the capital to become an official, letters have come back from the capital. As soon as he saw the letter from the capital, the housekeeper knew that the young master had sent someone to deliver the letter.

"Is there a letter from the capital? Bring it to me." Fu Yihan took the letter and saw the handwriting on it. He knew that it was a letter from his little apprentice. He thought that that boy had just gone to the capital to be an official and had caused so many things. , it's really audacious.

There are also newspapers from the capital here in Nanyang, but it was already ten days and a half after the newspapers arrived in Nanyang. Fu Yihan would read newspapers from the capital every day to get some news about the court's movements and the capital. He also knew that this newspaper was compiled by his daring apprentice. Nowadays, the Kyoto Daily is also very famous here in Nanyang.

The two masters and apprentices have always exchanged frequent letters. Basically, they reply to letters from the capital every month. Most of the letters are about government affairs and some of the apprentice's ideas and plans. When encountering something confusing, his little pair of disciples would also ask him, the teacher, for advice and inquiries in letters. Fu Yihan doesn't plan to go to the capital in the short term. The master and apprentice communicate in this way, which is also a kind of fun between teacher and student.

The letter was a greeting from the young disciple to his teacher. It went on to mention the Ministry of Commerce and the upcoming business conference, etc. The letter was more detailed than what he had seen in the newspapers outside.

Fu Yihan knew about this from the newspaper from the capital, and knew that it was something created by his little disciple. On this point, Fu Yihan's view is different from that of other celebrities. He does not think that business is the last stream, and businessmen are an indispensable part of the people. If the court can guide this part of the people, he thinks it is feasible. Therefore, he agreed with the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce.

The letter also mentioned the emperor's recent physical weakness...

After reading the letter, Fu Yihan put the letter on the table. The man sitting opposite him picked up the letter and read it after getting his nod.

Fu Yihan stood up, stood by the door, looked outside, and said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid time is running out." This was exactly what he was worried about, so in the capital, if the emperor fell, he would probably When chaos breaks out, "There are also the Hu people to the west, I'm afraid they will take the opportunity to start a war."

The Hu people on the grassland are divided into several tribes. The Hu people are nomadic people. Most of them live in tribal groups and raise cattle along the waters of the rivers. Sheep graze, which is why the Hu people on the grassland did not establish a country. But one thing about the Hu people that should not be underestimated is that they are a people who grew up on horses, and their riding and archery skills are far better than the people here in Dacheng. Every time they fight against the Hu people and want to defeat the Hu people's soldiers, Dacheng will inevitably lose troops and generals.

In the past been either floods or droughts in various places. Fu Yihan also knows what the situation is like in the court. Once a war breaks out, the people will suffer. He really doesn't want to see the people displaced. If something happens to the emperor at this time, the capital must control the situation and not give the barbarians an opportunity.

With all kinds of sorrow and worry in his heart, Fu Yihan asked someone to bring him pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and the man grinded the ink for him.

Holding the pen in his hand, he thought for a moment, then the tip of the pen fell to the paper, and Fu Yihan wrote a reply to the student in the capital. After the letter was written, he gave it to the housekeeper and asked the housekeeper to send someone to deliver it to the capital.

The housekeeper received the letter and hurried out again, asking an acquaintance to deliver the letter to the capital.

Shui's

family received a letter from the capital, saying that their son was coming back. Counting the time, the child should be able to return to Nanyang Mansion in the next few days. Li Shangu, the biological father, couldn't help but took people and went to Nanyang to pick up the child in person.

When he came to Nanyang, Li Shangu also inspected the shops here. In recent years, their business has grown bigger and bigger, and their business has reached Nanyang. There are several shops here in Nanyang. Because of their eldest son's relationship, their business went smoothly all the way. However, Li Shangu did not do anything extraordinary in his son's name. Instead, he kept a lower profile.

Li Shangu waited for two days in Nanyang before meeting his youngest son.

"Daddy." When Li Haopeng saw his father, he couldn't help but threw himself into his arms, whimpering as he missed his father and his mother-in-law. Li Gushan patted the child's head, his eyes were a little hot, and nodded and said, "I have grown taller, grown up, okay, okay... Your grandma and grandma have been thinking about you, and they are very happy to know that you are back." Huixing〇,

"Okay, okay. "He patted the child's head twice with his big hands, showing his deep fatherly love.

The child then raised his head from his father's arms and wiped his slightly red eyes. Li Shanshan rubbed the child's eyes twice. A smile appeared on his face

. "Li Jinwan stepped forward and called uncle.

"Well, the four girls are back together. Your grandma and auntie knew you were back, and they were thinking about you." Li Shangu knew that his eldest son was an official in the capital and could not come back. There was also his niece who came back with the younger son, standing there. There was a young man and a boy about the same age as his son beside the niece.

Bai Yu took the initiative to say hello to his father. Li Jinwan confessed that she and Bai Yu were engaged, feeling a little uneasy.

Li Gushan's eyes turned around the two of them. He knew what was going on and didn't say much.

"You guys are tired when you come back from the journey. I booked a room at Kezhan. Let's go to the inn to freshen up and eat." Order something. If you have any questions, let's talk about it later."

"Yes, uncle."

Everyone got on the carriage and went to find the guests.

After arriving at the inn, everyone freshened up and changed clothes and went downstairs. After eating something, the group went up to the guest room to find a room upstairs.

Li Shangu sat in his room and met several juniors. Two boys sat beside him. His niece and the young man stood in front of him. They told him clearly about their engagement and handed over a letter written by his son. he. He asked the younger son to tell him his belief. In the letter, the eldest son told him that this was the marriage he had arranged for the two of them. Therefore, Li Shangu had no intention of embarrassing the two juniors, "Okay, we will discuss this matter when we get back." Just make it clear to your mother and father."

"Thank you, uncle." Li Jinwan was relieved of his worries.

After resting one night in the inn, they did not stop in Nanyang. Early the next morning, the group boarded a large ship passing by Qingping Town and headed back to Qingping Town. The big ship traveled for four or five days before returning to Qingping Town. From the town, the carriage was transferred back to the village.

Li Gugu's family has been living in Lijia Village these years and has not moved to the town.

But because of the several large workshops in Lijiacun, businessmen from other places came to Qingping Town to buy goods, and there was an endless stream of ships coming and going on the dock. Nowadays, goods in the village are transported to the shops in the town. Merchants can just go to the shops in the town to sell their goods without having to enter the village. Since the wall was built in Lijia Village, no outsiders are allowed to enter Lijia Village without the villagers in the village to lead the way.

Nowadays, among the villages below Qingping Town, Lijia Village has become the richest village. Families with daughters from other villages want to marry their daughters to Lijia Village, so now all the unmarried boys in the village have become outsiders.

Everyone is vying to grab the hot son-in-law. And the girls in the village don't have to worry about getting married. As long as they are not of bad reputation, there are a lot of people waiting to marry them.

The road leading from the town into the village is flat and wide.

It was Bai Yu's first time to visit their adults' hometown. He originally thought it was just an ordinary village. But when he got on the carriage entering the village, he saw the spacious road outside, with endless wheat fields on both sides of the road. Returning to a familiar place, Li Haopeng lay at the window, chattering endlessly about his hometown to his close friends. The two children put their heads together and chattered without stopping.

The carriage entered the village. The man guarding the gate at the village entrance saw that their village chief was returning with the young master. He opened the village gate to let the carriage in, and several carriages entered the village.

Now when people in the village see the carriage coming in, there won't be a lot of people running around to watch.

But knowing that the village chief had brought back the young master who went to study in the capital, everyone was talking about it. Ever since a champion came out of their Lijia Village, the whole village had become different. Now they went out and talked about it. Knowing that they were from Lijia Village, people from other villages showed envious expressions, which made many villagers feel proud.

If their boy could get the top score in the exam... let alone the top scorer, he would be satisfied even if he came back as a scholar!

"Aniang, Aniang...grandma..." Before the carriage could stand still, Li Haopeng raised his legs and ran towards the house, shouting as he ran.

Before the person entered the door, the voice came first. The woman waiting in the room said, "Hey, it's Xiaobao who's back."

"Hurry up and pick him up." The old lady knew as soon as she heard the voice. The grandson is back.

"Yes, Mom, I'll go right away." As soon as Sun Yi came out of the door, she saw her youngest son running in, and caught her. The mother and son hugged each other, with tears in their eyes. When the old lady saw her little grandson coming back, she wiped away her tears and smiled. It was obvious that the whole family was very happy because of the child's return. "I wish you had a safe trip and came back smoothly..." Tsxdz

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Chapter 206 Changes

Since the end of July, the number of merchants coming to the capital every day has begun to increase. The merchants from areas close to the capital have arrived in the capital earlier, and the merchants from places further away from the capital are still on their way to the capital. On the road were teams of carriages and horses representing family caravans from various places. Businessmen from all over the country were gathering in the capital.

When they arrived in the capital, these businessmen were surprised to find that the capital had changed drastically.

There is no charge tax when entering the city. Cars, horses and livestock are charged per head. The roads in the city have become wider. Cars and horses move forward in an orderly manner. There are still many small vendors along the way. Pedestrians walk on the sidewalks, and cars and horses walk on the carriage roads. Old men can also be seen cleaning the streets. The feces pulled by cattle, horses and livestock in the streets will be quickly cleaned away. I heard that these were all done by Mr. Li Liuyuan, and the entire capital suddenly changed.

"Well, that's good." The businessmen nodded in praise.

The businessmen had a very good impression of Mr. Li Liuyuan, who established the Ministry of Commerce, proposed to exempt their merchants from many miscellaneous taxes, and also proposed to vigorously develop business. If there is a chance, all these businessmen would like to meet this Mr. Li. Everyone knows that this business conference and investment conference are hosted by Mr. Li. This time, these businessmen are coming to the capital one after another. Many of them have only two purposes. One is to participate in the conference, and the other is to I want to meet the legendary Master Li.

The number of people in the city suddenly increased, and the business of various restaurants and inns in the city also picked up.

Most of these businessmen will not be short of silver, and they will choose the best food and accommodation. The rooms in the better restaurants and inns in the city have been booked one after another. People who are coming to the capital later do not know yet. Can you find a good place to live^

In previous years when the imperial court opened Enke, the restaurants and shops in the city took the opportunity to make a lot of money. I didn't expect that Mr. Li held two conferences and so many wealthy businessmen came. The shopkeepers of these restaurants and inns They were laughing from ear to ear.

The respective merchants are trying to get time to arrive in the capital as early as possible, but the merchants who are too far away from the capital have not yet arrived in the capital so quickly. At this time, the merchants in places close to the capital have taken advantage.

If they arrive in the capital early, they can get more information about the imperial court and about Mr. Li Liuyuan. People who do business pay attention to mastering first-hand information. Being able to master useful information will have the greatest advantage. It would be better if you could establish some relationship with Mr. Li and get some convenience and benefits of doing business. But that's it.

All of a sudden, the businessmen who came to the capital were inquiring about Mr. Li through various channels. Businessmen with connections in the court are all looking for acquaintances, but so far, no businessman has been able to find Master Li Liuyuan through acquaintances.

In the upstairs wing of a restaurant, a group of businessmen gathered together. They were discussing the upcoming business conference, thinking that the key figure in this conference was Mr. Li. Knowing that not only they were unable to establish a relationship with Master Li, but also that other businessmen were unable to establish a relationship with that Master Li, someone said, "In this case, we don't have to worry."

"Judging from Master Li's past actions, Judging from his style, this Mr. Li is honest. If we go there rashly... it will be counterproductive. It is better to see how businessmen in other places behave, and then we can discuss how to deal with it."

After hearing this, everyone present . The businessmen all nodded and said, "If you want to leave a bad impression on Mr. Li, it will be a bad thing." Among the waste of demolished houses in

the West District

, a large comprehensive market is being built, and it can now be seen The prototype has been seen. Shops on both sides are being built. A lot of manpower and material resources have been invested. The most obvious effect is that houses are rising from the ground. The place looks the same almost every day.

All the small alleys that were previously inaccessible to the road were expanded to accommodate at least one carriage. The avenues were widened to the minimum standard of two carriages running parallel, and sidewalks were left on both sides. This is somewhat similar to modern roads, with driveways and sidewalks facing each other and having sufficient width.

There is also the issue of underground drainage in the West District. Li Wen regards this as a top priority and one of the issues that must be solved.

This place in the West District used to be dirty and messy. A large part of the reason was that there were too many people living there and the drainage problem was not handled well. Not to mention that the drainage here in the West District was not handled well, but the drainage in the entire capital was not necessarily that good. Last time, he proposed to improve the underground drainage problem in the capital, and it was approved by the emperor. The Ministry of Industry has now taken over the matter, but the capital is not small. It will take less than a year and a half to dig out the underground drainage of the entire capital. Can't finish it.

Even if it takes ten or eight years to deal with it, only by fundamentally solving it can the fate of the entire Dacheng be completely changed! At this point, Li Wen had enough confidence and patience to deal with it, but the premise was that the master he would serve in the future was a wise king.

□Author's gossip: Thank you for supporting me, hmm! If you want to know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading

Chapter 207: August

As soon as July passes, it's August. In the golden autumn of August, it's the time of year when sweet-scented osmanthus blooms again.

In his previous life, his grandmother was still alive. Whenever the sweet-scented osmanthus bloomed, the little old lady would use the sweet-scented osmanthus to make sweet-scented osmanthus cake for him. The sweet-scented osmanthus cake was mainly made with glutinous rice flour, flour, appropriate amount of sugar and appropriate amount of sweet-scented osmanthus. It's done. It's not difficult to make, but not everyone has the skills to make it delicious. Li Wen still remembers the taste of the sweet-scented osmanthus cake his grandma made for him.

But after the little old lady passed away, he could never taste the sweet-scented osmanthus cake again.

I remember that when he was a child, he told his mother-in-law that he wanted to eat osmanthus cake. The family life was not very good at that time. When his father went to the mountains to pick osmanthus and came back, his mother-in-law steamed the osmanthus cake for him. In the past, at home, every time the sweet-scented osmanthus bloomed, my father would go up the mountain to pick sweet-scented osmanthus and come back. My mother-in-law would also make him a sweet-scented osmanthus cake to eat. This was the most luxurious thing in their family when they were young, and often only he could make it. You can eat it.

The taste of the sweet-scented osmanthus cake made by grandma is different from the one his grandma made for him in the previous life, but the same is the love for him in it, the love of grandma for her grandson, and the love of mother. Love for children.

In both lives, he was lucky enough to meet relatives who loved him.

But now that he is in the capital, it is a bit difficult to eat the sweet-scented osmanthus cake made by his mother-in-law. Li Wen misses his relatives at home, as well as the relatives who have left him in his previous life. Too much time had passed, and the faces of those relatives who had left him had become blurry. Only the unforgettable taste and longing remained. He sighed slightly in his heart.

The fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus in August reminds people of many past events.

"Master, aren't you happy?" Li Tong saw that their young master had maintained this expression for a quarter of an hour. Although the corners of his young master's mouth were curved, he felt that their young master was not too happy. What does it look like?

After following his master for so many years, Li Tong could somewhat sense whether his master was happy or unhappy.

"It's nothing." Li Wen shook his head, not wanting to say more.

"Oh." If you don't want to say it, don't say it.

Seeing that their young master didn't speak, Li Tong just stood quietly beside their young master, not daring to disturb his master. He was still wondering why their young master looked unhappy. After thinking about it for a long time, the book boy, who was not very smart, stopped thinking about it.

His mission is to serve their young master well. When the young master needs him as a slave, he can be by the young master's side. After

the water

entered August, more and more businessmen rushed to the capital. Every day, there were many teams of carriages and horses lining up outside the city gate to enter the city. Pedestrians and traffic were coming and going on the streets, and countless small vendors displayed their small wares. The stalls were selling things, and the sounds of shouts, horse hooves, and conversations were intertwined.

The capital is still as lively as ever.

Li Wen was sitting in the upstairs wing of the restaurant. The wing faced the street. Standing by the window, he could just see the street below. There were countless carriages, horses and pedestrians coming and going. He knew that many of those carriages were coming to the capital from other places. The businessman

knew that as the conference was about to be held, more and more businessmen would flock to the capital. He did not expect that so many businessmen would come to the capital.

Tickets are still being sold at several ticket offices, and every day there are people waiting in line for a long time who can't buy tickets. They put their spare tickets on the black market. The closer this time comes, the more anxious the businessmen who have not yet bought tickets become. These businessmen have traveled all the way to the capital just to participate in the conference, so they will not be stingy with giving a little more money to buy a spot.

It was true that the Western District had invested too much money and there was nothing he could do. For this reason, he also borrowed a sum of money from His Highness the Crown Prince.

Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, businessmen are the most indispensable among these four types of people.

These businessmen hold most of the wealth in the entire Da Cheng in their hands. They are officials for power, and businessmen are for wealth. Businessmen have active minds and flexible brains. They have more pursuits than farmers who only know how to farm, and more than scholars who only know how to study. Know how to survive. If you compare businessmen to fish, then great achievement is a river. If you put fish into the river, the fish can swim freely. Because of the fish, the water will live in the river. In other words, great achievement must have these businessmen so that the entire economy can circulate. The entire country's economy can be revitalized.

A country's economy represents the lifeblood of a country. Later generations proposed economic power. In this agricultural era, no one realized the importance of the economy. In fact, it is not only the confrontation on the battlefield that is a war, the economy is also a sharp sword that can kill people without blood. If you can control the economy of a country, you are equivalent to holding the lifeblood and future of the country, and you can control a country economically.

It is a pity that in the land of the Central Plains, the kings of the past dynasties emphasized agriculture and neglected commerce, inhibiting the development of commerce, which caused the society to stagnate and did not know how to use the sharp sword of economy. If you fall behind, you will be beaten. It is not until the enemy comes knocking that many people wake up, but by then it is too late and the price paid is too heavy.

This time, if he can make good use of these businessmen, it will not only bring economic benefits, revitalize the entire Dacheng economy, but also lay a solid foundation for future reform and construction. A great man of later generations once said that the economic base determines the superstructure. The superstructure is the ideology built on the economic base and the systems, organizations and facilities that are compatible with it.

In fact, to put it bluntly, you can't do anything without money. Money is not everything, but money can change a person's destiny, and even the destiny of a country.

This is why he proposed business reform in the first place and brought these businessmen together.

"Knock knock—"

"Come in."

Li Wen saw the man coming in, and a smile appeared on his face.

Zhao Xiangyi had just returned from the camp. He didn't even have time to change his clothes before he went back to the restaurant to meet the young man. "Have you been waiting here for a long time?"

"No, I just arrived not long ago." In fact, Li Wen had arrived. I have been here for a while, but there is nothing important happening around me. I just sit here and think about something, sort out all the messy things in my mind, and then I know what to do next for the better.

Li Wen asked the waiter in the room to go down and poured a cup of tea for Zhao Xiangyi with his own hands.

The two of them would serve each other tea and water when they were together. On the contrary, they enjoyed the time they spent together. Zhao Xiangyi picked up the tea cup and drank all the tea in one gulp. Li Wen poured three cups in a row before stopping and asked with a smile, "Are you thirsty or hungry? Do you want to drink water to satisfy your hunger?" ?"

"Thirsty and hungry." Zhao Xiangyi also smiled and took a bite of the pastry on the table.

"Don't eat these things. I ordered the food and it will be served in a moment." Li Wen stopped the man from eating pastries. Originally, Zhao Xiangyi didn't plan to eat more. He didn't really like eating such sweet pastries and snacks.

Li Wen had ordered the food long before the man arrived. After a while, the food he ordered was served. The two of them just finished their meal and discussed business. The conference is coming soon, and with so many people pouring into the capital, the security of the city is a big problem. The most important thing at this time is to prevent any unexpected situations from happening.

When they left the restaurant, Zhao Xiangyi had other things to do.

"Okay, you go and do your work. I'll wait for you when I get back." Li Wen first got on the carriage and went back to his house. When he came back, he went into the study to write. He kept writing until late at night before waiting for the man to come back. Recently, the emperor has been exempted from the morning court. If the officials have something to report, they will hand the documents into the palace and go to the palace to see the emperor.

He was going to the palace tomorrow because he had something to report to the emperor.

When Zhao Xiangyi came back at night, the two of them briefly freshened up and went to bed together.

After the hot summer has passed and autumn has entered, the nights have become cooler. I put a thin quilt on the bed so that I won't feel cold at night. But there was a big stove next to him. No matter how cold the weather was, as long as this man was around, Li Wen wouldn't feel cold.

After the weather got less hot, Li Wen no longer disliked the big stove next to him. He also liked to hold it

while thinking about things, and unconsciously touched the man's abdominal muscles twice with his hands.

Feel good? Touching his own soft belly again, Li Wen felt envious in his heart.

When could he develop such muscular tendons and abs?

Since he became an official in the capital, he has become more and more neglectful of his body. He used to get up every day to run and box. Now he is busy too late every night. He has to get up early in the morning to go to court, and there is no time at all. exercise.

Forget about exercising, now he just wants to sleep a little longer in the morning. How can he get up half an hour early to exercise?

Hey...

"Don't touch it. Why are you sighing?" Zhao Xiangyi grabbed the little hand that was touching him. The little guy couldn't touch him enough. From time to time, he would hug him and light fire everywhere. Originally, he thought that the little guy was too busy and tired recently, and he didn't want to make him more tired. However, the little guy didn't notice his painstaking efforts at all, and he became more and more enthusiastic as he touched it!

The sighing boy looked at his man with a pair of eyes, jealous that you have abdominal muscles and are better than me... TsXdz

Of course, he couldn't say this, lest someone be too proud and make him look less charming than a man with his tender flesh. None.

"Little one, don't look at me like that. You don't want to sleep, so let's do something else!" Seeing the

way the young man looked at him, Zhao Xiangyi could no longer control himself. The young man rolled over on top of him, grabbed the back of the man's head with one hand, and blocked the young man's mouth...

"Hmm?..." "

Why did it develop like this?" He clearly didn't show this intention!

The young man struggled for a moment, then closed his eyes and fell into the love with the man.

But when he got up in the morning, Mr. Li held his waist with one hand and walked with teeth, he felt a little regretful for indulging himself too much and indulging a certain man last night! Fortunately, he didn't have to go to court today, so he could sleep and get up later.

Even so, he still yawned repeatedly when he woke up in the morning. It was too late to regret it now...

These days were painful and happy!

Chapter 208: The Mid

-Autumn Festival is already two days away from the first update.

This August, the capital is particularly lively. The business conference is about to be held, and businessmen from all over the country are gathering in the capital.

Originally, the Mid-Autumn Festival was a festival for family reunions, but for these profit-seeking businessmen, there is nothing more important than making money and doing business. This time is a business conference held by the government as a representative, which is of great significance. Otherwise, if others come, wouldn't those who didn't come be left behind and lose business opportunities? Therefore, they must not miss such an important conference.

At this time, most of the businessmen from other places have rushed to the capital, leaving only a few who are still on the way to the capital. Those who are still on the way at this time will probably be able to come to the capital in the next three or two days. The restaurants and inns in the city were full of people, and the businessmen who came late could not rent a good place to live, and those who were less likely to live had to make do with it.

The businessmen who arrived in the capital were not idle. They invited each other to sit down for a glass of wine and a meal. Reciting poems was not so elegant and sophisticated for these businessmen. Most of the businessmen gathered to talk about business and other related matters. About this conference.

This is the first time that so many businessmen have gathered in the capital. Most of these businessmen are quick-thinking and know that this is an opportunity. Businessmen are good at socializing, and those who don't know each other quickly become acquaintances. Those who are interested sit down to discuss cooperation and do some business. Before the convening of the conference, none of these businessmen had time to spare. They were out calling friends and running around every day.

The business of the Hualou brothels in the capital is better than before. When men go out, there are few who don't like to drink flower wine and find a few beautiful girls to accompany them. The girls in the building are wearing revealing clothes and heavy makeup on their faces. , greeted and sent off with a smile.

"Master." Yan Niang knelt at the man's feet meekly. The man was her master, the man who controlled her destiny. The woman probably knew the identity and responsibilities of their master, but she would not have guessed that the person sitting in front of her was the current Crown Prince.

The woman was the oiran of Wanhua House, and Yan Niang was once the young lady of the family. She was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and was beautiful in appearance. However, she was reduced to a prostitute because of her family's financial difficulties. Probably because of this, she has two contradictory temperaments in her body. It is because of this temperament that the men outside are crazy about her.

But Yan Niang knew that these people did not include her master.

Yanniang told her master all the news collected in the building, big and small.

Wanhua Building is a place for collecting information. The people here are mixed and people of all identities are the easiest place to collect all kinds of information.

The prince, dressed in regular clothes, was sitting in the upstairs wing of the Wanhua Building, the largest flower building in the capital. Outsiders were not allowed to come up to this floor. Compared with the noise of people downstairs, the place upstairs seemed a little quieter. The person kneeling in front of him was the oiran in this building. Facing such a beautiful woman, he was not moved at all.

Someone who can make his heart beat?

A young man's face flashed in his mind, and the corners of Yang Shaomu's mouth curled up, but the smile was fleeting, as if it had never appeared before. After listening to the woman's words, he said "Yeah" indifferently and said, "Get out."

... Unfortunately, that boy already belonged to someone else, and the prince couldn't help but feel a little regretful in his heart. Obviously they met the young man together, so why did the young man choose his companion instead of him, the prince? This is what His Highness the Crown Prince did not expect. His status is obviously more noble. It's just that the young man always kept a distance from him and didn't want to get too close to him.

"Master..." Don't you want Yan Niang to stay and serve you? Seeing that her master let her out so quickly, Yan Niang raised her head and looked at the man with a pair of watery autumn eyes. She was so pitiful that no man could bear to refuse.

Yang Shaomu looked at the woman calmly, without any negotiable meaning.

As soon as she caught the man's gaze on her, Yan Niang immediately lowered her head. There was a hint of unwillingness in her lowered eyes, but she still responded with a "yes" submissively, stood up, and took two steps back. Turned around and went out.

He held the wine glass on the table, touched the rim to his lips, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.

Not long after, his companion appeared in front of him, and Yang Shaomu motioned for him to sit down.

Zhao Xiangyi sat down on the chair beside him, but did not touch the wine on the table. Yang Shaomu, who was sitting crookedly on the soft couch, looked at his companion who was sitting upright, smiled, and asked, "Won't you have a drink with me?"

When the two of them got along in private, His Royal Highness used the It's all "I", not "lonely", and the relationship between the two people suddenly became much closer.

It was just a glass of wine. Zhao Xiangyi picked up the cup and drank it.

He didn't know why the prince was in a bad mood, but he didn't ask some questions that he shouldn't ask. Zhao Xiangyi had no curiosity or desire to explore them. Although he is the prince's companion, one thing cannot

be changed , that is, the prince is a king and he is a minister.

A carriage went out from the side door at the corner of the building. It walked quietly and no one noticed.

Zhao Xiangyi sent the prince back to the East Palace before leaving.

He went back to the general's mansion at night. After taking a shower and changing into clean clothes, he went to the young man's place. He didn't want to bring the inappropriate smell from outside to the young man's place.

When he arrived, the young man under the lamp was still buried in his desk, still busy with official duties. As soon as the young man saw him, he would smile on his face and say, "Here he comes," and ask him to wait. No matter how many times he heard the phrase "Here he comes," Zhao Xiangyi always felt like he was coming home.

Wherever the young man is, that's where he belongs. In

the

middle of August, it is the annual Mid-Autumn Festival.

This year, the palace will hold a Mid-Autumn Banquet as in previous years. Those who are eligible to attend the palace banquet are the powerful relatives in the capital. Ministers of the fourth rank and above in the court can bring their wives and family members to attend the banquet. Those who can attend This type of palace banquet represents a status symbol.

Every year on this day, ladies and ladies from various palaces would dress up and ride their family's carriages and sedans into the palace.

Last year, Li Wen was not qualified to attend, but this year he was qualified to attend.

After entering the palace, the female relatives went to pay homage to the Queen and several concubines.

The emperor is not in good health this year, so he sent His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to host the banquet on his behalf to entertain the ministers who arrived. The eldest prince, the third prince, the fourth prince and the sixth prince were all there. Even the youngest seventh prince was not with Concubine Dong Gui, but was with several royal brothers.

"Sir Wang."

"Sir Zhang."

The officials met and greeted each other familiarly. They were all officials serving in the court, and everyone knew each other.

It's just that their positions are different, their positions are different, and their relationships are naturally different. These officials all wear a mask of hypocrisy on their faces.

In a place with so many people, Li Wen found the man standing next to the prince at a glance.

As if he felt that familiar gaze falling on him, Zhao Xiangyi raised his head and caught the young man's figure through the crowd, and the two people's eyes collided.

At this time, there were several adults standing in front of Li Wen. Several of them mentioned that a little girl in their family had followed their mistress to the palace today. It was not difficult to tell what they meant. She was here to act as a matchmaker for him. Li Wen I laughed in my heart.

"Marriage is a major event in life. You should obey your parents' orders and don't dare to make your own decisions." This sentence is naturally an excuse. Li Wen relied on the fact that his parents were far away in Qingping. These people couldn't go all the way to Qingping to talk to his parents about this, right? Even if these people came to find him, without his own nodding, his parents would definitely not dare to make the decision casually.

Among a group of ministers with wrinkled faces, Li Liuyuan, who was as tall and green as a green bamboo, was particularly eye-catching

. In the eyes of these officials in the court, Li Wen was a target to win over. Which family of these officials does not have a daughter who has not yet left the cabinet? Even if you don't have one in your family, there must be a girl of marriageable age in the clan, it's just a matter of picking out a suitable one.

Li Liuyuan's background was slightly different, but at his age, he was able to climb to the fourth-rank official position so quickly. Looking at the whole court, there was no second one. Not to mention that Li Wen is still a popular person around the emperor. If he can win over Li Wen, it will be a useful help to their family and even the master behind them.

But a year ago, Li Wen was just a small editor in the Hanlin Academy, and some officials in the court just stood aside and watched. It's just that things are different now. Li Wen is no longer an editor in the Hanlin Academy, but has become a popular son-in-law in the eyes of everyone. Now many officials have set their sights on Li Liuyuan.

Zhao Xiangyi, who was standing next to the prince, naturally noticed that many officials were surrounding Li Wen, but the two were too far apart. He didn't know what the officials surrounding Li Wen were saying to him.

But even if he couldn't hear what they said, Zhao Xiangyi had some guesses in his heart. His brows frowned unconsciously and his jaw tensed even more.

Yang Shaomu noticed that he was absent-minded in reading, turned to look at Zhao Xiangyi, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhao Xiangyi shook his head and just said, "Nothing."

He finally got rid of the few people who were blocking him. Sir, Li Wen went to His Highness the Crown Prince and saluted His Highness the Crown

Prince and His Royal Highnesses the Fourth and Sixth Prince who were standing with the Crown Prince. When Yang Shaomu saw the young man standing in front of him, with a consistent smile on his face, he said, "No courtesy."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Li Wen stood up and met the eyes of the sixth prince looking at him. There was curiosity and inquiry about him in her eyes.

The sixth prince, Yang Shaojun, was still young and had a fun-loving temperament. He did not go to court to listen to politics on weekdays. Li Wen had met the sixth prince a few times, but he was not familiar with him and had no personal contacts with him.

Chapter 209 Proposed Marriage

However, Li Wen was not familiar with the Sixth Prince, but the Sixth Prince had heard the name of Li Liuyuan from many people.

Yang Shaojun and Situ Yu, the young prince of the Zhongyuan Marquis Mansion, have a very good relationship. The two are about the same age and have played together since they were young. In addition, they both love to play, so they have always had a good relationship when they grow up. Yang Shaojun often heard Situ Yu mention Li Wen. He stared at Li Wen with bright eyes and said, "I often hear Xiao Yu mention you."

"Oh, really? What did the young prince say? "As soon as Li Wen heard this, he knew who the Xiao Yu mentioned by the sixth prince was. Who else could it be besides the young prince? He has been too busy recently and hasn't seen the young prince for a while.

The Kyoto Daily has a column for all kinds of gossip about the capital, and that section has always been in charge of the Young Prince and the other young masters. Of course, the young prince and the other young masters are not doing it themselves. As long as the young prince gives instructions, some of their subordinates will write the article for them, but it's just their names that are hanging on it.

Fortunately, he had brought the young prince and the others in, and the Emperor was a big backer behind the Kyoto Daily. Unless they were not afraid of death, ordinary people would really not dare to provoke them. This is also the reason why no one dares to settle accounts with them after the scandals of major aristocratic families were exposed by the younger princes and the others.

"Oh, what do you all say about Li Liuyuan? Tell me what you said." His Royal Highness also had a curious look on his face, wanting to hear what his brother-in-law mentioned about Li Wen.

"Xiaoyu said you..." The sixth prince was about to speak when a voice interrupted.

Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived. As soon as the young prince came, he heard Yang Shaojun mention him. He was afraid that Yang Shaojun was talking bad about him,

so he walked over in three steps and asked aggressively, "Little Liu Zi, what are you talking about me? ? Are you talking bad about me?"

Except for the younger prince, there are few people in the world who dare to call the sixth prince "Little Sixth Prince".

"I haven't even started talking yet, why did I say bad things about you!" Obviously he didn't mean to say bad things about Xiao Feather? Is he the kind of person who speaks ill of his friends behind their backs? Yang Shaojun was immediately like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and was greatly insulted by others.

Seeing that the two boys were about to fight each other when they met, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince comforted him, "Okay, okay. Shaojun didn't say anything bad about you, Gu and Mr. Li, we can all testify."

The young prince looked at him, Li Wen nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, His Highness the Sixth Prince just said that you mentioned me to him, and I was just about to ask you what you mentioned about me. If not, here you are."

The young prince opened his mouth, "Ah." He made a sound, obviously he didn't expect this. Did he misunderstand?

What did he mention about Li Wen to Xiao Liuzi? When he thought of what he had said, the young prince suddenly felt awkward.

Situ Yu gave the sixth prince a look that meant he couldn't say it.

The Sixth Prince looked back: I must say it! Let you misunderstand me!

Yang Shaojun was about to speak up. As soon as the young prince became anxious, he jumped up and stretched out his hand to grab the sixth prince. He pulled him away and left a message to everyone, "Brother Prince, I have a few words to say to Shaojun.

That's all." They pulled him away.

"I..." I won't leave! The Sixth Prince was half dragged away by the Young Prince.

Several people watched the Young Prince dragging the Sixth Prince away, and Yang Shaomu couldn't help but smile. , "These two boys have been making trouble since they were little, and I don't care about them. "

The dusk was getting late, and the palace lanterns in the palace were on.

"The Emperor has arrived -"

As the Emperor's ceremonial guard appeared, everyone knelt down one after another and shouted, "Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor - Thousand lives the Queen!" Thousands of years old -"

Emperor Zhaozong walked out supported by the eunuchs beside him, followed by the queen, followed by several noble concubines and many concubines in the harem.

"All my dear friends, please get back on your feet. "Emperor Zhaozong came out holding his sick body, with a grayish look on his face. It can be seen that the emperor has been seriously ill recently. However, at this time, the emperor still came out holding his sick body, just to tell his son and these ministers below that he, the emperor Still here!

It is a must to worship the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon is rising from the east.

An incense table is set up in the palace, with moon cakes, apples, red dates and other offerings. The ministers worshiped the moon god together, praying for good weather and abundant grains.

Li Wen stood among the officials, and for some reason he came to stand side by side with His Royal Highness, Zhao Xiangyi. There were many people here, and the two of them stood together. The crowd is not too eye-catching. The emperor is here at this time

. Naturally, more people are looking at the emperor, and no one will notice them.

But now they are in the palace, and everyone is standing around them . The officials in the court paid special attention to each other. Apart from the occasional glances, the two of them didn't talk much.

The ceremony of worshiping the moon ended not long after, and

the palace banquet officially began, and the palace maids served fine wines and delicacies. , the emperor and the queen sat in the upper seats, the princes and princes below, the royal family members, the concubines in the harem, and the ministers in the court all took their seats one after another.

The men sat in the front, and the female family members behind. The civil servants and military officers sat on each side of their table.

Li Wen sat on the civil servant's side, and Zhao Xiangyi sat diagonally opposite him. Sitting next to Zhao Xiangyi was General Wang Hao.

They could see it when they looked up . Wang Xiaojiang found that the person

sitting across from him was Li Liuyuan, who was winking at Li Liuyuan. Li Wen couldn't help but laugh at

Zhao Xiangyi, "..."

Li Wen remembered that on this day last year, the two of them were alone in the palace. One is

outside the palace, and this year they are both sitting here. Although there is a Milky Way between them, they are sitting together, but it has always been his goal to sit side by side with this man. He has been promoted step by step, and his official position has been promoted so quickly. Others don't know that he has been working hard for more than ten years. He used to study harder than his peers. Now that he has entered the officialdom, he is still an official. , What others were thinking about was how to make money for their own pockets, what he was thinking about was how to make money for the emperor, and how to do something for the people of the world.

In order to do things for the emperor, he escaped from the edge of the knife. If not for this. Zhao Xiangyi was by his side all the way, and he was afraid that he would have already become a dead soul under someone else's sword, so there would be no chance of him sitting here.

Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. He was cautious in what he said and did in front of the emperor, for fear of being killed by others. If he said the wrong thing, he would arouse the emperor's displeasure and not be trusted by the emperor, and his career would be very difficult.

Li Wen knew that he would not be able to sit down today. Here, the bigger part is that he is loyal to the emperor wholeheartedly and can truly serve the emperor. From the beginning to the end, he is loyal only to the emperor, and does not choose the prince or other princes. This is the emperor. The reason for trusting him.

The dishes at the palace banquet are all produced by the imperial dining room. They are good-looking, but it is a pity that they are already cold. The weather is cold at this time, and the taste and texture of the dishes are completely different once they are cooled. He put down his chopsticks after taking one bite and had no intention of taking a second bite, thus wasting so much food and money.

This is not the first time he has attended a palace banquet, all palace banquets are similar.

The beautiful woman danced gracefully, and the officials present could not take their eyes off it.

Li Wen didn't really like this kind of dance where he was wearing long-sleeved clothes and waving around. The movements were slow and slow, making people blind, and the music made people want to sleep. The girl in the middle who was leading the dance cast her eyes on the emperor. Even though the emperor was old and aged, there were still many women who wanted to climb onto the dragon's bed and compete for their stomachs, and the children they gave birth to would be dragon children.

"Okay, so beautiful..." The eldest prince is a lecherous person. Among the several princes, he is the only one who shows lust whenever he sees a woman. He does not hide his preference at all even in front of the emperor and the ministers of the court.

This is very similar to the emperor. If it weren't for the emperor's poor health in the past few years, he would no longer accept beautiful girls from the palace.

Yang Shaomu's face was pale, he just sat there and listened to the music.

The Crown Princess was holding her two-year-old child in her arms and was sitting next to the female relatives, sitting with the First and Third Princesses.

Their table was filled with several princes and concubines. The women sat together and had to compete with each other. The eldest prince's concubine spoke with insinuations and was aimed at her. Situ Xue just pretended not to hear it. Among the princes and concubines, the prince's concubine showed a good-tempered appearance. In this way, she looked somewhat similar to Her Highness Taizi. .

After the group was over, the queen mentioned the marriage of the sixth prince Yang Shaojun in front of the emperor.

The queen knew that the emperor was not in good health and spirits recently. The emperor would leave soon if he came out to show his face. Shangguan Wanqing knew that she would seize this opportunity and mentioned the sixth prince's marriage, "Your Majesty, Jun'er is already six out of ten this year. I think the prince has already married the princess at Jun'er's age."

"Your Majesty , Jun'er is already six out of ten this year." "Why don't we take advantage of today's Mid-Autumn Festival to propose a good marriage to Jun'er, which would be even more joyous, don't you think so, Your Majesty?" the queen said with a smile.

Xiaoliu was born to a humble palace maid. He was brought to her side to raise her as soon as he was born. He and the prince became brothers and sisters

. The reason why Shangguan Wanqing took the child to her side to raise was because she wanted to raise the child to help her son.

Now that the child is old enough, it is time to choose a good marriage for him.

"That's what the Queen said." Emperor Zhaozong nodded in agreement. He thought that the child was still young and didn't notice that he was already sixteen, so it was time for him to get married. The

daughter should be more familiar with me. Why don't you, Queen, tell me which girl from the house you think is more suitable for Xiaoliu? "

Chapter 210: Inside and Outside the Bureau.

As soon as Yang Shaojun, who was sitting below, heard that the emperor and the queen were discussing the matter of marrying him, his face immediately turned pale. After a pause, he stood up naked. , after bowing, he said, "Father, mother, the child is still young and doesn't want to marry yet.

This excuse is so pale that it is not convincing at all.

"You kid, don't be embarrassed. Marrying a wife and having children is a necessary part of life. Your brothers have all married at your age. "The queen covered her mouth with a handkerchief and smiled, thinking it was a child who was embarrassed, and said, "Today, while all the ladies and ladies from all the palaces are here, the queen mother and your father will choose a good girl for you. With your temper, you just need someone to take care of you. "

The emperor smiled and nodded, agreeing with what the queen said, "If someone takes care of this child, maybe he will become more stable. Don't just play all day long, it's time to learn government affairs.

"Your Majesty, that's what you said. " "The Queen smiled from ear to ear. The other meaning behind the Emperor's words was to allow the Sixth Prince to join the court and learn government affairs. The Sixth Prince was raised under her knees, although she had little regard for her biological son. She was partial, but she was not bad for the sixth prince who was raised in front of her.

The queen naturally knew what kind of character this child had. Fortunately, she did not waste so many years of thinking, otherwise she would raise a strong enemy for her son. She regretted it. When the sixth prince entered the court, she would be able to help the prince. This was what the queen had always wanted.

"No..." Yang Shaojun wanted to protest, but he subconsciously looked at his prince. Brother, he wanted his brother to come forward and help him.

Yang Shaomu shook his head slightly. He knew what the sixth brother was thinking. He moved his mouth and said "no" silently,

but they were the princes in the royal family . , which one can decide on their own marriage? Today is a palace banquet, and all the ministers are here. It will not do them any good to refute the face of their father and his mother at this time

. Whether you like it or not, you must accept your fate.

Sooner or later, you will marry this wife. Since the father and mother mentioned it, it is better to follow their arrangements. The principal wives of these princes are from these capitals. The girls selected will not be incompatible in terms of status. As for who is selected, it depends on the meaning of the father and his mother.

The sixth prince understood the words on the prince's lips and his mind was blank. He stood there not knowing what to do. What was the reaction?

The eldest prince and the third prince were sitting there watching the show. Naturally, they didn't want the emperor to give Xiaoliu's family too much. It was not so much the emperor who was planning Xiaoliu's marriage today, but rather the queen who was helping the prince choose a wife. A powerful helper. But they, as brothers, have no right to interfere in this matter. They can only sit here and see who their father will choose in the end.

The fourth prince held the wine glass in his hand, lowered his eyelids, and closed his eyes. A flash of light.

Concubine Dong was also very angry, but it was a pity that her own son was too young and was not old enough to get married.

She didn't know if the emperor would survive until her Xiao Qi came of age . At that time, looking at the emperor's current situation, I am afraid it will be difficult... If the prince or the eldest prince and the third prince sit on the dragon throne in the future, who will be able to accommodate her son? This made Concubine Dong feel panicked.

"Which girl will the emperor point out to the sixth prince?

"Which girl does the Queen like? "

"Didn't I praise your Thirteenth Lady for her good looks? " I also gave your Thirteenth Lady a bracelet. I think your Thirteenth Lady will have a greater chance of being chosen by the Queen..."

"Oh, the Emperor and the Queen didn't say anything about this, so how can we talk about it casually? . "

As soon as I heard that the emperor and the empress were planning to marry the sixth prince, the female family members below started talking in low voices, talking about which girl the empress was interested in. Which girl in the capital could be worthy of her? There are not many people who can be the sixth prince's concubine. The most likely choice is from which family.

Among the several princes now, except for the younger seventh prince, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the eldest prince. They have been married for a long time, and the sixth prince is the only one who has not married yet, and this one is the concubine!

Which girl from their family is interested in the emperor and the queen, if they can marry their daughter to the sixth prince and become the concubine! , they immediately became royal relatives, so can this not make everyone excited? Although the sixth prince's biological mother has a humble status, the sixth prince was raised under the queen's knees, and he and the prince are brothers. If the prince ascends the throne in the future, The Sixth Prince will definitely not be far behind if he follows the Crown Prince.

"Your Majesty, I have met several ladies and girls earlier. I feel that the Thirteenth Lady of Pingyuan Marquis and the Eighth Lady, Zhang Ge's granddaughter... these few. This girl has a dignified appearance and is both smart and smart. I like these girls

very much . I think the ration is not bad for you. I wonder what your Majesty wants? "The girls selected by the Queen are either the ladies of the Marquis, the granddaughters of the Pavilion Elders, or girls from the Shangshu. They are all ministers with real power in their hands.

In terms of status, the girls from these families are assigned to the Sixth Prince. They were well-matched, and there was nothing to discuss about

the prince's marriage. In the early years, Emperor Zhaozong did not choose a princess for the prince according to the queen's wishes, and did not choose a powerful in-law for the prince. He only chose Zhongyuan Marquis. The legitimate daughter pointed out to the prince. In terms of status, the legitimate daughter of Zhongyuan Marquis was a good match for the prince, but the foundation of Zhongyuan Marquis's house was too weak. The old Zhongyuan Marquis saved the late emperor's life three times. The marquis who was just granted

the title was appointed by fate. Now Zhongyuanhou inherited the title from the deceased old Zhongyuanhou. Zhongyuanhou was not a talented person. He was idle and did not have much power in his hands. This is the reason why the emperor gave the prince the daughter of the Zhongyuan Marquis as his concubine. The emperor didn't like his sons staring at the stool under his butt all the time. How could he find one for the prince? The powerful in-

law family? So the queen was extremely unhappy with the prince's marriage. What she wanted was to find a powerful in-law family for her son to help her son sit on the throne in the future, not someone with little real power. Zhongyuan Marquis Mansion. It was just that the emperor personally ordered the marriage, and even she, the queen, could not change it. Therefore, the queen did not like the crown prince much. This change was until the crown princess gave birth to the prince's legitimate son. Her attitude changed slightly.

Now it was the sixth prince's turn to marry. Naturally, the queen wanted to find a good marriage arrangement for the sixth prince. These people were helpful to her son and could help her in the future. Her son firmly sat on the throne and ascended the throne as the emperor.

It was not difficult to understand the queen's thoughts, and Emperor Zhaozong also knew it.

After thinking for a while, the emperor made a decision in his mind, "I look at the eighth lady, the granddaughter of Mr. Zhang Ge." Yes, if you and Xiao Liu are talented and handsome, then you can choose Zhangge Lao's granddaughter, Eight Niangzi, to be Xiao Liu's first wife. "

Zhang Ge always has a stubborn personality. He is one of the old ministers who are loyal to him as the emperor. He also has no position. The prince wants to win over Zhang Ge and make Zhang Ge stand on his side. Still sitting in this chair, this is impossible.

He just points out Zhang Ge's granddaughter to the sixth prince. The emperor also has his own selfish motives. If the prince ascends the throne and becomes emperor in the future, the sixth prince may have other motives. It was impossible for the Zhang family to support the sixth prince and help him deal with the prince. It was not until this moment that the emperor truly faced the fact that his son would one day inherit his throne, and he had to accept it.

When she heard about the girl chosen by the emperor, the queen was overjoyed. She did not expect that the emperor would choose among the several girls she mentioned, and also chose Zhang Ge's granddaughter. She is proficient in everything and is a well-known talented woman in this capital. Your Majesty, you have such good taste... Your Majesty, you chose the eighth lady of the Zhang family. I still feel that this child Jun'er is not worthy of the eighth lady of the Zhang family."

I was also surprised . There are also people from the Zhang family sitting below.

Mrs. Zhang did not expect that the emperor directly ordered her girl. The eighth lady was sitting next to her mother. When the emperor pointed her out to the sixth prince as his wife, everyone at the table said congratulations to her. They didn't know what was going on here. Many people sincerely congratulated her, but the little girl still blushed in embarrassment.

But the sixth prince, Yang Shaojun, stood there without moving when the emperor pointed out his wife.

"Sixth brother, your father and mother have chosen such a good princess for you, why don't you thank your father and mother quickly." Seeing the appearance of this sixth brother, Yang Shaomu sighed inwardly. He gave the Sixth Prince a look, why don't you go get the order quickly?

The sixth prince stood there without moving.

Seeing that his son had not responded for so long, the smile on the emperor's face gradually disappeared. The queen glared at the sixth prince below, with the meaning in her eyes, why don't you come and thank her soon?

When he saw his father's expression and the way the queen looked at him, Yang Shaojun's body trembled, and he realized his own identity and the glory and wealth that his identity had brought him. The person above him was not someone he could disobey. This thought flashed through his mind. Yang Shaojun hurriedly stepped forward, knelt down and thanked him, "I accept the order... I thank my father and the queen. I was so happy that I didn't react for a while. Please forgive me, father and mother. "

He is a prince, and some things are beyond his control. Only then did Yang Shaojun understand the patience of his prince brother.

Zhang Yueying, the eighth daughter of the Zhang family, walked out from the other side of the female family members, holding up her skirt, walking with small steps, climbed up the stairs from below, knelt beside the sixth prince, and thanked the emperor and the queen. The queen smoothed things over and said, "Look, Your Majesty, these two children are a perfect match."

"Okay, let's all get up." The emperor's expression softened, and he said a few more words before letting the two children go down. .

Among the several children, the sixth son was the one who received the least attention from him. Now, when he was not paying attention, this sixth son had grown up and reached the age of getting married and having children. He pointed out a good marriage to this sixth son. Zhaozong The emperor also had something on his mind.

The sixth prince lowered his head and walked back to his seat and sat down.

The people next to him took up their wine to toast him. Yang Shaojun took the wine and thanked those next to him for the congratulations. He drank one cup after another. On the surface, the princes seemed to be in harmony.

Li Wen, who was sitting below and watching this, even he, an outsider, could feel the resistance of the sixth prince to the marriage. His eyes fell on the smiling queen's face and quickly looked away. This is a forceful tie between two young people who don't love each other. It's strange that the Sixth Prince would be happy.

However, in this era, marriage is originally a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words, so the emperor and empress pointed out a suitable marriage for the prince. There is nothing to discuss in itself. While the princes and princesses enjoy the wealth and honor brought by their lives, they are burdened with a fate they cannot control.

"Hey..." Li Wen sighed in his heart.

At this time, Li Wen thought he was watching others being manipulated by fate. There were too many helplessness in life. Little did he know that he himself had fallen into the eyes of others, and others wanted to drag him into the game.