Chapter 227: Everything
When the court goes to court on the seventh day, there are several important events.
One of them: announcing that the prince would be responsible for organizing the grand competition.
Another thing: Li Chang officially took up the post of Western Suburbs Camp, commanding 30,000 elite troops.
There is another thing: a series of reforms in the salt industry led by Liu Ge Lao, including: the approval of salt licenses, mining, storage, transportation, monopoly, taxation, and the court-local share of profits and so on.
Of course, there were several other major events, but the prince, who was standing in front of all the officials and below the emperor, did not take them to heart.
He was a little confused for a moment, and most of his ambition and satisfaction from the year disappeared in an instant.
Because two of these three major things were not to his liking.
Let Li Chang take charge of Xijiaoying?
He hasn't done anything, how can you control him?
I'm afraid this is just a puppet. Xijiaoying finally fell into the hands of that bastard Li Jing...
The grand competition was also held in the western suburbs. A large part of the allocated money was used for expenses such as barracks, food, and competition venues.
How does this connect?
It’s inconvenient to steal something by myself.
I was furious and secretly hated: What is this person trying to do?
In other words, he usually loves to pretend, and his control over his facial expressions is deep in his bones. So now, even if he is gloomy in his heart, no one can see the slightest clue on his face.
He was experienced and had very quick reactions. Although this matter was not in his favor, it was a foregone conclusion. There was no point in thinking about it and he could deal with it later.
But his people were unable to obtain the salt, so they handed it over to Elder Liu...
Fortunately, Elder Liu is not Li Jing's man...
What's next? His mind raced.
Elder Liu is just the leader. This matter involves many aspects and needs to be composed of several teams. Then the members of the team...
Li Jing didn't pay attention to the prince, so he didn't have to guess what was going on in the prince's mind. And what did the emperor mean?
The Xijiaoying was something he fought for Li Chang, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that it had fallen into his hands.
If the emperor didn't want to, there were other places to send Li Chang. But he asked for it himself, and although the emperor was angry, he still gave it to him. Is it possible that the emperor was willing to give it?
So that I can be "equally matched" with the prince?
Kind of interesting...
After the court session, the prince went to the queen's palace. In front of the queen, he paced back and forth angrily and anxiously, cursing under his breath.
The Queen, however, drank her tea leisurely, and waited for him to vent for a while before saying, "What are you angry about? Can't you see that this is a way of checks and balances?"
"Mother, my son knows this. But why? He could have clearly not let my son lead the competition, or let Li Chang go first to train in the six divisions, why did he do this? Isn't it obvious that he wants his son to fight against the seventh brother..."
His eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Is that what he meant?"
The queen sneered, "Humph. Just taking advantage of the situation. His health has worsened in the past two years, but he doesn't want to rely on anyone. If he walks on one leg, he will be controlled by others and easily fall! Now, it's two legs. If you two try your best to perform and play games with each other, he will be more stable and walk faster... just sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor."
The prince didn't dare to scold the emperor, but hated him countless times in his heart.
At this moment, the emperor was in the study, talking to Little Fifteen.
"Father, there will be a lantern festival in the garden of Prince Yong'an during the Lantern Festival. Would you like to take your son with you?" He hadn't built his own residence yet, so it was not easy for him to leave the palace.
The emperor was very patient and smiled gently, "Why do you bring it up again? It's the Lantern Festival, how lively it is outside? Father is going to travel, there will be a lot of ceremonial guards, and we have to start clearing the streets in the afternoon. It will cost a lot of money and manpower, how can this reputation be good?"
"We can go quietly! Incognito..." The pretty little Fifteen's eyes were like black grapes.
"You should stop watching those messy things. How can it be that easy for the emperor to leave the palace? Everything is subject to rules. Even a noble like father has to be restrained. Think about it: the Lantern Festival is fun only when there are many people! When father is gone, will those people clear the place? It's boring if they clear it. If they don't, others will see father sneaking out secretly. The next day, the table will be full of impeachment memorials!"
"But Father...I really want to go!" Little Fifteen hesitated.
The emperor looked at it and really liked it from the bottom of his heart...
"Just get some lights in the palace and have a look."
"How can it be the same? My son has asked around, and this year the palace has taken out the old lanterns from previous years and only added a few new ones. The fireworks they set off are also small, which is very boring!"
Indeed…
This year, the emperor felt that his health was getting worse and he had no interest in anything.
The queen sympathized with him and didn't make a big fuss about it.
…
Prince Yong'an's Lantern Festival...
Before the Chinese New Year, Prince Yong'an had already started telling the Emperor that he was going to hold a grand celebration this year.
At that time, "Please invite the Empress Dowager, the Emperor, the Empress, and all the ladies in the palace to come."
Not far from the palace, there is a garden called "Jingyuan", which has a large lake. There are not many houses in it, only a large courtyard with an attic built by the water. The building is four stories high, and you can even see the roof of the palace.
It belongs to Prince Yong'an.
He had a lot of property, a very famous dancing troupe, and several good cooks.
I only stay at Jingyuan occasionally, but I often entertain friends here.
Those who have been here say everything is great.
In fact, Jingyuan is quite large, but he did not build any houses on it and only planted flowers and plants on the large area.
Such a great location, such a beautiful garden, but it is empty for most of the year!
This shows their financial strength.
Prince Yong'an boasted to the emperor that this year he would "put lanterns along the lake, probably hundreds of them. He also made a lot of lake lanterns, with pens and ink next to them, so people could write down their wishes on the spot and put them into the lake.
Finally, there will be fireworks by the lake...
The fireworks are from Jiangnan Pili Hall! We bought a large batch and it will probably take half an hour to set them off. We even hired a professional master to set them off. They are so high that you can see them in the palace!"
After hearing this, the emperor shook his head and said, "Even if you have money, you can't spend it like this!" He also thought: Yes, this guy is all alone and doesn't even have a wife. What's the point of leaving so much money?
"This is a gift to you! I just put it in my garden."
The emperor sighed, "You're just going to mess around! You're all alone, but you still want to play. How can you keep going like this? Hurry up and find a down-to-earth girl and live a good life. You're young now and can still jump around, but what will you do when you get old?"
"With you, my uncle, and so many cousins, how could I starve? How could I be sick and no one would take care of me? Now, I am just trying to maintain good relations with all my aunts, brothers, and nephews... so that someone can take care of me when I am old!"
The emperor glared at him and ignored him.
But I thought: He has no son, no matter how much property he has, it won’t be passed on to outsiders…
If you think about it from this perspective...the emperor is quite happy.
"Uncle, please come. Dinner, dancing, boating, lantern viewing, and finally fireworks... I will make sure everything is arranged for you! If others come, there will be no food!"
"It sounds nice, but how much trouble will it take for me to leave the palace? That day is a good day for universal celebration. If we impose martial law everywhere, won't it cause trouble for the people?"
"Your Majesty's grace is so great! Your intention, uncle, is something that your nephew cannot achieve!"
………
With all that he said, Little Fifteen was of course yearning for it and had already tempted the emperor several times.
Here it is, now.
"Father, look, this is what Uncle Yong'an prepared..."
Prince Yong'an wrote a detailed plan for all the arrangements regarding the Lantern Festival, especially the security aspect, and had Xiao Shiwu present it to the Emperor.
The emperor looked at it for a long time and found it to be perfectly fitted without any mistakes.
Looking at his youngest son, whom he loved the most, he nodded and reluctantly agreed.
Little Fifteen was brought up to be very simple-minded. When he was happy, he would rush over to hug the emperor's arm and cheer.
This feeling made the emperor feel excited.
Just after agreeing to Xiao Shiwu, Concubine Dong came and wanted to go too. She had several reasons: she was worried about her son, she wanted to go to the Lantern Festival, etc.
The emperor was so tenacious that he had no choice but to agree.
Prince Yong'an was at the Jingyuan Lantern Festival, supervising the arrangements. Upon hearing the news, he smiled and looked towards the palace from afar.
It cost tens of thousands of taels of silver and took several months of preparation.
Everything is just for you and Fifteen...
"But I thought to myself: He has no son, so no matter how much property he has, it won't be passed on to outsiders..."
This is also a current social phenomenon. There are many women nowadays who are not married or have children but are rich and have assets.
Beware of those who think...
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