383, believe it or not
383, believe it or not
When Lu Mingfei didn't see Zhao Lang coming back in the afternoon, he left the house.
The weather was bad on this day, and the sky was a little gloomy. It was still bright at this time of day in the past, but today it looked like it was about to get dark.
It was snowing and there were few people on the streets, but there were still vendors setting up stalls to do business in the snow.
The shops on the street had curtains hanging at the door, and no one was seen coming in or out. It was probably not a good day in this weather.
The unstable political situation in recent years has had a significant impact on a country's business development. The situation is so chaotic that even businesspeople are afraid to venture out. Who knows if they'll return alive? Don't expect to end up losing your life without making any money.
A while ago, he summoned merchants in Beijing to the Ministry of Revenue for several meetings in the name of the Ministry of Revenue. The discussions were all about how to promote the development of commerce. In response to the issue of commerce and trade development, the court also made some concessions and promises.
Only when a country's commerce develops and people's lives improve can the money be continuously fed back to the country and enable it to develop.
However, Lu Mingfei himself knew very well that these things could not be rushed. He could not change the current situation of the country all at once and turn a backward and impoverished society into a society where everyone could have enough food and clothing.
All development and change take time. He can only do his best to bring some good changes and benefits to this country and its people.
Of course, Kyoto Prefecture has not remained unchanged in the six months since he returned.
Nowadays, beggars are rarely seen in Kyoto City.
Because the beggars in the city were either recruited by the government and became cleaners, or went to work in workshops outside the city. The adult beggars now had new identities and lived in temporary shelters outside the city.
The remaining beggars who were still young were all sent to the orphanage run by the government. There, there were adults who took care of the children and the government would raise them.
When these children have the ability to make a living in the future, they will be allowed to leave.
He was planning to have the court open a number of skill training schools so that children from orphanages could go to school to learn a skill and be used by the country in the future.
Their country's population has always been quite large, but too few people are educated, and even fewer have any skills. Therefore, they must find a way to educate the country's children, so that their country has hope.
As the carriage approached the South City Gate, Lu Mingfei saw this familiar street, and it reminded him of his childhood, when he ran around on this street. He also remembered that his family had set up stalls in the alleys for many years before they could afford to rent a shop on this street.
But the shop was forced to close after only a few years.
Even the shop that his adoptive father had inherited from his ancestors was no longer open. At that time, his adoptive father was reluctant to sell it, so he rented it out to someone else to open a shop.
When he passed by his adoptive father's shop, he saw that the sign above the shop had been replaced with something else.
On his way back to Beijing from Li County, he passed through Tong County and visited his family and clan members.
Knowing that the situation in Kyoto Prefecture was unstable, he discussed the situation with his family and clansmen and decided to let them stay in Tong County. He planned to let them return after a year or two, when the situation in Kyoto Prefecture stabilized.
So this time when he came back to Kyoto Prefecture, he did not bring his family and clansmen back to Beijing. Even his adoptive father's family stayed in Tong County.
Thinking of his family who were thousands of miles away, Lu Mingfei also missed them a little.
"Sir, we have arrived at the city gate. Do you want to go out or get off here?" The guard driving the carriage asked the master inside through the curtain.
"Let's stop here. I'll go down and take a walk." Lu Mingfei responded.
Ever since he encountered an assassin when he left the city, and because the end of the year was the busiest time for the Ministry of Revenue and he had no time, he had not left the city for a long time.
But today he only planned to come to the city gate to take a look and did not plan to leave the city.
The city gates will be closed soon. If I leave now, I may not be able to return before the gates close. It's snowing now, so it would be a bit troublesome if I go out and can't come back.
"Yes, sir." Upon hearing this, the guards outside pulled over and stopped the carriage.
After the carriage stopped, Lu Mingfei reached out to lift the curtain and bent down to get out of the carriage.
The guard Ma beside them reached out to help their master down.
"Your subordinate greets you, sir." The general guarding the city recognized the Shangshu who got off the car and hurried over to salute.
"No need to be so polite." Lu Mingfei was no stranger to these generals defending the city. His family used to run a food stall on South Street, and these soldiers often patronized their business.
"I brought some drinks for everyone. Take them and share them among you. It's cold and warms you up. It's almost New Year, so I'll have to work hard to guard the city gates."
"Yes, thank you, sir. Your subordinates will definitely guard the city gates." The guard recognized the newly promoted Minister of Revenue as the young master of the Lu Family Braised Food Shop on South Street. He had never expected that the young master would grow up in the blink of an eye, become the top scholar, and become a high-ranking official after just a few years.
What they didn't expect was that their high-ranking and powerful Shangshu would actually remember them, the young generals guarding the city, and bring them wine in winter. They were very moved at the time.
"You're welcome. I'll go up to the tower and take a look."
"Well, sir, please come up."
"Just stay down there, I can go up by myself."
Lu Mingfei declined the guard's offer to lead him up personally, and he took two guards with him to the stairs, climbing up the city wall step by step.
The guards who remained downstairs took out two large jars of wine from their master's carriage and gave them to the general defending the city, asking the general to distribute them to everyone.
The commanders of the other city gates also sent people to invite them to drink.
However, because their masters came to the South Gate, I personally brought wine to the guard of the South Gate.
***
The cold wind was howling and the snow was falling.
Lu Mingfei stood on the city wall, looking into the distance. As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast expanse of white.
I thought of the officials in the imperial court who were occupying the toilets and defecating there; I also thought of the feudal lords outside Kyoto who had occupied their fiefdoms and were vying for independence...
Zhao Lang is also here, and behind him is his father, Prince Ding.
If they were to make any major moves at this time, they would definitely have to involve Prince Ding. It's impossible for my son to become emperor while I continue to be a prince, right?
The number of soldiers they had was still far less than that of Prince Ding.
Even now, as long as Prince Ding wants to become emperor, it is just a matter of a word.
However, if Prince Ding becomes the emperor, with so many sons that Prince Ding already has, Zhao Lang will have to compete with his brothers for the throne again in the future, and there will definitely be another bloody battle.
What he was actually more worried about was that if Prince Ding became emperor, he would definitely not want to see a fully-fledged son hanging around in front of him all day long.
He knew without even having to think about it that the first thing Prince Ding would do after becoming emperor would probably be to get rid of his son Zhao Lang, who was too capable.
But if they keep dragging their feet and do nothing, when the little emperor grows up and becomes more powerful, the first person he will deal with will definitely be his uncle who is the regent, and then the ministers on their side who stand on the regent's side.
Guard Ma held an umbrella over their adult's head. Seeing that the wind was so strong and the weather was cold, their adult had been standing here for a while.
Worried that their master would catch a cold if he stood here for too long, Guard Ma had to remind him, "Sir, it's very windy here. Why don't we go back first?"
"Well, let's go back." Lu Mingfei paused before responding.
Just as they were about to turn around and leave, he stopped and turned to look at the other end of the road.
The sound of horse hooves came from afar, and a team of horsemen was coming towards them.
Guard Ma took out a telescope from his pocket and took a look. He said to their master, "Sir, it's the master and the others who are back."
"Yeah, I saw it." Without using a telescope, Lu Mingfei could already feel a familiar gaze looking towards him.
He looked at the man on horseback and recognized the figure at a glance. It was His Royal Highness the Regent who had gotten up from his bed and gone out that morning.
The black spots in the distance kept coming towards them, and they kept getting bigger and bigger, turning into people riding horses.
Finally, the Regent, who was riding a horse, pulled his horse under the city wall and looked up at him.
The two people's eyes looked at each other from a distance of several feet.
Lu Mingfei made a gesture with his hand, saying "you come in, I'll go down."
The man below nodded.
He turned around and left the city wall, going down to the bottom.
When he got down from the city wall, he saw that His Royal Highness the Regent had dismounted and was standing beside his carriage waiting for him.
Seeing him coming, before he could even salute, His Royal Highness the Regent said to him with a smile, "Lord Lu, let's go. I'll treat you to a meal."
"Then I will respectfully obey your command." Lu Mingfei looked at this serious man outside, and a smile flashed in his eyes.
"How about I take Lord Lu's carriage into the city?"
"It is my honor."
Since His Royal Highness the Regent has said so, Lu Mingfei had no choice but to invite His Royal Highness the Regent to get on his carriage.
However, it would be even better if His Royal Highness the Regent could loosen his grip on his waist when he got into his carriage. He was beginning to suspect that His Royal Highness the Regent got into his carriage just to make it easier for him to do something to him.
Zhao Lang hugged and kissed Lord Lu, who did not resist, and asked, "Lord Lu, tell me, are you here to pick me up in person?"
"Yeah, you think too much. I just came out to see the snow because I was in a good mood today."
"I don't believe it!"
"Haha...believe it or not!"
“…” Author’s idle chatter:
Today's update.
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