Wu Mei asked Banmei to hold the sleeping Princess Taiping Li Lingyue, and then slowly left the East Palace. Li Yifu, who was the Taibao, and Hua Meng and Mangzhong, who were instructed by Li Hong, saw the empress off.
After walking two steps, Wu Mei suddenly turned her head and looked at the east wall of the East Palace, and said, "What are you going to do with such a large area? Also, are you really not going to keep Changlefang?"
"No one lives in Changlefang anymore. From now on, Taiping's residence will be in Prince Pu's Mansion. The current Changlefang and this large area will be renovated." Li Hong said with a chuckle.
"Just do it. I hope your father will agree with your decision." Wu Mei shook her head. Everyone knew what Li Hong was thinking. The only thing in this boy's eyes was the position of Shang Shu Ling.
And she also hoped that Li Hong could become the second Shangshu Ling of the Tang Dynasty after Li Shimin.
Moreover, everything Li Hong did now was completely out of the rights and responsibilities of a Jingzhao prefect, let alone a minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It was completely the power and responsibility of a Shangshuling, the head of the Secretariat.
Watching his mother leave, Li Hong continued to sit there and prepare to fish. Xu Jingzong next to him, assisted by his grandson Xu Yanbo, took a fishing rod and sat down with Li Hong to start fishing.
"What else is there? My mother actually invited you here because of the court affairs tomorrow. Tell me, what is it? You never suffer any loss. After you help me with advice, there must be something waiting for me to help you do." Li Hong stared at the water and said lightly.
Xu Jingzong smiled bitterly and shook his head. He had only asked him to do a favor once. Although he had selfish motives, in the end, wasn't he severely punished by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?
...
...
"Your Highness, even if I don't analyze the court tomorrow, I will still ask you for help because of something." After Xu Jingzong put the fishing rod into the water, he stopped looking at it and kept staring at Li Hong's profile.
"What's the matter? I can't do anything that's beyond my authority. By the way, should I call you Xu Banchao? I just realized recently that you have so many people who recommend you in the court." Li Hong has always been hard-hearted towards Xu Jingzong. He knew that if he didn't do this, he would probably fall into the trap of Xu Jingzong, this treacherous man, without knowing it.
Xu Jingzong could only smile bitterly and said, "Your Highness, I know you are planning to go to the Western Regions. For no other reason, I just hope that when you go to the Western Regions, you can bring Xu Yanbo with you."
At the end of his speech, Xu Jingzong's face was full of solemnity.
"About this matter, why do you want him to go to the Western Regions with me?" Li Hong's fishing skills were not very good. He once sat in Taiye Lake with Li Zhi and Wu Mei for a whole morning, and the three of them caught two fish in total.
But I don’t know what happened today, the fish seemed to be lining up waiting to be hooked, one after another.
Xu Yanbo looked at the fishing rod that Li Hong lifted up, hurriedly grabbed the fishing line, and began to untie the lively fish on the hook.
"I may be a little selfish. I once followed the late emperor, and then received the grace of Your Majesty. Now I am old, but if the children of the Xu family want to continue to serve the royal family, they must be loyal and capable. Now Yanbo has enough knowledge but not enough experience. I selfishly hope that Your Highness can take him with you for some experience and give him more opportunities to learn by your side. This will be a blessing for Yanbo." Xu Jingzong's fishing rod was almost taken away by the fish, but Xu Jingzong held the fishing rod motionlessly, watching the fish struggling under the water.
Li Hong watched Xu Yanbo help him put the bait on the hook, and threw the hook into the water again, saying: "You are a smart man, you know the purpose of my trip to the Four Towns of Anxi, so this trip will not be as easy as my trip to Taiyi City. This trip is not to say that it is a matter of life and death, but life and death, I am afraid that I will not be able to decide at that time. Are you mentally prepared? What if I follow me out and come back to give you a pile of bones, are you willing?"
"Your Highness, I have already put life and death aside. As long as I can follow Your Highness, it will be a blessing for me even if I die in the Western Regions." Xu Yanbo, who was standing respectfully aside, interrupted Li Hong in time.
Li Hong looked at Xu Yanbo's serious face, smiled and nodded to signal him to leave. How could he not know what Xu Jingzong was thinking?
In order to ensure the continuation of the family and to ensure that the family can be among the wealthy and powerful families, it is not enough to rely on Xu Jingzong alone as a prime minister. Instead, he needs his descendants to be close to the royal family. Only in this way can his family prosper and be on par with the real wealthy and powerful families.
So for Xu Jingzong, sacrificing a grandson is nothing at all? The royal family is full of coldness and ruthlessness, but there are also people who are not like that. The current crown prince is a man of temperament.
By then, even if Xu Yanbo died in the Western Regions, the prince would never turn a blind eye to the decline of the Xu family. His other grandsons might step on Xu Yanbo's bones and reach the pinnacle of their official careers. Although they might not be able to become prime ministers and enter the council hall, it is not impossible for them to become governors of a region.
In this way, sacrificing one person in exchange for the favor of the royal family is a good deal no matter how you look at it. For the prosperity of the family, as descendants of the Xu family, we must have this awareness.
"Okay, I agree to this for now. You are smarter than Dai Zhide and know the true meaning of heroes being made by the times. You are not as pedantic as him, adhering to traditions without any innovation." Li Hong nodded and continued to let Xu Yanbo help him take the fish off the hook.
"Your Highness, I appreciate your kindness." Xu Jingzong and his grandson Xu Yanbo both thanked him happily at the same time.
"It's a bit too early to thank you now. Whether you can achieve success in the Western Regions depends on yourself. If you follow me to the Western Regions, and you are not what I want, I will send you back to Chang'an without hesitation. But having said that, I have provided you with the platform, and whether you can succeed or not depends on your own talent and hard work." Li Hong threw down the fishing rod in his hand, took the towel handed to him by Xia Zhi and wiped his hands.
Then he looked at Xu Jingzong who also stood up and said unhappily, "Take it out, don't hide it, Xu Banchao."
Xu Jingzong could only respond with a wry smile. This Crown Prince was getting smarter and smarter. Just as he understood him, he also understood himself very well.
"Your Highness, you are too polite. If I were Xu Banchao, I would have been imprisoned in the Dali Temple by Your Highness long ago. How could I have the leisure to accompany you here to fish?" Xu Jingzong said as he took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Li Hong.
Li Hong took the booklet and flipped through it while slowly walking towards the Cheng'en Hall, the sleeping hall.
Xu Jingzong's explanation came to my ears: "None of these officials lied, and they didn't even add a word. Everything was told orally by the parties involved, including the bribes, which were all confirmed."
Xu Jingzong also knew that this booklet about Dai Zhide was the reason why His Highness called him.
Moreover, he was not surprised as to why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince knew who he had met and what they had talked about, and how he could obtain evidence that Dai Zhide had secret dealings with Japan.
"It's good as long as it's true. If even a word of it is false and I get slapped in the face in the court tomorrow, you and your whole family will be sent to the Dali Temple." Li Hong casually flipped through it and handed it to Bai Chun next to him.
After returning to the bedroom, Xu Jingzong and Xu Yanbo said goodbye. Sitting on the sofa, Li Hong carefully looked through the booklet. What was different from Bai Chun's "Jingwei" investigation was that Xu Jingzong's booklet included some people who planned to speak for Dai Zhide in the court tomorrow.
"In one night, check whether these people are really connected with Dai Zhide, and whether they are connected with Japan as well. Xu Jingzong has been away from the court for many years, but his influence is still not comparable to your 'Jingwei'. It seems that 'Jingwei' still has its drawbacks." Li Hong said helplessly, patting the book in his hand.
"Jingwei" cannot completely monitor the affairs in the officialdom, especially the mutual protection among officials, unless "Jingwei" is allowed to absorb the ministers in the court, but this is absolutely not possible, and he is the first to oppose it.
If court officials are absorbed, the nature of the "Jingwei" organization will change.
The Censorate reported on the matter, but he had a bad relationship with him. I think a lot of the information here might have been provided to Xu Jingzong by the Censorate.
Bai Chun compared the two booklets, frowned, and said, "Comparing the two, Xu Jingzong is more about the exchanges between officials, while Jingwei is good at mediating and interacting with Japanese envoys. It is hard to say who is better or worse. After all, Jingwei cannot infiltrate the court."
"Yes, so it's not your fault. I asked too much. You can't be asked to do the work of the Censorate. If you do that, the Jingwei will deteriorate and it will be out of control if you let it develop. So let's put it this way. In the future, try to focus your energy on Tubo and the four towns of Anxi. Liebao and Jingzhe will share intelligence with Yangwu, which sometimes hinders many things, so your Jingwei will make up for it."
"Yes, Fang Zhan and Heng Qiao took away two-thirds of the 'Jingwei' and communicated with the 'Iron Pagoda' you built several times. It was basically smooth and could cope with communications in the vast Western Regions." Bai Chun said lightly.
"That's good. 'Iron Pagoda' will follow me when the time comes. The Left and Right Cleaning Rates will stay in Taiyi City. The East Palace will also be demolished, so I will take all the other six rates except the Left and Right Cleaning Rates." At this moment, there were only him and Bai Chun in the living room. They looked at the sunset and said lightly.
"How long do you plan to walk?" Hearing Li Hong's words, the sensitive Bai Chun turned around quickly, her beautiful eyes staring at Li Hong's clear eyes motionlessly.
"I don't know, one or two years? Or maybe three or four years. Now everyone thinks that I'm only going there to make merit and just for the position of Shangshu Ling. But no one knows that I want to solve the problem of the four towns of Anxi once and for all. If I don't solve it, when the Protector-General of the Protectorate is changed to a Jiedushi, and the military power and local jurisdiction are concentrated in the hands of the Jiedushi, it will be extremely difficult to make a change." Li Hong looked out the window. The setting sun was no longer visible in the East Palace, which was originally in low terrain.
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