Bai Chun looked at the hazy scenery outside the window as the sky darkened. The palace lanterns had been lit one by one at this moment, embellishing the night that was about to come.
"Then why don't you let me accompany you?" Bai Chun blinked her beautiful eyes, still looking crystal clear in the dim living room.
"Who will take care of Taiyi City when you go there? Besides, who can guarantee that after you leave, others will not covet the wealth of Taiyi City? The Left and Right Qingdao Rate are not only responsible for protecting Taiyi City, but also for my presence in Chang'an. With you here, I can feel at ease in the four towns of Anxi. Otherwise, no one knows what will happen here. Alas... everything is different now." Finally, Li Hong said something that made Bai Chun feel puzzled.
Little did they know that Li Hong was lamenting that everything nowadays was slowly beginning to deviate from the trajectory of historical development and was becoming confusing.
The Queen Mother joined forces with me to secure my position as the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. My Queen Mother also knew that my heart was on the position of Minister of the Secretariat, and she also spared no effort to help me and create conditions for me.
I think my mother would not object to my going to the Western Regions.
"After Wufawutian completes this mission, 'Jingwei' will be merged with 'Myth'. Wufawutian needs to go to the Four Towns of Anxi earlier." Li Hong looked at Bai Chun's perfect cheek and couldn't help but reach out and stroke it gently. He looked serious and focused, as if he was stroking a peerless treasure.
Bai Chun gently closed her eyes and let Li Hong's rough hands caress her delicate cheeks.
"Okay, I will take good care of Jingwei. If you need anything, just tell Jingwei." Bai Chun leaned forward slowly, then threw himself into Li Hong's arms, hugging Li Hong's waist tightly.
...
...
Li Hong sniffed the fragrance of Bai Chun's hair, thought for a moment and said, "It will probably take some time. During this time, you will need to use the Chamber of Commerce to purchase horses from Tubo by any means necessary, including all the war supplies that can be purchased. I'll have Xia Zhi give you a detailed list later. You should take a good look at it yourself. You must use merchants that you can trust and that don't attract attention."
Bai Chun lay in his arms, saying nothing, just nodding silently.
Xia Zhi walked in slowly, took out a letter and handed it to Li Hong, saying, "Zongsheng Palace has replied to you."
Li Hong hugged Bai Chun and walked to the sofa and sat down. Xia Zhi looked at Bai Chun curled up in Li Hong's arms, too lazy to get up, and he was no longer surprised.
Li Hong freed his hand and tore open the envelope, only to see that there was no writing on the white paper, but a hand drawn on it, making an OK gesture!
"Is this the reply letter from Li Chunfeng? Can it be any more shameless?" Li Hong took a glance at it and threw it to Xia Zhi.
This guy, at such an old age, didn't learn well, but learned it by himself.
On the second day, at the gate of the East Palace, a skateboard and a teenager, oh, a teenager with a backpack flew out from the gate of Jiafu like lightning, followed by Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue. The two used light body kung fu, but were still far behind His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, please wait a moment. You forgot to tie your belt again." Xiaoxue shouted as she watched the palace gate, which had drifted beautifully from the entrance of Jiafu Gate to the deserted palace gate.
Li Hong exercised too much this morning. He got angry when he thought of Dai Zhide, and exercised for an extra incense stick of time. Suddenly he remembered that he had to attend the morning court today. He hurriedly took a bath with Bai Chun's help, and ran to the Daming Palace without stopping.
The Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace is probably the most majestic and magnificent palace gate in the world today. Needless to say, the entire Daming Palace is larger than four Forbidden Cities.
This is enough to imagine that the Tang Dynasty is wealthy at this moment... Wrong, the money for the Daming Palace was basically paid by Li Hong alone, so, from this we can know that the richest man in the Tang Dynasty who is as wealthy as a country is none other than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Of course, the Daming Palace did not ask Li Zhi and Wu Mei to pay for it. Now that they were both very rich, they began to think about increasing the salaries of officials by about 30%.
It was approved by Menxia and Zhongshu, but rejected by Li Hong. So, as the Minister of Revenue, he naturally became the target of public criticism.
The treatment for being late is naturally not as good as before, and the ministers used to turn a blind eye. Now, cutting off someone's financial resources is no less than killing their parents, and there are naturally countless court officials impeaching him, but even so, Li Hong still holds on to his words.
Are you kidding? If I increase your salaries, how are we going to implement the recruitment and conscription systems throughout the Tang Dynasty?
Danfeng Gate has as many as five gates, and each gate can naturally allow two or even three carriages to pass through in parallel. The sound of the skateboard was heard by the soldiers of Danfeng Gate from afar.
Nowadays, both the palace guards and the Chang'an city guards have been replaced by the Jinwu Guards. As for who the commander is, Li Hong himself doesn't know, and he doesn't deal with them anyway.
But even so, when the Jinwu Guards heard the familiar sound of the skateboard, they naturally did not dare to check the other person's fish symbol.
A figure holding a skateboard drew a perfect arc in the air and crossed the tall threshold of the middle doorway with ease and grace. Like a wild goose leaving its voice behind, the figure had disappeared at the door, and only then did the Jinwu Guards hear His Highness's words of thanks.
Sure enough, under the silent calculation of the Jinwu Guards, ten breaths later, two pretty figures also ran here quickly.
"Thank you, Brother Jinwuwei." Two crisp voices sounded in the air, and then they rushed into the Danfeng Gate quickly.
The soldiers of the Jinwu Guard could only shake their heads and smile bitterly. This scene, which had not been seen for many days, now seemed to be happening again every now and then.
Hanyuan Hall, as the first main hall, was not the place where court officials discussed politics or held court. The place where court officials discussed politics was Xuanzheng Hall behind Hanyuan Hall. Li Hong's tall figure, at this moment, seemed so small as he stepped on a skateboard and sped across the vast square between Danfeng Gate and Hanyuan Hall.
Not far behind them were Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue, who were like two yellow orioles flying out of the valley. The three of them formed a T-shaped figure, just like the main hall, Hanyuan Hall, in front, and the Qifeng Pavilion and Xiangluan Hall on both sides.
The steps and slope under the Hanyuan Hall were used for ministers to pass through and enter the Zhongchao Xuanzheng Hall behind. At this time, Li Hong could only stop halfway up the slope helplessly, stepped on the skateboard and walked slowly up with it in his hand.
Xia Zhi and Xiao Xue seized the opportunity and hurriedly reached the top of Hanyuan Hall, where they caught up with Li Hong who was about to slide down on a skateboard. One of them hurriedly approached to tie his belt, while the other hurriedly adjusted his crown and clothes.
As soon as he was ready, Li Hong rushed down the slope like the wind. With this momentum, he was bound to rush directly into the gate of Xuanzheng Hall 300 meters away.
He put one foot on the skateboard and stepped hard on the ground with the other foot, and then he rushed out quickly like an arrow from a bow, accompanied by a whistling sound. The Jinwu Guards, palace maids and eunuchs in the entire palace could not help but look at each other sideways.
I couldn't help but secretly thought: "This familiar scene is happening again."
"Your Highness is late again."
"It seems like His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is never late for the morning court."
After the completion of the Daming Palace, the overall security level was much higher than that of the previous Taiji Palace. In particular, every official who went to court had to undergo strict inspection before they could enter the Xuanzheng Hall smoothly.
This is also the reason why court officials had to rush out of their homes before dawn to attend court. This was mainly because the inspection procedures were too cumbersome and took up too much time.
The Jinwu Guards at the gate of Xuanzheng Hall looked at the figure of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince rushing forward. Many of them had an indescribable feeling in their eyes, and some even felt sad in their hearts. With such a crown prince, could he still maintain the current prosperity of the Tang Dynasty?
Li Zhi looked at Li Hong who ran in in a hurry, threw the skateboard in his hand to the Jinwu Guard at the door, and said nothing coldly.
At this time, the meeting in the court was nearing its end, and they were discussing when they could persuade the Minister of Revenue to increase their salaries.
Dai Zhide did not wear court robes, as if he was deliberately trying to embarrass Li Zhi and the royal family. He wore a coarse cloth robe and stood proudly next to the new Minister of Rites Zhang Jianzhi.
Zhang Jianzhi is already over 40 years old this year. He is a prime minister of the Tang Dynasty who achieved success late in life. But at this moment, with his lean shoulders, dark complexion, and calm expression, his aura is at least not inferior to that of the gloomy-faced Dai Zhide.
"I am against increasing salaries now, but starting today, you can exchange the original cloth and other items for cash of equal value. But... there is one more thing, no one is allowed to use old money. If you agree, you can sign the order after the court session." Li Hong said after walking to his position as the Minister of Revenue without even looking at Dai Zhide.
"I second the motion." Minister of War Ren Yaxiang was the first to speak up.
As the Minister of War, he knew best what Li Hong wanted to do. If the military system was dismantled, the power of the Ministry of War would be further reduced. Not only that, it would be difficult for the Ministry of War to send troops in the future. Naturally, he was the first person to stand up and support the Minister of Revenue at this time.
"I second the motion." Needless to say, Zong Chuke agreed. As the Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, if he disagreed with his superior's proposal, it would mean that he didn't want to do his job.
"I second the motion." Zhang Wenguan, the right servant of the Shangshu Province, and Zhao Renben, the left servant, spoke at the same time.
Without waiting for other court officials to speak, Li Zhi, who sat at the head of the table, said calmly, "Does anyone object to the proposal of the Minister of Revenue? If not, then the Secretariat will draft an edict, the Ministry of Personnel will approve it, and it will be sent to the Secretariat, and the Ministry of Revenue will execute it."
After hearing Li Zhi's words, the ministers whispered and discussed briefly, and then they obviously reached a consensus. They looked at each other from left to right, front to back, and then bowed and said at the same time: "We all have no objection."
"Your Majesty, I do not agree." Dai Zhide strode forward with his head held high and said proudly.
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