Datang: Hiding private money, exposed by Xiao Sizi

Shen Lian's mind was moved: "Officials' meeting? What is this?"

He really doesn't know.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "You also know that the territory of our Tang Dynasty is vast, so there are many local officials, and local officials are distributed in various places. Because they are too free, it is easy for them to do something out of line."

"So the Ministry of Personnel holds an official conference every year to explain the court's rules and regulations to these local officials and tell them a few typical deeds to make them abide by the law and fulfill their duties."

"This year's official conference will be held the day after tomorrow, before your majesty's ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven. Therefore, we are also preparing to have these local officials join your majesty in offering sacrifices to heaven, so that they can feel your majesty's efforts for the people of the world."

Officials meeting.

This is the answer given by Zhangsun Wuji, which is different from Fang Xuanling's answer
Fang Xuanling did not mention the officials' meeting. Perhaps it was because Fang Xuanling felt that the officials' meeting was not that important. Or perhaps it was because this matter was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, and Fang Xuanling was busy with other things and had no time to take care of the officials' meeting, so he ignored this matter.

In short, this is a new thing that deserves Shen Lian's attention.

Shen Lian looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "How many officials are attending the official meeting?"

Changsun Wuji said: "Although in theory, all local officials should come to participate, but you also know that this is not realistic."

"After all, it is impossible for a place to be without local officials, so every year, in each region, we will only select a number of officials to come to Chang'an, and the other officials will still have to stay and handle affairs!"

"Then the next year, another group of people will come to Chang'an to visit the official conference."

"So the number of people each year is not constant, and the number of officials this year is temporarily confirmed to be around 800."

"Of course, this number is just an estimate. It cannot be confirmed until the end, but it is roughly around this level."

Shen Lian nodded.

Eight hundred officials is not a small number.

Although they are basically local officials, local officials also have their own power and role.

The provincial governors are also local officials!
The provincial governors were also local officials.

The county magistrate of a small county is also a local official.

Local officials are just a general term, but their power cannot be generalized.

Shen Lian said: "I wonder how many days this official meeting will last?"

Chang Sun Wuji said: "Three days."

"After all, there are many local affairs, and the journey is long, which will waste a lot of time on the road, so our officials will try to reduce the time as much as possible."

"We will select the most important cases, including those of outstanding officials and those of corrupt officials who were dealt with, to supervise them."

"Three days is enough for us to finish explaining this year's cases and tell them about some of the newly revised laws."

"After three heads, they will leave Chang'an and return to their local areas, and will also preach what they have learned in Chang'an to other officials in their local areas."

Shen Lian nodded.

He could understand this very well.

This is what people in later generations did.

Learn from advanced models and despise corrupt officials.

This is very necessary.

It is impossible for the imperial court to truly supervise everyone, and this requires their self-awareness.

And this kind of learning and ideological education is the most important link.

Chang Sun Wuji looked at Shen Lian and said, "So, if there is anything that can be compared to your majesty's offering to heaven, I think you can consider this official meeting."

"If Beichen did something at the official meeting that caused an accident among the officials, the consequences would be very serious."

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes slightly.

He agreed with what Changsun Wuji said.

Although local officials are not as powerful as officials in Chang'an.

But what if something happens to hundreds of local officials?

That would definitely be enough to paralyze the entire Tang Dynasty!
The main reason why the Tang Dynasty is so stable and efficient now is the cooperation between the court and local officials.

Once there are no officials to manage a local area, trouble will occur there within a few days!

By then, the Tang Dynasty’s control over the local areas will definitely be in trouble!

Shen Lian looked at Changsun Wuji and asked, "Master Changsun, do many people know about this official meeting?"

Chang Sun Wuji nodded and said, "Many people in the court know about this."

"Of course, ordinary people don't know about this, and it has nothing to do with them."

Shen Lian nodded.

He said, "In other words, in terms of the spread of the event, the Officials Conference and the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce are not on the same level as your Majesty's Heavenly Sacrifice?"

"Yes, that's what it means."

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes.

He was thinking, if he were Beichen.

If Beichen had only two options to choose between, offering sacrifices to heaven and the meeting of officials, which one would he choose?
After thinking for a moment, Shen Lian stood up and said, "Master Changsun, thank you for your answer. I now have some guesses."

"Then I won't disturb you."

Seeing Shen Lian was about to leave, Changsun Wuji tried to persuade him to stay, saying, "Master Shen has finally come here, why don't you have lunch before leaving?"

Shen Lian shook his head: "Beichen is like a knife hanging over our heads. I need some time to prepare, so I won't eat."

"After these things are over, I will personally invite Lord Changsun, and we won't leave until we are drunk."

Hearing this, Chang Sun Wuji smiled and nodded: "Okay, then it's settled. We must not leave until we are drunk."

Shen Lian left the Ministry of Personnel and walked on the street, his brain working frantically.

Li Shimin offered sacrifices to heaven, which was mentioned by both Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling.

This is enough to explain the matter. In their opinion, it is enough for Beichen to take action!
After all, Li Shimin was the emperor. If Beichen could seriously injure Li Shimin, it would definitely be enough to avenge everything that happened before!

Moreover, it can also directly make merchants from various countries realize the strength of the Beidou Society, and make them feel that the strength of the Tang Dynasty is just so-so. After all, how powerful can a country be if it can't even protect its own emperor?

In this way, it can also indirectly hit the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce.

Therefore, this matter is very possible!
If Changsun Wuji had not given a second choice, Shen Lian would have temporarily designated Li Shimin's sacrifice to heaven as the most important target of Beichen's attack.

However, Changsun Wuji gave a second option!

Officials meeting!

Although the official meeting was not as grand as Li Shimin's sacrifice to heaven.

However, if something goes wrong, the impact will be huge.

There are hundreds of local officials, and once a certain number of them encounter accidents.

That will directly lead to big problems locally.

The ruling power of the imperial court was unexpectedly weakened, and no one was in charge at the local level.

Even if the Ministry of Personnel sent officials as quickly as possible, it would take several hundred people to get them all at once.

This was enough to prove to foreign merchants the weakness of the Tang Dynasty. Even so many officials could get into trouble, let alone the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce.

Therefore, this is still a huge blow to the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce!
In Shen Lian's opinion, there were reasons for Beichen to take action in these two matters.

And if, you have to choose one between these two.

Shen Lian felt that an officials' meeting was more likely!
First of all.

It’s the level of fame.

Although Li Shimin offered sacrifices to heaven every month.

But Li Shimin was the emperor after all, and everything he did was closely watched.

Therefore, Beichen might be worried that he would pay attention to this matter.

Ordinary people were unaware of the officials' meeting, and even Prime Minister Fang Xuanling ignored it. So it was normal for Lord Tang of Dali, who rarely interacted with the Ministry of Personnel, to ignore it.

Therefore, he felt that if Beichen wanted to avoid him, an official meeting would be more appropriate than Li Shimin's sacrifice to heaven.

Secondly, it’s the level of difficulty.

Li Shimin was offering sacrifices to the heavens, and there would be a large army protecting him along the way, so Beichen had little chance of successfully targeting Li Shimin. And now Beichen's decision was to rest and recuperate.

Beidou will suffer a heavy blow already, and Beichen doesn't want to mobilize too many people.

But if they wanted to take action against Li Shimin during the ceremony of Li Shimin's sacrifice to heaven, it would be impossible to do so without enough people.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Beichen would be the one to choose when Li Shimin offered sacrifices to heaven.

However, since the officials' meeting was organized by the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Personnel's influence could not be compared with that of Li Shimin, and the guards that could be mobilized were limited.

In addition, the Wanbang Chamber of Commerce attracted more people's attention, so the officials' conference seemed a little overshadowed.

........................

If he were Beichen, he would definitely not find it difficult to deal with the officials' meeting.

Therefore, the above two points made Shen Lian feel that it was more likely that Beichen would take action at the officials' meeting.

Of course, the premise of this speculation is that Beichen only has these two choices!

But what if Beichen has other options?
So Shen Lian still needs to continue looking for someone to ask.

He stopped, looked at the bustling crowd, and slowly said to himself: "It's time to find Tianji!"

…………

The two separated after he and Tianji returned from Nanzhao.

Shen Lian fulfilled his promise and released Tianji.

Then they never saw each other again, nor had any contact.

So much so that Shen Lian now has no idea where Tianji is hidden.

Of course, not knowing where Tianji is doesn’t mean that you can’t find Tianji.

In Chang'an City, there is no one that Shen Lian cannot find.

He turned around and returned to the Dali Temple.

Then he ordered his men to go to the south of the city and catch a group of beggars who were stealing things.

After finishing all this, Shen Lian stayed in the Dali Temple, handling the files sent from various places with peace of mind.

Just like this, about two hours passed.

Suddenly, a bailiff from the Dali Temple came over and said, "Master Shen, someone outside sent a child to deliver a letter."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian raised his lips and said, "Here I come."

Shen Lian said, "Bring the letter here and send the child away."

"Yes!"

The bailiff left quickly.

Not long after, the bailiff returned and handed a letter to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian took the letter and took a look at the envelope.

There was not a single ink stain on the envelope; it was very clean.

Shen Lian smiled and took out the letter paper inside.

Looking at the letter paper, I saw a location written on it.

Apart from this, there is no other writing.

Shen Lian smiled casually, he stood up, put the letter in his arms, and walked out.

The location was written on the letter, but the time was not.

That means any time is fine.

As long as he goes there, he can find Tianji.

Shen Lian left the Dali Temple and walked slowly towards the agreed location.

After walking for about quarter of an hour, Shen Lian stopped.

He glanced at the address, then at the building in front of him, his eyebrows raised slightly.

What I saw before me was a pawn shop.

"Is this hidden in a pawn shop?"

Shen Lian looked around.

He found that the location of this pawnshop was very good.

The pawnshop is located on the edge of the street and is surrounded by roads on three sides.

This ensures that there are adequate escape routes in the event of any dangerous situation.

Although the street where the pawnshop is located is not the most prosperous, it is also crowded with people coming and going, which is enough to gather some general information.

As for more information, Chang'an has specialized intelligence dealers in the underground world. As long as you have money, there is nothing you can't find out.

So here, it is enough to meet all the needs of Tianji.

“It’s a great place!”

Shen Lian nodded slightly, and then went straight into the pawnshop without any delay.

The pawnshop is not very big. As soon as you enter, you can see a table and a few chairs. On the other side of the table is a tall counter.

The counter was very high, and when people stood there, only their shoulders could be exposed.

It is said that the setting of this high counter is to prevent the risk of being beaten by customers because the bid is too low.

After Shen Lian entered the pawnshop, he went straight to the counter.

He looked at the person at the counter and said, "I want to pawn something. Can you tell me how much it is worth?"

The shopkeeper at the counter heard this and asked hurriedly, "What is it?"

Shen Lian smiled, took out the received letter from his arms, put it on the counter, and said, "Do you think these few words are worth a fortune?"

When the pawnshop owner saw these words, his expression suddenly changed slightly.

He glanced at Shen Lian and said, "Master Shen?"

Shen Lian nodded slightly.

The shopkeeper came out hurriedly and said, "Master Shen, please come into the backyard. Our master is waiting for you in the backyard."

As he spoke, the shopkeeper opened the door leading to the backyard.

Shen Lian smiled and said, "Isn't this piece of paper worth a fortune?"

"This……"

The shopkeeper smiled awkwardly: "Even if it's worth it, we don't have that much money!"

Shen Lian laughed: "Since you can't afford so much money, I'll take it away."

Having said that, Shen Lian grabbed the paper back and turned to go into the backyard.

The shopkeeper couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead, thinking that Lord Shen was indeed as terrifying as his reputation said.

When Shen Lian came to the backyard, he saw that it was a courtyard like a quadrangle. The front was the pawnshop's facade, and the other three sides were living rooms.

In the center of the courtyard, there is a big tree.

Under the tree, there is a stone table and four stone benches.

At this moment, there was a person sitting on the stone bench.

He was over forty years old, with a weathered look on his face. He sat there, sipping tea leisurely.

Shen Lian walked straight to him and sat down.

He was over forty years old, with a weathered look on his face. He sat there, sipping tea leisurely.

Shen Lian walked straight to him and sat down.

(End of this chapter)