People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1767: Ingenious means to plunder the wealth of the Western Regions

In the Liangyi Palace, Li Xuan looked at Kang Liancheng with a smile, but said something shocking: "Envoy Kang, how about staying in the Tang Dynasty forever?"

Kang Liancheng was stunned, and all the foreign envoys in the hall were also stunned.

"I wonder what Your Majesty means?" Kang Liancheng bowed carefully and looked at Li Xuan in confusion.

"I have a daughter, Princess Fuchang, who particularly likes the wine brought into the palace by Kangguo. However, Kangguo's fine wine is limited, so I hope that Envoy Kang can stay in the Tang Dynasty and plant high-quality grapes in a suitable place to make fine wine, such as Changzhou." Li Xuan smiled at Kang Liancheng and said, "Envoy Kang, how about I grant you a position as Minister of Agriculture?"

Kang Liancheng's breathing suddenly became heavy.

The Minister of Agriculture was an official position below the fifth rank. Although it was the lowest among the five ranks, he also had the opportunity to attend court twice a month and could even see Li Xuan from time to time.

The most important thing is that with this official position, Kang Liancheng can stay permanently in Datang, this beautiful and prosperous place.

Even their descendants will multiply and continue for eternity.

Kangguo’s domestic struggles will never have anything to do with him again.

Thinking of the desolate land of Kangguo, Kang Liancheng shook his head in his heart.

Thinking of this, Kang Liancheng couldn't help but look at the emperor sitting above.

He and Li Xuan have known each other for at least ten years, since Li Xuan served as the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, and they have a close relationship. Among the current foreign envoys, he is also ranked first.

Li Xuan's familiarity with the Western Regions made him extremely clear about Kang Liancheng's background, leaving Kang Liancheng unable to utter any words of rebuttal.

Moreover, based on Kang Liancheng's understanding of Li Xuan, Li Xuan might have other intentions in saying this today.

If he doesn't agree today, Kangguo will send another envoy tomorrow, and he will agree soon.

After a brief pause, Kang Liancheng bowed and said, "I thank your majesty for your grace. I am willing to serve the Tang Dynasty, but I don't want to be a real official. Your majesty can give me a casual official position and then a functional official position. I will handle the grape planting for your majesty. How do you think?"

Hearing Kang Liancheng bargaining with Li Xuan in this way, the eight temple ministers sitting in the chapel were completely stunned.

Especially Chen Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture. He did not expect that his Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture would be looked down upon so much, and he immediately could not help but speak.

Li Xuan smiled and waved his hand to stop Chen Yi, then looked at Kang Liancheng and said, "Kang Qing, you look down on the salary of my Tang Dynasty. Well, I will make you a doctor of the imperial court, and lead the imperial food, and be responsible for winemaking. In addition, you can plant grapes in the imperial farm in Changzhou. I will also grant you another 500 acres of land, also in Changzhou, and all the income from the planting will belong to you. Of course, if you hire people from my Tang Dynasty, you have to pay for the employment."

As soon as Li Xuan said this, all the ministers in the palace immediately understood Kang Liancheng's plan.

This guy just felt that the salary of the Minister of Agriculture was not enough, and wanted to take advantage of the wine-making business to make a fortune.

How could he know the hidden benefits of Tang Dynasty officials?

Although a Shangshi Fengyu was an eunuch, he was actually not as respected as a Sinong Cheng by officials in the outside world.

After all, the Sinong Cheng was a senior official in the Ministry of Personnel, while the Shangshi Fengyu was a junior official.

It has always been used by the children of meritorious nobles for retirement or to accumulate seniority.

For example, Li Xuan first served as Shangyao Fengyu and then transferred to Wuzhou Beijia.

This is because he himself is a prince of the current dynasty. Similarly, even if he is a Beijia, he is just a person used by Li Zhi to accommodate the princes of the counties and generally has no real power at all.

Li Xuan was able to move up step by step, mainly because of his military achievements in Wuzhou and Changzhou.

Without military merit, he would ultimately be nothing more than a jester and a favored official.

However, this was not important to Kang Liancheng at all, because with his foreign identity, it was impossible for him to go far in the official hierarchy of the Tang Dynasty.

It was impossible for him to join the army and make military achievements, so it was enough for him to get a minor official position and then make some money.

……

When Kang Liancheng heard that Li Xuan had granted him the title of Imperial Doctor, Imperial Food and Imperial Sacrifice, and 500 acres of tax-free fertile land, he immediately knelt on the ground in surprise and said, "Your Majesty, I, Kang Liancheng, would like to thank you for your grace. May your Majesty live forever."

For a moment, the foreign envoys in the hall looked at Kang Liancheng with envy in their eyes.

Li Xuan nodded calmly, and then said: "Kang Qing, since you have become a minister of my Tang Dynasty, I have to say some ugly words to you first."

"I will listen to your Majesty's teachings." Kang Liancheng already looked like a minister of the Tang Dynasty.

"Your duty is to grow grapes and make wine. Grow good grapes in Changzhou and make good wine. I hope that Tang wine can appear in every corner of the world. If you can't make wine within five years, don't blame me for being ruthless." After a short pause, Li Xuan said, "As for Kangguo, I'll let General Yan Tao of the Left Leading Army say hello to the King of Kangguo, so you don't have to worry about it."

Kang Liancheng's mouth twitched slightly, and then he bowed and said, "I accept your order."

"Someone, give me some money." Li Xuan clapped his hands.

The next moment, two sturdy eunuchs came out from the side hall carrying a red lacquered wooden box and finally came in front of Kang Liancheng.

The red lacquered wooden box fell to the ground and was then opened directly. Immediately, golden light appeared everywhere and hundreds of Kaiyuan Ruyi coins suddenly appeared in front of Kang Liancheng.

Kang Liancheng stared in disbelief.

If it is Kaiyuan Tongbao, to be honest, no matter how exquisite the gold jewelry is, it is not worth much. However, there are countless people in the world who want to get this Kaiyuan Ruyi money but cannot.

Kang Liancheng knew that if he sold these things, he would get at least ten times the profit. But he also knew that as long as he hid these things, their value would increase every day in the future.

The emperor not only gave him an official position and land, but also gave him money.

In an instant, Kang Liancheng had completely forgotten the threat Li Xuan had just made to him.

Who would remember such trivial things?

"Your Majesty, I am Kang Liancheng. I thank you for your grace. May your Majesty be blessed with endless fortune and a long life." Kang Liancheng bowed his head heavily to the ground.

"Kang Qing, please stand up." Li Xuan raised his hand with a smile.

He is very familiar with using the tactic of using a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other.

"Come on, dance!"

……

Before we knew it, the banquet was over.

Kang Liancheng walked out of Tai Chi Gate drunkenly and got into his carriage.

The eunuch following behind him placed his official uniform, official seal, and a cash box next to the carriage, and then the carriage slowly drove out of the Suzaku Gate.

Outside the Suzaku Gate, when Kang Liancheng's carriage left, ten Jinwu Guards had been ordered to escort him.

The other foreign envoys who were watching Kang Liancheng leave had red eyes, which gradually subsided at this time.

Looking down at the only three Kaiyuan Ruyi coins in their hands, everyone felt dissatisfied. Why did Kang Liancheng have more than a hundred Kaiyuan Ruyi coins in his hand, while they only had three? Why? Why?
Everyone's breathing became heavy.

……

With a creaky sound, Lu Yuan pushed open the door and walked in, then closed the door to prevent the cold wind from outside from blowing in.

The candles illuminated the room. A maid came out from the inner room and helped Lu Yuan take off his coat. Lu Yuan then walked into the warm inner room.

Li Yu was lying on the bed. It was not easy for her to move because she was seven months pregnant, but she still turned her head and looked at Lu Yuan, and asked with a little concern: "Why did my husband come back so late today?"

"Something went wrong." Lu Yuan warmed himself by the fire to get rid of the chill before walking to Li Yu's side, holding her hand and explaining, "I don't know what happened these days, but foreign envoys suddenly became interested in the Kaiyuan Ruyi coins bestowed by Your Majesty in the New Year, and started buying a large amount."

Li Yu was slightly stunned and didn't say anything.

Lu Yuan continued, "This has happened before, but it's really strange to see such a large purchase this time, and the price is pushed very high."

Li Yu hesitated for a moment and asked, "Are there many people selling it?"

"There shouldn't be many, otherwise the price wouldn't be pushed so high." Lu Yuan lay down beside Li Yu gently and said, "I have been looking around the West Market for a day and all I saw were buyers. I didn't see anyone selling. After all, it was bestowed by His Majesty. There are only a few coins a year. Ordinary people can't even get one. Besides, the value of Kaiyuan Ruyi coins is not here."

"What else can we do with it? If we can't use it to buy things, can we use it as a gift?" Li Yu said calmly, "This thing is nothing more than passing it down to our descendants. When they have a hard time, they can use it to pay back the money. Since we can sell it for several times the price in the future, why not buy it now?"

"What are you going to buy?" Lu Yuan turned sideways, looked at his always smart wife, and asked in a low voice: "Aren't they calligraphy and antiques, and this Ruyi money? Is there anything in the world more worth buying than this Ruyi money?"

"That's true, but I'm just worried that this year's Kaiyuan Ruyi coins will not be as valuable in the future." After Li Yu finished speaking, she immediately attracted Lu Yuan's extremely surprised gaze: "Why do you say that, madam?"

Li Yu raised his head, looked outside, and said, "Bring in the things that were sent from the palace today."

"Yes!" The maid outside responded, and then she came in from outside holding a red wooden box with gold edges.

The wooden box was placed on the table on the side. Li Yu raised his hand slightly, and the maid opened the wooden box.

Then, a golden light suddenly appeared in the house.

……

Lu Yuan had already stood up from the bed and came to the wooden box. Looking at the box filled with more than a hundred Kaiyuan Ruyi coins, he looked at Li Yu in surprise and asked, "Where did these things come from?"

"The palace bestowed it today. It was said that after all the gifts were given out, there was a batch left that was not of very good quality. His Majesty asked each prince's palace, princess's palace, and county lady's palace to send some." Li Yu lay there with a complicated expression.

"It's not in very good condition." Lu Yuan only heard the previous part and couldn't help but grab a piece of Ruyi money, put it in front of his eyes and looked at it carefully, then frowned and said, "It doesn't look bad at all!"

Li Yu looked at Lu Yuan and said, "There is always a batch of leftovers in the palace every year, but in previous years they were destroyed directly. It was only because Your Majesty ascended the throne at the beginning of this year that they were granted. As for the rest, I don't know."

"Something is wrong." Lu Yuan gently closed his eyes. He thought of the sudden surge in the price of Ruyi coins, the Hu merchants who bought them, and the Western Regions envoys behind the Hu merchants. In addition, this year, there were many more Ruyi coins than in previous years. Finally, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind: "Your Majesty did it on purpose."

"What?" Li Yu asked subconsciously.

"The day before yesterday, at the Lantern Festival, His Majesty gave Kang Liancheng, the envoy of Kang State, 100 Ruyi coins, while the envoys of other countries only had three. Afterwards, the envoys of various countries began to buy up the Ruyi coins, and someone secretly fanned the flames, so the price of Ruyi coins skyrocketed, and the buyers were wealthy Western Region merchants. Now His Majesty has given us so many Ruyi coins again."

After a short pause, Lu Yuan said affirmatively: "Your Majesty, this is the wealth that you want to plunder from the Hu merchants, and our family is a little gift from your Majesty. No, this is your Majesty's reminder. We should help your Majesty..."

"How can I help?" Li Yu leaned on the bed and shook her head, saying, "My husband, you know the situation in our family. If His Majesty has a reward, just accept it. You don't need to get involved in other things."

"Of course, our family will not get involved, but our cousins ​​can intervene." Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile. The higher Lu Zangyong could move up at this time, the better it would be for them.

(End of this chapter)