First Minister of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 459
...

Gao Junya walked away with his hands behind his back, leaving only Gao Chong standing under the veranda, full of thoughts.

At this time, Li Shimin and others came out of the hall, shouting and embracing. On the left was Zhongshuling Feng Deyi, on the right was Shangshu's right servant She Xiaoyu, followed by Chen Shuda, a servant with a gloomy face, and many courtiers. They were really majestic. noodle.

Seeing Gao Chong meditating in the corridor, Li Shimin stepped forward and said with a smile: "What are you doing here? Mr. Feng suggested to go to the Yingying Pavilion for a small gathering, and we will go together."

Gao Chong came to his senses, and when he looked back, his heart sank. The Crown Prince had just been deposed, and the King of Qin was so flamboyant. He couldn't wait to have a banquet with the princes of the three provinces. It would hurt his reputation to spread the word.

However, Li Shimin was obviously on the ups and downs, and Feng Deyi, as Zhongshu Ling, even laughed and echoed him.

"I have heard for a long time that Gao Shaoqing is famous for the yellow and white wine in your hero pavilion. It is rumored that my daughter's red and yellow wine is mellow, like a gentle and beautiful woman, and burning knives and white wine is as strong as a strong man. Today I have to experience it."

Naturally, Gao Chong wouldn't be that maverick loser, so he immediately responded, just waved his hands and said with a smile: "Mr. Feng was joking, the Hero Pavilion belongs to the Dongshi City Administration, and it has nothing to do with me.

Since Your Majesty and all the princes have such an elegant interest, it is natural for You to accompany them, but it is not appropriate for all the officials to drink happily here and leave the saint alone in the deep palace. Why don't your majesty respectfully invite the saint to go with you?It's also good for the saint to relax."

Since ancient times, there have been decrees that officials are not allowed to compete with the people for profit, and are not allowed to do business.

In the seventh year of Wude, Li Yuan once again issued a decree to reiterate, "Scholars, farmers, businessmen, four people have different industries, and the family of food and salary must not compete with the servants for profit."

On the original trajectory, after Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, he clearly stipulated: "Businessmen and businessmen must not sit shoulder to shoulder with the sages and bureaucrats, sit and eat together", not only prohibiting officials from doing business, but also prohibiting officials from interacting with merchants.

"Old Tang Book" records: In the seventh year of Zhenguan, Yan Shigu, the secret art supervisor, paid homage to the secretary and the young supervisor, and selected a group of merchants' children as proofreaders (proofreading text), violating the prohibition of "courtiers are not allowed to associate with merchants", and was demoted to Chenzhou As the governor, we can see the current situation of merchants.

Gao Chong had already prepared for this. After the construction of the Heroes Pavilion, he took the initiative to donate its ownership to the Municipal Administration of Dongshi. Therefore, the Heroes Pavilion strictly belonged to the Municipal Administration. In short, it was a state-owned property. As for the Municipal Administration The people behind it and the ownership of the profits are not known to outsiders.

The imperial court has municipal offices in both the east and west markets, and the chief official is called the city order, who ranks among the top nine ranks, is in charge of market transactions, and generally judges market affairs.

The municipal administrations of the eastern and western cities are under the jurisdiction of Taifu Temple, and the chief official of Taifu Temple is Taifu Qing, one of the nine ministers, with a high status.

Before this year, Li Shenfu, the king of Xiangyi County, had always been the Minister of Taifu.

Until the beginning of this year, Li Xiaogong, the king of Hejian, was dismissed from his position as governor of Yangzhou and replaced by Zong Zhengqing due to the impeachment of the official censor. .

Li Shenfu is the younger brother of Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an. The two brothers have always been friendly with Li Shimin. According to official history, Li Shenfu suffered from leg problems in his later years and was not good at walking. Watching him enter the palace shows the depth of their friendship.

Feng Deyi casually said that the Hero Pavilion was Gao Chong's property. It seemed unintentional, but in fact he had a heart to punish. feast.

At this time, the emperor did not hide in the deep palace, there were several palaces in Guanzhong, and Li Yuan often went out of the palace, and the saint Luanjia could often be seen in Chang'an City.

Li Shimin saw that Gao Chong didn't seem to be joking, although he didn't understand, but out of trust in Gao Chong, he said directly: "Very good, Mr. Feng, you wait in the political affairs hall first, and I will go to invite the saint before you and me Attend".

Feng Deyi was startled when he heard the words, so he had no choice but to respond.

Li Shimin and Gao Chong went all the way to the back hall of Ganlu Hall, and when they reached a remote place, Li Shimin asked: "Feng Lun intends to get close, so he proposed to have a banquet. Youzhi, do you have any deep meaning in asking the saint to attend?"

Gao Chong shook his head and sighed, "The edict to abolish the prince has just been promulgated, and the saint is very sad. At this time, the king is having a banquet with the ministers of the three provinces. The impact may not be good."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's heart tightened immediately, he nodded and said: "What Youzhi said is reasonable, if you spread it, you might think that I am celebrating the abolition of the crown prince."

Gao Chong nodded and said: "But now the sage is in a low mood, your majesty can invite the sage out of the palace to relax and taste the new dishes from the Hero Pavilion. This is a manifestation of filial piety."

Li Shimin was overjoyed when he heard the words, "It's so good."

As the two walked, Gao Chong said: "The sage ordered the abolished prince to go to the Palace of Renzhi immediately after receiving the decree, and not to stay in the capital for no reason. The king can also use the excuse to see his brother off as a cousin.

In this way, one can accept Feng Xianggong's close heart, two can embody the king's filial piety, and three can show the king's brotherhood."

Li Shimin's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he kept nodding his head, "You Zhiyou has a lot of ideas, very good, very good."

In the Ganlu Hall, Li Yuan lay weary on the couch, sad alone.

Hearing that Li Shimin had respectfully invited him to the banquet at this time, he was immediately furious, "Can't wait to celebrate? Let him go."

Li Shimin heard the movement at the entrance of the hall, and he panicked suddenly, thinking that it was fortunate that Gao Chong was blocking him.

Immediately entered the hall and lay down on the ground, weeping and worshiping: "Aye, you have misunderstood my son, as soon as I read the imperial decree, my eldest brother will leave for Fangzhou Renzhi Palace, my heart is suffering.

Seeing that Aye was upset, he wanted to host a banquet to see off his eldest brother, so that Aye could relax.

Aye, although the elder brother made a big mistake, he is still the biological elder brother of my compatriots. Now that he is deposed and imprisoned, I really can't bear it."

Looking at Li Shimin who was sobbing, Li Yuan hesitated for a while. Could it be that he really misunderstood Li Shimin?

Ever since he heard that Li Shimin visited the clan kings overnight, Li Yuan felt a thorn in his heart.

At this moment, Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang, asked to see him, but Li Yuan ignored him for the time being, and announced Li Daoxuan to enter.

Seeing Li Shimin here, Li Daoxuan was a little nervous, and said with a smile: "Second brother, are you here?"

Li Shimin went in without knowing it, and nodded.

"Daoxuan, is your injury better?" Li Yuan was very fond of this nephew who lost his father when he was young, "If you don't recuperate at home, why are you here?"

After Li Daoxuan saluted, he looked at Li Shimin with some hesitation, took out the joint name book from his arms, and offered it with both hands, "Your Majesty, this is the joint name book of the clan kings, representing the wishes of our clan and royal family."

Wang De went up to follow and presented it to Li Yuan.

When Li Yuan opened it, his face flushed red with anger, his hands were shaking, he raised his head and glared at Li Daoxuan, "You guys are so brave, are you persecuting me?"

"I dare not wait," Li Daoxuan said in a deep voice, lying on the ground.

Li Shimin was stunned.

(End of this chapter)