Ji Tang

Chapter 1452 Chen Shou’s grievance

On March 3rd, Chang'an's defenders suddenly dispatched, and there were hundreds of black armored cavalry among them. The people who had lived in Chang'an for many years must have seen this situation and saw that something big had happened, but they had not heard of it recently. So everyone whispered to each other and were very curious.

"Hey, have you heard? Duke Tan is coming back!"

"Come back as soon as you come back. Duke Tan is from Chang'an. What's so strange about coming back?"

"Humph, of course it wouldn't be like this if he only came back. I heard from my nephew from the south that Duke Tan brought back hundreds of ships of treasure this time. He said he got it from destroying many countries at sea."

"Good guy, they shipped it back one by one. It is said that the governor of Mingzhou was scared to death, so he reported it to the court. Guess what?"

Everyone was curious and urged each other to speak quickly.

"Do you know that King Wei and King Wu brought people out of the capital?"

"I know, didn't you say it was His Majesty's will?"

"They are here to pick up the treasure. Think about it, the two most noble princes of the Tang Dynasty are dispatched. Do you think this can be reduced? This time they should be the ones who came back with the treasure, and these people are here to protect it."

Everyone suddenly realized, but they didn't believe it. They said it was one ship or two ships, but they believed it, but these hundreds of ships? Haha, are you trying to trick a fool?
However, everyone was curious, even if they didn't take it to open their eyes, so the gathered people walked towards the city gate.
Changsun Wuji was sitting by the window on the second floor of the restaurant where he often came, and smiled slightly when he heard everyone's words.

"Dad, will this work?"

There is a middle-aged man beside Changsun Wuji, and this man is Changsun Chong, who has just returned to Beijing to report on his duties. He has been the governor of Zhaozhou in these years and has been away from home all year round. This time he returned to Beijing and should have been promoted.

With the support of Changsun and Changsun Wuji, he has indeed done well in the local area in recent years, and people's livelihood has been greatly improved. He even personally led people to clear water canals and open up wasteland for farming. This made Zhaozhou, which was originally in decline, very quickly. It has recovered, but now it is limited by the population and cannot be seen.

"It works, of course it works!"

Changsun Wuji also didn't expect that just when he was in trouble, the emperor came to him and told him that Ji Song had brought back dozens of ships' treasure from overseas. According to preliminary estimates, it was worth at least five million gold coins. This was five million before. Two golds.

"There are reports from local places, especially in Luoyang, Chengdu, Xuanzhou, Dengzhou, Mingzhou and other places that there have been a large number of runs on the Royal Bank. It takes time for the court to dispatch cash. If something goes wrong, the people may lose confidence in the Royal Bank. , then your father and I will be completely finished."

"It's okay in Mingzhou. Ji Song is docked in Mingzhou. When transporting property, a ship 'accidentally' suddenly became exposed, so many people at the port saw boxes after boxes of property being moved ashore, so everyone was not very Worry."

"But it's different in other places. When the imperial court almost simultaneously cracked down on those who colluded with government officials and businessmen, someone spread rumors that the imperial court was out of money and wanted to attack merchants all over the world."

"On weekdays, that's fine, but when a large number of wealthy people from all over the country were arrested, it completely exploded. Businessmen from all over the country lined up in banks to withdraw money, and even the common people followed suit."

"The imperial court didn't have time to make arrangements. If the army hadn't arrived in time, they would have smashed the bank."

"You saw what happened next. As soon as Ji Song's fleet arrived in Dengzhou and boxes of real gold and silver were delivered to the bank vault, all the turmoil subsided."

Changsun Wuji didn't know what to think, he just thought it was too strange. How could there be such a coincidence in the world? From the time when the imperial court decided to take action against those who poached the Tang Dynasty, to when Ji Song went to sea, and then brought back a large amount of property, and then from all over the country to arrest those people at the same time, it would be strange if there was no connection between them.

But he didn't get any wind of it, which was wrong. But now is not the time to think about this. If it weren't for the fact that those people couldn't reach here at the feet of the Emperor of Chang'an, after the news came out, the imperial court immediately transported coins to various places in Guanzhong with great fanfare, and it seemed calm and without any surprises.

But this incident made him vigilant and made him calm down instantly after Ji Song ran away.

"Dad, that merchant is just a weakling. The imperial court suddenly took action with great fanfare. Isn't it a bit of a fuss?" Changsun Chong sneered at this. In his eyes, those merchants are not worthy of being on the stage. What big things can they accomplish?
However, the imperial court resorted to thunderous means, using tamed falcons to convey messages, and almost all of them were caught in one fell swoop.

"madness!"

Changsun Wuji glared at his son, and finally said in disappointment: "I thought you would make some progress over the years, but you are still so unclear about the benefits. How can I rest assured in the future?"

Changsun Chong was stunned. Is there something he didn't know about here?

"In the name of hypocrisy, for stealing the country, the imperial court would have been merciful by not punishing the other three clans. If it were not for the fear that this would cause harm to the merchants all over the world and make people panic, thus reducing business taxes, with His Majesty's temperament , I have to kill a lot of people this time.”

"You are so naive that you think this is a disease caused by fibrosis?"

"It's called subsidizing poor students, but it's actually selecting spokespersons, tying up the best among the poorest students, and then using their financial resources to smoothen relationships, so that they can rise all the way up. When they reach a certain level as officials, they will no longer distinguish each other."

"The scholars who serve as officials protect them, and the businessmen use their money to solve their problems and support each other. Over time, when the court is filled with such officials, have you ever thought about that?"

Changsun Chong suddenly shuddered when he heard this and said in disbelief: "How is this possible? How dare they?"

"Huh, I've done it all, what else is there that I don't dare to do?"

Changsun Wuji sneered: "It should have been discovered by Ji Song when he went south to Xuanzhou. Then Li Yifu wrote a letter to the court about Xuanzhou for some reason, completely lifting the lid. If there was no trace of Ji Song in it, Do you believe it?"

"Previously, Ji Song's second son Ji Ze was exiled overseas for the crime of privately researching firearms. Considering Ji Song's power, this matter is nothing. Firearms are made by others. Isn't it normal for my own son to study this thing?"

"And who of those aristocratic families overseas has not done this? Otherwise, with their temperament, would they miss the opportunity to deal with Ji Song?"

"But guess what? Not only did Ji Song fail to plead with His Majesty, he was imprisoned as soon as he was discovered and sent a letter to the court to wait for his punishment."

"Originally, there was no need to be exiled, but Xie Lian, the grandfather, went out of his way and demanded severe punishment. There must be some calculation that we didn't know about. Now except Ji Song, no one knows where Ji Ze has been exiled. This is a big deal. hidden dangers.”

"As a father, Ji Ze also watched him grow up. Although he is not as scheming as his father, he has a tendency to outperform others in the study of objects. His future achievements will be limitless. His wife is Ji Song's only female disciple. It is said that he is also a hero among women who is not inferior to the men in the world."

"There must be a plan to arrange for his son to go to sea this time, but my father still doesn't understand why?"

After saying that, he stood up and said: "Okay, let's go into the palace. Your Majesty should be calling for fathers soon."

Changsun Chong was stunned for a moment, but he thought that when Ji Song came back, it would be no surprise that His Majesty and his relationship would be summoned immediately, so he hurried to follow. In the crowd, the two of them walked against the current, but others were not interested in paying attention and were all excited. Run towards the outside of the city.
Ji Song did not follow the team to stop outside the city at all, but took his family into the city from the north gate in a carriage. However, as soon as they entered the city, they were stopped by Chen Shou and Xiao Xizi, who had been waiting for a long time. Looking at the two of them, Ji wanted to laugh, but she still held it back. These two people were also interesting. They came at the same time, and their noses were not noses, and their eyes were not eyes. It made Chen Shou very angry.

"Mr. Xi, your majesty has been waiting for a long time. Please follow me into the palace with your servants!" Xiao Xizi quickly stepped forward and said before Chen Shou could say anything.

Chen Shou was silent. Just when he sighed and was about to go back, he heard Ji Song say: "Well, you go back and report to Your Majesty. Just say that I have gone to pay my respects to the Supreme Emperor and the Empress, and then go to see Your Majesty!"

"Mr. Xi, isn't this appropriate?" Xiao Xizi's expression suddenly changed. Chen Shou, who was beside him, smiled happily. He glared at Xiao Xizi and said in a strange tone, "The Supreme Emperor has always regarded Mr. Xi as his nephew, and the empress dotes on him very much. If the younger generation doesn’t go home to meet the elders, where else can they go?”

Ji Song said with a smile: "Okay, just report it truthfully and go back!"

Although Xiao Xizi was unwilling to do so, there was nothing he could do about it. He could be arrogant towards others, but facing Ji Song, he would not dare even if he had a hundred courages.

Others don't know about this person's status in His Majesty's heart. How can he not know? Even if Ji Song is far away, His Majesty will always talk about him. He will ask himself about his whereabouts whether he goes or not, but he does not dare to offend him.

Seeing Xiao Xizi walking away, Chen Shou said bitterly: "You are an idiot who makes your own decisions. I can guarantee that this is not what your Majesty said when you came here. With his brain, he knows nothing!"

"Okay, is it hard to be squeezed out by the juniors? Have you ever thought about leaving the palace? My family still needs a falconer. You have been managing the falconers for these years, and I heard you are also a good hand. How about it? Come to my place? Take care of it. How about food, shelter, and a hundred silver coins a year?”

"really?"

Chen Shou couldn't believe his ears and stared at Ji Song, fearing that he had heard wrongly.

"Tsk, love will come or not. It's hard to find toads with four legs. There are many people with these two legs."

Chen Shou became anxious when he heard this, but Ji Song just ignored him. Chen Shou was so angry that he gritted his teeth and wanted to beat him up. Therefore, I didn't give him a good look along the way. Even when I entered the Wanmin Palace, I didn't even say hello and left by myself.

Ji Song didn't care and just ignored it. This was indeed the first time he came to the Wanmin Palace since it was built. He wanted to see how this palace complex, which took ten years and cost countless people, was like.

Everyone who saw him along the way bowed respectfully to him and did not stop him. Some people were afraid that he would get lost, so they followed him and watched from a distance.

This casual walk around really opened his eyes. Chinese and Western architecture are perfectly combined here, with the compact layout and rough and tall appearance of the West, but also the practical and humanistic style of the north and south of the Central Plains.

The entire palace is located on a high plateau, overlooking the entire city of Chang'an. It not only ensures drainage and drying problems, but also is extremely conducive to defense. The gardens in the air are full of rockeries, mythical sculptures of mythical beasts can be seen everywhere, small streams are interspersed among them, and rare plants, flowers and plants are even more beautiful.

Unknowingly, I arrived at the square in front of the main hall. In front of me were one hundred and eight steps, each with nine steps. Looking up, it looks like a heavenly palace, with a majestic force coming towards you.

"Who is in the audience?"

Suddenly, a voice came from the end of the steps. I don’t know why. Although it was far away, it spread extremely far. The echoes came one after another, making people feel pressure.

Ji Song smiled slightly, bowed his head and said loudly: "I, Ji Song, pay my respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live forever and the Tang Dynasty live forever!"

Then he bowed again and continued to say loudly: "Greetings to the empress, I wish the empress good health and good luck!"

Above, Li Shimin nodded towards his eldest grandson and said, "This guy is completely shameless now. He couldn't say this before."

Changsun rolled his eyes at the other party and said angrily: "Isn't it just that I didn't tell you? As for burying people like this?"

Li Shimin smiled awkwardly and shouted directly: "Ji Song!"

"Chen is here!"

"Come forward and talk!"

"promise!"
-
The steps were very long, but Ji Song's feet were very stable. He walked up in one breath without even taking a breath. This made Li Shimin envious after seeing it. It's better to be young!
"Your Majesty, empress!" Ji Song saluted again.

"Okay, these false etiquettes will be waived!"

Then he waved his sleeves and said, "Here, bring the stool!"

"promise!"

Soon after. Bang!
Chen Shou expressionlessly placed a stool that was only half the height of Li Shimin and Changsun in front of Ji Song, and then put his hands in his sleeves like a normal person without looking at him.

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment, glanced at Chen Shou, whose face was ashen, and then looked at Ji Song, who was glaring at him. He was surprised and said: "You provoke him again? Look at your potential, I am the great Duke of the Tang Dynasty. What did you know about him?"

The eldest grandson was also curious. Chen Shou had been with them for decades, so of course they knew what his temper was. If he wasn't so angry, how could he embarrass Ji Song at this time?

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Li Shimin crossed his legs, grabbed a handful of melon seeds, and looked at Ji Song with interest.

"What else could it be? I just feel sorry for him and want to give him a bite of food when he can't do anything anymore. It just so happens that my family is short of someone who can train falcons. No, I think he is quite suitable. But who knows? He still doesn’t appreciate it?”

Ji Song exaggerated: "The annual salary is a hundred silver coins. Is it enough?"

Chen Shou looked at Ji Song who was talking nonsense. He was so angry that he itched his teeth and said angrily: "You fart, Your Majesty, he...he is playing tricks on me, you have to make the decision for me!"

After saying that, he knelt down in front of Li Shimin crying, as if he had been wronged a lot.

Li Shimin looked at the aggrieved Chen Shou, and then at Ji Song, who looked like a normal person, and he immediately understood something. He kicked Chen Shou lightly and said angrily: "What? It seems that you are still moved? I don't want you to eat or drink? Do you really want to leave the palace?"

Chen Shou was stunned, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, I have served you all my life. Now that I am old, I may not have a few more years to live, I think."