back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 498

"Finally back to Chang'an City..."

In the carriage, Li Jie, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, sighed faintly, and then lowered the curtain.The prosperity of Chang'an City is very different from the area where the Yellow River flooded.Returning to Chang'an, Li Jie, who seemed like a world away, felt unreal.

Chunming Gate was still some way away from the imperial palace, and there were people performing Nuo opera along the street, which made Li Cheng dizzy.It's not that the Nuo opera is very good-looking, at least it's a bit farther than the operas in Goulan Wasi.But the novelty of Nuo opera is only available at this time of the year, and it is a novelty to watch.

The wheels of the carriage turned, and finally left the noisy market and came to Royal Street.On the imperial street, no one dared to make noise in front of the palace, so it was a rare and quiet place.When they came to the downstairs of Xuande, the imperial guards in charge of guarding the palace stopped the carriage.Li Cheng, the coachman, quickly took out Li Jie's official seal and handed it to the imperial guards for inspection.

This official seal, two inches square, is made of brass.The official seal of Dashun is characterized by a large seal, and the greater the official position, the larger the official seal.The official seal of a certain minister of the imperial court, the official seal, is all rectangular buttons, and the seal text is engraved in reverse characters of "Miao Zhuan", which are several seal characters of "Seal of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce".On the back of the official seal of the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, it is engraved with "Casting by Shaofu Supervisor in October of the first year of Hongxiang", and the word "Shang" is also engraved on the top of the seal button, in case the seal is reversed.

Such an official seal is not easy to imitate.Because although the official seal of Dashun is made of copper, due to the very busy business of some yamen, the official seal wears out quickly, and a new seal needs to be replaced every year.Coupled with the withdrawal and merger of some institutions and man-made damage, institutions at all levels in the Song Dynasty scrapped a large number of official seals every year.As for these waste seals, each yamen cannot deal with them properly, and must be handed over to the Ministry of Rites for uniform destruction.Then the Shaofu supervisor recasts an official seal and distributes it to the yamen that damaged the official seal.It is because of the frequent change of printing that the date on the official printing is often changed, so it is not easy to imitate.These imperial guards guarding the palace gate not only have to look at the official seal, but also the official uniform. Only when the two match, can they enter the palace.Li Jie also knew this rule, and got out of the carriage long ago, openly revealing the second-rank official uniform he was wearing.

The imperial guards inspected carefully before putting Li Jie into the palace.Li Cheng was very knowledgeable, he obediently took the carriage aside, and waited for Li Jie to come out.Li Cheng has been Li Jie's coachman since he became a general and supervisor, and he has long been familiar with the rules, so there is no need to say more.

At this moment, Lu Chengqi is in the imperial garden, admiring the blooming wintersweet with Queen Zhou Zhiruo.If an adjutant minister saw him, he would definitely say that Lu Chengqi disregarded the country and the country, and was only seeking pleasure and so on.Isn't the emperor a human being, so he can't have time to rest?Lu Chengqi was very disapproving, Yushi Zhongcheng Li Ran had already advised him many times, not to go out of the palace frequently, and just stay in the palace honestly.If Lu Chengqi was so obedient, like a canary, he wouldn't be Lu Chengqi.

"Zi Tong, such beautiful scenery is rare to see!"

Lu Chengqi couldn't help but sigh with emotion, he was originally from Lingnan, not to mention that people from Lingnan have seen snow scenes, even plum blossoms are rare.At least before rebirth, Lu Chengqi had never seen such a plum garden.

Zhou Zhiruo is an authentic Chang'an native, and she can see Mei Xuejing every year, so what's so strange about it?It's just that seeing Lu Chengqi so fascinated, he couldn't bear to hit him, and echoed: "It's really beautiful!"

Lu Chengqi suddenly became very poetic, and chanted: "Plum blossoms are three times whiter than snow, but snow is less fragrant than plum blossoms."

Zhou Zhiruo looked at Lu Chengqi in surprise after hearing this poem, "How could Your Majesty make such a good sentence!"

In her opinion, Lu Chengqi was famous for being "unlearned and incompetent". Even writing with a calligraphy brush was not satisfactory, let alone composing poems and lyrics.But now, when he first heard this good poem, Zhou Zhiruo couldn't help but look at it with admiration.

However, Lu Chengqi came to his senses, this poem was originally written by people from the Song Dynasty, and he forgot who it was, but he must have never been born.Lu Chengqi, who came back to his senses, was very shocked and said: "Could it be that in Zitong's mind, there is no talent that I can't accomplish?"

Zhou Zhiruo gave a "puchi" smile, and when she was about to explain, Gao Hao walked into the plum garden untimely, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Li Jie, asks to see you."

"Your Majesty has government affairs to deal with, so the concubine will not bother you." Zhou Zhiruo avoided the side and said obediently.

Lu Chengqi pondered for a while, and said: "Zi Tong, let's go to the imperial dining room and prepare some tea. Li Jie has just returned from Henan Mansion, and has been exhausted all the way, so he should be rewarded."

Zhou Zhiruo couldn't help feeling a little jealous, and said, "Your Majesty treats your subjects better than your concubines!"

Lu Chengqi hurriedly comforted: "How can we compare? The courtier is my right and left arm, but Zitong is my reliance!"

Hearing these words was disgusting, Zhou Zhiruo blushed and spat: "No one is serious!" Her flushed cheeks were as good as Lamei's.

After seeing that Zhou Zhiruo had left, Lu Chengqi summoned Li Jie to meet him.Li Jie didn't wear much clothes, and relied on his young body to bear it for a long time.When Lu Chengqi saw Li Jie with a livid face, he quickly called him into the gazebo with a stove, and poured him a cup of hot tea.

This action moved Li Jie so much that he didn't want to, and quickly saluted: "Your Majesty, don't do this!"

Lu Chengqi insisted: "It's a trivial matter, it's nothing to worry about. Li Qing, sit down quickly, and I want to hear it with my own ears. In the past half a year, how is your water control in Henan Province going?"

Li Jie was honest and didn't know how to speak, so he just sat down.Not to mention, just sitting on the stove and drinking the hot tea that was just boiled, my body warmed up instantly. "Your Majesty, the specific matters have been written in detail in the memorial..."

Lu Chengqi waved his hand, he also knew that Li Jie was honest and wouldn't talk about anything but work.But what he cares about is not just water control.Lu Chengqi drank a cup of hot tea and said slowly: "That's just a matter of water control. What I want to know is how the people in Henan Province live after the flood?"

This is what Lu Chengqi should pay attention to. He needs to know how the people in Henan Province are recovering after the relief from the imperial court?
Sure enough, Li Jie's face became serious: "To tell you the truth, if it weren't for the flood control, I wouldn't know that there are still such impoverished people in Dashun."

Lu Chengqi hurriedly asked: "What's going on?"

"After the flood, the fields were abandoned, and the people were naked. If there was no relief from the imperial court, it would be a trivial matter to starve thousands of miles. After a year, the people along the Yellow River had no easy food. They had to go down to the river to catch fish, and wild vegetables in the mountains were all eaten. It’s all been dug up. If His Majesty hadn’t insisted on building the canal and using labor as relief, once the imperial court’s disaster relief money ran out, countless families would be ruined…” Li Jie is too honest, if he was a different person, he would never be straightforward Lu Chengqi said these words in front of him.This is suspected of accusing Lu Chengqi of making mistakes in his administration and postponing his actions.

Fortunately, Lu Chengqi was not such a stingy emperor, otherwise, Li Jie would have been reprimanded for being presumptuous.No way, Lu Chengqi took the opportunity to gain power because of the Yellow River flood.So Lu Chengqi was very concerned about water control, and he felt very sorry for the people along the Yellow River.If he had acted quickly, there shouldn't be so many people leaving their homes...

(End of this chapter)