Chapter 93: Fire in East City

Li Qing'an didn't stay for a long time. After drinking a few glasses of water and drinking, he left the Prime Minister's Mansion. Tonight, the moonlight was clear, a crescent moon was bright and bright, and the silvery moonlight was like flowing water, quietly pouring on the streets of Chang'an. The sound of horse hooves was mixed, walking on the quiet street.

Li Qing'an's mind still lingers with her gentle figure as beautiful as a valley. He can't forget her lonely back when she left, and her helplessness and sorrow in her dependents.

Li Qing'an exhaled a long breath, and he looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, as if the bright moon had become her beautiful face.

Time has passed the time to close the gate. Tonight is New Year's Eve. Countless families are waiting for dawn. Tonight, Fangmen in Chang'an is an exception. From time to time, a carriage is passing by the streets, and there are waves of dog barking in the darkness.

Suddenly, several black shadows ran out from the darkness in front of them and headed straight towards the east city. Li Qingan instinctively pulled the reins and looked at these black shadows with some strange eyesight. His eyesight was extraordinary. He vaguely saw that these people seemed to be wearing soap clothes of yamen runners.

‘Are they catching the thief?’

Li Qing'an had a trace of doubt in his heart. He continued to move forward. When he was about to reach the Dongfang Gate of Chongrenfang, suddenly, a thick smoke rushed straight up in the east city, which was particularly clear in the night sky with full moon and sparse stars.

"Ah! I'm leaving." Several servants from the guarding sect shouted together.

Li Qingan rushed towards the east city with a war horse. He was really strange in his heart. The strangeness of the yamen runners was first, and the fire was later. Is there any connection between the two?

He is now very close to Dongshi City, only two miles away. Before he arrived at Dongshi City, he heard the gong ringing and someone shouted: "It's time to go out! It's time to go out! The city office is burning, go and put out the fire!"

On the streets, there were people running to watch the fun, men, women, young and old, and everyone's faces were filled with excitement of watching the fun.

When Li Qing'an arrived at Dongshi, there were already crowds of people. People from several nearby yards came to watch the fun. The gate of Dongshi had been blocked by the yamen runners and people were not allowed to enter. However, from the gate, you could vaguely see the scene inside. The city office was filled with smoke. Although the fire was very large, it was already controlled. People were running, and countless yamen runners and Jinwu guards were carrying water to put out the fire. Among them were the soldiers of the patrol camp. The head of the city office who had just arrived was eager to jump straight, but one of them was calm and commanded the yamen runners and soldiers to put out the fire.

This person is Yang Zhao, the magistrate of Wannian County.

His image was extremely heroic, his official uniform was neatly dressed, and he was very majestic. He could only hear him shouting, "Save people first, no matter what, you can't let the fire burn the shop!"

More than a dozen businessmen next to him kowtowed in front of him, crying gratitude.

At this time, a yamen runs out on horseback and shouts to all the people watching the fun: "Mr. Yang is brave enough to put out the fire. The fire has been controlled and no one is injured!"

A burst of cheers suddenly broke out in the crowd, and countless people were applauding warmly. At this time, Li Qingan suddenly saw Li Fei Shouyu, who led a dozen cavalrymen to maintain order.

Li Qing'an urged him to step forward and whispered from afar: "Shouyu!"

When Li Fei Shouyu turned around and saw Li Qing'an coming, he hurried forward and said, "General! Are you here too?"

"I just happened to pass by."

Li Qingan waved his hand and asked in a low voice: "I'll ask you, how did this fire burn?"

Li Fei Shouyu looked at both sides and saw someone, he hurriedly pulled Li Qingan to the darkness and whispered: "It's really strange. We have a brother who happened to be nearby, and he discovered the problem."

“What’s the problem?”

"About half an hour ago, the brother found a Kongming lantern flying in the air, flying very low, not exceeding the city walls of Dongcheng City. It should be that it was coming from nearby. After the Kongming lantern flew into the city office, it caught fire. But what was strange was that fires were also emitted from the other two places at the same time, which was the same as when we burned into the Zuoyuan. And even stranger, the fire had just ignited and the police had even been called, Yang Zhao led a large group of yamen runners to arrive. Humph! This was done too obvious."

Li Qingan nodded, "I understand, you must tell that brother not to spread it."

After saying that, Li Qing'an went to the Prime Minister's Mansion in Pingkangfang with a group of horses.

There was a fire in the east city. Li Linfu, who had just received the news, had already drove out of the mansion in a carriage, and Li Qing'an was coming on a horse and horse.

"Prime Minister, please stay!"

The guards met Li Qing'an, and the carriage stopped. Li Linfu opened the corner of the curtain and smiled, "Qilang, why are you back?"

"Prime Minister, I just came from the East City."

"Oh! How is the fire in East City?"

Li Qingan smiled faintly and said, "Under the heroic command of Yang County Magistrate Chang'an, the fire in Dongcheng City has been controlled."

"Yang Zhao?" Li Linfu smiled silently and said, "He, the county magistrate, is very conscientious!"

"Of course, the person who tied the bell still needs to untie it. If he doesn't save this fire, who else can he expect to save it?"

Even though Li Linfu was calm, his face changed by Li Qing'an's words. His face changed several times and he whispered to Li Qing'an: "Go into my carriage and talk."

Li Qing got on the carriage, and the carriage slowly headed towards the east city.

In the carriage, Li Linfu sighed and said, "As you said last time, the top priority of the emperor is not to improve Yang Shenjin, but to rush to find an excuse for Yang Zhao to improve. This fire on New Year's Eve tonight came too timely. No matter why the fire broke out, Yang Zhao saved Dongshi, and this contribution was enough to restore his post."

Li Qingan pondered for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, Yang Zhao is now just a fifth-rank county magistrate. Even if the emperor wants to promote him, he must be recommended by the prime minister. If the prime minister believes that this fire in the east market is his responsibility rather than his merit, how can the emperor promote him?"

"Qilang, you think things too simple, it's good! I have the right to interfere with the appointment and removal of officials below the third rank. If I firmly oppose it, the emperor will be helpless, but the problem is that the person he wants to promote will eventually resist him? To put it bluntly, he has no right to directly appoint and remove officials below the third rank, but he has the right to directly remove you."

In fact, Li Linfu knew that one of the most important reasons why he had been a prime minister for a long time was that he had not really played the role of a prime minister to a large extent, and had never used prime minister power to resist imperial power like Zhang Jiuling. He never once did it. He always did it according to Li Longji's expression. What Li Longji thought in his heart, and he did it safely before he even said it.

It is precisely because of his obedience that he has been firmly in the position of prime minister for so many years.

Li Qingan smiled and said, "I am over, please forgive me!"

"No!" Li Linfu waved his hand and smiled, "I feel very pleased that you are willing to come and tell me, and what you said is also very important. I have adopted most of it. In the future, you will still dare to speak out like today."

Li Qingan hurriedly bowed and said, "The Prime Minister has an order, and his subordinates should comply with him. Another humble opinion is that I wonder if the Prime Minister is willing to listen?"

"you say!"

Li Qing'an pondered for a moment and said, "The current situation is very chaotic. There are both Wang Zhongsi's case and Yang Zhao's possible promotion, there are two new candidates for Shangshu, and even Gao Weng is trying to protect the prince. All kinds of complicated things are all entangled. In fact, these are superficial things. The subordinates think there is only one thing, that is, the emperor intends to use Yang Zhao to replace the prime minister, but the time is not yet ripe. Yang Zhao is far from the opponent of the prime minister, so the emperor uses Yang Shenjin and even two new Shangshu to be Yang Zhao's shield."

Li Linfu nodded slightly. Li Qingan could see this. It was not simple! He stroked his beard and smiled, "Then tell me, how should I deal with the current situation?"

"It's very simple. Since Yang Zhao has to be promoted, then the prime minister will do personal favors and report to him as the Minister of Revenue and the Chief Censor of the Censor. Didn't the emperor ask the Three Departments to examine the case of Wang Zhongsi after the New Year? Then the prime minister ordered the Chief Censor Yang Zhao to preside over the trial of the case."

Li Linfu remained silent for a while, suddenly, he asked, "Qilang, if I asked you to patrol the camp to take responsibility for this fire, do you have any ideas?"

Li Qingan was stunned for a while, and he bowed and said, "I have no idea, I will follow the Prime Minister's arrangements."

Li Linfu smiled and fell silent. He closed his eyes slightly, and the carriage continued to move forward. The light and light shone on his huge nose through the gaps in the curtains. There was no expression on his face. Li Qing'an was also silent. Li Linfu's meaning was actually to let himself take responsibility, but why, why did Li Linfu let himself take responsibility?

Not far from the East City, Li Linfu finally opened his eyes. He patted Li Qing'an on the shoulder and smiled slightly and said, "Go! Play for Gao Weng."

At this moment, Li Qing'an suddenly discovered that Li Linfu was showing his old state and felt an indescribable fatigue.

The fire in the East City was still burning, but it had nothing to do with Li Qing'an. Li Linfu's last decision was undoubtedly a loud alarm, which woke Li Qing'an up. He knew that Li Linfu asked him to take responsibility not to show kindness to Yang Zhao, but Li Linfu had regarded Yang Zhao as his number one political enemy and promoted himself to a core piece to deal with Yang Zhao. This should be the case. He saw that he had the ability to fight Yang Zhao, so before implementing the steps, he first cut off his relationship with him.

But the question is, what would he think? Li Linfu didn't care about his own thoughts at all. He just regarded himself as a chess piece, an important chess piece that could make exquisite moves. Perhaps this is a political struggle, with turbulent and ruthlessness, and only benefits and exploits between them.

Perhaps Yang Zhao will become the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, perhaps Li Linfu will last for another five years, perhaps the Anshi Rebellion will severely damage the Tang Dynasty, or perhaps the Tang Dynasty will lose Anxi Longyou, but all this is just maybe, and Li Qing'an traveled through the Tang Dynasty, will the Tang Dynasty still follow its original trajectory?

Since everyone is playing chess, then Li Qing'an also came to take a big game of chess to see who will become the chess piece.

Li Qing'an let out a long sigh of relief to the moon. At this time, the moon was no longer the beautiful face of the dance clothes, but Li Linfu's huge nose. He quickly sorted out the ideas in his mind. The Minister of Works and the Minister of Rites were vacant, and Yang Shenjin's entry into the cabinet was a foregone conclusion. This fire would also be Yang Zhao's chance to turn things around. If he guessed correctly, Li Longji would definitely take advantage of the changes in the Secretary of the Secretary and start to cut off Li Linfu's power. Will Li Linfu be so willing to wait for death? Surely not, he will definitely have actions, and this action is probably to take his own move.

Li Qingan couldn't imagine what kind of chess he would do, but he knew what he should do now, and that was to wait for Li Linfu's arrangements.

Li Qingan returned to Chongrenfang. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he laughed loudly and said, "Is there anyone at home? Your elder brother is back!"

The door creaked open, and the three little girls rushed out and surrounded him excitedly.

"We thought our elder brother would be back very late, but we were back now."

Li Qingan hugged the shoulders of Rushi Ruhua sisters and smiled: "What? I don't seem to want me to come back!"

Ruhua pulled his arm and acted coquettishly, "No! We have been waiting for you to come back for dinner, and our stomachs are almost hungry!"

Li Qingan was stunned. He looked at Rushi, "Didn't you have dinner yet?"

Rushi nodded embarrassedly and whispered: "We originally wanted to eat first, but we were worried that you were not full, so we decided to wait for you to come back and eat together."

"Hey! You three little ladies"

Li Qingan was moved and heartbroken. He patted their heads lovingly and said, "This is the last time. You are not allowed to wait for me like this in the future. Have you heard of it?"

"Brother, we understand."

"It's good if you know!"

Li Qingan touched his stomach and smiled, "But then again, I am not full. Let's add wine and return to the light to reopen the banquet. The feast begins now!"

The three girls cheered, and Xiaolian hurriedly said to Ruhua: "Sister Ruhua, let's go and warm the dishes!"

"I'll go and drink warmly!" Rushi walked quickly into the room.

Li Qingan followed her into the room, hugged her from behind, and kissed her on her white neck.

"Like a poem!"

Rushi's face was flushed, she lowered her head shyly, "Big Brother"

Li Qingan liked her tenderness the most. He turned her body over, hugged her into his arms, raised her chin, and looked at her beautiful face eagerly. Rushi's eyes were flustered and she dared not look at him.

Li Qingan smiled, stretched out his mouth and kissed her tender cherry lips heavily, Rushi trembled all over her body

"Accompany me tonight!" Li Qing comforted the jade body in his arms and whispered.

"Well" Rushi nodded shyly. At this time, a picturesque laughter came from the yard, "Sister, stop being intimate, come to Wen bar quickly!"

Rushi's face turned red and she spat, "This dead girl!"

"I understand, I'm pouring wine!"

She hugged Li Qing'an's neck and kissed him, and begged in his ear, "Brother, let's go to night! OK?"

“Isn’t it night now?”

Li Qingan smiled and touched her legs again, then he reluctantly put her on. Rushi quickly tidied up her skirt, smiled at Li Qingan, and quickly walked out with a wine pot.

Li Qingan stretched his waist long, and he walked to the door and laughed loudly, "Prepare more wine, let's stop when we get drunk tonight!"
Chapter completed!