The East Palace, when Li Chengqian lived there, was extremely prosperous, with a racecourse, barbarian tents, and countless beauties. From a distance, it looked like a pile of splendid things.
After Li Hong moved into the East Palace, it turned into a huge farmyard. Even in late autumn, there were still red peppers, red beets, green cabbages, bright yellow Chinese cabbages, and some with heads dyed red.
Sorghum.
The onions have been dug out, and there are a lot of them. They are piled up in the warehouse, emitting a strong smell of onions.
Li Hong opened a large vegetable shop outside the East Palace. The dishes in the shop are all new varieties. In order not to compete with ordinary vegetable farmers for profits, the vegetables in the vegetable shop in the East Palace are very expensive.
Generally, it is more than five times the price paid by vegetable farmers in the West Market.
Even so, the people who come to His Highness the Prince's vegetable shop to buy vegetables are always crowded. As soon as the door opens every day, within an hour, there will be nothing left in the vegetable shop.
Xu Jingzong’s whole family eats the high-priced dishes here.
The whole family in Li Yifu eats the high-priced dishes here.
Many other people also wanted to eat the high-priced vegetables here, but they were sternly refused by the Donggong officials in charge of selling vegetables.
Everyone in Chang'an knows that this vegetable shop is the Crown Prince's only source of income. The income from his fiefdom is now kept in the hands of the Queen. Therefore, everyone likes to give His Crown Prince a little pocket money by buying vegetables.
Therefore, the people of Chang'an know everything about Li Hong being a poor prince.
Therefore, when the people of Chang'an met Bailong Yufu in the West Market to understand the public sentiment and asked about the price of vegetables, meat, and grain, everyone who was asked was very enthusiastic.
I wish I could tell His Royal Highness the secret of my fortune, so that His Highness can run his vegetable shop better.
His Royal Highness is really kind. If he hears the shopkeeper say that he has made money, he will even ask for a glass of water and wine from the shopkeeper if he is in a good mood. If he meets someone who says that he is losing money, his Royal Highness will sometimes patronize this shop.
.
This does not mean that His Highness the Crown Prince is so good. As long as one sees an heir to the empire who meets his expectations, he will be very satisfied.
Li Hong is a prince who really hopes that his father can live a long life. Therefore, he would rather start from the bottom and then gradually understand and control the empire through a long period of study.
If everything goes well, Li Hong wouldn't mind letting his father spend his old age in advance, but this must only happen when he discovers that his father has become comatose due to old age.
What I have to do now is to straighten out everything. When the time comes, I can reach the ninth-five position just by saying something.
When Li Hong entered Dali Temple, the people of Dali Temple were waiting for him. However, Li Hong ignored them. He came to Dali Temple only to look for Di Renjie.
Although Dali Temple did not deal with the prince regarding the matter of Changsun Chong, the prince did not blame anyone in Dali Temple.
He didn't even slander him in front of the emperor.
Whenever this matter was brought up in the morning, the prince would resist without saying a word. Even if the officials from the east and west pavilions spoke more fiercely, the prince had a certain self-restraint and would only say one sentence from beginning to end.
--Could not bear.
The words "can't bear it" make no sense, and are not in line with the spirit of rule of law in the Tang Dynasty. However, the prince said so, and after doing so, even if he was scolded by the emperor and punished by the queen, the prince still did not change his mind.
Now, there are loud calls in the court to exile Changsun Chong's family, but no one has spoken about it in front of the prince.
After the prince came to Dali Temple to see Di Renjie several times, everyone understood one thing - Di Renjie belonged to the prince.
That is to say, after understanding this matter, the officials of Dali Temple quietly changed their treatment of Di Renjie.
"Find a way, I must stay in Chang'an and not go to Luoyang."
After entering Di Renjie's mansion, Li Hong made his request known.
Di Renjie, who had already considered this matter comprehensively, immediately said: "First win the position of Yongzhou Mu."
Li Hong frowned and said, "My fiefdom is in Taiyuan, so it's not easy to move to Yongzhou."
Di Renjie sneered and said: "Taiyuan is a prosperous place. How can we give up? Naturally, we have to add the official position of Yongzhou Mu."
Li Hongdao: "How to operate it appropriately?"
Di Renjie said with a smile: "After Yunchu and Wenwen return and Chang'an City has undergone earth-shaking changes, it will be useful for the prince to ask for the position of Yongzhou Mu. Otherwise, he will be just like Prince Ji Li Shen."
Li Hong sighed and said: "Master and the others are not here, and I always feel that my heart is empty without a backbone."
Di Renjie smiled and said: "The prince has done a good job. The ministers have seen the prince's persistence and the prince's words, and also let your majesty know the prince's determination to start from the bottom.
It also allowed the queen to see how wise the next monarch of the Tang Dynasty was, and also allowed the queen to see how her son cared about family ties.
These were enough, and the prince also promoted his simple virtues to all the people.
Therefore, as long as the prince persists, your position as prince will be as stable as Mount Tai, and no one will dare to compete with the prince."
Li Hong repeated what Li Xian said to the emperor and empress today.
Di Renjie smiled and said, "Prince, does he care?"
Li Hong shook his head and said: "I don't care, what I care about is that my father wants me to have filial piety."
Di Renjie sighed and said, "The prince should tell Yun Chu these words, not me."
Li Hong asked strangely: "Is there any difference?"
Di Renjie smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, please don't test me. If you continue to test me like this, a certain family may have to run away."
Li Hong rolled his eyes and said, "Master said you are a very interesting person, but I didn't expect you to be so unable to withstand the temptation."
Di Renjie sighed and said: "This is the disadvantage of being someone else's adviser. You know you are not close to each other, but you still want to get involved in the affairs of other people's relatives. This is how many people kill themselves."
He was in a bad mood today and couldn't find relief from Di Renjie, so Li Hong left Dali Temple amid the farewell of everyone.
As soon as Li Hong left, Zhang Wenguan, the minister of Dali Temple, came to Di Renjie's mansion, gave Di Renjie a cold look and said: "It's really too early to attach to the prince."
Di Renjie smiled and said: "Di Huaiying has no roots and no bottom. If he doesn't hold on to one thigh, he may not be able to live forever."
Zhang Wenguan said: "I was originally supposed to be an official, but now I have become a lucky person. Even if I have a future in the future, it will not be considered a great one."
Di Renjie smiled and said: "You are the first official of Dali Temple that I have ever seen who could make the prisoners in the Dali Temple jail cry and pray for you after hearing that you were seriously ill.
It is precisely because of you, the chief minister of Dali Temple, that Di Huaiying had to find a backer, lest he offend someone one day and be thrown into prison and never see the light of day."
Zhang Wenguan said angrily: "Is it true that the prisoner is praying for his officer?"
Di Renjie said: "It's unreasonable. You guys are really willing to do anything for fame now.
Also, don’t take the initiative from Wannian County. Don’t look at it. You have replaced the officials in Wannian County now. However, after Yunchu comes back, if those who killed the old subordinates of Wannian County can still be alive.
, that’s really weird.
By the way, I want to tell you that Wang Mingyuan, who went to the Western Regions to convey his will, died in a place called Kangqiongtan. His body turned into a mummy and became a road sign in that place.
You local officials may not know this, but there was an earth-shattering corruption case in Wannian County that year. Yun Chu hung two of the corrupt officials on a lotus pond and turned them into white bones.
After that, it was handed over to the Imperial Medical Office and turned into a skeleton. Now it is almost swollen and has become antique after being stroked by the officials of the Imperial Medical Office."
Zhang Wenguan said calmly: "Wannian County has not been inspected for five years, and it is necessary to conduct a serious inspection this time.
A certain family heard that Wannian County issued a so-called bonus, and a small official could receive eighty guan of money. Such corruption is already lawless."
Di Renjie burst out laughing.
Zhang Wenguan said angrily: "Why are you laughing?"
Di Renjie said: "At the beginning of spring, Yun Chu will come back. After all, he is the magistrate of Wannian County, and similarly, Wen Wen, the magistrate of Chang'an County, will come back.
Didn't you write to His Majesty that these two people were corrupt? Until now, has His Majesty and even the two cabinets responded?
Xu Jingzong, why did Li Yifu keep silent about matters involving Yun Chu? Don’t they know that Wannian and Chang’an counties are two fat pigs?”
"He dares!" Zhang Wenguan was so angry at what Di Renjie said. Until now, he still doesn't understand that a mere fifth-grade official could be so lawless in Chang'an City.
Watching Zhang Wenguan leave angrily, Di Renjie couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Zhang Wenguan is not a bad person. During the Zhenguan period, he was born as a Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty. He served successively as a member of the army in Bingzhou, a member of the Ministry of Water Resources, a magistrate of Yunyang County, a member of Zhongshushe, a minister of Qianzhongshu, and a minister of Dali.
Before taking up the post of Minister of Dali Temple, he had been serving as a local inspector and deposed envoys. This position of Minister of Dali Temple was the first position he held after entering Beijing.
The reason why this man came up was that the emperor wanted to use his reputation for integrity and his thunderous methods to clean up Chang'an's chaotic officialdom.
I don’t know if this man didn’t understand the emperor’s intention, or if he had been bribed. After taking office as the chief minister of Dali Temple, the first target he chose to operate on was the famous Wannian County and Chang’an County.
The breakthrough in purging officials in these two counties is the huge bonuses these two counties give to officials at the end of each year.
After Di Renjie's persuasion failed, he let it go and did not ask the prince for help. He just watched with cold eyes, wanting to see what Zhang Wenguan and the others were going to do.
At the same time, Di Renjie also wanted to know whether Chang'an and Wannian counties, which Yunchu and Wenrou had worked so hard for these years, could withstand this violent storm.
In Di Renjie's view, the official system in these two counties was a bit complicated and complicated, and a selection process was necessary.
Now, Zhang Wenguan has come forward and started to select people for Yunchu. Those who can handle it can be reused in the future, and those who can't can take this opportunity to eliminate them.