What's more, Cui Feng suggested at this time that the plague might not be the plague.
Taking these factors into consideration, Li Shimin was weighing whether to follow Muchuan's method.
The ministers could see that Li Shimin was hesitating, so everyone expressed their opinions.
Hou Junji: "Your Majesty, I think we should investigate this matter thoroughly first, but we can't just say what the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue says! If we follow what he said and later find out that this is not the plague, wouldn't it make people laugh at us?
?"
Shangguan Jin: "Sealing Beiyang Village and conducting a large-scale screening will cost a lot of manpower and material resources. Your Majesty, please think twice."
Fang Xuanling: "I think what the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue said is reasonable. This matter should be taken seriously. If there is really a plague in Beiyang Village, then it should be feasible to use the blockade method."
Yu Shinan: "I think so too. Our Tang Dynasty is a strong country, but we cannot let it decline because of the plague."
The senior officials and ministers of the imperial court were divided into two groups, either supporting Muchuan's suggestion or opposing it.
After weighing the situation, Li Shimin finally adopted Muchuan's suggestion. After all, although the blockade of Beiyang Village caused some losses to the court, it could at least serve as a precaution to prepare for a rainy day.
What's more, Muchuan is a man of uncanny calculations. His previous statement that the plague would be prevalent must be true, so Li Shimin believed that he would not go too far once.
At that moment, Li Shimin wrote a document to order the court to carry out two steps at the same time. On the one hand, Beiyang Village was sealed off and quarantined, and on the other hand, Cui Feng and other officials from the Imperial Medical Office went to investigate.
Early the next morning, Muchuan arrived at the Hubu official residence in a carriage.
As soon as I stepped into the door, I found that it was very lively inside. A group of officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs gathered inside, looking up as if they were looking at something.
“Hey, hey, what on earth are you doing?
Don’t you need to work in broad daylight?”
When they heard Muchuan's voice, everyone turned around and looked with an expression of envy and jealousy on their faces.
Afterwards, Ouyang Bufan jumped out from the crowd, grabbed Muchuan's arm and ran inside. As he ran, he said, "Sir, you came just in time. It's a good thing, a great thing!"
A good thing?
Muchuan was confused. What good things could happen this morning?
Could it be that an official from the Ministry of Household Affairs got married?
When Muchuan came to the court hall of the official residence, he was stunned.
There is a large box on the floor, with gold and silver jewelry placed on it. The sun shines brightly, which is particularly dazzling.
In addition, there were four beautiful women standing in front of the box, wearing aqua blue skirts, with long hair and fair hearts, and they all held a wooden plate in their hands.
The four wooden plates contained thousand-year-old ginseng from Changbai Mountain, thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum from the mountains, rubies from the Western Regions, and short blades forged by craftsmen.
Seeing this scene, Monk Muchuan Zhang Er was confused. What on earth was going on?
When Muchuan was at a loss, an old man walked from the side of the main hall, wearing a loose black robe and a stooped figure.
"Meet the Minister of Household Affairs. I am the internal affairs manager of the prince's residence. I am here to deliver congratulatory gifts on the prince's order."
"ah?
A congratulatory gift?"
Muchuan became more and more confused the more he listened, so it was something sent by Prince Li Chengqian?
And you get so much in one gift! Even if it’s a reward from the emperor, you won’t get so many rewards, right?
This Li Chengqian turns out to be so rich!
But it's very strange, what kind of congratulatory gift does Li Chengqian give to him?
After further questioning, I got the answer from the housekeeper.
It turned out that Li Chengqian had prepared a celebration gift for Muchuan on his previous birthday, but it was postponed because there were too many things prepared.
The preparations were complete today, so Li Chengqian ordered his servants to be sent to Muchuan.
Housekeeper: "The prince originally wanted to come here in person, but he was ill and unable to walk, so he had to send an old slave to congratulate Lord Muchuan."
"okay, I get it."
The corner of Muchuan's mouth couldn't help but twitch when he spoke. I bet this prince is too kind! Isn't it just a birthday, but he gave so many things?
Muchuan was not an idiot and could see through the crown prince's thoughts at a glance.
The gift given by Li Chengqian was not only a surprise to celebrate his birthday, but also meant to express gratitude, flattery and flattery. Otherwise, he would not have given so many things so generously.
However, Muchuan couldn't accept these things. First of all, it was a gift from the emperor and his ministers. As a subordinate, he accepted such a heavy gift from the crown prince. If it were spread out, he would probably cause criticism from others, right?
Especially if Li Shimin knew about this, he would definitely suspect that Muchuan and Li Chengqian were forming a party for personal gain, and Li Shimin's own personality hated this kind of thing the most.
Another point is that "taking advantage of others' shortcomings" would mean that if Muchuan had collected these things, he would probably be able to return them in some form in the future, right?
Muchuan was most afraid of accepting favors from others, so he waved his hand and was about to refuse.
"I can't accept these gifts, so please ask the steward to take them back."
"This, this..." The head of the internal affairs showed a very embarrassed expression. After all, Li Chengqian had repeatedly ordered him to send it out, but Muchuan actually refused to accept it?
This way it will be difficult for him to do business when he goes back.
And at this moment, Ouyang Bufan immediately came over and asked softly what was going on with Muchuan, why he refused to accept such a heavy gift?
But it doesn’t suit Muchuan’s personality!
"My lord, you must accept this gift. This is the crown prince's wish!"
"You kid, stop talking to each other!"
Muchuan rolled his eyes and said impatiently.
"Sir, I am doing this for your own good! Not to mention that these gifts are extremely valuable. They should be accepted simply because they are 'sent to the Crown Prince.' If you don't accept them, wouldn't you feel sorry for the Crown Prince?"
Ouyang Bufan was worthy of being the "little fox" in the officialdom, and he could see things clearly. He was afraid that Muchuan would offend Li Chengqian.
The problem is that Muchuan is not afraid of offending Li Chengqian at all. After all, as a person from the future, he already knows that the future heir to the throne is Li Zhi, so if he offends Li Chengqian on this point, he will be offended.
"Master Manager, please take it back... The imperial court observes the etiquette of frugality, and Your Majesty sets an example. It would be inappropriate if I, the Minister of Household Affairs, do not abide by the etiquette and laws. Your Highness's wishes are understood."
"Sir, His Highness values you very much, and you have saved His Highness in the past, so a gift like this is not too heavy."
"I understand, please send it back."
Muchuan said this again, but this time his tone was much more serious and his eyes were firm.
The housekeeper is also a person who has experienced a lot of life. He knows that Muchuan will not accept it no matter what. He has no choice but to take a step back: "If you don't accept the gift, how about accepting the person?"
"people?"
"exactly."
The housekeeper pointed at the maids in front of them who were wearing aqua blue skirts, and said that each of these maids was very chaste.
