Zheng Shuqing was very efficient in his work. The court officials responsible for the management and planting of red lotus rice were invited to the Lotus Pond Courtyard by him. Not only that, Zheng Shuqing also took out all the delicacies he had packed at the bottom of the box, which made Fang Chongyong stunned.
Stunned.
What surprised him was not just the food, but the person in charge of the Red Lotus Rice Field, whom he had only met during the day... Gu Kuang!
At that time, I thought that this old man Gu Kuang was very easy-going and talked a lot. Who knew that he was actually a central official, even a minor official, who was directly under the imperial court!
The same rice feeds all kinds of people, the ancients were honest and would not deceive me.
"Superintendent Gu Tun laughed at this. They were all dishonorable meals."
Zheng Shuqing pointed to the sumptuous dishes on the table and said politely.
"Come on, Zheng Shijun is being polite. This kind of food is not common on weekdays."
Gu Kuang was very talkative and had a gentle personality. He pointed at the rice in the bowl and introduced to Fang Chongyong: "Fang Langjun doesn't know, this is called crystal rice. As the name suggests, every grain is as clear as crystal."
Whether you can pick out a bowl of rice from a good fight of rice is another matter. Each one must be carefully selected and cannot be careless.
Just this bowl of rice will cost at least ten pieces of rice."
Fang Chongyong picked up the bowl and looked at the bowl of "crystal rice" in front of him like a country bumpkin. Apart from being pretty, it was almost the same as ordinary rice. He didn't know how to describe Zheng Shuqing.
A bowl of rice costs 10,000 yuan! What’s the price of riding a horse?
Even if one penny equals one yuan, this bowl of rice is worth 10,000 yuan. What kind of rice costs 10,000 yuan a bowl?
"Although the grilled lamb chops are simple to make,...this sheep is from Hedong. The transportation cost is very expensive, not to mention that after delivery, you have to raise it well and maintain the condition of the sheep.
This feeding costs a lot of money. Alas, I don’t even know how much money was spent on this dish. The sheep from Hedong just smell and taste different.
Without the smell of mutton, I will have a better meal today."
Gu Kuang sighed, and was also impressed by Zheng Shuqing's generosity. He traveled all over the country and saw a lot, and now serves as the supervisor of the red lotus rice farming land. However, red lotus rice can be grown but not eaten. If someone reports the theft of red lotus rice,
That is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor.
Gu Kuang usually eats very ordinary food, which are local specialties of Kuizhou.
Fang Chongyong looked at Zheng Shuqing helplessly, and saw the governor Zheng waving his hands gently, looking indifferent, as if he regarded money as dirt.
"This flying knife is also very good. You can see that the knife skills are very good. The fish fillets are as thin as cicada wings. I don't have such knife skills anymore. I have to practice for more than ten years."
Gu Kuang continued to introduce Fang Zhongyong.
"It would be great if we could get carp from Luoyang. The fish in the Shu River are very rustic, so we can only make do with it."
Zheng Shuqing said very "reservedly".
When it comes to treating guests, what you eat is secondary, who you eat with, and whether or not you save face are the most important!
For example, today, he has a lot of face!
Fang Chongyong thought about the first meal he had when he came to this world, and unconsciously felt ashamed of himself.
This is the luxurious taste from Chang'an!
Gu Kuang also introduced the other dishes on the table one by one. Even a simple water dish is extremely exquisite in workmanship. There are so many varieties. For three people to eat, there are twelve dishes on the table!
"Mr. Zheng invites you to a feast today. Could it be that he wants to share some red lotus rice with you?"
After drinking for three rounds, Gu Kuang asked while burping. The relationship between them seemed to be much closer, and there was a hint of teasing in his words.
"Gu Tuen Supervisor was joking. The red lotus rice is a tribute and must be handed over to the emperor for use. If there is no reward from the emperor, how can we share the red lotus rice privately?"
Zheng Shuqing waved his hand and directly denied Gu Kuang's speculation. Seeing Fang Chongyong calmly nodding slightly, he continued: "You and I are officials in Kuizhou City, so we should be close to each other. Today's banquet is just about talking.
Fengyue, let’s not talk about official business, let alone Hongliandao.”
Zheng Shuqing said very proudly.
"Your Majesty is a cheerful person, but this kind intention is disrespectful to me."
Gu Kuang put down his guard and started eating and drinking. After drinking until midnight, he was already drunk and unconscious, lying on the couch in the study to rest.
Zheng Shuqing opened his misty eyes, with a faint smile on his face, looked at Fang Chongyong and said: "The matter is done, you can start doing what you want to do!"
"It's easy to talk about. Please copy this poem with your left hand."
Poetry?
Zheng Shuqing was a little confused for a while. Although he had an "alcohol test", he had drunk a lot after all, and his mind was not as clear as usual.
"When autumn comes on the eighth day of the ninth month, when the flowers bloom, hundreds of flowers will bloom. The incense will spread to Chang'an, and the whole city will be filled with golden armor."
When Zheng Shuqing saw this seven-character quatrain written on the paper, he was sober that his back was wet with cold sweat.
"This...that...this..."
He was incoherent for a moment and was so frightened that he couldn't speak clearly.
"Gu Tunjian was a man of great talent, but it was a pity that he was not reused by the imperial court. As time went by, he became increasingly dissatisfied and wrote a poem after drinking to complain about his own injustice. But he knew full well that this was an anti-poetry, so he wrote it in a handwriting that was not his own.
”
Fang Chongyong looked at Zheng Shuqing and asked word for word: "Do you think we should have a good talk with Gu Tun Superintendent after he wakes up?"
"What to talk about?"
Zheng Shuqing's brain was confused and he subconsciously answered the question and asked.
"Of course we are talking about the red lotus rice, otherwise what else can we talk about?"
Fang Chongyong smiled slightly and said: "Gu Tuen Superintendent only needs to submit a letter saying that a lot of red lotus rice was burned by the Liao people's wildfires. This year's output is only 50% of previous years. It must be a very interesting thing!"
Zheng Shuqing was so frightened that his whole body was shaking. He forced himself to calm down and asked, "Wouldn't he be dismissed from office?"
"Cultivation of red lotus rice also requires experience. If it were someone else, the field might be damaged. If someone releases this poem again, I'm afraid the emperor of Chang'an and those princes will not think so." Fang Chongyong took out another piece of paper and saw it read: "It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping from the soil. Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is hard work."
The title is "Meeting Gu Tuen Supervisor on the road working hard in the red lotus rice field and feeling sentimental".
The meaning of the whole poem is: Ah, when I was passing by Red Lotus Rice, I saw Gu Kuang planting red lotus rice in the farmland, and I thought about it and said the following, blah blah blah.
Zheng Shuqing looked at Fang Chongyong as if he were a monster, and murmured to himself: "You are really a child prodigy!"
"Otherwise, hasn't Zheng Shijun felt it yet?"
Fang Chongyong felt that he had behaved very evilly, but Zheng Shuqing actually accepted him without feeling any violation at all.
"But what do you want red lotus rice for? To sell it? To whom?"
Zheng Shuqing still didn't understand Fang Chongyong's brain circuit.
You said you should sell these red lotus rice. It can indeed be sold for a lot of money. However, it is impossible to expect a bowl of rice to cost ten guan! Hundreds of hectares of red lotus rice cannot be sold for more than 100,000 yuan.
Through.
Because all transactions are conducted privately and cannot be exposed publicly, it is inevitable that the price will be reduced.
"The secret must not be leaked. Telling it in advance will not work. However, today's dinner, Lord Shijun, is really not in vain. As long as Gu Kuang accepts my proposal, then half of the matter will be done."
Hearing what Fang Chongyong said, Zheng Shuqing opened his mouth, but in the end he said nothing, just sighed.
This guy writes anti-poems one after another. Is he really Fang Youde’s son?
Zheng Shuqing vaguely remembered that Fang Youde was Li Longji's confidant during his Qianlong period. He had always been very low-key and unobtrusive, and was famous in the circles of powerful people for his die-hard loyalty and stupidity.
His son writes anti-poetry very well!
Could it be that Fang Youde's wife did something to feel sorry for him and gave birth to a child with someone else?
At this moment, Zheng Shuqing's heart was in chaos.
……
Gu Kuang woke up with a hangover and felt a splitting headache. I have to say that the wine Zheng Shuqing treated him to was really powerful.
As soon as he woke up, he saw Zheng Shuqing and Fang Youde looking at him, their eyes full of meaning.
"Gu Tuen Supervisor, oh, how could you...at least you shouldn't!"
Fang Chongyong said heartbrokenly.
"What's wrong with me?"
Gu Kuang looked confused. He had just woken up and didn’t know what had happened.
"Hey, Gu Tuen Supervisor, even if you are dissatisfied with the court officials, you should not write such things after being drunk. You... why did you do it!"
Zheng Shuqing joined Fang Chongyong, both of them had the same expression and demeanor.
"What's wrong with me?"
Gu Kuang intuitively felt that something was wrong.
Fang Chongyong directly handed the other party the article "A City Full of Golden Armor".
Gu Kuang, who was still a little confused, suddenly stopped feeling sleepy, or rather woke up with a fright!
As a poet, even a poet who has written famous poems, how could he not know what this poem is alluding to? If it were spread, the consequences would be disastrous!
"But, this is not my handwriting."
Gu Kuang was not stupid, and he quickly realized that something was strange.
"It is indeed not Gu Tunjian's handwriting, but... it can definitely be written by Gu Tunjian. Of course, it could also just be a misunderstanding."
Fang Chongyong insisted on the word "misunderstanding".
Emotions are lurking here. Gu Kuang felt that Zheng Shuqing invited him to dinner last night because of the red lotus rice. He was an open-minded person, but he sighed helplessly: "Okay, okay, just think of me as a stupid donkey. After the autumn harvest, I
I’ll give you a few stones of red lotus rice, okay? After all, Governor Zheng also put in a lot of effort into the meal last night.”
Gu Kuang laughed at himself while insinuating Zheng Shuqing's dirty tricks.
"No, Gu Tuen Supervisor doesn't have to give us red lotus rice. You just need to write an official document to the court and tell them that half of this year's red lotus rice is damaged, that's all. You can't give it directly to the emperor, you have to go to the official post of the court
, just deliver it layer by layer.
As for the possibility that there may be a lot more, it doesn’t matter at all. Those cannot be sent to the emperor’s hands. Of course, if you are willing to keep them yourself, that’s fine.”
Fang Chongyong made a very strange request to Gu Kuang.
Gu Kuang can hand over all the red lotus rice, but in the official letter, it must be written that he only received half of the rice, and the other half was damaged by wildfires. The specific number is subject to receipt. After the red lotus rice is delivered to Chang'an, someone will
Let the real quantity of red lotus rice match the quantity in Gu Kuang's official letter.
No one would ask Gu Kuang why he scribbled the extra stuff, he would just black out the extra stuff and eat it himself or resell it. The quantity that was finally delivered to Li Longji was the same as the amount in Gu Kuang’s official document!
And with so many people involved in the Hongliandao line, how could they hold Gu Kuang accountable for his mistakes?
When things get serious, don't we check and find out a bunch of people? Who has a clean bottom?
"Your request is weird, so that's okay."
Gu Kuang waved his hand indifferently. He did not give away the red lotus rice, which meant that he was not derelict in his duty. Fang Chongyong's request did not cross his bottom line.
"This poem will be posted in the Kuizhou Prefecture and widely publicized. Gu Tuenjian has no credit, but his hard work is still there."
Zheng Shuqing handed the song "Hoeing Day at Noon" to Gu Kuang and said.
"I understand, your Majesty must have had no choice but to do so."
After Gu Kuang read the poem, he asked with emotion that he had forgiven the two people in front of him for tricking him.
"Gu Tuen Supervisor doesn't need to ask too much, it's his duty to do it as a last resort."
Zheng Shuqing said apologetically.
Gu Kuang nodded slightly, bowed to Zheng Shuqing, and then left neatly.
After he left, Zheng Shuqing looked up to Fang Chongyong and asked helplessly: "I'm going to meet Wei Qing soon, what are you going to tell him?"
"You have a clever plan, but it won't work if you tell it in advance."
Fang Chongyong continued to lie, refusing to tell the whole story.
"If you were my son, I would have beaten you to death long ago."
Zheng Shuqing sighed.
"How about it's not too late to find a foster father now?"
Fang Chongyong teased,
Zheng Shuqing laughed and shook his head. Of the children in his family, he really couldn't find anyone who could compare to Fang Chongyong.
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The two of them came to a certain compartment in Fengxian Building together, and saw Wei Qing, who was elegant and well-dressed, already sitting on a high stool in front of the desk, as if he had been waiting for a long time.
As soon as he saw Fang Chongyong and Zheng Shuqing, he quickly asked them to come over and sit down.
"Today Zheng Shijun is feeling cold and unable to speak. I will do all the work for you. Zheng Shijun can nod to indicate this."
Fang Chongyong winked at Zheng Shuqing and said.
The governor nodded quickly and tapped Fang Chongyong's arm with his index finger. The meaning couldn't be more obvious.
"Then continuing what happened yesterday, what kind of help does Zheng Shijun want from the court?"
Wei Qing asked with a smile, he was talking about Zheng Shijun, but he was looking at Fang Chongyong.
"We want full jurisdiction over Kuimen Jiangguan!"
Fang Chongyong said categorically.
Wei Qing was stunned. Zheng Shuqing already controlled Jiangguan in Kuizhou, but what does this full jurisdiction mean? How can the power that has been given be given again?
"What is full jurisdiction?"
Wei Qing asked in confusion. Although he has read a lot of books, he is still essentially a musician and singer.
"What are the rules at Jiangguan in Kuizhou? Governor Zheng can decide it with just one word, that's it."
Fang Chongyong said calmly.
"The imperial court has its own tax laws..."
Wei Qing always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't explain it.
"To put it simply, Commander Zheng will decide the rules of Jiangguan in Kuizhou from now on. After collecting the 300,000 in taxes, Commander Zheng should go to Chang'an to report on his duties. By then, Commander-in-Chief Zheng of Jiangguan in Kuizhou will decide.
Rules can be continued if the court thinks they are useful, and can be changed at any time if they are not useful."
Fang Zhongyong gave a concise and comprehensive description.
Wei Qing suddenly realized that it turned out that Fang Chongyong wanted to change Jiang's tariff rate. This was indeed what he meant. Before setting off, Li Longji specifically asked him to raise the tax rate slightly in order to raise money.
"That's fine. Although it's an outrageous request, I can agree to it here."
Wei Qing nodded slightly and said.
"Then thank the angel."
Fang Chongyong said respectfully.
As if he was worried that Zheng Shuqing might act recklessly, Wei Qing emphasized: "It's not impossible if you change the tariff rate, but you should proceed with caution."
"Don't worry, we will never do anything random. Zheng Shijun can swear to God on this."
Fang Chongyong boldly took over Zheng Shuqing's job.