The elegant room next door is no different from Yang Lin's room, with a gilt beast stove exuding a calming agarwood.
Pan Yi and Emperor Rouhui were sitting below. The person sitting next to him turned out to be a Taoist priest, and a beauty in palace attire beside him.
The Taoist was about forty years old, with three long beards, a jade crown on his head, and a green Taoist robe. His eyes were sparkling, and he looked like a god.
The beauty next to him has long, shiny black hair tied into a bun with a golden walking stick on it. A bright red plum blossom is attached to her snow-white forehead. Her skin is white and rosy, pink as fat, and she has a pair of almond eyes. The bright eyes are good at gazing, and the bright light shines on people when looking at it.
Yang Lin was startled for a moment, then quickly clasped his fists and said, "Young minister Yang Lin has seen officials and noble concubines."
Before Zhao Ji could say anything, Little Concubine Liu beamed with joy and said: "Yang Shaozai helped his younger brother with his marriage last time. Before I had time to say thank you, please give Yang Shaozai a seat as soon as possible."
"Your Majesty, you're welcome. Qingshui and I are brothers, so it's only right to run errands."
Yang Lin sat down with a smile, met Pan Yi and Rouhui Diji's eyes, and said hello.
Zhao Ji also smiled and said: "Although this Xiu Tower is magnificent and magnificent, it is not as elegant as the Duiyu Tower built by Yang Qing. I wonder whose handiwork it is?"
Pan Yi smiled and said: "This was built by the Bianliang Chamber of Commerce and is a private restaurant."
"No wonder" Zhao Ji looked very happy and said with a smile: "The people of the Song Dynasty are getting richer and richer. High-rise buildings like this were not built by the royal family when the country was founded. But now the people have such financial resources, haha."
Seeing the proud look on his face, Yang Lin cursed in his heart and thought to himself, what does this have to do with you?
Yang Lin picked up a simple one again and talked about the banknotes. Zhao Ji suddenly lost interest.
He is an expert in spending money and can make millions with a wave of his hand, but talking to him about people's livelihood and economy is like playing the piano to an ox. Zhao Ji, who was originally in good spirits, actually yawned in just a few words.
Yang Lin's scalp was numb with anger, and he stopped talking with a sullen face.
Pan Yi observed the words, smiled, changed the subject, and said: "Yang Shaozai's trip to the west this time to reopen the Ancient Tea Horse Road has really immediate results. Look at the countless horses downstairs, which I didn't even dare to think about before."
Zhao Ji became lively and said with a smile: "The bloody horses of the Western Regions, there are not many horses left in Gen Yue's stable. Since the northwest trade routes are open, we should let the local states and counties pay tribute."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I have already negotiated with several foreign countries. Without Xixia blocking the way, they will naturally come to court for the New Year's Day ceremony. At that time, the envoys from the small countries in the Western Regions will definitely present their best horses to Your Majesty."
Zhao Ji took the opportunity to ask some interesting things about the northwest. As Yang Lin was talking, he couldn't help but turn to state affairs and said: "Dali has already been pacified, and it will only take about half a year until it is completely settled. By then, The northwest and southwest will work together to capture Tubo, which is like searching for something, and the court should have made plans in advance."
Zhao Ji yawned again
Seeing Yang Lin's face darken, Zhao Ji was also a little embarrassed. Such a loyal minister who shared his worries should still be considerate, so he said shyly: "I was a little selfless when I talked with the Queen last night. I fell asleep late, love." What you said makes a lot of sense, so please work hard. If we capture Tubo, I will grant you something, and you can say whatever you want."
Halfway through, Zhao Ji realized that the minister in front of him had nothing to seal, so he simply wrote a blank check.
Are you talking about playing chess with the queen? And you played all night long? Yang Lin secretly thought that only a ghost would believe you.
Empress Zheng entered the palace at a young age and was initially just a maid beside the Empress Dowager. Even if she had some chess skills, she was no match for a master like Zhao Ji.
As soon as he talked about Empress Zheng, Yang Lin suddenly felt blessed and remembered something.
Empress Zheng was born in a poor family, but she became Zhao Ji's favorite concubine thanks to her quick wit, good looks, and liking to write some pornographic poems with Zhao Ji to add interest to each other.
Later, because he was not jealous and was beautiful, he introduced Zhao Ji to Zhao Ji, and he became more and more favored.
Soon after, Mrs. Zheng was promoted to a noble concubine in the palace. She was afraid of being ostracized and looked down upon, so she wanted to find a more powerful relative.
It happened that that year there was a man named Zheng Juzhong, who had just passed the Jinshi examination and became a member of the Ministry of Rites. Originally, he only had the same surname as Zheng, but he told people everywhere that he was Zheng's uncle and brother. Zheng later heard that
Talking about this matter, he actually acquiesced to this relationship, and the two people formed an alliance. Zheng also recommended Zheng Juzhong to Song Huizong, and Zheng Juzhong was soon promoted to Tongzhi Privy Councilor.
Zheng Juzhong relied on his courage to make a big gamble, and he became a royal relative, and his official career went smoothly from then on.
Queen Wang died of illness two years ago. Zheng was promoted to Queen Xiansu, and Zheng Juzhong became even more remarkable.
He relied on his fake cousin to share power with Cai Jing. He was stupid and not afraid of Cai Jing, but Empress Zheng was a very smart woman, otherwise she would not have been promoted from a maid to a queen.
At that time, Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and Yang Lin formed an alliance to sincerely help each other and advance and retreat in unison. These three people were rich and powerful. They made their fortune together from Yangzhou and rose up in the temple of the Song Dynasty in a short period of time.
Empress Zheng was not willing to let Zheng Juzhong, a fake cousin, provoke Cai Jing outside in her own name, so she took the initiative to find Zhao Ji and said to him: "I went back to my parents' home to visit relatives. When I saw Juzhong interacting with my father, people said he was recruiting someone."
Power-based bribery should be banned and impeachment allowed."
When Zhao Ji heard that his queen was indeed the star of the imperial family, he demoted Zheng Juzhong to the rank of Bachelor of Guanwen Palace, and he loved the queen even more from then on.
Although Mrs. Zheng is now a queen, like Concubine Liu, her family has no background. She gave birth to two daughters.
Queen Wang, who is already dead, gave birth to two sons to the official family, but one of them, Zheng, died early. How could she not worry about her own affairs?
Empress Zheng was so young and still "played chess" with the emperor until midnight every day. It seemed that she was not satisfied with having two emperors and wanted a son to rely on.
I, Yang Lin, am a big tree, strong and reliable, no more reliable than Zheng Juzhong. Isn’t it because my surname is not Zheng? I took off my official uniform and went to your father to worship him. By then, we will all be relatives, and we should take care of each other.
.
Besides, so what if you gave birth to a son, I can still protect you. According to history, after the death of Concubine Liu, Zhao Ji thought about it endlessly and decided to make her his queen. Empress Zheng immediately announced that the concubine was her adopted son, and begged for praise.
The emperor was overjoyed to honor the gift.
From then on, the son born to Concubine Liu was raised by the Zheng family. He was later captured by the Jin people and taken to Five Kingdoms City, where he was tortured to death within five years.
Thinking of this, Yang Lin's unhappiness quickly dissipated. He must climb the line of Empress Zheng, otherwise it would be too scary to deal with Cai Jing and Liang Shicheng at the same time.