Li Siye's team arrived near Yangguan on the Gobi Desert. Dai Wang and his party came to greet him and invited him to rest in the fortress of the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce's headquarters has begun to take shape. With the construction of a large number of craftsmen, it has formed a hexagonal fortress covering an area of 100 acres. There are crenels and arrow towers on the walls, and a team of swordsmen composed of retired Tang soldiers hired by Dai Wang are stationed there.
Although he represents Li Siye's interests, he is a businessman after all. If he directly sends troops to garrison, he will easily be criticized as colluding with officials and businessmen.
Dai Wang personally led the Jiedushi cavalry into the fort gate. After dismounting from the stables, he asked him to inspect the warehouses and transportation tools of the Chamber of Commerce.
To the west and north of the entrance are two rows of stables, with dozens of horses and camels inside, and dozens of carts parked in the open space. Directly south is a station used to receive goods, with scales and weights made of pig iron.
At this time, a man holding a pack horse happened to lift a square sack off the horse's back, with a manifest for the Western Regions Chamber of Commerce on it.
Dai Wang then invited him to visit the chamber of commerce's warehouse. In order to ensure ventilation and dryness, bamboo baskets placed against the wall contained quicklime, and there were ventilated hollow bricks on the four walls to ensure that the draft could blow in.
There were only a dozen sacks stacked in the warehouse. Since pepper and sandalwood were in short supply, the goods almost arrived today, and tomorrow there would be merchants with mules and horses waiting at the door.
Li Siye and he walked up the stairs to the duty room and accommodation room on the second floor of the fort. This is the hub of the entire chamber of commerce, where all the account books of the chamber's incoming and outgoing goods are kept, and the stubs can be found for every document.
"How many stone goods can be transported every month now?"
"A total of thirty-five stones of pepper and thirteen stones of sandalwood are delivered from India every month. Now that the price of Chang'an pepper has begun to fall, our pricing has been adjusted to five hundred and fifty thousand dollars per bushel, and our monthly income is twenty
Wan Guan, excluding the first month of the twelfth lunar month, the income is more than two million guan."
Li Siye nodded calmly and turned around and said: "Don't always think about making money, but also think about how to spend it. If the money you earn is not spent, it will have no effect. It will be just a pile of rags and useless gold.
.”
Under Dai Wang's gloomy mask, Kuku's laughter came out, and he said in a conceited tone: "The delivery of goods at the post station will only become faster and faster, and it will become more and more skillful. The annual income now is two million yuan.
In the future, it may be increased to three million gold, and the annual income will be settled in gold. Otherwise, in a few years, all the gold in the world will be collected into our hands. Doctor Jieshi, you will really worry about how to spend it."
"If it was just for me, I wouldn't be able to spend it, but if it were spent on the whole of Qixi, I'm afraid the money wouldn't be enough."
Dai Wang hesitated and thought for a long time, and suddenly asked him: "This time you went to Chang'an to perform meritorious service, did you ask the saint to be the governor of Hexi?"
Li Siye said in a vague tone: "I mentioned it in a vague way without explaining it to His Majesty. Maybe Your Majesty will agree when the time comes."
"How can you wait until the time is right? You need money, people, and strength now. The only thing you lack is Jiedu Hexi. Haven't you seen it along the way? The world's richest people have nowhere to go. Longyou, Wuwei, Zhangye
There are thousands of hectares of fertile land, and as long as the 70,000 children from the Hexi Corridor, the hometown of Liangzhou, are brought under his command, they will be able to compete with the three towns of Heshuo."
Li Siye raised his head and thought for a while, then said helplessly: "I will ask Your Majesty for it when I come to Beijing next time."
Dai Wang persistently persuaded him again: "It will be another year and a half next time. Doctor Li, you don't have enough time. I heard that Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong have been at a disadvantage in the power struggle. If you take this opportunity to express your gratitude to His Majesty,
Ask for it, and no one will interfere with it."
"This is not necessarily true." Li Siye shook his head and said with a chuckle: "You have been away from the capital for a long time, and you don't know the changes in the various forces in Chang'an City, as well as the changes in the mentality of these people. Yang Guozhong does not necessarily want me to serve as Hexi Jiedushi, and Li Linfu does not necessarily
Oppose me to take charge of Hexi."
Daiwang's eyes widened behind his mask: "How do you start talking about this?"
"From a political standpoint, there are no permanent allies and no permanent enemies. The political situation in North Korea and China is changing. You and I might as well wait and see how things develop."
…
As soon as Yang Guozhong arrived in Jiannan, he was eager to return home. Fortunately, the emperor soon sent a decree, canceling his post as the military envoy to Jiannan and ordering him to return to the Huaqing Palace where the emperor was stationed.
He almost cried with joy. This was the most proud and gratifying dismissal in his life. At the same time, he also understood that more official positions are not always better, but the right ones are the best. Otherwise, it will be easy for people to grab the pigtails.
, this was a painful lesson. He did not bother to sum up the experience and lessons, and immediately turned around and ran back to Chang'an non-stop.
The climate in Jiannan was warm, but the years in Guanzhong were cold. The warmth in Jiannan made Yang Guozhong's back feel cold and his hair stood on end, but the cold in Guanzhong made his heart warm. He was worthy of being the brother-in-law of the Yang family, and the emperor was truly benevolent to him.
In November, Yang Guozhong returned to Zhaoying Huaqing Palace and stood waiting outside the imperial concubine Tangdian Pavilion, because the emperor and his sister were taking a mandarin duck bath inside.
At this time, God was not kind, and catkins and snow fell on the ground. When they fell outside the palace, they were melted by the heat rushing out from inside. The door of the palace was ajar, and the teasing laughter of an old man and a delicate woman could be heard from inside. The thin gauze curtain
Being blown back and forth by the wind, Yang Guozhong's heart felt as sweet as honey. His Majesty was in a good mood. I wonder what happened to the old thief Li Genu.
As soon as he returned to Huaqing Palace, he heard that Li Linfu was seriously ill. He was happy but could not believe it at the same time. After all, the old fox had as many eyes as a sieve. Could he imitate Sima Yi and pretend to be ill on the surface, but secretly be ready to attack him at any time?
Soon the emperor walked out of the bath wearing a yellow midriff and holding a fox fur coat. The imperial concubine was weak after bathing and was helped to the side hall to rest by the maids.
The emperor stroked his lazy forehead and asked the chamberlain: "I didn't hear you clearly just now. Who did you say was outside?"
"Your Majesty, this is Yang Zhengqing."
Li Longji sighed: "Ask him to come in."
The chamberlain walked outside the palace, crossed his hands to Yang Guozhong and said, "Master Yang, hurry up, His Majesty is calling you."
Yang Guozhong worked up his emotions for a while, pushed the door open and entered the palace. He knelt on the ground with a bang and crossed his hands and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, Guozhong is finally back. Thank you for your help!"
Li Longji didn't show a good face to him. He turned around and put his hands behind his back and said, "I've been talking about who wants to harm you all day long. Who can harm you? Li Linfu is already like that. How can he harm you?"
Yang Guozhong asked cautiously: "When I left Chang'an, the right prime minister was still in good health, but I haven't seen him for more than a month. How come he is seriously ill?"
"You and he are both my ministers. Don't be at odds with each other. Take this opportunity to meet him and learn more from him in terms of politics."
"Here," Yang Guozhong secretly rejoiced. The sage's implication was that he should take over from Li Linfu. It seemed that the day when he would monopolize power was not far away.
Yang Guozhong came out of the imperial concubine Tang Palace Pavilion. When he returned, he immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare some nourishing medicines, put them in brocade boxes, and went to visit Li Linfu.
The Li family was also aware of the conflict between Yang Guozhong and Alang, but they did not touch the door and were more polite to the visitors. Li Linfu's son, Li Xiu, personally welcomed him into the inner hall.
Yang Guozhong's acting skills are not deep. He always has to brew up his emotions before entering the door. He can't decide whether to be happy or sad. There is an embarrassing and uncomfortable expression on his face, just like an occasional joke heard at a stranger's funeral.
You have to hold back the sad expression of laughter, which is not funny enough but annoying.
After entering the door, he took exaggerated strides and quickly came to Li Linfu's bed. He held Li Linfu's hand with both hands and emphasized: "Right Prime Minister! Right Prime Minister! I haven't seen you for so many days, how can you be so sick!"