Chapter 243 Then plow the south! ! !
Li Mansion is a high-ranking mansion.
There are several guards guarding the house at all times.
Inside the house.
Li Shanchang’s eldest son, Li Qi, looked at Li Shanchang with a puzzled expression and said, “Father, why did you call Xia Zhibai home? Now His Majesty has not made a specific decision on the salt policy. Father, you are so If you suddenly call Xia Zhibai, if it falls into His Majesty's ears, it may damage your father's image in His Majesty's heart."
"Besides, father, you are the grand master of the current dynasty, and Xia Zhibai is only a first- and fifth-rank official. Why do father still look up to him?"
Li Qi paced back and forth in the lobby.
He returned to Kyoto a few days ago to find out the reality of the salt policy. In fact, he was secretly involved in the southern affairs this time, and even had interests in it, so he was particularly concerned about it. The prince-in-law of the dynasty seemed to be in a good mood, but in fact he was very frustrated.
The salary given by the court was not enough for daily food and clothing.
And many times, it depends on Princess Lin'an's face, not to mention how uncomfortable she is.
The court didn't give him money, and he had to spend money, so naturally he had to find a way on his own. Last year, he was also secretly involved in the Daxing steam machine-made salt project in the south. Now he has made a profit from it, and he has shared a lot of profits. I am happy that the court will strengthen supervision.
I am even less willing to change the salt policy.
After all this time, it was their money that was spent extra.
Li Shanchang frowned, he took a deep look at his eldest son, rolled up his sleeves and said: "Confused!"
"What do you want me to say about you?"
"Are you able to get involved in the southern salt administration?"
"You now have the title of Prince Consort, and you are trusted by His Majesty. You have been appointed many times to go to various places for relief, but You must always understand that the reason why you are so highly appreciated by His Majesty is not because of your own talents, but because of Princess Lin'an."
"Don't you know His Majesty's temper today?"< br>
“Hate evil as much as hatred.”
“Hate corrupt officials to the core.”
"What happened in the south this time is definitely dirty behind the scenes."
"Once His Majesty is determined to investigate, do you really think you can escape?"
"Don't think that I am in Kyoto. I don’t know the situation in the south. Isn’t it just you, a group of meritorious sons, who valued the huge profits from selling salt and spread steam engines all over the place, which eventually led to the riots in the south. As a prince-in-law, the most important thing is to cherish My own feathers.”
“Why don’t you understand?”
“I’ve been teaching you for so many years. Where did you go?”
>
Li Shanchang hated that iron could not become steel, so he couldn't help but pointed at Li Qi's nose and cursed loudly.
Li Qi shrank his head shyly, not daring to look directly into Li Shanchang's eyes.
He is still very afraid of his father.
Li Shanchang glanced at Li Qi coldly, then sighed and said, "Do you know what Xia Zhibai wrote in the letter to me?"
Li Qi shook his head.
Li Shanchang said in a deep voice: "He told me that a disaster is coming to the south. His Majesty is determined to take action against the south. All the things you have done behind the scenes will be revealed by the court one by one!"
Li Qi's face changed slightly and he said in disbelief: "Father, this is impossible."
"Hasn't His Majesty not decided yet?"
"And this time it is my father. , and there are many veterans who have come together, even if your Majesty is angry again, you will still have some scruples, how can you believe Xia Zhibai's words, and the salt policy is very involved, how can your Majesty not know why you are so eager to change it? "
Li Qi looked unbelieving.
He knew the importance of his father in His Majesty's heart.
What's more, this time it's not just his father who is on the throne, but also Fu Youde, Wang Bi, and even his consort, who are also on the throne. The number of people on the throne alone is far more than Xia Zhibai's. , How could your Majesty not weigh one or two?
Li Shanchang snorted coldly and said: "I didn't believe it at first."
"But Xia Zhibai was right about one thing."
"Your Majesty is just suspicious. ”
"His Majesty is obviously dissatisfied with the South. Otherwise, with His resolute and resolute style of doing things, how could he not make a decision for so long? The reason for not making a decision is not because he has not made up his mind, but because he is thinking about how to persuade us veteran ministers."
“Your father and I are indeed the Imperial Master.”
“But I am just a Grand Master.”
“In His Majesty’s eyes, I am nothing.”
“I looked back and thought about it carefully, and I already regretted going to Shangshu.”
"The South has just calmed down. At that time, the South spent money to eliminate disasters. It handed over nearly 20 million dan of grain, showed its attitude and loyalty to the court, and also showed enough sincerity to His Majesty. But now? The South is again There is a commotion."
"What do you want your majesty to think?"
"Does your majesty think that the south is just pretending to be obedient?"
Li Qi's face turned slightly. Change.
He said with an uneasy look on his face: "That shouldn't happen, right? The Guo Huan case is the Guo Huan case, and this time it's the salt policy. How can they be confused? And Xia Zhibai is only a first- and fifth-rank official. Can you really convince your majesty? Can you really make your majesty listen?”
Li Shanchang sneered and refused to say more.
He said coldly: "You should go back to the south as soon as possible and deal with all the things you did in the south."
"If I am not wrong, Your Majesty The decision has been made a long time ago, and the reason why it has not come down is to give some people a chance to survive. If you don't hurry up, you, the prince-in-law, will probably become a dead prince-son-in-law."
" Be quick.”
“Don’t challenge His Majesty’s patience.”
"Once His Majesty raises the butcher knife, he will be disowned by his relatives." "He will kill anyone!"
Li Qi's expression changed completely.
He looked at his father in horror, with a trace of struggle in his eyes. He had just benefited from the salt policy, and he was really unwilling to abandon it like this. However, his father was His Majesty's think tank in the past, and he was very interested in His Majesty. The understanding is very deep, and now even his father is uneasy, how can he hesitate again?
Li Qi’s expression changed again and again, and finally decided to listen to his father.
Li Qi said: "My child understands."
"I will rush back in a moment to handle the affairs in the south."
Li Shanchang said with a cold face: "You'd better do this, Don't use your identity as a talisman, the Ming Dynasty has no talisman."
Li Shanchang reminded.
At this time.
A clerk came outside the house to tell him that Xia Zhibai had arrived.
Li Shanchang and his son looked at each other and said solemnly: "Invite Xia Zhibai in."
Then Li Shanchang glanced at Li Qi and said: "You can go down first."
Li Qi hesitated, sighed, and left angrily.
Not long after.
Xia Zhibai entered Li Mansion.
As soon as he walked into Li Shanchang's mansion, Xia Zhibai's eyes lit up.
Too generous.
As the Grand Master of the current dynasty, Li Shanchang’s family residence was even more lavishly decorated, and even had many majestic buildings. Many of the decorations were as large as the palace. The houses, high platforms, and towers were still in Dougong style. , but it is different from the classical architecture of ordinary mansions. The style here is more powerful and simple.
The ridge lines are mostly straight, there are few carvings, and the colors are mostly brown and red. The whole style looks simple and domineering.
And it shows elegance in its posture.
It can be described as a combination of strength and softness.
Xia Zhibai followed the clerk through two doors before entering a spacious living room.
Li Shanchang was wearing regular clothes and standing with his back to Xia Zhibai, giving people the impression of looking up at a high mountain.
Xia Zhibai cupped his hands and said, "Xia Zhibai has met the Grand Master."
Li Shanchang did not turn around, still facing Xia Zhibai, and said indifferently: "You and I have different political opinions. Now His Majesty has not made the final decision. You wrote a letter to me so rashly. If His Majesty knows about it, you can know the consequences! "
"And you persuaded me to give up."
"You are so brave!"
Li Shanchang turned around suddenly, with a sharp momentum. Come.
Xia Zhibai stood tall, his face unchanged, he said seriously: "I have always been very courageous, and it's not like the Grand Master only found out today. The reason why I wrote to the Grand Master is to let the Grand Master know The teacher takes a step back, as the saying goes, when two tigers fight, one of them will be injured."
"The grand master is your majesty's loyal minister. He is well-known in the world and I admire you equally."
"It's just a matter of the stability of the south, so I have to make this move."
"Two tigers are in harmony with each other." Fight." Li Shanchang sneered, with disdain in his eyes, and said: "How can you, a mere fifth-rank official, talk to me on the same level? Since you know that I am His Majesty's minister, how can you dare to conclude that His Majesty has made a choice? , and I’m on your side!”
Xia Zhibai smiled and said, “Why do you need to scare me, Grand Master?”
“I’m here alone. With sincerity.”
Li Shanchang remained indifferent and remained silent.
A long time.
Li Shanchang looked at Xia Zhibai and said, "Are you really so confident?"
Xia Zhibai nodded and said, "I work for the world, why can't I be confident? If even I don't Confidence, then what I did is really impossible, and there is no need for the Grand Master to test me like this. What I want to express has been explained in the letter."
"I went before this time. I came here to ask the Grand Master to take action.”
"Let the south stop as soon as possible."
"Why should I help you?" Li Shanchang did not deny it, and sneered: "What good does helping you do to me? And do you really think that you can do it all by yourself?" Stirring the South? The South is not as simple as you think. It is so complicated that even I don’t want to get involved. "
Xia Zhibai said: "The South is indeed not easy to control."
" Since the Song Dynasty, the southern economy has been developed for a long time. There are many scholar-bureaucrats in the south, the gentry is rich, and the area is not small. They can live well by themselves. Therefore, it has always been difficult for people from other places to get involved, and it has been even more oily in recent years. The salt is not coming in, but the grand master has forgotten something.”
“The imperial court has a knife in its hand!”
"Now that the south has shown signs of 'disobedience', with your majesty's domineering character, how can you continue to tolerate this hidden danger? Through the Guo Huan case, the imperial court has collected more than 20 million shi of food. In a short period of time, the imperial court has There will be no financial impact."
"When the time comes."
"What's the point of plowing the south?"
"Your Majesty is afraid of killing people?"
< br>“As for scholar-bureaucrats, there are always some who are afraid of death.”
"If the south continues to riot, as I wrote in my letter, the imperial court has suspended the Northern Expedition, and the north has millions of troops. I would like to see, does the south really dare to rebel? Do they really dare to be forced by some people to rebel? If they dare If you don’t, then the people in the south will be killed!”
“Kill all the millions of soldiers in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sword on your waist will still be bloody!”
“Grand Master, can you calm down now?” br>
(End of this chapter)