Chapter 620: Clothes are not as good as new

Soon, the patrol came to report that Yangzhou prefect Ji Guangchen, chief secretary Han Jinping and Jiangdu County Magistrate Pei Jin were asking for a meeting outside the camp. Li Qingan was overjoyed and went out to greet him in person, to commend Yangzhou officials for maintaining the prosperity of Yangzhou's business. On the other hand, Han Jinping was his old friend and had not seen him for many years. From a private friend, he also wanted to give Han Jinping a face.

Li Qing'an welcomed the camp and saw three officials coming from afar. One on the left was Han Jinping, who was under the fortress. Although eight years had passed, Han Jinping's appearance had not changed much. He was still dark and thin. The only change was that a few traces of silver were added to his dark hair, showing that he was busy with government affairs.

Seeing that Li Qing'an had actually come out to greet him, the three of them hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "I am not good at seeing His Highness Zhao!"

Li Qingan smiled and returned the gift to everyone, "Thank you for your hard work, three envoys."

He said to Ji Guangchen again: "It was beyond my expectation that Prefect Ji could take over Yangzhou so quickly. He did a good job. He only recruited soldiers. This year, he can be saved at least the first time in the Ministry of Personnel exam. If you work harder, you will not be a problem."

"Thank you for your encouragement!"

Li Qing'an walked to the county magistrate Pei Jin again. Pei Jin was also a child of the Pei family. He was in his early thirties and had been the magistrate of Jiangdu for three years. Speaking of which, he was still Pei Wan'er's clan brother, and he had some connection with Li Qing'an. This time, Li Lin withdrew his troops in a panic. His greatest achievement was to keep the Jiangdu granary. Originally, Li Lin was preparing to transport millions of stones of grain from the warehouse on the west bank of the Caohe River to the other side of the Yangtze River, but Pei Jin evacuated the laborers and the Caohe ships in time, leaving Li Lin without any labor and the Caohe ships to transport grain. In addition, the Anxi cavalry vanguard had already arrived in Gaoyou County. Li Lin had no choice but to give up transporting grain. On this point, Pei Jin made great contributions.

When he saw Li Qingan walking to him, he hurriedly bowed and said, "See Your Highness!"

Li Qingan smiled slightly, but instead bowed to him and said, "Mr. Pei County has saved the granary, which has saved the lives of millions of hungry people. The Ministry of Personnel has recorded Pei County's achievements on the case. Please receive a gift from Li Qingan."

Pei Jin was so scared that he waved his hand, "I dare not! I dare not! How dare I accept the courtesy of Your Highness."

Li Qing'an greeted him one by one, and it was Han Jinping's turn. The two had not seen each other for eight years. They served in the fortress and fought the Xiaobolu battle together, which was considered a friend of hardships. Han Jinping was a little excited. Before Li Qing'an could speak, he bowed to the ground, "Han Jinping is humble and join His Highness, King Zhao!"

He was very moved. Who would have thought that the young man who was picked up in the wild and almost sold as a slave became the most powerful minister of the Tang Dynasty. The de facto crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was really impermanent, like a dream and a illusion.

"The Han envoy does not need to be too polite. This time, the Han envoy will make unparalleled achievements like the Han envoy. The court will not forget it. I hope the Han envoy will continue to work hard and do a good job in the transportation of the grain. Then it will be the day when the envoy will be promoted."

A little unexpected, Li Qing'an did not have any particularly enthusiastic hugs, nor did he hold his hand to express his farewell. Instead, he was like Pei Jin, thanking him for being able to close the market for three days in time, letting the merchants hide their property, avoiding the robbery of the army, and his attitude was also very plain, and he was not even as polite as Pei Jin, just like he was an ordinary official, which made Han Jinping feel a little disappointed. Li Qing'an was already in a high position. Do you have any disdain to reminisce about his old love with a small local official?

After Li Qing'an and the three of them finished greetings, they smiled and said, "Please go! Please enter the military camp, let's have a good talk about the government affairs in Yangzhou."

"Your Highness is busy with military affairs, so we are disturbing!"

The three of them walked into the military camp with Li Qing'an with laughter.

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Han Jinping's home is located in the northwest of Jiangdu City. It is a three-acre house. His father has passed away and lives with his mother, wife, concubine and three pairs of children. There is also an old servant and two maids at home.

Han Jinping was an honest official and had no spare money to buy a house. Only there were a few dilapidated houses in his hometown and more than ten acres of thin land, so he was reluctant to sell them. He gave it to his younger brother to farm. The house he lives in is an official house. According to principles, he is the chief secretary and in charge of government affairs in a state. The house he lives in should also be a good official house, covering at least ten acres of land. However, because Han Jinping did not understand the human nature of the official world, he offended the former prefect of Yangzhou. The prefect told him that the official house was not big for a while and asked him to live for a few months. When he had a big house, he changed it. Han Jinping didn't care and moved his family and moved into the current house. He never moved his residence again.

Han Jinping did not understand the worldly ways of the officialdom, and it was also reflected in his promotion. After returning from Anxi, he was not only pardoned for exile, but also appointed Dantu County Magistrate by Li Longji. Dantu County is the capital of Runzhou Prefecture and belongs to the upper county. His official position has reached the upper rank of the sixth rank, and his current Yangzhou Chief Secretary has been promoted from the fifth rank. In a full eight years, he has only been promoted from the fourth rank.

This is not because of his inappropriate officialdom and lack of official ethics. On the contrary, his people have high expectations. Every year, he actively prepares the seeds of ox plowing in spring, and goes to the fields to cultivate them personally. The people have wronged him. He enforces the law impartially and never favors the powerful. He is praised by the Danpu people as Han Qingtian. It is such a good official with outstanding reputation, but he is not good at eating in the officialdom and cannot be kicked out. There are many reasons.

First of all, he was born in a humble origin, his father was a tenant farmer, and he had no background in his life. In the Tang Dynasty, which attached great importance to the family background, he had his first congenital deficiencies, and generally he was not the turn to advance.

On the other hand, he was suppressed by Zhang Boji, the son-in-law of Runzhou at that time, and was evaluated by Zhang Boji every year. Li Linfu controlled the Ministry of Personnel, and officials of the Ministry of Personnel did not dare to offend Zhang Boji. Even though he knew that he was unfair to Han Jinping, he could only follow Zhang Boji's assessment, which caused him to suffer years of injustice.

After Li Linfu fell, Yang Guozhong took office. Although Yang Guozhong did not only look at the clans like Li Linfu, he also promoted many small and medium-sized officials of low origins. However, Yang Guozhong was dissatisfied with Li Qing'an, so he demoted the officials of the Anxi clan. Han Jinping was also included in the Anxi clan, which made him miss the promotion again. Until the Anxi clan gradually became stronger and Yang Guozhong lost power, Han Jinping was finally promoted to Sima Runzhou, and soon he was transferred to the chief of Yangzhou. However, he was still worn by the prefect. This time, when Han Jinping first went to visit the prefect's house, he only carried a jar of elixir as a gift, which angered his immediate superior.

Not long after returning from the military camp, it gradually became dusk. Han Jinping also returned home. He had a son and two daughters. His son Han Yue was seventeen years old and studied in the state. He was preparing to go to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination in the next year. Both daughters were still young, one was seven and the other six years old. They were born to wives and concubines, all of which were his income after returning from Anxi.

The family lived a little salary from Han Jinping. Fortunately, Han Jinping was rewarded with 300 taels of silver and paid off his debts. Moreover, the local government had rent subsidies for the land of the government, which was slightly higher than the court's salary and could be paid on time. Therefore, although Han Jinping's family was poor, his life was barely acceptable.

When Han Jin returned home, his wife Zheng came up with a smile, "The master is back!"

Zheng was the daughter of Han Jinping's master when he was studying. She was a scholarly family. She was gentle and beautiful. She was bullied by the county magistrate. Han Jinping was angry and killed the county magistrate and was sent to Anxi to join the army. Zheng supported the family alone and took care of the family. Han's father passed away. She sold fields and buried her father-in-law, cultivated the fields and weaving cloth, and supported her mother-in-law and young son who had just cried. Until Han Jinping made meritorious service, she felt that Han Jinping had a thin descendant, so she married the dowry maid who had been following her for many years and regarded as her sister to Han Jinping as a concubine. She was a virtuous wife and mother.

While taking off her husband's clothes, she saw that he was a little depressed, and asked with a smile: "What's wrong?"

"Li Qing'an is here today, and I met him in the military camp outside the city in the afternoon."

"Is it that King Zhao?"

"Yeah!" Han Jinping took off his coat and nodded depressedly.

"Didn't the master say that he and you are old friends? Since they are old friends, you should be happy when they meet. Why are you still so depressed?"

"I am not as good as the new, and I am not as good as the old one. I said that, but today I saw him, I was cold and cold, without any feeling of meeting my old friends again. Perhaps he was powerful and thought I was no longer worthy of him."

Zheng thought for a while and asked, "Did the master go to see him alone?"

"No, I went to see him with Prefect Ji and County Magistrate Pei."

Zheng smiled and said, "That's right. It's not that he doesn't want to recognize you, but that Prefect Ji, Prince Pei and others are here. If you are intimate with you, you will neglect them. Master think about it, is this the truth?"

In fact, Han Jinping himself felt that this was the reason, but he was in the game and couldn't see clearly or thoroughly. After his wife's reminder, he suddenly realized and a knot in his heart was untied.

"A good wife is right, I'm so cautious."

At this time, there was a knock on the door. Han Jinping's house had no doorman, and his wife was going to open the door. "Who!" Zheng went up to him.

"Is this the home of Han Changshi?"

"Yes!"

Zheng agreed and opened the door. She was stunned for a moment, and suddenly turned around and shouted, "Master, come here quickly!"

Han Jinping was about to go to the study room when he saw his wife calling him, and he couldn't help but frown and walked over, "Who is it!"

"Master, I guess I'm looking for you."

Han Jinping walked to the door and was stunned. He saw hundreds of soldiers in full armor standing outside, surrounded by a carriage. He stuttered a little, "I am Han Jinping, what are you going to do?"

"Brother Han, don't be afraid, it's me who's here to see you."

The carriage door opened, Li Qingan walked out of the car with a smile, walked forward slowly, and said to Han Jinping, who was stunned, "Why, Brother Han doesn't know me anymore?"

"ah!"

Han Jinping reacted and hurriedly said, "Why did your highness come here in person? I dare not act like this!"

Zheng also understood and hurriedly said, "It turned out to be His Highness, King Zhao. The civilian woman was rude just now and offended."

Han Jinping hurriedly introduced to Li Qing'an: "This is Zhujing Zheng, who has told His Highness before."

Li Qing'an smiled and clasped his fists and said, "It turned out to be my sister-in-law. When I was in Anxi, I heard Brother Han mention it more than once. When I saw him today, he was indeed a virtuous wife."

"Your Highness is too great. I would like to thank Your Highness for taking care of Jinping in Anxi. His ability to be pardoned is also his help. Our family is grateful to You Highness."

Speaking of this, Zheng said to Han Jinping again: "Master, let Your Highness enter the house quickly! How can you stand outside?"

A word reminded Han Jinping, and he said in a panic: "Your Highness, please come in quickly! I'm rude."

Li Qing'an nodded. Seeing that Han Jin's bungalow was not big, he said to his subordinates: "Everyone is waiting outside. You can go to dinner in batches, but you are not allowed to cause trouble!"

After giving the order, he walked into the Han Mansion under the protection of two personal guards. At this time, Zheng quietly discussed with her husband from behind: "There are not much food at home, I'll buy some ready-made wine and food."

"Good better, go quickly and buy some good wine and food."

The couple discussed hospitality at the back door, and Li Qing'an heard it. He looked at the Han Mansion curiously, but the eaves were dilapidated, the window paper was yellow, and the bricks laid on the ground were uneven. He knew that this was an official house. Generally speaking, new official houses would have to be renovated, but Han Jinping's mansion was obviously not repaired for many years. It is estimated that the owner had no money to repair them himself, so he just lived there. It can be said that this is the most shabby official house Li Qing'an has ever seen. It is actually the home of the most Fuzhou and the Changshi of Yangzhou. Li Qing'an couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He had heard that Han Jinping was an honest official, but he didn't expect that his family was so poor that one more customer would go out to buy wine and vegetables.

He didn't say anything, and followed Han Jinping into his study with a smile.

"Your Highness, please sit down for a while, I'll bring another wooden couch."

Li Qing'an suddenly arrived and made Han Jinping busy. The embarrassment at home was revealed, and there was no tea left. He could not entertain boiled water. Moreover, there was only one better tea cup, which made Han Jinping feel embarrassed. He quickly asked his concubine to borrow some tea leaves and a pair of tea sets at the next door.

Li Qingan saw it one by one and couldn't help but shake his head secretly. He was a fifth-rank official at least, and the subsidies for the officials in the Jiangnan area were relatively high. In short, he also had fifteen or sixteen stagnants of money a month, so he shouldn't be so poor!

When Li Qing'an looked at the study room, he suddenly understood why Han Jinping was poor. The furnishings in the study room were also very simple, with a table and a couch, and then there were books all over the walls, nailed with wooden racks to the four walls. There was a house next door. Li Qing'an looked at it and found that it was all books, which were as many as thousands. The books in the Tang Dynasty were relatively expensive. Collecting these books probably took Han Jinping a lot of money. No wonder!

Li Qingan looked at his desk again and saw a memorial written on the desk: "Yangzhou Canal Transportation Method"

This made Li Qingan very interested. Unblocking the canal transportation was the top priority for him to go to Jiangnan this time. If Han Jinping had a good idea, he could ask Cui Ning to discuss it with him.

"Be careful!"

Han Jinping's voice came from outside the door. The door opened. Han Jinping and a 16 or 17-year-old boy came in with a heavy wooden couch. Li Qing'an's two personal guards hurried up to help.

Seeing that the boy looked quite similar to Han Jinping, Li Qingan smiled and said, "Brother Han, this is your son!"

"It's the dog."

Han Jinping put down the wooden couch, pushed his son and said, "Why don't you go to see him!"

The young man felt a little embarrassed and kowtowed to Li Qing'an, "Nephew Han Yue, kowtowed Uncle Li!"

Han Jinping's old face suddenly turned red. He usually brags to his son, saying that Li Qing'an was his sworn brother in Anxi. He just forgot to give his son a tip, but his son actually called Li Qing'an the uncle, which made him feel ashamed.

Li Qingan quickly helped the boy up and smiled and said, "When I first met you, it was a painting hidden beside your father. You were only eight years old at that time, and now you should be seventeen!"

"My nephew was seventeen last month."

"Yeah! Are you studying now?"

"Study in the state and officially ends next year. My nephew wants to go out for a year and go to Beijing to take the exam the next year."

"Not bad, very ambitious."

Li Qingan touched his body, and there was nothing that could be taken out. He pondered for a moment, took a silver medal from his waist, handed it to him and smiled, "This is the gift I gave you. With this silver medal, governments in various places will treat you with it, please accept it!"
To be continued...