In the backyard of Guanglu Temple, Li Jinglong couldn't close his mouth. He stared at several guards with wide eyes as they carefully put two large black fish that were about half a man long and shiny black into the pond.
The scales on the two fish's bodies were like armor plates, and they were flopping like hills in the water.
"Where did such a big fish come from?" Li Jinglong asked.
A young sesame official behind him leaned over and replied, "To return to the Lord, the river has just opened in Liaodong. The Jurchen barbarians there captured it and sent it to the capital of Liaodong specially as a tribute to Lord Long Live.
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"The Liaodong Dusi specially sent a boat to transport it to the capital by water. I heard that there were originally bigger fish than this one, one of which weighed seven to eighty pounds, but they couldn't be fed on the road, so these two were left!"
"You're so interested in two fishes!" Li Jinglong snorted and muttered in a low voice, "If you order ginseng and deer antlers from your mother, they will squeak and twist, and you need to take care of them!"
After saying that, he turned around and asked the young official, "Where is your prince-in-law?"
The young official immediately said, "Go back to your father-in-law, the prince-in-law is working in the main hall!"
"Oh, please tell me that I'm here!" Li Jinglong glanced at the two big black fish again and said casually.
"Go back to me, sir. My consort has already given instructions. When you come, you can just come in without reporting anything!" the young official said with a smile.
"Ha!" Li Jinglong nodded and looked at the young official again, "I think you are kind-hearted? Have we met before?"
"Your Majesty, Zhang Zhenzong, has met you several times!"
The young man in the teahouse back then has become a completely different person. He is neither humble nor overbearing in his speech, and his behavior is generous and moderate.
I have to say that officialdom is the thing that can change a person's temperament the most.
"Oh, I remembered!" Li Jinglong smiled and patted his forehead, "Have you never visited Mr. Wang?"
The story of this little boy Zhang Zhenzong has long been famous in the capital, and it is the subject of many people's sighs and sighs after dinner.
A waiter in a teahouse, a lowly person, happened to be kindhearted and helped a beggar, but he didn't expect that the beggar was the nephew of the chief manager of the Qianqing Palace at that time.
This story has been adapted into various forms, various rhetoric, and even became a ditty in the mouth of the theater troupe.
"Xiaguan..." Zhang Zhenzong smiled, "I've never been there!"
Li Jinglong asked casually, but when he suddenly heard the answer, he was surprised and said, "You haven't seen it? You kid, they gave you a future, and you didn't even say thank you!"
"It's not that I don't want to go, it's that I feel... I'm afraid of causing trouble to Manager Wang, so I can only keep this feeling in my heart!" Zhang Zhenzong said, "Do this job well and don't give Manager Wang any trouble.
Shameful."
This rhetoric surprised Li Jinglong.
According to common sense, it would be strange for a small person to suddenly fall in love with a big person and try to please him without any thought!
But the young man in front of me actually knows the word propriety!
The higher the status, the more disgusted people are who don’t know how to measure!
"Rare!" Li Jinglong looked at Zhang Zhenzong again with some interest, "Can you still handle the job here?"
"It's also a stumbling block! Xiaguan doesn't read much and can't recognize some words!" Zhang Zhenzong said with a bitter smile, "Fortunately, I followed my cousin before and learned a good abacus, so I can barely cope with it!"
"Abacus beads are also good for eating!" Li Jinglong smiled, then looked at Zhang Zhenzong, and suddenly his heart moved.
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"coming!"
Hu Guan sat behind the chair with a pile of official documents in front of him.
"Hey!" Li Jinglong stepped in, sat down on the chair, and said with a smile, "You are very busy!"
"The season has changed, and the palace people need to buy new clothes! The recipes also need to be changed, and there are also rice, grain and cloth to reward the clan members..." Hu Guan sighed and pointed to the official documents, "I have been killing people and arson since elementary school. Who knew
Now we actually have to settle accounts!"
"Ha!" Li Jinglong said, "You haven't learned enough about murder and arson! Otherwise, you would be in the army now!"
"Haha!" Hu Guan was not annoyed. He watched the people below serving Li Jinglong tea, then waved his hands and asked the people to step back, "Is something wrong?"
Li Jinglong took a sip of tea leisurely, then frowned fiercely and said, "Is this the tea in Guanglu Temple?" After saying that, he opened the lid of the tureen, took a look at it with disgust and said, "Isn't this just a brick of Sui Mo Zi tea?"
?"
"Do you think this is the amount of tea that your Duke Cao Guo drank for a pound of tea?" Hu Guan smiled, "The emperor has been cutting down the expenses of the palace in recent years. This year's budget totals more than 700,000 yuan!" said Hu Guan.
, picked up the account book in his hand and shook it, "Even the rouge money of the concubines in the palace has been reduced by 30% compared to previous years. As the chief steward of the Yamen, it will be good to have tea!"
Hearing this, Li Jinglong smiled knowingly.
The accounts in the palace are confusing and there are too many items of expenses.
If it is just food and clothing, how much can be used?
"Let's get down to business!" Hu Guan said again, "You have something good to do here today?"
"That's what you said!" Li Jinglong said with a smile, "How long have I had something bad happen to me?" He said, leaning forward, "I told Li Zhigang to recruit people from Guangdong Customs, so you should prepare early!"
"Oh!" Hu Guan thought about it and nodded, "I know!" He looked at Li Jinglong and said, "Chief Qi's term ends in August. You have to say hello to the new Chief Secretary!"
"Yeah!" Li Jinglong said, "This is natural!"
As he said that, he grinned and said, "Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind. I will batch a few more ships from the Bao Shipyard later, and our fleet will be complete!"
"It's not ours!" Hu Guan corrected him seriously, "It's the emperor's!"
"That's right!" Li Jinglong couldn't help but nodded.
It belongs to the emperor, Li Jinglong, and the Guanglu Temple under the jurisdiction of Hu Guan.
Daming Royal Ocean Trading Company!
The shareholders are the Emperor, Li Jinglong, Daming Royal Bank, and the Ministry of Household Affairs...
"One more thing!" Li Jinglong continued, "The Suzhou prefect is about to be vacant! Temporarily acting as Suzhou prefect Liu Guan, he will be transferred to the capital tax collection department!"
Under the table, Hu Guan's trembling legs suddenly froze.
"Do you have a successor?" Hu Guan asked.
"I don't have it!" Li Jinglong smiled and pointed down his head, "Yang Rong!"
"Oh!" Hu Guan nodded and looked at Li Jinglong, "Will it be easy to handle things in the future?"
"What do you think?" Li Jinglong said with a smile, "Then it was you who introduced Liu Guan to me that day, haha! It was also a coincidence that he and Li Zhigang were close friends!"
"Ha!" Hu Guan smiled, "Well, what a damn coincidence!"
After saying that, he glanced at Li Jinglong and said, "Li Zhigang doesn't know that Liu Guan and you are...?"
"No one knows except you!" Li Jinglong said, "That is, you, if you open your mouth to me, I have to accept him as my disciple. Otherwise, after so many years, who do you think I have accepted?"
"But I haven't seen you with less money!" Hu Guan said with a smile.
"Hey, be careful what you say!" Li Jinglong said with a smile, "My money is all reasonable and legal!"
Hu Guan curled his lips and thought to himself, "You are the Duke of Cao, so it is legal and legal. If you are not the Duke of Cao, the source of your money is unknown!"
"There's one more thing!" Li Jinglong suddenly said again.
"Then tell me! You are so mysterious!" Hu Guan wondered.
"That Zhang Zhenzong you have..." Li Jinglong hesitated for a moment, "Can you use it for me?"
Hu Guan was stunned for a moment, then opened his mouth and said, "I'm quite comfortable with that guy!" He said, "Although he is of a lower birth and younger, he is a solid person! He is hard-working and has great eyesight! You
Why use him? How come you, Mr. Cao Guo, are short of people under your command?"
"Tsk..." Li Jinglong laughed and said, "Li Zhigang just told me that the Caotai team is short of manpower! I also think that kid is good, so I thought it would be better to send him to Li Zhigang!"
Hu Guan's eyelids twitched and he asked suspiciously, "Are you so kind?"
"I just said it casually, I don't want to get involved!" Li Jinglong said with a smile, "I just thought, everything is difficult at the beginning, so I can help Li Zhigang find a few obedient people who are not fussy, and help him set up the stall first!"
"I think that kid is pretty good, and he's a good candidate for ushering in the reception! Besides..." Li Jinglong paused, "You also know that Manager Wang... I want to make peace with him as long as we can."
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"You are so stupid..." Hu Guan smiled bitterly, "How tiring your life is!"
"Hey, how many men are not tired!" Li Jinglong sighed, "Who the hell isn't calculating?"