Yang Fan walked out of the pawn shop, followed by the fat shopkeeper with a smile on his face.
He kept saying that he must come to him next time if there is any good stuff, and he would give him a good price.
Yang Fan walked out of the pawn shop holding a small cloth bag tightly in his hand.
Except for a house deed and a shop deed in the east part of Chang'an City, the rest of the bag was filled with gold leaves.
Under Chen Desheng's "fooling", Yang Fan took advantage of the situation and made a fool of himself, pricing the lighter at 1,200 taels of gold.
You know, officials in the DPRK and China generally have low salaries.
Even for a fifth-grade official, the monthly salary is only about 10 copper coins.
Therefore, 1,200 taels of gold can make you a billionaire with great purchasing power.
He directly used part of the money to replace the house and shop that were pawned in the pawn shop from the fat shopkeeper.
Feeling that he had made a lot of money, Chen Desheng directly and generously helped transfer the house and shop. At this point, Yang Fan also had a place to stay in the capital at this time.
Then he called the maid without stopping, and the servants went to tidy up the shop.
When Yang Fan was worrying about what kind of stickers to use to renovate his shop.
****
Imperial City Internal Affairs Hall.
Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Li Jing, Wei Zheng, Cheng Yaojin and other ministers gathered together. It can be said that the top figures of the Tang Dynasty were all gathered here.
During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was no prime minister in the imperial court during this period.
The prime ministers are all three high-ranking officials. Therefore, the senior official in Zhongshu, the official in Zhongshu Ling, the high-ranking official in the subordinate family, and the minister in charge, although he does not have the name of prime minister, he still performs the duties of the prime minister.
Under normal circumstances, they discuss matters in the political hall in the morning and return to the province to handle public works at noon.
Today, Li Shimin left them alone.
You should know that the Political Hall is a place where military and state affairs, confidential matters, and the promotion, demotion, and dismissal of officials above fifth rank are discussed.
As long as the matters discussed in the political hall are not trivial, ordinary people are not allowed to approach.
There are imperial guards guarding the outside, and no one else is allowed to hear about it. After the meeting is agreed upon, the emperor will be reported to the court for the final decision.
In this way, the Political Affairs Hall became the decision-making organ that assisted the emperor in ruling the country during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, and was the real heart of the empire.
At this time, Li Shimin was sitting in the upper position, looking down at everyone and asking.
"Xuanling, how is the vaccination against cowpox going? What is the effect?"
Fang Xuanling stood up and replied:
"Thanks to His Majesty's grace, all people in the prefectures and counties near Chang'an City have been vaccinated against cowpox. The markets in the east and west cities of the city have also opened normally. Food prices have returned to normal levels. All people who fled have returned home. The smallpox plague has been effectively controlled.
"
After hearing Fang Xuanling's answer, Li Shimin laughed happily and cheered repeatedly.
After all, the outside world attributed the smallpox plague to him as a punishment from heaven for killing too many people. Now these censors and admonishers have nothing to say!
No one would want to wear such a hat, let alone him who wanted to be the emperor for eternity.
"As for the county man of Wannian County, this son has served the country and the people, contributed methods to prevent and control smallpox, benefited the people, and stabilized the country. I intend to make him the founding county prince, and he will live in the city for thousands of households... Dear friends, do you have any objections?
?”
Only then did everyone realize that Li Er had left them here to discuss how to reward them.
As the big bosses in the DPRK and China, they knew that Wannian County men provided a method to prevent smallpox. After all, promoting this method requires everyone's collective efforts.
But the reward of being promoted from county male to county marquis all of a sudden is too exaggerated.
After all, there were nine levels of nobility in the Tang Dynasty, and the male from Kaiguo County was from the fifth level, which was the lowest level.
And the Marquis of Kaiguo County is from the third rank, which belongs to the upper-middle-class title. This time, he has been promoted several ranks. How can they not be surprised.
You must know that a title is a representative of status, and you can meet officials of the same level without bowing. Of course, bowing here refers to saluting.
Whoever can be named the Founding County Marquis is a person with great achievements.
"Your Majesty, I believe that Wannian County County Man, as the founding lord of the country, should serve the imperial court and provide methods to prevent smallpox. It is his duty to reward him with a million gold..." Zhongshu Ling Changsun Wuji
Be the first to speak.
After listening to Changsun Wuji's words, as an upright old troll, Wei Zheng's face straightened.
"Your Majesty, I think that what Zhongshu Ling said is a little inappropriate. The men of Wannian County should be given a large reward for their meritorious service. This can reflect your Majesty's love for talents and inspire the world's knowledgeable people to serve the country.
The love of the county man fulfilled his innocent heart..."
"Your Majesty, you have made a rule since you came to the throne. If you don't have outstanding military exploits, you will not be granted a title. Wannian County Prince already has a title and can be promoted to one level. If you make him a county prince all at once, it will inevitably cause controversy..."
Li Jing, who usually seldom spoke, also interjected at this time.
Cheng Yaojin, with a naive look on his face, said in a rough voice:
"I, Old Cheng, am a rough man who only knows how to march and fight, but I know that merit on the battlefield must be rewarded and mistakes must be punished. Only in this way can we be victorious in every battle..."
Seeing several important ministers put forward different opinions, Li Er, who was a little hot-headed at first, also calmed down.
He didn't expect that there would be so many different opinions on the reward.
If the reward is given as Changsun Wuji said, it would seem too harsh.
After all, the ten thousand gold mentioned in the Tang Dynasty was not a reward of ten thousand taels of gold, but a reward of 10,000 copper coins. Even a million gold was only equivalent to 1,000 taels of silver (1,000 copper coins).
But if the reward is given as what I just said, as Li Jing said, it will indeed be difficult to convince the public.
He couldn't help but rub his wrinkled brow with his fingers, and looked at Fang Xuanling involuntarily.
After all, Fang Xuanling, as Li Shimin's right-hand man, was known as Fang's strategist, and making suggestions was his strength.
Seeing Li Shimin looking at her, Fang Xuanling knew it was time for her to appear.
"Your Majesty, what all your colleagues said makes sense. Why not combine the opinions of the ministers with both promotion and rewards? This will not only honor your Majesty's promise but also conform to the opinions of the princes."
Well, this strategy is exactly what I want, so I will reward you accordingly.
It's just that I promised him at the beginning that if the method of preventing the smallpox plague worked, I would reward him with a beauty. Where did the beauty come from?
That greedy and lustful boy wants to marry his daughter, but there is no way.
"How about choosing a maid from the palace for him..."
After a moment of silence, Fang Xuanling was a little embarrassed and said cautiously.
The remaining people whispered: "It's a little inappropriate to treat a hero like this."
After pondering for a while, Li Er also felt something was wrong and shouted: "Wang Huangui..."
An old eunuch walked out of the side hall next to him and responded softly: "Everyone, what are your orders?"
The old eunuch looked very old, his eyebrows were all white, his face was covered with wrinkles and ridges, like the old bark of a pine tree that was about to fall off.
But his body looked very strong, his back was straight, his steps were brisk, and he quietly walked up to Li Er and bowed to salute.
As soon as the princes saw the old eunuch, they all quickly saluted: "I have met the king."
When the old eunuch faced these important officials in the court, Li Er's confidants just nodded lightly and said yes.
The old eunuch bowed forward and Li Er asked: "I want to reward a beautiful woman to a hero. Who are the candidates?"
The old eunuch replied directly: "Last month, the palace selected a girl for everyone, and everyone has seen the pictures. Why don't we give the second daughter of the warrior Yu to the man from Wannian County?"
Speaking of Samurai Xun's second daughter, to be honest, Li Shimin was really entangled in his heart and a little reluctant to let go.
This Wu girl was only fourteen years old, which was exactly the age of her hairpin. She was the daughter of the hero Ying Guogong, the warrior Xun.
This girl has beautiful face and graceful figure, especially after seeing her portrait, Li Er was thinking about her deeply.
This woman is naturally charming and charming, and she is definitely a rare beauty.
All men are lustful, and of course he is no exception. Otherwise, at this age, why would we need a big draft girl?
But there was a knot in his heart - the heroine King Wu.
This is what Yuan Tiangang said.
I don't know who spread the word, but this sentence became a prophecy circulated in the palace. Therefore, he ordered several palace ladies and eunuchs to be killed with a stick.
No matter what age, rumors are terrible.
What's more, people in this era have great faith in the prophecies of ghosts and gods.
The words of the old magic stick Yuan Tiangang are naturally more convincing.
Therefore, even His Majesty Li Er, who prides himself on being wise and powerful, is no exception. This prophecy has become a thorn in his heart.
Sometimes he even wanted to kill Wu's daughter, but after all Wu's daughter was the hero, if he really killed her because of an unfounded crime, let alone the officials and censors would cause trouble, even Li Shimin himself would be worried about it.
Can't bear it.
As the roundworm in Li Er's belly, Wang Huangui, of course he was aware of Li Shimin's concerns during this period.
In this case, it is better to suggest that Li Shimin give the daughter of the Wu family to the hero. As long as the daughter of the Wu family is not in the palace, there will be no rumors about "the female protagonist of King Wu".
This not only calmed Li Shimin's heart, but also won the favor of everyone, killing two birds with one stone.
Although the old eunuch knew Li Er very well, he was not a man after all and did not understand the dirty thoughts and possessiveness in a man's heart.
At this time, Li Shimin's mood was complicated. If he gave the Wu daughter to Yang Fan, it would be troublesome to send her away, but he was not willing to part with it.
After all, Wu's daughter is really charming and charming, and I feel pity for her. If she is brought into the house, she will definitely be a man's treasure.
Seeing the hopeful looks in the eyes of all the important ministers, in order to become the emperor for eternity, I could only reluctantly nodded and said yes. After saying this, I suddenly felt a little distracted.
Wang Huangui took the order and left, and Fang Xuanling and others also left the political palace.
But Yang Fan, who was still decorating his shop with wallpaper in Chang'an, had no idea that a love affair was about to come unexpectedly.