Don't be a prince

Ma Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "Daozhang Sun said that he can only do his best, and he has not found a solution to this disease so far. Moreover, Daozhang Sun also said that my humble minister may only have three or two years to live."

For the patients, Sun Simiao was indeed the last hope, but at the same time, Sun Simiao's sentence was also a blow to crush them.Because Sun Daochang informed people of his illness, there were basically no mistakes.

Although he knew that he only had three or two years to live, Ma Zhou was not at all depressed.From his point of view, it was already a blessing from his ancestors that he was able to enter the imperial court and become an official in the cold clothes. As for sitting in the position of Zhongshu Ling, it is normal for his life to be shortened at all.

With a sigh, Li Chengqian said: "Tomorrow, Aiqing will sue the old secretary."

Hearing this, Ma Zhou turned pale in shock, and quickly left his seat, knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, why is this? Although my minister is seriously ill, he does not delay government affairs. This year's minister is only [-]-[-]. If you get old, wouldn't you be ridiculed?"

If it were someone else, Li Chengqian might suspect that he was reluctant to bear power, but what Ma Zhou said could only show that he wanted to devote himself to this position and die.

Shaking his head, Li Chengqian said with a wry smile: "Your eyes are already red, and will soon bleed, resulting in blurred vision. I am quite familiar with diabetes, and your last two or three years may be extremely painful. .Since I came to the throne, you have been assisting me with all your heart, and you have even favored me in many cases. These are all friendship.

But, Ma Zhou, if you don't have time to have fun, wouldn't your life be in vain?I order you to retire, and some people are indeed worried that you will make mistakes in your work.But, more, I hope you can spend the last time without any worries.I will order the Ministry of Household Affairs to settle the 20-year pension for you. If it is not enough, ask me for it. I will order the Department of Internal Affairs to fully satisfy you. "

After hearing what the emperor said, Ma Zhou burst into tears.What is the purpose of being an official?

After three kowtows, Ma Zhou agreed.

After watching Ma Zhou leave, Li Chengqian sighed, another talent was missing.

Now Zhongshuling not only has the power of Zhongshuling, but also serves as the prime minister, responsible for coordinating the relationship between the emperor and all officials, equivalent to the squad leader in the court.Such an important position cannot be supported by qualifications. At the same time, it will test people's way of doing things, language ability, logic ability, etc.

After Ma Zhou became an official, who should be the prime minister is really a big problem.

After searching and counting the officials of the court, Li Chengqian locked on one person——Xu Jingzong!

During the reign of Zhenguan, this guy was named a man of Gaoyang County because he participated in the writing of "Wu De Shi Lu" and "Zhen Guan Shi Lu". Later, he replaced him as the assistant secretary of the school.

And when Ma Zhou was promoted to Zhongshuling, this guy also changed from deputy to full-time, and became the official Zhongshu servant.Back then, he was the eighteenth scholar of Prince Qin's Mansion, and now he is the only one left who is still in the court and has not taken up an official position. Maybe he is not very old at the age of 50 years old?

After writing down Xu Jingzong's name, Li Chengqian remembered why he was so familiar with this name.There are three reasons. The first reason is that Li Zhi, who was fooled by him, abolished Changsun Wuji in an "unnecessary" way.The second reason is that this guy changed history by accepting bribes, flattered and prospered in official career, it can be said that there is no lower limit.

As for the third reason....

It's ridiculous to say it, he was cuckolded by his own son.

Finally remembered who this person was, but Li Chengqian did not give up his interest in him.

As long as a treacherous minister can reach the level of being recorded in history books, the most basic requirement is to have means.Without any means, how could this guy secure his position as prime minister during the most intense period of "anti-military"?

Li Chengqian found that he was suddenly full of interest in this person.

Looking at the Huangmen eunuch, Li Chengqian said, "Go to Zhongshu Province and call Xu Jingzong, the servant of Zhongshu."

Huang Men nodded, and immediately went down to deliver the decree.

Not long after, Xu Jingzong came to see him.

While Xu Jingzong was saluting, Li Chengqian took a good look at him, but he didn't find that he looked like a villain.

Seeing the emperor sizing him up, Xu Jingzong couldn't help but cupped his hands and said, "Why is your majesty looking at this humble official? But there is something wrong with the official uniform of this humble official?"

Li Chengqian shook his head, pointed to the position Ma Zhou had just taken and said, "Sit down."

Xu Jingzong saluted again, and then sat down.

Looking at Xu Jingzong with a calm face, Li Chengqian asked: "Is the affairs of the Ministry of Education busy?"

"Return to Your Majesty, because there are many people who are qualified to make decisions, important memorials will be discussed with each other, so it is not busy."

Li Chengqian nodded, thought for a while, and said, "I called you here today to ask your opinion on a sentence. Someone told me that the Yanxing Year is already a peaceful and prosperous age, what do you think?"

Xu Jingzong said without hesitation: "Nonsense!"

"Oh?" Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Why are you talking nonsense?"

Xu Jingzong got up from his seat, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, forgive me. During the Yanxing period, although the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, there were no wars in the frontiers, and all nations came to court, but I thought that it was still not a peaceful and prosperous age. What is peace? There was no war in the frontiers. It is indeed peaceful when there is no internal rebellion.

However, the peace and prosperity is not right.What is a prosperous age?Weichen believes that what is short-lived like a flash in the pan cannot be called a prosperous age.The current situation can only be called a prosperous age if it continues for 20 years. "

Li Chengqian nodded and said: "You're right. It lasts at least 20 years, so that a generation can grow up far away from the flames of war, so that it can be called a prosperous age. Then Xu Jingzong, I ask you, what do you think about the lifeblood of the Tang Dynasty—business?" , What do you think? If you have any opinions, talk about it, and it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake.”

Xu Jingzong thought for a long time before answering: "Although the incident caused by the businessman Zhao Qi some time ago was infuriating, it also made me see the chaos that will inevitably occur after the flood of commerce. There are too many corruption cases from the Ministry of Officials, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment. In general, the source of officials accepting bribes is local wealthy businessmen.

If you have money, you want privileges. This is an inevitable thing.Even so, it is still undeniable that business has helped Datang.Because of the circulation of transportation, the grain in the Tang Dynasty has been kept stable at a very low level, so that the drought in the past two years has failed to harvest. Basically, the court does not need to bother, and the surplus grain of many people's homes can support it;

Because of the businessmen's business, it is possible to connect the business roads between the Tang Dynasty and other countries, and the Tang Dynasty can find out the news without any effort; because of the efforts of the merchants, they not only make money repeatedly, but also make the court rich.From the year of Zhenguan to the present, in normal years, the construction of the Ministry of Industry has not stopped, and many people can't even afford labor, because the foreman prefers young men to work, and he would rather pay some money than free labor. labor.

There are many more.All these are brought about by the prosperity of commerce.It can be said that business is a double-edged sword. If it is used well, it can kill the enemy. If it is not used well, it may cause self-harm. "

After listening to Xu Jingzong's words, Li Chengqian nodded and said: "You are very reasonable, but this is just an opinion. If I call any smart person, I can say such a thing. So, let's do it, Xu Jingzong, If you were Dugu Bo, what advice would you give me?"

Xu Jingzong said without hesitation: "The minister will present to His Majesty and request the release of silver and gold coins!"

Hearing this sentence, Li Chengqian immediately became interested, and after ordering the waiter in the hall to bring tea, he asked with a smile, "Why?"

Xu Jingzong said: "Because it is only the value of copper coins now, it is no longer satisfied with the identity of the mainstream currency. The Ministry of Household Affairs has investigated and gradually started long-term cooperation among merchants. The larger the merchant, the less the number of transactions. , at the same time the transaction amount will be larger.

For those transactions that cost tens of thousands of dollars, bank remittance is naturally the best choice.For street butchers, copper coins are more than enough.And in between, there are far more deals that are harder to pay for in copper coins, but not worth a trip to the bank for the transaction.

The existence of banks is the lifeblood of the imperial court today, and transfers, remittances, deposits, etc. must be serious, so that there will be no major mistakes.Since the bank has no way to relax the system, the best way is to add gold and silver to currency transactions.His Majesty sent people to conquer the country of Wa, supervised the slaves to mine mountains, and hoard gold and silver, for this reason.Now that several years have passed, I feel that His Majesty's gold and silver reserves should be enough to carry out this change! "

Li Chengqian smiled and said: "That's right, I'm planning to take action when. Now that you've mentioned this, I'll leave the currency reform to you, how about it?"

Xu Jingzong was surprised and said: "Your Majesty, this minister is just the Minister of Zhongshu. Although he has the right to make decisions, it is better to let Zhongshu Ling handle such a big matter!"

Li Chengqian sighed and said: "I ordered Ma Zhou to report to the old age. Xu Qing's family's copybook has been in his forties all his life, and now he is in his forties. I think you can be a great leader. What do you think?"

There is no doubt that Xu Jingzong is a person who is very good at flattering.Although Li Shimin was very happy with his achievements, he was photographed so comfortably that he was promoted during the dispatch of troops, which shows that Xu Jingzong's strength is appropriate.Moreover, Li Chengqian is sure that this guy has also studied the new emperor, otherwise he would not hesitate to say the word "bullshit".

but....

Although he knew that this guy was a traitor, Li Chengqian still wanted to try it.Even Li Yi's mansion has been conscientiously transformed by him, and he has learned to be down-to-earth. How can Xu Jingzong stand up?

When you are an emperor, when you have no fun, you really have to have some fun for yourself!

Chapter 563 Lucky Coin

There are many ways for the emperor to have fun for himself. Some emperors like to chop off people's heads in wine pools and meat forests to vent their desire and violence; some emperors like women, and they put a lot of women in the palace. , not to mention being lucky enough to climb on the dragon bed; there are also some emperors, who are really bored in their free time, so they provoke the rebellion of their subordinates, and by the way, they also provoke the desire of their sons, and let them perform for themselves, this old man, which is also very bad.

Li Chengqian, on the other hand, chose to experiment with shaping human nature.

Guys like Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong can be said to be proper villains among officials.It is definitely very interesting to force a treacherous minister who has all kinds of means and excellent handling ability to become a loyal minister.

So, after Ma Zhou wrote to retire in July, to everyone's astonishment, the humble Xu Jingzong suddenly became Zhongshu Ling.However, Zhang Jianzhi, a more unknown steward of the Ministry of Industry, became Zhongshu's servant, and another unknown steward of the Ministry of Industry became Zhongshu's Zuoshilang.As for Li Yongshu, the recipient of Zhongshu Youshilang, he couldn't even find his resume.

This was deliberately arranged by Li Chengqian. Now Zhongshuling sounds powerful, but in fact, his power is not much more than that of Zhongshu Shilang.Now the Chief of Zhongshu Province is Zhongshu Ling, who has jurisdiction over Zhongshu Shilang, Zhongshu Zuo Shilang, and Zhongshu Youshilang.

There are three people who belong to him, restraining Xu Jingzong, and always giving him a feeling of being alone.The factional disputes in the imperial court were narrowed and divided from a large-scale imperial court as a whole to a struggle between departments. This is the reason why Li Chengqian divided power.

Because although many officials have power, they cannot completely take charge of the affairs, which makes it impossible for powerful officials to appear in the court.

Xu Jingzong took office immediately. As the saying goes, there are three fires for a new official to take office. Now that he has been appointed by the emperor to be in charge of currency reform, he is extraordinarily radiant.This first fire was burned to the household department by him.

Although Xu Jingzong has a literary talent and is good at observing words and demeanor, when it comes to handling affairs, he is proficient in everything.He can talk eloquently in front of the emperor, but he is a little confused when it comes to specific implementation, so he needs the help of talents from the household department.

However, Dugu Bo was not used to him, and he denied Zhongshu Sheng's order without hesitation.In his opinion, issuing orders among peers is simply ridiculous.Although the Household Department is still one of the six departments, the emperor has long said that the current Household Department is at the same level as the three provinces in terms of rank.Even if the three provinces are now merged, the Zhongshu Province Zhongshu Ling is still the head, and it is the same.Want someone?Although they are ministers in the same dynasty, they must show some attitude!

"Hahaha, Dugu Bo, this old guy, I knew he didn't like Xu Jingzong, a guy who was lucky enough to enter the three provinces. Who knows, Xu Jingzong was devastated when he became Zhongshu Ling."

Hearing the emperor's laughter, looking at the mahjong tiles in his hand, and looking at the empress and concubine Wu on both sides, Zhou Han was a little dazed.Although I am a living man and have the qualifications to enter the harem, but playing mahjong with the emperor and empress, what is going on?

Although he complained about the emperor's behavior of playing mahjong in the harem in broad daylight, Zhou Han still curiously said because the emperor still cared about the government: "Since your majesty knows that Xu Jingzong has the mark of being lucky, he will be punished by many people." The courtiers look down on him, why should he be transferred to Zhongshuling?"

After playing a card, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "The truth is actually very simple. It is because of pressure that you will be motivated. Without this experience, how could Xu Jingzong do things seriously? The more powerful you are, the more you will be looked down upon. The more this person wants to prove himself with practical actions.

Believe it or not, look, Xu Jingzong will never make any mistakes in this currency reform.In the past, who knows if this guy will fill his own pocket and use his power to seek benefits for his family?As far as I know, Xu Jingzong loves extravagance, and his ability to spend money is not ordinary. "

Seeing that the emperor played out a piece of five cakes, Zhou Han hesitated for a moment, then pushed down the card and said, "Five eight cakes, Your Majesty, I'm sorry."

Li Chengqian also pushed down the cards helplessly and said: "It is said that you are willing to give up your life, but I have to fire a cannon every time, it is really unlucky."

Even so, he still took out a few copper coins from a plate on one side and gave them to Zhou Han.

People with personalities like Wei Zheng generally have poor family backgrounds. A few hundred copper coins are small money for the gambling inside the palace, but they are huge money for Zhou Han.

After reshuffle the cards and start the game again, Zhou Han continued to ask: "But Your Majesty, since you know Xu Jingzong is not a good person, why do you still use him?"

After playing a card, Li Chengqian said: "Since Zhao's announcement became old, only Xu Jingzong was left as an old man in Qin Palace. In terms of seniority, he is commensurate with Zhongshuling. Moreover, with the division of powers, Whether you admit it or not, the existence of the prime minister in the future is more to reconcile the court and the relationship between the emperor and the officials.

This requires a person who has both ways.There are many people who are good at this, but very few achieve the ultimate.Cao Mengde once said, "Use your talents but not your people." This kind of words is suitable for troubled times, not for important positions, but it is very suitable for the position of prime minister. Besides, I am confident that he will always be a good person. If Xu Jingzong can make Zhong The book order has been done well, who said that my arrangement must be wrong? "

After carefully thinking about the emperor's statement, Zhou Han could only conclude that it was the emperor's far-fetched explanation.However, it is not that no emperor has done this in history. Out of professional ethics, he still decided to note this matter in his daily notes. Of course, it is a narrative without any emotion.As for how future generations view the emperor's actions, that is beyond his control.

After playing mahjong all afternoon, Zhou Han came to kill everything, and earned a large box of copper coins, estimated to be a few bucks.After playing mahjong, the emperor yelled to take a bath, so Zhou Han had no choice but to back down.After all, he is not an eunuch, so he cannot record the night life of the emperor's harem.

Walking out of the palace with the box in his arms, Zhou Han didn't go back to his little home first, but went to the West Market.

The west market usually sells good things from abroad, and under normal circumstances, imported products are equal to expensive.The types of items sold in the West Market Market make it impossible for ordinary people to come here to consume.What made Zhou Han helpless was that this was his first time shopping here.

Living man, from the sixth rank, his monthly salary is only fifty guan. In Chang'an, where every inch of land is expensive, the current salary of fifty guan is not much different from five copper coins outside the city.

Fifty guan, it is already difficult to meet daily needs, let alone buy some enjoyable things.Thinking of himself as a majestic Beijing official, Zhou Han blamed himself endlessly for his wife to be hired by the government to appoint a stable wife when she gave birth.

His wife is the daughter of a small family, so he never cares about these things, but as a man, he still feels his face is hot.

It's not that he can't get extra income. In fact, living man of all dynasties can be said to be the easiest to make money.Because even the chief officials of the three provinces and six ministries are very curious about the emperor's state.In order to know the emperor's joy and anger about a matter, he was willing to bribe Qi Jilang with a lot of money.

And even if the matter was revealed, the emperor would at most just change the living man, but would not punish him severely.Because for the emperor, attacking living Lang itself is a stain.And the chief official of the court is willing to cooperate with them for the next Qi Zilang, and will strongly protect the exposed Qi Zilang.

In the 18th year of Zhenguan, the first year of Yanxing, and the transition from old to new, Zhou Han could earn a lot of money if he wanted to.However, he didn't, he would rather offend the big bosses in the court than expose the emperor's joy and anger.

There is a shop selling spices in the corner of the West Market. This is the largest spice shop in Chang'an. Basically, as long as you can name the spices, he has them here.Of course, Zhou Han didn't come to buy spices.

Seeing a sixth-rank official enter the store, the shopkeeper held down the clerk and came out to greet him in person.

"Guest officer, what kind of spice do you want?"

Zhou Han excitedly said, "Yingchuntang pharmacy said that only your frankincense in Chang'an is the best, right?"

The shopkeeper nodded without hesitation and said: "I am dissatisfied with the guest officer. My shop belongs to the Feng family in Lingnan. As long as all kinds of spices come by sea, they will be transported back to Chang'an by river after landing. A batch will be removed from Lingnan Seaport, and a lot will be removed when transported to Chang'an. If any spices purchased in this shop are damaged, you can smash our signboard."

While the shopkeeper was bragging, the buddy also went into the warehouse and took out the frankincense.

Opening the box, the shopkeeper took out a piece of frankincense with silk and said: "The guest officer should have bought it for the mother at home. This frankincense is indeed a superb product for postpartum nourishment, but the price is a bit higher. However, it is better for this kind of mother to eat more. Even if you spend some money, you can't buy those damp and defective products!"

Taking out his own box, Zhou Han swallowed his saliva and said, "Master, I only have this money, I wonder how much you can give?"

The clerk at the side saw the box full of copper coins, and curled his lips in disdain. Usually, people who come to their store to buy things will go to the bank to trade after the negotiation is completed.

However, the shopkeeper didn't see it that way.

Arching his hands, the shopkeeper was half-joyed and half-surprised, "Guest officer, can you show me your copper coins?"

It's just a copper coin, just look at it, Zhou Han handed the box to the shopkeeper without hesitation.

The shopkeeper flipped through it, took out a copper coin, looked at the imprint on it, and said pleasantly: "It really is a lucky coin! My God, this thing actually leaked out of the palace?"

Seeing the dancing of the shopkeeper, Zhou Han asked curiously, "What is a lucky coin? Isn't it just a copper coin?"

The shopkeeper looked at Zhou Han a lot, and asked: "The guest officer is wearing an official uniform of the sixth rank. I am afraid that the only one who has contact with His Majesty in such an official role is the living man. I don't know if the guest officer has bet with His Majesty recently. Money? I still gambled in the harem."

Zhou Han was even more puzzled: "That's right, I'm the living man, and I've been playing mahjong with His Majesty this afternoon."

Put the coins back into the box, and solemnly returned them to Zhou Han. The shopkeeper didn't hold back, and said, "The so-called lucky coins are actually copper coins with numbers 7. The copper coins issued in the Yanxing Year, although the marks on them have not changed, However, the copper coins with a quota of more than [-] have begun to print numbers, and each coin is a unique number.

Because of this, many copper coins with special numbers are worth even more than their currency value.For example, birthday coins and consecutive coins.However, among serial coins, there is only one number that cannot be found on the market, and that is the lucky coin.

I heard that there is more than one copper coin numbered 7, and this number belongs to His Majesty and is only used for gambling in the palace.His Majesty believed that the number 7 was very lucky, so the copper coin with the number 7 originally belonged to His Majesty.In the box of the guest officer, there are a lot of copper coins with the number 7. It seems that they were won from the palace, and they won a lot from His Majesty.Does the guest officer know how much this copper coin will be worth if it is brought to the auction house? "

Zhou Han shook his head in a daze.

The shopkeeper stretched out a finger and said, "At least [-] guan!"

Hearing this number, Zhou Han exclaimed in surprise: "Just a copper coin worth [-] coins is worth [-] guan? How is that possible?"

The shopkeeper said with a wry smile: "Chang'an has no shortage of rich people now. The last copper coin with five numbers 8 in it was auctioned for a high price of 8 guan, just because the number 7 sounds similar to 'fa'. This is the guest officer. The consecutive number [-] is valuable in itself, not to mention that it is a coin that belongs exclusively to His Majesty, [-] coins is nothing to say."

After finishing speaking, the shopkeeper gave a salute and said: "Actually, I have an unfeeling request. I see that there are a lot of lucky coins in the guest officer's box. I wonder if I can sell one to the next one separately? I am going to send it back to Lingnan as a gift." The Patriarch's gift, of course, in terms of price, will definitely not let the guest officer lose, fifty thousand guan, what do you think?"

"Fifty thousand?"

Zhou Han, who came from a poor family, just felt that he was going to be stupid.Fifty thousand guan, just for an emperor's coin?

He closed his eyes and thought for a long time, but Zhou Han shook his head and said, "Shopkeeper, please forgive me for not being able to make the decision. Although this coin was lost to me by Your Majesty, I can't sell it. Tomorrow the official will Enter the palace, please Your Majesty take back these coins."

The shopkeeper said regretfully: "It's a pity, but the coins belong to the guest officer, and the guest officer can naturally make the decision."

Reluctantly glanced at the high-grade frankincense in the box, Zhou Han could only grit his teeth and give up.

Seeing the reluctance of the living man, the shopkeeper said: "How about it, guest officer, I think there are some lucky coins in the box, why don't you take this to pay the bill, two coins are enough. Since your majesty lost the money to Without you, you can naturally deal with it casually. The money His Majesty sends out is quite meaningful. After all, Your Majesty is our top card player in the Tang Dynasty!"

Zhou Han took out two ordinary coins in a daze, but he was still puzzled, how could the money won from the emperor be so valuable outside the palace.