My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

After attending court, Song Jing returned home and dealt with what needed to be done.

Song Jing sat in the study, with letters from all over the place on the table. However, most of these letters said "still under investigation" or "unclear results", while a small number of letters reported the results of the investigation, indicating that there were results.

Song Jing sat at the desk, not knowing whether to be happy or sad.

"Prime Minister! Prime Minister!"

He was sitting at his desk with his hand on his forehead, thinking over and over again in his mind about how to deal with the issue of evil money, when he heard a shouting voice coming from outside.

"Prime Minister! There is a new situation!"

At this time, a guard ran in with an envelope in his hand.

Song Jing slowly raised his head and asked, "What's new?"

"There's new news from Pengcheng County, and it's true! Along with the letter, the county magistrate of Pengcheng County and several prisoners were also sent here. They are on the way now." The guard handed the letter to Song Jing and said.

When Song Jing heard this, he immediately knew what the guard meant. He quickly took the letter, opened it and started reading.

After reading the letter, his eyes were full of joy. He slammed the table and stood up from the desk.

"Good! That's great!" He sat up from the couch excitedly, "Yonghe's method is effective!"

He paced back and forth with the envelope in his hand, and then said, "Go and tell someone to get ready, and we'll go to the palace to see the emperor."

"Yes."

In Xuanzheng Hall, Li Longji was sitting at his desk dealing with today's affairs. Suddenly, a eunuch walked in quickly, bowed to Li Longji and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Song wants to see you."

"Prime Minister Song wants to see you?" Li Longji raised his head and said, "Go ahead."

The eunuch bowed again and walked out. When he came in again, Song Jing followed him. When Song Jing saw Li Longji, he knelt down and shouted:

"Your Majesty, long live your Majesty."

"Prime Minister Song, please stand up quickly." Li Longji saw Song Jing's happy face, so he asked, "What is the matter with Prime Minister Song coming here today? And seeing Prime Minister Song's happy face, it seems to be a good thing."

Song Jing stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this is indeed a good thing."

"What's the good news?"

"Your Majesty, I came to see you today because I want to talk to you about how to deal with the evil money." Song Jing said, "That method worked!"

"It worked?" Li Longji was also a little excited at this time. If he hadn't cared about his face, he would have stood up at this time, "Prime Minister Song, please tell me what the effect is."

"Your Majesty, this is a letter sent by the censor sent to Pengcheng County. Please take a look." Prime Minister Song took out the letter from his sleeve and handed it to the eunuch standing beside him, who then handed it to Li Longji.

Li Longji took the letter, opened it and read it. After reading it, he also said excitedly: "Great! Prime Minister Song, the method you proposed is indeed effective!"

"Your Majesty, this is only an investigation in one of the counties. The other counties are still under investigation. I believe there will be new news coming in by then." Song Jing said.

"I didn't expect that in just over a month, we could achieve such results. Great, it's really great!" Li Longji put the letter on his desk, "This evil money issue can finally be resolved."

"All this is due to your Majesty's wisdom." Song Jing also flattered Li Longji at the right time.

But at this time, Li Longji suddenly frowned again and said, "But if this matter is revealed, Prime Minister Song and Prime Minister Su will naturally be the first to be credited, but it is inevitable that some ministers with ulterior motives will impeach them."

"Using such drastic measures to deal with the issue of evil money, Prime Minister Song and Prime Minister Su will naturally be ostracized..."

Song Jing naturally heard Li Longji's worries. The issue of evil money would naturally affect the interests of many ministers. If it was really brought up for impeachment, it would naturally make Li Longji embarrassed. So he said:

"Your Majesty, don't worry too much. This achievement does not belong to this old minister and Prime Minister Su."

"This method was not proposed by you, Prime Minister Song? Then who proposed it?" Li Longji was also a little confused. Prime Minister Song was really good at keeping people in suspense, so his appetite was also whetted.

"Your Majesty, this method was proposed by my student, Chang An, the son of Chang Wenmeng, a doctor of the Imperial College," Song Jing explained.

"Prime Minister Song, your student?" Li Longji seemed to have no idea who Chang An was. "What young talent could catch the eye of Prime Minister Song and be accepted as his student?"

"I wonder if Your Majesty has ever heard of "Climbing the Heights"?"

"But the poem about climbing a high mountain with strong winds and high sky and the monkeys howling sadly?" Since the poem was good enough, Li Longji must have heard of it.

"The person who wrote this poem is my student, and he was also the one who proposed this method of governing bad money," said Song Jing.

"Since this method was proposed by Chang Yonghe, why didn't you say it at the time?"

Song Jing continued to explain: "I have also said that Chang Yonghe is my student. And the governance of evil money will shake the interests of some people. There are many people in the court and there are many gossips. Naturally, they are afraid that he will be implicated."

"If the truth of this matter is revealed too early, these young talents will be implicated before they can even serve Your Majesty. This old minister really feels it is a pity."

Li Longji nodded and said in understanding: "It should be so."

"But even so, in the eyes of the world, Prime Minister Song is still the one who personally handled this matter, and people will still squeeze and slander Prime Minister Song."

"I am old now. I have been in the court for so many years and just want to do what I should do for the Tang Dynasty. I have accomplished this one thing. Even if I die, I will die without regrets." Song Jing bent down and said.

"Prime Minister Song, please get up quickly!" Li Longji stood up from his chair and walked forward to lift up Song Jing.

"Now that the governance of the evil money has been effective, I will issue an edict to reward your student Chang Yonghe. How do you think?"

Song Jing refused, "Your Majesty, this is not possible."

"Why is that?" Li Longji was puzzled again. "You have made contributions to the Tang Dynasty, so you should be rewarded."

"Your Majesty, what I mean is that it is too early to confer rewards." Song Jing replied, "Conferring rewards so early will naturally attract attention from all parties. It is not too late to confer rewards after things are settled."

"If they rush to reward people when the evil money is dealt with, it will attract attention from all sides and affect Chang Yonghe. If they don't protect it properly, won't it make people feel disappointed?"

"Yes, then let's do as Prime Minister Song said. Let's keep the reward until no one can reverse the governance. Then I will issue an edict to reward. Prime Minister Song, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty is holy."

"Since everything is fine, Prime Minister Song, would you like to have a cup of tea before leaving?" Li Longji asked enthusiastically at this time.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but the evil money issue is still in operation, and I need to go back to control it. I dare not trouble Your Majesty again." Song Jing bowed again, "I will take my leave."

"Someone, come and see Prime Minister Song off."

So, Prime Minister Song left the imperial city again under the leadership of the eunuchs.

After getting on the carriage, the driver asked, "Prime Minister Song, where are we going? Are we going back home?"

Song Jing thought for a moment and said, "Let's not go back to the mansion yet, let's go to Chang's mansion."

"Yes."

After finishing school at the Imperial College at noon, Chang An went straight back to Chang's residence. As soon as he got off the carriage, he saw Gu Li standing at the door. He immediately walked up to her happily and kissed her on the cheek.

"Chang Lang is back. Are you tired?" Gu Li took Chang An's hand and asked gently while stroking his palm.

"With Gu Niang waiting for me at home, of course I won't be tired." Chang An gently tapped her nose.

"Oh, right," Gu Li seemed to have thought of something and said, "Chang Lang, Prime Minister Song is here and wants to see Chang Lang."

"Sir, you are here. Is there anything I can help you with?" Chang An asked.

"I don't know. Prime Minister Song just said that he had something to tell Chang Lang." Gu Li shook his head and said.

"Then let's go meet the gentleman now." Chang An said.

Gu Li nodded and took him back to the courtyard. Song Jing had already been sitting in the pavilion and looked like he had been waiting for a while. The two of them walked up to him and saluted him together:

"Meet sir."

"Yonghe is back, please sit down." Song Jing said with a smile, looking very happy.

Chang An nodded slightly, then sat down with Gu Li. After sitting down, he handed the book box to Huaiqin and asked her to take it back to the room.

"Sir, I don't know why you came here today." Chang An asked.

"I came here today to tell you good news." Song Jing kept smiling, "The method you proposed to control evil money has worked!"

"Really? That's good." Chang An didn't mean to take credit for it.

"As soon as I received the news today, I went to the palace to meet the current emperor and told him about you."

"Me?" Chang An raised his eyebrows.

"That is to say, the present emperor already knows the method to deal with the evil money, which was proposed by you, Yonghe. And he promised that when this matter is accomplished, you will be rewarded, and promotion is a foregone conclusion." Song Jing said.

Chang An was stunned for a moment, turned around and looked at Gu Li, then turned back and said, "This reward has nothing to do with the students. The students simply proposed this method."

"Don't be so modest, kid," Song Jing pointed his hand at Chang An and scolded, "It's ok to be modest in front of outsiders, but you have to be modest in front of me."

"No matter what, the credit for this governance will naturally be yours, and no one can take it away from you." Song Jing continued.

"But..." Chang An thought of Song Jing in history at this time. He would be dismissed from his position as prime minister because of his governance of evil money and arouse resentment.

"But if I get the reward, won't you have to bear the resentment of others?" Chang An said with some concern, "If the credit is given to the students, won't you have to bear all the resentment?"

"What are you afraid of? I'm an old man, half buried in the ground. No matter whether this reward belongs to me or not, I will be slandered and blamed. It's better to exchange this credit with you, Yonghe. Then you can live a safer life with your status." Song Jing waved his hand and said.

"Besides, I have only accepted you as my student in all these years. You are a great talent, so of course I have to protect you well."

"But sir, Yonghe is still young and has not achieved any fame, how can he..." Chang'an still evaded.

"Alas, if you have the ability, you should take this reward and don't refuse it." Song Jing said, "I still hope that one day you can sit in my position and realize your ambitions. Otherwise, it would be a waste of talent!"

"So, don't refuse. The imperial decree has been issued, and we cannot change it. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the emperor?"

Having said that, Chang An could no longer refuse, so he had to say:

"In that case, thank you very much, sir."