Chapter 6 Wang Wei
"I have something else to say..."

Li Shizhi felt very uncomfortable, as it was obvious that the emperor trusted Li Linfu more.

It was Li Linfu's conspiracy that made the emperor suspicious of him.

"speak!"

Li Longji's tone became heavier.

"I have learned that a large amount of gold grains have appeared in the Longsha River in Luonan County, Shangluo Prefecture. According to geographical records, there must be a gold mine there. Mining it can enrich the country."

Li Shizhi calmly told Li Xuan the location of the gold mine.

The ministers murmured a few words and then looked at each other.

Judging from Li Shizhi's confident words, he even reported the name of the county river. He must have surveyed the area in advance and it was not a random guess.

Li Linfu did not doubt the truthfulness of Li Shizhi's words.

The crime of deceiving the emperor is not a small one.

He could only curse Li Shizhi, the young man, for being insidious in his heart.

He was deceived by Li Shizhi's frankness yesterday.

But at this moment, there is no way to refute it.

"Left Prime Minister, you will be fully responsible for the Longsha River Gold Mine in Luonan County. If this is true, you will be a great contributor."

Li Longji stroked his beard, his anger subsided and he smiled. Since Prime Minister Yuwen Rong was demoted, the treasury's income and expenditure have been balanced.

In Li Longji's view, this is financial hardship.

Even though Li Linfu implemented the grain-buying system in the Guanzhong region in recent years, it only solved the food shortage in Chang'an and reduced the burden of water transport in the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions, and did not increase the national treasury much.

He is the emperor, this shouldn't be all he has!

If I could get some gold, I wouldn't have to be so frugal in the future.

At this time, Li Longji was no longer diligent and frugal. He just wanted to be happy and enjoy his old age.

In prosperous times, luxury was the utmost and rewards were excessive.

The upper class set an example for their subordinates, and the whole Chang'an was filled with extravagance.

"According to the order!"

Li Shizhi bowed and accepted the order. The emperor ordered him to handle the matter with full authority, and Li Linfu could not interfere.

"Retreat from the court..."

When the court meeting ended, Li Linfu looked at Li Shizhi's back with a frown on his face for a long time, wondering if he had underestimated this guy.

If there were a gold mine in Luonan, Li Shizhi would definitely be trusted by the emperor, which would severely undermine his power in the court.

He had to think of a solution.

In any case, this court meeting made the ministers look at the Left Prime Minister Li Shizhi with new eyes.

Once the information about the gold mine in Luonan is leaked, some ministers will inevitably approach Li Shizhi.

The court was filled with ministers who were dissatisfied with Li Linfu's autocracy and officials who dared to be angry but not to speak out.

……

Chang'an, Zhuque Street.

Li Xuan took Luo Xing to the East Market to get some rice paper, and then they went to visit the alleys of Chang'an.

Unfortunately, the weather was not good. As soon as we arrived at the most prosperous Zhuque Street, it started to drizzle.

The prosperity of Chang'an will not cease because of a spring rain.

On the Zhuque Street, which is more than 50 meters wide, willow trees are like smoke.

The pace of pedestrians on the road was getting faster and faster, and the vendors set up simple sheds.

Merchants still come and go, and it is common to see foreigners wearing foreign hats.

There was a constant stream of cars and horses on the driveway.

Young men and women parading in the streets hold umbrellas and enjoy the comfort of the spring rain.

Those flower sellers "carrying spring on their shoulders" walking through the spring rain make Zhuque Street even more prosperous.

"Qilang, it's raining, please get out of the way first!"

Luo Xing, holding the tightly wrapped rice paper, reminded Li Xuan.

They didn't bring an umbrella when they went out.

Li Xuan walked slowly, his hair wet with rain. He saw an ancient teahouse at the entrance of the alley next to him, so he took Luo Xing in.

"Doctor, serve the tea..."

As soon as he entered the teahouse, Luo Xing shouted.

"Please take a seat, my dear!"

The manager of the teahouse immediately responded after seeing Li Xuan's attire and temperament.

Li Xuan was followed by servants in blue, and they were obviously royal nobles.

He personally led Li Xuan to the second floor.

Li Xuan couldn't help but smile when he heard Luo Xing call Guandian "Doctor".

This word, which has become very high-sounding in later generations, was just a name for people who were proficient in a certain industry in the Tang Dynasty.

So much so that it evolved into a colloquial name.

Similar to the "master" in later generations.

If the Tang Dynasty saw the "masters" everywhere in later generations, they would be the same as Li Xuan.

"My dear, this seat is in front of the window. It is the best seat. You can see everything in Tianjie."

The store manager pointed to a low table by the window and invited Li Xuan in.

Li Xuan nodded and sat on the ground.

Luo Xing instructed the store manager to serve the best tea.

The store manager did not dare to delay and left immediately to make arrangements.

"Squeak!"

"Wow..."

Li Xuan opened the window and while hearing the sound of rain, he could see the panoramic view of the street in front of Kaihuafang, with all kinds of people and creatures.

Before they knew it, quite a few people were seated on the second floor of the teahouse.

This teahouse is quite famous on Zhuque Street for its business characteristics, and the customers who come here are not ordinary people.

Some of them knew each other and chatted with each other.

"This is Xiazhou's Mingyue tea, it has a refreshing fragrance, please have a taste, my lord." After the tea was ready, a pretty maid served it to Li Xuan and introduced it to him.

"Xiazhou was changed to a county last year, named Yiling County!"

Li Xuan subconsciously corrected the teahouse waitress.

"I know that there have been major changes in various states, but I don't know the details. I hope you don't mind." The teahouse maid was very polite and nodded to apologize to Li Xuan.

"No need to do that, it's me who's meddling!"

Li Xuan has been overwhelmed by current affairs lately and has been getting stuck in a rut. He also realized that there is no point in saying these things to a woman in a teahouse.

Seeing Li Xuan's elegant demeanor, the girl in the teahouse became even more uncomfortable. She hurriedly set the tea set for Li Xuan and left shyly.

Before Li Xuan could sip his tea, he heard a commotion downstairs.

He asked Luo Xing to go and see what was going on.

"Reporting to Qilang, it is the great poet Wang Wei who came to the teahouse to take shelter from the rain. There are many people in Chang'an who admire Wang Wei, even saints and princes are very fond of him. That's why!"

After Luo Xing found out, he ran up to tell Li Xuan.

The "saint" he was referring to was Li Longji. According to the Tang Dynasty etiquette, in the court, all officials addressed the emperor as "Your Majesty" and the emperor called himself "I".

But in private, officials and common people often addressed Li Longji as "saint" or "supreme". Li Longji, on the other hand, usually referred to himself as "I".

Wang Mojie! Wang Wei!

Li Xuan's heart moved. This name was very familiar to him.

Combining the memories of this life, Li Xuan knew that the most famous poet in the world at that time was not the "fallen immortal" Li Bai, but Wang Wei, who won the top spot in the imperial examination at the age of twenty-one.

This talented man who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting was the "greatest literary talent of his generation" after Prime Minister Zhang Shuo and Prime Minister Zhang Jiuling.

The poems he played were the true "authentic music of the prosperous Tang Dynasty" and an important part of the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

He is famous all over the world and is a role model in the hearts of countless scholars.

Li Xuan had long wanted to see Wang Wei.

It is the wish of every Chinese son and daughter in later generations to dream back thousands of years and drink with great poets like Li Bai, Du Fu and Wang Wei.

It is also Li Xuan’s important plan in this life.

Because Li Xuan needs titles like "literary man", "great poet" and "talented man".

Li Longji employed Zhang Shuo and Zhang Jiuling not only because of Zhang Shuo's ability, but also because of their talents, which enabled them to dress up as a prosperous era and whitewash the peace.

If a world-famous talent commits a "crime", countless people will plead for him.

Li Bai and Wang Wei escaped the Anshi Rebellion because of this.

Wang Wei is now the Zuobuque official, a seventh-rank censor, but Li Linfu would certainly not dare to touch him openly.

In addition, Li Xuan feels that the title of "literary talent" can make a person sublime from the inside out and become more charming.

It can also allow people all over the world to better understand the author of a poem, even if the author's real thoughts are very different from what is described in the poem.

Writers never lack a sense of anticipation and longing.

For example, if Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period was not a literati, he would not have written poems such as "Short Song", "Viewing the Sea", and "Song of the Grassland", and he would not have created the founding literature. The evaluation of him by later generations would not have been much better than that of Sima Yi.

Li Xuan does not have the talent comparable to Li Bai and Du Fu, but he comes from the future and knows a lot of excellent poems. He can perform them on appropriate occasions and in appropriate scenes.

Of course, Li Xuan would not plagiarize poets of his time.

If you remember the creation time incorrectly, your reputation will be ruined.

Li Xuan also admired these poets who created the atmosphere of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. This was their era.

When Li Xuan decided to change history, it was not just a butterfly effect, it would be a complete change of the world. Poets and writers after Li Xuan would be influenced by Li Xuan and might not have been born.

Their brilliance will be inherited by Li Xuan.

After learning that it was Wang Wei, Li Xuan immediately got up and went downstairs.

In the lobby on the first floor of the teahouse, a man in blue was surrounded by many people.

This person is Wang Wei.

When Wang Wei was young, he had a fair complexion and a graceful demeanor. He is still charming now. The women in the teahouses look at him with a smile and their eyes sparkle.

After experiencing great ups and downs, the loss of his wife and son, and political failure, although he was disheartened, he remained humorous and approachable.

He was not the hermit poet-Buddha that Li Xuan had imagined, nor the quiet and elegant gentleman.

The literati around him wanted to invite Wang Wei to have tea with them, but Wang Wei politely declined.

"Move aside, my husband wants to see Wang Mojie."

Seeing a group of people blocking Li Xuan's way, Luo Xing shouted.

Luo Xing was a slave, and everything was centered around his master, so he also had many of the bad qualities of a slave.

Although Li Xuan has been criticizing him for the past two months, he still finds it difficult to correct himself.

Li Xuan planned to take Luo Xing with him when he joined the army to grind away his "bad" character.

After being yelled at by Luo Xing, some scholars saw that Luo Xing was wearing green clothes, knew his identity, and immediately made way.

Because of Luo Xing's identity, he was called "the evil slave in blue" in Chang'an and people kept their distance from him.

When Wang Wei saw this scene, his brows slightly frowned. He also had servants, but he strictly controlled them.

He had never met a prince like Li Xuan.

"My name is Li Xuan, and I am the seventh son of the current left prime minister. I have admired Wang Buque for a long time."

When Li Xuan met Wang Wei, he bowed to him, neither humble nor arrogant, without any overbearing attitude.

Wang Wei's brows relaxed when he learned that Li Xuan was Li Shizhi's son.

The Zuo Buque was under the Menxia Province, and the head of the Menxia Province was the Zuo Xiang. Li Shizhi was Wang Wei's direct superior.

At the court meeting today, Li Shizhi was able to challenge Li Linfu, who was extremely powerful, which gave Wang Wei some hope.

During daily court attendance, only officials of the fifth rank in the capital were allowed to "see the emperor and speak out on matters of state."

But Wang Wei was a censor and was qualified to attend the morning court.

He was in charge of collecting omissions and filling gaps, and could even participate in secret meetings between the prime minister and the emperor after court meetings. Although his position was low, his responsibilities were important.

However, Wang Wei felt very aggrieved about his position as a vacancies filler.

After Zhang Jiuling was overthrown by Li Linfu, Li Linfu summoned all the censors together and warned them: The emperor is wise and all civil and military officials are too busy to obey his will, so do we still need to persuade them? Look at the "standing guard horses", as long as they don't make a sound, they can get the third-grade feed. But if those horses neigh, they will be kicked out of the ceremonial guard. Even if they don't neigh in the future, they will not be appointed.

At that time, there was a Youbuque named Du Jin who did not believe that Li Linfu could cover up everything, so he immediately submitted a memorial to impeach Li Linfu.

Sure enough, the next day, Du Jin was demoted to be the county magistrate in the remote and poor village of Xiagui.

From then on, the Tang Dynasty court became Li Linfu's personal stage, where he could perform to his heart's content.

Therefore, when Wang Wei was summoned to fill the vacancy, he was reluctant in his heart, as he had long had the idea of ​​retiring to the countryside. However, the emperor needed the talented Wang Wei to be an official to embellish the prosperous times.

(End of this chapter)