area51novel Page 201
Page 201
The Ming family will now be completely loyal to Li Chang'an and Lin Wan'er.
Less than a month later, the investigation into the Ming family's case was completed.
Li Chang'an had all the main people involved in the Ming family case imprisoned by Xue Qing, and then set off back to the capital with Lin Wan'er and Fan Ruoruo.
The capital city of Northern Qi, the imperial palace.
In the early morning, Zhan Doudou slowly opened her eyes, only to find that Si Lili in her arms had already woken up.
Si Lili's current identity is Zhan Doudou's concubine. To avoid attracting attention, Zhan Doudou often stays overnight at Si Lili's place.
Back in Nanqing, Si Lili had told Li Chang'an that she and Zhan Doudou had some subtle feelings for each other.
Therefore, the little emperor was very happy that Zhan Doudou and Si Lili slept together.
"Your Highness, are you thinking about your man again?"
Upon discovering that Zhan Doudou was awake, Si Lili immediately felt embarrassed.
"Your Majesty, you are awake. Your concubine will help you change your clothes."
While accepting Si Lili's service, Zhan Doudou began to complain.
"What's so great about Li Chang'an that makes you so hung up on him?"
"He has already returned you to me, and you will never see him again."
Although Zhan Doudou was completely won over by Li Chang'an, she knew nothing about Li Chang'an's power.
Si Lili is different. Li Chang'an has clearly told her that he will definitely bring her back to his side in the future.
"Your Majesty seems to be in a much better mood today, and you're even in the mood to tease me."
Zhan Doudou sighed and said, "It's not going to be much better."
"The Western Qin state has occupied all the vassal states of the Great Qi, but the Grand Preceptor has been unwilling to help suppress them."
"The Imperial Advisor said that Western Qin only wanted to establish itself and had no intention of destroying the ancestral temples of Great Qi."
The establishment of Western Qin seriously affected the status of Northern Qi. Ku He did not suppress it because he knew that the "ruler of Western Qin" was a Grandmaster.
In other words, Western Qin was destined to stand shoulder to shoulder with Northern Qi and Southern Qing.
"What's most despicable is that Xi Qin actually supported Tan Wu and kidnapped Shang Shan Hu from prison."
"Shangshan Hu, who already harbored rebellious intentions against the Great Qi, has joined the Western Qin, and sooner or later he will threaten the safety of the Northern Qi."
Shangshan Hu was imprisoned in the Northern Qi prison, but Zhao Gao used the power of the Luo Wang (a secret organization) to help Tan Wu rescue him.
Later, Uesugi Tora joined Han Xin's tutelage and was chosen by Han Xin to become a disciple of the military genius.
Shangshanhu was skilled in military strategy but not in political maneuvering, which Han Xin greatly admired.
The reason why Uesugi Tiger was disloyal to Northern Qi was ultimately because he felt that the Empress Dowager and the young emperor of Northern Qi were constantly vying for power, and there was no one in the court stronger than him.
However, when Shangshan Hu arrived in Western Qin, he was completely impressed by Han Xin's military strategy and became one of the fierce generals of Western Qin.
Si Lili said with some reluctance, "So it is true that you have many troubles."
Zhan Doudou smiled slightly, "Not entirely. The Western Qin Kingdom has recently been at odds with the Southern Qing Kingdom, and I am quite pleased about that."
"The Southern Qing's Northern Expeditionary Army has occupied a province of our Great Qi and is now bordering the Western Qin Kingdom."
"Seeing that Western Qin had occupied a large area of land, they threatened that Western Qin should submit to Southern Qing, otherwise they would have a Grandmaster destroy the Western Qin royal family."
This is similar to how nuclear-armed states threatened smaller countries hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Having a Grandmaster will give you a significant advantage in diplomacy.
Si Lili asked, "It is said that Grandmasters are capable of fighting against tens of thousands of people and can escape even when surrounded by tens of thousands of people."
"If Nanqing really sends out a Grandmaster, the royal family of Xiqin will definitely not be able to withstand it."
"Now that Western Qin has broken away from Great Qi, would it submit to Southern Qing?"
Zhan Doudou said, "I don't know where the Western Qin Kingdom gets its confidence from, but it is not afraid of the threat from the Grandmaster of Southern Qing at all."
"Seeing that Xi Qin was so tough, Nanqing had already begun small-scale battles with Xi Qin on the border."
"If they really start fighting, we can divert troops to strike directly into the rear of the Western Qin Kingdom, and perhaps we can wipe out the Western Qin Kingdom in one fell swoop."
……
On his way back to the capital from Jiangnan Road, Li Chang'an also received news of Han Xin's subjugation of Shangshan Hu and the border friction between Xi Qin and Nan Qing.
Subduing Shangshan Hu is a good thing; Western Qin has gained another fierce general.
Although Nanqing threatened Xiqin and said it would send out Grandmasters, Li Chang'an knew that Nanqing's Grandmasters would not be able to go north.
Ye Liuyun's injuries must be quite serious; even Emperor Qing had to sneak out of the palace.
Now that Barrett has reappeared, he is even more afraid to go out.
Although Western Qin was in the north, it was still located in the west compared to Northern Qi, and was not a place that Southern Qing needed to contend for at this stage.
If Nanqing really launches an attack and Han Xin inflicts a heavy blow on them, Nanqing should then behave themselves.
Upon returning to Kyoto, Emperor Qing immediately summoned Li Chang'an to the palace.
After reviewing all the files from the Junshan Society, Emperor Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The sword that Li Yunrui had personally hung over his head has finally been removed.
"Your Majesty, all the leads and files related to the smuggling case have been handed over to the Oversight Council."
Emperor Qing sneered, "Fan Xian has been ordered around by you, but now you've finally caught all the accomplices."
Li Chang'an asked, "Chang Kun, the naval commander of Jiaozhou, is both a member of the Junshan Society and a smuggler, making him a rather troublesome individual."
Emperor Qing said, "The intelligence just arrived yesterday. Take a look for yourself."
Li Chang'an opened the intelligence from the Surveillance Bureau and discovered that Fan Xian had used the same method as in the original story to assassinate Chang Kun.
Because Chang Kun had won over many people in the military, and the Supervisory Council didn't have a good reputation, arresting him directly would only cause trouble.
More importantly, if it were discovered that the admiral of a nation's navy was smuggling with an enemy country, it would be bad for everyone involved.
On the day of Chang Kun's birthday, Fan Xian first sneaked into Chang Kun's residence and assassinated Chang Kun in the toilet.
Then, they led a group of people in through the main entrance, claiming that Chang Kun had committed a serious crime and needed to come out immediately for investigation.
Then, everyone discovered that Chang Kun had died in the latrine, and Fan Xian declared that Chang Kun had committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
"That kid is shameless."
Emperor Qing glanced at Li Chang'an and said, "You are far inferior to me. You actually used Xue Qing to help Xia Qifei seize the Ming family's property."
"Fan Xian went to Jiangnan in a big fuss, but in the end he only punished some corrupt officials and couldn't even get into the gates of the three major districts."
"By the way, speaking of the inner treasury, Wan'er's term of trusteeship is about to expire."
"Tell me, who would be the most suitable person to take charge?"
Li Chang'an bluntly stated, "Either let Wan'er continue to manage, or hand it over to Fan Xian according to His Majesty's wishes."
"But whoever it is, they must convince people and put their minds at ease."
Emperor Qing did not shy away from his idea of entrusting the Imperial Treasury to Fan Xian, "Then who do you think is more trustworthy between the two of them?"
Emperor Qing knew that Fan Xian and the Crown Prince were close, and that Li Chang'an would definitely support Lin Wan'er.
However, Li Chang'an's statement took him by surprise.
"Your Majesty, the deficit in the Imperial Treasury has been confirmed, amounting to a staggering thirty million taels."
"How to better manage the internal treasury is actually not simple."
"Why don't we have Fan Xian and Wan'er each submit a memorial, and see what they think first?"
The audit that Lin Wan'er conducted for Li Yunrui upon his departure from office showed an additional ten million taels compared to the one Li Yunrui conducted himself in the original drama.
The main reason for the internal warehouse's losses was nothing more than large-scale smuggling, and the fact that the Ming family, the Cui family, and Li Yunrui all profited handsomely from it.
What Li Chang'an said also reflected Emperor Qing's concerns.
He needed a convincing reason to hand over the inner treasury to his illegitimate son.
The original plan was for Fan Xian to deal with the Ming family, and then taking over the Imperial Treasury would be a natural progression.
However, Fan Xian was no match for Li Chang'an, and the Ming family was brought under Lin Wan'er's control. Emperor Qing needed to find another excuse.
Li Chang'an's idea was also very simple. In the original drama, Fan Xian had many ideas about the Imperial Treasury, such as intellectual property rights and completely deciphering the craftsmanship.
If he dared to actually bring up those naive and ridiculous ideas, he would surely infuriate Emperor Qing.
Even if Fan Xian didn't mention those ideas, the outdated concepts in his mind would definitely displease Emperor Qing.
A few days later, Fan Xian returned to Kyoto and, as requested by Emperor Qing, submitted a memorial explaining his ideas for managing the Imperial Treasury.
Under Li Chang'an's guidance, Lin Wan'er proposed the idea of taking turns in charge and decentralizing marketing.
After receiving the memorials from the two men, Emperor Qing summoned Li Chang'an, the Crown Prince, Lin Ruofu, and Fan Jian to the palace.
"Your Highness, please take a look at Fan Xian and Wan'er's memorials and see who should be in charge of the Imperial Treasury."
The Crown Prince first read Lin Wan'er's memorial, and then opened Fan Xian's memorial.
After reading just a few lines, the Crown Prince felt dizzy. Fan Xian didn't take any of the advice given to him, the Crown Prince, seriously.