Chapter 228 An Lushan enters Beijing again

Before the sky was bright, gray mist enveloped Chang'an City. The Mingde Gate in Chang'an rumbling open. The merchants, porters and vendors who had been waiting there rushed forward, and the quarrels and shouted in groups. Then they entered the city and dispersed. The same thing happened every day, but today it was extremely quiet outside Mingde Gate. The people who wanted to enter the city were waiting for a long team to enter the city. Teams of cavalry looked cold in the expressions, and the black bright armor exuded murderous aura in the sun. Among them, nearly a hundred carriages carried heavy cages and creaked forward. This was a team from Youzhou. An Lushan, who returned to the garrison two months ago, entered Beijing again. Today, he was asking for his second son An Qingzong to marry Princess Rongyi, the youngest daughter of King Qi. Marrying the Li Tang royal family will be more helpful to consolidate his status.

An Lushan's carriage gradually entered Chang'an City behind the team. An Lushanyin in the carriage had a calm face and stared at the crowds coming and going outside the car window with complex eyes. This time he went to Beijing to propose marriage for his second son, but in fact he came for a serious financial crisis under his rule. An Lushan also served as the governor of Youzhou and was in charge of the military and political affairs of the seventeen prefectures under Youzhou. Youzhou is the main production place of northern salt. Private salt sales and salt tax have always been An Lushan's main source of income. However, after the implementation of the new salt law of the court, the Youzhou Salt and Iron Department was established, which monopolized the salt source and cut off An Lushan's source of income. In this way, the support of his private equity army became a problem.

What shocked him even more was that news came from his eyes and ears in Chang'an that the imperial court might establish a national counter house. In the future, all the rents and taxes in each county will be transferred to the counter house, and will no longer be paid to the prefectures and counties. The expenses required by the Ministry of Revenue will be distributed uniformly by the Ministry of Revenue, which is equivalent to completely depriving the local financial power. In this way, how can An Lushan support his army and recruit talents?

The only thing he has is to go to Beijing to do is ask Li Longji to give a look at Fan Yang. If it really doesn't work, he can only find another way to get the court to pay.

At this time, An Lushan's confidant Yan Zhuang urged him to come forward. Seeing that there were no outsiders around him, he whispered to An Lushan: "General, you have important things to report to your subordinates."

After a moment, the carriage stopped, the door opened, and An Lushan's voice came from inside, "Go up and say!"

The carriage was luxuriously decorated and extremely wide, like a room, with thick Persian carpets on the ground, and the walls of the car were covered with gorgeous Shu brocade. Several concubines had been driven out of the carriage by An Lushan. He closed the windows and the light in the carriage became dim.

“What’s important?”

An Lushan was half lying on the soft couch, half squinting his eyes, his fat body was like a groundhog preparing to spend the winter.

"General, look at how prosperous the treasures of Chang'an are. My Fanyang has rich products and Yingzhou has more maritime benefits. I have been thinking along the way that if the court does not give us money or reduce our income, then we can use trade means to exchange money and grain from the Central Plains. Why do we have to act according to people's expressions? Therefore, according to the opinions of our subordinates, we should focus on the position of the General in Chang'an this time to prevent the General from being transferred from Fanyang. In addition, if possible, we will take the position of Hedong Jiedushi to solve the problem of insufficient military resources."

An Lushan nodded and smiled faintly: "Mr. Yan is consistent with what I think. I have been in Fanyang for too long, and Li Longji cannot be considered. Recently, Li Siye, Zhang Qiu Jianqiong, and Meng Lingcha were all mobilized, and even Huangfu Weiming lost his head. I heard that Li Longji was also preparing to establish a system of eunuch military supervision, which shows that he began to have suspicion about the generals of the border town. This time, I proposed to Li for Qingzong, and took the initiative to take him as a hostage to Beijing to eliminate Li Longji's suspicion. In addition, I left the remnants of the Khitan last year. This was also my way of restraining and giving him worries. So when I came to Chang'an this time, I not only wanted to protect my seat, but also strive for salt tax autonomy and the Hedong Jiedushi you mentioned. Otherwise, how could the gifts from these years be given for free?"

He thought about it again and said to Yan Zhuang: "Strengthening trade is also a feasible strategy. The teacher is fully responsible for this matter, but it cannot be done openly. He must find a cover in secret."

Yan Zhuang stroked the goatee and smiled with relief: "The general sees so thoroughly, so my subordinates are relieved. I will do the trade matter today!"

An Lushan’s mansion in Chang'an is located in Qinrenfang, not far from the East City. The car rushed along Zhuque Street for a few miles, then turned and walked through Jingshanfang and headed northeastward.

As the sky gradually became brighter, there were more pedestrians on the streets of Chang'an. Most of them were walking in a hurry and were busy making their livelihoods. The spring breeze made people lazy, but the rice jars at home were even more heartbreaking. Since ancient times, most of the capitals have relied on supplying all over the country. The rents transported from all over the country were consumed in Chang'an. The wealth collected by the officials and nobles from all over the country was squandered in Chang'an, which also created the prosperity of Chang'an. As long as they were not too lazy, it was not too difficult to find a job to support their families.

Early in the morning, Li Qing was awakened by the faint cry of his daughter. The various family problems in the past few days made him feel irritable. First, Xiaoyu's father suddenly died while gambling with people in Chengdu. It was probably because he was overly excited and had a sudden cerebral hemorrhage after winning money. Xiaoyu took a few servants back to his hometown to attend the funeral; then his daughter fell ill due to the cold at night and cried day and night. In order to take care of her daughter, Liang'er drove him to the study room to live.

Another thing that upset him was the sudden outrage of the imperial edict. Using the excuse of the marriage of the two Li Xiang, Li Jingyan was ordered to become a monk at Ganye Temple. Apart from the title of the princess and the honor of the royal family, she would become an ordinary monk. Although Li Qing knew that this was Li Longji's move to marry her to him and to deal with Tubo, the three words "Ganye Temple" made him feel a little ominous. This was the place where Wu Zetian became a monk a hundred years ago and the last destination of many deposed concubines in the palace. He did not want Li Jingyan to become a monk there, but he was unable to change the edicts he had issued.

'Come!' Li Qing shouted a few times, but no one agreed. He angrily picked up his pillow and smashed it at the door, frightening the two little maids who were dozing off outside. He hurriedly ran in, lowered his head and said timidly, "Do you have anything to do?" They were twin sisters bought by Lian'er in Shazhou. Their parents died early and were sold to human traffickers by their uncle. They were about fourteen or five years old and had been serving Lian'er. These days, Li Qing moved to the study room, and they also came to serve his daily life.

"It's nothing, I'm going out!" Li Qing took a long breath and tried to calm his irritable heart. He had been unable to control his emotions these two days and seemed to have lost his identity.

A little maid turned around and ran to fetch water, while the other came to serve him to change clothes and comb his hair. This maid was very good at observing her face and getting older, and she also understood some humane things. Why was the master worried? She knew very well in her heart, so she combed his hair for him and said obediently: "Mrs. I sent a message from the inner house in the morning. The lady's illness has improved. The master can move in tonight."

At this time, she was the only one serving Li Qing. When she saw the opportunity came, a bold thought suddenly arose in her heart.

"You go and tell your wife later that I will come back later tonight."

Li Qing's face was a little gloomy. Since he came back from Yangzhou, he felt that the curtain had changed a little. He focused most of his thoughts on his children. He often got angry with himself inexplicably. He often looked at the distance and was stunned. This change was also reflected in the sexual intercourse between the couple. She seemed to be avoiding herself. Like this time, she moved to the study room outside. Although it was because the child was sick, Li Qing felt that this seemed to be just an excuse. In fact, there was no need for this. It seemed that she was hiding something from him. He couldn't help but shout in his heart, "Liang'er, what's the matter that you can't tell me?"

At this moment, Li Qing suddenly felt that the hand of the maid behind him seemed to be touching his neck intentionally or unintentionally. Then, a pair of round and elastic breasts were tightly pressed against his back. A fire instinctively rose between Li Qing's chest and abdomen. When he turned around, he saw only a pair of shining eyes staring at him tightly. His pointed chin contained a pleasing smile. She bit her lips and smiled charmingly: "Master, what are you looking at?"

Li Qingxin suddenly jumped wildly. He couldn't help but hug her waist, reached out to touch her chest, and asked in a low voice: "How old are you this year."

"Go back to Master, I'm 14th this year." Seeing Li Qing hooked, she couldn't help but feel a hint of pride in her eyes and tone.

But it was this slight pride that Li Qing suddenly felt Qingming in the spiritual stage. He remembered that Liang'er told himself that she was fourteen years old this year.

Li Qing pushed the maid away, stood up suddenly, looked at her and snorted coldly, "I can't tell you will seize the opportunity!"

The little maid knelt down on the ground in fear and kowtowed repeatedly, "Please forgive me, please forgive me!"

Li Qing sighed slightly in his heart, "Does he not even have this little control?"

He felt bored and waved to her, "Forget it, get up! It's not entirely your fault, I'm not good at it."

At this time, another maid came in with water and saw her sister kneeling on the ground begging for mercy. She didn't know what had happened, and she was scared, so she ran to her sister and knelt down.

The two stood up. Seeing that the maid's eyes were both frightened and a little sad, Li Qing comforted the twin sisters softly and said, "You are still young, you don't understand some things. If you do something wrong, I won't blame you. When you are a few years older, if you want to be free, then tell me again, I will give you some money and let you go out of the house. Now, go and serve your wife!"

After saying that, he washed his face quickly, then strode away from the room and got out.

Today, the place where Li Qing was going to be Sining Prince's Mansion. One was to go and see Jingyan, and the other was to talk to Li Lin about his official position.

Li Qing was not in front of Li Lin's mansion, and the gatekeeper saw him from afar and ran to report the news. When he had just stepped onto the steps, Li Lin smiled and greeted him. Although he was dismissed from office, he felt really happy to be able to get Li Qing as his son-in-law.

Li Qing stood on the steps, bowed and bowed, and apologized: "I just came to visit Uncle Shi today, and my nephew is really ashamed!"

"Haha! If Jingyan hadn't returned home, I'm sure you wouldn't have come today."

While teasing Li Qing, Li Lin took his hand to walk into the mansion. Seeing Li Qing's eyes looking around, he knew his thoughts, he patted his back and smiled: "You guy was a coincidence. Jingyan was found by Princess Rongyi. They were very good at being in the boudoir. I guess they have something to say!"

"It's okay, I'm going to find Uncle Shi."

The two entered the living room and sat down. Seeing Li Lin smiling calmly, Li Qing was not worried about Jing Yan's becoming a monk at all, so she couldn't help but be surprised and said, "Don't Uncle Shi worry about Jing Yan's becoming a monk?"

Li Lin shook her head, "Zongzheng Temple has been approved. Jingyan first became a monk at Ganye Temple for three months, and then went to Qingcheng Mountain in Shu. Of course, Shuzhong is just an excuse. The actual thing to go to should be your mansion!"

Speaking of Zongzheng Temple, a look of loss flashed in Li Lin's eyes. He was just a minister of Zongzheng Temple for less than two years, which really made him feel a little resentful.

Li Lin's loss was only a moment. He forced a smile and asked Li Qing again: "You said you had something to ask me for trouble, but I don't know what it is?"

"Uncle Shi lost his official position for me innocently, and my nephew was very uneasy. In order to compensate Uncle Shi, my nephew decided to recommend Uncle Shi as my first salt and iron supervisor in the Tang Dynasty."

"What!" Li Lin stood up suddenly. He couldn't believe his ears and stared at Li Qing and said, "You mean the Salt and Iron Supervision Order!"

After the implementation of the new Salt Law, various departments successively formed the Salt and Iron Department. In this way, it was almost inevitable to establish the Salt and Iron Supervision. It is said that the draft had been handed over. In the draft, the Salt and Iron Supervision took charge of the national commercial tax and became the core department of the court. Then the first Salt and Iron Supervision Order was not a casual person to take charge of. When almost everyone thought it would be Li Qing as the part-time position, Li Lin never thought it would be herself.

"Yes, it's the Salt and Iron Supervision Order. Yesterday at noon, Li Linfu came to visit Zhang Qiu Jianqiong. The two had reached a compromise for the candidates for the Salt and Iron Supervision Order. The Supervisor Order was served by Shi Shu, while the Shaoshang was served by Li Linfu's confidant censor Song Hun. I will write this memorial."
Chapter completed!