Chapter 113: Aide Li Bai

Three days later, Li Qiu led nearly 300 warriors to escort more than 100 ships loaded with money and escorts left Jiangdu and returned to Chang'an. At the same time, Yangzhou prefect Lu Huan arrested the salt lord Du Bosheng in Qua County, Runzhou, and seized more than 200,000 yuan worth of gold, silver and jewelry in a farm in the Du family in Qua County. The battle for the salt lord in Yangzhou finally came to an end with the great victory of the prefect Lu Huan.

That morning, Li Qing'an led his army back to the military camp. As soon as he came back, his personal follower Wang Dalang found him to complain.

"General, go and have a look! Your aide, Mr. Li, is really a headache."

"What's wrong with him?"

Li Qingan walked into Li Bai's study room with a smile. There was no one in the room, and there was a strong smell of wine. The snow-white wall was full of inspirational poems, and the table was filled with one foot high training records, which were all original records that had not been sorted out.

"General, he hasn't done anything for four days. You see, the documents are stacked, and when I give them to him, they are arranged one by one in order, but it's all messed up here, and I can't tell which ones were three days ago and which ones are today."

"It doesn't matter, just sort it out."

Li Qingan didn't take this matter seriously. He looked into the inner room, and there was no one inside. He couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Where are others, where are they?"

"General, he was drunk every day. He brought two bottles of wine to the barracks last night. The soldiers refused to let him go, so he fell drunk and slept at the door of the barracks all night. When he came back this morning, I told him that the general might be back and asked him to sort it out quickly, but he scolded me and said a lot of bad things."

"What did he say?" Li Qingan asked with great interest.

Wang Dalang said angrily: "He said that a great Hanlin worshiper could be a clerk and a clerk. He also said that a real man should die on the battlefield with a three-foot sword, and he could not surrender for five dou of rice."

Li Qingan laughed silently and said, "Did you give him too little money? He complained?"

"General, the conscience of heaven and earth! He asked me if I wanted less money? On the first day, I gave him 100 silver as the settlement fee as the general's order. The next day, he asked me to ask my friends in Chang'an to drink. On the third day, he wanted another fifty cents of wine, saying that it was 50,000 yuan a cup of wine. The general said that he would give it to me, but this morning, he said that he had already given it, and asked me that I wanted 200 taels of silver and said that I had no 100,000 yuan in money, so why did I live in Yangzhou? I have not returned since I left. The general, the two clerks next door, only earned two cents of money a month, but he was fine, and he didn't do anything, and he also mocked others for not having ambition. Alas! I really don't know what to say about him."

"So where is he drinking?"

"Who knows? He is all in brothels and restaurants."

At this moment, a soldier on duty at the gate ran in and said, "General, there is a brothel shopkeeper at the door looking for you, saying that he is here to ask for money."

"His grandma, fortunately I'm not here these days."

Li Qing'an laughed and cursed, and walked quickly towards the door. As soon as he walked out of the door, he leaned forward to Wang Dalang and said, "Please still hand over the training documents to the two clerks to sort them out, and give them a monthly salary of a regular amount of money to each of them, so that they can sort out the records from the previous few days as soon as possible."

After saying that, he strode towards the door of the military camp. Outside the military camp, a middle-aged man was standing at the door with a frown. Seeing Li Qing'an coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward and nodded and smiled, "The villain is the second shopkeeper of Lihua Building. My surname is Jiang. Is there a scholar named Li Qinglian who is the subordinate of Junye?"

"Yes, he is my subordinate, what's wrong with him?"

"June, he is drunk and owes two stale money to drink. He asked me to come to the military camp to ask for it."

"Don't he have two hundred taels of silver?"

The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Jun. He gave the two hundred taels of silver to Wenmei Fengqi, and he has no penny on him now."

Li Qingan suddenly felt that his head was a little too big, and he could reward people with 200 taels of silver, but in the end he couldn't even afford two cents of wine.

"Okay! I'll go see him."

Li Qingan turned over and took a few followers, followed Manager Jiang.

Lihua Tower is a famous brothel in Jiangdu City. It covers a vast area and consists of five elegant three-story buildings. It contains geisha who plays the piano and sings, literary prostitutes who can write poems and essays, and of course, there are also famous prostitutes who are as beautiful as flowers and are good at pleaseing men. Red brocade clothes, green silk skirts, beaks and swallows, and fragrant fat. Li Qing'an followed the shopkeeper to the second floor. When he arrived at the stairs, he heard Li Bai sighing to the sky, "I think of how glorious I was in Li Hanlin back then, the emperor's hall of the Golden Tower and Jade Pavilion, and the brocade clothes, black boots and purple dragon clothes, but now he has become a small fourth-rank military officer. How sad!"

Li Qingan smiled helplessly, this Li Taibai!

"Brother Taibai, since it's Mingzhu who is in the dark, it's better to give up this humble position and go to Jinling with me!" There was another person next to him talking.

Li Qingan was stunned. Why is there another person? He looked at the shopkeeper in confusion, and a friend next to him said, "This person has just arrived, his surname is Cui, and he is said to be a poet friend of your husband Chang'an."

He walked up the stairs and saw the two sitting in front of the window drinking. There was a prostitute next to each other. Li Bai was already 80% drunk, but he still refused to give up the cup. He hugged the beautiful shoulders of the prostitute, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "When talking about Jinling, I remember Cui Hao. He wrote the Yellow Crane Tower here, and the white clouds were empty for thousands of years, which is a masterpiece for the eternal song. I should go to Jinling to miss the past and write a poem that is comparable to him. Next time I meet in Chang'an, I can stand up straight in front of him."

The person opposite him was overjoyed, "Is Brother Taibai willing to go to Jinling with me?"

"Of course, I went to Jinling, and I also wanted to go to Kuaiji to pay my respects to He Zhizhang and have a look at the beauty of Wu Yue again."

"Brother Taibai wants to resign from me?" Li Qingan walked up with a smile.

Li Bai turned around and was stunned. The person opposite quickly stood up and saluted, "I'm here to see General Li."

"Haha! Is Brother Cui a friend of Brother Taibai's poetry?"

"That's right, I chased him all the way from Shandong and finally found him. I plan to invite Brother Taibai to Jinling and hope General Li will let him go."

"Don't beg him! I am a hawk in the world, and I travel around the world as I want. Where can I go? Who can stop me? Even if I am today, I can't do it."

Li Bai was already drunk. He poured Li Qing'an a glass of wine and said with a smile: "Mr. Li Jun, I toast you this glass of wine. Thank you for your care these days."

Li Qingan took out a ingot of gold from his carry-on bag and placed it on the table and said, "This is fifty taels of gold, which is my money for Brother Taibai. I wish Brother Taibai a good journey."

Li Qing'an nodded to Cui Chengfu, drank the wine in his glass, threw it away, and walked down the stairs with a big laugh. From a distance, he could only hear him chanting loudly: "I laughed to the sky and went out, are we wet people?"

Li Qing'an was really unhappy. He knew that Li Bai was leaving sooner or later and no one could hold him back, but Li Bai was dissatisfied because he committed himself to him as a fourth-rank general, which made him very depressed.

He rode his horse toward the barracks. A long way from the barracks, he saw Mingzhu in a red dress wandering back and forth in front of the barracks. His expression was quite depressed. Li Qingan turned over and dismounted, walked up to him and smiled, "Why are you unhappy? Who bullied you?"

"Dad, I'm going to go back to Chang'an tomorrow. I'll say goodbye to you." Mingzhu muttered with a pout.

"It's a good thing to go back to Chang'an! If you have any unhappiness, I'll go back in a few months, and I'll invite you to drink at that time."

"Really! Are you keeping your word?"

"Will my dignified fourth-rank general lie to you, a little girl?"

Li Qing'an patted her face and smiled, "Go back to Chang'an and don't run around anymore."

"Well! By the way, my dad asked me to treat you to a meal."

"when?"

"It's now, go for lunch."

Li Qing'an looked at the sky and it was almost noon, so he smiled happily, "Okay then! I'll go with you now."

Without entering the military camp, Li Qingan turned around and entered the city. Dugu Haoran's official residence was not far from the state yard. It was the official property, covering an area of ​​about ten acres, and it was for Dugu Haoran to live in.

Dugu Haoran's wife and daughter are both in Chang'an, but in Yangzhou, he had a concubine following him to take care of his daily life. This is the subtext of the popularity of concubine culture. Officials should not be officials locally. The wife must stay in their hometown to serve their parents-in-law. It is impossible for men to have no one to take care of them, so there must be a woman. In order to take care of the emotions of their hometown wife, the status of this woman must be far lower than that of the family wife, so the "concubine" was born in the time.

Dugu Haoran is the chief minister of Yangzhou. He handles all the trivial matters in Yangzhou. Therefore, official duties are very heavy. During this period, he is busy with spring farming. He squats in the fields almost every day. It was not until these two days that he breathed a little relieved. It is precisely because of him, the chief minister, who handles government affairs that Lu Huan can devote himself to the salt case.

Today is the day when his little girl Mingzhu returns to Chang'an. He specially invited Li Qing'an's house to have a drink and also saw his daughter off.

"General Li, thank you for your care for your little girl these days. Come! I toast you with this glass of wine."

Dugu Haoran picked up the wine glass and smiled at Li Qing'an. He was not confused. The little attachment to Li Qing'an in his daughter's eyes made him understand. Li Qing'an is good, smart and capable. He came to Yangzhou for more than a month and beautifully solved the salt case. He also had a little favor for Li Qing'an in his heart.

Li Qingan quickly replied, "I dare not! It should be my respect for Uncle Dugu."

Mingzhu next to him frowned and said, "Dad, you don't want to toast me, I'll toast you. Isn't it better to drink alcohol more easily? It makes people feel uncomfortable."

"Haha! Mingzhu makes sense, let's drink with pleasure, and there is no need for so much etiquette."

The two of them smirked and drank the wine. Dugu Haoran asked again: "General Li, where is his hometown?"

"My hometown is Luoyang, and my parents died early. I grew up with my grandfather in the Western Regions and traveled around the world. I have long forgotten the things about my hometown."

"Oh! So that's it. I wonder if General Li is married?"

"Dad, what do you ask me about this?" Mingzhu's face turned red with shame, and she couldn't hold her face anymore.

"What does this girl have to do with you? Why are you excited?"

Li Qingan quickly smiled and said, "I am not married yet, and there is frequent frontier wars, so I have no time to consider lifelong affairs."

"I just ask casually, come and drink."

The two of them drank another glass of wine, and Dugu Haoran pondered for a moment and said, "I received a quick letter from Mingzhu's grandfather this morning, saying that I might be appointed as the Jianghuai Transportation Commander. My nephew thought the news was true?"

Li Qingan was stunned. Lu Huan's impeachment memorial was sent out six days ago, and it was impossible for the court to make a decision. After a change of his mind, he understood that this must be Li Linfu's hand and footsteps. King Baoqing used Liu Changyun as a sacrifice. Dugu Haoran was once the crown prince Zhongyun, and his daughter died for Li Longji and was easily passed on Li Longji's side. In this way, the princelings won a great victory in Yangzhou and invisibly improved their contributions.

Thinking of this, Li Qingan smiled slightly and said, "Liu Changyun was involved in the Du Bo salt-producing case. The evidence is conclusive. It is estimated that the official hat will be difficult to protect. My uncle is familiar with the situation in Yangzhou and is appointed as the transferee of Jianghuai Metro. The news should be true. If I guess correctly, the official appointment of the court will be issued in one month at the latest. Congratulations to Uncle Dugu!"

Dugu Haoran was overjoyed. Li Qing'an knew the details of the salt case well. Since he said that, it must be true. All the fortune officers usually serve as third-rank high-ranking officials. If he was promoted to this position, there would be hope for him to become a prime minister in the future.
Chapter completed!