The autumn tiger race in Guanzhong was full of fire, the sultry weather made all the living creatures lose their vitality, the pedestrians on the road were sweating and panting heavily, even the willows on the side of the road were wilting, and only unknown insects were chirping tirelessly.

Both sides of the official road have been repaired as neatly as in the Tianbao period, and only the city walls can still occasionally see traces of being destroyed by war.

The ministers of the imperial court have suggested more than once that the government hall and the prime minister's mansion should allocate funds for restoration, after all, Chang'an is the largest city in the world, and the city wall is the face of Chang'an, and it is also the face of the imperial court.

But all the repair suggestions were rejected by Shang Shu's right servant Fifth Qi.

Fifth Qi is famous for his wealth in the government and the opposition, and was reused after Qin and Jin took power, and he is a person with low qualifications and low reputation, but he is very capable.

With such a rapid rise, there is no one in the government and the opposition who is not convinced, because it is by relying on this person that the imperial court has solved the financial crisis again and again, otherwise I am afraid that even the official's rice will not be able to be sent.

Recently, the fifth Qi was very upset, and the crown prince Li Xi summoned him to the Huaiyang palace every once in a while, hoping that he could further reduce the heavy taxes on salt and iron, so that the people could recuperate under relatively relaxed conditions.

Huaiyang Wangfu was the residence where Li Xi lived when he was not elected as the prince, and he insisted on living here after becoming the prince, and he did not move to the East Palace for a long time.

Such a move has won him a lot of good reputation in both the government and the opposition.

Under the guidance of the eunuchs, the fifth Qi came to the front hall to wait.

This so-called prince actually has no real power, and after the Qin and Jin Dynasties went west, most of the power of the imperial court fell on the Prime Minister's Mansion, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province.

The governor of Zhongshu Province is the left and right servants, and the left servants are old Xia Yuanji, who easily does not participate in political affairs, and spends most of his time recuperating at home, so the power of Zhongshu Province is actually in the hands of the Fifth Qi.

The governor of Menxia Province is still Wei Jiansu, Wei Jiansu is now the only old minister and important minister who has stood for three dynasties without falling, and in recent years, he has easily not gone to the political hall to see things, and he stays at home to recuperate like Xia Yuanji on weekdays.

"Shangshu's right servant shoots the Fifth Qi to meet you!"

Xiao Huangmen's sharp shout startled the fifth Qi, he waited dissatisfiedly at the yellow-skinned eunuch at the entrance of the palace, these eunuchs are all dogs and powerful guys, the current prince is just an ignorant and powerless prince, the people around him despise the important ministers so much, if he really becomes the emperor with real power, then pay it back?

But as an important minister, how could he be more serious with such a small person? With only one glare, he raised his leg and stepped over the high threshold into the front hall.

The light in the front hall was dim, and it took a while for the fifth Qi to get used to it before he could see that the prince was not sitting on the main seat, and there was a Nanmu bookcase on one side of the front hall, on which there were some scrolls and banknotes, which seemed to have just been moved.

"The fifth Qi of the minister is safe to see His Royal Highness the Prince!"

Fifth Qi bowed quite arrogantly, every time he came with an edict, even if he gave enough face to the prince in front of him, if he was allowed to lie on the ground and pout his ass like those eunuchs, he would not be able to be killed.

When Emperor Xuanzong was in power, the important ministers saw that there were few kneeling down.

An oil lamp was lit on Li Xi's bookcase, illuminating the palm-sized area on the desk, but it couldn't illuminate the expression on his face.

"Fifth Prime Minister please take a seat, this time ......"

"Your Highness summoned the ministers, presumably it is still a matter of salt and iron tax reduction, right?"

"Yes, yes, if today's chaos is decided, we should also focus on recuperation, I often hear that the salt and iron taxes are heavy, and the people are poor, and I hope that the fifth minister can understand the people's suffering, and then reduce some of it!"

There was a trace of disdain on the face of the fifth Qi, the foundation of the people in the imperial court was food, and the rent and the transfer of rent had always been based on food and forced labor, and he had never heard that the heavy salt and iron taxes could make the people more miserable. The salt and iron tax is heavy, and I am afraid that it is the rich merchants and the powerful people who stand behind the rich merchants who are uncomfortable.

He only hated that the taxes could not be heavier, and the money scraped in the hands of the rich merchants was not as much as a drop in the bucket swallowed by these silverfish.

But for the young prince, he only avoided the important and said perfunctorily:

"The salt and iron tax is not something that can be decided by a minister, if the tax reduction has to be calculated by the officials who do the specific work, and then handed over to the ministers to discuss collectively, then a decision can be made. ”

The Fifth Qi's countermeasure has always been perfunctory and procrastinating, neither agreeing to it immediately nor refusing it immediately.

After all, Li Xi was only a teenager, and he was quite angry with Fifth Qi's attitude, showing a little anger. After a long time and a lot of times, he got used to it, and even smiled and urged him to calculate and make a decision as soon as possible.

After another meaningless conversation, Fifth Qi was already a little impatient, but Li Xi didn't let go, so he had to endure it.

With a squeak, the door of the front hall was pushed open a crack, and the little yellow door tiptoed to Li Xi and whispered a few words, Li Xi immediately looked up at the fifth Qi, and said with a smile:

"The fifth minister is busy with official business, so I won't leave you behind......"

Fifth Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief, and when he got up, he secretly swore that he would never come to this damn Huaiyang Mansion again.

Out of the palace gate, I saw the two of them, Wei Qi, who was under the door, and then passed by.

Leaving the Huaiyang Palace, he walked a few steps, and was just about to get on the horse, when Fifth Qi seemed to remember something, and felt strange in his heart.

Over the past few months, he has been hearing many rumors, Wei Wei often visited the prince on two or three days, at first he did not care, but today he suddenly felt that there may be something unknown in it.

When he returned to the political affairs hall, he could hear the Lang officials in the party room talking in the corridor, and occasionally a few words popped out, which made his heart jump suddenly.

Words such as defeated, destroyed, annihilated, and so on came into the ears one by one, and the fifth Qi immediately swept away the bad luck brought by Li Xi.

Back in the main hall, he called a few henchmen and asked about the discussion in the room.

This question is really a big deal!

It is more appropriate to call it a rumor than a big event.

"Defeated?"

"The fifth prime minister doesn't know? In the past few days, the government and the opposition have been spreading wildly, the prime minister was defeated in Persia, and his life and death are still unknown, and Zheng Xianli, the envoy of the Anxi Festival, was captured alive by the great cannibal in that battle, and it is said that he will be taken to the capital of the great cannibal to be a slave, and ......"

One by one, there are noses and eyes, and the fifth Qi is secretly frightened, whether this kind of rumor is true or not, the damage to the court situation is too great.

But where did this rumor come from?

His mind soon fell on the source of the matter.

The officials would certainly not find out this kind of thing, and they could only write and draw on the desk, and tell some innocuous jokes in the party room in their spare time.

But you can get a glimpse of the whole leopard, the Lang officials in Zhongshu Province are like this, and the Lang officials in Menxia Province and the Prime Minister's Mansion are also like this?

Thinking of this, Fifth Qi couldn't sit still any longer, and immediately rushed to Jingzhao Mansion in a hurry.

Jingzhao Yin Cui Guangyuan has the Nanya Forbidden Army in his hands, responsible for the security of the inner and outer cities of Chang'an and the imperial city, including detection intelligence.

But what shocked him was that even Cui Guangyuan, who was Jing Zhaoyin, had never heard of these rumors.

Fifth Qi was very dissatisfied and uneasy, but he held back his anger and explained that he must immediately find out the source of the rumors, and at the same time post notices to disperse the rumors, and must not let this kind of rumor that shakes the foundation of the Shenwu Army continue to spread.

After explaining the specific matters, the fifth Qi left in a hurry without saying a word of gossip, and a figure flashed out behind the screen in the middle hall, looking at the door after the fifth Qi's figure disappeared, and let out a strange sneer.

"What does Da Yin think about this?"

Cui Guangyuan's face is always a smile, no matter whether he sees a superior person or someone with a lower status than himself.

"Twelve Lang, the fifth minister is a capable official, his mind is in the eyes of money, why should Twelve Lang care?"

This mysterious person is called Dugu Kaiyuan, Dugu has always been a big family in Chang'an City, whether it is a descendant or a branch of each house are very luxuriant, as the twelve sons of the long house of the Dugu family Fengzhou house, they have been deeply influenced by the family since childhood, and one day they must reproduce the glory of the family in the past.

"The fifth prime minister can be left alone, but does Da Yin want to leave a way back for himself?"

This is the sixth time he has come to see Cui Guangyuan, but Cui Guangyuan, the old fox, just won't let go, neither arrest him, the conspirator, nor turn him away.

Dugu Kaiyuan felt that this old fox should be waiting, or hesitating, so he must not give up, and must persevere to the end.

"The back road, what is the back road, Twelve Lang is still so alarmist, what do you want to do and ignore it, why do you want to pull me?"

Seeing that he was still so perfunctory, Dugu Kaiyuan couldn't help gritting his teeth, and the secret way can only have an effect if he is a fierce material.

"The crown prince is about to ascend the throne, Da Yin was an active rebellious person at the beginning, if he doesn't do something, I'm afraid it will be difficult to rely on the two ends of the first rat to be safe, right?"

Cui Guangyuan is such a person, that is an old fox who has been in officialdom for most of his life, how can he be frightened by a few words from a junior!

"It is right for the prince to ascend the throne, but the government is still in the hands of the two provinces under the Prime Minister's Mansion and Zhongshumen, how can I not be safe?"

Dugu Kaiyuan gritted his teeth again and said:

"I'm afraid Da Yin doesn't know yet, that big man has already acquiesced!"

"What?"

Cui Guangyuan immediately changed greatly, and the tea bowl next to his sleeve was swept away, falling to the ground and shattering.

After the fifth Qi left Jingzhao Mansion, he was not in a hurry to return to the political affairs hall, and walked around the street with his entourage, but found an abnormal situation that he had not noticed in the past.

That is, most of the Nanya forbidden troops who are responsible for patrolling public security on weekdays have disappeared.

According to the requirements, there must be a team in each square, and there must be a team on the street, and the fifth Qi passed through seven or eight squares in a row, and none of them echoed the requirements.

If there is an accident, you will not be able to react!