"How are you all these years?"

Suddenly seeing Tang Xun in such a place, Yang Congyi couldn't figure out the situation for a while, and his thoughts were a little messy, but when he saw each other, there was not so much politeness to speak of.

"Well, I'm fine, I'm worried about Brother Lao Yang."

Tang Xun's voice was very light, and his tone was also very calm, and he couldn't hear a trace of kindness and surprise, just like an ordinary person who met in Pingshui and didn't have much friendship.

The room fell silent again, and the two silently sipped tea.

Yang Congyi quickly calmed down, judging from the current situation, Tang Xun should not be the one who invited him to the appointment, otherwise it would not be such an embarrassing atmosphere, and he would not choose this kind of restaurant, it should be someone else.

"I only returned to Lin'an from Xinghua two days ago, and I met my uncle not long ago, but I haven't heard my uncle mention your news. When did you return to Lin'an? ”

"Not a few days."

Tang Xun replied with four words and kept silent.

I haven't seen him for a few years, and his temperament has changed greatly, Yang Congyi can only sigh secretly, time is in a hurry, and the friendship of his classmates in the past can't go back after all.

The room was completely silent, and no one spoke.

I don't know how long it took, the door of 'Qingmingju' was suddenly pushed open, and a person with a face like peach spring appeared at the door.

"Two, I haven't seen you for many years, don't come to harm?"

The person who came was not a bystander, but the chamberlain Huang Qi Huang, who walked into the house while talking, and a steward outside the door closed the door with his hand.

"Lord Huang is well!"

Yang Congyi and Tang Xun got up almost at the same time and greeted Huang Qi.

This Huang Qi is the guide and noble person of the two of them, if it was not for him to approve, it would be impossible for the two of them to be directly awarded officials from the body of martial arts students, and it is impossible to be promoted to the seventh and eighth rank officials in just a few years, and it is not an exaggeration to call Huang Qi the great benefactor of the two, without him, there would be no two of them today.

"Okay, okay, sit down."

Huang Qi smiled, and when he saw the two of them, he couldn't help but feel good.

"There's something going on in the palace, and the two of you have been waiting for a long time."

"Adults have heavy responsibilities and are busy with official duties, which is really fortunate."

The three of them sat down one after another, and Yang Congyi poured a cup of hot tea for Huang Qi with a pot.

Huang Qi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Don't talk about me, I'm old and useless." The two of you hurried back to Lin'an from thousands of miles away, and your body is still able to eat, right? ”

"It's okay, I've been resting for a few days back in Lin'an, and I'm fine." Yang Congyi said with a smile.

"I'm fine, too." Tang Xun's face was talking, showing a slight smile.

"Okay, it's okay, we're all old acquaintances, we've known each other for many years, and I've never treated you two as outsiders, this time I called you back to Lin'an, there is indeed something important for you to do."

Huang Qi was halfway through his words, a smile on his face narrowed, and his eyes flickered on the faces of the two.

"Your Excellency, please speak up."

Yang Congyi's face was also a pang, and he couldn't help but start muttering in his heart, what is the big thing in the imperial court, and Lord Huang has to come forward to discuss with the two of them?

"Have you ever heard of the shipwreck that went to sea this time?" Speaking of this, Huang Qi's face darkened.

"Earlier, Xiaguan got some news about the Great Song Dynasty Huiyi fleet in Qiongzhou, and that was last year, when the boat runner from Nanyang said that the Great Song Dynasty fleet was shipwrecked at sea west of Zhenla, and many wrecks of the Great Song Dynasty ships drifted to the coast of Zhenla. It was not until the Great Song fleet returned in April and rested in Qiongzhou that Xia Guan knew that the fleet had indeed suffered a catastrophe. Tang Xun replied.

Huang Qi nodded and said: "Yes, it is indeed in the west of Zhenla, that is, a few years ago, when the fleet encountered a storm, the fleet suffered again there. In a single storm, 74 large ships were lost, and more than half of the cargo sank directly to the bottom of the water, and a lot of cargo was lost, and in the end the remaining cargo was less than 20% of the cargo when it went out to sea. After this difficulty, they did not dare to move forward, and the remaining fleet exchanged some special products along the coast of Tianzhu, and these things they brought home were not enough to repay the merchants' accounts, let alone make money. This time, although I did not personally go to sea with the ship, but when I supervised the construction, I personally participated, I thought that this time I could make a lot of money like last time, but I didn't expect this result, I couldn't raise my head in the palace in the past few months. ”

Yang Congyi and Tang Xun did not respond, and waited quietly for Huang Qi's next words.

Sure enough, after a pause, Huang Qi said again: "Is the fleet of more than 100 big ships damaged more than 70 ships, is there anyone who is making trouble from it, damaging the public and private interests, regardless of it for the time being, the place where the incident occurred is thousands of miles away from the Great Song Dynasty, and there is no way to verify it, and the court and the officials can't study this matter in detail, and they don't want to study it in detail, they just want to earn back the lost money as soon as possible!" This time, I summoned you back from other places because of this matter, and the officials and the imperial court still need you to go to sea to fill the holes in the treasury and the inner treasury as soon as possible. ”

"My lord, the fleet has just returned, let's not talk about how much property has been lost for the time being, let's just say that the loss of manpower, more than 70 ships, there should be thousands of people buried in the sea, at this time the morale is low, can you really go to sea again?"

Yang Congyi suddenly felt a little resistant in his heart, can they really spare other people's lives for money? That's thousands of lives!

Huang Qi sighed and said: "The shipwrecked fleet at sea is also my trust, if they follow the chart we first probed out, do not delay halfway, and cross the sea west of Zhenla before April, the fleet can reach the east coast of Tianzhu safely, who knows that they are greedy for pleasure, and stayed in the South Seas Srivijaya until mid-April before leaving the port and crossing the sea, just a few days after leaving the port and crossing the strait, they encountered a storm." As long as they were careful, this disaster could have been completely avoided, and I trusted it to others! ”

Hearing this information, Yang Congyi was speechless, April and May were the time when storms began to break out in that sea area, crossing the sea at this time was really looking for death, Jiang Kai was a person who had been to the sea before, could he not understand?

Tang Xun suddenly said: "My lord, this time the fleet has suffered heavy losses, I heard that the Hui Yi Office still owes a lot of merchants, as high as four or five million yuan, I don't know if the news is true?" ”

Huang Qi nodded and said, "Yes, the Hui Yi Office does owe a lot of money, far more than five million guan, but close to eight million." Because of the money still owed, the court could not revoke the return to the trade office, in order to reassure the merchants, they also made a promise to the merchants that if the money was not repaid clearly, the return to the trade office would not be revoked for a day. After speaking, his expression became even more gloomy.

Once the Hui Yi is revoked, the money owed to the merchants will be repaid by the court, and as long as the Hui Yi is still standing there, the merchants will not be able to go to the court for trouble, although those rich businessmen have a deep background, but they can't get through all the relations between the court and China, at least the emperor can't, once someone proposes to keep the Hui Yi before repaying the Shang Jia's money, it will be accepted by the emperor, after all, it is the Hui Yi that owes the money, and the emperor and the court do not have to face the debt collector in person, If you really can't afford it, then it's better to keep putting it off.

"My lord, if you go to sea again and return to Yi, if the imperial court can't come up with real money, I'm afraid it won't be able to purchase enough goods." Tang Xun knew that the court didn't want to pay the money, and he didn't want to pay back the money, so if he went back like this, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to do it.

Huang Qi said: "If you go to sea again, the imperial court is willing to take some more money out, but it won't be too much, and you can only raise five million yuan." ”

"How much does the court want to make?"

"Ten times."

Hearing Huang Qi spit out two words in his mouth, Tang Xun couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Yang Congyi said: "My lord, five million guan capital can't purchase much goods, remember the first time we went to sea, the goods purchased from the hands of merchants alone are worth more than 10 million guan, not counting the goods of several major official kilns and brocade courtyards, adding up to at least 15 million guan." The Hui Yi Office now owes the merchants 8 million yuan, and can they still get the goods from them? Five million guan is too little, and even if the fleet is formed, it will not make much money on a single trip to sea. ”

"Listen to the two of you mean that you are willing to take this errand?" Huang Qi looked at Yang and Tang expectantly.

Yang Congyi glanced at Tang Xun, and saw that the expression on her face remained unchanged, very indifferent, I don't know what she was thinking in her heart, what she thought about this matter.

After thinking about it for a while, he immediately got up and replied: "The lower officials have to be supported by the adults, so that they can be today, and they are willing to share their worries for the adults and the court!" Go to the soup and go to the fire, don't give up! ”

Huang Qi's face showed a smile again, nodded a few words of goodness, and then asked, "Tang Xun, what about you, what do you think?" ”

Tang Xun got up and said, "The lower officials are willing to listen to the dispatch of the Lord and the imperial court!" ”

"Okay, sure enough, I didn't misjudge the two of you, this time I still have to rely on the two of you to get out of the way. It is easy to supervise the return of the building, the task is heavy, and going to sea is also dangerous, and I will not let you do this errand in vain. I might as well tell you the good news in advance, I have already greeted the officials, and they have agreed, once the two of you take over the return to the Yi place, there is no need to grind, the official rank will be upgraded five levels in a row, and when the fleet returns smoothly from going to sea, complete the return to the Yi task, the official rank will be upgraded by five levels, if there is a suitable opportunity, I can still say that you can serve in Lin'an. ”

After receiving the answer from the two, Huang Qi suddenly became a captain in his heart, and immediately promised Yang and Tang benefits in case they repented.

The temptation of being promoted to the fifth level of the official rank is very great, and if the officialdom is an official without a special background and extraordinary qualifications or abilities, it is impossible to skip the ranks. Yang Congyi and Tang Xun have already been promoted by leapfrogging because of their first return to Yi, and most of them are faster than martial arts or even too learned, and if they are promoted to the fifth level, they will definitely be able to stand out among the young officials, and their future careers will be unlimited.

"Thank you for your love, the lower officials will definitely do their best to do this!" Yang Congyi raised his hand to thank him.

"Thank you, my lord, the lower official will definitely live up to the trust!" Tang Xun then thanked him.

"Okay, with your words, I can rest assured. You two may be seated. ”

After Huang Qi saw them seated, he immediately shouted out of the door, and as soon as the words fell, a steward pushed the door in.

"Serve."

"Yes."

The steward went away.