Out of the ministry, Li Xi didn't even ride a horse, but just let the two entourages lead the horse, and he walked in the palace city, slowly walking in the direction of Taifu Temple, while slowly recalling Su Jin's words in his heart.

In any era, there will always be some star officials.

Even in ancient times, information was not developed enough, and officials seemed to be more mysterious and noble than the modern society of later generations, and their whereabouts and actions were impossible for most people to know, but even so, there were always some officials who finally won the unanimous approval of the people of the world through their decades of consistent style and ability.

Since the Tang Dynasty, first from the Taizong period of Fang Xuanling Du Ruhui's "Fang Mou Du Dudu", to the Gaozong Wuhou period Di Renjie, and then to the Tianbao period of "Yao Chong Song Jing as a prince", they are all great politicians who are enough to stand at the top of the times, not only in the court, even in the people, but also enjoy high prestige and respect.

And since he came to Chang'an, in addition to feasting and playing, Li Xi has gradually begun to integrate into this era, and gradually began to integrate into the life of Chang'an City, so he began to gradually familiarize himself with and understand some star officials in this era from the mouths of others.

Yang Chongli, the secretary of Taifu Temple, is one of them.

The reason why he is extremely prestigious is first of all because he is really old enough and his qualifications are really old enough. He is ninety-two years old this year, and if he is in good health, most of them are sixty or seventy years old, and at most he can reach the age of eighty, and he will be told to the old man, but this old man is ninety-two years old, and he has been an official for sixty years, but he is still alive and vigorous, deaf and blind, clear and moderate, very praised, and has the reputation of an old birthday star in the government and the opposition.

And unlike He Zhizhang, Zhang Xu and other celebrities who are officials but more famous because of their poetry, Yang Chongli is a pure official, and it is said that poetry is extremely bad, and it was only through Enyin that he began to enter the officialdom. But he is such an old man, but he has been sitting in the seat of Taifu Siqing for twenty-six years.

From Zhongzong to Ruizong, from Ruizong to Xuanzong, the emperor has changed in turn, he is in charge of the treasury, and this position has been coveted by countless people, but in the past 26 years, no matter who sits as emperor, he is reluctant to remove him from this position.

Because if someone else serves as the secretary of Taifu Temple to manage the treasury, it would be good not to be corrupt and misappropriate, but it is also a big deal to make this official position a gatekeeper and keep the treasury for the country, but Yang Chongli has been in office for 26 years, in addition to normal state expenditures, he has properly operated the treasury, and by participating in some market transactions, not only can he largely stabilize the high prices in Chang'an City, but also can earn millions of dollars in profits every year!

缗, that is, the rope of copper coins, a 缗, that is, a thousand coins, that is, the folk commonly known as consistent money.

You must know that now Datang can be called a prosperous era, but the national tax is only 13 million yuan a year at most. And the annual income of the treasury run by Yang Chongli can reach nearly one-third of the state's annual taxes!

That's a great way to make money!

Tang Chengping has been in peace for a hundred years, and the treasury is naturally abundant, but in recent decades, as the country has become richer, the wind of luxury has become more and more serious, therefore, before Yang Chongli, no matter who served as the secretary of Taifu Temple, the treasury has always been deflated year by year, only he Yang Chongli, in addition to normal expenses, can also generate income every year, making the treasury richer year by year!

Just imagine, such an official, who is the emperor in the hotel, how can he be willing to kick him away?

However, don't look at Yang Chongli's care of meritorious and wealthy, and because of this reputation, he is famous all over the world, but what makes him most famous is not his ability to make money, but his slamming and truthfulness.

Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the treasury of the imperial court and the emperor's inner treasury have always been separated, that is to say, no matter how big your emperor is, he is only a senior civil servant of the Tang Dynasty, and your salary, including your concubines, children, and other salaries and food and clothing, this is the same as other officials of the imperial court, the imperial court is responsible for raising, and the income of those imperial farms under your name is also yours and can be included in your inner treasury, but that's all!

You're going to build a new palace? Do you think the wages paid to you by the treasury are not enough to spend?

No problem, however, the treasury does not give money, and if you want to spend extra, please withdraw it from your own inner treasury!

The rules are these rules, but what, as the old saying goes, the whole world is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister, although the treasury and the inner treasury are very clear, but no matter who does the Taifu Temple, they don't dare to really offend the emperor, so, since the time after the martial arts, the royal family has often had to spend money from the treasury, and the successive Taifu Temples have not dared not to give!

When Yang Chongli took office, in the second year of Tang Zhongzong Jinglong, the first thing he did was to check the treasury and liquidate all the amounts borrowed from the treasury by Gaozong, Empress Wu and Zhongzong in the past, and then asked for debts!

In such a turbulent time, naturally no one was willing to deal with him, and even Empress Wei of Zhongzong was forced by him and threatened to kill him, but Yang Chongli was not afraid and continued to collect debts, saying that he would rather be killed and degraded, as long as he was a Taifu Siqing for a day, he must be worthy of his own money, then he must be in debt!

As a result, Zhongzong and Empress Wei failed to kill him, because they quickly stepped down, and Ruizong and Princess Taiping also failed to kill him, because they were also quickly finished, so it was Tang Xuanzong's turn.

As soon as Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, he was naturally ambitious, but at the beginning, he was unwilling to admit this debt, until the end, he was really forced by Yang Chongli to have no choice, so he admitted it and promised to pay it back.

So from the second year of Kaiyuan to the beginning of the seventeenth year, which lasted sixteen years, Emperor Xuanzong saved expenses, streamlined the inside and outside, and finally paid off the debts owed to the treasury by his grandfather, grandmother, uncle and aunt and parents little by little.

So far, Yang Chongli's voice has shocked the world!

A Taifu Siqing who dared to ask three generations of emperors to collect debts, and also successfully collected debts, is unprecedented!

And it is conceivable that a person who even owes a debt to the emperor has to ask for it, and you want to borrow some money from him, even if it is for official business, it is absolutely impossible!

The treasury was in the hands of such a person, and everyone in the whole world, including the emperor, was extremely relieved.

It's just that in the mouths of some officials of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households, because they have touched nails there many times, they inevitably start to call him "Yang Dog" or "Yang Lao Dog", which means that he is like a watchdog, only in and out!

These situations, on top of the past banquets, Li Xi heard them from He Zhizhang and Li Shizhi and others one after another, and at this time, thinking of Su Jin's reminder, Li Xi naturally understood that this trip to Taifu Temple was not easy to handle.

Moreover, as long as he thought that he would have to deal with the affairs of Caoyun in the future, he would inevitably have to deal with the Taifu Temple a lot, and he might even have to borrow some goods from the Taifu Temple, Li Xi couldn't help but have a big head.

No matter how slow the pace is, it will always come to an end.

Coming to the door of the Yamen of Taifu Temple, Li Xi handed a post to the soap Li at the door, and then got a return inside, and soon, it was Yang Chongli who personally greeted him.

"Oh, Mr. Zi said, I didn't expect you to come over today, the old man loves your poems very much, but it's a pity that I haven't had a chance to meet before, and now that I'm here, I must have a good chat!"

The ninety-two-year-old Yang Chongli's beard is white, and he looks like an Antarctic immortal, but his steps are calm, and his speech is clear, his eyebrows are dancing when he speaks, and the expression on his face is extremely agile and leaping.

However, the more affectionate he became, the more Li Xi couldn't help but have a big head.

It is said that the reason why this old guy chased the three emperors Yanjing to ask for debts was not so annoying, and even if the political struggle between the DPRK and China was fierce, he could sit firmly in Diaoyutai because of his extremely cordial attitude when he met everyone.

And it is also said that it was by chasing Emperor Xuanzong over and over again that he muttered in front of him, "Your Majesty, you have to repay this debt!" "Your Majesty, you can't afford not to repay this debt!" In the end, Emperor Xuanzong, who muttered that his brain hurt, finally admitted the debt.

So it is conceivable that if this kind of person talks to you with a straight face, it will be a big deal to be business-like, but if he gets close to you...... Looking at her smiling face, Li Xi inexplicably felt a sense of panic.

But after thinking about it, at the moment, he is still the commander of the empty yamen, and there is nothing to be exploited by him, so Li Xi simply became bold, and smiled and complimented him politely, and then the two of them walked into the yamen of Taifu Temple and sat down in the official room where Yang Chongli said that he was always in charge.

As soon as he sat down, when the officials finished serving tea and pushed it out, Li Xi quickly got up and paid homage to the chief official as the governor of Taifu Temple. Seeing that he was about to worship, Yang Chongli was so frightened that he almost jumped up, stretched out his hand to stop him, and at the same time avoided his seat, in order to show that he did not accept Li Xi's courtesy, and shouted in his mouth: "Worship, worship, you bow, you will definitely open your mouth to ask for money when you turn around!" Sorry, sorry, don't be polite, don't be polite! ”

Li Xi couldn't laugh or cry when he heard it.

"Boss, when the lower official first took office, he naturally wanted to pay homage to the official, and you were not polite, this is embarrassing."

Yang Chongli continued to wave his hand again and again, "Excuse me, excuse me, you Li Zi said, I know, do a good job, do a good job with my old man, it smells like my old man, a few days ago, the old man quietly went to your store to circulate, and after coming back, he also mentioned it to His Majesty, seeing that I am dying of old age, it will not be long before I will be Zhishi, when the time comes, you have to do this Taifu Siqing old decay to rest assured, at least you will not do a loss-making transaction...... You see, the old decay is not bad for you, don't give the old decay a problem as soon as you come! ”

Hearing this, no matter how much Li Xi couldn't cry or laugh, he couldn't worship anymore.

When he was in the Criminal Department and the Household Department, because there were no acquaintances there, although he met Shangguan in a serious manner, but in the end it was just a matter of dealing with official affairs, and when he arrived at the Ministry of Officials, because the two servants were familiar with each other, he posed to worship, and Su Jin and Li Linfu also waved their hands and did it.

But when he came here, even if he didn't pay homage to Shangguan, he really wanted to worship sincerely.

At that moment, he put away his wry smile and said seriously: "Yang Gong, Xia Guan knows that Yang Gong has been running Taifu Temple for more than 20 years, and the government and the opposition have praised it, Yang Gong's move is reasonable, but Xia Guan served as the deputy envoy of Jianghuai Transshipment and supervised the grain and Taoist affairs of Gyeonggi, not for himself, for Chang'an to relieve the grain shortage, and for the society to seek eternal peace." Therefore, the lower officials worship this for the porridge and rice of the people of Chang'an, and worship for the 10,000-year peace of the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and beg Yang Gong not to refuse! ”

After finishing speaking, he looked at Yang Chongli seriously, his eyes were clear and his attitude was dignified.

Li Xi's words, Yang Chongli was speechless, and in the end, he went back to his seat and sat down, but his face was like a heart-to-heart flesh, and his eyebrows and mustaches were squeezed together.

Seeing Li Xi bowing uprightly, he sighed, looking extremely disappointed, and said with emotion: "It's over, it's over, I can't give money now." ”

He also said: "You are too ruthless, use the people of Chang'an to suppress the old decay!" ”

Li Xi smiled when he heard this, turned around and sat down.

The most important thing is that there is a deep knowledge in this, not to say that it can be done casually, and about these economic techniques, Yang Chongli, as the most famous economist of our time, is naturally the object of Li Xi's consultation.

Of course, there is another key point.

Although Emperor Xuanzong appointed Li Xi with full powers, and the Jianghuai transfer envoy Si Yamen was also established, but until now, this is just an empty yamen, and if you want this yamen to really operate, the first thing is to ask for people, and the second is to ask for money.

The Jianghuai transfer envoy Si Yamen is subordinate to the political affairs hall, and the officials' fortunes are naturally attached to the Hubu tribe, but even so, who is willing to do a good job of Chang'an peace officials and run to a new yamen with an uncertain future? Not to mention that what Li Xi needs is some technical officials who understand the economy, and such officials are extremely scarce at any time.

If you want to dig the foot of the wall, the best thing is to shoot at the household and Taifu Temple.

Among them, it is led by Taifu Temple, which has been controlled and trained by Yang Chongli, an economic predator for more than 20 years!

In addition, the Jianghuai transfer envoy Sixin Yamen was established, and the imperial court naturally had to allocate some money for office use, but that was just the money that was often used, and at any time, it was not possible to do the economic work of the pioneer surname, and it would not work without a strong economic backing behind him, and in view of Yang Chongli's special surname, Li Xi felt that it was more convenient and faster to ask Emperor Xuanzong for money from time to time in everything, and it was better to hug Yang Chongli's thick legs.

I want to apprentice, I want to dig people, and I want money...... For Li Xi, he can't wait to offer Yang Chongli as a bodhisattva, and Yang Chongli is such a smart old goblin, how can he not know the little abacus in Li Xi's stomach, so he insisted on bringing out the people of Chang'an and letting him be worshiped by himself, which is equivalent to winning a game, and it is natural for people to complain.

However, this worship alone is obviously not enough.

After sitting down, Li Xi took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and said: "When Xiaguan was studying in Guozi, he often heard the name of Yang Gong, and everyone thought that Yang Gong had sat in Taifu Temple for more than 20 years, and he was the first person in Kaiyuan to govern and manage finances for the country!" Oh, by the way, it is said that Yang Gong has three sons under his knees, and they are all good at it, it seems that the second son, Lord Shenjin, is now the Ruyang Order, and the third son, Shen Ming, is now Hanjiacang, uh, by the way, I don't know what position the eldest son Shen Yu is living in? ”

On the way here, Li Xi was repeatedly thinking about how to pull Yang Chongli onto his boat. In his opinion, no matter how serious Yang Chongli is, he has the order of Emperor Xuanzong and the trust of the well-being of the people of Chang'an, and then pulls in some personal feelings, presumably Yang Chongli will not be tempted.

Therefore, he thought of the three sons of the Yang family.

Yang Chongli's family is the same clan as Yang Shenjiao, the concubine of Princess Changning of Zhongzong, and they are all bloodlines of the royal family of the Sui Dynasty, so if you talk about seniority, Yang Shenjiao's son Yang Huo still has to call Yang Chongli a grandfather.

According to what Li Xi pointed out, if you check it further, the Yang family of Yang Huahua and Yang Guozhong is also a family with Yang Chongli's Yang family. It's just that the years are long, since the fall of the Sui Dynasty, everyone has their own opportunities, so decades have passed, if it is not really necessary, or if they are officials in the same place, everyone has not been in contact much.

After all, as a relic of the previous dynasty, it is still a little different from other ordinary people, although more than a hundred years have passed, the emperor may not still be worried about this kind of thing, but more or less, it is better to be cautious, so as not to provoke the side eyes of the government and the opposition, once the gossip hits, the emperor is not worried and will inevitably have to do some action, then it will inevitably harm others and himself.

Yang Chongli is ninety-two years old this year, and it is conceivable that his sons are not young, and the three sons of the Yang family all have good names, and this Li Xi has also heard of it.

The second son, Yang Shenjin, and the third son, Yang Shenming, are famous. But everyone is a good official, Li Xi knows that he may not be able to win over him, but as far as he knows, Yang Shenyu, the eldest son of the Yang family, has not been out of office so far.

And according to Li Shizhi, Su Jin and others, this person is quite clever and skilled, although he has never been out of office, but he runs the family industry, and he is also very successful, the Yang family does not rely on the emperor's reward, does not rely on gray income, the wealth of his family, but is not weak princes, and is a well-known rich family in the entire Chang'an, and these are naturally the credit of Yang Shenyu.

Therefore, although I don't know why Yang Chongli didn't let his eldest son come out, but now that he wants to win over Yang Chongli, he wants to trick this old goblin into his boat, so that he can seriously help and guide him in the future, Yang Shenyu is naturally what Li Xi must win over.

And as the saying goes, people become old and good, Yang Chongli is over ninety years old, he is really an old goblin, hearing Li Xi suddenly mention his son, he couldn't help but frown, and immediately got up, pointed at Li Xi's nose and scolded angrily: "Okay, you slippery boy, you really hit the old man with the idea, you ......"

The word "you" choked in his throat, but he couldn't say anything about the following sentence.

After a long time, he sat down with a wry smile on his face, shook his head and sighed: "You kid, you are really a ghost, I said, don't anyone give you the idea behind your back, right?" It's too poisonous......"

That being said, in fact, when he sat down, he had already figured it out in his heart, and then he couldn't help but sigh: For the sake of the Yang family, Shen Yu, as the eldest son, has never been out of office so far, and seeing that he is dying, perhaps, take this opportunity to officially let him stand up. Otherwise, it was okay when he was there, but he was gone, and the second and third children respected their eldest brother, but when they waited for the next generation, they would inevitably scold themselves for being a grandfather for being unfair.

The second and third rooms are both officials, and they will naturally be able to shade the family Yu Zeen in the future, but what about the boss? Can't you expect the second and third to pull out in the future, right? That's so unfair to the boss.

So, he looked up at Li Xi and didn't speak, and there were gleams flashing in his seemingly dim eyes.

He was waiting for Li Xi to bid.

Although he has been serving the country all his life, seeing that he is getting old, he really doesn't want to show favoritism, but first, what Li Xi wants to do is indeed for the people of Chang'an and for the sake of the Tang Dynasty, so he stretches out his hand to help him, which cannot be regarded as favoritism, and secondly, it is indeed a waste to be cautious of his own talent, and if he does not come out to be an official, it is not easy to say more, he can still be absolutely competent to be an official like a local assassin, let him take this opportunity to follow Li Xi to become a leader, but it can also be regarded as a virtuous for the country.

Therefore, in fact, when Li Xi mentioned his eldest son just now, the old man couldn't help but be moved.

At this time, Li Xi seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he quickly said: "The Jianghuai transfer envoy is not big, but under the lower officials, there are still two praises under the seventh grade that have not been appointed. ”

Yang Chongli retracted his gaze when he heard this, frowned, thought for a while, and then suddenly slapped the case, "That's it!" Originally, this year, Lao Yu was ready to sue Lao Zhishi, but now it seems that for the sake of Chang'an Wanmin's porridge and rice, Lao Yu really has to stay in this position for another two years! ”

Li Xi was overjoyed when he heard this.

Listening to the meaning of Yang Chongli's words, it is obvious that the two sides hit it off.

At this time, the old man deliberately kicked the sentence "one porridge and one meal for the people of Chang'an" to himself and other subsections, which can naturally be ignored, and he only needs to snicker in his heart that this old man's eyes will be repaid.

But before Li Xi got up to thank him, Yang Chongli waved his hand and said: "My own son, I know very well, don't say anything to praise, it's a stab in history, and my son should also deserve it, but he is only white now, and he is directly under the seventh grade, I'm afraid that something is wrong." I remember that there were a few officials in your yamen, from the eighth grade, right? Well, in the old man's opinion, this is it, just right! ”

Li Xi thought about it for a while, then nodded happily and said with a smile: "It's just as Yang Gong said." ”

(To be continued)