After the discussion in the hall, several edicts were prepared in the middle of the book, presented to the saint to see correctly, the palace with the emperor's seal, the rulers signed one by one after the eyes, the door with the seal, sealed into the "eight hundred miles of express" of the lacquer vermilion cylinder in the fire paint poke the door under the provincial seal, and then ordered the post to be sent out quickly.

The sage asked the ministers, "Do you still have important matters to discuss?" If not, disperse. ”

The prince said: "The minister has a play." Seeing the sage's head, he said, "The Tianzhu epidemic has spread to the south, and I am afraid that as His Majesty said, the East China Sea Protectorate has not been fortunate, but the report has not yet arrived." If this is the case, I am afraid that the countries of the South Seas and the vassals of the East China Sea will also suffer, and will this cholera recipe be announced to the countries? ”

When the ministers heard this, they knew that the prince was compassionate again.

The sage asked, "What do you think?" ”

Zhongshu Ling Pei Chang replied: "The minister thinks that the plague is a disaster for one side and a disaster for all sides, and it can be saved by nature." "But it is not in vain." Folk say, promote Mien, fight Mi hatred; As the saying goes, it is not fragrant to give for nothing. Previously, it was benevolent and righteous for the DPRK to inform all countries and vassals to beware of the introduction of plague from Tianzhu. Our Tang Dynasty must not only emphasize benevolence and righteousness, but also have the civilized demeanor of the Chinese Empire, but we must not go too far and exceed the limit, which is unkind and righteous to the people of this dynasty; It is not necessarily a good thing for the rescued country, which breeds the wind of dependence and reaching out, as the so-called 'Tianxingjian, gentleman self-improvement' - people are expensive and self-helping. This cholera recipe is just a piece of paper, but most of the medicinal materials in it are only produced by our Datang. Recipes can be given, but medicinal herbs cannot be given for free - at least, half the price must be charged. Otherwise, if there is a crisis in the future, when our Datang is a benefactor who can turn fate? ”

"Poof!" Zhongshu Zuoqing and Shangshu Zuo Servant couldn't help laughing, and their faces showed approval.

Cui Xizhen stroked his snow-white beard and said, "What Pei Zhongshu said is very true. The plague is naturally to be saved, but human nature is to be indulgent and hardworking. In the past, earthquakes and famines occurred in the four vassal states of Silla, Fuso, Beishi, and Liugui, and our Datang had relief, but there was a limit, and if it exceeded the limit, it was not gratuitous. Otherwise, let these vassals develop the habit of waiting for relief from the Tang Dynasty whenever there is a natural disaster, it will be easy to breed the inertia of being indulgent and disgusting, and the people's customs will be bad. ”

Shang Shuling Wei Chongrun and his subordinate Zuo Qing Shao Chonglian also bowed slightly.

In terms of the attitude towards the vassal state, whether it is the ruling of the family or the ruling of the poor family, the thinking is basically the same.

These vassal states, the Tang Dynasty is disdainful of taking them to themselves, the territory is narrow, and there are not many resources, it is enough to occupy one or two military points to establish a military port, if it is collected as a territory, the burden will be great, reform the government, collect the military, promote agricultural technology, promote farming and weaving, promote education, and strengthen education...... The whole burden is thankless.

If it is like Liuqiu Island, which is located in the heart of the East China Sea of the Tang Dynasty, only separated by a strait from Fujian Road, the strategic location is very important, and the island is rich in resources and the land is also very fertile, so it is very valuable to plan for the territory, so the Liuqiu country has become the Liuzhou of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty is willing to accept their envoys to the Tang Dynasty, and is also willing to accept the children of their kings, nobles or chieftains to enter the Tang Dynasty official school for educational and cultural "exchanges". However, the assistance of the Tang Dynasty was not completely gratuitous, and it was bound to pay a certain price for the vassal state. Only when you pay can you know the preciousness of aid, otherwise, the more kindness you have, the cheaper it will be, and you may not be able to raise a white-eyed wolf.

Pei and Cui Erxiang's words were clear to the prince at one point, his pale face was dark and bright, and he bowed to the two prime ministers and said: "The words of Zhongshu and Shizhong show the truth of kindness." What is given for free is not cherished. Every time I gave it in vain, I thought it should be. On the contrary, it played a bad role in educating the vassals. "As for other countries that are not vassals, Datang's responsibility to them is even more inferior, you can't use Datang's money and materials to help them in vain, and there are still private transactions. Then he said to the sage: "Based on the opinion of the prime minister, the minister thinks that for the subject country, the medicinal materials for the treatment of cholera can only be charged at the cost price; For non-vassal countries, good-neighborliness and friendship, one to two percent of the cost may be added; If it is a big food and the Oghuz Khanate, it is benevolent and righteous to reduce the market price by one. ”

The prince's voice is gentle, his eyes are light, and he is already benevolent and righteous to the "evil neighbors" like Da Shi and Oghus, who have repeatedly fought or friction with the Tang Dynasty, and it is already benevolent and righteous to save their people, and the free rescue is to talk about "love" and talk about the wolf.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very right." Shangshu's left servant shot Zhang Yizhi and echoed first.

The other governors also spoke in praise.

Cui Xizhen stroked his beard, feeling proud. The longer I get along with this prince's son-in-law, the more I know that this highness is really humble and can listen to opinions, instead of winning people's hearts with words; Although advocating Confucianism and talking about "benevolence, virtue, propriety and righteousness", there are some of them who advocate the way of Huang Lao, but they are not unprincipled and benevolent, unlike some Confucian students who read the Confucian scriptures in the imperial examination and read their brains in a daze, which is a headache.

Wei Chongrun stroked the hair under his chin, and said slowly: "I don't know how effective this recipe is when made into pills?" ——After returning to Tingzhou for plague, the pills cured by the Tai Medical Department according to the plague prescription had a good effect, and could reach five or six percent of the effect of the decoction. ”

The rulers of the temple laughed.

Of course, the absorption of the pill is not as good as the decoction of the decoction, and it is made according to the general dosage of the same disease, and it is impossible to use the medicine for individual differences as the doctor sees the doctor, and the efficacy is naturally far less than the decoction, which needs to be taken for a long time, but it is well concocted, and it can also have five to seven successful effects, but it is easy to carry and take, and it is easy to become a standing medicine compared with the decoction. Previously, the Imperial Medical Department made plague pills according to the recipe of Daomen to cure plague, and sold them to Euroton at a high price, in exchange for 300,000 taels of gold and 400,000 taels of silver. For this "high-priced exchange of medicine", the Tang monarchs and ministers did not feel a little guilty - what is the bubonic plague in Tingzhou, both sides know that the Euroton people want to bring disaster to the south, and they will not let others benefit if they are not happy, and they will not teach it a lesson, and when Datang is a soft sheep that can be bullied?

Pei Chang squinted his eyes and said: "The medicinal materials for cholera and the pills made in the later period can not only be sold to Tianzhu at a lower price, but also increased by 30% to sell them to Brahmins and Kshatriyas-Tianzhu is the main culprit of the cholera epidemic, and it would be merciful not to punish them heavily." As for the common people, they can be given by the Buddhas. ”

The last sentence made the deacons laugh, and they all gave Pei Chang a look in understanding: Good idea!

The pills of the Tang Dynasty were sold very well in the vassal states and many countries, including the Nanyang countries and the Yan Zhou and Oghuz Khanates in the north, while in the two vassal states of Silla and Fuso, learning Tang medicine became a trend as learning Tang language and speaking Tang language. Only in Tianzhu, Dashi and Euroton, because the state religions of the three countries have their own teaching doctors, they naturally reject Tang medicine. Euroton is not bad, although in order to maintain the sanctity of holy water for healing, the church openly denounces Tang medicine as an "evil medicine" and prohibits the use of Tang medicine, but in private, those extravagant priests are all using Tang medicine, not to mention the kings and nobles who know the truth about "holy water" - Datang's "smuggled medicine" is selling very well; But in Tianzhu and Da Shi, Tang medicine can not be sold, compared to the Nestorian Christians, there are more fanatical believers in Brahmanism and Da Shijiao, not only do they not use Tang medicine, but those who find that they secretly use Tang medicine will also be tortured.

But no matter how pious the faith is, no matter how noble the status, in the face of the plague, life is the same, and disease does not "pity" the clergy and nobles. Cholera pills can cure the epidemic and inhibit the spread of cholera, those nobles whether they have been infected or not, there are always people who are afraid of death, and the kings and ministers of the palace do not believe that Dashi and Tianzhu are warriors who face death.

It is even more necessary to let Buddhism give decoctions and pills in Tianzhu.

Now that Buddhism has occupied the "holy land" of Lumbini, and is plotting to enter Tianzhu and fight for followers with Brahmanism, in the face of the fear of the plague threatening their lives, they appear as "Pudu sentient beings" who give antidotes to the epidemic, can those civilians and slaves not be grateful to Dade? The kings and ministers of the Tang Dynasty did not believe that the brahmins and Kshatriyas, whose nostrils were raised to the sky, would be willing to use the anti-epidemic medicines bought at high prices on the lowly Vaishyas and Shudras.

The saint also laughed, pointed at Pei Chang and said, "You old traitor." "Slap your thigh," that's it. ”

Wei Chongrun added slowly: "It is good to set a price, so as to save profiteers from selling Tianzhu and eating for profit at a price lower than that of the palace, which disrupts the implementation of the national policy." ”

The crown prince smiled slightly, knowing that Shang Shuling's words were aimed at several family masters in the palace.

The profit of the medicine store is very high, and several famous pharmacies in the north and south are all opened by the great family. The Tang Dynasty is no longer the era of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the family is ashamed of its words, but now for the sake of high profits, the family can break its head and bleed, and the secret knife is fighting. Depreciating the sale of epidemic drugs is such a lucrative business that is sure to make money without losing money, how can the family not do it?

But the strategy of the temple cannot be broken by the profiteers.

The prince's always gentle gaze sharpened, swept over the ministers and said, "What Shang Shuling said is extremely true. He turned his gaze to Danqi and said to the sage, "The minister thinks that the official price can be set by the Huiai Pharmacy, and all the pharmacies will collect customs duties at this price. ”

The Huiai Medical Bureau is an official medical bureau, under the supervision of the Taiyi Medical Bureau, which is responsible for the supply of medicinal materials and pills to the Taiyi and the official sales, and has at least one medical hall in each state to treat diseases and sell medicines to the common people at a reasonable price, and is responsible for supervising the pricing of private pharmacies and leveling the price of medicines, as well as the opening of official Datang medical bureaus overseas to practice medicine and sell medicines - the hidden personnel of the Jing'an Division in these medical bureaus are a secret matter.

The prince's construction is to make the folk pharmacy dare not sell epidemic drugs to Dashi and Tianzhu at a price lower than the Huiai Medical Bureau, otherwise the city will collect taxes at a high price, and the pharmacy will sell at a low price, even if it does not lose money, the profit earned will be less.

However, there are still loopholes in private pharmacies, and as long as they are a few pennies lower than the official price, the loss of profits will not be very large.

So the prince added, "If there is a person who sells drugs below the market price, once the Jing'an Division finds out, the certificate of selling drugs for export will be revoked immediately." ”

The prince's voice was as warm as jade, but he put on the big weapon of Jing'an Division, and the corners of the eyebrows of several family masters twitched.

Wei Chongrun and Shao Chonglian looked at each other, and they both smiled secretly in their hearts, and they felt that Jing'ansi, who hated martial arts, was sometimes cute.

The two were about to second, but Zhang Yizhi took the lead, and praised loudly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise, and the minister seconded it." ”

Wei Shao and the others secretly sneered at "sycophants", although this Shangshu Zuo servant has always been a supporter of the prince, but he has to be so attentive, it is inevitable that people will feel sour. The two of them were ashamed in their hearts, but their expressions were not revealing anything, and they both said: "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

Pei Changpi glanced at Zhang Yizhi without smiling, snorted in his heart, and arched his hand with Cui Xizhen and Zhongshu Zuoqing Du Ce: "The minister seconded the proposal." These three families all thought gloomily in their hearts, when several major families met to negotiate the division of this cake, they must step on the foot of the Zhang family of Wujun - make a "wholeheartedly supporting His Royal Highness the Prince", which makes people block their hearts, he is a loyal minister, sneer!

After the palace meeting came out, Zhongshu Ling and Shizhong walked together, walked slowly to the political affairs hall, and gradually fell behind, distancing themselves from the others. Pei Chang put his hands behind his back, looked at the backs of the people in front of him, and said, "This time, it's still the same as Tingzhou?" ”

He's talking about the Lanling Xiao clan.

According to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, all the generals who are in charge of the military - from the third rank or above, and the same clan within five suits, if they are from a family, including the three generations of the direct family line, are not allowed to be appointed as the chief executive and the Taiwan counselor, as well as the Wuying Pavilion, the Ministry of War, and the military supervision officials, and the Xiao family hereditary Hexi Metropolitan Governor, in addition, is not allowed to be appointed as the chief and second official of the ministry and temple supervisor, and many palace secrets are naturally lagging behind other families living in the center of the imperial court. The families are afraid of the strength of the first family of the Xiao family, and they never want to let it expand, so they often join forces to suppress it secretly.

The Xiao family was anxious to find allies in Jiangnan, because the family with Zaizhi often left him aside and did not play together.

However, the last time he sold medicinal materials and pills for the treatment of plague to Euroton, he couldn't leave the Xiao family, because Euroton was adjacent to Hexi, and he used to "smuggle" pills to Euroton, and the Xiao family took the majority of the pills because of the geographical advantage, plus Shen Qingyi was among the Taoist pharmacists who treated the plague, so he could leave the Xiao family? - The sale of anti-epidemic medicine to Euroton was Xiao Yu's first notebook, and by the time the Imperial Physician's Department sent the prescription back to Chang'an, Xiao had already made the pills. With Shen Qingyi, an expert on the front line of the plague, the effect of the pills concocted may be better than that of the Huiai Medical Bureau.

Not to mention the cholera in Yangzhou this time, it may not be possible to say that Xiao is already making medicine according to the prescription.

Pei Chang asked like this, of course Cui Xizhen knew what it actually meant, and said with a one-foot long beard: "Not only the Xiao family, but the Shen family also scored the cake this time, and the molecule of the account cannot be small." ”

Last time, Euroton was far away in the north, and it was not as reasonable as the Shen family, but this time it was different. These northern families, in terms of Nanyang commerce, are still inferior to these Jiangnan families who have taken advantage of the land and set foot in the sea trade one step earlier, and the Shen family's Renhe business is well-known in Nanyang.

What's more, the sage clearly wants to reuse Shen Lun.

Although the southeast epidemic prevention and control envoy is the king of Han, but the discerning people know that the king of Han is the Jiankang order, and he cannot leave the Jiankang Mansion without a holy decree, and the will of the saint is also to let Shen Lun, the deputy envoy of the system, be responsible for specific matters, and the king of Han is to put up a name to improve the status of the "epidemic prevention and control envoy", so as to facilitate Shen Lun's dispatch of the southeast provinces, and at the same time give the king of Han some credit, which can be regarded as the saint's care for this brother.

Now that there is a way to control the epidemic, the main thing is to mobilize medicinal materials and doctors, and quickly control the spread of the epidemic. As soon as this achievement is built, coupled with Shen Lun's performance appraisal in Huainan Dongdao, there is no accident, he is about to be promoted to Beijing.

Coincidentally, the investigation of Lu Huo's case was settled seven days ago: in his cellar in Beezhuang, Jeju, the imprisoned girl and the bones buried in the ground were found; After the conviction of the three divisions, after the announcement of the Dali Temple, a man went to Jingzhao Mansion to beat the drum and surrender, the drum stopped and died, and left a book to surrender, claiming to be the father of the victim girl, because he did not know the real murderer, and there was no way to complain, so he had to stab the night ghost "buy the assassin to arrest the murderer", knowing that he had violated the king's law, and committed suicide - he found out that the man died of ordinary arsenic poisoning, and there was no evidence that the night ghost assassinated him, so he could only commit suicide by taking poison according to his surrender.

And because of the involvement of Lu Hui's case, Lu Zhi, the Duke of Xu, was demoted from the Duke of the First Rank to the Founding Marquis of the Third Grade, and cut the post of the Ministry of Industry, and released Chen Zhou to serve as the assassin.

According to the sage's consistent practice, if the Lu clan of Wujun falls out of the court, he will definitely be promoted from the Jiangnan family, and the power of the northern and southern families in the court will not be too unbalanced.

Cui Xizhen said that the Shen clan "can't occupy a small molecule", which means that Shen Lun may rise up to fill the vacant position vacated by Lu Zhi.

Pei Chang's faint eyes flickered, and he said slowly: "The daughter of Shen Jingshi is the son of the Xiao family. ”

With the delicate relationship between the royal family and the Xiao family, it is really a bit strange that the saint would reuse Shen Lun.

If it was before, Cui Xizhen would have said "just a daughter", what is Shen Lun reluctant to do? ——Marriage is a good marriage between two surnames, and the interests of two families harm each other, and marriage is a thread, which will be broken when it is pulled.

However, Shen Qiqi has gorgeously become the only personal disciple of Dao Xuanzi, and his status in the Medicine Hall is said to be increasingly important; After the epidemic in the southeast is calmed down, the name of "Shen Zhiyuan" will be famous all over the world - will Shen Lun be willing to give up such a daughter?

If you change the head of a family, you won't be so stupid.

Cui Xi said meaningfully: "The line of marriage has two ends. ”

The thread that connects the daughter cannot be broken, and it may not be impossible to break the other end.

Pei Chang sighed, "If Shen Jingshi knew today, he would definitely not marry this daughter." ”

If he has such a daughter, even if he does not marry a husband, he must conclude a marriage contract, and he will never let his daughter become a member of someone else's family.

Cui Xi looked at him with a smile, "The flat marriage contract created by Gaozong, if you think about it carefully, sometimes it's really a good thing. ”

When Pei Chang saw his eyes with deep meaning, his heart suddenly moved, he looked up and smiled, comprehending and not saying much.

All the way back to the political hall.

The four family leaders gathered in Pei Chang's Zhongshuling public house, and set the families who were qualified to participate in the "pie sharing", and each went to inform them after the fall of the government, and if the head of the family was not in Beijing, he notified the agent in Beijing, and scheduled to meet and negotiate in Fengxi Building, Chongrenfang, at two o'clock in the unitary hour.

The evening meeting was a war of words and intrigue.

The next day, the ministers came out of the Zichen Palace, and the epidemic report from Guangzhou rushed into the palace gate.

When Pei Chang returned to the mansion that day, he called Pei Songzhi to the study and said: "There is a violent cholera outbreak in Guangzhou......

Pei Song was shocked.

……

At this time, Xiao Yan was also sitting in the study, reading the reply letter her mother wrote to her last night, and the last page read:

- Unfinished, continue

(l~1`x*>+``+