After Chang Geng finished speaking, it was as if he had spat out all the pain in his body. His entire body felt empty, and he almost fainted. The moment he saw Gu Yun, his stiff spine went limp, as if it had been pulled out. He could not muster up any strength.
However, even so, he was not willing to close his eyes. He leaned on Gu Yun's shoulder and tried his best to calm down for a moment. Intentionally or unintentionally, he grabbed the cloth on Gu Yun's shoulder.
There was too much blood. Changgeng's body was cold. Only a little warmth from Gu Yun's body and the familiar bitter smell of medicine made him absent-minded. He could not help but recall the scene when he was young and was carried back to the Guannei by Gu Yun wrapped in a cloak. For a moment, he did not know what time it was. He muttered, "… Is there any more wine?"
Only then did Xu Ling catch up with him. He hurriedly offered to help. "Marshal, let me help …"
… Unfortunately, Master Liao Ran, who heard the whole scene, grabbed him.
The Master was outside the threshold of the secular world. He could not help but be shocked.
Gu Yun did not say a word. He steadily carried Changgeng to the carriage. He frowned and ordered, "Call the military doctor."
After that, he took out a water bottle. During a rapid march or expedition, the water bottle beside the soldiers was not filled with pure water. It was mixed with a little salt. This was first learned from the traveling merchants in the desert.
Gu Yun let Changgeng rest on his body. He lied through his teeth, "The wine is here. Open your mouth."
Changgeng was only a little absent-minded, but he was not completely confused. If it was not Gu Yun who came, he might be able to kill another group of ferocious rebels. He drank a few mouthfuls cooperatively. He chuckled, "You lied to me."
Not only did Gu Yun lie to him, but he also wanted to hang him up and beat him up to let him know the principle of "the son of a rich family should not sit under the awning". However, when he saw the real person, his heart ached so much that his chest went numb. How could he still be angry?
No matter how much trouble the Wild Goose King had caused outside, he had never been injured like this before. Gu Yun sat stiffly for a moment with an expressionless face. He carefully lifted the front of the Wild Goose King's shirt and took a look. A ferocious smell of blood immediately rushed towards his face. Gu Yun's chest heaved violently. For the first time in his life, he knew what it felt like to have his hands trembling.
Changgeng seemed to be able to feel his fluctuating emotions. He had tasted the sweetness of acting coquettishly.. He refused to give up and added oil to Gu's ears, "I'm afraid that I won't be able to see you again …"
Gu Yun closed his eyes slightly. His cheeks were taut and his movements were extremely gentle. He suppressed his anger on the tip of his tongue and said coldly, "Forgive my poor eyesight, but I can't see how His Royal Highness Yan Wang, who is so meticulous with every conceivable possibility, is afraid."
Changgeng did not seem to hear him. Under the cover of the carriage curtain, he used the side of his face to gently rub against Gu Yun's neck. His voice was a little muffled as he whispered, "If that's really the case, the last thing you say to me will be 'get lost'. I won't be able to rest in peace even if I die."
Gu Yun, "…"
He felt that the person in his arms was like an abominable vine, with a deadly little branch, endlessly poking at his heart.
The sound of horse hooves came from afar outside. A man shouted with the loud voice of a messenger, "Marshal, the military doctor is here!"
Changgeng seemed to be in extreme pain, but he did not dare to make a sound. He maintained his original position and took a deep breath very gently, revealing his abruptly pale neck. Gu Yun was angry and distressed, so he lowered his head with a sullen expression. Under the cover of the carriage curtain, he angrily kissed him. His lips were as gentle as a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water, but his expression was as if he was here to seek revenge.
Changgeng suddenly opened his eyes wide. His eyes, which were a little scattered because of his effort to focus, suddenly focused again. He looked at Gu Yun eagerly.
Gu Yun whispered in his ear, "I'll settle this with you later."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly lifted the carriage curtain and shouted at the military doctor who was trotting over, "Hurry up!"
The military doctor originally wanted to get rid of the irrelevant people, but when he met Gu Yun's gaze, he was instantly frightened. He did not dare to chase away Marshal Gu even if he had the courage to do so. He could only brace himself and treat the two terrifying wounds on the Wild Goose King's body while trembling with fear under Gu Yun's gaze that made people sweat profusely.
With outsiders around, Changgeng was absolutely unwilling to make a sound. Only when the military doctor clumsily tore the gauze and pulled the wound, did he endure it and twitched slightly. Gu Yun's expression became more and more unsightly. Suddenly, Changgeng placed an ice-cold hand on his palm through his loosened robes. Changgeng seemed to know that he was in a bad mood, so he did not dare to hold it firmly. He only dared to stick close to him and steal glances at him.
Gu Yun lowered his head and glanced at him. He saw that his cold sweat had already rolled down from his forehead to his eyes and stuck to his eyelashes. In the blink of an eye, it rolled down. His gaze shone through the cold sweat, appearing dense.
Gu Yun, "…"
When Changgeng was young, he was very good at acting coquettishly. Now, he was not only good at acting coquettishly. He was almost at the level of becoming an immortal. Gu Yun could not do anything to him. After being stared at by that small gaze for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he probably would not give the stars to the moon. He could only accept his fate and hold Changgeng's hand. He pulled him into his embrace and whispered, "Close your eyes."
Changgeng closed his eyes without saying a word. His trip this time was like a swift knife cutting the Gordian knot in a tangled knot. It was as if a huge rock had been lifted off his shoulders. At this time, his heart was almost without any worries. Listening to Gu Yun's heartbeat, he felt that even if he died here, he would have no regrets. Thus, he fell asleep peacefully.
The internal strife of the Desert Gang could no longer cause any big waves. General Chung obeyed the promise given by Yan Wang and did not move a single soldier. He sincerely wrote a letter of amnesty and sent it over. A group of the remnants of the Heavenly King's subordinates were dealt with by Changgeng. The rest were dealt with by the other three bandit leaders. A rebellion that should have flowed with blood like a river disappeared without a trace.
Three days later, Yao Zhen rushed over from Jiangbei Daying and temporarily took over the position of Governor of Liangjiang. He had full authority to deal with the matters of Jiangbei. Yao Zhen first took down Yang Ronggui's henchmen. Then, he led people to the place where Yang Ronggui had imprisoned the refugees. He released them one by one and properly comforted them. He re-compiled documents for the refugees and assigned people to be in charge of registering the relatives and friends who had been separated from each other. He sent people to search for them, and he personally came out to compensate the families of those who had unfortunately died.
After a few more days, the large quantities of medicine sent by the imperial court arrived. Li Feng issued an edict that a portion of the confiscated stolen money would be taken back to the capital. The rest would be allocated to the families of the victims of the disaster. In the future, they would go back to the Ministry of Revenue to make up the paperwork.
Xu Ling resumed his identity as an imperial envoy and thoroughly investigated Yang Lu's party. He displayed his unworldly and upright character to the fullest. He confiscated everything neatly and neatly.
However, Yang Ronggui's family, as he said, had almost no gold or silver in cash. They had all exchanged it for fire beacon tickets. Xu Ling was at his wit's end. He could only ask the bedridden Yan Wang for advice.
Chang Geng explained, "I know how many fire beacon tickets have been issued and who has taken them away. The national treasury is not supported by that Yang guy. You can check which private merchants he usually has close contact with. Most of them are colluding with government officials. If you can't understand the account books or can't distinguish between real and fake accounts, don't worry. I'll find someone to help you. He should be here in two days. He's the son of Fortune God Du. He grew up with an abacus and has a good personal relationship with me.
Xu Ling repeatedly nodded his head.
"Also," Changgeng leaned against the head of the bed and slightly raised his eyes. His eyelids seemed to be carved with a knife and had a biting coldness that couldn't be erased even by serious injuries. "The imperial court has decreed that fire beacon tickets are equivalent to gold and silver. They can be circulated among the people. The price is set and can be used for disaster relief. Is there a problem?"
Xu Ling said in a low voice, "Wangye, the second batch of fire beacon tickets has just been sent out. There aren't too many people who have subscribed. Other than the daren, the people who have subscribed to them are generally wealthy families who don't lack money. They usually keep them at home and rarely circulate them on the market. I really don't know if the merchants will accept them or not. This …"
Changgeng reached out to grab the edge of the bed and propped himself up a little. "I don't care if the holder is willing to keep them at home or take them out to spend. However, if the merchants refuse to accept the fire beacon tickets, it's a serious crime. Starting tomorrow, count all the fire beacon tickets in Yang Ronggui's residence and enter them into the account books. Then use these fire beacon tickets to buy disaster relief food from the big grain merchants. I want to see who dares to treat the imperial court's decrees as waste paper. Borrow some people from Jiangbei Daying to go with you.
Do you understand? "He understood. He went to the door and acted like a hooligan. Starting from Jiangbei, he intimidated the whole territory and forced people to admit that the fire beacon tickets were gold and silver.
He would start with the big merchants. As the saying goes, those who wear shoes are afraid of those who are barefoot. These people who wear shoes didn't want to offend the imperial court, so they had to pinch their noses and admit it. After the matter was over, they either had to admit their loss or find a way to turn the fire beacon tickets into real gold and silver.
"Add more fuel to the fire," Changgeng said in a low voice as if he didn't have enough energy. "Have Brother Zhong Ze write a decree in the name of the Governor of Liangjiang. No matter the size of the merchants, if they refuse to accept the fire beacon tickets, everyone can report it to the Yangzhou government. If they find out the truth, they will be punished with a stick. If they don't change, they will be directly imprisoned."
Xu Ling had learned a lot about His Royal Highness Yan Wang's "when it's time to be soft, when it's time to be hard, when it's time to be hard." He hurriedly responded and ran back to work. Before he reached the door, Changgeng suddenly called out to him, "Ming Yu."
Xu Ling turned his head.
The stern look on Changgeng's face faded away. In the blink of an eye, His Royal Highness Yan Wang was gentle and elegant again, "This matter is all up to you."
Xu Ling was puzzled and asked, "What do you mean, Prince?"
Changgeng said, "I'm afraid that I will be delayed on the road for some time. I'm afraid that I won't be able to accompany you back to the capital to report. When the time comes, there is a memorial that I hope you can bring to the Emperor for me."
A while ago, he was pressuring him step by step. Now, it was time for him to retreat a little. The pace had to be controlled by Zhang Youchi. He could use the opportunity of being injured to let go of his power.
Unfortunately, the upright Lord Xu obviously didn't understand his meaning. He cupped his hands and said in a serious manner, "That's right. Prince is seriously injured, so you should take care of yourself. You must rest well. Leave the errands to me. If I have anything I don't understand, I will ask you."
Changgeng smiled. Seeing that Xu Ling didn't understand, he simply didn't explain and waved his hand to let him leave.
When Xu Ling walked out, he bumped into the Marquis of Stability, who was coming in from outside. He hurriedly stood still and greeted him.
Gu Yun politely nodded at him and brushed past him. Xu Ling was suddenly stunned. He saw that Gu Yun was holding a handful of fresh osmanthus flowers behind his back. The flowers were golden and had a sweet fragrance.
Xu Ling stared blankly as he brought the vines to Yan Wang's room. He rubbed his nose that was filled with the fragrance of the flowers and thought in surprise, "Marshal Gu is too attentive to His Highness."
Gu Yun entered the room and hung the vines on Changgeng's bed curtain, "The osmanthus flowers have bloomed. I'm afraid that you will be stuffy lying down. You don't dislike this smell, right?"
Changgeng's gaze was glued to his body, unwilling to tear it off.
Gu Yun met his gaze, "What are you looking at?"
Changgeng reached out to pull him back.
Gu Yun was afraid that he would move his wound, so he hurriedly bent down and held his hand, "Didn't I tell you not to move around?"
Changgeng unrelentingly grabbed his clothes and pulled him closer, "Zi Xi, the wound hurts."
"…" Gu Yun said woodenly, "Go away, I'm not buying it."
Now that he was injured, Yan Wang didn't seem to care about his face in front of him anymore. As long as there were no outsiders around, he would often say, "The wound hurts, kiss me."
… What a spoiled child. He would hit wherever he was pointed and would never stray.
Gu Yun stretched out a finger and flicked his forehead. Then, he turned around and went to change his clothes.
Changgeng kept staring at him until he went behind the screen. Only then did he pick up a small osmanthus flower and put it in his mouth to chew carefully. Then, he stood up with the help of a wooden cane. He couldn't straighten his back yet, so he walked step by step to the side of the table. He moistened the tip of his brush with some residual ink, spread out the paper, and began to write.
This was really physical work. After a while, sweat seeped out of his forehead. Suddenly, the brush was taken away from behind. Changgeng had just turned around when a pair of hands pulled him up and carried him to the bed without any explanation.
Gu Yun frowned, "What is so important that you have to write it yourself now? Lie down, don't be a demon! "
Changgeng calmly explained, "This time, the Lu Family's party was implicated. The Fang Family also didn't get any benefits. It's a good time to implement the new policies. Although I'm not on the stage, I still have to prepare for this in advance."
Gu Yun sat on the edge of the bed, "Are you still thinking about the special approval of the purple gold? The Emperor won't agree. "
"I also don't really want to realize it," Changgeng said, "It's not time yet. The confiscated fields along the canal can be used to settle the refugees. The best land for fish and rice can be left for farming. As for the other places where factories are built, let Old Man Du's Chamber of Commerce and the imperial court each take half of the money. The factories won't be considered as owned by the civilian merchants. It will be considered as run by the imperial court. Under the Grand Council and the Six Ministries, a special department will be set up to provide the purple gold. They will strictly control the flow of the purple gold. The daily affairs of the factories will be handled by the Chamber of Commerce. Six percent of the profits will go directly to the national treasury, and four percent will go to the righteous merchants who set up the factories. This way, not only will the refugees be settled, but the Emperor won't have to worry about the purple gold leaking out. It can also fill the national treasury. It can also be considered as benefiting the righteous merchants. "
Gu Yun listened and was speechless for a long time.
He could tell that Changgeng had probably thought about it a few times before he went to Jiangbei. However, if he proposed it at that time, it was equivalent to creating a large number of lucrative jobs out of thin air. The aristocratic families would inevitably rack their brains to get a share of the profits. Yang Ronggui and the others even dared to "secure the disaster relief funds in their pockets". Not to mention this kind of thing, in the end, this plan of killing many birds with one stone would inevitably lead to a consequence of "not benefiting the national treasury at all, the merchants being held back by the complicated officials in the imperial court, the refugees being treated as livestock, and only the big and small vermin filling their own pockets".
Therefore, he deliberately intensified the conflict between the aristocratic families and the new nobles in the imperial court. He used this as an excuse to go to Jiangbei to stir up a pool of water and divide the aristocratic families who were of the same breath and branch. He beat them at their own game to see how lawless they could be. He pushed the chess pieces, smoothly ended the game, and retreated behind the scenes to temporarily avoid the spearhead.
There were a few uncontrollable accidents in the middle, but who knew that after going around in circles, he still managed to achieve all the set goals.
Changgeng blinked his eyes, "What's wrong?"
Gu Yun came back to his senses and sneered. He said without rhyme or reason, "Those who don't know would think that you are really an evildoer who fell from the sky."
Changgeng inexplicably understood what he said. He dawdled to Gu Yun's side and held Gu Yun's shoulder, "Do you believe that Daliang's luck is standing behind me?"
When Gu Yun turned around, Changgeng seized the opportunity and pounced on him, just in time to let Gu Yun's lips brush past his cheek.
Changgeng, "You kissed me."
Gu Yun, "…"
Weren't they talking about serious matters?
Changgeng hugged his neck and entangled him back without any explanation. He forcefully pressed the osmanthus fragrance between Gu Yun's lips and teeth. Gu Yun had no objection to the "soft and fragrant warm jade" throwing herself into his arms. Unfortunately, His Royal Highness Yan Wang was unwilling to obediently pretend to be "soft and fragrant warm jade" at times like this.
The beauty's lips and tongue were like honey, and the taste of the person in the heart was the best delicacy in the world. The "sweet and fragrant" should be tasted from shallow to deep, but Changgeng was not very cooperative. Even if he was very obedient at the beginning, after a while, he revealed his ferocious nature. It did not seem to be lingering, but it seemed like he wanted to eat someone. It made Gu Yun feel that this "delicacy" was a little "prickly". The two separated with great difficulty. The tip of their tongues was numb, but Changgeng was still not satisfied. He gently nibbled on Gu Yun's neck and chin passionately, as if he was looking for a place to eat. It was more like he wanted to eat someone.
Gu Yun's throat was used as a teething stick. He could not help but feel a little tense instinctively, but he could not bear to push him away. He felt itchy amidst the tension. He did not know whether to laugh or cry, "Were you bitten by a dog when you were young?"
Changgeng stared at him with burning eyes, "Miss Chen's ban on me is about to expire, right?"
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