Li Longji's trip was not kept a secret, and there was no need to keep it a secret.
Therefore, almost everyone who wanted to know where the Emperor was going knew where he was going.
When Xu Mingyang asked, his family told him that the Emperor had gone to the docks. He probably planned to have some fun there. Of course, this could only be said in private. Although many people knew that the Emperor was here to have fun and to see the extent of the railway construction here, many people knew that the Emperor was here to have fun.
However, on the surface, they had to say that the Emperor was concerned about the people and personally went to understand the situation. It was not wrong to say that. Whether it was for fun or for fun, he had to interact with the local people.
Once a citizen had a grievance, he could directly tell the Emperor, and the local officials could not stop him. Moreover, after the citizen told the Emperor, the Emperor would not give the local officials any face and would interrogate them on the spot. If the official really made a mistake, the crime would be serious.
Xu Mingyang was also worried. He wondered if there were any problems in the process of being the provincial governor after he came to Lu Zhou. If there were, he reckoned that the people would definitely mention it to the Emperor.
"His Majesty is really too much. There is no record of an Emperor like the current His Majesty. When he goes out, he doesn't ask the officials, but directly asks the common people. The common people are all ignorant. What can they know? Did I do something wrong? "
Xu Mingyang muttered and asked a concubine who was standing next to him.
This concubine was beautiful. Although her status was not as good as that of the official wife, she had a different taste. The official wife was in charge of the family and had to take care of the big and small matters in the family. Not only was she generous, but she also had to be dignified. She did not have to be very coquettish.
However, a concubine was different. A concubine must be beautiful, have a seductive gaze, have a good figure, know how to act coquettishly, and be proficient in the art of the boudoir.
Xu Mingyang's concubine was like this.
"Husband, what mistake can you make? You have been doing good deeds for the local people ever since you came to Lu Zhou. If you really have to find fault, it's just that you don't need to spend money to eat delicious food. The wine and dishes in Ocean Cloud Restaurant are indeed delicious. I was thinking of eating them at noon to supplement your appetite. I'll wait to serve you at night."
Xu Ming Yang's concubine didn't care if Xu Ming Yang was still sick. As she spoke, her body softly leaned over.
Needless to say, when she leaned on him, it really had a big effect. At least Xu Mingyang's body had a reaction, and his eyes had a lecherous look.
He reached out and put his arm around his concubine's waist. He chuckled and said, "That's right. The dishes at Ocean Cloud Restaurant are good. Let's get them to deliver the food. It's not that I don't want to pay, but it's Lu Zhou's fault for setting such rules. It's a waste if we don't eat.
"Husband is bad." Xu Ming Yang's concubine acted coquettishly.
Although Xu Ming Yang said that he was going to eat the food and wine of Hai Yun Jian Restaurant, he looked like he was taking advantage of the situation. However, in his heart, he felt a little helpless. What he hoped more was that the Emperor would invite him over for a meal.
Although one couldn't drink too much or say the wrong things when eating with the Emperor, and there were many rules, to be able to be given a banquet by the Emperor itself was a kind of grace. Even if one ate ordinary dishes and drank ordinary wine, the taste would be different.
Besides, how could the dishes and wine of the Emperor be bad?
It was a pity that His Majesty went out to play and didn't ask him, the most senior official in this place, to accompany him. He didn't even leave a word of sympathy.
The most hateful thing was that the people of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family could accompany His Majesty at any time. Even that child dared to criticize him in front of His Majesty. What should he do? He had really offended the Emperor today. Would he be arrested?
Fortunately, after he became the Provincial Governor, he didn't have any problems. Alas, even if he wanted to, he couldn't do anything. The entire government and local operations of Lu Zhou didn't need to go through his hands at all.
If he wanted to do something, the officials of the counties over there would do it while sending a document to ask for approval or not. All he had to do was to write a few words of praise and things to pay attention to on the document, and then put his official seal on it.
If he wrote the same thing as the others, they would listen to him. If they didn't, they wouldn't care at all. Even if he didn't put his seal on it, they would still do what they were supposed to do.
As the Provincial Governor, he was no different from a decoration, like a puppet on a string. In this case, of course, he couldn't make any mistakes. Even if there was a mistake, it had nothing to do with him.
Unless Xiaobei deliberately made trouble. It was obviously the problem of the counties in the county, and then Xiaobei caught it. Because the document had the Provincial Governor's seal, he directly made trouble for him.
It was really possible. Perhaps Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't care, but Xiaobei and the others were a group of children. They could do anything, and they were the unreasonable kind. Otherwise, the officials of the Tang Empire would not be so afraid of them.
"It's fake. Everything is fake. Whoever can get His Majesty's favor is the real one. The Provincial Governor, the third-grade official, it's useless."
Thinking about it, Xu Mingyang muttered sadly.
His concubine next to him was not stupid. She knew what her husband was talking about. Although she knew, there was nothing she could do. Who asked the other party to be so capable?
But what she said was not what she thought. The concubine said to Xu Mingyang, "Husband, don't be angry with the child. When our child is older, let him learn well. In the future, he may not be worse than Zhang Xiaobao and the others. He can also be the top scorer in the exam and be a high-ranking official. The kind that is better than Zhang Xiaobao."
"Okay, let the child learn well." Xu Mingyang said, but he definitely didn't think that his child could be better than Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, or even compared to Xiaobei and the other younger children. He heard that the education methods of the Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were different. The nine children were much smarter than ordinary children.
Not to mention other things, just their courage was not ordinary. When ordinary children saw the Emperor and knew the Emperor's identity, they were so scared that they did not dare to make a sound. Unlike Xiaobei and the others, who dared to let the Emperor hug them and fight for food with the Emperor, they had become spirits.
"Go, let the Hai Yunjian Restaurant prepare lunch. I want to eat a big banquet, the kind with 64 dishes. I can't control them, but I have to make them feel uncomfortable when I eat."
Xu Mingyang gritted his teeth and said.
Immediately, a servant left and went to the Hai Yunjian Restaurant to give orders. In the past, this was also done. Anyway, it didn't cost money. No matter what he wanted to eat, as long as the Hai Yunjian Restaurant had the ingredients, they would agree to cook it. Moreover, they would cook it very carefully.
Although other restaurants and restaurants also didn't cost money, the taste was not as good as that of the Hai Yunjian Restaurant. Therefore, they rarely went to other places to eat, unless the master was strolling on the street and was hungry and didn't want to wait. Then, he would casually find something to eat. Then, the servant would be responsible for giving him something as proof and writing a receipt for what he ate, and let the seller go to the Business Association to get the money for reimbursement.
However, today seemed to be different from before. After the servant went to the Hai Yunjian Restaurant, he came back with his head lowered regretfully. He found Xu Mingyang, who was still lying there, and reported, "Master, this servant went, but the people in the restaurant said that they don't have any ingredients. They will wait until they have more. What do you think …?"
"Bastards, a bunch of bastards. Don't have anything? How could the Hai Yunjian Restaurant not have anything? Lying to a fool? Even a fool wouldn't believe it. Revenge, they are taking revenge on me. It must be Xiaobei. Without her order, how could the Hai Yunjian Restaurant dare to do this? Back then, we agreed that I would obediently work as an official in the provincial capital, and I don't have to worry about anything. But now, it's changed? "
Xu Mingyang shouted angrily. After that, he said to the servant without confidence, "Let's change to another restaurant. Perhaps, they really don't have anything left."
The reason why he was not confident was because he had already said what he had shouted just now. The important thing was that he obediently worked as an official in the provincial capital. That way, he would not lack other supplies.
However, would he be obedient? He reckoned that he would cause trouble for the Hai Yunjian Restaurant when the Hai Yunjian Restaurant came over. Saying those words to the Emperor in front of the Hai Yunjian Restaurant did not seem to be the same as being obedient.
The servant left. After a short while, he returned and reported, "Master, this servant went to a few more restaurants. They all have their own reasons. In any case, they don't want to make anything for us. What should we do?"
"Have you asked all the restaurants? Did you miss any? "Xu Mingyang was afraid this time. He was afraid that the people of Lu Zhou would starve him to death.
"Not all of them, but I don't think there's any need for me to go anymore. This is because this servant asked for a bowl of rice noodles from a person who sold rice noodles. The person who sold rice noodles also said that there was no more. However, as he spoke, he gave a bowl of rice noodles to another person who went after this servant. Master, what should we do?"
The servant asked worriedly.
Xu Mingyang was dumbfounded. He thought for a moment and asked, "What food do we have in the house? It's better to make our own food. We can deal with it first. "
The servant shook his head. "In reply to Master, we don't have any. We don't even have rice noodles in the mansion. We eat out directly or have someone deliver it to us. Hence, we don't cook at all. In the past, no matter how late it was, there were many shops in the prefecture city that were open 24 hours a day. We don't have to make our own food."
"Trash! You're all trash! If you don't make your own food, can't you buy some? It's better to just leave it there. In this case, we can only drink water? Then, we'll starve to death day by day? Or should any of you go fishing? Or go to the mountains to catch wild animals? "
Xu Mingyang said gloomily. He wasn't very worried that the people in his mansion would starve to death. Zhang Xiaobao and the others couldn't be so ruthless, but it was very likely that they would starve for a few meals.
Especially now that they were out and not in the prefecture city, the taste of starvation was not good.
The concubine next to him felt hungry. She swallowed her saliva and suggested, "Master, why don't we let the people in the mansion who don't go out often disguise themselves and take the money to buy food. We can spend money, but we can't buy from one shop. We have to go to several shops. Otherwise, when the sellers see that we're buying a lot, they will naturally suspect that we're buying for the mansion and won't sell anymore."
Xu Mingyang also couldn't think of a good idea. He nodded and said, "Go, do as I said. It's best to buy some rice noodles and vegetables and leave them in the mansion. We don't know how long they're going to keep doing this."
The servant obeyed the order. This time, they successfully bought enough food. Apart from the food prepared by others, they also bought rice noodles. They didn't want to be found out next time and not sell anything, so they wouldn't starve.
When it was almost noon, Xu Mingyang had wine and food. The clever concubine had thought of a good idea and successfully avoided the blockade by the locals. They won the battle of food control.
However, Xu Mingyang didn't feel the slightest joy of victory. Once again, he felt the extent of the influence of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family in Lu Zhou.
"Husband, why don't we not be officials in Lu Zhou and go somewhere else to be provincial governors in other provinces? That way, we won't starve to death," the concubine said worriedly as she served Xu Mingyang wine.
Xu Mingyang took a sip of wine and shook his head. "It's useless. As long as it's in Tang, it's useless to be an official anywhere. As long as Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan are willing, there's nothing in Tang that we can eat. We can't even pick up the food that others throw away to feed the animals. The people are biased towards them."
"Then, then I'll go apologize to them and admit defeat. We can't always be stubborn." Xu Mingyang's concubine was clever. In her opinion, it was not a big deal to admit defeat. She always tried to please the main wife. Although she seemed to be favored, if the main wife didn't allow the master to sleep in her room at night, there was nothing she could do.
Xu Mingyang was quite touched. He sighed and said, "I know what you're thinking, but you can't go. Not to mention apologizing, you can't even see them. Do you think they can see just anyone? The people can see them because they want to see the people. None of them is lower than me.
I'll go. When they come back, I'll go sick and tell them that I haven't eaten yet. I'll ask them to pity me. If something like this happens again in the future, I'll hide as far away as possible. "
*****
While Xu Mingyang was eating the food that he had secretly bought, Li Longji and the others were also eating.
There were many children in the children's amusement park near the docks. Some came here specifically to travel, and some came here to work. Their children were arranged to go to the amusement park when they wanted to have a 'couple' world, or when they wanted to buy and sell goods. The amusement park also had the function of a kindergarten, so they took care of them free of charge.
Today, in addition to the foreign children, the local children also had a holiday. On a festive day, the children had to have time to play. It just so happened that the holiday was given together with the summer vacation, so it was fine if it was a few days earlier.
For a time, the children's amusement park became very lively. More importantly, the food that they ate at noon was different from before.
The chefs dispatched by Hai Yunjian made food for them to eat. It was not a big pot of rice, but a single child could not finish a large plate of food, so it was divided into different types and placed there.
The children held the plates that were distributed and lined up to get their food. The people in charge of getting food today were Li Longji, Empress Wang, Wu Huifei, Zhang Xiaobao, and Wang Juan.
The children were nervous and expectant. They had not eaten yet, but they already felt that the food was delicious. Their parents also stood in the distance and watched. They were all excited. The people who got food for them were the highest existences in Tang. Not to mention the food cooked by the chefs of Hai Yunjian Restaurant, even if the food was placed there, as long as these people got food for them, it would be delicious.
Li Longji gave a child a spoonful of braised pork and a few other dishes. Finally, he asked, "How much do you eat?"
"I'll eat as much as you give me. Even if I'm full, I'll eat it." The child also knew who was the one who gave him the food. His eyes were wide open and filled with little stars as he said excitedly.
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