Facing Li Longji's expectant gaze, Zhang Xiaobao was very afraid that if he said no, Li Longji would put more weight on him, the person who provided the buoyancy.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Xiaobao said to Li Longji, "There is a way. However, when the time comes, not only will the sharks not be able to come over, but the other fish that are slightly bigger will also be unlucky and die."
"What's the way? Are you going to use cannons? Don't distinguish between each other? "Li Longji asked.
"Just set up a few nets around the outside. When the time comes, not to mention sharks, other fish will also come over. Moreover, if they are not careful, they will hit the net and be entangled in it and die. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it is better not to use it if possible. After all, many fish will die, and they are very innocent."
Zhang Xiaobao said the way. When he said it, he was still thinking about what people said about shark nets in the past. When he finished, he realized that people nowadays did not care about whether other fish would die or not. Their realm was not that high.
Sure enough, when Li Longji heard that only nets would work, he immediately became happy and said, "Good, good idea. Let's do it this way. Arrange for people to find a suitable place to swim around the Ends of the Earth and then set up a few more layers of nets around the outside. Once I am done here, I will go and play immediately. You must do it well."
After Li Longji gave the order, he was finally in a good mood. He raised his hand and gave up on Zhang Xiaobao, the one who provided the buoyancy, and swam towards the shore. Soon, he stepped on the sand and came to Empress Wang and Wu Huifei. He smiled at them and said, "It won't take long. I will protect you and go into the water together. You don't need to worry about sharks anymore.
Empress Wang and Wu Huifei looked at each other. At this moment, they had the same thought. His Majesty was really good at talking nonsense. Who was afraid of sharks?
Although they thought so, they said at the same time, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"It's nothing. When I was in the water just now, Xiao Bao told me about a place with good scenery. He was worried that the tourists would be bitten by sharks, so he asked for my opinion. I thought of a good idea for him. Guess what it is?
Actually, it was very simple. Sharks were also fish. What should he do with fish? Other fish can be caught, so can sharks. Other fish can be caught with a net, so can sharks. Since that's the case, why don't we set up a net around it? "
Li Longji was in a good mood, so he deliberately raised his voice. His purpose was to disgust Zhang Xiaobao. So what if I made your idea mine?
Zhang Xiaobao raised his hand in the water and gave Li Longji a thumbs up. His meaning was, 'Your Majesty, you're really amazing. You're not just reversing black and white anymore. You've already reached the realm of deciding the universe with a single word.'
Li Longji would give Zhang Xiaobao a smile with many meanings, just like a smile of some sort.
Wang Juan also heard Li Longji's words and couldn't help but laugh. She said to Xiao Bei, who was building the Great Wall on the beach, "Look at how smart your Uncle Emperor is."
Xiao Bei didn't pay attention to other people's matters. When he heard his sister's words, he raised his head and looked around blankly. After thinking for a while, he said, "That's right. I'll go ask Uncle Emperor how to preserve the sand on the beach. When the tide rises, my Great Wall should be gone."
As he spoke, Xiao Bei really did find Li Longji to ask for a solution.
This time, Li Longji didn't need to ask Zhang Xiaobao. He said to Xiao Bei, "It's very simple. You just need to get people to set up a wall around it, so it won't be washed away by the water. Right? Put your Great Wall inside. Remember, the wall has to be waterproof."
Xiao Bei nodded his head, "Thank you, Uncle Emperor. That's a good idea. If I build a shed on top of it, I won't have to worry about it being washed away by the rain, right?"
"Xiao Bei is so smart. Go ahead." Li Longji patted Xiao Bei's head and encouraged him.
Xiao Bei pouted and came back. He said to the other children, "Actually, I thought of a better idea. We can bring the sand home and put it in the house. That way, we won't be afraid of the tide. Hahaha."
*****
While Li Longji's group was enjoying their leisurely days, some people were extremely anxious.
It turned out that Takeshita Junichiro was the only one who was anxious. He was the first to gather information. When he realized that things were going to be troublesome, he chased after Li Longji and the others. He met with Xiao Bei and reached an agreement.
He was still in Japan and hadn't returned yet. However, he probably wasn't too happy about it.
Other than him, there was also Duoshi. The reason he gathered 2,000 people there was to find an excuse to talk. In the end, they didn't know that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan didn't want to listen to their plan.
Even if they weren't involved in this matter, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan still wanted to attack them. Since they were involved, there was no need to say anything. All kinds of excuses would be useless.
Other than Duoshi, there was also the original Tubo people who didn't agree to surrender and started to flee. They didn't need to worry about them. The moment they were captured, everything else was over. Tubo wouldn't worry about them being captured.
After all, they were still wanted by Tubo. Tang would not blame Tubo for this.
The other people who were worried were the small countries or tribes in the southwest.
They received the news late. When they found out that their people and the people from other places joined forces and failed, they began to feel anxious. Initially, they thought there was no big problem.
Fortunately, they received the news a little late. However, they still knew that the Emperor of Tang, Zhang Xiaobao, and Wang Juan were heading to Lu Zhou.
Hence, they sent their men to the seaside. They boarded boats and hurried toward Lu Zhou at the fastest speed possible. At the same time, they brought along precious gifts in hopes of meeting the Emperor of Great Tang. Then, they would think of a way to absolve themselves of their responsibility and prevent the Great Tang from sending troops to attack them.
The leader of this operation was someone who had been to Tang before. He was also the representative of one of the tribes. He could not care less about the other tribes. All he wanted was to remove his tribe from the blame.
His name was Li Jiancheng. Naturally, his surname was given to him. His original name was not important. What was important was that since he had a name given to him by the Emperor of Tang, the chances of them meeting would be higher. Perhaps, the Emperor of Tang would forgive his tribe.
With this thought in mind, Li Jiancheng did not rest much along the way. He wanted to reach Lu Zhou as soon as possible. Otherwise, what if the Emperor of Tang returned to the capital?
In the end, Li Longji was very fast. When he arrived at Lu Zhou, he did not return to the capital. Instead, he was on a ship that was heading to the ends of the earth. The net to trap the sharks was already set. Li Longji wanted to go and pluck a few coconuts himself and drink the water inside to see if it was as delicious as the legends said.
When he was in the capital, he could drink and eat the coconut meat. However, the distance was too far. When the good stuff was shipped over, the taste would change. It was not as good as the local ones.
If he had Shui Yun deliver the coconuts, he might be able to eat some fresh ones. However, no matter how much Li Longji wanted to eat, he could not bear to let Shui Yun do this.
However, this time, he could finally taste it. Although he was anxious to stay on the boat, he did not order the fleet to speed up.
It was not that he did not want to, but he could not. There were not many ships in the fleet. There were two gunboats, a troop transport ship, and a supply ship. There were four ships in total.
However, there were many ships following behind the four ships. These ships were equipped with a telegraph system to prevent Li Longji from being unable to contact other places if he was too far away. Hence, they had to know where Li Longji was going to go next before they could make preparations.
This was why Li Longji did not dare to rush them. He did not mind if they slowed down. It was better than losing contact with the royal court. What if something urgent happened?
He was not anxious to stay on the boat.
However, Li Jiancheng was anxious. He hurried to Lu Zhou. The people of Lu Zhou did not do anything to him. They did not even treat him with hostility. They treated him normally. However, when he wanted to see the Emperor, the people were powerless.
The people from the Chamber of Commerce told him that the Emperor had gone out. He might take a long trip before returning to the capital.
Li Jiancheng, naturally, had to ask about the Emperor's general location. Usually, it was dangerous for him to ask about the Emperor's whereabouts. He could easily be arrested. Was it his place to ask about the Emperor's whereabouts?
However, the people from the Chamber of Commerce were hinted by Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan when they came over. Hence, they were easy to talk to. They told Li Jiancheng that the Emperor had gone out to sea with the young master and young madam. They were heading west, but they did not know where they were heading to.
Li Jiancheng was smart. When he heard that the Emperor was heading west, he asked if the Emperor had brought an army with him.
However, the people from the Chamber of Commerce smiled and said, "His Majesty is going out with so many important people on board. How can he not have an army with him? Not only did he have an army, but they were all elites with outstanding combat prowess. They were not ordinary people. "
Hence, the smart Li Jiancheng made the same mistake as Takeshita Junichiro. He thought the Emperor was not going out to play. Instead, he thought the Emperor was going to attack his own tribe.
Of course, Takeshita Junichiro was able to deduce that the Great Tang was going to attack Japan because of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.
However, what Li Jiancheng thought of was something that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan did not consider. In their view, there was no need to send an army to scare those small factions in the southwest. Moreover, the goal was not to make them surrender, but to make use of their people.
When the time came, they would just send someone to inform them that the Emperor was very angry and put forward conditions that seemed to be beneficial to them. They would happily agree.
How could Li Jiancheng know that he would be treated differently? Seeing that the Great Tang Emperor had gone out, he was worried. Hence, he began to bribe the people from the Chamber of Commerce. He liked doing this.
Initially, he was worried that the people from the Chamber of Commerce were from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family and would not accept his gift. He did not expect the other party to accept the gift so easily. He even opened the gift and looked at the large pearls and jade inside. He kept nodding his head, looking very happy.
When Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, another thought rose in his mind. He looked at the people from the Chamber of Commerce opposite him and wondered if he could find a breakthrough through them in the future.
At first, he thought that the people from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family would not accept any bribes. After all, the main family was powerful. However, he guessed that they were far away. In Lu Zhou's opinion, the main family was in the capital and the northern part of Hebei Province.
Since he could bribe the people from the Chamber of Commerce, could he bribe the people from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family who were closer to him? This was the most profitable place. Although he was close to the Chamber of Commerce, his income was far less than Lu Zhou's. The same gift should be more valuable to the people from the Zhang Family and the Wang Family.
Therefore, Li Jiancheng asked someone to take out another gift and give it to the people from the Chamber of Commerce. Then, he asked the people from the Chamber of Commerce if they had any good ideas to catch up with the Emperor. It would be best if they could slow down the Emperor a little.
The people from the Chamber of Commerce accepted the gift and helplessly told Li Jiancheng that they had no way to stop the Emperor. However, the madams of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family were in Lu Zhou. If they spoke, it was possible to ask the madams of the main family to cooperate with them. For example, they could ask the Emperor to play somewhere for a few more days.
After that, the people from the Chamber of Commerce looked at Li Jiancheng and said that they were willing to help introduce the Emperor. However, it was not easy. It was not easy to introduce an outsider to the madams of the main family.
Li Jiancheng understood as soon as he heard that. The other party still wanted something, so he had to ask someone to bring another gift and give it to the people from the Chamber of Commerce. He also told them that if they succeeded, they would be rewarded handsomely.
When the people from the Chamber of Commerce came back an hour later, they told Li Jiancheng that the madams of the main family would come out for a walk shortly after lunch. This was the best opportunity. Li Jiancheng began to despise the Zhang Family and the Wang Family who were worshipped like gods by the people of Great Tang.
If it had been anyone else, they would have definitely been beaten to death. Everyone said that Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were frightening, but they were only so-so. If they couldn't even teach a single servant, how could they hope to govern the entire Great Tang?
Li Jiancheng cursed in his heart and began to wait anxiously. He waited for noon to come. Then, when the madams of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family came out for a walk after lunch, he went up to them and took out more gifts, asking them to do him a 'small' favor.
When it was almost noon, the people from the Chamber of Commerce came back and gave Li Jiancheng a lot of food. They said that with his status, he could go to Hai Yunjian Restaurant and order whatever he wanted. It did not matter who ate, so there was no difference. They ordered a table of good food and wine.
When he saw the food and wine, Li Jiancheng was not in the mood to eat. He did not dare to drink, nor did he dare to eat. Instead, he went to take a bath and put on incense. He was afraid that his body would have a different smell and make the madams of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family feel disgusted.
But when he saw the food and wine, he was even more relieved. At this rate, it would not be long before the Zhang Family and the Wang Family rotted from the roots. No matter how rich they were, they could not afford to squander like this.
Noon slowly passed. Li Jiancheng, who was anxiously waiting, finally received a signal from the people from the Chamber of Commerce. He went alone with many precious gifts and headed to the place where the madams of the Zhang Family and the Wang Family were going to stroll. He had to go there first so that he could wait for them to arrive.
When he arrived, he found a gazebo. According to the people from the Chamber of Commerce, the two madams would be resting in the gazebo.
But contrary to what Li Jiancheng expected, there was already a person in the gazebo. Li Jiancheng leaned over in surprise and took the initiative to ask, "May I ask who you are?"
"This official is the Provincial Governor of Lu Zhou. Who are you, and why are you here?" The person looked at Li Jiancheng warily and asked.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
