"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Five o 'clock was the most leisurely time of the day for the night watchmen.
It was also the signal for the night watchmen to take turns to work.
The moment the morning bell rang.
The lights in Chang 'an City were lit one after another.
Some people's palanquins, carriages, and even horses had lanterns or torches on them as they lazily headed towards the imperial city.
If one were to look down from the sky, they would see fire dragons converging towards the Imperial City under the hazy sky. It looked like a huge dragon.
The lights in the depths of the imperial palace were lit one after another, especially in the Political Announcement Hall, which was as bright as day. .
Early in the morning was the most comfortable time of the day.
At this time, there were already groups of eunuchs and maids in the imperial palace hurriedly cleaning up. The market on the Vermilion Bird Bridge was basically empty.
Only a few people were selling beer and barbecued meat jerky. The barbecued meat jerky was mostly hunted from the mountains, or it was old cured meat.
The smell.
It was still coveted by everyone.
Even though they were standing at the foot of the 36 steps outside the Political Announcement Palace, they could still smell the tempting aroma. In the past, almost every minister would stop to buy some food and drink a bamboo tube of ice-cold beer soaked in the moat.
But now, no matter how greedy they were, they did not dare to do so.
Now, the emperor was staring at them.
And their clothes seemed to be more tattered than usual. .
Most of the people here were not so poor that they could not afford to wear clothes or drink beer that cost one copper coin. But now, they had to pretend to be poor. Otherwise, they would be in trouble.
After all, yesterday, the Crown Prince went to borrow food from each house.
But there were some who were afraid and some who were not.
For example, Cheng Yaojin was holding a roasted rabbit in one hand and chewing it loudly. He held a bamboo tube in the other hand and drank in big mouthfuls. Everyone smelled the fragrance in the air and looked at Cheng Yaojin's showy appearance. Their stomachs began to growl.
Everyone swallowed their saliva and cursed Cheng Yaojin in their hearts.
After entering the Political Announcement Hall.
After everyone tidied up their appearance, they closed their eyes and hugged the white jade tablet in their hands. Like clay statues, they kept their mouths shut.
At this moment.
Little Guizi's voice came from the entrance of the rear hall.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
Only then did everyone hold the white jade tablet and bow in unison, shouting, "Welcome, Your Majesty!"
"Rise!"
With a wave of his hand, Li Shimin ascended the Eight Steps to Heaven Staircase and sat down on the dragon throne. He indifferently glanced at the crowd before finally resting his eyes on Hou Junji.
As soon as they stood up, the officials began to report their own situations, as well as the recent disaster relief.
An hour later, after Li Shimin had taken care of these matters, he said, "Yesterday, I learned by chance that the Crown Prince had run into a wall when borrowing grain? Is there such a thing? "
When Li Chengqian heard this, he said, "Imperial Father, there is indeed such a thing!"
"Then did you manage to borrow any grain?"
After a few moments of silence, Li Chengqian said, "Your son is incompetent. After running all over Chang 'an, I was only able to borrow five hundred dan of grain. Fortunately, your son met Duke of Chen, and Duke of Chen generously donated ten thousand dan of grain to your son's White Deer College!"
Li Chengqian emphasized the words' your son's White Deer College '.
This time, the officials couldn't help but be shocked.
"Ten thousand dan?"
"Duke of Chen, where did you get the grain?"
"So much …"
"Heavens!"
Li Shimin was also rather surprised.
"Duke of Chen, is the Crown Prince's words true?"
Hou Junji hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this is what a subject should do!"
"Then didn't you donate ten thousand dan yesterday? What is the reason for this? Could it be that your Duke of Chen's family is about to overflow with grain? "
Hou Junji's lowered eyes flashed.
"Replying to Your Majesty! This old subject spent most of his time in Luozhou, and Luozhou is the closest place to Chang 'an. As the saying goes, a subject should be loyal to the sovereign. Thus, when I learned by chance that Your Majesty was stocking up on grain, this old subject paid special attention. At this time, this old subject has about fifty thousand dan of grain. When the famine broke out, this old subject donated thirty thousand dan of grain to Luozhou and kept twenty thousand dan for emergency use.
"After learning of the matter in Chang 'an, this old subject immediately rushed to Chang' an to offer up this humble subject's meager strength."
It really was watertight!
How could Li Shimin not know that he had gone straight to the Eastern Palace after leaving the Taiji Palace?
Moreover, this Hou Junji was extremely crafty, so Li Shimin was extremely unwilling for his son to interact too much with this sort of person.
Fortunately, Zhang Feng's appearance had given Li Shimin hope.
Li Shimin couldn't help but nod. "Correct. We are delighted to have a capable subject like Duke of Chen! But what is the meaning of this ten thousand dan of grain? "
All the officials were flabbergasted.
When Li Shimin had said that he wanted to stock up on grain, they had vehemently opposed it. Now, when they heard that Duke of Chen had managed to stock up fifty thousand dan of grain on the slightest rumor, many of them almost vomited blood.
'This old fox is really f * cking crafty!'
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