Given Yang Zhao's personality and the fact that he had been appointed Chamberlain of Palace Revenues by the Holy Emperor and was in charge of the entire Tang Dynasty's wealth, he was completely capable of handling this transaction. How could he not be tempted to watch such a huge sum of 700 million gold fly away just like that? How could he endure it?!
After all, he had only printed one billion taels of gold yuan certificates in total.
"Worthy brother, don't look at me like that. I know that my actions were dishonorable, but seven hundred million taels of gold was already in my mouth. If I return it to the other party, the Confucians are being far too dishonest …"
Under Wang Chong's stare, Yang Zhao's voice grew fainter and fainter.
"Haha, Big Brother, you're thinking too much! Not only have you done nothing wrong in this matter, you've even done the right thing! This isn't a mistake at all, but a great merit! "
Wang Chong heartily laughed.
Greed was greed, but there were times when Yang Zhao could actually do the right thing. If Yang Zhao had exchanged three hundred million taels of gold for gold yuan certificates, then the losses the Confucians and Arabs had inflicted on the Tang Dynasty were no longer so unacceptable.
At the very least, Yang Zhao had used a special method to stop the losses for the Tang Dynasty.
"Yes, is that so?"
At this moment, even Yang Zhao was stunned. He had never imagined that what he had thought to be a massive mistake would actually be a great merit to Wang Chong.
"Haha, as long as you don't take the gold you exchanged for with gold yuan certificates, there's no problem with this matter."
Wang Chong indifferently said.
"What are you saying? How could I possibly do such a thing!"
Yang Zhao immediately shouted, a little unnatural.
Wang Chong silently smiled. Given Yang Zhao's personality, how could he not try to fish for some benefits? But as long as the benefits weren't too great or inconsequential, Wang Chong would not expose him.
"That's right, worthy brother, besides the matter of the gold yuan certificates, I actually have a private matter that I would like to trouble you with. I would like to see if you can help me."
Yang Zhao took a sip of tea and put it down. Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Haha, if there's anything you need, just say it all at once. As long as I can help, I will definitely help you to the end."
Wang Chong smiled and said nonchalantly.
"Actually, I'm not trying to help you. Brother, you're smarter than me. This time, my younger sister asked me to pass on a few words. She hopes that you can help her analyze it."
Yang Zhao said with a straight face.
"Oh?"
This time, Wang Chong was surprised. He suddenly felt that what Yang Zhao wanted to say was completely different from what he had imagined. He immediately showed an expression of listening attentively.
"It's actually a long story. You also know that my sister is infatuated with the Holy Emperor, but for some reason, His Majesty has become strange recently. He's completely different from before."
Yang Zhao's brow creased, a look of recollection appearing in his eyes.
"The Holy Emperor?!"
Wang Chong's entire body shook in surprise. He had never imagined that the second matter Yang Zhao wanted him to discuss would have something to do with the Holy Emperor.
"… Everyone in the world knows how much the Holy Emperor dotes on my younger sister. In order to bring her into the palace, he almost didn't hesitate to fall out with all the civil and military officials of the court. But recently, not only has His Majesty been going to Yuzhen Palace less and less, each time he does, he only stays for a few moments, not even warming his seat. Sometimes, His Majesty and the Empress are talking and laughing, and the next moment, he suddenly leaves without any warning or reason. And now, even when my younger sister goes to see His Majesty, she is refused by the Holy Emperor for all sorts of reasons. … This sort of thing has never happened before! "
When Yang Zhao said these words, his expression seemed to be extremely uneasy. His glory, splendor, wealth, and his current position as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues had all been obtained through his younger sister's Consort Tai Zhen. If his younger sister lost her favor, everything he possessed would also vanish. This was what Yang Zhao deeply feared, even more than the matter of the gold yuan certificates.
"Buzz!"
Yang Zhao himself still did not understand, but Wang Chong was startled and immediately became alert. At this moment, Wang Chong suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"… I'm a little worried that my younger sister might have fallen out of favor with the Holy Emperor. Worthy brother, of all the people at this foolish brother's side, you are the one with the most ideas. Last time, it was you who wrote two poems for Little Sister that made her smile. Help me think about it. Just what is going on? My younger sister and I have thought about it for a long time, but we still can't understand. Did we do something wrong recently?
Did we do something else to make His Majesty unhappy? "
As he spoke, Yang Zhao grew more and more uneasy. The gold yuan certificates were only a temporary threat, but Consort Tai Zhen's falling out of favor was the most fundamental.
Wang Chong said nothing, but his mind was in turmoil. Yang Zhao and Consort Tai Zhen were still in the dark, believing this to be a problem of falling out of favor. But Wang Chong knew that the situation was completely different from what they imagined.
"Big Brother! Other than the fact that the Holy Emperor has come less often and that he refuses to see Consort Tai Zhen, what else did the Empress say to you? "
Wang Chong suppressed his unease and sternly asked.
"This … the Empress didn't say anything. She only said that she could clearly sense that His Majesty's favor for her was not as great as before. In addition, whenever His Majesty leaves court, he locks himself in his chambers, and for a longer and longer period of time, no one is allowed to approach. That's right, one time when the Empress went to pay her respects, she heard the Holy Emperor muttering to himself inside. The Empress had intended to listen carefully, but Gao Lishi quickly came out and advised the Empress to leave. Now, besides Eunuch Gao, no one is allowed to approach the Holy Emperor's side. What's wrong, worthy brother, have you sensed something? "
Yang Zhao raised his head in confusion.
Wang Chong said nothing. Countless thoughts surged through his mind.
From his first meeting with the Holy Emperor to his subsequent morning court sessions, besides searching for the culprit behind the curtains, Wang Chong had actually been observing the Holy Emperor's condition.
After all, the Holy Emperor was the true pillar of the empire's stability.
But from his previous observations, although the Holy Emperor's aura seemed slightly chaotic, it was normal most of the time. At the very least, the Holy Emperor had lasted until the end of the morning court sessions, and there had been no abnormalities. As for what happened after the morning court session, Wang Chong could not see it, nor did he speculate. Wang Chong had always thought that the Holy Emperor's condition was not good, but at least it was much better than in his previous life.
But now, after hearing Yang Zhao's words, Wang Chong's heart sank, and he felt that something was wrong.
If this was the case every time the Holy Emperor left court, it meant that the real situation was much more serious than he had expected.
"Worthy brother, worthy brother …"
At this moment, Wang Chong was roused from his stupor by a call. Wang Chong blinked and came back to his senses. He saw Yang Zhao looking at him with a frown and a puzzled expression.
"Worthy brother, are you alright?"
"Haha, I'm fine!"
Wang Chong smiled and shook his head.
"Brother, you're smarter than me. Do you think that His Majesty has grown tired of my sister because he likes the new and hates the old?"
Yang Zhao asked, not minding it.
"Don't worry, that won't happen!"
Wang Chong smiled and comforted him.
"His Majesty's feelings for Her Highness surpass everything. In His Majesty's heart, no one will surpass Her Highness."
"Oh?"
Yang Zhao was skeptical. He should not have asked Wang Chong about such matters of the harem, but Wang Chong gave people the impression that he was extremely intelligent. Yang Zhao had unknowingly formed trust in him. Moreover, Wang Chong was like the sun at noon.
"If even you say so, then it should be true. Could it be something else?"
Yang Zhao quickly left. Behind him, Wang Chong looked at his departing figure with a hint of unease in his eyes.
The next morning, morning court. Everything was as usual. Wang Chong stood at the end of the line and carefully looked up. The Holy Emperor sat high above, upright and dignified. He looked no different from usual, but Wang Chong felt a strong sense of unease.
Whoosh!
While Wang Chong was still thinking, something happened. Above the hall, just as the court officials were still debating, the Holy Emperor's expression changed slightly. He suddenly stood up and left without a word. In just a moment, he disappeared above the hall.
"Today's morning court will end here. The Prime Minister will preside over the rest!"
At this moment, Eunuch Gao suddenly stepped forward and said loudly with a wave of his horsetail whisk.
Hum!
Wang Chong's body trembled as he raised his head. The hall was in an uproar, but this uproar only lasted for a few moments before everything returned to normal.
"Respectful farewells, Your Divine Majesty!"
All the officials in the hall bowed, but none of them were surprised or surprised. Wang Chong's heart instantly sank.
"You've seen it all!"
Once the court session was over, The King of Song and Wang Chong descended the long stairway made of white jade.
"In truth, this has happened quite a few times already. At the start, everyone panicked, but they slowly got used to it. Moreover, the Great Tang has been powerful for so many years, and it has countless capable officials and generals. With the Prime Minister presiding over it, the Great Tang can still rule over court affairs, and with the supervision of the imperial censors, there shouldn't be too many mistakes. It's just that it needs to be submitted to His Majesty for review. "
"So the last decision on Khorasan was also made by the Prime Minister presiding over everything?"
Wang Chong asked.
"Mm!"
The King of Song sighed and nodded. The two of them walked side by side out of the Imperial Palace.
As if this was some sort of signal, the Holy Emperor withdrew from court earlier and earlier in the next few days. The first time, it had only been an hour early. In the end, when the court session had barely lasted half the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the Sage Emperor had ordered Gao Lishi to leave early.
All of this made Wang Chong feel increasingly uneasy.
… …
Early in the morning, a ray of sunlight shone through the window into the study.
A young figure was seated in front of a desk, constantly flipping through pages. Next to him was an oil lamp that had long ago burned out, and around the young figure was a thick pile of books and all sorts of ancient texts.
"Your Highness, according to the Fifth Prince's orders, we have brought all the relevant texts in the palace that we can. We have asked all the concubines, concubines, and princesses in the palace to borrow them. We just need to see if there is any information that Your Highness wants! "
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