A few days later, the news that the Western Regions countries were seeking peace reached the capital. After the Military Affairs Council petitioned Emperor Long'an, they held an urgent discussion for a day and approved Marquis Anding to ensure two things: first, to make it impossible for the rebels to turn over within three to five years, so that when they were dealing with the foreigners, there would be no fire in the backyard; second, to get purple gold, the more the better. The crisis of the national treasury was temporarily resolved, but the dilemma of purple gold in Daliang was not solved yet. The reason why the siege of the four borders started from the west first was that the Xuantie Camp was here, and secondly, it was also to solve the purple gold problem as quickly as possible.

All other matters, big or small, will be decided by Marquis Anding at his own discretion.

Afterwards, Prince Yan went to the palace to meet the emperor and gave Li Feng a brief report on the war and the results of the beacon tickets at this stage.

Li Feng counted with his fingers and was almost shocked by the effect of Fenghuo Tickets. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are there so many?"

"This is not surprising. The officials in the court are anxious about the emperor's needs, and countless of them are willing to sacrifice their families to help him. How can they protect themselves at a critical moment? They have all done their best." Chang Geng flattered him calmly, and then said, "As for the common people, there is a saying that 'merchants invest in leather in summer, silk in winter, boats in drought, and cars in flood, in preparation for shortages'. People who can become wealthy merchants are generally not merchants who only pursue small profits in front of them."

Li Feng pondered for a moment and asked, "Then according to you, what are they trying to get from me?"

Chang Geng said without hesitation: "Merchants may have a fortune, but they also have to work hard. To some extent, they are not much better than farmers who depend on the weather for their livelihood. Sometimes a decree from the court can make a family with a fortune go bankrupt, or if a merchant encounters a bully during his journey, his life and property may be in danger. Now that the country is in crisis, a group of wealthy merchants led by Jiangnan's richest man Du Wanquan have stepped forward. On the one hand, they want to serve the country, and on the other hand, they also want to find the emperor to be their backer."

Li Feng had heard a lot of flattery and was not easily moved. He looked indifferently at Prince Yan, whose words had hidden meanings.

Chang Geng did not want to keep the secret any longer, and struck while the iron was hot, "Now is the time to use money, and the court is planning to issue a second batch of beacon tickets. My Royal Highness, do you think we should give these chamber of commerce leaders some benefits to encourage more people to donate money?"

Li Feng said nothing, and looked at Chang Geng with a strange look.

Sometimes, "sincerity" is time-limited and will not wait for an expiration date. For example, when the capital was under siege and Emperor Long An was filled with grief and guilt and wished he could die in front of the tomb of the previous emperor, his decision to pass the throne to Chang Geng was sincere. Also, as the situation gradually stabilized, his perspective on Chang Geng also slowly changed with time, and it was also very sincere.

Prince Yan Li Min is just in his early twenties. In an ordinary family, he is just a young man who has just begun to learn how to make a living. However, he has eased the crisis in Daliang in just half a year. At this moment, he is standing quietly in the west warm pavilion, handsome, calm and composed, which makes people indescribably... jealous.

Just imagine that a great emperor, within a few years of ascending the throne, was involved in two rebellions and was involved in lawsuits. He also caused such a ridiculous incident as the "Beidaying Mutiny", and finally the country was invaded by foreign races, and people were displaced... And after passing the lowest point, all this began to slowly improve when Prince Yan took charge of the Military Affairs Council - how would Li Feng feel?

How will historians evaluate this history a hundred years from now?

Li Feng really didn't want to know at all.

Most importantly, he is still so young.

Li Feng felt gloomy in his heart, and his attitude became cold. He said in a neutral tone, "The whole world belongs to the king. Since they are citizens of Daliang, it is their duty to serve the country and the people, even if they have to sacrifice everything they have. What benefits do they want from me? Isn't that buying and selling official positions? How shameful!"

Chang Geng was very good at observing people's expressions. When he made eye contact with Li Feng, he immediately knew the reason for the emperor's indifference. Although he sneered in his heart, his face showed a look of shock and confusion that did not seem fake: "The emperor..."

Li Feng interrupted him impatiently: "That's enough! How to reward private merchants who understand the greater good? Let the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites work out the right measure. It's enough, but don't honor them too much."

Chang Geng put on a "sullen" face, and after a long while, he reluctantly said "yes".

Li Feng glanced at him and suddenly mentioned, "Minister of Personnel Wei Shu is old. It was raining last night. He got up early to go to court. He fell down at home and broke his leg. I sent a doctor to see him. It seems that he is not good. The Wei family has submitted a letter of resignation to me... In this case, the position of Minister of Personnel may be vacant. Min, you are in charge of the Military Affairs Office. Is there anyone to recommend you?"

This is a not very clever test, but not clever does not mean it is ineffective.

For a suspicious person like Li Feng, whether Chang Geng was taking advantage of the situation to win over his own people to the position or answering too tightly, neither was what Li Feng wanted to see. The former showed that he was too ambitious, and the latter showed that he was scheming.

Chang Geng was stunned for a moment, then he blurted out instinctively: "What? Something happened to Lord Wei?"

It looked like he really knew nothing.

After saying this, Chang Geng seemed to "come to his senses" and realized that he had not answered the question. So he frowned and thought for a long time, and sighed to Emperor Long'an anxiously: "This... Brother, please forgive me. I have been busy with this little money every day for a while, and I really have no time to take care of other things. I may not have had time to see the memorial from the Ministry of Personnel. This... The position of Shangshu is very important, and I can't think of a candidate at the moment..."

Li Feng suspected that he was shirking his responsibility: "No problem, just tell me."

Chang Geng stretched out his hand and pressed his frowning eyebrows, paused, and replied: "How about this, my brother, do a public evaluation in the court, and those who are capable will be given the positions?"

Li Feng: “…”

This answer was really unexpected. Li Feng was stunned by the King Yan's unconventional and unrestrained thinking. He was almost led astray by him and asked, "How do you test me?"

"For example, his official career, his political achievements, his contributions over the years, etc., are all recorded," Chang Geng paused for a moment, then continued, "You can also add criteria such as whether he is responsible and knows how to be righteous, such as whether he has ever subscribed to beacon tickets. Speaking of this, I remember something. In order to smoothly promote beacon tickets in the future, can you include the number of beacon tickets you hold in the evaluation criteria? This is not considered selling official positions, right?"

Li Feng: “…”

After talking for a long time, this kid came back to the same point again. Li Feng felt that if he pried open King Yan's handsome head at this moment, the brain matter inside would surely form the shape of a gold ingot.

Emperor Long An was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "You... are talking nonsense!"

Chang Geng did not try to curry favor with him this time. Instead, he apologized in a low voice, with an unconcealable sadness between his brows.

After such a brief and irrelevant conversation, Li Feng's gloomy doubts were mostly dispelled, and it was also obvious that Prince Yan's mind was really not on the Ministry of Personnel.

"No matter what," Li Feng thought, "he has done his best."

Thinking of this, Li Feng's expression eased a little, and he waved his hand to Chang Geng and said, "Forget it, you go back first, let me think about it again."

Chang Geng responded, bowed and left, knowing that he had passed this hurdle.

However, just as he was about to leave the West Warm Pavilion, Li Feng suddenly stopped him.

"Wait, Ah Min, there is one more thing," Li Feng said in a friendly tone, "You are not young anymore. It is not right for you to always be alone. You should get married and start a family."

Chang Geng's heart skipped a beat.

Li Feng said kindly, "The granddaughter of Grand Secretary Fang is only seventeen years old and is waiting to be married. I heard that this girl has a good reputation. She is from a scholarly family and must be well-educated. Her background is not disgraceful to you. She is a good match for you. When your sister-in-law heard about it, she wanted to help you. I have to ask, if you like it, how about I make the decision for you?"

This marriage was not only good, it was simply too good - although Grand Secretary Fang Hong had retired for many years, more than half of the important officials in the court wanted to worship him as their teacher. He had three sons, all of whom were very promising, and one of them had just taken over as the Minister of Revenue. Since the Yuanhe period, the Fang family had been the leader among the aristocratic families.

Chang Geng's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly.

Li Feng raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's the matter?"

Chang Geng turned around, lifted his shirt and knelt down, his face tense, but he said nothing.

Li Fengqi asked: "What are you doing?"

Chang Geng knelt there without saying a word.

No matter how friendly Li Feng was, he was still the emperor. Seeing him like this, his face turned grim: "If you don't like it, just say so. You are a prince, who can force you to get married? Who are you showing your dislike to?"

"I don't want to," Chang Geng bowed to him, his voice was wrong, "Sister-in-law is like a mother, the Queen's love and care has been let down by me, brother, please punish me."

Li Feng frowned and said, "Why? Did you hear something bad about that girl, or do you have someone else you love? There are no outsiders here, so there is no need to be shy. Just say it."

Chang Geng glanced around the western warm room, stubbornly refusing to say a word, with slightly red eyes.

Li Feng certainly did not intend to find a good marriage for Prince Yan, nor would he watch the Fang family marry Prince Yan. He brought this up in such a hypocritical manner, but in fact, the previous test was not over yet. He did not expect that it would arouse such intense emotions in Prince Yan, and he became curious at the moment, and waved his hand to ask the eunuchs to withdraw from the hall and await orders.

Only two brothers were left in the West Warm Pavilion. Li Feng asked, "Can we talk now?"

Chang Geng bowed deeply to him without saying anything, but slowly unbuttoned the collar of his court robe.

Li Feng was startled and stood up: "This..."

The young chest of King Yan was covered with old scars. The most shocking one was a burn, very close to the throat, a thin line, as if it had been caused by a burning poker.

"I beg your Majesty to forgive my impoliteness in front of you." Chang Geng said in a low voice with a barely perceptible tremor.

Li Feng was shocked but then he reacted. He was stunned for a while before he softened his voice and asked in a low voice, "Is it the barbarian woman from that year?"

Chang Geng's face turned pale, and he reached out to slowly put his clothes together.

The man on the city wall who drew the bow and shot the Japanese bandit leader dead with one arrow had his fingers trembling violently. He lowered his eyes and whispered, "It is a cowardly act to look down on the whole world because of the fault of one person, but..."

He gritted his teeth, his voice broke involuntarily, and he bowed to the ground: "Ms. Fang is a kind-hearted lady, she should have someone to trust her whole life to. I have a strange personality and I really don't like people to get close to me. As for marriage... please don't mention it again in the future, my royal brother."

Li Feng was stunned and said, "What are you talking about? How can a prince not get married in his whole life?"

Chang Geng said expressionlessly: "Then why don't you give up my title and let me wander the world with those wild monks?"

Li Feng: “…”

King Yan looked bright and kind, well-educated and well-mannered, but actually he had quite a temper. When he got angry, he didn't do it violently or throw cups and bowls. He would just say, "I quit this job. You can find whoever you want to find."

Li Feng was so angry that he couldn't do anything about him, so he immediately lost his temper and told King Yan to get out. King Yan left without saying a word.

The eunuch followed him at a trot, and asked eagerly, "My Lord, are you going back to the Military Affairs Office?"

Prince Yan might not go home once every ten days or half a month, and he almost always lived in the Military Affairs Office.

Chang Geng paused, his eyes wandering around blankly, as if he was standing there in a daze. The eunuch didn't dare to disturb him, so he could only stand by without making a sound.

"...No," Chang Geng whispered, "Go home."

Even Gu Yun had never shown the old scars on Chang Geng's body. He had always thought that they would be like a period of time that could not be touched, but he did not expect that today, they would become a tool for him to delay and deal with Li Feng.

The carriage rumbled past the broad and interconnected bluestone roads of the capital, and Chang Geng, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

One day this will all get out of hand.

One day he will be even more unscrupulous than he is now.

But he always felt that he did not feel bad, because he had taken every step by himself, and he had thought it through long ago, so there was nothing to regret.

He returned all the way to the deserted Anding Marquis Mansion. He did not disturb anyone and did not eat anything. He went straight to Gu Yun's extremely clean and simple bedroom and lay down. He closed his eyes, and it seemed that there was still a faint scent of medicine on the quilt.

More than half a month later, after countless arguments in the court, Emperor Long'an finally rejected Prince Yan's absurd proposal that "the first batch of people who purchased beacon tickets will be promoted according to the amount of money they spent". He only promised the Chamber of Commerce that in the future, when the situation stabilizes, a trade route guarded by the army will be opened to protect it from thieves and bandits. At this time, those who have purchased beacon tickets can directly obtain membership qualifications with this ticket without having to pay any membership fees.

More than a month later, a decree that shocked the court and the country was implemented from top to bottom - making beacon tickets an important indicator for evaluating the administration of civil officials.

A blade that no one had seen at the moment slowly emerged.

When this decree came out, the whole world was shocked - the Daliang court did not treat officials unfairly, and the salaries were not low, but the personal connections in the officialdom were also expensive. Especially during the reign of Emperor Yuanhe, the national strength had been unprecedentedly strong for a few years under the iron-blooded development of Emperor Wu, and extravagance and ostentation had already become a trend. At this time, officials were encouraged to buy beacon tickets for their future. How much money could they make from the state salary?

Wouldn’t this encourage corruption and fraud in the future?

Within a few days, the news spread throughout the border areas.

“Zi Xi!” Shen Yi threw the reins into the hands of his personal soldier and rushed directly into the general’s tent. Just as he was about to speak, he saw a platinum glass mirror on Gu Yun’s nose, and knew that he had not taken his medicine again. He had to swallow the following words back - no one knew what was wrong with Gu Yun recently. As long as he didn’t see outsiders, he took less and less medicine, as if he wanted to be a blind and deaf person with a peaceful state of mind.

Shen Yigang raised his hand.

Gu Yun said, "No need, just tell me, I'll practice lip reading too."

Shen Yi sighed: "...Have you heard about the official reform?"

Gu Yun could read lip language, but he had been relying on medication over the years, and the people around him would use sign language to take care of him, which made him a little unfamiliar with it. He had to get used to it slowly. It took him a while to figure out what Shen Yi was referring to. Gu Yun frowned slowly and nodded slowly.

"What's going on with His Royal Highness Prince Yan? If he keeps doing this, aren't you afraid that people will say he's the beginning of a corrupt official and a sycophantic minister? Even if he can solve the immediate problem, what will happen in the future? Forget about the well-known and prestigious families, but won't the poor scholars in the world break his spine? You said that he is in charge of the Military Affairs Council alone, and he is easy to be envied because of his status. I really..."

Shen Yi spoke with a lot of worry, and when he was worried, his lips moved as fast as a chicken pecking at rice, flying up and down, making Gu Yun dizzy - he didn't "understand" most of it, but he understood the last sentence.

Shen Yi: "How does he plan to end up in the future?"

Gu Yun fell silent.

Shen Yi: "Zi Xi, say something."

"We can't fight anymore." Gu Yun answered without knowing where to go.

Shen Yi: “…”

He sighed heavily, suspecting that Gu Yun had not "heard" what he had just said. He thought, "Practicing lip reading, what the hell, practicing my tongue is more appropriate."

Shen Yi was about to exchange communication methods, but Gu Yun continued, "I was a little too impatient and reckless before, and I deserved to be bombed. Fortunately, there was no danger here, but I have thought a lot these days... Calais Yinghuo is not a bunch of cowards in the west. I am afraid that there will be several tough battles over there. I am afraid that we don't have the resources to fight in one go now - we have to think about it in the long run."

Shen Yi was stunned: "Are you planning to..."

"I have dragged the court into a mess," Gu Yun whispered, "It's time to rest and recuperate."