The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 335 You Married the Empress
The current Bianjing seems to be no different from a year ago. It even looks a bit messy because many places in the outer city are under construction and expansion.

The same goes for the imperial city. Large areas are covered with scaffolding, and wood and stones are piled up, which is very eye-catching.

The city was crowded, and it was difficult for the summoned laborers to find a place to stay, so the Ministry of Works had to plan a place outside the south city and build simple shacks and other buildings for the laborers to live in. As soon as the city gates opened at 3 a.m., the laborers had to rush into the city before dawn to carry out construction work within the designated time. It was freezing cold and the work was very hard.

Anle Pavilion learned in advance that Xiao Yan was returning to the capital, and had already sent a carriage to wait outside the Gujiao Gate of the Imperial City.

There was a small heater in the car, which completely dispelled the chill of early spring. Yu Youshu and Xuan Jingtian, who came to greet them, were very happy. The former specially brought a cloak for Xiao Yan to put on, fearing that their master might catch a cold.

Xuan Jingtian explained, "My sister is in the market outside the city. Although she also wanted to pick you up as soon as possible, she didn't have time to sort out the trivial matters..."

"There's no need to mobilize a large army."

Xiao Yan, who was lifting a corner of the car curtain and looking outside, smiled, but his eyes did not move away. He looked at the laborers who were hurrying on the street and hiding on the side of the road under the control of the yamen runners. Basically, every laborer was dressed very simply and had a thin body. Their hands and faces had varying degrees of frostbite. They hid on the side of the road numbly and with a hint of fear, but they were still despised by the few pedestrians on the street.

The laborers were all conscripted through corvée labor. In those days, all the good men joined the army, and it was not certain whether the laborers who were conscripted into corvée labor were forcibly captured by the lower counties in order to complete the task.

When Zhu Wen was in a good mood, he started to build large-scale projects, but the people at the bottom of society had to pay for them with their blood and sweat. In such weather, there would probably be many people who died of exhaustion or freezing.

For ordinary laborers, corvée was purely compulsory labor. Not only did the imperial court not pay them, but they also had to provide their own food, clothing, and tools. The construction conditions were poor, the work intensity was high, and there was a strict construction period. It was not uncommon for the laborers to die of exhaustion.

But even so, these lower-class people were woken up early in the morning to hurry into the city, but they still had to make way for the carriages of rich people like Xiao Yan on the narrow streets. They did not dare to have even a trace of jealousy, and their eyes were filled with nothing but numbness and fear.

This situation might not have happened some time ago, but today Zhu Wen suddenly held a court meeting, and the officials' carriages and horses occupied the center of the road, so the large group of civilians naturally had to give way.

Xiao Yan was silent for a while, then said, "Let the driver pull over at the intersection ahead and clear the way. The laborers are in a hurry, so let them pass first."

Xuan Jingtian was surprised for a moment, but didn't think much about it. He immediately went out to give instructions to the people outside.

The head of the yamen runners who was in charge of restraining the laborers on the roadside looked fawning at the carriage, and was afraid that the laborers and country bumpkins under his supervision might bump into the nobleman's carriage, so he kept shouting and cursing.

Xiao Yan couldn't blame him though. The yamen runners were also low-class people. The city of Bianjing was deep and expensive. It was actually a tough job for the yamen runners to discipline the common people. They had to escort the common people to the designated locations at the appointed time every day, but they didn't dare to annoy the nobles passing by, so they had to make way for them wisely.

Bianjing was more than adequate as an ordinary provincial capital, but it was not good enough to be the capital. It had too many people and the city was small, so it seemed crowded everywhere. There were also many illegal buildings on the streets, which made it not only not beautiful but also made the roads seem narrower.

Xiao Yan's carriage suddenly stopped by the roadside. The head of the yamen runners was stunned, but didn't dare to come up to talk to him. He was in a dilemma. After learning that the driver was giving way, he burst into tears of gratitude and hurriedly drove hundreds or thousands of civilians forward.

Xiao Yan not only asked his own carriage to stop, but also ordered people to stop the carriages behind and make way. Some people were dissatisfied, but they lost their temper after learning that it was Xiao Yan who gave the order.

Thus, a strange scene appeared on the street: a long line of carriages of nobles were waiting on the side of the road, and ragged corvées were walking in the middle of the road heading towards the imperial city. Some people opened the curtains of some carriages to look at the scene. Some people were disdainful, some were furious, some were very surprised, but most of them did not even open the curtains.

"Champion Hou has a noble character."

In Jingxiang's carriage, Zhang Wenwei, the Minister of Finance, said with emotion, "I heard that the Ministry of Works has set a time. The city gates will be opened at 4:15 am and the corvées will arrive at 5:00 am. If we wait like this, the laborers will be fined, and the yamen runners will be fined even more."

Jing Xiang stroked his beard and said nothing. After a while, he sighed and said, "The Ministry of Industry is too harsh."

Zhang Wenwei whispered, "There's no way. His Majesty is anxious to see the results, and the corvée laborers have to leave the city before the city gates close. There's only so much time for construction every day, and the Ministry of Works is under a lot of pressure. We have to be strict..."

Of course, he did not dare to say that it was essentially Zhu Wen's fault for the massive construction projects, but there was some hint of this in his words. Expanding the imperial city required money, and he, as the Minister of Revenue, would have to move money here and there, which was a headache for the Ministry of Revenue.

Jing Xiang was silent for a moment, and held back his words about asking the Ministry of Industry to release the loan, and just remained silent for a long time.

------

"Corvée labor was conscripted before winter last year. I heard that the Ministry of Works distributed a batch of winter clothes to the corvées, but it seems that few of them ended up in their hands."

Because Xiao Yan was a little concerned about the laborers, Yu Youshu told him her intelligence: "The supervisor of the Ministry of Works is none other than the Ghost King Zhu Youwen. In order to please Zhu Wen, he set a deadline for the completion of the project. The corruption may also be caused by his people."

"It must be these insects!" Xuan Jingtian said coldly.

Xiao Yan did not respond. He noticed that there was a civilian man in thick clothing at the corner of the street who did not move forward immediately as urged by the yamen runners. Instead, he stood there staring at him indifferently, not even afraid to look him in the eye.

However, the man obviously realized that it was because of Xiao Yan's interference that the corvées present today were spared from punishment by the Ministry of Works. So when he saw Xiao Yan noticed him, he clasped his fists towards the carriage and then strode away.

Xiao Yan also noticed something interesting. The yamen runners around the man did not seem to dare to use force against him. Moreover, he was surrounded by several men who looked like they were from the same hometown, so he should be a foreman.

"Send someone to investigate that person." Xiao Yan pointed at the man who clasped his fists towards him and said to Yu Youshu, "Just investigate his identity. There's no need to alert others for now."

Yu Youshu did not ask any more questions and remembered the incident. She was just worried that she would not be able to find the person later, so she immediately ordered a bad guy who was accompanying her to pay attention to the person's movements.

Nothing happened after that. The carriage kept aside on the side of the road for about a quarter of an hour before the corvée crew had completely passed. During this time, no officials waiting behind came forward to cause trouble. It was said that Jing Xiang, who was in the carriage behind, had also instructed his attendants to let the corvée crew go first.

This was also due to the fact that the city was too small. Zhu Wen was not in a rush to build a large-scale project because he must have always believed that such a capital was not worthy of his status as the Emperor of the Zhu family.

The carriage did not stop at Anle Pavilion, but went straight out of the south of the city towards Qiushizi.

After Xiao Yan returned to Beijing, he received another imperial edict. Everyone who should know already knew about it, but Xiao Yan did not announce his meeting for the time being to avoid attracting too much attention. People like Wang Yanzhang, Yu Zhong and others were not notified.

On the way, Xuan Jingtian said angrily, "Ghost King and Zhu Youzhen, these two bastards, each set up a football club. In the past few days, a lot of business in the Moon City has been taken away!"

Yu Youshu just smiled and said, "But I heard that many people never go to the places of Ghost King and Zhu Youwen again after going there once. If we talk about fun, our ball market is better. The places of Ghost King and Zhu Youwen are just located in the city, so some citizens want to be close to them. If our ball market is also located in the city, they won't be able to snatch any customers away."

"Bah!" Xuan Jingtian said with disdain: "I don't know how many houses the Ghost King and his gang occupied to open their business. They are making dirty money. Sooner or later, they will be punished by the gods!"

Xiao Yan smiled as he looked at some documents, just listening to the two girls chattering about the latest news in the past six months, without interrupting.

The football market covers too much space. Not to mention inside the city, it is difficult to place people even outside the city. The inside has become a commercial center that does not only attract people with football. The business taken away by the Ghost King and his men is very limited.

Just grab it if you want. Xiao Yan doesn’t care about such a small profit now. The purpose of setting up the football market is not to make profits.

On the contrary, the two sisters Xuan Jingtian and Miao Chengtian have invested a lot of effort in the football market, and Xiao Yan has completely handed it over to them, which is why he is so resentful.

The carriage stopped quickly, and Miao Chengtian came with some stewards to greet them. Duan Chengtian and Li Mang, who were stationed in Bian Jing, were also in the group. However, there was no large military force mobilized, and Xiao Yan did not even see Ji Ruxue and Qian Wu.

"Where is Luo Xiaobei?"

This was the first thing Xiao Yan said after getting off the car. He looked at Duan Chengtian with a smile and said, "I heard that you trained me hard in the past six months. Could it be that you have prepared a big surprise for me?"

Duan Chengtian touched his forehead and smiled a little embarrassedly: "This kid is too hot-tempered, how can he surprise the Lord? He was very excited when he suddenly learned that the Lord was returning to the capital in the middle of the night. He didn't sleep a wink. Just now when I left the city, this kid fell on the bed and couldn't get up..."

Everyone around burst into laughter.

Xiao Yan also laughed and called people to go inside. At the same time, he watched the changes in the football market and went to the Huitong Ticket Office in the village to have a look. It was running smoothly. There was also one opened in the city. Basically 90% of the customers were willing to take the banknotes back to the city directly without exchanging copper coins.

With the deliberate operation of Anle Pavilion, many shops in Bianjing City were also willing to accept banknotes. In the past six months, many citizens have learned that the copper coins exchanged for banknotes at Huitong Bank were rich in copper and were all fine and exquisitely minted.

So under this situation, there was even a period of "bank run" in Bianjing. Everyone wanted to use the money with less copper in their hands to exchange for banknotes, and then use the banknotes to exchange for good money at the Huitong Bank.

This made Miao Chengtian and others panic, and it was only because Xiao Yan sent them a special letter asking them to keep calm that no trouble occurred.

Afterwards, when the citizens of the city saw that they could still exchange good money continuously at the Huitong Bank, they finally realized the convenience of banknotes. Moreover, the banknotes were exquisite, so most people exchanged their good money for a batch of banknotes.

The current task is to make the shops in the city recognize the circulation of banknotes. Fortunately, the Ministry of Revenue is promoting it, so this is not difficult.

The next step is to spread Huitong Ticket Bank all over the Central Plains. At present, the task has been completed in several major cities in the Central Plains. There is still a long way to go in the following counties, and we can only take it slowly. Miao Chengtian and others' business rate is qualified. Xiao Yan is very satisfied. He took everyone to have breakfast and only discussed some gossip.

Even though he could see that Duan Chengtian and Li Mang had many questions, he did not answer them at this time. He just asked them to go back to the city to keep an eye on the movements of the Xuanming Sect, and then notify generals such as Wang Yanzhang and Han Yanhui and others to go out of the city to play football tomorrow.

After everyone had left, Ji Ruxue and Qian Wu finally got up. They had traveled for most of the day with Xiao Yan yesterday and were very tired.

"My sister and I would like to kneel down and thank you for the matter of Qi State..."

In the villa located in a quiet place, Miao Chengtian finally found an opportunity. He pulled Xuan Jingtian aside and bowed to Xiao Yan from the bottom of his heart in front of the girls.

Ji Ruxue, Qian Wu and Yu Youshu all hid silently nearby. Qian Wu only had a vague idea of ​​the inside story, so she just sighed that what her husband said was right, he really had a lot of female confidants.

Ji Ruxue was already a beautiful young girl, Rao Jiang also had a saint who had fallen in love with him. At the same time, there were three girls, Miao Chengtian, Xuan Jingtian and Yu Youshu, each with their own extraordinary looks.

My dear, you are really amazing.

"The friendship between me and Qiguo won't allow me to sit back and do nothing, not to mention the trust your empress has shown over the years." Xiao Yan helped the two girls up and said, "Qiguo's position is consistent with mine. Saving the empress and Qiguo is saving myself. Besides, how can I forget the many help you two ladies have given me over the years? We are a family, so don't act like this."

Miao Chengtian's eyes were a little red. She was not actually a sentimental woman, but after knowing that Li Maozhen had imprisoned the empress and even Guangmutian's sisters in Fengxiang, she had been worried all the time. Xuan Jingtian was even so impulsive that she almost went back to Qi country to save people.

If it weren't for Xiao Yan, the two of them would have been truly desperate. Regardless of whether they could rescue people by returning to Qi State, Li Maozhen would definitely not trust them. At the beginning in Bian Jing, they were even guarded against and suspected by Duan Chengtian and Li Mang.

Fortunately, Xiao Yan trusts them and the empress.

God knows how happy Miao Chengtian was after receiving the letter from the empress. She felt that she and her sister had no way to repay Xiao Yan for his kindness to Qi State.

Xuan Jingtian stared straight at Xiao Yan. She had known Xiao Yan the longest and understood him the best among the several saints. She had developed a fondness for Xiao Yan a few years ago. Now, as long as Xiao Yan needed her, she would offer her body without hesitation.

Xiao Yan didn't have these thoughts. He pulled Miao Chengtian and the other girl aside to discuss the matter of the Huitong Ticket Office. At that moment, the two girls were a little excited, so he didn't go into details and let them go about their own business first.

Yu Youshu had something to report to him about Anle Pavilion. She had already given him a general idea on the carriage before, and just added a little more now. After Xiao Yan understood it, she retreated to assist the two girls, Miao Chengtian.

"Master of Qianwu Cave."

Xiao Yan took out the documents he had just read in the carriage and handed them to Qian Wu: "These are the information of Huanyinfang and Anle Pavilion. You should sort them out first. I will arrange for the empress to meet you later. If you think it is suitable, Luohua Cave can transfer a group of girls who are willing to come to the Central Plains. If they are not willing, I will not force them. Raojiang has beautiful mountains and rivers, which are indeed incomparable to the Central Plains."

Qian Wu just smiled gently: "I will definitely work hard on my husband's arrangement."

Xiao Yan felt helpless. After Qian Wu left, he smiled awkwardly at Ji Ruxue.

"What are you looking at me for?" Ji Ruxue muttered. She was afraid that she would become a jealous woman in Xiao Yan's eyes, so she was about to leave together: "You have a lot of things on your hands, I won't disturb you, what kind of tea do you want to drink, I will prepare it for you."

"come over."

Xiao Yan patted his thigh.

Ji Ruxue was very embarrassed. She glanced outside guiltily and whispered, "What are you doing..."

Having said this, she couldn't bear to refuse Xiao Yan, and subconsciously stepped forward.

Xiao Yan had already understood Ji Ruxue's psychology, so it was not surprising. He directly embraced the beauty in his arms and teased her for a while. When Ji Ruxue felt embarrassed and wanted to escape, he said, "Before you came back from Twelve Caves, I remember that I gave you something, right?"

Ji Ruxue was startled, and then felt guilty. She thought Xiao Yan was talking about the prescription, so she said, "I confiscated it..."

"Confiscate?" Xiao Yan frowned.

Ji Ruxue looked at his expression and suddenly realized that she might have thought wrongly, so she pretended to be enlightened and said, "Oh, there is a snail. The master said it is a spirit insect, which is very effective against poisonous insects."

Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he remembered it correctly, he would have to send someone to the Twelve Caves.

So he roughly told Ji Ruxue about Fengxiang, and then told her about the Empress being poisoned by Li Maozhen and unable to use her internal energy, saying: "On my way back, I thought that my spirit insects might be useful. Li Maozhen was born in the Twelve Caves, so ordinary witchcraft may not be useful to him."

Ji Ruxue said anxiously: "Then I will rush to Fengxiang now."

"There's no rush." ​​Xiao Yan said with a smile, "Qian Wu will have sorted out the clues in two days. You can take her to see the empress. Huanyinfang has suffered a lot of losses in this turmoil, and the Luohua Cave Girls have good abilities. If they can join Huanyinfang, the strength of your Qi country can be further improved. And the Luohua Cave Girls know some witchcraft, which is just right for you to teach them to the girls in Huanyinfang for use."

Ji Ruxue suddenly realized, and then felt a little embarrassed: "I thought you took Qian Wu in just for her beauty..."

Xiao Yan smiled casually, and then pretended to be fierce: "Okay, since I am such a lustful person in your heart, and you dare to sit on my lap, then I will have to do what you want!"

His hands were extremely naughty. Ji Ruxue giggled. After playing around for a while, she suddenly laid on Xiao Yan's shoulder and whispered, "The Empress is so pitiful..."

"Hmm?" Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows.

Ji Ruxue didn't look at Xiao Yan's expression, but just said softly: "When I was with the empress, I often saw her alone in the palace, thinking about something... Now that I think about it, it might be her brother."

"But that King Qi..." Ji Ruxue was silent for a while before continuing, "The empress has no relatives now. Although I am also separated from my parents, I still have you, but she has no one to accompany her..."

Xiao Yan listened inattentively. Of course, he did not tell Ji Ruxue what happened in the empress's boudoir at that time.

But after being silent for a moment, Ji Ruxue suddenly stood up, stared into Xiao Yan's eyes, and said seriously: "Why don't you marry the empress?"

"can."

Xiao Yan responded with a smile, and then was immediately stunned.

"Ok?"

------

Qi State, Weibei, Yanzhou.

The empress put on military uniform and armor, pressed the hilt of the Zixiao sword at her waist, walked in front of the map, staring at the direction on it and frowning slightly.

"King Qi."

Fanyintian walked into the big tent and said, "It will be difficult for us to agree to withdraw our troops."

"What do people from Shuofang say?" The empress said without even raising her head.

"The envoy has not returned yet..." Fanyintian hesitated and said, "But I don't understand. Our Qi country is not afraid of the two towns. Even if we want to negotiate peace, we don't have to be so anxious. Li Renfu and Han Xun are asking for such high prices. We..."

"It's okay to make a small profit right now."

The empress waved her hand and said calmly, "Your Highness's interests are the most urgent."

Her eyes wandered across the map and fell on the three words "Jin, Cizhou".

"Go down and pass the order. After the two towns withdraw their troops, the Baosai Army will continue to garrison Yanzhou. The Fengxiang, Baoda, and Yisheng armies will move eastward and arrive at Yanshui to put pressure on the Jin State..."

"No matter what, Qi will not retreat within ten days."

(End of this chapter)