Chapter 302 Li You and Li Zhi Arrive at Shanghai Prefecture
Duke Zhao’s Mansion.

Chang Sun Wuji sipped his tea and said with a somewhat gloomy look: “The situation in the court has become increasingly delicate.”

“The Shandong noble families are running around, and the Jiangnan nobles are also a cause for concern.”

“The court officials are increasingly dissatisfied with the tax commissioner…”

As he was talking, he saw his uncle sitting opposite him, sipping tea slowly and elegantly, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Uncle, don’t you care at all?”

Gao Shilian laughed and said, “Look, you are anxious again.”

“You are already the Right Prime Minister of the Shangshu Province, why are you still so unstable?”

“Why are you in such a hurry? Some people are more anxious.”

Changsun Wuji laughed dumbly, “My uncle is a healthy person and a teaching scholar in the Hanlin Academy.”

“I’ve become more calm and indifferent about everything.”

Gao Shilian scolded, “Are you teasing me or mocking me?”

“Nothing big or small.”

Changsun Wuji said respectfully: “How dare I? My uncle now has many students and officials. Even ministers with surnames like Cui and Lu are his students.”

“When Cui Dunli and Lu Chengqing see their uncle, they respectfully call him teacher.”

Gao Shilian sneered, “I don’t recognize these two students.”

“If Cui Dunli takes the position of Secretary of the General Information Department, his career will not last long.”

“What do we need students like this for?”

“Does it bring shame upon yourself?”

Chang Sun Wuji was very confused and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You see he is so prosperous, and he has opened up a lot of doors for the Shandong family’s newspapers.”

Gao Shilian said calmly: “But I don’t know that this is where the disaster is buried.”

“A Li Yifu was framed and reported.”

Zhang Sun Wuji said: “Li Yifu’s statement should be true…”

“Whether it’s true or not, he missed the chance to be promoted to the third rank, and he will put the blame on the Shandong family.” Gao Shilian said, “Another one.”

“Xu Jingzong!”

“Cui Dunli allowed the Chang’an newspapers to criticize and ridicule him.”

“After this fight is decided, do you think Xu Jingzong will let Cui Dunli off easily?”

Gao Shilian sighed, “If Cui Dunli offended one person, his fate wouldn’t be too tragic, but if he offended two, you can see how he would die.”

“Uncle, are you so sure that Xu Jingzong is safe? Can the Commissioner of Taxation investigate all the noble families in the world?” Changsun Wuji asked in surprise.

What Gao Shilian said just now was no less than telling him the final result.

If not for this, how would Xu Jingzong have had the chance to take revenge?
“affim?”

Gao Shilian laughed and said, “When the Crown Prince told me the Twenty-One Plan, I understood that under this trend, any resistance would be a desperate struggle.”

“Do you still remember that His Majesty frequently inspected the army in the capital and summoned officers from all over the country?”

Chang Sun Wuji nodded and said, “Remember.”

“The morale and prestige of the army all depend on your Majesty.” Gao Shilian said, “Tell me, in this situation, how can we resist the imperial decree and stop it from being implemented?”

“Just relying on those despicable means?”

“Or should we all band together and force His Majesty with all our might?”

Chang Sun Wuji thought: “Not necessarily, they dare not do so.”

“The only threat is to resign, shut down government, and bring state affairs to a standstill.”

“That’s not possible.” Changsun Wuji said, shaking his head, “We will establish and improve the imperial examination system, and this trick will be useless to them.”

He twirled his beard, lost in thought, and was unravelling the mystery bit by bit.

When he is with his uncle, he can always hear and see analyses and interpretations from different perspectives.

“hehe.”

“Now you know.”

Gao Shilian laughed cheerfully and said, “Your Majesty and Gao Ming have thought of all the possibilities and have made preparations.”

“We dare not resign from our posts, let alone cause chaos and rebellion.”

“Do you think that under such circumstances, can the tax bureau’s investigation continue?”

“As long as Xu Jingzong is not defeated, we can clear it up bit by bit with a blunt knife.”

“Can they defeat Xu Jingzong?”

“Is there any way to make His Majesty change his mind?”

Chang Sun Wuji shook his head frantically, “Then what’s the point of them still plotting resistance?”

“Isn’t this all in vain?”

“Can’t they see?”

He continued to analyze according to Gao Shilian’s words, and seemed to see that the Commissioner of Taxation would not stand still and would eventually be thoroughly investigated.

The two palaces do not have a clear attitude of support, but they also do not have a clear attitude of opposition.

The Commissioner of Taxation was subject to criticism and accusations, but the two palaces did not react.

It was entirely the Commissioner of Taxation who was resisting the pressure, and it was Xu Jingzong who gave the orders to execute.

But this just shows the tacit attitude of the two palaces.

“So what if I can see it clearly? So what if I can’t see it clearly?”

Gao Shilian asked: “Do you want to remind them not to go against the general trend, or do you want them to overestimate their own abilities and not try to oppose the court?”

Zhang Sun Wuji almost laughed out loud, “Uncle, what you said is so interesting.”

“Am I so unbearable in your eyes?”

Gao Shilian glanced at him and said, “You know it yourself.”

“Without this status of in-law, there is no Gao Ming who cares about family affection.”

“In the 14th year of Zhenguan, you should have disappeared. How could you still be here today?”

Changsun Wuji was very embarrassed.

How could he know that his nephew would suddenly explode and rule the world?

“Don’t pay attention to what those people do, and don’t get involved.”

Gao Shilian took a sip of tea and said, “We know what the result will be, but we are still dissatisfied and we have to express it.”

“If they don’t do it, should we do it?”

“Let them speak for us…”

Hearing this, Changsun Wuji raised his thumb and praised, “Uncle is great.”

“If they can get His Majesty and Gao Ming to change their minds, we can also enjoy the results.”

“If we can’t change it, then the subsequent settlement and revenge will have nothing to do with us.”

“We can take the benefits, but we won’t get involved in any trouble.”

Gao Shilian smiled and said, “That’s good to know.” “When the time comes, if they pass away, we may be able to help them deal with their aftermath.”

What’s going on?
That is their legacy.

……

The hustle and bustle of Chang’an shows no sign of stopping.

Instead, due to different arguments, newspapers on both sides fought each other, with one side accusing and criticizing Xu Jingzong and Gu Yuan, while the other side defending the two.

It can be said that the argument was heated.

But this also allowed the people of Chang’an to eat enough big melons. They had big melons to eat every day, how happy they were.

After Xu Jingzong, Gu Yuan also became a celebrity.

The reputations of the two are mixed.

Some say it’s good, some say it’s not.

People’s perception of them is also ambiguous.

But no matter what, the tax commissioner did not stop at all.

The investigation work in Jiangnan is going more and more smoothly.

It took Gu Yuan nearly two months to finally complete the inventory of the Gu family’s fields and population.

It is said that after the investigation was completed, Gu knelt in the ancestral hall for two days.

No one knows what the purpose of this kneeling is.

“Gu Yuan almost met with an accident?”

Li Jue was very surprised, “You’re using this method?”

Pei Yan stood aside, looking at the prosperous port, and said: “If they don’t think of a solution, Gu Yuan will start a cleanup of other families.”

“Once the report of this year’s grand court meeting is submitted.”

“The major families concealed such a large population and such a large farmland.”

“Your Majesty, what would the Crown Prince think if he saw this? What would the officials in the court think if they saw this?”

Li Jue frowned and said, “Aunt and Aye will definitely be angry.”

“The officials in the court who opposed it had nothing to say.”

Pei Yan nodded and said, “That’s right.”

“When the facts are laid out, it will be proven that what the tax commissioner did was correct.”

“That’s scary.”

Li Jue laughed and said, “No wonder they used this method.”

“However, I don’t think there will be much reporting on this year’s grand court meeting.”

Pei Yan was surprised and asked, “Why?”

“How much has the tax department checked this year?” Li Jue said, “There aren’t many small fish and shrimp reported.”

“A Gu family has been investigating for two months, how shocking can it be?”

“I think the tax commissioner will not report it for now and wait until next year.”

Pei Yan thought for a moment and suddenly laughed, “Your Highness is still clear-headed.”

“I am not up to the task.”

Someone came running over and said, “Your Highness, the Qi King’s fleet is about to stop us.”

“I saw it. It was such a large fleet.”

A fleet slowly approached the port.

A huge flagship, flying the Tang Dynasty’s sun, moon and dragon flag, came riding on the wind and waves.

The port berthing position has long been in place.

The flagship came to a stop and climbed a ladder.

Li Jue stood below, looking forward to it. When he saw a figure appear at the disembarkation area, he waved his hand happily.

“Uncle Qi!”

“Uncle Qi, I’m here.”

Li Jue is about to return to the court, and there is no need to hide his identity.

This also meant that his study tour in Shanghai Prefecture had come to an end.

Li Jingxuan stood respectfully aside. The identity of this master was only revealed in recent days.

It is in Shanghai Prefecture after all.

“Hahaha!”

Li You got off the boat, looking up and laughing, “My dear nephew.”

“I didn’t expect you to come and pick up your uncle in person.”

“Okay, okay, good, good.”

“Uncle is happy.”

“Ah, don’t be so reckless…”

Li Jue pounced forward and almost made Li You fall.

“You’ve become so strong now. Dalang surprised me. You also surprised me.”

“Uncle Qi Wang, from what you said, you saw my brother?”

“I saw it, and I brought it to you.”

Li You turned around and shouted, “Zhi Nu, Da Lang, why are you still hiding?”

“You’ve been talking about Erlang all the way, why don’t you come out now that you see him?”

Li Zhi and Li Xiang appeared, and Li Zhi said dissatisfiedly: “Fifth brother, we agreed to give Erlang a surprise.”

“what……!”

Seeing that the two men were like crazy, Li Jue ran up and pounced on Li Xiang, clamping his legs around his waist.

Fortunately, Li Xiang was strong enough to catch it.

Li You subconsciously touched his waist. If it were him, he would probably make a fool of himself.

“How come my brother’s two children are so strong, as strong as bulls.” He couldn’t help but complain in his heart.

Li Jue shouted:

“Big brother!”

“You guys came along too, how come I didn’t know about this before?”

Li Zhi coughed and said, “Erlang, don’t you see there is someone else?”

“Haha, Uncle Jin.”

Li Jue’s movement scared Li Zhi so much that he quickly retreated. If he had pounced on him, his life would have been in danger.

(End of this chapter)