Chapter 78: Strange Man
Seeing Xiao Cong's reaction, Li Jiancheng roughly guessed who it was, so he ignored him and continued the conversation. The person most likely to spread such rumors at the moment was, of course, Yang Yue, whose position as the Minister of Internal Affairs was snatched away by Xiao Cong.

But the Yang family has reached this point, and no one is willing to confront them, so they can only hold their breath.

Xiao Cong said: "Fortunately, you are here, otherwise this nursery rhyme would spread, Your Majesty..."

No one knows how Yang Guang will react, but no matter how you think about it, it will not be a good thing. Even if he doesn't react immediately, he will definitely cause some trouble in the future.

Xiao Cong expressed his gratitude to Li Jiancheng for discovering and suppressing the matter in time. This not only concerned his own official position, but the entire Xiao family would be greatly affected.

After a moment, Xiao Cong suddenly asked: "Jiancheng, what are your plans for the future? Do you want to stay in Beijing?"

"Naturally, I would seek to be released."

Xiao Cong was very satisfied with Li Jiancheng's choice. Anyone with a clear mind would know that he would not want to be sent to a remote place. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, let alone a hungry tiger.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you and try to find a good place."

After the discussion, Li Jiancheng stood up to say goodbye. Xiao Cong personally escorted him to the gate of the palace and told him, "Don't advise His Majesty."

"Jiancheng understands."

……

As soon as the Tongji Canal and the Hang Canal were opened, the emperor anxiously issued an edict that he would go to inspect Jiangdu and ordered the officials to speed up the preparations for dragon boats, phoenix ships, yellow dragons, red ships, and tower ships.

The court officials had become somewhat numb. No one advised or remonstrated. They just obediently arranged the relevant matters and put all their efforts into building the dragon boat which had been started last year.

Yang Guang was quite complacent and thought he had successfully intimidated his ministers, but he forgot that it was obviously abnormal that there was not even a little objection to such a major event.

With such obedience, the fleet the emperor needed was quickly prepared, including one dragon boat, one flying dragon boat, nine floating scenery boats, thirty-six rippling watercolor boats, fifty-two five-story boats, one hundred and twenty three-story boats, and two hundred and fifty two two-story boats...

The dragon boat is 45 feet high, 50 feet wide and 200 feet long, with four floors. The top floor is divided into the main hall, inner hall and east and west halls, and the two middle floors have a total of 120 rooms.

The hull was decorated with gold, silver, jewels, tassels, and feathers, and was magnificent throughout.

The emperor took his ministers on a tour, and recalling the simple life he used to live in, he rewarded the officials generously.

Then he eagerly led the harem, kings, princesses, officials, monks, nuns, Taoists, and foreign guests on the journey.

Boats were lined up for more than 200 miles, lights illuminated the rivers and land, cavalry escorted the two banks, and flags covered the fields.

Li Jiancheng was ordered to inform all states and counties along the way to prepare food, because not only the emperor, empress and officials needed food and drink, but also the soldiers who protected the emperor and the laborers who pulled the boats were the biggest customers.

This task was not difficult to accomplish. The imperial edict ordered all counties and cities within 500 miles to offer food. Li Jiancheng did not need to worry too much, as all counties and cities, whether rich or poor, had already prepared food, meat and wine.

And these are just the most basic things. Taking out food, meat and wine is just following the emperor's orders. How can it be seen that they are loyal to His Majesty?
If there is less, there must be more than a hundred carts of delicacies from land and sea as tribute. If there is more, there will be hundreds of carts. Some of them cannot be eaten at all and have to be thrown away on the roadside or in the river.

As a result, many poor people followed the dragon boat fleet from a distance, picking up some food along the way, but they were often driven away by the guards for fun. When Li Jiancheng saw this, he severely punished more than a dozen guards before they stopped.

"My dear, someone has asked you to recommend someone. Would you like to meet him?"

When the emperor went on a tour, in addition to the officials along the way, there were naturally many gentry and wealthy families who flattered him. Some presented pearls and treasures, some presented tigers, leopards, rhinos and elephants, some presented famous horses, and some presented their daughters.

At first the accompanying officials did not know whether they should introduce the emperor, but after trying once or twice and seeing that his majesty was very happy, they let him go.

"Who is he and what does he want to offer?" Shen Guang hesitated. "He is not a famous person, with no background, nor any rare treasures. He is just famous for his eloquence and wisdom. He made friends with some of Lang Jun's old friends, so he passed the message to me."

This sounded interesting, and Li Jiancheng became interested, so he asked someone to bring him over to meet him. After the conversation, he could only say that he was deeply impressed.

But he could not introduce such a person, so he passed the message to Yuan Shibin and successfully let him meet the emperor.

"I, Wang Yi, pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty."

Yang Guang saw that although he was short, his face was quite handsome, so he asked curiously: "You are neither a stunning beauty nor a priceless treasure, so what is the point of you daring to come to see me?"

Wang Yi raised his face and said with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty is as virtuous as Yao and Shun, and as wise as Yu and Tang. I am a distant citizen from Southern Chu, and I admire the saint's respectful and frugal teachings. I dare not compare myself to a beauty or a rare treasure. I can only express my loyalty and righteousness to show my submission as a Liao subject. I hope your grace will accept this."

The answer was quite interesting. Yang Guang had nothing to do so he deliberately asked a few difficult questions. Wang Yi answered very appropriately and even praised him everywhere.

The emperor then ordered a generous reward, but Wang Yi kowtowed and bled, saying, "I only hope to be able to obey the emperor's heart and stay by his side, which will be enough for my life."

"All my subordinates are loyal and righteous men, why should I leave you alone?"

"Loyalty and righteousness are the treasures of a country. A ruler always worries about not having enough of them. How can anyone be tired of having too much and abandon them?
Moreover, a gentleman should also admire the sincerity of a dog or a horse in love with his master. Although I am a distant and abandoned person, I am indeed a matter of morality. Your Majesty would be willing to abandon me alone?"

"Hahaha, great Wang Yi, then you can accompany me on my tour of Jiangdu."

"Thank you, my Lord, for your grace. Thank you, my Lord, for your grace. I will repay your grace with my life and soul!"

In the following days, the emperor always took Wang Yi with him except when he went to bed, which surprised the court officials.

Yuan Shibin was also rewarded handsomely for this. He found Li Jiancheng and said, "Thank you. I didn't expect this little thing to be so capable that it could make Your Majesty so happy."

"By the way, he also asked me to tell you that he will never forget your great kindness."

Li Jiancheng smiled and said, "There are many strange people in the market."

A leisurely move of chess, at a critical moment, can add one more person who can influence the emperor, which is a good thing no matter how you look at it.

I originally thought that I had nothing to do with Wang Yi for quite some time, but I didn't expect that he would come to me on his own.

"Mr. Li, I want to ask you for a favor."

Li Jiancheng didn't like this man's lack of tact, so he frowned and looked at him. Wang Yi knelt down and said, "It's not that I'm asking for more, but I don't know who else to look for except you."

"What's the matter? Tell me first."

"My dear, I want to enter the palace and serve His Majesty day and night."

"Cough cough!"

Li Jiancheng coughed a few times and asked in surprise: "What on earth do you want?"

"If you just want an official position, glory and wealth, you should serve His Majesty with peace of mind. I will help you think of a way after we return to the capital. You will achieve your wish. If you purify yourself, everything will be in vain."

...............

(End of this chapter)