Chapter 87 Guests and Friends
After paying the betrothal gift, it was time to ask for a date. However, Li Jiancheng was busy entertaining a distant guest, Shan Xiongxin, a native of Jiyin County, Caozhou.

In the upper floor of Canxia Tower, Li Jiancheng personally cut a piece of lamb rib and presented it to Shan Xiongxin. Shan Xiongxin stood up and took it, somewhat at a loss: "My lord, you are too polite. How can I, a nobody, deserve such courtesy from you?"

This is the eldest son of Duke Tang, a noble relative of Wuchuan, and a Silver and Green Guanglu Doctor of the Imperial Clan of the Crown Prince's Guard. Not to mention that he is just an ordinary commoner, even if the prefect or governor of the prefecture came, he would not deserve such courtesy from Lord Li.

Shan Xiongxin was a man of sturdy build and ruddy complexion, and he looked like a brave man at first glance. And indeed he was. With a horse and a lance, he could charge straight at a hundred people, killing them so badly that their flesh and blood flew everywhere and they fled in panic.

Li Jiancheng said with a smile: "Brother Shan was so generous as to save my two best friends from the bandits' war and save their lives. This is a great favor to me. How can I not treat them with all my heart?"

It was a coincidence that Shan Xiongxin had not originally planned to come to the capital, but he happened to encounter bandits blocking the road on the way. The bandits who were robbed looked like dignitaries, so he used his spear to help them out.

There were only a hundred or so rabble, but he rode forward and stabbed and killed a dozen or twenty of them with ease. The rest fled in all directions howling like ghosts and wolves. He wanted to make good friends with them and, if all went well, find a job, so he agreed to escort them back to the capital.

As a result, as soon as he arrived in Beijing, he was brought here and treated warmly. When he asked, he found out who the young man in the lead was, and he became a little nervous.

Chen Ben on the side also advised: "Don't be polite, benefactor. Li Dalang has always been like this. After hearing about this, he must personally entertain us and thank us on our behalf."

After persuading Shan Xiongxin, Chen Ben said to Li Jiancheng:

"We heard you were getting married, so we hurried here. We have walked that road many times before, and it was always peaceful, so we didn't bring many guards. We didn't know when a group of bandits gathered here. We must bring more guards with us next time we travel."

Millions of civilians were conscripted, and tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands died. Of course, some people who were unwilling to perform labor service ran away to occupy the mountains and rivers and become lawless.

Just last month, the emperor issued an edict to mobilize more than one million troops north of the Yellow River to dig the Yongji Canal, divert the Qin River south to the Yellow River and north to Zhuo County. Since there were not enough men, women were used as labor service.

Digging canals and rivers is hard work that even strong men cannot endure, so how could women do it? This shows the emperor's impatience.

Moreover, the emperor was planning to build a temporary palace, Fenyang Palace, just north of Fenzhou, at the source of the Fen River, but he didn't know how many laborers he would have to conscript.

Li Jiancheng thought for a moment and put the matter aside for the time being. The emperor had never been defeated, so no one dared to challenge his authority, and his will would continue to be carried out.

In the next few days, he took Shan Xiongxin with him wherever he went, and let this hero who came from a small landlord family in Shandong see what true wealth and power were.

Especially as Li Jiancheng's wedding was approaching, many friends came to the capital from all over the world, even from the Western Regions and Turks.

Later on, Li Jiancheng became a little scared and did not dare to gather so many people at once. They could only disperse in the major taverns in the two cities. He even set up a buffet early. No matter who they were, even a beggar, they could sit down and eat and drink.

Such huge expenditure almost emptied the treasury of the Duke of Tang's Mansion, forcing Li Yuan and Dou to ask for loans from their in-laws.

People in the capital envied Li Jiancheng's wide circle of friends, but at the same time laughed at him for pretending to be rich. They really didn't know what he would use to marry a wife and hold a banquet on the day of his wedding.

Many friends advised Li Jiancheng not to do so, as they had enough money to witness his wedding and return, but Li Jiancheng did not allow them to spend money. When Li Yuan began to sell some of his heirlooms and Li Jiancheng came to ask to borrow money from the Prince of Qi's mansion, he finally learned from Wang Yi that the emperor's eyes had moved away from him.

Li Jiancheng breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't expect so many people to come, even though he didn't specifically notify them.

Yu Wenzhi led his men to stop Li Jiancheng. He was now the General of Youtunwei, a third-rank official, responsible for assisting the general in general affairs and leading the Yingyang Mansion.

This official position of real power is not comparable to Li Jiancheng's unofficial title of Yinqing Guanglu Dafu, which shows that Yuwen is the real confidant in the eyes of the emperor.

"Jiancheng, why don't you come to me if you have no money? I've been waiting for you for several days. I can only send it to you myself. Please don't be polite."

Yu Wenzhi smiled and waved his hand. The servants behind him opened the money bag on their backs and dumped it directly onto the street. After it was poured into a small pile, it was kicked away and scattered. Copper coins flew all over the street, attracting the surrounding people to stop and look. However, after recognizing Yu Wenzhi, no one dared to reach out to pick them up.

Yu Wenzhi laughed extremely wildly. Although his official position had always been higher than Li Jiancheng, everyone knew that the emperor would never entrust any important tasks to Li Jiancheng and would never entrust them to Yu Wenzhi.

Li Shimin, who was already nine years old, blushed. He was at the age where he had to save face. He kicked away the copper coin that rolled to his feet and said, "Who wants yours..."

Li Jiancheng stopped his brother from speaking, bent down to pick up a few copper coins, and squatted on the ground and said, "Brother Yuwen, why did you only bring so little? It's not enough for my daily expenses."

Li Xiaogong and Shen Guang silently squatted down and began to pick up the copper coins. The other servants opened their bags and started to pack them up. Seeing this, Shan Xiongxin hesitated for a moment and then started to do the same.

Yu Wenzhi pointed at Li Jiancheng and laughed until he could hardly breathe: "You don't think I'm really here to help you, do you? Haha, kid, get those freeloaders out of the capital as soon as possible, otherwise your father will sell the Duke's Mansion."

Li Jiancheng stood up and said with a smile: "It's just a few personal belongings. You have come here with great difficulty and through great distances. Even if you have to sell your property, I will treat you well."

Soon, those who heard the news rushed over. They were all angry when they saw the situation, but they suppressed their anger and followed the servants of the Li family to pick up the copper coins, which they soon packed up.

Li Jiancheng bowed to Yu Wenzhi and said, "Thank you very much."

Then he asked his servant to hand the purse to his friend who had come running over: "I heard that you didn't drink any wine last night. How can this be? Quickly add more wine and meat!"

The leader was a descendant of the Hedong Xue family. He asked the people behind him to take over and said with a smile: "Then we won't be polite, but this is only enough for us to drink for one day."

"Haha, OK, I'll send more money over tonight."

Xue Ping said to the people behind him: "Go, go, go, we won't stop until we are drunk!"

Yu Wenzhi felt embarrassed that his expectations were not met, and he did not expect that Li Jiancheng would actually accept the money. He could not help but feel a little regretful, but he was too embarrassed to ask him to pay the money back at this time, so he could only humiliate him with a few words.
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(End of this chapter)