The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 25 Escape intact
Looking at the admiring look in the eyes of the Tenth Prince, Kangxi was shocked. He knew that at this moment, unlike the other princes who saw him as a subject facing the emperor, the Tenth Prince regarded him as his father. At this moment, Kangxi felt a long-lost father-son affection that kept surging in his heart and spread between the two of them!
Kangxi bent down and picked up the red hat in front of him, and put it heavily on Li Yan's head. The sound shook the roof tiles, and he said loudly and heroically: "This prince's hat must be firmly placed on your head. I want to see who dares to ask me for an explanation."

"But Your Majesty, I am indeed the one who did it," Li Yan argued hurriedly.

Kangxi looked at the child in front of him with infinite joy. He was pleased with him no matter how he looked at him. He resolutely interrupted Li Yan and said, "You haven't eaten yet since you returned to Beijing!"

"Your Majesty, accompanied by Tulichen and the others, the Tenth Master came here exhausted and didn't even have time to drink a sip of water. Tulichen and the others were exhausted and went to rest. The Tenth Master must be hungry and sleepy now!"

Before Li Yan could speak, Li Dequan interrupted at the right time.

Kangxi frowned and scolded, "What are you waiting for? Ask the imperial kitchen to prepare some food. I want to have dinner with the Tenth Master. Go quickly."

"嗻"

Li Dequan responded and trotted out the door.

While running, I was thinking, the Tenth Prince is safe now. Yesterday, the ministers were clamoring to punish the Tenth Prince. Seeing the situation today, I feel really worried for those people.

In the imperial study!

Kangxi happily grabbed Li Yan and said, "Come, Old Ten, sit here and tell me what you have seen and heard along the way."

Seeing that Kangxi was in a good mood, Li Yan said tentatively, "Father, Longkodo did everything under my instruction. He was diligent in raising funds for disaster relief. And Nian Gengyao recovered the stolen 500,000 taels of disaster relief funds and caught the thief. Both of them have made contributions. I hope that Father will commend them and not ignore their contributions because of my fault."

"Well, praise, I want to praise you greatly!"

"Xiao Duozi and Nian Gengyao have both made contributions. I will not forget those who sincerely work for the court. Don't worry about that!"

Kangxi was very satisfied when he saw that Li Yan was not asking for help for himself but for the merits of others. He smiled and said, "You have made the greatest contribution to the disaster relief this time, so why don't you want me to reward you?"

Li Yan's old face turned red, and he said awkwardly: "The Emperor has already awarded me the title of a prince! I shouldn't have any more extravagant demands, but I fell in love with a girl from the south of the Yangtze River in Hangzhou, and I want to take her as my concubine. I hope the Emperor will approve it!"

"Hahaha"

Seeing Li Yan act like his youngest son, Emperor Kangxi was delighted: "Is she Nian Qiuyue, the sister of Nian Gengyao?"

Li Yan nodded nervously!
It seems that the emperor is really well-informed. Even though I am thousands of miles away, I cannot hide my every move from him. Fortunately, I never expected others to not see what I did.

"You provided relief to the victims, comforted the local people, and donated one million taels of silver. These are all meritorious deeds!"

"Okay, I'm sure!"

"I'll let Li Dequan notify the clan office and register them later." Kangxi laughed happily!

At noon, Li Yan and Kangxi had lunch together. The two chatted while eating, with Li Yan mainly talking and Kangxi listening. When they first talked about the scenery of Jiangnan, Li Yan introduced it with great interest.

As he spoke, Li Yan's face became serious, and he said in a heavy tone: "Father, I have only known since I arrived at the place that the rich have vast lands without boundaries, while the poor have almost no place to live; the rich have mountains of grain in their homes and countless treasures in their warehouses, while the poor have no food to eat and have to sell their children for clothes."

"The wealthy gentry took advantage of the famine to buy land, and the small families, who had too many people and too little land, could not afford the tax, so they were willing to sell their land at a low price and become their tenants. As a result, land was annexed every year, the gap between the rich and the poor became increasingly uneven, and the country's tax revenue was also reduced every year. Just this alone was enough to worry the court!"

If the fourth and thirteenth brothers were here, they would probably cry to death in the toilet.

'What he said were all my words!'

Li Yan would also reply calmly, "This thing belongs to whoever says it."

When Kangxi heard this, the light in his eyes flashed away. The Tenth Prince had given him many surprises. If before he was just being filial as a son, now he had the foresight to see the long-term future and major policies of the country.

He nodded in appreciation: "You can see this clue, which shows that you are willing to put in some thought. I am also aware of these things. I have wanted to measure the land in the country and collect taxes based on the land to buffer the situation. However, the figures reported to the higher authorities are all false."

"Don't worry about these things. After dinner, go back and have a good rest. Tomorrow morning, come to court and participate in the meeting!"

"Yes, Father!" Li Yan happily agreed. All his wishes were fulfilled, and he became closer to Emperor Kangxi, and was respected. Now, he was allowed to participate in the court meetings, which was completely different from the previous time when he just listened in and made up the numbers. This was a rhythm to keep himself company.

On the way out of the palace, Li Yan was still summarizing his thoughts. It seems that an actor's skills are very important. To accomplish something, it is not enough to have a good starting point. You also need to be able to operate well. When things are done, you can also make the other party feel comfortable and get the highest satisfaction.

If you are like Tian Wenjing, stubborn and make yourself the enemy everywhere, it won't work.
Thinking of Tian Wenjing, Li Yan secretly shook his head. Tian Wenjing could be considered a good official, but not a capable one. Although he had good intentions and was dedicated to the people, he never embezzled. However, because he did not know how to take care of others and was not good at human relations, he was kicked out of the bureaucracy and stayed at home, unable to do anything.

If he hadn't met me, his fate would have been extremely rough and he would have been used as a tool by others.

By the way, there is also Sun Jiagan who will appear later. He also has a bad temper. He thinks he is wholeheartedly serving the people, so he doesn’t take his colleagues around him seriously. In the end, even the fourth brother couldn’t stand it anymore and was sent to serve in the Northwest Army. He was killed by Nian Gengyao with a single knife!

These people are stubborn and don't know how to adapt.

Unlike me, I get both the person and the money!
This time when he went to the south of the Yangtze River, apart from the tens of millions of taels he earned secretly from doing side jobs at night, even if he collected money openly, he still had one million taels. This involved so many people, unless everyone was gathered together and the accounts were settled bit by bit, who would know how much money he had made? He gave Kangxi one million, and the rest was washed clean!
Moreover, he gained great satisfaction from the emperor. Now he was not only filial but also meritorious. He also kept some money in private and married a beautiful woman!

With Kangxi protecting me, I am as stable as a rock!
As soon as he left the palace, he saw Longkodo walking around with an uneasy look on his face. When he saw Li Yan coming out, he hurried forward and asked, "Oh, my Tenth Master, why have you been in the palace for so long? I thought you..."

"You thought I was taken care of by the Emperor, didn't you?"

Li Yan looked at Longkodo unhappily, what bad luck.

I don't know how to look forward to seeing you.
Longkodo said in a careful and flattering tone, "How can that be possible? I am worried about you! Master Shi, what does the Emperor say?"

"What else can I say? The Emperor asked me to have dinner with him and chatted with him for more than an hour. He comforted me and told me not to worry. He will protect me from those groundless attacks."

"Only let me out after you've eaten and drunk enough!"

"And the crown of a prince on my head. The emperor told me to wear it well and see who dares to take it off!" Li Yan showed off proudly and reached out to support the crown.

Longkodo was overjoyed and flattered him: "I told you, who are you? You are the wise and powerful Tenth Prince, the Prince of a County, and even the Emperor dotes on you. I am such a petty-minded servant, I have worried about you for nothing!"

"I think you're worried about yourself!"

Li Yan was riding on his horse and talking at the same time. He said that he couldn't wait to go to Jiangnan when he first arrived, and had not taken a good look at the scenery of the Forbidden City.

The Beijing city more than two hundred years ago didn’t seem as majestic as I had imagined, and it was also different from what was shown on TV!

It looks not as prosperous as Linjiang City in later generations.

Longkodo was determined to follow Li Yan now, so he treated Li Yan's teasing as a special treatment for his own people. Not only was he not squeezed, but he also said happily: "Master Shi, this is only you. If it were someone else, let alone eating, it would be good enough if they didn't get a beating!"

"Xiao Duozi, I have told the emperor about your contributions, and the emperor said he would reward you greatly!"

"You kid, just wait to go to the court tomorrow to receive the imperial edict and express gratitude!" Li Yan looked at Longkodo with an expression that said, 'Follow me, I won't treat you unfairly, and now you can eat a big piece of meat!'

When Longkodo heard the good news, he was overjoyed. He didn't care that he was on the street, and quickly slid off his horse and fell to the ground. "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace, and thank you, Master Shi for your support! I will never be grateful for Master Shi's kindness!"

"Come on, don't you see where you are? There are people coming and going!" Li Yan frowned and looked around.

Longkodo got back on his horse without caring, and followed Li Yan, saying, "So what if we're on the street? Everyone knows that I'm following you, Master Shi. I just want to tell others that Xiao Duozi has chosen you, Master Shi!"

Li Yan did not expect that although Longkodo looked stupid, he was so scheming. As expected, he was later valued by Kangxi and entrusted with important tasks. He even became the chief minister during the Yongzheng period and was on par with the Eighth Elder. You know, the Eighth Elder was the Prime Minister!

I helped him when he was at his lowest point, and I have temporarily pulled him onto my boat. As long as I keep a close eye on him, nothing serious will happen!
"Tenth Master, I heard that some time ago, the Fourth Master took on the task of recovering the debt owed to the national treasury, which caused chaos in the capital, and even Master Wei Dongting was forced to..."

"In the end, I offended a lot of people and only recovered less than three layers of debt. I was punished by the emperor and now I am confined to reflect on my mistakes!" Longkodo was still frightened when he talked about the major events in the capital. If he had not followed the tenth master to the south, but stayed in the capital, he would probably be chased to the point where he would have no way out!
I can never compare to Wei Dongting. Even he committed suicide because he had no other choice. It shows how cruel the situation was at that time.

(End of this chapter)