"Alright, alright, you two have had quite a few drinks. You said you were here to comfort me, but we didn't say a word during the whole meal. I just watched you drinking heavily. Now go home."
Li Shimin was so angry when he saw his two dizzy generals. They were just like two drunkards. However, he himself was not much better. He had already drunk half a pound of wine.
"Go and fill this jar for me, and thank your majesty for the gift."
Cheng Yaojin happily kicked the jar next to him, which he had asked Wang De to get from the imperial kitchen just now.
"I, your Majesty, also thank you for your reward."
Yuchi Jingde's face turned red from drinking, and he looked more like a door god. Next to him was a jar about the same size as Cheng Yaojin.
What? You want to take the drink away?
Li Shimin was unhappy when he heard this. You two have been drinking here for a long time, and you want to take two jars with you before leaving. Look at the size of your jars. If I fill them all for you two, how can I drink anything?
"Get out of here! You want to take something for free after drinking it? Get them both out of here!"
Li Shimin slammed the table and the imperial guards came in from the door, but seeing the two drunk generals, they did not dare to step forward, otherwise they would be beaten by the drunks and would be the ones who suffered in the end.
"What a bunch of useless people! I'll give you two kilograms each..."
Li Shimin did not make things difficult for his guards, and he knew that it was not convenient for them to take action at the moment, so Li Shimin went over personally to distribute wine to them.
"Your Majesty, please pour more. That year when we fought Wang Shichong, it was bitterly cold late at night and there was only one pot of wine. I gave it all to you..."
When Yuchi Jingde saw Li Shimin, he knew he had made great progress and immediately reminded Li Shimin of his past achievements.
Li Shimin thought about it and it made sense. The battle that year was extremely difficult, and they had to rely on a sip of wine to keep warm at night. However, Yuchi Jingde didn't drink a single sip and finally gave it all to himself.
"I'm short on this, and I'm not very good either. When we were fighting for Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, your arm was injured, and it was Old Cheng who carried you for ten miles. The doctor at the time said that if we hadn't acted quickly, you would have sustained the injury. I have to give you more..."
"Get out of here! You just drank half a bowl more than me."
"Old Yuchi, you old bastard, you can't drink as much as I can. If you have the guts, go drink too."
"Who said I can't drink as much as you? I'm going to drink you to death today..."
At the beginning, what they said was the same, but later on, the meaning became more and more distorted. Seeing that the two were about to fight, Li Shimin could only ask the eunuchs to separate them. As a result, both eunuchs were beaten with black circles under their eyes.
After struggling for nearly half an hour, I finally got rid of the two evil spirits. Seeing that there was less than one third of the jar of wine left, I, the emperor, did not take as much as you two.
"Your Majesty, Duke of Lu..."
"No, no one will come to see me. I tell you, Wang De, you must take good care of this wine. If even a drop is missing, I will kill you."
It's already this late, there must be no national affairs. Even if there are, Li Shimin would not be able to handle official business after drinking so much today. They must have heard the news and came here to ask for wine.
It was just as Li Shimin thought. A lot of people came to the gate of the palace. Everyone was curious and didn't want to fall behind.
We are all meritorious officials who rose to power with Li Shimin, and we have all been granted the title of Duke. Good things should be shared by everyone. Why should Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Jingde only take half a jar and go back, while the rest of us have nothing? If we hadn't come, people in the world might have thought we had fallen out of favor. It's not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality.
Under such circumstances, Li Xiang's liquor had not yet started to be sold, but it had already become famous in Chang'an City. A group of dukes surrounded His Majesty and asked for wine. This had not happened in hundreds of years.
The news spread very quickly. By the time it got dark, the entire Chang'an City knew the news.
Hongyuan Hall of the Eastern Palace
"Your Highness, this is the news we have gathered..."
The man standing in front of Li Xiang was a guy with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks. Li Xiang named him Shu Yi. He was a scout among the three thousand Snow Dragon Riders. In addition to him, there were more than two hundred brothers who had scattered throughout Chang'an City. Their task was to collect all the information in Chang'an City for Li Xiang.
"Well done. Don't infiltrate too quickly. Everything needs to be done steadily. Don't let anyone find out."
Li Xiang knew that these people had just arrived. Although the people given by the system had strong abilities, the major families in Chang'an City were not pushovers either. If you wanted to know all their news, it would take some time. As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake. Everything had to be infiltrated slowly, and you must never act too hastily.
"I understand."
"Take this money with you, and don't be afraid to spend it when you're looking for information."
Li Xiang pointed to two boxes beside him, which contained two boxes of money, a total of 500 strings of cash.
When it comes to collecting intelligence, Li Xiang knows one thing very well: if you are not willing to spend money, you will not have any intelligence.
So on the way back, Li Xiang exchanged Li Tai's bird jade pendant for three thousand strings of cash. Anyway, your things have been lost to me, and I don't plan to let it see the light of day again in the future. As long as it is not found in other pawnshops, who will know that I sold it?
"I'll take my leave..."
Just as Shu Yi was about to leave, a subordinate named Shu Sanshiliu came in from outside with his back bent.
They also have a strict hierarchy. After collecting information, everyone will hand it over to their respective leaders. Unless they encounter the most urgent matters, they will not directly inform Shuyi.
King of Han Li Yuanchang?
When Li Xiang assigned them tasks, he emphasized to them that if this person wanted to come to the Eastern Palace, they must report immediately.
At this moment, King Han Li Yuanchang had already set out from his residence, and his destination was the Eastern Palace.
Li Xiang waved his hand and asked Shu Yi and his men to retreat.
Li Yuanchang was no simple man. He was Li Shimin's half-brother. After Li Yuan became the emperor, he would give birth to children every day when he had nothing to do. At one time, he gave Li Shimin a lot of brothers and sisters.
Li Yuanchang is one of them. Of course, this is not important. The most important thing is that he is a key member of Li Chengqian's rebel group.
Li Shimin had long been dissatisfied with this guy. After all, a half-brother might be a natural enemy. However, due to the opinions of people all over the world, Li Shimin still made him the King of Han. He thought this guy would be grateful, but who knew that he was still planning to fight against the court. Could Li Shimin still tolerate him?