Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5095 Arriving in Luoyang
Li Tai shook his head repeatedly: "It's not that I don't remember our old friendship and I don't want to help you speak for me, but this matter not only involves the Shandong family, but also the Fang family. I really can't help."

Back then in the Taiji Palace, he and Li Ke accompanied the prince and accepted Yu Zhining's teachings, so when Yu Zhining wrote a letter asking him to help plead with Madam Wu, he did not refuse, thinking that given his friendship with Fang Jun, Madam Wu would at least give him some face.

But how could he know that it would be such a thing?

No matter how good the relationship is, one cannot rashly interfere in other people's conflicts of interest. Moreover, although Yu Baoning's words were vague and not entirely true, he could guess the truth of the matter. If he really just raised the price of slaves and forced the sale, how could Madam Wu not give in?
It was probably because Yu Baoning, while forcing the mines to raise prices and force sales, also used the name of the Fang family to force the mines to pay high prices to buy slaves. As a result, Yu Baoning was greedy and oppressed them again and again, causing the mines to suffer so much that they had to file a lawsuit in front of Madam Wu...

Seeing Li Tai trying to shirk his responsibility, Yu Baoning hurriedly said, "Your Highness is the only one who can save me right now. For the sake of my brother, you must help me!"

Li Tai sighed and said, "It's not that I won't help, but you've already done something so extreme, how can I help? And this matter is not just about Madam Wu, there is also an important person, Jin Renwen... Don't you know who Jin Renwen is?"

Yu Baoning was panic-stricken and didn't know what to say.

How could he not know who Jin Ren was asking?

The royal family of Silla, a queen aunt and a princess aunt, are both in Chang'an, and are affiliated with the Tang Dynasty. The princess aunt married Fang Jun as a concubine, and the love affair between the queen aunt and Fang Jun has long been spread...

As the only talented male in the Silla royal family, one can imagine how important Jin Renwen is in the hearts of the Jin sisters. With their protection, Jin Renwen can almost walk around Chang'an City as he pleases.

In a sense, even if you want to provoke the royal family, you can't provoke Jin Renwen, because the royal family has some scruples and dare not be too ostentatious, but Fang Jun has no scruples? As long as the Jin sisters sob twice by Fang Jun's pillow and complain, whoever provokes Jin Renwen will be in trouble...

A eunuch walked in quickly from outside, glanced at Yu Baoning, and seemed to want to say something but stopped himself.

Li Tai waved his hand and said, "We are not strangers. You can speak frankly if you have anything to say. Don't worry."

Yu Baoning felt warm in his heart. It seemed that His Highness was still very close to the Yu family in Luoyang. If he begged again and promised a big profit, there might be a chance for this matter...

The eunuch then said, "Your Highness, there is news that the Duke of Yue has just entered Luoyang City by boat, and the navy captain Li Jinxing is leading the warships to escort him."

With a soft "dang" sound, Yu Baoning, who was indeed thirsty, was just holding up the teacup to drink water. Upon hearing this, he suddenly panicked and dropped the teacup to the ground.

Li Tai waved his hand and dismissed the eunuch. Seeing Yu Baoning's panic, he said helplessly, "Even if I am willing to intervene this time, it will be useless. You are forcing the sale under the name of the Fang family. Fang Jun may be able to forgive you for my sake, but you have angered Madam Wu. Fang Jun will not give face to anyone. The Yu family must pay the price."

"This, this, this, what should I do?"

Yu Baoning was so frightened that his face turned pale. He was just secretly selling slaves to the mine at a high price under the banner of the Fang family, so how come Fang Jun was also involved?
The Grand Marshal, Duke of Yue, the most powerful official of the dynasty, actually traveled all the way from Chang'an to Luoyang to support his concubine just because she was angry?
As for what? !

Li Tai was speechless. You are actually afraid of Fang Jun as a tiger. How dare you be obsessed with money and do such a stupid thing?
Now that the matter has come and you are afraid, what were you doing before?
But since we have Yu Zhining's face, we can't just leave it alone.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Don't say that I don't care about our friendship and stand by and watch. You now have two choices. The first is that I will personally accompany you to Cihuifang, and you will plead guilty in front of Madam Wu and accept her punishment. You should agree to whatever conditions she proposes. The second is to leave the city immediately and rush to Chang'an to seek refuge at the Duke of Yan's mansion overnight, and ask the Duke of Yan to ask for a favor from His Majesty so that His Majesty can handle this matter... But no matter which way you choose, you must be sincere."

What is "sincerity"?
Of course it is money, land, and business.

In Li Tai's opinion, even if Yu Baoning could escape this time, he would have to pay a huge price.

After all, you are talking about "sincerity" in front of the richest man in the Tang Dynasty. If this "sincerity" is not enough, how can it catch other people's eyes?

Yu Baoning naturally understood what Li Tai meant, but that was the problem. How "sincerity" would it take to make Fang Jun interested and not pursue the matter of him using the Fang family's name?
Roughly speaking, at least 50,000 guan is enough to start...

Fearing Fang Jun's revenge and feeling bad about the huge compensation, Yu Baoning's face was distorted, his heart was conflicted, and he was hesitant.

Li Tai saw this and wondered, "Has your Yu family reached a point where their income is not enough to cover their expenses? Your involvement in the slave trade has already torn apart the family's bottom line. If this gets out, people will definitely criticize you. Now that disaster is looming, you are not even willing to show a little bit of 'sincerity'. Are you really at the end of your rope?"

Yu Baoning smiled bitterly and said dejectedly, "Let's do as Your Highness says. Please ask Your Highness to arrange a meeting with Duke Yue on my behalf. If the 'sincerity' proposed by Duke Yue is within my acceptable range, I am willing to compensate him and apologize."

Li Tai frowned, feeling dissatisfied.

He could see that Yu Baoning was still unwilling to give up and would rather sacrifice his life than his wealth...

He didn't want to care about it, but when he thought of Yu Zhining's letter, he could only sigh and knew he had to give him this favor.

……

Fang Jun was wearing a round-necked casual suit, a fu hat on his head, a jade pendant on his waist, and an upright posture. He stood on the bow of the boat with his hands behind his back, looking around. The night breeze was blowing gently on the river, the boat was sailing on the water, the lights on both sides were as bright as day, and the light and shadows were reflected in the water. Even though it was already the evening hour, there were still ships shuttling back and forth on the river, creating a prosperous scene.

When the ships entered Luoyang from the Yellow River and went upstream into Luoyang City, several warships flying the navy flag came to escort them.

After crossing Huitong Bridge, the ship docked at a pier in Cihuifang. Soldiers on several warships went ashore first to control the vicinity and take charge of vigilance.

Fang Jun stepped onto the gangplank and came ashore. He saw a tall and sturdy lieutenant quickly step forward, kneel on one knee and perform a military salute: "I, Li Jinxing, pay my respects to the commander-in-chief!"

To this day, the navy has never changed the name for Fang Junzhi, and Fang Jun also acquiesces to this...

Fang Jun took two steps forward, patted the man on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Stand up and talk."

"Here!"

Li Jinxing stood up and looked up at Fang Jun.

Under the light, Fang Jun saw that the man was about thirty years old, with a beautiful beard, handsome face and tough demeanor. He was half a head taller than him, with broad shoulders and a thick back, ape arms and a wasp waist. He was dressed in armor and looked majestic, with an excellent appearance.

He just has a high nose, deep eyes, and fair skin, and looks like an alien...

"I heard that Captain Li is from Sumu?"

Li Jinxing said respectfully: "Reporting to the commander, my father, Tudiji, the chief of the Sumo tribe, does have Sumo bloodline. But no matter what the bloodline is, whether it is Sushen or Mohe, they are all Tang people. I am willing to fight for the Tang Dynasty and never turn back!"

"it is good!"

Fang Jun nodded in approval and asked, "The one stationed in Luoyang before was Xi Junmai, but I don't know when he was replaced by General Li?"

Li Jinxing said: "Duke Yun was appointed as the Governor-General of Luzon. The Grand Commander was afraid that he would act recklessly, so he transferred General Xi to Luzon to guard the city and appointed me to succeed General Xi and take on the important task of protecting the business."

They said they were protecting the business, but in fact everyone knew that this navy stationed in Luoyang was completely responsible for Wu Meiniang's safety. Apart from the navy's military orders, they only obeyed Wu Meiniang's orders...

Fang Jun encouraged: "In the navy, we never judge by seniority, but by ability and merit. If you follow orders wholeheartedly, you will have a bright future."

"Here!"

Li Jinxing puffed out his chest and protruded his belly, and responded loudly.

Among the navy, Fang Jun is a legend. After Emperor Yang of Sui's eastern expedition to Goguryeo, the entire navy was riddled with holes and in disarray. It was Fang Jun who single-handedly pushed this army to the height of the world's top-class strong army. Over the years, it has traveled across the oceans without a single defeat. Everyone in the army has benefited from it. Therefore, even though Fang Jun had long since resigned from his naval post, they still obeyed his orders.

Fang Jun nodded with satisfaction: "Let's go to the store!"

Take the lead.

Li Jinxing was surrounded by a group of soldiers, all with arrows on their bows and swords drawn, looking murderous and vigilant, and they were on high alert against the pedestrians, carriages and horses around them.

When they arrived at the headquarters of "Dong Datong Trading Company" in Cihuifang, the guard who was on duty at the door at night saw Fang Jun and quickly knelt on one knee and saluted.

They are called "guards", but they are actually naval soldiers...

Fang Jun stood on the street, looked up at the building facing the street, then went in through a side door and went straight into the back hall.

"My dear?!"

Upon hearing the news, Wu Meiniang ran out of the inner house and just in time saw the tall and straight Fang Jun walking into the inner hall. She couldn't suppress the surprise on her pretty face, so she stepped forward quickly and took her husband's arm.

Skin to skin, feeling the solid muscles on the man's arm, a surge of joy exploded from my heart, the whole person felt like falling into a dream, unbelievable...

Fang Jun patted the back of her smooth white hand, looked down at her beautiful face, and said with a smile: "I'll give you a surprise!"

The couple walked back to the hall side by side. Wu Meiniang's pretty face was flushed and her eyes were like water. She didn't want to separate for a moment.

She smiled sweetly and said, "I am surprised, but not necessarily happy."

"How come you are enjoying yourself so much in this prosperous city of Luoyang that you even forgot about your husband?"

They sat down separately. Looking at Wu Meiniang pouring tea with her bare hands, he reached out and held a soft hand: "I drank a lot of water on the boat, so I'm not thirsty. I'm tired from the journey, and my bones are almost falling apart. Why don't you prepare some hot water and take a bath?"

Wu Meiniang's eyes moved, her face blushed, her white teeth bit her lower lip, her voice was soft and tender, and she said, "I will help you bathe."