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

Chapter 689: A Million-Dollar Business

In another place, in the Prince of Qi's mansion, a man who looked like a butler handed a stack of banknotes to Liang Sijin and said, "The prince has sent an order from Shandong. Take down the position of Lieutenant General of the Flying Tiger Army at all costs. In addition, all the insiders of the Prince of Qi's mansion in the East Palace are handed over to you."

"This is two million strings of silver notes. You have to find a way to get our people to serve as officers in the Flying Tiger Army to help you control this army."

"Yes, I will resolutely obey the prince's orders!" After taking the silver note, Liang Sijin kowtowed respectfully to the east with a determined look on his face.

At this time, Chang Sun Shunde was also unable to bear his daughter's pestering, so he had to take out a large sum of money. On the one hand, he secretly cursed the prince for being greedy, and on the other hand, he had to take out the money he had embezzled. He was worried that the prince was too strict and it would be difficult for his son-in-law to gain power in the Flying Tigers.

I didn't expect the prince to be so bold and presumptuous. As long as he had money, he would sell any military position, no matter how high it was. Only the Flying Tiger General himself could do nothing about it, otherwise he would probably have been sold out by the prince in exchange for money.

As an extremely greedy minister, being forced to pay money to another person is really a painful feeling like cutting flesh and cutting heart.

But who told me to love this daughter?

Changsun Shunde was just complaining that his nephew Changsun Wuji was not in Beijing, otherwise he could save a lot of money by just saying hello. But now, he heard that three or four people were competing for the position of General of the Central Army, and they were willing to pay.

In this way, Changsun Shunde would no longer be able to shamelessly ask the prince for an official position. Even if he made the prince lose a million strings of cash, his own face would not be worth that much.

At the same time, many aristocratic families and wealthy businessmen in Chang'an took action. They generously gave considerable sums of money to their younger generations and told them to seize the opportunity to join the Flying Tiger Army.

"Your Highness, Hu Lixian, Zhou Yande, Liang Sijin, and Luo Ensheng are all willing to donate one million strings of silver notes to support Your Highness in training the Flying Tiger Army. In addition, they are eager to compete for the positions of the two Lieutenant Generals."

Wang Xuance reported his recent contacts with several people, and finally asked for instructions: "In addition, there are also many tutors participating in the position of Langjiang. More than ten people are willing to donate and want to compete."

"It's clear that there are not enough positions now. How should we allocate them? I hope Your Highness can give me some advice."

In the small training ground of the East Palace, Li Yan watched the attendants in the distance split into two groups playing the ball, shouting excitedly, running and rushing, making the training ground dusty and full of smoke. Li Yan walked slowly along the edge of the training ground with his hands behind his back, while Wang Xuance and Henglian accompanied him on one side.

Li Yan and Wang Xuance knew the inside story, but Heng Lian heard it for the first time and was dumbfounded. Someone actually wanted to spend so much money to compete for a senior position in the Flying Tigers. What about supporting the training of the Flying Tigers? Isn't this obviously spending money to buy a military position?
For a moment, Henglian looked at the prince in surprise. He wanted to know how His Royal Highness the Prince would deal with this matter.

Li Yan smiled slightly: "Take them all. There is no reason to push away the banknotes that are delivered to my door. Usually, I have to make every penny count. Now I suddenly have 4 million. This is a huge sum of money!"

"But, Your Highness, the Flying Tiger Army is a cavalry army. The emperor's edict stipulates a quota of 10,000 soldiers, but there are only two lieutenant generals. It's not appropriate to divide them into four at once, right?" Wang Xuance was a little worried.

"What's the big deal? Since they all want it, no one is suitable and it will offend people. Why don't we all become Zhonglang Jiang? I think no one can find fault with it. Aren't there 10,000 people?"

Li Yan nonchalantly ordered: "I have the final say on the organization of the Flying Tiger Army. One cavalryman can fight against ten infantrymen on the battlefield. Ten thousand Flying Tigers is a hundred thousand strong army. Naturally, we cannot follow the imperial court's internal military system. We can set the number of people under the command of a lieutenant general to be 2,000."

"This leaves another position for the Lieutenant Colonel. Under General Feihu, there will be five Lieutenant Colonel, and each Lieutenant Colonel will be assigned two to three Lang Jiangs, which means there will be ten to fifteen military positions. A Lang Jiang will earn 60 strings of cash, which means there will be another to million strings of cash. Just these two levels will earn to million strings of cash."

"For the remaining military posts such as the governors of various prefectures, military officers, brigade commanders, and team commanders, you can assign as many as you can according to the highest standards."

"There are many wealthy families and high-ranking officials in Chang'an City. Let them spend money to buy it. But you don't need to show up for the next thing. Leave your share to the four or five generals and let them make as much money as they want. However, you have to send your people out to keep a record of the accounts."

"Who made how much, how much was kept, and how much was given to the bosses behind them, it must be clear."

"Also, this matter will definitely become a big deal in the end. Don't blame me for not reminding you. If you intercept it and something goes wrong, don't blame me for not being able to protect you."

Wang Xuance's heart trembled with fear, secretly astonished. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had really played a big game this time. Wang Xuance, who knew the inside story, was terrified. He did not dare to take even a penny and handed it over honestly for fear of implicating himself.

He said quickly, "Don't worry, Your Highness. You are so generous that it is clear that something bad will happen in the end. How dare I do that? Besides, although my family is not as rich as those noble families, it is also considered wealthy and has no shortage of money."

"Before I came to Beijing, my father repeatedly warned me that if I wanted money, I should ask him, but never ask for it in the officialdom. He hoped that I would follow you, the prince, to have a good future and bring honor to the family. He didn't expect me to make money for him. If I was punished for accepting money, I would be expelled from the Wang family." Li Yan thought for a while and said, "Well, tell those four people to come to Chongren Hall this afternoon. I will announce the appointment and dismissal list of the Zhonglang Jiang on the spot. This has been delayed for several days, and the military camp and court in the Western Inner Court are also ready. It would be unreasonable if there is no movement."

"As long as these five Lieutenants are determined, the rest can be left to their full potential."

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Xuance responded respectfully and then went downstairs to make arrangements.

Heng Lian was the commander of the guards selected by Li Shimin himself for the prince. He knew the palace rules very well. When Wang Xuance and the prince were discussing business, he did not interrupt, but he looked very anxious. What he had just heard really scared him.

How many million strings of cash?

This is a terrifying number. Even Henglian had never seen such a large amount when he visited his ancestors’ graves.

Let alone meeting him, I'm afraid I've never even thought about it.

But the prince was so bold and audacious. He was really generous. He didn't expect that under his nose, the prince was quietly planning such a shocking thing. This made Heng Lian, the chief guard who was responsible for protecting and guarding the prince under the emperor's order, tremble with fear, his mouth was dry, and his legs were a little weak.

Henglian knew that even though His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in the East Palace, the Emperor had spies everywhere, and it was impossible for the Emperor to rely on himself alone for the Crown Prince's safety. If the Crown Prince did something so big, it wouldn't take long for the Emperor to find out.

As soon as Wang Xuance left, Heng Lian could no longer hold back and said anxiously, "Your Highness, the emperor asked you to train the Flying Tiger Army. How much trust does this show?"

"Those people are so despicable. Even if His Royal Highness does not report their evil deeds to the Emperor, he should severely stop them. How can he indulge them and sell important positions in the Flying Tiger Army at a marked price? If the Emperor knows about this, I'm afraid he will be furious."

Li Yan smiled in his heart, and seeing that Henglian's expression showed no false concern for his behavior, he nodded secretly: "Henglian, you are not an outsider, so I won't hide it from you. In fact, my father asked me to train the Flying Tiger Army in order to let me cooperate in a play."

So Li Yan told Heng Lian the true intention of the emperor to let him train the Flying Tiger Army, and finally Heng Lian suddenly realized it.

So that's how it is. No wonder Heng Lian was also a little puzzled before. Why would the emperor give such an important task of training the Flying Tiger Army to the prince who had no knowledge of military strategy? It turned out that it was to provoke Hou Junji to appear. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter what the prince does.

But after thinking about it, he still asked with some concern: "Your Highness, does the emperor know that you are selling official positions so blatantly?"

"What do you mean by selling official positions? Why do you say that so harshly?"

Li Yan's face suddenly turned serious, and he frowned and said, "The Lone Flying Tiger Army is short of funds, and those people donated money voluntarily. They have made such a great contribution, so it is reasonable to take care of them a little in terms of their duties."

Well.
Hearing the prince's sophistry, Henglian smiled bitterly in his heart.

My Lord, even if I can listen to your nonsense, can the Emperor and all the civil and military officials in the court listen to your explanation?
Thinking of this, Heng Lian advised: "Your Highness, it's such a big matter. You made the decision on your own without reporting it to the Emperor. I'm afraid it won't be easy to end it in the end."

"Henglian, I know everything you said, and I also know that you are doing this for my own good."

Li Yan put on an expression of having no regrets even if he died for his country, his people and his father, and said: "In order to defeat Jie Li, my father worked day and night and lived frugally. But in the ninth year of Wude, the Turks invaded. In the first year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty suffered from floods. In the second year of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty suffered from drought."

"This year, the situation has finally improved, but the Yongtong Canal has been washed away again. The capital is almost out of food, and the treasury is dry. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, my father can't sleep every day. He has to comfort the people and accumulate military funds and food to fight the Turks."

"How many times have I, as a son, seen my father's table with only two plates of vegetables? The emperor of a great country is so shabby, while those people from wealthy families squander money at will.

But even if we tightened our belts and didn't eat or drink, how much money could we save? Compared to a country's war, it's just a drop in the bucket."

(End of this chapter)