While the two were talking, Lin Shuhan had already taken out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone and wrote down his previous thoughts word by word.
Qiu Yizi knew that this article was important, so he read it over and over again and made some suggestions for revisions in several places. The two of them considered it again and finally finalized the draft. After Qiu Yizi copied it himself, he sealed it with his own hands.
So Qiu Yizhi shouted, "Come here, is there anyone outside?"
Someone outside the door immediately answered, "Coming!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone pushed the door open and Qiu Yizi looked closely and found that it was the personal soldier nicknamed "Yangtze Alligator".
Qiu Yizi asked, "I say, 'Yangtze Alligator', you are very good in the water, but I don't know how good you are on horseback."
The "Yangtze Alligator" was stunned and said, "I was born a bandit, and I am not bad at riding a horse. When did you ever see me fall behind on horseback during the march or the battle?"
"Good!" Qiu Yizi praised, "I want you to say this. A few days ago, you crossed the Yong River to save my life, and I haven't rewarded you yet. Today, there is another important matter to be done. I wonder if you are willing to go?"
The "Yangtze Alligator" patted his chest and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me, sir!"
"Good!" Qiu Yizi praised again, holding up the two sealed letters in his hands and said, "Here are two things. I want you to set off immediately to deliver them to the capital Luoyang. It only takes four days to go back and forth. Can you do it?"
After hearing this, "Yangtze Alligator" hesitated and said, "Sir, even though our horses are fast and we run day and night, it will take at least six or seven days to go back and forth to the capital. It's only four days now, I'm afraid it's too late, right?"
The detailed calculations by the "Yangtze Alligator" made Qiu Yizhi feel relieved. He said, "How could I not have thought of what you have thought of? I just want to ask you, is it enough for you to ride my Ferghana horse back and forth in four days?"
The "Yangtze Alligator" replied: "Four days should be enough. I'm just worried that if your BMW keeps running like this, it will get hungry and lose weight..."
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to cherish the military horses, but don't think that the horse under my crotch is just for show. Just run as fast as you can."
As he spoke, Qiu Yizhi handed the two sealed documents in his hand to the "Yangtze Alligator": "Remember, these documents..."
"I know that adults' things are very important. As long as I am here, the things will be there..."
"Even if you're gone, the things must be there!" Qiu Yizi said firmly, "Take these two things with you, don't be too quick to take the small roads, you must take the official road all the way. My horse is fast, and it won't be a problem if we take a detour. When you arrive in the capital, no matter whether it's early or late, go to Prime Minister Zhongli's mansion immediately and say that I have a letter to personally hand over these two things to Prime Minister Zhongli. After that, don't run around in the capital, stay at the Prime Minister's mansion or near it, feed the horse, and when the reply comes, set off immediately to return. Don't delay for a moment, understand?"
The "Yangtze Alligator" nodded vigorously: "Got it."
Qiu Yizi was still worried and said, "Please repeat what I just said to me."
Unexpectedly, although this "Yangtze Alligator" was a rough man, he had a good memory. He repeated Qiu Yizi's words just now, and they were almost correct.
Qiu Yizi was relieved then, so he gave him enough money and let him set off immediately.
During the next three days, Qiu Yizi and others were not idle on the boat.
After they knew the composition of the poison that Li Zhi had been poisoned with, they once again invited famous doctors to consult, hoping to discuss a method of detoxification based on the current situation. However, after a long discussion, the doctors still could not agree on a single answer, and the antidotes they prepared and the methods they came up with were all different.
Qiu Yizi, Li Shengjie and others also knew that the prescriptions prescribed by these doctors might not work, but they tried them on the poisoned dogs with a try-it attitude. However, they did not work, so they finally gave up trying and waited for the "Yangtze Alligator" to send back a letter before setting off back to Japan.
The "Yangtze Alligator" did not disappoint Qiu Yizi.
After leaving Mingzhou, he rushed to the capital Luoyang day and night. Except for a two-hour rest in Luoyang while waiting for Zhongli Kuang's reply, he did not sleep for three days and four nights. Finally, on the fourth day after his departure, when the sun had just emerged halfway from the horizon, he returned to the side of Li Zhi's giant ship.
After receiving the notification, Qiu Yizi didn't care that he had just woken up and his clothes were in disarray. He slipped on his shoes and ran to the deck to greet the "Yangtze Alligator".
Qiu Yizi saw that this "Yangtze Alligator" was already exhausted after all the journey. He walked up the spiral staircase almost step by step. A few things could be seen from a bag hanging around his neck.
He thought that these things were the reply from the court, so he hurried over to meet him, patted the "Yangtze Alligator" on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Good boy, you are trustworthy. I will need your help in the future..."
Before Qiu Yi could finish her words, the "Yangtze Alligator" suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Qiu Yizi was startled by him, thinking that he had been injured on the road. She hurriedly bent down and reached out to check his breath. Only then did she feel relieved - it turned out that he had overworked and damaged his vitality, and actually fell asleep on the deck.
Qiu Yizhi was touched and amused, and quickly called a few personal soldiers to carry "Yangtze Alligator" back to the room, prepare food, and wait for him to have a good meal after waking up. As for the reply letters that "Yangtze Alligator" brought with him, Qiu Yizhi took them down along with the saddlebags, and immediately took them to Lin Shuhan's cabin to open and read them with him.
Lin Shuhan got up early and was writing big characters at the table. When he heard Qiu Yizhi's call, he didn't even look up. He waited for her to finish writing two characters before he said, "Has the emperor's decree come down?"
Qiu Yizi replied, "Yes, it just arrived. I was just about to open it with you, sir."
Actually, Lin Shuhan was also a little nervous. You know, the emperor's edict was no ordinary thing. Considering Lin Shuhan's original plan to be a hermit for the rest of his life, he might not have the chance to see the emperor's edict even if he lived to death.
So Lin Shuhan said, "Let Lin do this kind of thing."
As he said this, he took a paper cutter from the table, took the several stacks of documents from Qiu Yizhi's hand, carefully opened one, unfolded it, and immediately exclaimed: "Let alone what the content is, just this one stroke shows that the person has a strong character. I didn't expect that in such a pedantic Hanlin Academy, there are such extraordinary people. Alas! There are hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the world, and Lin is really a frog in the well!"
Qiu Yizhi reached out and took the document from Lin Shuhan's hand. Seeing that it was full of tough and thin "Slender Gold" characters, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sir, you really know what you are talking about. This document was not written by any gentleman in the Hanlin Academy. It was written by my master, Prime Minister Zhongli..."
Lin Shuhan was shocked when he heard this. He almost snatched the document away, and looked at it up and down countless times with greedy eyes, as if the paper would disappear immediately. Then he sighed and said, "I was in a hurry to write this. I wonder what level of calligraphy I can reach in my daily life..."
Qiu Yizi said, "Master Zhongli never seems to practice calligraphy. After he was appointed as prime minister, there were a few people who wanted to flatter him and ask for his calligraphy..." At this point, he suddenly laughed, "But those people were so scared after seeing the master's eyes that they dared not speak a word."
After hearing this, Lin Shuhan was filled with emotion and said, "I thought I was the best calligrapher in the world, but I never expected that the prime minister of today, who is in a high position in the government, would... From now on, I will no longer boast about my calligraphy."
He suddenly sighed again and said, "It's a pity that this imperial edict was announced to Li Zhi, otherwise I would really like to keep it with me all the time and copy it every day as if it were a post."
Qiu Yizi smiled and said, "This is easy to do. Since Mr. Lin likes it, it's not a big deal for me to ask Master for a calligraphy. Master Zhongli also admires Mr. Lin very much, so I'm sure Master won't refuse."
He changed the subject and said, "Let's talk about this later. Sir, please first talk about the emperor's decree."
Lin Shuhan calmed down and said, "Speaking of this imperial edict... It can be seen that Lord Qiu is deeply loved by the emperor! Although the current emperor is not a founding monarch, he is also an emperor on the march and a man of strong opinions. After seeing Lord Qiu's memorial, he actually approved every point. It is really rare."
Qiu Yizi also said with emotion: "That is the emperor's great grace."
He took the second document and saw that it was very heavy. He smiled and said, "I wonder what's in it. Maybe it's a reward for the old ship owner. The emperor has always been frugal and simple. He is not so generous even when rewarding me!"
As he spoke, Qiu Yizi picked up the paper cutter on the table and carefully opened the cover. When he took a closer look, he was shocked - this thing was not a silver note, but it was much more valuable than a silver note. It was a large stack of customs documents!
Qiu Yizi and Lin Shuhan had often talked with Li Zhi and his son these days, and knew the value of this customs clearance document in the eyes of overseas merchants. If a document was managed well, they could make a profit of 30,000 silver coins; if it was managed poorly, they could still make 10,000; if they were too lazy to sail the ship themselves, they could sell it to a colleague and at least get 5,000 or 7,000 silver coins.
Qiu Yizhi counted them carefully, and found that there were exactly 100 customs documents, no more, no less. In other words, with Li Zhi's ability, these documents could earn 2 to 3 million taels of silver, which was the revenue of the Han Dynasty for half a year. Even Lin Shuhan's confidante, Wu Ruofei, a gorgeous woman, could buy 10 or 8 of them.
Qiu Yizi held the thin documents in his hands, his hands trembling a little, and said, "It's really hard to predict the power of heaven! I didn't expect the emperor to be so generous! If the old ship owner saw it, he would be so excited!"
Lin Shuhan smiled and said, "I guess this was Mr. Zhongli's idea. Rewarding Li Zhi in this way does not require using the national treasury, and it is very generous. It also meets Li Zhi's long-cherished wish. This strategy of killing three birds with one stone can be said to be very insightful."
As he was talking, Lin Shuhan suddenly noticed that there was another small letter among the things the emperor brought to Qiu Yizi. It was lying on the wooden table with its back facing up. He picked it up with two fingers, looked at the table in front, and said, "Sir, there is another letter for you here. Is it written by Prime Minister Zhongli? I think the handwriting doesn't look right!"
Qiu Yizhi took a closer look and saw the words "Qiu Yizhi's Personal Letter" written in very neat small characters on the front of the envelope. He hurriedly snatched the letter in his hand and said, "Mr. Lin, please don't be rude. This is the handwriting of the emperor!"
Uncle Lin, who was fearless, was so frightened by Qiu Yizi's words that he was shocked and couldn't say a word.
Qiu Yizi had no time to care about him. He used a paper cutter and carefully cut open the envelope, took out a piece of yellow paper, and saw that there were only a hundred words written on it. He held it in his palm very respectfully and read in a low voice: (To be continued)