Before Zhongli Kuang could agree, the eldest son Zheng Xin also stepped forward and said, "My dear brother, you are right. Hurry up and get ready. I will discuss the entourage with you, my lord, and my third brother first. We will come right away so that we won't be late."
When Qiu Yizi saw Zhongli Kuang nodded in agreement, he quickly walked out of the tent, chased after Emperor Zheng Rong and said a few words, then called up the 218 elite soldiers around him including Zhao Chengxiao, and invited Yuchi and his daughter to come, and escorted the emperor to the gate of the camp.
Zhongli Kuang, Zheng Xin and others acted very quickly. Before the emperor had taken a few steps on the imperial sedan chair, they followed with a dozen people. Zheng Rong, who was on the sedan chair, saw that there were not many people and they were all trusted ministers, so he stopped talking.
Zhang Long was the chief military officer here, and he was in charge of deploying the sentries in the camp. Therefore, following Zhongli Kuang's order, he deliberately went ahead and led the way.
After walking south for quite some time, they finally arrived at the bank of the Yangtze River.
Qiu Yizhi looked up and saw more than a dozen ships of different sizes still anchored by the river. On one of the largest ships, several white whale flags were flying in the wind, and he knew it was the flagship of Li Shengjie's fleet. So he got off his horse, ran quickly to the side of the emperor's sedan chair, and reported: "Your Majesty, the ship in front with the white whale flag is Li Shengjie's ship. He seems to have not received the news yet. It is too disrespectful to fly the flag so high. How about I go ahead and inform him to welcome you?"
Zheng Rong thought that what Qiu Yizi said made some sense, so he agreed.
When Qiu Yizi saw him, he bowed again, called out to the loud-voiced "Black-necked Toad", and rode away to the river at full speed.
When they arrived under Li Shengjie's ship, Qiu Yizhi called "Black Neck Toad" and shouted loudly: "Young Captain, come out quickly, I, Qiu Yizhi, am here!"
After shouting three times, Li Shengjie really popped his head out from the side of the boat and said with a smile, "It turns out it's my brother! You've left me hanging by the Yangtze River for more than ten days, and you didn't even send me a message, asking me to wait for you!"
Now was not the time for pleasantries or jokes, Qiu Yizi hurriedly said, "I will apologize someday. But the emperor is coming this way now, my dear brother, please lower the flag, get off the boat, line up, and prepare to welcome him!"
Li Shengjie was stunned and asked loudly, "What did you say, brother?"
Qiu Yizhi repeated the original words again and added: "The emperor is about to arrive. There is no time to lose. My dear brother, please get off the boat and welcome him!"
Li Shengjie finally reacted and hurriedly followed Qiu Yizi's instructions. He ordered people to lower the flag on the mast, gathered thirty or forty capable sailors, and dressed himself neatly. They all got off the boat and lined up at the riverside. While listening to Qiu Yizi's teaching of the etiquette of meeting the emperor, they waited for the emperor to arrive.
In a short while, the vanguard of the guards protecting the emperor arrived under the ship.
These people were all elite soldiers under Qiu Yizi. Li Shengjie knew many of them. Although he couldn't speak, he greeted them with his eyes, which made him relax a lot.
After a while, the imperial carriage finally arrived. Emperor Zheng Rong stepped down from the carriage and walked towards Li Shengjie slowly.
It was the first time that Li Shengjie saw the emperor. He felt a mixture of excitement, joy, curiosity and fear. He stood there for a while, not knowing how to respond.
Qiu Yizi, who was standing beside him, saw this and whispered in Li Shengjie's ear, "The emperor is here. My dear brother, you must not lose your manners. You must follow me in performing the ritual of three kowtows and nine bows." As he spoke, he prostrated himself and led Li Shengjie to kowtow to the emperor several times.
After the ceremony, Zheng Rong also walked up to Qiu Yizhi and Li Shengjie. He looked down and saw that the man next to Yizhi was young but also handsome. He was happy and asked, "Are you Li Shengjie?"
Qiu Yizhi heard this and whispered, "My dear brother, the emperor is asking you a question. The current emperor is kind and benevolent. Please answer it carefully. If there is any impoliteness, the emperor will be tolerant."
After hearing this, Li Shengjie finally plucked up the courage and said, "Yes, I... Oh, I am Li Shengjie."
Zheng Rong heard Li Shengjie speak in a loud voice, without any of the cautiousness that ordinary people would show when meeting an emperor for the first time.
, and immediately felt a bit of favor for him, so he said: "Good Li Shengjie, although your family has been bandits for two generations, but you are living overseas, you still remember that you are a Han citizen, which is rare."
When Li Shengjie heard the word "bandit" from the emperor's mouth, he was very unhappy and immediately retorted: "Your Majesty is wrong. My Li family used to be engaged in smuggling business. We would not and would not bother to be pirates. When we encounter those pirates who are too evil, my Li family often has to teach them a lesson. Your Majesty is wrong to say that we are 'bandits'."
Everyone listened to Li Shengjie's words quietly, and they were all frightened into silence - you know, although the current emperor is very magnanimous, he is the supreme ruler of the world after all. Except for Zhongli Kuang who is respected as "Sir", who else in the court dares to point out the emperor's mistakes to his face
Just when the atmosphere was awkward, a young official appeared from behind the emperor and shouted, "Li Shengjie, are you out of your mind? The emperor says you are a bandit, so you are a bandit. How dare you make trouble? Aren't you afraid of the emperor's majesty?"
Qiu Yizhi heard these harsh and stern words, so she stole a glance and saw that the person who spoke was the Minister of Rites Shi Liangzhi. She felt disgusted and knelt down half a step and said, "Your Majesty, Li Shengjie has been overseas for a long time and does not know etiquette. Please forgive me. However, the Li family went out to sea for smuggling to make a living. For decades, they have never harmed the interests of the Han Dynasty and were able to restrain and suppress Japanese pirates. Li Zhi, the old ship owner of the Li family, was injured by the Japanese pirates and has not recovered from his injuries to this day. The imperial prisoners Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai, father and son, entangled with the pirates and rebelled against the Lingnan Palace. They were also defeated by Li Shengjie... Your Majesty knows all this. The Li family has made great contributions. Please pay attention to it."
After hearing what Qiu Yizhi said, Zheng Rong nodded continuously and rebuked Shi Liangzhi, "Just take care of your Ministry of Rites affairs. It's not your turn to interrupt and make noise in military and national affairs."
When Shi Liangzhi heard this, she shrank back, fearing that the emperor would bring new punishment upon her, so she stopped explaining and quickly retreated.
Zheng Rong said to Li Shengjie, "I know your family's loyalty. Didn't I confer honors on you? Since your family has my honor, they are my subjects. The word etiquette is to restrain the subjects of the world and teach them to always know the majesty of the monarch and father. How can they relax for a moment? However, I don't want to pursue your crime of misbehavior. Do you know why?"
With the strength of the Li family at sea, they are like a local lord. The young captain Li Shengjie has always been arrogant and outspoken. He says whatever he wants. He did not expect that as soon as he opened his mouth today, he would attract so many people to teach him a lesson. He was confused and indignant in his heart, but did not lose his temper because of the emperor's majesty and Qiu Yizi's face.
"You haven't read the books of sages, so it's not surprising that you don't understand this truth. Many of the Jinshi who have read the Four Books and Five Classics may not understand the truth!" Zheng Rong raised his voice and said, "I won't punish you because although what you said just now was rude, it was your true words. I am not afraid of my officials saying bad things, nor am I afraid of saying good things. I am only afraid of someone deliberately telling lies to deceive me. As long as your heart is pure, what words can't I tolerate?"
Although these words were spoken to all the civil and military officials present, they were actually addressed directly to Li Shengjie.
But the other important civil and military officials were sweating profusely after listening to this, but Li Shengjie was the only one who was confused and didn't understand anything.
Zheng Rong then said, "Remember that I gave your father the title of General of the Jinghai Army, and allowed him to inherit the title without any downgrade. However, I think you are a promising talent, and you have made great contributions, so your position must be higher than your father's. So, I will promote you to General of the Jinghai Army, and give you a second-rank salary."
According to the official system of the Han Dynasty, among the military posts, a general of the second rank was a rare and top-ranking official position. Apart from the four "marshals" of the front, rear, left and right of the imperial guards, no one else could surpass him.
Li Shengjie, this young man, had only met the emperor once, but he was given such a high official position. All the officials were envious of him, but at the same time, they felt that his promotion seemed too fast and somewhat unusual.
But Zhong Likuang said coldly: "Your Majesty, Li Shengjie is still young, and he will have many opportunities to make contributions in the future. If you give him such a high position now, I am afraid it will cut off his path to advancement. Please think twice."
The Minister of Rites Shi Liangzhi had just been reprimanded by the emperor, and the only one who could speak out now was Prime Minister Zhongli.
Emperor Zhongli Kuang still wanted to give him some face, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhongli, you worry too much. I know what's going on. It's only natural that Li Shengjie should be rewarded for his merits. If he makes new contributions in the future, he will be promoted to a higher position. It doesn't matter if his path to advancement is cut off."
As soon as Qiu Yizhi heard the emperor's words, he shut up all the officials in the court. He was happy for his sworn brother from the bottom of his heart and hurriedly whispered in his ear: "My dear brother, this is the emperor's great favor, why don't you thank him quickly."
Although Li Shengjie knew that he had to thank the emperor for this favor, he didn't know the rules. He just kowtowed three times on the ground as a thank you.
Emperor Zheng Rong was pleased to see that although Li Shengjie did not know the rules, he was sincere, so he said, "Well, 'a man's knees are made of gold', you stand up first."
Li Shengjie had been kneeling until his waist and legs were sore. Upon hearing the order, he quickly stood up, brushed the dust off his knees, and stood straight in front of the emperor, but he didn't know how to respond.
Qiu Yizi saw that the atmosphere was a little awkward, so he stood up and said, "Your Majesty, look, this is Li Shengjie's flagship." He pointed at the huge ship behind him and introduced it to the emperor's adoptive father, "It was with this warship that Li Shengjie defeated the Japanese pirate fleet that rebelled against the King of Lingnan. Even Yin Chengliang and Yin Tai, father and son, were killed. Isn't that a happy thing?"
Zheng Rong nodded as he listened. After Li Shengjie finished speaking, he said, "The Han Dynasty's ancestral system implemented a maritime ban. Without the special permission of the court, subjects were not allowed to go to sea to make a living. Although our dynasty has opened up three ports for trade, we still do not attach much importance to maritime power. Look, which navy in our dynasty can have a giant ship like the Li family? In my opinion, I don't need to use any dragon boats anymore. How about using this ship as a royal ship and crossing the river to the south?"
All the civil and military officials were stunned when they heard Zheng Rong's words: the emperor requisitioning Li Shengjie's ship as a dragon boat was like borrowing a minister's private residence as a temporary palace. This was unprecedented - not to mention that Li Shengjie was not from a legitimate family or a family of nobles, but a rising star who had suddenly risen from a smuggler.
Even Qiu Yizi, who always did things unexpectedly, felt that the emperor's order was a little inappropriate, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, this seems a little unconventional, right?"