Unreliable and Reliable

Zhang Xuezhou and his group lined up at the city gate at 5 a. m. to enter the city, but they didn't enter the palace until nearly midnight.

This is due to reasons such as customs checks and the speed of the convoy after entering the city.

The most important reason was that they could not see the emperor whenever they wanted. Without the official title of "Gyrious Censor," Zhang Xuezhou and Sang Hongyang had to request permission to enter the palace and then wait to be summoned.

"I need to report this to His Majesty first, so that he knows the amount involved, before I can unload the goods, hand them over, and get the money. That will take about half an hour!"

"I only need to say a few words to His Majesty!"

"Then please go first, Brother Dongfang!"

Instead of summoning one eunuch at a time, Zhang Xuezhou and Sang Hongyang were summoned to the palace simultaneously.

After a brief exchange, Zhang Xuezhou walked ahead, while Sang Hongyang followed behind.

The familiar Weiyang Palace remained unchanged, and Zhang Xuezhou even spotted Li Guang, the head of the imperial guards responsible for patrolling and protecting the Weiyang Palace.

Li Guang seemed somewhat unfamiliar with Zhang Xuezhou, whom he hadn't seen in a long time. He even looked him over several times while examining him. It wasn't until Li Guang Zhang Xuezhou smiled at him that Li Guang Zhang Xuezhou remembered this young man with whom he had interacted several times before.

"He's still alive!"

Li Guang muttered something, seemingly a little surprised that Zhang Xuezhou could live so long after his head was cracked open.

This left Zhang Xuezhou speechless.

"Your Majesty is a ten-thousand-year-old emperor, so I should live to be at least five hundred years old!"

Zhang Xuezhou shrugged and responded.

"That's ambitious!"

Li Guang replied, and the two passed each other. Zhang Xuezhou entered Weiyang Palace, while Sang Hongyang waited outside the main hall of the Weiyang Palace.

"Little Lamb, people outside are saying you've made a fortune thanks to His Majesty. Is that true?"

Zhang Xuezhou entered the main hall to meet the emperor, while Li Guang, bored, chatted with Sang Hongyang.

"Commander Li, don't talk nonsense. I haven't made any big money," Sang Hongyang retorted.

"I didn't say that," Li Guang waved his hand and said, "I heard it from someone else, and I just happened to see you and asked casually!"

I didn't make a lot of money!

Sang Hongyang repeated the emphasis again, shaking his head repeatedly.

Sang Hongyang not only failed to make a lot of money, but his father also spent a lot of money to use the Luoyang merchant group to get Sang Hongyang's goods delivered to Chang'an City.

Goods that are circulating normally are intercepted, which will inevitably offend some stakeholders. This not only involves Luoyang, but also Chang'an City.

These rumors may be a way to target the Sang family, making people mistakenly believe that Sang Hongyang is after royal favors.

As more people talk about it, some things will reach the ears of those who are interested, and who knows, someone might seize on some minor inconsistencies to impeach Sang Hongyang.

Sang Hongyang can only be thankful that he is good at arithmetic, and that he keeps detailed records of all the accounts, making sure he understands every single one.

He came to his senses and was momentarily unsure whether Li Guang's question was out of curiosity or a reminder.

"I'm just doing a little thing!"

Sang Hongyang murmured to himself.

In the main hall of the Weiyang Palace, the new emperor looked at Zhang Xuezhou, who had returned alive, with great curiosity. He was extremely curious about how the man had handled matters while in poor health and to what extent he had accomplished them.

"May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings! Your humble servant has traveled far and wide across the land and finally found Li Shaojun. Having heard of Your Majesty's benevolent treatment of people, Li Shaojun is willing to come to Chang'an City to demonstrate his abilities!"

Where are they?

"He needs to cultivate his character and temperament before he can set off; he should still be on his way to Chang'an City at this moment!"

Zhang Xuezhou said a few words, which prevented the new emperor from asking any further questions.

He felt that Zhang Xuezhou had just come back to report, and he couldn't be sure whether the matter had been resolved properly.

If Li Shaojun doesn't come to Chang'an City, then we'll have to wait indefinitely; it's also possible that Li Shaojun will die on the way.

Regardless of whether Zhang Xuezhou succeeded in this endeavor or not, the other party seemed to have some justification.

"You... you..."

The new emperor found it difficult to evaluate Zhang Xuezhou in completing this task.

In short, it's good that you came back alive.

If the matter is accomplished, the new emperor will be very pleased; if it is not accomplished, Zhang Xuezhou will at least still be able to use the divination tool, and he won't lose face when he goes out to gamble.

"When I invited Li Shaojun, the great scholar Gongsun Hong was also present. He personally heard Li Shaojun vouch for his arrival in Chang'an City to see His Majesty!"

When Zhang Xuezhou named a notary, it gave the new emperor a major headache.

Gongsun Hong handled things terribly. He went out with over a hundred cronies, accomplished nothing, and returned with half his men gone.

There are a lot of complicated relationships to deal with here, many people criticize Gongsun Hong, and many others want an explanation from him.

The new emperor could only tell Gongsun Hong to stay away and banish him from Chang'an City.

Only after three to five years, or even eight to ten years, when these new debts become old debts, can Gongsun Hong get rid of the many troubles he caused during his previous mission to the Xiong State.

Zhang Xuezhou's use of such a person as a witness was highly unreliable, and the new emperor had no way to find the other party to corroborate his testimony.

"You must have had a tough journey. Oh, you went to Huainan, Jiangdu, Guangling, Linhuai, Taishan, Beihai, Jiaodong, Suiyang, Bohai, Zhengding, Changshan, Julu, and Nanyang. The places you went to were quite diverse!"

The new emperor accepted the official document and silk scroll handed over by Zhang Xuezhou. Looking at the seals on it, he read aloud some familiar cities and realized that Zhang Xuezhou had traveled to many places in the past six months, so many that even the new emperor found it hard to believe.

A seal doesn't lie; considering the long and arduous journey the other party has undertaken, this can be considered a testament to their hard work, even if they haven't achieved anything significant.

If what the other party said was true, the new emperor felt that Zhang Xuezhou had done a pretty good job.

"Li Shaojun is a man of unpredictable whereabouts; we could only search for him based on hearsay," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Fortunately, after traversing countless mountains and rivers, we finally found him!"

"I understand!"

The new emperor nodded.

Li Shaojun didn't bring the official documents, and the new emperor had already submitted them. He had no reason to reward Li Shaojun, but it seemed unreasonable not to give him some reward for his arduous journey.

This made the new emperor ponder for a few seconds.

"Go home and rest first. As for that Young Master Li... wait until I call you again!"

He originally intended to reward Zhang Xuezhou after he brought Li Shaojun to the capital, but after realizing that recruiting Li Shaojun seemed unreliable, the new emperor quickly changed his mind to avoid Zhang Xuezhou having to wait at home for years or even a lifetime for Li Shaojun to come back.

"Okay, I'm going home now!"

Zhang Xuezhou's seriousness lasted only a few seconds. As soon as the new emperor announced that he could step down, he happily left.

He agreed rather readily, turned around and left the main hall, which made the new emperor suspect that Zhang Xuezhou was running around and had not completed the recruitment plan.

"Dongfang Shuo ran off so fast after saying that, he seems a bit unreliable. But he traveled to so many places for this, and it must have been very hard for him. If all that hard work doesn't pay off, does his job even count?"

The new emperor did not reprimand Zhang Xuezhou for breaking the rules by leaving the main hall of the Weiyang Palace, but after much deliberation, he realized that he could not categorize Zhang Xuezhou's actions as good or bad.

The other party seemed to have accomplished something, yet also seemed to have accomplished nothing.

After being away for more than half a year, Zhang Xuezhou handed over a stamped official document, thus completing the task he had been assigned.

As for when Li Shaojun came to Chang'an and whether he was recruited, there is no definite conclusion at present.

If all his subordinates acted this way, the new emperor felt he could no longer govern.

"The little lamb is still the one I truly love!"

Zhang Xuezhou was unreliable, but Sang Hongyang, who was waiting outside the main hall, was very reliable.

Everything Sang Hongyang did was recorded by the other party, and these records are available for review.

Most importantly, Sang Hongyang's work yielded obvious results.

The new emperor's private treasury is rapidly increasing in wealth, and now he finally has private funds to reward people and win their hearts.