Honglu Temple is a yamen that manages guests and bad rituals. Any four barbarians or foreign envoys who come to court must register at Honglu Temple. Honglu Temple will distinguish their ranks and positions and arrange the court affairs. The Dianke Office under Honglu Temple is a full-time foreign-related agency that specializes in dealing with surrounding ethnic minorities. Therefore, Honglu Temple is a real-powered yamen in the administrative system of the Five Supervisors of the Tang Dynasty.

As the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, Jiang Renji was the second person in the Honglu Temple except the Honglu Temple. Deng, the Minister of the Honglu Temple, Li Yuanyu, was old and seriously ill, recuperated at home. Now Jiang Renji has the final say in all the big and small things about the Honglu Temple. Therefore, as the real controller of the Honglu Temple, Jiang Renji lived a very comfortable life.

Now, the envoy from a small country in the Western Regions just gave him a little tribute tea, and he was enjoying it comfortably in the study.

At this moment, a clerk suddenly ran into the study in a panic look.

Seeing that his subordinates were so reckless and had no rules, Jiang Renji was suddenly furious and was about to scold him. However, the clerk said in a hurry, "Jiang Shaoqing, the palace is down-!"

"What Your Highness--" Jiang Renji angrily scolded, "What do you want to do so panic..." But he stopped when he said this, and saw him suddenly get up, strode to the clerk, and asked in a hurry, "Which Highness are you talking about? Is it the Prince?"

The clerk was obviously frightened by Jiang Renji's actions, and said in a stuttering tone, "Yes, it's the grandfather, Your Highness!"

"Why didn't you say it earlier-!" Jiang Renji cursed in shock. He walked out the door and said angrily, "What are you still standing there? Why don't you go with me to greet Your Highness!"

"No need-" Just as Jiang Renji was about to walk out of the study, Li Hong's figure appeared at the door.

"Dian - See Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Jiang Renji suddenly saw Li Hong at the door of the study. He was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said.

"Aiqing Jiang, don't be too polite!" Li Hong said with a faint smile, then walked into the study and sat in the main seat. Seeing Jiang Renji standing respectfully at the door, he said warmly, "You sit down too!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Jiang Renji bowed and replied, then walked to the chair next to Li Hong and sat down sideways.

He was not prepared for the sudden visit of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince today. Yesterday, he went to the East Palace with the Minister of Rites Liu Xiangdao to meet Li Hong. He symbolically told Li Hong about the specific work of receiving the Tubo delegation out of respect for the Crown Prince. Li Hong did not give specific instructions after listening to their report.

Therefore, Jiang Renji thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not interfere too much in the mission of receiving the Tubo mission.

But now the prince suddenly visited the Honglu Temple, which really surprised him a little. Therefore, after the clerk brought the tea, Jiang Renji spoke, "I don't know what instructions did your highness go to Honglu Temple today?"

"It's nothing. I just come and see how your Honglu Temple is preparing for this Tubo mission." Li Hong said calmly. Since the Honglu Temple and the Ministry of Rites assisted him, and he guessed that it would not take long before Martial Arts would send Le Yanwei as the prime minister to assist him, Li Hong no longer wanted to intervene in the specific preparations. His visit to Honglu Temple today was just a cover, and his real purpose was to go out of the palace to play.

Because Jiang Renji was unable to understand the purpose of Li Hong's visit, he could only answer in a proper manner, "Except for the apartment where the Tubo delegation lived in need of repair, other things have basically been prepared."

"Is this residence the Tubo delegation lived in Chang'an last time? Is there something wrong now?" Li Hong asked frowned. Honglu Temple specially built a courtyard where Gentile envoys live, and there are special people responsible for cleaning. How could there be problems with such a courtyard?

"Your Highness, it's not that there is something wrong with the residence, but that Liu Shangshu believes that the Tubo delegation's purpose in this visit to Chang'an was not simple. He believes that when we receive them, we should not arouse the dissatisfaction of the Tubo people on small issues such as residence, and give them excuses. Therefore, the empress will order some renovations and try to decorate the residence as much as possible." Jiang Renji explained in detail.

"How much money will it cost to repair this time?" Li Hong asked in a deep voice.

Seeing that the Crown Prince's tone was slightly dissatisfied, Jiang Renji replied carefully, "It takes about five thousand s of copper coins."

After hearing this, Li Hong remained silent. He knew that before the war in the Northeast was over, it was impossible for the Tang Dynasty to free up enough troops to deal with the Tubo in the northwest, so that they would appear a little weak on the issue of Tubo. The blind compromise and tolerance made Liu Xiangdao and Jiang Renji consider it like this. However, now Honglu Temple does this, not only will it not stop Tubo from not causing trouble in Chang'an, but will instead encourage their arrogance.

Therefore, after pondering for a moment, Li Hong asked, "How many Gentile Missions live in Honglu Temple now? Are all their expenses available from Honglu Temple?"

"There are missions from the eight countries in Chang'an in the Western Regions, and there are 70 Tai students from Fusang in Japan, and the Sillas, and now there are about 300 people living in the residences of Honglu Temple." Jiang Renji thought about it and said the answer, "Their food and accommodation are provided by Honglu Temple. They spend about thirty cents of silver every day."

Li Hong was surprised when he heard Jiang Renji report such a set of numbers. He did not expect that the Tang Dynasty would treat Gentile missions and Gentile students in Chang'an so preferentially. Not only did they let them live in their residences in Honglu Temple, but they also kept these people for free.

It costs thirty cents a day, but nine hundred cents a month, and ten thousand eight hundred cents a year, which is higher than the annual salary of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps for the current Tang Dynasty, this is just a small amount of money, but it can't stand the ten years and only pays it.

Besides, why did the Tang Dynasty raise these people for nothing? They were either envoys of a country or aristocratic students sent to the Tang Dynasty to learn cultural knowledge, and they were not without money to eat and stay.

Li Hong thought of this and pondered for a moment, saying in a serious tone, "You immediately stop repairing the apartment prepared for the Tubo mission. This time, the Tubo mission will still be in the previous specifications. Also, from now on, any Gentile missions and Tai students who eat and live in the Honglu Temple residence will ask them to pay a certain amount of food and accommodation fees at the Dianke Office. As for how much they pay, it will be up to your Honglu Temple to do it yourself!"

"Your Highness, this is probably a bit inappropriate?" Jiang Renji was stunned when he heard that the prince wanted to collect accommodation and food expenses from the Gentile Mission and the Taishi students, and hurriedly stood up and advised him, "Doing this will cause dissatisfaction among the Gentile Mission and the Taishi students, and will damage the prestige of the Tang Dynasty!"

"You can write a memorial now and hand it over. I will give you a reply when Gu goes to Guangshun Gate to inspect various departments tomorrow to submit the report." Li Hong ignored Jiang Renji's advice and said in a stern tone.

"Your Highness, this..." Jiang Renji wanted to continue to persuade, but suddenly he was shocked when he thought of something and immediately shut up. Because he suddenly remembered that in October last year, Emperor Gaozong ordered the prince to inspect various departments every five days to report, and also authorized the prince to deal with and decide on some small matters.

It was only during this period that Li Hong was in a weak state and had been recuperating in the East Palace. He had not been to Guangshun Gate for a long time, so he forgot about this matter.

Now Li Hong said again that he would go to Guangshun Gate to approve his memorial tomorrow, and Jiang Renji immediately understood what Li Hong meant. He knew that the crown prince in front of him had participated in politics and had the right to make decisions on state affairs. His words were the will, and he could no longer allow him to question it. After understanding this, Jiang Renji was just a little stunned and immediately bowed to accept the order, "I obey the order!"

"Yeah!" Li Hong nodded slightly. He was very satisfied with Jiang Renji's understanding and his performance just now, and said in a gentle tone, "Jiang Aiqing, I will leave it to you."

Jiang Renji was overjoyed. How could he not understand the meaning of Li Hong's words? The current Minister of Honglu Temple, King Deng, is now old. Li Hong said that he would hand over the Honglu Temple to him, wasn't he just going to let him be the Minister of Honglu Temple? He tried his best to suppress the excitement in his heart and bowed, "Please rest assured, my highness, I know what to do."

"But you have to remember one thing for the orphans. The Tang Dynasty's prestige of today was stained with hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Tang Dynasty with their lives and blood, rather than being given to you with the money from the treasury." Seeing Jiang Renji with a happier look on his face, Li Hong suddenly warned in a cold tone.

After saying this, he strides away.

Before Jiang Renji could enjoy the joy of being highly expected by His Highness the Crown Prince, he suddenly heard Li Hong's warning. He couldn't help but feel a trembling heart. He looked at Li Hong's leaving figure. After a while, he came to his senses and said, "No!!" (To be continued)
Chapter completed!