Tibet

Not long after, Zhang Shangyuan was brought into Li Ye's official room.

Zhang Shangyuan was a little nervous and bowed, "See you, Your Highness!"

"You're welcome, Mr. Zhang, please sit down!"

Zhang Shangyuan sat down solemnly at the side. He leaned forward and said, "This time I came to Chang'an to do business on my father's order. This is my first time coming to Chang'an. I hope your highness will take care of me in the future!"

Do you want to do business and ask Li Ye to take care of you? How could Li Ye have so much energy to intervene? Li Ye understood that Zhang Shangyuan came to him for the purpose. In fact, Zhang Li told him that he had sent his son to Chang'an, and the Zhang family decided to burn his own incense.

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "It is natural to take care of you. Young Master wants to stay in Chang'an for a long time?"

"Exactly!"

After getting the answer he wanted, Li Ye asked calmly: "What business does Mr. Zhang plan to do?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. If it doesn't work out, I'll just open a few more Chang'an branches of Beauty Hall. This is the earliest business of our Zhang family."

‘Beauty Hall? ' He had heard of this name. At first he thought it was a brothel, but later he learned that it was the most famous women's cosmetics shop in Luoyang. There was also one in Chang'an, and their shop supplied the cosmetics for his wives and concubines.

Li Ye's heart suddenly moved. He thought of the soap. The Dugu family was only responsible for manufacturing, but it seemed that who would sell it had not yet been decided. It was just right for the Zhang family to be the general sales agent and use this business to build relationships.

Thinking of this, Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "I happened to have invented a new product for bathing and washing the face, called soap. Mr. Zhang might as well go to Dugu Prince Consort and talk to him about cooperation."

Zhang Shangyuan was overjoyed, "Dugu Prince Consort is still in Chang'an?"

"He will return to Luoyang in two days, so Mr. Zhang had better visit him today."

"Okay! I'll go there at noon and buy him a drink by the way."

Zhang Shangyuan just came to report and let Li Ye know that he was here. He had nothing else to do. After sitting for a while, he stood up and left.

Li Ye looked at his back and walked away. He knew very well that Zhang Li did not want his son to come to Chang'an to do business, but to engage in politics in Chang'an. This boy seemed kind and honest, so he asked him to be a good person by his side. It would be nice to join the army.

Li Ye didn't mean joining the army like Wei Yingwu and Du You. He was his secretary. It was impossible to ask Zhang Shangyuan to do it, but ordinary joining the army. But even ordinary joining the army was from an eighth-rank official, and generally only Jinshi could get it directly. Such a high official position is indeed based on Zhang Li's face.

Li Ye returned to the official room, wrote a note, handed it to Wei Yingwu and said: "Give this note to Li Guoxiang!"

Let Li Mi arrange this matter, so he doesn't have to worry about it.

At this time, Du You walked in and said: "Your Highness, Master Tengkong is here!"

"Please come in quickly!"

Li Tengkong walked in like a gust of wind, holding a jar in her hand. She carefully placed the jar on the table, "This is the green vitriol oil you want. It's five kilograms in total. I distilled it three times. It should be very strong." ”

"Did they learn it?"

Li Tengkong nodded, "I gave them the "Yellow Emperor's Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill Sutra" and they made it according to the steps recorded in the book. I gave instructions twice and they made it too. It's very good!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "Agu, I also want to ask you to help me refine something."

"I knew you weren't just trying to refine green vitriol oil, tell me!"

Li Ye took out a process for making nitric acid from the drawer and handed it to Li Tengkong, "I call this nitrate oil. It is extracted from nitrate powder. It is a little difficult and the requirements are relatively high. I have written it down in detail. It’s above, there are some precautions, so be careful.”

Li Tengkong is also a famous alchemist, but she makes elixirs for the purpose of preparing medicine, not for practicing immortality. She understood after looking at it and smiled lightly: "It is similar to green vitriol oil, I know?"

"It cannot see light or heat, otherwise it will turn into smoke."

"I see!"

"Take this away!" Li Ye pointed to the concentrated sulfuric acid on the table.

"I have quite a few there, I'll leave this to you!"

Li Tengkong bowed and left. Li Ye looked at the jar of concentrated sulfuric acid on the table. He was a little worried. What did he want with this thing?

Not long after the New Year is the Lantern Festival. Compared with the various rituals of the New Year, the Lantern Festival is a carnival for the people. They enjoy lanterns, play games, taste snacks, and stay up all night to enjoy the joyful atmosphere of the festival.

This year's Lantern Festival is still the same old trick, exchanging lanterns with surrounding large counties, and some small counties also put up a few unique lanterns and sent them to Chang'an. Chang'an did not need to spend money to bring lanterns to the people of Chang'an. Freshness.

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, the lanterns were arranged and tested, and then again on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month. On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, the annual Lantern Festival finally kicked off.

Today, many important walls have been demolished, making the lanterns even more grand than ever. At night, nearly a million people took to the streets to watch the lanterns. The lanterns were bright, colorful and beautiful.

The lantern show in Chang'an is still the same as in previous years. It is concentrated in the five local districts, Zhuque Street, which is a colorful street, like a long dragon lying in Chang'an City, followed by the East Market and the West Market, where there are large squares. This place mainly focuses on various games, so it is very attractive to the people. There is also Pingkangfang, which is the first place for fireworks in the Tang Dynasty. A place that young people yearn for.

The fifth lantern show is in the square in front of Daming Palace. This is where the official lanterns are concentrated. There are no interactive and interesting games. The only attraction is the large lanterns such as lantern towers and lantern trees.

Because the lantern festival is held for three consecutive days, the people of Chang'an are not in a hurry. Today they will enjoy the lanterns on Zhuque Street, tomorrow they will go to the east and west cities, and the day after tomorrow they will go to Danfengmen and Hepingkangfang.

In fact, many wives don't want their husbands to go to Pingkangfang. The women there are too attractive and can lure their husbands away with just one look. They don't want their husbands to spend the family's meager savings on these women.

Therefore, most of the people who come to Pingkangfang are unmarried young men and women. The young men want to see the oiran, while the girls like the exquisite lanterns here, and they also want to see what the oiran looks like.

Li Ye and his family sat in a carriage and walked slowly on Zhuque Street. Basically, they could only watch the lanterns. They could not get off the car. In the end, they had to entrust the female guard to buy a few lanterns and some snacks.

However, Li Ye had a way to make the family play more comfortable. He booked the Yitian Pavilion of Wude Restaurant in advance. This is the best place to watch the lanterns in Pingkangfang. It is a trapezoidal structure, facing the oiran performance. The stage is decorated with bright lanterns on both sides.

The carriage slowly stopped at the back door of Wude Restaurant, and the shopkeeper personally led Li Ye's family up the stairs from the back to the third floor.