Great Tang princess

Chapter 479 Family Gathering
Dongdu, inside Jixian Temple.

A large round table that did not fit the background of the times was placed in the middle, and Wu Zetian, dressed in casual clothes, sat on the main seat, holding the wine glass in his hand with a smile, and lightly touched the children who were toasting.

Wu Zetian was in a good mood today, so he called the children over for dinner. The three sons were sitting on the left, and the two daughters and Pei Qingwan were sitting on the right, which looked quite neat.

Although the eldest son Li Hong had passed away, Wu Zetian treated Pei Qingwan quite well, and usually gave him various rewards, as if he had transferred all his love for the eldest son to his daughter-in-law.

Although the two daughters were not biological, she did what she said, and her attitude towards them is no different from that of Li Yuechen.

Wu Zetian took a sip of the mellow white wine, and said with a slight smile, "It's rare for the whole family to get together today, so we should drink a few more glasses, but you guys, please pay attention to the portion size!"

After all, the sons are all married, and Li Xian is better off. His wife is in the family courtyard of the military region and hardly has contact with outsiders.

Li Xian and Li Dan were different. Once these two people drank too much, if they talked about what happened here, it would be a big deal.

The sons nodded with understanding and agreed: "Don't worry, Auntie, I'll find out later!"

"Hmm..." Wu Zetian nodded, then suddenly raised her head and said, "Wan'er, you should sit down with me today too!"

Shangguan Wan'er was taken aback for a moment, she didn't expect that she would be asked to eat together at the table, she quickly refused: "This is His Majesty's family banquet, how can slaves sit at the same table? This is absolutely impossible!"

"No problem!" Wu Zetian waved his hand lightly, "You and Chen'er grew up together since childhood, so I can't be too harsh as a mother, can I?"

At this time, although her tone still had the majesty of the emperor, she seemed a little amiable: "Besides, Yiyang and the others also treat you as slaves, so they can be at the same table."

Shangguan Wan'er wanted to refuse, but Princess Yiyang smiled: "Since Aunt told you to sit down, then sit down!"

"Yes, it's fine!" Princess Xuancheng also agreed with a smile.

Li Xian didn't know Shangguan Wan'er very well, but he knew that his sister had a good relationship with her, so he nodded in agreement.

As for Li Xian and Li Dan, let alone, every time Li Yuechen played with them, whenever he had a chance, he would bring Shangguan Wan'er with him, and they were already familiar with each other.
In addition, in these years in the palace, Shangguan Wan'er was often the mouthpiece between their brothers and mother, and they were quite familiar with each other, so the two of them naturally had no objections.

So Shangguan Wan'er saluted and said, "Then...thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Wu Zetian nodded, she sat down at the bottom of the table, which was the empty seat between Princess Xuancheng and Li Dan.

Sitting like this actually has a different meaning, which means that Wu Zetian admitted that she is not an ordinary servant, but has truly become a role similar to a subordinate.

After Zhang Chengxin, who was in charge of serving the dishes, came in and saw it, he silently reminded himself that he should be more respectful when meeting this person in the future.

……

A few people chatted while eating, because they didn't see each other for a long time, so every time they got together, they would always talk about their experiences during this period of time.

Li Xian and Li Dan stayed in their mansion every day, they had nothing to say, they were basically trivial matters.

In fact, Li Xian originally lived in the palace, but now that Wu Zetian is the emperor, he, the former emperor, is not suitable to continue living in the palace.

Secondly, Wei Lian'er couldn't be idle, and she was afraid of being exposed if she continued to live in the palace, so she told her mother and moved out directly.

Wu Zetian thought it would be good to move out, and also arranged a lot of internal guards to protect his safety and prevent anyone from trying to hold him hostage.

Of course, although she told the truth, she sent someone to protect him.But none of the civil and military men in the Manchu Dynasty believed it. They all thought it was purely to monitor him, just like Li Dan.

So, sometimes telling the truth can also deceive people, as long as the other party doesn't believe it.

Wu Zetian has always played this kind of psychological warfare very well, and everything is going according to her plan.

In comparison, it was more interesting when Li Xian told interesting stories about himself in the army. Everyone, including Wu Zetian, listened patiently.

"Brother, there is actually one thing that has bothered me for a long time." Li Dan suddenly asked, "Why do you need eggs to make this grenade?"

Li Xian thought for a while: "According to Chen'er, dry gunpowder is easy to be ignited by static electricity. Do you know what static electricity is? Yes, that's it! Chen'er said that it is not easy to be ignited by static electricity after soaking gunpowder with egg white." Now, and the gunpowder made is granulated, which burns more fully..."

"What about the egg yolk?" Li Dan asked, "Throw it away?"

"If you think the money is too much, why don't you share some with your brother?" Li Xian asked with squinted eyes.

Li Dan twitched the corner of his mouth immediately: "Brother thinks too much, brother Yu doesn't have much money..."

Although he sealed [-] households, it was a false seal, and if it was actually sealed, there were only about [-] households.Although this is already a huge sum of money for ordinary people, he is not the only one to support such a large Xiangwang Palace, so the working capital that can be used is actually not very high.

"How can the egg yolk be thrown away?" Li Xian then explained, "Part of it is used as fodder to feed war horses, and the other part is made into egg yolk pancakes for people to eat!"

Speaking of this, Li Xian, who rode the fewest horses, said that he didn't quite understand: "On weekdays, war horses also need to be fed concentrated feed?"

"It's too late to feed before going to the battlefield." Li Xian replied, "War horses usually have to participate in training, just like people, so naturally they have to eat well!"

Li Xian suddenly realized: "It turns out that..."

He seldom goes out to exercise, and he looks like an ancient otaku. Apart from his hobby of practicing calligraphy, the rest of the time at home is playing the piano, drinking and playing with women.He barely knows how to ride a horse, and likes to watch polo, but he doesn't know anything about fighting horses.

And so on, Li Xian always talks about various things in the army. Although they are trivial things in his opinion, they are very interesting in the eyes of others.

In comparison, Li Xian prefers the things in the princess mansion.

Among other things, the various facilities really made him envious by his real name.

There is no steam room in the barracks, and he really wants to have a steam room in winter.

Li Yuechen actually thought about this and thought it was unnecessary.

The training intensity of the soldiers in winter is also very high, and they can sweat all over in the snowy weather. If such a large amount of training is added to a steam room, they will collapse if not done well.

But she has already promised that if there is a chance in the future, all the houses in the family courtyard can be equipped with steam rooms, and if they want to try, they can go home and try.

……

While chatting, the topic came to Li Yuechen again, Li Dan sighed: "When will Yuechen come back? It's been more than two years."

"You are waiting for her to come back quickly so that you can go home from the military department, right?" Li Xian said a lesson, "As a brother, shouldn't you feel sorry for your sister? Share more for her?"

Li Dan looked aggrieved: "If it's other things, it's okay to share. But the post of Minister of the Ministry of War is really tiring!"

Hearing this sentence, Wu Zetian laughed: "It's not because you were ignorant since childhood. If you read more military books, you wouldn't be like this."

Seeing that his mother started to lecture others, Li Dan quickly changed the subject: "Well... Speaking of which, what has Yuechen been studying recently?"

"Wan'er, tell me." Wu Zetian smiled.

"Yes!" Shangguan Wan'er agreed, "Prince Huixiang, His Highness has not studied novelty objects recently, but is just busy..."

Li Dan waved his hand: "That's needless to say, otherwise I might be asked to do something for you..."

While talking, he breathed a sigh of relief, feeling very right for interrupting Shangguan Wan'er's language.

Wu Zetian, a mother, couldn't help but roll her eyes at this shabby appearance, but she didn't continue to teach, but turned her head and said: "Xuancheng, Minister of the Household Department asked to be appointed, and I agreed. In the future, you will Promote to the Minister of the Household Department!"

Princess Xuancheng was stunned: "Me? This..."

"What?" Wu Zetian picked up his wine glass and chuckled, "If you have any questions, just ask!"

"Yes... It doesn't matter if Chen'er is Minister of the Ministry of War, regardless of strength, qualifications or even prestige. But if this son-in-law becomes Minister of the Ministry of Households, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of dissatisfaction." Princess Xuancheng said worriedly.

Wu Zetian nodded, and personally called out what she dared not say: "Many people are already dissatisfied that the emperor is a woman. If there are more household ministers, I am afraid there will be troubles. Is that what you mean?"

Although these words are a little blunt, Princess Xuancheng felt that there was nothing wrong with her, she nodded slightly and said: "Exactly, the Ministry of War is different after all, as long as there is military merit and prestige, there is not much difference between male and female. ..."

Princess Xuancheng's worry was not unreasonable, but Wu Zetian just nodded indifferently.

"Hmm... why don't you think about it the other way around?" Wu Zetian asked with a confident smile while holding a glass of wine, "Since the emperor can already be a woman, why can't the Minister of the Household?"

The tone is not heavy, and the voice is not loud, but it reveals the supreme majesty that only belongs to the emperor.

Everyone at the dinner table couldn't help raising their heads one after another, looking at her in surprise. At this moment, Wu Zetian seemed to have light shining on his body, and it seemed that he could vaguely hear the high-pitched singing of dragons and phoenixes.

The meaning of this sentence is very simple, that is to announce the further concentration of imperial power!
Whoever I ask to do it can do it, it has nothing to do with being a man or a woman!That's what she wanted to say.

It also means that the emperor intends to declare sovereignty over the courtiers. Once successful, the status of the ministers will be lower in the future. Correspondingly, the emperor's dragon chair will become higher.

Although these words were said calmly, this kind of calm made people feel a little excited.

Princess Xuancheng nodded and agreed: "Since Auntie has orders, I will naturally accept orders!"

……

Wu Zetian's decision was not impulsive, but had his own considerations.

Now that the power in the hands of the royal family has greatly increased, it would be a bit unreasonable if they didn't take advantage of the situation to show off their muscles.

Especially now that Lu Shi is very likely to have evil intentions, this move can be regarded as an opportunity to beat some people not to seek their own death.

Not to mention that Princess Xuancheng has good abilities. Now, as the servant of the household department, she basically manages all kinds of things in an orderly manner, and her ability is also very good.

The most important thing is that Wu Zetian also knows that he is not young after all, so he still has to consider the issue of heirs.

Now she has proved that a woman can be an emperor, so the No. 1 choice in her heart is of course her own daughter.

To say that the only trouble is the issue of the heir, she doesn't like men, so how to choose an heir in the future has become a big problem.

But fortunately, you don't have to worry about this matter yourself. Let your daughter solve it by herself when the time comes, and she will definitely find a way.

Besides, this daughter may not be willing to inherit the throne, and there is a high probability that Li Xian's eldest son will inherit it.

Let her think about how to do it when the time comes, and I believe she can solve this matter.

If it was in the past, Wu Zetian might be so irritable because of these things that he couldn't eat or sleep.

But now... there is nothing to worry about. It is good that the royal family has enough power in their hands. The emperor can do whatever he wants, and there is no need to look at other people's faces.

……

When talking about Li Yuechen, one has to mention the refined salt that has been researched in recent years.

Now the two saltworks in Qingdao and Hainan are fully capable of supplying the whole country, and there are even some vacancies.

Although the price was unbelievably low, sales were increasing every month, which gradually filled the treasury.

In addition, Princess Xuancheng stared at the accounts, so she could see any fraud at a glance, and no one dared to reach out in this regard.

Nowadays, many foreign businessmen have even found someone who sells official salt, and they want to buy a lot and sell it abroad.

Princess Xuancheng knew that Li Yuechen would definitely not let go of this opportunity, but the current salt was only enough to supply the whole country, and it would take a while longer to sell it to foreign businessmen.

"Speaking of this salt..." Li Xian suddenly looked at a piece of braised pork during the holiday, "I feel that the taste of this dish is much better than usual. Could it be that Yuechen made better salt?"

When he said this, other people realized that, indeed, today's dish tastes better than usual.

So Qi Shushu turned her head to look at Shangguan Wan'er, there was no way she didn't know about the things in the palace.

She felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, looked up at Wu Zetian, saw her nodding, and then replied: "Your Highnesses don't know, this is the effect of the sea intestine powder that His Highness sent back a few days ago..."

Because the first batch of sea sausage powder was not made much, Li Yuechen, as a daughter, must first try her filial piety for her mother, so she didn't prepare it for her sister and brothers in the princess mansion.

She was thinking about giving it to other people when the breeding developed in the future, and it could also be used by Qianniuwei, but all this needs to be done slowly.

After listening to the explanation, Princess Xuancheng smiled: "No wonder Wan'er hasn't come back to eat recently... It turns out that the taste in the palace is better!"

Princess Yiyang and Pei Qingwan also laughed, causing Shangguan Wan'er to lower her head in embarrassment.

　This chapter is still yesterday.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)