Great Tang princess

Rather, among the symbols of the Tang Dynasty, women are inseparable.

This is not to say that it was driven by the Tang Dynasty itself, but that this trend was already normal during the Sui Dynasty.

At that time, in many families, the men took care of the children at home, while the women were responsible for going out to work to earn money, and even the people in the yamen who came to litigate were women.

So during the founding period of the Tang Dynasty, there were such strange women as Princess Pingyang, not to mention a woman who claimed to be the emperor launched a rebellion during the Emperor Gaozong's period, and then another woman sat on the dragon chair and became the emperor.

This is something that existed in history, not to mention the special existence of Li Yuechen now, which directly led to the emergence of a large number of female officers in the army, and the gradual emergence of female officials in court.

And isn't this the symbol of Datang today?

Hearing this theory, everyone thought about it, and it was indeed the case.

So Li Chongrun directly asked An Lan to send someone to inform them that they would bring their wives to the palace to attend the dinner, so that the queen and their wives could get to know each other.

The ministers did not object after receiving the notice. After all, they did not directly say that they should bring their wives to the dinner.

Instead, let them come over and get to know the queen. Naturally, no one objected.

Because dealing with the wives of the ministers should have been one of the queen's jobs.

It's just that after experiencing the empress's era, Li Xian's wife Wei Lian'er was busy with the secret guards all day long, and had less communication with the family members of the ministers.

Now that the new emperor is on the throne and is willing to restart this activity, the ministers are naturally willing.

After all, this means that the wife may know some news about the emperor from the queen, doesn't it?
Although they are also very clear, judging from the current situation of the royal family, this possibility is probably very small.

But anyway, it's worth a try as long as there's hope.

So at dusk, the ministers brought their wives into the palace one after another to attend the dinner.

Not only them, but even the wives of foreign envoys were allowed to attend.

At dusk, the sky was getting dark, but the square in front of Hanyuan Hall was brightly lit.

Street lights are installed everywhere in the palace today, but where people can stand, there is absolutely no blind spot.

Although the light bulbs in this era are not bright enough, the problem is that the quantity is enough, and the quantitative change is enough to cause a qualitative change.

And in the crowded square, the people who came over were all greeting each other.

The female relatives usually play mahjong and chat about cosmetics together because they are free, and they are familiar with each other.

Today, their main communication partners are actually the wives of those foreign envoys.

With the help of translators, although the communication between the two parties was somewhat troublesome, at least it was enjoyable.

After careful inspection, people began to line up to enter the Hanyuan Hall.

It was basically the first time for the accompanying women to see the Hanyuan Hall, and after entering, they couldn't help but look at the environment in the hall lightly.

But immediately remembered that they couldn't embarrass their own men, so they put on a calm expression and followed their husbands to sit down.

This year's seating is different from previous years. In the past, in order not to interfere with watching the show, the tables were placed on both sides of the hall, leaving the middle as a place for artists to perform.

But this year everyone brought a wife, the number of people has doubled, and there are also a bunch of royal children.

So the hall was directly filled with tables. As for the performance of the party, I went to the square after dinner to watch it.

Anyway, it is not snowing now, and because there are enough light bulbs in the square, it is even brighter than the hall, so the effect of the program should be better.

Then, two people came out from the passage on the right side of the hall.

It was Li Chongrun and Li Xian's father and son. They came to the dragon chair side by side, and Li Chongrun asked his father to sit down first.

The dragon chair is very big, and it won't be crowded for two people.

But this approach surprised everyone present. Since ancient times, such a scene has never occurred.

Although they are father and son, it is really unheard of for two people to sit on the dragon chair at the same time.

However, the ministers didn't say anything. After all, if you really want to talk about it, this is also a manifestation of the emperor's filial piety, and it is worthy of praise.

At least he is not the kind of person who immediately feels that the sky is his second child as soon as he sits on the dragon chair.

After all, from ancient times to the present, it is not uncommon for the emperor to change his personality instantly after sitting on the dragon chair.

And Li Chongrun's actions can at least show that he is still the prince, and he has not changed into another person in character.

Then the ministers and envoys stood up and saluted with their wives.

The new year's court meeting has officially begun.

It is said that it is a court meeting, but in fact it will not discuss any government affairs. In essence, it is a link in which courtiers congratulate the emperor and envoys give gifts.

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Shangguan Wan'er got up and recited the parallel prose, summed up the achievements of this year, looked forward to the goals of next year, and then officially started.

Because the link of ministers giving gifts to the emperor was canceled many years ago, it started directly from the link of giving gifts to the envoys.

In fact, the gifts from various countries are basically all kinds of spices and gems, and all kinds of handicrafts that are not useful.

It cannot be said that it is worthless, but in essence, it can only be used as a handicraft after all.

As for the return gifts from Datang, they are basically the same, tea, silk, porcelain...

However, occasionally, some of the latest industrial products may be used to show off new gadgets.

Although it is rather boring, it is an exchange between countries after all, and the process that should be followed still needs to be followed.

After finishing the process, the emperor gave a speech, and then hurried to the meal, waiting for the banquet to start.

Li Chongrun, the emperor, came out of the army after all, and he was not used to those gossips, so his speeches were very brief.

Although this move made many older courtiers feel problematic, it was very popular with young courtiers.

Then a large number of maids came out from the side passage on the other side with trays and began to serve dishes.

If you look carefully, you can find that among the people serving the dishes, not a single eunuch can be seen, and all of them are ordinary court ladies.

Now the young ladies in the palace are divided into two parts, and most of them are recruited.

There are also a small number who grew up in the palace since childhood, but the number is very small.

After entering the palace, she can work after simple training, but compared with those court ladies in the early years, her temperament has changed a lot.

The former court ladies, to put it bluntly, were basically lifeless.

Because life in the palace, for them, is the despair that can be seen almost at a glance.

But now these recruiting maids all have smiles on their faces, which makes the atmosphere in the palace much better.

However, there are more rules in the palace. The range of activities of these ordinary court ladies is restricted, and they are not allowed to go to many places.

The important work in the palace is done by those maids who have been trained by the army, but strictly speaking, they are no longer court ladies, they are soldiers belonging to the royal internal guard.

But even so, because of the reform of living conditions and the fact that each person only works for four hours a day, it is enough to keep these palace ladies with enthusiastic smiles on their faces.

After all the dishes were served, two figures slowly came out from the passage on the right.

It was Wei Lian'er and Empress Lu Yao. It was a court meeting at the beginning, and the two of them didn't come out.

Although the bead curtain on the main hall is still there, the chair behind the bead curtain is still there.

But sitting there is easy to make people think too much, so the two didn't come out at first.

Now it was time to eat, Li Chongrun and his son got off the dragon chair and came to the two tables in front of the dragon chair.

The courtiers saluted the Empress Dowager and the Empress, and after waiving the ceremony, they took their seats one after another.

Then Li Xian announced that the banquet had officially started, and everyone began to chant poems while drinking.

After all, on such an occasion, no one came here to really eat. At most, they just ate a few mouthfuls to pad their stomachs, and then started chatting with other people with a wine glass.

The same is true for the emperor, who was chatting with the nearest royal family about the difference between the royal gala and the military gala.

And Li Xian recalled the past with his brothers and sisters: "Oh, it's been so many years in a blink of an eye. After thinking about it for a long time, I can finally go out and have a look."

"Where are you going?" Li Yuechen asked with a smile.

"Well, let's go to Qingdao first! Speaking of which, my brother has never taken a train, and I want to take a train there!" Li Xian said.

Li Xian next to him thought for a while: "The No. [-] railway has not yet been built to Qingzhou, and there is still some distance from Qingdao. But then you can take a car there, and it won't be far away."

"It's been ten years and you haven't arrived in Qingzhou?" Li Xian couldn't help being a little surprised.

"It's not that easy, it's very troublesome! It's better to compare the other two roads, it's already very fast." Li Xian replied, "The railway going to the northeast is blocked by the Taihang Mountains, and the hole has not yet been penetrated. ..."

Although there are explosives and some simple mechanical equipment, the efficiency is still not enough to keep up.

So now the No. [-] railway is the most troublesome. If we want to find a way to pass through the Shanxi Basin and connect various cities such as Taiyuan and Shiai, there are more than one caves to be built.

Just for this matter, a Railway Planning and Construction Bureau was even set up in Taiyuan to be responsible for researching this.

This is also the only department in the country that transcends the times outside of Chang'an.

Of course, this is also a good thing, because the rapid economic growth of Taiyuan and its surrounding areas will follow immediately.

Li Dan picked up the wine glass: "In fact, I recommend going to Zhenzhou in winter. The tide is a bit humid, but fortunately it is not cold. It is quite comfortable to have a fireplace in the room."

"You said that there is a fireplace, how cold can it be in Qingdao? I still want to see the snow scene." Li Xian replied.

"Sanlang told me that it hadn't snowed in Qingdao when he came back." Li Dan replied, "But it's true that there hasn't been much snow these years..."

Li Xian nodded: "Didn't Yuechen say that what kind of warm period am I waiting for..."

"It's the middle of the Little Ice Age!" Li Yuechen reminded, "Even the Tibetan plateau can grow grain, which shows that the climate is good now."

"But if it's the ice age again, they can't grow food, wouldn't it be..."

"That will happen hundreds of years later. By then, the planting technology will be more developed than now, and there must be a solution." Li Yuechen replied.

……

In addition to chatting with each other, the ministers below are also having fun.

Even if you don't deal with them very much on weekdays, you won't embarrass them on an occasion like today.

Their wives even exchanged various topics between women with the poker players who usually play mahjong together.

Soon, after eating and drinking, Li Xian announced that everyone would watch the party together and moved to the square outside.

During the time they were eating, a stepped audience platform had been prepared on the square, and the chairs were all set up to surround the stage where the entertainers performed in a semicircle.

At the same time, in order to prevent backlighting, the artists' bandstands were covered with a large curtain behind them.

Generally speaking, this stage already has the feeling of the future.

The position of the emperor was arranged in the middle of the first row with the best view, because the stage is not raised, and the view here is the best.

The other ministers surrounded the emperor according to their rank.

Then the performance officially began, and the artists performed on stage one after another.

Although this novel way of performing was the first time in the palace, it was no longer an unusual arrangement in Lelou.

Artists are also more adapted to this way of performing, so today's state is very good, which makes the audience feel very satisfied.

Whether it's the singer's singing or language programs such as cross talk sketches, the audience couldn't help applauding.

Li Xian was also obviously in a good mood, smiling from ear to ear.

The only pity is that this year there was no such popular show as last time, which made many people feel somewhat regretful.

At midnight, the ministers got up again, saluted the emperor and the Supreme Emperor together, and wished a happy new year.

Li Chongrun also smiled and congratulated them on the same Happy New Year.

In this way, even if the gala is officially over, they will not be there on the morning of the first day of the new year.

So the ministers also bid farewell to the emperor, and then left in an orderly manner. The car outside to pick them up was already ready.

Li Yuechen didn't bother to stay in the palace anymore, so he directly took Guan Wan'er's car and went back.

However, what I didn't expect was that I thought this year would be quieter, but I didn't expect to wake up the next morning, and just after reading the scriptures, I heard Xiaodong report that the emperor was already waiting in the main hall.

When he came to the main hall curiously, he saw Li Chongrun in military uniform sitting on a chair drinking tea.

"This New Year's Day, you are not in the palace with your grandfather, what are you doing here?" Li Yuechen asked curiously.

"My aunt doesn't know, my mother and father left early in the morning!" Li Chongrun took a sip of tea helplessly.

"Huh? You left on the first day of the new year?" Li Yuechen looked confused, "Going to Qingdao?"

Li Chongrun nodded, and his tone was full of helplessness: "No, I left early in the morning. She said that she didn't want to stay in the palace for a moment... Aunt also advised him to wait until the Lantern Festival was over and watch the fireworks before going, but Grandpa said he wanted to see the fireworks in Qingdao..."

"Good guy, this is really capricious!" Li Yuechen also felt a little helpless.