Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

"Since it's my family, then I won't hide it from you!" Cui Bian sighed: "There are many people who come to ask my daughter for marriage, and your lord is just one of them!"

"My fair lady, a gentleman is so good. I, the daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe, grows up, and it is common sense that I ask for many people!" Cui Hongdu laughed: "But Wang Changshi is a hero in the world, is he just another mediocre generation?" Comparable? Uncle must not miss it, I will regret it in the future!"

"Wang Changshi is indeed a hero in the world, but after all, our Cui family chose a husband-in-law, not a general!" Cui Bian said with a smile: "This is two different things, besides, most of the people who come to ask for marriage are the heroes of the world. You can’t make my Cui family lintel bigger, Twelve Lang, don’t you think so?”

"Yes, yes!" Hearing this, Cui Hongdu could only say yes. The reason why the Qinghe Cui family has been prosperous for nearly a thousand years from Wei, Jin to Tang, and ranks among the top gentry in the world, is that besides the strength of its men and the emergence of talents, Another important reason is that Cui's daughter is also a well-known good match, and the husband-in-law obtained by marriage is better than one generation. For example, Dugu Xin, the famous "father-in-law of three dynasties", whose main wife is from the Cui family of Qinghe, theoretically It is said that the blood of Cui's family also flows on Li Tang's body (Li Yuan's mother is Duguxin's daughter).To put it bluntly, what kind of son will be born can only be determined by God, but the son-in-law can be chosen. It is a dream for generations to produce talents, but it is possible to choose a talented son-in-law from generation to generation.

"How about it! Twelve Lang, go down and rest for half a day. I will discuss with my family about the Lord's proposal, and then I will call you back. How about it?"

"Yes!" Cui Hongdu stood up, he hesitated for a while and said, "Uncle, I'm not boasting about my family's superiors, Wang Changshi was already in the fourth rank when he was just [-] years old, he was the county uncle of the founding country, and his food salary was seven hundred Hu, broad-minded, able to bow down to a corporal, and the number of dead who are willing to serve him is countless. Given time, he will surely be able to become a general. Although my Cui family in Qinghe bears sages, the court loves Kansai people. My Cui family's children are one of them. The governor of Shangzhou is rare. If things go on like this, how can we keep our family prosperous? Presumably the people who come to ask for a marriage are no more than Lu, Wang, Zhao, Xiao and others. These children may not be without talents, but they will definitely not be able to carry forward the lintel of my Cui family. People! Uncle, please think again!" After saying that, he bowed to Cui Bian and then stepped back.

After hearing Cui Hongdu's words, Cui Bian fell into deep thought.As Cui Hongdu said, although the Cui family had 12 ministers in the Tang Dynasty and had great influence in society, it has been relatively weak compared to the heyday of the Northern Dynasties.The reason is that both the Sui and Tang dynasties originated in Guanxi, and their ruling group was naturally dominated by the Guanlong area. Although there were also branches of the Qinghe Cui family who moved westward to Chang'an following Emperor Wei Xiaowu and became prominent, the Qinghe Cui family After all, the main clan of the family still stays in the Kanto area, so they are naturally regarded as Kanto people.

More importantly, after the unification of the Sui and Tang dynasties, the political ecology at the prefecture and county level has undergone tremendous changes.Since the Han Dynasty, the chief executives at the prefecture and county levels have had a lot of power. They can collect taxes, administer the law, enforce the law, recommend talents, command the state and county troops, and even recruit subordinate officials on their own. They only need to report to the central government Just one click.Under such circumstances, the governors of the prefectures and counties usually enlist the powerful local noble families as their own officials. Over time, the noble families of all parties have mastered the real power of the state and county, and the prefects of various places must recruit members of the local powerful families as their subordinates. One's own subordinate officials such as Biejia and Engagement can perform normal administration, and become a situation where the prefects and governors of the prefectures and counties in the running water will fight against Biejia and Engagement.

For a noble family like Qinghe Cui, even if they are not appointed by the imperial court and do not enter the central government, they can still guarantee various economic and political privileges in the state and county where their clan is located, and ensure that their families will not fall.Being an official is not a necessity for the Cui family. On the contrary, the imperial court needs to select the Cui family's children to enter the center, or even marry them, to ensure the support of these aristocratic families.However, after the Sui Dynasty unified the world based on the Guanzhong area, the power to appoint state and county officials was taken back to the central government. In this way, if the children of the gentry could not monopolize the economic and political privileges of the state and county where they were in the past, if they could not maintain official positions , they will be gradually marginalized and their families will be ruined.

"Master, what are you thinking?"

A voice pulled Cui Bian back from his thoughts, he raised his head, but it was his wife, Lu Shi, who hurriedly smiled and said, "It's nothing, do you remember that Cui Twelve from Wushuifang? He just came to visit!"

"Is that the one in the military mansion?" Mrs. Lu is over [-] years old, but she is well maintained, except for some wrinkles on the corners of her eyes and forehead, she doesn't look old:
"That's right, it's him!" Cui Bian sighed, "He came here this time to propose to my seventh sister on behalf of his boss."

"Propose for his boss?" Lu's brows frowned suddenly: "Then Cui Twelve is so ignorant, I remember he is seven or eight years older than you, right? His boss is probably over fifty years old." , my seventh younger sister is only seventeen this year, isn't this age too far away? It's still a continuation, fortunately he can say it!"

"That's not it!" Cui Bian hurriedly explained: "His boss is not bad, he is a few years younger than him, and he is only thirty this year!"

"Just thirty?" Lu laughed: "Really? I remember that Cui Twelve is already a fifth-rank now, even if he is a fifth-rank, the fifth-rank just [-] years old is a young man! Could it be Chang'an?" Your son?"

"That's not true. I heard that the surname is Wang, and it's a branch of the Langya Wang family!"

"The offshoot of the Wang family of Langya, the fifth rank of thirty, sounds really good!" The Lu family laughed: "Although the family background is a bit worse than that of Lu, Zhao, and Li, the official position is much higher. , By the way, I almost forgot the most important thing! How much is the dowry?"

"Betroth gift?" Cui Bian was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I haven't had time to ask, but it doesn't matter, Cui Twelve just left a document, which should be there! Yes, it's here!" Cui Bian asked from the side Picking up a document from the case and handing it over, Mrs. Lu took a look and said, "[-] guan, so much?"

"what?"

"Here it is said that Wang Wenzuo is willing to give a bride price of [-] guan!" Lu's right hand trembled slightly: "Master, do you think this is fake?"

Cui Bian took back the document and looked at it carefully, and sure enough it clearly said "Willing to pay fifty thousand guan coins, I want to marry a good girl from the Cui family, I think Qin Jin is good!", he couldn't help being startled, five Wanguan is 500 million yuan. This standard of dowry is almost as good as the dowry for a princess in the early Tang Dynasty, and it has completely broken the psychological expectations of the two.

"There should be no fakes!" Cui Bian's tone was still not so sure: "Nabi was before getting married, so if Wang Wenzuo lied about this kind of thing, wouldn't he become the laughing stock of the world?"

"But, the Langya Wang family has long since fallen, and his ancestors should have no shadows left. Even if he was young and good at management, he wouldn't be able to spend so much money all at once?" Lu asked.

Cui Bian nodded. Unlike the northern gentry such as the Cui family based in Hebei, the southern gentry has experienced the Sun En Rebellion, the Hou Jing Rebellion, and the Jiangling Prisoner several times. It's all gone, this shot is really scary.

"How about this, let's hold a family banquet tomorrow night, and say that Cui Twelve will clean up the dust, and the conversation at the wine table will be much easier! How about it?" Cui Bian asked.

"This is a good idea!" Lu said with a smile, "I'll prepare right away. If it's true, the boss Cui Twelve is really a good match for Seventh Sister!"

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The flower hall of Cui's house was steaming, filled with the aroma of various dishes and fine wines.The four walls are covered with ink treasures of various colors. Judging from the color of the paper and ink stains, many of them are old.Behind the screen in the flower hall, a musician plucked the zither and sang gracefully, the tone was light and soft, but to the people at the table who were clashing dishes and talking drunkenly, nothing the musician played or sang could be heard at all.

The banquet held for Cui Hongdu has been going on for more than an hour.Apart from Cui Bian and his wife, there were six or seven other people at the table, either younger generations of the Cui family, or close friends.They listened with relish to Cui Hongdu talking about his wars in Baekje, Japan, Goguryeo, hunting, stealing sunshine and other anecdotes.

"So, Twelve Lang, when you had an accident in the Wa Kingdom, did you have an affair with the Queen of the Wa Kingdom?" Lu said with a smile.

"I can't be sure about that!" Cui Hongdu laughed and said, "It is true that there were indeed two girls who sneaked into my room that night, and one of them claimed to be Princess Saitama, but as for whether it is true or not, I am not sure about that."

"I think it's probably fake!" A person next to him laughed and said, "How noble is a princess, how can she act like this? It's probably Twelve Lang, you were deceived!"

"It may not be necessary to take care of me!" Someone retorted: "It sounds good to be a princess, but in reality she is just a barbarian girl! Seeing Brother Twelve's demeanor, you just can't hold yourself back!"

Cui Hongdu heard the more and more outrageous people said, and he knew something was wrong, so he hurriedly smiled and said: "It's actually nothing, I have seen even more unusual things in the country of Wa, do you know? Going to the northeast of the country of Wa, there are some rivers in the lower reaches of which are rich in sand A woman can pan out half a tael of gold by the river for a few days!"

"Really? Doesn't Wa country have a lot of gold?"

"Then Twelve Lang must be Duojin Lang now?"

Hearing the person at the table mention gold, Cui Bian exchanged glances with Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Lu said with a smile: "Twelve Lang, if it's as you said, isn't the Wa country very rich, why did you send troops to Baekje?"

"Ma'am, I don't know! Although the Japanese country is rich in gold, silver and animal skins, it is very scarce in other things. Although gold and silver are good, they cannot be eaten or drunk. Even the royal family is not as good as our country. It’s not surprising that Ichitada wants to take advantage of the chaos in Baekje to use troops!”

"Then, Twelve Lang, you must have gained a lot in Wa Kingdom, right?"

"Hehe!" Cui Hongdu was already half drunk, and was tickled by Lu's, and couldn't help laughing: "I don't dare to say too much, but the twenty or thirty generations of children and grandchildren can't use it up!"

"Twenty or thirty generations can't eat enough?" Lu's heart was even more happy when he heard this, and he boldly asked: "You have so much, Twelfth Lang, wouldn't your boss get more? "

"Him? Are you asking Wang Wenzuo?" Cui Hongdu laughed and said, "He is the one who is said to be rich like an enemy! Shi Chong and Tao Zhu can't boast of being rich in front of him!"

After getting the answer she wanted, Lu's heart was even more joyful. She exchanged glances with her husband, and carefully asked: "Since Wang Langjun is so rich, why is he over thirty years old and hasn't married yet? He is now by my side Can you have a woman to accompany you, can you have an heir?"

"He has been fighting in Baekje before, and his life and death are uncertain. How can he get married?" Cui Hongdu said with a smile: "As for whether he has a female companion by his side, what does it matter? He asked me to come to ask for his wife. If the two agree, Seventh Sister Married is the main wife, even if he had a daughter before, he must respect Seventh Sister as the master. As for the heir, there is indeed one, but the mother has passed away, the child has its own mother's property, the wife does not need to worry about it!"

Hearing Cui Hongdu's answer, Mrs. Lu was a little disappointed, but thinking that the other party was young and rich, how could there be no women around him?If you have no children by now, you have to worry about unmentionable diseases in your body, which will not be good for your offspring.Although it is possible to pick up a child from an uncle's family to inherit the family business, it is not as caring as his own daughter's.Thinking of this, Mrs. Lu secretly rejoiced, and said with a smile: "The child is a piece of meat that we women have fallen from. How can we not marry the child without inquiring clearly beforehand? How can you men understand such worries!"

Cui Hongdu was overjoyed when he heard the words: "So, Madam agreed?"

"What did Twelfth Lang say!" Lu said with a smile: "The idiot is the head of the family, how can such things be said by women."

"If Madam agrees, uncle must agree too!" Cui Hongdu laughed.

"How about it!" Cui Bian said with a smile: "Twelve Lang, go back and ask Wang Changshi, if he has nothing to do recently, can he come to Qingzhou and meet with the old man!"

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Yingzhou.

"Sanlang is still so brave!" Gao Kan looked at the blueprints on the cases and said with a smile: "You actually want to complete such a major event within ten years, which is really beyond the imagination of an old man like me!"

"The guards are humble!" Wang Wenzuo said with a smile: "The Goguryeo people can build a Great Wall of more than [-] miles while fighting with us. Why can't we build dams and ponds? At least the dams and ponds are beneficial to the local people. There is no benefit other than that!"

"Yes, Goguryeo people don't say anything else, this civil engineering work is really extraordinary!" Gao Kan sighed: "With just such a small household registration, there is a war between the two sides, and the Great Wall and mountain city can still be built. It took us two or three generations People, this energy is really extraordinary, no wonder the imperial court wants to move their household registration to Jianghuai and Southwest! I don’t feel relieved if it’s changed!”