A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1160 Twin Princesses
In the bustling market of Gaochang City,
Wu Huaiyu found a restaurant with a good reputation and invited Zhang Ananda to dinner.

The shop looks simple, with fireworks everywhere and business booming.

"Give me some of your specialties," Li Keyong, the military commander of the Yanei army, called a waiter. The waiter was young, with a red face, blue eyes, red hair, and a flowery hat. At first glance, he was a Sogdian boy.

The waiter quickly glanced at the guests, all Han people with extraordinary temperament. He immediately guessed that they might be the Tang Dynasty officials in the city. He did not dare to neglect them and immediately put on a smile.

"The signature food in my shop is the flatbread. It is said that our flatbread originated from the Xiongnu tribe. They wrapped meat in dough and baked it on hot stones to make delicious flatbreads."

"Our flatbreads are baked in a tandoor. We have various meat fillings. We roll dough into a dough, wrap it with the prepared fillings, and bake it on the tandoor. The baked flatbreads are golden and crispy on the outside, and the meat fillings are tender and juicy inside. They are fragrant and fresh, and leave a lasting aftertaste."

This Sogdian young man spoke Chinese quite well, but with a bit of a Hu accent, but it was understandable nonetheless.

The baked cakes in this shop are actually baked buns.

The most classic ones are the baked buns stuffed with mutton, but there are also those stuffed with beef, horse, camel, donkey, rabbit, marmot, chicken, goose, and wild goose.
The Tang people were accustomed to calling all pasta "bing", including soup bing, pancake, and steamed bing. So the Hu people's shop also called baked buns "baked bing".

It is said that this way of eating originated from the time when the Huns were nomadic in the wild. They would hunt rabbits, marmots, gazelles and other prey, wash the meat, mix it with dough, and roast it over charcoal before eating.

Later, this dish of baked buns gradually became popular and became a delicacy in the Western Regions.

Wu Huaiyu treated everyone to a meal, and Zhang Ananda ordered baked buns stuffed with mutton.

He was also very interested in looking at the making of the Sogdian Hu shop. The stuffing was made by diced mutton, added with mutton tail oil, cumin, refined salt, pepper, etc. The buns did not need to be fermented, but had to be rolled very thin, almost translucent, and then folded into a square.
The pit used for baking buns is also smaller than the ordinary naan pit. When baking, the raw buns are placed on the edge of the pit and sprinkled with some salt water to prevent them from falling off.

This shop is doing very good business, with customers lining up in long queues. Most of them take away their food, while some eat in the shop.

The baked buns are all freshly made, and even the mutton is freshly slaughtered. It is not difficult to make and it only takes about ten minutes to bake.

Wu Huaiyu and Zhang Ananda were interested in the business of this shop. It was obviously a family business. Some of the young sons worked as waiters and some were responsible for baking buns. The old father with a goatee was responsible for collecting money and giving orders.

The women in the family were kneading the dough, rolling the skin, mixing the stuffing, and making the dumplings in the back.

The small shop has a clear division of labor.
The waiter brought the mutton-filled baked buns they ordered.

Still hot.

"It smells good," Zhang Ananda smiled and picked up a freshly baked bun. He took a bite and first the crispy and shiny outer skin was very crispy, and then the juicy diced lamb rushed into his mouth.

Full of rich and juicy flavor,
And it’s fragrant but not greasy.

“It’s really delicious, no wonder the business is so good.

The eunuch was very satisfied with the meal. Wu Huaiyu picked up one and started to eat it, and he was full of praise. Although this restaurant is small, the taste is really excellent.

Eat the baked buns and have a pot of milk tea.
This afternoon was very pleasant. There was a bustling crowd outside and the noise was boiling. It was a bit noisy, but also very lively.

I ate seven or eight steamed buns in one go.

Wu Huaiyu stopped, poured a cup of rich milk tea and drank it slowly.

"Superintendent Zhang, take a look at this."

Wu Huaiyu took out a piece of paper and gave it to Zhang Ananda. The Sword Saint wiped the oil off his hands before taking it. He glanced at it and was a little surprised. "Did you find the treasure of Gaochang Labyrinth?"

"No,"

"What about your one camel of gold coins and two camels of silver coins?"

"This was sent to me by the Longtuqizhi, the king of Yanqi, along with a hundred horses and a pair of beautiful twin princesses."

"Then why are you showing it to me?"

Zhang Ananda took it and put it back on the table.

"I have recently sent people to search for the Gaochang King's treasure in the maze, but there is no clue at all," Wu Huaiyu took a sip of tea. "The King of Yanqi gave me this generous gift because he wanted me to help him get back the four cities and the more than 2,000 households that were abducted. He also wanted to open the Loulan Road on the Silk Road."

"He also wants to break away from the control of the Southern Court and only pay tribute and taxes to the Tang Dynasty in the future."

Zhang Ananda called to the waiter and asked him to bake some more buns with other fillings.

"This Dragon King is really generous. This gift is worth fifty or sixty million yuan."

A gift worth half a billion dollars is certainly heavy enough.

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "I accept this gift."

Zhang Ananda looked at him.

"But don't worry, Zhang Jian. I'm not the kind of person who doesn't know my limits. Besides, I'm not short of money."

Not to mention half a billion, even if one hundred million was placed in front of him, Wu Huaiyu would not lose his composure. After all, the Wu family was said to be rich enough to rival a country.
Sometimes, money is just a number in front of him.

Although this gift is huge, Wu Huaiyu will definitely not be greedy and cannot take the money.

Too much,
"I accepted the gift from the Dragon Riders, but I didn't put it into my own pocket."

Zhang Jian asked, "Do you want to use this gift for public use?"

"Not at all."

"Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "This is what I think. Long Tuqizhi asked me to do something, and it was a big deal. He voluntarily gave me a gift, so it's okay to accept it. After all, I will help him get the job done."

"Of course, I accepted this gift from him because this guy was a bit dishonest before."

Wu Huaiyu told Zhang Jianzhi that he accepted the gift of tens of thousands of strings of cash, but asked Zhang Jian to take it back to Chang'an and give it to the emperor.

"Take them all back to Chang'an?"

"Ah."

"Including the pair of Yanqi princesses?" "Of course, there is no way I could marry them."

Zhang Ananda asked with a smile, "Are these princesses really young and beautiful?"

"really,"

"have you seen."

"Well, I have to check for the saint first. If she is ugly, or has no manners, or is sick, I dare not send her to Chang'an."

The King of Yanqi asked Wu Huaiyu to do something.
It was only natural for Wu Huaiyu to accept the gift and help him settle the matter, but it was also reasonable for him to accept the money and give it to the emperor in Chang'an.

"Just now I was worried that you might be tempted by the gold, silver, treasures and beauties, but now I am relieved."

Zhang Ananda also planned to return to Chang'an first.
Although he had the mission to find the Gaochang treasure, there was no clue now, and it was impossible for him, a eunuch, to stay in the Western Regions forever.

As for the treasure, it must be found, but it will be up to Wu Huaiyu to find it.

The steamed buns stuffed with horse meat, donkey meat and rabbit meat were ready, and the two continued to feast on them.

After eating, I strolled around the lively market.

Wu Huaiyu returned to Yacheng.

This was originally the palace of the King of Gaochang, and now it has been transformed into a government office with guards stationed here. Although it is very safe, it seems a bit grim compared to the bustling outer city.

Cheng Yaojin, Wu Huaiyi and the others were packing their luggage.
Everyone gained a lot from this Western Expedition. Old Cheng was promoted to General of the Auxiliary State, and the others were also promoted.

Of course, in addition to promotion,

Old Cheng and his friends also made a lot of other gains and became rich.

It is true that these generals are not afraid of death, but it is false to say that Old Cheng and his men do not love money. Cheng Yaojin made a fortune just in Gongyue City.

Now they were leaving, and they had to bring back all the wealth they had accumulated, including cattle, sheep, camels, horses, slaves, gold, silver, jade, stones, and spices. In short, they had made a lot on this trip.

These are not completely legal and reasonable, and many of them are on the gray line, but this situation is very common. As long as you don't do anything stupid and go too far in openly burning, killing and looting, the emperor and the court will not pay too much attention to these things, especially to generals who have won great victories and made great contributions.

Huaiyu packed some baked buns for her brother.

"I have something to tell you," Huaiyi said while eating a baked bun, "my brother-in-law sent me a letter from Chang'an saying that my new position has been confirmed, the Inspector of the Palace Supervisor and the General of the Right Guard."

"are you sure?"

"Your Majesty's order has been approved by the Council of State,"

This matter was set in stone, but Wu Huaiyu frowned.

The Palace Supervisor was the chief official of the Palace Department. The Palace Department, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Secretaries were known as the Three Inner Departments. Their power was naturally incomparable to the Three Outer Departments, namely the Secretariat, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Secretaries.

But they are the three inner ministries after all, and their heads still have a lot of power. Especially since they are close to the emperor, they must be people who are trusted and appreciated by the emperor to hold this position.

Who have served as Palace Supervisors since the Zhenguan period?
Yuwen Shiji, Doulu Kuan, Zhou Shaofan and others successively served as palace supervisors.

The main responsibility of the Palace Department was to manage the emperor's daily life and command the six departments of food, medicine, clothing, housing, carriages and chariots.

The emperor's food, clothing, housing and transportation were all managed by the Palace Department.

Zhang Anan, the eunuch supervisor, was in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was responsible for managing the inner court of the palace. Wu Huaiyi was now in charge of the Palace Supervisor, who was also a general manager, but he was not in charge of the inner court affairs, but was responsible for the emperor's food, clothing, housing and transportation, and even the imperial doctors and chefs were under his control.

This position is very special.
So he must be the emperor's confidant,
Moreover, this Palace Supervisor would often also be in charge of the Imperial Guards. For example, when Zhou Shaofan was the Palace Supervisor, he also served as the General of the Left Tunwei.

At that time, Bei Ya had not yet become an independent army, but was under the jurisdiction of the Left and Right Tunwei.

Zhou Shaofan, the Palace Supervisor, was also the General of the Left Tunwei Guard and was able to command the imperial guards. This showed how powerful he was.

But now Wu Huaiyi, the Palace Supervisor, has been given the title of Inspector, which means he is a temporary acting official.

He also served as the General of the Right Guard.

Now the Northern and Southern Yamen are separated. The Northern Yamen controls the imperial guards, which are the Left and Right Yulin Army and the Left and Right Longwu Army.
The original twelve guards and four prefectures were under the jurisdiction of the Southern Yamen, and the left and right garrison guards no longer concurrently led the imperial guards.

It is interesting that the chief steward of the emperor cannot lead the imperial guards and instead leads the soldiers of the Southern Court.

Or maybe it was just a temporary transitional position, just like the one the emperor gave him as an inspector, just for the duration of the transition.

Or maybe the emperor had something backhanded and didn't fully trust Wu Huaiyi.

So he was acting as the chief steward, but he could not command the most important Northern Yamen Forbidden Army.

Wu Huaiyu was more inclined to believe that it was both. The emperor had no intention of letting his brother take such an important position. Huaiyi also made great contributions in the Western Expedition, so he must have been rewarded and promoted.
"Brother, you go back to the court and do your work first. I won't stay in the Western Regions for long. After I have sorted out the situation here, I will return to the court. Then I will find a way to get you to come to the Western Regions to take over the post of the Grand Protector of Anxi."

Wu Huaiyi also understood that the position he was appointed to was a bit strange. He understood it to some extent, but he didn't care too much. He was only thirty-six years old this year, and now he had such a high position and was dressed in gold and purple. He was already very satisfied.

"Just focus on your work in the Western Regions. The saint has treated my Wu family well," Huaiyi said, patting his brother's arm.

The next day,

The Chang'an Angel has arrived.
When Wu Huaiyi was newly appointed, he was appointed as the Inspector of the Palace Supervisor and General of the Right Guard, and was promoted to the title of Duke of Shixing County. He was also given the title of Pillar of the State and a fief of 300 households.

Wu Huaiyu was also given an additional 200 households under seal, adding to the original 1,800, for a total of 2,000 households under seal.

After receiving the imperial edict, they will officially embark on the journey back to Beijing.

The father-in-law, Fan Xing, who had been promoted to the rank of General of the State and transferred to the rank of General of Right Dragon and Martial Arts, patted his son-in-law's arm before he left. "In fact, it's okay for you to marry the two princesses of King Yanqi. As a man, it's okay to take two concubines when you're away from home. Xuanfu won't dare to say anything."

"How about you ask the King of Kucha or the King of Shule for two more?"

To this father-in-law, Wu Huaiyu could only wish him a safe journey!
(End of this chapter)