A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1229: Posthouse after posthouse, post riders flow like stars

From one post station to another, the post riders flow like stars.

It was the coldest time of the year, and the New Year was approaching. On the second day after returning to Chang'an, Wu Huaiyu was forced to ride on a post horse to take up his post. The north wind was as sharp as a knife, and it hurt his face.

There was an inn every thirty miles, and the horses traveled non-stop, resting at each inn.

After six stops, they changed horses and continued on their journey.

Demoted officials must rush to their posts on the same day, and must travel at least ten post stations a day. This is a strict rule.

When it was completely dark,
Tongguan finally appeared in front of him, and Wu Huaiyu finally ran through the twelve post stations today.

Chang'an is less than 300 miles away from Tongguan, but there are twelve post stations there, the shortest of which is only 15 miles apart.

Tongguan Posthouse was a first-class posthouse, second only to Duting Posthouse in Chang'an, Luoyang and Taiyuan, with sixty post horses and twenty-five postmen.

The head of Tongguan Post Station, also known as the Zhuoyi, had been busy all day welcoming and seeing off guests. He had just got some free time and was arranging people to clean, feed the animals, and prepare dinner for the postmen.

Suddenly a horse galloped over.

"Where is the post station?"

Zhuoyi, who was wearing a fu hat, a brown round-necked robe and a sheepskin coat, looked at the knight's attire and recognized at a glance that it was the Hundred Cavalry Guards from Chang'an.

These hundred riders all have very obvious features: they wear clothes with tiger patterns and ride on leopard pattern saddles. This is unique in the world, and no one dares to dress like this.

"I am Li Ahqi, the old man, and I am the postman of this post. I wonder what orders the hundred riders have for you?"

"I am Liu Guangting of the Hundred Riders. I am here to escort Lord Wu to Yingzhou to take up his post. Minister Wu will be here soon. You should quickly prepare the rooms, food, and hot water."

Li Ah Qi was stunned for a moment, "Wu Gong? Which Wu Gong?"

"Situ, Prince's tutor, Duke Wu Situ of Song!"

Li Aqi naturally understood what was said. Wu Huaiyu's name was known to the world, but wasn't this Wu Situ still in the Western Regions? When did he return to Chang'an? And why did he have to go to Yingzhou in Liaoxi to take up his post?

"Hurry up and get ready, don't be so long-winded."

"Liu Baiqi, according to the rules of the post, we need to check the post ticket and the post talisman."

The Tang Dynasty had very strict management of post stations. There were several main post roads across the country, and many water and land post stations were set up with about 20,000 postmen.

The post stations were managed by the Langzhong of the Ministry of War, and at the local level they were managed by the Sibing Canjun of the state.

There were ten clerks in the Imperial Jiabu who were specifically responsible for examining and verifying post vouchers, twenty clerks in charge of examining and verifying imperial seals, and four imperial seal masters who were in charge of stamping the emperor's documents and issuing imperial seals and certificates.

The postmasters of various places were appointed by the local wealthy households to run the post stations, which was equivalent to a kind of sex service, similar to the village head. The postmen were the people in the vicinity, and the selection was first from the rich and powerful households, then the poor and weak households. They served 20 days a year and took turns to serve. During the busy farming season, the rich and powerful households with many men were given priority, and during the slack farming season, the households with only one man were selected to serve.

There are unified management standards for post horses, post donkeys, and post houses.

The postage of the Tang Dynasty was a special fund. Every year, there was a small tax of 400,000 strings of cash, and every three years, there was a large tax of 1.5 million strings of cash, which was used for military and national postage and mail. In the early years, when the postage was insufficient, the post office was given capital to lend money with interest. The big post office was given capital of 1,000 strings of cash, and the profits were used to support the post office.

Tongguan Posthouse is a first-class posthouse. It has a large posthouse, many people and horses, and sufficient funding, but the management is also stricter.

Even if Baiqi said that Wu Situ was passing by and wanted to stay at the post house, he had to show the post house ticket and the talisman, otherwise he could not stay.

Although the post station chief was a wealthy local official and not an official at all, the imperial court attached great importance to him, and most of the people who came and went were princes, nobles, officials, etc. Therefore, in addition to ordering supervisors at all levels in prefectures, counties, and districts, the imperial court would also send censors who served as post station messengers to conduct regular inspections.

Those who were able to ride post horses and stay in post houses were called post messengers, but the conditions for providing them with post houses were very strict.
Military affairs must be handled quickly. If there are urgent matters in various states, newly appointed governors and provincial governors, and doctors of classics in foreign countries should be selected to come to the capital.
After some conditions are met, the post station will be provided with horses, food and accommodation.

Noble officials who do not engage in public service are treated according to the rank of their official positions.

Wu Huaiyu was the newly appointed governor of Yingzhou and protector of Andong, and his rank was also the first-rank minister of civil service. He could enjoy the top-level post station services.

You can stay in Duting Posthouse in Chang'an and Luoyang for one day, and in other posthouses for up to three days, and you can use eight horses.

But one still has to show the post certificate and the talisman.

The post ticket was issued by the Ministry of War, while the transmission certificate was issued by the Ministry of Personnel and had to be stamped.

Anyone who rides the post horse without obtaining the talisman will be sentenced to one year in prison.

Li Ahqi asked for the post certificate and the talisman, which was within the scope of his duties. Otherwise, if he was found to have violated the rules, he would be in big trouble.

Liu Guangting, the 100-horseman, took out a silver medal.
It is one and a half inches wide and five inches long, with the five characters "敕走马银牌" engraved on the front in Li script.

Li Aqi was not surprised when he saw the silver medal. This kind of silver medal was of higher level than the wooden Zou Yu talisman. It was issued directly from the palace and was more powerful than the Zou Yu talisman issued by the Menxia Province.

As the head of the post station, he was very familiar with the transmission of talismans. In fact, there were many levels of transmission of talismans in the Tang Dynasty.
The highest rank was naturally the silver medal issued by the emperor, followed by the double dragon talisman issued by the crown prince when he was regent, and then the unicorn talisman issued by the governor of Kyoto and the Ministry of Personnel.
Then there are the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise and Zuo Yu talismans issued by the governors of each state, which are matched according to the five elements of the directions of the states.

However, the Tang Dynasty avoided the word tiger, so the White Tiger Talisman was changed to the Zhuo Yu Talisman.

Now Baiqi took out a silver medal, which was much more advanced than those bronze and wooden medals.

The post tickets issued by the Ministry of Imperial Households are also of the highest grade.

Li Ah Qi checked it carefully again.
He can tell whether it is true or not at a glance.

But he still included some details on the post certificate. This time, Wu Situ went to Liaoxi to serve as the governor of Yingzhou and the protector of Andong, and was required to travel at least ten post stations a day.

In addition, apart from a team of 100 cavalry guards, Wu Situ had no other family members, followers, servants, slaves, etc., and he did not carry any personal belongings or luggage.

This is the standard process of demotion.

What crime did Wu Situ commit?
After hesitating for a moment, he still asked the 100 riders, "May I ask, isn't Wu Situ in the Western Regions? How did he get to Yingzhou?"

"Don't ask questions that you shouldn't ask. After checking, quickly prepare hot water and food for the room, and prepare the horses for tomorrow. We need to change horses and set off early in the morning."

"Liu Baiqi, there is already a governor who has come to Beijing living in the upper hall."

"Hurry up and get someone to vacate the place." Liu Baiqi was not polite. Although Wu Huaiyu's demotion out of the capital was unexpected, they were ordered to escort him, and the task assigned by the superiors was very clear. Not only did they have to protect Wu Huaiyu's safety on the road, but they also had to take care of other aspects.

The posthouses at Tongguan were magnificent, with a main hall, a separate hall, and side rooms. There were also wine, tea, and pickle warehouses, as well as a pear garden and a pond. In summer, the willow trees formed a shade.
There is a large pond in front of the gate, a bamboo forest with thousands of bamboo poles in front, a pear orchard with thousands of trees in the back, and many large mulberry trees planted outside the four walls.

With high walls and a majestic gate tower, it looks like a small castle.

There were also specially allocated post fields near the post station, with 40 mu given for each post horse. Tongguan Post Station had 2,400 mu of post fields.

The posthouse is outside Tongguan Pass.

Because this is the main road in and out of Chang'an, there are many houses and shops next to the post station, and it is a bustling town. Generally speaking, not many people are qualified to use post horses and stay and eat at the post station.

Even for many officials, there were many restrictions on the post stations their followers could use. If there were more than that, they had to find their own food and lodging in the surrounding villages.

Li Ahqi was a wealthy local. He had his own hotel outside the post station, providing food and lodging, and made a lot of money every year.

Although Tongguan Posthouse was of high rank and had many halls, the halls were divided into several grades. The highest grade, the upper hall, had the best conditions, but there were fewer of them.
Now there is a governor living in the upper hall.

Liu Guangting said, "No matter which state governor is coming to Beijing, Wu Situ is staying at the post station now, so this upper hall must be given to Wu Situ. Go and ask him to vacate the upper hall quickly, Wu Situ will be here soon."

Li Aqi had a headache.

The governor who lives in the upper hall is no ordinary person.

"The governor of Shanzhou, Cui Yizhi, who lives in the upper hall, is from the Xuzhou Yanling branch of the Qinghe Cui family..."

Before he finished speaking, Liu Guangting interrupted him and said, "Is the governor of Shanzhou more senior than the prime minister? Go quickly."

Li Ahqi had no choice but to go to the hall.

At this time, the person living in the upper hall was the governor of Shanzhou, Cui Yizheng, who was born in the Yanling branch of Xuzhou, one of the six major branches of the Qinghe Cui family. His father, Cui Shu, whose original name was Cui Shishu, had served as the Minister of Agriculture.

Li Aqi didn't dare to offend the governor of Shanzhou. He was not only a third-rank official, but also a man from a family with a very high rank.

Even if the current sage compiled the clan history and ranked the five surnames and seven families into the third and fourth ranks, their reputation among the people is still very high. In fact, in recent years, it has risen a lot compared to Wude and the beginning of Zhenguan. He dawdled to the upper hall and asked to see Cui Yizhi.

A young man came out and asked, "What's the matter, Postmaster?"

Li Ah Qi stammered, "A minister is coming to the post house soon and will stay here today..."

The young man was Cui Yizhi's second son Cui Zhijiu. Hearing this, his face turned unhappy. "It's so late, my father has already gone to bed. You want us to vacate the room now, how can this be justified?"

"Master Cui, please forgive me. I really have no choice."

"I wonder which minister passed by and woke people up in the middle of the night to vacate their rooms for him?"

"It's Wu Situ who came with a hundred cavalry guards!"

"Wu Situ? Which Wu Situ are you talking about?"

"It's the Duke of Song."

Cui Zhijiu was silent.

He thought that the person leaving the capital at this time would not be a high-ranking minister, but unexpectedly it was Wu Huaiyu.

"Is it really Wu Situ, or is it Wu Situ's family?"

"A hundred riders came with silver medals of imperial decree. It was also clearly written on the postal message issued by the Imperial Guards that Wu Situ was going to Liaoxi to serve as the governor of Yingzhou and the protector of Andong."

Cui Zhijiu was surprised.
Isn't this a demotion to the left? And isn't Wu Huaiyu still in the Western Regions?
"You wait."

Cui Zhijiu hurried to knock on his father's door.

"Aye, it's me, something urgent."

After a long time, Cui Yizhi's voice came from inside the room, "Come in."

Cui Zhijiu entered the room and quickly explained the situation as soon as they met.

Cui Yizhi was stunned for a while after hearing this. "Duke Wu was demoted? Why?"

"Mr. Wu will be here soon," Cui Zhijiu said, "why not ask him in person?"

"Hurry up and make room for Lord Wu in the upper hall." Cui Yizhi ordered, and he immediately changed his clothes and went to the gate of the posthouse with his son to greet him.

This made Li Aqi stand there in a daze for a long time.

Wu Huaiyu has been demoted, so why is Cui Yizheng still so respectful to him?
A young man from the Cui family was helping to vacate the room. Seeing him in a daze, he asked, "Master, don't you know that my Erlang married the daughter of Lord Linqing?"

"Mr. Linqing?"

"It is Lord Su, the Duke of Linqing, the Governor of Yaozhou, and the General of the Right Guard."

Li Ah Qi now knew that Su Lie was Su Dingfang, the eldest disciple of Li Jing and the senior brother of Wu Huaiyu. He did not expect that the young man just now was Su Lie's son-in-law.

In this way, Governor Cui and Duke Wu can be considered half-relatives.

I thought he was the one who got caught in the crossfire of the fight between the gods, but who would have thought that the other person turned out to be a relative.

He breathed a sigh of relief. The upper hall was freed up and he didn't offend anyone, so he passed the test.

That door,

At the gate of the posthouse, Cui Yizheng and his father waited for a while, and Wu Huaiyu arrived on horseback, escorted by a team of a hundred riders.

Cui Yi went straight forward to greet him, and Wu Huaiyu was stunned.

"Why is Cui Gong here?"

"On the way to Beijing," Cui Yizhi looked at Wu Huaiyu and he seemed fine. "I have cleared the upper hall, Lord Wu, please come in and warm up. I have asked someone to buy sheep and chickens from Zhuoyi and have them slaughtered and cooked. I will drink with Lord Wu later."

Wu Huaiyu smiled and dismounted, "Okay,"

When Su Lie was defeated and returned home to farm, he offended the Cui family. Later, he was forced to come to Chang'an to find his teacher Li Jing. His junior brother Wu Huaiyu helped him a lot. When Wu Huaiyu went to Youzhou, he specially took Su Lie with him.

Not only did he get Su Lie an official position, he also gave him the opportunity to make contributions and build a career. Later, he took the lead to help resolve the grievances with the Cui family, and Su Lie even married two families with the Cui family. His second son married the daughter of Cui Shanfu from the Zhengzhou branch of the Cui family in Qinghe, and his daughter also married the grandson of Cui Shu from the Yanling branch of the Xuzhou branch.

Go up to the hall.

Gather around the copper stove and start a hot pot.

Freshly slaughtered chicken is used as the base of the pot, stewed over charcoal fire, and then freshly slaughtered lamb and some vegetables are used.
Cui Yizheng was very curious why Wu Huaiyu went to Yingzhou to take up the post at this time.

Wu Huaiyu drank tea and explained the whole story to him. There was nothing to hide.

Cui Yizhi was greatly shocked when he heard this. All along, their five surnames and seven families had been suppressed by the emperor. He never expected that Wu Huaiyu, a meritorious official and the emperor's absolute confidant, would be able to
It is unexpected that after making such great contributions, he is still treated like this.

It's really unfair.

"Your achievements are not outweighed by your mistakes. Duke Wu, your achievements are enough to be recorded in history books, and your mistakes are insignificant in comparison.

But now he has been banished to the border areas, which is really unfair." Cui Yizhi couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"My merits are not merits, but my faults are merits. Your Majesty has already rewarded me for my merits, adding the title of Prince Taifu and increasing my fiefdom by 500 households, which is already very high. Now the punishment for my faults is not too severe, but the governor of Yingzhou and the protector of Andong. If Your Majesty no longer trusts me, you would not have given me such important positions.

Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the Lord."

Wu Huaiyu was related to the Cui family of Boling by marriage, but not to the Cui family of Qinghe. Because of Su Lie, they were half-relatives. In the face of Cui Yizheng's concern, Wu Huaiyu could only say some high-sounding words.

The chicken is cooked in the pot, giving off an alluring aroma.
Wu Huaiyu said with a smile, "Hurry up and eat the mutton hotpot. To be honest with Mr. Cui, I have traveled twelve post stations today, nearly three hundred miles, and I have changed two mounts. I have eaten a lot of northwest wind, and I am really tired and hungry."

"Then eat quickly and rest early after eating."

"Well, just two glasses of wine, no more, we both have to travel tomorrow."

The meal didn't last long.

Cui Yizheng took his leave, and Wu Huaiyu asked him to stay in the upper hall. Cui Yizheng refused, and after several refusals, he left with his son.

The father and son returned to the other room.
"Aye, do you think that Prime Minister Wu has been abandoned by the Saint?"

Cui Yi shook his head.
"I don't think so. I think Duke Wu is very relaxed and calm. I guess it's because he has made great contributions that His Majesty is deliberately picking on him. He will be punished and demoted first, and it won't be long before His Majesty will recall him to the court and reward him."

"Ah, is it necessary to go through so much trouble?"

"What do you know? Wu Xiang's achievements were just ordinary ones. How can he be an ordinary minister now? He has such a high prestige, but he is so young. If he is not warned, which emperor can be at ease?

Recall that Li Jing conquered the Eastern Turks and Tuyuhun, two great achievements, but he was impeached and punished afterwards, but was soon rewarded again.

This is all imperial tactics."

Cui Yizhi had nothing to hide from his son and taught him very seriously.

"But from now on, we still have to keep some distance from Wu Huaiyu,"

"Why?"

"Why? I usually tell you to read more, but you just like to wield swords. Our Qinghe Cui family is the leader of the aristocratic families. Poetry, books, rituals and music are passed down from generation to generation. Why are you learning those things? You are not doing your job properly.

Go to sleep quickly, and remember to get up early tomorrow to see Wu Gong off."

"Aye, didn't you just say that we should keep our distance from now on?"

“Then I didn’t say we wanted to draw a line in the sand,” Cui Yi shook his head angrily.

(End of this chapter)