A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1232: Five Hundred Miles to Luoyang

Luoyang
The universe is in the center, and taxes and tributes are paid to all directions.

Wu Huaiyu traveled more than ten post stations a day and in three days he reached Luoyang from Chang'an.

Wu Huaiyu looked at Luoyang City.
He was no stranger to Luoyang, having visited there several times. In the early Zhenguan period, Luoyang had not recovered from the war. The Eastern Capital, which had been built with the whole nation's efforts during the Sui Dynasty, was a dead city in the early Tang Dynasty. Even the palaces in Luoyang were demolished, and the bricks, tiles and wood were taken away by the people to repair houses.

In the magnificent city of Luoyang, industry and commerce declined, and many neighborhoods in the city became deserted and became ghost towns. Even farmers from outside the city came into the city to grow crops.

Back then, Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Sui Dynasty, was a place of tribute from all directions, a place of peace and prosperity, and a place of respect for all nations. But later, the world was in chaos, and Luoyang, the center, became a place of war. Wang Shichong and Li Mi fought for many years, and finally Li Yuan took the opportunity to enter Guanzhong, seize Chang'an, and establish the Tang Dynasty.

After Li Tang pacified Longyou and Hexi, he sent troops to the Central Plains, besieged Luoyang and fought at Hulao.

The price of grain in Luoyang reached 3,000 coins per dou of rice, and two to three out of ten people in the city starved to death.

One piece of silk was only worth three liters of millet, ten pieces of cloth were only worth one liter of salt, and clothing and treasures were as cheap as grass.

Wang Shichong finally surrendered due to lack of food.

Now that so many years have passed,
Luoyang finally gradually regained its former prosperity.

This is also inevitable.

As the saying goes, when the empire first began, the Han River and the Han River were the golden land. When the world was at peace, the Heluo River was the capital of Huitong.

Over the years, Li Shimin has been gradually repairing the Luoyang Palace and Luoyang City. In fact, in addition to frequently going to Jiugong Mountain in Qizhou to escape the summer heat, the emperor would also come to Luoyang to stay for a period of time every year.

The emperor also intended to implement the two capital system, with Luoyang as the eastern capital.

When a king is decreed to found a country, his capital must be located in the Central Plains. This is the way to control the harmony of the world, follow the balance of yin and yang, and rule the four directions.

Luoyang, also known as China, Middle Earth, China, Zhongxia, Central Plains, Zhongzhou, Shenzhou, Shenzhou, and Huaxia since ancient times, is the place where the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties lived, the earliest birthplace of Huaxia, and has been the center of the world since ancient times.

In the minds of the ancients, establishing the capital in Luoyang was a symbol of achieving imperial success and inheriting orthodoxy.

Liu Bang said, "I have traveled all over the world, but I only saw Luoyang." Li Shimin said, "Luoyang is in the middle of the country, and the tribute road is even, so I built the camp to facilitate the people."

The Sui and Tang dynasties originated from the Guanlong Group of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, which in turn originated from the Northern Wei Dynasty, which established its capital in Luoyang.

The upper class nobles were proud of being the heirs of Luoyang and they flaunted their orthodoxy in their words and deeds.

Luoyang is not only a geographical center, but also a center in all aspects. Even the official language of the Tang Dynasty was based on the Luoyang accent. Speaking with a Guanzhong accent in the court would even be considered uncultured and would be ridiculed.

In addition to the political and cultural aspects,
In fact, Li Shimin planned to implement the two capitals system and promote Luoyang to the eastern capital because although Guanzhong had 800 miles of fertile plains, it was in a remote corner after all.
The country is becoming more and more prosperous, and Yongzhou has millions of households.
A very realistic problem is that Guanzhong cannot supply the consumption of Chang'an, the capital, and there is a large shortage of grain every year.

Although there was grain in Guandong and Jiangnan, the roads limited the transportation capacity. No matter how many roads were built, rivers were dug, and warehouses were used for transportation, it was always a big problem. In particular, the cost of transporting grain into Guanzhong was too high. The transportation cost of transporting grain from Jianghuai to Chang'an was several times that of the grain itself.

As time went on, more and more problems arose in Chang'an as the capital.

When the Sui Dynasty unified the north and the south, it also faced this problem, so it later built the Eastern Capital and moved the capital to Luoyang. It was difficult to transport grain into Chang'an, but after the Grand Canal was built, it became very convenient to transport grain from the north and the south to Luoyang.

And with the Grand Canal, industry and commerce can also develop.

Changsun Wuji served as the governor of Luoyang for five years and brought a lot of development to the city.

The Tang Dynasty has always attached great importance to Luoyang. After Li Shimin conquered Luoyang, the court made Luoyang the headquarters of the Grand Secretariat of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit. Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin, concurrently served as the Shangshu Ling of the Grand Secretariat of the Eastern Shaanxi Circuit. Li Shimin used his confidant Qu Tutong to guard Luoyang.
Later, he successively appointed Yang Gongren, Wu Shigui and others as governors of Luoyang.

Five years ago, the emperor's uncle, Zhangsun Wuji, was sent to serve as the governor of Luozhou.

Changsun Wuji was a Xianbei nobleman, and his hometown was Luoyang, Henan. He also grew up in Luoyang when he was young.

Although Wu Huaiyu felt that Zhangsun Wuji was narrow-minded and power-hungry, he was indeed very capable. After the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he was ranked first in merit by Li Shimin, and that was not due to nepotism.

Although Changsun Wuji had no experience or talent in leading troops in battle, he was very capable in administration.

five years,

Luoyang’s prosperity is no less than Chang’an.

Of course, Luoyang's current development is also the result of key support from the imperial court, and Wu Huaiyu also contributed a lot to it. When Qu Tutong first came to Luoyang, he suppressed Luoyang from all sides, trying to turn the once prosperous international metropolis into an ordinary provincial capital. He suppressed industry and commerce, cracked down on vendors, and wanted to make the people farm, making the city stagnant.

As a result, the two major cities in the Central Plains, Luoyang and Zhengzhou, became lifeless, and all the merchants and craftsmen fled to Bianzhou.

Wu Huaiyu advocated that industry and commerce should not be suppressed but supported. Luoyang was the center of the world, and the Grand Canal built in the Sui Dynasty connected Luoyang to Chang'an in the west. How could such a good location advantage be wasted?
Laba,

The New Year is approaching,

On the official road outside Luoyang City, people and vehicles were coming and going.

The V-shaped Grand Canal is centered in Luoyang and serves as a transit station.

All the commercial goods in the world now use Luoyang as the largest transit point, which has become the largest commodity distribution center in the country.

Likewise, here is also the largest warehouse in the Tang Dynasty, with grain, salt, cloth, silk, etc.
Chang Sun Guojiu served for five years.

It has brought Luoyang to a higher level. Today’s Luoyang city is already very close to the prosperity of the Eastern Capital of the Sui Dynasty at the beginning of Daye period.

Wu Huaiyu also knew that Changsun Wuji had not been fighting alone during his five years in Luoyang.

The Guanlong Group, which had already declined, gathered under the command of Changsun Guojiu, and had openly or secretly nominated him as the leader of the Guanlong nobles.

Even Luoyang City has become the base camp of the Guanlong Group headed by Changsun in recent years. It is a bit strange that the Guanlong Group actually came to Luoyang to make it their base camp.

But in Chang'an,

In recent years, the old Guanlong nobles have actually received similar treatment to the Shandong gentry, and both have been suppressed by the emperor.

However, in comparison, the Guanlong Group founded the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang dynasties, and was much more respectable than the Shandong gentry. However, the emperor has indeed been supporting new forces over the years, and these new forces are mainly the new military elite group and the common people and landlord class.

The former are the brothers who followed Li Shimin to conquer the world and fight for the throne. They are absolutely loyal and reliable, such as Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong and even Wu Huaiyu.

The latter also included the civil servants and scholars who followed Li Shimin to start a business, such as Fang Xuanling, Xu Jingzong, etc., as well as people from the commoner landlord class who were promoted through imperial examinations and recommendations in recent years, such as Ma Zhou, Zhang Xingcheng, etc.

In Li Shimin's court,

The Guanlong Group was no longer the only dominant force, and the Shandong gentry were no longer as high and mighty as they were in the Northern Dynasties.

Some Guanlong nobles, such as the Li Jing family, were still prosperous, but some had already declined and were unwilling to accept this, so they began to band together for warmth. They gathered around Changsun Guojiu and formed a new Guanlong noble alliance.
The fact that Changsun Wuji has been able to do so well and achieve such great political achievements in Luoyang in recent years is inseparable from the strong support of the Guanlong Aristocratic Alliance.

Regardless of whether they are in decline or not, after all, they are aristocrats for generations and have no shortage of talent.

Even though Zhangsun Wuji had been kept idle by Li Shimin for more than a decade, he was still a banner of the Guanlong Group. After all, he was the emperor's uncle, and he was also the Grand Marshal and the Grand Secretary. Most importantly, he was the prince's uncle.
Now that the crown prince's position is as solid as a rock, everyone believes that Uncle Changsun's future will naturally be bright.

It can be said that although the Prince of Wei’s party no longer exists in the court, the Prince’s party still exists.

It's just that the prince's party used to be an alliance between Wu Huaiyu and Zhang Sun Wuji, but now there are two factions hidden inside.
Wu Huaiyu represented the military nobility and the commoner landlords and scholars, while Zhangsun Wuji represented the Guanlong aristocratic group. For the time being, the two sides did not interfere with each other and were not even in an alliance.

But no one knows what the future will be like.

Luoyang Lindu Posthouse is not far from Luoyang City.

As soon as Wu Huaiyu settled down in the post station, the postmaster came over with a postman.

The postman was extremely tired.

It turned out that he was following me all the way.

I have come here to deliver the imperial decree.

The emperor asked Wu Huaiyu to rest in Luoyang for three days.

It took only a day and a half for this imperial edict to be sent from Chang'an to Luoyang, a distance of more than 800 miles. It was delivered by relays along the way, with a horse being changed at each post station and a person being changed every ten post stations.

Along the way, three postmen and thirty horses were replaced, just to deliver the imperial edict as quickly as possible.

Normal court regulations required that imperial edicts be delivered five hundred miles a day.

They ran more than 800 miles in a day and a half, exactly as required.

Wu Huaiyu looked at the imperial edict that was sent urgently from five hundred miles away and fell into deep thought for a long time.

Attached to this letter,
There was also a box of eight-treasure porridge given to him by Crown Prince Cheng Qian.

Three days ago,
At the court meeting in Yanying Palace, the emperor ordered him to take up his post immediately. He was not allowed to go home to say goodbye to his wife and children, and was not allowed to take any followers with him. He had to leave Chang'an in a hurry.

Three days later,
The emperor sent an urgent imperial decree over a distance of 500 miles, asking him to spend Laba Festival in Luoyang and have a good rest for three days.

Wu Huaiyu originally had no plan to enter Luoyang City, nor was he allowed to enter Luoyang City. He stayed at the Duting Inn outside Luoyang City for one night and would continue his journey early the next morning.

Traveling 300 miles through ten post stations a day is very tiring and time-consuming.

When the Hundred Cavalry Captains heard the imperial edict that had been delivered by the emperor in an urgent delivery of five hundred miles, as well as the box of eight-treasure porridge that had been sent by the prince, they all had complicated expressions.

In fact, they were very reluctant to take on this mission. The New Year was almost approaching, and they still had to take on this hard job. They had to run ten post stations a day. Not only was it hard for Wu Huaiyu, but they were also hard-working. They were not made of iron bones. Running three hundred miles a day in such freezing weather would cost them half their lives to finish the trip to Yingzhou.

It was thought that Prime Minister Wu was going to fall this time, but unexpectedly, after only three days, the sage and the prince began to care about Duke Wu.

It's hard to understand.

Wu Huaiyu bowed to the north to thank the sage and the prince for their kindness.

I went back to the room and wrote a thank-you letter.

At night, lying on the warm couch in the upper hall of Luoyang Inn, Wu Huaiyu actually suffered from insomnia.

He had been on the road for the past few days and was very tired, but his mood was in turmoil at the moment, and he couldn't guess what the emperor meant.

Is this trip really going to Yingzhou, or will it be called back halfway?

Now it is really as unclear as looking at flowers in the fog or the moon in the water.

However, Cheng Qian's teaching was not in vain. He still remembered him and brought a box of Laba porridge from afar.

He couldn't help but think of the time he met Cui Yizhi and his son at the Tongguan Posthouse.
After all, they are half relatives.

But when Cui Yizhi saw that he was demoted, he only asked his son to see him off the next day, but he himself said he had caught a cold and hid himself.
This is what is called "there are often people who add icing on the cake, but few who provide timely assistance."

Cui Yizhi was obviously afraid of being implicated.

The tea got cold before this person even left. The world is fickle and it is conceivable that if Wu Huaiyu really fell, there would be countless people who would come to add insult to injury and kick him a few times.

No wonder many people are unwilling to give up their power even though they are in high positions. It is not because they are greedy for power, but because they have made many enemies along the way to climb to such a high position.
When you get old and retire, your former opponents and enemies will inevitably come to take revenge and settle accounts with you.

Why do these ministers, who are in high positions, still form cliques and factions to fight against those who are dissidents?
It is not entirely for power and ambition. Many people actually do it so that there will be someone to protect themselves and their descendants when they retire in the future.

That is why there are such cliques formed by relatives, disciples, subordinates, fellow villagers, and classmates.

When people are in the arena, they can't help themselves.

The officialdom is actually a larger world, and the struggle here is more dangerous.

the next morning,
Wu Huaiyu hasn't woken up yet.
The Chief Clerk and the Secretary of the Military Governor's Office of Luozhou brought officials from the Luoyang Prefecture, State, and County to the post house outside the city to pay a visit to Situ Wu.

The emperor's urgent edict of five hundred miles was sent to Wu Huaiyu, and another copy was sent to the Governor's Mansion in Luoyang City.

As the governor-general Changsun Wuji was away, the chief secretary of the governor's office was in charge of affairs. After receiving the imperial edict, he did not dare to delay for a moment and quickly notified all officials to rush out of the city to pay a visit.

This was the dual order of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, asking the Luoyang officials to entertain Wu Situ well for three days.

In fact, when I received the imperial edict,
The officials in Luoyang were also confused.

Wasn't Prime Minister Wu in the Western Regions? When did he return to Chang'an? Why was he demoted to Yingzhou? Since he was demoted, why did His Majesty and the Crown Prince still treat him so well? They even sent an urgent order 500 miles away to Luoyang to entertain him well. I heard that the Crown Prince even sent him a box of Laba porridge.

I have only heard of a case where the imperial court sent secret messengers to chase down a minister on his way to be demoted, and then ordered him to be executed at the post station. Or there was a secret decree that ordered the post station chief to directly execute the demoted official.

I have never heard of someone sending a bowl of porridge over an express journey of 500 miles in order to get a good reception from the local government, let alone one who sent a bowl of porridge over an express journey of 500 miles.

I’ve heard of people sending poisoned wine, but I’ve never heard of people sending Laba porridge.

No matter how many doubts you have in your heart,

Everyone still dared not neglect it.

Braving the wind and snow, he left the city and came to the posthouse to pay his respects.
The postmaster said that Wu Situ was still sleeping.

They didn't dare to disturb him, so they had to wait in the corridor outside the upper hall of the inn. They waited for more than an hour.

This made them sigh that Situ Wu was indeed extraordinary. He could sleep so soundly even on the road of exile. He must have a calm face despite having thunder in his heart.

Finally, I heard Wu Situ waking up.

The chief official of the Luozhou Governor's Office hurriedly introduced himself at the door.

"Yang Guangwu, the Chief Clerk of the Luozhou Military Governor's Office, and others pay their respects to Situ!"

There was no response.
Yang Guangwu hurriedly said, "I have received an order from the sage in Chang'an to welcome Situ Wu to Luoyang City for rest."

(End of this chapter)