A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1243 Life is like a play, it all depends on acting

Early New Year's Day,

Children were setting off firecrackers early in the morning. Zhao You gave the Wu family children a lot of small fireworks and firecrackers yesterday. Each small firecracker was as thick as the head of a chopstick, but it could make a sound like a chicken egg exploding.

Huaiyu was woken up.

When I woke up, I found that Xuanfu was not in the room, but there was a maid guarding there.

"Where's Madame?"

"Madam is going to the palace to celebrate the New Year today, so she got up early to dress up." The maid quickly poured a cup of tea for Huaiyu, "Madam said to let Alang sleep more."

Wu Huaiyu looked at the sky.

He also hurried to wash and change clothes. Today was the first day of the Chinese New Year, a very important ceremonial event held by the imperial court. Although he had just returned home yesterday, he could not be absent today.

Especially since there has been such a big disturbance recently, on this important occasion today, the emperor needs him to make a formal appearance in front of Chinese and foreign ministers and envoys.

He really wanted to lie down at home.

The New Year's Day court is too tiring, but how can a dignified Grand Marshal be absent? There are even many ceremonies today that require the appearance of the three ministers.

The maid brought the court robes that had been ironed long ago.
For today’s grand court meeting, we cannot wear ordinary official uniforms, but must wear more formal court robes.

Several maids helped to change into this court dress, also known as Jufu, which was much more complicated than the official uniform and casual clothes that were usually worn.

She wore a crimson gauze single-piece dress with a white gauze inner lining, a black collar, sleeves, lapels, and hem, and a white skirt.

It is matched with a leather belt, decorated with a gold hook, a false belt, a square-shaped curved collar, a crimson gauze knee-cover, white socks and black leather shoes. There is also a sword with two belts and a ribbon.

A maid decorated Huaiyu's head with a crown and a jade ribbon.

This dress is a traditional top and skirt, with loose top and large sleeves and many accessories.

A group of maids worked for a while to help Wu Huaiyu put on the formal dress, which was not any more convenient than putting on armor on the battlefield.

"What would you like to eat, Alang?"

The ceremony of the grand court meeting is complicated, and each process takes a long time. You have to fill your stomach with something, but you can't eat too much, especially water. Otherwise, if you want to go to the East Office, you will be in trouble and may be reported by the Censor. In that kind of occasion, even if you fart loudly, you may be impeached.

Try not to drink water, and eat dry food and eat less.

Huaiyu ordered ten dumplings, just to fill her stomach.

He has it ready here.
All the people in the family who were going to attend the grand court meeting today are now ready, divided into two groups: men and women.

The women were naturally headed by Lady Fan Xuanfu of the State of Song, and then there were the female family members who had imperial decrees. There were quite a few women in the Wu family who had imperial decrees.

Yang Muyun also has the title of Princess Huainan, Li Qing also has the title of County Princess, Li Qing's daughters are all County Princesses, and then the legitimate daughter Wu Liu also has the title of County Princess.

Princess Xiao Ningzhu of Xi and Princess Li Baiyu of Khitan also had imperial edicts.

Then there were Gao Huian and Chen Runniang, both of whom were honored because of their sons. Their sons were made marquises, so they were also given imperial decrees. Fan Jiuniang also received an imperial decree because her daughter married the tenth prince, Prince Ji.

Except for Runniang who is in Luzon, all other family members who have received imperial edicts must enter the palace to pay their respects today. Although the queen is not here, there are concubines in the harem to preside over the ceremony, so this ceremony cannot be missed.

Many men from the Wu family entered the palace today.

It goes without saying that Wu Huaiyu was a high-ranking official and the prime minister. Although old Wu was seventy-six years old, he still had the title of Marquis of Wenshui County.

The eldest brother, the Duke of Shixing County, did not return to the court, but the third brother, the Magistrate of Xunyang County, was in Beijing, so he naturally had to attend today's court meeting as well.

Among Wu Huaiyu's more than 20 sons, five of them now have titles. Except for the third son, Chengzhi, Marquis of Luzon, who is not in Beijing, the eldest son is Duke of Taiyuan County, the second son is Chengye, Marquis of Chiyang County, the seventh son is Chengzong, Marquis of Jinyang County, and the eighteenth son is Ying, Marquis of Shouyang County.
Naturally, those who have titles must attend today's New Year's Day court ceremony.

Each of them was replaced with a grand court meeting,
Except Huailiang, who was dressed in green,

Huaiyu and his three generations are all purple and red.

Huailiang was so envious that his eyes almost turned red. He studied hard for more than ten years. His second brother helped him marry a woman from the Wang family of Taiyuan. Then he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. With the help of his brother's relationship, he was appointed as a county magistrate. After working hard for two years,

As a result, these nephews, dukes of counties, marquises of counties, and sons of counties, were either purple or red.

For example, Dalang Chengsi is going to marry the emperor's daughter after the New Year and become the son-in-law of the emperor. Now he is already a fifth-rank Dushui envoy, but my brother is still planning to transfer him to Luoyang to be a county magistrate after the marriage.

He was a fifth-rank county magistrate in Beijing. After working for five years, he would at least be a Jieshizhong or Zhongshu Sheren when he returned to the court.

outside the door,

The driver had already prepared the carriage.
Each person has a carriage.
More than a dozen members of the Wu family entered the palace at the same time to attend the grand celebration.

This scene is amazing and enviable.

In sixteen years, a wealthy family successfully rose.

Wu Huaiyu got on the carriage amidst the envious gazes. He was not as proud and excited as his sons. The experiences of the past two years had
Always reminding Wu Huaiyu,
Be prepared for danger in times of peace.

Think of danger, think of retreat, think of change.

Someone once said that everything is changing, and the only thing that remains unchanged is change itself.

People must embrace change and keep pace with the times in order to survive through wind and rain.

The "Xianwen Zengguang" says: "When in favor, think of humiliation; when in peace, think of danger; every thought is like the day of facing the enemy, and every heart is like crossing a bridge."

The Art of War also says: "Act when it is advantageous, and stop when it is not."

You can't just keep rushing forward, you also have to stop at the right time, or even retreat.

There is a saying that goes, "One step back opens up a new world."

After the assassination, even people in the streets were saying that his skills were so powerful that the bird was gone and the bow was hidden. This meant that Wu Huaiyu could no longer move forward and had to stop or even retreat.

The carriage drove all the way to the palace gate.
Wu Huaiyu got off the bus.
All the noble officials waiting to enter the palace looked at him.

Wu Huaiyu returned to Beijing yesterday, but he only met with the prime minister and other officials in the Yanying Palace. Many people still don’t know that this recent celebrity has returned to Beijing from Luoyang.

Many people were surprised.

Many people also came forward to say hello.

Xu Jingzong came up to greet him with a bit of bitterness, "Erlang, are you okay?"

"Did you know about the change of position?"

"Okay, I understand. I'll take up my new post after the New Year."

From the Imperial Court Assistant Minister to the Acting Minister of Personnel, then transferred to the Minister of Rites, and then to the Acting Minister of the Supreme Court, Xu Jingzong's official career has been a bit bumpy in recent years.

I once thought I had a chance to enter the government hall and become a prime minister.
But now it has been regressing.

"The Dali Temple is an important position, and His Majesty has high hopes for you."

Xu Jingzong could only smile bitterly. He knew what was going on in his heart. He was recognized as Wu Huaiyu's confidant. It was indeed with Wu Huaiyu's help that his career had made rapid progress over the years.

Now he was just implicated by Wu Huaiyu, and if they prospered together, they would prosper together, and if they suffered together, they would suffer together.
"Ji Lang, things haven't been going well for everyone lately."

"Don't worry, stay calm." Wu Huaiyu didn't say much.

Many people came to greet him, including Cheng Yaojin, Fan Xingqiu, Xinggong, Yun Shicao, Tathagata, Ji, Lai Heng and several of his students, including Shangguan Yi, Li Yifu, Wei Shuyu, Hao Chujun, Xu Yushi and others.

Everyone was very happy that Wu Huaiyu returned safely.

Wherever Wu Huaiyu goes,

It's all focus.

Countless nobles and officials came to greet him and ask about his concerns.

Everyone saw these scenes.

The palace gate verifies the records.

The whole day of Zhengdan Grand Court Meeting began.
Offering sacrifices to heaven, paying homage to the emperor, and holding palace banquets,
It was grand and solemn, but also boring. To Wu Huaiyu, it took too long and had too many rituals.

This year's grand celebration attracted many more vassal states and foreign envoys than in previous years. The Tang Dynasty conquered the Western Regions and expanded its territory directly westward to border Persia and Rome, which still caused a great storm in the West.

The two old empires, the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia, sent large delegations to the Tang Dynasty. These were not the kind of merchants pretending to be foreign delegations, who actually came to pay tribute in exchange for rewards. These were real official delegations of the two empires.

In addition to trade, both countries hope to strengthen friendly relations with the Tang Dynasty.

The Eastern Roman Byzantine Empire did not expect that the Western Turks would be directly conquered by the Tang Dynasty, let alone that even the Khazars would submit to the Tang Dynasty. Their leader Yehu was even directly canonized as Khan by the Tang emperor. Khazar became a Khanate, and the Tang Dynasty also established a protectorate and prefectures and counties in Khazar, appointed the Khazar Khan as Protector General, appointed him as a general, and conferred him the title of Prince.

The Byzantine emperor valued the Khazars very much as an ally and even promised his princess to the Khazars. Now, the Khazars had become the Khazars Khan. Not only was he crowned a king, appointed a general, and granted the title of Protector General by the Tang emperor, he was even granted a princess in marriage.

The Byzantines could not change this fact and could only come to strengthen friendly relations with the Tang Dynasty, to expand the trade volume of the grassland Silk Road while still maintaining their past alliance with the Khazars.

They now had a new rival, the Arabs, who were even more formidable than their old rival, the Sassanid Persians.

At this time, the Persian Sassanid Empire sent a group to visit the Tang Dynasty.
Also in order to fight against the Arabs, they hoped to strengthen relations with the Tang Dynasty and maintain stability on the eastern and northern borders. They did not want a fire in their backyard, so they really did not have the energy to open up another battlefield.

The pagans that rose up in the Arabian Peninsula expanded very rapidly. Six years ago, they even launched attacks on Byzantium and Persia Sassanid at the same time.

In Syria, the Byzantine army lost 50,000 in one battle and also lost the beautiful mountains and rivers of Syria.

Persia was also defeated and lost Iraq, while the Arabs, guided by the eagle flag, continued to attack the heartland of Persia.

The Persian Sassanid Empire was already facing the danger of extinction.

The Arabs even had enough energy to organize a westward expedition to conquer Egypt.

No one expected that there would be such a nomadic tribe on the Arabian Peninsula that could quickly defeat Byzantium and Persia in such a short period of time.

There is the Arabian Eagle Flag in the south, and now the Tang Empire has emerged behind it.

The Western Turks had once defeated Persia and made them suffer a lot. Now the Tang Dynasty had conquered the Western Turks. This made the Persians both frightened and seemed to see a glimmer of hope to fight against the Arabs.

They wanted to ask for help and borrow troops from the Tang Dynasty, just like they had joined forces with the Western Turks to destroy the Yanda and then divide the territory and population.

This time they also brought generous conditions,
Wu Huaiyu was well aware of the power of the Arab Empire, and their expansion would not stop there. Although the Arab Empire failed to destroy Byzantium, the Persian Sassanid Empire was destroyed by the Arabs in the past few years.

Moreover, in history, Arabia later entered the Transoxiana region and competed with the Tang Dynasty. Before the Anlu Rebellion, the two sides fought the Battle of Talas, and the Tang army was defeated.

It was the invasion of powerful foreign forces such as Arabia and Tibet, coupled with the internal troubles of the Anshi Rebellion, that eventually caused the Tang Dynasty to lose the Western Regions.

However, at that time, few people in the court knew about the emerging Arab Empire, neither the Prophet nor the Caliph.

I also met many old acquaintances at the grand court meeting.
The brothers Qu Zhisheng and Qu Zhizhan of Gaochang, Ashina Helu of Western Turkic, Yugushe and his son, Long Tuqizhi, the king of Yanqi, Baiyehu, the king of Kucha, Peishi, the king of Shule, Yuchi Fuxixin, the king of Khotan, etc.
Even the ten tribes of Western Turkic Khaganate, the five great tribes of Chu and the five great tribes of Jigme came.

As for the four Turkic Khans, they all came as well.

These guys are really loyal. They came all the way to Chang'an to pay tribute to the emperor. At the beginning, Gaochang State dared to intercept the tribute envoys from the Western Regions. They were all unruly, but now they are all obedient and respectful.
These men who claim to be like eagles on the grassland are now more loyal and obedient than dogs.

When they saw Wu Huaiyu, they were all in awe and bowed from a distance.

Wu Huaiyu just laughed.

at night,

The palace held a night banquet to entertain ministers, kings from all directions, envoys, etc.

Wu Huaiyu was invited by the emperor to sit beside him.
"Erlang, are you feeling better?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. It's okay."

Li Shimin held up the wine glass and said, "Come, have a drink."

Wu Huaiyu raised his glass and drank it full first.

Music was playing in the palace,
The Sogdian Hu girls from the Shi Kingdom were dancing the Zhezhi dance, and a group of Zhejie warriors from the Kang Kingdom were beating waist drums with their bare arms, dancing and beating at the same time.

It has a bit of a Beauty and the Beast feel to it, and the exotic music is pretty good.

"Both the Persian Sassanid Empire and the Byzantine Empire sent envoys this time, and both mentioned that a powerful nomadic tribe had emerged in their south. They had a new religion..."

"You just came back from the Western Regions. Do you know anything about this Arab country?"

"The Arabs are indeed very powerful. In the past hundred years, due to the chaos in Egypt and the continuous wars between Byzantium and Persia, the traditional trade routes of the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Nile River were no longer available. Merchants therefore took the safer land route through the Arabian Peninsula.

Arabia also prospered because of this, especially the city of Mecca, which was located in the middle of this trade route, east to the Persian Gulf, west to the Red Sea, north to Syria, and south to Yemen, becoming a transportation hub, allowing it to quickly become a prosperous commercial city..."

Wu Huaiyu briefly told the emperor about the nomadic tribes in the Arabian Peninsula, the rise of Mecca due to the new trade route, and the man who founded his new religion in Mecca. After more than ten years of development, they went to war with the old nobles.

After several more years, they were defeated at the gates of Mecca, the Meccan nobles surrendered, and tribes from all over the peninsula also submitted one after another. They established a unified Arab country.

In order to consolidate their rule and meet their needs for trade routes and land, they expanded everywhere with the eagle flag, and even attacked the two traditional empires of Persia and Byzantium at the same time, and they always won.

Persia was about to be destroyed.

In the past, Persia and Byzantium had fought for hundreds of years and had always been able to win or lose. However, this time, Persia was completely powerless to resist, and even Byzantium suffered heavy casualties and lost large tracts of territory.

"Is the Arabs really that strong?" Li Shimin was a little surprised, but he believed that Wu Huaiyu would not exaggerate.

"I think since Persia is so proactive in asking for help, we can cooperate. Persian Sassanid is an old and weak lion, while Arab countries are young and strong lions. If we do not interfere, the old lion of Persia will soon be killed by the young lion of Arabia.
Then we will have to face a new and powerful lion king in the Western Region, which will be disadvantageous to us."

Li Shimin listened very carefully.

Wu Huaiyu believed that now was a good time to intervene. Of course, there was no need to send the Tang army directly to fight the Arabs. On the one hand, the Silk Road trade with Persia could be strengthened, and on the other hand, the Tocharian, Transoxiana Turks, Sogdians, and Yanda soldiers could be organized and trained to be ready to enter Persia to reinforce the battle at any time.

The Tang Dynasty does not have to send troops, but it has to send some officers to observe and even coordinate the command.

If necessary, some troops can be stationed within the Persian border to help Persia defend itself. In case Persia is destroyed, the dangerous fortresses within the Persian border can also be used to defend against the Arabs.

To keep the enemy out of the country, even if the Persian court was destroyed, we could still support the local Persian nobles and powerful people, let them organize troops and continue to resist.

At that time, the imperial court could also build a new Persian Protectorate, appoint a member of the Persian royal family as the Protectorate or King of Persia, and then set up a governor's office in the territories of the powerful Persian local nobles and warlords, and appoint them as governors, provincial governors, etc.

The Tang Dynasty supported them in fighting against the Arabs, preventing the Arabs from easily annexing Persia and preventing the war from spreading to the territory of Anxi Beiting.

The Tang Dynasty could also mediate the century-old feud between Persia and Byzantium, allowing them to shake hands and make peace and unite to fight against the Arabs.

Wu Huaiyu’s strategy is to intervene actively and proactively, not passively.

The principle of "the lips and the teeth are cold when they are gone" is not wrong. We cannot wait until Persia is destroyed and the Tang Dynasty faces this fierce emerging empire before becoming passive and regretful.

However, we cannot rush to roll up our sleeves and take action ourselves. The Tang Dynasty has conquered so many smaller forces in the Western Regions. If we want to organize them to go, the most we can do is to send an officer advisory group, a staff group, or an envoy.

Letting others fight in the war while you reap the benefits may sound unfair, but this is the way to go when it comes to national interests.

"But will this affect the imperial court's northern expedition against Xueyantuo next year?" the emperor asked.

"No impact, not at all." Wu Huaiyu answered straightforwardly, "To defeat Xueyantuo, we don't actually need to send out too many troops."

The emperor pondered, and habitually reached out to stroke his beard, but ended up stroking nothing.

Last time, he cut off his carefully grown and trimmed beard and gave it to Wu Huaiyu as a medicine inducer. It did not grow much in the past month.

"Come, have another drink." The emperor reached out and picked up the wine glass, saying with a smile.

Wu Huaiyu had no choice but to drink another glass.

Your Majesty,

The emperor and his minister were the center of attention. Tonight, countless eyes were looking at this side, watching the emperor and Wu Huaiyu toasting each other with wine and chatting happily. From time to time, the two of them came close to whisper and laugh.

With such a close relationship, what the outside world says about the master being overwhelmed and the bird being killed and the bow being put away is simply ridiculous.

If the bow is really put away after the bird is killed, can Wu Huaiyu still be here drinking and chatting with the emperor?
No need to explain too much.

Li Shimin's cordial behavior towards Wu Huaiyu at the New Year's Palace Banquet, and the two of them drinking together frequently, shattered all the speculations in the market.

Wu Huaiyu knew very well that the emperor was acting. It didn't matter whether it was three parts true and seven parts false, or seven parts true and three parts false. He cooperated very well in the acting.

A prime minister who cannot act is not a good minister, and a prime minister without acting skills cannot be a good ruler.

Life is like a play, it depends on acting.

(End of this chapter)