A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1283: Marriage Exchange
"The pulse is round, flowing smoothly, like beads rolling on a plate. This is a happy pulse," Wu Huaiyu announced the good news to everyone after taking the pulse of Wu Lang's wife Ru Lianhua.

Yuwen has been immersed in grief these days because of her father's death. She has no appetite, looks pale, and always vomits in the morning. The fifth brother Chengyou thought that his wife was hurt by excessive grief, so he hurried to ask his father to see a doctor.

The result showed that she was pregnant.

Chengyou's mother Fan Wuniang, who was nervous, was delighted when she heard this. Last year, Yuwen Shiji was seriously ill, and he took the initiative to let his daughter get married in advance, for fear that his death would delay his daughter's marriage.

More than half a year after their marriage, Yuwen Shiji passed away. Although the fifth brother's wife had married into the family, she still had to observe mourning for a year according to etiquette, which meant she could not have sex. Now she is pregnant, which is a good thing.

"Bride, you must take good care of yourself. The baby in your belly is important." Fan Wu Niang persuaded her daughter-in-law that Yuwen Shiji had already been buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum and the dead were gone.

The sudden arrival of this new life diluted some of the sadness, and Yu Wen Ru Lianhua also cheered up.

Fan Xuanfu and the others were also very experienced in raising children. They began to share their experiences with Yuwen. "For pregnancy, the first three months are especially important. You have to take care of the baby and not make any mistakes. You are vomiting now, but that is morning sickness when you are just pregnant. It will be gone in two months. Now it will be much better if you eat less meat..."

The birth of a new baby is always a happy event for the family.

Xuanfu and the others each prepared a big red envelope for the bride who had made such a great contribution. Of course, the father-in-law Wu Huaiyu could not afford to let him off the hook, so he directly gave a Wentang holiday estate in Mount Li to the fifth daughter-in-law, and also gave the couple a hundred Xueyantuo slaves.

As the Tang army conquered the northern desert last year,

Not only did a large number of soldiers gain merit and be promoted to higher positions, but a large number of cattle, sheep, horses, camels, and Xueyantuo captives from the northern desert also went south.

Not only did it add a lot of cheap meat to the Tang Dynasty's dining table,

It also brought in a large number of cheap slaves.

The Wu family received many slaves as rewards, especially Wu Huaiyi, who made great contributions and was commemorated on a stone tablet in Yanran Mountain. They received rewards from the emperor, shared them, or bought them at low prices, and got a lot of Xueyantuo slaves.

After returning, most of them were sent to his family's manor and workshop, and many were also sent to various relatives, including his father-in-law Cheng Yaojin's home, his father Sanyuan's manor and workshop, and his brother Huaiyu.

Cheap cattle and horses were also given away everywhere.

Not only Wu Huaiyi, but all the soldiers who went on the Northern Expedition also obtained a lot of cattle, horses, and slaves. Suddenly, a large number of cattle, horses, and slaves flooded into Chang'an, which brought down the prices of these large animals and slaves a lot.

Don’t be fooled by the nice words in the emperor’s edict, which said that the Xueyantuo had become the subjects of the Tang Dynasty, but in fact the treatment of the Xueyantuo was ruthless.

Not to mention the several major battles, more than 30,000 people were killed in battle.

Those who were captured on the battlefield were never released and all became slaves. Even those who were not captured on the battlefield were captured in later raids.

The thirteen Tiele clans, including Huihe, Pugu, Tongluo, etc., attacked the Xueyantuo, who were originally from the same Tiele tribe, like mad dogs. They would not let go of anyone that the Tang army had let go.

They attacked every Xueyantuo tribe madly, and either forced them to surrender or be defeated and captured. Then they sold many young men or young women to merchants from the Tang Dynasty.

As a result, from the northern border to Chang'an and Luoyang, there were Xueyantuo slaves tied together with ropes and rushing on the road everywhere.

In the prosperous city of Chang'an, the number of slaves was quite astonishing. Various official slaves and private slaves accounted for more than one-third of the total population of Chang'an.

From farms to workshops and private homes, slaves were enslaved everywhere.

Over the years, the Tang Dynasty has conquered the east and the west, from suppressing the Li Liao in Lingnan, to suppressing the Liao Man in Qianzhong and Nanzhong, to suppressing the Qiang in Longyou and western Sichuan, to the Eastern and Western Turks, Tuyuhun, Xi Khitan, Liuqiu Islanders and Luzon natives, etc., it can be said that it has been successful everywhere.

The war not only expanded territory, but also brought a large number of slaves.

Add to that the Silla maids, Kunlun slaves, Persian girls, Bodhisattva barbarians, etc. brought by the maritime and land Silk Road trade, it was indeed spectacular.

Not to mention the Wu family, a top noble family, which had slaves everywhere, even a small family in Chang'an would buy a few slaves to serve them.

Having horses, mules or donkeys to get around and servants to serve you at home was the sign of a good life in Chang'an.

Those noble families even had their own rules for using slaves. For example, the slaves of Silla, Kunlun, Bosnia, and Bodhisattva were the Hermes among slaves, and a symbol of status.

There are many horses and slaves in Chang'an.

These are all signs of the Tang Dynasty's strong national power.

at night,

Wu Huaiyu was sleeping next to Fan Xuanfu.

Although they are going to be grandparents soon, they are actually not even forty years old yet. Tonight, Fan Xian Ji is particularly passionate and proactive.

She said she wanted to have another child.

That night, the two players met their equals and the generals met their best talents. The battle lasted three rounds before they called it a day.

"I went to the palace a few days ago, and heard Concubine Wei and the others laughingly saying that His Majesty seemed to be planning to marry our Liu'er to the Prince of Jin. Do you think this is true or not?"

Wu Liuer was born to Fan Xuanfu. Although she was the eighteenth among the sisters in the family, she was the eldest daughter. She was smart and clever since she was young. She grew up with Princess Jinyang and Xiao Sizi, and they were like sisters. When Wu Liuer was young, she was brought up by the Empress in the palace. Later, after Empress Zhangsun passed away,

The emperor sent Princess Jinyang to the Wu family, to be raised by Fan Xuanfu and others.

In the past few years, Wu Liuer and Jinyang Li Mingda have lived between the palace and the Taiwei Mansion. Now she is growing up gradually. In the blink of an eye, she has become a ten-year-old girl and is very beautiful.

The two little girls were multi-talented. Princess Jinyang Li Mingda was an excellent calligrapher, especially good at Feibai, while Princess Anlu Wu Liuer inherited a lot of painting skills from her father and was an expert in painting.

"Liu'er and King Jin grew up together, and they are childhood sweethearts. I have no objection to this marriage." Wu Huaiyu lay there, panting. He already felt that he was no match for Fan Xianji. As expected, after the age of thirty, women become more and more powerful, but men are already on the decline.

Prince of Jin, Li Zhi, was only three years older than Wu Liuer.

In history, he took advantage of the fight for the throne between Cheng Qian and Li Tai and became the crown prince. He later succeeded to the throne as Emperor Gaozong. He also brought his father Li Shimin's talented woman Wu Mei back to the palace from Ganye Temple. He doted on Wu Mei so much that he deposed Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shufei. Later, the two emperors ruled the country and finally let his wife become the emperor. He is the only one in history.

Li Zhi originally wanted to marry Wang from Taiyuan, who was introduced to him by his great aunt.

But in this time and space, that Wang was intercepted by Wu Huaiyu first. Princess Tong'an had already introduced her to Wu Huaiyu's third legitimate son, the eighteenth son Wu Chengying. The two families arranged the engagement and would get married in a few years.

Later, Princess Tongan introduced her own granddaughter to Li Zhi. She was the daughter of Wang Renbiao, the governor of Qizhou. Her mother was also from a famous family, the daughter of Li from Zhaojun.

Originally this marriage was a good one.
But Wang Renbiao later died of illness. Princess Tong'an became at odds with her own children, Li, and drove them out of the house and moved them to the countryside. Li then worked hard to manage the manor with her son Wang Fangyi and daughter.

Due to the poor living conditions in the countryside, Wang was bitten by a poisonous snake and died unfortunately because she did not receive timely treatment.

Later, the emperor arranged another marriage for Li Zhi. This time he chose the granddaughter of the Secretary General Xiao Jing. Xiao Jing was the younger brother of Prime Minister Xiao Yu, a member of the Southern Liang royal family and the famous Lanling Xiao family.

However, for some unknown reason, not long after the engagement, the daughter of the Lanling Xiao family also died of illness.

Li Zhi was almost labeled a wife-killer, so his marriage was delayed for the time being.

Now Li Shimin wanted to marry Wu Huaiyu's eldest daughter Wu Liu to his son Li Zhi. She was quite suitable. The two were three years apart in age, which was a good match. Wu Liu was also the eldest daughter of the Taiwei family, so her status also matched.

"Prince Jin arranged two marriages, but both of them died within a year of their engagement," Xuan Fu took a pillow and placed it under his body to increase the chances of pregnancy.

"That was just a coincidence. Didn't everyone in Chang'an say that you were a bad luck to husbands? But after I married you, you actually brought good luck to my husband."

This made Fan Xuanfu very happy.

"In a few years, the King of Jin will be old enough to be enfeoffed and appointed to a fiefdom. I don't know where he will be appointed to. I am a little reluctant to let Liu'er accompany him to that fiefdom in the future. I am afraid that we will hardly see each other for several years."

"When children grow up, they will have their own family and life."

The eldest daughter, Wu Yingluo, married the tenth prince, Prince Ji Li Shen, last year. In two years, Li Shen will be granted a fiefdom, and Yingluo will also have to go with him.

The current imperial court's system of enfeoffment for the Zong clan is that when they turn twelve, they marry and are given a mansion to live in. When they turn eighteen, they are enfeoffed in frontier countries and vassal states are established.

He was not allowed to return to the capital without being summoned.

"You don't have to worry too much. His Majesty once told me about this. When Prince Ji turns eighteen, he will be granted a fiefdom on Zhuya Island."

The emperor had already chosen Li Shen's fiefdom, which was the fiefdom originally given to King Wu Li Ke, in Qiongzhou on Hainan Island, which was separated from Yazhou. The fiefdom was not small, and the location was not bad either. Although Zhuya Island was far away from the Central Plains, in the eyes of Chang'an people, it was a deserted place.

But it is safe. Apart from some raccoon natives, there won't be any major threats.

It is much stronger than the places like Hezhong and Tocharistan where Li Ke and Li Tai were exiled.

"As for the King of Jin, in five years he will be granted the fiefdom of Liuqiu, which is Changtaizhou, the fiefdom of Li Tai, the King of Wei."

Hainan Island and Liuqiu Island are both on islands, and both are relatively good fiefdoms. Anyway, as long as you don't go crazy and dream of becoming a king or hegemon, it is great to live a carefree life as a prince on the island, and your descendants will all be free.

"Little Sizi has reached the age to choose a husband. This child has been raised in our house for most of these years, and I have always treated her like my own daughter."

"You know, it would be great if little Sizi could marry into our family. We still have so many sons who are still unengaged."

Fan Xuanfu was very serious.

Wu Huaiyu shook his head and slapped her on the butt. "At the beginning, Your Majesty wanted to marry Princess Gaoyang to our Balang, but I refused again and again, which made the Saint very embarrassed. Now you still want the Saint to marry the legitimate Princess Jinyang to our family. No matter which illegitimate son she marries, this is not appropriate."

"Yeah, it's such a pity. It would be great if Xiao Sizi could be our daughter-in-law." Fan Xuanfu looked regretful.

Wu Huaiyu also smiled when he thought of the smart and lovely little princess. In history, this girl was weak and sickly and died young, but in this life, the emperor sent her to the Wu family to be raised, and Wu Huaiyu helped her to take care of her body since she was a child. In addition, life in the Wu family might be more suitable for her growth than in the palace.

Little Sizi has grown up healthily and has been well taken care of over the years.

It’s true that Wu Huaiyu was reluctant to let this girl get married, but it was impossible for his family to keep her as a daughter-in-law.

"Even if we can't marry her, you can always ask your eldest brother's family to marry her. It's better to keep the wealth within the family."

Wu Huaiyu had more than twenty sons, all of whom used the Cheng generation name, while his eldest brother Huaiyi also had more than ten sons, but used the Ji generation name, namely Jizu, Jiji, Jiwen, Jiyang, Jiyou, Jichen, and Jisheng. His eldest sister-in-law Cheng also had three sons born to her.

There is indeed a legitimate son who is about the same age as Xiao Sizi, but is not yet engaged.

"You need to pay attention to this matter and try your best. I can't bear to let Xiao Sizi, such a good girl, marry someone else. Since our family can't marry her, then let your eldest brother's family marry her. We'll still be one family, right?"

"Okay, I'll try."

"Your Majesty wants to make our little Liu'er your daughter-in-law, so let's make little Sizi our Wu family's daughter-in-law as well."

"This is not a marriage exchange." Wu Huaiyu laughed.

(End of this chapter)