A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 242 Sheep Nose and Ox Nose

New Year's Eve.

Wu Cheng, the hunchback, and his two sons, A Mao and A Liang, carried bundles of explosive poles that had been prepared earlier, and began throwing them into the fire at the gate one by one.

The carefully selected and processed bamboo poles explode in the fire.

With the sound of firecrackers, sparks splashed everywhere.

On the New Year's Eve of the New Year's Eve, the peach charms and door gods in front of Ying's gate are shining brightly.

"In Chang'an, your Shouyanghou mansion is the first to explode the poles." Wei Zheng heard the noise from the next door, and came out with his four sons and two daughters, holding a small bundle of bamboo poles.

Because Wu Huaiyu successfully introduced a good marriage to the old Wei family, and the marriage between the second daughter and Xue Shou's second son has been agreed,

The matter of the Wang family has not yet been settled, and even though Wang Ji's nephew is young, he still hesitates, saying that Wei Zheng holds an important position in Shangshu Zuocheng, and he will be criticized if he orders Wei Zheng's daughter now.

"On New Year's Eve, what I want is to have a good time, and I have to go to the palace for a banquet later." Huaiyu laughed, and threw a bamboo pole into it while talking.

On the eve of the enthronement of the saint, Duan Lun and Xu Jingzong set off some fireworks, but it was Wei Zheng who impeached him and implicated himself. If it wasn't for Wei Zheng, Huaiyu estimated that fireworks should have become the standard for the nobles during the New Year.

It's a pity that it will be difficult for the people of Chang'an to see the splendid scene of fiery trees, silver flowers and never-night sky again.

Even I can only burn this traditional bamboo pole now, and dare not add any gunpowder to it.

"It's Chinese New Year, and I hope next year will be better." Wei Zheng's family's blasting poles are much smaller, and the noise is not as good as Wu's, so that the children of Wei's family left their own, and ran to the door of Wu's house to follow the blowing pole.

"Second lady, have you met Xue Erlang?" Huaiyu smiled and asked Wei Zheng's second daughter. This girl is very quiet, but her handwriting is excellent.

"Yes, Xue Erlang can also write well." Wei Erniang seemed quite satisfied with her fiancé, although she might not really understand the meaning of engagement now.

"The Wei family can form this good relationship with the Xue family, and I also want to thank you, Erlang, for being the great matchmaker." Wei Zheng also came over, and said very sincerely, when he faced Wu Huaiyu now, he felt quite guilty. , I impeached him several times, but I didn't feel relieved, and now I help him make this good relationship.

The Xue family in Hedong, the old gentry.

In the Tang Dynasty, those who can be called the old gentry must be the famous gentry that have been passed down for hundreds of years from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, that is, the county surnames that are often said by the people.

There are often only one or two families in a county, and that kind can be called the old gentry.

Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and Wen Yanbo are at most new gentry. As for Qin Qiong, Wei Chi, Gongcheng, and gold warrior Xun, they are classified as military upstarts, and they are not gentry.

People like Wu Huaiyu can only be regarded as emerging minor nobles.

Wei Zheng attaches great importance to the marriage with the old gentry, he is very satisfied with the Xue family of Hedong, although Xue Shou is dead, but the uncle and nephew of the Xue family are known as the Sanfeng of Hedong, the three bachelors, the emperor once lamented that if Xue Shou did not die early, he would definitely die Worship him as the order of Zhongshu.

In front of the Xue family in Hedong, Wei Zheng could only look up.

"Wang Yifang, you really regretted it?" Huaiyu asked Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng nodded, "Dalang Wang is indeed very filial and talented, and his character is also quite good. He came to me to apologize sincerely, saying that he finally decided not to marry me to the Wei family because of his current situation. My family is poor and the position is low, and I am an important official, he wants to concentrate on studying in Chang'an, and he will be a scholar in the imperial examination in the future. If the aunt is not married at that time, he is willing to come to propose marriage again, and I promise to give him ten years."

Huaiyu was quite surprised when he heard that, Wei Zheng really liked Wang Yifang.

"Your door god is really majestic." Wei Zheng looked at the mahogany door god statue that had just been pasted on the gate of Wu's house.

"Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong,"

Since Huaiyu painted two armor portraits of Qin Qiong and Yu Chigong for Li Shimin on the palace gate, now not only the two gods are posted on the palace gate, but even many aristocratic families have begun to ask the gate god to ward off evil spirits and guard the house.

However, only the statues of door gods made by Wu Huaiyu, especially those painted on peach wood boards, are the most praised, but it is not easy to ask Wu Huaiyu to paint the door gods. The city of Chang'an is full of Qin Qiongfang Xuanling Cheng Yaojin Changsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, Duan Lun, Yang Shidao, warrior Xun Fanxing and a few others were painted by him.

Wei Zheng’s family still hangs the two old statues of Shentu Yulei, and it is a peach wood carving that is bigger than a palm. It is really different from Wu Huaiyu’s family, especially the brightly colored ones in Huaiyu’s family. Zhirui rides a horse with incomparable awe and prestige.

"I heard that some noble families want to ask Erlang to draw a portrait of them, or invite the door god, at least two BMWs?"

Huaiyu chuckled, "Last time Duke of Xun Qian Jiulong asked Duke Wei to write an epitaph for his father. I heard that he paid [-] yuan?"

"Hahaha."

The two looked at each other and smiled. The shadow of this person's famous tree, not to mention Wei Zheng's incorruptibility, but when he has enough fame, his name is also very valuable. A bit of brilliance, a generous donation of hundreds of dollars, or even a few words on a plaque can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

And Wu Huaiyu's portraits, door gods, and prescriptions are also very valuable.

"It's getting late, shall we go to the palace for a banquet together?"

"it is good."

Wei Zheng has indeed had a better life recently. He used to ride donkeys, but now he has replaced Qinghai horses with Khitan saddles. With this set, it may cost dozens of times.

"Why don't you take my carriage, it's warm in the carriage." Huaiyu invited, Wei Zheng pondered for a while and got into the carriage without politeness.

The two people who hadn't dealt with them a while ago were sitting in the carriage drinking tea and chatting.

Huaiyu now has a clear understanding of Wei Zheng, this guy has a good name, and he is set up as a lone minister and admonishing minister, of course, this is also a donkey, and he can still get along with him.

There is no way to have any personal relationship with such a person, and it is impossible to exchange any benefits. If you dare to give, he dares to report, but it is okay to treat him as a neighbor.

As for being impeached by Wei Zheng again one day, Wu Huaiyu is not worried at all, it doesn't matter if Wei Zheng impeaches him, because he will not fabricate this person to frame you.

At the level of Wu Huaiyu who can directly reach the Heavenly Listening, as long as he doesn't make a big mistake or be disgusted by the emperor, he is actually not afraid of being impeached by someone like Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng is a tool man, it is good to understand this.

Chatting with Wei Zheng, I can find that Wei Zheng is actually very knowledgeable and talented. If he is a historian, he should have very good achievements. His calligraphy is also very good. It is a pity that history has brought him to the position of admonishing and lonely ministers. Up, riding a tiger is hard to get off.

Sitting in Huaiyu's luxurious carriage, Wei Zheng didn't envy the luxury of his carriage, but he was a little envious of Wu Huaiyu, who was also a Taoist priest, for his smooth official career at such a young age.

Only nineteen years later, he was going to be the governor of Yizhou, and it took only half a year from the time he came down from Zhongnan Mountain to becoming the governor.

"It's really a shortcut to the south!"

Wei Zheng sighed in the carriage, the term Zhongnan shortcut is not a good word.

There are many hermits in Zhongnan Mountain. From the pre-Qin period to the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were indeed many famous hermits in Zhongnan Mountain, and the past dynasties often specially recruited some famous Zhongnan hermits to serve as officials.

So there will be some people who pretend to be famous in order to take a shortcut to become an official.

For example, Du Yan, the official censor in the court, planned with his friend Wei Fusi during the Sui Dynasty, saying that Emperor Wen liked to use hermits, and Prime Minister Su Wei was originally recruited as a hermit from Youzhou. People ran to Taibai Mountain in Zhongnan, claiming not to be an official and a hermit, and wanted to take a shortcut in Zhongnan.

It's a pity that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was the founding emperor. He saw through the little tricks of the two young people. Not only did he fail to recruit and reuse them, but he hated being exiled to Jiangbiao and exiled them.

Therefore, the words of Zhongnan shortcut must not be premised in front of Du Yan, the official censor, otherwise he will turn his face, and this word has become a derogatory meaning.

Wei Zheng talked about the shortcut to Zhongnan in Huaiyu's face, no doubt he still felt that Huaiyu's current official position was promoted too quickly, and he felt that Wu Huaiyu relied on the title of Zhongnan Yinxian's disciple and the relationship with the clan uncle of the warrior Xun. Then he just happened to become a close minister of today's emperor, so he was able to soar all the way,
This is a shortcut to the end, the path of a lucky minister, and an abnormal official career.

If it was someone else, they might have to turn against Wei Zheng and drive him out of the carriage. No one would scold a bald man in front of a monk, but Wu Huaiyu has also dealt with Wei Zhengjiu, and knows this guy very well.

Emperor Li Shimin specially named Wei Zheng, the old man with a sheep nose, because Wei Zheng was as aggressive as an old goat.

"Wei Gongyang-nosed old man, I'm a bull-nosed man, we've all taken the shortcut, but we still have to forge the iron with our own strength. If we don't have real skills, how can we last long?
Furthermore, although there is a system for recruiting scholars and conferring officials, as for employing people, if they are genuine talents, they can be used in an eclectic manner, right? "

Huaiyu's rebuttal left Wei Zheng speechless. Wu Huaiyu is indeed young and promising in a high position, but he has made a lot of contributions and done a lot of things along the way.

"Go to Yanzhou in the next year, I hope you can do a good job," Wei Zheng said, "Since the Sui Dynasty, Yanchuan County has been abandoned, and the people are in dire straits. I hope Marquis Wu can save them this time."

Sheep nose said this very sincerely,
This old man is indeed full of the sense of moral mission of a scholar, to regulate the family, rule the country and the world, and reform the emperor to educate the people.

When Wu Huaiyu's carriage stopped in front of the palace gate, and Wu Huaiyu and Wei Zheng got out of the carriage together, many people were surprised.

'Little Junior Brother' Hou Junji also just arrived, just in time to see the scene where the two of them got out of the car together, he stroked his thick beard and looked at the old and young enemies with surprise, they actually got together?
"Brother!"

Hou Junji stepped forward, crossing his hands with a smile.

Seeing this guy's appearance, Huaiyu felt a little disdainful in her heart. This senior brother was not respectful, but it was ridiculed or even mocking.

What qualifications does a 19-year-old Xufeng Sanhou have to be his senior brother who is actually a general of the Duke of Qianhu?
He purposely yelled out in front of the palace gate in front of countless relatives and officials.

Huaiyu laughed and said, "Today's New Year's Eve palace banquet, why didn't the younger brother go to Pingkangfang to pick up the teacher? It's freezing cold and snowy. As disciples, we have to respect the elders and teachers."

Hou Junji smiled, "Why didn't Senior Brother pick it up?"

"Didn't I send Mr. Wei here first?"

(End of this chapter)