A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 273 Invitation

Lingzhou Governor's Mansion.

Ordinary government offices are always dilapidated. Officials with iron-clad yamen are also called low-level officials. These low-level officials generally don’t know how to repair the yamen. It doesn’t matter whether they have money or not.

But repairing the yamen is a thankless task.

Even if the local economy in charge is developing well, if you spend money to build a magnificent yamen, the people will think that you are using the people's fat and people's anointing to enjoy it, and even the superiors will have a bad evaluation.

Therefore, except for necessary repairs, ordinary officials will not repair the yamen. If the yamen is dilapidated, the common people will think that this is a good official who is diligent and thrifty.

But the Dudu Mansion of Lingzhou is different, very grand.

Li Daozong has been here for five years, and the Governor's Mansion has been built for five years. A pavilion will be built today, a pavilion will be built tomorrow, and the garden will be built the day after tomorrow.

The Governor's Mansion occupies a very large area, and even has a small lake, which looks like a garden in the south of the Yangtze River, and even fits the style of the royal family and county king.

Li Daozong doesn't mind at all that the officials and people in Lingzhou know that he prefers to enjoy.

King Ren Cheng even held Wu Huaiyu's hand, and proudly introduced to him how he spent five years transforming the dilapidated Dudu's Mansion into its current appearance little by little.

The 27-year-old governor of Lingzhou, the king of Rencheng, and the 19-year-old governor of Yanzhou, the founding father of Shouyang County, both of them are tall and heroic. They both wear purple robes and jade belts. Look sideways.

Li Daozong was very enthusiastic.

Wu Huaiyu was so enthusiastic that he couldn't bear it.

In the past, I only heard that Li Xiaogong is now as addicted to wine and sex as the Supreme Emperor, and has hundreds of concubines. Then Wu Huaiyu found that the old Li family of the royal family seemed to be very good at it.

Li Daozong was in the back office of the Governor's Mansion in Lingzhou, and there were groups of beautiful maidservants everywhere, and these young women were all dressed in silk, silk, jewels and precious emeralds. of great wealth.

Moreover, these Yingying Yanyans of Li Daozong, although they have black eyes, green eyes, amber eyes, and blue eyes, they are all plump.

Li Daozong was very handsome, similar to Li Shimin, with a square face and big ears, a beautiful beard, and a curly beard.

Seeing Huaiyu sizing up those beauties, he said generously, "Duke Shouyang didn't bring any female relatives with him when he came to Shuofang, why don't you pick some from me and pick whichever one you like. If you like all of them, Just take them all."

"Hahaha, the king of the county is joking. A gentleman does not take away the beauty of others. These are the women of the king of the county. How can I take away the favor of others."

"Women are just like clothes," Li Daozong said bluntly in front of those beauties, not afraid of hurting their hearts.

Lingzhou in February is still a bit cold, especially when the wind is strong.

Although the Lingzhou City Wall and the high walls of the Governor's Mansion blocked a lot of wind and sand, Li Daozong still chose to entertain Wu Huaiyu in the garden.

Don't be afraid of strong winds.

First, a circle of curtains was set up, and then hundreds of beautiful maidservants were called to surround it a few times.

There is a bit of Wei and Jin legacy.

Before Roupingfeng, Wu Huaiyu had only heard about it in history books, but now he feels it personally. Those beauties dressed in furs and silks gathered in a circle, so that Wu Huaiyu who was in it was not only eye-catching, but also could smell the fragrance .

In such an environment, everything tastes delicious, and it doesn’t matter what you eat.
Delicious food.

This is really the visual sense of the stick chaebol.

There are no big fish and meat, and there are no delicacies from mountains and seas.

Li Daozong didn't even invite other people to the reception banquet. Today is a private banquet, and only Wu Huaiyu was invited. Tomorrow, he plans to hold another big banquet to invite Yanzhou civil and military officials, and then Lingzhou officials will accompany him.

Today's guests are only Li Daozong and Wu Huaiyu.

As for the hundreds of beauties, they are all backgrounds, screens.

The first course, milky corn.

It is corn boiled with milk, it is very tender and fragrant,

Seeing Li Daozong feasting him with corn, Wu Huaiyu didn't know what expression to make.

"This is auspicious. I heard that it was obtained by Shouyang Gong's respected teacher Xiaoyao Yinxian from overseas?"

"Ah."

Li Daozong said that he got some from the emperor's brother in the greenhouse of the royal garden.

Wu Huaiyu felt that he shouldn't be showing off to himself, after all, the Wu family often ate corn.

Sure enough, Li Daozong was also very frank.

"I heard that Lord Shouyang has a lot of auspicious corn. I also have some land in Lingzhou, and I want to plant some. I want to ask Lord Shouyang for some corn seeds."

He stretched out his palm and gestured a few times.

"How about I use ten hectares of good land in Lingzhou for some auspicious corn seeds from Lord Shouyang?"

Ten hectares of land, that is a thousand mu, no matter how worthless the frontier land is, it will cost a few hundred dollars per mu, at least a few hundred.

Of course, it depends on the land. If the land is large, if it is hundreds of acres, or even thousands of acres, the value will be higher.

Wu Huaiyu didn't answer immediately, he wanted to know what Li Daozong meant. It is said that this man has tens of thousands of acres of land in Lingzhou, so it is not unusual to give Huaiyu a thousand acres of land.

"I heard that Lord Shouyang also has potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are also good things from overseas. I'll ask for some seeds from each, and each ask for ten hectares of land."

hiss.

Wu Huaiyu couldn't help being surprised.

Lingzhou is not like Yanxia. This is the Hetao Plain where the Yellow River has all kinds of evils and only riches. This is the south of the Great Wall, and the land here is very fertile.

Three thousand acres of land, just give it away?
"If the king of the county wants some seeds, I will send them directly to the king of the county. There is no need to change the land." Huaiyu waved his hand.

"Although I am the king of the county, I have never had the habit of taking people's things for nothing. The land in Lingzhou is not valuable. To tell you the truth, I have a lot of land here. There are too many kinds of land. Most of them are just It can be used to raise sheep and herd horses.”

The second course arrives.

Chips.

The fried potato chips are bubbling, fragrant and crunchy, and have a good foundation. This is obviously the way passed down by the Wu family.

The third dish, shredded sweet potatoes, is also obviously the craftsmanship brought by Wu Huaiyu.

Li Daozong used the auspiciousness passed down by Wu Huaiyu in the three ways, and also used his cooking method.

interesting.

"The king of the county speaks directly,"

Li Daozong is indeed a straightforward person. He thinks Wu Huaiyu is a good person and appreciates it. Now Wu Huaiyu has come to Shuofang to serve as the governor of Yanzhou, where there are four major salt ponds.

In the past, Li Daozong had been involved in the green and white salt business. When the Tang army controlled the salt pond, they directly produced and sold salt. If Liang Shidu or the Turks controlled it, they would trade and sell it privately.

In short, Li Daozong took a lot of salt in Yanzhou, and even the salt in Yanzhou was finally transported to Lingzhou for distribution and sale.

The [-] mu of land is not so much a purchase of auspicious seeds, but rather a basis for cooperation to win over Wu Huaiyu, the new governor.

Li Daozong hopes that in the future, he can continue to participate in the operation of Yanchi, and even hopes that Wu Huaiyu will join him to become bigger and stronger and get rich together.

Of course, it wasn't just for the benefit of Yanchi.

There is also the smuggling trade with Turks and puppet Liang, which is also a large share. Wu Huaiyu is the new governor of Yanzhou, and he is not yet affiliated with the Lingzhou Governor's Mansion. If he wants to continue to maintain this 'trade', he can't get around Wu Huaiyu.

In addition to salt and smuggling, Li Daozong also wanted to have a deeper cooperation with Wu Huaiyu, such as capturing slaves together. In Shuofang, besides Han people and Turkic people, there are also many Hu people.

There are not only Qiang people who moved from Longyou in the early years, but also Jihu and so on.

Jihu is also called Buluoji, or Shanhu. They belong to another species of Xiongnu. They originated from the Southern Xiongnu. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they migrated to the east of the river and the seven or eight hundred miles of Luliang and Hengshan valleys in northern Shaanxi. They flourished and mixed with the Han people. , farming and mulberry, but also grazing and hunting.

Xiasui and other areas controlled by Liang Shidu are one of the main settlements of these Jihu. Many Qiangluo and Shanhu were also attached to Liang Shidu earlier. These Hu people are also rebellious and often rebel.

For example, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, the leader of Jihu gathered a crowd to rebel, claiming to be the Son of Heaven, and using Yunyang Valley as his base camp, he went out to loot everywhere.

From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Northern Qi Dynasty to the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Shanhu did not stop. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Longer, the leader of the Lishihu, also separated from one side and claimed to be the emperor. After Liu Longer died, his younger brother Liu Liuer and his son Liu Jizhen continued to rebel. Liu Liu'er also led Liu Wu's Zhou army to capture Tang Shizhou, killing officials and seizing the land. Liu Jizhen claimed to be the prince king.

Later, Liu Jizhen called himself Tuli Khan and took Liu Liuer as Tuoding King.After Liu Liu'er was defeated, he descended to Tang Dynasty and was appointed governor of Lanzhou.

Later, Liu Jizhen also descended to the Tang Dynasty and was granted the title of governor of Shizhou.

There are many mountain beards on both sides of the Yellow River, but they are relatively loose. Although they are brave, they are difficult to accomplish.

Since the end of the Sui Dynasty, Liu Wuzhou, Liang Shidu, Guo Zihe, Liu Jizhen and other anti-kings have all recruited or coerced many Shanhu, Dangxiang Qiang, etc., but these Qianghu are just their cannon fodder.

Li Daozong fought against the Turkic and Liang divisions in Lingzhou for many years, and captured many Qianghu. After they were captured, they were not slaves. They were either sold to the mainland, or sent to the manor to farm, or sent to pastures to graze .

Later, Li Daozong often took the initiative to attack Liang Shidu. In fact, he ran to snatch people. He went directly to the Qiang and Hu tribes in the Hengshan mountainous area, robbed their cattle and sheep, took their money and food, and kidnapped their population.

This deal is a huge profit.

Anyway, Li Daozong was able to cultivate tens of thousands of acres of land in Lingzhou. Although he only planted part of it, he also relied on these slaves for farming and grazing.

As the governor, Li Daozong had acquired so many lands and slaves, so wouldn't the generals and officials under him follow suit.

Besides, the boss has taken it, so is it appropriate for the people below to not take it?

Li Daozong wanted to cooperate with Wu Huaiyu, the governor of Yanzhou. He had soldiers, horses, money and food. At that time, Wu Huaiyu would send troops to cooperate.

Jihu, the main settlements are in the south of the Baiyu Mountains, that is, the south of the Great Wall, Gyeongju, Yanzhou, Suizhou, Yinzhou, Yinzhou, Danzhou, and Shizhou, Lanzhou, Xizhou and other places in the eastern east of the Yellow River. .

In the north of the Baiyu Mountains, that is, in the Yanxiayou area, there are mainly Qiang people such as Dangxiang Qiang, and some Turkic nomadic tribes.

Capture a small slave, you can sell it for more than [-] yuan, a small maidservant can be worth seven to eight thousand yuan, grab a Dunma can be worth seven to eight thousand yuan, and a grass horse can be worth three to four thousand yuan. Ordinary low-end prices, if it is a good horse or beauty, a brave warrior, etc., the value can be doubled or even several times.

So this is a very profitable business. This is no longer a war, but a business.

Li Daozong stayed in Lingzhou for five years, and Lingzhou not only became a transportation hub in the northwest, an important military town, but also the largest slave trading center in the northwest.

From Lingzhou to Yanzhou, to Qingzhou, etc., it can be said that almost all the generals and officials of the governor's mansions and states have participated in the business of catching slaves and selling slaves.

Li Daozong did not hide it from Wu Huaiyu, and even told him that this business was not only done by Tang people, but also by the officials of Liang Shidu, and even Turkic people were also involved.

What is even more astonishing is that the most active slave hunters are actually the Jihu in the [-]-mile mountainous area. Many inspector tribes are tempted for the profit of the slave trade. They don't care about the same race. Therefore, these people have become important partners of Tang Jun. Not only did Tang Jun not beat them, he even secretly sold them some obsolete old weapons.

Li Daozong and Duan Decao have many such partners.

Li Daozong was open and honest, and wanted to pull Wu Huaiyu, the new governor of Yanzhou, into their chariot, and sell salt, horses, and slaves together.

Huaiyu scanned the meat screen a few times. He estimated that many of these beauties were born in the Jihu tribe in the eight hundred li mountainous area, and some of them might have been kidnapped and sold to the Tang people.

(End of this chapter)