A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 399 Entering and Exiting the Three Prime Ministers

Xu Jingzong brought his two sons to give Huaiyu a new year gift.

The dignified five-rank giver also studied national history, and was also an important minister of Yin Fei, but he still had to come and give gifts in person.

The gifts of several large carts are very thoughtful.

While receiving guests, Huaiyute called the maid Pei Xingnu over to make tea.

Xu Jingzong looked at his wife's personal maid who was getting more and more despondent, and felt a little regretful in his heart, but since his wife had already given it away to someone else, and also gave it to Wu Huaiyu, he naturally would not have any more thoughts, and even returned it to her mother's family. In front of Huaiyu, he praised her with a few good words.

On the contrary, his eldest son, Xu Ang, seemed to be unable to forget, and his eyes fell on her from time to time.

"Are you still used to it after returning to Beijing?" Huaiyu asked with a smile.

"The change is quite big." Xu Jingzong said honestly, although he is quite old, he was the son of the former Shangshu, a descendant of the famous Xu family in Gaoyang, he worked as Li Mi's secretary with Wei Zheng, and was also one of the eighteen scholars of the Qin Palace. But at the beginning of the Wude Dynasty and even the Emperor Zhenguan's ascension to the throne, the situation was actually a bit embarrassing.

He is not reused and cannot participate in the central decision-making, so even if he is famous, has a good family background, and has old qualifications, those powerful people don't think much of him.

Especially after he was demoted to the Military Weapons Supervision Department, he was even more neglected. He really experienced the warmth and coldness of human feelings. Of course, nothing can compare to his experience of being directly demoted to become the Xunyang County Prime Minister.

Far away from Chang'an, it was only when he arrived in the south of the Yangtze River that he truly understood what is meant by the coldness of the world. In a small county like Xunyang, even the subordinate officials in the county dared not take him seriously.

It was also this experience in Xunyang that made Xu Jingzong change a lot. He polished off the aloofness and impetuousness in his body before, and learned to be a low-key person and do things in a down-to-earth manner.

Now that he is back in Chang'an, he is in an important position, and he also presented many useful strategies for governing the country in front of the saint, which was also appreciated by Li Shimin.

In the short time after returning to Beijing, the emperor summoned Xu Jingzong alone three times, and even asked him for advice on major issues such as feudalism. Xu Jingzong was aware of the controversy over the enfeoffment system in the court, but he also fully supported the emperor with a clear-cut stand, and even said that the feudal prince , It is not only a state matter, but also a family matter of His Majesty.

This made Li Shimin very satisfied.

Silver vases and gold urns were rewarded, silk was given, and even purple robes were specially given.

For a while, Xu Jingzong became as popular as Ma Zhou, especially because he was born better than Ma Zhou and had sufficient qualifications. Many people thought that this time Xu Jingzong returned to the imperial court, and he would surely be able to rise to the top all the way. In ten years, you will be able to pay homage to the prime minister.

After all, Wei Zheng and Wang Gui, who had the same qualifications as him back then, had already paid their respects.

In front of the gate of the Xu Mansion in Chang'an, there was an endless stream of gift givers.

Xu Jingzong was very clear this time, and he was not lost by these praises.

He knew very well that his qualifications, ability, and background were important to be able to return to the court, but what was more important was that Wu Huaiyu fought for him in front of the emperor.

He was grateful in his heart, and he also knew that now Wu Huaiyu was the real emperor's favorite minister.

Today, he not only came to give the New Year's gift, but even wanted to further the relationship between the two.

"I heard that Saburo Yi, the Duke of Yi, hasn't said anything about his marriage. I have quite a few daughters, but I really want to get married with the Duke of Yi. As long as the Duke of Yi is willing, I will choose one of the daughters from my family, and I will marry another one at that time." concubine."

The daughter of Xu Jingzong's prostitute, of course, is the first choice in terms of family status. After all, her father Gaoyang Xu family and mother He Dong Pei's family, although they are not the top gentry family, they are both first-class.

What's more, today's Xu Jingzong also has a bright future, but Wu Huaiyu's third son, Wu Chengzhi, is a concubine, and his biological mother, Chen Runniang, is even Wu Huaiyu's concubine, not even his concubine.

This marriage, that can be said to be married.

But Xu Jingzong still took the initiative to bring up the marriage. If this is done, it will definitely be criticized by the scholars. No matter how prosperous the Wu family is, it can only be regarded as an upstart. In the past, even the poor and common people were not counted. None of the previous three generations had been an official.

In the past, Xu Jingzong certainly would not have taken the initiative to marry, and even if the Wu family wanted to propose marriage, he would not agree.But after going through so many things, Xu Jingzong has changed from being aloof and arrogant in the past to being more pragmatic.

Wu Huaiyu became in-laws with the emperor, and all of his sons and daughters were married to the emperor's children, and also married to the eldest grandson Wuji and eldest grandson Wuyi brothers.
In addition, Wu Huaiyu's third brother was engaged to Wang Xueshi, the younger brother of Wen Zhongzi of the Taiyuan Wang family, and her fourth sister was engaged to the second son of Prime Minister Wei Zheng.

The eldest sister married four times and then married Ma Zhou, a favorite minister of the emperor Zhongshushe.

Wu Huaiyu himself married the eldest daughter of Ying Guogong Fan Xing, and his elder brother Wu Huaiyi married the eldest daughter of Cheng Yaojin.

Wu Huaiyu also took Qiu Xinggong, Qiu Xingze's brother's daughter, Duan Decao's granddaughter as concubine, and concubine Chen Runniang, who was also adopted by Li Jing and his wife as the righteous granddaughter.

The marriage relationship of the Wu family is very remarkable.

Xu Jingzong felt that he could not keep up with the changes in the situation in Chang'an by staying in the south of the Yangtze River. His wife just sent a maid to Wu Huaiyu and sent the two sons to Wu Huaiyu's family as students, but Xu Jingzong felt that this was not enough.

The first daughter married the concubine son of the Wu family, and his wife Pei was still a little hesitant, but Xu Jingzong couldn't care less.He has long understood that family status and status are also maintained by power. If there is no official power, no matter how strong the name of the Xu family in Gaoyang is, it will be returned to the furnace.

"Brother Xu, are you serious?" Huaiyu asked.

"Duke Yi still doesn't know me, Old Xu?"

"In that case, Brother Xu, don't be so polite to me. Just call me Erlang. Does Mrs. Pei agree?"

"She also likes the Wu family's family style very much, and appreciates Erlang's character, and is very appreciative of this marriage."

Huaiyu smiled.

He found that Xu Ang was completely focused on the maidservant Pei Xingnu, but Pei Xingnu turned a blind eye to his frequent glances.

She has already entered the Wu family's family, although now she is only a maidservant, not even a concubine, but she has been blessed by Huaiyu in Xuanyang Fang, so naturally she has put all her heart on Wu Huaiyu.

In Xu's family before, the young girl's love affair was first started, and naturally only Xu's family came into contact with her. The eldest son treated her well, so she naively fantasized about becoming the eldest son's concubine in the future.

But now that she has grown up and become smarter, being a concubine to Xu Ang may not be better than being a concubine to Wu Huaiyu. Besides, she is already a servant of the Wu family and a member of Duke Yi, so how can she turn back.

Besides, she didn't want to look back anymore, compared with Duke Yi, Xu Ang was really too childish.

"If Erlang doesn't like my daughter of the Xu family, just pretend I didn't mention it." Although Xu Jingzong was embarrassed, he still had a smile on his face.

"The Xu family in Gaoyang is a well-known gentry family in the world. Brother Xu is willing to give his daughter-in-law to my family's concubine. This is a high opinion of my Wu family, so there is no reason why I would not want to.

As long as brother Xu doesn't regret this matter, then I'm sure I have no objection. "

Xu Jingzong laughed happily when he heard this.

"Then it's settled like that, how about writing the marriage letter now?"

"Brother Xu, don't worry, why don't I bring my wife and children to visit in a few days, and then we will make an appointment together."

"Okay, follow what Erlang said."

Xu Jingzong finally settled the marriage, and he was full of joy. The Wu and Xu families became closer in the future.

Huaiyu stayed with Xu's father and son for dinner, and after the meal, she specially asked Runniang to come over to meet her third son, Wu Chengzhi, who was chubby, white and tender, and looked very good.After seeing it, Xu Jingzong repeatedly praised the child for being a blessing in the future.

When leaving, Huaiyu brought Xu Jingzong some tea and green salt produced by the Wu family, as well as new cooperation with the Duan family of the Qiu family, obtained sucrose from them, and processed it through the Wu family's secret method of yellow mud decolorization. White granulated sugar and rock sugar are whiter and better than the Tianzhu white sugar monopolized by Tianzhu Asan before.

In addition, the Wu family's fruit wine, liquor, and even frozen mutton rolls from Shuofang, as well as charcoal, were also loaded into two carts.

The door is still full of people who want to meet and give gifts.

Li Yifu still came early today as usual, he lined up quietly, and occasionally discussed poetry, prose and scriptures with the scholars next to him, and most of the time, he rehearsed in his heart over and over again, if he got wing The Duke of the state summons, how to answer.

Wu Huaiyu sent Xu Jingzong and his son out, and returned two large carts of gifts. Seeing their kind appearance, Li Yifu was full of envy, but he didn't try to surround them. He knew that he couldn't get close at all.

Sure enough, those who surrounded them were all separated by the tiger and wolf-like guards of the Wu family, and none of them could get close.

Li Yifu kept staring at Wu Huaiyu.

Even if Wu Huaiyu didn't look over, he kept smiling happily.

Sending Xu Jingzong and his son away, Wu Huaiyu looked at the visiting officials and scholars in front of the door, and felt a little headache. Although the official Yushi ignored the impeachment of the emperor because of this, it was indeed a bit too ostentatious.

He stood on the steps of the gate, saluted these visitors with fists in his hands, greeted everyone, thanked everyone for being so polite to him, Wu Huaiyu, and said that the Chinese New Year was coming soon, and the hospitality was really poor, so he told everyone not to give gifts.

In the crowd, Wu Huaiyu noticed that there was such a handsome and gentle young man, dressed in a white robe, clean and tidy, and he was also handsome, especially when everyone was scrambling to squeeze forward, and they kept clamoring to talk to Wu Huaiyu, But he still stood there quietly, always smiling.

Huaiyu was deeply impressed by this handsome young man who loved to laugh.

He stared at him for a few seconds, but the young man still just smiled and didn't step forward.

After Huaiyu withdrew his gaze and turned back into the mansion, he still had that young man in his mind, so he summoned the housekeeper, "There is a white-robed young man outside, with a soft and courteous appearance, smiling happily, do you know his identity?"

As soon as the butler heard it, he knew who Wu Huaiyu was talking about.

He was also very impressed with that young man, he was very gentle and polite, especially he always had a smile on his face, and he was good looking. He came to line up early every day, and after he got to the gate, he posted, registered, and then presented the travel papers.

"The young man is from Yingzhou, Hebei. His father is currently the governor of Shehong County in Yizhou. He studied in Shu with his father, passed the prefectural and county examinations, and was elected as a tribute to the township. He came to Beijing with the envoys of the court. For the imperial examination, it seems that he applied for the Jinshi Department, and he has to submit a dry examination paper every day, and it is said that the content is different every time."

Huaiyu became interested when he heard this, so he asked someone to fetch his papers and send them to the study for inspection.

Shangguanyi, who joined the army from the secretary office of Duke Yi's mansion, came to Wu Huaiyu's study with a pile of travel documents, "Mr. Yi, these are the travel documents that Li Yi's mansion has submitted these days, and they have all been taken."

Wu Huaiyu was surprised to see the pile of scrolls.

"Li Yi's house comes every day, and sometimes he submits several papers a day. The students just browsed through them. These poems and essays are all well done. This man is very talented."

Shangguanyi is Wu Huaiyu's staff member. He has the right to start the government and can have sixteen government officials. Shangguanyi was recommended to him by the warrior Xun. He is only 20 years old this year.At the end of the Sui Dynasty, his father was the deputy supervisor of the Jiangdu Palace. He moved to Jiangdu with his father since he was a child. Later, his father died in the Jiangdu Revolution. Dabble in classics and history and make a fuss.

At the end of Wude, the samurai Xun was the chief governor of the governor's mansion in Yangzhou. He met this young man. Wu Huaiyu opened the mansion.

Wu Huaiyu opened it and read it. The more he read it, the more surprised he was. The article was indeed very good.

"You said his name is Li Yifu?"

"Yes, my hometown is Yingzhou, Hebei, and now I am in Yizhou with my father. This time, I am coming to Beijing to participate in the Jinshi Division next year."

In the imperial examinations of the Tang Dynasty, the regular subjects were Xiucai, Jinshi, Mingjing, Mingshu, Mingshu, and Mingfa. Sometimes other subjects were added, but the admission of Xiucai subjects was too strict, and often only one or two subjects were admitted, and sometimes even Not one subject is recorded, at most three or four subjects are recorded.

Looking forward to several subjects, the ones with the highest gold content are Mingjing and Jinshi.

Among them, the Jinshi examination is relatively more difficult. Although it is said that there are four grades in the classics department, there are only two grades in the Jinshi.

It seems that Li Yifu is very confident to participate in next year's Jinshi examination as a township tribute. However, the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty is one subject a year, and it is an unambiguous and non-transcribed examination, so whether he can get it depends on the outside of the examination room. There are more factors, family background, fame, these are more important than exams.

Therefore, after the Tang Dynasty scholar candidates arrived in Beijing, they would hurry up and submit their papers to the powerful and high-ranking officials, and present their works, hoping to get comments and appreciation. It is possible to book a Jinshi seat first.

If there is really no way to join the powerful and high-ranking officials, then go to the Chu Pavilion in the brothel and find an opportunity for them to help make a name for themselves.

Of course, the more important thing is the background, the famous family, the powerful and prominent family background, and a certain level, the chances of being admitted are much higher.

Li Yifu's family is not even considered a poor family, and his background is very humble. For several generations, he has only been a green-robed official like the county magistrate, and has never worshiped a famous teacher. It is very difficult for someone who is not an official student in a prefectural and county government school, but a village tribute who has passed the county examination and was recommended by the governor to win a seat among the very limited number of Jinshi places each year.

Even if the article is really good, it's too normal to be inferior to those who have status, status and fame.

"Duke Yi, the students also plan to take the Jinshi examination next year." Shangguanyi hesitated and said.Originally, the samurai Xun recommended him to come to Huaiyu as a staff member, and accumulate some qualifications. With Wu Huaiyu's recommendation, he can be directly selected as an official in the future.

This was a bit sudden, he had only been in the Huaiyu shogunate for half a year.

"You are familiar with classics and history, and you are good at writing articles. If you write good poems, you will definitely pass the Jinshi examination." Huaiyu smiled, "Well, you can choose a few of your poems that you are most satisfied with, and I will give them to you. It will be published in the next issue of the Beijing News for you, and it will also make a name for you."

"Xie Yi Guogong cultivated it." Shangguanyi said gratefully. Wouldn't it be more fierce than investment bank papers to publish poems and essays in the Beijing News.

"Send these few poems and articles by Li Yifu, together with your poems, to the Bureau of Economics and Economics, and let Lai Ji select two of them to be published in the same issue as yours in the Beijing News."

After thinking about it, "Go to the door and help me call Li Yifu."

Shangguanyi went out, Huaiyu sat there thinking.

One is Shangguanyi and the other is Li Yifu. These two were both prime ministers in history. Who would have thought that now one is a guest in his shogunate, and the other is still waiting outside the door.

Wu Huaiyu doesn't mind promoting and training them if there is a chance.

(End of this chapter)