A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 406

Since the official title has become higher and higher, there have been more and more friends, and every day I see smiling faces.

During the first month of the lunar year, every day he entertained the guests who came to pay New Year's greetings at home, or went to pay New Year's greetings. From time to time, he was called into the palace by the emperor to have a banquet to accompany him for a drink or something.

On the second day of junior high school, Li Shimin took him to Taiji Palace to meet the Supreme Emperor.

The Taishanghuang was in good spirits, and there were many people and acquaintances at the family banquet.Huaiyu basically knew the six married daughters of the emperor and their six sons-in-law, Feng Shaoshi Dou Danchai Shao Duan Lun Yang Shidao Dou Lu Huairang.

The other princes and princesses were all too young, they were all born after Li Yuan became emperor.During his nine years in office, in fact, many children were born.

Before becoming an emperor, he had five sons and six daughters.After being emperor for nine years, he gave birth to sixteen more sons. Later, the unofficial history of Jianghu likes to say that Li Yuan abdicated and became the Supreme Empress and gave birth to thirty more sons.

In fact, Li Yuan gave birth to 41 children in total, 22 sons and [-] daughters.

There was only one son born after the abdication, the Teng Wang Li Yuanying who built the Teng Wang Pavilion, and the other sixteen were born in the nine years when he was emperor.

Most of the princesses were born during their reign.

But right now these children are indeed very young, the older one is less than ten years old, and the youngest one is still in his arms. Li Yuan can't control himself, and he is not in the mood to care, so he throws these children to his son-in-law Dou Dan helps out.

Dou Dan became the head of these children, but also full of helplessness.

There were five sons and six daughters back then, but now there are only one son and five daughters left.

Emperor Li Shimin also has many sons and daughters, his daughter is No. 19, and his son is No. [-].

With the addition of the six princesses' children, this family reunion was quite lively, like a school performance on June [-]st.

Chai Shao was still so polite to Wu Huaiyu, with a smile all over his face. Wu Huaiyu only saw his second son, Chai Lingwu, who was chosen by Li Shimin as his son-in-law. It is said that the eldest son, Chai Zhewei, was still unable to get out of bed because he was whipped so badly by Chai Shao. , I can only lie in bed to recuperate, and I will be able to go to Guazhou to guard the border after a few years.

Doulu Huairang is an old friend, and deliberately took Huaiyu to sit with him, and chatted about Yuchi's old black.

Wu Huaiyu shouldn't have come today, after all, he is not the emperor's son-in-law, nor the emperor's son-in-law, but the emperor's son-in-law, this kind of family gathering, even Li Yuan's cousins ​​and nephews did not come.

But Li Shimin brought him here on purpose, so he had to come.

On the surface, Li Yuan and his son are quite good. They are kind and filial, but it can be seen that Li Shimin lacks his usual self-confidence and calmness in front of Li Yuan. He doesn't even dare to look at Li Yuan normally. .

The grandfather and two chatted very dryly.

Fortunately, there are many children, so there is no need to worry about being left alone.

"Yi Guogong's painting is amazing, why don't you ask Yi Guogong to paint a portrait of the Supreme Emperor?" Li Shimin had nothing to say.

Li Yuan still had that faint smile on his wrinkled face, "Okay,"

To be honest, Li Yuan's appearance is really not very good-looking. Compared with Li Shimin's majesty, I feel that there is a huge gap between the two fathers, and there is even no similarity.

In the past, Li Yuan's cousin Yang Guang liked to call Li Yuan's nickname mother-in-law face the most. Although Li Yuan was angry, he could only respond. Of course, there was a rumor that Li Yuan was born with three breasts, a natural phenomenon.

Later, after the change of Xuanwumen Palace, everything was settled, Li Shimin went to see Li Yuan, when Li Shimin met Li Yuan, he knelt down excitedly and threw himself into Li Yuan's arms, crying and explained to Li Yuan that it was Jiancheng Yuanji and they insisted on murdering him, so he had no choice but to do it, saying When she got excited, she knelt down and sucked her breasts.

This is recorded in several official histories of the Tang Dynasty.

It is said that Li Shimin's action broke Li Yuan's defenses. He wanted to question his son, but in the end he just stroked Shimin's back and choked up. So the final power transfer between father and son was successfully completed without any further complications.

However, although Li Yuan had three breasts, he was not as good as King Wen of Zhou, who was stronger and had four breasts.

Huaiyu secretly counted Li Yuan's children on purpose. There were [-] children who were underage. After abdicating, he actually gave birth to only one son and three daughters.

Of the eleven children before the emperor, four sons were lost.

The seventeen sons born to the emperor are all there, and there are thirteen little princesses.

When it comes to having children, Laozi is better than sons.

Li Shimin asked people to fetch paper, ink, paint, etc., and directly painted for Li Yuan. Huaiyu was very skilled in painting, and after only a while, he attracted many brothers, sisters, princes and princesses to watch. A group of children watched Wu Huaiyu was amazed and praised for painting.

Even Li Yuan, the model, would come to have a look at it from time to time, very satisfied.

Of course, the portrait of the Supreme Emperor is not as big as the painting, but it must be well drawn, so it cannot be done in a short time.

Li Shimin asked Wu Huaiyu to come to the Tai Chi Palace every two or three days to paint a portrait of the Supreme Emperor. Several favorite concubines of the Supreme Emperor also wanted to draw a picture for himself. Li Yuan also smiled and agreed, but the royal brothers and sisters wanted to paint too.

Wu Huaiyu has taken on a huge task. In the next few months, he may have to go to the palace to take portraits from time to time. The emperor also gave him the task to draw portraits of the meritorious officials. This has not yet been completed. Woolen cloth.

When leaving the palace after dinner, Li Yuan rewarded Wu Huaiyu a lot.

Li Yuan is famous for his boldness and generosity. Back then, the most powerful means of conquering the world was rewards, rewarding officials, land, gold, and silk. Even for old guys like Pei Ji, he even sent his own beauties to Pei Ji. Stay overnight at home.

Pork loins, gold collars, and silver ingots also rewarded a small box.

Much more generous than Li Shimin, Li Shimin rewarded the prime minister with a gold urn, which sounds very tall, but actually only weighs one or two taels.There is also a silver bottle, which sounds awesome, but it is actually like a water glass. Only when the credit is great enough, the emperor will put another bottle of copper coins in the silver bottle, and there are not many.

If it is more powerful, add some gold and silver coins into it, and if you put two pearls, it will be terrible.

The Supreme Emperor doesn't play with these imaginary things.

Twelve gold collars each, and ten in a small box. 50 taels of silver ingots, and a small box of ten.

One hundred taels of gold and 500 taels of silver are of excellent quality. Both boxes are worth [-] guan, and the price is [-] guan.

It's just painting some portraits, even if it's for the emperor's concubines, thirty little princes and princesses, the reward is still amazing.

"Accept it, since the Supreme Emperor rewards you, how can you refuse it."

Seeing Huaiyu's refusal, Li Shimin smiled and asked him to accept it.

After leaving the palace, Dou Lu Huairang dragged him to visit his house again, "Draw me two portraits whenever you have time."

"Didn't I draw a picture for you before?"

"That one is a bit small. I want a full-length portrait. I want to draw a picture of my grandparents, my wife, and my brothers."

"Don't worry, I won't let you draw for nothing, I know the rules."

The rule that Dou Lu Huairang said was to give money.

For example, even if the emperor ordered a certain imperial pen holder, such as Zhongshu Shilang or Zhongshu Sheren, a bachelor, to write an epitaph for the parents of a certain minister, or for a deceased official, in fact, the family would also like to write an epitaph. As usual, you have to pay a bonus fee.

The higher the status, the more money will be given.

If the prime minister writes it himself, then an epitaph may require at least a BMW, and the value will be fifty or sixty guan, and it must even be matched with a saddle and bridle, and some may have to be added with a jade belt.

Also, for example, Xu Jingzong is now studying national history, and their history majors also have a way to make money. Even if they beautify the biographies of some officials' ancestors, they will also need to pay a lot of money for embellishment.Even if they are not qualified for a biography, but when it comes to them, if they are slightly embellished, they can still collect money.

For many families or officials, especially those famous families, they pay more and more attention to the records of their families and ancestors in the history books, and they will try their best to record them better, and even try to hide some bad things , or the Spring and Autumn brushwork is overdone, try to dilute it.

And these have to be paid, which is not cheap, but they are willing.

The name left in the history books is the last gold of these famous families.

In the same way, the emperor sometimes asked painters to paint portraits of ministers, and they were not painted for nothing, so they still had to be paid to the painters.

Even such as the emperor's appointment of an imperial doctor to visit and treat officials, they still need to pay extra money.

With an identity like Wu Huaiyu, he is also very famous for his calligraphy and painting. He was ordered to give portraits of the heroes of the real seal. If you want to make a few more copies, or make copies for your family, you will have to pay for it.

That's the rule.

Wu Huaiyu took the initiative to draw a full-length portrait of the de facto meritorious official. Now the market is two BMWs with saddles, and two young maidservants are added, plus [-] yuan.

But who can be a real hero, who still lacks this little money, just wants to paint better, and even wants to make a few more copies for his family, but Wu Huaiyu doesn't have so much time, so he either draws a small one or two, or You can only queue up at another time.

If Wu Huaiyu didn't know how to run a business, he would be able to live a very prosperous life if he painted portraits in his spare time, or went to see a doctor.

Prime Minister Wei Zheng doesn't have any other financial management skills, he can only make some home-brewed wine. When brewing was banned, he could only earn extra money by writing epitaphs for others. When he was only a fourth-rank official, he gave those status Low-level officials, scholars, and even businessmen write epitaphs, and one article can earn [-] to [-] yuan.

Write to people with lower status, the more money you get.

It is said that the price for Wei Zheng to write an epitaph is already [-] yuan, but he is not so short of money now, so he usually does not write easily. .

With Wu Huaiyu's current status, it is really difficult for ordinary people to ask him for a portrait.

But Dou Luhuai let it go, he still had to give face, and he had to find time even if he didn't have time.

It doesn't matter whether the money is money or not, and the money is not bad, but I really don't have time.

"Let's finish this arrangement, it's really too busy this first month."

The families of nobles and relatives in Chang'an are busy with the Lantern Festival building again. Wu Huaiyu doesn't care about that at all now, leaving it entirely to the family. This year, the Wu family is eligible to build a five-story lantern building.

Saying goodbye to Doulu Huairang, he called Pang Xiaotai to meet Qin Qiong.

Now Pang Xiaotai has really become Wu Huaiyu's lackey, he comes to Wu's family to pay his respects every morning, and then follows Wu Huaiyu all day long, working very hard.

It makes others think they are delusional.

After all, anyone who sees a high-ranking official who has given Zi Zi as a coachman will be very surprised, and the coachman is so young.

This incident also caused the patrolmen on the street, Marquis Wu from the street shop, and even Lizhengfang Ding from the Fangmen to step forward to inquire several times with suspicion.

I thought there was a coachman who was so bold that he dared to wear a purple robe privately.

But I went to check and found that the carriage belonged to Duke Yi's mansion, and the person sitting in it was Duke Yi, and the driver was not a driver wearing a purple robe. , This can also be regarded as a reward to those powerful states in Lingnan in the early years. Whether it is Zhongzhou or Xiazhou, as long as they are Lingnan governors, they will all be given purple robes.

The official fourth-rank governor who gave Zizi acted as Duke Yi's coachman.

This matter spread quickly, and even the New Year's Eve even cited officials to impeach Wu Huaiyu.

Yu Shitai even specifically asked Pang Xiaotai to go over and ask about it, but Pang Xiaotai's answer was very simple. When I was in the same car with Mr. Yi, I didn't like the stuffiness in the car, so I sat outside, that's all. , this doesn't work either?
Some officials said no, but they wrote to the emperor, but the emperor ignored it.

Although Wu Huaiyu had heard about it, but after thinking about it, she was too lazy to pay attention to it. People want to find fault with you, and there are plenty of reasons for picking on the bones in the egg.

Although Pang Xiaotai is a fourth-rank governor who bestowed purple, he is a Lingnan governor.

The prefectures in the south of the Five Ridges are actually very special now. The prefects and county magistrates there are called Nanxuan.It is not the selection by the Ministry of Officials, but the selection from the South. In fact, the local tycoons appoint themselves, and then go through a process of recommendation and approval by the Ministry of Officials.

In fact, the imperial court has not yet grasped the power to appoint and dismiss county officials in Lingnan Prefecture, and the governors are basically powerful, so county magistrates and joining the army are naturally appointed and dismissed by these powerful people.

The imperial court can now appoint and remove only a few local officials, such as the governor of Guangzhou, the governor of Guizhou, and the governor of Jiaozhou.

So don't look at the governors of Lingnan who gave purple no matter how big or small, in fact Chang'an doesn't really regard them as the third and fourth ranks, they are just a group of subordinate barbarians and powerful.

Pang Xiaotai visited around with gifts before, but no one was willing to see the native turtle he was willing to accept. Being a coachman for Duke Yi would not affect the majesty of the court officials or anything.

After this incident, everyone knows that Pang Xiaotai, the local turtle, has now joined Wu Huaiyu's family, and some people even secretly ridiculed Wu Huaiyu because of this, that is, this kind of nouveau riche, who will get together with these Southern barbarian natives, but all the powerful families , who is willing to play with them, won't it lose their value?
And Xu Jingzong also had close contacts with Feng An, Chong Xiaotai and the others, and even accepted gifts from them, which was also regarded as a disgrace to the noble family. In order to order money and gifts from the Nanman, he even gave up the reserved face of the famous family.

Many aristocratic families crowded out the Xu family. Xu Jingzong, who had returned to Beijing, planned to find a suitable family for his sons and daughters to marry him, but now when they heard about Xu Jingzong from the Xu family in Gaoyang, they refused to talk to him directly, and did not give him a chance. He thinks that the Xu family has lost the face of the gentry.

In the city of Chang'an.

Pang Xiaotai was wearing a purple robe, and he was very proud of driving the carriage of Duke Yi's mansion. He even stood up and drove the car deliberately.

Others ridiculed and abused, but Pang Xiaotai was very happy. The more people knew about it and the more people scolded him, the more Pang Xiaotai was bound to Duke Yi.

Duke Qi's mansion, Qin Qiong's family.

Wu Huaiyu took Pang Xiaotai to pick up Xu Jingzong and Feng Zhidai first, and then came to pay a visit together.

Qin Qiong is meeting an old friend Li Daliang at home.

Li Daliang came to pay Qin Qiong New Year's greetings, and wanted to have some activities. He wanted to be released as an official, and he didn't want to be the Minister of the Taifu anymore.

Huaiyu and the others came in, Qin Qiong pointed to Huaiyu and said, "Come quickly to persuade Brother Li."

"What's wrong?" Huaiyu asked.

"The sage gave Brother Li a hundred slaves and ten good horses. Brother Li wanted to release all the slaves and sell the horses for food for the disaster victims outside Chang'an City."

Wu Huaiyu was confused when he heard that, Li Daliang was also a general of Guanlong, a branch of the Li family in Longxi, although he was not from the family with the same surname, but his father was once the governor of Shuozhou in the Sui Dynasty, and he himself was the governor of Anzhou. The governor of the state, the governor of the state, is now the Minister of the Taifu, although the title is only the baron of Wuyang County,
But Li Daliang shouldn't be short of money, he's an aristocrat with a big family and a big business, so even if he wants to free a hundred servants and servants from being good, it shouldn't be a big deal.

"Brother Li is honest and self-confident, and does not run any business. Over the years, he has helped the clan to bury more than 30 relatives. He has also adopted dozens of orphans in troubled times as righteous sons. He has also helped many clansmen and villagers, and has been helping to take care of those who died in battle. The family members of the subordinates have been living in poverty."

Huaiyu was stunned.

(End of this chapter)