A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 995: This loyalty deserves to be rewarded
Lingnan, Guangzhou.

An angel rushed from Chang'an, bringing with him the emperor's edict of sin.

Wu Huaiyu led a group of civil servants and generals in Guangzhou to listen to the imperial edict at the ambassador's residence.

Shock,

Everyone was shocked,
The emperor actually issued a self-incriminating edict for Dang Renhong.

Among those who listened to the edict,

One person was particularly shocked. He was Dang Renhong. He was still in Guangzhou and was called to listen to the imperial edict. He did not expect to hear such a shocking edict. The emperor ordered him to punish himself for his crime.

"Your Majesty, this old minister is guilty of death. He is guilty of death."

Dang Renhong, who used to have gray beard and hair, has already turned white after these days of house arrest. He seems to have aged more than ten years. He was dressed in commoner clothes and was kneeling lifelessly to listen to the imperial edict. Unexpectedly, after hearing this result, his entire body was shaken. People were shocked and excited.

This domineering general fell to the ground and cried bitterly,
Crying like a child.

Wu Huaiyu gave an order,
Immediately, several guards rushed forward.
Dang Renhong hit a pillar, but was pulled slightly. The hit was not particularly hard. His head was broken, blood flowed, and his face was red.
But not dead.

Wu Huaiyu stepped forward,
"Dang Renhong, Your Majesty, in memory of your past merits, even ordered you to survive even if you sinned against yourself. Is this how you failed to live up to His grace?"

Dang Renhong was pinned to the ground by the tooth soldiers. He didn't care at all about his bloody head. He still broke down and cried bitterly, shouting that he was sorry for the emperor.

Thanks to the emperor, he also preserved the property of his party family in the Central Plains.
"Send the party man back and bandage him,"

Although Luzon still belongs to a Jixi state in Lingnan, its status is the same as that of the seventy-two barbarian tribal states in Zuoxi River, but those are the barbarian chiefs who have been granted hereditary governorships and county magistrates.

"I accept the decree and thank you for your kindness."

In the envoy's mansion, all the officials looked at Wu Huaiyu,
After Dang Renhong fell, one of the founding county governors and central governors was directly demoted to a commoner and lived in Lingnan. Wu Huaiyu, on the other hand, not only was not implicated in the slightest, but was even rewarded.

Luo Doudong rebelled, and You and Liu Dewei put down the rebellion as soon as possible, focusing on appeasement. "

Originally, in the case of Dang Hongren, if the emperor agreed with the verdict of Dali Temple and directly killed him according to the crime, the emperor would be fair and impartial, but it would be inevitable for others to think that the emperor was cold and heartless afterwards. After all, Dang Renhong was the founding hero of the country.

I am grateful that the emperor did not kill him, and I am grateful that the emperor did not implicate his family.

Even though he was demoted to a commoner and lived in Lingnan forever, Dang Renhong not only did not have any resentment, but was full of guilt and gratitude towards the emperor.

His third concubine, ten-year-old Wu Chengzhi, was promoted from Luzon County Magistrate to Luzon Governor, and from Luzon County Baron to Luzon County Marquis.

Wu Huaiyu saluted the angel, with the small yellow door facing north and facing south, and said in an emperor's tone, "Qingyang, I will leave Lingnan to you. You handled Dang Renhong's case very well this time, and you were decisive and timely.
Previously, Luzon County was under the jurisdiction of Liuzhou, but now Liuzhou is transferred from Lingnan Road to Jiangdong, so Luzon County should still be under the jurisdiction of Lingnan Road.

Dang Renhong wanted to go to Beijing to thank him in person, but after reading the edict, the angel from Chang'an had already told the emperor to let Dang Renhong go directly to Annan.

"Appreciate this."

Even the emperor could not protect him.

Luzon County was promoted to Luzon Prefecture, Wu Chengzhi was awarded the title of Luzon Governor, and he was promoted to Luzon County Marquis.

Everyone is still very envious.

Other heroes only have hereditary titles, but Wu Huaiyu's son has already received the hereditary title of governor.

This man is too crazy. There are no taboos in doing things in Lingnan. He dares to attack anyone. The consequences of being outraged are like this.

Wu Chengzhi, the governor of Luzon, was not an indigenous chief. He was the son of Sikong of the imperial court.

"Your Majesty has a decree for you."

I have to say that the emperor is indeed getting more powerful.

"Go to Annan. Don't let down the Holy Grace. From now on, you will become a small soldier in the southern border of the Tang Dynasty. You will guard the border for the Tang Dynasty and His Majesty. You will spend the rest of your life to atone for your crimes."

Although this Luzon Prefecture is not the official prefecture of the imperial court, after all, the hereditary governor and marquis are still very famous.

Wu Huaiyu looked at the old man and didn't feel sorry for him.

Looking at Dang Renhong's gloomy look at this time, we can see how powerful the emperor is.

Let the people of the world respect this emperor even more,

The emperor really gave the island of Luzon to the Wu family.

He even drew a red line,
A set of combos,
The emperor became a compassionate but principled and just emperor, taking both internal and external considerations into account.

Leaving a life behind and living in Annan for a long time was already his best ending, and it was even earned by the emperor in exchange for his sin.

Dang Renhong is out and will soon live in Annan, but he is grateful. He will become the most loyal sideman of the Tang Dynasty.

No matter how you are given a title or an official position, there are still many privileges.

"Wu Gong,"

I have to say that the emperor has punished him for this crime.
Enough to shock the world,

But now the emperor is here, interceding with the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty for Dang Renhong, a meritorious official, and even issued an edict to punish him. However, in the end, he was only exempted from the death penalty, and was demoted to a commoner and lived in Lingnan for the rest of his life. The punishment of not being pardoned is severe enough.

Tears were streaming down his face and his voice was hoarse!
Dang Renhong, who was so excited that he collapsed, suddenly stood up and slammed into the pillar.
"Stop him,"

And if the emperor directly pursues his own interests, just like those who treated Yuchi Gonghou and Jun Jiqiu Xinggong in the past, he was first removed from office and then reinstated after a period of time, it would make the world feel that the emperor was unfair and even set a bad example. , those heroes and old subordinates will become more and more unscrupulous in the future.

"Take a rest and send to Annan in three days."

"The sinner has no face to see the saint again, so he goes to Annan."

Even these officials believed that Luzon was a large barbarian island in the sea, where the Wu family only had a few trading stations.
But this doesn’t stop them from being envious,

"Congratulations, Prime Minister Wu,"

"Congratulations to Commander Lian,"

A group of people congratulated Wu Huaiyu.
Wu Huaiyu was very calm,
He handled the case of Dang Renhong very quickly and very well, especially when he quickly investigated the case. He also cleared out all the property that Dang Renhong had stolen and reported it to the emperor. He did not keep any money for himself. At least, the emperor should have known about it through people from Baiqi, Liumen, or even the City Shipping Department, the Imperial City Department, etc.

This loyalty is certainly worthy of recognition.

Wealth and silk are attractive to people, but Wu Huaiyu was able to face hundreds of thousands of dollars of property coming to his door and refused, and his plan for dealing with the aftermath was also very good.

Luzon Governor, Luzon County Marquis,
This reward came at no cost to the court. After all, Luzon was not the territory of the court, and the court did not send a single soldier or spend a single penny or silk to develop it. The island was originally discovered by the Wu family, and it was also the Wu family. pioneering,

With a stroke of the imperial court's pen, it was brought under the rule of Jisu of the Tang Dynasty and granted to the Wu family. Whether it was set as Jisu County or Jisu Prefecture, it had no impact on the court.

Wu Huaiyu acted calmly,
quietly,

But I was very excited inside,
The fact that the emperor could be so generous this time to upgrade Luzon to the prefecture of Jilin and to give the third son the title of county prince shows two things. One is that the emperor is very satisfied with his handling of the Dang Renhong case, and the other is the emperor's true feelings towards Luzon. Absolutely no idea.

The emperor may have completed his investigation of Luzon and concluded that Luzon was just a large wild island in the deep sea. He believed that Luzon was not worthy of the court's attention, so he gave it to the Wu family so generously.

Wu Huaiyu was very grateful to the emperor. In any case, this would be the focus of the Wu family's business in the future.
Even though at this stage, the focus is still on the Central Plains, Luzon is a long-term investment. With the emperor's will, the Wu family can operate more confidently and boldly.

·······
Three days later, Dang Renhong boarded the ship to Annan. He was about to be exiled to the southernmost border area of ​​Annan, close to the camp in Linyi, where he would become a pioneer camper and would not be allowed to return to the Central Plains until his death. Wu Huaiyu personally went to the pier to see him off.
Dang Renhong turned around and boarded the boat with a lonely expression.

Liu Dewei also came to see him off.

After seeing off the boat, the two of them walked around the pier incognito.
All things are prosperous and prosperous,

The monsoon is coming to an end,

There are still merchant ships coming from Southeast Asia,

The pier was bustling,
Thousands of businessmen gathered.

We walked around and finally sat down in front of a small stall on the pier.
The stall is simple and simple, selling food.

The stall owner is a dark-skinned woman who looks like she is from Kunlun.

The Tang Dynasty called the indigenous people on the Nanyang Islands the Kunlun tribe, and the slaves there were called Kunlun slaves.

In Chang'an, the price of a Kunlun slave is very high. Most of them are tall, dark-skinned but relatively docile Kunlun men.
This Kunlun woman spoke Chinese very well and could not recognize Manzi's accent at all. She recommended her stall's signature delicacy, fried boat clams, to the two of them.

This thing is also called shipworm. It looks like earthworms. There are many in a bucket of the stall owner...
Liu Dewei looked at it carefully for a while, "Li Daoyuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty mentioned this kind of insect in the water scripture commentaries, which is the most harmful to ships. It is said that there are water bugs that are as small as the water bugs. They eat the wood and eat the boats. They will be damaged for dozens of days. I didn't expect it to grow like this. So soft, it can actually carve out wood and eat boats.”

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "This thing is actually a kind of shellfish called the shipshell. If you look closely, you can see that it has two shells, but they have degenerated into small pieces prematurely and can only cover a small part of the head.

This kind of thing does great damage to the ship. Whether it is fishermen or sailing merchants and sailors, they all hate this kind of thing."

This thing can not only carve out wood and eat boats, but also has extremely strong fecundity. A mature shipworm can lay dozens or millions of eggs at a time. The hatched larvae drift with the waves in the sea water and will immediately attach themselves to wooden boats and other wooden objects as soon as they encounter them. , and thus began his wood drilling career.
In order to deal with shipworms, the crew also tried their best to cover the hull with various things, such as cowhide, bone meal, glue, moss, charcoal, tar, etc.

Of course there is another way, and that is to eat.

The sailors on the ship all have the ability to eat ship clams raw, and even use them as a delicacy.

The seaside natives on the Nanyang Islands also like to eat boat clams, eating them raw, boiled, charcoal-grilled, and deep-fried. Anyway, they are eaten in various ways, and they have even become a traditional delicacy in Nanyang.

This Kunlun woman,

She was from Nanyang. Her husband came to Guangzhou on a ship to trade and was stationed here for a long time. This woman was also picked up later.
After she got used to Guangzhou, she also set up a stall selling some snacks on the pier.

Since there are many Nanyang people here at the dock, as well as a large number of sailors, the shipworms she sells are quite popular.

"This thing actually tastes good, but the name is a bit disgusting. I believe there are still many people who are willing to try it and will like it after trying it."

Liu Dewei was not afraid. He heard that eating it raw can better taste its original taste, so he specially ordered a portion of it raw.

"Mr. Liu is really brave enough to try new things," Huaiyu praised.

Liu Dewei ate very calmly and praised the delicious food, "I remember when I was in the army of the former dynasty and followed General Pei to suppress bandits.

You know, those bandits are actually the hungry people who could not survive the war and famine in the last years of the previous dynasty, when the world was in turmoil.
Do you know how tragic the scene is in the Central Plains Jianghuai River, which is thousands of miles away? "

"Have you ever seen thousands of hungry people?"

Liu Dewei, who came out of that era, has indeed experienced too much. They surrounded and suppressed the bandits, but the more they suppressed, the more they suppressed. When they were behind, they fell into the vast ocean. Liu Dewei and other officers and soldiers later simply surrendered to the bandits. Gang Li Mi,
But the people who survived that era were indeed extraordinary.

"Just twenty or thirty years,"

Liu Dewei finished a plate of raw shipworms, wiped his mouth, and said with emotion, "Twenty or thirty years ago, the nine states were divided, the world was in turmoil, the people were in dire straits, the water was hot, and a piece of cake could be exchanged for a slave."

"Compared to that time, it's really a prosperous time now. It's a pity that too many people can't see it today."

Luzon Prefecture is under the jurisdiction of the Guangzhou Dudufu.

But from the beginning to the end, Liu Dewei never mentioned anything about Luzon to Wu Huaiyu. He seemed not to remember this incident or that there was such an overseas territory under his governor's residence.

He didn't mention it,
Wu Huaiyu didn’t even mention it.

Both of them had a tacit understanding not to mention the newly upgraded Luzon Jisi Prefecture.

The fried clams that Wu Huaiyu asked for were ready, and the Kunlun woman brought them to her with a smile. Wu Huaiyu asked for another bottle of wine, and the woman gave her a cold cucumber.
"I will leave the care and settlement of Luo Dou Cave to Liu Gong. In a few days, I will go to various states to inspect customs and supervise this year's public examinations and southern elections."

The examination in Lingnan is now also called the public examination. The eighth- and ninth-grade officials in Lingnan, the ninth-grade official in Liuwai, miscellaneous officers, miscellaneous officers, and craftsmen all have to pass the public examination and be admitted on a merit-based basis.

County, state, and road level three examinations. Juren admitted to the road examination have obtained the status of candidates and can participate in the Southern Election. Those who pass the Southern Election can be awarded the eighth or ninth rank of Lingnan officials, and those who pass the state examination are Maocai, and they can also Participate in the southern election, but you can only choose the ninth rank of Liuwai, the magic officer, etc.

As for candidates who pass the county examination, they can become student members and obtain the same status as state and county magistrate students. They can be regarded as budget officials and can hold official positions.

Today's officials in Lingnan basically pass the Southern Election, and the Southern Election mainly has to pass the Lingnan Public Examination. As for the officials of the sixth and seventh grades, they were selected, recommended and removed by the observation envoy Wu Huaiyu, and the imperial staff were responsible for their replacement.

Only officials of the fourth and fifth grades above the fifth grade are appointed and dismissed by the officials and prime ministers.

As for those of third rank and above, they were personally appointed and dismissed by the emperor.

Nowadays, in the thirty-seven Zhengzhous of Lingnan Road, in addition to the four governors, the branch envoys, transfer envoys and shipping envoys of Lingnan Road, the rest of the officials, even the governor, Wu Huaiyu, also received this privilege because of their inheritance. Those who can be directly appointed or removed,
Not to mention the governor and below.

To be in charge of ennobling, demoting, and promoting officials.
These eight words have too much power. The governor Liu Dewei, let alone a new arrival, would not dare to compete with Wu Huaiyu even if he has been in Guangzhou for a long time.

"Please rest assured, Duke Wu, I will definitely deal with the Luo Dou Cave this year." He meant handling it well, not appeasing him. Although Liu Dewei has been engaged in justice in recent years, he also served as governor and governor, especially in his early years. He was born in the military and was once a general.

Liu Dewei did not intend to appease Luo Dou Cave, who rebelled frequently and exploded at the first moment. Instead, he decided to give both kindness and power.

Those who are not convinced will be beaten until they are convinced, and those who are convinced will be comforted.

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said,

Take a bite of the crispy and fragrant fried clams, sip wine, pick up cucumbers with chopsticks, and enjoy the summer breeze blowing from the sea in the port, listening to the noisy sound of the dock.

The salty sea breeze,
Lively and vibrant pier,

Wu Huaiyu enjoyed it very much. He felt real comfort and freedom here, unlike in Chang'an, where he had to be cautious in everything, even when meeting guests or visiting friends.

Chang'an has made him dislike it less and less, but he still likes it here.

Not only are there a variety of rich fruits, but there are also seafood that you won’t get tired of eating. Even in the eyes of Changan people, those Nanbarians and overseas barbarians who don’t know etiquette feel friendly.

Wu Huaiyu didn't pay much attention to the rebellion in Luodou Cave. In fact, although Dang Renhong provoked their rebellion, he was indeed a good fighter. Before he was recalled to Guangzhou, he had already killed the barbarians.
This guy is cruel and ruthless,
He conquered many strongholds in Luodou Cave. Even those who had not rebelled, he falsely accused him of collaborating with the enemy and treason, and attacked and destroyed them all. After breaking the stronghold, he directly took the entire village as prisoners.
Some old, weak, sick and disabled people were reported to the court as prisoners of war, but the young and strong were directly sold into slavery privately, and all the money went into his pocket.
Those ferocious beasts had never been able to withstand his ferocious fighting style, they had already been disabled.

Now just send any military general there, first find a few disobedient people to fight and establish their authority, and then appease them, the entire Luo Dou Cave situation can be calmed down, let alone a fierce man like Liu Dewei.

After drinking a bottle of wine,

I've finished the plate of fried shipworms and cucumbers.

The two sat there for a while, but they didn't talk about any formal topics.
"I'm back,"

The two parted at the pier. Liu Dewei went to prepare to quell the Luo Dou Cave rebellion, while Wu Huaiyu went home to spend time with his concubines and children.

He will indeed visit Lingnan next, and will also go to Luzon.

(End of this chapter)