Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 27

"This is Chang'an. The city walls seem to be very short, but that's all."

In front of Tonghua Gate in the northeast corner of Chang'an, Fang Chongyong raised his head and looked at the city wall that was less than six meters high and said disapprovingly.

He did not deny the magnificence of Chang'an City in front of him. In terms of ancient productivity, building such a city was almost the limit of people's power.

However, Fang Chongyong, who came from modern times, has seen all kinds of high-rise buildings. Is this place bigger than the Three Gorges Dam?
To be honest, the city wall of Chang'an City has a bit of a "prestigious" feel.

It is much shorter than I imagined, not even much higher than the city wall of Kuizhou City!This is obviously not in line with the strong character that an imperial capital should have.

In addition, Fang Chongyong can guess with his toes, this kind of huge city that can't be seen at a glance.It also comes with such a "not too high" city wall, which cannot defend against any enemies.

To defend Chang'an City, we can only defend the enemy from the outside, and firmly controlling the four fortresses in Guanzhong is the best way.Once the pass in Guanzhong is breached, it means that the battle for Chang'an City will be fought with a bayonet!And the army that can break through Guanzhong is obviously not easy to mess with.

"What are you thinking! Do you know how much manpower and material resources it will take to raise this tens of miles long outer city wall by one foot? It's not you who paid for it!"

Zheng Shuqing interrupted him dissatisfied.

"Okay, okay, I know, let's go to the city."

After Fang Chongyong finished speaking, he walked towards Tonghua Gate where no one was going, but Zheng Shuqing firmly held his shoulder.

"Tonghua Gate leads directly to the inner city, and you usually go to the palace to meet the saints. Or ministers visiting other countries, princes on tour, etc. If you don't have the documents to enter the inner city, you can't enter this gate.

The inner city is the office of the central government. What are you, a child with a yellow mouth, doing there? "

Zheng Shuqing asked with confusion on his face.

"Can't you leave too?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously.

Zheng Shuqing's face was embarrassed, and he said awkwardly, "It's not that I can't leave..."

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that he had forgotten this. Zheng Shuqing seemed to have mentioned on the way that there were several gates in Chang'an that ordinary people could not enter, but he did not emphasize that they were specifically referring to Tonghua Gate.

It's true that if you don't come to Chang'an, you don't know the official junior. The governor who is awesome in the local area has to stay low when he comes to Chang'an.

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly: "Under the emperor's feet, the first good thing is to have strict rules. So what should I do? You can't just go into a dog hole, right?"

"Go to Chunming Gate, which is next to Tonghua Gate. It's the one on your left. Otherwise, do you still want a husband to come out of Tonghua Gate to pick you up into the city?"

Zheng Shuqing was about to be laughed at by Fang Zhong's courage.

"Today we know that those who go in and out of Tonghua Gate are true heroes."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help sighing and sighing. He was so angry that Zheng Shuqing couldn't hold back a word for a long time. They were now separated from Li Bai and didn't have to worry about anything.

As soon as Fang Chongyong and his party got off the carriage, Li Bai excused that he had slipped away beforehand, and he didn't want to make friends with them.It can be seen that Li Bai should have come to Chang'an to find nobles to find a way to become an official, and he didn't want to have too much entanglement with strangers who don't know his background.

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but think: In his previous life, people said that Li Bai was unruly and unrestrained.As a result, people now come to Chang'an to seek official positions, and they have probably already found a way. Even Zheng Shuqing invited him to drink in a Chang'an wine shop, but Li Bai declined.

Probably because this time the connection is very strong and the relationship is very strong, Li Bai is very sure and doesn't want to make any troubles.

The word "wide contacts" is not necessarily a compliment in many cases.

Suppose Li Bai and Zheng Shuqing were close now, eating, drinking and having fun together.And the path he was looking for was from the faction of Zheng Shuqing's political enemies (with Li Linfu's style, this possibility is not small).

Then this meeting by chance may bring unnecessary trouble to Li Bai.

Although they were in a hurry to enter the city, they "blocked people" outside the Chunming Gate.Since this is the main entrance and exit for ordinary people and middle and low-level bureaucrats in Chang'an, there are a lot of people waiting in line here.

The "security check" at Chunming Gate was much slower than Fang Chongyong expected, so there was a line of hundreds of meters long in front of the gate, which made people break out in a cold sweat.

Liu Yuxi has a poem that says: There is a column of flowers in Pingzhang's house, and he is not at home when it blooms.It is impossible to say that the two capitals are far apart, and the end of the world is beyond the gate of Chunming.

With nothing to do, Zheng Shuqing began to educate Fang Chongyong on why they could only use Chunming Gate and had to queue up here to enter the city, instead of taking "shortcuts" through other gates.

Chunming Gate is the main entrance and exit on the east side of Chang'an, and it is one of the few city gates that ordinary people can even walk through.

Most of the other gates in Chang'an City are not suitable for ordinary people to visit for various reasons.

Some are basically closed, such as the Mingde Gate with the highest standard, such as the three gates in the north near the Liyuan Forbidden Garden;

Some are the starting point of the Silk Road. There are many Hu merchants traveling to and from the Western Regions, and there is a constant stream of trucks and camel caravans, which is not convenient for ordinary people to go, such as Kaiyuanmen in the west;

Some directly lead to the cemetery, and there are coffins and paper money sold in the nearby squares. It is unlucky for ordinary pedestrians to walk there, such as the Yanping Gate in the west.

Some gates are inaccessible on the outskirts, and there are very few normal residents in the city squares. Three religions and nine streams gather together, and basically no one will leave, such as the Anhua Gate and Qixia Gate in the south.

As for the Xuanwu Sect, just don’t mention these three words.

There are many rules and restrictions in Chang'an, and Fang Chongyong had an intuitive understanding of them before entering the city.

"Did you see that? That place is called Wuhou Pu. It is guarded by guards and Yiqi. There are a hundred people at the big city gate and 30 people at the big shop. There are 20 people at the small city gate and five people at the small shop. Their main responsibilities are the city gate and the square gate. Security work, responsible for daily opening, closing and inspection.

However, the person who ordered these people to open and close the city gate was the gatekeeper and was not under their control.The person who delivers the key has nothing to do with these two. He is the [-] servants set up in the fifth year of Wude. There is a special person to manage it. Only when one of them is on duty will he be qualified to deliver the key to the city gate to the gatekeeper. Open the door. "

When he was approaching the "security check", Zheng Shuqing pointed to a sentry tower not far from the city gate and explained everything.

"So, in the outer city of Chang'an, there is one yamen who orders the door to be opened and closed, another yamen who is in charge of guarding, and another yamen who delivers the keys, is that so?"

Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully, this feeling is a bit like when planting trees, one is responsible for digging holes, one is responsible for placing saplings, and the other is responsible for filling holes.

Isn’t it really tiring to play like this?What if the person placing the saplings takes a break one day?
"Well, it's not bad in general."

Zheng Shuqing shook his head and sighed.

This is obviously a redundant official, but it is also a "redundant official" needed by the emperor. In the past few years, Li Linfu made a drastic move to eliminate low-level officials and subordinate staff with overlapping functions in the court, and replaced the original fixed official positions with so-called "errands".

In other words, in the past, there were some "turbid current" official positions that worked at the grassroots level in the local area, and the imperial court had to support them with low salaries.Now they are directly "downgraded" to temporary workers.

When you have errands, you are a member of the court. If you don't have errands, you are just a bigger ant.

Even so, Li Linfu didn't take a stab at such an obvious redundant official bug in Chang'an gate control, which shows how much this sweet-talking prime minister is afraid of him.

The Xuanwu Gate Incident frightened the emperors of Li and Tang Dynasties, so the management of Chang'an's access control reached the point of frantically trying to contain each other.

Thinking that one or two officials can be tricked into opening the gate of Chang'an City, you can only think about it in your head, but don't say it out to expose your IQ.

After thinking about it for a long time, it was finally Fang Chongyong's turn.Zheng Shuqing took out his "complaint" of returning to Beijing to report on his work, and gave it to the Jinwu Guard officials guarding the city gate for inspection.

"Verify your integrity, and bring this envoy Zheng to Dali Temple."

The Jinwu guard said to the deputy under his command without any expression.

Eh?
Zheng Shuqing was stunned, Fang Chongyong was dumbfounded, solemn and solemn.

Why did Lao Zheng go to jail when he returned to Beijing to report on his work?
Is there any king law?Are there any laws?
Fang Chongyong no longer understands how to play the rules of the game.

"This general is just returning to Beijing to report on his duties. He still has the title of Chao Yilang."

Zheng Shuqing asked doubtfully.

"I know, but the envoy has been on the wanted list. The arrest document was just issued yesterday. The supervisory censor in the court reported that the envoy was colluding with Jiangyang thieves in Kuizhou and robbing merchants. It was Shi Chong of the Tang Dynasty. , the crime is extremely evil. The imperial edict issued by the saint has nothing to do with the government and the government."

The Jinwu Guards are doing business and talking serious nonsense.

Although he didn't believe that Zheng Shuqing would collude with bandits to plunder local prefectures and counties, but the official word was two words, and the above said so, so he followed suit.For example, who Shi Chong is and what he has done, he, a rough man who has never read any books, doesn't know and doesn't care.

"Well, Shi Chong actually..."

Fang Chongyong wanted to explain to the Jinwu Guards that Shi Chong was famous only because he fought for wealth with the emperor's uncle, not because he plundered surrounding counties when he was the governor of Jingxiang.As a result, he just said half a sentence, and the Jinwu Guards looked at Fang Chongyong with a puzzled look and asked:
"Do you want to go to Dali Temple together, or show me the customs clearance documents and go in by yourself?"

Fang Chongyong quickly and obediently took out his Chang'an household registration certificate from his cuff and handed it to the other party.

As for Fang Laique, they are all domestic slaves, which are equivalent to goods. It has been detailed in the document issued by Kuizhou, and no proof of household registration is required.

"What are you doing in Chang'an when you go to Lingnan to take up a post? You must have ulterior motives. Come on, send this man to Dali Temple together with Ambassador Zheng!"

The Jinwu Guards are searching Yan Zhuang's body for going to Lingnan.

With solemn and mournful eyes, Fang Chongyong watched him being taken away by the officials of the Jinwu Guard with a guilty expression. The two adults around him all became "suspects" in a blink of an eye.

"What did I do wrong, I'm still a child!"

After entering the city, Fang Chongyong couldn't help but lamented.

He took Fang Laique, Atuan, and two cormorants through Chunmingmen and arrived at Chunmingmen Street in the city, which was more than 100 meters wide.

This is also called the East-West Cross Street!It is the most representative and prosperous street in Chang'an!

Fang Chongyong was shocked. In his previous life, Chang'an Avenue, which could be used for military parades in front of Tiananmen Square, was only 120 meters wide.

But this is ancient times!What is the concept of a road more than 100 meters wide in ancient times!

"Mr. Lang, where are you going?"

Ah Duan was also shocked, a little confused about the direction, and even a little scared.

He has been running in the mountains and forests for more than ten years and is good at fighting tigers. He has never seen such a magnificent city, such wide streets, and such crowded people!
The East Market is on the left side of this street. It is the opening time of the market at this moment, and the drum of the opening of the market has been beating, as if it is beating on people's hearts.There were so many people outside Dongshi that the roads were blocked.

Fang Chongyong and his party listened from beginning to end and knocked three hundred times in total. After that, all the gates of the East Market were opened by the soldiers of the Jinwu Guard. The slaves of the noble family who were going to buy goods rushed into the East Market almost like a sprint of [-] meters.

It's not that they are in a hurry, but the opening time of the East Market is very short. It opens at [-] noon and closes at [-]:[-] in the afternoon.

Three hundred rounds of drumming, three hundred rounds of gongs, and three hundred rounds of gongs and drums are all included in the opening hours.The Jinwu Guards officer who executed this order had no interest relationship with the merchants in Dongshi, and there was no reason to grant them a few minutes of accommodation.

It's really impossible to buy things without racing against time, Dongshi is so big!It is more than 1000 meters long from north to south, 924 meters wide from east to west, and covers an area of ​​0.92 square kilometers.Around the city, there are two gates on each side, a total of eight gates.

Fang Chongyong saw someone leading a camel in, someone leading a horse out, and barbarians dressed in various colors coming and going, making a lot of noise.

"Oh, where is my home in Chang'an!"

He couldn't help but let out a long sigh. This time he was really screwed. Should he go directly to his future father-in-law's house to live?
"Mr. Lang, why don't we go home?"

Fang Laique, who was beside him, asked Fang Chongyong with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Go home, go home, show me where is home!"

Fang Chongyong said angrily.

"Isn't it over there?"

Fang Laique pointed to the huge mansion diagonally across from Dongshi and said.

Following the direction of Fang Laique's finger, Fang Chongyong saw that the mansion he pointed at occupied a huge area and seemed to exceed the space of a square square.

As soon as you enter the Chunming Gate, you will find this room, and you will see three big gilded characters written on the plaque above the vermilion gate of the mansion.
Xingqing Palace!
"you sure?"

Fang Zhongyong could see the majestic palace on the roof in the distance, as well as the almost spotless yellow walls and green tiles outside, as well as a group of well-armed and brightly armored Imperial Guards guarding the door. He was somewhat suspicious of whether Fang Laique was drinking. Drunk.

Fang Youde, my own scumbag father, can live in such a place?
"The Red Lotus Spring we brought was confiscated by those Jinwu Guards as stolen goods. I didn't see you drinking it secretly during the period. Why are you talking nonsense?"

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly.

He learned from Zheng Shuqing that Xingqing Palace might not matter to other emperors in the Tang Dynasty, it was nothing serious.But when Li Longji was emperor, this was one of the political centers of Chang'an!Li Longji often works here, he feels that the feng shui of this place is very good, full of dragon spirit!
When he was the prince, he lurked in the abyss here.

Could the place where Li Longji lived be Fang Youde's home?

"Uh, no, Lang Jun. Our house is in Yongjiafang, north of Xingqing Palace. Half of that square is occupied by the emperor. Our house is in the southernmost part of Yongjiafang, next to the wall of Xingqing Palace."

Fang Laique said aggrievedly.

Fang Zhongyong was shocked when he heard this!
Li Longji actually arranged Fang Youde's house next to his own palace, how much he trusted that scumbag father!

Fang Chongyong followed Fang Laique full of thoughts, bypassing the westernmost side of Xingqing Palace, and headed for his own courtyard in Yongjiafang.

(End of this chapter)