Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 276 The Palace
The next day was the 30th of the twelfth lunar month. In the morning, Zhang Yi, the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor, came outside the house.

Eunuch Zhang Yi looked up at the plaque of 'Prince Uizhong's Palace' and marveled secretly in his heart.

He is an old man in the palace, so he knows more.

He knew a lot about Prince Yi Zhong. Now Li Qiang was not only named Prince Yi Zhong, but also had this house labeled as 'Prince Yi Zhong's Mansion'. This was the first time even for Da Qian.

As far as he knew, the real Prince Uizada's Palace was the original Prince Zhongshun's Palace. There was no prince in the world who owned two residences with the plaque of the Prince's Palace hanging on them.

A prince can have many houses, but he can only have one palace. Li Qiang broke this rule.

And breaking the rules represents the great favor of the Supreme Emperor. Not to mention the royal bloodline, how many bloodlines in the entire royal family are in captivity.

When Butler Lu Xun saw Eunuch Zhang Yi, he quickly came forward to greet him and introduced him into the mansion.

The Rongguo Mansion was ransacked before because of the order announced by Eunuch Zhang Yi. In addition, Eunuch Zhang Yi was also a frequent visitor to the mansion. Butler Lu Xun did not dare to neglect it.

"I have met the prince!" Unlike before, eunuch Zhang Yi knelt down and saluted when he saw Li Qiang.

In front of you is a square with buildings on the left and right. This is the office space for the prince and other officials.

Eunuch Zhang Yi introduced him all the way. He was very familiar with Prince Yi Zhong's Mansion, and also let Li Qiang know the entire situation of Prince Yi Zhong's Mansion.

It's not that Li Qiang is afraid of spending money, but if so many people live in the palace, it will be a bit chaotic.

"Zhang Zhangyin, are all these people raised by the palace?" Li Qiang asked Eunuch Zhang Yi after seeing the guard of honor.

"Thank you!" Li Qiang was not surprised, he nodded and said.

When visiting the royal city, the officials accompanied him, but when they arrived at the palace, Li Qiang was only led by eunuch Zhang Yi. Once here, men were not allowed to enter.

Even though the eunuch in charge of the Royal Horse Supervisor is one of the few high eunuchs in the palace, he still has to be extremely respectful when facing the prince Li Qiang.

After walking through Chengyun Gate, you can see several palaces. The front hall, Chengyun Hall, is the largest, with eleven rooms in width. It is the main body of the entire palace building. Next are the Wan Hall and the Cunxin Hall, each nine rooms wide.

In addition, there is also the idea of ​​​​warning him, allowing a famous general to have a private army of 10,000 people in the capital, fearing that the palace will turn a blind eye while sleeping.

Eunuch Zhang Yi stood up, and his inner evaluation of Li Qiang was even higher.

After getting on the prince's carriage, the team headed towards another palace in the bustle.

Li Qiang can now be said to have the most noble status in Daqian, but she still maintains her original attitude and is not arrogant because she became Prince Yi Zhong.

Li Qiang stepped down from the carriage, and the officials all knelt down and kowtowed.

These officials assist Li Qiang in managing Prince Yi Zhong's palace. Regardless of their rank, in fact, some of the officials here are just in charge of food, some are in charge of goods, etc. Their power is similar to that of ordinary managers in the palace.

A guard of three thousand people is probably the lowest configuration for a prince. Prince Daqian can have a guard of more than ten thousand at most.

His fiefdom is Yangzhou Mansion. There is already a garrison there and there is no need for a guard to be stationed there. I think the palace may have considered this before giving him such a guard.

"Zhang Zhangyin, there is no need for this!" Li Qiang smiled and helped eunuch Zhang Yi up.

Of course, it is impossible for all of these guards to stay in the capital. Some need to stay in the fief to stabilize the fief for the prince.

He stepped forward and helped up Chang Shi, the two of whom were equivalent to his stewards.

Unless this guard of honor encounters the guard of honor in the palace, there will be no obstacles in the capital.

Standing in front of the current Prince Uizada's residence, there are five rooms at the main entrance alone.

After walking through the royal city, we arrived at the palace city at the rear, where the prince, princess, and other concubines lived.

After walking through the Danrei Gate, the main path at your feet is called Shinto.

Li Qiang even discovered architectural styles and materials that could only be used in royal palaces and temples, such as mountain corners, double eaves and double arches, painted caissons, and red doors and red windows. The palace also used them.

When he heard that there were three thousand people in the escort army, he couldn't help but shook his head.

When you enter the main gate, you are faced with the Duanli Gate. The wall is more than eight meters high and five meters thick.

The prince's ceremonial guard includes a pair of imperial flags, two pairs of Qingdao flags, a pair of crossbows, a pair of Baize flags, ten pairs of halberds, ten pairs of halberds, twenty pairs of bows and arrows, ten pairs of swords and shields, a pair of crimson banners, and Two drums, two golden ceremonials, two golden drum flags, twenty-four flower drums, twelve painted horns, one bunch of boards, two flutes, two gongs, one knot, and a pair of gongs , a pair of warning flags, a pair of missionary flags, a pair of faith flags, a pair of opera bamboos, four flutes, four head pipes, twelve sticks and drums, a string of boards, a big drum, four pairs of rattles, One gold umbrella with a red pin, one red embroidered umbrella, two curved umbrellas, four square umbrellas, a pair of halberds and cloaks, a pair of Ge cloaks, a pair of ceremonial swords, a pair of 殳义, four pairs of ceremonial knives, and Ban Huan A pair of sticks, a pair of standing melons, a pair of lying melons, a pair of bone knuckles, a pair of stirrups, a pair of axes, a cane, a muzzle, a pair of horse saddles, a saddle and a saddle One cage, one high chair, one footrest, one pitcher, one basin, one incense burner, one incense box, two whisks, six pairs of fans, one spit kettle, and one spit bowl.

In addition to the front and rear bedrooms, the palace also has some separate courtyards and family temples. There is also a large garden, which exceeds the Grand View Garden in area and is not inferior to the Grand View Garden in terms of exquisiteness.

It's a pity that Lin Daiyu is pregnant, so Li Qiang can only go there alone to take over the palace this time.

Among the nearly 30 officials, the highest-ranking officials are the fifth-rank officials, and there are 22 officials with this rank.

"These are your escorts, three thousand in total. In addition to additional rewards, they are all paid by the palace!" Eunuch Zhang Yi explained with a smile.

The royal palace includes the royal city and the palace city, which are still in the royal city. These three palaces are the core of the royal city, and next to it is the Prince's Mansion.

Arriving at Prince Yi Zhong's residence, Li Qiang saw a row of officials standing at the door.

When the prince's ceremonial guard is marching, no matter what kind of official's car is on the other side, he must move out of the way.

He calls himself Lao Nu, which is not surprising since eunuchs are all servants of the royal family.

"I came here today in compliance with the Emperor's order to take you to the Prince's Mansion!" Eunuch Zhang Yi said.

When many people saw the flag of Prince Yohitada, they knew that this team was the newly promoted prince.

I had seen Prince Zhongshun's Mansion through Jia Gong's eyes before, but at that time he was here to steal things and kill people, so I didn't pay attention to some details.

This trip can't be that simple. Eunuch Zhang Yi brought a full set of royal guards of honor. These will also be left in the palace, and will be the guard of honor for Li Qiang's official trip from now on.

Today will be the next year, and he can't be asked to take over the palace during the New Year. In the palace, he knows that today is very busy, and he has free time.

This is basically built according to the standard of the imperial palace. There is even a throne in the Chengyun Hall. Although it is not as good as the dragon chair, it is still a very high-grade chair.

To be honest, Li Qiang didn't want to move to this prince's residence. Just seeing that all the servants here were eunuchs and maids, he could imagine that if he lived here, almost everything would be known to the palace.

"Your Majesty, except for the ones you just met, the rest of your three thousand guards are in the military camp next to the Prince's Palace. I will take you there!" Eunuch Zhang Yi took Li Qiang to visit Prince Yi Zhong's Palace. , and said.

Li Qiang did not refuse, he also wanted to see his own bodyguard.

The military camp was close to the palace. By the time he entered the military camp, the army had been assembled.

The equipment of the sergeants is quite good, and it seems that the palace is not stingy. There was a strange look on Li Qiang's face. He recognized the origins of these three thousand sergeants. These sergeants came from the guard built by Emperor Jingwen in the capital camp. Many of the military attaches were 100% loyal generals.

The Etai Emperor believed that he had control over the capital camp. The one-guard capital camp built by Emperor Jingwen was afraid that it would be a waste of food and would be abandoned, so he sent 3,000 of its soldiers to him.

"Originally, the palace barracks were not so close. When Prince Zhongshun's palace was massacred, the guards at that time did not provide reinforcements in time, so this place was built into a barracks." Eunuch Zhang Yi introduced.

Li Qiang took a closer look at Eunuch Zhang Yi's expression and found that the other person was not connoting her.

The massacre of Prince Zhongshun's palace was placed on him.

That's fine. With three thousand troops nearby, the palace is considered very safe.

"See you, Your Majesty!" The three thousand guardsmen all knelt on the ground at the command of the guard commander and shouted loudly.

"Pingshen!" Li Qiang waved her hand and said solemnly.

The three thousand guardsmen stood up neatly under orders.

The eyes they looked at Li Qiang were full of fanaticism. They were Li Qiang's old subordinates.

"Are the war horses still there?" Li Qiang looked at the guard commander and asked.

"All three thousand war horses are in the stables, ready to obey the prince's orders at any time!" the guard commander replied loudly.

Eunuch Zhang Yi looked at the enthusiasm in the eyes of the three thousand sergeants. He couldn't help but wonder if the palace would cause any trouble if these three thousand sergeants were handed over to Li Qiang.

Although normally the palace guards are loyal to the prince, this kind of fanaticism is extremely rare.

But this has nothing to do with him, and he doesn't want to say anything more. The palace is not very stable now, and maybe one more word is the way to death.

When we came out of the royal barracks, it was already noon.

"Please Zhang Zhangyin!" Li Qiang handed a thousand-tael silver note into Eunuch Zhang Yi's hand and said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!" Eunuch Zhang Yi knelt down and thanked the reward with a smile on his face.

This is different from the previous reward. In the past, when Li Qiang was not the prince, the money given to him could be said to be a kind of bribe.

But things are different now. This is the reward given by the prince to his slave.

When he returned, Li Qiang did not use the guard of honor. He left the guard of honor here at Prince Yi Zhong's palace.

If the ceremonial guard will be used in the future, he also plans to go to the Prince Yohitada's palace here before setting off.

As for living here, I have no plans for the moment, even if the garden here exceeds the Grand View Garden.

Just after returning to the palace, Li Qiang met Zuo Changshi of his palace in the hall.

"Tong Changshi, what can I do?" Li Qiang remembered that the name of Zuo Changshi was Tong Da. He asked with a smile after Tong Changshi greeted him.

"Your Majesty, this is the account book of the palace. Isn't this the New Year? You have to decide on some rewards!" Tong Changshi presented an account book and said.

Tong Changshi was also helpless. He originally wanted to discuss it with Li Qiang when he came to the palace, but Li Qiang actually left after the visit.

After he learned about it, he immediately rushed here on horseback.

He had a guess in his mind that there would probably be more people running this way in the future.

"Tong Zhang Shi has worked hard!" Li Qiang took over the account book and said with a smile.

He opened the account book. Although this was the palace he had just taken over, there were already many accounts.

Prince Yi Zhong had a salary, but it was really pitiful. Looking at the records in the account book, the palace gave him 10,000 taels of silver and 10,000 shi of rice.

How can this little money be enough for the palace's consumption? It seems that I need to put in some money myself.

However, considering that the income from the fiefdom has not yet arrived, I think that with the income from the fiefdom, the situation of the palace will be much better.

The officials and guards of the palace were paid by the court, but they did not need any money from the palace.

No wonder Tong Changshi wanted to chase him. He was already thirty years old, and the royal officials and guards had no other income except salary.

Who knows that the palace only granted Li Qiang the title of Prince Yi Zhong on the twenty-ninth year of the year, and took over the Prince Yi Zhong Mansion only on the thirtieth year of the year.

Tong Changshi has not yet become familiar with Li Qiang's temper, so it is impossible for him to take out the money and distribute it without permission.

Besides, I really don’t have much money in my account. I’ve already used some of it. If I use it again, I’m afraid I won’t have enough money to celebrate the Lantern Festival and hang lanterns next year.

"Tong Changshi, you go and get the money from Jade Girl. All the officials in the palace will be given an extra five months' salary, and everyone in the army will be given two months' salary. You and You Changshi will be rewarded with another five hundred taels!" Li Qiang put down the account book and made arrangements with a smile. road.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Child Chief Shi was overjoyed and bowed in thanks.

"If you can't find me about anything in the future, just discuss it with Miss Jade and try to minimize the disturbance from the princess!" Li Qiang continued.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tong Changshi responded.

Child Changshi left happily and went to meet Jade, thinking that this time the officials of the palace would not have to worry about having a poor year.

The salaries of these officials are not high, and the Chinese New Year is the time to spend a lot of money.

What makes Tong Changshi most happy is the generosity of Prince Li Qiang. With such a master, life will not be difficult.

After finding Jade, Tong Changshi reported the temporarily calculated total amount of silver to Jade. Jade did not embarrass him and took the silver from the bank and gave it to him.

When Tong Changshi returned, two guards were sent to escort him, mainly to protect the two carriages carrying silver.

When they arrived at Prince Yi Zhong's palace, all the palace officials had not returned home. They were still waiting for news about Tong Changshi.

When they saw Tong Changshi returning with two carriages, and seeing Tong Changshi's face full of joy, they couldn't help but cheer.

When the money from the Guards was sent over, even louder cheers rang out from the Guards camp.

Regardless of what these officials had thought before, Li Qiang's little money made these officials feel somewhat loyal.

As for the Guards, the loyalty of the three thousand sergeants is extremely deep.

(End of this chapter)