Chastity Layman

  Chapter 705 Luanfeng

  The emperor's envoy found the White Deer Plateau.

  The internal envoy announced the imperial edict, worshiped Ma Zhouzhong as the servant, was granted the title of Marquis of the founding of Gaotang County, and was also an admonishing doctor. The emperor also sent someone to send Ma Zhou a brand new set of goldfish charms in purple robe and jade belt.

   "This jade belt with seven rings is made of the beautiful Hetian jade that King Ju Wentai of Gaochang paid tribute to last time." The servant congratulated Ma Zhou.

  Qin Lang waved at the side, and came up with satisfaction, "Grandpa."

   "Ask the angel to have tea."

The clever Xinxin immediately understood Qin Lang's meaning, so he respectfully invited the angels to go to the side, and prepared not only good tea and snacks, but also presented a gift to the angel who announced the decree, a crystal glass glass for the envoy, The shape of the tall feet is exquisite and elegant, which is much better than the vulgar things such as yellow and white.

   Besides, such a cup can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in the market, it is not as elegant as heavy gold and silver.

  The envoy was very satisfied, and said a lot of words of thanks to Duke Wei. It is good to deal with Duke Wei. This job is worth fighting for.

   Front lobby.

  Qin Lang smiled and congratulated Ma Zhou, "Congratulations, Brother Bin Wang, on his return."

  The internal system drafted by Cen Wenwen, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, officially reverted to the Prime Minister of Ma Zhou. And the emperor specially wrote a set of cursive script with his own hand and asked the angel to give it to Ma Zhou.

   "A phoenix and a phoenix soar to the clouds must have wings. For the brachial thigh, sincerity lies in Zhongliang."

  The emperor's brush strokes are called Feibai calligraphy, but the meaning of the brush is dry but mysterious. But compared to the emperor's calligraphy, these two sentences moved Ma Zhou even more.

   To get such praise from the emperor, the little grievances before are gone.

The doctor Yushi was transferred to Zhongshu Shilang, and his participation in the government became a political advisor, but what remained unchanged was his status as a prime minister. Zhou also added a third-rank admonishment doctor as a part-time job.

   Not to mention, this time, Ma Zhou's title was directly promoted from Founding Son to Founding Marquis.

  Qin Lang patted Ma Zhou, a commoner scholar, who can get to the point where he is today, can indeed make Ma Zhoushi die for his confidant, Li Shimin's method is very good. Going beyond the standard and worshiping him made Ma Zhou loyal.

After Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, with the help of Qin Lang and others, he sorted out the scattered ranks and false ranks in the early Tang Dynasty nearly ten years earlier than in history, realized the two major rank systems of civil and military, and formally established the official rank system .

  Compared to the somewhat chaotic scattered officials, scattered ranks and honors since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the official rank system of Datang is now based on scattered ranks, with rank officials as errands, and there are titles and honorary officers.

  Whoever takes office as an official shall be awarded first ranks, and ranks shall be given first. Rank is the product, and it is also the basis for salary distribution. Official ranks and duties may not match, they may be high-ranking and low-ranking, high-ranking and low-ranking, or equal in rank and rank.

  If this product is lower than the real job, then add Shouzi before the real job. For example, when Wei Zheng was the secretary and supervisor, this product was only a fifth-rank Chaosan doctor, so every time Wei Zheng wrote a memorial, he had to write the secretary and supervisor Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng used to work as a third-rank secretary and supervisor, but in fact he was paid a fifth-rank salary, because after Li Shimin sorted out the official rank system, court officials were all paid according to their rank. There are Beijing officials and local officials, both Beijing officials, whether they are officials from Shangshu Province or Qingshui Yamen, their salaries are the same.

   Does not differentiate treatment by errand.

  Of course, now Wei Zheng has been conferred the title of duke of the county, and the third rank has been added.

From the beginning of these two years, the ranks of civil servants generally reach the third and fourth ranks, and even the prime ministers generally only reach the third ranks, or silver green, or golden purple, and it is more difficult to get Doctor Guanglu. As for Kaifuyi and the third division, it is even more rare. It is prepared for those who have prestige and meritorious deeds that can almost be awarded to the third prince.

Of course, if there are those generals with particularly high meritorious service, it is another matter. Although Kaifuyi and the third division are Wensan ranks, in fact, Li Shimin sometimes gives top generals this rank in order to show special honor and favor, such as Qin Qiong. , such as Li Jing, such as Qin Lang.

   After destroying the Turks, Li Jing was awarded Dr. Zuo Guanglu, and then he was granted the title of Special Advancement after he paid homage to the prime minister. After Qin Qiongjin was named Taiwei, Li Shimin gave Li Jing the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi to show his appreciation.

Yang Gongren also won the position second only to Sangong, this time he became an official with Kaifuyitong Sansi rank, and then Situ Changsun Wuji, he added Fuyitong Sansi, also when he was promoted Three Dukes ago, the emperor specially added this title, and then let him participate in the government.

  In general, the official rank system of the Tang Dynasty has been perfected and is becoming more and more standardized. Officials have paid attention to seniority, and they have been promoted step by step. Even generals have 29 ranks to climb.

  But the more this is the case, the more precious the emperor is to Ma Zhou.

   "Your Majesty treats me like a national scholar, and I only have a national scholar to repay me!" Ma Zhou cried while holding the words.

  Qin Lang patted him on the shoulder, "Then you have to take it easy, take care of your health, and live a few decades longer, otherwise you will be sorry for the emperor's appreciation for you."

   Ma Zhou is a few years younger than Li Shimin, but his body is really bad.

  On the same day, Qin Lang and Ma Zhou returned to Chang'an City.

When Ma Zhou entered Chang'an, he went to the palace to meet Sheng Xie En, and then went to the Zhongshu Province to preside over the work. The Zhongshu Minister was the emperor's pen, but this is what Ma Zhou is best at. He used to be a Hanlin scholar and also a After passing Zhongshu Sheren, he returned to Zhongshu Province as a servant, responsible for drafting edicts and making books, which is handy.

  Qin Lang returned to Chang'an, but he was still sick.

  Although his health is fine, Qin Lang is not in a hurry to go back to work.

  His plan to reform the military system encountered resistance. Emperor Li Shimin personally pressed the matter, and the reform ended without a problem. If the emperor did not support it, all Qin Lang's efforts would naturally go to waste, with no room for it.

  In this case, simply take the opportunity to rest for a while.

It just so happened that Ah Bao's daughter gave him a lovely new daughter. Qin Lang looked at this daughter who was very similar to his own in another time and space, and loved her very much. He didn't even do this to his two sons, which made Yu Xiao and Yu Xuanji a little jealous.

   Of course, Qin Lang did not forget to promise Ma Zhou.

  First send someone to Du Mansion to deliver a post.

  Du Chuke is still serving as the governor of Puzhou, and he is not in Beijing for the time being, but his wife Webster is in Beijing. Qin Lang carefully selected a set of glass bottled perfumes and sent them over. As expected, Mrs. Du liked it very much.

   Come and not go indecently.

  So, the next day, Mrs. Du brought her children to visit, and gave Qin Lang's newly added daughter a lot of exquisite brocades from the Du family.

Mrs. Du is very young. Du Chuke is actually only forty-nine years old, and his wife is also in her early forties. She is well-maintained, graceful and luxurious, and she doesn't wear gold or silver to dazzle her eyes. It's a high-end silk material, just a low-key luxury.

  Du Wei's age is that of Qin Lang's mother's generation, so he deliberately asked Yuxiao to go to Qinrenfang early to invite Cui to receive him.

  Yuxiao was courteous, sweet talk, and then a set of low-key luxury with connotation, high-end atmosphere and high-grade Qin's perfume, which even the concubines in the palace rushed to use, and immediately brought it with their children.

Lao Qin is now an official residence of the Taiwei, but he is far away from the Songzhou fiefdom in the south of Jianzhou. The family's property is getting bigger and bigger, and Cui Shi enjoys the feeling of being the head of the Taiwei Mansion.

  Qin Qiong is not at home, but there is a concubine Qin Lang who is the prime minister in Beijing, he is still very filial, and lives a comfortable life. It's not about buying, buying, or playing, it's more comfortable than when Qin Qiong was there.

"It's so grand today, what's the big deal?" Mrs. Cui asked Qin Lang with a smile, "Could it be that Sanlang wants to be engaged to the Du family with your Erlang? It’s only a little bit worse than our Bolingcui family.”

  Qin Lang smiled, the **** sense of superiority of the five surnames is everywhere.

   "Erlang is less than one year old, it's not his business."

"What's the matter if you're less than one year old? Now that you've won the holy family, you should choose a good wife for Erlang while you're popular. Your Dalang, who was born not long ago, decided to marry the daughter of the eldest grandson Xianggong's family." Well."

Qin Lang couldn't agree with Mrs. Cui, so he had no choice but to say bluntly, "It's Mr. Ma's business. I think the daughter of Du Shishi's family is quite suitable for Mr. Ma, so I want to secure a matchmaker for him. Today, I specially invite Mrs. Ma to help me. Ask Mrs. Du."

   "Oh, you care more about other people's affairs." Cui Shi said, after thinking about it, she thought it seemed good, "That's pretty good, I'll ask for you later."

  Because of the age gap, Qin Lang didn't need to avoid suspicion with Mrs. Du, and went straight to the banquet in the living room. The cook of the Qin family received orders, and specially treated them with high standards, very attentively.

  Du Weishi used to hear that Wei Guogong likes luxury, but when he saw it today, he really lived up to his reputation.

  The cold dishes are served in crystal glass plates, and the soup cups are made of jade.

  Not to mention the delicacy of various dishes, Du Wei, who was born in Webster and married into the Du family, is considered a top-notch family, but he has never seen such a scene.

  Cui Shi is a sociable person, and the meeting took the opportunity to bring up a serious matter.

  Du Weishi came here this time, in fact, he was a little prepared in his heart, but he was the same as Cui Shi, thinking that Qin Lang wanted to make a son and daughter with the Du family, dear, but unexpectedly he was a matchmaker for Ma Zhou.

   I was stunned for a while, and after thinking about it carefully, I thought it was pretty good.

  But she didn't agree right away, she just said that she would ask her husband first, Qin Lang didn't refuse when he saw him, knowing that there was something going on, so everyone continued to eat and drink with a smile, but let's not talk about it for now.

  After the banquet that day, Du Wei immediately sent his family to Puzhou to deliver a letter to her husband, mentioning that Qin Lang was a matchmaker for Ma Zhou to marry his daughter Du Shu.

  When Du Chuke, who was in Puzhou, saw the letter, he replied without hesitation, expressing his acceptance of the marriage.

  A few days later, the Du family invited Qin Lang and his family to visit, and specially invited Ma Zhou.

  Miss Cui announced the good news to Qin Lang in advance, "It's done! Du Gong agreed! Du Inspector has just one request."

   "Oh, what's the request?" Qin Lang asked, "Don't you also want to accompany the family? This is no problem."

   "That's not true. Du Cishi proposed that the daughter pass through the family and be buried with Ma Zhou in the next hundred years. That's the request."

  Qin Lang was stunned.

   Ma Zhou was originally the wife of the first wife, and she had already died of illness. Under normal circumstances, when Ma Zhou died in the future, the first wife must be moved to be buried together. But now Du Cishi proposed that in the future Ma Zhou would have to be buried with his daughter, so that the first wife would have to continue to be alone.

   It's a little unreasonable, but after all, Mrs. Du is a daughter of a famous family, and it's not too much to make a sequel to Ma Zhou.

   "Let me ask the next king."

"You can persuade Ma Xianggong well. The Du family is not bad. If you can't even agree to such a small request, it would be too much. Any other family will definitely have such a request, and there must be others. Ask for more."

  Qin Lang thinks about it, it is true, Xu Xian is also the main wife, and whoever has a high natal family status is also in line with the habit of being eligible for joint burial. He rushed to Ma Zhou's mansion and told the Du family's request, Ma Zhou really hesitated, Qin Lang persuaded him to agree by talking hard.

   On the same day, Qin Lang and Ma went to Du's mansion as guests on Monday, and Du Chuke also rushed back from Puzhou, Hedong. Things went smoothly, the banquet was over, and the marriage was finalized.

  Perform the six rituals according to the rules, write three books and six rituals, and choose a date to get married.

  The Du family did not want to accompany the family fortune, nor did they mention the dowry, but they said that they would prepare a generous dowry for their daughter. The dowry farm alone must have at least three thousand acres.

   This shocked Ma Zhou so much that he was still a little restless when he left Du's mansion.

   "Thinking about what?"

  Ma Zhou was in a bit of a dilemma.

   "Is it about the bride price?"

"The Du family is so generous, and they have to offer so much dowry. Although they didn't ask for the dowry, I can't be rude. But I have only been an official for a few years. Now Chang'an except for the house you gave me in Yong'anfang, is Later, His Majesty gave me the house, so I have nothing left."

   "Brother, things that can be solved by money are nothing to me. Isn't it just buying some dowry gifts and marrying the daughter of the Du family gracefully? It's a big deal, and it's on me."

   "How can that work."

   "Let me borrow it from you, is that okay?"

   "Then I can't afford it. Although the salary is quite a lot, but..." Ma Zhou is usually a man who doesn't care about money, but now he feels a little embarrassed.

  ·······

  Money is really nothing to Qin Lang. Ma Zhou doesn't have money, but he has money for a man who goes up and down thousands of times every minute. Ma Zhou refused to take his money for nothing, so he would make an IOU first. As for the method of repaying the money, he could take his time, such as writing some school name, banners, school motto and school rules for Bailu Technical School, or Ask him to write technical school textbooks and give him a manuscript fee...

  Ma Zhou borrowed one million dollars from Qin Lang in the end, but in fact it was not much, just one thousand.

  In fact, Ma Zhou, as the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, is a third-rank official. At the same time, he also has a founding marquis of the third rank and a bachelor's degree. His own salary is already very good.

  Not to mention anything else, just because of his salary of the third rank, he has 400 shi of Lumi a year, and another 1,000 mu of land for work. He can also enjoy free working lunch every day, and the food is pretty good. In addition, there are nine plates of common food every day, such as rice, noodles, wine, sauce, etc., and even cattle, sheep, pigs, etc. There is ice in summer and charcoal in winter, and there is an additional subsidy of about 80 yuan per month.

   In addition, you can also enjoy a large number of free dispatch of handymen. Every year on major festivals, there will be gifts of silk, miscellaneous colors, gold and silverware, etc., and at least five sets of costumes for different occasions will be distributed a year.

   This is not counting the small treasury of each yamen, the opening of the small treasury to distribute bonuses during the holidays, the normal filial piety of the officials below.

  As a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, the emperor also gave special preferential treatment, and there was an extra salary, which was not a lot.

  For a prime minister like Ma Zhou, many officials, generals, gentry and powerful people would invite them to write epitaphs for their ancestors.

  The higher the reputation, the higher the status, the higher the embellishment fee.

Ma Zhou can't afford a thousand coins now, but it's really not a debt. It's just that Ma Zhou is not the kind of tall person. Qin Lang can lend him whatever he wants, but in the end he only needs one. A million dollars, it is enough to say that one million dollars is a gift!

  Li Shimin heard that Ma Zhou was engaged to Du Chuke's daughter, so he borrowed a million dollars from Qin Lang as a gift.

  One hundred taels of gold is almost eight hundred guan.

  (end of this chapter)