The Prodigal Son of Zhenguan

The New Year's Day was still a grand court meeting. The next day after it ended, Li Shimin's decree reached the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Personnel issued and promulgated the implementation guidelines for tea tax.

Regarding the tea tax, the court officials were still puzzled.

Is there anyone else doing this business?

Isn't it your Li family who is doing it?

In addition to the King of Jingyang, it is the palace. Why do you collect taxes on yourself?

Is there anyone else doing this business?

Now the various prefectures and cities in the Tang Dynasty have control over the tea mountains and belong to the court. Who can still interfere in this business?

With such a tax law, the money is just transferred from the left hand to the right hand?

The income of the King of Jingyang's mansion and the palace has decreased a little, but the money has fallen into the national treasury...

From this point of view, it is also a little outflow. At least the money is in the national treasury and can be used by the court.

Many people are also thinking, what is the court planning to do by issuing a tax law for the tea business at this time?

Or, could it be that the treasury is empty and urgently needs more money?

Is there no money available in the treasury at present?

There are also speculations about whether the tea business should be opened up to allow more people to do it.

Of course, this idea is a bit outrageous at present, but it is not impossible.

The egg-changing business that was popular in Chang'an City was also the exclusive industry of the Jingyang Palace. Now there are egg-changing workshops everywhere, and more people are involved.

Will the tea business be like the egg-changing business?

After all, if the business is big, it is even more difficult to eat alone. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. If the business is done for a long time, coupled with the infiltration of people with ulterior motives, the secrets will always be exposed.

Jingyang Palace has a banquet, and all the guests are familiar people in Chang'an City.

Several days after the New Year's Day are the time for each family to hold banquets and go out.

Everyone gathered together, eating and drinking, and after these few days of leisure, they would return to their normal days, going to the morning court before dawn every day.

For several days after the New Year's Day, there was nothing to do in the court, and they could slack off as much as they wanted.

However, most people in Chang'an would not waste this time, nor would they waste this opportunity to move around.

In the officialdom, Zhao Deyan was right in saying that connections were very important.

During festivals, moving around and making contacts were a must.

Even Li Fu could not escape. He had a banquet at home today, and he had to attend banquets in other mansions tomorrow. He had to go.

For several days in a row, he had to eat and drink with people. There were as many banquets as there were days of holidays, and he could not avoid them.

At this time, the Wude wine produced in Jingyang County became a hot commodity in Chang'an City, and the supply was in short supply. Even before the New Year, many people in Chang'an City braved the wind and snow to go to the workshop in Jingyang County to pick up the goods.

They wanted to take advantage of the trend of gathering together for banquets and drinking after the New Year's Day to sell the purchased Wude wine at a good price.

It was not only the restaurants in Chang'an City who went to the farm to buy Wude wine around the New Year's Day. The rich families also sent servants to the workshop's trading area with food, cloth, and copper coins.

No matter what they preferred to exchange for Wude wine, they could take it out, saving them from making another trip.

Li Fu didn't have to worry about it. He had made sufficient preparations before the New Year. He knew that the gang wanted to eat the rich people from his home, so Wude wine must be sufficient.

Not only was there enough wine, but the guest rooms had to be cleaned up in advance.

After all, Wude wine was different from sake. If you drank too much, you would really vomit when you went to the toilet. After vomiting, you would come back to drink again, and you had to pat your chest and say that you were not drunk and had a good alcohol tolerance.

For seven days after the New Year's Day, the court did not attend court. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the court returned to its previous state, and then there was another seven-day holiday around the Lantern Festival.

When he woke up this morning, Lao Zhao waited outside the house. After Li Fu had washed up, he entered the room and bowed to Li Fu.

"Lao Zhao, today is the eighth day of the first lunar month." Li Fu said, "There will be no schedule in the future, right?"

Good food and good wine, no matter how much you eat and drink, it will be annoying if you do this every day in a short period of time.

Now, a bowl of porridge and some pickles every morning are more comfortable than attending a banquet and eating and drinking.

"For the time being, there is no more, but yesterday, when my subordinates went to pick you up, the banquet was over and everyone was very happy. They said that they would get together again around the Lantern Festival." Lao Zhao said.

"Get together again? Lantern Festival?" Li Fu looked like he had no desire to live.

"They also said that they hope to get together at our house. These days, several families have taken turns to eat, saying that they always feel that it is more comfortable to be at our house.Have more fun."

"These people are eating at the rich man's house." Li Fu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "There are only so many things. Even at their house, most of the things for the banquet were sent from our house, right? ”

Most of the New Year gifts of Jingyang Palace are related to food and drink, and 80% of them are food ingredients. This is also their favorite thing in summary.

After all, ordinary gifts are available in every family and can be afforded, but the things from the kitchen of Jingyang Palace are rare and cannot be seen outside.

Besides, the chefs of Jingyang Palace are more powerful than those of Shangshi Bureau.

Before the New Year, the kitchen fried more than 20 pots of radish balls...

Four or five pots are enough for home consumption, including entertaining guests during the New Year holiday. The servants in the palace are not many compared to other families.

But with the ones to be sent out, it is not a small number. If one or two pots are sent to each family, two carts of raw radish will be pulled back.

Li Fu went to other people's houses to attend banquets, and he still ate fried radish balls produced in his own kitchen...

"My dear, how should I respond to them about this matter? "Old Zhao asked.

"Accept it. On the 14th day of the first lunar month, the mansion will hold a banquet and send them invitations." Li Fu said: "In addition, if there are visitors from the palace, postpone the palace banquet on the 15th day of the first lunar month." Li Fu said: "Isn't the pleasure boat built last year now parked in Qujiang Lake? Clean it up and prepare it."

"On the Lantern Festival, you want to go to Qujiang Lake?" Old Zhao asked in surprise.

"I have this idea." Li Fu nodded.

He wanted to ask Li Shao to go out and play together.

There is a "private yacht", why not use it?

"Then I will arrange this matter in advance, and let Wu Huwei and others prepare it." Old Zhao responded: "The news that you are going out on the Lantern Festival should not be told to the public for the time being, so as not to cause many troubles."

Li Fu seemed to have remembered something bad and pulled the corner of his mouth.

"Okay..."