August 15th, Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is unknown when the Qiuxi Festival began. Most of it was people worshiping the moon in ancient times, and it survived and became a festival for people of that time.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was not very popular and could only be regarded as a local festival. Especially for northerners, many people only remember the autumnal equinox and do not know that there is a Mid-Autumn Festival.
Until the end of the Jin Dynasty and the beginning of the Sui Dynasty, the north and the south repeatedly collided, and the Mid-Autumn Festival also became popular in the north.
When the Tang Dynasty was founded, people around Chang'an worshiped the moon every Mid-Autumn Festival, praying for family reunions, good health for the elderly, and abundant storage.
Some people in the Chang'an court also asked the emperor to offer sacrifices. After all, the situation this year is much better than last year, and the world is finally at peace, so sacrifice activities should be carried out one after another.
Li Po was indifferent. What he was thinking was, the world is in such a terrible state, why are you still offering sacrifices? Winter is coming, and many people have problems surviving the winter. Where can we get a good harvest?
There is also autumn hunting, a favorite activity among Kansai people. It is usually arranged after the autumn harvest, and the location is also in the Royal Hunting Garden.
The animals there have not been harassed for several years. Li Yuan's feast of beasts caused great harm to the place. Li Po became the savior of the animals. When he took over Hedong, Li Yuan couldn't eat.
, so many animals in the hunting garden escaped the disaster.
After recuperating for a few years, it is said that the vegetation there is abundant and the prey is so abundant that it is tempting to eat.
But except for Wu Wang Li Fuwei, who had the imperial order to enter and exit the hunting garden at will, and Fufeng County Princess Li Chun, who had gone in several times, no one could go there to try their skills, which made the young and restless Kansai disciples quite complain.
.
Li Po was not uninterested in shooting and hunting. There were too few recreational activities in these days and the government affairs were so heavy. From time to time, galloping horses, drawing bows and arrows, was indeed good for physical and mental health.
But having said that, let him lead a group of people, shoot an arrow into the sky, and an eagle will surely fall down; shoot an arrow into the grass, and there will be a white deer croaking mournfully, and a group of people will surround him and flatter him like this
Yong, what else is interesting about that?
Moreover, there were some young people who wanted to show off their martial arts skills in front of him, wandering back and forth to show off their youth and strength in front of an old man like him. Damn it... Li Po felt bad just thinking about it.
Therefore, this year's autumn hunting activities ended without any success, and the request for the autumn festival was also rejected.
Now the emperor's intention became more obvious, so all entertainment activities ceased, and Chang'an on August 15th seemed relatively deserted.
The enthusiasm of the people has subsided a little, and they hide in their homes at night to pay homage to their ancestors quietly. The whole family gathers together to eat a few round cakes, and the literati have a few drinks and chant to the moon.
In mid-August, the autumn harvest is coming to an end.
Li Po looked at the seal sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs. This year's autumn harvest must be much better than last year, because last year, except for Hebei, the whole country was actually peaceful.
Without the impact of the war, the harvest this year would naturally be greater than in previous years.
Especially in the middle of Shu, even though there are still barbarians in rebellion, under the hard work of the officials in the middle of Shu, the grain production has been rising steadily, which can not only sustain the needs of the various armies, but also have a lot of surplus.
In addition, the production of silk and tea began to recover rapidly and was becoming a major source of revenue for the national treasury.
In the next few years, the court will continue to implement various incentive policies, and the situation will definitely get better and better.
In addition, Li Po is ordering people to look for high-yielding crops other than millet. Rice has become one of the alternatives. Next year, he will definitely try to plant a batch in Jiangzuo, Bashu and other places.
The most important among them is cotton. It is not clear when and where cotton, which has since become widely popular, was introduced to the Central Plains. However, its role is very clear to Li Po.
He had personally experienced how severe the winter in Mayi and Liaodong was. At that time, he thought more than once that if we had cotton-padded clothes to keep out the cold, it would not be such a hardship for everyone, and many fewer people would die.
In the past, there was no condition to search for it. Now that we have entered Chang'an and wiped out the princes, the search for cotton crops has been put on the agenda.
This seemed very difficult to do, because at that time the word cotton was still the word mian, which represented a kind of silk fabric. Based on this alone, the idea of finding actual cotton in the Central Plains was a bit unreliable.
Of course, it was really difficult for him to describe clearly what crop he was looking for with his indifferent appearance. The people from the Military Intelligence Department quickly found red brocade, a kind of stuffing that is now used to make pillows.
After listening to the introduction, Li Po looked at the actual object carefully and finally determined that it was not what he was looking for, so he continued to search.
In addition, Zhongshu was asked to issue an edict, ordering officials all over the world to pay attention to this matter.
But this is the advantage of the feudal dynasty. Whatever the emperor deliberately orders, he will be able to accomplish it with the help of all the people in the world.
So in August this year, there was news. When Li Xinzhi, the young minister of Taichang Temple, came to visit, he told Li Po that he seemed to have seen this thing in Lingnan. It grew low, like a shrub, and once it matured, it would have a white head on its head.
People in Lingnan call it a flower, plant it in the courtyard and watch it, and call it Bai Diazi (A Cao made it up randomly, don't make up the name).
As for the origin of this thing, Li Xizhi didn't pay much attention to it. It should have come from further south.
Li Po was overjoyed, and immediately ordered Li Xizhi to be Lingnan's pacification ambassador, and sent him to Lingnan to bring back the real objects for a look.
Li Xinzhi was naturally reluctant, and regretted that he had talked too much in front of the emperor. He thought it was the emperor's curiosity. If he went to find them and presented them to the emperor, then who would Li Xinzhi be? With those draft girls
What's the difference between eunuchs?
But even if he was not happy, he did not dare to struggle in front of the emperor's order and had to go back and prepare his luggage...
Of course, he didn't expect to be able to return to his hometown so soon. Officials' terms of office were generally three years. He had a premonition that he would have another appointment after serving as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple.
The most likely possibility was to return to Lingnan and serve as an official. This intention was clearly expressed when the emperor summoned him.
It's just that at the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, personnel changes were relatively frequent, and some people were promoted at a speed that people in peacetime could not imagine.
The imperial court is in the midst of employing people, which is not an empty talk at this time, because the official structure is still being established and is far from being stabilized, so the terms of office of officials are just a formality.
……………………
On August 15th, Cheng Zhijie rushed back to Chang'an after a long journey.
Looking at the bustling Chang'an Market, Cheng Dabeard burst into tears.
It took him one day to go from Zhangye to Guzang, and he only stayed in Guzang for three days. He met Fan Wenjin, Zhang Lun and others, and then became close to Xu Shiji. He used the excuse of returning to Beijing to resume his life.
, led the people to leave Guzang, and returned to Chang'an from Guzang in only two days.
Along the way, it can be said that we ate and slept in the open air, and caught up with the moon under the stars.
He really didn't want to stay in that ghost place in the northwest for a moment longer. The wind and sand along the way from Guzang to Dunhuang almost blew away all his ambitions and almost even his soul.
He left Chang'an for Guzang in October last year. He had been there for a year. In the harsh environment of Hexi, he could dream of the comfortable life in Chang'an every night.
In Chang'an, he spent the whole day exchanging cups and cups with his friends, calling him brother and sister. After he saved enough money, he went to a brothel to have fun. When he returned home, his mother-in-law would greet him and the children would come around to celebrate. It was much better than when he was in Luoyang, Henan.
It's even more comfortable.
He will not leave when he comes back, Cheng Dabeard swore through gritted teeth.
But he didn't want to think about it, how many oaths had he sworn in these years? When Wagang joined the gang, everyone clamored to live and die together. As a result, Cheng Dabeard is still alive and well, but the others are
They all went underground and continued to call each other brothers.
………………………
First, he went home to freshen up and make himself look like a human being. He didn't need to go overboard. He wanted people to see that Cheng Dabeard had worked hard and accomplished a lot, and he had to leave some traces to show it to others.
Of course, there is no need to be too deliberate. After a journey of thousands of miles, it is also a ghost place like Hexi. Even if he peels off a layer of skin, he cannot get rid of the memories Hexi left for him.
No matter that the mother-in-law and children at home were overjoyed and crying, Cheng Dabeard immediately went to Qianniu Beishen Mansion to report.
He was ordered by the emperor to travel far, so he didn't have to deal with the Ministry of War and other yamen. He could go directly to the palace to see the emperor for his return. It happened to be August 15th, so he felt that he should be able to have a meal in the palace.
.
Although getting along with the emperor always made him feel frightened, and every time the emperor's eyes fell on him, he would feel that the other party was planning something against him, but Cheng Zhijie was such a stubborn person and did not believe in evil...
………………………
Li Po was dealing with official duties in the Tai Chi Hall. The Mid-Autumn Festival had almost no impact on him, except that he had to entertain his ministers at a banquet in the evening.
August 15th is actually a dividing point for the court. The autumn harvest is basically over, the weather is getting colder, and winter is coming. And in the cold and freezing winter, the court will enter a period of leisure. This year's reward matters
This will also begin.
It is obviously the emperor's job to encourage the courtiers at this time and make them more active in the winter.
Hearing that Cheng Zhijie was back, Li Po was a little surprised when he waited for the summons outside the palace.
Of course, this was not a surprise. He had just met Ashina Nishu the day before yesterday, and after a conversation, he felt that the Western Turks were very interesting.
It seemed that such an incident would happen every few years, and their attitude towards the Tang Dynasty was also very strange. When they fled, they were always willing to take the Central Plains as their destination.
He was very sincere in seeking asylum from the other party, and there was also internal strife in the Turkic royal court, but except for Ashina Rangan, the others would rather be killed than go into exile in the Central Plains.
This should be a matter of mentality. The Turkic Royal Court is relatively strong, while the Western Turks are much weaker. Therefore, it has become the established strategy of the Western Turkic Royal Family to form an alliance with the Central Plains Dynasty to fight against the Turkic Royal Court.
This chapter has been completed!