The twelfth lunar month of the fourth year of Yuanzhen in the Tang Dynasty.
It's almost the New Year's Eve again, and Chang'an is a little more lively than before.
People don’t have much to look forward to at the end of the year. The Shangyuan Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month is the serious New Year festival at this time.
Especially last year's Chang'an Lantern Festival was extremely successful. This year's situation was better than last year. People didn't hear much news about the war anymore, so everyone finally confirmed that the world was really at peace.
There will no longer be anyone who wants to be the king and hegemony, and no one has heard of anyone wanting to be the emperor. The most important thing is that no one has heard of any nursery rhymes or the like being produced in Chang'an, so people can live their lives with peace of mind.
It doesn't matter what year or month it is, as long as they can live a peaceful life, the people will be satisfied.
After the damn New Year is over, we can see if this year's Lantern Festival Lantern Festival held by the imperial court is better than the previous year.
In fact, before the twelfth lunar month, various government offices in the imperial court were already preparing for the Lantern Festival. Last year, the Lantern Festival was held in a hurry, but this year is different.
The emperor issued an imperial edict to assign tasks to various government offices in Chang'an, and the request was rather strange. They were to make some lanterns related to the government offices and hang them on the streets on New Year's Eve.
The largest set of lanterns has been decided and handed over to Zhongshu to make. You heard it right, it is a set of lanterns. The main purpose is to let Zhongshu’s people write Tang Dian on it. Isn’t it very unique?
According to Li Po's wishes, once the forest of steles on the west side of the imperial city is built, Tang Dian will occupy a place in it, and each academies in the Tang Dynasty will also erect steles in front of their doors to let people know about Tang Dian's standards as much as possible.
, this is the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. It does not want to be known to the whole world, but only wants to be familiar to readers.
On the one hand, academies are built. The Chang'an Maritime Academy has been built, and standard military academies will inevitably follow. In the future, most of the officers of the Tang Dynasty will be versatile in both civil and military affairs. The military regulations and precepts of the Tang Dynasty are the same as those of the Tang Dynasty. They must be engraved
In front of these places.
………………
This is a bit far-fetched. This year’s Lantern Festival is destined to be a little different.
Each government office didn't take it seriously at first, but gradually some people realized that something was wrong. This was obviously a major matter concerning the face of each government office.
Last year, most of the lanterns were made by the Ministry of Industry, and other yamen sent people to help out and come up with ideas, etc., and all were managed by the Shangshu Province.
It is roughly based on the old system of the Lantern Festival in the former Sui Dynasty. In order to express the intention of having fun with the people, some big sects in the capital, or shops, and ordinary people participated in making some lanterns to add splendor to the lantern festival.
For example, when a large city in the south of the Yangtze River holds a lantern festival, some prostitutes will be called in to sing and dance to attract attention. This is mainly because the winter there is relatively warm.
Back then, the Luoyang Lantern Festival held a ten-mile-long stage and a large-scale performance attended by more than 100,000 or 200,000 people. In the winter, some people froze to death, so that was a bit excessive.
This is how Yang Guang does things, leaving people who come after him to look back and sigh, and it is difficult to be surpassed unless you don't want to.
This year's lantern festival is a big one. The things that each government office must pay attention to is very simple. Don't lose the face of your own office. There are hundreds of departments, large and small. You must strive to be the best in front of the government offices at the same level, but you must not steal the superiors.
The limelight of the government office is quite difficult to talk about.
And the families registered with the imperial court also have to make lanterns for the lantern festival...
After such operations, Chang'an City became lively at first sight, and the topic of discussion in the streets gradually turned to the Lantern Festival.
"Have you heard? The Ministry of Punishment produces a white tiger lantern. The white tiger is the main killer. It's very ferocious..."
"Then shouldn't the Ministry of War be using this? How can the murderous intent of the Ministry of Justice be as strong as that of the Ministry of War?"
"That is to say, I heard some time ago that the people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment had a quarrel, just because of this matter..."
Well, it's basically like this. According to this tune, Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment can move the underworld for use.
………………
Li Po actually didn't want to do anything new, but there were a lot of new policies this year, so it would be a good idea to publicize them. Moreover, the Ministry of Household Affairs' year-end calculation showed that there was quite a surplus in various places this year. This is a sign that the national treasury is getting richer, so we can celebrate it.
Especially if there is no major war, the balance will be larger.
So next year he plans to mention the salaries of officials depending on the situation. Senior and middle-level officials generally do not rely on salaries to live. There are only a handful of people who have miserable families. Officials at the bottom are more complicated and can do something about it.
In addition, once you have money and food, you have to start projects such as roads and ditches. The infrastructure of the Tang Dynasty is still inherited from the former Sui Dynasty, and many places are in dilapidated condition.
Not to mention other places, there are many public facilities in Chang'an that need to be repaired, not to mention Luoyang. Pei Ju has written to the Central Government twice, trying to get Luoyang a budget for infrastructure construction.
There is also the development of mineral deposits in various places. When people's lives gradually settle down, these will all be put on the agenda.
………………
There was silence in the inner hall of Qingning Palace.
The couple sat opposite each other and drove all the palace guests out.
Li Po was carefully drawing his wife's eyebrows with a black pen. Although Li Bi wanted to laugh, she didn't dare to move for fear that her husband would tremble and poke her eyes.
In the so-called boudoir, is the privacy of a couple worse than that of a thrush?
This is a good story left by Zhang Chang, the emperor of Jingzhao in the Han Dynasty. It is highly praised by scholars. There is no choice but there is too little entertainment, so Huamei has become a model of couple interaction.
It is indeed more interesting. The couple sits opposite each other and looks at each other, which is a bit ambiguous. However, the nobles rarely paint their wives' eyebrows. It is fun to play with young and beautiful concubines or maids.
In the winter, Li Po also had some free time, so he wanted to experience it... so he straightened his wife and applied it on his eyebrows regardless of the strength.
When the painting was almost done, Li Po stopped and looked at it. He felt that his craftsmanship was good, so he took a bronze mirror and took a picture of it to his wife.
The couple looked at each other and laughed in unison. This kind of greasy thing was really not suitable for them to do. It was far less enjoyable than fighting with fists and kicks.
"Who are you trying to please, husband, so you come here to try on me?" Li Bi picked up the wet cloth and wiped off all the powder on her eyebrows. Her eyebrows were dark and heavy, so there was no need to apply them randomly.
Li Pozuo looked angrily, "Don't accuse me falsely. Which of your eyes has seen me messing around with women? Come on, let's put some rouge on and see..."
Li Bi giggled and hid back, thinking that it seemed like he was really unbearable. Should he give him a punch to wake him up?
The couple quarreled for a while, and their clothes became messy, and then... a ditty was sung in the palace...
After a long time, the couple did their job in a dignified manner and ordered the palace servants to serve tea. They really needed to replenish water, but the conditions were not enough, otherwise they would have to take a bath and change clothes at this time.
After drinking a few sips of tea soup, Li Po sighed contentedly. He was in a good mood, his body was not bad, and his endurance was not bad. If a man does not grow old, the world will be beautiful.
Li Bi leaned lazily on the couch, enjoying the calmness at this moment. After a while, she said: "Because of the alliance, this year's draft has been delayed again. Let's choose next year. Many people are waiting.
.”
Li Po responded casually, "There are quite a few people in the palace. Just choose some people to come in according to your wishes. There is no need to make it so grand. I haven't recognized all the people who entered the palace last year."
Li Bi smiled, her husband's answer was not unexpected, but now that she had given birth to two sons, her relationship with her husband was as harmonious as ever, and her position was extremely stable, so she had to say something.
"I know that your husband doesn't care about these things, but as your husband is the emperor, you have to think about the country. Your husband has no close relatives, and if your heirs don't flourish, it will be a crime for you to be a concubine.
So, in the past few years, it is best for your husband to come back to the harem more often, so that the concubines can feel at ease. If you give birth to more children, the harem will be more lively, and both old and new couples can have something to look forward to.
My husband doesn’t have to look after me all the time. I have quite a few people from the Li family and the Chen family here. I borrowed their strength when I followed my husband to Yunnei.
Needless to say about my father, Li Wu, Li Nian, Chen Li and others are now in high positions, and their relatives and friends are gradually gaining more and more attention.
I think the husband should restrain them, otherwise when Li Yuan grows up, it will be extremely troublesome for him to have a henchman. Before, I thought of winning over the Li family of Longxi. In fact, it was not for other reasons, but to check and balance them.
Later, when I thought about it, it was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire. I don’t blame my husband for not agreeing..."
Li Po laughed and said in his heart that she is indeed my mother-in-law, and said in his mouth: "How is it? You have a lot of feelings after joining politics, right?
You don't have to think so much. It's still too early to nip problems in the bud. Moreover, we are the founders of the country and have been fighting for so many years. As long as our sanity is still there, we can suppress anything.
Instead of thinking about this, it is better to teach Li Yuan and his brothers well. Regardless of other things, we must make them more open-minded. We have already done the work of establishing the foundation, and only need one to maintain it.
I don’t ask for eternity, as long as I don’t kill my second generation, do you think my requirements are too low? You should also put down your worries, what happened to the descendants? Don’t you still believe in my vision and methods of letting others go?"
Li Bi thinks that this is the best thing about talking to her husband. He can't be troubled by any big or small things. Moreover, he and she always talk about everything. Except for the tight confidentiality of her life experience, she can talk about all other matters.
explain.
In this way, after being married for many years, there is not even a trace of bad blood between the two, which is considered a strange thing.
"It's good that your husband understands it, but the concubines in the palace can no longer be left alone. I don't want to see the resentment in the palace. People come to Qingning Palace all day long and eagerly want to get close to Jun Yan.
But every time I come back disappointed, how can this Qingning Palace be clean and peaceful as time goes by?"
This chapter has been completed!