Chapter 532: The eunuch of the royal palace

Lingzhou is the location of the military yamen of the Shuofang Jiedushi. It is located on the east bank of the Yellow River. It is a big city with a circumference of more than 40 miles. It has nearly 300,000 residents, most of which are the families of the Shuofang Army.

This area is also the starting point of the Hetao Plain. The land is fertile, the water source is sufficient, and the agriculture is very developed. Since the Shuofang Army has heavy troops stationed here, the military fields in this area are particularly vast, with two types of military fields. One is military household fields, which are the land on which soldiers rely for their families to survive, and the other is military ration fields, which are cultivated by soldiers. The Shuofang Army was originally organized with 64,700 people. Although the imperial court transported food every year, most of the military rations were still cultivated by themselves. Especially after Guo Ziyi took over as the position of Jiedushi, he attached more importance to military fields. He encouraged the army to reclaim land. In just two years, the military ration fields doubled.

In fact, Li Qing'an's intelligence was still two years ago. According to the scale of military ration fields two years ago, the Shuofang Army could not support a 100,000 army, and could only support 40,000 people at most.

But after several years of hard work, he can now support a 100,000 army with the military ration fields in Lingzhou and the vast grasslands and fertile land in the Hetao region.

This is the main reason why Guo Ziyi gave up the Guan Nei Dao. He was the governor of Shuofang. Guan Nei Dao was not the traditional sphere of influence of Shuofang Jiedu. Now that Li Qing'an is backing eastward, Guo Ziyi is unwilling to have conflicts with Li Qing'an, he took the initiative to give in and withdrew to Shuofang's original territory.

It was quiet inside the tent, and Guo Ziyi sat alone in front of the Shuai case and pondered. He had just received news that Jingzhou was in trouble, and Li Qing'an had sent 5,000 troops to Jingzhou to suppress the bandits.

This news made Guo Ziyi smile bitterly. Of course, he knew that there were bandits in Anding County, but this bandit crisis came too coincidental. As soon as he left, the bandit crisis started to make trouble. Although it seemed reasonable and everything was natural, Guo Ziyi still understood Li Qing'an's true intention. He sent 5,000 troops into Jingzhou, in the name of suppressing bandits, but in fact he was testing his reaction.

It can also be seen from this that Li Qing'an did not believe in his withdrawal. He was full of vigilance towards himself. However, it was no wonder that he could not allow others to snore on the side of the bed. Li Qing'an controlled the vast land of Guanzhong, Longyou, Hexi, Anxi and other places, but he led a hundred thousand troops to hang above his head. He could go south to Guanzhong, west to Longyou, Hexi and even Anxi, which seriously threatened his basic safety. Therefore, the first person Li Qing'an had to deal with after entering Guanzhong was not Li Longji, but himself, which was reasonable.

Thinking of this, Guo Ziyi couldn't help but sigh, walked slowly to the tent with her hands behind her back, staring at the sky in the south. Like everyone else, he actually saw that Li Qing'an had ambition to ascend the throne. Although Li Qing'an was also a member of the Li Tang royal family and the prince second only to the emperor and crown prince, Guo Ziyi did not support Li Qing'an's ascension to the throne.

This may be due to the deep-rooted orthodox ideas in Guo Ziyi's mind. The prince Jiancheng was no longer the orthodox of the Tang Dynasty a hundred years ago. The orthodox of the Tang Dynasty should be a descendant of Taizong.

This is like a distant concubine who wants to inherit a large family. It is difficult to accept that Li Qingan was named King of Zhao because of his strong strength and Emperor Jingzong was forced to be granted titles. Otherwise, Li Linfu was also a descendant of the Li family, could he inherit the throne?

Another very important reason for Guo Ziyi's withdrawal from Lingzhou this time was that Li Qing'an did not usurp the throne, but instead made Li Yu's son the emperor.

This made him feel relieved, but what if Li Qingan really ascended the throne by force? Even Guo Ziyi himself didn't know, but he would definitely not support him. He might support Li Longji. Of course, the premise is that Li Longji cannot make Li Heng the crown prince, and he also cannot accept a person who killed two emperors as his lord.

Then he might go to King Jing Li Mao, or go to Yangzhou to King Wu Li Lin. In short, Guo Ziyi would never go to Li Qing'an to bow three times and nine times.

But Li Qing'an did not ascend the throne and established the young new emperor. Guo Ziyi knew that it was because of his reluctance to come to Beijing to meet him, which made Li Qing'an full of doubts about him and sent troops to suppress bandits to test him.

Thinking of this, Guo Ziyi came out of the account and said to his personal soldiers: "Carry it out! We are going to go to Beijing."

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In late June, Chang'an also reached the day of the Great Heat. The heat that oppressed people was ruthlessly hot. The sun burned the roads in Chang'an dry and hot. When you step down, you will make white smoke step by step. There seemed to be a transparent heat wave flowing in the air, and the entire Chang'an city exuded a burning atmosphere.

The city of Chang'an seemed to be silent. Everyone hid in their rooms and refused to go out. The streets and alleys were quiet and there was no pedestrian.

Li Qing'an has also stayed in his palace these days and did not enter the court. Li Qing'an's Zhao Palace was first located in Huaiyuanfang. It was originally Wu Sansi's old house. Because this house is close to the west market, there are many merchants and carriages, and carriages are constantly transporting day and night, the house is very noisy from morning to night, and Mingyue doesn't like it here very much.

When Li Qing'an returned to Beijing, the Zhengshi Hall also felt that Huaiyuanfang was too far away from the imperial city, and there were many outsiders in the yard, which was not good for Li Qing'an's safety and was inconsistent with his identity. The Zhengshi Hall changed the original Princess Taiping's house in Xingdaofang into the New Zhao Palace.

Xingdaofang is a famous house in Chang'an. Most of the people live here in high-ranking officials and powerful people. There are huge mansions and huge houses everywhere, with dense trees everywhere, and the environment is very quiet and elegant.

The former house of Princess Taiping is a giant house comparable to that of the royal palace. Its scale and level are built in accordance with the standards of the palace. It covers an area of ​​150 acres, with high eaves and large beams, and is magnificent. It was once rewarded by Li Longji to Li Linfu, but Li Linfu did not dare to live there, but lived in the old house in Pingkangfang.

Mingyue grew up in Wubenfang next door since she was a child. She also likes Xingdaofang very much. She also came to play with Princess Taiping's giant house several times when she was a child, but she never thought that she would become the hostess of this giant house.

With the new home in Xingdaofang, Mingyue couldn't stay in Huaiyuanfang for a day. Half a month later, Princess Taiping's mansion was repaired and the house was officially listed as the Zhao Mansion. Mingyue ignored the heat and brought Ruhua and a group of maids to the new house to see the house.

"It's so hot! It's so hot!"

Ruhua shook a small light fan in her hand and came out of a warehouse in the backyard. The warehouse was as hot as a steamer. After only a moment of staying, she was sweating profusely, and the sweat stains on her forehead made her hair a little distracted.

"Not here, let's find another one."

If you are looking for a cellar where ice can be placed, ice is the treasure of the Tang people who spend the summer. Most wealthy families have ice wells, and the imperial palaces and noble families also have special ice cellars. In winter, a large amount of ice is stored for summer heat.

Ruhua is very afraid of heat. Every summer, she almost relies on iced sour plum soup to spend the hot season. She lived in Anxi for a long time. There was an ice cellar in Anxi Mansion where they lived, and there were also in Dugu Mansion, which made her have a very comfortable life over the years.

This time when she moved to a new house, the first thing she did was to find the ice cellar in Princess Taiping's mansion. There was a deacon who cared for the mansion in Princess Taiping's mansion. The old ice cellar that others knew had been converted into a wine cellar. Except for the butler, no one else knew where the new ice cellar was? But the butler happened to have something to come at home today, and Mingyue had sent someone to find him.

But Ruhua was so hot that she was anxious, so she took two maids and searched one warehouse after another. She had been searching for a long time, but she still couldn't find the location of the new Bingjiao. She asked a few servants, but she knew nothing.

She was so hot that she sweated profusely, so she stopped looking for her and sat under a big tree to enjoy the cool air. At this moment, a maid and a middle-aged man rushed over. This man was the deacon who was taking care of the mansion. His name was Pan Xiaoliang, but he was actually a eunuch.

After Li Yu ascended the throne, in order to reduce expenses, he cleaned up the Daming Palace on a large scale. Not only did Li Longji's 40,000 concubines go home, but nearly 100,000 palace maids and eunuchs also let go most of them.

If the palace maids are lucky, they can apply for cancellation of their palace registration and marriage, but it is difficult for eunuchs to be resettled and they are difficult to cancel their palace registration. Considering their actual situation, Li Yu asked them to send them to the palaces of various princes and nobles so that they could have a meal.

Pan Xiaoliang is an eunuch from the Eastern Palace. He entered the palace at the age of fifteen and has been a eunuch for nearly thirty years. Because he is too honest, he has not been promoted. He has no background and is naturally cleaned out of the palace. Fortunately, because he is very old, he came to Princess Taiping to be a deacon in her old house. He was originally going to live here for a lifetime, but he never expected that Li Qing'an, the most powerful minister of the Tang Dynasty, became the new owner of Princess Taiping's old house. This made Pan Xiaoliang overjoyed and felt like a dead tree was in spring.

But he was not lucky. He thought Princess Zhao would come tomorrow, so he rushed home to make arrangements, but he didn't expect that the princess was anxious and came to see the house today.

He rushed back to the mansion and learned that it was not the princess who was in a hurry to find him, but the fourth wife. Pan Xiaoliang had been in the palace and knew some hidden things that ordinary people didn't know.

For example, except for knowing Princess Mingyue, most people don’t know Li Qing’an’s other wives and concubines. This refers to their imperial edicts and titles.

It is not as simple as the second concubine. Generally, the prince’s main wives and concubines are given titles, but Li Qing'an’s wives and concubines are a bit special. Empress Dowager Shen once issued an order to grant Li Qing'an’s wives and concubines according to the standards of the Eastern Palace.

In addition to the princess Mingyue, Li Qingan also had a second concubine and two partial concubines. Among them, Wuyi was named Liangdi, the third rank, Rushi and Liuhua were all named Chenghui and the fifth rank. After giving birth to the Lord of Julan County, his sister Rushi was promoted to the next level and was named Liangyuan. This was the fourth rank imperial edict.

Generally, they don’t know about these titles, but Pan Xiaoliang knew that he certainly knew that the young and beautiful lady in front of him was Empress Chenghui, who had been following Li Qing'an.

He knelt down and kowtowed, "Old slave Pan Xiaoliang kowtowed to Empress Chenghui. Old slave was late to serve him. I hope the empress forgives his crime!"

Ruhua was dazed when she heard it, and no one had ever called her Empress. She had long forgotten her title. Her official name was Li Ruhua. Everyone in Anxi called her Fourth Lady, and no one had ever called her Empress.

She blinked and waved her hand quickly and said, "Don't call me Empress Chenghui. We don't like this at home, and I don't like it either. You can call me the fourth lady."

"Yes! The slave answered the fourth wife."

At this time, Mingyue came over and asked with a smile: "Are you the deacon Pan Xiaoliang of this mansion?"

Pan Xiaoliang had seen Mingyue, and he was so scared that he turned around and knelt down for Mingyue, kowtowed and said, "Old slave Pan Xiaoliang bowed to the princess."

Ruhua quickly asked the maid to bring a ring chair for the princess. Mingyue sat down and smiled and said, "Get up! I asked you today to hand over it, and you won't use it tomorrow."

Pan Xiaoliang was as if five thunders were thundering. He was stunned. After a while, he nodded silently, "I understand, I'll go hand in hand now."

He turned around and was about to leave, and Mingyue stopped him again, "Wait a minute!"

"Yes! What else does the princess have to give?"

Mingyue asked, "Where is your home? What relatives do you have at home?"

Pan Xiaoliang shook his head and said, "I have been in the palace for thirty years, saved 200 stagnant coins and bought a small house in Yong'anfang. I have no father or mother, no children, and I live alone."

Although Li Qing'an did not like eunuchs, Mingyue also considered that it was inconvenient for male servants to enter and exit the back house, but some of the strengths could only be done by men, especially Chang'an was much hotter than the scattered leaves. In summer, women were dressed very thinly, so it was indeed inappropriate for male servants to enter and exit.

Mingyue considered that there should be several eunuchs in the palace. She also understood Li Qing'an's concerns, but everything has two sides. As long as Li Qing'an herself does not believe in eunuchs, there will be no problem.

She thought for a while and said, "If you want to stay..."

Before Mingyue could finish her words, Pan Xiaoliang was so excited that he 'sucked!' and kowtowed repeatedly, "I thanked Empress for her great kindness!"

Mingyue had no choice but to shake her head and said, "Get up first and listen to me finish my words."

"yes!"

Pan Xiaoliang stood up and stood respectfully aside. Mingyue then said slowly: "If you want to stay, you can abide by our family's rules. Our family's rules are very ordinary in Anxi, but they are a bit different in Chang'an. I hope you can understand."

"Yes! The slave will definitely abide by it."

"The first is your name. There are no slaves in our family, even if you are a eunuch, remember! Don't kneel down. The prince hates people the most and bows to bow. The second rule is that our maids and family members are free. I will pay your salary monthly, which is much higher than the servants in the shop outside. Of course, you can leave at any time, and I welcome you if you are willing to stay. Third, although our family does not punish people, if you make serious mistakes, I will also fire you. These three are the most basic, and there are some other rules and regulations that you will understand in the future."

Speaking of this, Mingyue took out a piece of yellow paper and handed it to him. This is your palace registration transferred by the eunuch just now. I have signed it on it. You can take it to the eunuch to cancel it, and then you can re-apply for your household registration. You can go and run away! When you encounter difficulties, tell me and I will do it for you.

Pan Xiaoliang was stunned. He also heard that Anxi had abolished slaves, but they were eunuchs and always slaves of the royal family. How could they compare with those normal people? But today, for the first time, he really felt the feeling of being a human being.

Pan Xiaoliang took Gong Ji with his hand tremblingly. His nose felt sore and two lines of tears flowed out of his eyes. He quickly wiped away the tears and whispered: "Old slave, no! Thank you, the princess."

At this time, Ruhua smiled and said, "Now you can tell me where is the ice cellar in this mansion?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Pan Xiaoliang pointed to the lake waterway in the distance: "The ice cellar is built by the lake. I took my wife there. The palace yesterday sent a lot of ice, which can be used at any time."

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Chapter completed!