Chapter 1243 The common people can be ignored in politics
Today, Chang'an City has only one focus of work, and that is the upcoming banquet at the Calyx Tower.
Starting from dawn, thousands of palace people began to decorate the Calyx Tower.
When Li Zhi got up, he found that the Xingqing Palace farmland that was bare yesterday had turned into a sea of plum blossoms in full bloom today.
In surprise, he called Ruichun and asked, "Did you plant it last night?"
Ruichun nodded and said: "Last night at midnight, the palace servants in Yeting Palace started planting, and they finished planting at midnight."
Li Zhi said: "I ask you how you got into trouble?"
Ruichun said: "Dig a hole and plant the plum tree..."
Li Zhi looked at Ruichun, who was pretending to be stupid, as if he were an idiot. Ruichun quickly said: "They are all silk flowers."
Li Zhi said: "King Zhou had wine pools and meat forests, Shi Chong fought with others for wealth and hung silks on trees, and now the Emperor of Tang used silks as flowers?"
Ruichun blinked and said, "Your Majesty, this kind of thing is common in Chang'an."
Li Zhi leaned on the belly of the giant bear and said with a smile: "How is this an ordinary thing?"
"The winter in Chang'an is long, and it is rare to see green except for green bamboos and pines and cypresses. However, the people of Chang'an have very high requirements for scenery. Therefore, at many banquets in Chang'an, there will be scenes decorated with silk flowers. It is a unique sight.
Making a living by sectarianism is very common in Chang'an."
Li Zhi pointed to the bright plum blossoms outside and said: "The color is so bright, it must be made of high-quality silk. How can it be cheap?"
Ruichun sighed and said: "Chang'an Palace City is originally provided by Chang'an, but the money to supply Chang'an Palace City needs to be allocated by the Queen. Over the years, the Queen's attention has been all on Luoyang, so the money for Chang'an Palace City must be allocated by the Queen."
Decline is unavoidable, and the palace officials, eunuchs, and various craftsmen in the palace have to find ways to make money on their own.
The plum blossoms here are the palace maids. The eunuchs cut them out in their spare time, folded them into the shape of flowers, and then glued them to the branches one by one, and finally they looked like this.
If this thing is used once, it will naturally be expensive. However, with His Majesty's use today, those palace maids and eunuchs can get more people to start using this plum tree to decorate their courtyards. In this way, they will have a lot of people.
The income covers the cost of making flower trees, and you can also earn some interest to support yourself."
Li Zhi frowned and said, "The palace people support themselves?"
Ruichun said: "There are more than 6,300 palace servants, eunuchs, and craftsmen in Chang'an Palace City. If they can support themselves, wouldn't it save a lot of national money for the country? This is a good thing."
Li Zhi thought for a moment and said: "I ordered Yunchu to allocate all the annual fees for the palace to Chang'an Palace, so there is no need to go to Luoyang again."
Ruichun bowed and said, "I obey your order."
Li Zhi said: "There are flowers and trees here, what's over there at the calyx building?"
Ruichun bowed and said: "There are colored lanterns. There are many colored lanterns. When His Majesty holds a banquet, the colored lanterns will be lit. In this way, the Calyx Tower will be the palace in the sky."
Li Zhi said: "These lanterns also come from the palace?"
Ruichun smiled and said: "Exactly..."
"The functions are similar?"
"The functions are similar. To make such lanterns, the craftsmen in Chang'an Palace can make them more exquisitely. The craftsmen from outside cannot compare with the craftsmen in the palace."
"So, the things I use are similar to those used by the people?"
"Your Majesty is overthinking. There are rules for the things your Majesty uses. For example, a palace lantern to be lit tonight in the Calyx Tower requires six hundred candles. After lighting it, the Calyx Tower will be as bright as day and the lights will be as bright as day.
Bright moon."
Li Zhi widened his one eye and said, "How much does it cost?"
Ruichun said regretfully: "Your Majesty is always thrifty, but the poor craftsmen are saving money again and again. On the premise of ensuring the royal dignity, such a lamp only costs one thousand guan..."
"What? One lamp costs a thousand guan? Then, six hundred candles shouldn't be cheap, right?"
Ruichun said: "The candles are made from giant whale oil from the North Sea. Only candles like this will not smoke, and after adding ambergris, they will automatically emit a fragrant aroma, even at banquets."
People who feast all night long can feel refreshed and not feel tired."
Li Zhi forced himself to calm down. Under the influence of Emperor Taizong and Queen Wende, Li Zhi had never been an extravagant and lustful emperor. Now that he heard that the cost of a lamp at a banquet was not low,
With five hundred strings, how much did this make him endure?
"Get me that two hundred and fifty!"
Li Zhi gently stroked the giant bear's prickly rough hair, but the trembling hands still revealed the anger in his heart.
Yunchu's hands kept beating the rhythm in the air, and he directed the one hundred officials from Wannian County who were wearing white clothes like snow and high crowns like ink to play the newly composed music.
After the song ended, Yun Chu said: "Layered, layered, this song is dedicated to His Majesty from Chang'an. I hope to keep His Majesty in Chang'an with deep affection."
At this time, we must imagine Chang'an as a beautiful and gentle woman who is pouring out her feelings to His Majesty over and over again. We must let His Majesty feel the friendship of the people of Chang'an towards His Majesty, and we must make him feel that Chang'an should be his permanent residence.
.
Also, I will lead the singing. When it reaches the high pitch, the people in the first two rows should sing with me. After two lines, the people behind you must also follow up, so that the momentum becomes more powerful, and your singing voice
It must be big, so that the singers we arranged in Xingqingfang can hear our voices, and finally these singers will lead the residents of Xingqingfang to sing together.
In other words, only if the whole city sings together can it move His Majesty.
We must connect well and not be confused.
Okay, let’s do it again…”
With Yunchu personally conducting the performance, officials from Chang'an and two counties started playing the guzheng again. Not to mention, under the scene of people dressed in white as snow, they actually played Yunchu's music to the point of tears.
In the era before Yunchu, it was basically impossible to gather a hundred officials who could play the guzheng in two days. Those guys who drank wine and ate meat might be good players. Even better, they could
Take the microphone and sing a few songs.
In the Tang Dynasty, the quality of officials was much higher than that of officials in later generations.
Playing the guzheng and the guqin are almost the basic abilities of these people. Some guys can even play the flute and the flute. There are even a few in the Wannian County Yamen who can play the fou and the big drum, while in Chang'an County
The pipa played by the head of the household department is famous in Chang'an.
Most of the time, everyone knows that Yunchu's guzheng playing level is just that. As for his guzheng level - well, it's just a little better than the countless cotton players on the market.
However, no one said that. As soon as the county official started playing the guzheng, everyone was fascinated by it...
The performance was about to begin in the evening. Yun Chu led a group of people to play the music a few more times, ordered a musician to conduct the performance for him, and then returned to the official residence to take a breath and rest.
After just drinking a cup of tea, Wu Chengsi brothers followed him and poured themselves tea with Yunchu's teapot. After drinking it in one breath, Wu Chengsi said: "Junhou, the possibility of Your Majesty staying in Chang'an is
Not big."
Yun Chu nodded and said, "I know."
Wu San thought: "In that case, why do you want us to focus all our work on Your Majesty?"
Yun Chu said: "We are going to use His Majesty's power to open several work nodes that we cannot open ourselves."
Wu Chengsi frowned and said, "Once Your Majesty knows that we are using him, will it be counterproductive?"
Yun Chu said: "If you are dedicated to the country, why should you care about other things?"
Wu Sansi shook his head and said: "Junhou, this is wrong. We must consider the present, and we must also consider the future. If there is no future, what we are doing now will be meaningless."
Yun Chu looked at the Wu brothers and said, "Do we have to do things for our own benefit?"
Wu Chengsi said categorically: "In front of others, my brother will definitely say that there is no need to benefit himself. In front of the princes, the subordinates will only say that when the Wu family does things, it can benefit the other party in addition to self-interest, and it must not harm the interests of the Wu family.
In this case, it’s the only one who is favored.”
Yun Chu nodded. The Wu brothers were speaking from the bottom of their hearts. He couldn't beat someone up just because they told him their bottom line. This was unreasonable.
Yunchu suppressed his desire to beat the two brothers and whispered: "You want money?"
Wu Chengsi said seriously: "That's enough."
Yunchu said again: "You want power?"
Wu Chengsi said: "Just protect yourself."
Yun Chu smiled and said, "You guys are really not greedy."
Wu Sansi said: "Guo Chao, mine, must be clearly distinguished. The reason why I serve Guo Chao is that I need Guo Chao's protection. If Guo Chao is ruthless and unjust to me, I will be ruthless and unjust to the people of the world."
Yun Chu said: "What you mean is that if the state is close to you, you will restrain your desires. If the state has ill intentions towards you, you will harm the interests of the people to feed the state, so that the state will treat you.
Always be kind?"
Wu Chengsi stood up and saluted: "Your Majesty, please forgive my brother from entering the pit."
After Wu Chengsi finished speaking, he and Wu Sansi stood up together, clasped their fists and saluted, and then left Yun Chu's official residence.
When they left, it was just when Ruichun came in. Ruichun's face was not very good. The Wu brothers pretended to turn a blind eye and left in a hurry with their heads lowered.
"Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the extravagance of the banquet at the Calyx Tower."
Ruichun took a sip of tea and immediately said to Yun Chu.
Yun Chu said: "Have you told His Majesty what happened in Chang'an Palace?"
Ruichun said: "I told you, Your Majesty is still dissatisfied."
Yun Chu shook his head and said: "It's not that His Majesty is dissatisfied with Chang'an Palace, but that His Majesty feels that our group is purposefully guiding him to do things."
Ruichun stood up and said: "Let's go, His Majesty wants you, two hundred and fifty, to see him."
Yun Chu sighed, put on his fur clothes and followed Ruichun to Xingqing Palace.
"Northern Wei Dynasty" Yang Xuanzhi's "Luoyang Jialan Ji Fayun Temple": "Shi Chong of the Jin Dynasty is a commoner, but he can still paint eggs and carve firewood. How about I, the king of the Wei Dynasty, don't want to be extravagant?"
Yun Chu, what’s the explanation?”
When I first met Li Zhi, I was slapped in the face by him.
Yun Chu said: "The important point is not to carve firewood and draw eggs, but whether Shi Chong paid the workers who helped him carve firewood and paint eggs. If he didn't pay, Shi Chong should be beheaded. If he did, I would be very relieved."
Li Zhidao: "You have been systematically tempting me to be arrogant and extravagant over the years. What's the reason?"
Yun Chu looked at Li Zhi for a long time before saying, "Is your Majesty arrogant and extravagant?"
Li Zhi pointed to the silk-flowered plum tree outside and said, "What is this?"
Yun Chu said: "This is considered consumption, not His Majesty's personal consumption."
Li Zhi frowned and said, "I just went to Huaxu Tower, Yunchu, it was so luxurious."
Yun Chu said in surprise: "Have you ever used national funds?"
Li Zhi said angrily: "That's my money too."
Yun Chu said: "Your Majesty's money was given to craftsmen, handymen, and whale fishermen..."
Li Zhi thought for a while and said: "The truth still makes sense. Even Confucius didn't have anything bad to say about Guan Zhong's art of carving wood and painting eggs to enrich the people. However, when it comes to me, I still can't. It’s a pity.”
Yun Chu smiled and said, "Your Majesty won't feel bad if the money is hidden in the treasury."
Li Zhidao: "I won't feel bad if it is used for state affairs."
Yun Chu said: "Can't it just be given to the people?"
Li Zhi was stunned, and then said after a long while: "I never thought about this..."