I saw all the flowers in Chang'an in one day, and the Qujiang River was full of people drinking and singing.
Duan Lun took Wu Huaiyu and Xu Jingzong to Qujiang. Huaiyu had heard about Qujiang for a long time, but mainly because he had glimpsed a hint of the romance of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in the poems of Tang Dynasty poets in later generations.
Several people mounted their horses and headed southeast of the city.
Duan Lun brought eight minions with him. As the minister of gold and purple, he could enjoy the forty-eight Fanghe of the imperial court, who were recruited by the country and assigned to the ministers as handymen. Duan Lun did not need to break the money at all, he could enjoy it directly. Watch these forty-eight strong men to prevent the combination.
He was very capable in his work and immediately arranged for Huaiyu's four servants. The four young men in their early twenties would later work as Huaiyu's errand attendants.
Duan Lun's entourage is not Fanghe assigned to him by the imperial court. Those who he arranges to do chores in the house are all loyal members of his Duan family. He is from Duan tribe in Xianbei and his hometown is in western Liaoning. The eight people he follows are also They are all Duanbu Xianbei knights riding horses and carrying swords.
All of them wear robes with lapels, black leather boots, and leather belts with horizontal swords. They are very tough.
In contrast, although the four young men given to Huaiyu were relatively well-groomed, they were obviously a little hungry and malnourished. At first glance, they looked like ordinary farm youths. Their clothes were not patched, and they were already extremely respectable.
They had neither horses, mules, nor swords and guns, and each of them only carried a short stick.
As a citizen assigned by the imperial court to serve as an official, Wu Huaiyu only needed to be responsible for their food and lodging, and did not need to pay wages or anything else. This was the official privilege of a servant.
Xu Jingzong only had one old servant.
Qujiang is located in the southeast of Chang'an City. It is named after its winding water flow. This place was established as the Royal Yichun Garden during the Qin and Han Dynasties, exclusively for emperors to go hunting.
At first it was a large swamp wetland.
In the previous dynasty, canals were dug here to divert water, pavilions and pavilions were expanded, and it was named Furong Garden. Nowadays, it is mostly called Qujiang Pool.
Before seeing Qujiang, Huaiyu longed for him.
But after riding for more than ten miles, Huaiyu felt that something was not right. The further south he went, the more desolate he felt. He passed the 95th high hill in Chang'an City, passed Xingshan Temple, and the Xuandu Temple. Basically, he saw There's not a lot of people left.
The main street is very wide, but it is no different from the avenue outside the city.
The walls on both sides of the street are also lower.
The voices of the common people were not heard in the workshops, which were all ghost workshops. The walls of the workshops were all surrounded by grain fields and vegetable fields. When Wu Huaiyu saw Xu Jingzong talking about the Qinglong Temple on Leyouyuan, he suddenly remembered that Qin Qiong had visited the temple before. He was given twenty acres of land in the south of the city, which was located in Xinchangfang next to Qinglong Temple.
That land is full of pear trees and produces autumn pear paste and pear nectar. He has not been there yet.
All the way south.
Finally we arrived at Qujiang, the southeasternmost part of Chang'an.
The river is long and quiet, with willow trees along the bank of the pond. There are many islands of different sizes in the river, some with pavilions built on them.
Although it is autumn at this time, there are no flowers in bloom, but it is still a beautiful scenery that is pleasing to the eye.
There aren't many people around, so it's very original.
Duan Lun often comes here. There are many royal buildings here, such as the Furong Garden and Ziyun Tower built in the Sui Dynasty, as well as the Apricot Garden to the west of Qujiang Pond, Leyouyuan and Qinglong Temple to the north, including the original Qin Qiong's house. The pear orchards are very nice.
Xu Jingzong also said that he comes several times every year, mainly for outings in the spring and outings in the autumn.
Hearing what they said, Huaiyu understood a little bit. In the eyes of Chang'an people, this place is just a suburb. Come for an outing in the spring, go to Leyouyuan to climb in the autumn, and stop by for a walk.
Normally, no one would travel a dozen or two miles through the ghostly wheat fields in Lower South City.
However, although Qujiang is not busy enough with no one disturbing it, the original ecological scenery is also particularly beautiful.
Royal buildings and surrounding temples, etc., are perfectly embellished with no more and no less.
"Let's go, the island over there, and the hundreds of acres of land next to it, are all allocated to Shenjifang by the prince."
Near the southeast bank of Qujiang River, there is a small island less than ten feet away from the south bank.
The island is not big, only sixty feet long from north to south, and only more than thirty feet wide from east to west. The island is not big, but the trees are very dense. There are also large woods and large wheat fields on the east bank.
Duan Lun was riding on his horse, pointing to the island and the shore, "The people are young and strong, the craftsmen will be here tomorrow, and workshops and barracks will be built here soon."
Huaiyu felt that it would be a bit unsightly to build a weapons workshop here with such a pristine and beautiful scenery, but from the perspective of confidentiality and safety, it was indeed a good place.
Qujiang is half inside the city and half outside the city.
When Daxing City was built in the Sui Dynasty, it is said that because Chang'an City is high in the southeast and low in the northwest, for the sake of Feng Shui pattern, the half of Qujiang City was dug into a deep pool, forming the Furong Pool next to the Furong Garden.
The Yanbo Island chosen as Shenjifang is not within Chang'an City, but it is just outside the city.
Along the Qujiang River, there are many manors, villas, pavilions and pavilions built by princes and nobles for occasional leisure. Duan Lun and Princess Gaomi have gardens here.
After strolling around Yanbo Island and the shore, Duan Lun took Huaiyu to his home.
Although he only came occasionally, the garden was fully stocked with housekeepers, servants, and maids. Duan Lun said he wanted to entertain distinguished guests, and the steward immediately made arrangements.
Duan Lun's garden is very unique. It is built along the river bank. Among the willows on the bank, there are vast mist and pavilions, which give people a very comfortable feeling.
Integrating well with Qujiang, Huaiyu feels like the Sun Palace he visited when he visited Dali. It is quite nice and stylish.
The butler kills a cow to entertain.
"Two cows were fighting and one of them hit a tree and broke its neck. It's hard to survive."
The butler's reasons were so perfunctory that Huaiyu couldn't bear to listen, but Duan Lun just smiled and said to the butler, pay more attention next time.
"I'll pack a leg of beef for Mr. Wushe and Bachelor Xu later."
Not far from Duan Lun's garden is his family's large field. The land here is very expensive. When the previous dynasty was stable, land in the outer suburbs of Gyeonggi only cost a few hundred dollars per acre, but the land here costs one gold per acre and is worth thousands.
Thousands of dollars.
Although the land equalization system was implemented in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which placed great restrictions on land sales, there were many ways for nobles like Duan Lun, or even the emperor's son-in-law, to annex.
He has a large area of land here, where he grows not only wheat but also rice, and even raises cattle, sheep and pigs.
The Duan family has a large swamp here, and instead of growing crops, they raise pigs. They raise hundreds of pigs. The one who 'deliberately' got into a fight because of Huaiyu's arrival, and 'unfortunately' hit a tree and broke his neck.
The cow is just one of the herds raised by the Duan family here.
Huaiyu knew that the Tang Dynasty was short of cattle and horses, and had a policy to protect farm cattle. He was a little worried when looking at the beef. After all, he had just been fined for disgrace in the palace.
"This cow is actually too old to plow the land," Duan Lun didn't hide it from Huaiyu. He raised a lot of cows here, and they were specially slaughtered for meat for the family. However, these cows are not ordinary farm cows.
They are all old or disabled cattle specially collected from the countryside or other farms of their own, and raised here, ready for slaughter at any time to provide fresh food.
The old yellow beef tastes very good, especially fresh, sweet and chewy.
"Erlang will have to come to Qujiang often in the future. It is better to buy land here to build a garden. If it is too troublesome, you can just buy the current courtyard. I can ask the housekeeper to help find a suitable one. If you have plans to buy land, you can also buy a piece of land.
Build a farm on the land and raise some cattle, sheep, chickens and ducks. It will be convenient and fresh to eat at home."
Huaiyu said with a smile, "The land and the house by the Qujiang River are not cheap. Every inch of land costs so much that I can't afford it. But before, Duke Yi Guogong gave me a piece of pear orchard next to Qinglong Temple in Xinchangfang. When I arrive,
You can live there.”
"Oh, that pear orchard, when the pear blossoms bloom after the new year, it will be very beautiful. I didn't expect that Duke Yi would give it to you." Duan Lun was slightly surprised.
Qin Qiong, Duke of Yi State, is now a popular figure in front of the prince.
I had a rare meal of fresh beef, and I packed a leg when I left. It must have weighed at least seventy or eighty kilograms. With so much meat on this leg, it didn’t look like the old, weak, sick, or disabled cow that Duan Lun mentioned. It was obviously a strong cow.
Of course, maybe my brain is not working well, or else I could hit a tree and break my neck in a fight?
Xu Jingzong's old servant was carrying a 70 to 80 kilogram cow leg. He looked dry and thin, but he followed the horse on foot, not lagging behind at all. He turned out to be a hidden master. As expected, famous and wealthy families are extraordinary.
"I'm going to camp at Beimen, will Bachelor Xu come with me?"
Xu Jingzong was very satisfied with eating and drinking, and now he no longer felt sorry for being fined for a year, "Then I will go to the Ordnance Supervision. Tomorrow I will go directly to Huaiyuanfang to pick up Erlang, or will I still wait outside the East Palace?"
"I'll come to the Ordnance Prison to find you early in the morning."
"That's fine."
The two parted ways.
Huaiyu now has the errand of supervising the commander of the north gate of the Shenji Camp in addition to being in charge of worshiping people in the house and enforcing military weapons and supervising the orders of the Shenji Camp.
At this moment, he took his four servants and his entourage and rushed outside Xuanwu Gate.
The whole day was spent traveling around Chang'an City, southeast and northwest. He couldn't help but marvel at how big Chang'an City was. From the Chunming Gate on the east wall to the Jinguang Gate on the west wall, the straight-line distance was nearly twenty miles.
The distance from Mingde Gate on the south wall to Xuanwu Gate on the north wall is about eighteen miles.
He now lives in Huaiyuanfang in the west of the city. He has to go to the East Palace to go to the morning court every day. He takes a shortcut of about ten miles. From the East Palace to Qujiang, it is another twenty miles. Then he goes to the North Gate to camp, which is another twenty miles.
This won't work.
Four young men followed on foot, each carrying twenty kilograms of beef.
Seeing their hard work, Huaiyu first went to Huaiyuanfang and asked them to put the beef in Wu's house, and then took them to camp outside Xuanwu Gate.
I went to camp in Beimen and met an old friend.
Cheng Chumo, Wu Huaiyi and Niu Jianwu were all there.
Xu Luoren, the Duke of Jiangxia who gave him the white horse in the night, is also here. He is now a commander of the army under the right guard. He is also the commander of the north gate and leads the flying cavalry. He is at the same level as Cheng Chumo, but he is Li Shimin.
Childhood friend and confidant guard captain.
The left and right camps are also known as flying cavalry.
This is the emperor's forbidden army.
"Oh, I've been waiting for you for a long time, why did you come now?" Cheng Chumo smiled and came up with a big hug. Xu Luoren came over to say hello, "Mr. Yichun has been waiting for you for a long time, I will take you there."
