The drums at the gate of Taiji Palace sounded first, followed by the three east-west streets and the three north-south streets in Chang'an, and the street drums on the newly established Drum Tower also sounded in sequence.
The banging of street drums on Sixth Street woke up the entire city of Chang'an.
In the cold wind, rain and snow, the patrol soldiers of Xiaowei no longer have to announce the time to open the door in Chang'an early every morning.
The gates of Zhucheng opened slowly amidst the sound of drums, and the 108 squares of Chang'an also gradually opened their doors.
Many court officials who had to go to court early left their workshops as soon as possible. Some people who were looking for a living did not care about the warmth of their beds and waited for the door to open early in the cold wind.
It was so cold that Huaiyu stopped riding horses and took a carriage instead.
As the prince Xima, he is currently a fifth-level official and is required to attend court every morning. In such a cold weather, to be honest, he really doesn’t want to leave the warm fire bed. It’s a pity that he is young and strong and cannot be with Pei Ji, Li Gang and the others.
You can also enjoy the benefits of not having to go to court early.
After leaving the square gate, Huaiyu saw the Sixth Street Drum Tower. This newly built Sixth Street Drum Tower was proposed by Huaiyu and his brother-in-law Ma Zhou. It originated from the fact that one time in Xunxiu, Huaiyu and Ma Zhou had a barbecue together.
, talking about how hard it was for Xiaowei to open the door every morning to announce the order, Huaiyu said that street drums could be set up.
There are many drums in Chang'an. There are market drums in the east and west cities. The drums are beaten three hundred times every afternoon before the opening. In front of the Taiji Palace, there is a Dengwen drum to feedback people's sentiments and clear up unjust cases. The Ministry of War also has a military drum to boost morale. Taichang
The Propaganda Department has drums to match the temple music, and the Taishi Bureau has drums for timing.
Ma Yiyi heard that it made sense, and took Huaiyu to talk in detail for a long time. Then he turned around and wrote a memorial, asking for a drum tower to be set up on the Sixth Street of Chang'an, and watchtowers to be set up at strategic locations on various streets in Chang'an.
Tell the time at dawn and dusk, and strictly guard against night bans.
Between the Bell and Drum Towers and the Watchtowers, a set of semaphores can also be used to transmit messages from a distance, allowing the fastest communication within the huge city of Chang'an, which is especially helpful in guarding against spies and capturing thieves.
He also specially signed Huaiyu's name on the back of the memorial. His own name was ranked behind Huaiyu, and he did not take the exclusive credit. Li Shimin was very satisfied after reading it, and after discussing it with the ministers, he quickly arranged it.
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So now in Chang'an City, not only are there city gates, square gates, and Wuhou Street Shops on the street corners, but there are also many bell and drum towers and watchtowers.
Every morning, the street drums sound one after another, and thousands of doors open. And every evening, when the drums sound again, the city gates and square gates are closed, and the night ban begins.
In the early morning, the drums at the Chengtian Gate of the Imperial Palace were the first to sound.
The gates of the outer city of Chang'an are opened at the fourth o'clock o'clock, while the palace gates are opened at the fifth o'clock o'clock.
It was very hard to go to court in the freezing rainy and snowy morning. The streets were muddy due to the rain and snow, and the horses' hooves were wading in the mud.
Although Chang'an City is very big, its infrastructure is really average.
Even though Chang'an Imperial Street is a hundred paces wide, it is still a dirt road, not even paved with sand, and usually filled with dust. In this rainy and snowy season, not to mention, the snow and slurry form rivers of slurry.
Officials could still ride horses and ride in carriages, but ordinary people could only walk on foot.
Huaiyu thought he could make a suggestion to the Yongzhou Yamen: dig sand from the Chan River and transport it, and lay a sand embankment on Chang'an Sixth Street. It didn't need to say that the Sixth Street was completely paved, at least the sand embankment would be about three feet wide.
There are also too many horses and mules in Chang'an City. The city management is not good enough. The livestock excrement is everywhere and cannot be cleaned up in time. The excrement and sewage are everywhere. In this snow and rain season, it is even more filthy. It is really too
It affected the image of the Tang Dynasty.
The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and Huaiyu is looking forward to sealing off the official office for the annual holiday as soon as possible.
The cold wind howled outside the carriage, and rivers of mud formed on the streets.
Huaiyu felt very comfortable sitting in the carriage. This carriage was specially customized for him by Fan Xuanfu. The carriage was very large, a two-horse carriage. It had a spacious interior and was designed to keep warm. The thick walls of the carriage were also added
There is a layer of thermal insulation, the car seat is also shock-proof, and there is even a heater in the car, where you can drink tea and snacks, and even have a bookshelf where you can read.
If you are in a leisurely mood, you can also write, draw, and write poems.
Xuan Fu was considerate of him. He went to court every morning and specially arranged for four sword maids to sit in the carriage together to serve him. They could drink tea, play chess, or even write, or just chat.
The Spring Festival holiday for officials in the Tang Dynasty was quite long, with a seven-day holiday from the first two days to the fifth day of the new year, and then another seven-day holiday for the Lantern Festival.
However, Beijing officials are actually very busy and hardworking during the New Year. Senior officials have to accompany the emperor to celebrate the New Year on New Year's Eve, and all Beijing officials have to attend the court meeting on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The car curtains were closed, and it was not bright outside so I couldn't see anything, but there was a cold breeze blowing through.
Huaiyu held a heater in one hand and chess pieces in the other, playing backgammon with Jianyi and the others.
The four sword maids are all strong women who have mastered the armor line and can fly over walls and walls while carrying horses. They are more vigorous when playing polo, but when it comes to playing chess, even backgammon, they are all very good at it.
Average.
The best chess player in the Wu family is Run Niang. She used to be called Siqi in the Li Mansion. She played chess in elementary school for no reason. Even Huaiyu's Go and chess skills improved by leaps and bounds after her guidance.
Even his level of backgammon has improved a lot now, and four girls can't beat him.
"Hey, Ah Lang won't let us order, it's boring." Jian San has a devilish figure, but a baby face, which is the same contrast as King Kong Barbie. After getting along for a long time, they now also like to act coquettishly with Huai Yu.
The carriage stopped.
The driver was outside and said, "Erlang, there's a traffic jam ahead."
"A carriage got stuck in the mud. It will probably be fine soon."
Huaiyu was speechless when he heard this. Yongxingfang is right next to the Imperial City. The roads here are so bad, but you know that the roads in other streets farther away are even worse.
A few sword maids couldn't play chess like Huaiyu, they refused to be tortured, and they were bored sitting in the carriage.
"Erlang, please draw a portrait for me. The little portrait you painted for Sister Jianyi last time was so beautiful, just like a real person." Jiansan begged.
As soon as the little girl acted coquettishly, Huaiyu smiled and agreed.
As for Wu Huaiyu's current level of portrait painting, I dare not say that Chang'an dares to be higher, but it is definitely the most realistic and similar. Although the portrait painting skills of his family, such as Yan Lide, Yan Liben and even Yan Xiaomei, are very high.
But there are two statues of door gods of Qin Qiong and Yu Chigong posted in the palace, and everyone who sees them must say hello.
Especially those nobles and princes, they would not follow the same pursuits as the Yan brothers and say that paintings should be freehand or have verve. They just wanted such a vivid and lifelike portrait.
It would be best if it could be the same as those two, a full-length portrait of the same height, and the painting should be more powerful.
There are too many people looking for Huaiyu's portrait.
Anyway, he did the math, and he really painted a lot. He painted for the emperor Li Shimin, the queen Changsun, and the prince Cheng Qian. He also painted for the king of Wei Li Tai, the king of Han Li Ke, and the king of Chu Li Sheng.
Now, Li Shimin also wants to paint a family portrait, including Concubine Wei, concubines, and other princes and princesses. However, the project is too big and has not been started yet.
In addition to painting for the royal family, Cheng Yaojin asked Huaiyu to make several paintings for him, including those with purple robes and jade belts, those with official uniforms, and those wearing armor and riding horses. This guy asked for the most, but he did not treat Huaiyu badly. Every painting
They all made him very satisfied. The gifts of money and silk were all several carts of money as payment, so he couldn't accept them.
Huaiyu was painted by Qin Qiong, Fan Xing, and Zhang Chuchen, as well as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Changsun Wuji, Gao Shilian, and others.
The princes and nobles who wanted to find Huaiyu's portrait lined up.
The steward of Hou Junji's family directly brought three carts of money and silk to jump in the queue, but Huaiyu refused. Hou Junji was very dissatisfied with him for doing this.
The matter of painting portraits is not difficult for Huaiyu, but he is not a painter, and to be honest, he is not willing to paint every day.
But no matter who it was, everyone was filled with admiration after finishing the painting.
Those who have painted portraits will definitely have to frame the painting and hang it up. They may even have to hold a cocktail party to invite relatives and friends to come and watch it.
"Let's draw a simple sketch, I don't have time."
There are pens, inks, paints, etc. on the Huaiyu cart, but it does not need to be very complicated to draw a simple portrait. Just pick up the pen and sketch quickly, and the characters will suddenly appear on the paper, lifelike and very expressive.
Although it was only a few strokes, it still made Jian San cheer in surprise.
"Alang's work is really amazing."
"That's not true. Our Alang is now in Chang'an. He is known as the Three Wonders, frontier fortress poetry, miracle doctor's elixir, and portrait painting."
"Not only that, some people say that our Alang is one of the four great masters, as well as calligraphy. Our thin golden body and martial arts are said to have established a sect of our own in the world of calligraphy."
Huaiyu laughed.
Regardless of the three or four skills, he is indeed becoming famous in Chang'an now. Of course, this also includes the fact that he is now relatively appreciated in front of the emperor. Moreover, a martial artist is indeed quite powerful among the new rich. Compared with other nobles,
Whether you have a good relationship or not, the icing on the cake is that everyone can carry the sedan chair.
Many people obtained Wu Huaiyu's elixirs to regulate their bodies, some asked for Huaiyu's portraits, and some scholars read his poems and learned his calligraphy. In short, Wu Huaiyu, the young owner of the Chongwen Museum, is now indeed
It has a great reputation.
In fact, poetry, calligraphy, painting, and medicine are all heretics. Unless Huaiyu only wants to be a craftsman or a servant, or if he wants to stand higher in the court, he will not be able to get far by relying on these.
Although Yan Liben also became prime minister in the Gaozong Dynasty in history, Yan Liben and Jiang Ke were both prime ministers at that time. The two were known as the Left Prime Minister Xuanwei Desert, and the Right Prime Minister was famous as a painter, but Yan Liben's family was also one of the Guanlong clan, not relying on
The prime minister who became the portrait was a member of the family, and he was also good at engineering construction and painting.
Wu Huaiyu now regards these skills more as a way to improve living conditions and even use them as a stepping stone for social entertainment. At first, he used medical skills and elixirs to get in touch with the Li Jing family, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong's family, and even Li Shimin.
Now this painting portrait is actually just used to get to know more nobles and relatives.
But he didn't want to be a painter, so Hou Junji brought a few carts of money and silk with great force and wanted to jump in the queue, asking Huaiyu to come to the house immediately to paint the portrait, but Huaiyu refused directly.
Yuchi Gong also wanted Huaiyu to come and have his portrait taken several times, but Wu Huaiyu never went.
Li Xiaogong, the king of Hejian, and Li Youliang, the king of Changle, were looking for Huaiyu's portrait, but Huaiyu kept delaying it.
Friendships must also be selective.
What's more, since he doesn't refuse anyone who comes, Wu Huaiyu's worth is no longer valuable. If he paints too many paintings, doesn't he really become a painter?
Even Emperor Li Yuan called Huaiyu to have his portrait painted, but Huaiyu never agreed.
The warrior Xun used to be Li Yuan's confidant Yuan Cong. He did not dare to easily enter the Tai Chi Palace to meet Li Yuan. If the emperor Li Shimin was jealous, how could he get along with him?
For the next thirty years, Wu Huaiyu only recognized Li Shimin.
