The drums in the streets were beating, and thousands of doors were opening.
Wei Zheng and his wife packed up early in the morning and prepared gifts to go to Xue's house to pay New Year greetings. When they opened the door, they found that the door was full of people.
They all went to the Wu family next door to pay New Year greetings.
"It's already the third year of junior high school, why are so many people lining up to pay New Year's greetings to the Wu family? The Wu family has really good connections."
The old servant told Mrs. Pei, "Madam, the people queuing up here are basically from our Yongxing Fang, and some are from the surrounding neighborhoods. Most of them are from small families in the Fang. They have received a lot of favors from the Wu family in normal times. They must be here during the Chinese New Year."
I want to come to pay New Year's greetings and thank you, but there are so many people coming to pay New Year's greetings that I couldn't even make it in the first few days, so I have to wait until now. I guess I won't be able to finish all the New Year's greetings on the eighth day of the lunar month."
Wei Zheng glanced at the long queue and said nothing.
As a neighbor next door, he also knew that during the famine last year, the Wu family borrowed a lot of money and food from their neighbors. The Wu family opened many shops and workshops, and they also prioritized recruiting people from their own neighbors, and they even had some neighbors.
If there are any disputes, the head of the village will come to ask the Wu family to mediate.
Not to mention, during the holidays, the Wu family would send some firewood, rice, oil and salt to the orphans and widows in the village.
After the Wu family moved to Yongxing Fang, Wu Huaiyu also built a public bathhouse in the square. There is hot water supply in winter and the fee is very cheap. It is a welfare system. The Wu family also paid for it themselves and hired several disabled people in the square to clean the streets.
Several public toilets were even built.
The streets of Yongxingfang are now clean, and there are very few cases of open defecation. This is all due to the money provided by the Wu family. Although other villages often say that open defecation is strictly prohibited, this situation is repeatedly prohibited. The key is the lack of ability.
A convenient place for people.
If it’s just a ban and no convenience is provided, how can a living person still die from choking on urine?
The couple got into the carriage and left.
Mrs. Pei couldn't help but sigh, "The Wu family knows how to be a good person."
Wei Zheng said bluntly, "The new nobles of the Wu family should spend some money to invite names." Those common people come to the Wu family to pay New Year's greetings because they are grateful, but in fact, no matter what they bring, the Wu family will give them a New Year's greeting red envelope.
"That's also a good person. There must be more than a dozen families in Yongxingfang with higher official titles than the Wu family. But which family has a better reputation in the eyes of the neighbors than the Wu family?"
The Wu family has a lot of guests at all times of the year, and the front door is always busy, but the Wei family rarely has guests.
"Now not only neighbors often come to visit me, I heard that many scholars who come to Beijing to take the exam come here specially to offer poems and essays."
Since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination has basically been held once a year. There are six subjects including Xiucai, Mingjing, Jinshi, Minglu, Mingshu, and Mingshu. Occasionally, there are also medical examinations and Taoist examinations.
Not many people were admitted to the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty, and there were no grade-level examinations. The local official schools and the Imperial College recommended students to take the exams, and then the local government would also recommend some rural tributes to come directly to Beijing to take the exams, and they did not take the exams anonymously.
This leads to the fact that when examiners make admissions, off-site scores are often very important. For example, candidates with a good background and a good reputation are more likely to be admitted. Therefore, before the exam, scholars will write some poems and submit them to the prime ministers, princes and nobles.
The ability for scholars to rush to pay tribute to him with poems is more indicative of Wu Huaiyu's current status than the neighbors coming to pay New Year's greetings.
Anyway, Wei Zheng, as Minister Zuocheng, was considered a famous scholar, so he received very few volumes of Qian Ye poems. Perhaps everyone knew that Wei Zheng was too upright.
"Isn't Wu Huaiyu known as the Four Masters in poetry, calligraphy, medicine, and painting? He is also the owner of the Chongwen Museum, a bachelor, and the prince who washes horses. He is the emperor's favorite, and it is normal for scholars to have many works written about him.
"Wei Zheng is quite calm.
Wu Huaiyu's official title was not high in Chang'an, but he could often meet with the emperor and even often participate in court meetings. This was an invisible power.
Mr. Pei sighed, "Let me tell you, Wu Erlang is a young and handsome man, capable of both literary and military skills. He will definitely be the prime minister in the future."
"Don't you think he has a younger sister? How about we get married to him? Doesn't Wu Erlang really like our second child? What do you think?"
Wei Zheng was really moved after hearing this.
Although the second daughter is engaged to the Xue family in Hedong, and the eldest daughter has a ten-year agreement with Wang Yifang of the Wang family in Taiyuan, the four sons have not yet gotten married, so it is not easy to marry a girl with the fifth surname.
The second child is getting married to the Wu family, which is indeed a good match.
"This matter is not urgent." Old Wei hesitated, mainly because he was afraid that the Wu family would not agree and lose face.
"You're sorry, then I'll find a chance to have a chat with Madam Liu."
Wei Zheng pondered for a while, "The young lady of the Wu family is a concubine."
"I know."
······
Wu Huaiyu followed Li Jing into the palace to pay homage to the emperor, followed by Su Dingfang in white.
The two men recommended the memorial and sent it to the emperor's case. After reading it, the emperor immediately summoned the three of them.
During the Sui Dynasty, Su Dingfang was one of the five most powerful young generals in the world who could be defeated by thousands of people. Now the top four young generals who could be defeated by thousands of people have all passed away, and Su Lie is the only one left.
"When I conquered Liu Heita in Hebei Province, I was deeply impressed by Su Dingfang's bravery."
The emperor couldn't help but think of Luo Shixin again. This was also a man who went into battle to kill thousands of enemies at the age of fourteen. Qin Qiong's best partner at that time died in the battle of Liu Heita in Hebei. At that time, Luo Shixin led his troops into the city to replace Wang Junkuo. Who knew
In the end, this peerless warrior was buried.
"This Su Dingfang has refused to be called up by the imperial court several times, but now he wants to go out."
The emperor walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a secret book, which was played by Zhang Liang.
If you open it and take a closer look, you will find that there are secret surveillance reports of Su Dingfang living in seclusion in Hebei.
Before the secret establishment of the Six Gates, in fact, the imperial court's Criminal Department had dedicated personnel to secretly monitor the remnants of the anti-king lords of the late Sui Dynasty, as well as the heroes and thieves from various places, and established special files.
After Li Shimin came to the throne, he just asked Zhang Liang to establish a special yamen to be responsible for these things.
Su Dingfang has always been a key surveillance target.
The Su family was also one of the most powerful in Wuyi. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, they were able to mobilize thousands of local soldiers. They were as powerful as Xu Shiji, Cheng Yaojin, Zhang Shigui, etc. Although Su Dingfang was defeated several times, when he returned to his hometown, his family still
There are thousands of acres of fertile land and thousands of slaves.
He doesn't have to work in the fields at home, but goes home to become a big landowner.
However, because he followed Dou Jiande and Liu Heitai rebelled against the Tang Dynasty several times, his position in the village was rather embarrassing. Family members such as the Cui family of Qinghe would inevitably want to take advantage of the opportunity to add insult to injury and embezzle Su's land.
The dispute between the Su and Cui families was first related to a relative of Cui, and then the Cui family was brought out. The Cui and Su families directly faced each other. The Cui family bullied others, and Su Dingfang was not able to file a lawsuit. The yamen all favored the Cui family.
Li Shimin looked through the information and understood.
Su Dingfang had to leave the mountain, otherwise the Cui family of Qinghe would unceremoniously destroy the Su family and swallow up all their dregs.
Su Dingfang was also smart. Since he couldn't defeat the Cui family, he went straight out of the mountain and came back to serve as an official with the help of his teacher Li Jing. With his ability in fighting and leading troops, he was naturally not afraid that the Emperor of Tang would not use him.
Once his identity changes, Cui family and the local government will no longer dare to press him so hard.
A Qinghe Cui family, one of the five surnames in Guandong, a top family member, and a Wuyi Su family, a local tyrant, and a tyrant who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty in the Sui Dynasty. Li Shimin didn't like either family in his heart, but if he had to choose one of the two to support, Li Shimin
Naturally, I am happy to support Su Lie.
When the emperor summoned Li Jing and others at Chongwen Hall, they even brought the prince with them.
Li Shimin wears a Yishan crown and a Minghuang dragon robe.
Li Jing's purple robe, Huaiyu's scarlet robe, and Su Lie's white robe.
"I will give Su Lie a scarlet robe, a silver fish bag, and a jade belt."
Su Lie entered the palace and bowed to the emperor with a respectful attitude. The emperor was very happy and stepped forward to help him up, and then gave him Fei Yu.
The monarch and his ministers talked freely, and Li Shimin issued an order.
"Su Dingfang was awarded the rank of guerrilla general, and the prince's brigade and army commanded the army in the suburbs of the city."
Goodbye Suwei.
Li Shimin stepped forward again and helped him up, "I have wanted to use you for a long time, but unfortunately I never had the chance. Now that I have finally found this talented general, I am extremely happy.
You and Huaiyu are both disciples of the pharmacist. Now that Huaiyu is going to be the governor of Yanzhou, are you willing to go with him?"
"I am willing to go through fire and water for His Majesty, even to the death." Su Lie was also very straightforward, without any hesitation.
Although we were once rivals, times have changed.
"Very good, then I will give you the Sima of Yanzhou, Yanzhou's one thousand town garrison troops, one thousand state soldiers, and two thousand united soldiers. You can unify the thousands of town soldiers plus one thousand united soldiers, and Huaiyu can unify the thousands of state soldiers."
Add a thousand solidarity.”
In addition to the two thousand native regiments to be recruited locally in Yanzhou, the other two thousand Zhenbingzhou soldiers were to be selected from the inland soldiers to go to Yanzhou to defend Yanzhou.
Li Shimin directly asked the two of them to go to the Ministry of War to ask Du Ruhui for military talismans, and then order their own thousand soldiers.
"Officer, I will pick some for you from the Eighth Battalion at Beimen."
"If you have someone you want to bring, you can recommend it."
The two thousand soldiers in Yanzhou were directly recruited from the capital, and the officers were directly selected from the forbidden army in the garrison.
"Let the Ministry of War, Ordnance Supervision, Shenji Workshop, and Weiwei Temple allocate the necessary equipment."
"The war horse is looking for Taipu Temple."
Two thousand Yanzhou soldiers, six on foot and four on horseback.
The emperor also specially allowed them to dine in the palace, and finally rewarded Huaiyu and Su Lie with a set of royal Mingguang armor and two royal horses.
When leaving the palace, Su Lie, wearing a scarlet robe, felt refreshed.
"General Su!"
A long, short and hunchbacked official in purple robe stepped forward.
"Captain Li, Governor Wu."
Huaiyu looked at this short and ugly man and didn't recognize him for a moment. Li Jing smiled and crossed his hands, "Mr. Cui."
"Erlang, this is Cui Gong, the Duke of Qinghe County, who is currently the Minister of Dali Temple."
Cui Shanwei said: "I have just received the imperial edict and your Majesty appointed me as the governor of Shaanxi Province. I am about to enter the palace to meet the emperor."
The minister of Dali Temple was from the third rank, and the governor of Shaanzhou was also from the third rank when he was the governor of Shangzhou.
From the title of Cui Shanwei, we can know that this person is the Cui family of Qinghe. This person is proficient in calendar calculation. He became an official during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. He once led the construction of Renshou Palace and later became the director of Hedong Tower. Li Yuan was interested
Winning over him, he became the chief minister of General Li Yuan's mansion after the Taiyuan army was launched, and was granted the title of Duke of Qinghe County after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Before the June Palace Incident, he served as Minister Zuocheng. Although he was ugly, he had a good family background and good abilities. He was trusted by Li Yuan and was also a confidant of the old emperor Yuan Cong.
Cui Shanfu, the treasurer of the King of Qin who died young, was his cousin.
One of the representatives of the Qinghe Cui family in Beijing.
Of course Cui Shanwei knew about the disputes between Cui and Su's family in Hebei, and he also knew about Su Lie's visit to Beijing.
Now that Su Lie had given Fei Yin, he wanted to give it away.
Even if they happened to meet in front of this palace, why didn't Cui Shanwei know what the emperor wanted to convey?
"General Su, the old family members were not sensible and had some conflicts with the general. It was really inappropriate."
"Tomorrow, I will host a banquet to accompany him. General Su and Governor Li, Governor Wu, will come and enjoy the honor together."
Cui Shanwei took the initiative to show goodwill and intended to resolve conflicts.
Li Jing accepted the invitation on behalf of Su Lie, "Okay, we will definitely visit Cui Gong's house tomorrow."
Su Lie also agreed. Even though Cui's position in the Chang'an court was not high, his influence in Guandong was too great. Faced with their initiative to reconcile, he still chose to accept it.
"Okay, then I will go to the palace to meet the saint first."
Huaiyu and the others got on the carriage, and Li Jing reminded Su Lie, "It is better to reconcile enemies than to make enemies. Since Cui wants to reconcile, let's reconcile."
"Disciple understands." Su Lie was also very happy. He couldn't fight even if he wanted to, otherwise he wouldn't have come to Beijing.
Li Jing tapped his thigh with his fingers, "It's interesting. I remember that the governor of Shaanxi Province was Cui Shishu before, and now Cui Shanwei is appointed to take over."
"Cui Shishu also belongs to the Cui family of Qinghe?" Huaiyu asked.
"Well, they are both from the Cui family of Qinghe, but they are not in the same house. Cui Shishu belongs to the Yanling house and is also one of Cui's fixed houses. This Cui Shishu defected to Zhai Rang together with Cui Yixuan, but was tortured and extorted money by Zhai Rang. Later,
It was Li Mi who protected him,
After Li Mi's defeat, Cui Shishu and Cui Yixuan accompanied Li Mi to Chang'an and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. The Emperor treated him well and granted him the title of Founding Duke of Qinghe County. He was successively appointed as Sinong Qing and Shaanxi Province Governor. Li Yixuan was also granted the title of Qingqiu County Duke and is now Zuo Silang.
middle."
In the late Sui Dynasty of the Qinghe Cui family, some people voted for Li Yuan, some for Li Mi, and others for Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, etc. They also made bets from all directions. Nowadays, there are many officials in the court, but none of them can be the prime minister or assistant, but their power is still
Not to be underestimated.
Huaiyu smiled and asked, "Which house does Widow Cui, who is hooking up with Lu Guogong Cheng Yaojin, belong to?"
"The daughter of Cui Junchuo, Duke of Dongjun, belongs to the Zhengzhou house, one of the six houses of the Cui family in Qinghe. Cui Junchuo is the cousin of Empress Dugu of the Sui Dynasty."
Huaiyu knew that Empress Dugu of Yang Jian in the Sui Dynasty was a sister to Li Yuan's mother, so Cui Junchuo could also be regarded as Li Shimin's cousin.
Li Jing told them that Cui Junchuo had a daughter who was Yang Guang's favorite concubine. Cui Junchuo was exiled because he was implicated in Yang Yong's case of deposing the crown prince. His daughter entered the palace and later became Yang Guang's favorite concubine. The Cui family was pardoned and recalled.
Cui Junchuo had a younger brother, Cui Junsu, who originally had a good career in the Tang Dynasty and became the Huangmen Minister. However, he was implicated by Jiancheng again last year. Cui Junsu first served as the Minister under Dou Jiande and became the prime minister. Later, after the defeat and surrender to the Tang Dynasty, he also became the Huangmen Minister.
With such a position as a minister, he even went to the Prince of Qin's Mansion to serve as Li Shimin's long history. But who would have thought that Cui Junsu would later join the Zheng family in Xingyang and get on the built ship together.
Cui's Zhengzhou Fang was very prosperous during the Sui Dynasty, but now it is not as good as Yanling Fang and others.
The Widow Cui who got together with Lao Cheng was the daughter of Cui Junchuo, the landlady of Zhengzhou. She was the cousin of Emperor Li Shimin and the sister of Yang Guang's doting wife. Lao Cheng was also considered a brother-in-law to Yang Guang.
Brothers Cui Junchuo and Cui Junsu are now pretended to be county princes, holding the idle post of Shaoqing. It can be said that they have made mistakes every step of the way. Widow Cui and Cheng Yaojin are involved in a storm in the city, so they can't care about it.
Huaiyu's mind was confused when he heard that these noble families were so intertwined and complicated, but it also reminded him that a skinny camel was bigger than a horse. These old noble families should not be underestimated.
