The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the Lantern Festival.
The nobles in Chang'an have already spent a lot of money to hire craftsmen to build colorful towers and hang lanterns in front of their houses. As a newly rich man in the Shouyang Marquis Mansion, Mrs. Fan, who is raising a child, has given special instructions that the Wu family will build a big colorful tower this year, and all the expenses will be spent on her.
Come out.
This decision was opposed by my sister-in-law, who said that the cost would be shared equally between the two houses.
Huaiyu had also discovered early on that this sister-in-law seemed quiet, but she was indeed the eldest daughter of Cheng Yaojin. In fact, she was also a person with great ideas. If it weren't for the court's decree that parents were not allowed to separate the family between brothers, she would definitely buy another house with Huaiyi.
Go out and set up a portal.
In the Shouyang Hou Mansion, Huaiyi, the eldest son, has always been overshadowed by his brothers.
The two sisters-in-law each paid a large sum of money, and they had abundant funds, so the Wu family's colorful building this year was extraordinarily grand, even a little ostentatious.
There are two colorful buildings, one on the left and one on the right, which just represent the two houses of the Wu family.
Huaiyu went to the palace in the morning to meet the saint and came back after lunch. He had to go back to the palace in the evening for the palace banquet. This New Year and the festival were actually quite busy for close relatives and ministers like them. Even though they went there, they were just paying respects.
I'll accompany you in the last seat, but you still have to go.
Entering the square and walking along the street, you can see many colorful buildings in the square from a distance.
Basically, all the rich and powerful families in the village have it, some are high, some are low, some are big, some are small. From this color house, one can basically tell the level of family status and the level of power.
For example, if you are an official below the fifth rank, you are generally not qualified and dare not build a colorful building, even if you have money. For example, Zhao Yi, the head of the Huaiyu family, has now moved his family to Yongxingfang. He is now a year old.
The income is not bad, but I can only hang a few lanterns, but I dare not build a colorful building.
If a house of the fourth or fifth rank does not have a title, it usually has a one-story building with a bamboo and wood structure. That kind of house cannot even be called a colorful building, but can only be called a colorful flat.
Houses with titles of fourth and fifth rank will have two floors, decorated with cloth, silk, paper and other colors, and even some novelties will be displayed, and some will be equipped with statues of mythological and legendary figures on the upper floor.
Only the homes of relatives of the third rank or above can build more than three floors, which is the real colorful building.
The highest-ranking person in Yongxingfang belongs to the Duke of Qi. Qin Qiong is the Duke of Qi, and his wife is also the head of the county. Although Qin Qiong is currently ill and retired, the emperor still promoted him to the second rank during the New Year. He did not forget this old friend.
The Qin family built a five-story colorful building, which stood tall and could be seen from almost the entire square.
The three-story colorful buildings of the other Xunqi families in the square were all made to go down by him.
The two buildings of the Wu family are also three-story. After all, Huaiyu is the county prince who bestowed gold and purple.
"Doesn't our colorful building cost a lot?"
"Although the colorful building in our Shouyang Marquis' Mansion is not as tall as that of Qi Guogong's Mansion, ours is more exquisite. We also use gears and springs to drive the statues and colored lanterns on the colorful building, which can be moved. There are also lanterns on it.
If you can follow him, this is a marquee..." At the gate, Zhao Yi answered the wrong question very showily.
Although these two colorful buildings were funded by the two sisters-in-law of the Wu family, they were all planned by Zhao Yi, who hired craftsmen to hire handymen and bought materials. It took ten days to see the two three-story colorful buildings rising from the ground, especially
Zhao Yi was extremely proud of the movable statues and lanterns on it.
"In addition to the master craftsmen in our colorful building, the rest of the workers are hired by ordinary people in our workshop. Everyone is very grateful to our family for the extra income."
Huaiyu raised his head and looked at it for a while. It was built with bamboo and wood as the foundation, covered with silk, cloth, paper, and even gears and clockwork, as well as colorful statues, lanterns, etc. Even the lanterns of this colorful building would be needed when the time came.
Burning it for several nights in a row consumes a lot of fuel.
Everything costs money, just for two or three days to show off.
It is true that no ordinary person can become a noble. According to Zhao Yi, these two colorful buildings probably cost more than 300 yuan.
More than 300,000 yuan. The common people in Chang'an city only earn ten or twenty pennies for a day's work.
In some villages that are not so close to the imperial city, you can't buy a house of two or three acres for so much money.
This is really a waste of money.
But this is the dignity of aristocrats. Since they are all aristocrats, face is very important. Although Huaiyu does not agree with this concept of the Tang Dynasty, he has no choice but to follow the trend.
King Wu couldn’t help it during the three days of the Lantern Festival.
This is a sign of great favor from the emperor. It is rare that the three-day curfew is relaxed, allowing the people to freely enter and exit the neighborhood during these three nights, and they will no longer be punished for violating the prohibition.
But there's really not much to see.
After all, even if the gates are open, every street is filled with rotten roads turned into mud after melting snow, bare roadside trees, and tall and cold rammed-earth walls on both sides of the street.
There are no shops along the street, and there will be no night market, so for these three days, everyone just doesn't need to be locked up anymore, and can go out for a stroll and enjoy the freedom that is difficult to enjoy at ordinary times.
Of course, if the merchants and common people are smart, they can also take the opportunity to set up stalls and do some small business in these three days.
In fact, Huaiyu wanted to appeal to Li Shimin more than once, requesting to break the restrictions between the two cities and allow some street shops to be opened in Chang'an's various squares, and to allow some workshops to be opened in some squares. This would not only facilitate the lives of the residents of Chang'an Lifang, but also allow the residents of Chang'an to live more conveniently.
It can also promote the industrial and commercial development of Chang'an and enhance economic prosperity.
But after thinking about it later I decided to forget it.
Because after he had an in-depth understanding of the situation in Chang'an, he discovered that ten years after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the shops and workshops in the east and west cities were less than one-third of what they were when the Sui Dynasty was prosperous, and both cities were still empty.
Not to mention that it is now the year of Zhenguan, but the situation is still not peaceful. For example, last year the Turks attacked Weiqiao, and the year before last the Turks also attacked Jingzhou. These pressing military pressures have made Chang'an the capital city.
, but still must first ensure its military defense capabilities.
Chang'an's 108 squares were originally designed for war, just like the watertight cabins on sea ships. If the enemy attacks the city or even breaks into Chang'an, it must be ensured that Chang'an can resist each square and cannot be captured by the enemy at once.
On the other hand, Chang'an City is too big and it is difficult to manage public security, so branch management is also a good method.
As for the concentration of shops in two cities, it will be beneficial to industrial and commercial management and the management of residents in Lifang, so it will not be too chaotic.
When the management level is not enough, especially when the situation is still unsafe in the early days of the country, then the existing structure of separation of factories and cities is undoubtedly a relatively good choice.
When the two cities are full in the future, they will naturally overflow outwards, even to Chang'an City. This is the law of natural development.
The workshops of the Tang Dynasty were like the communities of later generations, and it was indeed inappropriate to open shops and factories in the communities.
It’s sunny after the snow,
It's very cold.
The two brothers, who were about to leave Beijing to take up posts at the border after the holiday, sat together.
"Have all your luggage packed?"
"Well, it's almost all packed. It's just that your sister-in-law is always adding more things and has already bought several carriages," Huaiyi shook his head helplessly.
"I said hello to An Yuanshou. When you arrive in Guazhou, you can contact the An family. The An family is a local snake in Hexi. If you need help, you can ask them for help."
"I feel like you have something on your mind lately, and you always look unhappy?" Huaiyi asked his brother.
"One year has passed and I have grown older, and my worries have increased," Huaiyu laughed, changing the subject.
Huaiyi saw this and stopped asking further questions.
The two people, who looked very similar, sat there quietly, each wondering what they were thinking.
The quiet state did not last long, and the sister-in-law asked the maid to come and find Huaiyi and go back.
Huaiyi stood up and said, "It's really not peaceful for a moment. I'll go there first. Remember to go out and enter the palace early. The roads are muddy after the snow and there are many people during the festival. Don't be stuck on the road and miss the palace for the banquet."
Huaiyu nodded, "Go ahead. My sister-in-law must spend more time with you before you leave."
Huaiyi laughed.
"I have something to tell you. Aye has done something recently."
"What's wrong?"
"It seems that I went to Pingkangfang with my colleagues for a drink before, and then I was fascinated by a female prostitute, and now I want to redeem myself."
Men become bad when they have money, and the same goes for older men.
It seems that Lao Wu has regained his second youth. Previously, Yang Shidao gave him two tricks, and he secretly raised him in a small courtyard in Qujiang. He even told his family that he was pregnant with a child, and Mrs. Liu generously went to pick him up in person.
Now you are going to a brothel to drink wine and you are actually asking someone to redeem yourself as a prostitute?
It really fits that sentence. Men's two main hobbies are to persuade prostitutes to be good and to drag women from good families into trouble, and they do all kinds of shameless things.
Lao Wu is flying now. The seventh-rank official of the Shenjifang Department is actually flying more and more as he becomes more and more popular. Is this to prevent the red flag at home from falling and the colorful flags flying outside?
Huai Yi was also helpless, "Well, it's not for us as sons to interfere in this matter. If he wants to redeem it, he can redeem it and take her back as a concubine. It's not a big deal. The ransom of a hundred thousand yuan is just to buy two horses."
It’s just a horse.”
Huaiyu felt that it was necessary to find time to have a good chat with Lao Wu. Even if Lao Wu was now proud of himself and his sword was still young, he still had to exercise some restraint.
In the past, Wu Laoxi was so stingy that he would pick up every grain of rice on the table and eat it. He would even raise sheep and slaughter them to eat. Now, things are better now. With a few words, he can be coaxed into redeeming himself by a prostitute from a brothel with more than 100 pounds.
.
The family is not short of hundreds of dollars of money now, but Huaiyu always feels that if his father really wants to make more contributions to the Wu family, he can be like the warrior Leng and take a few girls from good families as concubines.
It's not that he looks down on brothel girls, he does feel that brothel girls come from a brothel after all. It's okay to socialize outside, but bringing them back to the backyard of the house may affect the family tradition.
Originally, he wanted to find Lao Wu, but Huaiyu suddenly felt something in his heart.
Is there something fishy about Dad?
In Pingkangfang brothel, he thought of Gao Huitong from Tingyu Tower, the nine-tailed fox member of the six-door family. Could it be that Lao Wu was also arranged?
This made him frown.
Huaiyu tolerated being placed under the influence of spies before, but now that he has become a member of the family, he still wants to set up Lao Wu like this?
Huaiyu went directly to Pingkangfang, which was not far from Yongxingfang. Pingkangfang was extremely lively today. The streets were full of people, including many students from the nearby Imperial College and those who came to Beijing to take exams.
Everyone came to play in the square today.
Huaiyu went directly to Tingyu Tower.
This Tingyu Tower, which ordinary scholars could not enter, did not stop Huaiyu. He came more than once, and was accompanied by Madam Gao several times, so everyone knew that he was an honored guest of Madam Gao.
Huaiyu went directly to Gao Huitong to ask about the matter.
"This matter has nothing to do with me, and I don't know the inside story. I'll ask first."
Gao Huitong called someone to arrange an investigation.
She told Huaiyu, "You are suspicious. That girl's name is Chu Chu. She is the adopted daughter of Zhongqu's fake mother Bao Tan. She is also registered in Jiaofangsi. She is also quite famous in Zhongqu. She is young and beautiful, just like her name.
It's so pitiful. You, Aye, have probably never seen anything like this, so it's not surprising that you're fascinated by it.
The girls in Pingkangfang Sanqu, although they look pretty on the surface, are actually quite pitiful. They all want to leave as soon as they get a chance. The best way out for them is to find someone with power or money.
Noble officials and scholars, Fan Fu and others married as concubines. If they really couldn't support them, it would be better to live in another house than here.
Although your official position, Aye, is not high, his son is very powerful. How could a new member of the Wu family let this opportunity pass by easily?"
A little girl like Chu Chu couldn't escape Gao Huitong's eyes. She was just a girl from the Jiaofang who wanted to seduce the Wu family and take the opportunity to escape from Pingkangfang. She didn't have any bad intentions.
Lao Wu was made happy by her and wanted to redeem his life for her. This kind of thing would never happen in Pingkangfang.
"If you don't want her to bother you anymore, Aye, I can help and send her to Luoyang or Yangzhou to ensure that she never sees your father again."
Huaiyu thought for a while, "That's all, let the old man be happy."
