On the field, more than twenty horses galloped freely,
In order to prevent the horses from disturbing the players' sight when running, the horses have their manes and tails tied.
The vigorous players on horseback, all wearing turbans on their heads and boots on their feet, holding moon sticks, chased the polo ball.
On the sidelines, there was also a band playing drums and trumpets to cheer up.
In the stands, the nobles, served by ladies, drank tea, wine or buttermilk, tasted southern lychees and other fruit snacks, and leisurely enjoyed this pleasing and intense polo.
This is a polo match held at the Kaiguo Gongfu Stadium in Shouyang County, Yongxingfang, Chang'an before the Dragon Boat Festival. The two competing polo teams are from the Qin Qiong family of Duke Qi and the family of Li Jing, Duke of Yongkang.
Wu Huaiyu's wife Fan Xuanfu was watching polo with her seven-month-old belly. Next to her, her sisters-in-law Cheng, Chen Runniang, Gao Hui'an, and Irina were also standing next to them.
Qin Qiong's wife, County Lord Li, was a little envious. Qin Qiong moved to Bailuyuan to recuperate. She stayed there for almost a year and didn't go home during the New Year. County Lord Li stayed in Chang'an City, so naturally she had no chance to get pregnant. Although she also gave birth to three children
I have a child, but I am still young and I still want to have a few more.
A group of noble ladies were drinking tea, eating fruit, watching polo, and chatting about homely things, which was quite pleasant.
Wei Zheng's wife Pei, Wang Ji's wife Pei, Zhang Chuchen from Yongkang Palace, Li Jing's sister-in-law eldest Sun, and the female family members of the Fan family from Yingguo Palace were also there.
Li Sanniang ran to Lingzhou, and then had a huge scandal with Wu Huaiyu, which once made the Yongkang Palace very angry, and also made the Shouyang Palace a little embarrassed. Fortunately, Li Sanniang has been taken back to Beijing and is being locked up in the palace for reflection.
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On the court, the competition between the two teams was fierce and the atmosphere was tense. It was not much different from the battle on the battlefield. The players fought fiercely and even soon became bloody.
Even the rattan protective gear couldn't stop such a fierce fight.
The polo teams of the Duke of Qi and the Duke of Yongkang are both very famous in Chang'an. After all, the two heads of the two families, one is known as the most powerful general in the Tang Dynasty, and the other is known as the most intelligent general, and the players in the family are all experienced veterans.
They have been on the battlefield for a long time, and they are also very good at playing polo. Anyway, one word that stands out is that they are fierce.
In comparison, Qin Qiong's players are more aggressive in their collisions, with an unstoppable momentum, while Li's players are more strategic, making detours, outflanking passes, and playing well together.
Both teams are very powerful, so the collision will naturally be even more exciting.
At the end of the game, the Qin team was even better today.
The Li family did not admit defeat and agreed to fight again at the end of the game. With Fan Xuanfu's help, the Chang'an Polo League that Huaiyu mentioned to her before is now slowly being carried out. Many wealthy and nobles have been contacted, and there are already many
There are dozens of teams.
Today's game is a qualifying match and a group match. It is played at the Wu Family Stadium. Although the audience is not large, the game points are also counted. When the group knockout rounds come, it will be played at the big stadium.
The ladies gave rewards to the players after the game. The maids brought various rewards, such as gold leaves, money, golden beans, silver coins, and even silk. Master Li Ke's wife, Sun Shi, even gave her the most promising ones.
A player from the Li family rewarded a maid.
The two teams played their next game at Yongkang Gongfu. They agreed on a time, each made harsh words and disbanded.
Wei Zheng's wife Pei also said goodbye and went home.
Back at the Wei Mansion next door, Wei Zheng was busy making realgar wine and Changpu wine for the Dragon Boat Festival.
Willows are inserted during the Qingming Festival and mugwort is hung during the Dragon Boat Festival.
People in the Tang Dynasty also drank realgar wine and Changpu wine during the Dragon Boat Festival. People in the Tang Dynasty believed that it could ward off evil spirits and eliminate diseases. They even said that Changpu wine could cure thirty-six winds, twelve paralysis, open blood vessels, cure bone impotence, and make the ears and eyes bright after long-term consumption.
Wei's home brewing has always been famous in Chang'an. It used to be the most famous home brewing in Chang'an along with Jiao's wine. However, since the Wu family's wine making next door, especially the spirits they brewed, it has caught up.
After the ban on grain winemaking was lifted in Chang'an, Wei Zheng also restarted homebrewing. He gave the secret recipe of homebrewing to Wu Huaiyu, and he could still make wine himself. Even many winemakers in Changan recognized his craftsmanship and came to order wine.
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However, he heard that the Wu family's winery used his secret recipe to brew Wei Gong wine in large quantities. He secretly asked his servants to buy some Wei Gong wine brewed by the Wu family's Bingyu Factory, and found that it was no different from the one he brewed.
This made Wei Zheng a little disappointed. Fortunately, many people still preferred to buy his, even though his was more expensive.
"The polo next door was very nice today, but it's a pity you didn't go."
"A group of women are watching football, why should I join in the fun?"
"There are so many people watching the game today, and it's not just women,"
Wei Zheng was busy mixing wine, "These powerful people are really extravagant and enjoy themselves blindly. They not only play polo by themselves, but also create a polo team, and even now have a polo league. This kind of trend is unacceptable."
Mrs. Pei couldn't stand his attitude.
"You still make wine and drink alcohol. Why don't you stop? There are many people in the world who don't have enough to eat, but you drink alcohol every day?"
Wei Zheng was speechless and had no choice but to shut up.
Even though he was usually very arrogant in court, at home he was often so angry with his wife that he had nothing to say.
"I heard that Wu Erlang got into trouble in Lingzhou?" Pei asked.
"It's not really a trouble. It's just that the second son of the Qiu family is very vicious and cannibalizes people in the street. Wu Huaiyu caught him and imprisoned him. Well done. His humanity has been wiped out. He no longer deserves to be seen anymore.
Become an official."
"Are you going to join in the fun again? Are the Qiu family ordinary people?"
Wei Zheng ignored his wife. In fact, after receiving Wu Huaiyu's letter, he did not act rashly. Instead, he understood the matter very seriously and collected a lot of information. Then he also found Wang Gui, the minister of Huangmen, and jointly wrote a letter.
Memorial.
The reason for joining forces with Wang Gui is that Wang Gui is also a veteran in the court. They were building the East Palace together back then, so the impeachment between them would have more weight.
After all, Qiu Xinggong's sister was Gao Shilian's concubine, and his daughter was Changsun Wuji's concubine. Both of them were prime ministers in the court.
Now just wait for this memorial to be presented to the emperor, and then wait for the emperor's reply.
He did not believe that the emperor would protect Qiu Xinggong this time, and Wei Zheng would not give up easily this time. It was impossible to just dismiss Qiu Xinggong from his official position. In that case, Qiu Xinggong would definitely be reinstated in a short time. He hoped that he could
The crimes of Qiu Xinggong, who dehumanizes humanity, should truly be punished with the law.
"It's almost the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Wu family has already given us rice dumplings. Let's buy a sheep and slaughter it, buy some glutinous rice, make more mutton rice dumplings, and give some to the Wu family. We also have to give some to the Wang family, Xue family, and others.
"Pei said.
Wei Zheng had no time to pay attention to these trivial matters and waved his hand, "Just make up your own mind on such trivial matters." Although last year, because he wanted to marry the Wang family, he mortgaged his house and collected books, and ended up with a lot of debt. Fortunately, now
Everything is getting better.
Wei Zheng was promoted to the third rank of Secretary Supervisor and began to participate in the central government affairs. His epitaph inscriptions and inscriptions were polished, as well as home brewing, etc., which now can bring a lot of income, his salary is also high, and he can receive rewards from time to time.
Mrs. Pei makes mutton rice dumplings every year, but she used to make less. She bought some mutton dumplings to make them have a Dragon Boat Festival flavor. But this year, conditions are good. Mrs. Pei plans to make more so that her family can eat more, and they can also give them to others.
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"Wujia's Zhangxian ham rice dumplings, Yanzhoutan mutton rice dumplings, Sanyuan salted egg rice dumplings, etc. are all very delicious..."
Nowadays, the relationship between the two neighboring families is good. Wei Erlang has also been officially engaged to Wu Siniang. Although the child is still young, the marriage can be concluded after signing the marriage contract.
Now we are not only neighbors, but also family members.
During the incident, Aunt Wu, Ma Zhou’s wife, returned to her parents’ home to give her a holiday gift, and even specially gave some gifts to the Pei family.
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In the morning, Wei Zheng went to court.
He greeted Wang Gui, the minister of Huangmen, in front of the palace gate.
"Shilang Wang, why has there been no movement on our memorial for so many days?"
"Your Majesty won't reply?"
"I gave the secret folder to Senior Minister Gao and asked him to forward it to His Majesty. Yesterday, I asked Senior Minister Gao and he said that he had already submitted it to His Majesty."
Wang Gui was the minister of Huangmen, a subordinate of Gao Shilian. Wang Gui was not the prime minister, so he and Wei Zheng wanted to go to the secret court, so naturally they would not go through the normal channels, so it was normal for them to hand it over to the prime minister Gao Shilian.
But there was no result after so many days, which made Wei Zheng doubt that Gao Shilian had not forwarded it.
"High Shizhong really said that he has already forwarded it?"
"Um."
"Then we will ask His Majesty face to face later, and we will know as soon as we ask. If it is really forwarded, then we have to ask His Majesty why he did not reply. If it was not forwarded, huh."
Wang Gui also understood Wei Zheng's hum.
Secretly withholding a secret message for the emperor is not a trivial matter. Even if he is the prime minister, he will not be able to bear the consequences if he takes office.
In particular, this secret memorial also involves his senior minister and his relatives, the Qiu family.
At the end of the morning court, Wei Zheng went out to ask for an explanation.
He first asked Gao Shilian face to face, and Wang Gui asked him to forward the secret report on his behalf.
"Gao Shizhong, may I ask whether the secret memorial that Wang Shilang asked Gao Shizhong to forward to His Majesty has really been forwarded?"
In front of the emperor and officials, Gao Shilian could not lie.
He can only say that he seems to have changed, but it seems not to have changed. There are too many things and he may have been negligent. He will just go back and check.
As soon as these words came out, everyone knew that Gao Shilian had lied.
Wei Zheng went all out and said that the secret memorial was jointly written by him and Wang Gui to impeach Gao Shilian's concubine and brother Qiu Xinggong for illegal activities.
Now Gao Shilian secretly seized the secret report and lied to Wang Gui that he had reported it. This is a crime of deceiving the superiors and concealing the secrets from the subordinates, and even deceiving the emperor.
"Your Majesty, your servant Gao Shilian has done this to protect his relatives and deceive the emperor. He is not worthy of being prime minister anymore!"
The emperor sat there with a gloomy face and asked Gao Shilian face to face.
Gao Shilian knew that he was in the wrong and had no choice but to resign.
Later, the emperor obtained from Gao Shilian the secret memorial written jointly by Wei Zheng and Wang Gui. The secret memorial had been privately seized by Gao Shilian and read in Kaifeng.
The content inside is indeed about impeaching Qiu Xinggong.
Gao Shilian's behavior touched the foundation of the emperor.
As a prime minister, this kind of behavior of bullying superiors and concealing subordinates and shielding relatives crosses the red line.
"The Duke of Xu, Gao Shilian, was demoted to the title of Duke of Yixing County, dismissed from the position of minister and minister, and demoted to the governor of Anzhou."
If he hadn't been the queen's uncle, he might even have been executed for such a serious problem. The emperor demoted him from a Duke to a County Duke, from the Prime Minister's Attendant, to the Governor of Anzhou, which was considered very polite.
However, because of Qiu Xinggong, Gao Shilian was dismissed and demoted, which really shocked many officials.
And what exactly Qiu He had done when this happened made all the officials curious.
Originally, the reason why Wei Zheng and Wang Gui started the secret memorial was because Qiu Xinggong, Gao Shilian, and Changsun Wuji, the two prime ministers, were all relatives, so they started the secret memorial in order to bypass these two prime ministers and not want to be interfered with.
Unexpectedly, Gao Shilian actually intervened.
After Gao Shilian was dismissed as prime minister, Wei Zheng and Wang Gui began to impeach Qiu Xinggong without any scruples. Wei Zheng even said bluntly in the Jindian, asking Qiu Xinggong to be punished in order to rectify the country's law.
