Since the official rank has been getting higher and higher, the number of friends has also increased, and every day I see smiling faces greeting them.
During the first month of the year, I either entertained guests at home or went to pay New Year greetings every day. From time to time, I was called into the palace by the emperor to have a banquet and drink with him.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Li Shimin took him to Tai Chi Palace to pay homage to the Supreme Emperor.
The Supreme Emperor was in good spirits. There were many people at the family dinner and many acquaintances. Huaiyu basically knew the emperor's six married daughters and their six consorts, Feng Shaoshi Dou Dan Chai Shao Duan Lun Yang Shi Dao Dou Lu Huairang.
The other princes and princesses were all too young, and they were all born after Li Yuan became emperor. In fact, he had many children after his nine-year reign.
Before he became emperor, he had five sons and six daughters. After nine years as emperor, he gave birth to sixteen more sons. Later, unofficial historians liked to say that Li Yuan abdicated the throne and became the Supreme Empress and gave birth to thirty more sons.
In fact, Li Yuan gave birth to a total of forty-one children, twenty-two sons and nineteen daughters.
There was only one son born after his abdication, Prince Teng Li Yuanying, who built the Tengwang Pavilion. The other sixteen were all born in the ninth year of his reign as emperor.
Most of the princesses were born during their reign.
However, these children are indeed still very young at the moment. The older one is less than ten years old, and the younger one is still in his arms. Li Yuan can't take care of it himself, and has no mood to take care of it, so he throws these children to his son-in-law.
Dou Dan helped take care of it.
Dou Dan became the head of these children and was full of helplessness.
There were five sons and six daughters at that time, but now there are only one son and five daughters left.
Emperor Li Shimin also had many children. His daughter was ranked 19th, and his son was ranked 10th.
With the addition of six children from the princess family, this family gathering was a lively one, just like the school's Children's Day performance.
Chai Shao was still so polite to Wu Huaiyu, smiling all over his face. Wu Huaiyu only saw that his second son, Chai Lingwu, was chosen by Li Shimin to be his son-in-law. It is said that his eldest son, Chai Zhewei, was so severely whipped by Chai Shao that he still can't get out of bed.
, I can only lie in bed to recuperate, and I won’t be able to go to Guazhou to guard the border until after the new year.
Doulu Huairang was an old friend. He deliberately took Huaiyu to sit together and chatted about Yuchi Laohei.
Wu Huaiyu shouldn't have come today. After all, he was not the son-in-law of the Supreme Emperor, nor the son-in-law of the emperor. He was just the in-laws of the emperor's children. Even Li Yuan's cousins and nephews did not come to this kind of family gathering.
But Li Shimin brought him here specially, so he had to come.
On the surface, Li Yuan and his son seem to be very nice, with a loving father and a filial son. However, it can be seen that Li Shimin loses a bit of his usual confidence and calmness in front of Li Yuan. He even doesn't dare to look at Li Yuan normally and always looks away inadvertently.
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The two of us talked very dryly.
Fortunately, there are many children, so there is no need to worry about being left alone.
"Dong Yi Guo's paintings are so good, why not let him paint a portrait of the Supreme Emperor?" Li Shimin was at a loss for words.
Li Yuan still had that faint smile on his wrinkled face, "Okay,"
To be honest, Li Yuan is really not very good-looking. Compared with Li Shimin's prowess, I feel that there is a huge gap between the two men, and they don't even have much in common.
In the past, Li Yuan's cousin Yang Guang liked to call Li Yuan the nickname Granny Mian. Although Li Yuan was angry, he could only respond. Of course, there was also a rumor that Li Yuan was born with three breasts, an abnormality.
Later, after the Xuanwu Gate Palace incident, everything settled. Li Shimin went to see Li Yuan. When he met Li Shimin, he knelt down and threw himself into Li Yuan's arms. He cried and explained to Li Yuan that Jiancheng Yuanji and the others had to murder him, so he had no choice but to do it.
When she got excited, she knelt down and sucked her breasts.
This is recorded in several official histories of the Tang Dynasty.
It is said that Li Shimin's move made Li Yuan off guard. He originally wanted to question his son, but in the end he just stroked Shimin's back and choked with sobs. As a result, the final transfer of power between father and son was successfully completed without any further complications.
However, although Li Yuan had three breasts, he was not as good as King Wen of Zhou. King Wen of Zhou was more powerful and had four breasts.
Huaiyu secretly counted Li Yuan's children and found that there were thirty underage children. After abdicating the throne, he actually only gave birth to one son and three daughters.
Of the eleven children he had before he became emperor, four sons were lost.
The seventeen sons born to the emperor are all here, as well as thirteen little princesses.
When it comes to having children, I am better than my son.
Li Shimin asked people to get paper, ink, pigments, etc., and painted directly for Li Yuan. Huaiyu was very skilled in painting. After painting for a while, he attracted many royal brothers and sisters. Princes and princesses gathered around to watch, and a group of children watched.
Wu Huaiyu painted and was amazed and praised.
Even the model Li Yuan comes to take a look at it from time to time and is very satisfied.
To paint a portrait of the Supreme Emperor, of course it needs to be large and well done, so it cannot be completed in just a short while.
Li Shimin asked Wu Huaiyu to come to Tai Chi Palace every two or three days to paint a portrait of the Supreme Emperor. Several of the Supreme Emperor's favorite concubines also wanted to paint one for themselves, and Li Yuan agreed with a smile. As a result, the emperor's younger brothers and sisters also wanted to paint one.
As a result, Wu Huaiyu took on a big task. In the next few months, he will probably have to go to the palace frequently to draw portraits. The emperor also gave him a task before, to draw life-size portraits for the meritorious officials. This has not yet been completed.
Woolen cloth.
When leaving the palace after dinner, Li Yuan also gave Wu Huaiyu a lot of rewards.
Li Yuan was famous for being generous and generous. In those days, the most powerful means of conquering the world was rewards. He rewarded officials, land, gold, and silk. He was even willing to send his own beauties to Pei Ji, an old man like Pei Ji.
Spend the night at home.
I also received a small box of gold collars from pig loins and silver ingots.
Much more generous than Li Shimin, Li Shimin rewarded the prime minister with a golden urn, which sounded very high-end, but actually only weighed one tael. There was also a silver vase, which sounded great, but was actually just like a water cup. Only if the credit was great enough,
Only the emperor would put another bottle of copper coins in the silver bottle, and that's not much.
If it were more powerful, add some more gold and silver coins, or put two pearls in it, it would be terrible.
The Supreme Emperor will not play with such nonsense.
There are ten pieces of gold collar weighing ten taels each in a small box. There are also ten pieces of silver ingots weighing fifty taels each in a small box.
There are one hundred taels of gold and five hundred taels of silver. They are of excellent quality. Both boxes are worth eight hundred guan. The price is 1,600 guan.
They are just painting some portraits. Even if they are to be painted for the Crown Prince and his concubines, or thirty little princes and princesses, the rewards are still astonishing.
"Take it. Since the Supreme Emperor has given you a reward, how can you refuse it?"
When Li Shimin saw Huaiyu's refusal, he smiled and asked him to accept it.
After leaving the palace, Doulu Huairang took him to his home again and said, "Whenever you have time, you can also draw two portraits for me."
"Didn't I draw you a picture before?"
"That one is a bit small. I want a life-size portrait. I want to paint one for my grandma, grandma, my wife, and my brothers, too."
"Don't worry, I won't let you paint for nothing. I know the rules."
The rule Doulu Huairang mentioned is to give money.
For example, even if the emperor decrees that a certain royal pen holder, such as the minister of Zhongshu, the minister of Zhongshu, or a bachelor, write an epitaph to the parents of a certain minister, or to a deceased official, in fact, the family members will also write an epitaph.
As usual, you have to pay retouching fees.
The higher the status, the more money will be given.
If the prime minister had written it himself, then an epitaph would probably require at least a BMW, worth fifty or sixty guan no matter what, and it would even have to be equipped with a saddle and bridle, and some might even have to add a jade belt.
There are also people like Xu Jingzong who are studying national history concurrently. History bachelors like them also have a way to make money. Even if they beautify the biography of some official’s ancestors, it will cost a lot of polishing fees. Even if the biography is not qualified enough,
But when it comes to them, a little embellishment and beautification can still collect money.
For many families or officials, especially those from famous families, they pay more and more attention to the records of their families and ancestors in history books, and will try their best to make better records, and even try to hide some bad things.
, or the Spring and Autumn style of writing has been brought over, try to downplay it.
And they have to pay for all this, which is still expensive, but they are willing.
Leaving your name in the history books is the final gold medal for these famous families.
In the same way, the emperor sometimes asked a painter to paint portraits of his ministers. The painting was not done in vain, but the painter still had to pay money. If it was done by a high-ranking official like Yan Lide and Yan Liben, it would be even more expensive.
Even if the emperor appoints an imperial doctor to visit the medical official, he still needs to pay extra money.
With Wu Huaiyu's status and his famous calligraphy and painting, he was ordered to paint portraits of the heroes. Each family would not only prepare all the paper, pen and paint for the portrait in advance, but also prepare a large thank you gift. In addition to painting his own portrait,
, if you want to get more copies, or give them to family members, you will have to pay more.
That's the rule.
Wu Huaiyu took action to draw a life-size portrait of the hero of the real seal. The current price is two BMWs with saddles, two young maids, and an additional one hundred thousand yuan.
But if he can be regarded as a meritorious official, who needs this little money? He just wants to draw better, and even wants to give a few more pictures to his family, but Wu Huaiyu doesn't have so much time, so he either draws one or two small ones, or
We can only wait in line at another time.
If Wu Huaiyu didn't know how to run a business, he could still live a very prosperous life by painting portraits or seeing doctors in his spare time.
Prime Minister Wei Zheng has no other financial management skills. He only makes some home-brew private wine. When the brewing ban was banned, he could only make extra money by writing epitaphs for people. When he was only a fourth-rank official, he could only make extra money for those with status.
Low-level officials and even businessmen can earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per epitaph.
The lower the status, the more money you will receive.
It is said that the price for Wei Zheng to write an epitaph is already 100,000 yuan, but he is no longer short of money, so he usually doesn't write it easily. The owner is not fifth grade or above, so he can't even ask him to do it, even if he has a lot of money.
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With Wu Huaiyu's current status, it is indeed difficult for ordinary people to ask for his portrait.
But Dou Luhuai stepped aside, he still had to give him face, and he had to make time even if he didn't have time.
It doesn't matter if it's money or not, it doesn't matter how much money it is, I just really don't have the time.
"Let's wait until we finish all the arrangements. The first month of the year is indeed too busy."
The families of the nobles and relatives of Chang'an are all busy with the Lantern Festival lantern building again. Wu Huaiyu can't take care of that at all now, leaving it entirely to the family. This year, the Wu family is qualified to build a five-story lantern building.
After bidding farewell to Doulu Huairang, he called Pang Xiaotai to see Qin Qiong.
Now Pang Xiaotai has really become Wu Huaiyu's lackey. He comes to Wu's house early every morning to pay his respects, and then follows Wu Huaiyu all day long, working very hard in front of and behind Wu Huaiyu.
It makes others think they are dazzled.
After all, anyone would be surprised to see a high-ranking official with the title of Purple acting as a coachman, and the coachman is so young.
This incident also attracted the patrolmen on the street, Wu Hou from the street shops, and even the villagers from the square gate, who came forward to inquire several times with suspicion.
I thought there was a carriage driver who was so bold that he dared to wear a purple robe privately.
But when I stepped forward to check, I found that the carriage belonged to the Duke of Yi State, and the person inside was Duke Yi. The driver was not some driver who was wearing a purple robe and trespassing. He was the dignified and dignified governor of Baizhou, fourth grade, and was specially gifted by the emperor with a purple robe.
, this can also be regarded as a reward given to the powerful states in Lingnan in the early years. Regardless of Zhongzhou or Xiazhou, as long as they are the governor of Lingnan, they will all be given purple robes.
The fourth-rank governor who was given the title of Zi, actually acted as the coachman of Duke Yi.
This matter spread quickly, and even during the Chinese New Year, some officials wrote a letter to impeach Wu Huaiyu.
Yushitai even asked Pang Xiaotai to inquire, but Pang Xiaotai's answer was very simple. I was just traveling in the same car with Duke Yi and didn't like the stuffiness in the car, so I sat outside. That's all.
, this doesn’t work either?
Some officials said it was not possible, but they wrote to the emperor, but the emperor ignored it.
Although Wu Huaiyu heard about it, he thought about it and still didn't bother to pay attention. There are many reasons for people to find fault with you and find fault with you.
Although Pang Xiaotai was a fourth-grade governor with the title of Zi, he was the governor of Lingnan.
The Lingnan states are actually very special now. The state and county officials there are called Nanxuan. They are not elected by the officials, but Nanxuan. In fact, they are appointed by the local powerful people themselves, and then go through a recommendation process, and approved by the officials.
In fact, the imperial court has not yet grasped the power to appoint and remove officials in Lingnan prefectures and counties. The governors are basically powerful men, and county magistrates, soldiers, and other matters are naturally appointed and removed by these powerful men on their own initiative.
The imperial court can now appoint and remove only a few local official positions, such as the governor of Guangzhou, the governor of Guizhou, the governor of Jiaozhou, etc.
So despite the fact that all the governors of Lingnan, big and small, were given purple gifts, in fact Chang'an did not regard them as the third or fourth rank, they were just a group of barbarian chiefs who had surrendered, just powerful.
Pang Xiaotai had visited everywhere with gifts before, but no one was willing to accept them. Serving as a coachman for Duke Yi would not affect the majesty of the court officials.
After this incident, everyone knew that the country bumpkin Pang Xiaotai had now joined Wu Huaiyu's family. Some people even secretly mocked Wu Huaiyu because of this. Only such an upstart with no background would get together with these southern barbarian bumpkin.
, who wants to play with them, doesn’t that mean he loses his worth?
And Xu Jingzong also had close contacts with Feng An, Chong Xiaotai and the others, and even accepted gifts from them. This was considered to be a disgrace to the noble family. In order to order money and gifts from the southern barbarians, he even gave up the dignity of the noble family.
Many aristocratic families are ostracizing the Xu family. When Xu Jingzong returned to Beijing, he originally planned to find a well-matched family for his children to marry. However, when people heard about Xu Jingzong of the Xu family in Gaoyang, they refused to talk to him and did not give him any chance.
, he thought the Xu family had lost face to the gentry.
Chang'an City.
Pang Xiaotai was dressed in a purple robe and was driving the carriage of Duke Yi. However, he was very proud and proud. He even stood up on purpose to drive and made a loud sound. He wished that people all over Chang'an would see that he had the honor of driving for Duke Yi.
Others ridiculed and abused Pang Xiaotai, but he was very happy. The more people knew about it and the more people scolded him, the more Pang Xiaotai became bound to Duke Yi.
Qi Duke's Mansion, Qin Qiong's Family.
Wu Huaiyu and Pang Xiaotai first picked up Xu Jingzong and Feng Zhidai, and then came to see them together.
Qin Qiong is meeting an old friend Li Daliang at home.
Li Daliang came to pay Qin Qiong a New Year's greeting and wanted to be active. He wanted to serve as an official and no longer wanted to be a minister.
When Huaiyu and the others came in, Qin Qiong pointed at Huaiyu and said, "Come quickly and persuade Brother Li."
"What's wrong?" Huaiyu asked.
"The saint gave Brother Li a hundred slaves and ten good horses. Brother Li wants to free all the slaves and become good people. He also wants to sell the horses and exchange them for grain to give porridge to the victims outside Chang'an City."
Wu Huaiyu was confused when he heard this. Li Daliang was also the general of Guanlong, and belonged to the Li family in Longxi. Although he was not from that family, his father had been an official to the general manager of Shuozhou in the Sui Dynasty, and he himself had been the governor of Anzhou.
The governor of the state was transferred to the governor of the state, and now he is the prince. Although his title is only baron of Wuyang County,
But Li Daliang should not be short of money. He is a noble family and has a big business. Even if he wants to free a hundred slaves and become good people, it should not be a big deal.
"Brother Li is honest and self-reliant, and does not run any business. Over the years, he has helped the clan members bury more than 30 relatives, adopted dozens of orphans from troubled times as adopted sons, helped many villagers from the clan, and has been helping to take care of the war.
The family members of the deceased subordinates have been living in poverty."
