Chapter 134: A melancholy life with a little helplessness
Busy figures can be seen everywhere in the village.
Everyone has a job to do. Although there are not enough manpower, Niu Chuang is easy to use, so there is no need to recruit more manpower outside for the time being.
On the roof, men are working to lay tiles, and women are passing tiles up below.
The villagers no longer litter. A few wooden barrels are placed in the village as trash cans, and the garbage can be centrally processed.
After setting the rules, the villagers followed the rules consciously.
Everyone’s concept of hygiene has also improved a lot unconsciously.
For Niu Chuang, the village looks different every day.
There is a chicken pen and a duck pen in the village.
A sow and a dozen piglets.
In the past, every day I was thinking about what to eat for the next meal, but now I have enough to eat. The whole village is very grateful to this generous prince-in-law.
At this moment, six little girls were sitting in a neat row, each with a bowl of millet rice in front of them, and each of them had a piece of duck meat and half a salted duck egg.
"Thank you, Prince Consort, and thank you to Your Highness the Princess for allowing us to have enough to eat. This great kindness will be unforgettable in my life!"
After saying this, the six girls started to eat happily.
Men do all the physical work in the village, and men are the strong laborers.
Men will go out to hunt or find work, which is the source of livelihood in the village.
When a boy grows up, he will also be a strong worker in the future.
Therefore, in the village, girls and women previously ate relatively little, as long as they were not hungry.
Now they can also have enough to eat, because Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Consort gave the village money and bought food.
The whole village was grateful to Her Royal Highness the Princess and the Consort.
The adults in the village warned the young people and children never to forget the kindness of the Princess and the Prince Consort.
In a somewhat ignorant era, a little ignorant people, simple mountain villagers are very simple, they are very satisfied if they can live well, have enough food and clothing, and not be afraid.
In Zhang Yang's eyes, these ignorant villagers exuded a lovely energy.
The prince consort and the princess are the heads of the entire village and the masters of the village.
As long as they can live a good life, they will give them the highest respect and swear to protect the village, the princess and the consort.
Niu Chuang is a capable man who does everything quickly.
Nowadays, the main road in the village is smooth and smooth, and the road made of gray-black mortar is also very strong. There will be no puddles in the future.
I walked around here and confirmed that Li Tai was still working here.
Zhang Yang walked out of the village with a long list. Building materials are indispensable for the construction of the village.
Especially the stones. Most of the high-quality stones near Chang'an City are public-owned, which can only be used by the imperial court. It is necessary to find substitutes.
Moreover, the stone required for the fiefdom requires a very large amount.
Not long after leaving the village, I saw a Central Plains man running towards me in a hurry.
Zhang Yang stopped and looked at each other.
Yan Liben put a smile on his face again and said, "I think this little brother is from the village. Are you from this village too?"
Looking at this guy, Zhang Yang felt wary. He was in official uniform and seemed to be of high rank.
After the land tax incident in Lantian County, Zhang Yang had no good impression of these officials in the court.
Yan Liben said again: "I want to enter this village, but a group of children in the village are beating and throwing stones and I can't get in."
Looking back at the village, Zhang Yang looked calm and did not show any emotion.
"Little brother?" Yan Liben called again.
"I'm not from this village, I just know people from this village." Zhang Yang said, he is indeed not from this village, but the whole village belongs to my wife.
[Recommended, Yeguo Reading is really useful. Download it here. yeguoyuedu. You can try it soon.]
Yan Liben bowed in salute and said, "Little brother, can you take me with you into the village?"
"no."
Hearing such a decisive refusal, Yan Liben was stunned, "I am an official, I am an official in the court."
Zhang Yang looked at his clothes and said, "Your clothes are of good quality. You can take them home and alter them to make a better outfit."
Yan Liben looked at him blankly, wondering what was going on with this young man.
After walking around him, Zhang Yang became more and more satisfied as he watched, "I'll give you a hundred dollars, and I'll take your clothes."
Yan Liben smiled bitterly, "Little brother, this is my official uniform and cannot be sold."
"Forget it."
After saying that, Zhang Yang got on the carriage and waved his whip.
The horse snorted lazily and headed slowly towards Chang'an City.
Yan Liben was still standing where he was. What day was it today? What happened to the world? What kind of errand was this given by His Majesty?
They were almost reaching Chang'an City, and Zhang Yang saw a group of officers and soldiers in the distance.
Standing at the front is Li Xiaogong.
"Hey!" Zhang Yang pulled the horse's reins, trying to make it go in another direction.
Unexpectedly, an arrow missed and hit the ground in front of the horse.
Now the horse stopped moving. Zhang Yang waved the whip several times, but it just kept tapping its hooves in place.
"What a bully!"
Zhang Yang turned over and walked to the carriage and shouted at Li Xiaogong: "I helped the Ministry of Rites solve the trouble, so I will repay the kindness with hatred, right?"
Li Xiaogong walked forward with a smile, "Follow me!"
"not in the mood."
"Then I would like to recommend you to Your Majesty. Maybe you will be the Minister of Rites in the future."
"threaten me?"
"Hehehe, what can you do to me?"
Damn it! I don’t want to live in Chang’an City anymore. I’ll move out sooner or later after the fiefdom is built.
Following Li Xiaogong to a high slope, he sat down and looked ahead, "You can sit down too."
Zhang Yang cupped his hands and said, "If you want to kill me, I'll behead you. A hundred pounds of it is here."
Li Xiaogong looked displeased, "You are a treasure, I am not willing to kill you, so just let you sit down."
Sitting aside, the two of them looked at the scenery in front of them. In front of them was a large plain, with a small river not far away, and wild flowers and grass everywhere.
The two of them didn't speak for a while, in silence.
Zhang Yang began to think about his own life. Thinking about life is a very meaningful thing, and at least it will make you feel that the time you spend is meaningful.
For example, can I earn enough money for retirement before I turn 30?
How many children will you have?
Or you can copy a few saints' articles, become a saint loved by everyone in the Tang Dynasty, and then retire to the mountains and forests, and you will be loved by the world.
What a great life plan.
Just as they were thinking about a woman, they walked into their sight.
I don’t know which village she came from, but this woman was wearing slightly bulky clothes.
Her hips twisted when she walked. It might be because of her pants that she couldn't walk forward.
Li Xiaogong looked at other parts of this woman, "You brat, what do you think of this lady?"
Zhang Yang twitched his lips, "Isn't he just an ordinary person? He has hands, feet and a head, there is no difference."
Li Xiaogong added: "You are watching the way she walks."
Zhang Yang frowned, "Like a fat duck?"
The woman washed her clothes, then looked around again, and saw Li Xiaogong and Zhang Yang on the high slope behind.
She smiled, then hugged her basin and left quickly.
Incompetent boys are always a headache.
Li Xiaogong moved the two of them closer together and put a hand on Zhang Yang's shoulder, "I heard that you and Her Royal Highness have been married for more than a year and you don't have any children yet?"
"Prince Hejian, are you such a gossip?"
“What is good gossip?”
"Just minding other people's business."
Smiling heartily again, Li Xiaogong added: "I care about you. I'm watching everything in the clan. In addition to being the Minister of Rites, I'm also the Minister of Zongzheng Temple. I can't take care of you people. You and
Her Royal Highness the Princess got married but had no heirs, so there was a lot of discussion in the clan."
"It made Prince Hejian laugh."
Looking at Li Xiaogong again, Zhang Yang whispered: "How are the arrangements for the resignation?"
Li Xiaogong looked troubled, "It's not easy to handle. There are not many decent talents in the court. Originally, I was attracted to Cen Wenwen, but this guy is busy compiling some books, and His Majesty also values him very much."
"Can't dig it out?"
"How about we burn down the office of the Ministry of Rites?" Li Xiaogong said impatiently.
Another gust of warm wind blew by. Seeing Zhang Yang fell into silence, Li Xiaogong asked: "Why don't you speak?"
Zhang Yang said melancholy: "I'm thinking about life."
"Do you still have such awareness? Think about life?"
"When you meet such an unreliable boss, shouldn't you think about your life?"
"There is another way."
Zhang Yang finally got interested and said, "Let's talk and listen."
Li Xiaogong tugged at the beard on his chin, "I can find a person among the clan members and let him join the Ministry of Rites first. You are not usually very creative. Let him make some achievements. Your Majesty sees that this person is very capable.
If you will appreciate him, maybe we can relax."
"You can try." Zhang Yang frowned and said.
"Then it's settled."
When it comes to resigning, their moral bottom lines are at the same level.
With the thought that the dead Taoist friends will not die the poor Taoists, I will carry out the direction of resignation to the end.
Li Xiaogong said with emotion: "I feel that the days are getting more promising."
Zhang Yang also stood up, "What we want is to resign!"
On the way back, Zhang Yang asked in a low voice: "How many people are there in our Ministry of Rites? Why did I only see the Prince of Hejian County and not anyone else?"
Li Xiaogong took a leisurely walk, "There are seven people in total, one servant, two sweepers, and two bookkeepers."
"What about the waiter?"
"The Minister of Rites is an old man in his sixties. He is obsessed with lakes and lakes all day long and doesn't know where he is when he leaves home. He hasn't been to the government office for a long time."
His melancholy life became more helpless. Zhang Yang sighed: "It turns out that we are the only two who can do things. The only official civil servants in the entire Ministry of Rites are you and me."
"Hahaha, otherwise I can count on you?" Li Xiaogong laughed.
The political system of the Tang Dynasty was divided into two parts, one for civil servants and the other for generals.
Faced with the unreasonable military generals who killed their talents, the civil servants were often very united. They usually went to court together and even visited each other from time to time to communicate with each other.
In contrast, because Li Xiaogong was a military officer, His Majesty made him a civil servant.
Li Xiaogong is a rough person at heart.
However, His Majesty asked him to become a civil servant, but still refused to let him go home to retire.
As a result, the Ministry of Rites, a faction of civil servants, has been squeezed out by other civil servants.
Li Xiaogong was very lonely among the civil servants.
When military generals and civil servants disagree, they will argue in the court. When arguing, military commanders who are less educated suffer first. Usually, this is the time when they start swearing at each other. If that doesn't work, civil servants are not easy to mess with either.
Under the martial customs, Li Shimin's court had a somewhat barbaric atmosphere.
It's like a common occurrence for Tai Chi Hall to do something like this.
Every time that happened, he was very conflicted. The generals across from him were brothers, and he was a member of the civil service. At such times, he would just stand aside and watch with cold eyes. It had nothing to do with him.
Zhang Yang came to the government office of the Ministry of Rites for the first time.
Compared with the domineering Dali Temple government office I saw before.
The yamen of the Ministry of Rites seemed to have many small families, and the gate of the yamen could only accommodate one person. The yamen was very dark, with books scattered on the floor. The sun shone in through the windows, and you could see the dust in the air.
Li Xiaogong took out a roster with some names written on it, "These are the people I am looking for these days."
Zhang Yang was choked by dust and coughed easily. There was not even a single person from the Ministry of Rites who was visiting the government office.
Those who didn't know better thought it was a utility room.
The two discussed in low voices for a long time, and finally selected a few characters with relatively honest and dull personalities.
Li Xiaogong wrote down these names and said, "One day I will introduce these people to Your Majesty and ask them to come to the Ministry of Rites."
Zhang Yang also agreed.
After walking out of the yamen of the Ministry of Rites, the two of them said goodbye.
Zhang Yang walked towards the Zhuque Gate and happened to bump into Li Chengqian again.
Li Chengqian was also surprised. It was a rare thing to meet Zhang Yang in the imperial city.
"His Royal Highness." Zhang Yang bowed slightly.
Li Chengqian introduced: "This is Duke Zhao."
Zhang Yang saluted again, "Mr. Zhao."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It is really easy to meet important people in the imperial city.
Li Chengqian introduced with some excitement: "This is the person who can negotiate and let the Tang Dynasty win the Hexi Corridor without any bloodshed."
Changsun Wuji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "He is a good son, but it is a pity."
Zhang Yang subconsciously asked: "What's the pity?"
Changsun Wuji said in a low voice: "You are a talented person, but it is a pity that you have been wasted sooner or later by following the murderous talent of Hejian County Prince. I think you should go to Zhongshu Province to polish your skills."
Damn it, it’s too late to resign, why go to Zhongshu Province?
Isn't this a promotion?
No, absolutely not.
Zhang Yang added: "Zhao Guogong doesn't know anything. I haven't studied for a few years."
Changsun Wuji squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "You haven't studied for a few years and you can still make such a contribution?"
"Mr. Zhao has misunderstood. This is a blind cat encountering a dead mouse, and a completely dead mouse."
"Rat?"
"I'm not a rat, then the Tubo people are rats." Zhang Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was so hard to explain that he got himself involved.
Changsun Wuji patted Zhang Yang on the shoulder, "You are not shocked by honor or disgrace, but you can still be so humble. You are a talent that can be developed. I am waiting for your performance in the court in the future."
While talking, Changsun Wuji and Li Chengqian walked towards the East Palace.
Before leaving, Li Chengqian gave him an encouraging look.
I really don’t know how to be an official and I have no experience. If I don’t do it well, I will easily lose my job. The risk is too great.
People like me are still suitable for business.
Uh-huh.
As soon as I walked out of Zhuque Gate, I bumped into another person.