Chapter 22 A prime minister who doesn’t know how to make money is a waste
In the winter of the 24th year of Kaiyuan, Li Longji and hundreds of central officials visited Zhongnan Mountain, which is more than 100 miles away from Chang'an City. He ordered the prince to supervise the country, and his lieutenant Li Linfu to handle the general government affairs of the foreign dynasty. Zhang Jiuling, Pei Yaoqing and others all accompanied him.
.
Li Long, the son of Concubine Wu Hui who was favored by Li Longji, was also on the ride, which shocked many people. Many thoughtful people were wondering what the purpose of Li Longji's move was.
A few days after Li Longji and his party left Chang'an, rumors spread in the city that the saint would worship heaven at Zhongnan Mountain, then depose the prince and install Li Xuan as the new prince. For a time, people in the elite circle were panicked and undercurrents surged.
Of course, we have to celebrate the New Year, and we will not stop because of the rumors of deposing the prince. Only the high-ranking officials are affected. How can ordinary people care about who is the prince?
This incident had different impacts on different people and places in Chang'an City.
For example, Chang'an East Market mainly sells items belonging to nobles, and the people living around it are all dignitaries, so the things in it are not affordable for ordinary people.
Due to the influence of the rumors of the deposed prince, the business in Dongshi has been greatly affected. Not only are there no crowds during the Chinese New Year, but the business is much quieter than usual.
However, the West Market of Chang'an, where common people and ordinary wealthy people are the main consumers, has not been affected at all by the rumors of the deposed prince. There is an endless stream of Chang'an residents buying New Year's goods in the West Market.
Even merchants from the Western Regions gathered from all directions and worked hard to get a share of the business during the peak business season.
Chang'an is highly commercialized. Things that other places, especially rural areas, need to prepare themselves are sold here. For example, Tusu wine, five-spice plate, fake flowers and fruits, glue teeth and other necessary items needed for New Year celebrations.
, here not only has a wide variety of varieties, but also has grade subdivisions.
The rich have the luxury of the rich, and the poor have the luxury of the poor. The two are distinct, do not interfere with each other, and each can enjoy themselves.
If you don’t look at other places in the Tang Dynasty and just focus on Chang’an, then it is indeed the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty, and there is nothing to be picky about.
A neat and magnificent city.
Solemn order.
A wide range of products.
Convenient and stable life.
And the memory of peace without war for many years.
Chang'an is the pearl of the Tang Dynasty and the symbol of the Tang Dynasty. It is a city that lives in the memory of history books and even in the memory of the nation!
Of course, no matter how good your home is, you will get bored after living there for a long time. Although Chang'an is good, for Li Longji, it has long lost its novelty. This time he took hundreds of officials to visit Zhongnan Mountain, which can be regarded as the emperor himself.
It’s annual leave.
There was no "Spring Festival" in the Tang Dynasty. The first day of the Lunar New Year was called "New Year's Day", "Yuan Day" or "Yuan Zheng" in the Tang Dynasty.
In the early days of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Li Longji promulgated the "False Ning Order": "On the first day of the Yuan Dynasty and on the winter solstice, each will be given seven days off." That is to say, there are seven days off during the New Year, including New Year's Eve and the three days before it, and the first day of the Lunar New Year (i.e. Yuan Day).
The second and third days of the Lunar New Year are similar to the Golden Week in Fang Chongyong’s previous life.
Li Longji himself is a fun-loving person. It seems reasonable to go to the surrounding mountains to enjoy the snow and worship the sky during the Chinese New Year. It is okay for the emperor to engage in team building.
Just a few days before the New Year, there was heavy snowfall in Chang'an, and the Li Linfu family's house in Pingkangfang was being renovated and renovated in full swing to prepare for the New Year.
The area of Pingkangfang is not small, with a length of 1022 meters from east to west and about 500 meters from north to south. The total area is about 500,000 square meters, that is, nearly half the size of the Forbidden City (the Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters). In the northwest corner of Pingkangfang is Princess Changning's Mansion. This residence alone occupies a full quarter of the area of Pingkangfang, and there is also a Cuju court. However, after Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty came to power during the Jingyun period, Princess Changning had already lost power.
After leaving Chang'an, he packed up the entire mansion and sold it, and divided the land to build a new mansion.
Nowadays, many houses here have been converted into brothels and brothels. In order to facilitate officials to "pick up prostitutes" after going to court, these brothels are located next to the gates. It is easy for customers to enter and exit.
The southwest corner of Pingkangfang is the residence of many imperial officials, such as Chu Suiliang's residence, Pei Guangting's residence, etc. Moreover, the Imperial Court's Jinzou Courtyard has always been located here and has not changed.
The households in the northeast corner are relatively complex, and the houses are divided very finely. The one to the west is "Sanqu", and the others are small individual households, often rented to some down-and-out students who took the imperial examination in Chang'an.
There is also a temple here called Yanghua Temple.
"Sanqu" is where prostitutes live. The northernmost one is a poor and lowly prostitute who can only do skin and flesh business and even dare not give her name. The second and third songs are frequent visitors to the mansions of high-ranking officials in Chang'an.
, life is much more comfortable.
The southeast corner of Pingkangfang is where Li Linfu's residence is located, which together with Bodhi Temple occupies a quarter of the space of Pingkangfang.
In other words, Li Linfu's mansion is indeed not much smaller than Princess Changning's mansion back then.
It is impossible to expand. The size and scale of the houses that officials can own are customized. Besides, many of the people living in Pingkangfang are nobles. It is impossible for Li Linfu to offend these people in order to expand his own house.
He was promoted to an official position and built a house. This is an old rule in the officialdom and is understandable. But occupying someone else's house is obviously overstepping the boundaries.
Not only did Li Linfu not show off, he even deliberately kept a low profile. His house, even the yard outside, including the walls, remained the same, but the furnishings inside changed a lot.
At Li Linfu's strong request, the craftsmen opened the walls between the wing rooms and built partitions between the rooms, which could only accommodate two people and a table. It was meant to receive guests, but the place was too small.
.I think I want to be quiet, but I’m too closed-minded.
It's a bit like a place where big things are plotted.
The decoration of the residence of Zuo Xiang of the Tang Dynasty actually required so much trouble, which made the craftsmen feel unbelievable. However, Li Linfu was very generous and powerful, and he generously paid the project funds in one lump sum, so these craftsmen had no choice but to pretend that they were blind, deaf and dumb. p>
Anyway, if you see it, pretend you didn’t see it, if you hear it, pretend you didn’t hear it, if you know it, pretend you have forgotten it, that’s it.
The courtyard is being renovated, but Li Linfu in the study is receiving guests.
The guest's name is Xiao Jiong, a member of Li Linfu's party, a former official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and a former subordinate of Li Linfu.
Why add "before"?
Because he was demoted at this juncture of the New Year.
The reason for being demoted is also very strange.
Xiao Jiong, who is the Minister of Household Affairs, went to attend an official gathering with Yan Tingzhi, the Minister of Zhongshu. During this period, Xiao Jiong was probably bored, so he picked up a book of "Book of Rites" and turned over it to pass the time.
.
In fact, this is also normal, because central officials in the Tang Dynasty spent a lot of time fishing and had a lot of boring chores.
But it should never be the case. Xiao Jiong read it out when he saw it, and he even read it wrong!
Definitely, there is a sentence in the book called "Steaming and Tasting Fu La". Xiao Jiong recognized the word "白" and pronounced the word "La" as "Hunt".
If Fang Chongyong did such a stupid thing when he was in school in his previous life, it would definitely be harmless. Who dares to say that he didn’t miss any words when he was studying?
But at this juncture, especially in the eyes of court officials, mispronunciation is a big deal.
In fact, this is easy to understand. There is no small matter in officialdom, and no matter how small it is, it can be enough to kill someone at some point!
Because "Book of Rites" was one of the must-read books for scholars in the Tang Dynasty, it was necessary to learn it when participating in the school system. Moreover, the character "La" is not a rare character or a variant.
The fact that Xiao Jiong can pronounce it as "lurking" already shows that he has no idea what the word means. To put it simply, this person is a bastard, a fake scholar who sneaked into the court without knowing how!
The officialdom of the Tang Dynasty was dangerous, and the "good people" recorded in history books may not necessarily have noble personal ethics.
Yan Tingzhi was quite unkind. When he heard that Xiao Jiong had mispronounced the words, he deliberately burst into laughter, making everyone aware of it.
What's even more insidious is that he didn't say it outright on the spot. Instead, he treated Xiao Jiong's embarrassing incident as a joke and told it everywhere after he came back. He even directly went to Zhongshu Ling Zhang Jiuling and said this sentence: Province (Shang Shu Province)
How can there be a "hunting servant" in the country!
Zhang Jiuling is a traditional scholar-official, and he does not think highly of people without knowledge (the ability to manage money is not considered knowledge in the eyes of these people). Therefore, under Zhang Jiuling's operation, it didn't take long for the central government to transfer Xiao to
Jiong was transferred to Qizhou as governor.
As for Xiu Mu now, Xiao Jiong was definitely not allowed to go to another place to take up his post, and it would definitely be after the Lantern Festival if he wanted to leave. So he spent a lot of money to buy two jars of red lotus spring, and came to Li Linfu with wine to find a solution.
"Prime Minister Li, there is something big going on with Zhang Jiuling!"
Xiao Jiong approached Li Linfu and said in a deep voice.
"What's the big deal with Mr. Zhang?"
Li Linfu smiled, waved his hand indifferently, and poured a glass of Red Lotus Spring for Xiao Jiong. He was secretly angry in his heart, but his face was calm.
The power struggle between him and Zhang Jiuling has begun and has entered an endless and intense stage.
Li Linfu believed that Zhang Jiuling disparaged Xiao Jiong not because Xiao Jiong mispronounced a word, but because... he was excluding dissidents! Xiao Jiong was Li Linfu's thug in the Household Department. Without Xiao Jiong, Li Linfu would lose control of the Household Department to a certain extent.
control.
As for what Zhang Jiuling planned, it is actually not that important. The stones blocking the road must be moved away. If Zhang Jiuling cannot come down, how can Li Linfu himself become the right prime minister? They are all going to fight to the death anyway, and there is no shortage of this.
Stubble.
Li Linfu got up by managing money. If he can't control the household department, how can he manage money?
"The phase is vacant, Zhang Jiuling wants to get Yan Tingzhi into the phase!"
Seeing Li Linfu's nonchalant look, Xiao Jiong gritted his teeth and said, and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp!
Damn it, Hong Lian Chun is really expensive. The precious people like this kind of flavor. No matter how good the cheap stuff is, they don’t like it, thinking that it will lose their status! Xiao Jiong secretly cursed the people who brewed Hong Lian Chun.
Black heart.
"Really?"
Li Linfu nodded noncommittally, secretly calculating the gains and losses in his heart.
Of the three prime ministers, Zhang Jiuling is still the right prime minister. Pei Yaoqing was demoted because he "misappropriated" Li Longji's "pocket money", leaving the prime minister's position vacant.
Zhang Jiuling wanted to help Yan Tingzhi, who had a close personal relationship with him, which was actually human nature.
How Li Longji will make a decision is hard to say right now.
In Li Linfu's view, Zhang Jiuling's biggest problem is that he doesn't understand what Li Longji lacks!
Times have changed, and what Li Longji lacks today is money!
If the Tang Empire wanted to run smoothly, it also needed money!
Money! Money! Money!
Things other than money are nothing!
Now is the era of money. In the early years, those poets thought that writing articles and memorials for the emperor would make them successful. Haha, I can only say that reading is stupid! Times have changed a long time ago!
Can Zhang Jiuling make money for Li Longji? If so, how much can he make? Can he make more money than himself?
Thinking of this, Li Linfu felt confident that the key to solving the problem was in his own hands.
For Li Longji, a prime minister who cannot make money is just trash and can be removed at any time!
A prime minister who can make money is the person Li Longji needs in the future. This is true both for the country and for Li Longji himself.
"The truth of this matter is already known. You first go to Qizhou to take office. Yan Tingzhi's matter will be dealt with by the truth."
Li Linfu said to Xiao Jiong with a smile on his face without commenting.
Xiao Jiong had no choice but to thank him profusely and then left.
After he left, Li Linfu shook his silver lotus wine glass while concentrating on his thoughts.
"What does the prince want to do?"
Li Linfu was talking to himself, stroking the long beard on his chin. In his eyes, Zhang Jiuling was just a dead bone in a grave. He was now troubled by another important matter.
……
The apes on both sides of the bank can't stop crying, and the boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Starting from Kuizhou, the high-spirited Zheng Shuqing and the worried Fang Chongyong took an official boat and sailed down the Yangtze River to Hanyang City (Hanyang District, Wuhan) for a day of repairs. Then they turned to the Han River and headed north to Xiangyang.
Here we are going to continue going north along the Baihe River and enter Guanzhong via Wuguan Road.
However, when they arrived outside Xiangyang City, they were surprised to find that the Baihe River was frozen and the waterway could not continue!
So everyone had to disembark at Hanyin Station not far to the west of Xiangyang City. This station is both a water station and a land station. It is extremely large in scale. Not only does it have a ferry, but there are more than a hundred houses in the station. There is a constant stream of people coming and going.
Endless.
The scale of the stables alone is spectacular, including dozens of stagecoach horses!
Fang Chongyong stood outside Hanyin Inn and observed carefully, and found that there were actually several halls, pavilions, pavilions and gardens inside the station. It was not as crowded as the imagined "youth hostel". The whole building had white walls and black tiles and looked very grand.
.
He couldn't help but have a question in his mind: A post station of this scale would probably keep a lot of horses. Is the central government of the Tang Dynasty a big dog owner, and would he be willing to spend money to maintain such a large post station?
It's not that he has many questions, but there are more than 1,600 post stations in the Tang Dynasty! If a post station consumes a few hundred guan every year, it also costs hundreds of thousands of guan! The post station must not only provide free food and accommodation for officials coming and going, but also
He is also responsible for delivering messages.
House maintenance, food and drinks, horse feeding, and staff salaries, which one does not cost money? Can such a large-scale inn sustain a few hundred dollars a year? Datang is afraid that running these inns will lead to poverty! Fang Chongyong couldn't understand it at all.
Zheng Shuqing seemed to have noticed his doubts, and came over and lowered his voice and said: "In various post stations, the central government does not allow them to receive wealthy businessmen and travelers. But look at the Qutang Post in Kuizhou. People are coming and going. Are all the people living there?
Are they officials? How can there be so many officials going to Shu?"
When he first saw the Qutang Station in Kuizhou was overcrowded, he thought it was filled with officials. Only now did he know the answer. It turned out that most of the people living there were not officials, but wealthy and well-connected merchants.
.
Even poets without official positions have visited the inn and made a living.
In fact, this is easy to understand.
In feudal society, people's pace of life was very slow. Even in a place like Kuizhou, the throat of the southwest, how many officials would live here a month? How many officials would frequently travel to and from Shu along the Yangtze River? The answer is obvious.
Just like the Tang Dynasty officials did not allow killing cows and eating beef. The ban is a ban, and eating meat is eating meat. The two go hand in hand, and people who like to eat will still eat it!
The government does not allow post stations in various places to receive traveling merchants, but apart from the post stations around Chang'an and Luoyang, which post station does not rely on this kind of "extra money" to maintain its livelihood? The imperial court's orders are always not as important as livelihood.
When people are extremely poor, they have nothing. What’s the use of teaching the laws to these people?
If not many officials pass by the inn this year (this is a very common situation), do we have to fire all the people in the inn? What if there are officials who pass by and need accommodation and food? Should we fire those who have been dismissed?
Recall it again?
This is of course unrealistic!
Therefore, the central government would turn a blind eye to matters such as "accepting private work" at various post stations, and would ignore it as long as no one reported it.
The inns below are also in full swing, and are even "outsourced" and run by large local companies!
All things are free, and people can always think of better ways to survive and live better.
Fang Chongyong and his party entered Hanyin Post and asked the postman to bring some local Xiangyang specialties, such as eel, scallops, crucian carp and other river delicacies.
At this moment, they saw a young man dressed in a poor manner being pushed out of the inn by the postmen. The postmen looked very rude, which was completely opposite to the courteous attitude they received Zheng Shuqing and others! p>
"That man is an official. Let's have a drink with him."
Fang Chongyong suggested to Zheng Shuqing in a low voice.