Following the maid, Zhou Jun walked in the outer corridor while still wondering, who were the two women just now?
Coming out of the gate of Bieyuan, Zhou Jun saw Fan Changshi's carriage parked on the roadside.
Before he even got close, Fan Jinian opened the curtain and waved to Zhou Jun.
The latter got on the carriage. Fan Jinian first asked the coachman to start, and then asked Zhou Jun: "Erlang, how are you? The noble man didn't embarrass you, did he?"
Zhou Jun shook his head and asked doubtfully: "The two ladies in the house, who are they...?"
Fan Jinian shook his head and said: "Don't ask, just know that they are noble people. Being friends with those two people will bring you hundreds of benefits and no harm."
Zhou Jun nodded in agreement.
The carriage left Sigongfang and headed south, crossing Xinzhong Bridge. The direction it headed was not the inn where Zhou Jun was staying.
Zhou Jun looked at the nearby scenery and felt a little confused, so he asked Fan Jinian.
Fan Jinian said with a smile: "Our family came to Luoyang this time mainly for three things. One is to accept the saint's will and make proper arrangements for the slaves who have been released."
Zhou Jun asked: "Shouldn't Sinong Temple be responsible for the release of slaves? Why bother Mr. Fan?"
Fan Jinian: "Most of the slaves released outside Sinong Temple are miscellaneous slaves, while the Ministry of Internal Affairs has to arrange slaves who serve in the palace. Most of the latter are older or have served the palace for many years.
."
"Among these slaves, there are those who raise silkworms, draw silk, weave and dye, and sew clothes; there are also those who are good at singing, dancing, teaching, and music; and there are also the maids in the concubine's palace."
"Among them, except for a few who are lucky and capable, have become the instructors of the Sifang, or the female officials in the palace, most of them will be placed outside the palace when they reach the age."
Zhou Jun: "Then where will these slaves and slaves go?"
Fan Jinian scratched his head and said: "This is the headache. How to arrange the whereabouts of these palace slaves, which conceals the majesty of the royal family. If they are sent away casually, it will naturally lose the face of the saint."
"Therefore, it is a big problem for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to think about the whereabouts of these slaves every year. In the past few years, the possible solutions are to keep mausoleums, Taoist temples, official workshops, art schools, etc. There is really no place to arrange them, so
Send some silk as severance pay."
Zhou Jun nodded while listening, and then asked: "Approximately how many palace slaves are released every year?"
Fan Jinian thought about it carefully and then said: "All the slaves in the palace, taken together, are probably over forty thousand..."
Zhou Jun was shocked when he heard this: "Forty thousand?!"
Fan Jinian: "Our family does not include the teaching workshop, the side palace, the garden and other places. There are almost more than 3,000 slaves and maids released every year."
Zhou Jun took a breath of cold air. The more than 3,000 palace slaves who are released every year originally lived in the palace and had no experience in social life at all. Once they cannot find a place to be resettled, they can only receive a small amount of severance pay.
The results after the palace can be imagined.
Fan Jinian also sighed at the side: "In previous years, we arranged those palace slaves in various palaces, and sometimes asked the state government to help place some, but so many are released every year, no matter where they are, they can't bear this practice. In recent years,
Seeing that the manpower everywhere is close to saturation, our family is at a loss what to do."
Zhou Jun was helpless when he heard this.
Whether it is palace production workshops or various state capitals, they naturally prefer young labor forces to these old and lusty palace slaves.
Fan Jinian waved his hand and said: "Not to mention this, the second thing our family did when we came to Luoyang was to accept your noble order and invite Erlang to a banquet."
Zhou Jun asked Fan Jinian in a low voice: "What do you mean, Mr. Fan, but those two ladies just now are from the palace?"
Fan Jinian was speechless and just glanced at Zhou Jun.
With just this look, Zhou Jun understood that his guess was probably correct.
Fan Jinian opened the car curtain and said: "These three things...yes, they are coming soon."
Zhou Jun followed his words and looked outside the car, only to see that he had just passed Zunxianfang outside, but had already entered the southeastern district of Luoyang.
Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a house in Ludaofang. Fan Jinian got off the carriage first, and Zhou Jun followed him.
There is a small yellow door in the palace. I was waiting at the door of the house early. When I saw Fan Jinian, I quickly got up and opened the door of the house with a smile on my face.
As Fan Jinian stepped through the gate, he said to Zhou Jun: "This Ludaofang is located on the fourth street east of Changxiamen. Although it is far away from the court and the city, it has few residences and only has lush gardens. It is worthy of its name.
A quiet place.”
"This house was the residence of Wen Kai, the Duke of Anping County, during the previous dynasty."
"Who is Yu Wenkai? Chang'an and Luoyang, the two capitals, were originally planned and designed by him. He was also responsible for supervising the construction of Daxing City and Renshou Palace."
Zhou Jun entered the house while listening to Fan Jinian's introduction.
I saw that the gate of this house faced Fangli Alley to the west. There were streams and springs in the garden, which were introduced from under the west wall, circulated around the garden, and flowed into the Yui Water Canal in the northeast.
It took more than a quarter of an hour to circle around the house. There were about thirty wing rooms alone and nine private gardens and pavilions.
Looking at it, the system is majestic, yet elegant. The design of the entire house can only be described as original and majestic.
Fan Jinian smiled at Zhou Jun and said, "Does Erlang look at him?"
Zhou Jun sighed: "It is indeed the residence of Duke Anle."
Fan Jinian: "Since you like it, this house is yours."
Zhou Jun was stunned, then slowly turned to look at Fan Jinian: "Is Mr. Fan joking?"
Fan Jinian shook his head and said with a smile: "The third thing our family came to Luoyang for was this house. Since the first month of the lunar month, the saint has been attending court in Tokyo and is on duty in the Shangshu Province. If he is called, he will naturally come to Luoyang to serve.
Erlang has a house in the city, so he will have a place to stay in the future."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "The saint is going to court in Luoyang, what should we do in the spring this year?"
Fan Jinian: "It will be held jointly in Chang'an and Luoyang."
Zhou Jun nodded, there had been such precedents in the past.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun looked at the house, shook his head gently and said: "Mr. Fan, this gift is too precious, Jun cannot accept it."
Fan Jinian patted Zhou Jun on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Erlang saved our family's life, and also helped with the mission of sending an envoy to Huihe. With such kindness, what if I give you a house?"
After saying that, Fan Jinian took the deed and the market certificate from Xiaohuangmen and handed them to Zhou Jun. He nodded and said: "There is one more thing about this house. Because I don't know what kind of slaves Erlang likes, the servants and housekeepers are
It's empty there. If Erlang has time, he can just recruit some people by himself."
Zhou Jun looked at the deed and market bonds in his hand, sighed with emotion, and responded to Fan Jinian.