Early the next morning, Guo Song went to the home of the last soldier who died in the battle. This was a young soldier who was not yet married. His parents and elder brother lived outside Chang'an City and made a living by farming.
This soldier was also lucky. He was killed in the battle between Kucha and Tuyuhun armies, and his bones were brought back to Chang'an and given to his parents, brother and sister-in-law.
The two old men held each other's hands and cried in the room, but the brother and sister-in-law couldn't help but smile after a brief period of sadness. Five hundred taels of silver was an unimaginable wealth for them. They had to go without eating or drinking for ten years to save it.
This money, now this money, can allow them to pay off all their debts and buy hundreds of acres of farmland, so that they no longer have to bear the pain of being tenant farmers.
Guo Song has experienced all kinds of life in the past few days, and he is not surprised by the mixed joys and sorrows of the families of fallen soldiers. After all, in this era, human life is lighter than a feather, but death is the norm. A piece of cloth, a garment, and a coffin
It is a pension for a soldier killed in battle, and five hundred taels of silver is a huge amount of wealth for most people. How can the families of the fallen soldiers not be extremely sad and at the same time extremely happy?
Although Guo Song paid a sky-high pension, he had no regrets. At least he was worthy of his conscience and the sacrifice of more than 200 fallen soldiers. At least he gained the loyalty of 75 soldiers.
After returning to the capital, Guo Song took a refreshing bath, then went to Duobao Pavilion in Dongshi City to buy a pair of white jade longevity peaches, wrote a congratulatory note, and sent a soldier to deliver it to the Zhao Mansion.
Sending congratulatory gifts is very particular. Small families pay attention to people and gifts coming together, while officials or wealthy families send the gifts first. On the day of birthday celebrations, guests don't have to carry large and small packages of gifts to the door.
There are also many wealthy families who bring a gift list when guests come to their door, and then the master of ceremonies will read out the congratulatory gifts loudly. If the host is given more congratulatory gifts, the host will be happy, and the guests will be complacent and have more face. If the guests are given less congratulatory gifts, the host will be unhappy.
The guests are also secretly ashamed. This situation usually occurs among squires or wealthy businessmen. The rich and powerful families do not pay much attention to gifts and will save some face for the guests.
The Zhao family belongs to the middle class among the Guanlong nobles. This is also related to the status of their ancestor Zhao Gui as a general. They do not have the noble blood of the Yuan family of the Western Wei royal family, nor do they have the Dugu family, the Dou family, the Changsun family and the Li family of the Tang royal family.
Generational marriage relationship.
From a low starting point, the Zhao family has always been in an embarrassing position among the Guanlong nobles. As the Tang Dynasty has been established for a hundred years, especially after Wu Zetian severely attacked the Guanlong nobles and moved the capital to Luoyang, Guanlong
The status of the nobility in the Tang Dynasty gradually declined.
It was not until the Anshi Rebellion broke out that the Guanlong nobles regained their status in the army and began to rise again.
The head of the Zhao family, Zhao Guanshan, played a great role in Emperor Li Longji's coup and was named the General of the Left Prison Gate Guard by Li Longji. He held this position for more than ten years. His son Zhao Tengjiao also performed well in Hexi and was exempted from the rule.
Promoted to the governor of Ganzhou, the Zhao family is expected to revive.
Therefore, this year coincides with Zhao Guanshan's 60th birthday, and the Zhao family wants to take this opportunity to celebrate the birthday in a grand manner and once again improve the status of the Zhao family.
Zhao's Mansion is located in Taipingfang, a huge mansion covering an area of 80 acres. Early in the morning, Zhao's Mansion was decorated with lights and long tables, ready to welcome distinguished guests.
Dozens of children of the Zhao family began to get busy. The gate of Zhao's mansion was quite spacious, and they borrowed open spaces from neighbors to park their guests.
Hundreds of invited singers and dancers are also rehearsing in the mansion, and the kitchen is also extremely busy. Chefs invited by several of the most famous restaurants are competing in their cooking skills.
Even the Meishou Wine Shop in West City was also affected. The Zhao family specially ordered a thousand bottles of Meishou small bottles of wine. They sent out 500 invitations. Each family sat at a small table, with two bottles placed on each table.
liquor.
The longevity hall is located in the main hall of the atrium. There is a huge longevity character hanging on the wall. There are longevity peaches, ginkgo, sesame and other auspicious things on the table. There are two big longevity candles on both sides.
There are thirty small seats for sitting alone in the longevity hall. These are where high-ranking officials of the imperial court sit. There are names on them. For example, the first seat on the right is His Royal Highness King Lu of the Supervisor, followed by the Prime Minister Yuanzai and so on.
wait.
Most of the seats are arranged in the central courtyard and the east and west courtyards, and several greenhouses are built.
But not all guests can enjoy sitting alone, and there are many joint ones. At least ten people can sit around a back-shaped table, actually sitting together, but the food and drinks are strictly divided.
Although the banquet only started in the evening, many guests started arriving one after another starting from noon.
Luxurious carriages parked in the spacious open space in front of the mansion, and guests kept appearing at the gate talking and laughing.
This is not because the guests are impatient, but a tradition. Since ancient times, birthday banquets, wedding banquets and various dinner invitations are actually a social platform to a certain extent. From dignitaries to ordinary people, everyone will
I cherish this opportunity very much.
Some people want to cling to the rich and powerful, some want to build a business, some want to be in the officialdom, and many people want to find a suitable marriage for their children. Even if they have no ideas, they will still think about having a newly bought hairpin and wearing it.
Go out and show off, or make yourself a set of expensive clothes and wear them to overwhelm other women's aura.
Therefore, among the guests who came to the banquet, the men all dressed similarly, wearing gauze hats, t-shirts, and leather belts around their waists. The difference was only in the color of their t-shirts or the various items hanging on the leather belts.
Gadgets.
But women are different. They try their best to dress themselves up, from hairstyle, headdress, rouge, clothes, and even manners. The front door of Zhao Mansion is pink, white and dark green. Most of them are young ladies, all dressed up beautifully.
Refined and charming.
As for the slightly older ladies, they are dressed in emerald green, plump and beautifully decorated. The head full of precious pearls and emeralds is very eye-catching.
Even some elderly ladies are dressed up with elegant hair and elegant hair.
In the afternoon, Guo Song also rode to the Zhao Mansion. Today he changed into a light blue sweatshirt, a gauze hat on his head, and a leather belt around his waist. Although his face looked a little darker and thinner, his tall and straight figure made him look even more handsome.
He is majestic and heroic.
Guo Song is riding a Black King Kong today. He usually rides a slightly more ordinary Black King Kong most of the time when he is active in the capital. His Fire Dragon King is too eye-catching and will attract the prying eyes of some people with bad intentions.
When Guo Song came to the door of the Zhao Mansion, a descendant of the Zhao family came forward and cupped his hands and said, "Young master, are you here to attend a birthday banquet?"
Guo Song nodded, "The invitation was sent to me by Governor Zhao!"
"That's it. Give me the horse. Master, please go and register it."
Guo Song got off his horse and handed the horse to the Zhao family. The other party gave him a small bronze medal and said, "This is the proof of taking the horse. Master, keep it!"
Usually such small signs are given to followers, but Guo Song has no followers, so the sign can only be given to him.
Guo Song took the sign and put it into his arms, and quickly came to the gate. There were more than a dozen people standing at the gate. It was probably a few acquaintances meeting each other. Several men were chatting happily, and several women were also gathered together.
While they were talking about something with excitement, they were secretly looking at each other's clothes.
Standing next to him were several girls wearing half-sleeved skirts and buns with moon-shaped buns. They were chatting without a word. When Guo Song came over, the eyes of the girls were immediately attracted.
In the Tang Dynasty, height and fatness were regarded as beauty. Men respected tall and strong men, while women tended to be plump. Although men in the Tang Dynasty were generally over 1.75 meters tall, Guo Song, who was 1.9 meters tall, still looked particularly outstanding.
Guo Song handed the invitation to the children of the Zhao family who were in charge of the reception. Several children of the Zhao family were surprised. They thought that Guo Song came with his parents, but they did not expect that he was the official guest.
Zhao Tengjiao's second uncle, Zhao Yunhai, quickly stepped forward and saluted, "I'm sorry, Tengjiao just happened to accompany a few guests in. The young master will sign in first, and then I will send someone to find him immediately."
Generally speaking, whoever sends the invitation will receive it, mainly because they are afraid of neglecting the distinguished guests by not understanding the situation. In wealthy and powerful families, this kind of etiquette is very important, lest a slight neglect will offend others.
Guo Song smiled and said: "Don't bother him, I can go in by myself."
It happened that Zhao Tengjiao was receiving several important senior military officials, and he might not be able to get away. Since the other party said so, Zhao Yunhai followed suit and said: "Young Master, please sign in first!"
Guo Song wrote his name with a pen, and Zhao Yunhai pointed to the blank space next to him, "Does the young master have any title, honorary officer, etc.? Or does he hold any position in the court?"
Guo Song thought for a while and wrote the words "Marquis of Lingwu County".
Zhao Yunhai was slightly startled. The County Marquis was a high-ranking noble of the third rank. Although it could not be compared with the high-ranking official of the third rank, it was still a height that ordinary people could not reach. Generally, only distant royal family members, relatives, or legitimate sons of meritorious dignitaries could achieve such heights.
Title, the young man in front of me must be in his early twenties! Could he be the child of a powerful person?
‘Guo Song’? This name sounded vaguely familiar, and Zhao Yunhai suddenly realized that he was Guo Ziyi’s nephew?
"I would like to ask, what is the relationship between Mr. Guo and Mr. Guo Laoling?"
Guo Song smiled lightly, "He is my elder!"
Zhao Yunhai became even more convinced that Guo Song was Guo Ziyi's grandson. He quickly called to one of his disciples, "Lao Qi, take Mr. Guo in and find a place for him to rest!"
A young disciple nodded, stepped forward and smiled at Guo Song: "Master Guo, please come with me?"
"Trouble!"
Guo Song followed the young disciple into the Zhao Mansion. Zhao Yunhai pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said to himself: "That's not right!"
He just remembered that there was only one invitation for the Guo family and it was impossible to invite Guo Ziyi's grandson alone. This was a rather rude move. This Guo Song should not be Guo Ziyi's grandson.