Fenghou

"Then you can find Mr. Qin!"

"Scholar Qi, I suspect that Qin Hui is in possession of the pigeon letter."

"Are you guessing?"

Wang Mu shook his head, "I found the Zhizheng Hall's records. That night, there was indeed an urgent pigeon letter sent to the Zhengshitang. The Prime Minister on duty that night was Qin Hui."

Zhao Ding understood that this pigeon letter must have been detained by Qin Hui, he pondered for a moment and said: "I can send this pigeon letter to the official for you, but you don't want to mention the seizure of the pigeon letter again, just Do you understand what I mean when the pigeon letter is lost halfway?"

"I know!"

Zhao Ding read the pigeon letter again. This matter is really urgent, and he has to report it overnight.

Thinking of this, he walked to the door and told his son, "Get me a carriage immediately, I want to enter the palace!"

……

Zhao Gou just came back from his mother's queen, and her mother told herself for the third time that Liu Guangshi was recommended to her by Zhu Shengfei. She believed that Liu Guangshi was a pillar out of her trust in Zhu Shengfei. She didn't know Liu Guangshi's character. She herself did not agree that Liu Guangshi would go to Bashu again. It was Zhu Shengfei's repeated persuasion that she agreed to recommend Liu Guangshi to go to Bashu to wipe out the rebels. She did not expect such a big event to happen in the end.

Zhao Gou knew in his heart that Liu Guangshi was the queen mother's favorite. The two times of recommending Liu Guangshi to Shu were the queen mother's intentions, and had nothing to do with Zhu Shengfei, but now the consequences were serious.

Forget it, Zhao Gou was reluctant to let Zhu Shengfei be in the prime minister, but he reluctantly agreed to dismiss Zhu Shengfei because of his mother's embarrassment. I don't want to leave this prime ministership to my mother anymore.

At this time, Zhao Gou drank two mouthfuls of bird's nest, and an old eunuch hurried forward to report, "Officials, Grand Scholar Zhao Ding has something urgent to see, saying it has something to do with the Jingzhao negotiations."

Zhao Gou was stunned, why is it Zhao Ding?

But Zhao Gou was very anxious to know the news about Jingzhao, so he didn't have time to think about it, and immediately ordered: "Xuan him to meet you in Linde Hall, and I will be there soon!"

Zhao Gou finished his bird's nest porridge slowly, changed his clothes again, and then got on the dragon chariot and went to Linde Hall.

Zhao Ding was waiting by the fire in the Linde Hall. At this moment, an eunuch stepped forward and said, "I'm summoned by the officials, Grand Scholars, please follow me!"

Zhao Ding followed the eunuch to the imperial study room. The imperial study room was brightly lit. Emperor Zhao Gou was already sitting there waiting in casual clothes.

Zhao Ding hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down to salute, "Minister Zhao Ding pays homage to His Majesty, I wish His Majesty long live long live long live!"

"Ai Qing is free from courtesy!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Ding got up, took out the pigeon letter and the copy from his bosom, put it on the plate in the hand of the eunuch next to him, and motioned to present it to the emperor.

Zhao Gou looked at the pigeon letter box on the plate, and asked with a smile, "What is this?"

"Your Majesty, this is the urgent pigeon letter sent by Zhang Xianggong from Jingzhao. It arrived in Lin'an five days ago."

"what?"

Zhao Gou was furious, "I arrived in Lin'an five days ago, why did you give it to me now?"

"Your Majesty, calm down. This is a spare pigeon letter that Zhang Xianggong sent to his staff at the same time. He sent an extra copy because he was afraid that the court would not receive it. His staff found that there was no movement from the court, so they found the minister tonight."

Zhao Gou's face softened a little, but he was still dissatisfied and said: "The pigeon letter must be withdrawn. After all, it has not been received, and someone deliberately withheld it. I will not tolerate this matter!"

"Your Majesty, the content of Zhang Xianggong's pigeon letter is very important, please read it through Your Majesty."

Zhao Gou picked up the copy of the pigeon letter and read it carefully. Zhang Jun's last worry really made Zhao Gou's heart hang. Once the negotiations break down, Chen Qing is likely to separate Sichuan and Shaanxi, and secretly support Liu Guangshi to fight against the court. .

If Chen Qing and Liu Guangshi join forces, it will be a big trouble.

Zhao Gou was really nervous, he thought for a while and asked Zhao Ding, "Ai Qing also read the letter, tell me what you think?"

Zhao Ding secretly rejoiced that his chance had come, and he was not hypocritical. He said frankly: "As a bachelor, I have the obligation to share the worries for your majesty. I think that Mr. Zhang is inclined to agree to Chen Qing's plan, and he named Chen Qing the Sichuan-Shaanxi The envoy Xuanfu exchanged the financial power of Bashu for the governance power of Bashu. The minister carefully considered that if Chen Qing was really willing to give up the governance power of Hanzhong, this would actually go back to the situation in the early years of Shaoxing. He gave Bashu financial resources to support Shaanxi. The army fought against the golden soldiers."

"But it's still different. At least the Western Army in the early years of Shaoxing was commanded by me."

Zhao Ding sighed and said: "Your Majesty, if Chen Qing wanted to separate Sichuan and Shaanxi, then there would be no negotiation at all. He defeated Liu Guangshi's army and won military victory. The conditions for separating Sichuan and Shaanxi are ripe, but he is still willing to negotiate with the court. Negotiation, Weichen thinks this is something to be thankful for, and we have not lost the opportunity. At this time, we must firmly seize this first-line opportunity. If we do not seize it, it is Zhang Xianggong's concern in the letter. The negotiation broke down, and Chen Qing separated Sichuan and Shaanxi and supported Liu Guangshi to fight against the imperial court."

Zhao Gou's complexion changed several times, but he was still a little hesitant. Zhao Ding persuaded again: "Zhang Xianggong also said in the letter that Chen Qing only needs the rights to salt and iron, transshipment rights, and mining rights, and he doesn't want tax rights or money casting rights. , at least our local governance is still intact, and then Zhang Xianggong will fight for the right to review the criminal law and other powers, so in fact Bashu is still in our hands."

"It's only in our hands in name."

"His Majesty……"

"Okay, I know it well, the consequences of the breakdown of the negotiation are very serious, no need to talk about it, let me think about it again."

Zhao Ding resigned and left. Zhao Gou paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. His heart was like a mirror.

At dawn the next day, several carrier pigeons soared into the sky, circled a few times in the air, and flew westward with Zhao Gou's letter.

Chapter 594 Happy Night

When the pigeon letter from the Son of Heaven arrived in Jingzhao, Zhang Jun, who had been looking forward to a reply, was heartbroken. At this time, there were still five days before the New Year. The last negotiation, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Chen Qing was granted the title of Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shanxi by the emperor's handbook, but the official canonization will not arrive until a few years later.

Chen Qing obtained the right to garrison, law and order, defense, and militia in military power, as well as the right to transshipment, salt and iron, and mines in financial power.

The two parties agreed that, except for the income from renting out official land and official houses, all other fiscal and tax revenues in Sichuan would be used to support the Western Army, and the salaries of officials in various prefectures and counties and the daily expenses of government offices would be allocated by the transfer envoys on an actual basis.

The imperial court obtained more than a dozen other powers such as governance, personnel, criminal law, and taxation in Bashu and Hanzhong. At the same time, Chen Qing also promised to restrain military discipline and strictly prohibit the garrison from harassing the people.

As for Xiazhou, neither side mentioned it, it must remain the same and be controlled by the Western Army.

On behalf of the imperial court, Zhang Jun signed and pledged on the settlement agreement, and Chen Qing also signed his own name, and then sealed it.

Zhang Jun and others were eager to return home, and on the second day after signing the agreement, that is, the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, the group bid farewell to Jingzhao and returned to Lin'an.

Chen Qing led the officials to send Zhang Jun and others away. At the gate of the city, Zhang Jun told Chen Qing again, "Don't forget to send [-] barrels of kerosene to Lin'an as soon as possible!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Don't worry Zhang Xianggong, I have ordered the army in central Sichuan to transport [-] barrels of kerosene to Lin'an, maybe the kerosene will arrive first."

"Thank you so much. I believe that the court will not treat you badly and will not let the empty ship return. In addition, Liu Guangshi is too ambitious. You must not have anything to do with him. It will damage your reputation. Remember! Remember!"

"Don't worry Zhang Xianggong, but the Lu family, please intercede in front of the emperor."

"I will definitely, well, I'll go first, Chen Dutong, we will meet later!"

"There will be a period later!"

Chen Qing and Zhang Jun bid farewell, watching Zhang Jun and his party go away.

……

As the New Year is approaching, every household is busy with decorating lanterns and festoons, pasting peach charms, erecting poles, making new clothes, distributing new year money, brewing Tusu wine, preparing sacrifices, etc., and so on.

Chen Qing's mansion is also decorated with lights and festoons, and the decoration is particularly festive. This year's New Year is especially meaningful to Chen Qing's mansion. Not only is there an extra baby, but also three more hostesses at the same time.

The Yu sisters have long been recognized by everyone as the half-hostess in the house. This time, it is just a matter of identity, but Zhao Qiaoyun's becoming the master's second wife has surprised many people. Everyone regards her as the mistress' junior sister Look at it, I didn't expect to marry the master at the same time.

New Year’s Eve is also a day that the servants and maids are looking forward to. In the afternoon, the mistress Lu Xiu took the Yu sisters to distribute annual money to more than 100 servants, maids and guards. The annual money is lucky money for children. But for adults, it's a year-end bonus.

Everyone has been looking forward to it for a year, and they set up stools in the small square of Shuixian Pavilion early to sit down.

The guards moved several large tables, and the tables were full of small cloth pockets, all of which were filled with silver coins. A silver coin was worth [-] Wen. This is extremely rare silver coin in the market, and it was basically collected. On the black market, one silver coin can even be exchanged for six hundred copper coins.

Yu Ying and Yu Lian were going to be brides today, but they still couldn't see anything special about them, they followed behind the mistress as usual.

Lu Xiu waved his hand, everyone quieted down, Lu Xiu laughed loudly: "It's going to be another year, and everyone has worked hard this year. We came to Jingzhao from Chengji County, and there are new people joining in, but whether it's new people or Old people, everyone is a member of the mansion.

According to the rules, everyone will be given annual salary today, and then everyone will have a happy dinner. From tomorrow, everyone will have a five-day holiday. If you want to go home, you can go home to rest. If you are willing to stay, I will pay three times the wages. Everything is voluntary, and the annual money will be distributed next, and one more thing to add, this year is an increase of [-]% compared to last year. "

Everyone cheered, Lu Xiu sat aside, and Tian Steward called her name, one by one, each bag had her name written on it.

"First one, Seventh Sister Tao!"

I saw a burly woman standing up with a face full of surprise, "Why am I the first one? Is it because I have the most money?"

Everyone laughed, she quickly stepped forward to take the cloth bag, counted the number, jumped up with joy, and ran away like a gust of wind, halfway through the run, she suddenly remembered something, and ran back to salute and thank the mistress.

Seeing her funny, everyone couldn't help laughing again.

Yu Ying and Yu Lian stood behind Lu Xiu, Yu Lian whispered: "I remember Seventh Sister seems to be forty silver coins!"

"No, the seventh sister has sixty coins, and the eighth sister has forty coins. The two wild dogs in Chengji County got in and almost bit the young master. Seventh sister saved the young master at a critical moment, so the madam specially rewarded her." Twenty silver coins."

The stewards called out their names one by one, very fast, everyone took the money, and went forward to thank the mistress Lu Xiu, and then went down happily, everyone gained a lot.

The one with the highest annual income is not the housekeeper or the guard, but Chen Ji's wet nurse Wang. She took care of the little master very hard and devoted herself. Lu Xiu gave her a reward of [-] silver coins, which was also [-] coins. .

This reward is probably the highest in Jingzhao Mansion.

Seeing that the table was empty, Yu Lian couldn't help muttering in a low voice, "Don't we have a share every year?"

Yu Ying was so frightened that she quickly touched her, Lu Xiu turned her head and smiled and said, "Don't tell me, you are really rich today, I will give it to you, but not now!"

Yu Lian smiled and said, "Ma'am, how many are there?"

"Wait! It's time for the New Year's Eve dinner, hurry up and put on your makeup, tonight is a good day for you, you can give up if you don't want to!"

"Let's go now!"

The two hurriedly ran to put on makeup, and a special bridal bride did it for them. Lu Xiu smiled and told the housekeeper, "Everyone can leave, the old time of the New Year's Eve dinner is the old rules, and the place is Hongxi Hall. In addition, Uncle Tian, ​​please prepare the offerings and sacrificial clothes."

"Don't worry, ma'am, I've made arrangements."

Lu Xiu got up and went back to the house surrounded by a group of maids to see her daughter.

……

Even concubines have different ranks. First of all, according to etiquette, there are differences between marrying concubines and taking concubines. This mainly depends on the family background of the other party. The other party has a family background, so you must give the other party enough face. There are also weddings that are held in a beautiful manner, and there are also weddings that are performed by worshiping heaven and earth, but there will be no such ceremonies as hair knotting and wedding wine, which are only for regular wives.

If you marry a concubine, your status in the family should be higher than that of ordinary concubines and concubines. There are sayings of ordinary wives and second wives. This mainly depends on the status of the natal family. Be a concubine.

The situation of marrying a concubine often happens when the woman is extremely beautiful. Although the family is an ordinary commoner, in order to marry her, she will agree to many conditions, and there are requirements for entry into the concubine and family status.

But even taking a concubine has certain rules and ceremonies. Generally, it is not so glamorous to get married. Instead, it is quietly sent to the man's house in a small sedan chair or a small boat, and then worship the heavens and the earth and worship the mistress. , Respecting in-laws tea, the ceremony is relatively simple.

The worst status is the concubine, mainly the promotion of the maid, without any ceremony, directly promoted from the maid to the concubine.

Hongxi Hall is the main hall of the back house, a small hall of the palace, and is divided into inner hall and outer hall. There are more than a dozen tables of banquets in the outer hall. Then a green cottage was set up, wedding candles were placed, the word "囍" was hung, and the tables were filled with melons and fruit wedding candies.

Everyone knows that there will be a happy event at the house tonight, so everyone dare not drink too much at the New Year's Eve dinner. Even Tao Qijie and Tao Bajie, who drink fiercely, have become very quiet. I don't know if they feel sad or dare not annoy The mistress, anyway, sat quietly eating meat and drinking, and did not dare to pinch the necks of the servants and pour wine into her mouth like in previous years.

This time the concubine was very quiet, no guests were invited, all of them were present, but Chen Qing still invited two couples to observe the ceremony, one was Zheng Ping and his wife Yang Liu, the other was Lu Wei and his wife Li Mei, and then Li Qingzhao, she was the witness of the marriage, and of course, there was also the mistress Lu Xiu, who was holding her daughter Chen Xue, and the nanny was holding her son Chen Ji, they sat at the front of the table.

Chen Xue, who was almost three months old, didn't sleep either. She hugged a big apple and was giggled by Li Mei.

At this time, the hall became quiet, melodious music came from the lakeside, a group of musicians walked like fairies, playing musical instruments in their hands, behind them were bearers dressed as guards from the Twelve Inner Palaces, Carrying three bridal sedan chairs, he walked slowly towards the inner hall.

"The auspicious day has arrived, the newcomers are ready to enter!" the master of ceremonies shouted loudly.

Chapter 595 Little Sacrifice

On New Year's Eve, there is generally a tradition of keeping the year old. This tradition is not because of any legends, but for very practical reasons. Every household has to sacrifice to Yinshi.

Yin time refers to three to five in the middle of the night. If there are many people in the family, preparations must be made in advance, and there are many trivial things to do, so most people will not sleep on New Year's Eve.

Tonight is Zhao Qiaoyun's bridal chamber. She snuggled into Chen Qing's arms all night and slept soundly. Even in her dreams, she was still immersed in the joy of being a married woman for the first time.

There was a knock on the door outside, and Zhao Qiaoyun woke up from a deep sleep. She found herself lying naked in her husband's arms. She was really shy, but she had to respond to the knock on the door outside, so she had to agree. Said: "Wake up!"

The maid who knocked on the door left, and Chen Qing also woke up from sleep, looking down at Zhao Qiaoyun with a half-smile.

Zhao Qiaoyun was so ashamed, she snorted, and got into Chen Qing's arms, not daring to look up.

Chen Qing put his arms around her warm delicate body and teased, "How about we continue to study how to have children?"

Zhao Qiaoyun was so frightened that she hurriedly said: "I studied it three times last night, or they will laugh at me when my legs and feet become sore later."

"Okay! Get dressed and get up."

Caressing his silky smooth skin, Chen Qing was really reluctant to part with him, but there was nothing he could do about it, even his two-year-old son had to get up to participate in the sacrificial ceremony, let alone making him a father.

"what is this?"

Chen Qing found a soft satin bag on the bedside, but he didn't notice it last night.

Zhao Qiaoyun, who had just put on her underwear, stepped forward to look at it and said, "This is the gift money from Madam... Eldest Sister when serving tea."

Chen Qing came to his senses, and said with a smile, "It's not gift money, it's dowry property for you, and the three of you have a share."

"Dowry?"

Zhao Qiaoyun was taken aback, "How much is that?"

"Haven't you watched it yet?"

Zhao Qiaoyun rolled his eyes at him, "I was as impatient as you last night, do you have time to watch it?"

Chen Qing laughed, "Turn back and look slowly, someone outside is urging us again."

The two put on their clothes, Zhao Qiaoyun opened the door, and two personal maids came in, busy cleaning and washing for them, at this time, it was still dark outside, it was just at Yinshi, and there was still half an hour before Yinshizheng when they worshiped .