Tang's dining table

Although six thousand soldiers of the Tang army died in Jiangchuan in the southwest, and although fifteen thousand civilians who accompanied them also disappeared in the southwest, no one in Chang'an city was worried about Yunchu and his son.

Even Yu Xiurong was only worried occasionally. Her worries were only about whether the father and son could eat well, sleep well, and get used to the climate in the southwest. As for the worry of defeat, they had never appeared.

Yu Xiurong was like this, and the others were not worried at all.

The last battle report from the southwest was about the battle between 700 sons of the dandy camp and 10,000 southwest barbarians. In the end, these more than 10,000 southwest barbarians were wiped out at the cost of 47 people.

Especially when the Minister of Rites, with the blessing of a full set of ceremonial guards, went door to door to inform the parents of the dude that the dude had died in the battle, there was not much sadness on their faces. They even told the Minister of Rites that their brother had died in the battle. Now, he still has a younger brother who can continue to go. His uncle died in the war, and he still has a nephew who can continue to go.

The people of Chang'an have always been very enthusiastic about following the county emperor to fight. This southwest war has once again proved that following the county emperor to fight is definitely a suitable business.

The 50,000-strong army marched for 1,200 miles through the jungles of southwest China. The barbarians in the forest were not afraid of the wind and surrendered. The barbarians in the forest even volunteered to be the forerunners of the Tang army and wielded swords against their fellow tribesmen.

The army led by the county magistrate has only had seven hundred worthless dandies until now.

Now, forty-seven have been killed in battle, and more than ten thousand enemies have been killed. And the family members of each of these forty-seven dudes have received the highest rewards.

This is not only said in military newspapers, but also in private letters written by soldiers to their families. Some of them joked in the letters that they are not doing the work of the army, but the work of craftsmen and farmers. manual labor.

In Chang'an in May, the peonies purchased by the government began to decorate the whole city, which turned the whole Chang'an into a peony city. There were big peonies blooming everywhere, with only the flowers but no leaves.

Normally at this time, no woman would be willing to wear bright clothes, and as for perfume, hair oil, etc., they would be even less willing to get involved in them. Without them, just because there are so many bees in the city of Chang'an where there are peonies.

Chang'an in May is already getting hot. Whether it's the willows on the Bahe embankment, the lotus flowers on the Qujiang Pond, the green grass on the Longshou Plain, or the ravines and waterfalls in the Zhongnan Mountains, they are more beautiful than the merchants in Chang'an City. He has a good-looking face as if he has made a lot of money.

People are now accustomed to the city of Chang'an, which does not close its gates at night. They are also used to the two huge gaps in Chang'an's long city wall. Now, they are slowly adapting to the fact that Lifang no longer closes its doors at night.

Ever since Chang'an merchants discovered Shizhi Water in Gaonu County, Yanzhou, they bought many Japanese slaves and dug huge pits on the ground. They waited for Shizhi Water to slowly seep out from the soil, and then dug the Shizhi Water into the ground. The fat and water are put into iron cans for refining, and finally high-quality lamp oil is obtained.

It is said that there are so many merchants collecting lime water all over Gaonu County, and the thick black smoke produced during the oil refining period blocks the sky and the sun...

As a result, the price of lamp oil in Chang'an immediately collapsed. The oil refining merchants were wailing endlessly. Seeing that another merchant tragedy was about to break out, the Chang'an government took the opportunity to reach a suitable price with the oil refining merchants. All the petroleum oil produced was purchased, allowing oil refining merchants to make money, and the common people also had a relatively cheap lamp oil to use.

Because of the large amount of oil, the street lights in Chang'an City stayed on all night, and wealthy places such as Pingkangfang, Jinchangfang, and the East and West Cities were brilliantly lit.

For this reason, Lu Zhaolin, the head of the Household Department of Wannian County, wrote "The Ancient Meaning of Chang'an" which is comparable to Yun Chu's poems.

Chang'an Avenue is narrow and sloping, with green oxen, white horses and seven-scented carriages.

Jade chariots passed across the main hall, and golden whips came to the Hou family.

The dragon holds a treasure in its head to carry the morning sun, and the phoenix spits out tassels to carry the sunset.

A hundred feet of hairsprings compete around the tree, and a flock of delicate birds sing together.

There are bees playing with butterflies on the side of thousands of doors, green trees and silver platforms of thousands of colors.

The complex roads and windows are used as acacia trees, and the two bridges are connected with hanging phoenix wings.

The sky rises from the Liang Family Painting Pavilion, and the golden stems of Emperor Han are straight out...

The whole poem has sixty-eight lines and four hundred and seventy-six words. In just one seven-character poem, the prosperity of the imperial capital, the beauty of the palaces, and the splendor of the characters are vividly displayed on the paper. The richness of the content and the magnificence of the picture are beyond compare to my beloved Chang'an. Those who cannot do it.

As soon as this poem came out, the literati in Chang'an believed that this seven-character poem overshadowed Zuo Si's "Sandu Fu" by more than one margin.

In the early morning, Yang Jiong, the deputy director of the household department, hurried to the household department. Although it was early in the morning, he was covered in sweat. As soon as he entered the door, he took off his hat, took off his robe and put on heelless soft shoes, and drank herbal tea with cow in his arms. After a while, he said to Lu Zhaolin, who was sitting by the window at the end: "Finally all the blankets from the Second Cotton Spinning Factory have been taken out... From today on, I can live a more comfortable life.

Have you figured out what happened with Zhao’s iron pot? "

Lu Zhaolin said lazily: "Eighty thousand iron pots..."

Yang Jiong frowned and said: "Doesn't Mr. Zhao know that this affordable supply of iron pots will leave a job for his descendants?"

Lu Zhaolin said: "Zhao naturally agreed. Now I am worried about how to reply to the county magistrate."

Hearing this, Yang Jiong chuckled and said, ""The Ancient Meanings of Chang'an" came out of nowhere, and you've already blown it."

Lu Zhaolin handed a letter on the table to Yang Jiong and said, "Take a look. This is a letter from the county magistrate. The letter says that I am troublesome."

Yang Jiong took the letter and read it hurriedly and said, "Admonishment? The county magistrate is dissatisfied with the second half of "Ancient Meanings of Chang'an"?"

Lu Zhaolin nodded and said: "The county magistrate thinks that when you praise Chang'an, you should praise Chang'an properly. What should you do if you praise Chang'an first and then suppress it?"

Yang Jiong frowned and said: "Only in this way can the concept of "The Ancient Meaning of Chang'an" be improved. If it only praises without making suggestions, this poem will be inferior."

Lu Zhaolin took a sip of herbal tea and sighed, "I made a mistake."

Yang Jiong asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said: "As the head of the seventh-grade household department in Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, we should not veto our construction of Chang'an for so many years. If a certain family is a white man or a corrupt scholar, the last two lines of this poem are 'only There are Nanshan osmanthus flowers flying around and attacking people's skirts, which is naturally an excellent foot press.

It's a pity that a certain family is now the head of the Household Department of Wannian County who has a successful career and holds great power. If even people like me start to worry about the construction of Chang'an, what do you think others will think?

This time I made a mistake. Next time, don’t follow my example when writing about Chang’an. "

Yang Jiong sniffed and said, "Only say good things, not bad things, and don't express worries?"

Lu Zhaolin smiled bitterly and said: "Since I am the person in charge of Chang'an, then I must accept Chang'an, praise Chang'an, tout Chang'an, elevate Chang'an, and beautify Chang'an. Just like the county official said, in the salary and bonus given to me, I will Part of it is wages in this area.”

Yang Jiong laughed and said: "It is really the county's request to serve Chang'an wholeheartedly. Not only does it require our bodies, but it also refuses to let go of our hearts."

Lu Zhaolin added: "The county magistrate's letter also asked us whether we want to go to the Xinna land in the southwest to become the chief official of a state. Will you go? I have calculated it. Just because of the rank, we can take advantage of the boss. What's more, Don’t say that it’s all new land. If you do anything casually, you’ll get a good evaluation from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. If you come back after serving for five years, you’ll be the best in the state at worst.”

Yang Jiong said: "Are you going or not?"

Lu Zhaolin stared at Yang Jiong and said, "I'm leaving, why don't you take my seat?"

Yang Jiong said: "It seems you are not going."

Lu Zhaolin pointed at Yunchu's letter with his finger and said: "Look clearly, the deputy is going, the deputy is going."

After saying that, he patted his chest proudly and said: "There is such a talented Shangguan in a certain family. If you can't find a new way as a deputy, won't you be depressed and stay under a certain family for a long time?"

Yang Jiong frowned and said, "Let me discuss it in the long run."

Lu Zhaolin said: "Good opportunities are fleeting. There are already many deputies applying for them at Chief Shen's office. If you are late, don't say I didn't inform you."

Yang Jiong shook his head and said: "I want to go to the north, where there are long stretches of yellow sand, cold wind and strong grass, isolated cities, wolf smoke, and countless bandits. It is more suitable for me."

Lu Zhaolin laughed and said: "That's nonsense. Today's Western Region is about to become the place with the best security in the Tang Dynasty. The thieves are either busy digging gold for Queen Naha or herding sheep and cattle. They have no time to rebel. I don't have time to be a robber either.

It will be difficult for you to come back after you go to the Western Region. Queen Naha's subordinates are short of useful officials like you. The county respects their family and will not squeeze out the last drop of oil from your bones, even if you run fast. "

Yang Jiong seemed to have made up his mind and said firmly to Lu Zhaolin: "Prepare a good poem and read it when I send it to the Western Regions."

Lu Zhaolin stood up and took Yang Jiong's hand and said: "The county magistrate may not have a good sentence like 'No one in the world knows you', but he will not use Wang Bo's spineless sentence like 'son and daughter share the same towel'."

Yang Jiong laughed and said: "Very good, it suits my temperament of 'I would rather be a centurion than a scholar'."

Lu Zhaolin was a little reluctant to watch Yang Jiong go to Chief Shen to pursue his own future. However, considering that the future of the Lu family now rests with him, it is really not suitable to go to the southwest or northwest. Otherwise, He also wanted to go out for a walk. It was the time for the Tang Dynasty to set foot in the world.

Seeing the sun turning to the west, Chief Secretary Shen Ru looked at the files on the desk and sighed slightly. There was nothing that could be done about it. There were only so many positions in Chang'an, and the number of talents that could be accommodated was limited after all.

Although it was a good thing to let these people go out to exercise, Shen Ru still felt empty when he saw the young talents he had taught so hard leaving Wannian County one by one.

He didn't know how the county magistrate felt when facing such a situation. Anyway, he was in a terrible mood at the moment. When he thought that in ten days, a large number of Baiding would enter Wannian County, Shen Ru's head began to hurt. .

At this moment, he missed the days when the magistrate was in Chang'an very much. As long as the magistrate was there, which of the children from the noble families would dare to look up and look at him?