Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1366 Chang'an is a livable place
The site of Chang'an City today is several miles eastward compared to its historical location. This has caused the positions of some historical landmarks in the city to change, and most of the representative buildings that are familiar to later generations no longer exist, and it is unknown whether they will be built in the future.

Just like the Qujiang Pond, which is quite famous in later generations, it should have been located in the southeast corner of Chang'an City, but now it is located outside the Qixia Gate in the south of the city, not in the city, and its scale is far smaller than that in later generations. It is just a seasonal canal pond in the north of Shaolingyuan, relying on spring and summer precipitation and some intermittent valleys on the plateau to replenish water.

Before Chang'an City was moved to the new site of Longshouyuan, Qujiang, located on the edge of Shaolingyuan, was not a very outstanding place. Just like when the current Supreme entered Chang'an in his early years, Longshouyuan was also a barren land due to the lack of water.

The abandonment of Qujiang is due to frequent floods. Because it is located between the valleys on the north side of Shaolingyuan, during the rainy season in spring and summer, the precipitation on the plateau will flow into this depression along the slopes and valleys. Qujiang itself lacks an overall plan for water storage and drainage. Therefore, every time this happens, it becomes a place where water accumulates and floods, making it difficult to cultivate and live in. Instead, it becomes a paradise for mosquitoes and flies, and is naturally despised by people.

When planning the new city of Chang'an, although Qujiang was close to the new city, it was not within the scope of the main urban area, and it was too complicated to clean up, so it was not included in the rectification plan. Because the land was too desolate, someone even suggested that it should be completely filled in, but it was not implemented because of the large amount of labor.

When Chang'an was newly built, although Qujiang was already located in the suburbs, the city was still relatively empty and deserted, so naturally few people paid attention to it. However, as the capital became more and more prosperous, the suburbs also gradually attracted attention, and someone suddenly discovered that Qujiang, a place that had been abandoned for many years, had already been fenced off and built into large gardens and villas.

In the past, Qujiang was far away from the city and in a desolate location, so it naturally had little value for development. But now, with the relocation of Chang'an City, this place happens to be located in the southern suburbs outside the city, with an excellent location.

If you can buy a property here, you can experience the prosperity of the capital nearby while enjoying the tranquility of a suburban villa. It can be said to be the best of both worlds. Of course, the prerequisite is to thoroughly renovate Qujiang.

But this problem has been around for a long time and is not easy to solve. Until someone came to the authorities and suggested digging a canal from Zhongnan Mountain through Shaolingyuan to the north, it would be more convenient to transport bamboo, wood, stone and other building materials produced in Zhongnan Mountain to the south of Beijing for public and private use. At the same time, after flowing through Qujiang, this canal could turn eastward and merge into Longshou Canal, solving the spring and summer siltation problem of Qujiang in the southern suburbs. The person also expressed his willingness to take the initiative to undertake the task of dredging and widening the Qujiang canal.

During the construction of Chang'an City, public-private partnership was a very common phenomenon. In order to obtain a desired residence in the new city, many powerful families in the city would consult the authorities and send their servants to build mansions as soon as the boundaries of the city were demarcated. By the time the city framework was formed, these mansions had already been completed.

After receiving the proposal, the officials sent officials to conduct an on-site inspection and then agreed to the plan. Of course, the person who proposed it would not just do the work for nothing. He hoped to obtain 100 hectares of land along the Qujiang River after dredging and widening the Qujiang Canal.

One hundred hectares of land is not small, but it is nothing compared to the labor required to dredge and widen Qujiang River. Some aristocratic families and powerful families often own dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of hectares of land. Although Qujiang River is somewhat special because it is located in the suburbs of the capital, at that time, Chang'an City was still under construction. In order to ensure the progress of the project and reduce the overall labor cost, such cooperation was also a win-win situation.

After reaching a cooperation agreement with the government, he immediately went to lobby the powerful families in Guanzhong, expressing his willingness to donate the beautiful gardens and villas in Kinki and lend his troops. After his lobbying, many powerful families were persuaded to join in, and together they dredged and renovated the Qujiang River, and then enclosed land around the pond and built gardens and villas.

This man, who walked between the public and private sectors and rebuilt the long-abandoned Qujiang River with his planning and suggestions, was Wei Ding. As a result, he owned a garden villa covering more than 70 hectares by the Qujiang River, and did not have to run around the city like a headless fly like other visitors from Jiangdong.

Wang Chong was not familiar with Wei Ding. As he had something to ask for help from him, he specifically inquired about his deeds. He then discovered that Wei Ding's situation in Chang'an was much better than he had imagined. It was far from the situation he had imagined, where they were both in a foreign land and in need of mutual support.

It turns out that Wei Ding had come to Guanzhong several years ago and had served as a guest scholar in the Jiaxue Academy built by the current Supreme Emperor before he ascended the throne. He could even be considered a meritorious follower of the emperor, rather than a person who had lost his country like them.

The clever purchase of property in the suburbs of Beijing was just one of the many things Wei Ding did after entering the country. There were other things that were too numerous to mention. However, after Wang Chong entered Beijing, he lived in the Duke of Liang's mansion. He had been visiting and socializing with the top dignitaries in Chang'an for the past few days, so he had little interaction with Wei Ding.

"I've often heard that Wei Ding knows yin and yang and can tell the difference between good and bad. Now that I know what happened, it's true what he said!"

On the way to visit Wei Ding, Wang Chong could not help but sigh again and again. After he came to Beijing, things did not go well for him. While feeling lonely, he also admired those who could judge the situation and plan for their own future early, so as to avoid suffering the hardships like himself who followed the ups and downs of the general situation and encountered unpredictable ups and downs.

Wei Ding’s Qujiang Villa is only a few miles away from Qixiamen in the south of the city. It can be reached in just over a quarter of an hour on foot, so the transportation is very convenient.

The garden villa covers a vast area, close to Qujiang River. On the other side are terraces and gullies planted with peach and willow trees, which is full of mountain and water interest. There are also several hectares of mulberry fields, which is truly a good place to live and produce. It is indeed a rare and excellent place.

Wang Chong had been feeling rather shabby in the city recently. When he arrived outside the Wei Ding family manor, his eyes sparkled with envy, and he sighed repeatedly, "If my family could have such a beautiful business, why would we worry about the southerners coming north and being in trouble? Even if we have hundreds of children and grandchildren, we can still provide for them!"

He has more than 30 sons under his tutelage. Now, not only do they have nowhere to live, but even if they can successfully settle down in Chang'an, their future livelihood will be a problem. So when he saw the property that Wei Ding had bought, he was almost crying with envy. Similar to the situation at Xiao Zhao's house, many old friends from Jiangdong also lived in Wei Ding's house, but their status and position were not as prominent as Wang Chong's. When Wang Chong and his son drove to the gate of the manor, an old friend from Jiangdong recognized them. After talking to them for a few words, he learned that Wang Chong was here to visit Wei Ding, so he hurriedly informed him.

Unfortunately, Wei Ding was not at home at the moment. He was the Grand Historian in the court. Although his position was not very important, he had to work in the court until the evening every day before returning home. However, since the distinguished guests came, the servants hurried into the city to inform the master, and the father and son of Wang were temporarily arranged in the guest hall.

The manor of the Wei Ding family covers several hectares, so the buildings naturally do not need to be as compact as those in the city. The manor has halls, pavilions and terraces, where you can climb high and look far, and watch fish from the pavilion. There are beautiful views everywhere. Wang Chong and his son strolled in the manor, and the envy in their eyes became more and more uncontrollable. Compared with this manor, the Liangguo Mansion where they stayed recently also became eclipsed.

Another thing that surprised Wang Chong was that Wei Ding had a wide circle of friends. After strolling in the garden for a while, he had already seen many old acquaintances from Jiangdong. These people were staying at Wei Ding's house. When they learned that Wang Chong was coming, they all rushed to meet him and talked about their experiences in the capital with great emotion.

In addition to the Jiangdong people of the time, there were also many local people from Guanzhong who either came to visit or sent their servants to send visiting cards to arrange a visit. Wang Chong saw more than a dozen people when he entered the manor. For example, Wei Xiaokuan, the brother of Duke of Jing, who was also from the Jingzhao Wei family but had always lived in Guanzhong, sent a letter to his servant to arrange a trip to Zhongnan Mountain with Wei Ding on his day off.

"I heard that Marquis Wei has a son who is still studying at the Imperial College. You can ask him later if he has a marriage contract. If not, you can marry your daughter of the right age to him. It would be a good match!"

After Wang Chong sat in Wei Ding Manor for a while, many thoughts came to his mind, and he whispered to his son.

He wanted to improve his relationship with Wei Ding, and marriage was naturally the most common way for their clans to form alliances. Although in Jiangdong, their Wang family of Langya was a first-rate aristocratic family, they did not think much of the powerful families in Jingxiang like the Wei family of Jingzhao.

But the current situation is different. Since Wang Chong has brought his family to Chang'an, he is naturally willing to adapt to the times and hope to integrate into the mainstream of the world. Although he had visited and socialized with the top dignitaries in Beijing before, he had little success. Now that he saw Wei Ding was as calm as a fish in water in Guanzhong, he naturally began to think about marriage.

The distance from the south of the city to the imperial city was not very close, and riding horses was prohibited in Chang'an City, so it took Wei Ding nearly two hours to return home. This was one of the few shortcomings of this manor. After all, it was not as convenient as those who lived in the noble houses in the city to travel to the imperial city. However, for most people, this problem was not a problem. After all, the imperial city was not a tourist attraction that allowed people to enter and exit freely.

After Wei Ding returned home, Wang Chong exchanged pleasantries with him first, and then explained his purpose. Although he envied this villa by the Qujiang River, he also knew that he would not be able to obtain it without special opportunities, so he could only settle for the next best thing and buy a relatively spacious house in the city.

However, Wei Ding couldn't help but look embarrassed after hearing that. He smiled bitterly and said, "It's really unfortunate that the prince asked about this. The reason why I bought that house a few days ago is because my brother will arrive in Chang'an soon, and my family needs a house to settle down."

After hearing this, Wang Chong couldn't help but look disappointed. No matter how much face he had, the mansion was bought for his brother, and it was impossible for him to turn around and sell it to himself.

But soon Wei Ding said, "If you just want to buy a house and don't care about the location, I still have a house in Yonglefang in the city. I will take you there to have a look. If you like it, I can transfer it to you."

“That’s fine, that’s fine too. No, that’s really great!”

The location of Yonglefang is much better than that of Chengnanfangqu. Although it is unclear why Wei Ding does not live there, Wang Chong was overjoyed when he heard this and nodded repeatedly in response.

Just as they had finalized the matter, Wang Chong and his son wanted to leave as it was getting late. Suddenly, the servant came to announce that a guest had arrived. It was Yao Sengyuan's son Yao Cha. Upon hearing this, Wang Chong swallowed the words of farewell that he was about to say, and went out with Wei Ding and other guests to greet Yao Cha.

Yao Cha had been well-known for his talent and was highly respected by his contemporaries when he was in Jiangdong. Now he served as the Secretary General in the Tang Dynasty court. However, the reason why he ordered the people in the village to come out to greet him and even asked Wang Chong to stay and interact with him was because of his status as a relative of the emperor. His sister, Yao, was a noble concubine in the harem.

"Just now I was in the office intending to invite Lord Wei back home as a guest, but when I went to ask, I found out that Lord Wei had already returned home. I hurried here, fortunately I arrived before curfew. But I will be bothering you tonight, please don't bother me, Master!"

Yao Cha first said this to Wei Ding with a smile, and then greeted Wang Chong and others one by one. When he explained his purpose, everyone present showed envy on their faces: "The imperial concubine gave birth to a new prince a few days ago, and will come to celebrate the 100th day tomorrow. My uncle needs to write a blessing speech to pray for blessings and exorcise evil spirits. My father asked me to ask Wei Hou, and I hope Wei Hou can write it for me."