A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 737 The mission of ten thousand heads
Wei Zheng suddenly came to visit.

In the past few years, since Wu Huaiyu moved away from Yongxingfang, the relationship between the two people, who are no longer neighbors, has gradually become estranged.Although they are still in-laws, their relationship is far from what it used to be.

They are ministers in the same palace, and they are all prime ministers, but they are so alienated.

Wei Zheng deliberately kept a distance to avoid suspicion because the two families were related, while Wu Huaiyu mainly had political disagreements with Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng came with his sons, and his wife and daughter also came with him.

Today's Wei Zheng is no longer the shabby Wei Zheng of the past few years. He is now prime minister, has been given the title of Duke, and has four sons and two daughters.The eldest daughter was betrothed to Huo Wang Yuangui, the fourteenth son of the Supreme Emperor, and the second daughter was probably betrothed to the son of the famous Xue family in Hedong, the great-grandson of Xue Daoheng and the grand-nephew of Xue Shou.

Of the four sons, the eldest Shuyu is engaged to the princess, the second is engaged to Wu Huaiyu's sister, the third is engaged to the Pei family of Hedong, and the fourth is engaged to the Wang family of Taiyuan.

It can be said that Wei Zheng and his wife are very satisfied with their children's marriage.
I once mortgaged my house, mortgaged my collection of books, and borrowed money to get engaged to the Taiyuan Wang family, but I failed to do so. Now I have four sons and two daughters who have married into famous families.

He even promised his niece to Wang Yifang, Wang Xueshi's nephew. Wang Yifang was originally unwilling to accept the marriage, fearing that people would say he was clinging to the powerful.However, he studied under Wu Huaiyu's family, and also studied in the Wu family. Later, he was promoted to the Imperial Academy, and finally won the Jinshi last year, so this time he became engaged to Wei Zheng's niece.

"Happy New Year."

Wei Zheng was carrying two gourds of Wei's home brew.
The six brothers and sisters of the Wei family paid homage to Wu Huaiyu together, and Mrs. Pei also bowed to the side.

"Happy New Year to Mrs. Wei, Prime Minister Wei. I, a junior, was originally going to pay you New Year greetings, but I was so busy that I didn't even have time to go."

"The Prime Minister is going to patrol Lingnan, and he must be very busy recently," Pei said, being as considerate as ever.

Wu Huaiyu took the home brew from Wei Zheng and said with a smile, "It's been a long time since I tasted Wei Gong's home brew. It's snowing and cold, so I just want to warm up a pot."

After a while of chatting, Mrs. Pei and her children were naturally entertained by Xuan Fu and the others, so Wu Huaiyu and Wei Zheng cooked wine and talked in the hall.

"I heard that Luo Dou and other barbarians from the five states have rebelled?"

"Well, just barbarians causing chaos is nothing to be afraid of."

"I heard that the saint wants Feng Zhidai and Chen Longshu to return to Lingnan immediately to recruit soldiers and horses to quell the chaos?"

"Ah."

Wei Zheng shook his head and slapped his hand on the table, "Wrong, very wrong."

Wu Huaiyu took the small iron tongs and added walnut charcoal into the stove, then sat the wine pot on it.

Wei Zheng said bluntly, "Since the imperial court wants to use force against Lingnan, it should be more direct and not be sloppy. Not only did Feng Ang have to stay in Chang'an, Chen Longshu and Ning Chun could not be sent back, let alone to mobilize troops to quell the chaos.

We have to take advantage of the rebellion to seize all the military power of these Lingnan chiefs, and dispatch all the native soldiers in Lingnan.
Otherwise, if these people hold soldiers and horses in their hands, how can Lingnan be stable?

On the contrary, it is possible to support the troops and the bandits to respect themselves, or to let them take the opportunity to annex and strengthen Li Xue under the banner of the imperial court..."

These words were somewhat beyond Wu Huai's expectations.

After the charcoal made from walnut shells was burned in the stove, the fire was very strong. Wei Gong's wine was hot at once. Huaiyu poured a full cup for each of them.

This Wei Gong is burning in spring, and the rich aroma of wine is filling the air.
The wine in the glass is also very clear.

Take a sip and the taste is still the same.
The aroma of soju is amber at the beginning, it is as clear as water, and the taste is extremely strong.

Wei Zheng's home brewing is made in June in midsummer and fermented in winter. After the wine is taken, it is fired and then stored until it is opened in the spring of the next year.

This shochu is also called shaochun and sake.
In fact, according to Wu Huaiyu, it should actually be called yellow wine, because its clarity is compared to the raw wine of the Tang Dynasty. The raw wine is turbid, and the taste is a bit sour and sweet. Raw wine, white wine, and turbid wine.

After heat sterilization, Shaochun does have no impurities and is clearer, but the color has also turned amber. Shaochun can be stored for a longer time, and the taste is relatively more stable, without the sour and sweet taste, and is more mellow and soft. .

Compared with the Wu family's shochu, they are two completely different things. The Wu family's shochu is distilled liquor, a spicy liquor.

Even now, the high-end wine market in the Tang Dynasty is still dominated by clear wines such as Shaochun, and ordinary people generally drink dark wine.

The Wu family's liquor is actually relatively niche, and is preferred by those who work as coolies, those who practice martial arts as soldiers, and the barbarians from all over the world.

"Did Duke Wei want to kill Chen Longshu and the others directly in Chang'an?"

"No, we can't kill them, but leave them in Chang'an like Feng Ang did." Wei Zheng said.

"Actually, it's not necessary." Wu Huaiyu said bluntly.

"Since you have detained Feng An in Chang'an, why can't you also detain Chen Longshu, Ning Chun and others?"

"Because one deduction is enough. If all are deducted, it will be ugly. For Lingnan, we still need to divide and treat them differently. We should mainly suppress the slang officials. For the Han people who moved south, especially those wealthy families, The main thing should be to win over and unite,

At the same time of strong coercion, you must also provide some benefits in exchange. It cannot just be oppression, otherwise they will inevitably resist.Chen Longshu and Ning Chun are willing to cooperate. If these local snakes can be used, they can be used. We cannot push them together with those slanderous barbarians."

"Don't worry, Mr. Wei, about the affairs in Lingnan. There won't be any waves." "Mr. Wu, don't underestimate the enemy. Lingnan is so big. If a chaos breaks out, it will also bring disaster to the Central Plains. Although the imperial court captured Jie Li, the Eastern Turks It still hasn’t been completely calmed down, and Xue Yantuo in Mobei has risen again and is unruly. It is really not suitable for another civil strife..."

Both are prime ministers and each has his own political views.

Wei Zheng believed that stability was of paramount importance and he should recuperate first. Lingnan should not lift the lid and let the powerful chiefs like Feng Ning and Chen Xian manage the place on behalf of the imperial court, just like Zhu Xie governed Qianzhong and Zhu Cuan governed Nanzhong.

Wei Zheng sighed, "I hope you can grasp it,"

"Don't worry, Mr. Wei. Your Majesty not only gave me tens of thousands of elite soldiers from the Central Plains this time, but also asked me to implement the new two-tax law in Lingnan. With these two magic weapons, why worry about the injustice in Lingnan?"

Wei Zheng drank his own brew of Wei Gong Shaochun, but he didn't know the taste, and his face was full of sorrow. He always felt that Wu Huaiyu was too bold and arrogant, and the emperor was also led astray by Wu Huaiyu and others.

Although he and Wen Yanbo strongly opposed it, they could not persuade the emperor at all.

After drinking a pot of Shaochun, Wei Zheng lost interest in conversation and stood up to say goodbye and leave. Mrs. Pei was chatting happily with Fan Xuanfu and the others, so Wei Zheng went back alone.

When he arrived at home, Wei Zheng sat in his study for a while and gave a memorial to the emperor.

It was recommended that Shi Quan Zhirang, the chief minister of the Han Dynasty, be appointed as the supplementary envoy to Lingnan, and he should be served as the imperial censor Zhang Yungu's supervisor.

The memorial was submitted, and Li Shimin quickly agreed.

Wu Huaiyu also learned about this immediately. He thought about it and found out that Quan Zhirang seemed to have been the imperial censor in the palace. His father had been the chief historian of the Prince of Qin's palace. Unfortunately, he died early and was given to the prince's young master and Lu Guogong.Quan Zhirang attacked the Duke of Lu, and later he broke up with Wu Huaiyu and impeached Wu Huaiyu several times. However, his last impression of him was that Quan Zhirang was demoted to Tianshui County Duke and then demoted to foreigners.

As for Zhang Yungu, he was originally the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, and he was transferred to the Secretariat of the General Administration of Youzhou. After Li Shimin came to the throne, Zhang Yungu gave a lot of advice and was rewarded and promoted to the Prime Minister of Dali Temple. He was also a Wei Zheng Like a mouthful.

The imperial court implemented a southern election system for Lingnan. It said that every four years, a Langguan would be sent from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and a censor from the Yushitai. They would go to Lingnan to elect and replace officials. One would be responsible for selecting and replacing the officials and the other would be responsible for supervising. Officials from Lingnan went to Chang'an for election.

But in fact, from the fourth year of Wude when Lingnan surrendered to the fifth year of Zhenguan, Lingnan basically selected officials and appointed officials by governors and governors. The so-called sending officials to by-elections was not really done.

The imperial court appointed the governors of several prefectures in Guanggui by itself, and the other governors and governors were actually hereditary from local chiefs.

In the Wude Dynasty, even before the fifth year of Zhenguan, ministers like Wei Zheng believed that Lingnan should be regarded as a Jisi area, and the native chiefs should be given hereditary positions such as governors, governors, and governors. The so-called prefecture and county officials should be appointed and removed by themselves. Just report it.

Therefore, by-election envoys were never actually sent before.

Now Wei Zheng wants to recommend Quan Zhirang as the Lingnan by-election envoy and let Yushi Zhang Yungu supervise it. As Wu Huaiyu is now patrolling Lingnan and has also added the title of "contractor", it is actually not necessary at all, because their supplementary Choosing a job, Wu Huaiyu is now doing both.

Wu Huaiyu smiled softly,

I don’t even have a good impression of the old man Wei Zheng. What does this mean?
Do you want to cause trouble for yourself, or are you afraid that you will use your power for personal gain and be nepotistic?

Wu Huaiyu mounted his horse and arrived at Baqiao surrounded by guards, where he bid farewell to Chen Longshu and Feng Zhidai. Ning Chun and Wu Huaiyi went south with them.

Reach out and break off the willow branch,

Hand it to Huai Yi.

"It's too late to celebrate the Lantern Festival, so I'm going back to Lingnan. I wish you a safe journey."

Huaiyi smiled, "Well, I'll go first."

Huaiyu folded a few more wicker sticks and gave them to Feng Zhidai, Chen Longshu and Ning Chun respectively, "I wish you all a safe journey."

Feng Zhidai was quite happy and took the willow branch. "Please rest assured, Prime Minister Wu. As soon as I return to Gaoliang, I will gather soldiers to wipe out all the barbarians in Luo Dou."

Huaiyu patted his arm and then raised his index finger.

"Ten thousand."

"Whether dead or alive, when I lead [-] soldiers to Lingnan, I hope that Governor Feng will give me [-] rebel barbarians,"

Feng Zhidai patted his chest and agreed.

Ten thousand barbarians are not a problem for him.

Wu Huaiyu also raised his index finger to Chen Longshu and made a request of ten thousand. He hesitated for a while, but finally agreed.

It doesn't matter whether you live or die, as long as you can raise enough ten thousand.

In a word, 1 people.

For the young Feng Zhidai, there was no reason to hesitate, but for Chen Longshu, who was in his sixties, he was still very shocked.
He knew that it was not just a number, but countless Xidongxu people and many villages.

In Baqiao, Chang'an, thousands of miles away from Lingnan, if Wu Huaiyu raised a finger, 1 people would die or become slaves!
(End of this chapter)