The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 54 Zhu Xie Wu Si

On the fourth day of the fifth month of the first year of Jingfu, Xinfeng County, Mount Li.

Thousands of infantry and cavalry, accompanying a long convoy, slowly stopped outside the post station.

This group of people was very mixed. There were soldiers with bronze skin and braids tied into ropes, female officials from the Ye Ting Bureau wearing black gauze hats, green jade hairpins, blue skirts, and leather belts, eunuchs wearing Gaoshan crowns and official uniforms, and court military officers wearing flat turbans, crotch armor, and ceremonial swords.

Men and women surrounded a red carriage with a red canopy, red flags and tassels, pulled by two black horses.

Since the person was of noble status, the Imperial Household Department not only provided a special car for the lady of honor beyond the regulations, but also selected two experienced drivers and two guards from the Chariot Office to welcome the distant guest from Taiyuan with the utmost sincerity.

The Zhuxie family has long been a part of the Tang Dynasty.

In the third year of Yuanhe, the Zhuye family, who failed in their resistance against the rule of Tubo, fled east to the interior. Emperor Xianzong took in their tribe and settled them in Shenwuchuan. He also fenced off a large area in Yinshan for them to graze sheep. After that, they called themselves Yinshan Shatuo. Emperor Xianzong attacked Chengde and Huaixi, and the herdsmen contributed livestock. Zhuye Zhiyi brought hundreds of people to serve the country. After the court pacified Zhao, Zhiyi made great contributions, and the court also took good care of them, and appointed Zhiyi as the governor of Weizhou nearby. During the Dahe period of Emperor Wenzong, he was also awarded the post of the Daibei Camp Recruiting Envoy.

This was the beginning of Zhuxie clan's appearance on the historical stage.

They performed very well, managing the territory in an orderly manner, with cattle and sheep herders everywhere, and no major mistakes. In the generation of Zhuye Zhiyi's son, Zhuye Chixin, Wuzong attacked Zhaoyi and fought back against the Uighurs. The advanced member Zhuye Chixin created another glory and was transferred to Daibei Army Envoy for his merits, holding military power in an area. In his middle age, relying on his performance in suppressing Pang Xun, Chixin was appointed as the Defense Envoy of Datong again. From then on, he held the title of a town and was given the name "Li Guochang". The cattle and hair of the northern Hu people, Zhuye family turned over.

What kind of ending would be worthy of all the hardships along the way? This is the perfect answer.

"Ms. Yuwen, I want to rest here for a while." The crimson silk tassels were slowly pulled open, and Zhu Xiewusi walked down the carriage tiredly.

Yu Wenrou, the female official of the palace, stroked her back, nodded and smiled: "Do you want to eat?"

"No." Zhu Xiewusi held his forehead, turned around, looked to the northeast, and murmured with a sad look: "Riding in a car makes me dizzy and uncomfortable. Maybe riding a horse and blowing the wind will make me feel more comfortable."

Yuwenrou immediately shook her head and said, "No, you can't do that. You must ride the Yan Di carriage to enter the city. This is the saint's love for you. And when the officials and common people see the Yan Di carriage, they will know your identity and respect you. Be patient, we will arrive soon."

Hearing this, she sighed: "I understand."

The closer she got to Chang'an, the more depressed Zhu Xiewusi became. It was the fear of an unknown fate that made her feel anxious, even though she had already prepared herself mentally.

After all, she is a seventeen-year-old girl.

As the children of Zhuxie clan, no matter how much their mother-in-law dotes on them, they cannot stay at home forever and must devote themselves to the family. Reality is so cruel that men either serve as officials in prefectures and counties to consolidate the clan's rule, or follow their fathers to fight for the clan's kingdom. As the daughter of clan leader Li Keyong, her value needs to be utilized well, connecting with a meaningful marriage to establish or consolidate an alliance for her father.

Li Keyong had good relations with the Wang family of Hezhong and the Wang family of Yiwu. Originally, Wang Ke, the son of Wang Zhongrong, the governor of Hezhong, was a very suitable candidate, but unfortunately, Prince Wang had not yet ascended to the throne, and the clan elders were worried that Prince Wang would not be able to inherit the family business of Pu Shuai, so they had to wait a little longer.

At that time, Zhu Xiewu thought that the rest of her life would probably be to marry a young military man or a newly appointed governor from a military family in Xia Sui, Daibei, Chengde, Yiwu, or Hezhong, then have a child early and find a powerful son-in-law for her father.

But, luck is too bad after all.

The imperial military commander Ximen Chongsui actually visited the Hedong Imperial Court in Beijing to seek help from the emperor in finding a concubine, which surprised the entire clan.

In terms of emotion, the sage had just conquered her father the year before, indirectly killing her uncle and many clan members; in terms of logic, the clan was now surnamed Li, and had long been included in the lineage of King Zheng by the Zongzheng Temple. However, after the father discussed with the elders, he immediately agreed and changed her name from Li Miaoyi to Zhuxie Wusi.

She understood her father's difficulties - there were powerful enemies on all sides, and the brutal Bian people were their mortal enemies, and it was obvious that her father could not win every battle.

My father, who alone shoulders the responsibility of supporting the entire clan, needs allies badly.

But as the person whose fate was decided, Zhu Xiewusi could not help but speculate about what the rumored "Little Emperor of Chang'an" was like. He quietly asked the shogunate about it. His mind was still shrouded in hazy reverie, but he fell silent after listening. Several officials who had been to Chang'an said that the saint looked very heroic, but was sickly like a cat. He also liked to cry, was very soft-hearted, and had bad morals - he was seduced by a fox spirit, and he was indifferent to his wife and son, and favored his concubine and ignored his master. How could he be a good person?

Zhu Xiewusi was very disappointed.

Although she knew that she was just a tool, she had never considered the man beside her. Putting aside other things, at least she shouldn't cry like a woman all the time. He looked sick like a cat and seemed to be very weak. I'm afraid he couldn't ride a horse for half a day.

What if there really is an unspeakable illness... I don't know if it will work.

"Let's go." After closing his eyes and enjoying the breeze for a while, Zhu Xiewusi felt much better.

The carriage continued on its way, passing by the foot of the beautiful Mount Li and swaying slowly towards Baqiao.

"After we get home, we will take you to the Ye Ting Bureau to learn the palace etiquette." As a sister, Yu Wenrou patiently guided: "Speech, attitude, behavior, clothing, food, housing, walking, sitting, standing... There will be other female officials to teach you how to read." Hearing this, Zhu Xiewusi nodded gently: "I know."

At dusk, Baqiao Bridge finally became visible to the naked eye.

When Zhu Xiewusi led the way and drove his carriage about three or four miles across the wide bridge, the people who were working in the river stopped their work and looked over.

Seeing the dull expressions and strange hairstyles of the people, as well as the heavy whips that could be seen everywhere on the riverside pier, Zhu Xiewu's dizzy head suddenly became clear. With his mouth slightly opened, he asked in surprise: "Why are they all bald? No beards, and their faces are bloody and black..."

"What serious crimes did these men commit to deserve such cruel punishment?"

Yu Wenrou quickly stretched out her hand to cover her eyes and said sternly, "They are the evil army, they eat people by removing bones. They were captured by the saint and sent to this hard labor. Don't look at them, it will dirty your eyes."

Walking down the Ba Bridge, a crowd of ragged men, women, old and young gathered on the south bank of the Ba River. In the crowd, petty officials were carrying ropes and rulers, holding paper and pens, and running around anxiously to measure the vastness and demarcate the boundaries. When the square, gui, and jiu-shaped fields that were divided out did not match the number of acres, or when the calculations of the oblique, circular, and arc-shaped fields were inaccurate, they would quarrel and blame each other with red faces.

It was not until their superiors arrived and gave them a scolding that they calmed down.

Zhu Xiewusi stopped the car and observed from a distance.

The green-robed official took out the official document issued by Li Qun, the Minister of Agriculture, and shouted while standing on the earthen embankment: "A field is five feet long, one step is two hundred and forty feet long, one mu is one hectare. Measure the fertility, barrenness, width and narrowness of the field to determine the people who will live there. There are differences in the system of allocating land, and the same applies to the land for gardens and houses. Whenever land is allocated, taxes are first paid and then not paid, the poor are paid first and then the rich, and the large amount is paid first and then the small amount. This time the land is allocated according to the old rules. The tax is two dan of millet per male adult. The tax is two zhang of silk and two zhang of silk, and one fifth of the tax is added for cloth. For silk, three liang of cotton is paid. For cloth, three jin of hemp is paid. Do you understand?"

Men, women, old and young nodded hurriedly.

"Liu Yuan, two men and one woman, to be given fifteen acres of straight land in the third row of Section A on the north bank."

"Zhang Erya, you are alone, so I will give you four mu and two fen of Jitian on the fifth road of the south bank."

"You, that is you, the man from Fengxiang, you have a woman and three children at home, the youngest one is less than a year old, right? The 17.6 acres of slanted field next to the peach trees on the seventh road of the Jiawu section of the south bank are given to your family. The evil army has just dug a ditch over there, so you should cultivate it well."

As the green-robed official read out the names one by one, the petty clerks signed the land deeds and handed them to the corresponding household owners. After that, they had to take people to see them, so as to avoid confusion about where the boundary was and the two families fighting over the land and becoming enemies. There was limited wasteland outside the country, and it was first come first served, with the poor first and the rich later. The land was allocated to them by themselves, and they could plant wheat, millet, rice, fruit trees, and mulberry trees, and they would pay for whatever they produced.

"These fields were cleared by ministers sent by the saints, and many of the fields further away were taken back by the saints and powerful people..."

On the bridge, Zhu Xiewusi was so engrossed in watching that he forgot his mind. I heard from my father that many people died in Guanzhong during the Chaos Rebellion, and there were probably quite a few wastelands. Everyone in the capital should be busy with this matter. Judging from the way these people were dressed, they looked like hooligans. It was good that the sickly emperor didn't have the heart to care about life and death.

These dozen or so farmers are indeed insignificant, but more and more people will gradually gather in Guanzhong. If we persist for three to five years, or ten to eight years, things will be different. The more the people of Bian fight, the fatter they get, while my father becomes thinner. Maybe this is the reason.

He closed his eyes and felt the gentle summer breeze blowing across his face. He opened his eyes and looked at the endless green farmland under the blue sky. Zhu Xiewusi thought, Chang'an seemed okay?

Lively.

It was not the dead and gloomy scene with withered vines, old trees and crows that she had imagined.

She began to look forward to her encounter with the saint.

Turning around, she happily got on the carriage and said softly, "Yuwen Cairen, let's go."

"Eleventh Brother." She waved to a knight in armor on the right side of the chariot and shouted.

"Hmm?" Li Cunzhen, who was looking at the scenery and was touched, heard it and came over immediately, lowered his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Did Brother Eleven bring three thousand inner court soldiers?"

"Yes, both horseback riding and knighthood."

"Leave me a thousand knights, and only Turks, Khitans, Shatuo, and Tuyuhun people are needed."

Li Cunzhen smiled and nodded, saying, "My father has already told me that the eight towns in the northwest of the capital are arrogant and difficult to control, and are prone to committing crimes. He also said that the saints' love and hate are sudden, so I want you to live well in Chang'an and select reliable warriors to stay in the capital to escort you. Don't worry, you are all old men in the army, I only need to take three to five hundred cavalry back to Taiyuan. The capital looks pretty good, very comfortable."

(End of this chapter)