Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 259 The Visiting Letter from the Zheng Family of Xingyang

The envoys who returned from the Ring Kingdom had been inspected before their departure, but what they inspected was something the Ring Kingdom had deliberately shown them.

However, this responsibility does not lie with Li Daozong.

He had only been the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial for a short time.

Tang Jian might be in for some bad luck.

"Well, actually, but..."

"speak English."

"Um, two of them are my men," Li Daozong said somewhat awkwardly.

Wen He immediately chuckled twice.

He now understands what's going on.

Before taking office, Li Daozong must have known in advance that he would be appointed to the Court of State Ceremonial, so he wanted to arrange for his people to make meritorious contributions.

Unexpectedly, this kind of thing happened.

"Jiaying, just say a few good words for her." Li Daozong said with a fawning smile.

Call me Jiaying if you need anything, otherwise just call me Little Baby.

Your uncle's!

"Sure, this is actually easy to resolve." Wen He suddenly smiled kindly.

"What do you mean?" Li Daozong immediately widened his eyes, looking expectant.

"Then you can atone for your crimes by leading troops to destroy the Ring King."

After Wen He finished speaking, Li Daozong, who had been excited just moments before, immediately looked dejected.

He sighed helplessly.

"That area is full of jungles and miasma, making it difficult for cavalry to maneuver. If the local troops from within the pass went there, they would find it difficult to adapt in a short time. Back then, the First Emperor spent a lot of time and effort, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer it."

If it were so easy to acquire, Li Shimin wouldn't have resorted to bartering.

However, having been tricked by the Ring King this time, Li Shimin, with his temperament, would definitely not let it go easily.

At least he remembered this grudge.

"Moreover, His Majesty's current target is the Turks." Li Daozong sighed helplessly.

If he could, he really would like to volunteer for the mission.

But he knew that even if His Majesty agreed, the people in the Ministry of Personnel would definitely oppose it.

"Then you'd better pray for yourself. By the way, His Majesty is on leave today. I think you should bring this up tomorrow?" Wen He kindly suggested.

Although Li Shimin seemed to be in a good mood today, if Li Daozong were to deliver this bad news, his anger would likely intensify.

Li Daozong shook his head with a wry smile.

"If I go to tell him tomorrow, I will suffer even more. It's all my fault for misjudging people, little kid. I'm going now."

Li Daozong released Wen He and waved to him.

Entering through Xuanwu Gate evoked a sense of desolation and the chill of the Yi River.

"Wenxianzi, do you really think His Majesty won't use force against Prince Huan?"

After Li Daozong left, Li Junxian suddenly approached.

"Does the Duke of Wulian want to go south?" Wen He tilted his head and looked at him.

“It’s so boring to guard this gate all day long. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to lead an army into battle and achieve great things?” Li Junxian said loudly.

Perhaps this is the epitome of the military generals of the Tang Dynasty.

They rejoice at the prospect of war.

“There will be opportunities. His Majesty’s goal is not just the Turks,” Wen He said with a smile.

However, he added in his mind: 'Now that Li Er knows the future empress is Wu Zetian, you won't die as young as you did in history.'

In fact, Wen He didn't know whether Li Shimin had actually ordered Li Junxian's death in history.

This matter has been the subject of much controversy in later generations.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

After exchanging pleasantries with him, Wen He took her leave.

The carriage returned to the mansion.

"Young master, it seems we have guests."

The carriage had just stopped when A-Dong's voice came from outside.

Wen He wondered, who would be looking for her at this time?

He lifted the carriage curtain and went out, then stepped down onto the stool that A-Dong had brought.

Not far away, a very valuable carriage was parked.

"May I ask if you, young sir, are you from Gaoyang County?"

At the gate of the mansion, a servant boy bowed to Wen He and asked her a question.

"Yes, that's me. Which family are you from?"

Judging from the servant's attire, his master must be of high status.

Otherwise, a servant wouldn't wear silk clothes. "My master's family is the Zheng family of Xingyang," the servant said, bowing.

The Zheng family of Xingyang?

Five surnames and seven prominent families?
Wen He remembered that when the distributors were being distributed before, the Zheng family of Xingyang seemed to have spent a lot of money and together with the Cui family, they bid for a region.

Later, he had no further contact with the Zheng family of Xingyang.

"This is a visiting card from the little master's family."

The servant handed it over with both hands.

At least in terms of etiquette, the Zheng family of Xingyang did a good job. Even a mere servant boy behaved with proper manners in every gesture.

Wen He didn't take it, but A Dong, who was behind him, stepped forward, took it with both hands, and handed it to him.

This is also the rule.

After all, Wen He's status is what it is; if he were to personally go to pick her up, it would become a laughing stock.

The rules of the ancients are troublesome, and Wen He sometimes doesn't want to follow them, but there's really no other way.

Upon opening the visiting card, it was indeed from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

The Zheng family was indeed remarkable, throughout the 289 years of the Tang Dynasty.

Eleven members of the Zheng family of Xingyang served as prime ministers, averaging one every twenty-six years.

The family produced a total of 114 Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), including 13 Zhuangyuan (top scorers in the imperial examinations) and 158 Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations, accounting for nearly one percent of the total number of Jinshi in the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, the Zheng family was the first to break the unspoken rule that the five surnames and seven noble families could not intermarry with the royal family.

I remember that Li Shimin later had a concubine named Zheng Xianfei, who seemed to be from the Zheng family of Xingyang.

Later, princesses from the Li Tang royal family also married off.

The most famous person was Zheng Guan.

The only person in history to achieve the highest score in both the civil and military examinations.

Unfortunately, he was from two hundred years in the future, so Wen He was destined never to see him again.

Wen He remembered that the person in charge of the Zheng family in Chang'an now should be called Zheng Yuanshu.

He was appointed as the Left Martial General.

However, the person on this visiting card was not Zheng Yuanzhu.

It was Jung Yunho.

Wen He thought for a moment, but couldn't remember who this person was.

"Which member of the Zheng family of Xingyang are you?" Wen He asked.

"The young master of my household is the son of General Zuo Wuhou," the servant replied.

Wen He narrowed her eyes slightly.

He then handed the visiting card to A Dong and said, "I will be entering the palace tomorrow. If you are free this afternoon, you may come. If you do not wish to come, please do so as well."

Although Wen He did not want to have anything to do with the people of the Five Surnames and Seven Families.

But he was really curious about what Jung Yunho's purpose was in suddenly coming to find him.

In later historical records, Wen He did not recall ever having seen any information about this person.

He probably isn't an important person.

However, he is backed by the Zheng family of Xingyang, which should not be underestimated.

However, the old man from the Zheng family had scolded him before when they were at the Lizheng Hall.

Wen He doesn't consider herself to be vindictive, but she's definitely not that forgiving either.

That's why he scheduled it for the afternoon, not tomorrow.

This is also telling Zheng's people that he doesn't care about this meeting.

If you need something from me, come; if you don't, it's fine if you don't come.

Upon hearing this, the servant responded and bowed to Wen He before leaving.

"They're a family that knows the rules."

Wen He couldn't help but chuckle.

He realized he had underestimated these people from aristocratic families.

The servant must have understood what he meant, but he still didn't forget to be polite.

It seems that not everyone is like Changsun Chong and Dugu Chen.

However, this did not make him more fond of the aristocratic families.

This only made him more curious about what Zheng's purpose was.

After lunch, Wen He waited for the guests to arrive in the study.

It was just past noon.

Li Yifu then came to the study.

"Sir, the Zheng family's people have arrived."

(End of this chapter)