Chastity Layman

Princess Changle's wedding date is set on the Chongyang Festival in the ninth year of Zhenguan. Ninety-ninth Chongyang Festival is auspicious and suitable for marriage.

Under the persuasion of Empress Changsun, the emperor decided to give up the extravagant wedding plan. According to the specifications of the eldest princesses and princesses who married during the Zhenguan period, the imperial court invested 100,000 guan for the wedding, and the emperor's internal treasury paid another 100,000 guan for makeup.

The imperial court officially conferred the title of Princess Changle Shifeng Shiyi on 600 households.

Each household is limited to three Dings, and gets a rent of 1,800 Dings, half of which goes to the Princess Mansion and half goes to the court.

As soon as this result came out, even Wei Zheng, the servant, was very surprised. He had heard rumors that the emperor would hold a luxurious wedding, which would cost at least five million yuan, and the eldest grandson Wuji, Gao Shilian, and the prince of the East Palace all planned to have a wedding. Luxurious makeup can cost millions of dollars.

These days Wei Zheng has been writing a statement on this matter, and he has written tens of thousands of words, and even plans to select a part of it and send it to the newspaper for publication.

As a result, he was dumbfounded.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Qiong also made a statement, and the Qin family prepared a gift of 168,888 guan, which was only a fraction of the rumored 5 million guan.

The day of welcoming the bride was agreed, and the dowry of Pingli was also negotiated, so on an auspicious day, the Qin family sent Pingli to the palace. The Qin family kept a low profile for such an important ceremony, and they didn't make any publicity beforehand, and they didn't do anything like go around Chang'an Sixth Street. On an auspicious day, they sent a car of the ceremony directly to the gate of the palace. After a brief handover, , and you're done.

"Why did the Qin family suddenly keep a low profile?"

"Didn't you say that you want to give a gift of five million pennies?"

"What happened?"

Various speculations arose in the market.

In the big restaurant in Pingkangfang, several eighth- and ninth-rank Beijing officials in green robes were sitting and drinking in private rooms. When it came to this matter, they had their own opinions.

"What can happen? Qin Taiwei is highly respected and respected by saints. He was granted Songzhou in the world and passed through Jiannan. After being called into Beijing by the saint last time, the saint has stayed in Beijing and did not want him to leave. I heard that the saint Duke Qi is often called into the palace, and even sleeps in the same bed, who else is treated like this?"

"That's right, our son-in-law is even more terrible. Now he is known as Zhennantian, and he manages the nine Lingnan mansions by himself. The Nanman people are in awe. Not to mention that Lingnan's maritime trade is getting more and more prosperous, and the son-in-law is even more powerful."

Since the time of Zhenguan, Qin Qiong and Qin Lang in the imperial court are indeed extremely noble family members. Among the new nobles and old lords, they are second to none. Since the internal reforms and foreign wars, he has been everywhere.

"I heard that the marriage with Xue Yantuo this time was also made by this son-in-law. Even the suspension of the conquest of Goguryeo was the sage's advice."

Qin Lang has a good reputation among the officials in Chang'an, and he is better at being a man. Although he often smacks the air, he doesn't bite people randomly. He works as a guard in various yamen in Chang'an, and he treats subordinate officials well. Those who have served as officials under Qin Lang would say that Wei Wei is generous.

No one thinks that the Qin family is short of money.

Not to mention five million guan, even 10 million guan, everyone believes that the Qin family will definitely take it out. The Duke of Wei is not only Huo Qubing of the Tang Dynasty, but also Tao Zhugong and Guan Zhong of the Tang Dynasty. His ability to make money, no, is extremely good at making money.

The Tang Dynasty can have the prosperity of Zhenguan today, and there is also a great contribution to Wei Gong's management of wealth. At the beginning, his series of new policies such as suppressing Buddhism, promoting industry and commerce, changing rents, and setting two taxes allowed the court to reverse the financial situation. Difficult situation.

"I've heard that Empress Changsun is against extravagance and ostentation, and thinks it is necessary to be frugal."

When everyone heard it, they all gave a thumbs up, "Like!"

For this Empress Changsun, both the government and the public have unanimous admiration. They all say that Empress Changsun is extremely virtuous. It is because of Empress Changsun that there is the great Tian Khan, the sage Crown Prince Chengqian, and the four virtuous kings Li Tai brothers. .

Although Empress Changsun's brother, Grandson Wuji, was in the court, and her uncle Gao Shilian was also in court, but no one thought it was because of Empress Changsun, and Gao Shilian and Changsun Wuji had a good reputation in the court. The political achievements are also outstanding, so everyone thinks that this is also a proof of the virtuousness of the eldest grandson empress.

I heard that Empress Changsun opened a women's school in the palace, and even wrote a training book for women, and raised silkworms and weaved cloth by herself. All expenses in the palace are personally managed, and extravagance and waste are prohibited. Also at the suggestion of Empress Changsun, the sage agreed to drastically reduce the number of palace attendants, and set new rules that palace attendants over the age of twenty-five should be released from the palace, or let them marry the imperial guards, and let them be free Return to the village.

This is extremely human nature. In the past, many palaces were selected into the palace. Basically, they couldn't leave the palace until they turned white.

The queen and many noble wives also invested in the establishment of many orphanages and nursing homes, etc., and help many orphans and widows every year. Therefore, among the people, when talking about the eldest grandson queen, they all want to praise the reincarnation of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

If she said she wanted to oppose ostentation, then the sage would indeed listen, and the Qin family would naturally obey.

"Is the princess not unhappy?"

"Our eldest princess is as virtuous and reasonable as her mother's mother. Although she is not married, she has already done many good deeds. Chang'an Notre Dame Cathedral, you know, in Changlepo, it used to be the Changchun Palace, a saint. It was specially given to the beloved Princess Changle, and it was renamed Changle Palace. But the princess used it to adopt the baby girls abandoned by the people, and adopted it in Changle Palace, and renamed it Chang'an Notre Dame. Today, Notre Dame has adopted more than 3,000 abandoned babies baby girl..."

"They are all poor children abandoned by their parents, some of them are sick and disabled, but the princess kindly adopts them, asks for medical medicine, and invites female teachers to teach them, pulls out many lands under their names, and invests a lot of money. And business income, are used to maintain the expenses of Notre Dame..."

"It turns out that Notre Dame Cathedral was built by the princess. In the past, I thought it was built by the imperial court."

"The princess doesn't have a picture or name, and she has always been low-key, so this big wedding is not going to be ostentatious, so why would the princess object?"

Several young officials in green robes sighed there, Wei Guogong is really a big winner in life, and all kinds of good things happened to him.

"In the past, Wei Guogong monopolized the oiran, robbed Yuxiao, our girls' school secretary in Chang'an, and went back to the golden house to hide her beauty, so I was jealous enough. Later, Yu Xuanji, a famous female secretary in Chang'an, also took the initiative to run around at night, which made me even more jealous. I am envious, but now that I think about it, these things are nothing compared to Princess Changle, could Duke Wei's past life be the reincarnation of a Bodhisattva?"

"possible."

Several people sighed for a while.

Someone asked, "Have you heard that the Ministry of Officials is preparing to transfer some officials to Lingnan recently. How about it, do you want to go?"

"Go to Lingnan, isn't that place a place of relegation, a place of smog, and there are still people rushing to go there?"

A man in his early thirties said, "You don't know about this. In the past, except for the official positions in Guangxi Sanzhou Yamen, the official positions in other prefectures and counties in Lingnan were indeed relegated. But now it is not the same as before. Our Duke Wei has been to Lingnan a few times, especially now, Lingnan has changed a lot."

"Do you know what I heard from my folks from the official department about this transfer? They said that this time, Duke Wei was in a hurry to ask for someone, and he also said that the people transferred this time would be reused in Lingnan. And it is said that Duke Wei Having said that, the officials who are transferred to Lingnan will be promoted and employed, and even given good treatment."

"How do you say that?" A few green-robed officials from Beijing became interested. In Chang'an City, a small official of the eighth or ninth rank is simply inconspicuous. Many people even have to support a large family because of their low salary. , life is still very difficult, after all, Chang'an is not easy to live in, the expenses are high, and there are many exchanges of favors.

Even if the treatment of officials in the Zhenguan Dynasty has improved a lot, it will be difficult for these small officials in Chang'an after all.

"It is to encourage officials to go there voluntarily, and they will be promoted and used when they arrive in Lingnan. For example, Lao Liu, you are now an eighth-rank official in Dali Temple, and a ninth-rank official. Man, is it difficult to support your family of more than a dozen people with a salary of the ninth grade?"

Lao Liu nodded. He is in his thirties. It is not easy to be a ninth-rank official in Dali Temple. How difficult it is to go up.

"Old Liu, if you take the initiative to apply to go to Lingnan, then when you get there, it is very likely that you will be given a job from the eighth rank, at least it will be promoted to the first rank, and I heard that our Beijing officials are now third In the annual inspection, if you do a good job and are excellent in the assessment, then you may be promoted to a higher level in three years. But I heard that in Lingnan, if you perform well, you may be promoted once every two years, and you may even be promoted by leapfrogging."

"Besides, the remuneration offered there is also very good. As long as the transfer is over, the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion will first pay the settling expenses, travel expenses, installation expenses, and even post food coupons, which can be used at post stations along the way. When you arrive there Ah, there will also be job and land rent, and in addition to the standard salary, the Metropolitan Government will also give subsidies, which are at least double the standard salary, and even for the New Year, there are also clothes, cloth, rice, fish, and even money and silk. At the end of each year, a sum of money from the company will be used as a bonus..."

"In short, if you go to Lingnan, your annual income there will be at least three to five times what it is now!"

Old Liu was very moved when he heard that, "Isn't it possible, so many? The Metropolitan Government of Guangzhou is so rich?"

"Hey, who doesn't know that Lingnan is rich now? You know that Weigong went to Lingnan, and His Majesty gave special approval. Originally, the income from the two taxes and local taxes was one-third of the income from the state and county, one-third from the government, and one-third from the government. One of them goes to the national treasury. The Metropolitan Governor’s Mansion already controls one-third of the local two tax revenues, and this money is used for various local expenses.”

"In recent years, Lingnan has been engaged in commercial and maritime trade, and the development of salt fields and mines is also very good. These are additional income. Therefore, Guangfu is indeed very rich now. In addition to building roads and bridges, building ports and wharfs, building cities and post stations Outside the Jianjun Fort, water conservancy and schools are being built to help orphans and widows. Of course, if you have money in your hand, the treatment of the herdsmen's officials will of course be improved a lot."

"I also heard that Duke Wei himself said that officials who go south to Lingnan can still be transferred back as long as they have worked for ten years."

It is very important not to stay in Lingnan for the rest of your life.

Several times the welfare benefits and the rapid promotion channel, all these made a group of eighth and ninth rank Beijing officials in green robes in the box excited.

"Is it really that good?"

"Mr. Wei, do you still believe it? Anyway, I have already planned to sign up, and I will wait for the official selection and assessment. As long as I pass, I will pack my bags and go south. After ten years of hard work, I don't believe that this green robe can't be changed into dark green." robe."

The green robes are official gowns of the sixth and seventh ranks, the dark green of the sixth rank, and the light green of the seventh rank.

In ten years, it is not too late to rise from the lowest rank official under the ninth rank to the sixth rank official. The seventh, eighth, ninth and third ranks are divided into four ranks, which is actually the twelfth rank. From the sixth rank, there is a difference of twelve ranks.

After ten years and twelfth grade, it can already be said that the sky is straight up, especially for those little Beijing officials who have no background, going to Lingnan seems to be a road.

"Go together, go together!"

"Go to the official department to sign up now!"

The few people were not in the mood to continue drinking and chatting anymore, their faces were flushed with excitement, not to mention changing from light green to dark green after ten years, even changing to light green was worth fighting for.

What's more, if you go to Lingnan, you're going to work under Duke Wei. Duke Wei's reputation is excellent, and following Duke Wei will definitely have a bright future.

"Let's go!"