Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 16
What happened to Shu Kai seemed to have never happened, and life returned to peace.

Yang Ming didn't ask for it again, and Yang Yong didn't send anyone to Yuehua Palace to harass Chen Shuyi, so everyone lived in peace.

Even Yang Jian and his wife didn't say a word about it, and Empress Dugu even avoided Yang Ming's daily greetings, because she was afraid that her grandson would pester her for the Shu armor.

And both she and Yang Jian knew that the crown prince regarded the Shu armor as his life, even if the couple spoke, it would be of no avail.

Days pass by, and the annual spring outing is about to begin.

After the founding of the Sui Dynasty, the tradition of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was continued, and two major events were held every year: spring outing and autumn hunting.

When spring is the time for all things to grow, the ice and snow melt, and people come out of the winter burnout, which is the time to boost their spirits and spring their hearts.

The spring outing is actually a large-scale blind date event endorsed by the royal family.

The participants were all young masters and ladies from the families of the rich and famous, and the scene was extremely large and unprecedented in scale.

It is no exaggeration to say that the annual spring outing can even affect the court structure, because it involves a tradition that has lasted for thousands of years in the Chinese nation: marriage.

Although Yang Ming already has an appointed princess, he can still participate, and he is eager to participate.

Because through the spring outing, he can have a more comprehensive understanding of the powerful family structure of the Sui Dynasty, which is very important.

March has just arrived, and Yang Ming's Yuehua Palace is already actively preparing, and everything needed for life must be prepared. After all, this spring outing will last for more than 20 days.

"I didn't participate in the spring outing last year. Which families went there? By the way, where is the second brother, when will he arrive?"

At this moment, Yang Ming was putting his hands into his sleeves, watching the maids tidy up in the courtyard,
He was wearing a vermilion cotton gown dotted with gold-thread cloud patterns, with round dragons on his shoulders and a coiled dragon on his chest. It was not a dragon, but a golden dragon, but his dragon was different from that of the emperor's prince.
His was thinner, looked malnourished, and a little darker in color.

Facing Yang Ming's question, the follower Xu Jing said from the side:

"Last year's spring outing was presided over by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I heard that this year, the Eldest Princess will sit in the town in person. The six big families and the families who can get on the stage will send their children of appropriate age to participate. The second master has already set off from Jiangdu a month ago. Counting the days, it should be That is to say, it only takes a few days to reach Daxing.”

Yang Ming let out an "oh".

The second master Xu Jing mentioned refers to Yang Ming's second elder brother, Yang Wei, who was granted the title of Yuzhang King the year before last. The fiefdom is in Yuzhang County, which is the northern part of Jiangxi. The territory is not small, but there is nothing to do about it. Compared with Hadong County.

Yang Hao's marriage has not yet been settled, and the purpose of going north this time is to find a family suitable for marriage among the major families.

With an identity like Yang Hao, what the future Yuzhang Princess will look like is only secondary, and the first consideration is the other party's background.

As the saying goes, being from a well-to-do family, being from a small family or an ordinary local prominent family is simply not within the scope of Yang Hao's consideration.

At present, many big families from all over the world have set off for the destination of this spring outing: Nanshan, which is Zhongnanshan in later generations.

A blind date meeting for the children of nobles all over the world is about to kick off.

On the fifth day of March, Yuzhang King Yang Hao arrived at the Jin Palace in Daxing. Yang Ming, under the guard of two hundred imperial guards, took Xu Jing and Chen Shuyi to the Jin Palace to reunite with his second brother, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

During this spring outing, he brought a very special person by his side.

Nanny Lou is Dugu Jialuo's personal maid.

Empress Dugu made this special arrangement in order to ensure Yang Ming's personal safety outside.

And Yang Ming didn't know the real details of Ah Lou until now, but he once heard Lou silently calling Empress Dugu a sister in private.

"Third brother!"

As soon as he entered the palace, there was a handsome young man with extremely luxurious clothes who came up to him and put his arms around Yang Ming's shoulders:

"I haven't seen her in two years and I've grown taller again. I'm almost catching up with me."

Yang Ming has been to Jiangdu, so he naturally knows the elder brother of the same father and mother.

"I heard that the second elder brother has arrived, and the younger brother rushed over without stopping."

After exchanging pleasantries, the two brothers put their shoulders on each other and walked towards the inner courtyard. On the way, Yang Hao laughed and said:

"This time it's not just me, Chan'er is also here."

In fact, besides Yang Hao and Yang Chan, there are two more: Yang Qing and Yang He.

It's just that these two were born of concubines and were not in the royal roster of Zongzheng Temple, so they were dressed very plainly, and they were not even qualified to dine with Yang Ming and the others.

The second child, Yang Hao, was born in the fifth year of Kaihuang, Yang Chan was the eldest daughter, born in the seventh year of Kaihuang, and the third child, Yang Ming, was born in the eighth year of Kaihuang.

The three of them are on the same production line.

In the main hall, a handsome young girl in a lake-green brocade padded jacket, standing tall and graceful, looked at Yang Ming with a pair of bright eyes and a smile.

Yang Chan's appearance is definitely classy, ​​as he and Yang Ming's appearance are [-]% similar.

After looking at it for a while, Yang Chan stepped forward to take Yang Ming's arm affectionately, and said old-fashionedly:
"For this spring outing, you have to listen to your sister along the way. Father said that grandma has booked you a sister from Dugu's family, so you have to be careful not to be seduced by those good-looking girls from big families. Or grandma will be angry."

Yang Ming giggled and nodded in agreement.

Although the three of them hadn't seen each other for many years, perhaps it was because Jin Princess Xiao often mentioned Yang Ming in front of Yang Hao's brothers and sisters, so the two of them were not unfamiliar with Yang Ming.

Moreover, the three of them were not much different in age, and they were the same parents. In addition, Yang Ming deliberately got close, so they quickly became quarrelsome.

The three siblings are all sleeping in the same bed tonight.

Yang Ming was in the middle, Yang Chan leaned against the wall, and the oldest Yang Hao said beside the bed:
"Tomorrow we will go with the clan team. Fortunately, the fifth uncle (Wei Wang Yang Shuang) is leading the team. The other uncles and clan children, to some extent, we are a bit displeased with the Jin Palace. The third brother has had a hard time in Daxing these years, right?"

I'm having a hard time?Who would dare to make me feel bad?
Yang Ming said: "Is that right? I have always lived in my grandmother's Yuehua Palace and rarely left the palace."

Yang Hao nodded:

"Originally, Chan'er and I were going to visit the emperor's grandfather and grandmother in the palace, but there was a word from the palace that we should go to visit after the spring outing, so we simply waited in the palace."

"As for you, you already have a girl from the Dugu family appointed by your grandmother, so don't worry about it during the spring outing. Let's take care of Chan'er, and don't let the girl fall in love with any crooked melons and cracked dates."

"Is my vision that bad?" Yang Chan pretended to be dissatisfied.

Yes, your vision is particularly bad, Yang Ming thought in his heart: Otherwise, he would not have taken a fancy to Yuwen Shi and that white-eyed wolf.

The three chatted for a long time, and they didn't give up until Yang Chan felt sleepy.

Yang Ming also got a general idea about this year's spring outing.

The destination of the spring outing was a plain area at the northern foot of Nanshan Mountain. The Wei River meandered from north to south. It was suitable for camping near the mountains and rivers. The dense forests around it also provided favorable conditions for private meetings between men and women.

This kind of gathering was an effective method used by the ruling class of the Sui Dynasty to consolidate their own family interests, so no family would not value it.

In addition to the most powerful clan of the Yang family, the six great clans of the Sui Dynasty: the Li family of Longxi, the Xiao family of Lanling, the Yuan family of Luoyang, the Wei family of Jingzhao, the Yang family of Hongnong, and the Zheng family of Xingyang were all actively participating.

In addition, the first-class families include the Taiyuan Wang family, Qinghe Cui family, Fanyang Lu family, Boling Cui family, Zhaojun Li family, Luoyang Dugu family, Langya Wang family, Hedong Liu family, Yuwen family and so on.

These aristocratic families spread all over the states and counties in the world, divided up the Sui Dynasty, and actually controlled the local administration, forming an unbreakable chain of interests.

This kind of family system started in the Western Jin Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Sui Dynasty.

As the Guanlong Group gradually took control of the north, some seemingly solid but fragile interests formed among the major families.

For example, during this spring outing, the major families formed groups one after another, forming the four largest forces.

Yang Clan personally formed a faction.

The Guanlong aristocratic group headed by the forces of the old Northern Zhou Dynasty,

The Jiangnan gentry group headed by the Lanling Xiao family,

A local prominent family group headed by the Qinghe Cui family.

Among them, except for the Yang clan who is naturally close to the Guanlong Group, the other three families do not interfere with each other, and no one is afraid of anyone.

(End of this chapter)