Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 53
Ye Chen had just entered the city gate, before Cao Bin could arrange a place for him, and before Wang Chao was hesitating whether to call him to live in the small courtyard he rented, Luo Yaoshun had already been riding a horse and waiting by the roadside for a long time.

Luo Yaoshun knew that Ye Chen had no family or reason in Kaifeng City, and had no place to stay, so he was waiting here to invite Ye Chen to stay at his house temporarily.Of course, Ye Chen can also live in a military camp, or in a posthouse or an inn, but tonight, even ordinary soldiers will go home. Whether it is staying in the army, or in a posthouse or an inn, it seems too lonely Poor.

With the relationship between himself and Luo Yaoshun, Ye Chen was not hypocritical, said goodbye to Cao Bin and Wang Chao, and followed Luo Yaoshun to the latter's house.

Shui'er and his mother stretched their necks, the worry on their faces had reached the extreme, panting lightly, widening their eyes, and looked at all the soldiers passing by in front of their eyes one by one, without blinking, saving Afraid of missing someone.

However, the ending is destined to disappoint them and make them heartbroken.When all the troops entered the city, after a long time, no one entered the city, the mother and daughter returned home with pale faces and silent tears.A few months after the family's condition improved, Liu Nan's old mother, who was waiting at the door, saw that only Shui'er and her daughter had arrived, but her son was not among them. Seeing the faces of Shui'er, mother and daughter, she crawled at the door and cried .The neighbors on the left and right felt sympathetic when they heard about it, and several families who were close to each other came out to dissuade them.

Diagonally across from Liu's house, there is a small courtyard with two entrances. After hearing the movement, a middle-aged man who lived in it stood at the door and took a look. leave.

The third envoy is the highest official in charge of finances in the Song Dynasty. He is in charge of the country's finances, and his status is second only to Zhongshu and the Privy Council.

The so-called three divisions.It is the collective name of Yantie Division, Hubu Division and Duzhi Division.The envoy of the third division is in charge of 21 cases of the third division, and he is in charge of national wealth, civil engineering and salaries for hundreds of officials.It is the most important executive agency under the two governments, not one of them.

Under the three envoys are the deputy envoys in charge of each division.The Deputy Envoy of Salt and Iron of the Third Division, the Deputy Envoy of the Household Department of the Third Division, and the Deputy Envoy of Duzhi of the Third Division are all in charge of the financial affairs of the imperial court.The Department of Household Affairs, under the jurisdiction of the five cases of two taxes, music, tribute, repairs, and clothing and food, that is, five departments, is in charge of the world's household registration, taxation, and books.In addition, there are liquor monopoly, Baigong production and official and military uniform reserves.Du Zhisi, under its jurisdiction are rewards, money and silk, shipping, Hudou, riding, Baiguan, grain and eight cases of Changping.The total amount of money sent on the palm roads is measured every year to plan the use of the court.From the rations of war horses, to the salaries of officials, and the transportation of taxes, they are all included.Yantie Division, under the jurisdiction of the eight cases of military punishment, helmet, iron, commercial tax, tea, setting, taxing salt and final salt.It is mainly industrial and commercial taxes, including salt, iron, and tea monopolized by the imperial court.Among them, the salt is well salt and pond salt from Shaanxi and Sichuan, while the last salt is sea salt.

Therefore, the highest official of the third division and the third division's envoy are called "Jianxiang" and their status is slightly lower than that of Shen Zhizhengshi. Luo Gongming is the deputy envoy of the third division, and is currently the only deputy envoy of the third division. It is empty, so Luo Gongming is actually not the deputy envoy of one of the divisions, but the deputy envoy of the third division, and he has the duties of three deputy envoys.

It can be said that the power is worthy of the name, second only to the third envoy. Although he is only from the third rank, his status is already extremely high.

During the Northern Expedition of the army, he was responsible for the collection and delivery of food and grass in the rear.The strong ability to manage affairs can be seen.

The Luo family mansion is not very big, Kaifeng City has a large population, the houses are scaled, high and low, wide and narrow, and the buildings are very dense. It is much smaller, but the entire courtyard is obviously made by master craftsmen. Every tree, every tree, every pavilion and bridge are carefully designed, effectively using every ounce of space and land, and you can see the scenery everywhere.

At this time, it was already late, and when Ye Chen arrived at Luo's house, it was already past dinner time, but Luo's family had already prepared for Ye Chen, and after Luo Yaoshun and Ye Chen ate and drank, the former brought Ye Chen with him. Dust walked to the backyard.

The scenery in the courtyard could no longer be seen clearly. The two members of the Luo family were walking on the left and right with lanterns. Luo Yaoshun and Ye Chen talked all the way, bypassing a rather elegant courtyard, and arrived at a quiet bookstore in the north. .

Luo Yaoshun returned to Kaifeng City with Zhao Kuangyin as early as noon, and had already met his parents and family members. Now he brought Ye Chen to visit his father.

Luo Yaoshun saluted respectfully to the bookstore, and said, "Father! The child is back, and he brought friends over."

After a moment of silence in the room, a thin old man in a plain robe and cloth towel came out of the door.

It was Luo Gongming, deputy envoy of the third division.

Before he could take a closer look, Ye Chen hurriedly took a step forward, and saluted: "Young Ye Chen, I have met Uncle Rob."

"Nephew Ye Xian doesn't need to be formal, come here... quickly enter the room and sit down." Luo Gongming said with a gentle and enthusiastic face.

Ye Chen raised his head, and then looked up slightly, and saw this old man known as a tumbler in the political arena, with a clear face, a hale and hearty face, a gray beard, and old eyes slightly showing in his eyes, but the eyes are warm but not distracted Pick.

Luo Gongming was also looking at Ye Chen, looked up and down a few times, and saw that although Ye Chen's face was not very handsome, he was imposing and energetic, especially a pair of pitch-black eyes, like cold stars in a deep pool, showing an extremely extraordinary bearing.

With a look of admiration on Luo Gongming's face, he gave up his seat again and asked Ye Chen to sit in the guest seat. Luo Yaoshun sat with him on the opposite chair, and the servants quickly brought tea. Then Luo Gongming said: "This old man and my nephew have never met before." However, I learned about my nephew from the mansion newspaper and Xiaoer’s letter. This time, my Great Song and Northern Expedition was successful, and my nephew made a great contribution to turning things around. Xiaoer followed my nephew and made great contributions in the battle against the Khitan cavalry. The old man is very pleased that the child can have a friend like you."

Ye Chen was praised by the important ministers in the court, but he didn't even dare to take the lead, and because of Luo Yaoshun's relationship, he was considered a relatively close elder, so he was a little embarrassed.

With the beginning of these few sentences, and Luo Yaoshun interjecting from time to time, the strangeness between Ye Chen and Luo Gongming disappeared quietly, and Luo Gongming's expression towards him was even more cordial like his own nephew.

Ye Chen was led by Luo Yaoshun to stay at home temporarily, and it was a courtesy of his nephew to see the latter's father.But since Luo Gongming is known as an evergreen tree in the political arena, he must seek good luck and avoid bad luck as an official, so he is very cautious.And because of Luo Yaoshun's relationship, he also liked Ye Chen, the next upstart in the dynasty, and was very optimistic about it, so he couldn't help explaining to Ye Chen the rituals of today's pilgrimage and the way of survival.In fact, this is the real reason why Luo Yaoshun insisted on bringing Ye Chen to see his father so late.

The three chatted for about an hour, and Luo Gongming showed a little fatigue, so he went to rest first.Leaving Ye Chen and Luo Yaoshun chatting alone.

Because they had to participate in the celebration ceremony in the early morning of the next day, and the two of them had been traveling for a long time, they were indeed a little tired, so the two didn't say a few words, and Luo Yao took Ye Chen to the guest room to rest.

next morning.There was a little light on the east side of the sky, but the sky on the west half was still dark blue.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial palace in Kaifeng, Kyoto, was not considered large in terms of area, and was even far inferior to the Daming Palace in Kaifeng, Xijing during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

At that time, when Zhu Wen established the capital in Kaifeng, Bianzhou had already become a resort, densely populated, with a registered permanent residence of more than [-], and there was no room for large-scale construction.

However, all the dynasties of the Five Dynasties prospered one after another and lost one after another. They did not have the time and wealth to work hard in the palace.After the founding of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin reluctantly refurbished the imperial city and wanted to expand the palace, but because of the opposition of the nearby folks, and Zhao Kuangyin didn't want to do something to force the people, so he finally gave up.

However, although the palace is simple and cramped, it does not save labor and materials on the facade.

Xuande Gate is the main gate of the imperial city, nearly ten feet high, with five gates lined up. The gates are all decorated with gold nails and vermilion lacquer, and the walls are made of bricks and stones, engraved in the shape of dragons, phoenixes and flying clouds.Could it be that there are carvings and paintings, steep jue floors, covered with glazed tiles, curved feet and multi-story buildings, and Zhulan Caishen', in fact, it is not so much a city gate as a beautifully built building, so it is also called Xuande Building .

There are two auxiliary gates on both sides of Xuande Gate, named Zuoye Gate and Right Ye Gate, which are slightly smaller in shape than Xuande Gate.

Behind the Xuande Gate is a square that can accommodate tens of thousands of people. The giant palace behind the square is the main hall of the Song Dynasty Imperial City --- Daqing Hall.Located on the central axis of the imperial city, the Daqing Hall is the most majestic building in the imperial city.However, the Daqing Hall will only be used in the Dachaohui, or the imperial court ceremony of the same level.Today's celebration ceremony will be held in this Daqing Hall.

Maoshi had just arrived, and the sky had just started to get bright, but the imperial street in front of the imperial city was already bustling.Just because today is the day of the celebration ceremony to celebrate the success of the Northern Expedition.As early as the day when the Khitan retreated, after Kaifeng received the news, the inner court began planning and preparing for the celebration ceremony according to Zhao Kuangyin's decree from the front line.

All the civil and military officials in Beijing from the seventh rank and above, who have the right to participate in the imperial court, set foot on the imperial street one after another, and went to the imperial city to participate in the celebration ceremony.All kinds of officials on the Royal Street include prime ministers and privy envoys who are dressed in gold and purple and have nearly a hundred followers, as well as young officials in green robes and green robes who ride alone.Even if you don't count the entourage, just talking about the official status, there are nearly a thousand people bustling around.

When the officials arrived at the foot of the imperial city one after another, they all got off their horses or carriages one after another.The five city gates of Xuandemen, the main gates that are usually closed, were opened early because of today's celebration ceremony.

You must know that the main entrance of Xuandemen will only be open when the emperor is on tour or when the court ceremony is held.Normally, officials dismounted from their horses and entered the palace through the secondary gate next to the main gate of Xuande.Zaizhi also walked through the side gate of Xuande, but Zaizhi was able to ride straight into the imperial city alone, and dismounted only at the second gate.

(End of this chapter)