Chapter 122: The Marquis Mansion Gathers, Lantai Discusses the Nation
On New Year's Eve, the Changlinghou Mansion was filled with joy.
The two brothers-in-law of the family head Xia Houxuan, Sima Shi and Kui, brought their wives Xia Houhui and Xia Houyu respectively to the Xiahou Mansion to pay New Year greetings.
Cao Xi, Zhuge Dan, Xun Can, Yu Huan and other friends, as well as two cousins, Xiahou Feng and Xiahou Xian, each came with their gifts not long after. The Xiahou Mansion, which was usually a little deserted, was in full swing at this moment.
Overjoyed.
Mrs. Cao Jue, Xia Houxuan, Li Huigu and his wife were sitting at the main table chatting with relatives, friends and guests, while the housekeeper Gu Ting directed the servants to prepare wine and food. After a while, everyone's case
The front was filled with rice wine in clay pots, oranges in lacquer plates, a pot of steaming radish and mutton soup, a lacquer plate of red dates, and a lacquer plate of steamed jiaoer, that is,
dumpling.
The few two musicians in the house also played the piano and flute at this moment, and all the relatives and friends had the New Year's Eve dinner in this joyful and beautiful atmosphere.
Xiahou Fengnai was the nephew of the late Mourning Marquis Xiahou Shang. After Xiahou Shang passed away, Xiahou Xuan petitioned the emperor and gave him three hundred households of his food.
Xia Houshang, the Marquis of Changling, conquered east and west in the early years, and earned a total of 1,900 households for the former Changling Township Marquis Mansion, and the current Changling Marquis Mansion. According to the system of the previous dynasty, households were registered with the same name.
, there are about four or five people in a local household. Based on four people, 1,900 households have a population of 7,600.
Therefore, the taxes that the 7,600 people in Changling County of the Great Wei Dynasty should pay every year are the legal income of the Changling Marquis family. According to the tax system reform of Emperor Wu Cao Cao, the grain grown by the people in the fields was distributed by the government with agricultural tools.
For plowing oxen, the government will pay six to four people; for those who prepare their own farm tools for plowing the cattle, the government and people will pay half and half. In addition, for land cultivated by civilians who are not farming, each household will pay a land rent of four liters of grain per acre, and in addition to this, additional taxes will be paid.
Two bolts of household silk and two pounds of cotton.
However, there were frequent wars in the previous and present dynasties, and the land was vast and sparsely populated. Each household cultivated about 100 acres of land.
Changling is not a land for farming, so according to the arrangements made by Emperor Wu's tenants, the Xiahou Mansion can get 760,000 liters [Note 1] of grain, 3,800 bolts of silk cloth, and 3,800 catties from the food fief every year.
If cotton is equivalent to five baht in this dynasty, Xiahou Mansion can get more than 4.5 million yuan from food every year!
[Note 1: 760,000 liters is 7,600 hu/stone. The price of rice in the Han Dynasty was usually one hundred qian per hu. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, 1,5 baht was approximately equal to today’s six cents based on purchasing power. 7,600 hu of rice can be
It can be exchanged for 765,000 baht, which is about 456,000 yuan in RMB. In the Han Dynasty, a piece of fine silk cloth was about 1,000 yuan, and 3,800 pieces of silk was equivalent to 3.8 million yuan, equivalent to RMB.
More than two million.]
Xiahou Feng's title of Marquis of Guannei was originally a fictitious title of marquis with no tax on the city. Xiahou Xuan allocated 300 households to him, and he naturally became an "alternative Marquis of Guannei" with 300 households.
The food tax paid by each household alone amounted to 1,200 dendrobiums per year, equivalent to 120,000 yuan. Therefore, Xiahou Feng was very grateful to his cousin.
Xia Houfeng had not yet married, so he lived in his cousin Xia Houxuan's house all year round.
Not only that, Xia Houxuan also temporarily assigned 20 of the 200 Xuanjia guards that Emperor Wen gave to his residence to Xia Houfeng to take charge of.
Since Xiahou Feng lived in his cousin's house, he could eat the food from the Changlinghou Palace every day. However, as the heir of Xiahou Ba, the right general, Xiahou Xian was very careful in his daily life, both in his speech, behavior and diet.
Due to his father's hard training, he rarely had such rich and delicious meals as his cousin's house. Therefore, compared to Xiahou Feng, what Xiahou Xian ate at this time was like a hungry wolf chewing mutton.
Like a foal quietly munching on the grass.
Mrs. Cao Jue couldn't help but laugh when she saw how her two nephews were eating. She smiled and said, "Xian'er, eat slowly. If it's not enough, just ask the chef to make it for you. Don't choke."
"
While Xia Houxian was devouring his food, he smiled and nodded to his aunt Cao Jue. This funny look once again successfully amused everyone at the table. Master Sima and Xia Houhui's three or four-year-old daughter couldn't help but giggle.
, but accidentally choked, Xia Houhui hurriedly and worriedly patted his daughter's back with his hand.
Seeing this, Huigu, who was proficient in medicine, got up and poured some rice wine. After feeding it to the child, she stopped coughing and choking.
After everyone finished eating, Mrs. Cao Jue was already a little sleepy, so she went back to the house to rest with the help of her servants. The young people were not sleepy at all and planned to continue drinking for a while. Xia Houhui and Xia Houyu
The other female family members followed Hui Gu to the residence arranged in the West Hall of the Back Garden to rest.
Xiahou Xuan, Cao Xi, Sima Shi, He Kui, Yu Huan, Xiahou Xian, and Xiahou Feng played a game of guessing the wine order and began to watch the New Year's Eve.
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After the court meeting in Yuan Dynasty and several royal family banquets in the first month of the year, the drunken Emperor Cao Rui had not yet woken up and was still sleeping soundly on the sandalwood couch in Shiqian Hall.
At this time, a waiter who did not know the emperor's schedule carefully pushed open the carved wooden door of Shiqian Palace, but before he could make a sound, he was quickly pushed out by an attendant in the palace.
The waiter in the palace was none other than Zhang Dang, the chief chamberlain official. Seeing the reckless arrival, he almost disturbed the emperor, so he scolded in a low voice:
"The waiters in this palace are so ignorant of the rules!"
The waiter who almost broke into the palace immediately apologized and said with a smile:
"The great internal official is atonement, and the younger one is Han Yong, the evil-warming attendant of Chonghua Hall, the school affairs officer, and the son of General Wu Wu. He has something important to convey to your majesty. He is now waiting for your majesty outside Shangshulan Terrace. [Note 2]
]”
[Note 2: The name "to ward off evil spirits" appears in the annals of history, but its original meaning should be the palace envoy responsible for conveying imperial edicts, or an eunuch. Its origin can be found in "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, the Book of Wei, and the Records of the Ming Emperor", "King Xuan paused and shed tears"
"The annotation by Pei Songzhi from Jin Dynasty attached under the paragraph is quoted from "Wei Lue" written by Yu Guan, a historian of Cao Wei: "(Emperor Ming) Gu Hu's palace often said to the envoy: 'Come to ward off evil spirits! You take this edict of mine and grant it to the Taiwei.
.'" "Warding off evil spirits" should be another name for an internal official, not a person's name. Fang Yizhi of the Qing Dynasty stated in "Tongya Titles": "Emperor Wei Ming sent an envoy to ward off evil spirits and called Sima Yi. To ward off evil spirits, he gave the envoy a title, just like the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.
Cang Tou calls him Yi Lu." It can be seen that "Bixie" is the palace envoy responsible for conveying the imperial edict, not a person's name.]
Zhang Dang knew the whole story and thought that the school official, General Cao Zuan of Wu, was a confidant of His Majesty the Emperor, a prince of the royal family, and the brother of Cao Zhao, Marquis of Changping. He did not dare to neglect it, so he thought about it for a while.
First, he ordered the maid outside the palace to bring him sour plum soup to sober up the drunkenness. Then he quietly entered the palace and woke up the sleeping Cao Rui.
——————
After Cao Rui got up, he drank a bowl of hangover soup and wiped his head and face with an ice towel. He was mostly awake from the drunkenness. He changed into regular clothes, got into the emperor's chariot, and rolled towards the south. Not long after,
, they have arrived at Shang Shu Lantai.
When Cao Zuan saw that the emperor's chariot had arrived, he hurriedly knelt down and saluted. Cao Rui jumped off the chariot and helped Cao Zuan up with his own hands:
"Desi, there's no need to be polite, just go in and talk."
When they entered Lantai, they saw Chen Qun, the chief minister, Liu Fang, the supervisor of the Zhongshu Ling, Sun Zi, the minister of the Zhongshu, Wei Zhen, the minister, Wei Qi, Sima Fu, Huan Fan, Bian Lan and Wang Su, the ministers of Sanqi. Cao Zhao, Gao Tanglong, and the central leader Yang Ji and others are already in place.
After everyone saluted, Cao Zuan began to report recent major events in the enemy's country. News from the government and the public:
"Your Majesty, in the first month of the first lunar month, Sun Lu, the youngest son of Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, passed away. Sun Deng, the prince of Wu, came to the province from Wuchang. The lord of Wu left Jinling for a long time to build Ye. He was unable to serve the king of Wu, and his son's way was blocked. Also Chen The general Lu discussed the affairs of the loyal and diligent king, and had nothing to worry about. The Lord of Wu left the prince to stay in Jianye."
Cao Rui nodded, indicating that he already knew. Sun Deng, the Prince of Wu, was known to be a virtuous man, but he had always had political disagreements with the Lord of Wu. Now he is serving the King of Wu in Jianye. I don't know whether it is a blessing or a curse.
Cao Zuan continued to report:
"General Hou Cao Hong, the Marquis of Lecheng, passed away this morning!"
When Cao Rui heard this, he closed his eyes slightly, not knowing how he felt. This uncle Cao Hong had conspired to support Cao Lin, the then King of Hedong, as the crown prince, and repeatedly opposed him. Later, his plot failed, and Emperor Wen was furious and wanted to provoke him. He was imprisoned and executed, but Empress Dowager Wu Xuan and Bian interceded for mercy, which saved her life.
But no matter what, Cao Hong was a life-saving benefactor to Emperor Wu and a famous general with great military exploits. If he were to be dealt with hastily because of old grudges, it would inevitably chill the world.
Therefore, after he ascended the throne, he pardoned his sins, restored him from a commoner to a royal family, and named him a queen general and Marquis of Lecheng. Now that Cao Hong has died a good death, it can be regarded as his good fortune.
Cao Rui finished his thoughts and continued to ask:
"What else?"
Cao Zuan looked up at the emperor and said the last important thing with a heavy face:
"Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, held a meeting at the court and wanted to send people to sail to Liaodong. He asked Gongsun Yuan for horses and formed an alliance with him!"
Everyone in the Chancery was frightened when they heard this. Ever since the battle of Jiangling, when Xia Houshang, the former general who conquered the south, and Cao Zhen, the former general, greatly defeated the Soochow cavalry, Soochow has never been able to form a cavalry again. Because the Lord of Wu Sun Quan loved horses and wanted to reorganize the cavalry army, which led to the horse theft case a few years ago. Now, Sun Quan is still determined to form an alliance with Liaodong. If he succeeds, there will be endless consequences!
When Cao Rui heard this, he frowned slightly and asked the ministers:
"If this is true, we need to arrange manpower immediately to attack the Wu army on the East China Sea sea route. But I don't know who can take on the important task."
Yang Ji, the leader of the Central Army, had always been on good terms with Tian Yu, the governor of Runan and general Tian Guorang. Knowing that Tian Yu was a talented general, he wanted his friend to make great achievements, so he immediately recommended to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, the governor of Runan and the general who killed the barbarians, Tian Guorang, are worthy of the great task. I recommend him to take on this important task!"
When Cao Rui heard this, he immediately remembered Tian Yu's name. He remembered that Tian Yu once served as the Wuhuan Colonel in Northern Xinjiang. Under the plan of Xiahou Xuanqi and the dispatch of Wu Zhi, the governor of Bingzhou, he had worked with Qianzhao and Xie Jun. , Liang Xi and others together defeated Xianbei Master Ke Bineng's tribe. He was indeed a general.
After Cao Rui pondered for a long time, he finally nodded:
"Give Tian Yu Fu Jie, temporary governor of Qingzhou, lead all troops in Qingzhou, and have full authority to handle this matter!"
"Your Majesty clearly shows you!"
Yang Ji, the leader of the army, was overjoyed when he saw that the emperor had adopted his opinion.
Seeing that Cao Zuan had nothing else to report, Cao Rui thought about it for a while, and then remembered several new decrees he wanted to issue:
"I remember that the four sons of Xiahou Yuan, the general who conquered the west, Xiahou Ba, the right general, Xiahou Wei, the governor of Yanzhou, Xiahou Hui, the governor of Le'an, and Xiahouhe, Yin of Henan, were known as the "Four Heroes of Xiahou". I was afraid that these four people were not worthy of their names, so for many years I have been secretly investigating and found that the four people have made outstanding political achievements and outstanding military exploits over the years, and are indeed rare capable ministers. These four people still have no titles, so today I confer the title of Marquis of Guannai to four people to show my favor!
In addition, Zuo Yannian is good at music, is good at Zheng Sheng, and has outstanding talents. I want to promote him to be the general of the Xielu Zhonglang, and be in charge of the collection and compilation of music from all over the world."
These four Xiahou family members are uncles of the same clan as Xiahou Xuan. Over the years, Xiahou Xuan has been able to master the affairs and intelligence of counties and counties all over the world, and it is indispensable for the help of these four uncles. The ministers in Shangshutai are naturally interested in the abilities of the "Four Elites of Xiahou" There is no doubt that Zuo Yannian is also a famous music master, so no one has any objection to these two appointments.
Cao Rui nodded and continued:
"Dunhuang County is far away in the west. It is in chaos and isolated. The great surnames rule the roost. It has been without a governor for more than twenty years. I want to send a capable minister to govern Dunhuang. I wonder if you have any suitable candidates?"
Liu Fang, the Supervisor of Zhongshu, and Sun Zi, Zhongshu Ling and Sun Zi didn't have any ideas for a while, so they kept silent. At that time, he served as Cao Rui's teacher in the East Palace, and Gao Tanglong, the casual knight of Pingyuan Wangfu, had a candidate in mind. He spoke Recommended:
"Cangci, Cangxiaoren, has been the magistrate of Chang'an County since the end of Emperor Wen's reign in Huangchu. Over the years, he has made outstanding achievements, and this person is smart and capable. I guarantee that after Cangci takes office, he will be able to suppress the local powerful, provide relief to the poor, and stabilize the country." Dunhuang!"
Cao Rui had always respected his teacher very much. He agreed to the matter without thinking. And the facts many years later proved that Gao Tanglong was not wrong about the person.
The large families in Dunhuang had plenty of land, but the small people had no place to stand, and the large families defrauded Hu merchants, which made the Hu people resentful. Later, after Cang Ci took office, he solved all these problems one by one. Cang Ci died in office a few years later, and the officials The people felt as sad as losing a relative, and even built a temple for his portrait. Even when the barbarians in the Western Regions heard that Cangci had passed away, they took the initiative to gather under Wuji Xiaowei and Chang Shi to mourn, and some even cut their faces with a knife in grief.
Finally, Cao Rui issued the last edict of the day:
The feudal lords and kings were renamed, and all counties were regarded as the country, and the system of enfeoffment was established.
After Cao Rui thought about it for a while, he looked at the ministers at the Chancellery and said loudly:
"Since the founding of the Wei State, the kings who founded the country have either granted counties or counties, but there has been no custom-made system. This system cannot be the law of future generations forever. Therefore, I want to change the title of princes and kings, and all of them will be based on counties. The kingdom will be appointed prime minister. , Duwei, Fu, Bao, You, Lang Zhongling, Lieutenant, Da Nong, Sima, and Family Ling each have one person; the regulation of officials is the same as that of the principality and the kingdom; a prince has one prime minister and another family Ling, Jiacheng, and Fu each One person. I wonder if the ministers have any objections?"
Liu Fang and Sun Zi have always been good at flattering, and this matter will not harm their own interests, so they have no objections. Gao Tanglong has always worried that the power of the princes and kings is too weak to prevent powerful ministers from rising up, so the emperor's move is just right. The intention was to elevate the princes and kings, so Gao Tanglong also greatly agreed.
In this way, Cao Rui's new enfeoffment system was promoted vigorously and resolutely.
A group of new princes and kings who expanded their feudal states, including Cao Ju, King of Pengcheng, Cao Yu, King of Yan, Cao Lin, King of Pei, Cao Gun, King of Zhongshan, Cao Jun, King of Chenliu, Cao Gan, King of Zhao, and Cao Hui, King of Dongping, also moved to arrived at their new fiefdom.