Chapter 15 The Royal Palace shows off its power (1)
Author: Gao Yue
Chapter 15 The Royal Palace shows off its power (1)
Prince Si Ning's Mansion is the original Prince Ning's Mansion. It is located in Yongxingfang, south of Daming Palace. It is the residence of the royal family. It was originally located in Xingqingfang and was called Wuwangzhai. It was still during the period when Wu Zetian was in power.
After Li Longji ascended the throne, he moved to Yongxingfang and renamed it the Ten Princes' Residence, and later the Sixteenth Prince's Residence. As the number of princes, princes, and grandsons increased, and there was not enough room for them, a Baisun Courtyard was built in Xingningfang in the south.
Of course, it is easier for the royal family to live together for surveillance. Emperor Li Longji came to power through a coup. How could he give others another chance?
The largest palace was Prince Ning's Mansion, where Emperor Li Xian lived. Li Xian had passed away, and his son Li Lin was named Prince Si Ning and inherited Prince Ning's Mansion.
Li Xian was naturally forced by the strength of his brother Li Longji and had to give up the throne. Even his father was forced to abdicate, let alone him.
Li Longji was also very kind to the eldest brother who gave up the throne. Except for power, he gave him all other glory and wealth.
In order to let his brothers run the country with peace of mind, Li Xian worked hard to eat, drink and have fun. As a result, he became a super fat man and died of cerebral infarction in his middle age.
Si Ning Wang Li Lin also inherited his father's life-saving skills and was obsessed with literature, music and polo. However, the Ning Wang polo team he raised was ranked behind more than a dozen in the federation. Li Bai, He Zhizhang and other drunken immortals were even more so.
He was a frequent visitor to his house, and young poets such as Du Fu and Wang Wei, who were named after their youth, were often invited to his house for banquets.
This time the polo match between the two butlers was just a small episode, so trivial that even Li Lin didn't bother to participate and asked an old eunuch who was his confidant to be the witness. He really wasn't interested.
If he hadn't wanted to maintain the rules of the palace, he would have followed the princess's suggestion and made Hu Jing the chief manager. Where would there be any polo matches?
At this time, Wang Shouzhong, a confidant and old eunuch, reported: "Your Majesty, Hu Jing said that the foreign aid he invited has not been trained with the servants and cannot cooperate. Please change it to Wensai."
Li Lin took a sip of tea and said calmly: "Wen Sai is fine. I suggested them to Wen Sai before, but they themselves refused."
"Then the old slave has changed!"
"Go! Wait a minute, who is the foreign aid Hu Jing invited?"
"It's Xiao Feilong, the number one black golfer. He didn't violate the prince's rules."
Li Lin didn't care at all about the so-called black player ranking first. He often went to the palace to compete with two of the top polo players in the Tang Dynasty. In his opinion, this little flying dragon was as worthless as an ant.
Mention.
Li Lin asked casually: "Who is the foreign aid Qiao Xingzhong invited?"
"Yes..." The old eunuch stopped talking.
Seeing his hesitation, Li Lin couldn't help but be slightly startled, "What, is it hard to tell? Or did he hire a white ball player against the rules?"
"No, it's just that I can't make up my mind, should I allow this person to compete?"
Li Lin laughed, "Who did he invite? To make you so embarrassed?"
"Reporting to the prince, he is a fourteen-year-old boy from Yonghefang."
Li Lin was stunned for a moment, "Fourteen years old, Yonghefang?"
Although there is only one word difference between Yonghefang and Yongxingfang, where the palace is located, they are two extremes of Chang'an City. One is the residence of the noble royal family, and the other is Chang'an's famous slums.
Li Lin knew that Yonghefang was a residential area for poor people, but he had never been there and had no feelings about it. However, the fourteen-year-old boy made him a little curious.
Li Lin thought for a moment and then said calmly: "As long as there are no violations, you are allowed to participate!"
"Old slave, obey the order!"
Wang Shouzhong went down, and Li Lin said to herself again, "A fourteen-year-old boy? He's only fourteen years old!"
His interest was finally aroused.
Li Ye was shocked by the magnificence and size of Prince Ning's Mansion. The Prince's Mansion covers an area of 150 acres, with majestic halls and palaces, densely packed various buildings, brackets and cornices, carved beams and painted buildings. Every corner is exquisite.
There is even a small lake of 20 acres, with a small island in the lake. In the island is a Guanyin Pavilion, which enshrines the 1-foot-tall gilded Guanyin.
Various pavilions and pavilions have been built along the lake. The lake and water are so beautiful. Of course, there are also vast grasslands for the princess's female relatives to ride horses.
Li Ye was envious of the Qiao family's house before, but now he realized what kind of luxurious life the dignitaries of the Tang Dynasty lived.
The polo ground is located to the east of the palace, covering an area of about 20 acres and is part of the grassland.
There is a three-story grandstand next to the polo field. The top is where Prince Li Lin and the princess and their wives and concubines watch the game. The next floor is where the eunuchs and maids stand. To serve the prince and princess, they must be very close.
place.
The next floor is where the guests sit. The so-called guests are mainly the guests raised by the prince, painters, musicians and polo players.
But today, the three-story stands were all empty, with only a few polo players and more than a hundred servants standing outside to watch the game.
Li Ye wore a sapphire blue warrior uniform, made of fine linen, which was extremely soft and comfortable to wear.
His family did not have such clothes. The Qiao family prepared them for him. Since he was not participating in a martial arts competition, he did not wear protective armor.
Qiao Xingzhong found an opportunity to explain to Li Ye: "I just got the news that today is the literary competition, so I have to trouble my nephew to play. The opponent is called Xiao Feilong. How much does my nephew know about him?"
Li Ye shook his head, "Except that he is number one on the blacklist, I know nothing else."
"My dear nephew, please don't have any psychological burden, let alone be intimidated by the so-called number one on the black list. That just means that he has participated in many competitions, and it does not count against those students. Real masters disdain such low-level players."
In terms of competition, Xiao Feilong’s actual polo skills may not be higher than those of my nephew.”
"Thank you, Uncle Shi, for your guidance. I will definitely try my best to perform at the highest level."
"My dear nephew, please defeat him!"
Qiao Xingzhong bowed deeply to Li Ye and said, "The fate of our family rests on my nephew."
Li Ye smiled bitterly in his heart. Just now he said that he should not have any psychological burden, but now he tried his best to put pressure on himself.
Of course, Li Ye also understood that Uncle Qiao was not deliberately putting pressure on him, but that he was too nervous and worried.
At this time, a burst of dissatisfied shouts suddenly came from the distance, "What do you mean, let me compete with a little kid. I can't afford to lose face. Please hire someone else!"
Needless to say, this must be the little flying dragon who ranks number one on the black list.
Li Ye quickly glanced at Qiao Xingzhong next to him and saw a hint of joy on his face. Li Ye immediately understood that Qiao Xingzhong was probably looking forward to this little flying dragon giving up and leaving, so that he could win without a fight.
Li Ye suddenly had a feeling that Uncle Qiao Shi was also very scheming!
"This guy is quite arrogant. He deserves to be number one on the black list!"
The ones who spoke were the polo players next to them. They were the white-ball players of Prince Ning's Polo Team, real professional polo players, and ranked 13th in the Datang Polo League last year.
The other person curled his lips, "Can he also call the word "flying dragon"?
Li Ye also just learned that the top polo players in the Tang Dynasty were named Feilong and Liefeng.
The nickname "Little Flying Dragon" is obviously an attempt to take advantage of other people's aura. It is a very stupid and very offending approach. If you are called "Little Flying Dragon", what are the hundreds of white golfers?
"Where does he think this is? Chang'an East City? Competing with who has the loudest voice!"
Several white ball players talked to each other and reduced this little flying dragon to worthless.
Perhaps he was warned, so the little flying dragon stopped shouting. This was Prince Ning's Mansion, and no matter how much he disliked his opponent, he still had to pinch his nose to admit it.
At this time, there was a slight commotion, and someone shouted, "Ah! The prince and princess are here!"
When Li Ye turned around, he saw a large group of palace maids and eunuchs appearing in the stands, as well as more than a dozen servants and guards, surrounding the owners of the palace: Prince Sining Li Lin and his concubine.
Everyone was surprised that the prince would come to such a small competition in person. Is it because of the little flying dragon?
Du Fu was very prosperous when he was young. You can see the first sentence of "The Year of Li Gui in the South of the Yangtze River" written by him, which is often seen in Prince Qi's house.
Who is Li Guinian, the best musician in the world?
Who is King Qi? Li Fan, the brother of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Li Longji.
Since it is common, it means that he often visited Prince Qi's palace as a guest, which shows his reputation.
It's just that he was unlucky. He traveled for too long and failed several imperial examinations, so his future was delayed.