In the past, the expenses of the Liyuan and the Jiaofang were all funded by Zuozangku, but the fundamental purpose of Xue Bai asking Du Wulang to preside over the restructuring was that Zuozangku would no longer contribute the money, and instead the musicians would be able to make a living on their own. Du Wulang's job
It means leading and guiding them.
But when Da Xi Yingying asked Zuo Zangku how much he spent on Liyuan and Jiaofang every year, Du Wulang couldn't answer.
"All I know is that the number...is huge."
"How big is it?" Da Xi Yingying leaned over and asked.
Du Wulang opened his palms and made some gestures, but in the end he could only say, "In short, it's bigger than we thought."
Da Xi Yingying then crossed her arms over her chest, chuckled, and said, "Well, maybe I know this better than you."
"Ah? How can you know clearly?"
"In the pear garden, those who have excellent skills and are favored by the emperor will have a salary as generous as that of a high-ranking official. They will be given a residence and their family will be given rice all year round. This group of people alone will have a lot of expenses." Da Xi Yingying said, "Your Highness
If we want to abolish the opera garden, we will naturally no longer pay these people’s salaries. But if we are responsible for our own profits and losses, who among the people can support these famous people?”
"What should we do?"
"So you must first understand that His Highness is asking you to give a way out for those musicians and actors who are of low status and have nowhere to seek refuge. As for those famous artists, you cannot afford their profits and losses. On the contrary, you have to use their fame to open up the situation.
"
Du Wulang understood and asked: "Let a famous person just work without getting paid and support an entire stall?"
Da Xi Yingying couldn't help but pursed her lips and smiled, reached out and flicked Du Wulang's forehead, and said: "Looking stupid, he is quite smart."
Du Wulang was not used to such teasing and quickly hid behind him.
He covered his forehead with his hand and said: "I have met Li Guinian and his brothers. They are highly skilled and arrogant. How can I let them do it in vain?"
Da Xi Yingying said: "What do these people care about most? It's just fame and status. Please ask His Highness to retain one or two titles every year, and add some rewards, and then give them to the most famous musicians of the year, so that they can grab them and fight for them.
The competition is to see who is the most obedient."
After hearing this, Du Wulang felt that she was really scheming, so he subconsciously moved further away.
Da Xi Yingying was afraid that he didn't understand, so she reminded: "Do you understand? Only one person's generous treatment can make dozens of people obedient."
"Understood." Du Wulang nodded repeatedly, and then asked: "But can we really make ends meet by relying on the performances of those musicians? The emperor spent a lot of money, and the musicians played all elegant music, how many people among the people
Pay money to listen to this?”
"Your Highness is still frugal, and your expenses cannot be compared with those in the past. As for your income, how can it be that you rely on a few small pennies from performing arts?"
"Then what?"
"I'll find a few people for you and pay this amount."
Du Wulang said: "Don't just take it out from Fenghui Bank. Now that His Highness is in charge of the country, the left treasury is also his private property. If the money comes out, it will be changed from the left to the right."
"Don't worry." Da Xi Yingying said, "No one pays for this money in vain."
She waved her hand and asked him to come over.
Du Wulang was reluctant, but his aura was not as good as hers, so he had no choice but to listen. Gradually, his eyes lit up, and he finally understood.
~~
A few days later, Xuanzheng Palace.
Xue Bai was burying his head in the case, when a eunuch came up and whispered: "Your Highness, Mrs. Guo Guo is here."
"At this time?"
Xue Bai's first reaction was that it was evening, but when he looked up, it was still afternoon. Except for Yang Yuyao's appointments with him to play polo and hunt, most of the time she came at night to avoid being noticed.
Today I came unexpectedly during the day, probably because I wanted to raise an army to question him.
Xue Bai then looked at the eunuch in front of him seriously and said: "She must be here because of the imperial court's ban on the trend of comparison in Beijing. Tell her that I have made up my mind and will never tolerate it."
"Here."
After a while, the eunuch replied: "Ms. Guo Guo also brought Xie Aman here, saying that she must see His Highness, otherwise she will not go back."
"The abolition of the theater is a foregone conclusion. There is no point in talking about it. Let them go back."
After doing this two or three times, everyone else knew that they were meeting for business, and Xue Bai agreed to meet Yang Yuyao and Xie Aman. After a while, the two of them came happily.
As soon as they met, Yang Yuyao glared at Xue Bai with anger and hatred in her beautiful eyes, snorted and said: "You are such a heartless person, the first thing you do when you take power is to take action on me."
Xue Bai first waved away the waiters in the palace, and then said: "It is precisely because I have not met Yao Niang that I asked you to set an example for the world. Make the house smaller and simpler."
"I have money. I can buy as much house as I like." Yang Yuyao was still dissatisfied and pushed Xue Bai and said, "Don't you dislike me? You bully people like this."
"I treat you as one of my own."
Xue Bai did not coax her blindly, but then changed the topic and asked: "Is it possible that the friendship between Yao Niang and me is only based on profit and cooperation, and it will not work without the luxurious mansion?"
"That's not true." Yang Yuyao became increasingly annoyed with him and said, "What I'm afraid of is you crossing the river and burning down the bridge."
She sat down directly on Xue Bai's seat, leaned back, turned her eyes to Xie Aman, raised a smile at the corner of her mouth, and said: "What about you? You are full of grievances, why don't you tell me quickly?"
Today, Yang Yuyao met Xie Aman when she went out. She also heard that Xue Bai had abolished the opera garden and that the court would no longer pay salaries to the musicians, so she brought Xie Aman to investigate.
But this "invoking an army to prosecute" was actually just a pretext. Xue Bai's edict had been issued for a long time, and a few days ago she was told not to be as extravagant as before, so how could she wait until today for the attack to happen.
In fact, Yang Yuyao was worried that the passion between her and Xue Bai would fade away. Looking at Xie Aman's beauty and charming temperament, she remembered that she had thought about marrying Xie Aman to Xue Bai before, so she took her with her.
The help of fighting for favor.
At this time, when Xie Aman saw Yang Yuyao's gaze, he quickly turned towards Xue Bai Wanfu and said: "Your Highness, I have no grievances."
She is good at singing and dancing, her voice is soft and melodious, her movements are graceful, and her words are considerate and gentle.
"Your Highness abolished the Liyuan because of the continuous war and the emptiness of the national treasury. I have received many rewards in the past few years. I came here today because I want to give all the rewards I received to Your Highness."
Xue Bai couldn't help being surprised and praised: "I thought you were obsessed with dancing and music skills and had no knowledge of state affairs. I didn't expect you to be so understanding of righteousness and loyal to the country."
As he said this, he was also thinking about how to praise Xie Aman.
Of course, praise must be given to inspire others. But it should not be overdone. For example, Du Wulang's previous method was very well-measured and set up a few music awards.
"What do you wish for?" he asked.
However, Xie Aman did not do this because of her deep understanding of righteousness. She had not donated all her treasures after so many great events had happened before. What she did today was not so much loyalty to the country as she wanted to please Xue Bai.
As Xue Bai approached, she was inevitably a little shy and lowered her head, but she couldn't hide the deep affection in her eyes.
"I...I..."
When Yang Yuyao next to her saw this scene, she was a little jealous, but also very interested. She figured that Xie Aman could recommend himself as a pillow, and then they would work together to not worry about charming Xue Bai.
The admiration in Xie Aman's eyes was obvious, but after a while he said: "I heard rumors that the lady is still alive, and... and your highness knows where she is, can you let me stay with the lady?
Serve?”
The "lady" she said was naturally referring to Yang Yuhuan.
Yang Yuyao was stunned.
In fact, Yang Yuyao was not sure about Yang Yuhuan. At that time, Xue Bai asked Du Wulang to be the envoy to protect Gao Lishi and Yang Yuhuan when they went south to Shu County. She once suggested that Du Wulang was stupid and could not protect Yang Yuhuan, but Xue Bai told her,
It is precisely in this way that Yang Yuhuan can escape by feigning death.
Later, Xue Bai told her that Yang Yuhuan had gone away. From then on, they never saw each other again.
There are always rumors in the capital about how Xue Bai and Yang Yuhuan are having an affair. Yang Yuyao doesn't believe it. She thinks that if Yang Yuhuan is in Chang'an, how can he not see her sister?
"The rumors are not credible." Xue Bai said: "Your wish cannot be realized."
Xie Aman was very disappointed.
The wish she made was that she wanted to serve Yang Yuhuan, but in fact she was also willing to serve Xue Bai together. He refused such a beautiful thing without hesitation, which shows that the rumor was indeed false.
However, Xue Bai still encouraged her and showed her the righteous deed of donating the family wealth and asked her to retreat first.
He and Yang Yuyao were the only two people left in the hall.
"Why didn't you agree to her?" Yang Yuyao asked.
"This person is far away, so why bother causing trouble again."
"Where did Yuhuan go?"
Xue Bai thought for a while and said: "Yingzhou."
Yingzhou Yantao was confused and could not find the answer. This answer was clearly meant to stop Yang Yuyao from asking further questions.
The palace became quiet, and the two of them didn't speak for a while.
It's like I have nothing to say.
Yang Yuyao felt that her relationship with Xue Bai had encountered a big problem.
Everything is different from before. In the past, she lived a life of luxury and extravagance. Xue Bai would never say anything. Because she was strong at that time. She was the elder sister. She was used to lying there lazily, curling her fingers and smiling seductively.
Let Xue Bai come forward and work hard until she can no longer resist.
Now Xue Bai holds great power and is surrounded by beauties. However, she cannot learn to act coquettishly to please him like the other women. Once she is used to being a sister, it is difficult for her to change into a docile and obedient character.
But did she do something wrong? The prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty is indeed gone. She should put on Jingchai's sarong and join him in advocating frugality and diligence. But this is the wife's duty, she is not it, and she does not like simplicity.
She couldn't find herself, and the Yang Yuyao of the past gradually dimmed, and finally seemed to gradually disappear along with the aura of prosperity.
"I should go to Yingzhou with Yuhuan, so as not to ruin the atmosphere of Chang'an here."
Finally, she sighed, glanced at Xue Bai resentfully, and said: "I will also donate all the treasures so that your edict can be carried out smoothly."
"Are you willing to do so?"
"I can't bear to leave you even more." Yang Yuyao said, "But I also have a wish."
"What."
Yang Yuyao pointed to Xue Bai's big desk filled with memorials and official documents, pulled Xue Bai's collar and asked her to come over to her, and whispered: "I want to arrest you on it."
She wants to conquer the most powerful man at the center of power in the world.
"Then let's see who surrenders whom."
Xue Bai picked up Yang Yuyao and placed her on the desk. As she screamed, her long legs pushed the memorial down and threw it all over the floor...
~~
Forbidden Garden.
Horses can be seen grazing everywhere on the pasture. What is rare is that every horse has the same beautiful body and coat color.
Suddenly someone was surprised: "How could this happen?!"
"Now is not a prosperous age. When it comes to saving, save." Du Wulang said with emotion: "His Royal Highness said that the frontier army in preparation for the autumn is short of war horses. There are so many horses in the Forbidden Garden but they are idle to raise combs. Isn't it a waste? Let the frontiers
Let the army take you away."
Today, Du Wulang came because there were still thousands of "dancers" on the Liyuan roster to be eliminated. After coming to verify, he discovered that it turned out to be 500 dancing horses and the actors who performed with the dancing horses.
What is rare is that every dancing horse has a name, and many of them were named by Li Longji himself. They often have "slave" or "pet" as one of the characters in their names, which shows Li Longji's love for them.
This expense is not small. Countless fodder, manpower, and material resources are spent every year to maintain so many horses, but they are only used for occasional performances. Of course, it is not worth it. Anyway, he was not confident that he could afford it, so he asked Xue for permission.
Bai, sent officials from the horse supervision department to take these dancing horses and use them as war horses.
But the eunuch responsible for taking care of them refused to live or die.
This man's name was Guan Mingsi, who was Li Longji's favorite eunuch during his reign and was responsible for training these horse dancing performances. He was crying incessantly at this time.
"Taking them away would be a waste of natural resources!" Guan Ming thought, "These dancing horses have not galloped for more than ten years. Although they look like steeds, they can no longer serve as war horses. If they really reach the border, they will not only be harmed, but also
They want to kill the soldiers who ride on them."
"You are talking nonsense, how can I believe you?" The horse supervisor immediately shouted: "You must be the one who raised the dancing horses and deducted a lot from them. You don't want to lose this way of making money, so you are making alarmist remarks!"
Guan Mingsi shook his head repeatedly and said: "What's the use of my greed for money? I don't interact with people at all, I just want to get along with horses."
His words seemed quite sincere, at least when facing these people around him, he did look like he was not good at dealing with others.
"These dancing horses can understand each piece of music, can stand up, jump, and dance gracefully, but they cannot run fast. They have never left Chang'an. Except for the Forbidden Garden, the farthest place they have gone to is Xingqing Palace.
Performance. Horses are naturally timid. These foals have never seen the world in more than ten years since they were young. How can they not be frightened once they go to the battlefield?"
Behind him, the actors performing with five hundred dancing horses also burst into tears.
Why didn't they have the same fate as these dancing horses? They had only practiced dancing horses holding cups to celebrate the saint's birthday all their lives. Now that they have been abolished, there is no way for them to survive.
After Du Wulang listened, he could tell that what Guan Mingsi said was true, and he couldn't help but hesitate.
Seeing his hesitation, Guan Mingsi quickly picked up the piccolo from his sleeve and played it. Following the music, a dancing horse trotted over with a branch from a short tree and placed the branch in front of Du Wulang with a hanging hanging on it.
A small green pear.
"Huh." Du Wulang was greatly surprised and asked, "Does it listen to you like this?"
When he saw the dancing horse holding a cup in his hand, he thought that the saint was favored by heaven, so the dancing horse held a cup in its hands and presented it to the saint.
Only today did I realize that there are no gods, only skills.
"Horses have intelligence." Guan Mingsi said with tears, "Horses are as smart as a three-year-old child, but they don't know how to protect themselves and often would rather get hurt themselves to listen to their master. That's why we have been able to perform well in dance these years.
Horse's Cup."
Du Wulang picked up the green pears on the ground and refused to eat them. However, looking at the dancing horse's big eyes, he could feel its simplicity and cleverness, and he couldn't help but feel unbearable.
"But raising so many people and horses just to put on a show for the Qianqiu Long Live Festival, the imperial court has long been overwhelmed." Du Wulang sighed: "Now is not the prosperous age..."
Even so, he still agreed to find a solution for Guan Mingxi.
So he went to find Da Xi Yingying again.
"What if I let the dancing horses perform among the people as well?"
"Who's watching?" Da Xi Yingying said: "The horse dancing with cup holding cup is the highlight of Qianqiu Long Live Festival. There are 500 horses. Apart from Xingqing Palace Square, who else can have such a big place for horse dancing performances?"
"It can be outside the city."
Before Du Wulang finished speaking, Da Xi Yingying asked again: "Who will the dancing horse hold the cup to? In the past, it was a privilege reserved only for saints. No matter whether noble officials or ordinary people, who dares to take it?"
"Instead of holding the cup, can you hold something else?"
"It costs a lot of money to teach horse dancing, but it's just a show. How much does it cost and how much does it get? Why do you need to take over this mess? According to Cui Youfu's original words, just abolish it."
At the end, Da Xi Yingying added another sentence.
"If it can't be used as a war horse, it can't even carry goods and people. If you kill it and eat it, you will at least get a few more meals of meat."
Du Wulang always knew that this woman was cruel, but he still felt a little concerned after hearing these words.
That night, he slept rather uneasily. Sometimes he heard the music of the celebration, and sometimes he heard the neighing of horses.
The next day before dawn, he got up and stood in the courtyard in a daze. As it was an odd day, Du Youlin had already put on his official robe and hurriedly went out for morning court. When he saw Du Wulang in the courtyard, he couldn't help but cursed.
"Young man, you actually wake up so early? I'm surprised."
Du Youlin was a little startled when he first saw Du Wulang getting up early. He walked a few steps and saw that Du Wulang was still doing nothing. He couldn't help but cursed: "On the occasion of the reform of Dinggu, the whole court is united, look at you again..."
The scolding gradually faded away, and Quan Rui's voice came from behind the front yard.
"Alang, I'm afraid it's too late to make this morning."
"Bring the horse here." Du Youlin said, "This house is too far away, but His Highness advocates frugality, so now is not the time to change."
Soon, the rushing sound gradually faded away.
Du Wulang still stood there in a daze for a while. Finally, he made up his mind and ran directly to find Da Xi Yingying.
It was just dawn when we arrived at Xi Yingying's residence.
Knowing that Du Wulang was familiar with the master of the house, the maid in the house took him to the back hall to meet him. Da Xi Yingying was dressing up, her hair was not combed, her eyebrows were not painted, and her rouge was not done. When she saw him coming, she was very angry and avoided it. Go over it.
"If Wulang is here with me, it would be too disrespectful for me to think of myself as an outsider!"
"ah?"
Du Wulang thought to himself, compared to when she asked him to fight her, today he just saw her undressed appearance, and it was actually rude.
Fortunately, he could speak and said quickly: "Hey, you look better like this than before."
"Ha." Da Xi Yingying looked at the bronze mirror and said without turning her head: "Why are you rushing here in such a hurry?"
"I've thought about it." Du Wulang said: "I want to hold a big show outside the city. The last one will be a horse dance show for everyone in Chang'an to watch."
"The time is not right. Your Highness has just issued an edict to be diligent and frugal. Now is not the time for singing, dancing, and sensuality."
"I know."
Du Wulang didn't know what to say. He thought about it and said a small thing first.
"A few days ago, His Highness released the elephants raised in the Forbidden Garden to Shannan. The first is to put an end to the practice of offering rare birds, such as cranes, hounds, and sea hollies. Every time tribute is paid, the hunter's family is destroyed; the second is to reduce the palace expenses. Third, keeping animals in captivity goes against the nature of animals and harms the harmony of nature. In short, what he does is to achieve positive results and reverse the trend of extravagance. This is a big thing."
"It's good that you know." Da Xi Yingying said: "The dancing horses are sent to the army, no matter whether they are frightened or not, and they are useless, they are still for the world to see. When people know that the imperial court is changing, they will naturally be happy."
"But I don't want to show it to the world." Du Wulang said: "I want to show it to the world, and show it to the common people. Whether it's a musician, an actor, or a horse dancer, after practicing for so long, that's it. It would be a pity to abolish them all. This is burning the harp and boiling the crane, which is a waste. Doesn’t it go against His Highness’ original intention of being diligent and thrifty?”
Da Xi Yingying ignored him and was drawing her eyebrows seriously.
Du Wulang added: "Cui Youfu is right to abolish the Liyuan. Even my grandfather has been busy recently. They are all doing big things. They don't think about those actors. What to do after the horse dance is abolished? It won't affect the overall situation anyway. But When I receive an errand, I have to find a way for them to survive. Even if it is a horse, it is still a dancer on my roster."
"The biggest problem with you, Wu Lang, is that you are too kind-hearted." Da Xi Yingying said.
Du Wulang said: "I'll just follow the idea you gave me and put on that performance and have a look, okay?"
"It's okay to find a way for actors to survive, but if people impeach you for restarting your extravagant habits and implicate Mr. Du, things will be serious."
After saying that, Da Xi Yingying immediately continued: "Also, the horse dance and cup holding is only performed on the birthday of the Supreme Emperor. If you perform it among the people, it is very likely to be guilty of disrespect, in case His Highness is implicated."
Hearing this, Du Wulang hesitated for a moment and said: "His Royal Highness said that the Tang Dynasty will definitely return to its prosperous age and will be even more prosperous. The extravagant style must be given up, but how can we not dare to do anything just to avoid extravagance?"
As he talked about the latter part, his eyes lit up, and he took a step forward and said, "I have thought about it. If we can be frugal in this performance, it must also have the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty!"
Da Xi Yingying finally put down her eyebrow pencil and looked back at Du Wulang.
She never disliked his kindness. On the contrary, his biggest trait that attracted her attention was his kindness.
"Okay, let's do it."
~~
A few days later, Yang Yuyao was playing polo in the Forbidden Garden.
She originally liked to look plain and show off her elegance with gorgeous clothes. Now she dresses much more simply, but she is not as high-spirited anymore.
After playing for a while, she felt a little bored. Yang Yuyao suddenly caught a glimpse of Mingzhu on the stand waving to her frequently, so she drove her horse over.
"What's the matter?"
"Yao Niang, this is Your Highness." Mingzhu was unusually happy today, with a smile in her eyes, and whispered: "Your Highness has asked Yao Niang to watch a performance outside the city tomorrow. It is better to visit privately incognito."
Yang Yuyao was very surprised, but no matter what, she immediately became happy.
"He still has a conscience."
Seeing that she was happy, Mingzhu added: "Yao Niang, don't ask what kind of performance it is? Your Highness even commented on this performance."
"What is it?"
"Dancing horses, His Highness said that the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty is far more than just glitz and extravagance. Although he advocates frugality, he also wants people to see that the atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty is still there."