The twelfth lunar month is coming soon. The earth is covered in silver, which is especially enchanting.
Shao Shude, who returned to Peiping, has been meeting with officials, chiefs, and generals from all walks of life, almost without stopping. Occasionally, when he has free time, he goes to see the two newborn children.
In September, Queen He of Tang Shuxian gave birth to a daughter. In October, Queen Jieyu Zhong gave birth to a son.
This month, Aunt Yulu is about to give birth.
In fact, these children were all seeds sown before the expedition last year. Whether a child will be born next year depends on the belly of Yue Liduo and Bodhisattva sisters.
At his age, the physical pleasure brought by playing with women is far less than the psychological pleasure brought by the desire to conquer.
Fortunately, in this era, women have the obligation to satisfy men, but men have no obligation to satisfy women, otherwise Shao Sheng would be a little embarrassed. Time is not forgiving!
The eighth day of December is the twelfth lunar month. On this day, the palace people made many vajra warriors to ward off the epidemic. Shao Shude didn't believe in this, but he would not stop this kind of traditional custom. After all, it was quite interesting.
During the Han Dynasty, "five battalions of thousands of horsemen came from Duanmen to carry torches and send epidemics, and abandoned them in Luoshui." It can be seen that these folk activities have a long history, and both the palace and the people are very enthusiastic about them.
These activities are also very effective in assimilating Fanhu.
Joint participation is very important. Farming together, celebrating festivals together, harvesting together, and rejoicing together, subtly, the Fan Hu group has accepted various elements of the main nation, and then influenced each other and converged with each other. Each tribe is like a trickle.
Enter the stream and then dissolve into the river.
This is actually how the ancestors of the Han people were formed. On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, pig wine was also offered to the Kitchen God.
To put it bluntly, the Shao family dynasty has no real heritage. They are all country bumpkins who came to power. They still retain many customs from when they were ordinary people. For example, early in the morning, Queen Zhe and the palace people were busy preparing sacrificial items.
"The stove owner, the old woman's sacrifice, honors it in a vase and holds it in a basin."
Well, a group of "old women" in the palace used bottles as bottles and placed offerings in basins to worship the Kitchen God.
They even followed the custom and "cruelly" killed a yellow dog, called a "yellow sheep", to sacrifice to the gods - the gods who needed blood. Shao Shude always felt that there was something wrong with it.
"You are already a queen. Some things can be left to the palace people. Why do you have to do it yourself?" Shao Shu pulled his wife to sit down, handed over a cup of hot tea, and said sadly.
Zhe Fangmei reached out and took it, feeling a little moved.
Whenever she heard that her husband was messing around outside, she would be very angry. But after her husband came back, these inadvertent little cares and warmth always made her resentment disappear. Then she calmed down and acquiesced in the one after another he brought back.
Wild woman.
Sometimes she always wondered if she was too talkative. As a queen, she had the right to refuse Yue Liduo, Yu Lujiangu and even Zhang Hui from entering the palace.
"Maybe it was because I was doing nothing in the palace and felt empty in my heart." Zhe Fangmei said. After the news of Zhe Zongben's death came, she cried for a long time.
Zheling Gongyuan went to Eyue Town. In fact, the father and daughter had not seen each other for many years and they missed each other very much.
Although he was an envoy to the Privy Council and could stay in the capital to enjoy the blessings, he still worked hard in the south for his son-in-law's empire. The day before his death, he was still patrolling the military town, actively contacting Zhao Kuangning, and planning to conquer the Lei brothers in Langzhou southward.
Really worked hard.
After the death of Zhe Zongben, Zhe Silun succeeded him as the second generation Prince of Qinghe County.
Not to mention this, Shao Shude added Zhe Congyuan, who had been studying with the princes and princesses, to Yin Anzhi, and awarded him the position of captain.
Zhe Congyuan is an outstanding descendant of the third generation of the Zhe family. He has been studying in the palace since he was a child, and he is very talented in literature, Taoism and martial arts. The seventeen-year-old boy is at the time when he is full of energy, so he is recruited and trained by his side.
That's how it should be.
"How about you come with me to patrol the Bohai Sea in the north next year?" Shao Shude grabbed his wife's hand and said.
What Yueliduo! Although he just played it last night, he can't remember it anymore. He just wants to spend time with his wife now. "You can't leave anyone alone in the capital." Zhe Fang Ai was a little moved, but still gave up.
"What's so difficult about this!" Shao Shude said
: "Wouldn't it be nice to let Erlang come back to supervise the country and let us travel together as husband and wife?"
"My husband has this intention, and I am very satisfied." Zhe Fangxiao gently stroked Shao Shude's face and said, "Let Erlang be alone outside and exercise more, which will be good for him in the future. Regarding matters in the court, everyone
The prime minister handled it very well, I just need to help and take care of it."
It is said that the queen is in charge of the country in Peiping, and she is doing well.
Shao Shude learned about it and found out that the barbarians from central Guizhou whom Zhe Fangmei met were trying to restrain each other when they were being rewarded with titles. They played a very good game, which showed that they had put in a lot of effort in advance. Even if he did it, that would be it.
Having such a good wife sitting behind the scenes really made him feel at ease.
"That's fine." Shao Shude said, "Next year I will conquer the Bohai Sea. By then there will be nothing to do in the north and the south will not be worthy of my own expedition. It will be much easier. Then, let's go to Ruzhou Guangchengze to live for a while."
"Yes." The queen buried her face in Shao Shude's arms and responded softly.
******
As the New Year approaches day by day, officials are becoming more and more slack and less enthusiastic about going to work. In view of this, Shao Shude simply announced a three-day holiday in advance.
So everyone cheered. Everyone finished the matters at hand as quickly as possible, and then the government office sealed and closed the door. Before leaving, there was a wave of welfare essentials.
"Xiang Chen, the sage said that the winter is bitterly cold, and all the officials have to go to court early in the morning. It is really hard, so I will give you special fur clothes and fur hats to wear on the day of the court meeting." Pugu Chengen's face smiled like a chrysanthemum, full of smiles.
He said with a flattering face.
Daxia's middle-ranking officials had no military power, and their prestige had simply plummeted. Not to mention the military men, even the civil servants of the foreign dynasties could not afford to offend, especially the level of Chen Cheng, the minister of Zhongshu.
"The ermine fur robe is worth thousands of gold." Chen Cheng stroked the soft and thick fur and said with a smile: "Last year, we got more than 30,000 skins from Khitan and Bohai. There are not many suitable for official robes. But the saints
He also carefully selected them and gave them to his subordinates. Such a benevolent king is rare in ancient times."
The servant Zhao Guangfeng also got an ermine official robe. Hearing this, he said: "This fur is really worth a thousand gold, I am ashamed to accept it." As the saying goes, the five-flowered horse, a thousand gold fur - the top fur of ermine is definitely the best.
Within the scope of thousands of gold.
"Xu Xianxiu, the Taiwei of the Northern Qi Dynasty, was given a stoat fur robe by Qi Shenwu..." Feng Guanqing, the minister of etiquette, said sourly. He was given a green stoat fur robe, which is actually not bad, but the color of the clothes of this dynasty is poor.
White, but not as good as ermine. Other officials of fifth rank and above also received rewards, and everyone was beaming and happy.
For officials below the fifth rank, there is no point in envying them. Just buy them yourself. Changxia Trading Company has a lot of leathers and even ready-made fur clothes on display, so just spend money.
After receiving their fur robes, Chen Cheng and others were about to leave, but were stopped by Pugu Chengen.
"Prime Minister Chen, there are still rewards." He clapped his hands, and Xiao Huangmen came over carrying bamboo baskets.
"Twenty salmon and five bunches of kelp." Pugu Chengen said with a smile: "Please write a reply to Xiang Chen, otherwise the saint will expose me." Chen Cheng laughed and said, "Easy to say."
After that, he asked the palace guards who escorted him home to help him carry the gift, and signed the receipt with his own hand. The saint really had nothing to say to his ministers and warriors.
Whenever he gets something good, he always shares it with everyone. Chen Cheng has lost count of how many rewards he has received. When you meet such a gentleman, just enjoy it secretly.
Emperors are also human beings with different temperaments. When encountering a stingy person, not only will they receive a small salary, but they will also receive very few rewards, which makes people very embarrassed.
In the early years of the former Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty knew that officials' salaries were low, so he often gave banquets and took this opportunity to reward officials with property as an important part of their salaries.
Nowadays, it is easy to give gifts, and sometimes women. To work for such an emperor, you are really motivated. "The saint went to the military parade today?" Chen Cheng asked casually after signing the signature.
"I'm afraid I've finished reading it now," Pugu Chengen said. Chen Cheng nodded, saluted and left.
At this time, Shao Shude had indeed just finished reviewing the generals and other troops, and had issued Zhengdan rewards in advance. After that, he and Queen Zhe took a carriage to review the Silver Saddle.
this troop
It has now expanded to more than 5,300 people. In terms of combat strength, with the same number of people, probably no Forbidden Army can be their opponent. Their martial arts, equipment and morale are far inferior.
"What do you think, Madam, of the appearance of this army?" Shao Shude asked proudly on the carriage. Zhe Fangmei showed a rare smile and said, "Neither fish nor fowl."
It's cold today. Instead of wearing cold-forged steel armor, the soldiers of Yin'anzhi are wearing sweaters, leather armor, those in the front row, and even whale-skin armor. This is not the most surprising part. In fact, it provokes
What made Zhe Fangxiao laugh was that everyone was wearing a bearskin hat on their head.
This is Shao Shude's bad taste, which is not enough for outsiders.
Of course, strictly speaking, there were leather hats in the Tang Dynasty, which were called "fan hats" at that time.
As the name suggests, among the Dunhuang murals passed down from the Hu people, there are many portraits of people wearing fan hats - "Nobles and people like to wear Hu clothes and hats (mainly fur hats or felt hats), and ladies wear hairpins and hairpins while walking."
The sleeves are narrow and small."
The Xia Dynasty inherited too many customs from the Tang Dynasty, and the warriors certainly did not have much resistance to leather hats. Moreover, it was made of bearskin. The Shaofu specially selected leathers with good appearance from the captured trophies, carefully cut and sewn them, and they were valuable.
Not cheap.
Ordinary Forbidden Army warriors are not qualified to wear bearskin hats! After the carriage reached the end, it slowly stopped.
Today's car is also more unique, it is a four-wheel carriage or a convertible version.
The embarrassing thing is that we can only go straight and cannot turn. Fortunately, for the reviewing troops, they can just go straight.
Shao Shude once talked specifically with craftsmen about four-wheeled carriages. He found that the wheels are all on the same axle. When turning, the outer wheels need to travel longer distances than the inner ones, but two wheels on the same axle cannot do this.
a little.
Simply put, when turning, the speed of the inner and outer wheels cannot be the same.
What to do? Shao Shude thought about it, and the only option was to install gears, and artificially adjust the speed of the inner and outer wheels to facilitate turning. The gears were made of metal, which is more durable. And with gears, they naturally need bearings.
Bearings do not necessarily have to be ball bearings, in fact sliding bearings can also be used. Bearings need lubricating oil.
It happened that he had the top lubricant at this time: seal oil - whales are difficult to catch, but seals are easy to catch, and seal oil is a high-grade lubricant that is not inferior to whale oil.
Perfect, everything is there, let’s get started.
He is now waiting for good news to see when the craftsmen will get it out for him.
With the first-class national highway, four-wheeled carriages, a means of transportation with speed and perfectly balanced loads, would of course be widely popularized. Everything started with his open-top car.