Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 227: The government and the people celebrate, but the saint is worried
There were many festivals in the Tang Dynasty, with more than 100 official holidays a year.

In addition to the three-day break every month, there are seven days off on the first day of the lunar year and the winter solstice, four days off on the Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival and Cold Food Festival, and three days off on the summer solstice and the twelfth day of the lunar year.

Others such as Shangsi, Dragon Boat Festival, Qixi Festival, Double Ninth Festival and other major solar terms also have holidays.

In addition to statutory holidays, there are also sacrificial holidays in March, farm holidays in May, and clothing-giving holidays in September.

The clothing holiday is given at the end of September every year to give officials a day to prepare winter clothes and prepare for the arrival of winter to avoid illness.

Tomorrow is the day for the clothing granting ceremony. Gao Youdao and the other two finished their work for the past few days early before the 3:00 PM and were ready to go out for a drink.

Lu Zhaolin straightened his clothes, stood up, and said with a smile, "Brother Yuan, Brother Guo, we have booked a private room at the Eight Immortals Restaurant and are planning a banquet. Would you like to join us?"

After more than a year of working as colleagues, Yuan Wanqing and Guo Zhengyi became more familiar with the three people, but there was always a distance between them.

"Thank you for the invitation, Brother Lu, but we have already made an appointment with Xue Yuanchao to go to Furong Garden to appreciate the chrysanthemums. Let's do it next time."

The one who answered was Guo Zhengyi. He didn't know how many times he had said "next time", but every time he invited someone, it was still "next time".

Lu Zhaolin raised an eyebrow, said no more, turned to a eunuch and said, "Kang Changshi, I will take my leave now."

The eunuch was one of the four eunuchs in Ganlu Palace, named Kang Duofu. He was in charge of the management of the left side hall. He was fair-skinned and had a kind smile.

"Gentlemen, please take your leave. Don't forget to take your robes with you when you leave."

Not only was there a holiday on the Clothing Festival, but the emperor would also give winter clothes to high-ranking officials. Normally, only officials of the fifth rank and above could receive them.

The clothes of Gao Youdao and his companions were specially bestowed by Li Zhi.

Several people took the winter clothes from the low-level eunuchs, bowed towards the main hall, and then left Ganlu Hall.

As he walked along the outer palace road, Du Yijian suddenly snorted coldly.

"Guo Zhengyi usually looks humble, but deep down he looks down on us. Every time Brother Lu invites Yuan Wanqing, he's almost ready to agree, but he always refuses."

After hearing this, Lu Zhaolin and Gao Youdao remained silent.

Du Yijian is a person who likes to make friends very much. However, when he meets those arrogant people, he will also hold grudges.

"Hmph, what are they so proud of? In a few years, Brother Gao's rank will surpass theirs, not to mention Brother Lu. After marrying the princess, I'm afraid he'll be promoted more than ten levels like Brother Di!"

Lu Zhaolin blushed and said awkwardly, "Don't talk nonsense. Her Royal Highness just likes my poetry. How can someone like me be worthy of the princess?"

Du Yijian smiled slightly and said, "That's not up to you. If the princess takes a fancy to you, you can't run away."

Lu Zhaolin turned his head away and pretended to look at the scenery.

Gao Youdao suddenly said, "Actually, you misunderstood Guo Zhengyi."

Du Yijian was slightly stunned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Gao Youdao said, "I'll explain it to you after we leave the palace."

The three of them hurried south along the outer palace road and soon left Chengtian Gate. Du Yijian asked again, but Gao Youdao still did not answer.

It was not until they left Suzaku Gate and crossed the cross street that Gao Youdao whispered, "Actually, Guo Zhengyi was deliberately keeping his distance from us."

"deliberately?"

Gao Youdao said slowly, "Think carefully, if we become close to Guo and Yuan, what will be the consequences?"

Du Yijian was stunned and didn't understand for a moment.

Lu Zhaolin suddenly realized and said, "Yes, it was my fault for inviting him."

Du Yijian also reacted at this time.

The reason why the emperor divided the five of them into two groups was to supervise each other to prevent them from joining forces and deceiving the emperor.

Even though they were really close, he didn't have the courage to do it, but as long as there was such a possibility, the emperor would not sit idly by.

By then, either the three of them will be transferred, or Guo Zhengyi and two others will be transferred, and there will definitely be newcomers to replace one side.

Du Yijian didn't dare discuss this topic anymore. He looked up at the street and said with a smile, "It's really lively today."

Lu Zhaolin smiled and said, "Of course. The front lines are reporting continuous success. Tubo is about to be wiped out. Everyone is very happy!"

On the first day of July, the Tang army entered Tubo.

The reason for the attack was very simple. The Tubo King was unjust and attacked the Subi Kingdom for no reason. The Tang Dynasty responded to the request of the Subi Queen and helped Subi to restore its country.

Two years ago, the Tang Dynasty fought a war with Tubo in order to protect Tuyuhun, and Xue Rengui became famous because of this battle.

The people of the Tang Dynasty were very concerned about military affairs. They knew that after Tubo annexed Tuyuhun, it would threaten the Tang Dynasty, so they all supported the attack on Tubo.

After the war started, the result surprised everyone, especially the officials in the court.

The ministers all knew that the emperor had a high opinion of Tubo and always regarded Tubo as a strong enemy.

Unexpectedly, after the attack, Xue Rengui led the Qiang coalition forces and marched forward like a hot knife through butter, conquering ten cities in a row and continuously approaching the Tubo capital.

Not only did the Tang army advance smoothly, but even the coalition forces of the Six Zhao states were winning victory after victory and were about to join forces with the Tang army.

Everyone was surprised and thought that the emperor had overestimated Tubo. Everyone in the court and the country was celebrating, waiting for the news of Xue Rengui's victory in conquering the city of Lhasa.

Du Yijian laughed and said, "I heard that there was civil unrest in Tubo. The army has no fighting spirit, so they are naturally no match for us."

Gao Youdao glanced at him and corrected him, "Not only that, but the main reason is that the leading general is General Xue. If someone else was leading the army, this result might not have been achieved."

Du Yijian knew that he admired Xue Rengui very much, and if you said anything bad about Xue Rengui, he would argue with you for a whole day, so he immediately said it perfunctorily.

"Yes, yes, it's all thanks to General Xue!"

"What's it called?"

As they were talking, the three of them had already arrived at Xingdaofang. They could see the Eight Immortals Tower in the distance, and saw people queuing outside the building.

Du Yijian said, "Haha, I knew there would be a lot of people today. Luckily we reserved a seat in advance."

The three of them came outside the building, reported their names, and were allowed to enter.

I saw that the first floor was already full, with shouts everywhere, and the waiters' legs were almost broken from running.

The private room the three of them booked was on the second floor. When they were about to go up the stairs, they suddenly heard shouting behind them.

"Get out of the way, everyone, get out of the way. Don't block the road."

Gao Youdao turned around and saw four strong slaves leading the way, followed by several young men in brocade clothes, all of whom were between fifteen and twenty years old.

After seeing these young men, Gao Youdao and the other two had no choice but to give way.

There are a lot of powerful and wealthy people at the feet of the emperor.

However, among all the powerful people, the most difficult ones to deal with are not the purple-robed officials, dukes and princes.

Even though these people hold high positions and have great power, they are not too ostentatious when they are out and about, and they are reasonable and will not bully others for no reason. It is their descendants who really need to be watched out for.

Especially those teenagers who have poor family education and grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth, have no idea what restraint is and act without any scruples.

As long as you offend them, you are bound to get into trouble.

The group in front of us was just such a group of people, led by the youngest son of the Minister of Personnel Xu Yushi, named Xu Ziran.

This boy is extremely arrogant and unreasonable.

What’s more crucial is that Master Xu Yu loved this young son very much, which led to his unbridled and spoiled character.

Among the nobles in Chang'an City, only Li Jingye, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Yingguo, and Helan Minzhi, the young master of the Wu Mansion, could be compared with him in terms of pomp and circumstance.

Although Lu Zhaolin was not afraid of Xu Ziran, he did not want to conflict with him and quietly stepped aside.

The three of them watched Xu Ziran and a group of young men go up the stairs, then they climbed up the stairs to the second floor and entered the private room.

After waiting for a while, Di Renjie arrived.

Du Yijian joked, "Di Dasiqing arrived early this time. We only waited for you for a quarter of an hour."

Di Renjie smiled and said, "Then let's follow the old rules. One glass of wine every quarter of an hour. I'll drink one glass myself as punishment."

He poured a glass of wine and drank it.

The four of them sat around the table, drinking and chatting happily.

After three rounds of drinks, Gao Youdao suddenly said, "Brother Di, I heard that the Dali Temple is currently investigating a land infringement case related to the Liu family. Is that true?"

Di Renjie asked, "Brother Gao, why are you suddenly asking about this? Do you have any acquaintances in the Liu family?"

Gao Youdao laughed and said, "I am from a humble family, how could I know anyone from the Liu family? Zheng Mingyu asked me to ask."

Di Renjie nodded and said, "The Liu family has indeed seized a considerable amount of land. Most importantly, they are secretly opposing the Sage's land system reforms. That's why the Dali Temple is personally investigating this."

Gao Youdao shook his head and sighed, and didn't ask any more questions.

Du Yijian snorted, "In this situation, even the Changsun clan is cooperating obediently, yet they dare to go against the Saint. They are simply courting death."

Lu Zhaolin said, "Alright, we're here to celebrate today, so let's not talk about these unhappy things. Come, let's have a drink together to celebrate the great victory on the front line!"

While the whole country was celebrating the great victory on the front line, Emperor Li Zhi of the Tang Dynasty stood on the viewing platform of the Lakeside Palace, gazing at the water in silence.

Suddenly, he felt his body become heavy and a cloak was draped over his shoulders.

Turning around, he saw Wu Meiniang had come to his side without him noticing, and was followed by several palace maids, one of whom was holding medicinal food.

"Your Majesty, it's time to take the medicinal food." Wu Meiniang said with a smile.

Li Zhi nodded, walked to the table and sat down. He ate the medicinal food while thinking without saying a word.

Wu Meiniang sat quietly by the side, not making a sound to disturb him.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhi slowly said, "Mei Niang, what do you think about the war on the front lines?"

Wu Meiniang thought for a moment and said, "I heard that everything went well."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "It is indeed going smoothly, but too smoothly. Mei Niang, I am a little uneasy."

"Your Majesty, are you worried about some conspiracy of Tubo?"

"Do you think I'm too suspicious?"

Wu Meiniang pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, I also feel that it's going too smoothly. I once heard that five out of ten Tibetan soldiers are armored. Even if they can't defeat the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, they shouldn't be unable to defeat the Six Zhao Kingdom."

Li Zhi nodded repeatedly and said, "That's correct. However, all the ministers feel that it was the civil unrest in Subi that caused Tubo to lose its will to fight. They underestimated both Tubo and Qinling."

Wu Meiniang was surprised and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that you value Qin Ling even more than Lu Dongzan."

Li Zhi said slowly: "Lu Dongzan is a political talent, and Qin Ling is a military talent."

Wu Meiniang was even more strange.

As far as she knew, Qin Ling was defeated once by Xue Rengui, and she didn't know why Li Zhi still had such a high opinion of this person.

Li Zhi said slowly, "What I'm most worried about now is that Tubo is not defeated, but is actively shrinking its defenses. If this happens, Su Dingfang's surprise attack plan will be difficult to succeed."

Wu Meiniang said, "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, Xue Rengui's army's smooth advance is not necessarily a bad thing. When the time comes, the three armies can join forces to capture Luoshui City."

Li Zhi said: "That being said, the Tibetans knew this, but they still did it. There must be some reason we don't know!"

Just then, a figure came quickly from a distance. It was Wang Jishan.

"Your Majesty, the latest news from Tubo!"

"speak!"

Wang Jishan said, "The Subi tribe has been annihilated by Lu Dongzan, who led 50,000 troops!"

Li Zhi was slightly surprised and said, "Fifty thousand men should be a major Tibetan army. No wonder their resistance is so weak. It seems they chose to solve their internal problems first."

Wu Mei Niang asked, "General Wang, are Niangbo Jinniao and Dabo Wu dead?"

Wang Jishan said, "Under Cheng Wuting's persuasion, the two led the remaining troops and fled to the Great Snow Mountain."

After a pause, he continued, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, I have another piece of news. Although its authenticity cannot be confirmed at the moment, I feel it is very important."

"What?" Li Zhi asked.

Wang Jishan said, "There's news that Qin Ling led a force of 50,000 men and won a great victory north of Lhasa City."

Li Zhi's face changed drastically. For a moment, he thought that Su Dingfang had been defeated.

But then he thought again, Su Dingfang should have just crossed the Kunlun Mountains and was in the uninhabited area of ​​the Qiangtang Plateau. It was impossible for him to be discovered so quickly.

If it wasn't Su Dingfang, then it could only be a country in the Western Regions.

Li Zhi's heart moved and he asked, "Who is Qinling's opponent in this battle?"

Wang Jishan said, "It is said that it is the army of the Arab Empire!"

Among the three routes to attack Tubo, one went south from the Pamir Mountains, passing through the Big and Small Bolor Kingdoms. It just so happened that both of these countries were subject to the Arab Empire.

In other words, the Arab Empire had all the conditions to attack Tubo.

Li Zhi took a deep breath and said, "Immediately send someone to investigate whether the Arab Empire has really invaded Tubo!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)