Chinese dining table

Chapter 1251 People left and the city became empty
When Li Zhi came, the wind was howling and the snow was falling. When Li Zhi left, the spring was bright and the rain was falling.

Yun Chu rode a horse and accompanied Li Zhi from Xingqing Palace to Weicheng.

Li Zhi said to Yun Chu, "Go back."

Yun Chu whispered, "Send it off again."

Li Zhi smiled through the window and said, "If you are willing to follow me all the time, I would like it very much."

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "I still have Chang'an."

Li Zhi said: "I may not live long, but Chang'an will not fall."

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "If I were not in Chang'an, Chang'an would have fallen countless times."

Li Zhi said: "You love Chang'an more than you love me."

Yun Chu said: "I love Datang more than anything else in the world."

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Well, loving Datang is the same as loving me."

After saying that, he leaned his body against the brocade pillow and closed his eyes slightly.

Seeing Li Zhi's aging appearance, Yun Chu suddenly said, "Your Majesty should be happy."

Li Zhi groaned and said, "Happiness belongs to the young, not to me. If I am happy, you will not be happy."

Yun Chu didn't say much, just said: "You must be happy, otherwise, it would be a shame for you to be the emperor."

Li Zhi sneered and said, "I used to be happy."

"Then continue."

"You are a bad friend."

"Friends like these are interesting. I hate friends who are like mentors or good friends."

“I hate it too.”

……

"Let's go back."

"Okay, I'll send you off again."

……

"We have reached Xianyang Bridge."

"Okay, I'll see your majesty across the bridge..."

"Don't you have any good poems for me?"

"No, I am a little ignorant at the moment..."

"Yes, when love is deep, it is true that there are no words to express it."

"Your Majesty, please go to the bridge."

"Yun Chu, you come and see me off when I die..."

Yun Chu waved goodbye to Li Zhi, and did not turn the black horse's head until Li Zhi's carriage and horse group disappeared from his sight. He let the black horse take him home.

Returning to Chang'an again, Yun Chu sat on his horse and watched for a long time.

Chang'an City was as prosperous as before, with many people entering and leaving the city. Most of those entering and leaving the Jinguan Gate were wealthy families, so there were more horse-drawn carriages. The weather was not yet warm, so there were no scholars in thin spring clothes, only rich people in thin fur coats.

The reason why these people wore thin sheepskin coats was simply because spring sowing had begun outside the city.

It's funny to say that the people living on the land outside the city don't have much land, but those who live in the city are the owners of the land outside the city.

The same goes for the Yun family. They only have 200 acres of land near Qujiang. It was these lands 20 years ago, and it is still these lands 20 years later. During this period, Yu Xiurong tried countless ways to increase the Yun family's land in Qujiang, but failed to achieve his goal. However, in Bashang, the Yun family owns nearly 4,000 acres of land.

At that time, the emperor re-issued the rent and labor system, and ordered the wealthy families to divide the land under their control. As a result, some very stupid people did not obey, and the emperor found many reasons to kill them. After the people were dead, the land was naturally divided as well.

However, there were still more wealthy families who did divide up the land under their names. Unfortunately, even though the lands were sealed up, the wealthy families still had the final say over the lands. Not only was it the same as not dividing them at all, but the ownership of the lands became even more complicated.

As a result, Yun Chu was unable to confirm the land ownership.

The Yun family actually only had 200 acres of land purchased privately, and the 4,000 acres of land in Bashang belonged to their fiefdom. It can also be said that the Yun family was probably the family with the least private land in the Tang Dynasty. Even a guy as honest as Liu Rengui, in addition to his fiefdom, had more than 2,000 acres of private property in Heluo. Although the holders of these private properties were the Liu family, the one who really had the final say was Liu Rengui himself.

That's what the powerful families did. Years of peace led to a rapid increase in their population. No matter how much land they had, it was not enough for them to devour.

The lives of the wealthy are more secure than those of ordinary people. Whether it is the birth rate, survival rate, or level of education of newborns, they are far better than those of ordinary people.

When their population reaches a critical point, it will be time for them to fight for the world.

There are many such examples in history books. It cannot be said that they are the culprits for the change of dynasties, but rather a good thing to maintain the rise and fall of the Han clan.

The Yun family is not successful and still has a long way to go before it can become one of those powerful families. However, if Yun Chu follows the advice of his adoptive mother, Selaima, after twenty years, the Yun family should have at least dozens of people. After another hundred or ten years, they will have a foundation to gather tens of thousands of people with the surname Yun to conspire for major events.

The current situation of Chang'an City is very similar to that of the Yun Family. It has a high status and is developing rapidly, but it has a insufficient population.

The urban population of the Tang Dynasty only accounts for 10% of the total population, or even less. The remaining 90% of the population are farmers. Even if Yun Chu develops the urban population economy in Chang'an to the limit, as long as it is averaged with the population economy of the entire Tang Dynasty, it will be found that Chang'an's development is equivalent to no development.

When Yun Chu entered the city and returned to the Wannian County government office, Zhou Xing, a busy man who had not been seen for many days, suddenly appeared in his official residence.

"Are you leaving?"

Zhou Xing bowed and said, "Return to Luoyang to report on my work."

"What's so good about your job? Do they like to hear how many people you killed?"

Zhou Xing sighed and said, "I didn't kill enough people in Chang'an, so the Queen and the Crown Prince are not very satisfied with me."

"Will you be executed when you return?"

Zhou Xing shook his head and said, "I will not be executed. I will probably be put in an idle position to live out my days. When the day comes that the Queen or the Crown Prince wants to use me again, I will most likely be reinstated."

Yun Chu waved his hand and said, "Then go ahead. I won't see you off. I'm already heartbroken after seeing you off today."

Zhou Xing said: "I've helped you deal with the people who need to be dealt with. Don't worry, you are still the violent, overbearing, but reasonable General Yun."

Yun Chu said: "I'm not in Luoyang, you should get closer to Wen Rou and Di Renjie."

Zhou Xing shook his head and said, "I don't get close to anyone, including you, so you must think twice before doing anything. If you win, it's fine, but if you fail and fall into my hands, you won't be able to bear the punishment."

Then, Zhou Xing left. When he left, the Wannian County dungeon was cleaned very cleanly. Green and yellow lights were burning in the empty dungeon. It looked very dark and fragrant, with a strong smell of ambergris.

The jailer Yan Jiu was holding a lamp and a small shovel in his hand. Wherever there was a shadow under the light, he would use the small shovel to scrape the ground or the wall very carefully.

"The weather will soon get hot, and the county lord will come here to escape the heat..."

After the emperor left, the style of Chang'an city seemed to drop all of a sudden. There were fewer people talking about state affairs, fewer people publishing poetry, and few people holding academic societies or debates. Even the selection of willow girls on the banks of the Ba River every spring did not attract many people's attention.

Yun Chu originally wanted to arrange the marriage of Li Si and Yun Jin while the emperor was away. To this end, he deliberately stopped Li Si from serving her father. He thought Li Zhi would take the initiative to talk to him about it. Unexpectedly, from beginning to end, Li Si was like an outsider in the eyes of the emperor. He didn't care and ignored her.

Seeing the child crying bitterly while holding his legs in grievance, Yun Chu had no choice but to act as a good father and decided to hold a grand wedding for the poor child.

Use the power of Chang'an City to create an unprecedented wedding.

The wedding was naturally luxurious. On that day, the hem of Li Si's wedding dress was ten meters long...

Yun Chu lay on his side on the bed, staring at the bright moon outside the window without saying a word.

Yu Xiurong wrapped the quilt tightly and complained, "It's very cold with the window open."

Yun Chu's voice rang out from the moonlight: "How boring——"

Yu Xiurong asked, "Are you talking about today's wedding, my husband?"

Yun Chu said: "You asked for so much, but gave so little."

Yu Xiurong straightened up and looked down at the back of her husband's head and said, "The wedding was great. Yong Wangxian's family also performed very well. The queen and the prince both sent rewards... It's very honorable."

Yun Chu said: "This may be the last big scene our family can have, don't you feel regretful?"

Yu Xiurong said, "Your Majesty is revising the Clan Records, and the Yun family is ranked sixteenth. It only took our family twenty years to transform from a new family that was in a hurry to become an old family that was calm and peaceful. What else is there to be dissatisfied with, my husband?"

Yun Chu sighed and said, "Sixteen, that's really close."

Yu Xiurong asked, "My husband is still unhappy?"

Yun Chu said: "I just feel like I haven't done anything in these years."

Yu Xiurong said: "How is it possible? How is it possible that my husband did nothing?"

Where Yu Xiurong couldn't see, Yun Chu curled his lips and looked unconcerned.

Yu Xiurong stood up to close the window, and Yun Chu kicked it open. Yu Xiurong continued to close it, and Yun Chu continued to kick it open. The couple played this game for the whole night.

Because Yun Chu had dislocated his bones so many times, Wu Chengsi could still walk, but he had to walk slowly with his legs apart. Wu Sansi was in better condition than him, as the imperial physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau told him that because his jaw had been dislocated so many times, it would habitually dislocate and he would always drool consciously or unconsciously.

It was late at night and the two brothers couldn't sleep.

"Brother, what did the Queen say?"

“No response.”

"In other words, the suffering we brothers endured was actually self-inflicted?"

Wu Chengsi put his hands on his legs and took a step forward and said, "Our position in the Queen's heart has reached the top. From now on, no matter what we do for her, it will not allow us to move up in her heart any further."

Wu Sansi said: "It would be better if I just don't do anything in the future."

Wu Chengsi said: "In the future, think less about people's hearts, do more practical things, and accumulate more achievements."

Wu Sansi asked, "For whom is it accumulated?"

Wu Chengsi said: "Give it to us, and to our descendants as well."

Wu Sansi leaned forward and asked, "Why should we brothers listen to what Yun Chu said while torturing us?"

Wu Chengsi sighed and said, "Because, I think so too."

(End of this chapter)