Chapter 288: East Palace Suggestion Box

Style: Historical Author: ZhangweiWords: 3343Update Time: 24/01/18 05:41:59
There is a special seat in this wine shop. No one else can sit in this seat, only Zhang Daan can sit in it.

"Da'an, eat slowly." The store owner said with a smile.

Zhang Daan devoured his food.

"How is my benefactor these days?"

"Yeah." Zhang Daan nodded while eating his food.

The store owner was busy greeting other drinkers.

While eating, Zhang Daan said nothing, just listening to the discussions of the people around him.

"General Qin Qiong said he wanted someone to go to the Hexi Corridor to transport things." A drinker spoke first. The speaker was wearing a cloth scarf and shabby old clothes, looking like a knight-errant.

"What are you transporting to the Hexi Corridor? Is there going to be a war?"

"Not really, you still remember the golden sore medicine."

"That medicine is from Lishan, right? It's also sold in drug stores in Chang'an now."

"That's right, this golden sore medicine comes from Lishan Mountain, and this Lishan fiefdom belongs to Princess Runan."

Most of the people in Chang'an City knew about this princess who was highly skilled in numeracy, and the princess's consort was an incredible figure, allowing the Tang Dynasty to capture the Hexi Corridor without any bloodshed.

Another person said: "It is said that because this prince-in-law did not ask for money and disclosed the secret recipe of Jinchuang Medicine to the public, the general agreed to the matter and is now organizing his personnel."

"I have used Jinshou Medicine. It is really effective. Wounds that usually cannot be healed in half a month can be healed in eight days. The price is very low at ten cents per patch."

More and more people came to the wine shop, and it started to become noisy.

Zhang Daan could no longer hear their discussion clearly. He finished a large bowl of millet rice, sat there for a while, burped and left.

He walked through Zhuque Street into an alley and arrived in front of his house.

Zhang Xiangxiang is already married and rarely comes here.

The second brother Zhang Dasu had another residence in Chang'an City. When he opened the courtyard door, Zhang Daan was prepared to see an empty home.

When he opened the door, he saw Zhang Xiangxiang and Zhang Dashu here.

"Brother, second brother, why are you here?" Zhang Daan asked in surprise.

Zhang Xiangxiang handed over the food, "I've been waiting for you for a long time, but when I didn't see you back, the food in the food box was already cold."

Zhang Daan replied: "I've already eaten."

Zhang Dashu frowned and said, "Are you eating a piece of cake for another day?"

"No." Zhang Da'an explained: "Master Zhang arranged a place for me to eat there, and it didn't require any money. The restaurant said that Master Zhang was his benefactor, and even reserved a special place for it, saying that I would eat there when I arrived. It’s edible.”

Zhang Elephant and Zhang Dashu looked at each other doubtfully.

Zhang Daan added: "Brother, I will accept the food. I can warm it up at night and eat it."

Zhang Dashu took out a bunch of silver coins and said, "I know your salary in the East Palace is very low. Today, the Central Government issued a salary. Here is the money for you. Don't be reluctant to spend it."

Zhang Elephant asked: "There are still two coins in the food box. If you need anything, tell us."

Zhang Daan nodded repeatedly, "Thank you two brothers."

Now that Zhang Gongjin lives in Lishan, this house is empty. Only Zhang Daan lives here. The house cannot be left unattended.

The three brothers were talking quietly in the yard.

Zhang Elephant added: "I visited my father a few days ago. My father's health is getting worse day by day. My mother said that except for my father, I can't walk very far. I can only use a wheelchair to walk a hundred steps."

Zhang Dashu sighed: "I've seen that wheelchair. It was made by Mr. Zhang. It's very clever. My father can use it very well."

Zhang Daan listened silently to the conversation between the two brothers.

"I also heard Divine Doctor Sun say that the root of my father's disease is in his heart. No matter how many medicines and stones are used, it will be useless if the root of the disease is not removed. Now I can only rely on recuperation."

"Back then, the world was in war, and my father fell ill like this." Zhang Dashu took a sip of wine with some annoyance, "If Your Majesty had not allowed my father to follow Li Jing to go to the north to conquer the Turks, why would he not be where he is today? Why did those bastards in the court let my father go? "

"At that time, my father requested the order to go, and at that time, His Majesty's humerus was exposed in the middle of the court. At that time, His Majesty was always overwhelmed by the Turks. The affairs of the Weishui River Alliance could not be given up here. We just gave it a try. It was my father's Northern Expedition that made us what we are today. Today we have no worries about food and clothing, and we can still get a title for our military exploits.”

The three brothers fell silent again.

The night was getting darker and darker, and Zhang Daan finally said, "It's getting late, and it's going to be curfew soon."

Zhang Elephant waved his sleeves and said, "I'll stay here tonight."

Zhang Dashu also said: "Da'an, tidy up my room."

Zhang Daan grinned, "Okay."

On the other side of Chang'an City, Li Yue had already asked Xiao Wu to sleep first.

In front of the couple, there was a large bucket of millet and a bunch of copper coins. They could not count more than three hundred coins.

Zhang Yang frowned and said, "Isn't this salary right? Is the clan's annual salary just that little?"

Li Yue also counted Zhang Yang's salary in the East Palace, including three large buckets of millet and ten guan of silver. "My husband can exchange twenty shi of grain for a full salary. This is only half a year of serving as a young master in the East Palace."

Seeing that her husband was stunned by this small monthly salary, she smiled and said: "I am not a legitimate princess. My father gave me my mother's title and we have these Lumi. It is already the same as the clan, which is very good."

Zhang Yang put his arm around Li Yue's shoulders and said, "There is so much millet at home that I can't even finish it."

Li Yue leaned on her husband's shoulder, "Then put it in the village. All the children in the village may eat it."

"That's fine."

"Teacher, why aren't you sleeping yet?"

The couple were leaning together, and the atmosphere was just beautiful, but they were interrupted by Xiao Wu's words.

Li Yueqiao glared at her husband and saw that he was still holding her waist and another claw. She blushed, broke away and carried Xiao Wu into her room, and slammed the door.

Zhang Yang took a sip of tea, calmed down, hid all the money and money at home, and continued working at his workbench.



Half a month after the normal operation of the factory, the Prince's extracurricular readings and a book called The West Chamber also appeared in Chang'an City. Villagers from Lishan Village pushed carts of books and sold them out in Chang'an City. Only one hundred dollars.

Tang Guan was still unsatisfied with the dream of Red Mansions. Now he went to the bookseller and spent a hundred dollars to buy a volume of The West Chamber. After reading the first few chapters of the story, he took it home with great interest.

Lishan's books were sold out in just an hour.

Those scholars who had previously criticized Red Mansions as banned books also shut up now. Some people tried to buy a volume and read the story of The West Chamber, and were immediately attracted by the content of the story.

The Romance of the West Chamber began to appear on Suzaku Street, and immediately people began to copy it.

Li Chongyi met Tang Guan while walking on Zhuque Street.

"What's the rush?" Li Chongyi asked curiously.

"Brother Chongyi, please read this." Tang Guan carefully took out a volume of book, "The West Chamber, a new book published after The Red Mansion."

Li Chongyi asked suspiciously: "Is the Red Mansion good to see?"

Tang Guan smiled and said: "Not vulgar, not vulgar."

While admiring, Tang Guan walked away with the book.

Li Chongyi walked around again, and when he arrived at the Hongwen Hall, people were already reading the story of The West Chamber loudly. Unfortunately, like the Red Mansion, there was only half a volume of The West Chamber.

At this moment, this book quickly entered the attention of many readers.

Lishan not only did not stop printing books, but also added another story of The West Chamber.

Along with it, there is also a volume of extracurricular readings by the Prince Commander.

The book "The West Chamber" was at most a whisper among scholars, and its extracurricular reading immediately became popular in Chang'an City.

In the East Palace, Li Chengqian looked at the printed copies of Red Mansions and Romance of the West Chamber, "I have to say that Mr. Ouyang Xun's handwriting makes people feel very comfortable."

Zhang Yang drank tea, "I wonder if the prince is satisfied with the layout and font size of this printing?"

Li Chengqian flipped through the pages and said, "I am very satisfied. There are hundreds of pages in a book, but you can't buy such a piece of paper with just one dollar."

"To be honest with His Highness, I am indeed losing money."

"You said you wanted to make books cheaper. Now it's only a hundred yuan. The books you sell in the future will be even cheaper."

“I think the value of paper should be what’s written on it, not the value of the paper itself.”

Li Chengqian turned over the pages of The West Chamber and asked, "This The West Chamber was also taught by your teacher?"

Zhang Yang nodded, "Exactly."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" a guard came running over.

"Why are you so nervous?" Li Chengqian looked unhappy.

"Could it be that His Highness the King of Wei rebelled?" Zhang Yang said with a half-smile.

"Don't be joking." Li Chengqian put down the scroll.

The guard bowed and said, "Your Highness, the suggestion box in the East Palace we placed outside the Suzaku Gate is already full."

Li Chengqian took a breath and glanced at Zhang Yang.

"Then bring it in."

"Here."

Two guards from the East Palace hurried to the Zhuque Gate, took away the full suggestion box, and put an empty suggestion box in their place.

In front of many people, the unexpected prince actually had these opinions taken away.

A box of books, including bamboo slips, paper, and opinions written on silk.

Zhang Yang opened it and saw that his eyes were darkened, "Zhang Yang, the sycophant, has been slandering the prince recently and ordered the prince to kiss the villain and the virtuous minister far away."

Li Chengqian didn't look too good either.

Zhang Yang asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, are you all scolding me?"

Li Chengqian nodded slowly.

Li Chengqian looked at the content above, scroll by scroll, and read dozens of them. "I found that there were many repeated words, and even the handwriting was similar."

Zhang Daan sorted out these opinions and nodded, "I discovered it."

Li Chengqian thought about it, "I think there should be a group of people who work together to write words that curse you, and they write and curse you repeatedly."

Zhang Yang had no intention of looking at these submissions and now wanted to burn them. "Your Highness, please don't read them to me. I'm afraid that many people will die if I read them tomorrow."

Li Chengqian picked up another volume, "Huh? This volume isn't meant to scold you?"

Zhang Yang snorted coldly: "Is it possible that you still praise me?"

Li Chengqian nodded, "It's true that since Zhang Yang entered the East Palace, the prince has achieved academic success. He has hundreds of officials and ministers in front of him, and extracurricular readings in the back. Furthermore, he does not involve himself in government affairs and concentrates on teaching. Everyone praises the prince's virtues."

Zhang Yang took a breath, "Who wrote this? Did you leave your name?"

Li Chengqian flipped through the bamboo slips and looked to the north, "Huh? This person really left a name."

"who is it?"

Looking at the name, Li Chengqian frowned and said, "Xu Jingzong!"

Zhang Yang felt his eyes go dark again, and he held his forehead and was speechless for a long time.