Li Longji's birthday is on September 11th. Since the imperial court is holding a birthday banquet, the banquet must not be separated from wine.
The department in charge of brewing in the Tang Dynasty was called the "Liang Brewing Department".
According to the records of "Tongdian", the "Liangying Department" is responsible for the provision of five meals and three wines. There are two "Ling" people (below the eighth rank) and two "Cheng" (below the ninth rank). The rest of the staff are "Fu" "Three people, six "Historians", two "Supervisors", twenty people "Zhang Ling", thirteen people "Winemaker", and four people "Zhang Gu".
It can be seen from this that the scale of the Liang Ling Department is not small at all, and it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.
On September 10th, the Liang Ling Department was extremely busy from top to bottom. They moved out all the wine from the bottom of the press box and sent it to the special warehouse of Xingqing Palace to prepare for tomorrow's banquet.
That night, several palace eunuchs moved the wine for the emperor's table at tomorrow's banquet to the study room in the main building of Qinzhengwu. Emperor Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty looked at these unopened wines and fell into a daze for some reason, staring at these ordinary-looking wine jars in a daze.
"Saint? Saint?"
Gao Lishi called softly beside Li Longji.
"In the second year of Kaiyuan, every time when the kings came to the side gate, they would retreat and have a banquet. I set up a five-room banquet in the palace and stayed with the kings there. We might talk about composing poems, but in the meantime we would drink, play games, or go hunting. How happy it was. .”
Li Longji couldn't help but sigh.
"Li Bai is full of praise for the Jiannan Shaochun. Would you like to try it, sage?"
Gao Lishi asked in a low voice.
"Hey, you old slave!"
Brother Ji showed a wicked smile, and the two of them opened the seal of a jar of wine. Suddenly, an indescribable aroma of wine filled the air, making people want to drink the whole jar of wine right away!
"My birthday tomorrow is all about spectacle and politeness, with no taste at all.
I would rather have a drink here with the powerful man. Really, the clothes are not as good as new, and the people are not as good as old. "
Brother Ji sighed with emotion and asked Gao Lishi to pour the wine. The latter first filled Li Longji's cup, then poured himself a small cup and drank it all in one gulp.
"Lux is too cautious. If there is poison in this wine, I will know it just by smelling it."
Li Longji waved his hand in a sneer, and then asked Gao Lishi as if he remembered something: "Has Fang Quanzhong returned to Chang'an? Let him come and drink together. There are really not many old people left in the past."
"Back to Saint, Fang Quanzhong is still on the road. The journey from Lingnan to Chang'an is long and quite inconvenient."
Gao Lishi said slowly, without pouring himself any more wine.
Li Longji nodded slightly without comment.
"Let's do this. Call his only son Fang Chongyong to come and drink with me. After all, he lives at the back door of Xingqing Palace."
The emperor is willful, his thinking is divergent, and his ideas come out as they come. However, the Tang Dynasty has been expanding its territory over the years, and the surrounding barbarians generally surrendered to Brother Ji. Therefore, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was relatively tolerant of the people around him and the ministers around him.
Mainly because he felt that no one could shake his authority as the emperor!
Therefore, it is natural to show the so-called "generosity".
Although it is unreasonable to invite the son of a trusted minister to Xingqing Palace for a drink late at night, it is actually just a small daily thing. Considering that Brother Ji now thinks he is invincible, he doesn't really care about these things.
"That slave will go to Yongjiafang now."
Gao Lishi saluted Li Longji and then withdrew.
After he left, Li Longji's face turned gloomy, and he looked down at the wine jar and thought deeply.
The people he trusted were all foreign ministers. No matter who he was among his descendants, he was deeply wary in his heart.
When Brother Ji was lonely in the middle of the night, he would not want to say a word to his group of filial sons and grandsons, even if he found a close confidant who had nothing to do with him.
Is this really the price you have to pay for being an emperor?
Li Longji felt sad in his heart. He had been so close to his brothers. Unfortunately, those people also passed away one by one.
As for why they have a close relationship, it is of course because none of these people can threaten his throne, and they are all far away from government affairs!
Over the years, Brother Ji no longer wants to hear the word "prince". Because he knew that as long as the prince was established, people in the court would start to gather around the prince to form a new group.
The possibility of this group putting the prince on the throne is far greater than the threat of local rebellion against Brother Ji.
Li Longji will be sixty years old tomorrow. If someone poisons him to death, bribes the imperial physician to announce his death, and then puts the crown prince in the position, and then blocks the news, and the government and the public change the government in one fell swoop... Brother Ji would not dare to follow this line of thinking. After thinking about it, he felt that everyone was a thief and could turn from a loyal minister into a thief!
As for the prince, let's wait until he dies before he dies.
Li Longji laughed at himself, he didn't care so much. If this country is strong but has nothing to do with itself, what's the point?
The premise for whether something is good or not is to first see whether it belongs to you. This is the premise for evaluation.
While he was thinking about these messy things, Gao Lishi had already brought Fang Chongyong here.
"I haven't seen you for a few years, why do you look so tall?"
When Li Longji saw Fang Chongyong again, he almost couldn't recognize him!
If it weren't for the fact that the other party's face shape was almost the same as Fang Youde's, he would have doubted whether Gao Lishi had found the wrong person.
"Back to the saint, the Hexi side sweats more and eats more, so it grows faster."
Fang Chongyong talked nonsense seriously. In fact, he was just taken better care of by Anaye and his nutrition kept up.
"Come, have a drink with me."
Li Longji asked Fang Chongyong to sit opposite him.
Gao Lishi poured Fang Chongyong a glass of wine and winked at him calmly.
"It's my birthday tomorrow and I've sent you an invitation. Do you have any gifts for me?"
Li Longji asked with a smile.
"Of course there is."
Fang Chongyong glanced at Gao Lishi gratefully. If Gao Lishi hadn't reminded him to bring a gift, he really wouldn't have remembered it.
The latter opened a small box next to him, and inside there was something similar to the "globe" of Fang Chongyong's previous life.
This thing is made of sheepskin stuffed rags. A simple map was outlined with black lines on the sheepskin. The ocean part is painted with blue paint.
"When Wei Chen was in Shazhou, he met a strange man, who was said to be from Da Qin.
He said that he set out to sea from Panyu, Guangzhou, sailed along the east coast, and visited many strange places. Then we walked along this road and actually reached Daqin (Eastern Rome), which was far west of the Tang Dynasty, and then came to Shazhou from the Western Regions.
At that time, he was already poor and seriously ill, so he pawned the item for money. As a result, the disease was not cured and he died in Shazhou.
The shopkeeper of the pawn business in Luocheng saw that the object was very extraordinary and seemed to be a map, so he dedicated it to the Shazhou government office. The humble minister did not dare to take credit, so he dedicated this thing to the saint to celebrate his birthday and express his feelings. "
Fang Chongyong said with crossed hands and a respectful salute.
"Oh? It turns out that where we are is really a sphere."
Li Longji suddenly became interested, but he did not show any gaffe expressions such as "extremely shocked", "unbelievable", "kneeling down and crying for daddy" as Fang Chongyong expected.
"Back to the saint, Wei Chen felt that the strange things that the man said were not credible, but after careful consideration, they made some sense, so he dedicated them to the saint. He did not know the truth and did not dare to make a conclusion.
The saint will be happy after reading it. "
Fang Chongyong said humbly.
For things like the globe, just do it casually.
What if Brother Ji had a whim and asked Fang Yanei to lead a thousand people out of Guangzhou by boat and then back from Hexi?
Once the stall becomes too big, there will be no way to end it!
Not to go is to deceive the king, to be cowardly, or even to have bad intentions and deliberately deceive the saint into inviting favors.
Go, with the current navigation conditions, basically sailing around the world will be a dead end.
Even if all difficulties are eliminated and the gods have blessed him on the way and he really comes back, it will probably be ten years later. Whether there was a war in the Tang Dynasty or not at that time is a matter of debate!
Therefore, Fang Chongyong drew the map on the "Globe" very sloppily. Except for the Tang Dynasty and the surrounding areas, plus the West Asia and the Mediterranean areas farther west in the Western Regions, they looked like that. The rest were almost made up.
"Master Yixing said that the theory of a round sky and a flat place was a great fallacy, and formulated a Dayan calendar for me as the Tang calendar, calling the theory of the Hun Tian a righteous truth.
I was doubtful at first. Now that I see this thing, I know that what Master Yixing said is true. "
Li Longji laughed loudly, the expression on his face was very perfunctory. Obviously, at the age of sixty, he has lost interest in pursuing this knowledge.
In fact, what Fang Chongyong didn't know was that when a group of masters in the Tang Dynasty made the "Dayan Calendar", they specially selected 13 points to observe the height of the North Star.
Its southernmost point is in Vietnam, where Fang Chongyong lived in his previous life, and the angle of Polaris was measured to be approximately 17.07°; its northernmost point is in Russia, where Fang Chongyong lived in his previous life, and the angle of Polaris was measured to be 52°, thus discovering the latitude.
One group also measured the arc length of one degree of the Earth's meridian, and it was clear that the Earth was round.
In fact, Ji Ge ordered the eunuch Nangong Shuo and others to observe the shadow of the sun and the position of the North Star on the flat ground on the south and north banks of the Yellow River. From this, the diameter of the earth is calculated. After conversion, it is approximately 18,333 kilometers.
Although this number is extremely inaccurate, the order of magnitude is correct.
Astronomy has reached this point, which can be said to be the pinnacle of the feudal era, so Brother Ji's patience is gone, because even if he continues to work on it, these things will not bring him actual benefits and super-standard enjoyment.
After receiving this special "gift" from Fang Chongyong, Li Longji was both happy and disappointed, with mixed feelings in his heart. For a while, he began to lament that time makes people grow old.
"Do you want to continue to serve as the King of Guards? I think you have done a good job in the past month or so."
Li Longji suddenly threw out a sweet bait.
"Back to the saint, Wei Chen is afraid of delaying the saint's important event. The Jinwu Guard is no small matter. How can a person like Wei Chen be the general of the Jinwu Guard?"
Fang Zhongyong said fearfully.
Li Longji nodded slightly and said nothing more. In fact, he was just trying it out. Even if Fang Chongyong said that he wanted to be the general of the Jinwu Guard, Brother Ji would not agree.
You can use it when you are a temporary worker. If you change to a formal position, how can you let Fang Chongyong lead the Jinwu Guard!
The Sixteenth Guards of Nanya is a place that pays great attention to "seniority". Just look at the former Zuojinwu Guards Zhonglang General Li Mi and Youjinwu Guards Zhonglang General Pei Min. Whether they can fight is another matter. He is a veteran!
Although Brother Ji knew that Nanya had been completely abolished due to the collapse of the Fubing system, this was the place where Chang'an's powerful circles were gilded, and it was inappropriate for Fang Chongyong to hold a high position here.
"It makes sense. It's rare for you to be so sober. You are really young and promising."
Li Longji sighed inexplicably, and then continued: "Well, after the imperial examination is over, you come to Xingqing Palace to find Gao Lishi, and I will arrange an errand for you then."
Seeing that he didn't care, Fang Chongyong had no choice but to bow his hands and say: "Thank you for the saint's grace. The saint takes care of the dragon body. I don't dare to disturb the saint's rest, so I will leave."
Fang Chongyong's cautious look gave Li Longji a great sense of satisfaction.
Brother Ji just likes his ministers to look submissive in front of him! As he gets older, he no longer has the ambition he once had.
Corporal Li Xian is no longer interested in pretending. The order of superiority and inferiority is the ideal situation in Brother Ji's mind.
A minister who has no respect for himself in front of Brother Ji will make him feel embarrassed and feel that this person is out of control. And then feel a real threat.
He will want to nip the danger in the cradle!
"Wait a minute, I have something else to ask you."
Li Longji raised his hand and stopped Fang Chongyong who was about to leave.
"Sage, if you ask me, I will definitely know everything and tell you everything."
Fang Zhongyong crossed his hands and saluted.
"Before the gangsters who besieged Chang'an City this time, how did you know that they would definitely cause trouble in front of the Jingzhao Mansion Yamen?"
Li Longji suddenly asked with interest. He didn't say how he knew the inside story.
"Back to the saint, it's just to lure the king into the urn. If they don't come, the humble minister will set another trap. The humble minister will keep setting traps, and they will always come.
Thanks to the blessing of the saint, Wei Chen succeeded after only trying once. "
Fang Chongyong bowed and said, lowering his head and not looking at Li Longji.
"These people have something to do with Long Wujun. Do you know about this?"
Li Longji asked in a deep voice.
"Back to the saint, in the eyes of the ministers, these people are all Chang'an hooligans who do all kinds of evil.
As for whether they have anything to do with the Longwu Army, or even whether they are soldiers of the Longwu Army, that is not something that Wei Chen should consider.
These people have now been executed, and peace has been restored to Chang'an, where the saint lives, which is really gratifying. "
Fang Chongyong replied sternly.
"Go ahead. Speaking of which, I disturbed your rest."
Li Longji smiled and waved his hand, signaling Fang Zhongyong to get out of here.
After the other party left, he looked at Gao Lishi thoughtfully and asked, "What do you think of Lishi?"
“This person is brave and resourceful, and he also knows how to advance and retreat, so he can be of great use.
More importantly, he is Fang Quanzhong's son, just like his father. "
Gao Lishi said with crossed arms and a salute.
"Yes, then you tell Ge Nu tomorrow that Fang Chongyong will be the number one scholar and not give him an official position. Let him be my dormitory guard for three years. Anyway, doesn't it take three years for Jinshi to wait for the official selection? "
Li Longji said very casually.
"Sage, might Su Wei's starting point be too low?"
Gao Lishi asked softly.
"It's not low. I plan to draw elites from the Longwu Army to form a separate army and serve as the guards of Xingqing Palace."
Li Longji crossed his arms and said meaningfully.
This time, the gangsters in Chang'an were causing such a big disturbance, which made him a little worried about the depravity of Long Wujun.
But now Datang's situation is too big, and the composition of the Longwu Army is too complicated. Many things affect the whole body, and it is not easy to change.
On the contrary, it would be more efficient and more efficient to detach a part of the Longwu Army, such as a battalion of 500 people, to be responsible for the security of Xingqing Palace. It would be more efficient and more reliable to have people who are trustworthy and less involved with the outer court take charge. Safety.
This way Brother Ji can have fun with peace of mind.
(End of chapter)
