Chapter 426: The first day of the Lunar New Year

The New Year is a day for the people of the Tang Dynasty to worship their ancestors and hold various social sacrifices to pray for good weather in the new year, and to express their hopes for the new year. After the New Year, it was the day for the whole country to celebrate the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Therefore, except for the children, most of the New Year is nervous and busy.

For the Emperors of the Tang Dynasty, the New Year of the Five Years of the Great Emperor was another unusual year. The three-year pilgrimage was just the turn of this year. Uighurs, Silla, Japan, Bohai, Nanzhao, the Western Regions, as well as Qiang, Dangxiang, Shatuo, Shiwei and other leaders of all ethnic groups who were attached to the Tang Dynasty were going to Chang'an to pay homage to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Not only envoys from various countries, but also officials from all over the Tang Dynasty would also begin to come to Beijing to report their duties. This New Year will be the busiest days for the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the concubines in the harem were also busy with their own affairs.

Early in the morning, Cui Ning got up early and came to her daughter's room. Her daughter was named Li Si. She was born in May of the previous year. She was exactly one and a half years old and was learning to speak.

The pain of her son's death a few years ago has gradually been relieved by the years. Although she would go to her son's small grave in Xi Neiyuan to pay tribute every year, the deceased have already rested in peace, while the living must still live bravely.

Cui Ning was already twenty-six years old at this time, the golden age of a woman. She is tall, fair-skinned, elegant and noble, mature and beautiful, and her heart has become more peaceful. Just like the "Ning" in her name, her whole mind is on her children and husband, and she never cares about the affairs of the country.

Cui Ning quietly pushed the door and entered her daughter's room. The room was very close to her dormitory, only a living room, and there was a small door that could be directly connected. The room was not big, but the sun was full. Several pots of forsythia were placed in front of the window. The room was very warm. The forsythia had already produced small yellow buds. A red hibiscus warm tent on the small bed was dragged on the edge of the bed. These were all arranged by Cui Ning for his daughter.

At this moment, her daughter Li Si had woken up, and her wet nurse was helping her wear a new little skirt. When she saw her mother come in, the little guy immediately spread her tender arms and teeth and shouted: "'Mom-Dear!'

Cui Ning smiled on her face. She walked up to pick up her daughter and kissed her little face, "Little heart, why are you getting up so early today?"

"The little princess wakes up and asks for a gift, she's thinking about it!" said the wet nurse next to her, smiling.

"Oh, you remember what my father told you, and you are eager to ask for gifts!" Cui Ning pointed her little nose gently and smiled, "A man is a big ghost."

She turned around and said to her wet nurse: "Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, you go home and have a look! I'll take care of the child."

The wet nurse went with great gratitude. Cui Ning slowly walked to the window with her daughter in her arms, pointed to a delicate little flower and taught her: "This is a flower, - 'flower'."

‘Guo-’ the little guy’s pronunciation is a bit unclear.

"It's not 'guar', it's 'flower'." Suddenly, his son Li Gui's voice came from behind. Cui Ning turned around and saw his son leaning out at the door, holding a small bow in his hand. When he saw his mother discovering himself, he turned around and ran away.

"Gui'er." Cui Ning ran to the door and called his son, "Where are you going?"

"I'll go find Aunt Ping, she's going to teach us how to shoot arrows today."

"Wait a minute, mom has something to say to you." Cui Ning hurriedly wanted to call him, but his son had already run away. He heard his response from afar, "Don't worry! I can't go play in the water, nor can I fight with my brother."

Cui Ning couldn't call him, so he had to shake his head helplessly. This year is the first day of the Lunar New Year, so let him go and have fun!

"Mom, you're sir." The little guy in his hand suddenly rubbed his hands unhappily and said.

'You Gu?' Cui Ning was stunned and then realized that she was asking for a gift. She smiled and kissed her daughter, "Okay, let's go and see what New Year's gift your father has prepared for you?"

On a tree-lined avenue in the East Inner Garden of Daming Palace, Pingping took four children to head towards the archery field. The four children were the eldest son of nine years old, Li Qi, the adopted daughter of nine years old, Bai Ling, Pei Ying’s seven years old daughter Li Qiu and five years old Li Gui. Li Qiu didn’t know how to ride a horse, so he rode together with Pingping. Each of the other three children rode a horse. The five of them held bows and arrows, laughing and laughing all the way.

Pingping finally married Shibalang on her 26th birthday the previous year. After Cui Ning's son died, Pingping gradually realized the preciousness of family affection and life during the more than 100 days and nights she accompanied Cui Ning. She resolutely changed her course and easily married Shibalang and was named Concubine Ping.

But she is an alternative among the imperial concubines of the Tang Dynasty. The palace people have never seen an ordinary imperial concubine like her. Other concubines take two or three hours to dress up every day. All kinds of cosmetics, dews, various jewelry, pearls and jades are not dazzling. However, this concubine Ping only has a bottle of ordinary rose dew that nourishes the skin. She faces the sky all day long. She secretly handed the jewelry that the queen and the princess gave her to others. The dresses in the box are ordinary and can be seen all over the street, and even the palace maids are not as good as those.

Despite this, the palace people only dared to joke with her secretly, but no one dared to say it. Although Concubine Ping was a little careless, she had a high status in the hearts of the emperor and the queen. It is said that she had always been this kind of character. However, as time passed, everyone gradually began to fall in love with this civilian woman-like concubine. Not only did she not have to restrain any etiquette in front of her, she never cared about these. The key is that she had a very kind heart. She never beat and scolded the palace servants. If the palace servants encountered misfortunes, she would definitely help her if she knew that she would have no money. This is also the fundamental reason why she had no money. She was already a concubine of the Tang Dynasty, and her tribe members were said to run a pharmacy in Chengdu and did not receive any blessings at all. Moreover, with her, the Daming Palace was always full of laughter, as bright as the sun, and washed away decades of intrigue and lifelessness in the palace.

It is the rare civilian temperament of ordinary imperial concubines that have made more and more palace ladies like her, like to be with her, and spend every day happily and happily.

At this moment, Pingping was wearing a red dress and looked heroic. She took four princes and princesses to Dongneiyuan to shoot arrows, while a large group of eunuchs and palace maids followed behind and ran panting, allowing the children to learn to ride and shoot. This was the emperor's personal order. As for where to ride and shoot, it was up to this Concubine Ping to decide, as long as it was not out of the scope of the Daming Palace.

"Aunt Ping, why don't you bring a bow and arrow?" Li Qi suddenly found that Ping Sanniang did not carry a bow and arrow, and asked in surprise.

"What are the bows and arrows to bring? Do you still want to practice arrows on the first day of the Lunar New Year?" Pingping glanced at him disdainfully.

"But I told my mother"

Before he could finish his words, Pingping waved his hand unhappily and interrupted him, "Can you make a decision by yourself? Shi Yang is only five or six years older than you, but he can already lead troops to fight in the Western Regions, but what about you? A dignified man has to report to your mother in everything. When will he grow up?"

Li Qi's face turned red when she was said, lowering her head and not daring to say anything. Perhaps it was because her mother had been strict with him since she was a child. As she grew older, Li Qi's personality gradually became a little cowardly and never dared to make any mistakes.

"Aunt Ping, what are we playing?" The question was Li Qiu in Ping Ping's arms. It was exactly the opposite of his brother. Li Qiu is a little girl who is not afraid of the world. She is seven years old this year, and she is at a fun age. When she heard that she wanted to play other things, she shouted in a hurry, "Aunt Ping, tell me quickly! What are we playing today?"

"Don't worry, we'll know when we go."

The group entered Dongneiyuan from the small gate in the northwest corner. Dongneiyuan covers a huge area and is now the garrison of the Tianqi Camp. Zhang Huan once stationed here. There are vast racecourses, more than a dozen archery fields, and several polo fields. It has always been a place where royal people archery and horse riding. Now the Tang Dynasty royal family is sparsely populated, and few people have come here to practice riding and archery.

"Let's go there!" Pingping suddenly pointed to a path on the left, and she urged the horse to lead the children to gallop along the wall of Dong Neiyuan.

After walking about two miles, everyone came to a large meadow. Although it was winter, there was still a thick meadow on the meadow, which was very soft. A sand fruit tree that had been hundreds of years old grew in the distance, ten feet high and lush branches, as if a giant stood in the east inner garden.

"Come on! Everyone dismounted." Pingping turned over and dismounted, laughed loudly, "Okay, we don't shoot arrows today, and we can play for a day freely."

She took the lead in turning a few hollow and flirting on the ground, with graceful and elegant postures, which made several children scream happily. They jumped off their horses and rolled and played on the thick grass like normal. Only Li Qi stood aside in a mature manner, watching his younger brothers and sisters play. More than a dozen palace ladies beside him stared at this scene in a daze. The concubine of the Tang Dynasty actually flirted on the grass, and a prince and two princess rolled on the grass, just like the wild children in the city, and there was no trace of the dignity that the royal family should have.

Fortunately, the eldest son Li Qi was very steady and did not lose his identity like the other three children. At this time, Pingping carried his shoes in one hand and ran towards the big tree barefoot. The laughter like a silver bell spread across the grass, "Come with me!"

Everyone also followed her running towards the big tree with barefoot, and the carefree laughter echoed on the grass. Li Qi looked at the barefoots of her younger siblings enviously. He turned around and secretly glanced at the palace people, bit her lip, and finally took off one shoe, bare-footed, and limped towards the big tree.

Pingping ran to the big tree and looked up at the big tree. She had long noticed this towering tree. In her girlhood, she often climbed up the tree like a boy to dig bird's nest and pick fruits. His father never cared about her, and gradually developed her bold and happy character, but

Pingping looked back at Li Qi. He was only nine years old and looked like an old man. He was timid all day long and dared not act anything. He was timid and cowardly. The eldest sister was afraid that he would not be able to establish the prince and would control him too strictly. In this way, even if he established the prince, how could he inherit his father's career, open up the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and become a convincing Khan of all nations?

"Everyone, listen." Pingping clapped his hands and smiled: "We'll climb trees today!"

‘Climbing the tree?’ Several children looked up together, “This tree is so tall!” Li Gui shouted in surprise.

"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. We in Taiyuan have the custom of climbing trees and climbing high. When your father was a child, he would climb trees every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year." Pingping glanced at everyone and smiled and said, "So starting this year, I will take you to climb trees every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

Although the children all wanted to climb a tree, the tree was too tall and everyone was a little timid. Pingping jumped deep and jumped onto the tree first. She reached out to her daughter, "Baoling, you climb first!" Pingping looked at her daughter encouragingly, "When you were as big as you, you already dared to climb a taller tree than this. Just be careful and won't fall."

Since Bai Ling became an ordinary daughter, her originally timid and shy personality has become cheerful day by day. She looked at the big tree and plucked up the courage, "Okay! I'll climb first."

She handed her hand to her mother, and used her feet to climb up the tree in an instant. There were many branches of sand fruit books, which was very easy to climb. After adapting for a while, Bai Ling began to climb up by herself.

"Who is the next one?" Pingping looked at the other children again, and her eyes fell on Li Qi, "Male, come first!"

"No! No!" Li Qi took a few steps back and shook his head repeatedly. It was already the limit for his barefoot running. If he climbed a tree again, his mother would definitely kill him if she knew it.

"Your mother won't know. Isn't she going to meet with the Queen of Nanzhao today?" Pingping encouraged him, "Don't worry! No one in the palace maid here dares to say it."

"I dare not!" Li Qi still shook her head and didn't dare to go up. At this time, Li Gui next to her was already raising his hand impatiently and responded loudly: "I'll do it!"

"Okay! It's worthy of being a man." Pingping pulled him up to the tree, but did not let him climb too high. Then Li Qiu was also pulled up to the tree, and only Li Qi was left under the tree.

"Empress." At this time, an old eunuch ran forward and said tremblingly: "Come down quickly! The queen will kill us if she knows."

"This is my decision, it has nothing to do with you." Pingping ignored him and continued to stare at Li Qi and said, "You are the eldest brother, aren't your courage as good as Brother Gui?"

A stream of passion suddenly poured into Li Qi's mind. He gritted his teeth and said, "Who said I am not as good as my brother, I will just crawl."

"Okay! This is a man. Work harder and climb higher."

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, which is also Zhang Huan's busiest day. Early in the morning, he discussed the recent situation of Sai Ye with the prime ministers in Linde Hall. Chief Gelulu died while attacking Xuanwu City, which triggered a struggle for power within the Gelulu people. The Governor Cao Hanchen of the Sai Ye asked the court for instructions and took this opportunity to attack the Gelulu people and knocked down the minions that extended to the east.

This news attracted Zhang Huan's attention. He believed that although this was an opportunity, the troops of Saiye and even Anxi were not enough. If the entire line of attacks on the Gelulu people, even if the Uighurs do not interfere, what should the 50,000 Dashi Army in Tocharo be done? Who can restrain it and not take the opportunity to attack Saiye? It is easy to attack the Gelulu people, but if this triggers a full-scale war between the Dashi and the Tang Dynasty, how much victory will the Tang Dynasty have?

After nearly an hour of discussion, the prime ministers agreed that the time to wipe out the Geluo people is not yet ripe, and the Geluo people are not worth worrying about. They must be prepared for a full-scale war with the Dashi. Whether it is food reserves, troop deployment, logistics supplies, or the establishment of strategic alliances, the Tang Dynasty is at a disadvantage, and these are precisely the decisive factors for whether a large-scale battle can win.

Just after the discussion, Zhang Huan immediately issued an order to Wang Siyu who was Saiye: He transferred 20,000 Anxi troops from Shule to Saiye, and began to prepare for the establishment of the Western Regions Protectorate and moved to Saiye.

After discussing the situation of Saiye, Zhang Huan led seven prime ministers back to Zichen Hall, where he would meet the King of Nanzhao there, which was also a major event. Nanzhao was a vassal state built by the Tang Dynasty in the Six Divine Era, but gradually became a big shot in the process of helping the Tang Dynasty deal with Tubo for a long time. In the autumn of the ninth year of Tianbao, the King of Nanzhao Ge Luofeng killed the Yunnan Governor Zhang Qiantuo on the pretext that his wife and daughter were humiliated and killed. In the second year of the Tang army, the Tang army was defeated, and 60,000 Tang troops were killed in battle. In the thirteenth year of Tianbao, he defeated the Tang army again. Since then, Nanzhao has completely betrayed the Tang Dynasty and became a brother country of Tubo.

However, after the failure of Tubo and the Tang Dynasty to compete for Anxi four years ago, Tubo gradually weakened, while the Tang Dynasty revived its revival. From the second year of Dazhi, Wei Gao, the governor of Jiannan, the Tang Dynasty, recruited the barbarians in Jiannan and southwest from many sources, and frequently sent a signal of reconciliation to Nanzhao. Under this situation, the king of Nanzhao Yi Mou Xunzhuo had foresight. In the autumn of the third year of Dazhi, he resolutely decided to break off diplomatic relations with Tubo and become a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty again, and returned to Yao, Li and other states of the Tang Dynasty.

This year, Yi Mouxun and his queen came to Chang'an in person to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and accept the imperial enthronement.

Under the escort of hundreds of imperial guards, Zhang Huan led seven prime ministers out of the Zuoyintai Gate to Zichen Hall. Along the way, he discussed the arrangements for the New Year's agricultural affairs with his important officials, especially the matter of subsidizing the new water trucks in the right court of Jianghuai can no longer be delayed.

"The construction of 3,000 new water trucks is related to the sowing of 500,000 hectares of rice added this year. I think it can't be delayed anymore. In this matter, I appointed Pei Xiangguo as the Jiangnan envoy to go to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jingxiang and other places to urge the local government to speed up the construction of water trucks." Zhang Huan looked back at Pei You and asked, "Can Pei Xiangguo be lucky to have a hard time?"

Pei You bowed and bowed immediately and said, "I am willing to share your worries for Your Majesty!"

"Okay! You can set out on the fifth day of the first day of the Prime Minister."

Zhang Huan nodded with a smile. At this time, he faintly heard shouts coming from afar. He looked around in surprise and crossed the wall of Dong Neiyuan. He suddenly saw three or four children on the big sand fruit tree, looking very excited.

"It's strange, where did the wild child come from?" Zhang Huan asked the guard next to him in surprise.

The guard looked at it for a long time and shook his head blankly. He couldn't understand it. At this time, the ministers saw the waving child and couldn't help but talk. How could the child climb up the big tree in Dong Neiyuan? Whose child is this? The parents don't care.

"I understand!" Zhang Huan suddenly realized, and he smiled and said to everyone: "This must be the child of the nearby people. I issued an order last year that every spring outings, ordinary people can be allowed to visit some royal gardens. This Dong Neiyuan is one of the open gardens. This must be the child of people in the city. If the parents are not strictly in charge, they will climb up the big tree."

After saying that, he turned around and said to the guards: "You go and tell the father of these children that he should educate his children well."

The guard responded, turned his horse's head and rushed towards the east Neiyuan. At this time, Zhang Huan saw a woman in red climbing up the tree and waving her arms. He suddenly felt that the woman in red looked very much like Pingping. He couldn't help but think to himself: "Is it possible that Pingping? Is it impossible, where did she find so many children?"
Chapter completed!