The Moon Over Tang Dynasty

Chapter 139: Advance and retreat freely, win and return to court

The sound of the rings clashing was thin and clear, gradually getting closer and closer. Then, a burst of fragrance came from the gap in the gauze curtain. Li Zhuang felt a chill on his head and back, and pressed his forehead tightly to the ground, " Please give my regards to the eldest princess!"

 "Well. Get up." The eldest princess's voice was as cold as ever, with an elegant laziness.

Li Zhuangtou knew the temperament of the eldest princess, so he straightened up a little, and before she could ask, he respectfully replied, "To the eldest princess, the young ones have gone to Pei Ming's mansion today to pay homage to Ku. Mrs. Di also reported to her that although there was a severe drought in the first half of this year, the harvest was still guaranteed, so more than half of the money and food were paid in advance. However, the recent rains have caused disasters, and the fields have no harvest, and the owed money cannot be paid no matter what; the shopkeeper They each found their own excuses, saying only that they were losing money and were willing to let her suffer. "

Behind the curtain, the eldest princess had a slight smile on her face. These servants still knew the current affairs and did not dare to play tricks on her. Now they are the slaves of Cudi, and Cudi can deal with them as he wants, but she still doesn't know which of these slaves is the most economical lamp? Since they dare to go and say this, they have already prepared their backup plans. Now, it depends on how they fight against the Cudi...

 “What did Cudi say?”

Li Zhuangtou outside the curtain hurriedly replied, "Ms. Kudi thought about it for a long time, and just asked the boys how much they can turn in every year in the future. The boys replied according to the pre-discussed, the exact amount may be, There is more or less food, and the store may win or lose, but it is impossible to think that it will be like the first half of this year every year. Madam Kudi sighed and said..." He paused for a moment, and his tone became more cautious, " Since there is no guarantee that there will be any profit from all this effort, why not just sell it all at a low price, and at least it will be clean?"

The eldest princess's smile suddenly froze on her face, and her ears buzzed: Kudis was going to sell those properties and sell them at a cheap price. How could she be willing to give up, how dare she!

She clenched her hands involuntarily, and the maid who was supporting her twitched her face, then gritted her teeth.

Li Zhuangtou's voice rang out in a hurry, "I would like to inform the eldest princess that the younger ones are coming here. This is actually the intention of Madam Kudi. She said that the younger ones have managed the manor shop for so many years on behalf of the Pei Ming Mansion, so they know best." Accounts, when she sells the property, naturally she can only transfer the younger ones to the new master. But you have ordered that the younger ones cannot be separated from each other, so let the younger ones come first to report back to the eldest princess. If you are interested in taking over, it doesn't matter if the price is lower, she doesn't care about the money, it's just..."

The eldest princess’s hand was already loosened, but when she heard the word “It’s just...”, she couldn’t help but tighten it again and hurriedly asked, “It’s just what?”

Li Zhuangtou paused before saying, "Mrs. Kudi said that she had sworn that the money earned from these properties would never be used for herself, but would be used to benefit the family. Therefore, although these properties are private property, the price at which they are sold will not be used. I still need to talk to the people in Zhongjuan Pei. She is willing to transfer these properties to you in one lump sum and save you the trouble. However, if the price given by the princess is too low, there are people in the clan who are willing to pay a higher price. Taking it over, she couldn't say no even if she was close to them, so she might have to split up two or three items and sell them to these tribesmen. Therefore, she asked the younger one to come back and report to the eldest princess first, leaving the others to wait. The house over there asked everyone to estimate a price, and she had a good idea. She also asked one of us to go back and inform the shopkeepers who were sick on the way, saying that they didn't need to come over, and they would just give us the price. good."

“Ms. Kudi finally said that she estimated that if she had more than 200,000 yuan, she could probably handle the matter without having to discuss it too much with the clan members.”

The eldest princess’s expression changed several times, and she remained silent for a long time. I have thought about various possibilities before, including the Cudi family sending another shopkeeper to take over, or even trying to convict and kill these shopkeepers, and I have come up with countermeasures one by one. The only thing I didn't expect was that she would actually take the initiative to say that she wanted to sell these properties! So what did she do before, and why did she come here? Could it be that this was her idea from the beginning? He said that when he handed over these properties, he wanted to slowly force Pei Shouyue and his wife to sell them back to him. Unexpectedly, Lu Qiniang only sold two items, and she was forced to dare not by those who supported Pei. If she tried again, she would eventually die in childbirth. Pei Shouyue was so angry that he sold people and property, and he didn't dare to force him anymore. Although the amount of money given to him every year in these years was almost not much, he still felt uneasy in his heart. Now it seems that this hateful Cudi will actually let him get what he wants?

 Just the price, more than 200,000 guan... does not seem to be much in calculation. The property there pays 40,000 to 50,000 guan each year. More than 200,000 guan, should be less than 30% of the market price. But where can I have so much ready-made money? Even if there is, why should it be given to her? Could it be because she had calculated well against herself before?

Thinking of all that had happened these days, the eldest princess couldn't help but snorted coldly, but she saw Li Zhuang's head lying on the ground on the other side of the thin gauze curtain visibly trembling, and her heart moved, and she said coldly, "Do you think What’s the price?”

Li Zhuang laid his head on the ground and couldn't help but glance ahead. On the other side of the double gauze curtain hanging to the ground, stood the aloof master, and the life, death, honor and disgrace of their family would be decided at this moment. Does she still have any pity for them in her heart?

He gritted his teeth and replied in a calm voice, "Princess Qi, I also thought about it when I came here. More than two hundred thousand guan is indeed a lot. But there is one thing. Since the Kudis are determined to sell, if the price is higher On the lower side, some manors and shops may only offer a few thousand guan. With such a price, the small households like Zhongjuan Pei might even risk their lives to join in. What's more, the slaves didn't even come before they came. I have inquired and found out that this Kudi family has quite a lot of contacts with the concubines in the palace and the officials in the court. If she lowers the price too hard and she releases the price, those people may be willing to pay two or three times the price. If you buy it, then she will be dismantled and sold, and you will have nothing to say to the middle-aged Pei and the eldest princess."

The eldest princess stared motionlessly at the figure outside the gauze curtain, with a cold smile on her face. Is this dog slave reminding herself that Cudi also has a backer? Sure enough, the price Kudis paid not only allowed them to advance and retreat, but also bought these slaves who were greedy for life and afraid of death! In their eyes, this price is probably fair. If they don't agree, they will be cruel to them. Even if they are pinching their families, if they force them to do something at this time to put the blame on Pei Shou, If you date a couple, they will definitely hate you in their hearts, and if you push them too hard, they might even bite you back... just like that **** Cui!

After thinking about it, she took a long breath and said, "Although the price is higher, it is not a big deal, but two hundred thousand yuan is not a small amount after all. Go and report it to the Cudi family." , I want to think about it, and try to wait as long as possible before you quote the price after you go back. Then I will find someone to tell you how much you should quote." This time, she had to think clearly and figure it out before deciding how to act. You can't act like you've stepped into the trap that Cudi has laid out long ago!

Li Zhuangtou bowed his head in response and silently bowed his back and retreated. The eldest princess stood silently for a moment and suddenly said, "Go and call the second lady, and get a pack of medicinal materials to take a look." The third lady said that she wanted her to get well as soon as possible." The maid hurriedly responded and walked out of the courtyard. Seeing no one behind her, she quietly rolled up her sleeves and looked at the man with long nails. There were a few bruises from pinching, and she grinned and sucked in a few breaths of cold air. She couldn't help but feel a little happy in her heart: the eldest princess's anger has finally passed. Fortunately, it only left a few bruises... It's just this She was so lucky, but half an hour later, when the eldest princess suddenly stood up again with a face full of shock and anger, it turned into boundless fear.

"Say it again! Where did the news come from?" The eldest princess's voice was a bit harsh and sharp.

Zheng Wanniang secretly took a breath before she managed to reply calmly, "The news came from the court, so it should be correct. Su Dingfang returned to court yesterday, and today the Holy Emperor's reward has come down, and he has been awarded the title of General Youtunwei and Duke of Linqing County. "

The eldest princess stayed for a long time, then slowly sat down and murmured, "Breaking the formation in a battle and killing thousands of enemies. Such inconspicuous military merits are actually awarded to generals and county princes. What is the emperor?" What are you thinking? Didn’t the Taiwei and the others say anything?”

Zheng Wanniang lowered her head and did not dare to say a word. The eldest princess's voice became more and more erratic, "Yes, I'm afraid it will be useless to speak. The emperor wants to reward military merit generously. To oppose this is to go against the generals of the world. Under the current situation , the Taiwei certainly did not dare to take this risk... He had just promoted Li Sheren to be the Minister of the Secretariat, and now he was rewarding Su Dingfang so unconventionally. Could it be that the emperor was really determined to make the fox named Wu his queen, civil servant, and military general? She wants to promote someone who supports this matter, but she is that charming person. Could it be that God will help her this time?"

The voice of the eldest princess became lower and lower, and finally turned into a gibbering that no one could hear clearly. No one in the room dared to make a sound for a while. Everyone understood who the "she" was talking about. Thinking of the eldest princess, The princess has been frustrated in everything for more than a month, and everyone feels a little awe-inspiring.

After a long time, the eldest princess seemed to suddenly wake up and said coldly, "I have forgotten to ask you these days. What is going on in the palace now?"

Zheng Wanniang's heart was trembling, but she didn't dare to hide it. She whispered, "I heard that the Holy One was furious two days ago for some unknown reason. On that day, Queen Wang was officially grounded. All the maids around her were also changed. The maids who originally served Queen Wang and Most of the female officials were demoted to Yeting to serve, and some were sent to other palaces. It was said that several of them died of illness or illness for unknown reasons. The situation at Concubine Xiao Shu was similar, and the most capable ones were already doing hard labor. , the palace is now dominated by Wu Zhaoyi, and even the imperial concubine goes to Xianchi Palace to sit there every day, saying it is to visit, but in fact... to say hello. "

The eldest princess closed her eyes and didn't say a word, but her face suddenly turned gloomy, as if she had aged several years in the blink of an eye. After a full cup of tea, she suddenly opened her eyes and gave instructions to the maid. , "Go and get the account books from the warehouse, count how much silk can be taken out, and how much gold and silver can be easily exchanged for money." Turning to look at Zheng Wanniang, "You go to Pei Mansion tomorrow and talk to Kudis He said, "They are all from my own family. It doesn't matter whether the price is more or less. I am willing to pay 200,000 yuan to take over the property to prevent the Pei family property from falling into the hands of foreigners."

Zheng Wanniang hurriedly agreed, "Yes," and then hesitated, "But if she said yes, would she have so much money and silk in the house?"

The eldest princess shook her head and sneered, "Of course she won't agree immediately. All you need to do is negotiate the price with her. If she wants 300,000 yuan, don't refuse. But if she... decides to go to Shu, If you change your mind and ask for five or six hundred thousand yuan or more, then don’t blame me for beating the dog without looking at the owner!”

The specific time of Su Dingfang's reward is not recorded in the history, but it can be estimated that it should be around August (departing at the end of February, starting the war in mid-May, and returning after fighting). Judging from the performance of this battle (he was only (He is a deputy general). I can only say that Gaozong is so generous that it’s almost weird... p.s., thank you all for your pinkies and tips. I say it in a vain way, it feels so good to be in the front!

Recommended book: A special journey through the Red Mansion, "Red Mansion Bagua Weekly", Qingwen is good at job hopping, the author loves to complain, the story contains gossip and research, the heroine is neither a novice nor a virgin, the relaxed and humorous story is paired with sharp and hot complaints , a good choice for afternoon tea.

 (End of this chapter)