Chapter 154 5 thunder strikes
Chapter 154 Five thunder strikes
Xiao Xia asked with a smile: "Could it be that Brother Yuwen also has a connection with Master Yuan?"
Yuwen Chengdu nodded, "I also came from Qingcheng Mountain. I have met Yuan Tianshi many times and I have great respect for him. Yuan Tianshi's second brother is called Yuan Xuantong. I once learned some lessons from him and benefited a lot from him."
"I see. My mother also became a nun in Qingcheng Mountain. Brother Yuwen, do you know which Taoist temple she is in?"
Yuwen Chengdu pondered for a moment and said, "There are three female Taoist temples in Qingcheng Mountain. I think she should be in Baiyun Temple. Yuan Tianshi's sister Yuan Miaogu is the abbot there."
"Thank you, Brother Yuwen, for telling me!"
Xiao Xia came to the imperial city and found his brother Yang Zhao. Yang Zhao smiled and patted his brother on the shoulder and said, "You have been promoted to the rank of Duke of a county, and promoted to the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi. Congratulations! Congratulations!"
In the Sui Dynasty, honorary titles were still relatively popular. Titles such as Zhuguo and Shangzhuguo were only awarded to generals who had made great contributions.
But it became rampant in the Tang Dynasty. Starting from Li Yuan, all the soldiers who came to join him were either appointed as casual officials or honorary officials. When they entered Guanzhong, the number of troops suddenly increased from tens of thousands to more than 200,000. Everyone was an official, and everyone was a pillar of the country. There was not even time to make a letter of appointment. They just took a piece of paper to write a title and stamp it.
During the reign of Wu Zetian, the epidemic spread again. During the An-Shi Rebellion, it was out of control. Even an old farmer was promoted to the rank of Supreme Pillar of the State.
However, there is only one thing that has always been valuable, and that is the title. The title involves the interests of the powerful and wealthy, so no one dares to confer it casually.
Xiao Xia asked with a smile: "What are the benefits of being promoted to the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi?"
"Of course there are benefits, everyone knows that. The most direct benefit is taking concubines, buying houses, and riding in carriages. If you are promoted to the rank of Kaifu Yitong Sansi, you can take concubines, buy a house of five acres, and ride in a carriage. Ordinary people can only ride in ox carts or donkey carts. Of course, it doesn't make sense for you. You are a county duke, which corresponds to a pillar of the state. If you become a duke, you correspond to a senior pillar of the state. As for being crowned a king, I think it is a matter of time."
Xiao Xia took out a box from his arms and opened it. Inside were two top-quality gems, a ruby and a sapphire. Xiao Xia smiled and said, "This is my trophy from Tuyuhun. One is for my eldest sister-in-law and the other is for my second sister."
Both gems were like pigeon eggs, teardrop-shaped, and extremely pure. They were obtained from a golden box in Buqa Khan's tent, which was full of various precious jewels. Xiao Xia kept some of them.
"Good stuff!"
Yang Zhao was full of praise. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's not give this one to Feiyan! It would be more appropriate to give it to the princess."
Xiao Xia said calmly: "She shouldn't be short of jewels!"
Yang Zhao knew that his brother still held a grudge, so he quickly advised, "Third brother, after all, Mother has been demoted for five years. You say she has no dissatisfaction in her heart, that is impossible, but after all, we are all tied together. If we prosper together, we all prosper together. If we perish together, we all perish together. If there are internal conflicts, wouldn't it give the opponent an opportunity to take advantage of it? Third brother, give your brother some face and don't bother with Mother."
Xiao Xia sighed and said, "Of course I won't argue with my elders. I'm just afraid that she won't give me face!"
"How could that be? Grandfather Emperor looks at you differently, and Mother is also proud of you. She doesn't say many things, but her heart is as clear as a mirror."
Xiao Xia nodded, then took out a sapphire from his arms and handed it to Yang Zhao.
Yang Zhao was overjoyed and said, "Mother wants to see her grandson tonight, I will take him there as well."
Xiao Xia smiled slightly, "Brother, if you are free now, please accompany me to Chongrenfang!"
Yang Zhao nodded, "I happen to be free now!"
The two brothers got on a carriage and headed towards Chongrenfang.
"The court has been relatively quiet in the past two months, with basically nothing major happening. However, there have been major changes on my father's side. My father has officially opened the Jin Palace, and the court allocates 8,000 strings of cash a month, 2,000 strings less than the Crown Prince. Several of his former staff have returned, as well as a dozen Jin Palace officials and dozens of guards with strong martial arts skills. In addition, my grandfather has also sent a 300-man guard army to obey my father's orders. I am now serving as a military officer at the Jin Palace, a seventh-rank minor official."
Xiao Xia asked with a smile: "Have the other three princes opened their own palaces?"
"They have opened a government office, but their monthly salary is 6,000 guan, 2,000 guan less than my father's, and they also have 100 fewer guards."
Xiao Xia smiled and said, "This is really a battle for the throne among the five dragons!"
Yang Zhao suddenly remembered something and said with a smile, "My third uncle Xiao Yu has come to Beijing to serve as the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple!"
Xiao Xia was overjoyed. Xiao Yu had come to Beijing, and Xiao Zhurong would also be here.
"Are you still investigating Yun Shitai's murder?"
Yang Zhao shook his head. "There is no clue at all. I wonder if my father will let my second uncle continue to investigate this case?"
"Brother, can you persuade father not to investigate?"
"why?"
Xiao Xia pointed at herself, and Yang Zhao's eyes widened, "Is it you?"
Xiao Xia said calmly: "The prince assassinated me in Jiangdu, how can I not retaliate? In fact, I am also creating a handle for my father to use this case to capture Zhang Guo."
Yang Zhao was stunned, and after a while he asked, "Does anyone else know?"
"Yuwen Chengdu may have guessed something, but he doesn't have any evidence. At present, no one else knows except my eldest brother."
Yang Zhao hurriedly whispered: "You should have told me this earlier, otherwise my father would have been misled." Xiao Xia smiled slightly, "It's not too late to tell me now!"
The carriage entered Chongrenfang and soon arrived at the restaurant. Xiao Xia found that a house was being built in the vegetable field across the street, and asked with a smile: "Has the Yun family started building a house?"
"It's no longer the Yun family. The Yun family themselves disliked this piece of land, so they sold it at a low price. Hebei Weijun, Wuyangjun, and Zhaojun jointly bought it to build a Jinzouyuan. Their Jinzouyuan is in Xuanyangfang, which is not very convenient, so they plan to move it to Chongrenfang."
The carriage stopped in front of the restaurant. The restaurant had reopened. There was a sign at the door saying Wan Hu Hou Restaurant. Xiao Xia asked with a smile, "Why is it called Wan Hu Hou Restaurant?"
Yang Zhao was a little embarrassed and said, "Actually, it was my son who came up with the name. Dou Deming came to ask me how to name it, and I asked my son to draw lots, and he drew the name of Wan Hu Hou. I think this name is a bit vulgar."
Xiao Xia laughed and said, "Not bad! Not bad! A good name is one that is easy for people to remember. Wan Hu Hou, it feels good to hear this name."
"Dou Deming also said this name is good."
"How's business?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"It's OK. It's basically full at night, but a little less so during the day."
Dou Deming happened to be in the restaurant. When he heard that Yang Zhao and Xiao Xia had arrived, he hurried out to greet them.
Dou Deming had already learned from the owner of the restaurant next door how Xiao Xia got rid of the Yun family's source of bad luck. He was so impressed that it was useless for him to beg for help everywhere, but Xiao Xia mobilized the residents and got the job done in one day.
"When did Brother Xiao come back?"
"I came back yesterday afternoon. I have nothing to do today, so I came to see the restaurant."
Yang Zhao whispered, "With Deming here, I won't care about you anymore. I have something else to do at the Prince Jin's Mansion!"
"Brother, go get busy!"
Yang Zhao clasped his fists and bowed to Dou Deming, then got on the carriage and left.
The restaurant had not yet opened, and the bartenders were cleaning. The owner was named Wang, a middle-aged man with a smile on his face. There were six other bartenders, a chef, and two kitchen helpers.
The restaurant was indeed brand new. There was a large screen at the entrance, so one could not see what was inside from the outside. When one entered the first floor, there was not an open lobby, but a wooden wall that divided the lobby into two. There was a narrow passage on the outside, the left side was a passage for delivering food, and the right side had a passage leading to the second floor.
There are no square tables and benches in the lobby. Instead, there are semi-enclosed small boxes separated by wooden lattices. A small box can seat four or five people. The light shines in from above, making it look very classy. If there are more people, you can go to the elegant room upstairs.
Dou Deming smiled and said, "Business is okay. Chongrenfang's business is not bad. We were badly cheated by the Yun family before, but now it has gradually recovered."
"Let's go to the kitchen and take a look!" Xiao Xia said with a smile.
Xiao Xia already had an idea about the restaurant. If the restaurant business is to improve, the key is to have good wine and food to serve, delicacies that are not available elsewhere.
There are many kinds of cooking utensils in the kitchen, mainly ceramic and copper cookers. No iron cookers are seen. There are also two large ovens.
The diet in the Sui and Tang dynasties mainly consisted of stewing, braising, roasting and frying, so there were more stewing pots and stewing pots. The round-bottomed frying pan did not appear until the Song Dynasty.
Moreover, cooking is mainly done with wood and charcoal. Xiao Xia took out a blueprint from his arms and handed it to Dou Deming, "Brother Dou, can you not find a craftsman to make this cooker?"
"What is this?" Dou Deming was confused.
"This is called a round-bottomed pot. It's made of wrought iron. It's a bit like a big bowl, but a little shallower than a big bowl."
Xiao Xia found a shallow bowl from the cupboard, which was the same as the wok he wanted.
"It will be exactly the same as this bowl, but much larger. The flat top must be at least a foot and a half wide. The dimensions are on the drawing. They must be the same size. It must also have a wooden handle."
Xiao Xia took out a large bowl as a sample, and Dou Deming immediately understood. He smiled and said, "This thing is not easy to make! Let me give it a try!"
After telling about the iron pot, Xiao Xia called for an ox cart to go to the Imperial College.
Inside the palace, a young eunuch secretly handed a folded piece of paper to Crown Prince Yang Yong. Yang Yong rewarded him with a gold bean, and the young eunuch turned around and hurried away.
According to the plan of counselor Zhang Yunqiu, it would be best to find evidence that Xiao Xia cheated in writing poems. Yang Yong asked his spies in the palace to copy the poems written by Xiao Xia for him.
After finding a secluded place, Yang Yong opened the note, and two lines of poetry immediately jumped into his eyes.
'As a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my family all the more during every festive occasion.'
Yang Yong's eyes suddenly widened, as if he was struck by lightning, and he was stunned. He simply couldn't believe his eyes.
(End of this chapter)