Chapter 604 Dislikes men? Only loves women?
Regardless of the impact of these newly promulgated policies on the people of Chang'an and the entire Tang Dynasty, at this moment, in the main hall of the imperial palace, officials, members of the imperial family, and envoys from small countries that had submitted to the Tang Dynasty were all celebrating Emperor Wu's birthday.
At this moment, Emperor Wu was surrounded by three women. After hearing something from one of them, Emperor Wu burst into laughter.
The members of the imperial family, officials, and envoys from small states seated below saw Emperor Wu, who was quite different from usual. Although they showed no surprise on the surface, they were all astonished in their hearts.
An envoy from a small country, visiting the Tang Dynasty for the first time, boldly asked someone nearby ingratiatingly, "Minister Zhou, may I ask who the person beside His Majesty is?"
The envoy bowed and asked, giving Vice Minister Zhou ample face.
Vice Minister Zhou was not the type to deliberately make things difficult for people. After casually glancing up at them, he smiled and said to the envoy, "Those are all the Emperor's favorites. You must get to know them all and make sure you don't offend any of them."
After taking the wine poured for him by the envoy, Minister Zhou tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp. Then he slowly pointed to the envoy and said, "The young girl on the right side of the Emperor is the Emperor's youngest daughter, Princess Taiping of our Great Tang Dynasty. She is the Emperor's only child who has not yet reached the age of marriage."
The woman in the green dress next to Princess Taiping is Shangguan Wan'er, a palace attendant who drafts imperial edicts and is the emperor's right-hand woman.
As for the woman in the red dress to the left of the sage, she was also a female official in the palace.
This person only appeared by the Emperor's side in recent months. Judging from her actions, she seems to have won the Emperor's favor. I don't know much about her character, only that her name is Jiang Yiyun.
Yes, Jiang Yiyun was a palace lady-in-waiting favored by Emperor Wu, and she held a rank.
Emperor Wu is busy with state affairs all year round and has little time for entertainment. Today is her birthday, which is a suitable time for her to relax.
Whether out of awe of Emperor Wu's majesty or fear of the imperial guards under his control, the members of the royal family, officials, and envoys from small states in the hall all behaved themselves very well.
Emperor Wu sat at the head of the table, with his beloved daughter smiling sweetly beside him, a talented person he admired and had rescued long ago, and a strange person who had voluntarily joined him. The three surrounded her.
Who wouldn't be happy if three beautiful women of different ages, each with their own strengths, said sweet words to you and even acted coquettishly towards you?
Emperor Wu was quite happy, and soon he was amused and burst into laughter again.
Since Emperor Wu came to power, there were many people who tried to curry favor with her by presenting her with handsome men. But when the first person who tried to curry favor with her saw the handsome man he presented appear in the military camp the very next day, how could he not realize that he had made a mistake?
Empress Wu was different from others. It wasn't that she didn't love men; she just felt it was unnecessary.
Of course, with Emperor Wu's power, even if she kept three or five male favorites, would anyone dare to offer any advice or say anything?
From the First Emperor onwards, which emperor didn't have a harem of women?
Even the throne has changed from male to female, so are we still going to use conventional treaties to bind women's chastity and virtue? Are we just trying to use this as a pretext?
That would be a real joke.
Because Emperor Wu did not get close to men after he ascended the throne and was surrounded by women, there were even rumors that the sage did not like men and only loved women.
Such a statement is, of course, unbelievable.
Most of it is just rumors spread by petty people.
However, from another perspective, this statement is not entirely untrue. Emperor Wu did indeed favor female officials in the palace. He promoted talented women in the harem, like Shangguan Wan'er, to become palace officials.
The banquet in the palace continued, and people outside the palace were also busy at work.
The reason is that the official in the Vermilion Bird Square today read out two things: first, those who voluntarily migrate to the border, regardless of gender, will be entitled to 80 mu of land and 20 mu of permanent land.
Furthermore, there is a special preferential condition: those who voluntarily relocate are exempt from taxes for the first three years, and only need to pay half of the taxes in the fourth and fifth years.
Full taxes were only paid starting in the sixth year.
This route wasn't particularly appealing to people from wealthy places like Chang'an and Luoyang.
But for ordinary people who have no land or only land in remote rural areas, this benefit is considerable.
Furthermore, the second point is to broaden trade routes and have soldiers to protect them, which greatly reduces the dangers encountered on the road. With lower costs, profits will naturally increase.
Although this trade route is only for merchant families, if large-scale trade activities are launched at the border, the common people living there will naturally also benefit.
You could grow some vegetables and sell them, or sell water and drinks, and you could earn some copper coins that way.
However, the risks involved are certainly not small.
First, the journey is long, and who knows what might happen on the way? They might die before reaching the border.
Secondly, although the Tang Dynasty was prosperous at this time and the surrounding small countries and tribes had submitted to it, things were not always good, and who knew if war would break out again?
The Li family is having dinner right now, and they're discussing these things.
"Judging from that, Hu Tou (Li Dalang) should be back around the beginning of next year, right?"
What Li's mother was most worried about was her son who was not by her side. Li Dalang had been in the army and gone to the border with the main force for more than half a year. Apart from a few letters home, Li Dalang had not returned.
Li Erxiong put down his chopsticks and looked at his mother, "Mother, it should be about time. If he wants to come back, Hutou should be able to mention it in the next letter."
Mother, don't worry. Tiger Head is quite capable; he should be able to protect himself. He might even earn a good reputation and get an official position.
Li's mother simply sighed and said nothing more.
Dewdrop sat down next to Li San Niang. She looked at Li San Niang with her big, round eyes and asked earnestly, "Mother, isn't my eldest brother coming home yet?"
Li San Niang picked up a piece of vegetable and put it in Lu Zhu'er's small bowl. She smiled and said to Lu Zhu'er, "Your older brother should be back soon. Lu Zhu'er must eat well. When your older brother comes back, he will be happy to see that Lu Zhu'er has grown taller."
After dinner, on her way back to her courtyard with Lu Zhu'er and Qiu Xiang, Li San Niang was stopped by her eldest brother, who handed her a small wooden box.
“Your sister-in-law and I think you’re right. Keep the money. If you want to invest in the Xing family’s business, just put it in.”
Li San Niang never expected that Brother Li and Sister-in-law Li would have such courage, deciding to invest money in just two days.
Li San Niang didn't hesitate and took the small wooden box directly. "Don't worry, elder brother, I will consider it carefully. When it comes time to sign the documents, I will call you over."
"Oh, thank you for your hard work."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com