In March of the following year, the emperor abdicated the throne to the crown prince, and then took his two concubines to Dongchen Village and lived in the courtyard built for him by Yingbao.
The hundreds of guards who came with them were temporarily squeezed into the yard, but they could not bear it for too long.
Among these guards, many were children of aristocratic families. They had never experienced such hardship before, and they all ran to the accompanying ministers to complain.
"This isn't a battle, but you keep us all squeezed into the tent. We even have to queue up to use the toilet. Mr. Lu, why don't you ask the village chief to find another place for us brothers to live so that we don't have to delay our duty?"
Prime Minister Lu was Empress Lu's elder brother and one of the ministers who lived in Dongchen Village with the retired emperor. He thought about it and felt that the guards' request was quite reasonable.
The houses of every household in this village are very spacious, and all the guards can be accommodated by simply requisitioning two or three courtyards.
He ran to report to the emperor, but Zhou Wuchang said, "In that case, let them go back to the capital. I am safe here, even safer than the imperial palace. There is no need for so many people to stay here and disturb the peace."
Prime Minister Lu retreated silently and asked the guards to work together. They cut more than 500 bamboo sticks, painted one end of 100 of them black with ink, and after they dried, mixed them together and inserted them into the large brush barrel with the black end facing inwards.
Then he called everyone together and asked them to draw lots. Those who drew black heads stayed, and those who did not draw black heads returned to Beijing immediately.
The guards were dumbfounded when they heard this.
But some people are still willing to go back, after all, there is no hope of getting ahead if they stay in the countryside.
Some clever guards immediately exchanged the white sticks in their hands with the black sticks that wanted to go back, but those who were slow could not get the chance.
Many people were still hesitating whether to leave or stay, but the person holding the black signature had already registered with Prime Minister Lu.
Next, the guards who had signed the white papers all packed their luggage and prepared to return to Beijing the next day.
Many of these people have some regrets.
They are all martial artists and can directly feel the condition of their bodies.
Since moving in here, everyone feels relaxed all over. Even if they have just practiced stone locks, the soreness in their arms will slowly disappear after a break.
Now that the emperor has asked them to leave, he probably won't let them come back in the future.
The guards have lived in the village for two or three months. Every day they can be seen wandering outside the village. They start from the first day of the new year, and the whole family takes turns queuing up, hoping to enter the village on the fifteenth day to worship the sacred tree in the village.
Some guards had seen with their own eyes that someone in the village accepted bribes from outsiders, took a few outsiders into the village for a stroll, and picked some vegetables from the vegetable fields for them. In the end, the outsiders left happily without any complaints.
Somehow that scene reappeared in the guards' minds, making them panic.
"I don't want to leave!" A guard shouted, ran to Prime Minister Lu, and said with a sad face: "Sir, I want to stay here to serve the emperor."
Prime Minister Lu said helplessly: "The emperor is meditating here, he doesn't need so many people, you go back first and wait for your turn next time." If the guards who come here to stay for a long time, there must be a time limit, which can be as long as two or three years, or as short as a year and a half, and then they have to take turns with another group. No one can say whether they can come again after that.
The guard knelt on one knee and said, "I don't want to go back. I just want to stay here and guard His Majesty."
Prime Minister Lu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment, then said, "The lot has been drawn. I cannot be partial. If you really want to stay, you might as well go outside and find someone else to exchange lots."
This child is the grandson of a prominent Song family in the capital. His grandfather is the Minister of Personnel, and Mr. Lu knows him, so he is polite to him.
Seeing that Prime Minister Lu refused to give in, Song Yu had to find someone to change the signature again.
In the end, he spent ten strings of cash to exchange the black-headed sign with a guard from a poor family.
Others laughed at him for being stupid, saying that he was using ten strings of cash to get a chance to stay, but no one knew what he was trying to gain from it.
Song Yu did not argue with them and happily carried the luggage back to the compound.
In the blink of an eye, it’s another month, and the eggs, sweet potatoes and corns planted in Dongchen Village are all ripe.
Every household in the village cooks a pot of sweet potatoes and eggs, and feeds the leftovers to the pigs.
Seeing that roasted sweet potatoes were very sweet, Chen Zhao asked someone to make an oven and placed it in front of his restaurant, specializing in roasting sweet potatoes for sale.
It’s no wonder that the business of roasted sweet potatoes is very popular, and most of the buyers are outsiders who have plenty of money.
It was the first time for people from other villages to see this kind of food. They came to inquire about it and bought some raw sweet potatoes to take back. They also wanted to grow some as their staple food next year.
At the same time, Wei Zhan contacted the agriculture officials of Qinchuan County and Zhouhe County and handed them a batch of sweet potatoes, eggs and corns, asking them to distribute them to the villages and ensure that these crops were popularized throughout the county.
In a blink of an eye, it was August 15th.
Dongchen Village was very lively because many old ministers came from the capital and asked to visit the emperor.
As soon as their carriages arrived, they quickly filled up Chuanhe Town, and there was an even busier flow of traffic outside Dongchen Village.
The market in Dongchen Village is comparable to a big temple fair. All the vendors and merchants are like they are picking up money, and their business is so booming that they can’t even handle it.
Those inns were packed, and the price of an ordinary room was more than ten times the usual price.
Even so, the demand still could not keep up with the supply, and Chen Xubao had no choice but to vacate the house for the guests to stay.
Seeing so many distinguished people coming, Chen Changping's mind became much clearer. He concentrated on helping his son manage the inn and chatted with those distinguished people from time to time.
When the nobles learned that he was once a famous scholar but was later dismissed, they felt some sympathy for him and intentionally or unintentionally introduced several people from prominent families to him to serve as his aides.
Chen Changping thought about it for a long time, but finally didn't go.
He was old and his mood was calm. Seeing all the noble people coming to live in his small village, he felt an inexplicable sense of pride.
Thinking about it from another perspective, I suddenly feel that it would not be bad to live like this for the rest of my life.
His son Xu Bao's inn business was booming, and he would give his father one string of silver every month as pocket money. If he did not gamble, he could use the money to buy whatever he wanted. He had no interest in women, and would occasionally teach his grandson his lessons, so he lived a happy life.
Thinking of this, Chen Changping's resentment suddenly disappeared, and he became much kinder to others.
Even when he saw all the younger members of the Jiang family, he remained calm.
Today, Zhou Wuchang was sitting in the orchard of Yingbao's family to meet with court officials.
There were many fruits on the stone table in front of him, including mare's milk grapes from the Western Regions, pears, citrus, papaya, ripened sweet persimmons, as well as some sesame cakes, hibiscus cakes, etc., all of which were given to him by Yingbao. It was said that they had been cultivated and were full of spiritual energy, and that eating them could prolong the life of mortals.
When the two old ministers saw Zhou Wuchang, they covered their faces and cried: "We miss your majesty very much, wuwuwuwu..."
Zhou Wuchang's face twitched and he asked the palace servants to bring stools for them to sit on.
These old ministers are the fathers or grandfathers of the palace concubine, so she must treat them with some courtesy.
Yao Shufei's grandfather was already over eighty years old. He sat down tremblingly, tried his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I want to stay here with you."