Qin Mubai and others walked around the new home and were very satisfied. This is a typical Chang'an courtyard house, with a green garden at the entrance and a cloister facing the back garden and polo field. The main house is a two-story tile-roofed house with brackets and cornices. The first floor is the living room, dining room and study room, and the second floor is the master bedroom and chess pavilion and piano room. In the backyard is the guest house where the servants live, and there is a popular polo field. Because Qin Mubai came from a military family, the people from the Ministry of Household Affairs specially built a Buwu Pavilion, which was specially used to store weapons, armors and other items. There are also target stacks for archery practice erected on the edge of the court near the fence.
The yard is neither big nor small, and the house is decent. At first glance, it looks neither luxurious nor shabby. Simplicity prevailed in Zhenguan Dynasty, and the whole house was quite satisfactory. It can be seen that the people in the Ministry of Household Affairs are arranging the layout of Qin Mubai's family according to the layout of Qin Shubao's house. It's just that Qin Mubai's house is obviously a size smaller, slightly lower grade. These officials have a certain reputation in mind when doing things. Although Qin Mubai is currently in the limelight and is a popular figure around the emperor, Qin Shubao is the founding father of the country after all and is Qin Mubai's father. Qin Mubai's family cannot be compared. His father's family is even more impressive.
"Yes, it's to my liking. Thank you so much, Mr. Su." Qin Mubai said gratefully to Su Yuan.
Su Yuan smiled and held up his hands: "What's the point of thanking you for what you're doing in your humble position? As long as the general likes it, I'll go back and fulfill my orders."
"Wait!" Unexpectedly, Qin Shuang'er suddenly spoke. She first smiled apologetically at Su Yuan, then pulled Qin Mubai aside and whispered in a low voice: "Brother, are you planning to keep those four maids?"
"What's wrong?" Qin Mubai didn't turn around for a while.
"Ouch!... This is not good!" Qin Shuang'er blushed and stomped her feet and said softly.
Qin Mubai blinked a few times and came back to his senses.
The ten men and women in the mansion were all servants given by the emperor. They all had contracts of prostitution, and they all fell into Qin Mubai's hands. To put it bluntly, these people will be Qin Mubai's private property from now on. They don't have to pay wages, they just need to support others. If they are in a good mood, a few coins will be a gift. They can be sold like goods, livestock, and slaves. Especially those maidservants, as long as Qin Mubai is willing, they are just tools for venting his desires, and they don't need to be given any status. If they are kind, they can be taken as concubines at any time, so that they can live a little more comfortably.
It seems that Qin Shuang'er is not happy that her brother has these women around him.
"Brother, you haven't officially gotten married yet, how can you... take a concubine?" Shuang'er blushed and said, "It's insulting to the family tradition, and my father will definitely not be happy. Moreover, if Wu Meiniang knows about it, , I will definitely be angry with you."
Qin Mubai was thinking, wasn't I just going to find an excuse to go to the palace to see the emperor? Just right.
"Who said I want to take a concubine?" Qin Mubai smiled and said, "But you are right. Things that make my father angry are not good after all. So, Mr. Su, I want these six male servants. , please take your maid back, I am not married yet, so I don’t need a maid to serve my wife for the time being.”
"This... the Ministry of Revenue acted in accordance with the order and spent money to buy these maids. The money was given in real money, and the pictures were signed in black and white. It was a consensual matter." Su Yuan said with some embarrassment, "If the general wants Returning four maids is a bit difficult. The emperor asked why General Qin was given only six maids. It is difficult to answer the question! "
"Then tell the emperor the truth! Just say that my brother is not married and does not want a maid." Qin Shuang'er said first.
"Don't bother Lang Zhong Su." Qin Mubai said with a smile, "Your Majesty has given me such a generous gift. I was about to go into the palace to thank him. I will explain it to him when I see Your Majesty. Presumably, Your Majesty will not blame Lang Zhong."
"That's very good. I have to thank General Qin Zhouquan for this humble position." Su Yuan said with a happy smile.
It was getting late that day, so Qin Mubai planned to enter the palace the next day. That night, he did not move into his new home immediately, but returned to the Qin Mansion with his mother and sister. Qin Shubao's reaction to Qin Mubai's new home was very dull. He just said: "When you get married, you will truly be able to stand on your own. You have no objection to living there every day as a father, but I hope you can You can still treat this place as your home from now on, just like before.”
"Father, mother and sister are all here, and this will always be the child's home." Qin Mubai naturally agreed.
Qin Shuang'er revealed Qin Shubao's thoughts with one word. She said, "Father doesn't want you to be away from home often!" He is actually quite pitiful. Although we are with him, he often feels alone and lonely. Because he can no longer charge into battle, all his old friends have gone their separate ways, and no one can accompany him to practice martial arts, archery, play chess and drink with him.
How could Qin Mubai not know his father's mood and intentions? The two elder brothers have already married and started a business, and rarely come back. He is the only son he has left by his side, so naturally he hopes to be closer to him. Since ancient times, in large Chinese families, it is often the "younger son" who is the most loved by his parents. This is the reason why.
Near noon the next day, Qin Mubai entered the palace. We first went to the Wude Hall to see the emperor. I heard that the emperor had gone to the Penglai Hall of the harem, so he went straight there.
The emperor had just finished lunch with Li Zhi and Li Mingda. Hearing that Qin Mubai asked for an audience, he immediately announced the move. When the two little guys heard that Qin Mubai was coming, they cheered and went out to greet him.
After seeing this, Li Shimin said with a smile: "Mu Bai, didn't I give you a ten-day holiday? Why did you come back on the fourth day?"
"Weichen came to the palace specially to express his gratitude." Qin Mubai cupped his hands and replied with a smile, "The house your Majesty gave me is very nice, and Weichen likes it very much."
"Haha, that's good! Su Yuan is always good at doing things." Li Shimin said with a smile.
"However, I have an unwelcome request."
"speak."
Qin Mubai then told the story of returning the four maids. Li Shimin nodded and said: "I'm sure about this. It's rare for you to be so thrifty and worthy of praise. When you have a wife and concubines, I will give you a maid to serve the women."
"Thank you for your permission, Your Majesty." Qin Mubai chuckled lightly, "Actually, I still miss your two young highnesses a little, so I came to the palace specially to have a look."
"Village Chief, we miss you too! How about the Village Chief won't leave today? He will teach us how to play the pipa in the afternoon!" Li Zhi and Li Mingda shouted together.
Qin Mubai smiled, it was neither easy to agree nor refuse. Li Shimin nodded generously and said with a smile: "Zhinu, Sizi, you can't keep pestering your village chief. He has many other serious things to worry about! But this afternoon, you can be together ”
"Oh! That's great!" Li Zhi and Li Mingda cheered together.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qin Mubai cupped his hands in thanks. I thought, just in time, I have a chance to meet Pang Fei. She may have to leave Chang'an for a while, and Princess Gaoyang's affairs must be arranged in advance. After I left, Princess Gaoyang of Chang'an really succeeded in "cleaning up" Fang Yiai, and I happened to have alibi, which was good.
Li Shimin asked the nanny and others to take the two little ones away for a nap first. He called Qin Mubai to sit down and said in a casual manner: "Mubai, you have been in Baiqi for so long and you have always done well. I am very satisfied with it." I appreciate it. In just over half a year, it is not easy for you to build this army so well. Now Baiqi has almost become a symbol of me and the royal family, which is of great significance to me. At the moment, I have a difficult problem to solve. I’ll do it for you.”
Qin Mubai's heart trembled: As expected, the emperor mentioned this matter!
"Your Majesty, if you have something to do, just give me your order. I will not hesitate to go through fire and water with my humble ministers and hundreds of cavalry soldiers." Qin Mubai said sternly, cupping his fists.
"You don't have to go through fire and water." Li Shimin said relaxedly with a smile on his face. "Yesterday, the imperial court received an emergency report from Jiangzhou, saying that a sudden flood broke out there, causing serious damage to the affected counties and counties. The resettlement of the victims and hungry people has also become a big problem. The state capital The county government was short of manpower and reported to the imperial court. So I ordered five thousand soldiers from Jiangzhou Military Mansion and its surrounding areas to rescue the people. Moreover, I sent King Wu Li Ke to take charge of the matter. Although he is a prince, he does not have high prestige in front of local officials and military generals. What I want is to send you to lead a hundred horses to assist Li Ke in handling Jiangzhou affairs."
"Wei Chen accepts the order!" Qin Mubai responded firmly without saying a word.
"Haha, I can rest assured if you go." Li Shimin said, "Originally, I planned to go there in person, but the government and military affairs are so busy that I really can't get away. Now I have sent my own personal guard to lead the troops. Go, those state officials and military generals should understand what I mean. In fact, I have another intention in sending you there, and I hope you can handle another matter secretly. "
"Your Majesty, please make it clear." Qin Mubai asked doubtfully.
Li Shimin frowned and said: "In fact, as early as last year, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry of the imperial court received a request from the Jiangzhou Prefecture to allocate manpower, money and food to build the Jiangzhou Lake embankment. I was the emperor's personal authority on this matter at that time Yes, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs has allocated 50 million yuan to build river embankments. This amount of money should be enough for a small lake. However, floods still occurred in the late summer and early autumn of this year, so I suspect that there is something wrong here. question."
"Your Majesty suspects that someone has embezzled the money for personal gain, causing the construction of the river embankment to be disadvantageous?" Qin Mubai asked following Li Shimin's meaning.
"That's right." Li Shimin said, "But if I send the Royal Envoy and the Minister of Dali Temple to investigate and accuse the person now, there will be a panic and everyone will be in danger, which will affect the state and county officials there to do their best to provide disaster relief. Therefore, I give you a secret order , in the process of providing disaster relief and appeasing the people, please don’t publicly announce the result once it is announced, and report it to me first.”
"Wei Chen accepts the decree." Qin Mubai agreed with his hand.
"Li Ke also received my secret order regarding the investigation of the river embankment payment. For the time being, only you two are allowed to know about this matter, and there is no need to inform the third person. You two must work together to handle it properly." Li Shimin said, "If there is anything unresolved, please report it to me at any time."