Soon, the boy came to him and asked, "If you think the show is good, why don't you buy some flowers?"

"How much money."

"Twenty dollars a plant."

"I won't buy any. I'm just shopping around."

"Mr. Lang, you think today's performance was not good? If you have any advice, we would be grateful."

"How can I give you any advice?" Du Wulang said, "I just..."

He just didn't want to spend the money and thought it was unnecessary to show off, but he didn't know how to ask and was very embarrassed.

After thinking about it, he planned to say that something happened at home, but it was a pity that he hadn't finished the red date cake yet.

At this moment, someone suddenly said: "Let me buy ten plants for him."

Du Wulang turned around and saw a young man coming down from upstairs. Although he was dressed plainly, the material was very soft and smooth. He had no extra ornaments on his body, but the jade pendant around his waist was pure in color and finely carved.

It is the best of the best.

This man was from an extraordinary family and spoke well. He was obviously from a famous family. He had spoken and when he raised his hand, the boy nodded and bowed in agreement. He didn't really ask for money, but just said: "Then keep it in Cui Lang's name."

On the account." "Okay."

"No need." Du Wulang said: "Why don't you spend money? I'll buy it."

"Brother, you don't have to be polite. Money is a vulgar thing. If you talk too much, you will lose your place." The young man smiled and waved his hand and asked, "Brother, are you from Chang'an?"

"Yeah, is my accent so obvious?"

"Now that the emperor is in the east, many dignitaries will surely come to the east capital. I'm afraid that this shop owner will stalk me and unintentionally offend people."

Du Wulang said: "It turns out that this is why you got ahead, and you are kind-hearted. But do I look like someone who would be unhappy about this?"

"My brother is not afraid of honor or disgrace. He has an extraordinary status but is able to remain calm in the marketplace. He is a remarkable person at first glance."

"How do you know?" Du Wulang was greatly surprised, "Is my temperament so obvious?"

He thought he would hear some amazing answer, but the young man smiled and said, "Earlier, I watched Yu Jia enter the city and saw my brother in the team."

"Ah? That's it."

Du Wulang thought about it and realized that he fell behind in the city because he was taking his daughter to play. It didn't matter, so he said: "Oh, my family is an official, a small official, and I am just an idle official's son."

"I'm from Anping, Cuidong, and I have the courtesy name Mingshi." The young man crossed his hands and saluted, and introduced himself, "I am the thirty-ninth in the family. Brother, you can call me Cui Sanjiu, or you can call me Mingshi.

.”

Du Wulang was a little unable to get off the stage, so he had to say: "Jingzhao, good luck... good luck, just call me Ji Wulang."

He cupped his hands and wanted to turn around and leave, but Cui Dong had already sat down opposite him and had another bottle of good wine served.

"Brother Ji must think that the singing here is average, right?"

Du Wulang said: "That's not true. I just spend money to buy flowers. What I buy is vanity. I don't think it is real."

Cui Dong clapped his hands and said, "Brother Ji has seen clearly. People in the world are busy, seeking achievements and wealth, and always want to prove that they are better than others. It is a pity that all this time is wasted on economic and official careers.

"

These words gave Du Wulang a sudden feeling of knowing the sound, and he gradually started chatting with him. The two of them were very attracted to each other.

~~

A few days later, Du Wulang and Cui Dong became very good friends. They both liked to travel, so Cui Dong invited Du Wulang to the Cui Family Villa in Shou'an County to visit the nearby fragrance.

Lushan, Changgu and other places.

The villa is located in Jinping Mountain in the south of the county. Looking up, you can see twelve peaks hanging like brocade in the sky, which is very spectacular.

Cui Dong and Du Wulang walked side by side and talked eloquently, saying: "Empress Wu also visited this place back then, and the word 'Jinping' was the name given by her."

"It's such a good place with mountains and rivers." Du Wulang said, "How long will it take to get to your home?"

"We've arrived a long time ago." Cui Dong turned around and pointed, not knowing where he was pointing, and said: "We entered Jinping Villa half an hour ago."

"All right."

After riding for another half an hour, they finally entered a large house at the foot of the mountain.

After entering the door, I was shocked to see the four characters "Jinping Wonder" personally written by Wu Zetian.

Later, Du Wulang chatted with his family members and learned that Cui Dong's great-grandfather was Cui Xinggong, a famous official in the early Tang Dynasty, who had compiled "Four Books" with Wei Zheng.

Cui Dong's family belongs to the Boling Cui family, and it was originally more prominent. However, after several generations of emperors of the Tang Dynasty deliberately suppressed it, it now behaves very low-key.

It turned out that the four words "Jinping Wonders" seemed to express Wu Zetian's admiration, but in fact, these four words were used to demarcate half of the Cui family's fields in Shou'an County.

Cui Youfu, who was promoted to an official with Xue Bai back then, was the captain of Shou'an County. The Cui family was also helping with the operation behind this matter. Although the blood relationship is far apart, the mutual help between the families is indispensable in everything these days.

The day after Du Wulang moved in, the young disciples of the Cui family bought wine to welcome him.

They were drinking tea in a winding and elegant bamboo grove, sipping tea and discussing poetry. They were very much like the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Du Wulang felt that he was much more elegant.

All along, he wanted Du Youlin to become an official and imagined living such a life.

Gradually, a group of people began to talk about state affairs, and the first thing they couldn't avoid was the emperor's visit to Luoyang.

What surprised Du Wulang was that their view was not that eating could bring prosperity to Luoyang, but that it was a decline in national power.

"When Emperor Xuanzong was in power, he used water transportation and various methods to make the world rich and well-endowed, but in the end, a rebellion brought back the country."

"After all, not every emperor can govern a glorious and prosperous age like Emperor Xuanzong."

"The famous ministers in the court are still withering, and I can't think of a better way..."

Du Wulang originally suspected that Cui Dong was approaching him deliberately. After hearing these words, he finally confirmed that Cui Dong did not know his identity at all.

Among the Cui family members, Cui Dong was the one who cared least about economic and career. When others discussed state affairs, he just listened and gave Du Wulang an apologetic look.

When these Cui family members commented on the emperor, they showed no fear and even had a condescending attitude.

It's not against Xue Bai, but because the five surnames and seven families have always looked down upon the Li family.

"Today's people are still talented, but they are broad but not masterful. Being able to quell the An-Shi Rebellion is because the Tang Dynasty has a strong national destiny, and he has good luck. As for the national policies since he came to the throne, it can be seen that he wants to change but is also timid.

ah."

"Yes, the imperial court wanted to collect more taxes, but it didn't dare to say so openly, so it collected them through salt and tea. As a result, the price of salt and tea has increased greatly now, right?"

"It has slowed down a bit this year. It can be seen that the imperial court is suppressing the price of salt. I heard that the emperor has now placed Liu Yan in high regard and alienated Yuan Zai. This can be seen from the canal transport warehouse."

"Liu Yan's 'Building a Warehouse by Fate of Water' may not be any better than Yuan Zai's rush to build a warehouse. The real key is that Liu Yan presided over the discussion of salt and often left a profit for the salt merchants, always keeping the price of salt down."

"This must be more in line with the emperor's wishes. The emperor deliberately fried tea and brewed tea in order to make up for the tax with tea and lower the price of salt."

"Replacing part of the money for selling salt with the money spent on tea is just to make the rich tea drinkers and big merchants selling tea have more blood, and to collect less money from the poor people who eat salt."

"If you say that, it won't affect Uncle Wu's business, right?"

The Cui family disciples talked to each other casually, but Du Wulang was shocked when he heard it.

He considered himself to be a close official of the emperor, who had never eaten pork and had seen pigs run away. He should have a deep understanding of the world's situation, at least better than these young people who had not or just become officials.

Unexpectedly, these people's insight into national policy was far more acute than his.

He observed them carefully for a long time. He didn't know any of these people, and he was sure that none of them held high-ranking positions in the court.

So where did their news come from?

"So, I don't believe that the emperor went to Luoyang to eat because Chang'an was short of food. It must have been because of Yanshi."

Hearing this, Du Wulang couldn't help but ask: "Yanshi?"

"Brother Ji, don't you know? The emperor once served as Yanshiwei, and many of his private properties started in Henan Province. When he arrived in Luoyang, he had more control than in Chang'an."

Du Wulang was stunned and didn't know what to say.

The Cui family members then continued to chat.

"Just like Empress Wu in the Eastern Capital."

"Yes, Empress Wu proclaimed herself emperor in Dongdu. Now I think it is necessary to carry out reforms in Dongdu."

"Chun Miao Loan."

"I bet that no matter how well the court does, when it comes to the local level, some people will take the Chunmiao Loan as loan sharks. If ordinary farmers want to take this money, they will have to pay an additional two cents of interest.

.”

Du Wulang asked: "Why?"

The person who asserted this matter smiled bitterly and said: "That's how things are in the world."

Cui Dong was bored, so he pulled Du Wulang and said, "If you don't talk to them about official career and economics, let's go enjoy the bamboo sea."

"Thirty-nine Master, now the imperial court pays more attention to the imperial examination. It has been determined that there will be an Enke this year. You did a good job in the article, why don't you try it?"

Cui Dong said: "No need."

Du Wulang also wanted to hear the opinions of the Cui family children on Chun Miao Loan from their perspective. Although he was pulled by Cui Dong, he still turned around.

At this time, a bookboy who had been waiting nearby suddenly asked.
To be continued...