Chapter 101: Hundred Plays
After the two of them sat and chatted for a while, they walked outside the building and leaned on the railing to look out. Li Jiancheng said, "Brother, you have worked hard since Mr. Yang left."

Yang Xuangan felt sad for his father. After his father passed away, only he and his uncle Yang Yue were left to maintain the business. He inherited the title of Duke of Chu and dismissed his students and former officials, but the emperor's suppression never stopped.

He himself was demoted to a local area, and his uncle Yang Yue was demoted several times and expelled from the court. He was appointed as the prefect of Xiyang and eventually died of illness half a year ago. He was then transferred back to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Rites.

My uncle was just like my father. After he became seriously ill, he stopped seeking medical treatment for the sake of his family and himself. Who could understand the pain he felt?
Yang Xuangan smiled reluctantly: "A family like ours will always have ups and downs."

The Yang family has not yet hit rock bottom. After all, it has only been a few years. From the fact that the emperor continued to suppress them after Yang Su's death, we can see how much wealth Yang Su left behind.

"In a few years, brother will be able to realize his ambitions."

"Thank you for your good words." Yang Xuangan said with a smile, "Yesterday I also met with the governors of Yuyang and Shanggu counties, and they all praised you highly in their words.

Zhuo County has a lot of things to do, and it has become even more difficult since the war with Goguryeo. If you need anything, you can go and ask them for help, and they will definitely not refuse. "

Unexpectedly, Yang Xuangan had already begun to consciously win over people at this time, and it was even more unexpected that the prefects of Yuyang and Shanggu counties were both from the Yang family.

Li Jiancheng was quite surprised, but he didn't hesitate: "Thank you very much, brother."

Accepting other people's kindness is also a virtue. Li Jiancheng thanked him, and Yang Xuangan also smiled and said that he would hold a banquet in two days and invited him to join.

In Luoyang City, whenever a famous person held a banquet, he would be invited, so Li Jiancheng naturally agreed.

After the banquet, everyone returned to their homes. Yang Xuangan's Chu Mansion was the most luxurious mansion in Luoyang City except for the imperial palace. It was more than twice as big as the Li family's Tang Mansion in Luoyang.

After returning home, Yang Xuangan asked the servants to leave and sat on the couch in the main hall, just like Yang Su did in the past. After a while, the sound of a report was heard from outside the hall.

Yang Xuangan's uncle Yang Shen came in and said, "Li Jiancheng is the emperor's confidant, you shouldn't try to win him over."

Yang Xuangan waved his hands in annoyance and said, "This won't work, that won't work, so what should we do?
If you hadn't stopped me, I might have been able to assassinate Yang Guang in Dadouba Valley and avenge my father and uncle!"

Yang Shen walked up and grabbed Yang Xuangan, wanting to drag him down to sober him up, but the embarrassing thing was that Yang Xuangan was so weak and Yang Shen was just a scholar, how could he pull him down.

Yang Xuangan stood up helplessly. Yang Shen, with a flushed face, reprimanded him, "The hearts of the courtiers and scholars are still with the Sui Dynasty. The emperor is extravagant and treats the people harshly, but he has always been successful in expanding the territory. Not to mention that we may not be able to assassinate him, even if we succeed in killing the emperor, what can we do?

It's just that the King of Qi is pleased, and my entire Yang family will be exterminated and infamous for eternity. If that's the only way to end, why would your father and uncle be willing to die? Wouldn't it be better if they rebelled earlier?"

After taking a deep breath, Yang Shen advised: "The emperor summoned you back to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Rites, which means that he is relaxing his vigilance against the Yang family. You should be more respectful and wait for the opportunity."

"What if the opportunity doesn't come?"

"Then just be a loyal minister of the Sui Dynasty. Do you still need me to teach you this?"

…………From then on until the New Year period, Luoyang City was extremely lively, and it was even more extraordinary on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Hundreds of thousands of extraordinary people from all over the world gathered in the capital city in accordance with the emperor's order, and everywhere was decorated with lanterns and flowers.

This was certainly not for them to see, but for the kings and envoys who came to pay tribute. The emperor loved to show off the elegance of the Celestial Empire the most.

But it was winter after all, and the bare trees and withered flowers were not very beautiful, so the emperor ordered people to wrap colorful silk around all the trees along the streets of Luoyang.
The area around Duanmen Street is full of charming songs and dances, and various theatricals are performed in a grand manner. On one side, there are folk performances, and on another side, there are sleds. Some people dance with mulberry boards shirtless in the cold weather, some people roll embroidered balls in circles, some people play with long poles that reach into the sky, and some people play with balls on a tightrope that goes across the sky.

He also ordered the imperial guards to drive all the beggars in Luoyang out of the city. If the people wanted to go out, they had to dress neatly, otherwise they would be treated as beggars.

Outside the Duanmen Gate, countless brocade tents and embroidered curtains were set up in the venue with a circumference of 5,000 steps. There were 18,000 people playing musical instruments. The sound of stringed instruments and gongs and drums was deafening, and could be heard clearly within a radius of dozens of miles. From dusk to dawn, the lights illuminated the sky and the earth.

The envoys were stunned and said repeatedly: "China is so magnificent, it is truly the Celestial Empire."

Not to mention that many foreign envoys had never seen such prosperity, even the dignitaries in Luoyang City had broadened their horizons.

The most noteworthy thing in the Western Regions is the trade route. The emperor issued an edict that all stores must be redecorated. Even small vendors who do not have stores, whether selling vegetables, meat, shrimps or wine, must lay mats woven from the finest dragon beard grass.

In addition, when seeing foreign merchants and envoys, restaurants must actively invite them to eat and drink, and they must not charge any money. They must also answer this sentence: "The Celestial Empire is rich, and wine and food are not charged for free."

This continued for fifteen days, day after day. Then an envoy from outside the Heavenly Palace said, "There are also poor people outside the city of Heaven. They can't even wear clothes to cover their bodies. Why don't you give them this thing? Why do you wrap it around the tree?"

The officials' faces changed drastically when they heard this, and they tried to persuade him to stop, not daring to tell such words to the ears of the emperor who was feeling proud and complacent.

Li Jiancheng was also enjoying the scenery everywhere. Such scenery, except now, would not be wasted even if he successfully conquered the world in the future. Every time he saw it, he would see less.

I dare not even think about how much this half month would cost. I can only say that although the late emperor was a little senile in his later years, he was indeed a very frugal person throughout his life.

He didn't enjoy anything as an emperor, except that he liked to kill a few officials with his own hands. Compared with the current emperor, he was considered a sage.

When Li Jiancheng was taking his friends out for a tour, they passed by the city gate and saw a group of monks in white. They were wearing plain hats and robes, burning incense, holding flowers and chanting Buddhist scriptures as they tried to enter the city. Because the emperor respected monks, the gatekeepers all bowed their heads and gave way.

But the monks suddenly seized their weapons and killed the city guards, shouting loudly: "A new Buddha has been born to eliminate all demons!"

The leading monk also preached to the others: "Those who kill one person are considered to be Bodhisattvas of the first stage, and those who kill ten people are considered to be Bodhisattvas of the tenth stage. The first stage eliminates one part of ignorance and realizes one part of the principle of the middle way."

Just as the people were retreating, Prince of Qi Yang Ling suddenly arrived with his men. Dozens of monks had no bows or crossbows. Although they were not afraid of death, they were no match for the prince's guards and soon fell like hedgehogs.

Li Jiancheng looked at them thoughtfully. No matter how he looked at it, this seemed like too much of a coincidence.

...............

(End of this chapter)