Chapter 268 End of the Year
After he left, the family became financially strapped and there were bound to be some disputes and conflicts. Although no one told him about it, he actually knew about it, but he was not stupid or deaf and was not qualified to be a father-in-law.

He couldn't blame his nephews and nieces, nor could he blame his sons and daughters. He could only make light of the matter.

It is also for this reason that Wuji is particularly eager for power and wealth. This may be a good thing. Without such an indomitable spirit, it would be difficult to ascend to a high position and help the emperor rule the world.

But it is more likely to be a bad thing. Not to mention the many difficulties along the way, once you get up there, whether you can sit still or whether you can retire safely depends on your majesty's wishes.

"King Qin..."

With the help of the King of Qin, Changsun Wuji controlled the family and had a certain status in the court, but the King of Qin would inevitably be an obstacle to his rise to a higher position.

"It's man-made."

.........

As the court was dismissed, the news that the imperial and martial examinations were open to all knowledgeable people spread throughout the world, and countless common people were delighted. After all, the noble families were a minority, and there were still more ordinary people in the world.

When an emperor holds military power, if he does things that benefit the country and the people and benefit most people, he will feel as if he is helped by heaven.

Countless scholars who got the news packed their bags and called their friends to rush to Luoyang, and countless heroes and knights rushed to Chang'an with swords in hand.

The emperor sent General Qin and General Dan to lead troops to eliminate bandits and clear obstacles along the official roads. Anyone who dared to attack or rob the scholars who were taking the exam would be executed immediately.

The world has always been a place where one move affects the entire body. With the large-scale movement of people and the government sending troops to maintain peace on the roads, business naturally recovered and prospered.

The escort agencies, the canal transport caravans, and the inns and taverns along the way seemed to be injected with vitality, especially with the surrender of the Western Turks, the trade routes were unimpeded again.

In the big cities of Chang'an and Luoyang, the markets were once again filled with Turks, people from the Western Regions, Persians, Arabs, Byzantines, Indians, Champa, and Pyus...

Among these people, there were a very small number who were proficient in Chinese studies. When they heard that even they could take part in the imperial and military examinations and enter the Tang Dynasty, they were extremely shocked and wanted to give it a try.

The emperor also relaxed the control over alcohol appropriately, but still temporarily banned large-scale private brewing by the people, as alcohol is made from grain after all.

Once the imperial court stopped taking action, wealthy families and merchants would buy large quantities of grain for brewing wine and compete with the people for food, which would inevitably lead to a threat to the food supply of a considerable number of people.

Therefore, the emperor set up official breweries in Chang'an, Luoyang, Jiangdu and Youzhou. The prefectures and counties with particularly good harvests this year could also produce and sell wine for one year under the supervision of the court. Whether they could continue to produce wine next year would depend on the harvest of that year.

As for the wine shops along the country roads that secretly brewed some turbid liquor and sold it to passers-by, the court did not restrict them.

Large-scale production and sale of illegal liquor can result in confiscation of the koji or brewing tools at the very least, or even death at the worst.

After the winter of the fourth year of Taiping, the emperor led the empress back to Luoyang to prepare to preside over the imperial examination. However, because the empress dowager was in poor health, the emperor ordered Prince of Jin Li Xuanba to stay in the Jiangdu Palace to serve the emperor and the empress dowager.

No one expected that His Majesty would allow the retired emperor, who had forced the emperor to abdicate, to stay in Jiangdu.

Everyone in Jiangdu was trembling with fear. They had just received great favor from His Majesty and didn't want to have anything to do with the retired emperor.

And to put it bluntly, the emperor is now addicted to alcohol and sex all day long, and it is not certain how long he has left.

The King of Qin had always been loyal to Your Majesty, the King of Qi had been deposed, and both of them were far away in Chang'an, leaving only the sickly King of Jin in Jiangdu, who was not sure if he could outlive the Emperor. So after Your Majesty left, no one in Jiangdu dared to go to see the Emperor privately, and even if the Emperor summoned him, he would usually excuse himself by saying he was ill.

The retired emperor was very disappointed, and he even dragged the royal family members who were ordered to accompany him to get drunk all day.

…………

The war in Liaodong had stopped, but Baekje was still struggling to survive. Although the Tang army had withdrawn, they did not feel they had a chance to breathe, because the people in the country had not been able to farm for a year because of the policy of scorching the walls and clearing the fields.

The old and the young are now crowded in the city, waiting to die of hunger and cold. The young and the strong have been reduced to coolies, but they can barely avoid starvation. The whole city is filled with resentment.

King Fu Yu Zhang kept issuing relief orders, but the food in the warehouses was getting less and less, and the people in the court were still starving. Some of the victims had already started stealing food and vegetables from the homes of the rich and powerful at night.

Over time, this group of people no longer cared about day or night, and the nobles then curbed their greed a little, and gave the people only simple food.

But there was chaos everywhere, and by the time the old and young came forward, there was only hot porridge and water, with a few grains of rice floating in a large bowl.

I put it in my mouth and rubbed my tongue against my upper teeth. The few grains of rice were gone, leaving only the hot soup. After drinking a bowl of it, I felt even hungrier.

There were also some experienced ones who carefully took out the bark insects from their arms and quickly soaked them in hot water, finally filling their stomachs.

In Pyongyang, generals including Zhang Huli and Luo Yi gathered around a small charcoal stove with a soup pot on top. They cut the meat of pork, sheep, chicken, duck, fish and rabbit into thin slices and made a sauce with wine, sauce and cinnamon. When the soup boiled, they put the slices in the soup, dipped them in the sauce and ate them.

Many generals were from Goguryeo and Silla, and now they were using their not very fluent Mandarin to flatter Zhang Huli and Luo Yi, mainly Luo Yi.

Zhang Huli didn't care much. He was going back to the capital to protect the emperor, so why would he care about the flattery of these foreigners?

But he was also listening carefully, wanting to see if Luo Yi would say anything improper after drinking. If so, he would report to the emperor and ask for someone else to be the Protector General of Andong.

There are countless talented generals in the court, and many of them can replace Luo Yi.

A general from Goguryeo said, "General Luo, in the spring, I will go and destroy Baekje for you. When the war is over, the Emperor will surely reward you, and then we can all rise to the top."

"The Baekje royal family and the eight great clans all have mountains of gold and silver. After we destroy the country, we will all be rich and powerful."

"Yes, I heard that His Majesty the Emperor wants to reward land to meritorious officials."

"Protector General, there should be people like us as well. I heard that your Majesty does not distinguish between the Hu and Yi people, and has opened up the imperial and military examinations, allowing everyone to participate. As long as you pass, no matter what your background is, you can enter the court and become an official."

Luo Yi drank several cups and said with a smile: "Of course, His Majesty has sent people to measure the land, and when the time comes, everyone who has made contributions will have a share.

As for the imperial examination, you don’t know yet that the Wei officials are summoning talented scholars from Liaodong, and the Protectorate will send troops to escort them to Luoyang to take the imperial examination.

When everyone heard this, a rather tall and strong general immediately said, "General, we are a bunch of common people, we dare not play with literature and painting. What about the martial arts examination? Can we become the martial arts champion?"

………………

(End of this chapter)