The New Year is a day for the people of the Tang Dynasty to worship their ancestors and hold various social sacrifices to pray for the good weather in the new year, and to place the hope of the new year on it.

For the Tang Emperor, the New Year of the fifth year of Dazhi is an unusual year, and the triennial state pilgrimage is just the turn of this year, Hui, Silla, Japan, Bohai, Nanzhao, Western Regions and Qiang, Dangxiang, Shatuo, Murowei and other leaders of all ethnic groups attached to the Tang Dynasty will go to Chang'an and make a pilgrimage to the Tang Dynasty.

Not only the envoys of various countries, but also officials from all over the Tang Dynasty will also begin to report on their work in Beijing one after another, this New Year will be the busiest few days for the Tang Emperor, and the concubines in the harem are also busy with their own affairs.

Early in the morning, Cui Ning got up early and came to her daughter's room, her daughter's name was Li Si, who was born in May of the year before last, when she was one and a half years old and was babbling.

The pain of her son's death a few years ago has gradually healed by the years, and although she goes to her son's small grave in the West Inner Garden every year to pay respects, the deceased has rested in peace, and the living still have to live bravely.

At this time, Cui Ning is also twenty-six years old, which is the most golden age of a woman, she is tall, fair-skinned, graceful and noble, she looks mature and beautiful, and her heart has become more peaceful, just like Ning in her name, her whole mind is on her children and husband, and she has never ignored the affairs of the country.

Cui Ning quietly pushed the door into her daughter's room, the room was very close to her bedroom, only a living room was separated, and there was a small door to go through, the room was not big, but there was plenty of sunlight. A few pots of spring flowers were placed in front of the window, the room was very warm, the spring flowers had already produced small yellow buds, and a red hibiscus warm tent on the small bed had been dragging on the edge of the bed, which Cui Ning had arranged for her daughter by herself.

At this moment, her daughter Li Si had woken up, and her nurse was helping her put on a new little dress, and when she saw her mother coming in, the little guy immediately opened her immature arms and teeth and shouted: "Mother-dear!"

Cui Ning's face bloomed with a smile. She stepped forward to pick up her daughter and kissed her little cheek, "Be careful of your liver, why did you get up so early today?" ”

"The little princess wants a gift as soon as she wakes up, she thinks about it!" The nurse next to her smiled slightly. ^^^^

"Oh, you remember what your father told you, and you want a gift!" Cui Ning's hand lightly touched her little nose and smiled: "People are small and big." ”

She turned back to the nurse and said, "Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, you go home and have a look!" I'll take the kids. ”

The nurse went with great gratitude. Cui Ning slowly walked to the window with her daughter in her arms. Pointing to a delicate little flower, he taught her, "This is a flower,-- a flower." ”

Quack - the little guy's pronunciation is a little slurred.

"It's not a quack, it's a flower" The voice of his son Li suddenly came from behind him, Cui Ning turned around, only to see his son being at the door, holding a small bow in his hand, and saw his mother find himself. He was so frightened that he turned and ran.

"Son." Cui Ning ran to the door and stopped his son, "Where are you going?" ”

"I'm going to find Aunt Ping, she's going to teach us archery today."

"Wait a minute, my mother still has something to say to you." Cui Ning hurriedly tried to call him, but his son had already run away. Lao Yuan also heard his response, "Don't worry! I don't go to play in the water, and I don't fight with my brother. ”

Cui Ning couldn't call it, so he had to shake his head helplessly, this year is the first day of the Lunar New Year, let him go and play!

"Mother, you are solid." The little guy in his hand suddenly rubbed his hands unhappily and said.

Are you solid? Cui Ning was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, is she asking for a gift? She smiled and kissed her daughter, "Okay." Let's take a look. What New Year's gift did your father have for you? ”

On a tree-lined road in the east inner garden of Daming Palace, Pingping and his four children were riding towards the archery range. The four children are the nine-year-old eldest son Li Qi, the also nine-year-old adopted daughter Bailing, as well as Pei Ying's seven-year-old daughter Li Qiu and five-year-old Li.

Ping Ping was finally committed to marrying Eighteen Lang on the day of his twenty-sixth birthday the year before last, after Cui Ning's son died, in the more than 100 days and nights that accompanied Cui Ning, Ping Ping gradually realized the preciousness of family affection and life, she resolutely changed her course and withdrew to marry Eighteen Lang, and was named Ping Guifei.

But her concubine is an alternative in the Tang Dynasty, the palace people have never seen such an ordinary concubine as her, and other concubines spend two or three hours on makeup every day, all kinds of fat powder flower dew, all kinds of jewelry pearls, which one is not dazzling, but this Ping Guifei only has a bottle of ordinary rose dew that nourishes the skin, and she has been facing the sky all day long, and she quietly transferred it to others with a few pieces of jewelry given to her by the queen and the concubine, and several dresses in the box are ordinary, and they can be seen all over the street, even the palace maid is not as good.

Despite this, the palace people only dared to secretly laugh at her in the back, no one dared to say it, although the concubine Ping was a little arrogant, but her status in the heart of the emperor and the queen was very high, it is said that she has always been this character, but as time goes by, everyone has slowly begun to like this civilian woman-like concubine, not only in front of her without any etiquette, she never cares about these, the key is that she has a very kind heart, she never scolds and scolds the palace people, and the palace people encounter misfortune, If she knows, she will definitely help, which is also the fundamental reason why she has no money to spare, she is already the concubine of the Tang Dynasty, and her people are said to be running a pharmacy in Chengdu miserably, and they have not received the slightest favor at all, and with her, the Daming Palace is always full of laughter, as bright as the sun, and the palace has been intrigued and lifeless for decades.

It is all kinds of rare civilian temperament in ordinary imperial concubines that make more and more palace people begin to like her, like to be with her, and spend every day happily and happily.

At this moment, Ping Ping was wearing a red power suit, looking heroic, she took the four princes and princesses to ride to the East Inner Garden to shoot arrows, while a large group of eunuchs and palace maids followed behind and ran panting. Let the children learn to ride and shoot, this is the emperor's personal will, as for where to ride and shoot is decided by this Ping Guifei, as long as it is not out of the range of Daming Palace.

"Aunt Ping, why don't you bring a bow and arrows?" Li Qi suddenly found that Ping Sanniang didn't bring a bow and arrow, and couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"What kind of bow and arrow do you want to bring with you, do you still want to practice archery on the first day of the Lunar New Year today?" Ping Ping glanced at him disdainfully.

"But I told my mother

Before he could finish speaking, Ping Ping interrupted him with an unhappy wave of his hand, "Can't you be your own master once?" Shi Yang is only five or six years older than you. But people can already lead troops to fight in the Western Regions, but what about you? All the dignified men have to report to your mother, when will they grow up? ”

Li Qi blushed when he was said, lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything, perhaps because his mother had been strict with him since he was a child, as he grew older, Li Qidi's personality gradually became a little cowardly, and he never dared to make any mistakes.

"Aunt Ping. So what do we play? The place of questioning was Li Qiu in Pingping's arms. Contrary to his brother, Li Qiu is a little lady who is not afraid of heaven and earth, she is seven years old this year, which is the age of fun, and when she heard that she was going to play with other things, she was so anxious that she shouted, "Aunt Ping." Say it quickly! What are we playing today? ”

"Don't worry, we'll find out when we go."

A group of people entered the East Inner Garden from the small gate in the northwest corner, the East Inner Garden covers a huge area, and is now the station of the Tianqi Camp, where Zhang Huan once stationed. There is a vast racecourse and more than a dozen archery ranges, as well as several polo fields, which has always been the place where the royal family shoots archery and rides horses.

"Let's go there!" Ping Ping suddenly pointed to a path on the left, and she urged her horse to lead the children along the fence of the East Inner Garden.

After walking about two miles, the group came to a large meadow, and although it was winter, there was still a thick meadow on the meadow, which was very soft. In the distance grows a centuries-old sand fruit tree. It is ten feet high, and the branches are luxuriant. It is as if a giant stands in the East Inner Garden.

"Come on! Everyone dismounted. Ping Ping turned over and dismounted, laughed loudly: "Okay, we don't shoot arrows today, we can play freely for a day." ”

She took the lead in turning a few hollow fights on the ground, the posture was beautiful and elegant, provoking a few children to shout happily, they jumped off the horse one after another, and learned to roll and frolic on the thick grass like a flat place, only Li Qi stood aside in an old age, watching his younger brothers and sisters play, and the dozen palace people next to him looked at this scene dumbfounded, the concubine of the Tang Dynasty actually turned over on the grass, and there was a prince and two princesses rolling on the grass, just like the wild children in the market, where there is still a little bit of dignity that the children of the royal family should have.

But fortunately, the eldest son Li Qi behaved very steadily, and did not lose his identity like the other three children, at this time, Ping Ping ran towards the big tree with his shoes in one hand and bare feet, and the laughter like silver bells sprinkled all over the grass, "Everyone follow me!" ”

Everyone also learned from her running barefoot towards the big tree, the sound of carefree laughter echoed in the grass, Li Qi looked at the younger siblings barefoot enviously, he turned his head and secretly glanced at the palace people, bit his lip, and finally took off a shoe, bare foot, limped towards the big tree.

Pingping ran under the big tree, looking up at the big tree, she had already noticed this towering tree, in her girlhood, she often climbed the tree like a boy to dig birds' nests, pick fruits, his father never cared about her, and gradually developed her bold and happy character, but

Ping Ping glanced back at Li Qi, he was only nine years old and he was like a little old man, cowering all day long, not daring to do anything, cowardly, the eldest sister was afraid that he would not be able to establish the prince, and he would be too strict, so, even if he established the prince, how could he inherit his father's career in the future, open up the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and become a heavenly khan who is sincere to all nations?

"Listen up, everybody." Ping Ping clapped his hands and smiled: "Today we are going to climb the tree!" ”

Climb trees? The children looked up together, "This tree is so tall!" Lee exclaimed in amazement.

"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, we have the custom of climbing trees and climbing the heights in Taiyuan, and your father had to climb trees every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year when he was a child." Ping Ping glanced at everyone and said with a slight smile: "So starting from this year, I will take you to climb trees on the first day of the Lunar New Year every year." ”

Although the children wanted to climb the tree, the tree was so tall that everyone was a little timid. Pingping jumped deep and jumped on the tree first, she stretched out her hand to her daughter, "Bailing, you climb first!" Ping Ping looked at his daughter encouragingly, "When my mother was your age, she already dared to climb a tree taller than this, as long as you are careful, you won't fall down." ^^^^”

Since Bai Ling became a mediocre daughter, her originally timid and shy personality has become cheerful day by day. She looked at the tree and plucked up her courage to say, "Okay! I'll climb first. ”

She handed her hand to her mother, and with a strong foot, she climbed the tree at once, and there were many branches of the sand fruit book, which was very easy to climb, and after getting used to it for a while, the lark began to climb up on her own.

"Who's next?" Ping Ping looked at the other children again. Her gaze fell on Li Qi. "Manly man first!"

"Nope! No! Li Qi took a few steps back and shook his head again and again, his barefoot running was already the limit, if he climbed the tree again, his mother would definitely kill him if she knew.

"Your mother won't know that she is not going to meet Queen Nanzhao today?" Ping Ping encouraged him: "You can rest assured! No one in the dungeon here dared to say it. ”

"I don't dare!" Li Qi still shook his head and didn't dare to go up, at this time. Li next to him had already impatiently raised his hand and shouted, "I'm coming!" ”

"Good! Worthy of a man. Ping Ping pulled him up the tree, but didn't let him climb too high, and then Li Qiu was also pulled up the tree, and Li Qi was the only one left under the tree.

"Mother." At this time, an old eunuch ran forward and trembled and said, "Come down quickly!" The queen knew that she would kill us. ”

"It's my own doing. It's none of your business. Ping Ping ignored him and continued to stare at Li Qi and said, "You are the eldest brother, are you not as brave as the younger brother?" ”

A stream of hot blood suddenly poured into Li Qidi's brain, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Who said that I am not as good as my brother, I can just climb." ”

"Good! This is a man, work harder, climb a little higher

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, which is also Zhang Huan's busiest day, early in the morning he discussed the situation of the recent broken leaves with the Xiangguo in the Lin De Palace, and the great chief of the Qarlu was killed during the attack on Xuanwu City, triggering a struggle for power among the Qarluqs. Cao Hanchen, the governor of Broken Leaves, asked the court for instructions. Take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Qarluqs and defeat the minions of this great food reaching east.

This news aroused Zhang Huandi's great attention. He thought that although this was an opportunity, the troops of Broken Leaf and even Anxi were not enough, and if the Qarluqs were attacked on all fronts, even if the Hui people did not interfere, what would happen to the 50,000 food troops gathered in Tocharo? Who can contain it and not take the opportunity to attack Broken Leaves, it is easy to fight the Qarluqs, but if this triggers a full-scale war between Dashi and Datang, how much chance can Datang have?

After nearly an hour of discussion, the ministers all agreed that the time is not yet ripe to exterminate the Qarluqs, and the Qarluqs should not be worried, and must be prepared for a full-scale war with Dashi, whether it is food reserves or troop deployment, or the transportation of logistics materials, or the establishment of strategic alliances, the Tang Dynasty is at a disadvantage, and these are precisely the decisive factors for whether a large-scale battle can be victorious.

Just after the discussion ended, Zhang Huan immediately issued an order to Wang Siyu of Broken Leaves: transfer 20,000 Anxi troops from Shule to Broken Leaves, and start preparing to establish the Western Regions Protectorate, and move to Broken Leaves.

After discussing the situation of broken leaves, Zhang Huan led seven ministers back to Zichen Palace, where he will next meet with the king of Nanzhao, which is also a major event, Nanzhao is a subject country that the Tang Dynasty has supported in the six edicts of Erhai, but in the process of helping the Tang Dynasty deal with Tubo for a long time, it gradually grew up, in the autumn of the ninth year of Tianbao, the king of Nanzhao, Ge Luofeng, killed Zhang Qiantuo, the assassin of Yunnan, under the pretext that his wife and daughter were humiliated, and in the second year a fierce battle broke out with the Tang army, the Tang army was defeated, 60,000 Tang troops died, Tianbao thirteen years, defeated the Tang army again, and since then Nanzhao has completely betrayed the Tang Dynasty, becoming the brother country of Tibet.

But from four years ago after the failure of Tubo and the Tang Dynasty to fight for Anxi, Tubo has gradually weakened, and the Tang Dynasty has re-moved towards revival, from the second year of the Great Governance, the Tang Dynasty Jiannan Jiedu made Wei Gao to recruit the Jiannan and Southwest barbarians, and frequently sent a signal of reconciliation to the Southern Zhao, in this situation, the king of the Southern Zhao was far-sighted, in the autumn of the third year of the Great Rule, resolutely decided to break off diplomatic relations with the Tubo, re-become the subject country of the Tang Dynasty, and returned the Yao and other states of the Tang Dynasty.

This year, Yi Mu Xun brought the queen to Chang'an in person to make a pilgrimage to His Majesty the Tang Emperor and accept the canonization of the imperial court.

Zhang Huan, escorted by hundreds of Imperial Forest Army, led seven Xiangguo out of Zuoyintai Gate to Zichen Palace, along the way he discussed with the important ministers the arrangements for New Year's farming, especially the Jianghuai Right Imperial Court to subsidize the new waterwheel land can no longer be delayed.

"The matter of building 3,000 new waterwheels is related to the sowing of 500,000 hectares of rice this year, and I thought that it could not be delayed any longer, so I appointed Pei Xiangguo as the Jiangnan agricultural envoy to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jingxiang and other places to urge the local governments to speed up the construction of waterwheels." Zhang Huan glanced back at Pei You and asked, "Pei Xiangguo, would you like to have a hard time?" ”

Pei You bowed down on the horse and said, "The minister is willing to share the worries for Your Majesty!" ”

"Good! Pei Xiangguo can set off on the fifth day of the first month. ”

Zhang Huan smiled and nodded, at this time, he faintly heard a shout in the distance, so he looked around in surprise, and crossed the wall of the East Inner Garden, he suddenly saw that there seemed to be three or four children waving to him on the big sand fruit tree, very excited.

"Strange, where did this wild child come from?" Zhang Huan asked the guard next to him in surprise.

The guard looked at it for a long time, and shook his head blankly, he couldn't understand it, at this time, the ministers all saw the children waving, and couldn't help but discuss, how could there be a child climbing the big tree in the East Inner Garden, whose child is this? Parents don't care about it.

"I know!" Zhang Huan suddenly suddenly, he smiled and said to everyone: "This must be the children of the people nearby, I made a decree last year, every spring when the green season is green, ordinary people can be allowed to play in some royal gardens, this East Inner Garden is one of the open gardens, this must be the children of the people in the market, and the parents let them climb the big tree if they are not strict with their parents." ”

With that, he turned back to the guards and said, "Go and tell the father of these children that he should educate his children well." ”

The guard responded, turned the horse's head and galloped towards the East Inner Garden, at this time, Zhang Huan saw a woman in red also climbed the tree and waved her arms at him, he suddenly felt that the posture of this woman in red was very similar to Pingping, and couldn't help but secretly wonder: "Is it Pingping, impossible, where did she find so many children?" ”

Suddenly, Zhang Huan seemed to think of something, his face was suddenly extremely embarrassed, and he hurriedly smiled at everyone: "It's the nature of children to be fun, don't worry about them, the key is not to let King Nanzhao wait, let's go quickly!" hehe