The sons of the Duke of Tang's mansion all began their education at the age of five, learning to read, punctuate and do arithmetic.
After enlightenment, they can receive pocket money every month.
Li Xuanba calculated the pocket money he and his second brother could save every month, and at that time he wanted to start a small business.
I cannot achieve anything, but if I can save up some property before the Sui Dynasty becomes chaotic and make a living with Li Jiancheng, even if Li Jiancheng doesn't like me, I can use money to buy my life.
Originally, Li Xuanba thought that with the support of the Duke of Tang's Mansion, he could just set up a stall along the road to run his small business.
After some research, he realized that as the editor of a historical marketing account that specializes in taking advantage of Li Shimin, he did not know enough about the Sui and Tang dynasties.
Ah? Are history marketing accounts simply trying to trick history illiterates? That's fine, there's nothing wrong with my business capabilities.
How did the commercial system of the Sui and Tang dynasties work?
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty built the Daxing City and implemented the Fangshi system to control population mobility and suppress commercial activities.
"Fang" is a residential area, and "shi" is a trading area. Emperor Wen of Sui abolished all street shops, and no commercial activities were allowed in the Fang and on both sides of the roads connecting the Fangs. All market transactions had to be conducted in the East and West Markets of Daxing City.
The access control of the "Fangshi" is very strict. For example, the trading hours of the market are "at noon, the drums are beaten 300 times and the crowds gather; 7 quarters before sunset, the gongs are beaten 300 times and the crowds disperse", and it is only open for one afternoon.
This set of rules was implemented in all cities and towns across the country, and "no market may be set up in places other than prefectures and counties."
At the beginning of the Sui and Tang dynasties, this rule was very strict. If he followed his previous idea and privately dragged a small cart out to sell things, the lightest punishment would be sixty strokes of the cane, and the worst punishment would be that both the seller and the buyer would be charged with theft.
So how big is the city where business can be done?
The number of Fangshi in the Sui and Tang dynasties was divided according to the administrative level of the city, regardless of the population. The number of Fangshi in the capital Daxing City and the eastern capital Luoyang City was between 100 and 110, while there were only two cities.
Therefore, the shops in the city can no longer be said to be worth every inch of money, but only to be priceless. As early as the beginning of the founding of the Sui Dynasty by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, they were divided up by the nobles.
If Li Xuanba wanted to do business secretly in the market, he had to wait until the Zhenguan period, when his brother realized that such strict control over commercial activities was inconvenient and slightly relaxed the control over business in the market, allowing him to set up a stall and sell things with the protection of his background.
If he wanted to find a house on the roadside as a shop to sell things all night, he could only wait until the Anshi Rebellion, when the market system collapsed completely.
Li Xuanba asked his mother if he could consign items to the family shop in the Duke of Tang's mansion. After receiving a negative answer, he gave up his plan to do business.
It would be impossible for a commoner to travel back to the early and prosperous Tang Dynasty and set up a stall to start a small business and make a fortune. Even he, the third son of the Duke of Tang's mansion, couldn't do it. Alas.
Who would have thought that just by taking the blame for his elder brother, he could actually get two shops?
Although Li Xuanba scolded his brother for being unambitious, at that time he was thinking, this is really good!
If he didn't have to follow Li Jiancheng to make a living and couldn't offend Li Jiancheng too much, he would have wanted to take the initiative to touch porcelain.
Like the later Chang'an City, the imperial palace and the official residences of dignitaries in Daxing City were all near the East Market "Metropolitan Market". The East Market mainly dealt in luxury goods such as jewelry, antiques, and high-end fabrics, and the streets were wider than those in the West Market.
The West Market was a market for ordinary people. In addition to all daily necessities, when the Silk Road was reopened in the Zhenguan period, the Hu people gathered in the West Market. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the prosperity of the West Market surpassed that of the East Market.
Although there are no bonuses for Hu merchants in the West Market now, merchants are not eligible to go to the East Market without the support of nobles, so the embryonic form of "East Market is expensive, West Market is rich" has been formed.
The shops in both the East Market and the West Market had long been divided up by the nobles. The Sui Dynasty had only had one emperor, and the nobles were far from being reshuffled to the point where they needed to sell their shops.
The fact that Dou and Old Lady Dugu could set aside their shops for a six-year-old child to "play" with shows how generous their dowries were and how powerful Dou and Dugu were in the Sui Dynasty.
Li Xuanba is a taciturn person in front of outsiders, but he is a chatterbox in front of Li Shimin, and he has been chattering non-stop in his heart since he left the house.
Li Shimin leaned on the carriage window, looking around curiously and nodding frequently to tell Li Xuanba that he was listening.
After Li Xuanba explained the market system of the Sui Dynasty to his brother one by one, he also talked about the "inside story" he saw from the dowries of his grandmother and mother.
Most of the shops in my grandmother's dowry were in the East Market. But that was not actually my grandmother's dowry, but a reward from Empress Wenxian to her.
Most of the shops in the mother's dowry were in the West Market. From this incident, we can see that although Emperor Wen of Sui did not take action against the princesses of Northern Zhou after killing all the male descendants of the Yuwen family, he did slightly suppress the family of Princess Xiangyang.
Li Shimin turned around and said, "Is that so? But the shop your grandmother gave you is in the West Market, and the shop your mother gave you is in the East Market."
Li Xuanba: [So even though our grandmother and mother both love us, the degree of their love is different.]
Li Shimin continued to look out the window of the carriage, his little head shaking as his chin rested on his folded arms: "Ah Xuan, you said that the East Market is for the business of the rich, and the West Market is for the business of the common people. Are there more shops selling books, calligraphy and paintings in the East Market?"
Li Xuanba: [Yes. The Imperial College is also near the East Market, and students seeking official positions all live in the neighborhoods around the East Market.]
Guozixue is the Imperial Academy. In the third year of Emperor Yangdi's Daye reign, it was renamed Guozijian. In the first year of Emperor Gaozu's Wude reign, it was renamed Guozixue again. In the first year of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan reign, it was renamed Guozijian again.
Li Shimin curled his lips and said, "Can the books in the bookstores in the West Market be sold?"
Li Xuanba: [West Market is close to the Buddhist temple. The shop my grandmother gave me mainly sells woodblock printed Buddhist scriptures, and the profit is quite good. Although my grandmother doesn't love us as much as my mother, we are still her favorite.]
Li Shimin sat back next to Li Xuanba and whispered in Li Xuanba's ear: "Grandmother's heart must be divided into many petals, and my eldest brother is the largest one."
Li Xuanba suppressed his laughter. The second brother's complaints were really sharp. If they were posted on the Internet in the future, he would definitely become a good surfer.
The shop that Dou gave to Li Xuanba was one of her most prosperous shops. It was the first shop she owned when she was still a student at home, before marriage. The shop was managed by the elderly who came from her mother's family.
Next to this shop is the dowry that Dou gave to her soon-to-be-married daughter Li Sanniang.
For this trip, Dou had to serve old lady Dugu and was unable to spare time, so Li Sanniang brought her two younger brothers.
This Li Sanniang is the Princess Pingyang Zhao who was later complained by Li Shimin as having "even more bad temper than me".
In later generations, because Li Shimin ordered the death of Princess Pingyang Zhao's second son, there were many conspiracy theories that said Li Shimin treated Princess Pingyang Zhao harshly.
Li Xuanba made a big fuss about this matter, which attracted a lot of traffic and completed his boss's performance indicator assessment.
In order to make up a qualified rumor, Li Xuanba first had to find real information so that it could be convincing. So he knew that the facts were not like this.
First of all, Princess Pingyang Zhao was stripped of all her military power in the first year of Wude and lived in Chang'an.
The name "Niangzi Pass" existed hundreds of years before Princess Pingyang Zhao was born, and it was a far-fetched name made up by later generations.
Princess Pingyang Zhao had been deprived of her military power since the establishment of the Tang Dynasty and had always lived in Chang'an. She had never guarded Niangzi Pass and naturally it was impossible for her to have a conflict with Qin Wang Li Shimin, who was the main commander of the troops at that time.
Furthermore, Li Shimin actually treated Princess Pingyang Zhao well, but the feudal era's kindness to women does not conform to modern people's thinking.
Before Chai Lingwu and Princess Baling were involved in the rebellion, Chai Shao's eldest son inherited the title of Duke of Qiao, and his second son was granted the title of Duke of Xiangyang because he married the princess. This was a rare family of top nobles with two dukes at that time.
Later, although Chai Shao's eldest son Chai Zhewei was exiled to Lingnan for his crimes, he was soon reinstated as the governor of Jiaozhou. He died in office in the second year after Li Shimin's death.
The governor was the highest military commander in the region. During the Zhenguan period, the governors in the interior were removed, and each of the remaining governors was a high-ranking official with a large number of troops under his command. This shows the trust Li Shimin had in him.
Li Shimin also treated Princess Pingyang Zhao's old subordinates well, such as Ma Sanbao, a servant of the Chai family.
When Li Yuan started an uprising against the Sui Dynasty, Chai Shao and Princess Pingyang Zhao acted separately. Chai Shao went to Taiyuan alone. Princess Pingyang Zhao recruited soldiers for the uprising. Ma Sanbao stayed by Princess Pingyang Zhao's side and was her confidant.
In the first year of Zhenguan, Ma Sanbao, who was born as a family slave, was promoted to Duke by Li Shimin. When he died in the third year of Zhenguan, he was posthumously named "Zhong".
There is also Princess Pingyang Zhao's husband Chai Shao, who is ranked 14th among the 24 heroes in Lingyan Pavilion, before Cheng Yaojin, Hou Junji, and Li Ji.
Chai Shao had military merits in defeating Tuyuhun and Turks and suppressing rebellions, but compared with other generals in Lingyan Pavilion, he was obviously somewhat inferior. He was ranked so high in Lingyan Pavilion that later generations recognized him as a "relative".
As for why Princess Pingyang Zhao herself was not directly rewarded, nor her military exploits were publicly mentioned, this was the limitation of the feudal era.
In the feudal era, women were generally rewarded with their male relatives. Li Shimin treated Princess Pingyang Zhao's husband, son, and confidants with extraordinary kindness, which was a great favor to Princess Pingyang Zhao.
In fact, although the status of women in the Tang Dynasty was higher than that after the Song Dynasty, it was not much higher. In the early Tang Dynasty, women had to wear a veil that covered their entire body when they went out. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, because women in the folks began to wear veils that only covered their necks, he even issued an imperial edict to reprimand them.
Therefore, Princess Pingyang Zhao's public appearance to recruit soldiers and become a female general was considered unorthodox at the time.
Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, from Li Yuan to mainstream scholars, they have been committed to erasing the deeds of Princess Pingyang Zhao as a female general.
As soon as Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, he asked Wen Daya to write a book for him called "Da Tang Founding Daily Notes" to praise his achievements. In this book, all the deeds of Princess Pingyang Zhao were erased, and Li Yuan was portrayed as far-sighted, wise and brave. Even the merits of Princess Pingyang Zhao's participation in the capture of Chang'an were shared with his son and confidants.
In the "Edict to Commend the Emperor for the Peace and Stabilization of Qi" issued by Li Yuan himself, there was no mention of Princess Pingyang Zhao.
It was already an extra reward for Li Yuan to give Princess Pingyang Zhao a posthumous title and bury her with a ceremony of drums and music.
Before the publication of "Old Book of Tang", Princess Pingyang Zhao's brilliance was very dim.
In this social context, Yuchi Yiseng painted a portrait of Princess Pingyang Zhao, a general sitting on a saddle and wearing a quiver.
This painting was created during the Zhenguan period when Yuchi Yiseng was a guard officer for Emperor Li Shimin. He was able to obtain permission to paint the princess's portrait and also found someone who had memories of the princess's military career. Needless to say, there is a story behind it.
Li Shimin should also remember this female general and treat her husband and descendants well.
Because according to historical clues, Princess Pingyang Zhao handed over all her soldiers to Li Shimin, and later they all became Li Shimin's loyal followers.
These people became loyal to Li Shimin once they arrived under his command. It couldn't be that it was because Li Shimin had the ability to charm people and made them bow down to him.
Perhaps it is in line with the evaluation of later generations that Princess Pingyang Zhao was "a difficult brother."
Li Xuanba believed that even if Princess Pingyang Zhao was deprived of her military power, her former generals would still give her some face. When she lived in Chang'an, Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng would have supported this general princess who was not threatening but had a reputation.
So he rushed forward to curry favor with them early on in order to establish the Tang Dynasty. When his second brother Li Shimin was fighting outside and could not protect him, if he did not please Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng, he would have someone to protect him.
When he was forced into a corner, he shamelessly moved into his sister's house, perhaps even saving her life.
Although the cause of the elder sister's death is not recorded in history books, the second son Chai Lingwu should be about the same age as his wife Princess Baling, and his birth time is close to the time of the elder sister's death. Therefore, the cause of the elder sister's death is likely to be a dystocia or complications left after giving birth at an advanced age.
If he had shamelessly lived in the princess's mansion and disturbed the intimacy between his sister and brother-in-law, Chai Lingwu might not have been born and his sister might not have died.
Win-win!
Although Li Xuanba's deliberate closeness had a counterproductive effect on Li Jiancheng, it was very effective on the third sister.
As the girl was waiting to be married, Li Yuan did not give her a nickname. Princess Pingyang Zhao was now only called "Li Sanniang" or "Sanniangzi" at home and outside.
Li Sanniang left earlier than Li Xuanba and Li Shimin. When Li Xuanba and Li Shimin got off the carriage, Li Sanniang was already waiting at the door of the store wearing a full-body veil.
"Erlang, Sanlang!" Li Sanniang, who was impetuous by nature, opened the carriage door and carried her two younger brothers down before the carriage stopped.
Li Xuanba was held obediently.
Li Shimin struggled hard: "I can walk by myself, don't hold me."
Li Xuanba was very well-behaved. Li Sanniang rubbed Li Xuanba's head and put her brother down.
When Li Shimin was not obedient, Li Sanniang would hold her brother tightly in her arms with a sly smile on her face and would not let go no matter how Li Shimin tormented her.
Li Shimin reached out to Li Xuanba: "Ah Xuan, save me!"
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Li Xuanba not only took a step back, but also mocked in his heart: [Being a toy for my sister is my brother's fate, just accept it. ]
Li Shimin said angrily: "Then why don't you be a toy for my sister!"
Li Sanniang laughed out loud: "Sanlang said you are my toy? Sanlang, don't whisper, I want to hear you talk too."
Li Xuanba nodded: "Okay."
Li Shimin became even angrier: "I asked you to speak but you didn't, but when my sister asked you to speak, you agreed?!"
Li Xuanba nodded: "Yes."
Li Shimin was so angry that he wanted to pounce on his brother, but he was firmly controlled by Li Sanniang and could only wave his short hands in vain in the air.
"Hey, Third Madam, come in first?" A young man wearing a Hu hat next to her reminded in a low voice, watching the people passing by and glancing at them frequently.
Li Xuanba raised his head and Li Shimin tilted his head.
Then, the two brothers' faces fell at the same time, revealing the standard one-plus-one copy-and-paste dead fish eye expression ▼_▼.
The young man wearing a Hu hat is naturally Li Sanniang's fiancé Chai Shao.
The upper class of the Sui Dynasty was influenced by the customs of the Hu people. Although men and women could not get along as freely as in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, it was still allowed for engaged couples to travel together for a period of time after "meeting by chance".
Obviously, my third sister went out early just to make an appointment with Chai Shao for an "accidental encounter".
Before taking their two younger brothers to take over the shop, the two of them had probably visited the official gardens near the East Market, and might even have gone for an outing in the suburbs.
Li Xuanba rolled his eyes and bowed respectfully.
Li Shimin glared at Chai Shao very rudely, then took the initiative to hug Li Sanniang's neck tightly with both hands, with an attitude of "Sister is mine, get out of here".
Li Sanniang smiled and patted her second brother's little butt, saying, "If you don't like seeing him, I'll let him go."
Chai Shao: "???" No! He had finally managed to appease Sanniang for what happened a few days ago!
Li Shimin snorted a few times and said in a muffled voice, "Since he was the first to rush out to find a doctor for Xuan, I allowed him to go with us this time. Humph, my sister is going to marry you, and you will have plenty of time to spend with her in the future. Why do you have to occupy the little time that Xuan, I and my sister have to spend with? You are so annoying, you have no sense at all. The lack of empathy that Xuan mentioned is probably referring to people like you. Don't you have a sister who is about to get married?"
Tighten your arms and stare!
Li Sanniang's pretty face hidden under the mist was as beautiful as a flower's smile.
After hearing the slander from his six-year-old brother-in-law, Chai Shao was not angry but even developed some good feelings towards him.
The first sentence of Li Shimin shows that he is very methodical in dealing with things and will not vent his anger on others. The second sentence shows his deep sisterly love for Li Sanniang.
Chai Shao really liked Li Sanniang, so when he saw that Li Sanniang's younger brothers had a deep relationship with her, he was naturally happy for Li Sanniang.
Li Xuanba sighed and tried to smooth things over, "Brother, you and I are young, and my sister is still an unmarried woman. If we encounter someone who doesn't know how to look at us, we need someone to stand in front of us to block us. Brother Chai's appearance here was obviously arranged by mother in advance."
Li Shimin immediately pouted his lips so hard that a wine pot could be hung on them: "Humph, Your Majesty doesn't trust me, how annoying!"
At that time, calling "Niang" was similar to calling "Ma" in later generations, and there were many variations of calling her "Niang". For example, "Mom" and "Laoma" in later generations were coquettish ways of calling her "Niang Niang" and "Niangqin" were also coquettish ways of calling her "Niang Niang". "Niang Niang" became a respectful title for concubines and female gods in the harem after the Song Dynasty.
Li Shimin complained in a clingy and coquettish manner, and buried his head in Li Sanniang's shoulders and rubbed it against her.
Not to mention that Li Sanniang's smile became more kind under the spell of Li Li, Chai Shao even felt a little jealous.
He had hoped to live with Li Sanniang for a few more years before having children, although having children was not something he could change.
Now seeing Li Erlang's appearance, he felt that it would have been nice if he had a son like Li Erlang earlier.
Anyway, I can't be like Li Sanlang.
Chai Shao looked at Li Jia Sanlang secretly.
Li Xuanba was obviously a twin of Li Shimin, but he was much smaller than Li Shimin. Because of his small and thin face, he did not even look like a twin of Li Shimin.
It would be so worrying if his son was as weak as Li Xuanba.
By the way, what should I name my son? Which daughter should I marry as my daughter-in-law in the future? What should I name my grandchildren? If I give birth to a daughter, I hope she will look like Sanniang!
Chai Shao's thoughts began to wander and a dreamy smile appeared on his face.
Li Xuanba noticed that Chai Shao was secretly looking at him. As soon as he looked at Chai Shao in return, he saw a typical strange smile of someone who was lost in fantasy on his face.
A little vulgar.
Li Xuanba: "…" His favorability towards his future brother-in-law dropped sharply.
After laughing and joking for a while, Li Sanniang finally put Li Shimin down and took her two younger brothers to take over the shop given by their mother.
As soon as Li Xuanba entered the store, he asked someone to bring the account book.
Then he took out a blank account book and took the abacus from the wet nurse.
Li Shimin was flipping through the book, calculating, and reporting numbers, while Li Xuanba was holding a small sheep-hair brush and quickly filling in the numbers into the table.
Chai Shao and the shop owner were both dumbfounded.
Li Sanniang asked the shopkeeper to pull down the door curtain and take off the veil. She looked at her two younger brothers busying themselves with pride.
"Madam Sanniang, they..." Chai Shao approached Li Sanniang and asked in a low voice.
Before Chai Shao could finish his words, Li Sanniang said, "My Erlang and Sanlang are the smartest. Do you think the reputation of the Li family's twin prodigies is false?"
"You took a 10% kickback for the spices you bought from this store." After calculating just one transaction, Li Xuanba put down his pen and said calmly to the shopkeeper.
Li Shimin also looked up at the shopkeeper with a mocking expression, "It seems that the loyal servant that mother mentioned looks down on me and Xuan. Knowing that we two are coming to check the accounts today, you didn't even change the account book?"
Li Sanniang took out the shopkeeper's indenture from her sleeve and raised it: "Their indentures are all here, Erlang and Sanlang can do whatever they want."
Slavery was legal at that time, so the people in the shop were naturally slaves selling themselves.
The shopkeeper fell to his knees with a plop. He couldn't even utter a word to beg for mercy. He just kowtowed continuously.
Li Xuanba sighed and said, "Forget it. I know that people in charge of shops will take kickbacks. You are honest if you only take 10%."
Li Shimin crossed his arms and snorted coldly: "Only 10% is still considered honest? Should I thank him?"
Li Xuan said domineeringly: "Mother might know about this and think of it as a reward for his hard work. Do you understand the unspoken rules? If you want people to work hard for you, you have to give them some sweet rewards."
Li Shimin continued to snort coldly: "You usually don't like to talk, why are you talking so much today? Forget it, since you say so, I won't send him to see the official."
The shopkeeper was so surprised and delighted that tears came to his eyes. He kowtowed repeatedly to thank the two young masters for their great kindness.
Li Sanniang watched the whole process, only occasionally clattering the indenture in her hand, and did not interfere with her two six-year-old brothers who followed suit.
Chai Shao's eyes changed. Aren't these two brothers-in-law a little too precocious?
Perhaps he not only had to make friends with the future Duke of Tang Li Jiancheng, but also had to find a way to get closer to these two children.
Even if the second and third sons of the Li family cannot inherit the title, they will definitely be extraordinary in the future!
The author has something to say:
Thoughts:
1. "At noon, the market will beat the drum 300 times and the crowd will gather; 7 minutes before sunset, the gong will beat 300 times and the crowd will disperse" and "For minor punishments, the punishment will be 60 canes, and for serious punishments, both the seller and the buyer will be charged with theft" are from "Six Codes of Tang Dynasty". Tang followed the system of Sui Dynasty, and it should have been the same during Sui Dynasty (maybe even stricter).
2. Princess Pingyang Zhao's status was suppressed in the Tang Dynasty, but in the few records, she was still "Li". This was better than the Song Dynasty, when literati such as Huang Tingjian called Princess Pingyang Zhao "Chai", and even ignored the difference between the emperor and his subjects. Princesses in the Ming and Qing dynasties did not change their husband's surnames.