When Chai Shao came back with the cakes, the three siblings had finished the discussion and distribution and started chatting.
Li Sanniang took 20% of the profit, and Li Xuanba and Li Shimin each got 40%.
Li Xuanba wanted to persuade his third sister to take more, but was scratched by Li Sanniang.
Li Shimin said in a conscientious manner: "Sister only contributed to help us. If you let her take more, outsiders will think that she is bullying us. We will just give her more gifts in the future."
Li Sanniang said, "That's right. Ah Xuan, I've wanted to tell you a lot. Sometimes you're too distant, and it really makes me sad."
Li Shimin nodded repeatedly: "That's right."
Li Xuanba kicked his second brother first, then bowed and said, "It's my brother's fault."
Li Shimin continued to sigh in a mature manner: "Sister, look at him, he got angry because I said it right... Hey, you still kick me? Do you believe I will fight back?"
As he said this, he had already pounced on Li Xuanba and tickled him.
Li Xuanba was very ticklish and quickly asked his third sister for help.
Li Sanniang covered her mouth and laughed so hard that she fell backwards, not even trying to save her poor third brother.
Fortunately, Chai Shao came at this time, and Li Shimin gave his third brother some face and stopped bullying his younger brother.
Li Xuanba glared at Li Shimin angrily.
Li Shimin raised his eyebrows: "Keep staring, keep staring, if you stare again, I will tickle you!"
Li Xuanba's neck shrank and he wrote down this grudge in his little notebook.
If you weren't still young, I'd be afraid of scaring you. When you become the King of Qin, I'll show you how I'll kill you with spoilers! Humph!
Chai Shao put down the cake and said, "Ah Xuan, don't be angry. Eat some cake."
Li Shimin's face turned serious: "Only I can call him Xuan! You should call him Li Sanlang!"
Chai Shao, who was deliberately trying to show his closeness, said: "Ah?!"
Li Sanniang almost choked with laughter: "It's like this. Mother and I wanted to follow Erlang and be called Ah Xuan, but Erlang didn't want to."
Li Shimin hugged Li Xuanba in his arms and stared at Chai Shao vigilantly.
Chai Shao was curious: "Then what does Ah Xuan... no, what does Sanlang call Erlang?"
Li Xuanba pushed his second brother, who was dying of heat, away in annoyance and said, "What else can I call you? Call me brother, second brother."
Chai Shao asked again: "Then why do you call him Li Jia Da Lang?"
Li Xuanba and Li Shimin said in unison: "Brother."
Chai Shao: "…" There is a very obvious difference in closeness.
Li Sanniang frowned: "Why are you talking so much nonsense? Why are you asking about my family affairs?"
Chai Shao quickly apologized.
Li Sanniang said, "I want to take Erlang and Sanlang to the Buddhist temple to ask for incense. Do you want to go?"
Chai Shao said earnestly, "Of course."
Li Shimin looked at Li Xuanba with an unhappy face.
Li Xuanba: [They will be married next year. It will be better for my sister if you cultivate their relationship now.]
Li Shimin was dejected.
Seeing that his second brother was in a low mood, Li Xuanba took the initiative to hold his second brother's hand, and asked Li Sanniang to hold his other hand.
He knew that as long as his second brother loved someone, he would be very kind to that person and could not bear separation.
When the second brother was raising Li Zhi, whenever Li Zhi left the palace to build a mansion, he and his daughter would hug each other and cry bitterly. It was as if leaving the palace was a great distance away, which was extremely speechless.
Now that Li Shimin was brought close to his third sister by himself, it was normal for him to feel sad about her marrying out, but it was not okay to be too disrespectful to Chai Shao. If he treated Chai Shao too much, the third sister would be the one who suffered in the end.
Li Sanniang took her two younger brothers to visit the Buddhist temple and returned home when the West Market was about to close.
The sun had not yet set when they returned home. Li Sanniang, Li Xuanba and Li Shimin went to visit old lady Dugu first. Then Li Xuanba and Li Shimin left first, and Li Sanniang stayed alone to tell old lady Dugu about the incident with the mean slave in the bookstore.
Hearing that Li Shimin was angry and wanted to report to the authorities because the servant had deceived him, Li Xuanba tried to stop Li Shimin because he was worried that she would be sad. Although the two children expressed their feelings differently, they both showed their deep filial piety to her. Old Lady Dugu smiled and nodded.
"Perhaps because they saw that I was ill, they became arrogant and lost their duty as slaves." Old Lady Dugu said, "Just handle this matter as you see fit. I think it's not just the shopkeeper, I'm afraid all of them are dishonest, send them all away and select some honest people from your family. We're just selling some Buddhist scriptures, so we don't need very smart people, and obedience is the most important thing."
Li Sanniang agreed.
Madam Dugu added: "You should pay more attention to Erlang and Sanlang's shop. It will also help you to improve your ability as a manager."
Li Sanniang nodded again.
Old Madam Dugu was tired and asked Li Sanniang to leave.
Then, she looked at the amulet that Li Shimin and Li Xuanba had obtained from the Buddhist temple, sighed, and said, "Sanniang is a little too clever. She did this probably because she was worried that the servants I left behind would be proud of having served me and would not listen to Erlang and Sanlang."
Zhang Po said, "Whether it was Sanniang's plan, you only need to ask the people who went with Sanniang to know. I heard that Chai's eldest son also followed secretly. When Chai's eldest son comes, I will ask the people who serve him."
Old Madam Dugu wanted to say forget it. But the word "forget it" kept turning around in her mouth for a long time, and she still couldn't say it out.
"Go and ask. It doesn't matter what the real situation is. It's a good thing that Sanniang is smart." said Old Lady Dugu.
Mrs. Zhang nodded, but sighed in her heart. If the old lady really didn't care, she wouldn't have said that.
The next day, Mrs. Zhang told the old lady the news she had found out.
It wasn't really Sanniang who did anything, but the two children checked the accounts as soon as they entered the door, and then found out that the shopkeeper had taken a 40% kickback.
Madam Dugu was immediately furious. She ordered people to bring the slave to her house and personally ordered that he be beaten half to death before being sold.
Zhang Po veiledly told Li Sanniang why old lady Dugu "suddenly felt like" personally dealing with this group of unruly slaves.
Li Sanniang sighed and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mrs. Zhang."
She secretly stuffed some silver beans into Zhang Po's pocket.
When Mrs. Zhang returned to Old Lady Dugu, she took out the silver beans and said, "Sanniang is smart. To make her feel at ease, I said a few more words and luckily got some reward money."
Madam Dugu spat, "You always like to use my deeds to ask for rewards. Go ahead and use it to drink and get drunk to death."
Mrs. Zhang smiled apologetically.
Afterwards, Dou also secretly gave Zhang Po some silver and money.
This matter has been exposed.
After Li Xuanba learned that Madam Dugu personally dealt with Diao Nu, he realized that this bookstore belonged completely to him and his second brother.
He went out to find Li Shimin and told his second brother the good news. Li Shimin was standing in the shade doing horse stance.
There was a small wooden shelf in front of Li Shimin, on which was placed a copy of "The Analects of Confucius".
After he finished reading a page, he asked his servant to turn the page. In this way, he could practice martial arts and read at the same time.
Li Shimin had an overly lively personality, and Li Xuanba was often tired of his second brother who could not keep quiet.
But once he practiced martial arts, reading and calligraphy, Li Shimin suddenly calmed down, and his self-control was so strong that even Li Xuanba felt ashamed of himself.
Li Xuan took advantage of the experience of an adult in later generations, so he was called "the twin prodigies of the Tang Guogong Mansion" together with Li Shimin.
Sometimes Li Xuanba got tired of practicing calligraphy and memorizing, but Li Shimin had to lead him to grit his teeth and persevere.
He couldn't help but sigh that he couldn't compare with those who could compete for the top three positions among emperors.
Li Xuanba was physically weak and slept more than Li Shimin every day.
He had just taken a nap in the room. When Li Shimin got up, he did not disturb him but went out to do horse stance by himself.
Seeing Li Xuanba waking up, Li Shimin stood up, wiped the sweat off his face, and rushed towards his brother.
Li Xuanba stretched out his hands to hold up his second brother's face, who was always fond of jumping on people. "Have you given the gifts to your brothers and sisters at home? Do they like them?"
In the ten years from the birth of Li Jiancheng to the birth of Li Shimin and Li Xuanba, Li Yuan and his concubines had four daughters, namely the eldest, second, fourth and fifth wives. Li Sanniang, born to Dou, was right in the middle.
The eldest and second wives are already married, while the fourth and fifth wives are still looking for someone else to marry.
Li Shimin bent down, dodged Li Xuanba's rejecting hands, and successfully hugged his third brother. He rubbed Li Xuanba and then released his arms: "Fourth sister and fifth sister said they would give us purses, and fifth brother said he would come to play with us after he recovered from his illness, fourth brother..."
Li Shimin paused, lowered his head and wiped the sweat off Li Xuanba's silk coat.
Li Xuanba's fist hardened.
Li Shimin chuckled twice and said, "My fourth brother used the rattle we gave him to hit someone and I beat him up. My elder brother scolded me and made me write a self-criticism. Ah Xuan, you have to help me."
At that time, the elder brother was like a father, and Li Jiancheng had the right and obligation to discipline his younger brother. He punished Li Shimin to write a self-criticism, not to bully him, but to show his responsibility.
Li Xuanba sighed: "Why don't you just complain to grandma? Grandma is in better health now and has the energy to discipline Li Yuanji."
Li Shimin touched his nose and said, "He was just too hot-blooded. By the time he realized it, I had beaten him to tears."
Li Xuanba was speechless.
Li Yuanji would later shout at Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng to kill you. Could it be that the feud has been planted now?
Li Xuanba once tried not only to get close to Li Jiancheng, but also to get along well with Li Yuanji.
Emperor Li Yuan had to strike a balance, so it was inevitable that Li Jiancheng and his brother would fight each other. However, Li Yuanji would not necessarily be involved.
Li Xuanba did not have much brotherly affection for Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji was such a bastard later on. He treated the civilians as prey, chasing and shooting them, and treated the soldiers as gladiators to watch them kill each other. Is this something a normal person can do?
Although Li Xuanba is not a very kind person, he does not want this antisocial lunatic to be his brother.
But he was too young, and even if he predicted some things, he was powerless to do anything about it.
Dou still suffered from severe pregnancy depression and ordered people to get rid of Li Yuanji.
Although the person who picked up Li Yuanji was changed from the maid Chen Shanyi who was about to be killed by Li Yuanji to the short-legged Li Xuanba, Li Yuanji was immediately taken away by people sent by old lady Dugu, and this incident was still publicized and known to everyone in the mansion.
By the time Dou was struggling to recover from pregnancy depression, the loss of her child had caused a rift in the "honeymoon period" that Li Yuan and Dou had finally recovered.
People of this era don't know what pregnancy depression is. Dou lost her child, and even if the doctor said it was due to "hysteria", others would still complain in their hearts that Dou was unkind.
Although Dou Shi has now healed the knot in Li Yuan's heart by serving Old Lady Dugu with great filial piety, neither Old Lady Dugu nor Li Yuan would let Dou Shi raise Li Yuanji again.
Old Madam Dugu was not very energetic and almost left Li Yuanji alone.
Li Xuanba once mentioned the issue of Li Yuanji's education to his grandmother and mother in a tactful way. In addition to the fact that his mother really couldn't discipline Li Yuanji forcefully, the elders of that era always believed that it didn't matter if children were left alone when they were young, and they could be turned around by proper education after they learned to read. So they didn't pay much attention to it.
Well, the elders in modern society think so too, and always say that naughty children "will become sensible when they grow up."
After Li Yuanji learned to walk, the scope of destruction was greatly increased. Li Xuanba tried his best but was powerless and had to walk around Li Yuanji.
But Li Shimin had a bad temper, and if Li Yuanji dared to get on his head, he would beat him up. For this, Li Shimin was often punished.
"I cried to my grandmother, but she didn't blame me. It was Li Yuanji's fault. Li Jiancheng is Li Yuanji's brother, so am I not also Li Yuanji's brother? If Li Jiancheng can teach me a lesson, I can also teach Li Yuanji a lesson." Li Shimin said proudly.
Li Xuanba's mouth twitched slightly: "As long as you are happy,"
Li Shimin said, "Oh, by the way, my grandmother said that Yeye is looking for a daughter of Zheng from Xingyang to be our sister-in-law. When the sister-in-law comes, Li Yuanji will have someone to take care of him. Do you know what family Zheng from Xingyang belongs to?"
Li Shimin knew that his son Ah Xuan had always been hiding his incompetence in front of outsiders. Ah Xuan knew almost everything, so if there was anything he didn't understand, he could always ask Ah Xuan.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
The Zheng family of Xingyang... Li Xuanba organized his words and explained the "Five Surnames and Seven Families" to his second brother in his heart.
He had to express his true feelings, because if his words got out, he would probably make enemies with the "Five Surnames and Seven Families".
[When Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty carried out the Sinicization reform, he learned the essence of the Southern Dynasties, but also learned the dregs of the Southern Dynasties, the "aristocratic family system". He thought that the aristocratic family system was the essence of Sinicization and the key to the struggle for "Central Plains orthodoxy".]
The Northern Dynasties were basically established by warlords of Hu descent, while the Southern Dynasties were traditional Han dynasties that replaced the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
[In order to compete with the Southern Dynasty gentry and fight for orthodox status, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty selected the "Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats" - Longxi Li, Zhaojun Li, Boling Cui, Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Xingyang Zheng, and Taiyuan Wang to compete with the traditional Wei and Jin aristocratic families who had migrated south.]
[So the so-called "Five Surnames and Seven Famous Families" were basically raised by the Northern Wei Dynasty.]
[After the unification of the Sui Dynasty, the northern and southern clans united to flatter each other and acknowledge each other's status in order to compete for power with the Guanlong nobles in power, forming the current pattern of the Sui Dynasty's aristocratic clans.]
[The Northern Wei Dynasty split into the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Qi Dynasty replaced the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty unified the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the Sui Dynasty unified the world. From the Northern Wei Dynasty, the government was controlled by the Guanlong nobles, with the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty as the core. Our great-grandfather Li Hu was one of the Eight Pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty.]
[The Eight Pillars of the State are "noble", they control the central government; the noble families are "clean", they occupy the local areas and are called "county heads". The noble families want to gain power from the central government, and the Guanlong nobles want to be covered with a layer of long history, so the two hit it off. ]
[Although we need to cling to them, we don't need to take it too seriously. ]
[Give me a few examples.]
[The Hongnong Yang family was exterminated by Jia Nanfeng very early on, and survived through side branches. Before Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty attached himself to the Hongnong Yang family, this family had been unknown.]
[The Yingchuan Chen family was exterminated during the Yongjia Rebellion, and has survived through side branches, and has remained unknown to this day.]
[The Taiyuan Wang family was exterminated by Liu Yu, and only Wang Huilong escaped to the Northern Wei Dynasty and multiplied to form the current Taiyuan Wang family.]
[The Qinghe Cui family was massacred in the Northern Wei Dynasty's Guoshi prison, and the Fanyang Lu family, Taiyuan Guo family, and Hedong Liu family, who were related by marriage, were all exterminated. The current clan is said to be a branch of the clan that migrated south.]
[As for the Longxi Li family and the Zhaojun Li family, they were not even considered famous families in the Wei and Jin dynasties. They only started to prosper after the Sixteen Kingdoms period at the end of the Jin dynasty.]
[The so-called aristocratic families have a history of thousands of years, but most of them are just climbing up the ladder. Their family tree does not even match up with their own. In order to compete with each other, many aristocratic families merge their county names, and it is common to construct pedigrees and fake branches. ]
[For example, in order to compete with other clans, the Longxi Li family and the Zhaojun Li family merged their clans. The Longxi Li family originally attached themselves to Li Guang, and traced their ancestry back to Li Xin, a general of the Qin State; the Zhaojun Li family attached themselves to Li Mu. After the two merged, they fabricated that Li Mu was a Qin person, and his father was a censor in the Qin State, and later he entered Zhao as a general. They also fabricated that Li Mu's other elders were all granted titles in the Qin State. Finally, they merged and traced back to the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, recognizing Li Er of the Chen State as their ancestor.]
While Li Xuanba was revealing the secrets of the aristocratic families to Li Shimin, he and Li Shimin went to the stream to enjoy the cool air.
A stream of water was introduced into the garden built by Tang Guogong Mansion. When Li Jiancheng did not bring his friends to play here, Li Xuanba and Li Shimin would often come here to play in the shallows and escape the summer heat.
The two children took off their shoes and sat on the big rocks by the stream to play in the water.
Li Shimin kicked out a big splash of water and scratched his head, saying, "Longxi Li family and Zhaojun Li family? They sound so familiar."
Li Xuanba: [Oh, my family is very close to both Li families, and I am probably wondering which one to attach myself to.]
Li Shimin opened his mouth in surprise, and a whole egg could fit into his mouth: "They still let us hesitate?!"
Li Xuanba: [What's so surprising? During the Guoshi Rebellion, the Northern Wei Emperor "followed the map" and killed people one by one with their family tree. Later, the clan members who claimed to be side branches took their own family tree and said that they were the heirs. Who knows whether it is true or not? Anyway, as long as they are celebrities with the same surname, the clans are happy to associate with them. Do you believe that if we are more powerful, the descendants of the Longxi Li family and the Zhaojun Li family will include us in the family tree when they compile it. ]
He manually closed his second brother's jaw which was about to fall.
Li Shimin said awkwardly, "Ah Xuan, this is not the way you should look for a horse by following a map."
Li Xuanba: [Almost.]
"It's a big difference. Well, as long as you are happy." Li Shimin picked up Li Xuanba's catchphrase, "They are really weird. Future generations should strive to be better. Why bother clinging to the dead bones in the tomb?"
Li Xuanba glanced at his second brother silently.
Emperor Taizong of Tang was the first to publicly scold the "Five Surnames and Seven Families" for being nothing more than dead bones in a tomb. I didn't expect my second brother to say something like that at such a young age.
"That's right." Li Xuanba took the initiative to speak.
Li Shimin said: "What is the difference between clinging to the emperor's family and forming a clique for personal gain?"
Li Xuanba glanced at his second brother again.
Are you too precocious? Is that something a six-year-old would say?!
Li Xuanba: [No difference. But the "Five Surnames and Seven Families" formed cliques for personal gain, so aren't the Guanlong nobles the same?]
Li Shimin tilted his head and kicked up another splash of water: "Ah, us too?"
Li Xuanba nodded.
[Emperor Yang of Sui moved the capital to Luoyang and sailed the dragon boats southward, although it was mostly for pleasure, otherwise he would not have been so anxious and would not have built so many palaces and gardens. But there must have been political intentions to shift the political center, win over the Shandong clans and suppress the Guanlong nobles. ]
[Another example is the current imperial examination. Because only officials of the fifth rank or above are recommended to be eligible to take the exam, and the names are not covered, the imperial examination is not to use poor scholars to squeeze out the aristocratic families. On the contrary, Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Yang of Sui were more like allowing the aristocratic families with a strong atmosphere of reading at home to obtain more official positions through the imperial examination, suppressing the traditional Guanlong aristocratic group. ]
What Li Xuanba thought in his heart, but did not "tell" to Li Shimin, was that since the Western Wei Dynasty, the Guanlong nobles, with the Eight Pillars as the core, had firmly controlled the government.
Many later historians believed that the Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang dynasties were initially the representatives chosen by the Guanlong nobles. The change of dynasties was also initiated by the Guanlong nobles when they saw that the representatives were incompetent, and they took the initiative to launch a coup and elected a new ruler from within the Guanlong nobles.
I'll have to wait until my family raises the army, and then I'll slowly explain this to my second brother.
Li Shimin was shocked: "Ah Xuan, what emperor did you just say?! What emperor of Sui?!"
Li Xuanba blinked: "Ah? I haven't said anything."
Oops, I let it slip.
Li Shimin pressed Li Xuanba's shoulders and shook him vigorously: "Ah Xuan, don't say that!"
Li Xuanba closed his eyes: "I didn't say anything."
Li Shimin stopped shaking Li Xuanba and began to hold his own head and shake it hard.
Li Xuanba's mouth twitched. His brother was like a Psyduck with a headache.
"Ahhhh, I must have heard it wrong. Xuan really didn't say anything." Li KeDuck Shimin used momentary amnesia on himself.
Li Xuanba laughed out loud as he looked at his brother who kept holding his head, shaking it and shouting "I heard it wrong".
"Hmph!" Li Shimin put down his hands, wet them in the stream water, and then stuffed his wet hands into Li Xuanba's clothes.
"Ah!" Li Xuanba was startled by the cold and pushed Li Shimin hard, and Li Shimin fell into the water.
The water was so shallow that Li Shimin's butt was nowhere to be seen.
Li Shimin quickly got up and splashed water at Li Xuanba.
He was very strong and a huge splash of water splashed Li Xuanba's head.
Li Xuanba wiped the water off his face, jumped into the stream, and, childishly, started a water fight with his second brother, not wanting to be outdone.
Dou had just received a letter from her husband. Zheng of Xingyang was very interested in her husband's marriage proposal, so she invited her to visit Zheng of Xingyang.
After reading the letter, Old Lady Dugu immediately asked the other two lazy daughters-in-law to take care of her and ordered Dou to go to Xingyang quickly.
Dou remembered that Erlang often asked "When will Yeye come back?", so she asked Erlang and Sanlang if they wanted to go together.
She saw the two children playing in the stream, her face changed drastically, and her voice became louder: "Sanlang is so weak, Erlang, why are you still taking Sanlang to play in the water?"
Li Shimin's expression froze.
Li Xuanba whistled.
Li Shimin took a deep breath.
I'll be scolded later anyway, so now...
"Ah Xuan, watch out!"
Let's have fun first!
Li Shimin threw Li Xuanba into the stream, and both of them were covered in water, completely soaked.
Dou was so angry that her hands and feet were shaking: "Li, Shi, Min!!!"
…
Li Shimin was beaten so badly that he lay prone, not daring to turn over.
Li Xuanba knelt down and wrote three self-criticisms, two for his mother and one for his elder brother on behalf of his second brother.
"Ah Xuan, next time we will go play in the water while mom is away."
"Um."
Li Sanniang, who had just applied medicine to her second brother's buttocks, closed the door, held her forehead and sighed.
Oh my god, Erlang and Sanlang have not reflected on themselves at all, what should I do?