Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 128 The Feud Between Guanzhong and Longxi
Yuwen Rong's party consisted of about twenty people, each dressed in green and scarlet, with their respective entourages totaling over a hundred. After crossing the Tianjin Bridge, they headed south along Tianjie Street. Even on the bustling Dingdingmen Street, they were a very conspicuous group.

Yuwen Rong, riding at the very front of the procession, also enjoyed the attention and entourage he received. There was even a green-robed official leading his horse, allowing Yuwen Rong to talk freely with his attendants without having to control his mount.

Who is that green-robed stable boy?

Zhang Dai pointed at the man leading Yuwen Rong's horse and whispered to Li Cheng beside him.

The other party was dressed in a green official robe, so he should at least be a seventh-rank official. Yet he was willing to lead Yuwen Rong's horse in front of everyone. He was really willing to go all out.

“That’s Gao Chen, the supervisor of the censorate. He was recommended as a gatekeeper, so of course he has to serve his lord with utmost respect.”

Upon hearing this, Li Cheng smiled slightly, then sighed, "Minister Yuwen has served in the Censorate for a long time, and now many of the Censorate's sycophants are promoted by him, which is indeed a loss of his upright conduct. Even Doctor Cui, who was previously known for his strong and upright character, has become more lenient in his actions since joining the Censorate."

In the ninth year of the Kaiyuan era, Yuwen Rong, as a supervising censor, petitioned to expand the household registration and land registration system. From then on, he began his rapid rise through the ranks. Although he held multiple positions along the way, he always served as the main censor of the Censorate. He rose from supervising censor to palace censor, then to censor, and finally to the position of vice censor-in-chief who can preside over the affairs of the Censorate.

Therefore, Yuwen Rong's career path was deeply rooted in the Censorate, an oversight institution, and he continuously expanded his authority through various official appointments.

"Lixing" refers to non-regular officials outside the official staff. Although the supervising censors were not regular officials, they were still considered censors. However, they were now serving as grooms for Yuwen Rong, which shows how arrogant Yuwen Rong was in the Censorate.

Therefore, the idea of ​​using others as a mirror is mostly just empty talk. Zhang Shuo was just as arrogant before he suffered a major setback, and Yuwen Rong became even more arrogant after defeating Zhang Shuo. Later, when Pei Guangting became prime minister and concurrently the censor-in-chief, Yuwen Rong was immediately brought down.

Zhang Dai lamented that madness brings rain and madness brings disaster. After traveling a long distance south along the main street, the group turned west towards Yuwen Rong's residence.

Yuwen Rong's home was located in Mingyi Ward on the west side of Tianjie Street. After entering the ward gate, he suddenly waved to the back and said, "Zhang Liulang, come here!"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Dai rode forward. Perhaps times had changed, and Yuwen Rong no longer regarded Zhang Shuo as a political enemy or threat, so his gaze towards Zhang Dai became more amiable.

He waited for Zhang Dai to come forward before they rode into the neighborhood together. In the neighborhood, there was a lake covering nearly a hundred acres on the northwest side, and in the northeast corner of this lake, there was a courtyard with a considerable area and many houses.

Yuwen Rong pointed to the courtyard and said to Zhang Dai with a smile, "This is the Left Music Bureau of the Eastern Capital. Your young disciple from Luoyang must be familiar with it. After Zhang Liulang's reputation soared, the actors there often sang your songs. A young man, handsome and outstanding, with extraordinary talent, captivating the ladies. Isn't this the dream of all of you in your youth?"

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this. Zhang Dai, upon hearing this, also smiled and said, "Who among us has not been young? How many young men of the past could rival the Grand Chancellor? Although I am young and in the prime of my life, I have greatly admired Grand Chancellor Yuwen since I began my studies here, and I know the direction of your ambitions."

In social situations, as long as it's not a blood feud involving the murder of one's father or the theft of one's wife, things will eventually fade away. Upon hearing Zhang Dai's words, Yuwen Rong couldn't help but laugh: "You flatter me, you flatter me. I am indeed ahead of you, but compared to your grandfather Zhang Yan, I am still a junior. I still need to improve and dare not be a role model for the grandson of Yan!"

Just then, Zhang Dai's earlier work, "Golden Thread Robe," began to play in the Zuo Jiaofang courtyard by the lake. This popular song from the mid-Tang Dynasty was brought to the Kaiyuan era by Zhang Dai and quickly became a hit in the capital, especially among those in the pleasure quarters.

Mingyi Ward is adjacent to Xiyuan Garden and is larger than other wards in the city. Although there is a sizable lake in the ward, there are still many residences and residents. The Left and Right Jiaofang of Luoyang are located in this ward, and from here you can see Mingde Palace in Xiyuan Garden to the west.

This is why, all the way north from here to the south bank of the Luo River, there are many places of pleasure and entertainment, and the entertainment scene is very prosperous. That's why Yuwen Rong said that Zhang Dai, a young man from Luoyang, was familiar with this area, because in his view, Zhang Dai was a playboy who couldn't resist indulging in sensual pleasures.

However, neither Zhang Luonu, the former, nor Zhang Dai, the current one, had ever been to this area before. But they would probably be coming more often in the future, not for prostitution or entertainment, but to sell insurance at Mingde Palace.

After exchanging a few words with Yuwen Rong, Zhang Dai consciously returned to the group and continued to travel with Li Cheng.

He saw two adjacent houses by the lake, but between them was a deep ditch more than ten feet wide, with high walls on both sides, and even the branches of trees in the houses near the other house had been cut down.

"Do these two families have some kind of feud?"

Seeing this, Zhang Dai couldn't help but ask Li Cheng a question. They seemed to have no intention of ever seeing each other again, which really piqued people's curiosity.

Li Cheng pointed to the two residences and whispered, "The residence on the east side belongs to Duke Xun, and the residence on the west side belongs to Duke Chu. The two families have a long-standing feud, and although the times are different now, they are still not on good terms." Zhang Dai understood what he meant. Duke Xun refers to Wei Anshi, the former prime minister and Duke of Xun, while Duke Chu refers to Jiang Jiao, a favorite minister of Emperor Xuanzong and Duke of Chu.

In the early years of the Kaiyuan era, Jiang Jiao and his brother persecuted Wei Anshi, causing him to die in resentment. Wei Anshi's sons, Wei Zhi and Wei Bin, hated their father for being wronged and dying. After the funeral, they stayed at home for eight years until Jiang Jiao and his brother were exiled and died by the prime minister Zhang Jiazhen. Only then did they return to officialdom.

Zhang Dai never expected that the two families had such a deep-seated feud, and that their residences in Luoyang would even be next to each other. It was truly a case of enemies meeting again.

When discussing ancient politics, many people tend to use certain concepts to refer to a group. Take the Guanlong Group, for example. Its members had deep-seated grudges and feuds, some even being irreconcilable enemies, making it difficult to simply categorize them as a political alliance.

But how should I put it? Although the Wei brothers and the Jiang family seem to be completely estranged now, they will inevitably be involved in each other in the future.

When Prince Xue, Li Ye, was choosing a husband for his daughter, he selected Wei Bin, the second son of Wei Anshi. So, during the Tianbao era, when Li Linfu, Jiang Jiao's nephew, killed Jiang Jiao's son-in-law Wei Jian, Wei Jian's nephew-in-law Wei Bin was also implicated.

In short, this is the chaotic web of interpersonal relationships among the old money families of Guanzhong, a relationship marked by both love and hate. What you think is a close relative may be a mortal enemy; what you think is a distant connection may actually be within the fifth degree of kinship.

Mingyifang itself was one of the strongholds of the old money families in Guanzhong in Luoyang. Although Yuwen Rong's family once fell into decline, his grandfather Yuwen Jie was the prime minister during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. His maternal grandfather Wei Siqian and his two maternal uncles Wei Chengqing and Wei Sili also served as prime ministers.

Yuwen Rong's house was located on the west side of Mingjiaofang. Although it was not as large as the Zhang family, the original natives of Luoyang, it was more magnificent in terms of its interior architecture. A large central hall was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people for banquets and gatherings.

The west wall of this main hall has many large windows. When sitting in the hall and looking west, one can take in the beautiful scenery of Luoyang West Garden, including pavilions, palaces, flowers, trees and water, which is very pleasant.

The guests followed Yuwen Rong into the house and took their seats. Soon, servants brought in food and drink, and the group began to eat and chat.

Most of the guests in the hall were envoys and judges who would be accompanying Yuwen Rong out of the capital to provide disaster relief. As Zhang Dai listened to Li Cheng introduce their respective identities, he learned that they were all trusted disciples whom Yuwen Rong had promoted over the years.

Although their official positions in the court may not be high, often only the seventh or eighth rank, they often wield great power after leaving the court.

For example, one of the officials named Song Xun was only a Dali Ping Shi (a minor official of the eighth rank) in the court, but when he was sent on missions to serve as a judge to promote agriculture, he was able to preside over the affairs of several prefectures. The governors and officials of the prefectures and counties he passed through lined up to welcome him!

Such people were not exceptions. The dozen or so people present, including Li Cheng, all held official positions and, with their fifth or sixth-rank titles, could arbitrarily order around the third or fourth-rank governors and their assistants.

The promotion and assessment of these people did not have to go through the Ministry of Personnel. Yuwen Rong judged who had the higher ability and better political achievements, and the promotion and demotion of officials were also determined by Yuwen Rong.

So when they began discussing court affairs, Zhang Dai heard them use very bold language, directly criticizing the prime minister and high-ranking officials. They argued that newly appointed prime minister Li Yuanhong was nothing more than a mediocre official holding a position. When it came to governing the country, especially disaster relief in Henan and Hebei, ultimately, they still needed to rely on these officials.

To be honest, Zhang Dai was not averse to this kind of personnel atmosphere, nor did he particularly like the rather cumbersome and rigid bureaucratic style of doing things. If this personnel system were built around him, that would be even more wonderful.

Just by observing how these people, while criticizing the prime minister, also seized every opportunity to flatter Yuwen Rong, Zhang Dai could imagine how pleased Yuwen Rong, with his numerous cronies, must be. He became even more determined to establish a new alliance with the powerful; to rise through the ranks in court step by step would be incredibly difficult!
“Zhang Lang also has some ideas about the current disaster relief efforts. Why don’t we let him share them and ask Vice Minister Yuwen and everyone present to offer their corrections?”

When the topic turned to disaster relief, after everyone had spoken, Li Cheng quickly spoke up during a break, giving Zhang Dai a chance to express his opinion.

“Zhang Liulang recently presented a book to Zhou Liang of Henan Prefecture. Although it was a plan left by a deceased man, his ability to recognize the great benefits of this plan to the people is truly remarkable. Now that he has another plan, I really want to hear about the family teachings of Yan Gongzhuang.”

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Rong chuckled and said that he had previously been resentful because Li Linfu's dismissal had disrupted the layout of the Censorate, which he had worked hard to build over many years. However, times had changed, and Zhang Dai was no longer his main opponent, so he was no longer so hostile towards Zhang Dai.

Moreover, he had already gained a rough understanding of Zhang Dai's ideas through other channels and appreciated them, which is why he agreed to let Li Cheng bring the man over. While he certainly had a side that was power-hungry and manipulative, he was also pragmatic and open-minded, and did not reject constructive suggestions.

(End of this chapter)