Thief Emperor

Chapter 1170 Li Yun in Historical Records
Yanzhou, at the foot of Mount Tai.

A temporary palace is under construction. The construction is being overseen by Du Qian, Prince Li Zheng, and the third prince, Prince Li Cang.

Du Xiangong was mainly responsible for grasping the overall situation, Prince Jin Li Zheng was responsible for overall coordination, and Prince Zheng Li Cang was responsible for providing funds.

Including this trip, Li Yun has left the imperial city three times during his nearly twenty years on the throne.

Unlike other emperors who built palaces wherever they went and insisted on creating rituals befitting their status, Li Yun rarely built palaces.

Or rather, he never built a palace.

When he traveled, if he needed to stay overnight in the wild, he would set up large-scale temporary tents, which were called imperial tents.

If staying in a big city, then temporarily stay with a wealthy local family.

For example, when Li Yun last went to Guanzhong, he stayed at the Prince of Qin's mansion and didn't even stay at the old Zhou imperial palace.

If one lived in Jinling, there was already an imperial palace, so there was no need to build any temporary palace.

This imperial palace in Yanzhou, known as the Taishan Palace, was the first imperial palace built by Emperor Li after he came to power.

The reason for building the Taishan Palace was, of course, Li Yun's own considerations, mainly political plans. Although he did not demand much of his descendants, he still hoped that his future children and grandchildren could accomplish a great feat worthy of the Fengshan ceremony and then live in this Taishan Palace.

Of course, if there are shameless descendants who insist on staying here without any merit, there's nothing that can be done, but at least some money can be saved.

On this day, Prime Minister Du and the Minister of Rites went to climb Mount Tai together. While climbing, they discussed the specific procedures for the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. Meanwhile, Prince Jin stayed at the temporary palace at the foot of Mount Tai with Prince Zheng to inspect the palace, which was still under construction.

After taking a quick look, Prince Jin smiled and said, "Third Prince, you've really struck it rich now. You just build such a huge palace like that without any pressure."

Prince Zheng smiled wryly and said, "To put it bluntly, this was all paid for by my father himself. I was just managing those funds on his behalf."

As he spoke, he added with some emotion, "Fortunately, Father Emperor made it clear that the palace would be built at the foot of the mountain. If it had been built halfway up the mountain as some of you gentlemen suggested, the cost would have been much higher, and the time it would have taken would have been far more than just a few months."

Prince Jin looked around the palace and then said with a smile, "Your father is willing to spend money, but he may not be willing to burden the people."

"If this were built on the mountainside of Mount Tai, not only would there not be enough time, but many people would probably die."

Transporting large quantities of materials, whether timber or stone, was a huge problem in this era. It was manageable on flat ground, but if they were transported up a mountain, given the scale of the emperor's palace, it wouldn't be surprising if hundreds of people died during the construction of a single project.

King Zheng nodded and said, "When I was a child, I rarely knew what my father was like. I only thought that my father was very powerful, sweeping away all the heroes under heaven. It was only after I grew up and started doing things in recent years that I gradually saw my father's saintly virtues."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "He wasn't like this when he was a child."

At this point, Prince Jin paused, shook his head, and said, "Then one day, he suddenly became a great man, and slowly, he actually saved all living beings in the world."

Prince Zheng didn't have many opportunities to communicate with Prince Jin, Li Zheng, because he felt that due to his background, he wouldn't have been as close to Prince Jin as the Crown Prince or Prince Qin. Now that he heard Prince Jin mention his father, he asked, "Third Uncle, what did my father look like when he was a child?"

Prince Jin stroked his chin and replied, "He's probably not much different from your second brother in temperament."

King Zheng thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "No wonder my third uncle likes my second brother so much."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "That's not really true. Compared to others, it's certainly better for your father to be the way he is now. If he were still the way he was before..."

Prince Jin shook his head and said, "You might not be here now."

As he spoke, he gave a self-deprecating laugh: "I might not even be around anymore."

At this point, the Prince of Jin seemed to realize that it was inappropriate to discuss the emperor behind his back. He patted Prince Zheng, Li Cang, on the shoulder and coughed, "We've gone off-topic. Don't spread these words around. If they do, your third uncle won't admit that he said them."

King Zheng quickly smiled and said, "Don't worry, among my brothers, I can't say I'm the most capable or the most handsome, but I'm definitely the least likely to talk nonsense."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "I believe that. Among the princes, you, Third Prince, are probably the most composed."

"correct."

Prince Jin remembered something and asked, "Have you found Sanlang's maternal relatives?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Zheng lowered his head and sighed: "I found them in Chenzhou these past few years, but there are no longer any of my mother's consort's peers, only a few cousins. I asked my mother."

"My mother asked me to send some valuables over, so I won't bother you any further."

Zheng Wang's mother, Qin Zhaorong, was "given" to Li Yun by Liu Zhiyuan, the governor of Chenzhou. She was not particularly close to her original family, so although Zheng Wang had made a name for himself in recent years, he was not very motivated to search for his relatives.

Prince Jin nodded and said, "His Majesty estimates that we will arrive in Yanzhou in about ten days."

Prince Jin smiled and said, "At this moment, only you, Third Brother, are present among all the princes. Perhaps you will be able to participate in the sub-sacrifice ceremony." Prince Zheng waved his hands repeatedly, shook his head and laughed, "Third Uncle, please don't harm me. I'm only here to help with the preparations for the temporary palace. I won't get involved in anything else."

After the uncle and nephew chatted for a while, King Zheng remembered something and asked, "Where is my third uncle's second son? Didn't we come out of Luoyang together? Why haven't I seen him?"

"Serve as a personal guard by His Majesty's side."

Prince Jin said with a smile, "Let him go out and get some experience, broaden his horizons."

King Zheng pondered for a moment: "Then it seems that Erlang is preparing to join the Imperial Guard in the future."

Li Zheng shook his head: "It's nothing."

While the uncle and nephew were talking, Minister Du Qian, accompanied by the Minister of Rites, arrived at the temporary palace. After exchanging greetings, Minister Du looked at Prince Zheng and asked, "Your Highness, will this temporary palace be ready within ten days?"

"His Majesty will arrive within ten days."

King Zheng looked around and shook his head, saying, "I'm afraid it won't work; it will take at least another month."

He smiled wryly and said, "Prime Minister Du, what you told me was the day of the Heaven-worshiping ceremony, not the day my father came to Yanzhou. I had no idea when my father would return from Liaodong."

Prince Jin, standing to the side, said with a smile, "Prime Minister Du, there's no need to rush. We can just let His Majesty stay in Yanzhou for a while. Our His Majesty isn't the type to stay still. Even if he gets to Yanzhou, he'll probably still want to walk around and see everything."

Then, the Prince of Jin continued, "I've heard that the local officials of Yanzhou have been traveling around making inspections lately, I wonder what they've been busy with."

Du Qian shook his head and said, "They wouldn't dare to do anything reckless."

He looked at Li Zheng and said solemnly, "Prince Jin, this Fengshan ceremony is the most important ceremony of our Great Tang Dynasty since the founding of the country. It must be recorded in history. We cannot afford to make any mistakes."

Prince Jin was somewhat surprised and asked, "Brother Du, is a sacrificial ceremony to Heaven really that important?"

Du Qian looked back at Mount Tai, his expression serious.

"This is the place where heaven and earth communicate and where heaven and man interact. If this Fengshan ceremony is done well, all people will recognize it, and the legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty will be firmly established and will remain unchanged for generations to come."

The Prince of Jin smiled.

"His Majesty said that orthodoxy resides in people's hearts, not on a divine altar."

Master Du smiled as well.

"But not everyone in this world is enlightened."

He looked at the Prince of Jin and said solemnly, "Some things are done to show intelligent people."

As he spoke, he looked at Mount Tai again: "But some things must be done in front of everyone."

…………

Ten days later, the emperor, leading his entourage on horseback, galloped all the way to the city of Yanzhou.

The Prince of Jin, the Prince of Zheng, and Prime Minister Du, along with a host of officials of all ranks, knelt on the official road at the gate of Yanzhou to welcome the Emperor.

His Majesty the Emperor, dressed in a cloak, dismounted and walked to the crowd. He helped Du Qian up with his left hand and Prince Li Zheng of Jin up with his right. Then, looking at the crowd, he said with a smile, "Get up, all of you."

After everyone stood up, Minister Du said with a smile, "His Majesty is in a good mood."

Emperor Li laughed and said, "Although we didn't fight any battles along the way, I've had my fill of riding horses. It's been so many years since I've been able to ride a horse!"

As he spoke, the emperor looked at Du Qian and asked, "How are the preparations going here?"

Lord Du replied, "Everything will be ready before the auspicious day."

"it is good."

The emperor turned his head and looked towards Mount Tai.

"This whole ordeal will determine my life as recorded in history books."

Emperor Li sighed with emotion.

"So, things are settled."

(End of this chapter)