The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 111 Joy and Sweeping the Western Regions

Li Yuan ate a grape and said, "The Taiye Lake is too old. It needs repair."

It is said that children look like their mother when they are young and like their father when they grow up. Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's eyebrows, eyes and facial features are more like Your Majesty.

Li Chengqian looked at Taiye Lake without saying anything.

Li Zhi unintentionally wanted his father to give Taiye Lake to his brother. From a child's perspective, he just liked to swim in Taiye Lake.

Li Shimin did not agree or deny it immediately, but said: "I will think about it carefully."

Seeing that Li Zhi was still looking at his father expectantly, Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I want everyone to be able to afford a bite of fruit. I will promote the method of growing grapes throughout the world so that more people can participate in it."

Li Shimin waved his sleeves and said, "Let's have a banquet in Xingqing Hall. Please come."

I won’t have to worry about having grapes to eat every summer from now on. I can make raisins for my younger brothers and sisters with the leftover grapes.

Li Lizhi looked at the large basket of grapes with a happy face.

Sixty acres of grapes were planted in Jingyang. Apart from being distributed to villagers in Jingyang County, these grapes were also brought to the court for celebration.

The grapes in the Tang Dynasty mature later than those in the Western Regions, with a difference of about one month.

This can be attributed to the sunshine. The unique sunshine environment in the Western Regions has created a bumper harvest of fruits and vegetables.

At this time of year in Guanzhong, the sunshine is the most abundant, and grapes can only mature at this time.

In the evening, the Xingqing Hall was brightly lit.

There is a pot of grapes on everyone’s table. These are grapes grown by Jingyang himself and freshly picked.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the hall to welcome the officials of Chang'an to the grape banquet.

Gao Shilian and Yu Shinan walked together, chatting and laughing all the way.

"Uncle, nice to meet Lord Yu." Li Chengqian bowed.

"Your Highness, there is no need to be so polite." Yu Shinan stroked his beard and said, "The grapes I ate before were all given by His Majesty. I heard that from now on, Your Highness can give me grapes to eat?"

Li Chengqian stood with his hands in his pockets and said, "You can have as much as you want."

Yu Shinan laughed out loud and said, "Great, great, I'm going to have a good meal tonight."

Gao Shilian narrowed his eyes and whispered, "I thought Jingyang was going to make countless money from grapes. I heard that Your Highness wanted to let all the counties in Guanzhong know about the grape cultivation method."

"Uncle, it's just money. Do I have to keep the grapes just to satisfy my own appetite?"

Gao Shilian patted his grandson on the shoulder and whispered, "By the way, take a long-term view. The country is more important than the small profits in front of you."

Li Chengqian saw his uncle's meaningful smile and said, "Uncle is right."

The more Gao Shilian looked at the prince, the more satisfied he became, and he walked into the palace with Yu Shinan.

Not long after, Li Ke came hurriedly, "Royal brother! Royal brother!"

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "I thought you were on duty today and would not come."

Li Ke arrived in front of the palace and hurriedly took off his armor, saying, "Just after I got off duty, my brother rushed over."

"Yeah, I can see it."

As he spoke, he placed the sword at his waist in the corner of the wall, and then piled his helmet and armor aside.

After taking off his heavy armor, Li Ke stretched his limbs and asked, "I heard that my brother has people grow grapes in Jingyang?"

Li Chengqian stood in front of the hall with his hands in his pockets and said, "Yes, it's not easy."

Li Ke looked at the bunches of grapes in the hall, swallowed his saliva and said, "In the past, being able to eat grapes was a reward from my father."

"From now on, every year when the grapes are ripe, I will let my younger brothers and sisters have a feast of grapes."

"My brother is ashamed."

"We are all brothers." Li Chengqian looked at the setting sun lazily.

"Brother Royal?"

"Ah."

Li Ke leaned closer and asked, "When are we going to sweep across the Western Regions?"

Li Chengqian asked suspiciously, "Sweeping across the Western Regions?"

Li Ke stared with wide eyes and whispered, "There are rumors in the army that my brother is going to sweep across the Western Regions."

"When did the rumor start?"

"During the winter holiday last year."

"Did I say that?"

Li Ke blinked, looking somewhat innocent and confused, and asked, "Didn't my brother tell me that?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "No wonder the Gaochang prince bought 10,000 bars of soap from Jingyang."

It seems that as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, he was too detached from the Tang army and was unaware of such rumors in the army.

When did I ever say that I wanted to sweep across the Western Regions? This is such a huge misunderstanding.

The Prince of Gaochang was so scared that he bought 10,000 bars of soap from Jingyang.

In the final analysis, it was because the work at the grassroots level was not done well enough, the information between the upper and lower lines was too far apart, and so many misunderstandings occurred. It was really unavoidable.

Li Ke scratched his head, becoming more and more confused, and asked, "Didn't my brother tell me that?"

"Misunderstood."

"Is... is that so?" Li Ke looked troubled and whispered, "I heard that my brother has grown grapes, and Guanzhong can also eat grapes. Isn't this a good time to sweep across the Western Regions?"

Li Chengqian thought of the four Anxi towns in the Western Regions and whispered, "Fighting is very hard."

Li Ke said: "Brother is not afraid of hardship."

"I know you are not afraid of hardship, and there will always be opportunities." Li Chengqian saw three or five generals from the court walking towards here and said, "For matters like sweeping across the Western Regions, we have to ask the generals from the court."

Li Ke nodded heavily and said, "That's right."

Seeing Li Tai also walking towards here, he hurried his steps.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Green Bird!"

Li Tai stopped in front of the palace, bowed respectfully and said, "Royal brother."

Li Chengqian asked, "How are you these days?"

"It's... pretty good."

When Li Tai raised his head and said this, he looked discouraged and helpless.

"Have you read all the comments I gave you?"

"I've seen it." Li Tai sighed, "Thank you for your guidance, brother."

Putting his hand on the fat brother's shoulder, Li Chengqian whispered, "I thought you would be angry."

Hearing this, Li Tai looked puzzled and asked, "Does your Royal Brother think that I will be angry just because of these comments?"

"If Qingque is not angry, I will feel relieved."

"Thank you for your guidance, brother."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "My younger brothers and sisters are all in Father's villa. They are eating grapes like meals, not caring whether they will have diarrhea if they eat too much."

After saying this, he led his two younger brothers into the Xingqing Palace.

There were still some people who hadn't arrived yet, so the hall was already bustling.

Everyone has someone to chat with, or sits alone, eating grapes and sipping a glass of wine, feeling very comfortable.

This sultry summer doesn't seem so hot anymore with the grapes.

A eunuch fished out grapes from ice water. The grapes with a hint of cold air tasted more refreshing in this summer. When it was completely dark outside the hall, the guests in Xingqing Hall also arrived.

Li Chengqian sat next to Fang Xiang and asked, "Teacher, what do you think of the taste of these grapes?"

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said, "They are better than the grapes sent as tribute from the Western Regions."

"When there are more grapes in Guanzhong in the future, we can make our own wine."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince has such an ideal. I congratulate the Tang Dynasty."

After everyone had been seated for about half an hour, Li Shimin walked into the hall. The emperor raised his glass and said, "I will drink with you all."

The civil and military officials in the palace raised their glasses and said, "Long live the Tang Dynasty!"

The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace usually doesn't drink alcohol, and now he just drinks tea instead of wine. However, Li Tai and Li Ke didn't care. They drank a sip of wine happily and sipped their lips skillfully.

Changsun Wuji sat upright and asked in a low voice: "Your Highness can drink at this time."

"After I return to the East Palace, I will have to grade the homework of my brothers and sisters, so I won't drink."

Hearing the word "correction", Li Tai frowned obviously. Looking at the laughter in the hall and his brother's kind smile, he didn't know why he felt a little uneasy at this moment.

While the wine was being drunk in the hall, Li Chengqian walked out of the hall silently, looked up at the starry sky and the bright moon hanging high in the sky, and walked towards the East Palace.

In the darkness there was a lantern parked not far away.

When I got closer, I saw that it was Ning'er waiting here.

Li Chengqian said: "You can wait for me outside the palace."

Ning Er whispered, "I dare not disturb your highness's pleasure."

"That is my father's taste, not mine."

"Grapes have been grown in Jingyang. I congratulate Your Highness."

Li Chengqian walked along with his hands in his pockets, and said with a smile: "Don't congratulate me. Father said that he would give me the Taiye Lake as a reward, but he neither agreed nor refused."

Ning Er said, "Your Majesty may still be considering it."

"It doesn't matter. Even if the emperor doesn't reward me, I will have the final say when I ascend the throne."

"What His Highness said is absolutely true."

Ning'er walked beside His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, holding a lantern.

In Chang'an City, the news that grapes were grown in Jingyang was spread by word of mouth on this summer night.

In a private room on the second floor of the wine shop, Xu Jingzong was drunk. He put his arm around Guo Luotuo's shoulder and said, "Congratulations, Brother Guo. You will be the Minister of Agriculture in the future."

Guo Luotuo whispered: "I am not good-looking, so I am not qualified to be a high official."

Shangguan Yi smiled and said, "It is because of Brother Guo that Jingyang has achieved success. This has nothing to do with appearance. If anyone dares to talk about it, I and Old Xu will fight him to the death."

Guo Luotuo smiled and said, "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it."

A knock on the door interrupted the discussion of the three people. Du He pushed the door open and asked the servants beside him to carry three bags. When the bags were put down, the unique collision sound of silver cakes was heard.

Du He said, "Three of you, six hundred strings of cash each. His Highness has specifically ordered that you give me silver cakes."

Guo Luotuo pushed a bag of silver cakes forward and said hastily, "I dare not accept it."

Du He ordered someone to close the door, sat down and said, "This is the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It's just silver. I, Du He, have plenty of money."

The three of them looked at each other in silence. Since it was the order from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they had no choice but to accept the money silently.

Du He said, "Old Xu, I heard that you are now the Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture."

Xu Jingzong said quickly: "I am still in charge of Jingyang County. Although I have been promoted, I am still the magistrate of Jingyang County."

Shangguan Yi nodded and said, "The documents from the Ministry of Personnel have been delivered. I am the director of the Hongwen Academy and also the chief clerk of Jingyang County. Jingyang is our hard work and we have not dared to neglect it for two years. Even if I have to give up this official position, I am willing to stay in Jingyang and be a chief clerk."

Du He sat aside, poured himself a bowl of wine, and whispered: "I toast to Brother Guo."

Guo Luotuo quickly picked up his wine bowl and said with his head down, "I don't deserve it."

Du He added: "This is for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, to Brother Guo."

Guo Luotuo lowered his posture even lower.

Du He drank the wine in the bowl in one gulp and said, "Old Xu, when you work in Jingzhao Prefecture in the future, you will also have to take care of Jingyang. There is news from the court that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will be in charge of the agricultural affairs in Guanzhong in the future. Old Xu and Brother Guo hope you can help us."

Guo Luotuo lowered his posture and saluted in the direction of Taiji Hall, saying, "It is my duty."

"In fact, it's not just grapes, there's also wheat and sorghum." Du He said slowly: "There was a rumor that the Crown Prince's ideal was to grow rice in the desert. What an ambition that is."

Guo Luotuo whispered, "Sorghum can be used to make vinegar, and grapes can be used to make wine. It is possible to grow food in the desert, but I have never tried it."

Xu Jingzong said loudly with a laugh.

Shangguan Yi also laughed.

I don’t know if it was because of the good times after all the hardship in Jingyang, or because of the alcohol, but he was laughing crazily.

The joy and achievement of growing grapes, the two years of hard work, and the few words of comment from others have kept me going until now.

For them, their current achievements and promotions are not as meaningful as growing grapes.

The next day, early in the morning in Chang'an City, Shangguan Yi had to go to Hongwenguan early to be on duty. He was now the head of Hongwenguan and had to preside over many important matters of Hongwenguan.

According to the instructions of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I also need to write down a summary of my experience in growing grapes.

Guo Luotuo is a man of few words and he is not good at this kind of thing.

Xu Jingzong was still busy serving as the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, so he probably didn't have the time to write.

This kind of thing naturally fell on Shangguan Yi, and he went to Hongwenguan to prepare to write a record of grape planting.

There were many students coming and going in Hongwenguan.

When Shangguan Yi arrived here, several managers came up to him attentively and were very respectful to their new boss.

There were a total of 351 students in the Hongwenguan, including 68 bachelors and 15 managers.

This is also the jurisdiction of the secretary, who can call up files and documents at any time as needed.

People take a rest at noon to avoid the heat, so before daybreak many people are busy preparing for the day.

When the sun rose completely from the east, some people were already busy and sweating profusely.

Xu Jingzong brought Guo Luotuo to Jingzhao Prefecture.

In Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Daozon had just woken up from last night's hangover. Last night, he got drunk with His Majesty and a group of generals in Xingqing Hall.

When I woke up, my mouth was dry and I kept pouring cold water into my mouth.

"Prefect, Xu Shaoyin and Guo Luotuo are here."

I had heard of these two people's names last night. Li Dao Zong perked up and said, "Please come in."

"Here."

Xu Jingzong brought Guo Luotuo into the yamen and bowed, saying, "I am Xu Jingzong, your humble servant, and I greet the prefect."

"Your humble servant Guo Luotuo greets the prefect."

Li Dao Zong walked forward with a smile on his face, helped the two of them up and said, "No need to be polite. I have heard about the matter between Xu Shaoyin and Sinong Siqing. I also ate Jingyang grapes last night."

Xu Jingzong said: "This humble official has come here to take up his post today."

"It's a headache to manage the twelve counties in Chang'an. Last night, each county submitted a petition saying that they all want to grow grapes."

Li Daozon took out several volumes of documents from a shelf nearby, and several more volumes fell to the ground.

Note: Guo Luotuo, whose original name was Guo Tuotuo, was a native of Fengle Township in the Tang Dynasty. Because he had a bent back, people called him Guo Luotuo. He was good at planting trees and farming, and his real name is difficult to verify.

Since the year of birth and death is unknown, the author still feels that the wisdom of the ancient working peasants is precious, and people who possess such simple wisdom are even more precious.

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(End of this chapter)