The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 121 Weight-bearing exercise
Li Lizhi brushed the dust off Li Shen's clothes, washed and dried his hands, and then combed her sister Gao Yang's hair.

Ning'er arranged the chairs in the front hall, and the princes were to sit here and listen to Princess Changle's lecture. Princess Changle was the class monitor of the East Palace and also the princes' little teacher.

After Princess Changle studies with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, she will teach the skills to the princes.

Princess Dongyang has already taken her seat.

Li Zhi came up and said, "Sister, the duck has been sent to Taiye Lake."

Seeing his brother looking discouraged, aggrieved, and confused, Dongyang slowly said, "Your friend shouldn't be a duck. Ducks are raised to be eaten."

Li Zhi scratched his head in annoyance.

Dongyang asked in a low voice: "Are you confused?"

"Ah."

Li Zhi lay on the table, his chin against the surface and nodded, then he turned his head and put his cheek against the cool table.

Dongyang said slowly: "If you are confused, you can do the math problems of my brother."

Li Zhi frowned, looking suspicious.

“When you are confused, you can do math problems to keep you awake, because the answer to the math problem is unique and correct, so it can keep you awake.”

When Li Zhi thought of the topic, his scalp tingled. He moved his position and said in horror: "Sister Dongyang, this is so scary."

"Am I scary?" Dongyang raised his head slightly and whispered, "Do you know? Our royal brother wrote a test for us. There are five major questions in each test. After the royal brother gave us the questions, he would calculate them again to see if they were correct."

Turning to look at his brother, Dongyang continued: "In fact, my royal brother is the most terrifying person in this Eastern Palace."

Li Zhi turned his head away and didn't look at Sister Dongyang's expression, and let out a long sigh dejectedly.

"When my brother is free, he will write exams for us. Each exam has five questions..."

The words of the imperial sister were still lingering in his ears. Li Zhi's face was pale from time to time, painful and tangled...

Zhongshu Province, Li Chengqian just walked here, still eating a piece of cake in his mouth.

Yu Zhining walked to the door of the Secretariat and bowed, saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian took out a cake from his sleeve, handed it to him and said, "Would you like a cake?"

After a moment of hesitation, Yu Zhining still took the cake respectfully with both hands. He did not eat it immediately, but said first: "The envoy from Khotan in the Western Regions is still outside the Suzaku Gate, waiting to see Your Highness."

Li Chengqian took a bite of the cake, walked into the Secretariat, and asked, "Do I need to see him?"

"This……"

Yu Zhining kept silent, thought for a moment and said, "It's not necessary."

Li Chengqian said casually: "Then you go to see him on my behalf, and send him to Sifang Pavilion after meeting him."

"Here."

Seeing him leaving, Li Chengqian chewed a pancake stuffed with mutton and green onions and said, "Come back quickly after you see me. We still have a lot of things to do before autumn."

Yu Zhining bowed quickly and walked hurriedly towards the Suzaku Gate.

My father, the emperor, and my mother, the queen mother, said that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace should go out more often, meet people of his age, and play with them more.

Li Chengqian had long forgotten these instructions.

The reality is that if I, the prince, play around with people of my own age, I will get into trouble. Li Yuanchang is a lesson for us.

So, ultimately, my father should be blamed for this matter.

After some psychological preparation, Li Chengqian sat down in the Secretariat with peace of mind.

Teacher, my uncle and Lord Zheng went to see our father after the morning court session and they have not returned yet.

When the teacher was not around, some urgent documents could only be approved by the prince who was the disciple.

Cen Wenben walked over quickly, handed over a roll of linen, and whispered, "Your Highness, this is the reply from the Tubo Prime Minister."

Li Chengqian took the roll of rough linen, untied the hemp rope, removed the wax seal, spread out the linen and looked at the contents.

Lu Dongzan's Chinese characters had improved somewhat. The content of the letter was nothing more than how much he respected the Tang Dynasty and that he had prepared a lot of barley wine.

It explains that the Tubo attack on Khotan was nothing more than a long-standing feud between Tubo and the Western Regions.

The letter also talked about Songtsen Gampo. It turned out that Songtsen Gampo was obsessed with the story of the Red Mansion and even wanted to get drunk with Mr. Cao.

Now I am still waiting for the ending of Dream of Red Mansions.

Li Chengqian did not intend to reply, and ordered: "Just put it on the shelf, together with this year's files."

Cen Wenben nodded and said, "Yes."

Li Chengqian continued to look at the document in front of him. He needed to plan the salaries of various departments in the court after the beginning of autumn this year. He had to pay the military salaries to the troops in the various guards first, as there was still a shortfall of two thousand strings of cash.

While looking at the documents, Li Chengqian was calculating when he could collect enough money.

The government's expenses were still tight, and the strategy of mutual trade did not produce immediate results.

Once the taxes from the second trade fair this year are collected, the gap can be filled. There is still plenty of time.

The Tang Dynasty's military system is remarkable and is also an effective and low-cost management method at present.

Many times, after the war, the soldiers returned home to farm and the generals returned to the court to report.

Generals and soldiers are not together most of the time, and generals can be replaced at any time.

Perhaps my father was well aware that if the generals’ ruling power existed for a long time in the local area, chaos would probably occur and some unreasonable military groups would easily emerge.

Therefore, except for a small number of guard posts in the central government, most of the local guard posts were in a state of separation between generals and soldiers.

This military system greatly reduced the burden on the court.

Li Chengqian whispered: "At least there is still room for maneuver."

Yu Zhining came back in a hurry. He didn't say a word. After dealing with the envoy from the Western Regions, he returned to his seat and continued to deal with the next matters.

I didn't see the teacher and Mr. Zheng, but I saw my uncle coming back.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Uncle, how was the conversation with the Emperor?"

Chang Sun Wuji said: "It went very smoothly."

With a simple reply, Li Chengqian continued reading with the document in his hand.

"Prime Minister Fang ordered Niu Jinda to lead his troops to station in Fuxi City."

After hearing what his uncle said, Li Chengqian asked in confusion, "Is this the former capital of Tuyuhun?"

Chang Sun Wuji also held the document in his hand and nodded, "It's all for the future."

"Did the emperor allow it?"

"The transfer order has been sent to Chang'an, and His Majesty has agreed. The Hexi Corridor will be transferred to Li Daliang, and Niu Jinda will go to Fuqi City."

At this point, Changsun Wuji added: "Your Highness is Fang Xiang's disciple. As a teacher, you should think more and think further than your disciple."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I'm glad I didn't cause any trouble to the teacher."

Changsun Wuji wanted to say something else, but he just sighed and said nothing more.

Niu Jinda stationed in Fuqi City, firstly to contain the Tibetans, and secondly to control the Tuyuhun people, because the labor force of the Tuyuhun people was now building the Hexi Corridor. The teacher was a far-sighted person. He realized the gap in Tuyuhun's defense and wanted to plant a nail in Tuyuhun between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty to prevent any changes in the war.

As the sun was setting, it seemed very likely that Prime Minister Fang would not come to the Secretariat today.

Li Chengqian was used to taking over his teacher's job and handling state affairs. He sat in his teacher's position and annotated each document in front of him.

As the documents were approved, officials left with the documents one after another, and the number of people in the Secretariat became fewer and fewer.

By the time he needed to light the oil lamp to read the documents, he was the only one left in the Secretariat.

When the night completely enveloped the imperial city, there were still a lot of memorials piled up in front of the court. The court was the busiest as autumn was approaching, and many tasks had to be completed before the beginning of autumn this year.

There were also many memorials from various counties in Guanzhong and all over the Central Plains.

This year, the mulberry silkworms in various parts of Jiangnan are being raised very well. Next year, a lot of silk will flow throughout the Central Plains. This is excellent market information.

The silk market has been getting better and better for three consecutive years. Du He should use his copper coins to exchange for more silk.

After all, in today's Tang Dynasty, silk is also one of the hard currencies used for barter.

Being at the center of the court, it is easy to understand the situation in various parts of the Central Plains.

Two lanterns appeared from the night. Li Chengqian looked up and saw that they were his younger sister Li Lizhi and Xiaofu.

"Royal brother." Li Lizhi stood aside playfully.

"Have your brothers and sisters eaten yet?"

"Well, they are all full, and Sister Ning is helping them with their homework."

Xiaofu took out a bowl of dumplings from the food box, along with a bowl of vinegar, and said, "Today we are eating dumplings, and we are using pork from Jingyang."

Li Chengqian put down the pen in his hand, picked up the bowl of dumplings and started eating.

Li Lizhi sat beside her brother, looking at the documents one by one, and asked, "Why are there so many?"

Li Chengqian said, "There are too many things to do this year. Doctor Sun is still compiling the Pharmacopoeia, and Taoist Priest Li Chunfeng and Taoist Priest Yuan have not yet found a way to measure wind speed."

While putting the dumplings into his mouth, Li Chengqian said, "Put them in order and take them to the East Palace. I will work overtime."

Li Lizhi brought her school bag with her. She had expected her brother to do this, and she complained in a low voice, "My brother has to work until late at night before he can rest. He has to practice archery before dawn. It's too hard."

After saying this, she pursed her lips and said dissatisfiedly: "How can the emperor let my brother do everything for me?"

Li Chengqian finished eating more than ten dumplings on the plate, including the vinegar, and burped.

Together with his sister, he put the documents into a school bag. Li Chengqian carried the heavy school bag on his back and tidied things up before closing the heavy door of the Secretariat.

Li Lizhi walked beside her brother with her hands behind her back and said, "I heard that the maids in Lizheng Palace said that Sizi can already run."

Li Chengqian walked with his hands in his pockets. The night in the imperial city was still a little chilly, especially when the wind blew over. "That's great. When Sizi is seven years old, let her come to the East Palace to study."

Li Lizhi smiled brightly and said, "Okay."

The brother and sister walked into Chengtian Gate with Xiaofu.

After returning to the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian walked past a group of younger brothers and sisters who were doing their homework, and came to the bedroom with a school bag on his back to begin reviewing memorials.

The East Palace has evening self-study classes. My younger brothers and sisters use one hour of the evening self-study period to do their homework. Only one hour is allowed.

After an hour, they can move freely, but they have to continue writing if they have not finished their homework.

However, most of the time, Li Zhi and Li Shen, who were left behind, were taught by their two elder sisters, Dongyang and Qinghe.

Li Chengqian sat alone in the bedroom, continuing to look at the documents. Xu Jingzong, the Shaoyin of Jingzhao Prefecture, and Guo Luotuo, the Minister of Sinong Temple, began to re-plan Guanzhong.

Based on the planning, the premise is still to preserve arable land.

Although the value of one acre of grapes is equivalent to ten acres of millet and six or seven acres of wheat, the economic value of a single acre is higher.

In order to maintain the grain supply in Guanzhong, planning can be carried out without occupying the original arable land.

Because Jingyang was the first to grow grapes, other counties thought that grapes were very valuable. In fact, this statement is inaccurate.

Economic laws cannot be viewed in a short-term perspective, while ignoring the importance of overall development and overall growth rate. Guanzhong must always be vigilant against the harm caused by economic homogeneity.

Adhering to comprehensive development is the principle, and adhering to crop diversification is the primary task for Guanzhong’s risk resistance.

These words were written to the county magistrate of Weinan County, and of course Pei Xingjian of Weinan County was also required to read these memorials.

Li Chengqian was still concentrating on writing.

Ning'er came over with tea and whispered, "Your Highnesses have all finished their homework."

Li Chengqian said: "Tell them that the exam will be held next month."

Ning Er smiled and said, "I have already told your Highnesses."

Li Chengqian nodded and continued writing the memorial.

Ning'er quietly opened the window, raised the wick of the oil lamp to make it brighter, and then sat aside and placed the kettle on the clay stove.

When Your Highness has finished these things, he will drink tea, wash up and go to sleep.

It was already late at night when Li Chengqian finally approved the last memorial.

The hall was very quiet. Ning'er put a bowl of tea on the table.

Li Chengqian placed the thick stacks of documents neatly, one stack against the edge of the desk. After the desk was clean again, he felt much more relaxed.

"Now there are rumors in the palace that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a close relationship with the Prime Minister of Tubo."

Li Chengqian stood by the window with his hands in his pockets, and said worriedly, "I don't know if he will come to the Tang Dynasty as an envoy next year."

Ning Er stood behind His Highness and whispered, "If the Tibetan Prime Minister really feels that he has a close relationship with the Crown Prince, he will definitely come."

“Otherwise it won’t come.”

"Ah."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled and said, "I thought that since he is here, I should not go back and stay in the Tang Dynasty from now on."

Ning Er said, "If Lu Dongzan only wanted to use His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he wouldn't have come."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "In the past, Tuyuhun was entrenched in Qinghai, but now Qinghai has been taken over by the Tang Dynasty, so he probably won't come."

After His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had washed up, Ning'er left the bedroom, closed the door for His Royal Highness, and then walked down the stairs to rest.

The next day, before dawn, Li Chengqian got up early to exercise.

I have developed a habit that no matter how late I sleep, I always wake up at a fixed time.

I don’t know what time I went to bed last night, nor do I know how many hours I slept.

After running around the East Palace three or five times, Li Chengqian felt slightly sweaty and felt much more awake.

When General Li Ji arrived, Li Ke did not come.

I thought he could really practice archery with me, but it seems that this younger brother is a person who doesn't have much of his own opinion.

Or maybe he hasn't woken up yet at this hour.

Li Ji was still carrying two stones today, and said, "Your Highness, you can now practice archery with weights."

(End of this chapter)