The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 131 Zhechong Mansion

Sambuza stood up straight and glared at Li Baiyao for a long time without saying anything.

Li Chengqian sat with his hands in his pockets. He didn't know when the prince took out a tea egg from his sleeve and started eating it while sitting aside.

The Honglu Temple was silent for a long time. Li Chengqian peeled an eggshell and asked, "Why? The Tibetan envoy can't bend down or open his mouth?"

Sambuza turned around and said with a straight face, "I will not apologize to him. I hope His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will understand this."

Li Chengqian said slowly: "Our officials in the Tang Dynasty are all tough and are no less good at fighting than you Tibetans. Besides, I like to watch the officials fight. If they don't fight for a day, I will feel uncomfortable all over."

Li Baiyao looked a little more doubtful.

Sambuza took a deep breath and endured the grievance he was about to face.

Li Chengqian continued, "Messenger, do you know? If the Tibetan envoy here was not you, but the Tibetan Prime Minister Lu Dongzan, he would apologize. Do you know why?"

Sambuza turned around and said, "The Prime Minister won't apologize either."

"Okay." Li Chengqian put two bites of tea eggs into his mouth, chewing them and said slowly, "At least Lu Dongzan wants both the power of trade and the respect of the Tang people, and he likes books from the Central Plains. I think a man like Lu Dongzan will not completely offend the Tang Dynasty because of a momentary impulse, and will not let Tubo lose face in front of the envoys of other countries."

"Lu Dongzan would like the Tang Dynasty and Tubo to become friends who can only make peace with each other. I would like to ask, as a Tubo envoy, do you want to leave now, or apologize to our officials? If you want to leave, I will not stop you, and the gates of Chang'an will be open for you. But if you leave now, you will be disgraced, and Lu Dongzan will also lose face."

Seeing that the other party did not speak, Li Chengqian asked again: "Messenger, are you listening to me?"

Sambuza asked: "As long as the foreign minister apologizes, will the Tang Dynasty allow Tubo to trade with us?"

"will not."

He answered decisively. Sambuza's brain suddenly twitched and he thought he had misheard. He asked loudly in surprise, "Why?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "Everyone knows that the Tang Dynasty's trade can make Gaochang earn ten times the wealth in the Western Regions. Soap, tea, salt and iron are all in great demand."

Sambuza asked again: "Then may I ask Your Highness, how can we allow Tubo to trade with us?"

Li Chengqian whispered: "In fact, you Tubo can make a deal with Gaochang, why bother to ask the Tang Dynasty for help?"

"The King of Gaochang only cares about gold, but Tubo does not have that much gold."

"That's right. The permission for trade is very expensive."

"Your Highness," Sambuza said solemnly, "What should we do to make the Tang Dynasty agree to trade with us?"

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "The entire 3,000-li territory west of Qinghai will be given to the Tang Dynasty."

Sambuza swallowed hard, and the veins on both sides of his neck moved. He said in a deep voice: "Absolutely impossible!"

"I won't force you."

Seeing Sambuza turning around and about to leave, Li Chengqian said again: "Wait."

He stopped and asked, "Your Highness, do you have anything else to say?"

Li Chengqian said lightly: "Apologize."

A gust of autumn wind blew past the gate of the Honglu Temple, and the Crown Prince continued, "You don't have to apologize. The matter of beating an official is handled impartially by the Tang Dynasty. You will be exiled to hard labor for one year and fined 500 strings of cash each."

Sangbuza's face turned pale. He looked at Li Baiyao, lowered his body slowly, and saluted, saying, "I apologize to Minister Li Baiyao."

Li Chengqian said: "I didn't hear you, speak louder."

"Foreign minister Sangbuza!" He gritted his teeth and said loudly, "Apologize to Li Baiyao, the Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty. Please accept my apology. I was disrespectful."

The voice was so loud that all the officials around heard and saw it.

Seeing Li Baiyao nodding with a smile, Li Chengqian finally felt relieved. He stood up and walked to Sangbuza who was still bowing and saluted, and whispered: "You can go back to the posthouse now. If you want to leave Chang'an City, you can leave now."

Sambuza straightened up and walked out of the imperial city with stiff steps under the gazes of many officials in the imperial city.

Li Chengqian ordered: "From now on, no matter whether the Tibetan delegation leaves or stays, you must report to the Secretariat."

Li Baiyao added: "I'm afraid it will anger Lu Dongzan."

Li Chengqian snorted coldly, "I hate it when someone disrespects Tang officials. If Lu Dongzan wants to fight, Tang will fight him."

"Here!"

Li Baiyao responded loudly.

After saying this, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince left the Honglu Temple.

Li Baiyao stood there with his hands clenched into fists, trying to hold back the tears that were about to flow. After so many years, it was so difficult to meet a wise leader in life.

Although he is nearly 70 years old, at this moment, Li Baiyao feels extremely hot in his heart.

The word "respect" remained deeply in his heart, but this feeling came too late, so late that he was already gray-haired and afraid that he would not be able to stay in the court for many more years.

At this moment, suppressing the urge to shout, he bowed towards the Crown Prince's back.

What happened in the Honglu Temple today quickly spread throughout the court and the country.

Court officials were never just pawns; they were human beings, and contributing their heart and soul to the country was their job.

Perhaps many years later, when people feel annoyed that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is inhumanely strict on some details, they will think of today's scene. The respect shown by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will never allow anyone to disrespect the officials of the Tang Dynasty.

This kind of pride and honor that comes from the heart can also make Li Baiyao, a man whose edges have been smoothed out by time, excited again.

In the following days, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was still busy in the Secretariat almost every day as usual.

Sometimes His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would complain that the Huaxi autumn rain had come again.

Guanzhong Autumn Rain is Guanzhong Autumn Rain. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could not change his way of speaking and just said Huaxi Autumn Rain.

The autumn rain in the northwest is a natural phenomenon, which occurs when the cold air moving from the north to the south in autumn meets the warm and humid air that still has residual heat from summer and remains in the northwest.

A special climate phenomenon formed by the collision of cold and warm air.

Sometimes this kind of rain can last as long as a month.

The Tibetan delegation did not leave Chang'an but stayed there. Sambhota stayed in Chang'an temporarily and wrote letters about recent events and sent them to Tibet.

Dark clouds covered the sky, and when the rain fell, mist rose from many buildings in Chang'an City.

Some people like this kind of rainy scene, while others hate rainy days.

Inside the Xingqing Hall, Li Shimin sat under the eaves, rocking slowly in a rocking chair, watching the rain scene in front of him.

Originally, there was nothing interesting to see in the rain in the palace. If you really want to see the rain, it would be better to go to Longshouyuan.

The eunuch was waiting on the side, bringing His Majesty a bowl of freshly brewed tea.

Perhaps your Majesty's mind is not on the rainy scene, but on something else.

Fang Xuanling came hurriedly and saluted, "Your Majesty."

Li Shimin handed him the bowl and said, "Drink some tea to drive away the cold."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

At this time of year, the temperature in Guanzhong drops rapidly, especially at night, when the temperature drops sharply as if it is winter.

Li Shimin whispered, "That's what the generals of the various guards said." Fang Xuanling replied, "No one has any objection."

Li Shimin said: "I wanted to do this in a few years."

"Since the pharmacist has taken out the list of generals, it means there is nothing to worry about."

Li Shimin looked hesitant, "I still think it's too hasty."

Fang Xuanling replied: "Your Majesty, the sooner this happens, the better. It would be bad if it is delayed for too long."

Soon, Duke of Zheng Wei Zheng and Duke of Zhao Changsun Wuji also arrived.

Following behind were General Qin Qiong of the Left Guard and General Yuchi Gong of the Imperial Guard.

Li Shimin looked at the people who came in the rain, picked up a book beside him, and whispered, "This is the list of generals in the army that the pharmacist gave me, as well as the rules for the subsequent adjustment of generals."

After saying this, he handed the book to Fang Xuanling, who then handed it to Yuchi Gong and Qin Qiong who were standing beside him.

Several people passed it around. It was very quiet under the eaves of Xingqing Hall, with only the sound of rain falling.

His Majesty still had a worried look on his face and was hesitant.

After reading it, Yuchi Gong bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the pharmacist is right. I second your opinion."

Qin Qiong also said, "I second the motion."

Li Shimin looked at the others again and said slowly, "Xuanling, Fuji, what do you think, Lord Zheng?"

Wei Zheng said: "Your Majesty, we all think that it is time."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Please draft an edict with me and go into the palace to discuss it."

"Here."

Everyone followed His Majesty into the Xingqing Hall, and the sound of rain covered the discussions inside the hall.

The next day, the autumn rain was still falling. Li Chengqian looked out the window and whispered, "I can't do morning exercises again today."

Ning'er combed the prince's long hair and whispered, "This is also good. Your Highness can sleep for two more hours."

"I always feel that something is going to happen in the court recently."

"Why did Your Highness say this?"

Li Chengqian said slowly, "Prince Fang and my uncle have been very busy recently. The last time Prime Minister Fang was so busy was around the time of the imperial examination. Now that the teacher and my uncle are so busy, something must be happening again."

Ning'er combed the prince's hair and stood quietly aside.

Li Chengqian was wearing a single layer of clothing, frowning as he looked at the rain. His stern face showed a thoughtful expression. "Still no news from Jingyang?"

Ning Er replied, "I sent someone to ask, and they said there were no letters to be delivered from Jingyang. I also heard that Xu Shaoyin and Guo Siqing have been very busy recently because of the flood situation in the upper reaches of the Yellow River due to the autumn rain. They are leading people to dredge the river."

The court was still very busy, and everyone was an ordinary person. This year's autumn rain was heavy and lasted for a long time, so Xu Jingzong and others, as officials of Jingzhao Prefecture, needed to organize the villagers to dredge the river and repair the river embankment at this time.

It is precisely because they are ordinary people that they have to work in the rain at this time.

No one can predict the future. At most, we can prepare for a rainy day. But who would have expected that this autumn rain would be so heavy.

Li Chengqian stood up and picked up the court robe on the hanger. After putting it on, he tied his belt, put on his official boots and walked out of the hall.

Xiaofu has prepared breakfast.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince walked from the back hall to the front hall holding a bamboo umbrella, and after breakfast he was about to attend the morning court.

As soon as he walked out of the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian ran into his uncle Li Xiaogong.

Li Chengqian gave him some umbrellas and said, "Don't worry, uncle. There's still time."

Li Xiaogong and the crown prince were sharing an umbrella, and he leaned in and said, "I heard that Xuanling, Duke Zheng, and Brother Qin were in the palace last night and discussed with Your Majesty all night."

"I didn't know about this." Li Chengqian walked with a frown. He had been paying attention to the situation in various counties in Guanzhong recently. The autumn rain and flood situation had to divert a lot of his energy.

The uncle and nephew walked to the front of the Taiji Hall and hurried into the hall.

Before the morning court session began, most of the ministers in the Taiji Hall had arrived. Li Chengqian came to his seat and looked at Li Tai and Li Ke standing beside him.

The two younger brothers were still the same as usual, and it seemed that they didn't know what the uncle said.

Li Chengqian asked: "How did you sleep last night?"

Li Ke said: "My brother, I was on duty last night and have not slept yet."

"Where's Qingque?"

Li Tai bowed and said, "My dear brother, I worked with the scholars to compile the Comprehensive Geography until late last night. I slept for a while and then came here."

I thought that these two younger brothers must have a hard time.

Before the emperor arrived, a eunuch came out. He first confirmed that everyone in the court was present, then opened a file in his hand and read aloud: "Your Majesty has ordered that the guard offices in various places be reorganized into Zhechongfu, the general office be reorganized into Zhechongfu, the general office be reorganized into Zhechongduwei, and the other generals be reorganized into left and right Guoyiduwei..."

Everyone listened to the eunuch reciting loudly. All the civil and military officials in the court lowered their heads, bowed and remained silent. In the hall, only this eunuch was reciting the words of the emperor's will loudly.

Li Chengqian stood at the front of the court, listening to the imperial edict and pondering every word in his mind. It all started when he met General Li Jing after the garden tour.

Li Chengqian even suspected that after touring the garden that day, his father went to see General Li Jing, and then the eunuch loudly recited the names of the generals one by one.

The generals of various departments in Chang'an remained unchanged, only a few were adjusted.

Li Chengqian listened carefully. There were 280 governments in Guannei Road, with a total of 200,000 soldiers and horses.

All the guards in Chang'an were under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Guard, which seemed to have the intention of using the people of Guanzhong to control the four directions. This was a strategy of heavy inside and light outside.

The second is Hedong Road, a key area to guard against the southward advance of the Turks, and Zhechoufu was also set up there.

In addition, guard posts were set up in Tongguan, Henan Road, and Luoyang.

After the eunuch finished reading the decree, he said in a loud voice: "Please all the generals go to the guard house and wait for the decree."

"Yes!" The generals responded in unison and quickly left the Tai Chi Hall.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict walked down the steps beside the throne. He said with a smile, "Your Highness, the emperor was not feeling well this morning. Please preside over the morning court."

Li Chengqian asked: "How is Father's health?"

The eunuch replied, "Your Majesty just has a slight chill, nothing serious."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I understand."

The eunuch bowed with a smile, then quickly left.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the court and looked at the empty row of military generals, with only a few people still there, namely General Cheng Yaojin, General Qin Qiong, and General Yuchi Gong.

"Alas, I will be in charge of government affairs again today."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first complained, and everyone listened in silence.

(End of this chapter)