The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 133 Mostly Chopped Off

Not knowing why this sister was so concerned about the imperial examination, Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Why do you think about these things?"

Li Lizhi sat beside her brother, with her arms folded in front of her, and said with a look of indignation, "Why do they keep obstructing the imperial examinations?"

"Because they are afraid. They are afraid, so they come to obstruct."

Li Lizhi still feels aggrieved about this.

Li Chengqian smiled and said nothing more.

On the second day after General Li Jing was conferred the title of Duke of Weiguo, the autumn rain was still falling, and Xu Jingzong and Guo Luotuo were leading people to dredge the river.

"Oh my god! Why is it still raining?"

Xu Jingzong cursed angrily towards the sky. He was wearing a straw raincoat, and every time he lifted up the sandbag and put it down, he was so tired that it took him a long time to straighten his waist.

Someone nearby said, "Xu Shaoyin, take a break."

Xu Jingzong looked at the long river channel. The water level of the Yellow River was almost flush with the river bank. He gritted his teeth, straightened his back and said, "I will risk my life to serve the country."

Guo Luotuo knew in his heart that Xu Jingzong dared not make another mistake. If he did, he would probably be thrown to Jingyang by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and would have to live with the karez from then on.

This was the truest thought in Xu Jingzong's mind, and Guo Luotuo saw through it but did not speak it out.

Soon, someone came running in the mud and shouted, "Xu Shaoyin, soldiers are coming."

Everyone looked up and saw three or five people riding horses, followed by a group of strong men.

When the horse came closer, Xu Jingzong raised his bamboo hat, looked around and saw that it was Li Daozong who came in person, and hurriedly saluted and said, "Prefect!"

Li Dao Zong turned over and said, "People from each county are speaking."

"Here!"

A militiaman stepped forward and said, "Weinan has 35 men! Come to help Xu Shaoyin."

"Forty-one militiamen from Lantian County are here to provide assistance."

"Twenty-seven people from Sanyuan County!"

"Thirty-three people from Gaoling County."

"Twenty-eight people from Weibei!"

……

Listening to the words and watching the teams of people standing out, Xu Jingzong smiled in surprise. He stood there in a daze and almost fell down. Fortunately, Guo Luotuo who was standing beside him helped him up.

Li Dao Zong said loudly: "Each county will split into teams and make their own arrangements."

"Yes!" A group of militiamen responded loudly and began to join in the work of reinforcing the river embankment.

Li Daozon led Xu Shaoyin into a thatched hut, where they could temporarily take shelter from the rain.

Seeing Xu Jingzong shivering from the rain, Li Daozon opened the food box beside him and said, "Have a bite."

After saying that, he put down two bowls of dumplings.

Xu Jingzong and Guo Luotuo each had a bowl.

"These are dumplings from the East Palace. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince made and cooked them himself."

Upon hearing this, the two men bowed towards the direction of Chang'an City before even starting to eat.

Li Dao Zong looked at the two of them, smiled and handed over the chopsticks, saying, "Eat."

Xu Jingzong took the bowl and chopsticks and ate voraciously.

Guo Luotuo was not in a hurry to pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he added some firewood to the campfire in front of him and waited until the fire was strong enough and he felt the warmth before he started eating.

This Guo Siqing is always like this, he does things neither too fast nor too slow, and is very organized. Although he is taciturn, he always acts in a down-to-earth manner.

As for Xu Jingzong, although there is no doubt about his loyalty to the prince, compared to Guo Luotuo, Xu Jingzong also has selfish motives.

Whether it is Xu Jingzong, Guo Luotuo, or Shangguan Yi, the personality differences between these three people are really too great.

I don’t know how His Royal Highness the Crown Prince brought these three people together.

Guo Luotuo was eating dumplings and watching the people busy in the rain.

Xu Jingzong just swallowed a mouthful of dumplings and asked, "Were these people sent by the prefect?"

After that, he stuffed another dumpling into his mouth as soon as he finished his sentence.

They ate in a hurry, they must have been very hungry and tired.

Li Dao Zong took a thin piece of firewood and stirred the bonfire. The firelight reflected on his face. He whispered, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that even if the counties in Guanzhong have grievances with each other, they should work together when facing the overall situation. Moreover, the counties should be interconnected and can compete with each other, but when they need to stand together, they should also work together."

Xu Jingzong continued to stuff dumplings into his mouth and nodded vigorously.

Li Dao Zong put the thin firewood in his hand into the fire and said slowly: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is concerned about the counties in Guanzhong, and Jingzhao Prefecture dare not neglect them in the slightest."

“Hmmm…” Guo Luotuo kept nodding his head with dumplings in his mouth, agreeing with what was said.

After finishing a bowl of dumplings, Xu Jingzong sniffed and even shed a few tears. He was moved and said, "I will go through fire and water for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Xu Jingzong actually cried. It was not a good look for a middle-aged man to cry.

Turning his head away from him, Li Dao Zong said in a deep voice: "I added minced ginger to the dumplings, which is just right for you to drive away the cold. After eating, take a rest for a while."

Because of being in the rain for a long time, Xu Jingzong's palms were wet and wrinkled. He saluted respectfully and said, "Your subordinate obeys your command."

After all, the current Crown Prince is different from before. He thinks more and is more adept at dealing with court officials.

Li Daozon put his hands in his pockets, looking at the rainy sky with melancholy, feeling a little worried.

Xu Jingzong and Guo Luotuo fell asleep beside the campfire. A group of militiamen who were building the river embankment were replaced, and Li Daozon personally supervised the repair of the embankment.

Looking from the upper reaches of the Jing River to the lower reaches, one can see two walls built with sandbags on both sides of the river.

The surging Yellow River water rushed all the way downstream.

In the autumn of this year, the Tibetan envoy had a big quarrel with the officials of the Honglu Temple. The matter was finally settled with the Tibetan envoy Sambuza's apology.

During the autumn garden tour, Xu Yushi was assassinated, but fortunately he was unharmed. The man sent by the other party was a death squad, and it would not be easy to track down the mastermind behind the scenes. However, Sun Fujia of the Dali Temple would keep an eye on this matter until someone revealed the clue.

Although Wei Chang could not find out any news outside Guanzhong, he did ask the officials of the Dali Temple several times about the investigation process.

Wei Chang was a local leader in Chang'an and a person who was very sensitive to the situation. He suspected that the other party was intentionally leading clues outside the Great Wall to confuse the judgment of the Dali Temple, and the mastermind behind the scenes was most likely still in Chang'an.

The reason for his judgment was that the assassin had no intention of escaping before committing suicide. Even if he did not commit suicide, the mastermind behind the scenes would have eliminated the assassin who failed in the assassination.

General Li Jing gave His Majesty the list of generals in the army. The Wei Palace was changed into the Zhechou Palace, and a large-scale adjustment of military power was carried out.

Under centralization, military power was once again held in the hands of the emperor in a more solid form.

Furthermore, a trade envoy from the Western Regions died inexplicably.

So, this autumn is an eventful one. Hearing that his father's cold had improved, Li Chengqian walked into Ganlu Palace carrying a food box.

Since the emergence of eating in the Central Plains civilization, people have been unable to do without eating in their production and life, so the significance of eating is extraordinary.

When you can't remember where you have been, as long as you think of a delicacy, you can recall where you have been and even figure out where you ate it.

In production and life, or in the interactions between people, eating has always had a special meaning.

Li Chengqian came to his father's table and took out a bowl of dumplings from the food box.

Li Shimin then raised his face from the documents and whispered, "It's rare that you bring me food."

Li Chengqian put down his chopsticks, sat down beside him, and said, "My brothers and sisters are worried about my father's condition, so they asked me to come and visit him."

Seeing his son taking the initiative to sort out the piles of documents on the table, Li Shimin ate dumplings with a smile on his face and asked, "How are they?"

Li Chengqian kept his hands busy, taking down piles of documents from the low table, while saying: "It's the same as before. Zhinu is clamoring for his own room, but he is afraid of the dark when sleeping alone, so he can only squeeze in with Shendi. I plan to prepare a separate room for the two of them, so that the two brothers can have company."

"In two years, when Gao Yang is ten years old, it's time to let her wash her own clothes and give her her own room."

As he spoke, Li Chengqian flipped through the documents and took the initiative to organize them.

What I hate most in my life is seeing messy arrangements. These documents should be classified and placed neatly, such as the documents from the Ministry of Personnel should be placed in a separate stack, and the documents from the Ministry of War should be placed in a separate stack.

Li Shimin coughed and drank a mouthful of warm tea to stop coughing. He asked, "Have you seen the pharmacist?"

"Yeah." Li Chengqian was still sorting, finishing one pile and then another.

Looking at his frowning expression, it seems that coming to my side will make him suffer.

Li Shimin finished the dumplings in his bowl, put down his chopsticks, and said, "These dumplings taste good, but why are there some big and some small ones?"

"This was made by my brothers and sisters."

"These children are indeed much more sensible in the East Palace. I often read the daily records of the East Palace."

Li Shimin stood up, put his hands behind his back and looked at the rain outside the hall, and asked, "How are the rivers in Guanzhong?"

"The bank of the Jing River upstream is considered stable. After Xu Jingzong and his team dredged the downstream, they will have to observe for a few more days. We will be relieved when the rain stops."

"You punished Xu Jingzong to stay in Jingzhao Prefecture for three years without any promotion?"

"Let him stay in Jingzhao Prefecture. The emperor's uncle needs a good assistant to handle affairs. Besides, it can also temper his temper and make him stop thinking about becoming the right-hand man of the Eastern Palace all day long."

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Do you think Xu Jingzong is a bad person?"

Li Chengqian replied: "Everyone has shortcomings. If you want to control Xu Jingzong, you can't let him become too powerful. You need someone to suppress him. The emperor's uncle is a good candidate."

"You are now more mature in your thinking and consideration than before."

The son's voice came from behind him again, "I am the crown prince appointed by my father, and I am also the eldest brother of my brothers and sisters. Can you not give me more consideration?"

Li Shimin turned his back to his son, still suppressing the smile on his lips so as not to let the boy see it. He raised his head slightly and felt the cool wind blowing into the hall.

The old eunuch breathed carefully with the two young eunuchs, especially when the father and son were having a conversation.

But His Majesty did not notice that when the Crown Prince was sorting the documents, he took a few volumes and stuffed them into his arms, and then His Majesty continued to sort them as if nothing had happened.

This inevitably made the old eunuch beside him wonder, does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince think that I am blind?

But then he thought again, the old eunuch looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, so he pretended not to see it.

After helping his father sort out a pile of documents, Li Chengqian put the bowls and chopsticks back into the food box.

Hearing the clinking of bowls and chopsticks, Li Shimin put away his smile and said with his back to him, "Are you leaving?"

Li Chengqian hung the food box on his wrist, put his hands in his sleeves, and said, "Is there anything else you want to tell me, father?"

"How do you plan to arrange the Tibetan delegation?"

"If they want to stay in Chang'an, then let them stay. They may not return to Tubo until the beginning of next spring."

"The Western Regions trade envoy who was killed was killed by the Tibetans, right?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "The Honglu Temple received a letter from the King of Gaochang, saying that he died at the hands of horse bandits."

"Hahaha..." Li Shimin snorted coldly: "Which bandit in the Western Regions is so bold as to kill the envoys communicating with the Tang Dynasty?"

Li Chengqian stood there in silence.

"Niu Jinda sent a secret report last night, saying that the Tibetans killed the people. In order to avoid hatred with the Tibetans, the King of Gaochang lied that it was the horse thieves who did it."

Li Chengqian said: "In this case, the King of Gaochang is a cowardly person who enjoys the fruits of others' labor."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "That's right."

This is the second time I have heard a secret report from my father. Most of the Tang Dynasty’s intelligence channels are delivered to the emperor in the form of secret reports.

And the number of people who can submit secret memorials should be very small.

These secret reports would not go through the central government but would be reported directly to the emperor.

Until now, no one knows who the person is who can report the secret to the emperor.

Could be the eunuchs in the palace, or could be Prime Minister Fang and his uncle who have been very busy recently.

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and said, "I will take my leave now."

Seeing that his father was still facing the window, looking at the rain without saying a word, Li Chengqian also left Ganlu Palace silently.

The old eunuch let out a long sigh and whispered, "Your Majesty, would you like to rest for a while?"

Li Shimin sat back down and picked up his pen, saying, "I still have to read these documents, so I won't rest."

"The director of the Imperial Medical Bureau said that Your Majesty has just recovered from a cold and needs to rest more."

"I know my limits."

"Here."

However, when Li Shimin picked up his pen to continue reviewing documents and looked through the piles of documents that his son had sorted out, he felt something was wrong no matter how hard he looked.

Where is the document from the Ministry of Industry that I just looked at?

Li Shimin searched again and again. An hour later, the eunuch who was originally taking care of the emperor in Chongwen Hall came hurriedly. He handed over two documents and said, "Your Majesty, this is what the Crown Prince asked me to bring."

Thinking something was not right, Li Shimin took the document and took a look. It was indeed a document from the Ministry of Works. The budget for the construction of the Lingyan Pavilion had been approved by his son with a big "no".

Li Shimin breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, it seemed as if his cold had been miraculously cured. His blocked nose was now unusually unobstructed.

The emperor was so angry that he slammed the document on the table.

The eunuchs on the side knelt on the ground one after another. As expected, the Crown Prince had come by. If His Majesty was not angry at the time, he would definitely be furious afterwards.

I don’t know what happened to this royal father and son?
Being a eunuch is very painful. No wonder there are fewer and fewer eunuchs in the palace recently. Most of them were probably chopped off and buried by His Majesty because he was so angry with him.

(End of this chapter)