The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 135 Loyal Xu Jingzong
Li Ji asked, "I can go to Jingzhao Prefecture and convey these words to Xu Jingzong."

The Weishui River was visible in front of him. Li Chengqian leaned sideways in the carriage and whispered, "Let's observe for a while. I don't care about their opinions. I only look at their abilities. Give them some time. If they still can't do a good job before the imperial examination next year, I will dismiss them from their posts."

Li Ji nodded heavily.

Looking from here from afar, you can see sandbags piled on both sides of the river bank, and horse-drawn carriages slowly passing along the river bank.

Li Chengqian saw a man holding a babbling child and looking at the repaired river embankment.

After the autumn rain, the water flow of the Jing River upstream was turbulent, and the water flow of the Wei River downstream was turbulent.

Li Ji drove the carriage down along the river. At this time, the county magistrates of various counties had all gone to Jingzhao Prefecture and did not care who was in the carriage.

Other young men might go out hunting in autumn, but the purpose of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace's autumn hunting is to inspect the river.

It was almost dusk and the weather was still gloomy. A few drops of rain fell on the carriage and the drizzle began to fall again.

The city of Chang'an in the distance also appeared hazy.

In the morning, many people went to Chang'an City to find work in order to make a living.

When night fell, he left Chang'an and went home.

Although the villagers from various counties did not settle in Chang'an City, they were still the most important labor force in Guanzhong.

Returning along the same route, Li Chengqian bought another twenty coins' worth of zonggao.

"My dear guest, if you eat too much of this zongzi, you will feel uncomfortable in your stomach."

"I have many brothers and sisters at home, we can share it." Li Chengqian took the zonggao and said with a smile.

"Is the guest the eldest son of the family?"

After putting the zongzi in a wooden box and then wrapping it with cloth as a simple way to keep it warm, Li Chengqian replied, "Yes, I am the eldest son in the family."

The vendor was also packing up his cart. He smiled and said, "The customer looks to be about 16 or 17 years old. Is he married?"

Li Chengqian said: "I haven't got married yet."

"Your parents will definitely be pleased to have a sensible son at home who cares about his younger brothers and sisters."

"Isn't that right?" Li Chengqian said casually, "I think so too."

Seeing that the rain was getting heavier, Li Chengqian got back into the carriage and said, "Let's go back. It's raining."

"Go home, go home." The old man selling zonggao smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.

After the young man got on the carriage, it drove towards Chang'an.

The old man put on his hat and pushed his cart in the rain all the way home. Suddenly he thought of something. The way the young man called him was a bit strange.

A guest who was passing by didn't pay much attention to it. The old man sang the ballads of Guanzhong all the way back home.

The carriage stopped in front of Chang'an City, and Li Chengqian and General Li Ji walked on Zhuque Street.

The streets that had just rained were still very busy. The drizzle did not dampen people's enthusiasm. There were vendors hawking their wares, passers-by walking, and militiamen carrying goods.

It created a lively scene on Zhuque Street in Chang'an City.

When passing by Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Chengqian deliberately slowed down his pace and saw that there were quite a few people sitting in Jingzhao Prefecture, and most of the county magistrates were already sitting here.

Li Daozon, who was sitting at the table, did not speak a word but looked serious.

Xu Jingzong stood in front of the crowd, speaking loudly, and one could see saliva flying everywhere as he spoke.

As if he was dissatisfied with the slow work of the county magistrates, Xu Jingzong, the Shaoyin of Jingzhao Prefecture, scolded all the county magistrates.

Soon other county officials stood up and spoke, explaining their own difficulties.

Xu Jingzong did not allow them to explain, and pointed at the person who had just stood up and scolded him again.

Li Chengqian stopped and simply watched the excitement outside the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture.

Xu Jingzong worked hard to dig the karez in Jingyang and then planted grapes. He climbed from the position of county magistrate in Jingyang to the position of vice-chancellor of Jingzhao Prefecture.

He was also one of the eighteen scholars in the Qin Palace at that time.

Even now some people are saying that Xu Jingzong got to this position by clinging to the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

Xu Jingzong also had the confidence to face the discussions of the crowd and talked about his achievements in managing Jingyang and making all the villagers in Jingyang rich families in Guanzhong.

He had endured two years of hard work in Jingyang, and this achievement was the basis for him to stand in Jingzhao Prefecture and curse all the county magistrates in the twelve counties of Chang'an.

It is already autumn, and we need to organize trade before winter. These county magistrates have not even prepared the goods to sell to the people from the Western Regions.

How could he, the Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, not be angry?
Finally, Xu Jingzong kicked over the table and yelled at them to get out. Then the county magistrates left dejectedly.

Li Chengqian and Li Ji stood outside the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, watching the county magistrates leave one by one with their heads hung.

Now I finally understand how Xu Jingzong subdued the county magistrates of these twelve counties. I'm afraid he used coercion, inducement, beatings and scolding until the other party submitted.

That's probably the case...

The rude way of being an official has its advantages, as it can force these county officials to do their job in one go.

For Xu Jingzong, he only looks at the success or failure of a thing, rather than the process, and any problems in the process that lead to bad results.

Xu Jingzong would focus the problem on the abilities of his subordinates. He held a whip in his hand, and the whip represented his identity as Shao Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture.

After all the county magistrates had left, Xu Jingzong hurried out and saluted, saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"These county magistrates have a lot of opinions about you."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. If they can't do it well, I will personally go to each county and help Your Highness get things done."

Li Chengqian patted his shoulder and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry for making you suffer."

"Your Highness, please don't say that. The position of Jingzhao Prefecture Governor was arranged by Your Highness. I will help Your Highness get the job done even if I don't want to lose my life."

Li Chengqian said slowly, "I asked Shangguan Yi to write the grape cultivation method. How is he doing?"

"After it's written, let Guo Siqing proofread it. If there are no problems, it can be distributed to the counties."

"Thank you."

Seeing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince walking towards the Suzaku Gate, Xu Jingzong bowed and said, "Your Royal Highness, take care."

Li Ji followed His Highness and turned around to say to him, "No need to see me off."

When Li Chengqian returned to the Eastern Palace, his younger brothers and sisters were doing their homework.

When the emperor came back, the palace was very quiet and Li Lizhi was staring at them.

Li Chengqian opened the wooden box, and Li Lizhi said in surprise: "Oh, Zenggao!"

"Stop for a moment and eat some zong gao."

Li Zhi cheered and put down his pen. He rushed forward first as if he was free, and they each took a piece with their chopsticks.

It was almost time for dinner, and Xiaofu was not fast at cooking, so they were hungry and ate a piece of zongzi first to fill their stomachs.

Ning Er said, "Your Highness, Jingzhao Prefecture has sent all the memorials from the counties."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I'll read it after dinner."

Ning'er stood aside with a frown, watching His Highness and the princes and princesses eating zongzi with smiles on their faces, but she didn't say much.

After dinner, Li Chengqian returned to his bedroom and placed a pile of documents in front of him. Ning'er helped to light the oil lamp and candlestick, and the originally dim room became bright.

In addition to the documents sent by the counties, there were also memorials from various ministries.

I went to check out the river today. I found that Xu Jingzong and his men were quite capable. Even if the counties had complaints, at least under the arrangement of Xu Jingzong, the cruel official, the counties had to obey.

Originally, each county was well off and had a lot of free time, but now their work intensity is much greater than before.

This is also unavoidable. The original life order of each county magistrate was disrupted by the sudden work content.

Ning'er whispered, "Your Highness shouldn't leave these things to do at night."

Li Chengqian looked at the rolls of documents, which were all discussed by Xu Jingzong and his colleagues who had called together the county magistrates to discuss matters concerning the period after winter.

Listening to the conversations around him, Li Chengqian said, "I left the palace to check out the river."

"It's better to do these things during the day." Ning Er reminded: "The Queen is very worried about Your Highness. People are at their best during the day."

Li Chengqian said: "I will try my best to avoid it in the future."

People work from sunrise to sunset and rest from sunset to sunrise. This is how people have lived for thousands of years. People should save their most precious energy for daytime work.

This is the experience of our ancestors over thousands of years.

Li Lizhi came with her own writing brush and said, "Sister is here to help my brother."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Okay, here are some budget memorials, help me calculate them again."

The table was spacious enough that Li Lizhi could sit next to her brother and help deal with memorials. The long table could accommodate four or five people in a row.

It can also hold a lot of books, stacked on both sides.

For the emperor, having such a table allows him to place more things, such as tea bowls on the side.

This way you can take whatever you want from the table anytime.

Li Lizhi sat aside and quickly got into work mode. She flipped through the account books and moved the abacus.

Ning'er sat beside the small clay stove, waiting for the pot of tea to boil.

"I heard that the Queen Mother is going to summon many of the Duke's women today."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian still looked at the document and asked, "Did the Queen Mother go to them to relax?"

Li Lizhi replied, "After the tour, my brother said he couldn't find a girl he was satisfied with, so my mother asked them all to come here to ask about the current situation of each girl indirectly."

Li Chengqian didn't stop writing and asked, "Whose family are they?"

"I didn't look closely, but it seems there are members from the Kong family and the Du family."

"There are no women from aristocratic families, right?"

Li Lizhi said, "They are all people who are close to the emperor, all familiar faces, and no women from aristocratic families."

Li Chengqian nodded and said nothing more.

The emperor does not allow the princes to have any contact with women from aristocratic families. There are many candidates for the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, but they cannot be women from aristocratic families.

Even people with connections to aristocratic families were not allowed. For example, Duke Zheng Wei Zheng's wife was from the Cui family, so the daughter of Duke Zheng and Cui could not enter the Eastern Palace.

Counting back three generations, it is impossible for anyone who has any connection with aristocratic families.

Excluding these factors, by the process of elimination, and based on age and background, we can determine that they are within a range.

It was late at night and the kettle on the stove had already boiled five times.

Li Lizhi helped her brother deal with some budget memorials, and then sat aside reading a book alone. Her brother's articles had not been shown to his younger brothers and sisters yet, as they were all content for future classes.

Li Chengqian stretched lazily, put down the pen in his hand, and said, "Sister Ning'er, sort it out and send it to the Secretariat tomorrow."

Ning'er stood up and helped to tidy up.

Li Lizhi stood up and said, "Brother, I will go back first."

"Let's go back."

Li Lizhi walked out of the hall with brisk steps.

Since they all have their own rooms and their own space, they feel much better.

The next day, the rain still didn't stop. Was it tired of raining yesterday? Today, the autumn rain continued to fall again.

Li Chengqian had just woken up. Wearing only a single layer of clothing, he continued to look at the dense rain and said, "I can't do morning exercises today."

There was no one else around, and the East Palace was quiet in the morning before it was fully light.

Feeling the watering of the autumn rain, the weeds on the side grew lushly again.

These arrogant weeds don't know that the continuous rain will make the soil full of moisture, and then their roots will rot in the moist soil.

Li Chengqian turned around and walked back into the hall, and read again the instructions he was going to give to Jingzhao Prefecture today.

In fact, the county magistrates are accustomed to the previous working habits. Now we need to let them know that being a county magistrate is not so easy.

To tighten the loose nerves, shouldn't officials be walking on thin ice?
As for the county magistrate who is not doing his job well, it is not a problem to arrange his place because my uncle is the Minister of Personnel.

As daybreak approached, the aroma of baked cakes wafted in.

Usually, Li Lizhi is the one who corrects the homework of her younger brothers and sisters.

When he is free, Li Chengqian will check on their homework.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Zhi peeking out of the hall, then quickly running away, as if he was going to deliver a message.

Li Chengqian asked, "Is he afraid of me?"

Ning Er replied: "Your Highness Prince Jin is afraid of the homework that Your Highness will mark."

Li Chengqian smiled silently and said, "I hope that I will be tied up in the affairs of the court so that my brothers and sisters will feel at ease."

In some ways, the Crown Prince took good care of the princesses and princes, but His Royal Highness was also a very strict man.

As long as the prince gave them a look, they would be so scared that they would hide.

Li Chengqian looked at the homework and found that Li Zhi and Li Shen had finally made some progress. Sometimes they were quite dissatisfied with the way their father taught them.

My father’s way of teaching his children was very rough.

For example, if a father wants his child to run, from the perspective of a father, he will most likely snatch the kite from the child's hand, then let the kite fly away and let the child chase the kite.

This way the child can run.

Judging from the oral accounts of my younger brothers and sisters over the past two years, this is the method my father used most of the time.

Of course, this can also help children grow up.

But teaching children is not just about letting them run. Building their cognition and establishing a knowledge system suitable for them requires more sophisticated teaching.

When Li Lizhi led her three sisters Dongyang, Qinghe and Linchuan over, Xiaofu had also prepared breakfast.

There will still be two updates today. Xiao Zhang is recovering and will update more when he is in better condition.

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(End of this chapter)