The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 137 Persian Wonders
After listening to his brother's words, Li Tai looked up at the sky silently for a long time.

"Qingque finds it troublesome?"

"No." Li Tai said quickly: "It's not a problem. I will go to Taoist Li Chunfeng for advice more often in the future."

"It doesn't have to be so troublesome." Li Chengqian said with his hands in his pockets: "I will let Taoist Li Chunfeng live in your Prince Wei's mansion for a year or so, and you can learn slowly."

Li Tai raised his head again, his face numb.

Li Chengqian looked at her and said, "Qingque, you seem to have gained weight again. Pay more attention to losing weight and exercise more often."

Li Tai still raised his head and turned slightly away from facing his brother.

"How is Brother Ke doing lately?"

Li Ke bowed and said, "I will wait for the order from my brother and go to pacify the Western Regions."

Li Chengqian patted him on the shoulder and said, "I am worried about the situation in the army, especially the many problematic generals in the court."

"Problematic general?"

"Do you think I should arrange some scholars in the army so that the soldiers can learn some knowledge and articles? Recently, I have read the memorials from the Ministry of War and found that there are still many people in the army who are illiterate."

Li Ke nodded ignorantly.

Li Shimin looked out the window and waved to his daughter.

Li Lizhi held some cloth and asked, "What does the emperor want?"

Li Shimin asked, "What are the three of them talking about?"

Following her father's gaze out the window, Li Lizhi saw the three brothers talking in low voices and replied, "My royal brother always says that the compilation of Brother Wei Wang's Comprehensive Geography has always been poor. This is probably the reason."

Looking at her father suspiciously, she added, "Then what else does your father think my brother can say?"

Li Shimin nodded slightly.

Li Lizhi almost asked, "Is the emperor suspecting that they are plotting a rebellion?"
She took another look at her father's puzzle and continued, "My mother said that there are several palaces of concubines in the harem that need to be repaired. I will talk to my brother later to see if the palace can provide some money."

"Hahaha..." Li Shimin laughed strangely, "Are you asking your brother to get the money?"

"Why?" Li Lizhi said with an unhappy look, "My royal brother said that we should pay for the expenses of our mother."

"Then I..."

Li Lizhi asked playfully in a low voice: "Could it be that Father is still afraid of my brother?"

"I'm afraid of him?!"

His Majesty's tone suddenly rose uncontrollably.

After saying this, the two eunuchs waiting on the side looked at His Majesty in horror, and then immediately looked away.

The children in the Lizheng Hall were still playing by themselves. Li Shimin cleared his throat, snorted coldly, and drank the tea.

Li Lizhi took the silk and prepared to take it back to the East Palace.

After the children visited Lizheng Hall once, they found that there were always some strange things missing here, and His Majesty and the Queen had gotten used to it.

Therefore, valuable items were rarely placed in Lizheng Hall.

Li Zhi looked at his father's bookshelf with a bit of melancholy, as if there was nothing he wanted.

Li Shimin glanced at all the children in Lizheng Hall, and after confirming what they were doing, he looked out the window again. The three brothers who were originally talking in a low voice were no longer there.

Cheng Qian still has a lot of things to do in the court. Qingque is going to the Literature Institute to compile a comprehensive geographical record, and Ke'er is going to serve in the army.

Li Shimin stroked his beard and continued to put the puzzle together.

The rain was still falling in Guanzhong. Yesterday, just after Li Tai had finished dinner with his mother, father, and brothers and sisters, a new guest appeared in the Prince of Wei's mansion.

This guest was none other than Taoist Master Li Chunfeng who was supposed to be in the Imperial Observatory.

Li Tai looked at the Taoist priest wolfing down his food with a smile on his face and asked, "Master Li, how is your day at the Imperial Observatory?"

"Very good, very good." Li Chunfeng chewed the chicken in his mouth hard, and his beard moved with the chewing.

Li Tai looked at Wang Gui who was sitting next to him. The old man sat upright and was very calm.

"Will you please help me compile the Comprehensive Geography in the future, Master Li?"

Li Chunfeng put down the chicken leg in his hand cheerfully, waved his sleeves with one hand, stroked his beard with the other, and his Taoist robe rustled. "Because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered, I will definitely help His Royal Highness the King of Wei to complete the Comprehensive Geography."

"My brother..."

Li Chunfeng picked up the tea bowl again, drank a sip of tea happily, and said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is a man of great learning and has given me a lot of inspiration, which has helped me improve my understanding of the principles of heaven and earth and even the art of numbers."

Hearing this, Li Tai was puzzled and asked, "Why do you think so?"

"Princess Changle told me that there is no end to learning mathematics. I wanted to take Princess Changle as my apprentice because she has an unparalleled talent in mathematics. But I didn't know there was another master of mathematics in the East Palace, that is the Crown Prince. After seeing what the East Palace's formulas are, I was quite inspired and broke through the bottleneck and confinement that I had been in for many years."

"The Taoist priest is now..."

Li Chunfeng smiled and said, "Everyone has his own strengths. Your Highness is best at using number series and geometric arithmetic... It's a bit profound to say the least."

Li Tai smiled bitterly and said, "Is my brother really capable of such a trick?"

Li Chunfeng nodded and said, "In time, Princess Changle's numerology may surpass mine and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"With my help, Your Highness the King of Wei's Comprehensive Geography will surely become a masterpiece of the time."

Li Tai smiled stiffly and said, "The Taoist priest is also staying in the mansion temporarily. When can he participate in the compilation?"

After eating, Li Chunfeng burped and said, "I'll take a rest for a while."

Li Tai asked the servant to take Taoist Li to rest first. He turned his head and looked at Wang Gui. Wang Gui was also recommended by the prince to come to the Prince of Wei's Palace, and the same was true for Taoist Li Chunfeng now.

Deep down, Li Tai really wanted to run to the East Palace and ask his brother what he wanted!
But on second thought, my royal brother will definitely say that I am also thinking about the overall situation and the future of you, my younger brother.

Although he had many opinions about the Eastern Palace, Li Tai still couldn't muster up the courage.

I don't know why, but I always feel like something is missing when I face my brother. Is it because I don't have enough confidence? What am I feeling guilty about?
Li Tai scratched his head in annoyance, glanced at the teacher who seemed to be in a trance, and asked, "Teacher?"

Wang Gui closed his eyes and said, "Your Highness the Prince of Wei, do you have any doubts?"

"What Taoist Priest Li said is a bit..."

Wang Gui said slowly, "Even if what Taoist Li Chunfeng said to the East Palace was exaggerated, at least his level of numerology is not false. The person who can perfect the armillary sphere must be a great numerology master of the time. Maybe he shouldn't be like this as a Taoist, but the masters in this world who have unique skills are more or less eccentric."

The heavy rain continued in Guanzhong for more than ten days. At the end of October, the rain finally stopped and the sun finally shone in Guanzhong again.

Li Chunfeng smoothly entered into the compilation of Guadizhi and incorporated the longitude and latitude into the content of Guadizhi.

Therefore, the workload of the scholars in the Literary Museum increased several times.

This is not just about collecting classics from all over the place, or various records and explanations, but now it also involves numerology and Taoism.

The scope of the disciplines is so huge that everyone in the Literature Museum is complaining.

This morning, a group of people entered Guanzhong from Longyou. Some of them rode horses, some rode camels, and this caravan was escorted by soldiers from Guanzhong. They passed through the pass using documents from the Secretariat and were also sealed by His Majesty.

This caravan was separated from the court in the trade team. They acted independently and everything in the caravan was presided over by a man named Murong Shun.

The caravan stopped at Jingyang, and Jingyang immediately sent someone to deliver a cloth bag of goods to Chang'an City.

The people from the Honglu Temple met with the people sent by Master Du He. The matter came into the hands of Li Baiyao and was then sent to the Secretariat.

Li Chengqian sat in the Secretariat and watched Li Baiyao take out two things.

Officials gathered around to see what the caravan from Jingyang to the Western Regions had brought back. This caravan had set out in the summer and had just returned.

A gold coin and a silver pot.

"Your Highness, these are Persian goods." Li Baiyao explained, "Murong Shun's caravan met Persian merchants in the Western Regions and bought these things."

Li Chengqian picked up the gold coin and carefully stroked the pattern on its surface. It looked like the head of a wild beast. The quality of the gold coin was good and the thickness was also acceptable.

But I always feel that the weight of the gold coins is not right.

"Do the Persians have a lot of that?"

Li Baiyao bowed and replied, "Persian merchants rarely use gold coins when buying and selling goods, but I heard that there are many nobles in Persia."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled, "They are really rich."

"Your Highness, please look at the patterns on this gold coin. This craftsman's craftsmanship is quite impressive."

Chang Sun Wuji glanced at it and said disdainfully: "I still prefer Ouyang Xun's regular script on the copper coin."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I think so too. The workmanship of this kind of animal head painting is indeed not as profound as the regular script or running script. It looks a bit rough no matter how you look at it."

Look at the silver pot next to it. It is just an ordinary silver pot, nothing special about it, and the quality of the silver is also very poor.

Li Chengqian looked up and saw officials standing around watching, and the scene in front of him was dark.

Li Baiyao searched the cloth bag again, but found nothing else except a ball of cotton and cotton seeds.

Li Chengqian said, holding his hands in his pockets: "As you can see, the caravan from Jingyang brought these things. Please go back to your own business."

After saying that, everyone dispersed.

The view in front of him finally became brighter. Li Chengqian was still observing the gold coin in his hand, thinking about the situation of the Persians.

There are not many records about Persia in the court classics, after all, it is too remote.

As far as I can remember, Persia should be on the verge of being destroyed, and there is a Persian envoy in Chang'an who stays in the Sifang Pavilion and claims to be asking for help.

They keep asking for help, and their Persian prince will come to Chang'an and ask for help from the Tang Dynasty with sincerity.

But the so-called Persian prince was not seen. It seemed more like the Persian envoy came to Chang'an to escape.

Seeing there was another figure beside him, Li Chengqian looked up and saw a face that looked to be around forty years old.

"Please stay, Sun Shaoqing."

Li Chengqian collected the gold coins, handed the cotton and cotton seeds to Li Baiyao, and instructed: "Pass them to Guo Siqing of Sinong Temple."

"Here." Li Baiyao put the cotton and cotton seeds in front of him into the cloth bag, turned around and said, "Your Highness, I heard that there is a kind of cat in Persia that is very ferocious."

"I'm not interested in cats."

After hearing His Highness's light reply, Li Baiyao nodded and quickly walked out of the Secretariat.

Sun Fujia was still standing by. Li Chengqian looked at the silver pot in front of him, trying to find some details on its surface. He asked, "I have long admired Sun Shaoqing's character?"

"Your Highness, when Your Highness sent people to beat up Li Yuanchang, I was just doing my job."

"Yes, the Dali Temple must handle official affairs impartially and without favoritism."

"During the Wude period, there was an imperial examination, and Sun Shaoqing was the top scorer. I have long wanted to learn from you."

Sun Fujia replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, "I dare not ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for advice."

Li Chengqian lifted the silver pot, looked at its bottom and asked, "How is the investigation into the assassination of Master Xu Yu going?"

"Return to Your Highness! We are investigating."

Li Chengqian finally put down the silver pot and said seriously, "Is this matter something that can only be reported to Father alone?"

Sun Fujia said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty has arranged it this way."

Li Chengqian said: "If there is any result, please let me know."

Sun Fujia was a tough man. It was he who impeached Pei Ju and removed him from office on the grounds that he was seeking fame but not helping the people.

He also advised his father that the soldiers and food could be taken away but the letters could not, and the emperor appreciated him very much.

There were many loyal ministers during the Zhenguan period, including many tough people, such as Wei Zheng, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xingcheng, and Sun Fujia.

Sun Fujia asked, "Your Highness, are you going to collect things from the Western Regions?"

"No."

"The Minister of Rites Li Baiyao, did he just mention the Persian wild cat?"

Changsun Wuji, who was standing by, suddenly coughed violently twice.

Fang Xuanling also sighed at the right time.

Li Chengqian took out the gold coins again and said, "I have never ordered anyone to collect rare treasures for the Eastern Palace. These gold coins are the caravan's way of investigating the strength of buyers in the Western Regions. In order to complete the transaction more efficiently, they are not only buying and selling goods, but also scouting the area."

Sun Fujia bowed and said, "Your Highness is able to maintain a self-disciplined mind and not be disturbed by external things. I am relieved."

"If I ever make a mistake, I hope Sun Shaoqing will tell me the truth."

"I accept your order."

Sun Fujia looked more satisfied and fair, and bowed, "I'll take my leave."

Li Chengqian continued to help the teacher with paperwork.

The Secretariat became quiet again. Yu Zhining had already learned how to use the abacus, and occasionally one could hear the sound of him turning the abacus.

A minor official came in hurriedly, handed a stack of documents to Duke Zhao, and placed them on his desk before quickly leaving.

Changsun Wuji took the document he had just put down, opened it and started coughing violently.

Li Chengqian picked up the kettle beside him, poured hot water into the tea bowl, and said, "Uncle, have a drink of water."

"Hmm." Changsun Wuji took the tea bowl and drank a mouthful of tea. After catching his breath, he said, "There are rumors in the court that the crown prince is strict with officials, and officials in all departments will have a hard time in the future."

After the voice fell, Ma Zhou, who was originally sitting here, stood up and said, "Duke Zhao, I think it is right to be strict in the administration of officials. A few years ago, I felt that the administration of officials in the court was too lax."

He motioned Ma Zhou to sit down first, and then Changsun Wuji handed over three of the memorials and said, "Take a look."

(End of this chapter)