The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 15 Guess what?

Arriving in front of the East Palace, Li Ke stopped and saluted, saying, "I have benefited greatly from your words, my brother."

Li Chengqian patted his shoulder again and warned him: "Don't get angry because of your father's partiality in the future. You and I still have greater things to do. Without dreams, life will lose its wonderful picture. In fact, there are very few people in this world who can fight for their dreams. You and I still have room for choice, which is already very lucky."

Li Ke stood there, looking at his royal brother in disbelief.

Patting him on the shoulder again, Li Chengqian walked back to the East Palace. Seeing Li Zhi and Dongyang coming up to him, he started chatting and laughing with them.

Li Ke stood there for a long time, disheveled in the cold wind. When he left, his eyes were still full of admiration.

After Tuyuhun's urgent report was delivered to Chang'an, more and more envoys were eager to see the Khan.

But the grand court meeting of the Tang Dynasty still had not been held. Wave after wave of civil officials and generals had gone to see the emperor, and meetings in the Xingqing Hall would continue until dusk every day.

Half of January has passed, and after the twentieth of the month, the Tang Dynasty's government and the people are still in a state of rest.

Li Tai was named King of Wei, but his father's doting on him remained unabated. Not only did he grant him the fiefdom of Luoyang, he also gave him the Painting of Eight Horses, as well as various other treatments that were more generous than what he received as the crown prince in the true sense of the word.

Many people have advised Your Majesty that your treatment of the King of Wei is inappropriate.

Li Ke looks like an honest and simple child, at least that's what he looks like now.

Li Lizhi is a sensible younger sister who is able to take care of her younger brothers and sisters.

There is also Li Tai, who is spoiled and arrogant.

This family is not as bad as imagined. I heard that my mother's condition has improved.

This house isn't that bad.

Xiaofu came over quickly with a roll of paper, "Your Highness, this is the memorial sent by Yu Zhanshi."

Li Chengqian took the memorial and looked at it with a frown. The content of the memorial was nothing more than that his father doted on Li Tai too much. Not only did he give Li Tai the title of King of Wei, but he also gave Li Tai the empty title of remotely commanding the military power of seven states.

As the crown prince, I cannot give advice to my father at this time.

After reading it, Li Chengqian sighed, "Yu Zhanshi is still busy with the affairs of the Secretariat, and he has to consider me. It's really difficult for him."

Xiaofu stood quietly aside, ready with pen and ink if His Highness needed it.

Li Chengqian put down the memorial and ignored it.

Ning Er also asked: "Your Highness, do you need a reply now?"

"I'll just take a look at it and I won't reply to him."

Yu Zhining is kind-hearted. He is worried that the Eastern Palace will do something inappropriate because of this.
In fact, Yu Zhanshi's worries were unnecessary. Li Chengqian didn't like to make simple things too complicated.

Is it that the whole day between me and the emperor is just guessing, and you guess again?

ill……

On January 25th, the grand court meeting was still not held. The grand court meeting originally scheduled to begin on the 20th was postponed for many days due to the military situation at the border.

The East Palace was still the same. Li Chengqian did not give his younger brothers and sisters a lecture as usual today. Instead, he took them to the well in the East Palace, picked up a wooden lid and covered the well.

This lid is a bit special, there is a rod on top of the lid.

At this moment, Li Chengqian kept shaking the pole. In theory, by shaking the pole, the well water would flow out of the pipe from the bottom to the top.

Under the gaze of his younger brothers and sisters, Li Chengqian shook his head for a long time until his arms became sore. He couldn't make a fool of himself in front of them, as the words had already been spoken.

Most likely, the wooden cork was not airtight enough. Li Chengqian poured water into the pipe of the pole and shook the pole again. With each shake, the force became heavier.

Finally, the well water flowed out.

As we all know, whether it is sea water, river water or well water, it all flows to lower places.

But under the action of this device in the East Palace, water flowed out of the well from the bottom to the top against common sense.

Not only the younger brothers and sisters, but even Ning'er and the palace maids were very puzzled. After all, something that goes against common sense is shocking enough to see once in a lifetime.

After letting his younger brothers and sisters play with the water pump, Li Chengqian left on his own.

Come to the front hall and cut the soap made earlier into small cubes with thin wire.

This soap is easy to make. It is nothing more than a mixture of wood ash, water and lard. The materials are limited, so this is all we can do for now.

Li Chengqian put two of the soaps into a wooden box and said, "Give these two soaps to your mother. You can use them for washing clothes and bathing."

Your Highness, the soap contains mint, which was obtained from the Imperial Medical Bureau.

"Oh, right." Li Chengqian reminded again, "Tell mother to put it outside to dry after use."

"Here."

Xiaofu had just left when he hurried over again, "Your Highness, the Xueyantuo envoy is here to see you."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Are you here to ask about the marriage?"

"Yes." Xiaofu nodded and said, "Now there are rumors in the palace that this time Zhenzhu Yinan Khan is coming with full sincerity to marry."

Li Chengqian said helplessly: "It's just a rumor."

It is said that Xiaofu and the palace maids in the Eastern Palace have already developed feelings for their younger brothers and sisters. Now everyone agrees that if they marry a princess, they must marry her off, and marrying her off means separation.

I am more or less resistant to this kind of thing.

Numerous precedents throughout history have proven that the so-called covenant is everyone’s hope before it is established.

But after a covenant is established, it is often meant to be torn apart.

So we can conclude that the so-called covenant is used to break the treaty. Is marriage alliance necessary?
This can be traced back to the Wei River Alliance between Li Shimin and the Turkic Khan.

Li Chengqian held a book in his hand, supported his chin with one hand, and leaned against the armrest thinking.

Ning'er walked over quietly and poured a bowl of hot water for His Highness at the right time.

Li Chengqian withdrew his gaze from the book and asked, "Sister Ning'er?"

Ning Er responded, "Hmm?"

"In two months, the tea leaves from the southern Qinling Mountains and the Huai River regions will be ready for picking."

Li Chengqian muttered in a low voice.

Right now, all the civil and military officials in the court are trying to find out about Your Majesty’s attitude towards Tuyuhun.

Donggong was still worried about life at the moment. Ning'er fiddled with her abacus and calculated for a long time before saying, "Donggong now has a surplus of only one month left."

As for state affairs? If you can avoid getting involved, don't get involved.

Being law-abiding is also one of the key elements for a crown prince.

During this period, an incident did occur. Because the Crown Prince regretted his appointment of Zhao Jie, an official remonstrated with His Majesty about the Crown Prince's fickle behavior.

The purpose of the remonstrance was nothing more than to tell the suffering Princess Changguang had suffered in recent days, and to request His Majesty to transfer Zhao Jie back from Liangzhou and to reprimand the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace for his breach of promise.

Zhao Jie's incident did have a significant impact on the Eastern Palace.

But Li Chengqian didn't want to have a seed of rebellion buried next to him.

Ning Er whispered, "But afterwards, Duke Xu and Prince Hejian went to see Princess Changguang together, and the next day the man who had advised His Majesty committed suicide by jumping into the Qujiang Pond."

"Committed suicide?" Li Chengqian put down the book in his hand and frowned.

Ning Er whispered, "The next day his body was found floating on the surface of Qujiang Lake. After the Dali Temple collected the body, they concluded that he had committed suicide."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Uncle has helped me once again."

Ning Er smiled and nodded, "The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace is not someone that these people can discuss so easily."

This made Li Chengqian feel at a loss as he hadn't done anything yet and someone had already settled the matter.

Moreover, the Eastern Palace cannot express any opinions and can only let the situation develop.

What else can we do?
Could it be that I should ask my father to transfer Zhao Jie back from Liangzhou? Should Princess Changguang and the Eastern Palace each give in?
Isn't this just going backwards as we grow older?

Li Chengqian said: "There are some things that the Eastern Palace does not need to explain. The more you explain, the more disadvantageous it will be to the Eastern Palace."

Ning'er smiled with satisfaction again and said, "Your Highness is right."

"There is one more thing." Ning'er continued, "Master Li Chunfeng informed Your Majesty of the whereabouts of Master Sun Simiao. Your Majesty sent people to look for him and indeed found Divine Doctor Sun, but Divine Doctor Sun refused Your Majesty's offer of a reward."

"Dr. Sun is in Guanzhong?"

"I heard that there is malaria in the Bashang area. Doctor Sun will not leave until the malaria is cured."

As the two were talking, a palace maid came over and said, "Your Highness, the hot water is ready."

"Well, I'll take a bath."

The prince is a clean person and takes a bath every day.

As soon as he walked into the back hall, Li Chengqian saw that the water in the wooden barrel was still steaming, and saw that Ning'er had put the clothes she was going to change aside.

"Sister Ning'er, please go wait outside the hall. You don't have to accompany me when I take a bath from now on."

"Hmm?" Ning Er was a little surprised, but seeing His Highness's expression, she smiled in relief, "Yes."

When they got outside the palace, Ning'er closed the door and stood guard at the door, not allowing other palace maids to enter.

Your Highness is no longer the same as before. Back then, Your Highness was still a child, so perhaps he didn't need to be so shy.

Now that His Highness is fifteen years old, it means that He has learned about the world and understands the difference between men and women.

Perhaps Your Highness has known this for a long time, but is only showing it now.

"Huh? Sister Ning'er, why is your face red?" Li Lizhi came over carrying a basket of dried dates.

"Ah?" Ning Er came back to her senses, a little panic flashed in her eyes, and then said: "Your Highness is here to see the prince."

Li Lizhi held the basket in both hands and said, "This is a tribute from the people of the Western Regions to my father. My mother took my brother's soap and asked me to bring dates to him. The people in the Imperial Medical Bureau said they are very nourishing."

Ning Er took the basket and said, "I will give it to Your Highness."

"Yeah." Li Lizhi added, "Sister Ning'er is really pretty."

Hearing this, Ning'er's cheeks turned red again, and she lowered her head and said quickly, "Your Highness, you must not say that."

Li Lizhi smiled playfully again, "No wonder my brother is so close to Sister Ning'er."

Ning'er lowered her head even more, and the blush on her face went all the way to her ears.

"Did Zhinu go to eat ramen secretly again?" Li Lizhi looked left and right, but couldn't find Li Zhi, so she walked towards the kitchen while calling out.

Sure enough, Li Zhi was standing on a stool, ready to pour noodles into the pot.

Before the noodles were even put into the pot, Li Lizhi pulled him out and took him aside to scold him.

Looking at the group of princesses and princes in the East Palace, Ning'er took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Only then did she stop feeling her cheeks burning and she returned to her normal expression.

"Sister Ning'er!"

His Highness's voice was heard again from inside the hall, and Ning'er pushed the door open and walked in as if instinctively.

At this moment, Li Chengqian was wearing loose clothes, with wet hair, and sitting by the fireplace.

She closed the door again to prevent the cold wind from outside from blowing in, then picked up the comb beside her and combed the prince's hair.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I have something I want to ask you."

While combing His Highness's hair, Ning'er was about to speak, but heard His Highness continue.

"I have nothing in my hands now, but I have the means to make paper. What do you think I should do?"

"Hmm..." Ning'er thought for a while, "Then we still have to make paper first."

"Sister Ning'er knows that the Eastern Palace only has enough money for one month. Do we have to ask father for money?"

"It stands to reason that we should look for Lizheng Palace."

"That won't work either. If I take what belongs to the emperor, how can I stand in front of him in the future?"

At this point, Li Chengqian smiled with relief, "Perhaps you think I am overthinking, but I am used to a self-sufficient life."

"Your Highness, just tell this servant what you want to do."

The hall was silent for a long time. Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I figured it out after taking a bath. Let Du He make the paper first, and then go to the powerful families in Chang'an City and ask them to invest. Of course, the investment will be rewarded in the form of profit sharing from the paper."

Ning'er's slender jade-like fingers were still combing His Highness's long hair. She frowned and said, "This way, we can get a lot of money in a short time."

Li Chengqian added: "This way, the cost of the business and the urgent needs of the Eastern Palace can be alleviated."

In today's world where business models are simple and primitive, Li Chengqian has many ways to get money, but these things cannot be done by the crown prince, and he needs to find ways outside.

Ning'er combed the prince's hair, picked up the coat beside and put it on him, and then put on the cloak.

After taking a bath, His Highness felt better.

Ning Er brought another basket of dried dates and said, "This is what Princess Changle brought from Lizheng Palace. She said that people from the Western Regions were paying tribute to Your Majesty, so the Queen asked Your Highness to bring it here."

Li Chengqian picked up a dried date, put it in his mouth and chewed it, saying: "Let Du He do the work. If he can do it well, I will have more things for him to do in the future. If he can't do it well, I won't make it difficult for him, and I can find someone else."

Ning'er had no choice but to let it go.

"By the way, Father must not know about these things."

"Here."

"Get your pen and ink ready. I'm going to write to him."

Three days after Master Du received the letter, Du He made the first roll of paper. He also attracted the first investment, a total of one thousand strings of money, which was provided by Duke of Zhao, Zhangsun Wuji.

Two days later, Du Hela received the second investment from Xu Guogong Gao Shilian, a total of two thousand strings of cash.

The two investors had a total of 3,000 strings of cash.

In the Chongwen Hall, Du He reported what had happened. "At first, Duke Zhao refused. Later, I followed your words and said that paper was easy to sell and the secret recipe of paper had always been in the hands of the noble families. If we could present the paper to your majesty, it would be a great achievement for Duke Zhao."

"Just as Your Highness expected, Duke Zhao did not tell Your Majesty the secret recipe, and just waited for me to make the paper and give it to him."

Du He was puzzled and asked, "Why does His Highness insist on the investment of these two people?"

(End of this chapter)