The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 153 Chongwen Hall

Li Shimin picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

The hall became quiet again, and no one knew when the eunuch who stepped on the walnut shell had left.

"I went to visit Ke'er."

"I know. Not only that, I also know that Father went to Jingyang to take a look."

"No matter what, I will never take away someone's property." Li Shimin lowered his voice and said, "This Ke'er is doing hard labor in Xianyang County, and he is getting happier and happier?"

"Because the villagers in Guanzhong are the simplest people, simple people have the simplest emotions, and it is precisely these simplest emotions that can most influence people. If you have time, Father can also give it a try."

Li Shimin picked up the tea bowl again.

The hall fell silent again.

After a long while, Li Chengqian picked up a piece of cake and ate it, thinking: "This Xu Jingzong fights with others again and again, and he always wins. Is he going to be the boxing champion of Chang'an?"

"what?"

"Nothing. I was just wondering if this Old Xu might be a martial arts master that is unrivaled in the world."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "If you want to learn martial arts, there are many generals in the army. In fact, Li Chunfeng is very skilled."

"Master Li?"

"Taoism is not only about astrology and numerology. Li Chunfeng's skills are also top-notch, which he has acquired through training since he was a child. You are seventeen now. I wonder if you can achieve any results with your current muscles and bones?"

Recalling that Taoist Li had pressed down the form with one palm, the force could not be pulled back no matter how hard he tried.

Now that I think about it, it does seem a little weird.

The people of Chang'an are very secretive.

The eunuch refilled the emperor's tea, and the emperor continued, "I also heard that Li Zhi often sent math problems to the students of the Imperial Academy?"

"Well, that was a method Li Zhi came up with to understand her level of numerology. I didn't agree with it at first, but then I thought that my brothers and sisters needed a process to truly understand their knowledge and use it, so I allowed it."

After that, Li Shimin handed over a document and said, "Take a look, this is what your teacher meant."

I was curious at first, because the teacher usually talked to me directly about things, and he would never ask my father for help.

Moreover, the teacher had never made any demands on himself as the prince, not until now.

Li Chengqian took the document and looked at its contents carefully.

"Xuan Ling told you to build Chongwen Hall and recruit erudite scholars there. He also specifically told you that Wen Yanbo is old and can no longer attend court in the morning to govern. He hopes that the crown prince will also treat the old ministers of the previous dynasty well and allow the old gentleman to enter Chongwen Hall."

The teacher's job is to help the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace accumulate reputation, and Mr. Wen Yanbo is highly respected and has a high reputation among the literati, with many students and old friends.

Li Chengqian thought that if Chongwenguan was built, it would be a place for collecting and screening talents.

I don’t know why, but at this moment I remembered my uncle’s words again. A teacher should always have a longer-term vision than his students.

Li Chengqian said: "Then this Chongwen Hall..."

Li Shimin interrupted, "The crown prince will lead it directly."

"Is this appropriate?"

"Qingque has the support of the Literature Institute." Li Shimin said seriously, "I have always been fair in my actions."

"I will arrange it right away."

After saying this, Li Shimin watched his son walk out of Ganlu Palace, put down the tea bowl heavily, and said in a deep voice: "This kid always has such a face, which girl would marry him!"

Li Chengqian did not hear his father's complaint. When he returned to the East Palace, his younger brothers and sisters were still playing the game of passing the flower with their mother.

Li Chengqian walked straight into his bedroom, took a roll of paper from the bookshelf, and spread out the paper. It was a map of Chang'an City.

Walking barefoot on the map, his eyes swept across one market after another.

Where will Chongwenguan be opened?

If we want to recruit talents efficiently, it is best to directly recruit people from Hongwenguan and Wenxueguan.

There is no need to consider Sifangguan, as that is where envoys from various countries study abroad.

Li Chengqian squatted down and looked at the streets on the map. Hongwenguan was connected to the Secretariat and was not easy to move.

Our eyes shifted away from Zhuque Street and came to the side of Prince Wei’s Mansion, where is Li Tai’s Literature Museum.

If one wants to attract talent, it would seem like a good idea to open Chongwenguan opposite Li Tai's Literature Museum, and it would also allow one to directly snatch talent from the other party.

At noon, the whole family, except the emperor, his brothers, sisters and the queen mother, were having lunch in the East Palace.

Empress Changsun was eating when she saw her son hurried away. She asked her daughter, "Didn't Cheng Qian always take a nap in the past?"

Li Lizhi replied: "If my brother is very busy, he won't take a lunch break."

Dongyang said while holding the rice bowl: "I won't rest even if I encounter something very annoying."

Li Lizhi nodded, "Yes, my brother is like this."

After leaving the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian walked quickly through Chengtian Gate.

Xue Wanbei quickly followed and asked, "Your Highness, are you going to leave the palace?"

Li Chengqian said: "I have some things to do."

"I will arrange a few people to escort you."

"No, you're enough."

"Here."

Li Chengqian walked out of the Suzaku Gate and came to the bustling Suzaku Street. There were more pedestrians on the street than before, especially this New Year.

Walking along the way, looking at the houses on both sides of the street.

Arriving at the gate of Jingzhao Mansion, Li Chengqian ordered, "Call out the emperor's uncle."

Xu Jingzong was most likely not here at this time. He should still be traveling around the counties. Wherever Old Xu went, there was heavy work.

Li Daozong came out in a hurry and said, "Your Highness, could it be that Xu Jingzong got into a fight again?"

"No."

Li Dao Zong was puzzled: "Then this is..."

"I want to find a house in Chang'an City."

"Your Highness, are you going to move out?"

"Not really." Li Chengqian continued walking with his hands in his pockets, saying, "The court is going to build a Chongwen Hall, which is different from the Hongwen Hall, Wenxue Hall, and Sifang Hall. Chongwen Hall will be led by me, but the houses in the important roads of Chang'an City will have owners."

Seeing the prince suddenly stop, Li Dao Zong asked again: "Does your highness have any instructions?"

"Do you have any acquaintances in Chang'an City? Someone who occupies a good position?"

Li Dao Zong hesitated and said, "I haven't asked about this yet, but it should be possible."

As he walked, Li Chengqian calculated that Chang'an City had a total of five gates facing east, west, and south.

There are five city gates in total, including the Jinguang Gate and Yanping Gate in the west, the Anhua Gate, Mingde Gate and Qixia Gate in the south, and the Chunming Gate and Yanxing Gate in the east.

The key point near the city gate is the most critical place. Walking along the way, I unknowingly arrived in front of the Li Tai Literature Museum.

It just so happened that Li Tai had just come out of here. Seeing the three people in front of him, he asked in confusion: "Royal brother? Royal uncle?"

"Eh? Qingque, why are you here?"

Hearing his brother's question, Li Tai subconsciously turned around to look at the Museum of Literature, and then looked at his own Prince Wei's Palace.

Li Chengqian explained: "I was just taking a walk."

Li Dao Zong also smiled and said, "This old man will accompany His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for a walk."

Then the uncle, nephew and Xue Wanbei walked to an empty street corner.

Xue Wanbei was a very competent guard. Since he joined the army of General Li Ji, the defense of the prince's travels was handed over to him.

He acted very cautiously and tried to keep a certain distance when talking to others.

Looking closely, the prince was holding some stones and making gestures on the ground, and then he used branches to make an outer frame.

Li Chengqian thought: "At first, I thought of dividing Chongwen Hall into two places and building them opposite to Wenxue Hall and Hongwen Hall."

"Hmm?" Li Daozon was confused at first, but then he calmed down a lot. It was not surprising that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace thought so.

"But after taking a walk around Chang'an City, I gave up this idea."

Li Daozon let out a long sigh, and his heart, which had just been lifted up, calmed down again.

“Instead of opening the Chongwen Hall right at their doorstep, it would be better to send people directly to the Hongwen Hall or the Wenxue Hall to give lectures.”

Li Daozon's expression became even more serious. He thought that the prince felt that snatching people at the door was not enough, so he wanted to go in and rob them directly?

Li Chengqian continued: "The current talent cost is still very high, but if we can teach some students with a little basic knowledge in a more systematic way, it will be a lower-cost method."

Then, the prince placed the stones in his hand on various places of the city gates supported by branches, saying, "If a stall is set up at each city gate, people can hear the lectures given by the people in Chongwen Hall as soon as they come in, and the propaganda effect will be huge."

Li Dao Zong whispered, "If there's a lot of noise at the city gate, it's hard to hear what's going on."

"So Jingzhao Prefecture is required to maintain order."

Li Daozon felt overwhelmed again as there was more to do in Jingzhao Prefecture.

"Then why not go directly to the Imperial College?"

Hearing the uncle's question, Li Chengqian threw away the stone in his hand, stood up and looked at the street in the distance: "Most of the students in the Imperial College have backgrounds. They are either the children of the rich and powerful or the members of the gentry. They are the most difficult to tame. Their backgrounds determine their identities. They are not suitable for the current development direction of Guanzhong. I prefer to do things down to earth and move forward step by step."

"There must be a place in Chongwen Hall, right?"

"I see that the backyard of Jingzhao Mansion is quite empty, so I'll partition it off for now and build the back door to look like Chongwen Hall, which will make it more convenient to do business in the future. I'll let Du He pay for it first."

The prince is still the prince after all, and he wishes he could break a coin into several pieces and use them separately.

While feeling emotional, Li Dao Zong asked: "Who should I tell this to?"

Li Chengqian took a step forward and said, "Let's talk while we walk."

In fact, Li Tai had been standing not far away. Although he could not hear what his brother and uncle were talking about, his uncle's expression was sometimes lost and sometimes solemn.

With curiosity in his heart, Li Tai walked to the place where his brother and uncle had just talked.

Looking over there, I saw a crude frame made of branches on the ground, with some stones dropped into the frame.

Li Tai put his hands behind his back and frowned as he looked at the items on the ground, thinking, "Is there any deep meaning behind this? Is it some kind of formation or something else..."

Look at a wall, and over the wall is another house, which is Yu Shinan's family.

Li Tai quickly put away the absurd idea in his mind. Yu Shinan and his royal brother had never had any intersection or hatred.

Afterwards, Li Tai kicked away the formation-like thing in front of him, kicked it all into the corner, and returned to his Prince Wei's Mansion with peace of mind.

The construction of Chongwen Hall was supervised by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He sent documents to the Ministry of Works, and the craftsmen went to Jingzhao Prefecture that afternoon to start construction.

Xu Jingzong had just come back from inspecting the counties and saw the construction work underway in the backyard of Jingzhao Prefecture. "Prefect, what are you doing?"

Li Dao Zong drank his wine and said, "I don't know why this year, everything is always not going well."

Xu Jingzong stretched his still sore arm. The wound from the fight was still a little sore. "I also feel that for some reason, nothing has gone my way this year."

"Your unhappiness is your own fault, and you gave me my unhappiness."

"Why does the prefect say that?"

Li Daozong looked at the craftsmen who were working on the project and said, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that he would build a Chongwen Hall in the backyard of Jingzhao Prefecture. The Chongwen Hall will be led by the Crown Prince and will train administrative talents for the counties in Guanzhong in the future."

“Then why build it in the backyard?”

"His Royal Highness also said that this is for convenience and to save money. In the future, you, I, and the officials of Jingzhao Prefecture will all go there to give lectures." Li Dao Zong covered his face in pain and said, "We will also go to Hongwenguan to give lectures. If there are suitable talents, we will bring them to Chongwenguan."

Xu Jingzong nodded secretly, "As expected of His Highness, you have considered everything."

Li Dao Zong patted his shoulder and reminded him: "Old Xu, I know you are good at fighting."

"You are too kind, magistrate."

It seems that Xu Jingzong is still somewhat proud at this moment, but he has no idea what he will face in the future.

Li Dao Zong whispered, "You must be more alert in your actions from now on. Three or two people may be enough to deal with you, but if a group of people chase you and want to fight you, you must run away."

Xu Jingzong didn't think too much about it, and asked: "Why doesn't the prefect buy a house across the street?"

"Today, His Majesty summoned the Crown Prince and said that no matter how wealthy Jingyang was, His Majesty would not seize their property. As the Crown Prince, he naturally could not force purchases or sales."

This is the emperor. He not only asks people to do things, but also gives them difficult problems.

Li Dao Zong asked again: "How is the injury?"

Xu Jingzong replied: "It's okay."

"I know a few good doctors who can treat injuries. They used to be soldiers. I'll introduce you to them someday. Remember to bring a few more guards with you when you go out."

"They are just a few scoundrels. I don't take them seriously."

Li Dao Zong patted his shoulder heavily and said, "Very good, I was not wrong about you."

The next day, early in the morning, Li Chengqian woke up early and did morning exercises.

The weather was still very cold at this hour, but the air was fresh. I took a deep breath of the cold air and felt much more awake.

"General, please teach me some fighting skills today."

Li Ji, wearing his court dress for the morning court session, nodded and said, "Your Highness, go ahead and teach while you beat him."

As soon as he finished speaking, before Li Ji had time to react, he saw a fist coming and hitting him in the face.

Feeling the pain, he took two steps back and held his nose for a long time.

Nosebleed soon flowed from between the fingers covering the nose, and Li Chengqian handed over a cloth.

Li Ji waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. I just didn't dodge it."

The prince's fist was so powerful and fast that there was really no time to dodge.

(End of this chapter)