The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 184: Concerns of Successive Emperors

Beheading is a very ancient form of punishment. Generally, those who were subjected to this punishment were guilty of extremely heinous crimes, and their heads would be hung on the city walls for public display.

This was the first emperor since the establishment of the Zhenguan dynasty. In the eyes of people today, the emperor of the Zhenguan dynasty was an enlightened, benevolent, and broad-minded emperor.

Such an emperor beheaded a general in the court, which brought psychological shock and warning to the commanders of the Zhechoufu in various parts of the Central Plains.

The era when heroes emerged from all over the world has finally passed, and the world is now peaceful.

There are still many problematic generals remaining in the court.

The incident of Liu Rengui happened not long ago, and now the incident of Qiu Xinggong happened.

These issues touched the emperor's nerves again and again.

But the emperor was generous and righteous towards some old people and generals who had made outstanding contributions in the past.

This time, it can be seen that the emperor was really angry.

In the imperial city, officials from various departments continued to work as usual. Li Chengqian sat next to his teacher in the Secretariat, an indirect participant in this vortex of beheadings. The prince sat upright with a normal expression, looking at the scroll in his hands.

This book was obtained by the Literary Institute based on the translation of the Persian monk Alopen.

The parchment book of the Persian monk contained stories about the Arabs and Persia.

Since the translation level is not very high, I only have a vague understanding of it.

Li Chengqian looked at the teacher beside him, put down the book in his hand, and sat aside with his hands in his pockets.

Two years later, the prince had some free time in Jingzhao Prefecture again.

Now that someone has done what needs to be done, I have some free time.

The autumn rain just stopped for a day and started again.

Looking at everyone still in the Secretariat reviewing documents from various places, especially the documents about this year's summer and autumn harvests, documents from all over the Central Plains were delivered one after another.

The idle prince walked outside the Secretariat, looking at the rain all over the sky, seemingly in deep thought.

Yu Zhining glanced at the prince and then went back to work on the account books at hand.

Although the prince was usually strict with his subjects, especially with the officials in the counties of Guanzhong.

Judging from what happened today, if the officials in the court encounter any problems, the prince will really help them.

He even said that if anyone encounters such a thing in the future, everyone can attack him together.

And when the Tibetans caused a big disturbance in the Honglu Temple, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also did not like people disrespecting Tang officials.

Does the prince hope that the officials in the court can be as fierce as wolves and tigers?
If you think about it carefully, there are such people under the prince's command, for example, the Minister of Rites Li Baiyao, who is usually close to the Eastern Palace.

This Minister of Rites scolded almost all the envoys from various countries, scolding the Tibetans for being fickle, scolding the Goguryeo for being ungrateful, scolding the Western Regions countries for being profit-driven, scolding the Gaochang people for being greedy. The Turks have been quite honest in recent years, but Li Baiyao still wanted to scold the Turks for not having any ambition.

We have to mention the many people under the Eastern Palace, including Xu Jingzong, the best fighter in Chang'an City, Guo Luotuo, who is best at farming but not talkative, and Shangguan Yi, who works hard and doesn't make friends.

If you count carefully, each of the talented people in the Eastern Palace has his own strengths.

Li Chengqian suddenly thought of something and said to himself, "Oh...it turns out that Lord Zheng likes to eat spinach."

Another half an hour passed. Yu Zhining had just sorted out the account books in his hands and walked to the gate of the Secretariat. He was about to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but he found that the person had disappeared without him noticing.

He asked the clerk standing outside the door: "Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

The clerk replied, "Your Highness...Your Highness said today is a good day for fishing, so let's go to Taiye Lake."

Yu Zhining held the account book in his hand and sighed, "Then I'll report it to His Highness tomorrow."

It is well known in the court and the public that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince does not have many hobbies, and he likes fishing.

At this moment, I learned that the Crown Prince went fishing.

Inside the Secretariat, Chu Suiliang listened to the sound of rain outside and whispered, "I still remember what the Crown Prince said to Li Weigong. Someone mentioned it at the time. I still remember it day and night."

Zhang Xingcheng, who was also sitting in the Secretariat, asked, "What does this have to do with fishing?"

Chu Suiliang looked around, bowed his head and whispered, "Perhaps the prince was faking fishing, and in fact the prince was sitting by the river, watching those who had a grudge against him become dead and float up from the river."

"For this reason, I love fishing and never give up day or night."

The whisper was not loud, but it could be heard a little in the quiet Secretariat, and Ma Zhou's pen paused slightly.

I don't know why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince understands Confucius' words in this way. Maybe it's because he has been holding a grudge against the Crown Prince for the past year, or maybe more and more people are being hated by the Crown Prince?

Ma Zhou interjected, "The prince has always been wise, and Duke Zheng praised him highly for this."

The prince is a wise crown prince. He does not kill people, but he likes to watch his enemies die slowly, or even watch their corpses float on the river and drift in front of him.

The expressions of the clerks around him became more solemn. This prince was also a shrewd man.

Chu Suiliang added: "There are some things that the ministers may not have heard of. I often go to help His Majesty write documents and have heard some rumors in the palace."

He lowered his voice again and said, "It is rumored in the palace that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often complains that the fish in Taiye Pond are not fat enough."

Thinking of Qiu Xinggong's head still hanging in front of the Suzaku Gate, everyone became more alert.

Of course, there are more rumors about the prince.

Some people present...didn't care, while others took it seriously.

In the autumn rain, the Taiye Lake is covered with rain all over the sky. It is a very pleasant thing to sit in the water pavilion of the Taiye Lake and watch the rain all over the sky.

The rain was not heavy, and the lake did not flood the pavilion. Li Chengqian glanced at his two younger brothers and asked, "Have you finished your homework?"

Li Shen was looking at a map and replied, "It's done."

Li Zhi looked at the ducks swimming on the lake and said, "I have finished writing it. My sister has checked it."

Look at the map that Li Shen hung on the wooden board. This is a map of the Western Regions.

Li Chengqian held up the fishing rod and asked, "How well do you understand the map of the Western Regions?"

Li Shen said: "The map sent by Brother Wei Wang is indeed more complete than that of the Secretary General."

Li Chengqian watched the buoy tied to the fishing line sink, then float up again. When there was no more movement, he put the fishing rod aside and peeled an orange to eat.

Li Shen asked: "Since the karez can benefit the Western Regions, why not dig it? This way, the scenery and soil in various parts of the Western Regions will be better."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's not that we don't want to dig, but the Western Region is in chaos right now, with all the forces standing side by side and no one is unified."

Li Zhi replied: "I understand, my brother. It's like the Qin Dynasty building the Great Wall. It couldn't be built without unification."

"What Zhinu said is quite good."

Li Chengqian took an orange that Shen Di had just peeled.

Li Shen looked at the orange peel he had just peeled, so he had to get another orange from the basket. He sat next to his brother again and peeled the orange patiently but with some effort in his little hands.

Li Chengqian continued, "Even if we call on many small countries in the Western Regions to build karez now, it won't be long before, driven by personal interests, someone will destroy it, cut off the flow, or even no one will maintain it."

Li Shen nodded and said, "This kind of large-scale construction can only wait until the Western Region is unified."

Li Zhi agreed and said, "Treating the symptoms but not the root cause is the same as not treating it at all."

The three brothers quickly reached a consensus.

Sitting by the Taiye Lake until evening, the rain still did not stop. Li Chengqian put the small fish back into the Taiye Lake, leaving three fatter ones and taking them back to the Eastern Palace.

As they walked along the road, Li Shen was carrying a basket of oranges. The two brothers peeled and ate the oranges as they went along. They walked and ate along the way, throwing away pieces of orange peels as they went along.

Li Chengqian paused for a moment. Li Zhi, who was following behind him, bumped into his brother's back, wondering why he had stopped.

Seeing his brother looking at him, Li Zhi hurriedly picked up the orange peel on the ground.

Although there was no word, Li Zhi's movements of picking up orange peels were very flustered.

Li Shen understood and checked again, confirming that there were no orange peels on the ground.

The emperor then continued to move forward.

The brothers looked at each other, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and followed their brother's footsteps.

……

The ninth year of Zhenguan, late October, October 25th.

The prince, who had turned seventeen, still had not undergone the ceremony of coming of age.

It seemed that everyone in the court and the palace had almost forgotten that the crown prince's coming-of-age ceremony had never been held.

Only Ning'er has always remembered this incident, but since His Majesty and the Queen didn't say anything, she couldn't bring it up.

As usual, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince never mentioned this matter.

Xiaofu sorted out some bacon, washed it, cut it, and prepared to stew it.

Inside the East Palace, Li Lizhi looked at the two people who were getting irritated from eating too many oranges and had pimples on the corners of their mouths. She felt both angry and amused.

"You were greedy and ate oranges. You didn't listen to my warning. You deserve it."

Li Zhi was drinking the bitter medicine now, and said, "It's because Brother Shen likes it that I eat it too."

Li Shen also had pimples on the corners of his mouth. He held the bowl and drank the medicine, saying, "It has nothing to do with my brother."

Li Zhi was eight years old and Li Shen was seven years old.

Looking at the two younger brothers, Li Lizhi said distressedly, "Anyway, the oranges in Lingnan have been eaten up, and you won't have any to eat later."

Li Zhi said: "And bananas."

Li Lizhi glanced at this useless brother again and said, "All he knows is eating!"

Li Chengqian sat aside and smiled, looking at the documents sent by the teacher and listening to the voices of his younger brothers and sisters.

Ning Er walked aside and said, "Your Highness, Lord Ying and Minister Xu are here to visit the Emperor."

Li Chengqian responded, "Prepare some wine and food. They come to visit Grandpa and want to talk about the old days. I can't go there."

"Here."

The weather was turning cold very quickly. It was finally sunny today, but the chill brought by the north wind still forced the children in the East Palace to add two more layers of clothes.

Li Chengqian looked at the documents that his teacher had sent from the Secretariat. These documents had already been reviewed and were sent to the Eastern Palace because his teacher thought that the prince should read them.

Flipping through the volumes one by one, I found that this year, in addition to the generals from all over the country who returned to Chang'an, such as Feng Ang and Chai Shao, there were actually some local civil servants who came to report on their work.

For example, as soon as Quan Wanji returned, he was appointed as the Imperial Censor and also served as the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Wu's Palace, accompanying the Prince of Wu.

The position of Chief Secretary was originally established in the Eastern Palace. Xu Xiaode is now the Minister of Works and also serves as the Chief Secretary of the Eastern Palace.

This memorial was submitted to the Secretariat by Quan Wanji.

It said that after the autumn of this year, Luoyang suffered a flood. Fortunately, the flood was not large in scope and only submerged some fields. This memorial proposed that the court pay more attention to the rivers in Luoyang.

This year's autumn rain has passed and the flood season of the Yellow River has also ended. Logically, there should be no more floods.

For Chang'an, go east to Luoyang, which is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Flood control in the Yellow River has always been a difficult problem throughout the careers of successive emperors.

Now this problem looms before our eyes again.

The water system around Chang'an has been managed by successive dynasties and is now much more stable than before. After the repairs of Longshou Canal and Zhengguo Canal, the water flow has also improved a lot.

For example, in later generations there was a very large project that brought water from the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains and the Shuzhong water system into Guanzhong and into the Wei River.

Water control has always been the top priority in the Central Plains.

The water system in Guanzhong is still abundant, so there is relatively ample time.

Li Chengqian thought of some records about later generations, and the flood in the ninth year of Zhenguan had already revealed some clues.

A year later, there was another flood in Luoyang, a disaster recorded in history books.

Ning'er placed the hot tea on the prince's table.

Li Chengqian took the tea, took a sip, frowned and said, "I will leave the palace for a while."

"Yes." Ning'er quickly put on the prince's coat.

As soon as Li Chengqian walked out of the Eastern Palace, he saw constant laughter in the Chongwen Hall nearby, and two girls were playing with the children in the Eastern Palace.

Dongyang explained: "Royal brother, this is Ying Gong's daughter Xiaowu, and this is Xu Hui."

Li Chengqian had seen the girl Xu Hui in the palace. After taking a look at the two girls, he quickly left the East Palace.

Dongyang was a little surprised to see Xiaowu and Xu Hui facing the prince who was passing by in a hurry.

Dongyang smiled and said proudly, "My royal brother is always like this."

It's not that the two girls haven't heard of the rumors about the prince, but it's just that they are now living in Chang'an and have heard a lot of rumors.

Dongyang and Lizhi are about the same age as the two girls, and the girls have a lot to talk about.

Xu Hui looked at the prince's back as he left. She said, "When I followed my father out of the palace, His Royal Highness the Prince asked about my age."

This was the first time Xiao Wu met the prince. After a quick glance, he asked, "So this is what the prince is like. Is he very busy?"

Li Lizhi smiled and said, "My royal brother is not busy these days."

Xu Hui has been praised by many people since she was a child. Sometimes she is like a star among her relatives, and they all say that she is a talented woman.

The temperament, conversation and aura displayed by Princess Changle made her unconsciously want to surrender.

There is also Princess Dongyang, who is gentle, humble and polite, and does not make people feel domineering. However, the talent and insights she reveals in her conversation always make Xu Hui unconsciously impressed.

Only then did she feel that her knowledge was really insignificant.

The princess of the Eastern Palace has learned different knowledge, and her logical thinking ability is far ahead of her peers.

Even when my father and the emperor talked about the actions of the court and the governance of Guanzhong, my father and the emperor would ask Princess Changle.

Xu Hui couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness the Princess knows a lot."

Li Lizhi explained: "What kind of books does Huier usually read?"

Xu Hui, who is two years younger than Princess Changle, said: "When I was young, I read the Analects. Recently, I read some poems by famous writers. In my spare time, I also read Zuo Zhuan."

"Hui'er has read so many books." Dongyang also said.

"Hasn't Your Highness the Princess seen it?" Xu Hui was confused again.

Dongyang explained: "I seldom read these. At most, I just understand the meaning. Most of the time, I write some expositions."

Xiao Wu asked curiously, "What is an argumentative essay?"

(End of this chapter)