The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 194 The Third Generation
The matter in Luoyang is not just about flood control. After the perpetrators of the murder case are taken to Chang'an, all the officials involved must be kept under surveillance.

Before flood control in the spring of next year, everything should be checked clearly.

Although they came to inspect the flood control in Luoyang, they only had the authority to inspect the flood control. After arresting a few sons of noble families, their authority was not enough to move against these officials.

They united together and colluded with each other, making it difficult for others to take action.

Now Chai Zhewei was only allowed to seize the city defense of Luoyang and take troops to guard these county magistrates and all their families.

This once prosperous city is now much more desolate.

In the quiet tower, Li Ke stood aside with a stern look on his face. He clasped his fists and said, "I am not as calm and composed as my brother. If my brother were here, he might have already settled the matter. It's just that I don't have the ability."

"Report! His Majesty's order."

After the King of Wu finished speaking, voices were heard outside.

Hearing this, the three of them looked much more excited and walked down the city wall one after another.

The officer delivering the imperial edict handed over a roll of yellow silk and said in a clear voice, "Supervisory Censor Ma Zhou, I receive the imperial edict."

Ma Zhou took the yellow silk with both hands and bowed.

The general who delivered the imperial edict was followed by five thousand soldiers.

Ma Zhou opened the yellow silk, took a look at it, and then quickly collected the imperial edict. He held up the yellow silk in his hand and said loudly: "All soldiers, listen to my orders!"

"I am here!" At the foot of the city, three generals under Chai Zhewei responded with a fist salute.

Ma Zhou said in a clear voice: "Pass on my order. All government warehouses in the twenty-three counties of Luoyang must be sealed and inspected. All officials must be brought to the city and interrogated by me personally."

"Here!"

next day
The cold wind was still blowing, and even though I was wearing thick clothes, I still couldn't help shivering.

A group of officials wearing blue and dark green official robes were escorted to the front of the city. Someone shouted angrily, "Ma Zhou, you are just an imperial censor, how dare you bully us!"

Ma Zhou held the imperial edict in his hand and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty has sent an imperial edict. I will temporarily take charge of the Luoyang governor and command all the troops in Luoyang. All affairs will be handled by me temporarily."

As soon as the words fell, the official who was still cursing suddenly fell silent.

Ma Zhou added: "Seal up all the letters and property in their government offices. I want to check them one by one."

Ma Zhou, holding the imperial edict in his hand, smiled and said, "Your Majesty has authorized me to investigate. Anyone who is involved, even if they know about it but do not report it, will be severely punished according to the law. If you can still make a statement now, I can say a few good words for you in the file."

"I say!" Someone with his hands tied stood up and shouted, "Sir, they are the ones forcing us, the chief clerks, to do this."

"Bullshit!" Someone responded, "When did I threaten you clerks?"

Watching them biting each other, Ma Zhou couldn't be in a better mood at the moment.

Your Majesty cares about the Luoyang case, and you won't just let it go as they expect, right?

This time we will get to the bottom of it.

This is not a problem. The imperial examination will be held next year, and the court will soon send someone to take charge of Luoyang’s government affairs.

Du Zhenglun was wearing coarse cloth clothes. As soon as he arrived in Luoyang, he saw many officials kneeling in front of the city gate, and more people were being escorted in in twos and threes.

Seeing this, Du Zhenglun dismounted, avoided the gazes of Ma Zhou, Quan Wanji and King Wu, and followed the crowd into Luoyang City.

When he walked into the city gate, Du Zhenglun heard the words of His Royal Highness the King of Wu again.

"I sincerely invite the villagers of Luoyang to come and testify against their crimes."

"How can we allow these common people to testify against our crimes? There is no such thing in this world."

Li Ke said in a deep voice: "Now I have it!"

Ma Zhou said, "That's great."

“This…” The officials kneeling on the ground couldn’t understand and their faces turned pale.

At this moment in Taiyuan, Cui Renshi was riding a Dayuan horse along the Fen River, a tributary of the Yellow River. He followed the waterway of Luoyang to the border of Shanxi.

On the surface of the Fen River, several figures were reflected following Cui Renshi. They were the sons of the aristocratic families in Taiyuan.

Cui Renshi drank a pot of wine and let the horse walk freely.

"Sir, are you really going to ignore Luoyang's affairs?"

Cui Renshi exhaled a breath of alcohol from his nose and whispered, "Of course we can't just ignore them, but no one can go to Luoyang to save them now."

A young student asked: "I don't understand, please tell me frankly."

Cui Renshi added: "We are not indifferent. Remembering their deaths and watching them die is also our friendship. I can give them a lifeline. If I can't save them, more people will watch. The nobles from all over the country will remember this lesson. That's enough. They will thank me."

"Save them?" Cui Renshi shook his head and said, "A gentleman does not stand on a dangerous wall. If you go and have any connection with them, and fall into the hands of Ma Zhou and Quan Wanji, they will always frame you with crimes."

"I understand your teachings, sir."

Cui Renshi added: "What kind of world do the Li family want to build? Can one emperor bring ruin to the world? How ridiculous."

"What do you intend to do, sir?"

Cui Renshi whispered: "Three generations of the Li family..."

He murmured, and said to the younger generations who were following him: "Be careful of the third generation of the Li family."

"Sir, are you talking about the current crown prince?"

Cui Renshi nodded and said, "I have seen this prince from afar several times. This prince of the Eastern Palace is highly praised by the court officials and is very close to Li Weigong, Fang Xuanling, and Li Xiaogong."

Someone else asked, "I heard that the book Red Mansion was written by the East Palace?"

Cui Renshi smiled and said, "It doesn't matter where the Red Mansion came from. There have been so many emperors in this world, how many wise and brave ones are there?"

"I heard that the Crown Prince of the East Palace is a man who always keeps his word."

Master Cui Ren nodded and looked at these children from aristocratic families. As for the next generation, these children from aristocratic families were usually pampered and spoiled and were used to being arrogant.

He smiled again and said, "No problem, I will teach you carefully."

"I am grateful for the guidance, Mr. Senior."

Everyone bowed and saluted.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month in the cold winter, rolls of documents were delivered to Chang'an.

As heads fell to the ground under the city of Luoyang, officials' hats were taken off one by one.

Thirteen officials were beheaded and fifteen were exiled.

From then on, Ma Zhou, the governor of Luoyang, continued to temporarily take charge of Luoyang affairs, and Li Ke could also focus on flood control.

The documents from Luoyang were not sent to the Secretariat, but were sent directly to the palace and brought before His Majesty.

From the beginning of autumn this year to the cold winter now, this matter finally came to fruition.

As for how to arrange things next, the power still lies in the hands of my father.

Li Chengqian was discouraged but helpless. After all, he was still a prince. All he could do was to suggest to his father that work be used as relief to build Luoyang and to supervise the construction.

As for the rest of the things, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace could not participate in them. In the Secretariat, there was no one else here during the rest period, only the brother and sister.

Li Chengqian looked at his sister Li Lizhi, who was wearing men's clothes. She looked unhappy and said with her hands in her pockets, "It's good that I can give some suggestions. You don't have to take it too seriously."

Li Lizhi said: "Brother, Guanzhong needs to be built and expanded. Sooner or later, it will be pushed to Tongguan. Luoyang, which is connected to Tongguan, must be built."

"But my brother doesn't have that much power yet."

I want to say something else when I see my sister.

Li Chengqian asked again: "Do you think you will feel more comfortable wearing men's clothes to the Secretariat?"

Li Lizhi looked at herself wearing her brother's old clothes and explained, "My brother can't wear them anymore. It's definitely not appropriate for a woman to sit here all day."

Li Chengqian flipped through the account books of Jingzhao Prefecture and said, "Add some water to the pot. The tea eggs are about to boil dry."

Hearing this, Li Lizhi's face fell and she added water to the pot sullenly.

There was a brief silence here, and then Li Tai and Yu Zhining came over with a pile of files. They were surprised and said, "Li Zhi... is here too, why are you wearing men's clothes?"

Li Lizhi explained, "I came to help my brother. Dongyang wanted to come, but she has to visit a patient with Dr. Sun today."

Yu Zhining put the file down and said, "Your Highness, please take a look first. If there is anything missing, I will go and get it."

Li Tai spread out a map on the table and explained, "This is a map of Tongguan. It was drawn in the summer of this year. It should not be wrong."

Li Chengqian looked at the map, looked at the Yellow River, pointed to a stretch of beach exposed by the Yellow River and asked, "Will this place be flooded during the flood season?"

"Ok?"

Li Tai took a look and searched through the files.

Li Lizhi looked at the flustered brother Prince Wei and could imagine what the Literature Museum usually did. She helped to look for it and said, "Royal brother should organize and classify these files, and make good annotations and records."

Li Tai smiled awkwardly and said, "The Literature Museum is usually busy and has neglected to organize it."

After that, he found a file and flipped through it, saying, "Every autumn, the water level rises and the area is flooded. In the spring and summer, some people grow crops on the riverbank."

We want to build a cargo distribution center in Tongguan. This is one of the tasks of Jingzhao Prefecture in the coming year. But all things must start from the beginning.

Soon Li Shen and Li Zhi also walked quickly into the Secretariat and said, "Brother Emperor, my younger brother is here."

Li Chengqian ordered: "Brother Shen, you should draw the river in Luoyang separately, and make the lines simpler."

"Yes." Li Shen and Li Zhi immediately started to get busy.

"Qingque, I have the memorials submitted by the Ministry of Works on the repair of the city gates over the years. Let's compare them together."

"Here."

The brothers and sisters were in the Secretariat, and Yu Zhining stood aside and watched with a smile on his face.

The third generation brothers and sisters of the Li family are very united, and they can perform their duties under the instructions of the prince. Perhaps there will never be another incident like the Xuanwu Gate in the Li Tang Dynasty.

Such a Li Tang Dynasty will definitely become more powerful.

The prince is not a willful person. When he is too busy to handle something by himself, he will ask his younger brothers and sisters to help and accept other people's opinions.

Yu Zhining took one more look, then left silently with a smile on his face. At this moment, he felt that even though the road ahead was full of thorns, the scenery in the future would definitely be magnificent.

Time passed little by little, and the Secretariat was very quiet.

Li Shen and Li Zhi were drawing a line map of the river and Tongguan. They wanted to use contour lines to draw the terrain of Tongguan.

Based on the map, Li Chengqian and Li Tai planned to build a goods circulation center near the city gate, through the waterway of Tongguan, across Hanguguan, into Luoyang, and then directly to various places in Guanzhong.

Li Lizhi ate her tea eggs leisurely, because her brother had designed the scale of the construction and she needed to help with the budget, and she would be busy later.

Before I knew it, it was almost night.

Li Shimin personally walked out of Chengtian Gate with Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji, and saw that there were still palace maids walking towards the Secretariat.

Out of curiosity, Li Shimin took a few people to the Secretariat.

The snow on the roofs of many government offices in the imperial city had not yet melted. After the snow on the ground was cleared, the ground was dried by the cold wind.

When he arrived at the gate of the Secretariat, Li Shimin saw several children busying around. There were many files in front of them, and they were holding pieces of paper and seemed to be discussing something.

You can see that the one sitting in the middle is the prince, who is arranging various matters for his younger brothers and sisters.

Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "I will take my leave now."

Changsun Wuji also said: "I will take my leave."

When the two men left, Li Shimin was still standing there watching the scene.

"Father?"

Hearing the voice behind him, Li Shimin turned around and said, "It's Dongyang, what are you doing..."

Dongyang held a scroll of medicine in his hand and replied, "My daughter and Dr. Sun were practicing medicine in the city and just came back."

After saying that, she looked inside the Secretariat and said, "Father, why don't you come in and sit down? It's so cold outside, don't catch a cold."

After hearing this, all the children in the Secretariat looked over.

Sometimes, when looking at these children, he would forget the time. Facing their gazes, Li Shimin straightened his expression and walked in.

Dongyang came to Li Lizhi and whispered, "Sister."

Li Li asked, "Did you see a dead person again today?"

"Yes, I saw three people die of illness today."

Hearing this, Li Zhi and Li Shen looked up, then quickly looked away.

Dongyang explained: "Dr. Sun said that there are still many incurable diseases in this world. He taught my sister to be indifferent to life and death and not to be upset. If you can't get used to life and death, then don't study medicine. Now my sister has gotten used to it and has become indifferent to it."

Li Lizhi held her sister's cold hand and felt a little distressed. She was the only one among her brothers and sisters who had to face many life and death situations.

Li Shimin looked at the files here, picked up a file on the ground and asked, "What are you doing?"

Li Zhi replied obediently: "Father, my brother wants to open a distribution center for goods in Tongguan to transport and store goods."

"What's the purpose of this?"

Li Lizhi said: "Save the manpower cost between Chang'an and Tongguan."

Li Shimin tried to follow the children's thoughts and listened to their stories. The more he listened, the more confused he became, so he simply sat aside and started eating tea eggs.

There was nothing he could do about it. Li Shimin avoided his daughter's questioning gaze with a guilty conscience.

It is said that one can learn until he is old, but we are busy with state affairs every day, so it takes time to learn.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, but it always takes me a long time to read an article. There are some ideas and strategies that I have never seen before, and I can’t find the reason for them from my past experience.

Li Chengqian whispered, "I'll explain to Father after I finish my work now."

(End of this chapter)