The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 195 Imperfect Fortifications
The Secretariat was still busy, and Dongyang lit the candlesticks here.

The East Palace brought the evening meal. While eating millet rice, Li Shimin looked at the drawings. The drawings showed the distance from Tongguan to Chang'an, the transportation time, and the manpower requirements.

In the night, the cold wind blew through the imperial city. In the silence and darkness, only the Secretariat still had candles lit.

"You want the goods to be shipped out by water."

Li Tai shook his head and said, "Father, the river in Guanzhong has great ups and downs. Water transportation may not be the only option."

Li Shimin was chewing on the braised beef and looking at the map in front of him. After listening to Li Tai's words, he began to think again.

Li Chengqian put away the blueprint in front of him and said, "Let's stop here for today."

Li Zhi let out a long breath and whispered, "It's finally over."

The two brothers stood up first and stood at the door first.

Li Chengqian looked to the side again and found that his father was no longer there, but walked out of the Secretariat and walked away without stopping.

Li Lizhi said: "Father doesn't want to hear what my brother has to say."

She sighed in annoyance, "I'm used to it."

Li Tai put all the files in a wooden box and said, "Put them here. If my brother needs anything in the future, just ask Qingque to tell him."

"Don't you need it in your literature museum?"

"Brother Shen's contour map gave Qingque some inspiration. Ask someone to discuss it after you go back." Li Tai bowed and was about to leave.

"Brother Wei Wang, take care."

Hearing his sister's words behind him, Li Tai paused for a moment, then left with a smile on his face.

There were few people in the Secretariat these days, so it became the prince's temporary workplace for handling matters in Guanzhong.

The brothers and sisters walked back to the East Palace together.

Dongyang walked with his sister, looked at his brother's back and said, "Today, I went to visit Mr. Wen Yanbo with Dr. Sun."

Li Lizhi asked, "How is the old man's health?"

"Mr. Wen is very old. Doctor Sun said that he can no longer use medicine. He just needs to rest on a daily basis."

After a pause, Dongyang suddenly said, "The old man is very concerned about my brother."

"Did the old man say anything?"

Hearing about his brother's throne, Dongyang explained: "The old man said why the Crown Prince of the East Palace is obsessed with the villagers of Guanzhong and despises the gentry."

Li Chengqian looked up at the bright moon in the night sky and said with a smile: "He always thought that I should be the same as the princes of previous dynasties."

"Yes." Dongyang nodded and said, "The old man has been thinking about it for a long time."

When I walked into the East Palace, it was already late at night and the moonlight was very bright tonight.

Li Zhi and Li Shen went to rest early after washing up.

Li Chengqian sat in the bedroom and looked at Ning'er who was tidying up the bookshelf. He said, "Sister Ning'er, have all the clothes from the Queen Mother been delivered?"

Ning Er walked closer and replied, "It's delivered."

Li Chengqian put his weight on the chair, looked at the starry sky outside the window again, and whispered, "That's good."

Seeing His Highness's tired look, Ning'er continued, "The Queen said that Princess Changle and Princess Dongyang often wear men's clothes, which is not good for them."

"I know."

Ning'er reached out and adjusted the pen holder on His Highness's desk so that it was flush with the edge of the desk.

"The Queen instructed the Crown Prince to go to bed early every night."

Li Chengqian nodded, still looking at the starry sky, and said slowly: "For thousands of years, only this starry sky has never changed."

Ning Er stood behind His Highness and said, "People say that stars do fall from the sky, but few people see them."

"You see, even the stories are the same."

Li Chengqian had a smile on his face.

Ning Er nodded and said, "That's right. The stories that have been passed down by people for thousands of years are the same."

She looked at the neat and tidy bedroom and said, "It's getting late, Your Highness should go to bed early."

"Well, I'll fall asleep after watching for a while. Sister Ning'er should go and rest too."

"Here."

In the darkness of night, in the Lizheng Hall, the current emperor was also awake, and the eunuch lit the candlesticks a little brighter.

Li Shimin looked at a piece of paper in his hand, on which was Li Zhi's discussion on the efficiency of cargo transportation.

Empress Changsun saw through her husband's thoughts at a glance, but she would not show anything in front of her son. When she came back, she kept reading the articles.

The next day, when Li Shimin woke up, he did not look very good. He had read articles almost all night long.

He slept for three or two hours and then got up.

Li Shimin let the queen put on his coat. Thinking of the many things to do in Guanzhong and his son's busy schedule, he asked, "What is Cheng Qian doing today?"

The maid next to her replied, "Ning'er, the head of the East Palace, said that the prince is cleaning the backyard of the East Palace."

Li Shimin put on his coat, lifted his collar, and frowned, "He's not busy building Guanzhong, but cleaning up the backyard of the East Palace?"

"It is said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to build another house, and the backyard of the East Palace needs to be cleared."

"Build a house?" Li Shimin suddenly laughed and said, "I was worried that he would be too busy, but he still has the leisure to build a house."

Empress Changsun said unhappily, "What else does your majesty want Cheng Qian to do?"

Li Shimin smiled awkwardly and sat down to eat first.

The backyard of the East Palace is the West Pond Courtyard. There is a canal that enters the palace from the Anyuan Gate and winds its way to the East Palace, so there is a pond here.

In spring and summer, this place was overgrown with weeds. Li Chengqian, along with his younger brothers and sisters, used shovels to turn over all the withered yellow weeds.

Li Zhi and Li Shen filled the place with stones.

"Brother, why don't you go to the palace to find a craftsman?"

Hearing Li Zhi's complaints, Li Chengqian said, "Why? You guys are not happy to do something."

Li Zhi lowered his head and said, "No."

Li Shen pulled a basket of stones with great effort and pushed it over, causing the stones to spill onto the ground. Wearing coarse cloth gloves, he spread all the stones on the mud and jumped on the spot to make the ground firm.

Li Zhi looked at Li Shen who was quite interested and whispered, "Why are you still so happy?"

Li Shen said: "My brother said that he wanted to set up an East Palace library here. I will let my younger brother design what the library will look like."

"Oh, no wonder."

"Mother said that as long as it is my brother's order, I will follow it."

Li Zhi turned around and pulled a cart of weeds to the gate of the West Pond Courtyard. Eunuchs were already waiting there, and they would take away the cleared weeds.

After noon, the area around the West Pond was paved with pebbles, which looked very pleasing to the eye.

The aroma of food came from the East Palace. Li Zhi had lost interest in food. He dropped the shovel in his hand, took off his cloth gloves, and then took off his apron.

He and Li Shen washed their hands by the pond in the West Pond. The pond was not deep, but the water was clean. The water came from the Taiye Pond through the canals in the palace and flowed into the East Palace. The East Palace did not use the water for domestic use, but used the well water in the front hall of the East Palace.

If you want to use the water here, you need to walk all the way from the front hall to the inner square, and then from Cheng'en Hall to the west courtyard. It is too troublesome.

Moreover, the former West Courtyard Pond had been abandoned for a long time and no one cared about it.

There are some aquatic plants in the pond, and there will be a lot of mosquitoes in the summer.

Li Lizhi stood outside the West Pond Courtyard and shouted, "It's time for dinner!"

Hearing the call from his sister, Li Zhi said, "Brother, it's time to eat."

Li Chengqian was still wearing an apron, holding a wooden pole in both hands, stirring a ball of mud.

A long time ago, people would mix some wheat straw or rice straw, or branches, into the mud when building houses, so that the walls would be stronger.

Now most of the houses in the villages in various counties are built in this way. After removing the walls, you can see hay mixed in the mud.

Li Chengqian picked up the basin of water beside him. The wood ash that had been immersed in the water had already settled. After the water was poured out, all that was left was the sediment of the wood ash.

Li Zhi asked curiously, "Brother, what is this?"

"One building material is more than enough for paving the road."

Li Shen heard his stomach growling. He squatted aside and watched his brother stirring a ball of mud. He supported his chin with both hands and endured the hunger.

Li Zhi said, "So this is why my brother has been reading Kao Gong Ji these days?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Let's eat first."

The dishes in the East Palace today are very simple. Obviously, there are fewer vegetables, and meat occupies most of the space on the table.

Li Lizhi picked up some pickled mustard greens for Gao Yang and told her, "Eat more vegetables."

Gao Yang is still very obedient. Except for Xiao Sizi, she is the youngest among the sisters. She doesn’t talk much and usually follows behind her sisters Qinghe and Runan.

Gao Yang was eating pickled mustard greens, chewing the ground very hard.

After seeing his brother finish his meal, he left in a hurry.

Li Lizhi looked at her two younger brothers and said, "Has the West Courtyard Pond not been cleaned yet?"

Li Zhi said: "After cleaning, we need to pave the road again."

Li Shen took a big sip of the millet rice in the bowl and said, "I'm going to help my brother."

Li Zhi also quickly finished his meal and left.

Mix the settled wood ash into the mud, then pour in some fine sand, and after adding water it becomes mud.

Li Zhi and Li Shen used wooden frames to frame the West Courtyard Pond, and now the ground of the West Courtyard Pond looks like grids.

Li Chengqian and his two younger brothers poured all the mud into the grid.

From a distance, the three brothers each held a wide wooden board with a handle on it. After smoothing the mud with the board, they could wait for it to solidify.

"Brother, they all said that winter is not suitable for building houses."

Li Chengqian carefully smoothed the mud and said, "I read the weather report from Taoist Li last night. He said that it will be sunny for the next two days and it won't be too cold at night."

Li Zhi scratched his head and asked, "What is the weather report?"

Li Shen replied: "It is the weather predicted by Taoist Li based on the astronomical phenomena."

After finishing all these, the three brothers took a rest by the pond in the west courtyard, feeling a sense of accomplishment as they looked at the results in front of them.

"Zhi Nu, have you heard that one of your father's uncles is an elder named Li Shentong?"

Li Zhi said: "I've heard of it."

Li Chengqian told his brother about General Li Shentong's past and said, "General Li Shentong is actually a very good person. Even if he always loses in battles, it's nothing."

Li Zhi looked up at his brother.

"Just like Zhinu, you always fail to answer questions. In fact, this does not prevent you from being a good boy. Life is still brilliant. Don't be afraid of failure. There is nothing wrong with admitting your shortcomings. Compared with the achievements of others, are your efforts in vain?"

"If we only look at the appearance of success or failure, we will forget the gains we have gained in the process of hard work, as well as the inner hardships and perseverance. This is why we should not judge a hero by his success or failure. This is the truth I learned from my uncle in Hejian."

Li Chengqian put his arm around Li Zhi's shoulder and said, "Zhi Nu, Shen'er, although you don't have the talent of Li Zhi and Dong Yang, as long as you work hard and are willing to learn, there is no one bad among the brothers in our family, and they are all good."

Li Zhi nodded heavily without saying anything, but his eyes were full of fighting spirit.

Li Shen said: "But some people say that the emperor's uncle from Hejian is a bastard."

Thinking of the character of the emperor's uncle, Li Chengqian felt distressed and explained awkwardly: "Maybe he is a bastard."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Brother Shen, what you said is not right."

Li Shen said: "My brother heard it from other uncles."

Li Zhi said stubbornly: "Uncle Hejian's house is full of gods and Buddhas shining brightly."

……

Listening to the argument between his two younger brothers, Li Chengqian felt that what he said was in vain and left with a numb expression.

Three days later, the West Pond Courtyard paved with mud was completed. It took three days for the mud to completely solidify.

Because of the cold night, the mud had some cracks and was not a perfect fortification.

Dig out the cracks and fill them with mortar, so that the flat ground surrounding the pond becomes solid.

Li Chengqian demolished several houses that had been abandoned for a long time. The bricks in the palace were all of the best quality. Even after so many years, these bricks were still strong and easy to use.

Li Chengqian, wearing a mask, sorted out the bricks and piled them up.

Ning'er looked at the busy Crown Prince. Although he had demolished several houses and was building new ones, it seemed like he was robbing Peter to pay Paul.

As long as His Highness is happy, it doesn't matter if a few more houses are demolished, Ning'er thought.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was also an extremely patient man. After half a day, the bricks and stones beside the West Pond Courtyard were piled higher than a person, and there were several layers.

Not far away, Princess Changle was chasing His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin with a rattan stick.

"Royal sister, my brother said that success or failure does not determine a hero's success!"

Li Lizhi chased him with a cane in hand, angrily saying, "Don't run! How dare you not do your homework regardless of success or failure? Even if Mencius is still alive, he will destroy you."

"Ouch!" The screams of Prince Jin were heard from the inner room of the East Palace.

The thirteen-year-old Qinghe shook his head and said, "I don't know what's wrong with Zhinu. Why do you always keep talking about Mencius' words lately?"

Li Lizhi slapped her brother and said, "If you don't finish your homework, you are not allowed to play with Di Renjie."

Li Zhi lay on the chair, wanting to cry but without tears.

Seeing this, Li Shen sighed: "Royal brother, reason cannot be used carelessly, let alone dare to contradict the royal sister."

Li Zhi gritted his teeth, and at this time, his back was probably covered with several red marks. He said, "Brother Shen, help me."

As the New Year approaches, the city of Chang'an becomes more and more lively, and so does the palace. Recently, the palace maids and eunuchs have been coming and going constantly.

When many princes and relatives from all over the country returned to Chang'an to meet His Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was still repairing his own East Palace.

(End of this chapter)