The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 203: Hexi Affairs
The person who saluted in front of the city gate was Du He. Others didn't know that the person who was traveling was the prince, but he knew Xue Wanbei in the army.

There were many merchants around Du He. They didn't know what Master Du He meant by his sudden bow, so they followed suit and bowed as well.

Li Chengqian just took a quick look and did not let Xue Wanbei stop the carriage, and went straight into Chang'an City.

Master Du He is a very successful businessman in Chang'an City. He is also an idol of merchants in Guanzhong. This is not because he is young, but because he attaches great importance to credibility.

There are people who admire Du He, and there are also people who speak ill of him.

Some people say that Du He is a glutton in Guanzhong, constantly absorbing money from all over the Central Plains, and no amount of money can satisfy his appetite.

Now fewer and fewer people care about the relationship between Donggong and Duhe.

Knowing that Du He is the money bag of the Eastern Palace, fewer and fewer people understand this truth.

Because the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace rarely interacted with Du He in recent years, no one would associate Du He's wealth with the Eastern Palace.

Du He was from the Jingzhao Du family and was a descendant of Du Ruhui. Since he started his business, people inside and outside the family had a lot of opinions about him.

None of this matters. As long as Du He is willing to continue to be the money bag of the Eastern Palace, his wealth will only increase, and sooner or later he will become the richest businessman in this place.

As long as he can use it for the benefit of the people, it doesn't matter if he is greedy.

The carriage stopped in front of the Vermillion Bird Gate. Li Chengqian saw that many people were already walking around in the imperial city. Unknowingly, it was already the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The solar terms come early this year, and the Spring Equinox will also come earlier than usual. Li Chengqian walked into the imperial city.

During the entire rest period, Li Chengqian spent most of his time tinkering with some small objects. No one knew what kind of toys the Crown Prince was making. This was a common puzzle among the palace maids and children in the Eastern Palace.

Li Chengqian was sitting in his bedroom, polishing an iron pestle.

Li Zhi stepped forward quickly and said, "Royal brother."

Li Chengqian is thinking about making the Ministry of Industry's ruler into a more suitable scale. If he wants to make more sophisticated parts, he first needs more sophisticated tools.

There is a truth in the saying that a good cook cannot cook without rice. In this era when manufacturing tools are not yet sophisticated and perfect, the first thing to do is to create suitable manufacturing tools.

Once the thought of making various measuring tools from scratch comes into mind, it makes people want to curse.

Li Chengqian looked at the ruler with degrees of measurement and fell into deep thought.

"Brother!" Li Zhi called out again, "I heard that sister wants to accept Xu Hui and Xiao Wu as her disciples."

Li Chengqian remained silent and continued to look at the ruler.

Li Zhi continued, "From what I can see now, sister's math skills are unrivaled in the Imperial College."

"Um……"

Seeing that my brother looked distressed, his answers were intermittent.

This is not a big deal. Children in the Eastern Palace need friends. It may not be a bad thing if Li Lizhi and Dongyang can have two friends, Xiaowu and Xu Hui.

It's like Li Zhi and Li Shen became good friends of Di Renjie.

Seeing his sister coming, Li Zhi, who had just reported the news, ran away quickly.

Li Chengqian was still looking at the ruler in front of him, deep in thought.

Li Lizhi walked to the side and sat down, saying, "Sister is going to accept Xiao Wu and Xu Hui as her disciples."

"Well, Zhinu has already mentioned this matter. You can accept them as your disciples."

"Thank you for your permission, my brother." She smiled with narrowed eyes, and then said, "My sister and Dongyang tried to make tea. After adding sesame seeds, lard, and vinegar, the tea tasted really bad."

Li Chengqian sat cross-legged, propping his chin with one hand, and said, "Chinu now dares to tell me the news without your knowledge."

Hearing this, Li Lizhi looked more serious and said, "It's my fault for not taking good care of my brother. I'll go and teach him a lesson right away."

She had just stood up and was about to walk out of the hall when she heard her brother's voice behind her.

"Remember, we must unite as a family. Only when we unite ourselves can we avoid being bullied. Any attempt to alienate our family must be nipped in the bud."

"Sister, please remember my teachings."

After she left, Li Chengqian heard screams from behind the East Palace. Li Zhi was wailing and admitting his mistakes.

Teaching her brother a lesson is Li Lizhi's top priority.

It’s really helpless to say that my father’s way of educating his children is really too broad.

As the emperor's elder brother and elder sister, they need to set absolute standards and authority.

Li Chengqian picked up another ruler, put the two rulers together, and moved them slightly by half an inch. According to the scale, he could make the current measuring tool more precise.

That night, Li Chengqian did not come for dinner, but was busy in the bedroom alone.

The next day was the grand court meeting. Ning Er arranged the court clothes for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, it's time to rest. The grand court meeting will be held tomorrow."

Li Chengqian was still adjusting the ruler, trying to draw a more precise scale, and said, "I know."

Ning'er bowed slightly and left the bedroom.

As time passed, the child in the Eastern Palace grew one year older, and the Crown Prince is now eighteen years old.

Ning'er looked at the noisy children in the Eastern Palace with a smile on her face, standing aside and watching for a long time.

The next day, which was the day of the grand court meeting, Li Chengqian woke up early and was eating breakfast after morning exercises.

Li Xiaogong and Li Daozon came together, so they asked someone to prepare two more bowls of noodles.

"It is rare that Your Highness the Crown Prince is in such good spirits every morning." Li Xiaogong took the bowl and chopsticks and sat down on a low stool nearby to eat.

Li Dao Zong stirred the scallion oil noodles in the bowl and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is at the best age. We can't compare with him."

Li Lizhi, who was practicing bow drawing, said: "Uncles, you are joking. My brother has been sleeping very late recently."

Li Xiaogong nodded in understanding, "It's normal for young people to go to bed late."

Li Daozon finished the scallion oil noodles in his bowl in just a few bites.

However, Li Chengqian still looked thoughtful, and said, "I was studying the ruler last night."

"What's so special about this ruler?"

"Uncle is right." Li Chengqian took another sip of mutton soup and said, "As a crown prince, I shouldn't focus on these things. I should study how to heal the country."

Li Dao Zong nodded, "That's right."

After breakfast, the uncle and nephew went to the Taiji Hall to prepare for court.

There were many officials heading to the Taiji Hall along the way, and many people were standing outside the Taiji Hall.

Li Chengqian walked with his hands in his pockets and asked, "How is the Emperor's uncle doing in Jingzhao Prefecture recently?"

Li Dao Zong replied: "We have sent a lot of people to Tongguan."

Pulling out a memorial from his sleeve, Li Chengqian handed it over and said, "I would also like to ask my uncle to ask Jingzhao Prefecture to inform the magistrates of the counties in Guanzhong of these words, post notices widely, and also inform Luoyang." Li Daozon did not read it on the spot, but put it into his sleeve and nodded to indicate that he understood.

With the arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, many officials in the Taiji Hall became a little restrained. Li Chengqian walked straight to his seat, which was the front right side of the court procession.

Li Tai was already here. He said, "Brother, I haven't seen you for a long time."

Li Tai is now one year older. Li Chengqian looked back at him and said, "Qingque, you should lose weight."

Li Tai smiled awkwardly and said, "My royal brother is right. Qingque will pay attention to his training."

With a loud shout from the eunuch, the first court meeting of the tenth year of Zhenguan began. Li Shimin walked into the Taiji Hall, sat on the throne, and first asked the eunuch to read out his will.

The first thing the emperor did at this year's grand court meeting was that he began to confer titles on his meritorious officials. Names were read out one by one, such as General Li Ji, who was conferred the title of Duke of Ying, and General Cheng Yaojin, who was conferred the title of Duke of Lu.

Whenever a person's name is mentioned in an imperial edict, people will more or less wonder whether he or she is related to the Lingyan Pavilion.

After the decree was read, there was no mention of the Lingyan Pavilion.

I just heard that Your Majesty has asked Yan Liben to paint a portrait of Du Ruhui, and it will be placed in the Lingyan Pavilion.

The following court meeting went on as normal. First, we talked about what was normally discussed in this year's court meeting, and then there was the audience with envoys from various countries.

Aroben was also in the audience team, and the Prince of Gaochang was also wearing gold and silver when he came to meet the emperor.

The grand court meeting lasted until three quarters past noon, and everyone was starving.

Li Chengqian returned to the Eastern Palace, had a quick meal, and then went to the Secretariat to take up his post.

There was another important matter at the first court meeting of the tenth year of Zhenguan, which was the repair of the Chantian Khan Road. It turned out that someone had talked about this matter a few years ago.

Now both the Western Regions and the Turks have to participate in the repair.

Because the emperor had conferred the title of duke on quite a few people, many meritorious officials did not eat after the morning court session, but went to see the emperor again, wanting to refuse the title they had just received.

So the emperor was busy dealing with it and started to get busy again.

Li Chengqian sat in the Secretariat and had to arrange money and food for various departments in the court.

Yu Zhining came with a roll of documents, held his hands and whispered, "Your Highness, this is the document sent by Li Yifu."

Li Chengqian took the document without looking at the account book in front of him.

Yu Zhining further explained: "This scroll of documents was brought by Yan Shuling."

Li Chengqian then looked up and saw Yan Qinli standing outside the Secretariat waiting for a reply.

Yu Zhining explained: "There are two copies of the document sent from the Hexi Corridor. The Minister of War Duan, who is in charge of affairs in the Hexi Corridor, also sent a copy. Now it has been presented to your majesty."

Li Chengqian looked at the document. The four counties of the Hexi Corridor have been under construction so far. Dunhuang and Wuwei counties have been completed, and now the renovation of Zhangye County has reached the final stage.

This Li Yifu had been in the Hexi Corridor for three years. He had renovated three county towns and his memorial also mentioned several Tuyuhun people who had died from overwork.

Fifteen of the five thousand Tuyuhun people died.

To be precise, these fifteen people did not die from exhaustion, but died from serious illnesses.

Yu Zhining further explained, "It was because when Li Yifu was repairing the four counties in Hexi, he drove away General Li Ji's horses and sheep. He only found out afterwards that this was General Li Ji's family property in Hexi, and then he had someone deliver the documents. In fact, Li Yifu didn't know about this in advance, so it was a misunderstanding."

Li Chengqian finished reading the document, put it aside, and said, "Why don't you just hand it over."

"Li Yifu didn't know who to give the document to. It was not appropriate to give it to the Ministry of War. After the messenger arrived in Chang'an, he gave it to General Li Daoyan. Since it was a document that could not be delivered, it was sent to Jingzhao Prefecture. Li Yifu was originally a ceremonial officer in the Ministry of Personnel. His official position was too low to deliver it."

"If Xu Jingzong hadn't known that His Royal Highness was arranging money and food for the Hexi Corridor, this document might have been delayed in the Ministry of Personnel for half a month, and then sent to the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Works, which would have delayed it for a few more days. When Xu Jingzong learned about this, he asked Yan Shuling to hand it directly to His Royal Highness."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Let Yan Shuling go back and continue to preside over the affairs of Jingzhao Prefecture."

"Here."

At dusk, most of the officials in the imperial city had left, and Li Chengqian stayed in the Secretariat to work overtime. This time of year was the busiest time for the prince.

With the coming spring and summer, the court has many things to do. The prince needs to allocate money and grain, set aside some extra money, and set budgets for each department.

Among them, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works have the largest number of tasks, not to mention the construction of Tongguan. There are several county governments and official roads in Luoyang that need to be repaired as soon as possible.

It is best to arrange these things as soon as possible. If they are delayed for too long, one thing will be delayed, and two or three things will be delayed in the future.

As the prince received the documents sent from the Hexi Corridor, Li Ji, who was granted the title of Duke of Ying, also received a letter from home.

He learned about what happened to his family in the Hexi Corridor.

That night, Li Ji asked his eldest son Li Zhen to meet the prince.

At night, Li Chengqian was still reviewing the account books in the Secretariat when the guards came to report: "Your Highness, Li Zhen, the son of the Ying family, is here."

"Let him in."

"Here."

Li Chengqian didn't look up but continued writing.

The Secretariat was very quiet, and the light of the candlelight shone on the face of the young prince.

Li Zhen, still wearing his duty armor, saluted and said, "Your Highness, my father has ordered me to come and see you."

Li Chengqian looked up at him and said with a smile, "Although I have always been close to Lord Ying, this is the first time I meet you."

"I often hear my father talk about Your Highness."

Li Chengqian raised his pen and gestured, "Sit down."

"Here."

The son of General Li Ji was well behaved and upright. Among the children of the army, he was a relatively unknown one among the second generation of generals.

Not as high-profile as General Cheng’s son.

Li Chengqian asked: "What position do you hold in the army?"

He replied, "I was just transferred to be the city gate guard this year. Yesterday, I was on duty and saw the prince's carriage leaving the city and returning to the city."

"Well, I did go fishing yesterday."

"I have had dealings with General Xue, and no one except me knows that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was traveling."

In fact, many people knew that the prince was traveling, so there was no need to hide it deliberately because it could not be concealed.

Li Chengqian put down the pen in his hand, knowing that Duke Ying would send his son most likely to discuss something, and it was not easy for him to deal with it.

Picking up the tea bowl beside him, Li Chengqian poured himself a bowl of hot tea, took a sip, and showed an attitude of being ready to talk about business.

As Li Zhen bowed, he could still hear the friction of the leather armor bending, and he said in a clear voice: "My father received a letter from Hexi an hour ago, and learned about Li Yifu's affairs."

Li Chengqian nodded slowly, "I have also received the document from Li Yifu, and I know the reason."

(End of this chapter)