The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 210 Heavy Rain in Chang'an
Li Chengqian nodded and said, "As long as no one is killed, you can punish them by military law. If they still don't intend to change, you can send them back to their homes and let their families punish them according to the family law. Then say that I arranged it. If there are any consequences, let them come to the East Palace."

"Here."

Donggong Youlu is not a place for these noble children to play around, nor is it a place for them to gild themselves.

Three hundred people? When Li Chengqian left Qujiang, he was still thinking that after half a month of training, some of the three hundred people would definitely leave, and it would be considered good if half of them could stay.

Outside the city of Chang'an, Du He and the bad guy Wei Chang were walking in an open space.

"This place is ten miles away from Chang'an City. The foundation has been compacted, and we can start building a group of houses before the Grain Rain this year."

Wei Chang asked: "Do we need to arrange some personnel?"

"No need. Many people have moved to Guanzhong this year, and many of them need to find work to make a living. There is no shortage of manpower."

These things were arranged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The population cannot gather in Chang'an City. Houses must be built outside Chang'an City to ease the population pressure inside Chang'an City.

With Du He's current capital, he knows more information than ordinary businessmen.

People are more sensitive to fluctuations in land prices in Chang'an City. If the population of Chang'an City is allowed to continue expanding, land prices in Chang'an City will continue to rise.

Thus, building houses outside became a top priority.

Emperors of every dynasty acquired extensive farmland in the 800-li Qinchuan Plain in Guanzhong.

Therefore, there is not much land available for building houses in large numbers.

This is also where Du He has a difficult time.
"By the way." Du He asked again: "How is that man named Pei Mingli?"

Wei Chang replied: "The hollyhocks he planted have grown."

This surprised Du He a little. Jingyang had shown good intentions to this person before, but this person refused.

However, given Du He's current wealth, he doesn't need to take him seriously. There is no shortage of smart businessmen in this world.

A servant from the mansion came in a hurry to report, "Sir, the right commander of the East Palace has ordered his men to return all the things we sent."

Du He said: "Then there is no need to send it there in the future."

This was most likely the intention of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. As long as it was the arrangement of the Eastern Palace, Du He just had to follow it. This was his subconscious choice.

Just because he has always obeyed the prince's instructions, he has never suffered any losses in business, but instead made more and more money.

If the prince only regards Donggong Youlu as a figurehead, there is nothing wrong with giving him some money.

If the prince intends to build up Youlu, then he should have nothing to do with Youlu in the future.

The servant took out another letter and said, "This is from the East Palace."

Du He took the letter and removed the wax seal on it. The paper used for correspondence with the Eastern Palace had always been specially made in the workshop.

Different from other papers, these papers are unique. They feel finer in the hand, smoother to use, and tend to be brown in color.

Looking at the contents of the letter, Du He whispered, "Wei Chang, can you gather together all the bad people who used to be with you?"

"I can still say a few words."

"Well, have your people keep an eye on a man named Du Zhenglun."

Wei Chang hesitated and said, "This man is the Minister of the Imperial Court."

"Just watch from a distance and see what this person is doing. Don't touch him."

"Well, I'll arrange it right away."

After giving these instructions, Du He put away the letter and saw someone approaching in the distance.

Yan Shuling came with a team of craftsmen to build a house.

Du He walked up to them with a smile and greeted them warmly.

In Guanzhong, at the end of March and the beginning of April, there would be a heavy rain in Chang'an, and this rainstorm came as expected.

The raindrops as big as beans fell sparsely at first, and then came in heavy torrents.

It was already dusk in Chang'an, and suddenly it became much cooler and the temperature dropped sharply.

There have been rumors in the court recently that the prince can identify the solar terms according to the Big Dipper, and this ability was spread from the East Palace.

Some people say that this is the knowledge of Taoist Priest Li Chunfeng, and that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace learned it from Princess Jinyang who was studying Taoism.

Only Li Chunfeng knew clearly that he had not yet taught the young Princess Jinyang these skills.

Judging the solar terms through astronomical phenomena is also one of the Taoist studies.

It is said that mastering the astrology means mastering the weather. In fact, the direction of the Big Dipper is regular, and the solar terms are determined according to the direction.

Since ancient times, people who mastered this ability have had the power to persuade villagers to farm according to the seasons.

If we miss the right season, the harvest will be poor. A poor harvest is a minor problem, but a total crop failure will be a bigger problem.

Therefore, in ancient times, mastering the stars meant mastering the weather and the livelihood of the people.

As time passed, the emperor had been in power for thousands of years, and this kind of knowledge was scattered among the people along with some miscellaneous books related to Taoism.

There are also many people who know the secret. Experienced farmers don’t even need to look at the stars. They can tell when the season has come just by looking at the soil and the clouds.

Li Chunfeng didn't care whether the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace secretly learned Taoist skills.

He believed that with the prince's abilities, he could even teach Princess Jinyang how to draw star maps, and that what he had learned was no less than what he had learned himself.

What's the point of this ability?

It was still raining heavily. There was a happy event in Chang'an City today. The emperor married his sister, Princess Qianjin, to Wen Ting, the second son of Mr. Wen Yanbo.

This happy event was arranged by his father when Wen Yanbo's health was deteriorating.

Princess Li was the daughter of Emperor Li Yuan.

His age is about the same as the current crown prince.

Li Chengqian and Dongyang walked in the rain holding umbrellas, preparing to go to the banquet.

It was raining heavily, and the brother and sister took shelter under the eaves of a house. Xue Wanbei stood in the rain, letting the rain fall on his armor.

Dongyang said: "Mr. Wen's two sons have just returned to Chang'an these days. It was Doctor Sun who told them to do so. Mr. Wen's condition has reached the point where he has to have his family around him."

The rain was so heavy that it was impossible to move. Li Chengqian led his sister along the eaves and asked, "It's not far away, right?"

Dongyang nodded and said, "Yes, his son needed to be by his side on the day the old man passed away. Doctor Sun specifically told my sister about this."

Dongyang has studied medicine for more than a year and has accompanied Dr. Sun on many visits. In just one year, she has been reading Dr. Sun's pharmacology while treating patients with him.

Over the past year, medical knowledge has been rapidly supplementing her knowledge.

Dongyang is fifteen years old. At this age, she is at the stage of the strongest learning ability. It is right to focus on learning at such a good age. Just like Lizhi, she also started to read Taoist books. In terms of knowledge verification, Lizhi's learning ability is also advancing by leaps and bounds.

The most precious age in a person's life is at this time. As they grow up, their understanding and thinking abilities are at their peak.

If a person over 30 is asked to pick up knowledge beyond his previous knowledge, his learning ability will not be as strong as that of a teenager around 15 years old.

Although Dongyang still needs Doctor Sun to see patients, most of the time, she has begun to assist Doctor Sun in writing prescriptions.

In a few years, she will be a capable doctor.

Today, firstly, as the crown prince, he had to attend a banquet, after all, it was a royal wedding, and secondly, Dongyang had to go for a follow-up visit to the old man.

Li Chengqian walked straight to the old gentleman's house and went in. There were many guests here, including his uncle Changsun Wuji, Lord Zheng and General Yuchi.

Wen Ting looked to be in his early twenties. He bowed and said, "Your Highness, Wen Ting, greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Dongyang."

Dongyang lifted the Donggong-specially-made backpack on his shoulder and saluted gracefully.

Li Chengqian said: "Now you are the son-in-law of the emperor, you should get along well with your aunt in the future."

"I obey your command." Although today was his wedding, he had a smile on his face, but he was not too happy because his father Wen Yanbo's health was getting worse.

The emperor did not come in person, but asked the crown prince to come.

This brought more wealth to Wen Yanbo's family, and the guests in the hall congratulated him one after another.

Li Chengqian sat aside and watched this Tang Dynasty wedding. After the royal family married the princess to a meritorious official, some of the etiquette was still very cumbersome.

Wen Ting followed the arrangements of the Ministry of Rites and Li Chongyi, Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Temple, one by one.

The weather is bad today, so many formalities can be omitted. Wen Ting kowtowed towards the Taiji Hall again.

Li Chengqian looked at Mr. Wen’s eldest son, Wen Zhen, who also smiled politely.

After finishing the wedding, Li Chengqian, Dongyang, Wen Zhen, the eldest son of the Wen family, and the newly married prince consort and princess Qianjin came to Mr. Wen's bedside.

Dongyang was wearing a Taoist robe because Doctor Sun usually wore it, and as his disciple, Dongyang also needed to wear it.

She was taking the old man's pulse.

Wen Ting and Princess Qianjin kowtowed to the old gentleman.

The old man nodded slowly, his eyes turned to the Crown Prince of the East Palace, sat on the couch, and whispered: "Your Highness, please forgive me..."

Li Chengqian stepped forward and said, "No need to be so polite, old sir."

After Dongyang finished taking the pulse, he stood aside and nodded secretly to his brother.

After understanding, Li Chengqian whispered, "Old sir, take good care of yourself."

"Chongwen Hall also has..."

"I will make arrangements for Chongwenguan later. I will ask Yan Shuling to take care of it in the future."

"Yan Qinli is still fine." Wen Yanbo said weakly.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "The old gentleman's son is married. He married my aunt. In the future, when they have children, Duoduo will accompany the old gentleman."

Wen Yanbo said: "Okay, okay."

Wen Ting wiped his tears with his sleeve and turned his head away so that his father would not see his tears.

"All of you please go out. I have something to say to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Everyone left the room, and Li Chengqian signaled Dongyang to stay, as she needed to keep an eye on the old man's complexion.

Realizing that his father and the prince had important matters to discuss, and perhaps these were his last words, Wen Ting closed the door from the outside.

Wen Yanbo whispered, "Your Highness, I am afraid that I will not see the day when the four counties of Liaodong are conquered."

Feeling the old man's withered hand on his own, Li Chengqian held the somewhat cold hand and whispered, "I will definitely recover Liaodong."

"I know that conquering Liaodong is not a matter of a few words. Things in this world will never go as one wishes. If we can take back Liaodong one day, I hope Your Highness the Crown Prince will burn a letter in front of my grave so that I can know it in the afterlife."

"must."

Wen Yanbo finally smiled. He leaned his head on the bamboo pillow and asked with his eyes closed, "What has your Highness been holding on to all this time?"

"In reply to the old gentleman, what I hold fast in my heart are the millions of people. They are not a small number of elites, nor are they a very small number of large families."

"What are you going to do next, Prince?"

Li Chengqian looked at the old face and said, "The so-called elites are only a small minority. Who said that there must be a group of elites in this world? In fact, the wisest people are often those simple villagers. Their wisdom is very simple, but they are the foundation, the foundation of people's hearts and power."

Wen Yanbo asked again: "I originally thought that with the prince's talent, as long as he got the support of the nobles, he would be able to ascend the throne smoothly in the future."

Li Chengqian replied: "Old sir, I have been building Guanzhong, collecting population, checking the land in Luoyang, and developing trade. Many people have been talking about the Crown Prince, or saying that his policies are inappropriate."

"But there are many people in the court who support us. For example, the censor Zhang Xuansu said that he thinks Luoyang must be governed. There are also Zhang Xingcheng, Ma Zhou, Gao Jifu and others."

Wen Yanbo remained silent.

"Old sir, some people say that the Crown Prince of the East Palace is a stubborn person, but there are some things I must stick to. Even if there are only three or two people supporting me, I will continue to move forward step by step."

Wen Yanbo whispered, "Your Highness, this is too difficult."

"Old man, it's not difficult."

The house was quiet for a moment.
"I want to build a wheelchair and take the old man to see Guanzhong today. The smiles on the faces of the villagers are the best medicine."

Wen Yanbo patted the back of the prince's hand and said, "I don't know when I fell asleep, but I had a nightmare. I dreamed that the prince built a Jingguan. The Jingguan was right under the prince's feet. Many people died. The sky was red. There were too many deaths."

"Well, the prince in the dream was alone. It seems that things are always like this around the prince." Wen Yanbo whispered again.

After saying this, the old man closed his eyes, leaving only his steady breathing.

Dongyang went to feel his breath again, checked his pulse for a moment, and said, "Brother, the old man has fallen asleep."

Li Chengqian stood up and looked at the sleeping face of the old man.

"The old man's health has reached this point. He could fall asleep at any time. However, Dr. Sun said that if he recuperates well, he can live another year."

Pushing open the door, Li Chengqian saw the brothers Wen Ting and Wen Zhen who were drenched by the rain again.

"The old man has fallen asleep, please take good care of him."

The two brothers saluted together.

Most of the guests in the front hall had left. Dongyang took out a cloth bag from her backpack and said, "These are some Qi-replenishing herbs. The old gentleman's body cannot take other herbs. Don't use too strong medicine. Just replenish Qi gradually."

(End of this chapter)