The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 224: Jade Bi and Golden Chariot

Li Chengqian sat in the water pavilion, looking at the fishing line that had been motionless for a long time. He simply lay down and fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan, intending to take a short nap.

Not long after, another eunuch hurried to see His Majesty with a report from the army.

When Li Shen came back, he learned that his father had gone to see General Su Dingfang again. It seemed that the Zuo Wuwei had also received military reports from the Western Regions, which made his father furious.

A thunder sounded in the sky, and a thunderstorm came down.

In the water pavilion, Li Zhi brought a washed and killed duck. Li Chengqian picked it up with a lotus leaf from Taiye Pond and then put it into the charcoal fire.

The rain poured down from the sky and landed on the earth. Li Zhi and Li Shen sat on the steps nearby, staring at the rain in a trance, waiting for the duck to be roasted.

Li Lizhi ate half a melon, looked into the distance of the rain curtain, and said, "Father is still angry."

Li Chengqian ignored the fishing line that was swaying in the rain, and sat by the stove, sipping his tea and said, "My father's secret report has nothing to do with me."

Li Lizhi finished eating the melon, washed her hands with the lake water nearby, and said, "Xiaofu said that we prepared too many pickled mustard greens this year."

"Can't the East Palace finish eating?"

"Hmm." Li Lizhi thought for a while and said, "I thought my brother could give some to the royal family."

Li Chengqian sighed, "Send some to the Prince of Hejian, the Prince of Jiangxia, and Prime Minister Fang, my uncle, my uncle, and the family of General Li Ji. These families are close to the Eastern Palace. I will arrange for the rest, those families who are more distant from the royal family..."

He paused for a moment, and saw a flash of lightning in the distance that pierced the sky and the earth, followed by a thunderous sound that seemed to tear the sky apart.

Li Chengqian continued, "Most of the royal family members are estranged from the Eastern Palace. If we give too little, it will seem that the Eastern Palace is mean and ungrateful. If we give too much, it will seem that the Eastern Palace is too pretentious. It is better not to give anything."

The duck wrapped in lotus leaves was roasted over charcoal fire, and fat was constantly dripping from the gaps in the lotus leaves. Li Chengqian lifted the duck up.

The children in the Eastern Palace are not afraid of thunderstorms because their elder brother and elder sister are not afraid of thunder, and so the children are not afraid when they gather together.

After opening their purses and seeing the greasy duck meat, Li Zhi and Li Shen walked over quickly.

While His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and his younger brothers and sisters were sharing roast duck in the waterside pavilion, the Emperor was still venting his anger in the villa, and his angry curses were almost as loud as thunder.

Li Zhi poured all the remaining duck bones into the Taiye Lake. He looked at the lake and said, "The fish need to be fatter, so that the ducks raised in the Taiye Lake can be fatter, and my brother can enjoy fishing."

When the thunderstorm stopped, Li Chengqian was still sitting in the water pavilion, watching a few ducklings swimming out on the water, forming a long row.

The next day, Li Chengqian came to the Secretariat as usual, because there was no other living person in the Shangshu Province.

It feels better to sit in the Secretariat.

Early in the morning, the Jingzhao Prefecture sent a report.

Chu Suiliang looked at Yu Zhining beside him and asked, "Your Highness seems to be in a good mood today."

Yu Zhining replied: "I heard that there was a thunderstorm yesterday, but no one in Guanzhong was killed by lightning."

"is it?"

"Why?" Yu Zhining asked back, "Did people in Guanzhong often get killed by lightning in the past?"

Chu Suiliang seemed to be thinking about something and did not answer on the spot.

In the quiet Secretariat, only three or two people were talking in low voices.

Jingyang sent three large rolls of paper, which were very thick and needed to be pushed by someone to be delivered to the Secretariat.

Jingyang is producing more and more paper, and the soap formula has entered a stable period and will not change for a long time.

After Du He adjusted the secret recipe of paper, the pulp could be formed faster.

Li Chengqian took a look and saw three large rolls of paper. These papers seemed to be the reserve goods in his warehouse, that is, the paper made with the old secret recipe.

This is to clear out the inventory, and all the old paper that has accumulated over the years has been sent here.

In terms of attaching importance to technological improvement, paying attention to industrial upgrading and optimizing manufacturing processes, Du He was ahead of the merchants in Guanzhong.

Seeing that there were not many people in the Secretariat, Prime Minister Fang and Duke Zhao came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Duke Zheng did not come to the Secretariat either. Yu Zhining whispered, "Your Highness, I heard that another military report from the Western Regions has been sent. His Majesty is very angry about this."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Yes, my father is very angry."

Normally, His Majesty being so furious, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should be worried, and all the ministers should be worried as well.

Now looking at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he seems to be indifferent.

Yu Zhining said no more.

In fact, the teacher and uncle are still busy with how to establish the Anxi Protectorate, Xizhou, and Tingzhou, and now there are military reports sent from the Western Regions.

At this time, he was probably discussing with his father, mostly about what to do.

Li Zhi and Li Shen came carrying two sacks. They walked to the gate of the Secretariat and said, "Brother, everything is ready."

"Send two to Jingzhao Prefecture and let them divide it among themselves. Everyone will have a share."

"Go to Jingzhao Prefecture?" Li Zhi's eyes lit up and he asked, "Then can my brother go and play with Di Renjie?"

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and said, "We must return to the palace before dark."

The two younger brothers responded, carrying the sacks and quickly left the imperial city.

The sacks filled with pickled mustard greens were actually not heavy. Each of them carried one and ran very fast until they reached the Suzaku Gate. Although the two children were sweating profusely, they were smiling happily.

Then he asked Xue Wanbei to escort him to Jingzhao Prefecture to play with Di Renjie.

They waited in the Secretariat until night, but received no memorials from Luoyang and Tongguan. Instead, they received military reports from the Western Regions, saying that they were clearing out large and small horse bandits along the southeastern trade routes of the Western Regions.

The military report was delivered by Zhang Shigui, and he also heard the arrangements made by various generals in the army.

Qibi Heli returned to the Tiele people's grassland, and the Uighurs also went back. Now is the best season for grazing on the grassland, and this time cannot be missed.

General Zhang Shigui was still training troops in the Western Regions. Using horse thieves to train troops was the best training condition to improve the Tang army's combat capability in the Western Regions.

Many new recruits became veterans after killing bandits several times.

And those horse bandits, whether they robbed caravans along the trade routes, robbed Tuyuhun, or went south to rob Tubo, they all deserved to be put to death.

Therefore, since we can win the hearts of the people in the Western Regions and also use it to train troops, why not do it?

The Tang Dynasty’s war against the Western Regions was far from over. After clearing the southeastern border of the Western Regions, it would continue to advance westward.

The cost of war is extremely high, and this high cost does not lie in how much wealth the Tang army has seized.

What is really expensive is population and food.

When Yu Zhining and Chu Suiliang left the Secretariat, they talked in low voices.

Chu Suiliang said: "Recently, people from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of War said that the expedition to Gaochang did not cause the price of grain in Guanzhong to rise. This is incredible."

Yu Zhining walked with his hands behind his back and explained, "Actually, this is not surprising."

Chu Suiliang asked back: "Why?"

"Minister Chu, you don't know that in the past, all the grain and grass were in the government warehouse. In the event of war or natural disasters, the warehouse would need to be opened to release the grain." "Of course." Chu Suiliang thought that this should be the case, so he nodded.

"Because the crown prince divided the food in Guanzhong into several parts, and stored them according to the types of food, millet, wheat, beans and rice, and the food for the villagers, for construction, and for war was reserved in addition."

Chu Suiliang asked in confusion: "What does this mean?"

Yu Zhining explained: "Every year, a portion of grain is reserved for war and stored at the border. As early as three years ago, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince began to arrange grain in this way. The grain is not stored in one place, but distributed. Not only does it reduce manpower when dispatching, but it can also be prepared in advance."

"So that's why." Yu Zhining sighed, "The Crown Prince often complains about the low efficiency of transportation, the slow speed of dispatching orders, and the slow response. I told His Royal Highness that this was just a last resort. If there is a better way to solve the problem of slow response, the efficiency can be increased by more than ten times."

In the Secretariat, Li Chengqian finished reading the military report and walked in the night to deliver Zhang Shigui's military report to his father.

At night, the palace was very quiet. I walked to the brightly lit Ganlu Palace, and saw Lizhi and Dongyang who had just returned from their mother.

"Brother, are you here to visit Father?"

Li Chengqian held the file in his hand and said, "Another military report from the Western Regions has been sent. I am presenting it to Father."

Dongyang said, "It just so happens that the Queen Mother asked my sister to bring food to the Emperor. My brother hasn't eaten yet, right?"

Inside the Ganlu Palace, my father was looking at a file and drinking tea with a distressed look on his face.

The three siblings walked into the hall, but the eunuch did not report anything.

Li Chengqian looked at his father with a solemn expression and stood there for a while. His two sisters had already arranged the dinner.

Place a roll of military newspaper on the table.

Li Shimin raised his eyes and saw his son and his daughter beside him. He put down the file in his hand, closed his eyes, rubbed his temple with one hand, and said tiredly: "You are here."

Li Lizhi said, "Father, please have your meal first."

Li Shimin let his daughter pull him to stand up and walk to the dining table.

The two younger sisters had already eaten and were helping to sort out various memorials and documents from various places from their father.

Li Chengqian was eating the meal. The dishes sent by his mother were also very simple, a bowl of tender celery mixed with some carrots, and a plate of chopped mutton.

This is the dinner for the father and son.

Seeing that his father wanted to drink, Dongyang took the wine pot and said, "The more tired you are, the less you should drink."

Li Shimin smiled in surprise and said, "Forget it, I won't drink tonight."

Li Chengqian was eating millet rice and chewing a radish, and was eating very attentively.

After a long time, the father and son finished their dinner, and the eunuch took away the bowls, chopsticks and food boxes.

Li Shimin asked the eunuch beside him to continue fanning him and said, "Have all the titles I bestowed on you been sent to the Eastern Palace?"

Li Chengqian said: "The jade bi is indeed a pair, and the golden chariot is also very good."

"That carriage was left over from the Sui Dynasty. It was already broken at that time. Your mother asked the craftsmen to repair it in five years. Your mother said that she wanted to wait until the day of Cheng Qian's wedding to let Cheng Qian drive this gilded carriage to marry the Crown Princess."

Li Chengqian whispered, "I thank my father, the emperor, and my mother, the empress, for the reward."

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "You and I are father and son, there is no need to talk about this."

As he spoke, Dongyang sat at the side and felt his father's pulse. He looked at his father's expression and tongue coating and said, "My brother is not getting angry anymore. Father has been tired these days and now he needs to get rid of the heat."

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Cheng Qian, I remember you said at the beginning that you would send more imperial censors to the army."

Li Chengqian nodded.

"Now that you see Hou Junji looting Gaochang's wealth and moving into the palace of the King of Gaochang, do you think I should have listened to you in the first place?"

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "The governance of the military is a very complicated issue. I don't think so."

"I hesitated too. I know what kind of person Hou Junji is."

Li Chengqian asked, "How does the emperor plan to deal with General Hou?"

Li Shimin said slowly: "Let's talk about it when he comes back."

Li Chengqian nodded in agreement, "Yeah."

After dinner, Dongyang returned to the Eastern Palace first. Li Chengqian and Li Lizhi stayed behind to help their father review the memorials from the various guards.

There were also quite a few reports from various places, including those from Hebei Province, Jiangnan Province, Jiannan Province in Shuzhong and Liaodong.

All the documents sent from various places were from this spring. Li Lizhi looked at a scroll and said, "The tax in Fanyang is wrong."

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "How much is the difference?"

Li Lizhi used her abacus to check the reports from various places in Fanyang and said, "There is a shortage of about 100,000 dan of grain."

The brother and sister turned their gaze towards their father.

Seeing that his father was unmoved, Li Chengqian ordered: "Write it down first and give it to the Censorate."

Li Lizhi nodded and placed the memorial separately.

Li Shimin drank tea with a smile on his face, then closed his eyes and sat in a rocking chair to rest.

The brother and sister helped their father complete the memorials that needed approval in the past few days. Li Chengqian wrote five transfer orders, ordering each county in Shu to take out 30% of the grain and send it to Songzhou, and ordered Liaodong to reclaim wasteland, and asked Luoyang to speed up construction, and ordered Li Yifu to supervise the construction of various workshops.

My father seemed to have fallen asleep in the rocking chair.

Because of the war in the Western Regions these days, I can see that my father is very tired both physically and mentally.

The brother and sister walked out of the Ganlu Temple and into the starry night.

Li Li asked, "Brother, does being an emperor require a stronger will?"

Li Chengqian said: "Actually, it's the same when doing anything."

She smiled with relief, looked at the starry sky and stretched lazily.

After returning to the Eastern Palace, Li Zhi and Li Shen were very obedient today and came back early.

At night, Li Chengqian stared at the golden carriage in the East Palace in a daze. This was certainly not a carriage made of gold, but a carriage decorated with many gilded lines.

Li Chengqian thought of luxury cars again, but in fact this is not a very good word.

The streets were filled with luxurious cars and fine wines. This scene was full of wealth and luxury, but the Tang Dynasty was still in its early stages.

This kind of extravagant lifestyle should not be encouraged in the Tang Dynasty, where the material foundation is still so weak.

But this was a gift from my mother, so I should keep it well, as there is only one in the palace.

Ning'er stood beside the prince holding a lantern, also looking at the golden carriage.

Li Chengqian ordered: "Have someone cover the golden carriage with cloth and put it in the storehouse beside the West Pond Courtyard."

Ning Er nodded and said, "Next time we remove the cloth, the golden carriage will still be brand new."

(End of this chapter)