The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 231 Repairing Chang'an
When Li Chengqian arrived at the door of the Secretariat, he saw Li Zhi sitting on the steps with a food box. Seeing his brother coming, he stepped forward and said, "I know that you must not have eaten yet after the court session. This is what my sister asked me to bring."

"Has the general had his meal yet?"

"Indeed not."

"Let's eat together."

"The last general..."

Li Zhi said obediently: "The East Palace specially prepared some more."

Zhang Shigui bowed and said, "It would be disrespectful for me to refuse."

Li Chengqian first took a roll of account books from the Secretariat, and then went to the Ministry of War.

Now the Minister of War Hou Junji has not returned yet. Long before Hou Junji was about to go to the war, the Assistant Minister of War Duan Zan was recalled and is now temporarily in charge of the Ministry of War affairs.

The Ministry of War is relatively quiet now. Li Chengqian gave the account book to Minister Duan and asked him to check it according to the military books of the Ministry of War.

He was having dinner with General Zhang Shigui and chatting about things in the Western Regions.

Of course, the desolate state of the Western Regions and the fact that most parts of the Gobi Desert are barren still exist.

The environment in the southeastern part of the Western Regions was not as bad as expected, and there was also talk about the vast desert northwest of Yanqi.

Li Chengqian asked about the march.

Zhang Shigui finished his bowl of noodles happily. Li Zhi cleaned up the dishes and left with the lunch box.

The prince asked a question and Zhang Shigui answered it.

The questions were very detailed, even asking about some details of the march, such as the number of soldiers and horses required to transport food and fodder along the way.

Zhang Shigui looked doubtful. Has no one ever taught the prince these things before?

Of course, whatever questions the prince asked, Zhang Shigui would answer them all. He was already a veteran in his fifties, and it was unknown whether the Tang Dynasty generals had successors, so he would definitely teach him if he could.

Li Chengqian asked again: "Are the relevant records of this march still there?"

Zhang Shigui said, "They are all here. They are in my residence of the Left Commander. If Your Highness wants to see them, I will go get them right away."

"Then send them all to the Secretariat."

All sent to the Secretariat... Zhang Shigui hesitated and asked, "All of them?"

Li Chengqian said seriously, "Yes, all of them. General, don't worry that I won't be able to finish reading them. I'm always very fast at reading files."

"Hey...Hey!" Zhang Shigui responded.

After chatting with the prince, it was already afternoon. The Ministry of War had checked the military roster and the money and salaries. After Li Chengqian approved it, he asked Yu Zhining to distribute all the money and salaries.

After dealing with the prince, Zhang Shigui felt very tired. This was more stressful than marching and fighting.

Because His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked so many detailed questions, I had to recall many things while answering them. It was said that Li Ji and Li Xiaogong were close to the Eastern Palace.

Don’t they ever teach the prince these things?

After returning to the Left General's Mansion, Zhang Shigui saw Xue Rengui standing at the door again.

"General."

Zhang Shigui ordered: "Send all the files I brought to the Secretariat."

Xue Rengui replied solemnly: "Yes."

After returning to his mansion, Zhang Shigui saw Su Dingfang sitting there again. He was drinking a bowl of tea, shaking his legs leisurely, and holding a collection of Eastern Palace stories in his hand.

"How did you come?"

Hearing the question, Su Dingfang still trembled his legs and asked back while looking at the book: "Have you seen the prince?"

Zhang Shigui took a sip of cold water and replied, "I have seen him, but..."

"Just what?"

"No more talking. From now on, you should talk less to the prince. It's too torturous."

"What happened?"

"Why do you talk so much nonsense?" Zhang Shigui said unhappily.

Su Dingfang smiled awkwardly and said, "I have accepted Pei Xingjian."

Zhang Shigui said: "Although Xue Rengui is brave, he is not as smart as Pei Xingjian in terms of wisdom and strategy."

Su Dingfang picked up a few raisins and put them in his mouth, motioning: "Someone prepared these for you. I bought them for thirty coins a bushel. They are raisins made by people in Guanzhong themselves."

Zhang Shigui was eating raisins with a thoughtful look on his face.

Su Dingfang asked: "So getting Pei Xingjian means that our family has gained an advantage? You won't regret it?"

"You are already old, how can you regret it!"

Su Dingfang chewed raisins and said with a smile, "You old fellow never suffer any loss. Why are you so modest now? Or do you not dare to accept Xue Rengui?"

"No!" Zhang Shigui denied, "Xue Rengui is more courageous. As long as he has experience in the battlefield a few times, he will be able to master strategies, but courage is his nature."

"What do you think of me? You are speculating that Pei Xingjian is the prince's disciple and I dare not accept him."

Seeing Su Dingfang's cunning smile, Zhang Shigui wanted to beat this old guy up, but he suppressed his emotions and finally did not do it.

"Are you saying that they are really not the prince's disciples?"

Su Dingfang covered his face with the scroll and said, "So what?"

A shower of rain fell, and Zhang Shigui nodded heavily and said, "Well, so what!"

After a moment of silence, Zhang Shigui said, "I heard about something when we went to Gaochang. I always felt that it was arranged by the prince."

"What's the matter?" Su Dingfang asked lazily, as he was about to fall asleep.

"Before the army arrived in Gaochang, a merchant named Murong Shun went there. The king of Gaochang held a banquet to celebrate. On the eve of the army's arrival in Gaochang, they were still celebrating. When the king of Gaochang sobered up, he found that the Tang army had arrived."

"The King of Gaochang is arrogant and conceited. What's the big deal?"

Zhang Shigui said, "Don't you think it's a coincidence? After I went back to Guanzhong to inquire, I heard that Murong Shun was a merchant under Master Du He. Master Du He, Jingzhao Prefecture, and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, aren't they connected?"

Su Dingfang took off the scroll covering his face and said with a look of understanding, "Damn it, the battle of Gaochang has absolutely nothing to do with the Crown Prince. If you continue to say this, I will sever my ties with you."

"Is there anything that cannot be said?" After saying this, Zhang Shigui suddenly came to his senses and said, "Come to think of it, how could such a harmful guy be associated with the prince? It is absolutely impossible."

"Well, thank you General for your understanding. I can live a few more years."

Zhang Shigui slammed the table again and said, "If Yugu sets up this fellow, I will tear him to pieces alive."

It was drizzling in Guanzhong. Li Chengqian was still sitting in the Secretariat, looking at the man standing outside the Secretariat in the rain.

This person doesn't look very old, probably in his early twenties.

Li Chengqian said: "You are Xue Rengui."

"General Xue Li."

"I'll remember you. Go back."

"Here!"

Xue Rengui held his head high, turned around and walked into the rain.

Li Chengqian began to look through the marching records of the expedition to the Western Regions. There were records of every day from the time they set out from Tuyuhun all the way to Gaochang, including the daily consumption of food and grass.

While watching the prince, he also took notes and recorded some details.

Outside the Secretariat, several officials were waiting for the rain to stop before returning home from work. The story of the King of Gaochang proved that alliances bought with money were ultimately unreliable.

Gaochang King Qu Wentai regarded Yugushe as an ally who could jointly resist the Tang army, but who knows what Yugushe regarded the Gaochang King as.

When Xue Rengui walked out of the Suzaku Gate, he ran into Ashina She'er who was walking towards him.

Pei Xingjian had just walked out of Zuowuwei and saw Brother Xue and Ashina She'er standing in the rain and looking at each other.

"You are not allowed to rob the horse thieves that our community is trying to wipe out again."

This is a grudge that has lasted from the Western Regions to the present. After taking over Khan Futu City, troops from all directions went to clear out the horse bandits in the southeast of the Western Regions.

Each army was acting on its own, and Ashina She'er and Xue Rengui were targeting the same group of horse thieves.

As a result, when Ashina She'er rushed over, all the people had been killed by Xue Rengui.

This rift has persisted to this day.

Xue Rengui was very tall, and Ashina She'er was also of good height.

Xue Rengui slowly raised his chin, looked at the other party and said, "So what if he robbed me?"

If these two big men fight, no one knows who is stronger. The guards in front of the imperial city took the attitude of watching the fun and discussed in low voices.

Ashina She'er pointed his finger at him and said, "If there is a next time, I will not let you off easily."

The two of them seemed to be incompatible.

Xue Rengui looked at him coldly, his hands clenched into fists, ready to take action.

Ashina She'er turned around and left, heading towards Sifang Pavilion.

After the others walked away, Pei Xingjian quickly caught up and said, "Brother Xue, the life of Ashina She'er was saved by the prince."

Xue Rengui stared at him with his big copper bell eyes and asked, "How is it?"

"Shou Yue knows that Brother Xue is very skilled. If he kills She'er, how will he explain to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"No problem!" Xue Rengui said in a deep voice, "I will leave my life to the prince."

All generals have their own tempers, which is nothing. Xue Rengui is a rising star in the army and has won the favor of Zhang Shigui.

But naturally there are grudges among the soldiers, and it is normal to have some friction when sending troops out.

Everything that happened today, big or small, was placed on the emperor's desk.

Li Shimin was not in the mood to read these records, but listened to Li Baiyao's story.

"Cheng Qian thinks Qu Zhisheng is of great use?"

"Your Majesty, the people from the Honglu Temple have found out that Qu Zhisheng did have dealings with Persian merchants. It's fine to kill him, but it would be a pity if he were killed." Li Baiyao bowed his head and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has always advocated making the best use of things, and the same is true for people."

"Where is Murong Shun now?"

"Your Majesty, Murong Shun now lives in Yanqi and is hosted by the King of Yanqi."

Li Shimin asked: "For example, Fu Yun's son Murong Shun should also keep Qu Wentai's son Qu Zhisheng and use him?"

Li Baiyao nodded and said, "At the moment, it seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has this intention."

Li Shimin looked at the heavy rain outside the palace and said, "I understand."

"My minister retire."

"Call Yan Liben."

The eunuch hurried away, and a moment later, he returned to report, "Your Majesty, Master Yan is in the Ministry of Works discussing the repair of Chang'an City with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His Royal Highness wants to borrow Master Yan for three hours, and then come back to apologize."

Li Shimin took a deep breath and simply said, "Call the prince as well!"

"Here."

The eunuch took a deep breath, walked into the rain and left hurriedly.

Inside the Xingqing Hall, the Crown Prince and the Minister of Works Yan Liben spread out a huge blueprint, which was the current Chang'an City.

Another drawing has many lines, and the lines are dotted, dashed, and curved.

After telling his father about the general plan for the renovation of Chang'an, Li Chengqian explained, "This map was drawn by my younger brother Shen."

Li Shimin looked at the blueprint up and down and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing that Your Majesty's eyes are confused, most likely you don't understand what the dotted and dashed lines on this picture mean.

He couldn't let His Majesty ask, so Yan Liben first looked at the prince's face and then explained to His Majesty.

“When can we start construction?”

"Before winter."

Yan Liben talked about how the ditches in various parts of Chang'an had to be dug up first and then rearranged. There were also many more remote streets and alleys that needed to be rebuilt, and the clogged ditches had to be cleared.

It is the slack season for farming and there is no shortage of manpower in Guanzhong, so the wages and dispatch are all under the charge of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

While Qu Zhisheng was staying in Sifang Pavilion, he was disciplined by officials from the Ministry of Rites, who mostly spoke words of loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, just like Murong Shun in the future.

After the autumn, under the auspices of the Ministry of Works, the renovation of Chang'an City began, and they renovated some remote streets and alleys.

Li Daozon became busy because of this. He needed to hand over the work to the Ministry of Works and recruit strong men from the people.

After the construction work began, from the first day of construction, Li Shimin wanted to know how the prince spent the money.

Empress Changsun sat in Ganlu Hall, reading the scrolls in the Eastern Palace. This was the story Cheng Qian had recently told the children.

Today, Zhangsun Wuji came to Ganlu Palace and reported: "Your Majesty, Jingzhao Prefecture has recruited 300 civilians, 50 coins a day, and no food."

Li Shimin calculated and said, "One day is fifty coins, two days is one hundred coins, one month is one thousand five hundred coins, three hundred people is..."

Empress Chang Sun put down the book with an unhappy look on her face.

Li Shimin swallowed his words halfway through and gestured, "Assistant, continue."

"Your Majesty, this money should have been allocated to the Ministry of Works, but the Crown Prince allocated all the money to Jingzhao Prefecture..."

The queen beside her picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of tea and sighed.

Zhang Sun Wuji stopped talking halfway and quickly changed his words: "Your Majesty, in fact, the manpower was recruited by Jingzhao Prefecture. It would be more convenient to hand over the money to Jingzhao Prefecture."

The conversation between the emperor and his ministers was listened in by the empress. If it were someone else, the empress would not have listened in either.

But the Queen is the Duke of Zhao's sister, and she was only talking about the Crown Prince's affairs.

Thinking about it this way, it is understandable that the queen listens to some family matters.

The atmosphere in Ganlu Palace was very solemn, especially after the queen sighed.

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Assistant, please continue."

Changsun Wuji glanced at his sister who was sitting beside him and said carefully, "The prince should settle the accounts every day without any omissions. Every day, the accounts should be filed clearly."

Empress Changsun said worriedly, "I don't know what Cheng Qian is thinking."

"Guanyin has misunderstood me." Li Shimin said sternly, "I value Chengqian's talent, so I ordered Fuji to watch over him."

Changsun Wuji looked at his sister, bowed and agreed, "That's right."

The crown prince of the time naturally had no idea what was happening in Ganlu Palace at the moment. In his spare time, Li Chengqian went to the Xianyang Bridge to fish. The scenery was beautiful after the autumn rain stopped.

(End of this chapter)