The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 238 The Scribbled Decree

Walking in the palace, Xiao Sizi was holding a scroll in her hand. She said, "This is the astronomy book written by Taoist Li. Taoist Li asked me to bring it to you, my brother."

Li Chengqian took the scroll. This was just one volume of "Astronomy", a volume that annotated about astronomy and calendar.

In the Tang Dynasty, people like this are rare.

There are few people who devote themselves to the study of astronomy and calendar without being obsessed with a career in politics.

Little Sizi continued, "Mingda followed Taoist Li to learn the steps, and now he can stand on one leg for a stick of incense without moving. Taoist Li said that this is quite effective."

“Why stand on one leg?”

She walked beside her brother, closed her eyes and smiled, "Walk upright, stand straight, and learn the skills of Taoist Li. This is the first priority."

After returning to the East Palace, Li Yuan looked at his little granddaughter with a smile again.

On the ground that had just been cleared of snow, Mingda stood on one leg, then squatted steadily on one leg, bent the other leg slightly forward, and even did a beautiful kick.

She smiled happily and said, "Master Li, it turns out that Mingda is standing firmly, and the energy in his body is also stable."

Li Yuan stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "No wonder Li Chunfeng said that Sizi is a gifted child."

In fact, Xiao Sizi's talent is not extraordinary. When she was younger, she walked unsteadily. When she saw people, she would run a few steps and hug them when she saw legs.

She has changed a lot in the past two years, and the child's temperament has also changed. He stands upright and walks steadily.

When he said that the breath was stable, Li Chengqian generally understood it as the frequency of breathing and the strength of each breath, that is, standing straight, walking straight, and breathing more smoothly.

This helps with the blood oxygen inside her body.

Generally speaking, Li Chengqian could only speculate these.

The results of exercise will be reflected in the balance of the body.

Originally, she was not a child with a very stable lower body, and she doesn't look that way now, but with this bone structure she can still take steady steps.

It's just that she has changed compared to before, and that can be seen.

It also shows that Master Li’s teaching method is still very beneficial.

Li Chengqian was looking at Taoist Li's volume of astronomy, and when he looked up, he saw Mingda pulling his grandfather to practice balancing.

I saw my grandfather slowly stretch out his old legs and then fall to the ground.

The eunuch next to him was so frightened that he screamed.

Mingda complained: "Grandpa's hands and feet are not coordinated."

Li Yuan sat on the ground and smiled, still looking very happy.

Soon, Mingda also started laughing.

Li Chengqian flipped through the volume on astronomy. The astronomical knowledge in the context of Taoism gave him a different feeling when reading it. It was incredible that Li Chunfeng also incorporated the rotation of the earth and the moon into his book.

Mingda will stay in the East Palace for the next two days because Taoist Li is in seclusion and it is a rare night when he can see the stars.

Li Chengqian took Mingda to the Drum Tower in the imperial palace. On the high drum tower, he stretched out his palm, put four fingers together, and aligned his thumb with the horizon, covering the starry sky in his field of vision.

Watching her do the same thing, Li Chengqian said, "Point the tip of your middle finger at the brightest star in the east."

This method is very simple. You can use your palm to measure the distance between the stars and the horizon. Except that the accuracy cannot be guaranteed, there is no problem in judging the direction and orientation.

Not only that, Li Chengqian turned around and looked at the position of the North Star with Mingda, and continued to measure the distance between the stars with his fingers.

“Put your other fingers together and use your pinky and thumb to measure the distance between the Big Dipper and other stars.”

Mingda stretched out his fingers and gestured, placing his thumb on the North Star and his little finger on another star in his field of vision.

She closed one eye and pointed her finger toward the stars in an aiming gesture.

The wind on the Drum Tower was very strong, making the clothes rustle. Mingda stood by the torch and compared them again and again.

Li Chengqian taught her to use her fist and three raised fingers to continue measuring, and one finger can also be used for measurement. "The hand is a good measuring tool, but people's palms are of different lengths and thicknesses, so it's hard to be too precise."

Mingda said: "Is it that simple?"

"Well, this is the easiest way."

Although her cheeks felt like they were cut by the winter night wind, Mingda still felt very happy. She felt that she had mastered an incredible skill.

Li Chengqian said: "If the distance between fingers can be used to measure, then the distance between the stars is 25 degrees between the open little finger and thumb, and 10 degrees with a fist."

Mingda looked at his small fist and his brother's big fist, tilting his head slightly as he thought.

"Remember?"

"Well, remember, I will ask Taoist Li for advice when I return."

Li Chengqian led his sister down the Drum Tower, and only then did they feel that the wind had become much weaker.

At night, Mingda temporarily slept in Lizhi's palace, and it started snowing again after midnight.

Ning'er walked into the hall and closed the window.

Li Chengqian looked at the scroll in his hand and asked, "Has Sizi fallen asleep?"

Ning Er nodded and whispered, "Falling asleep."

Li Chengqian was looking through the documents. These troop mobilization documents were all placed on his teacher's desk. They were all about the troop mobilization matters of the Zhechoufu in various places.

There is no sign that my father’s winter hunting is over. I heard that this hunt has even reached Mount Li.

Li Chengqian put down the document, looked at the dark night sky and said, "I don't know if Duke Zheng knows about this matter. He will probably go after my father and the queen to persuade him."

Ning Er smiled and said, "It's getting late, Your Highness should rest."

Li Chengqian nodded slightly and said, "Sister Ning'er, go and rest first."

Ning Er bowed and said, "The Queen told His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to go to bed early."

After saying that, she turned and left His Highness's bedroom, closing the door.

The surroundings fell silent again. Li Chengqian looked at the flame of the candlestick beside him. This era was not too bad. Famous ministers were chasing the emperor for milk. He hoped that the current emperor could be more wise.

So this era is still very good. No one wants the emperor to be without ambition. They all hope that the emperor can be more ambitious.

Snow began to fall in the quiet city of Chang'an when the day began to brighten, which was around the hour of Chen.

The prince and Li Daoyan got up early and walked on the city wall of Chang'an, starting from Chunming Gate.

Li Daoyan, guarding the prince, said, "Chang'an is getting busier and busier now."

Li Chengqian walked along and said, "How wonderful Chang'an City is. Everyone can have something to do."

Listening to the prince's words, Li Daoyan thought solemnly, and then said: "Two years ago, Chang'an at this time of year was..."

Li Chengqian took over and said, "Quiet and leisurely."

Li Daoyan nodded. Pausing, Li Chengqian pushed away the snow in front of him with one hand, held the solid city wall with one hand, and looked at the pedestrians coming and going, especially the market town under construction, which was in full swing in this cold winter.

It seemed as if there was steam coming out of the streets that were almost covered by snow. Li Chengqian asked, "What time is it?"

Li Daoyan replied: "It's Chen time."

"It would be nice if Chang'an could always be so lively at 7am."

Li Daoyan remained silent again. He could not understand what His Highness was thinking, so he lowered his head, as if thinking about something.

Whenever the prince was guarding Chang'an, he would come to inspect the city defenses in person.

Li Chengqian continued walking and whispered, "Father said before that he was only going on winter hunting outside Chang'an City, but now he has gone to Mount Li. It's really a pity."

Li Daoyan remained silent.

"In fact, I should have thought of this earlier. How could my father be satisfied with just hunting outside Chang'an City?"

After a quick look at the city defenses, I found that Chang'an City now has a lot more armored soldiers.

Li Chengqian walked all the way to the Suzaku Gate before returning to the palace.

During the rest period, there were still some idle political affairs to be dealt with, so Murong Shun came back. He went to the Honglu Temple to meet the Honglu Temple Minister, and the Honglu Temple Minister went to meet the Minister of Rites Li Baiyao.

Normally, the court would not receive Murong Shun during the holiday.

However, this person proposed a very bold idea, so Li Baiyao had been waiting for the prince in the Secretariat for an hour.

Li Chengqian walked along the way, listening to the explanation of the guard beside him.

Walking through the quiet imperial city, Li Chengqian smiled when he saw someone and said, "I just went to check on the defense of the city wall."

Li Baiyao bowed and said, "It's okay. Even if Your Highness doesn't come, I will go back. It's just a small matter."

Li Chengqian took a ceramic cup from his waist, drank a sip of warm tea, sat down and asked, "What's the matter?"

Li Baiyao took out a roll of paper and presented it with both hands, "Tuyuhun Khan requests to abdicate."

Li Chengqian took the paper and spread it out, only to see words that were not very neat. He was used to seeing neat running script memorials from the court, so he felt uncomfortable seeing a letter of abdication written by Tuyuhun.

Li Baiyao said: "Murong Shun wants to abdicate and no longer be the Khan of Tuyuhun, and let Tuyuhun's subjects worship Tian Khan. From then on, Tuyuhun's territory will belong to the Tang Dynasty and be ruled by Tian Khan."

"Where is Murong Shunren?"

"I am waiting for His Highness at the Ministry of Rites. Does that mean you want to summon him?"

"No hurry." Li Chengqian frowned again and took a sip of hot tea. He looked at the letter again and said, "What do you think?"

Li Baiyao replied, "When Fuyun passed away, Tian Khan allowed him to restore his surname Murong and passed the position of Tuyuhun Khan to Murong Shun. Now he wants to abdicate, which is really unfilial, extremely unfilial."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Yes, we don't even want the legacy our ancestors left behind."

"Your Highness, in fact, if Tuyuhun Khan had no successor, it would be fine. It is somewhat inappropriate for him to abdicate like this."

I wonder what Songtsen Gampo would think if he knew that Murong Shun wanted to hand over the Tuyuhun territory, including Qinghai, to the Tang Dynasty?
Li Chengqian said: "Well, since he doesn't want to be the Khan of Tuyuhun, let him choose another one."

Li Baiyao whispered, "Murong Shun doesn't have a family yet."

"really?"

Seeing the prince's suspicion, Li Baiyao said seriously, "Really not."

Li Chengqian asked, "Do you have any secret children outside? What if?"

"This..." Li Baiyao took a deep breath and said in embarrassment: "I really don't know this."

Li Chengqian collected the abdication letter and said slowly, "Originally, I think Murong Shun worshipped the Khan as his superior, so it is not too much for him to call my father his foster father."

Li Baiyao nodded.

"Besides, if his successor, Tuyuhun, behaves improperly and causes chaos, the Heavenly Khan has the right to depose him."

Li Baiyao was at a loss for a moment and whispered, "How about finding an excuse to depose him?"

Li Chengqian ordered: "Go back and tell him that the court wants all the land of Tuyuhun and plans to include it in the territory of the Tang Dynasty."

"Here."

"As for the Tuyuhun Khan, you should send an official from the Honglu Temple to Fuqi City to inform the Tuyuhun subjects that their Khan is about to abdicate. Let the subjects choose whether to stay and serve the Tang Dynasty or leave to graze in a more remote place. As for whether the Tuyuhun subjects agree to Murong Shun's abdication, it all depends on how many Tuyuhun people want to stay and serve the Tang Dynasty."

"Be more legitimate. After drawing the map, send it to father who is on winter hunting in Mount Li as soon as possible. Also give him this letter of abdication. Such an important matter cannot be decided alone."

Li Baiyao said: "In fact, over the years, the Tang army has been stationed in Fuxi City, and Tuyuhun's national destiny has long been in name only. This is a matter of course."

"Murong Shun is a very sensible person. Grant him the position of Tang's foreign envoy. Also, let Qu Zhisheng work under Murong Shun for the time being."

"Foreign envoy?"

"He is an envoy who helps promote the Tang Dynasty."

Li Baiyao nodded in understanding and asked, "What rank is it, and how much is its salary?"

Seeing that the prince did not answer, Li Baiyao answered himself: "I understand. I will go and ask Duke Zhao right away."

He left the Secretariat in a hurry, probably because he was busy during this rest season.

The renovation of Chang'an City is still going on. This dilapidated city needs to be made brand new. Li Chengqian is looking at a huge map.

This will be the largest city in the world today, and the person who controls this city is not even the prince himself.

Three days later, the emperor, who was still on a winter hunt in Mount Li, sent a reply. As expected, the Khan's decree labeled Murong Shun an unfilial son and scolded him severely.

As for the emperor's decree, the way of scolding was still very tactful, and he agreed that the territory of Tuyuhun would be incorporated into the Tang Dynasty.

The decree was very sloppy, and Li Chengqian didn't like his father's sloppy style of doing things.

Starting from Qinghai in the west, connecting to the Hexi Corridor in the east and reaching Shazhou in the north, this was an expansion of the territory of the Tang Dynasty. After the Anxi Protectorate was built, the map had to be redrawn.

The process of expansion requires not only annexation but also governance.

This is where the emperor's carelessness lies. How to collect taxes? How to define the population? Whether Fushi City can be built into Qinghai County? Nothing is said.

Li Chengqian stood outside the Zhongshu Province, looking at Du Zhenglun who came to deliver the letter, and said distressedly: "As the crown prince, I can't go to Mount Li again to supervise my father, right?"

Du Zhenglun stood in the cold wind and replied, "Your Majesty is away on a trip, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must guard Chang'an. He is not allowed to leave without an imperial decree."

His stern reply made people want to beat him up. Li Chengqian asked, "Minister Du, do you want to go back and report to your father now?"

"Your Majesty asked me to stay in Chang'an City."

"Help me solve this problem?"

"I have something important to do, so I am afraid I cannot help Your Highness. Please forgive me."

(End of this chapter)