The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 239 The Prince's Nightmare

There are two people who are spoiling the fun now, one is Xianyang County Magistrate Liu Rengui, and the other is Du Zhenglun, the spy of the emperor in front of him.

As the Imperial Censor in the Palace, everything this person does is based on the emperor.

There are two words written on this man's face: loyalty.

Li Chengqian sat down on the steps, put his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes.

Du Zhenglun whispered, "Your Highness, what does this mean?"

"Can't you see me basking in the sun?"

Hearing this, he looked at the sun in the clear sky and saluted slightly.

Hearing his footsteps as he was leaving, Li Chengqian asked, "Leaving?"

Du Zhenglun replied: "Your Highness, do you like salted fish?"

Li Chengqian closed his eyes and did not reply.

Du Zhenglun left tactfully.

The emperor accepted Murong Shun's letter of abdication and incorporated the territory of Tuyuhun into the territory of the Tang Dynasty, which seemed a very easy matter.

Just as Li Baiyao said, in fact, the Tuyuhun state had long been in name only. From ancient times, it was the territory of the Central Plains. Now it can only be said to have been returned.

Then everything will fall into place.

Li Chengqian closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun shining on his body. He closed his eyes alone, enjoying the sunshine.

There were more footsteps. The person stopped and a familiar voice came, "Your Highness, Ashina She'er wants to see you."

"What happened to him?"

The man who came was Li Baiyao. He said, "We have sent people to record the population of Tuyuhun and announce Murong Shun's abdication to the world."

Li Chengqian sighed: "Now the whole world knows that Murong Shun is an unfilial son."

"Your Highness, Murong Shun does not feel ashamed. He kowtowed to thank the Khan last night after hearing the imperial edict in Sifang Pavilion, and got drunk. He was very happy."

Li Baiyao continued, "Ashina She'er said he wanted to be the Khan of the Turks."

Li Chengqian finally opened his eyes, still sitting on the steps, and said with his hands in his pockets: "That's not right, the little Turkic Khan is still alive."

"exactly."

"Then what kind of Khan is he?"

"This..." Li Baiyao looked around and whispered, "She'er keeps saying that he is willing to sacrifice his life for His Royal Highness. If such a person becomes the Khan of the Turks, it will be of great benefit to His Royal Highness."

"I think he misses the grassland and wants to go back."

"That……"

"I am very busy and I don't want to see him."

Li Baiyao stood there, wanting to say something but stopping himself. He saw the Crown Prince basking in the sun and saying he was very busy.

I'm afraid that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is overwhelmed by the affairs of Tuyuhun, and there is still no result. How can the Crown Prince not be busy with so many things in his mind?
Li Baiyao nodded and left, going outside the Suzaku Gate.

Ashina She'er asked, "Did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince agree?"

Li Baiyao said: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has not yet ascended the throne. You should ask His Majesty about this matter. Only His Majesty can confer the title on you, and... His Highness is very busy."

Ashina She'er bowed and said emphatically, "I know. Once His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, I will be the Khan of the Turks."

Li Baiyao walked away and into the busy Zhuque Street, not wanting to pay any attention to this person.

It is time to relax. In his dream, Li Chengqian saw his father wearing armor and riding a horse on a long journey. His father also shouted that he didn't want to be the emperor anymore.

A hundred thousand troops were chasing after my father, and even my younger brothers and sisters begged him to stay.

And my father ran all the way as if he was escaping for his life.

As a result, Li Chengqian suddenly woke up, and perhaps because of the sun, there was some sweat on his forehead.

After calming himself down, Li Chengqian took a deep breath and saw Mingda sitting next to him.

She was swinging the compass and drawing circles on the ground for fun.

"Huh? My brother is awake!"

Li Chengqian picked up his cup, the water in it was already cold.

Mingda also had a clay cup hanging around her waist, which was a smaller style. The compass in her hand was brought from the East Palace. It was one of the stationery items for her younger brothers and sisters to study.

The compass is made of a wooden frame with a white stone on it to draw white lines for drawing circles.

"I had a nightmare." Li Chengqian let out a long sigh.

"It's easy to dream when you sleep during the day." Mingda asked curiously, "What kind of nightmare did my brother have?"

"Nothing, just a dream."

Mingda was wearing a blue Taoist robe. She sat down next to her brother and asked, "Brother, have you been troubled lately?"

"Maybe it's because of these." Li Chengqian stroked his forehead and said lazily, "What you think about during the day, you will dream about at night."

Mingda nodded heavily.

Li Chengqian saw several volumes of documents placed beside him.

"When my brother was asleep, several people came to look for him. Mingda asked them to put the documents down and wait for my brother to wake up before reading them. Then they left."

Li Chengqian picked up the document and looked at it. There were five volumes in total, all of which were Chu Suiliang's planning regulations for the Anxi Protectorate.

Taking these documents, he walked into the Secretariat and began to make annotations patiently.

Mingda took out another toy, which was made of twisted wooden strips. It was also a toy from the Eastern Palace, a Luban lock.

She sat beside her brother's desk, looking over and over again with her little hands, trying to unlock the Lu Ban lock.

Li Chengqian held a pen and wrote comments on the files. He said that Chu Suiliang's regulations were not well written and there were many mistakes.

For example, setting up a post station requires dispatching officials, which is actually a thankless task.

The environment in the Western Regions is different from that in Guanzhong. Setting up post stations requires a long-term supply of food, which is different from the way the Western Regions were built around the oasis. Moreover, Chu Suiliang's self-righteous strategy would not work.

You can't build a house in the Western Regions just because you want to. He didn't consider the meaning of "adapting to local conditions".

In the annotations, Chu Suiliang was asked to read the geographical records of the Literary Museum more often to learn more about the geographical environment of the Western Regions.

There is also the fact that the karez can be used in the Western Regions, but he did not learn about this in detail.

Li Chengqian criticized him in his comments that he should not be self-righteous when building the Anxi Protectorate, and he should communicate more with people in the Western Regions and listen more to the opinions of local people.

After writing these comments, Li Chengqian took Xiao Sizi out of the Secretariat, handed the document to the guard outside the door, and instructed: "Give it to Chu Suiliang."

"Here."

The guard said the document and left quickly.

Mingda was still playing with the Luban lock as he walked along, and asked, "Royal brother, is Chu Suiliang a very stupid person?"

"I'm not stupid, I just don't know how to listen to advice."

"Why didn't he listen?" Li Chengqian said, "Because he feels that he is in a high position and thinks that I value him, so he can't stand criticism. In fact, everyone has this situation. He is too proud. In the future, we must strengthen the ability of officials in various departments to listen to opinions, not just criticism from me."

She frowned and pushed one of the wooden bars, and the wooden bars of the Luban lock fell apart, and a silver bean fell out from the inside. She said happily, "Mingda has solved it."

Li Chengqian and his sister picked up a few scattered wooden sticks on the ground, then stood up and walked back to the East Palace.

Along the way, Mingda always looked carefree. She was happy about unlocking the Luban lock, and she felt self-satisfied because she had mastered some knowledge.

At night, in the male residence of Yangdi County, east of Chang'an City, there was Chu Liang, one of the eighteen scholars in the Qin Palace.

The wailing sounds of Chu Suiliang were heard from the mansion.

Chu Liang is Chu Suiliang's father, and now Chu Liang also looked at these comments in silence.

The prince's comments were very clear, even indicating where to look for strategies and inquire about the situation of the people in the Western Regions.

Chu Suiliang was busy throughout the beginning of winter and spent more than ten days' energy, but in the end he was rejected by the Crown Prince and had to rewrite it.

The winter solstice is approaching with heavy snow.

Chu Suiliang lay on the table with a numb expression, and said weakly: "Father, I have worked so hard."

Chu Liang had quite a few white hairs in his hair. He smiled and said, "The prince values ​​you very much. You must not abandon the task entrusted by the prince halfway."

These days, other families are visiting relatives or going out with each other, and they are having a great time in this winter.

Even the Prince's Right General, who usually had very strict military discipline, took a day off and returned home one by one.

Cheng Chumo and Li Jingheng have been very ostentatious and arrogant these days.

Chu Suiliang was very envious of them, even to the point of jealousy.

Chu Liang patted the child on the shoulder. He felt that his son would one day become an important official in the court. For this reason, even though his son was exhausted, he was still very proud of him.

As for his son's pleading look, Chu Liang turned a blind eye to it, because the prince's various strategies and governance methods were all new concepts that were vaguely emerging in the court.

Although Chu Liang felt that he was well-read and had a photographic memory for articles, he had no advice on the prince's strategy.

That day, Li Tai came back first.

Li Chengqian was making dumplings with his sister in Xingqing Hall.

While his father is away, he can freely wander around the palace's several halls. Today, he came to Xingqing Hall, where Li Chengqian was making dumplings.

Mingda's mind was obviously not on making dumplings. She looked left and right, and when she saw the puzzle pieces in the Xingqing Hall, she took them out.

Then there was a loud crash, and the puzzle that her father had worked so hard to put together was knocked over by her and scattered all over the floor.

Mingda was laughing and looking very confident about this.

Li Chengqian said: "It doesn't matter, just let father fight again."

The eunuch standing by almost gritted his teeth when watching this scene. You have to know that this puzzle took the Ministry of Works more than two months of hard work, and it was made of 981 pieces of wood.

It's not easy to put it together.

She saw the puzzle pieces scattered on the ground and began to piece them together.

Li Chengqian let his sister play around, because for her, there were good things everywhere in Xingqing Palace.

The eunuch dared not say a word, after all, she was the most beloved daughter of His Majesty and the Queen.

Li Tai, wearing a thick winter coat, walked into the Xingqing Palace and saw his royal brother, who was leisurely making dumplings. There was a pot on the stove beside them, with water boiling in it.

Seeing the visitor, Li Chengqian said, "You came at the right time. My brother Ke is not here. You can eat dumplings with me."

Li Tai noticed his sister standing beside him, and suddenly smiled and said, "Sizi!"

Mingda smiled and said, "Brother Prince Wei has gained weight again."

Li Tai looked at his own figure, cleared his throat, and said with a serious look, "My father asked Qingque to come and ask for food and grass."

Li Chengqian held the dumplings in his hands and said, "Father has 3,000 soldiers and horses for this winter hunt, so the food and grass should be enough."

Li Tai said: "Father has allocated 300 shi of grain and grass to Shanzhou."

"That's definitely not enough." Li Chengqian thought for a moment, took out a token and said to the eunuch beside him: "Go to Weinan County and use my order to have the Weinan government warehouse release 500 dan of grain and fodder to send to the Lishan camp."

The eunuch respectfully took the prince's token with both hands and left in a hurry.

Li Chengqian wrapped another dumpling and placed it on the wooden plate beside him, saying, "This way, Father can go hunting outside until the winter solstice without lacking food and grass."

Li Tai washed his hands first and then helped to make dumplings.

Li Chengqian said, "The price of mutton is much cheaper now. The cold winter came late this year, and the sheep in the northern Turkic area are all very fat. They are still very strong when they are sent to Chang'an. The price is three cents per pound cheaper than in previous years."

“Don’t underestimate these three cents. It’s three cents cheaper per pound. A sheep weighs eighty pounds, so the price of the whole sheep is also cheaper. Guanzhong can also buy some lambs to raise by ourselves. The benefits are huge.” Li Chengqian said as he skillfully put the meat filling into the dumpling skin.

"Sizi, we don't have enough dumpling wrappers."

Hearing this, Mingda stopped what he was doing, washed his hands, and then helped his brother roll out the dumpling skins.

Li Tai listened to his brother's story and said with a smile, "I didn't expect Chang'an to have such changes."

"Qingque, you are always by the side of the emperor, so you don't know these things. When I was guarding Chang'an, I often looked at the files of Jingzhao Prefecture to see how the public security in Chang'an was and how the prices were. It was very helpful."

Li Tai smiled with a sense of shame.

After wrapping the dumplings, Li Chengqian poured them into the boiling pot. When the dumplings were cooked, he carried the pot outside the Xingqing Hall.

Outside the Xingqing Palace in the sunshine, Li Yuan came in with a cane. He sniffed and asked, "Are we having dumplings today?"

Mingda took Grandpa's hand and sat down and said, "It's stuffed with mutton, green onions, and celery."

Li Yuan said: "I have been eating mutton and green onions for a month."

Li Chengqian smiled awkwardly, "Mutton in Chang'an City is almost worthless, eat more."

Li Yuan said in a muffled voice: "Why did Xiaofu ask people to buy so much mutton?"

Listening to Grandpa's complaints, the eunuch beside Li Chengqian said, "Share the remaining dumplings among you."

The four of them, grandfather, grandson, brother and sister, sat together and ate dumplings.

Li Chengqian can't eat dumplings without garlic, and grandpa can't eat dumplings without vinegar.

Li Tai was much more casual and spoke one word at a time.

Mingda continued to sit on the ground and play with his father's puzzle while chewing dumplings.

In the city of Chang'an, Tianhou Junji and the soldiers who were punished together built the ditches of Chang'an City.

At this moment, he was a little embarrassed, with a lot of mud on his body, and asked: "What is this blueprint!"

Seeing the general staring with wide eyes, Xu Xiaode, the Minister of Works, explained: "This is a ditch. This line marks the depth of the ditch."

The two ditches are five feet deep and three feet wide. They run down Suzaku Street, connecting the north and the south.

There were still many noisy pedestrians on the street. Xu Xiaode said, "General, we have mutton to eat today."

"Mutton again!" Hou Junji said in annoyance, "Is there a problem with the mutton in Chang'an?"

"Jingzhao Prefecture said that the mutton in Chang'an City is becoming worthless, so they asked everyone to buy more. We in Jingzhao Prefecture bought 600 fat sheep. These days, Xu Shaoyin has been bringing people to roast mutton every day."

(End of this chapter)