The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 252 Fanyang Case

Another group of officers and soldiers from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Revenue arrived in Bohai. This was the third wave of troops.

A young man named Lu Yuan locked himself in a room. He was about twenty years old and his originally clean clothes were now dirty.

"Mr. Lu, Mr. Cui asked you to meet him at Shell Lake, saying that arrangements have been made."

The house was quiet for a long time.

The maid standing outside the door called out again, "Master?"

"Is it really arranged?"

Lu Yuan's puzzled words came from inside the house.

The maid added, "With Mr. Cui's help this time, everyone in the clan said that everything can be arranged properly."

The wooden door slowly opened, and a thin young man walked out of the house. He whispered, "Then I'll go to the lake."

The maid nodded and said goodbye.

Walking out of this depressed village, even though Lu Yuan's clothes were not good-looking, the villagers around him did not dare to approach him.

Shell Lake is bordered by the Bohai Sea to the east, Qi and Lu to the south, and a large plain to the west.

It is named after the shell reef here.

It is drizzling at this moment, which is the best scenery for boating on the lake.

Cui Renshi was sitting by the lake, wearing a straw hat and a raincoat. An old man was pulling a small boat towards the lake. The old man first wiped his neck, then made a gesture, and opened his mouth to make strange noises.

The old man was a mute. Cui Renshi smiled at him and nodded.

Lu Yuan walked quickly to the lake in the rain, glanced around, and finally his eyes fell on Cui Renshi who was wearing a bamboo hat.

"Disciple has met sir."

Cui Renshi sighed and said, "I heard that Brother Lu passed away?"

Lu Yuan's eyes were red as he said, "My father was forced to death by people in the clan."

Cui Renshi shook his head and said, "The people who handled the 100,000 dan of grain were you and your son. Do you want to implicate most of Fanyang?"

"disciple……"

"Since Brother Lu has passed away, the court will probably not pursue this too much."

Lu Yuan hurriedly stepped forward and said, "But I heard that the court has sent another group of people to investigate, saying that the person in power in the court now is the prince, and the prince doesn't care how many people die, he only cares about where the taxes go."

The corners of Cui Renshi's mouth twitched, as if he was smiling.

"Now that my father is dead, if they come to ask me, what should I do? It's just 100,000 shi of grain and grass! What else does the court want?"

Cui Renshi patted him on the back and said, "You will be fine."

Seeing the teacher get on the boat, Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment and then followed him on board.

Cui Renshi looked at the vast lake, breathed the air here, stood at the stern of the boat, raised his head and took another deep breath.

The old man could neither sing nor speak, he could only hum a tune and row the boat leisurely.

The boat was getting farther and farther away from the embankment, and the oars were creating ripples on the lake.

The embankment was no longer visible in the rain, and the boat reached the center of the lake.

Cui Renshi whispered, "Although the grain was handled by you and your son, you and your son never took any benefit from it. The one who got the money and grain was your eldest wife."

"Exactly!"

Because we reached the center of the lake, there were no other boats around, just a vast expanse of water.

Lu Yuan dared to speak loudly, and he continued: "They took the benefits, why should we let the third branch bear the blame? What is this? Where is justice in this world! I followed the teacher all the way from Taiyuan to Bohai, isn't this what I learned?"

Cui Renshi said calmly: "You are still young, are you at a loss for what to do with just this little thing?"

Lu Yuan hesitated to speak, and bowed down quickly: "Please help me, teacher!"

The sound of oars paddling in the water was heard again and again, and the rain suddenly stopped.

Cui Renshi said: "I will take you to a remote place to hide first, and I will provide you with food and clothing."

Lu Yuan said tremblingly: "Thank you, teacher. I have come to this point now, and only you are willing to save me. From now on, I am willing to worship you as my adoptive father."

Cui Renshi suddenly laughed, and he continued, "People in the court are like this. If they fail once or twice, they will stop if they can't catch anyone again. I have seen a lot of these people. They are just like this, all the same."

As he spoke, he stroked Lu Yuan up again, and then said, "Okay, I will accept you as my child."

Lu Yuan smiled and said, “Thank you, foster father.”

As he spoke, Cui Renshi patted his back and said, "Don't be anxious about anything. Stay calm when encountering problems, and don't seek help from others without reason."

"My foster father taught me, my child..."

Halfway through his words, Cui Renshi pushed hard.

Lu Yuan lost his balance and fell into the lake.

The boat continued to row and move forward.

Lu Yuan fell into the lake. He kept struggling in the water, trying to reach out to the boats in the distance, and raised his head out of the water several times.

But every time he opened his mouth, lake water would pour into his mouth.

On the small boat, Cui Renshi watched the lake gradually return to calm, and he stared at the position of Lu Yuanluoshui for a long time.

Seeing that the lake in the distance was no longer rippled, Cui Renshi took out a scroll and handed it to the mute beside him, saying, "Come to the shore and tell your eldest wife that I have finished my business."

The mute boatman took the scroll, grinned and nodded, and the boat slowly rowed towards the shore. After stopping steadily, Cui Renshi took a step and walked from the boat to the solid shore.

The mute boatman rowed away again. Cui Renshi looked at the lake and whispered, "Thousands of years..."

The news here was sent all the way to Chang'an from the Bohai border.

Some people said that the court forced Lu Yuan and his son to death, while others said that they committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

In Chang'an, the imperial city, in the Secretariat, Li Chengqian was somewhat surprised to see the news.

Yu Zhining said angrily: "They clearly concealed the tax revenue, but now someone is accusing the court of forcing a local father and son to death."

Fang Xuanling seemed not to notice the prince's troubles, and left with several memorials.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Minister Chu?"

Chu Suiliang quickly said, "I am here."

"Has the monthly allowance for teaching been distributed?"

Hearing this, Chu Suiliang frowned and said, "Go back, Your Highness, everything has been arranged."

"Go ask again and confirm it yourself."

"Yes." Chu Suiliang packed up the books in front of him and left in a hurry.

Zhang Daxiang and Dali Temple Minister Sun Fujia were still standing in the Secretariat.

Seeing that the prince looked at the report sent by Bohai as if nothing had happened, Sun Fujia asked, "Your Highness, are you still going to investigate?" Li Chengqian held a roll of account books in his hand, looked at the account books, and said, "Investigate, of course we must investigate. They concealed the taxes and took away the assets of the country. We will investigate thoroughly and will not let go until we see the taxes paid."

Sun Fujia said loudly: "Yes!"

Zhang Daxiang bowed and said, "I will go and arrange officials to assist the Dali Temple."

The two walked out of the Secretariat and saw Zhang Daxiang looking distressed. Sun Fujia asked, "Are you worried about the gossips from the nobles?"

Zhang Daxiang said: "They even dare to smear the court, and they almost said that the officials in the court bullied their place."

Sun Fujia smiled and said, "Investigate. Even if they say so, we must investigate thoroughly."

As the two were talking, they saw Li Baiyao hurriedly walking into the Secretariat.

"Your Highness, this is a memorial from the Western Regions."

Li Chengqian put down the account book in his hand and took the memorial handed to him by Li Baiyao.

He added, "This was sent by Guo Siqing."

The memorial was indeed written by Guo Luotuo, and it was also stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Agriculture. The memorial said that Zhang Shigui arranged 3,000 people to plant cotton on the south bank of the Ili River, covering a total of 200 hectares of land.

Guo Luotuo personally went to the Western Regions to learn about the habits of the cotton crop, and even raised a dog. He saw that this dog was able to drive the flock of sheep, and it was a very smart dog.

Li Chengqian frowned as he looked at the memorial, he could no longer remember when the origin of dog training came from.

Guo Luotuo had many ideas. This season was the harvest season for melons and fruits in the Ili River, and it was also the most important season for planting cotton. It was already late March when he arrived in the Western Regions, and it was already early April when the letter was delivered to Chang'an at full speed.

He felt that it was a little late to start planting cotton now. He could start planting cotton earlier and see how much he could harvest.

Moreover, he had personally seen the climate and soil of the Western Regions, and felt that the northern bank of the Ili River, where Yu Gushe was based, was more suitable for growing cotton, but it was currently out of reach.

We also need to grow vegetables and bean sprouts in the Western Regions and build karez on a large scale.

The Western Regions were very suitable for the construction of karez, and he also discovered similar karez-like structures in Gaochang City.

In the past when he was in Guanzhong, Guo Luotuo didn't have so much to do, but now that he has gone to the Western Regions, he can show his talents.

Li Chengqian smiled in surprise.

Subsequent records were all about the construction of Anxi Protectorate.

The original Gaochang City and Khan Futu City were renamed Tingzhou and built into two military cities to store grain and troops.

The Anxi Protectorate was built to the south of Gaochang City.

Starting from Tingzhou in the north and heading north to Gaochang and Anxi Protectorate, three military towns were built in these three places. In this way, the Tang Dynasty controlled the southeastern important road of the Western Regions.

Li Chengqian finished reading the memorial and put it aside. Li Baiyao had already left.

After taking a sip of tea, he continued to look at the memorial in his hand. The current population of Chang'an City is 200,000 households, with a population of roughly 800,000 to 900,000.

Including the counties in Guanzhong up to Tongguan, the total population is about five million.

This population number is neither too large nor too small, and it is much better than in previous years.

After more than ten years of recuperation, there are now more and more able-bodied laborers in Guanzhong, and the Wei Palace has not recruited soldiers for a long time.

My father adheres to the policy of light taxation and low levies, and two years ago, in the tenth year of Zhenguan, he restructured the military guards, reduced the number of guards in various places, and only recruited men over the age of 20 when recruiting soldiers.

After sorting out the memorials from the Secretariat, Li Chengqian picked out a few volumes and went to find his father.

I asked the eunuch who happened to pass by in front of the Taiji Hall and found out that my father was now in the Lingyan Pavilion.

I have been very busy these days and almost forgot to come to the Sanqing Temple to pay my respects to the Taoist master. I thought that he would not mind the junior's lack of courtesy.

After quickly lighting a stick of incense in the Sanqing Hall, he went to the Lingyan Pavilion to meet his father.

Li Shimin stood in the Lingyan Pavilion with his hands behind his back, looking at the portraits, and heard the creaking of heavy footsteps on the wooden steps.

Turning around, he saw that it was his son and asked, "Are you done with your work?"

Li Chengqian handed over the memorial and said, "Father, this is the recent report from various places."

Li Shimin motioned for the eunuch beside him to take it first, took two steps, looked out the window, and said, "You have been spending less and less time handling state affairs lately."

"He is becoming more and more adept at handling state affairs."

Li Shimin asked, "Have you practiced archery recently?"

"I haven't been practicing archery in the mornings lately."

"I heard that you are still doing morning exercises and running recently."

"Morning exercises cannot be delayed. My younger brothers and sisters also insist on morning exercises."

As the father and son walked out of Lingyan Pavilion, Li Shimin said, "I have also heard about Bohai's affairs."

Li Chengqian replied, "Father, they are embezzling taxes. If you say that the whole world is our family property, then they are trying to seize our family property and taxes. This is an enemy of the entire court. I have already told the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Civil Affairs that this matter will be investigated to the end."

"Now they are taking drastic measures to discredit the court, saying that the court's tax account books are wrong. Their tactics are clever, but no matter how clever they are, in my eyes, they just want the court to give up. They are even more afraid. I don't like the idea of ​​negotiating everything. Whatever they took from our Li family, they must give it back intact."

Li Shimin continued walking and said, "How many people will die? Do you care?"

"Father," Li Chengqian stressed, "One hundred thousand dan is not a small amount. It is enough for the army to go on a western expedition."

"I know, you can go back now."

"My son, please retire."

Walking to Xingqing Hall, Li Shimin stood alone under the ginkgo tree, looking at the new leaves on the dead branches.

Du Zhenglun came hurriedly, looked at His Majesty's back, saluted and said, "Your Majesty."

"Any news about Fan Yang?"

"I was just about to report this to your majesty." Du Zhenglun looked around and whispered, "Master Cui Ren went to Fanyang first and is now in Bohai. The father and son of the third branch of the Lu family are both dead. Even if the court wants to investigate now, it will probably be more complicated, just like the assassination in the garden. It is not something that can be arranged by one or two people."

"I have also found out that the taxation in Fanyang is not right because someone annexed thousands of acres of land. These people were worried that they would be found out by the court, so they harmed the father and son. Now we can only start with the land."

"And from that year till now, the tax revenue for this summer harvest will probably be another 100,000 dan less."

Li Shimin stroked his short beard and said, "My son is very concerned about this matter."

Du Zhenglun said solemnly: "I can go to Fanyang. Taxation is the foundation of the country. If we don't investigate it this time, I'm afraid there will be a second and third time in the future."

"It's not time for you to go yet. Let Gao Jifu go and select thirty people from the Hundred Riders to escort us."

"Here."

After Du Zhenglun heard the words, he hurried to make arrangements.

The old eunuch said, "Your Majesty still wants to help the prince."

Li Shimin stood facing the wind and said, "This kid has always been tough and decisive. He is still only the crown prince, so we can't let him get involved in too many deaths."

The old eunuch hunched over and said, "Your Majesty is worried that if more people die in Fanyang, the prince will surrender?"

"I always have to think about him. This child is not strong enough."

"Your Majesty has good intentions."

(End of this chapter)