The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 261 Watching the First Autumn Rain

In the Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin looked at the records of the Ministry of Rites again and again with a serious expression.

The maid brought a bowl of iced grapes. Empress Changsun sat aside and ate them. She looked at the emperor's expression and asked, "Did Chengqian agree to build a summer palace for your majesty?"

Turning over a three-foot-wide piece of paper, Li Shimin looked at the record on the next page and replied, "Yes, I agree."

At this moment, His Majesty was concentrating on the Crown Prince's words and actions, and his response to the Queen was very perfunctory.

The palace maid stood by and helped the queen pick out the ice cubes from the basin.

But the queen seemed to be thinking about something, then she stood up and quickly left the hall.

Li Shimin flipped through the papers and whispered, "What's for lunch today?"

The hall was very quiet and no one responded.

When he looked up again, the queen who was sitting next to him was no longer there. Li Shimin put down the paper in his hand and suddenly felt a little confused.

The old eunuch outside the palace came hurriedly and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, the Queen has gone to the East Palace for dinner."

Li Shimin asked: "What time is it?"

The old eunuch replied, "It's one quarter past noon."

Li Shimin let out a long sigh, and for some reason he felt a little lonely, so he stood up and said, "I will also go to the East Palace to have dinner."

The old eunuch nodded and gave a few instructions to the remaining eunuchs outside the hall.

At this moment, the city of Chang'an has just welcomed the coolness of autumn, and people always live more comfortably at this time of year.

When Li Shimin arrived at the Eastern Palace, he saw a basket of persimmons in front of the Chongwen Hall.

The eunuch explained: "These were all given to the East Palace by Duke Xu."

"Are there too many persimmons in Guanzhong this year?"

"Your Majesty, there has been no disaster this year."

Li Shimin naturally picked up the grapes beside him and ate them, saying, "The autumn grapes are not as sweet as the summer harvest, and the price is higher."

From listening to Your Majesty's complaints, it seems that you are dissatisfied with the results of the Crown Prince's management of agricultural affairs in Guanzhong.

Walk a few steps towards the East Palace and you can hear the laughter here. No matter how things change outside, it remains the same here, always full of laughter.

When Li Zhi saw his father, he shouted, "Father is here, we can have dinner now."

Hearing this, Li Shimin's expression improved a little.

Empress Changsun was trimming the children's hair.

"Shen'er, where is your brother?"

"Father, my brother said he won't be back for dinner today. The Secretariat has a lot of things to do." Li Shen pulled his father aside and said, "Hurry up and eat."

The queen also fixed little Sizi's hair. Now little Sizi also lives in the East Palace. Sometimes she feels empty in her heart, and coming here to see the children makes her feel much better.

Li Lizhi was distributing bowls and chopsticks at the table, saying, "My brother still has a lot of state affairs to attend to, so please have your meal first, father and mother."

Dongyang said, "Even if the emperor doesn't come, I will ask him to come."

Li Shimin sat down, looked at the dishes on the table, and thought that he was indeed negligent sometimes, as these children were growing up one by one.

After having lunch in the East Palace, the emperor went to Xingqing Palace and summoned Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Gong and Zhangsun Wuji to discuss the garrisoning of troops in the Anxi Protectorate and the strategy for Mobei.

Inside the imperial city, in the Secretariat, Li Chengqian, Yu Zhining and Cen Wenben were discussing Tibetan affairs.

The discussion lasted until the evening.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty both had their own things to do.

At night, Li Chengqian finally returned to the East Palace. Ning'er prepared clothes for the Crown Prince and said, "Recently, Prince Jin and Prince Ji have been making more and more noise, and Princess Changle has been beating them more fiercely."

"Well, it's good to be able to control them. These two younger brothers need to be taught well."

Li Zhi is only twelve years old this year, and Li Shen is only eleven years old. They are at the age when they are most playful. In order to make them sensible, they need to be taught strictly.

"What's the point of a childhood without being beaten?"

Hearing what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, Ning'er packed out all the clothes that His Royal Highness would change into after autumn, and then left the bedroom with a smile.

The next day, after the morning court session, Li Chengqian walked out of the chaos in the Taiji Hall, and the civil and military officials started fighting again.

I am afraid that this situation will continue for a long time. As for the instigators, the group of people who are now in the Hexi Corridor have not been called back yet.

Li Tai returned to the court today. As autumn has arrived in Guanzhong, he came back early to report to his father on the progress of the silt dam construction.

There are five silt dams in Guanzhong today, three located on the Wei River, one west of Tongguan, and one upstream of Luoyang.

This is Li Tai's achievement this year. As for the victory in the battle of Songzhou, he never felt that it was his own credit.

"Let's start working again next year."

"That's the plan." Li Tai was still so fat and didn't look like he was going to lose weight. He had suffered a lot working at the silt dam over the summer, but unfortunately when he came back, he was still so fat.

As the two brothers walked together, Li Tai asked again, "Hasn't Brother Wu Wang come back recently?"

"He comes back occasionally. Recently, he has been traveling to various counties, busy with grassroots work."

Li Tai nodded slightly.

"Are you free this afternoon? Let's go out for a walk."

"Alright."

Due to the conversation at the Ministry of Rites the day before, Lu Dongzan felt physically and mentally exhausted.

Sambhota felt that the fate of both he and the prime minister was uncertain, so his death would not matter, but if the prime minister died, the Zamp would be unable to support Tubo alone, and what would Tubo do?

Today, another official from the Ministry of Rites came and took them out, saying that the crown prince and the Ministry of Rites had something to discuss with them.

Today's negotiation location is not in the imperial city, but outside Chang'an City.

Lu Dongzan and Sangbuza were escorted by a group of officials and walked on Zhuque Street in the eyes of many Chang'an residents.

At this time, Lu Dongzan simply raised his head and looked at the current Chang'an City. It was different from when he first came here. There were more people living here.

The streets also seemed cleaner, and the Tang people living here seemed very busy, with most of them walking in a hurry.

The smell of wine and meat wafted from both sides of the street, and the sound of children laughing.

Lu Dongzan suddenly stopped and looked towards a street. Under a simple wooden shed, a group of people were gathered together.

Under the wooden shed, a man was talking loudly about something.

Pushed by the official behind him, Lu Dongzan had no choice but to continue walking towards Chunming Gate of Chang'an City.

If he could survive, Lu Dongzan would like to take a good look at the current Chang'an City and see the overall picture of this most magnificent city today.

When he was escorted out of Chang'an City by officers and soldiers, the scene before him suddenly became clear. He saw the open plain and the official road with constant pedestrians and carriages.

Along the official road, he saw horse dealers, wine dealers, and even people selling grapes.

The grape harvest in Datang was really good, they planted a lot. Lu Dongzan wanted to see more, but was taken into the carriage by the soldiers.

By the Xianyang Bridge, Li Chengqian and Li Tai were fishing, and not far away there were villagers who were also fishing.

Because the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace liked fishing, even the powerful and wealthy, or ordinary people, began to fish.

This is a leisure activity that is enjoyed by people of all ages and social status. When you have free time, you can take out your fishing rod and just sit there in a quiet afternoon or evening.

Li Tai was sitting by the river, eating a cake.

Li Chengqian put his fishing rod aside, lay on the grass, and read a book.

Li Ji and Li Keshi, who were escorting the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, stood on both sides, preventing the surrounding villagers from approaching.

Liu Rengui followed Li Ke to work at the grassroots level, so now when people go fishing at Xianyang Bridge, there will be no one to spoil the fun.

When the carriage carrying Lu Dongzan and Sangbuza arrived, Li Ji reported, "Your Highness, the people from the Ministry of Rites are here."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian finally sat up, and the prince didn't care that there were some grass stuck in his long hair.

Li Baiyao led the people over and said, "Your Highness, the people are here."

"Brother, how is the scenery in Guanzhong?"

Lu Dongzan breathed in the air here, looked towards the bustling Xianyang Bridge in the distance, and said: "The scenery in Guanzhong has always been beautiful."

Li Chengqian also looked towards Xianyang Bridge, "I remember that when you first came to Chang'an as an envoy, you also came from Xianyang Bridge."

"Yes."

"What was it like when you came to Chang'an and passed by Xianyang Bridge?"

Lu Dongzan replied: "There weren't so many people at Xianyang Bridge at that time, and there weren't so many trees on both sides of the river."

Li Baiyao and a group of officials stood aside, and some officials set up tables to record today's conversation.

But now it seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Lu Dongzan look like good friends who haven't seen each other for many years?

Li Baiyao thought about it again and felt that something was wrong. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was a rival of Lu Dongzan and Songtsen Gampo, and they had never been friends.

I also heard that the current Songtsen Gampo is about the same age as the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, only one year older.

Li Chengqian looked at the river and said, "Look, the autumn rain in Guanzhong hasn't even come yet, but there are so many fallen leaves. It looks like winter will come very early this year."

Lu Dongzan, standing aside, also replied: "If the autumn rain really comes, it will be the first autumn rain that a foreign minister has seen in Chang'an."

"I was negligent. You have never seen autumn rain in Chang'an City."

Lu Dongzan lowered his head slightly.

Li Chengqian said: "It's okay this time."

Hearing this, Sambuza was a little surprised. He quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

A soldier handed over a basin of meat skewers. Li Chengqian took the basin and first gave them to Lu Dongzan and Sangbuza. He took one skewer for himself and gave the rest to Qingque, Li Ji and Li Keshi.

"Qingque, don't eat too much."

Hearing his brother's words, Li Tai replied, "Don't worry, brother."

Li Chengqian ignored his fishing rod and walked along the river, asking, "Do you remember that you Tubo wanted to emulate our Tang Dynasty and used the equal-field system of allocating land according to the number of people, and wanted to implement it in Tubo?"

Lu Dongzan nodded.

"How effective is it?"

Seeing that the other party was silent again, Li Chengqian finished the skewer of mutton in his hand, handed the wooden stick to the soldier behind him, and said, "Brother, why do you have so many concerns? It's not a bad thing for the two countries to visit each other and exchange some governance experiences."

Lu Dongzan replied hesitantly: "Your Highness, are you curious about the political affairs of Tubo?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I am curious, not just about Tubo, I am also curious about other places in this world."

Lu Dongzan explained: "It is difficult to implement. Unlike the Central Plains, many pastures in Tibet are in the hands of tribes. The Zamp overthrew several tribes, but the effect was not great."

"Distribution is always an issue of imbalance. I believe that Brother Daxiang has the same idea as me."

Lu Dongzan asked: "Then how did Your Highness do it?"

Li Chengqian said: "That's true. In fact, the Tang Dynasty also has many problems and has encountered many difficulties in governance."

Seeing the prince's distressed expression, Lu Dongzan felt a little relieved. It turned out that it was all the same. In terms of governance, when faced with the difficulties of distribution, they would always be constrained.

"I heard that you have recruited a lot of Tuyuhun people. I was thinking that after Murong Shun abdicated, most of the Tuyuhun people left. Were they all accepted by your Tubo?"

Lu Dongzan shook his head and said, "That's not the case. The Zamp gave them cattle and sheep to let Tubo fight. Tian Khan may not know that after Fuyun was defeated, many Tuyuhun people still hated the Tang Dynasty."

"We really didn't do this well, and you took advantage of us."

His Highness was discussing governance experience with Lu Dongzan, talking about the various problems that Songtsen Gampo encountered when he first started governing Tibet when the country was trying to grow stronger.

The prince tried to find ways for the Tibetans to solve their problems from these experiences.

But Tubo started very late, and after the Battle of Songzhou, many problems had not been resolved, and it suffered this great defeat.

Li Chengqian asked: "You didn't resolve the previous conflicts, and now you are facing even bigger troubles. You were defeated in this battle, and Songtsen Gampo is facing the disunity of people's hearts. In the eyes of many people, your Zamp is not a person worthy of following."

Lu Dongzan bowed and said, "The war in Songzhou is the personal opinion of foreign ministers and has nothing to do with the Zamp."

Having said this, the prince finally put away his smile, and even the several officials from the Ministry of Rites standing beside him had grim faces.

Li Tai was still fishing by the Xianyang Bridge. He had no intention of taking part in this conversation. He was eating barbecue and looking at the peaceful river, and had no interest in fishing.

The wind around was a little colder, and the autumn rain was about to come.

Li Tai frowned and looked at the sky.

Li Keshi stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, King Wei, it's going to rain."

Seeing that the clear sky at noon was now covered with dark clouds, Li Tai said, "Don't worry, wait until my brother finishes talking with Lu Dongzan."

"Here."

Dark clouds gradually enveloped the entire Guanzhong area.

The prince's face darkened, and the sky also darkened.

Li Chengqian added: "Don't say this has nothing to do with your Zanpu. It's fine if you can fool others with this kind of words, but the Prime Minister thinks that I and the court officials are so easy to fool."

Sambuza said: "The Tang Dynasty has already obtained Qinghai."

Li Chengqian walked towards Xianyang Bridge again. "That's what the Tang Dynasty deserves. It was fought back by our soldiers. It should have been ours. Do you want the Tang Dynasty to give you half of it?"

The rain was falling, but it was not heavy. Li Chengqian stood under the Xianyang Bridge, where he could take shelter from the rain temporarily.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites also came here to shelter from the rain.

Li Chengqian said: "First, Tubo must pay compensation to compensate Tang for the losses in the First World War."

Hearing this, Sambuza wanted to argue and was about to refute, but was glared back by Lu Dongzan.

(End of this chapter)