The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 265: Arrangements between the Queen Mother and Sister
Li Shimin was silent for a moment.

Then he saw that his son was still eating pomegranates and asked, "I thought you would give the cotton to Du He and let Du He earn money for you."

"My uncle has taught me not to focus on the petty gains in front of me. They are insignificant. I am the crown prince and I must do great things. What do you think, father?"

"I know that Du He has always been the money bag of the Eastern Palace."

"Money is nothing in front of power. Money is just a carved railing and jade bricks, which can collapse at any time, but only the position of the emperor is unshakable. In other words, the emperor can make a person rich and powerful, but a rich and powerful person may not be able to become an emperor."

"Therefore, if you only focus on some minor details or things that have no impact on you, you will always tie your hands. I want to make the Tang Dynasty bigger and stronger, and I don't care about these things."

Li Shimin asked: "Did your uncle teach you all this?"

Li Chengqian put the pomegranate seeds into a basin and said, "I have learned a lot from my uncle."

Li Yuan looked at the father and son in front of him. He thought that after so many years, their conversation would be more restrained. He didn't expect it to be so explicit.

It's a good thing that father and son can open their hearts to each other, but it always feels a bit too much. Cheng Qian almost asked him when his father abdicated.

In terms of economy, my father even thought of selling the cotton-padded clothes and quilts made in Guanzhong to people in the Western Regions, using their cotton and making money from them.

Li Chengqian held his forehead in distress and said, "God really favors the Tang Dynasty."

Li Shimin said with a straight face: "What do you mean?"

"nothing."

The food was brought to them. The younger brother and sister ate with their mother in the East Palace, and the three of them ate in front of the Chongwen Hall.

"Early tomorrow morning, your mother will host a garden tour at Qujiang Pond, and you must go with me."

Li Chengqian frowned and asked, "Will there be any relatives of our Li family?"

"They are all the families of meritorious officials of the current dynasty."

"My son, I understand."

Li Shimin held the bowl and chopsticks in his hand and said, "There have been rumors in the Heavenly Court. Some people think that the policy of supporting education by the Crown Prince of the East Palace has not been effective. Instead, the supporting teachers have caused some troubles in various counties."

“Have they started to oppose teaching in rural areas?”

"Some things don't see results for a long time, so naturally some people will waver, even the teachers who were arranged by Chongwen Hall to teach there."

Li Chengqian put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Father, I still insist on my opinion."

"I have no choice but to intervene in the matter of the censors in the court advising against supporting education."

"Father, please send these memorials of persuasion to the Eastern Palace. I will meet Xu Jingzong tomorrow."

"it is good."

Li Yuan whispered, "No wonder Guanyin doesn't like to eat with you and your son."

After Li Chengqian finished his meal, he read a book on the side.

Li Shimin paused slightly while chewing his food.

The next day, the emperor took a day off and invited many nobles to visit the garden. After Li Chengqian received the memorial of advice sent by his father, he summoned Xu Jingzong alone in the Secretariat.

"Look at the good things you've done!"

Chu Suiliang felt quite sympathetic when he saw that the Crown Prince had thrown all the memorials of advice and remonstration at Xu Jingzong's head.

"I have failed to do my job well, please punish me, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian pointed at him and said, "You just sent out the staff last year, and now it's only been a year and you're almost unable to do it?"

Xu Jingzong said quickly: "I will go and check it out right away."

Li Chengqian pointed at the scattered memorials and cursed: "Look at these memorials of persuasion, they are going to destroy the teaching strategy!"

Xu Jingzong's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice: "The difficulty in supporting education is due to the poor management of Jingzhao Prefecture. It has nothing to do with the Crown Prince's strategy. I do not accept it!"

"I asked you to adapt to local conditions and investigate the people's sentiments. Where have you been talking about these things in the past two years? Now I'm telling you, if you can't solve these problems, you have to go to the Western Regions and dig a karez for me."

"Here!"

Xu Jingzong bowed hurriedly, picked up the pile of memorials of persuasion on the ground, and left quickly.

The prince, who had just gotten angry, straightened his clothes, took a few deep breaths, and looked back at the officials here.

Everyone lowered their heads to avoid the prince's gaze, and silently busy themselves with the things at hand.

Today, Empress Changsun hosted a garden tour and invited many nobles and meritorious officials. Li Shimin and the Empress sat in the carriage.

The autumn harvest had passed and winter was about to come. The emperor was sitting in a pavilion by the Qujiang Lake, with a eunuch reporting to him from beside him.

"Your Majesty, after Xu Jingzong was scolded by the Crown Prince, he went door to door to question the names on the memorial."

"What? Does Xu Jingzong want to fight with other families?" Li Shimin asked with interest.

"Not really, this is a bit strange." The old eunuch replied, "They said they were going to collect opinions and ask those who are dissatisfied with the teaching one by one, and want to ask them what they are dissatisfied with and what Jingzhao Prefecture and Chongwenguan can improve."

"Oh?"

"Also, there were a few families who were arrogant and unreasonable, and they had a fight with Xu Shaoyin. Xu Shaoyin was very skilled, and he fought with various families without losing."

Li Shimin smiled in surprise and looked at his uncle in front of him.

Gao Shilian didn't want to come to the garden at first, but because it was an important matter concerning his grandson, he came reluctantly.

"Afterwards, Xu Jingzong asked Jingzhao Prefecture to do another thing. He recorded the opinions of the censors who advised against supporting education. Their dissatisfaction with supporting education was posted in front of the Jingzhao Prefecture for others to see and comment on."

"These people have opinions about supporting education and want to refute the policy of supporting education. Xu Jingzong can't handle so many people. Instead of doing that, it is better to post their own ideas about how supporting education should be done. But some people are dissatisfied with the advice and remonstrances put forward by these censors."

After the old eunuch finished speaking, Li Shimin asked, "What do you think of this move, uncle?"

Gao Shilian cleared his throat and said, "The strategy of supporting education is good. Xu Jingzong's move has put the censors who advised against it in a dilemma. From now on, no one dares to discuss the strategy of supporting education. As long as someone dares to advise against it, Jingzhao Prefecture will bring it out again for more people to comment on."

"Each county has its own problems, and the court has its own problems. If Cheng Qian only acts according to the court officials' way, he will be at a disadvantage."

Li Shimin snorted coldly: "If this kid can be obedient, it will not be his style."

Gao Shilian looked around and said, "Why hasn't my grandson come yet?"

"Your Majesty, Duke Xu, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived." The palace maid pointed to the edge of Qujiang Lake.

Gao Shilian looked up and saw a tall young man standing by the Qujiang River. This was his eldest grandson, and he could be recognized at a glance in the crowd.

He smiled and said, "Cheng Qian and Your Majesty look more and more alike."

Li Shimin said: "He is not like me who can listen to the advice of the court officials, and I will not use these means to deal with the court officials."

The autumn wind blew into the pavilion, Gao Shilian's beard and hair fluttered. He said: "A capable crown prince is better than a child who just lets things go. He has his own opinions and can practice them, instead of being influenced by others."

"If Your Majesty wants the future emperor to be one who maintains the status quo and does not need to achieve anything, then there is no need to let Fang Xuanling be the prince's teacher, let alone let Yu Zhining assist the prince, let alone give him power. It is enough to find a Confucian scholar with high moral character to teach the prince."

"But Your Majesty did not do that, did he? In the current court, the forces under the East Palace have already established a firm foothold."

Gao Shilian had a proud smile on his face and said, "Hahaha...I made a mistake."

Li Shimin said worriedly, "He is still young and too sharp." "Only when you have sharpness can you rule your subjects."

Li Shimin looked at the people by the Qujiang Lake in silence.

After arranging the affairs of the court, Li Chengqian went to visit Qujiang Lake according to the arrangements of his father and mother.

After Qujiangfang was rebuilt, this royal garden was also well renovated. All of this was handled by Li Zhi. If she was around, she would be able to tell you how much silver was spent on that waterside pavilion, how much wood was used for that pavilion, and how much money was spent.

After standing by the Qujiang Lake for a while, I could notice many eyes looking at me.

Among these gazes, there were acquaintances in the court as well as some unfamiliar nobles, and the vast majority of them were female relatives or women of marriageable age.

If he stood here for too long, Li Chengqian would feel like a huge rare animal, being stared at, observed, and evaluated by these people.

"Your Highness, this way please."

Hearing the voice behind him, Li Chengqian noticed that it was the palace maid beside his mother, so he followed.

As I started walking, the feeling of being watched became stronger.

Every time you pass a water pavilion, the noisy sounds here will disappear, and the gazes of many women from different families will follow.

An adult, mature, powerful, and virtuous Crown Prince who is still unmarried would probably be a source of fear for a woman of marriageable age.

Over the years, according to rumors among his peers, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace has been a person who keeps strangers away.

Li Chengqian followed the palace maid's footsteps, bypassed Qujiang Lake, and walked past many women along the way.

This route must have been arranged by my mother.

Whenever they got closer to them, these people would suddenly become silent and lower their heads.

Li Chengqian felt that if he smiled at them, these people would probably be scared to death.

In the crowd, a fifteen-year-old girl whispered, "Look, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very handsome."

The sons of the emperor and the empress are naturally handsome. Even His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei, who is broad and plump, has a heroic eyebrow and handsome facial features that are not affected by his body shape.

The emperor and the empress were already famous when they were still young couple.

This fifteen-year-old girl is Kong Yingda’s granddaughter.

The curious girl of the same age asked again, "You are now Princess Changle's disciple, so you must see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often in the East Palace."

"Have you ever flirted with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Do you have any bad intentions towards the prince?"

Facing the comments of her peers, she blushed and didn't know how to explain. She said in a sharp voice: "I have never been to the East Palace."

"You must have been to the East Palace. You must have fallen in love with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"I didn't." Kong Yingda's granddaughter shrieked again.

Then a group of girls started playing together.

There is a plum blossom forest behind Qujiang Lake, and Li Zhi and her mother are beside it.

Li Chengqian stepped forward and bowed, "Mother."

Empress Changsun said, "Please sit down."

"Ah."

After we sat down, tea and cakes were served.

Li Chengqian glanced at the visitor and asked, "Xu Hui?"

Hearing His Royal Highness the Crown Prince calling her, Xu Hui saluted stiffly and said, "Your Highness."

Xiao Wu is one year younger than Xu Hui, and she also followed suit.

Li Chengqian said: "I still remember that when I first met you, you were only this young."

Watching the prince comparing his height to that of the past, Xu Hui said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian picked up the tea and looked at the plum forest.

Afterwards, the two girls returned to Li Lizhi.

Another female family walked into the plum forest, and Empress Changsun said with a smile: "Cheng Qian, there is someone in that room you need to see."

Li Chengqian looked at the room next to Meilin and asked in confusion, "Who is it?"

Empress Changsun whispered, "Your father and your grandfather arranged this."

Putting down the tea bowl in his hand, Li Chengqian stood up and walked towards the small house. Before he opened the door, he heard the sound of a piano from inside the house.

After standing in front of the door for a moment with a frown on his face, Li Chengqian pushed the door open and walked in.

Not far away, Li Lizhi looked at her brother's back and smiled secretly, saying, "Mother, will my brother be satisfied?"

Empress Changsun stroked her daughter's hair and said, "In the past six months, you have thought so much about your brother and arranged so many things. He will be satisfied."

Li Lizhi hugged her mother's arm and said, "I'm afraid my brother will think I'm meddling in other people's affairs."

"How could that happen?"

"My younger brothers and sisters were all raised by my brother. I always wanted to do something for him. He has been alone these years."

Empress Changsun patted her daughter's hand gently with a smile on her face.

Li Lizhi looked at the wrinkles at the corners of her mother's eyes. She hugged her mother's arms tighter and whispered, "This is the first time my daughter has acted on her own and kept it a secret from my brother for so long."

Empress Changsun smiled without saying anything. Her daughter was worried that Cheng Qian was always alone and had to face many things on his own.

But she didn't know that even if Cheng Qian got married, he would probably still be like this.

This is Cheng Qian's character, which cannot be changed so easily, otherwise, after so many years, he would have had many friends, but he still has not changed.

Li Lizhi looked at the two disciples behind her and said, "You should go to Qujiang Pond first."

Xu Hui and Xiao Wu bowed slightly and left the plum forest.

Li Chengqian pushed open the door of the small house, and there were two women standing inside. They had light makeup on their faces and were wearing specially prepared, new clothes.

Li Chengqian immediately understood what his mother meant. He walked into the house and closed the door.

They saluted and said, "Your Highness."

Their manners were graceful and seemed to have been disciplined.

Li Chengqian looked at the two of them and then at Ning'er who was wearing green.

Ning'er was not wearing the clothes of a palace maid today, but the clothes that only noble women would wear. She bowed and said, "Your Highness, this servant..."

(End of this chapter)