The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 277 Jingzhao Prefecture is Fearless
These days, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace issued several transfer orders, and a workshop was built outside the Shaofujian in the imperial city. This workshop was used to manufacture spinning wheels, and many copper and iron tools were also sent to the workshop.

Two huge spinning wheels were sent to Jingzhao Prefecture, with wheels installed underneath to facilitate their removal.

In the hall of Jingzhao Prefecture, the county magistrates of several counties in Guanzhong were sitting in the hall, as well as the Shaoqing of the Sinong Temple Guo Zhengyi, and King of Wei Li Tai, and among them there were several merchants from Guanzhong headed by Du He.

Liu Rengui said: "There are more than 2,000 militiamen in the five towns and seven villages of Xianyang County. We can handle it."

Shangguan Yi said: "Five thousand militiamen from Jingyang County can be mobilized."

Looking at everyone's determined eyes, Xu Jingzong had a smile on his face.

Prince Li Tai of Wei was about to get married soon. He sat aside without saying a word. As long as Jingzhao Prefecture could arrange manpower to build the silt dam, he didn't want to get involved in other matters.

"What if the court starts to make a fuss about it later? The Tang Dynasty has only been based in the Central Plains for more than 20 years. Now that we have established a workshop..."

There are always people who sing the opposite tune at this time.

Xu Jingzong stood up and said, "Some things have to be done when you are established. If you don't do it now, you will regret it when the rules are made in the court! As county magistrates, you should know that time waits for no one. If you don't seize this opportunity, when will you find such an opportunity again in the future?"

Shangguan Yi was still looking at the booklet in his hand. A total of fourteen workshops were to be opened in the twelve counties of Chang'an.

Each of them is a huge workshop, with nearly 20,000 workers including women, the elderly and able-bodied laborers.

Judging from the number of people in each county, there are still plenty of jobs in Guanzhong, and it is entirely possible to build larger workshops. Soap, paper, soy sauce, and grape wine will all be in great demand.

Whether it was sold to the Turks in exchange for horses and sheep, or to the Western Regions in exchange for gold and silver, or sold to the east of Luoyang, or in the two routes of Jiangnan, Jiannan Road or Shuzhong, it was a hot commodity.

Listening to the discussions in the hall, Shangguan Yi looked at a huge map hanging in Jingzhao Prefecture, thinking deeply that the production workshops were all in the counties, not in Chang'an City.

The population will flow to various counties with Chang'an city as the center.

This is a very interesting layout. If Chang'an is strong, the counties will be exhausted. If the counties are strong, Chang'an will be even stronger.

After some further debate, Xu Jingzong slammed his fist on the table, and this time the discussion determined the rules.

Under Xu Shaoyin's fist, he rejected all objections.

A group of county officials walked out of Jingzhao Prefecture one after another. Shangguan Yi still looked a little worried. He said, "Last year, Jingzhao Prefecture submitted several memorials, and then dismissed eight township heads and five county officials."

Liu Rengui: "What is the Shangguan officer worried about?"

Shangguan Yi lowered his head and said, "Seven or eight out of ten people in Guanzhong have to work. The workshops are full of people, and goods worth thousands of strings of cash are pulled out every day. If you think about it, the countryside seems even more depressed with fewer people."

Liu Rengui: "Master Shangguan feels that there are fewer people in the countryside, so we should go to more crowded places."

“I feel confused sometimes, and I don’t know why. Will Guanzhong really become rich?”

He sighed and walked away quickly.

Liu Rengui frowned for a long time without saying anything. When he saw Yan Qinli coming out of the main hall, he bowed and said, "Yan Shuling."

Yan Qinli said: "You counties don't need to worry too much, just leave the matter of mobilizing the villagers to Chongwenguan."

Liu Rengui bowed and said, "Thank you for your help, Chongwenguan."

Outside the main hall, many county officials were leaving in twos and threes. These county officials all supported Jingzhao Prefecture and stood most firmly on the side of Jingzhao Prefecture.

Therefore, it is particularly convenient to use. They have long been accustomed to the Jingzhao Prefecture's way of doing things, and they were all trained by the Jingzhao Prefecture.

In Jingzhao Prefecture, Xu Jingzong looked at a book in his hand and kept pouring tea into his mouth.

Li Dao Zong asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Reporting to the prefect, this is the article written by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Daozon nodded slowly and sat down at the top.

Xu Jingzong turned around and asked, "Has the prefect been in contact with the prince recently?"

Li Dao Zong put down the teapot, filled it with water and burped, then said, "The King of Wei will be getting married soon. I will go to congratulate him. Your Majesty and the Crown Prince will also be there."

"I often wonder..." Xu Jingzong held the scroll in one hand and frowned, "Your Highness often said what is the relationship between subjective initiative and individual consensus?"

Seeing no reply from the prefect, Xu Jingzong could only sit aside and continue thinking.

The main hall fell silent again, with only the sound of paper rubbing against each other as pages were turned.

"Report!" A clerk came into the hall and shouted, "Zhongshu Shilang Chu Suiliang impeached Xu Shaoyin for bribing the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Ji in order to curry favor with the Crown Prince."

As soon as he finished speaking, the originally quiet Jingzhao Prefecture government office was filled with the sound of heavy slamming on the table.

Xu Jingzong slammed the book on the table and shouted, "Chu Suiliang, that bitch! Where is he?"

"Reporting to Shao Yin, there are bad guys watching him. He just came out of Suzaku Gate and is probably already home."

Xu Jingzong was about to walk out of the government office quickly.

The clerk followed and asked, "Prefect, do you want to arrange for some personnel?"

"Why should I be afraid of him?"

"Minister Chu's family has many servants. What if..."

Xu Jingzong strode out of the government office and said loudly: "I am enough!"

After saying this, the clerk was still a little worried and looked towards the prefect in the hall. The prefect nodded slightly, and the clerk understood what to do.

It is like this when working for the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace. If you can do things well, the Crown Prince will naturally not say anything. If things are not done well, it means you are not capable enough. Either be replaced or do things right after you messed up.

The prince was strict but not to the point of being unreasonable.

Xu Jingzong was naturally loyal to the Eastern Palace. Just look at the fact that he had guarded the grape field next to the kaner well in Jingyang for a year. His loyalty was evident to all.

Therefore, as with the Eastern Palace, even in the counties under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture, all are promoted based on merit. If they are incompetent, they will be replaced, and if they are competent, they will be replaced. It is simple and straightforward.

Reason? What reason?
After three to five years of screening, all the twelve counties of Chang'an under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture were full of elite soldiers and generals.

After Chang'an City was renovated this year, Jingzhao Prefecture prepared to preside over the redesign of the renovated Wannian County and Chang'an County. The workload was both heavy and numerous.

No one knows when the feud between Xu Jingzong and Chu Suiliang began.

It may have started from the Qin Palace back then.

Back then in the Prince of Qin's Palace, people from Zhangsun Wuji's faction looked down on Xu Jingzong and kept their distance from him.

And Chu Suiliang was the most supportive person among Zhangsun Wuji's faction.

In this way, grudges arise, and the causes of the grudges can be found in the speculations of the government and the public.

But everyone in the court and the country knew who Xu Jingzong was. He was a notorious cruel official in Guanzhong. He protected the left and right arms of Jingzhao Prefecture, and had fights with most people who offended Xu Jingzong.

On Zhuque Street, in the eyes of passers-by.

Xu Jingzong walked into Chu Suiliang's mansion alone and said, "Rat! You dare to impeach me, so you don't dare to come to see me?"

"Xu Jingzong!" Another loud shout came from the courtyard. It seemed that Minister Chu responded. As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Suiliang was punched in the face. He covered his face and said, "Xu Jingzong, you old dog, I will fight you!"

He watched as a dozen soldiers protected Chu Suiliang behind them.

Xu Jingzong rolled up his sleeves and said to more than ten people, "It's good that you came. I haven't exercised for a long time."

At this moment, another group of bad guys ran to the outside of the mansion and rushed in, saying, "Protect Xu Shaoyin!"

The two sides fought with each other.

But no one knew how the fight went. All they could hear was the sounds of smashing and yelling in Minister Chu's house.

Then Xu Jingzong strode out of Chu Suiliang's house again.

He straightened his messy hair and said, "You old dog Chu, you even grabbed my hair before you started fighting."

Afterwards, Xu Jingzong waved his sleeves and strode out of the mansion.

Inside the mansion, Chu Suiliang was beaten badly. He covered the bruises on the corners of his mouth and said with a depressed look: "Xu Jingzong is so good, he just wants to make my family look dirty and have no face to congratulate the King of Wei."

The palace was preparing for the marriage of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei. The brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide sat in front of the emperor with smiles on their faces.

It’s just that the emperor’s face wasn’t very good at the moment, as all the memorials from the Censorate were handed to him.

The cause of this incident was that Zhinu and Shen'er wanted to buy a wedding gift for Qingque.

Seeing his two youngest sons standing aside with their heads down and looking aggrieved, Li Shimin frowned and asked, "Just for this little gift?"

"Father!" Li Tai stepped forward and said, "Zhi Nu and Shen Di also have good intentions."

Li Ke also stood up and said, "Father, Zhinu and Shendi are still young, and they are preparing gifts for their wedding. If you want to punish someone, then punish me and Qingque."

"Brother King of Wei, Brother King of Wu..." Li Zhi was so moved that he burst into tears on the spot.

I don’t know if he was crying because he was really scared or if he was really moved.

Yan Lide advised: "Your Majesty, the princes all have good intentions, this is just a misunderstanding."

Li Zhi sobbed and said, "Your son... Your son wants to take Xu Shaoyin as his teacher."

"no!"

The emperor replied very quickly. Li Zhi wanted to say something else, but had to swallow his words back.

Seeing that both elder brothers were pleading for them, and Cheng Qian was not in the palace at the moment, how did this kid usually discipline his younger brother?

Seeing that there were two brothers, Yan Liben and Yan Lide, in the hall, Li Shimin's expression eased a little and said, "Xu Jingzong is usually arrogant, why do you want to worship him as your teacher?"

After thinking for a while, he said, "Zhang Xuanbi can be your teacher."

Li Zhi lowered his head and said aggrievedly: "When I see Zhang Jianzhi, I want to beat him up."

Li Shimin raised his hand and then slowly put it down. Now that the brothers were of one mind, he had no choice but to say, "You two brothers, go and reflect on yourselves for a night."

Yan Liben said, "Your Majesty, Prince Jin and Prince Ji are only ten years old. It is precisely because of their young age that they asked Xu Jingzong for help. If it were me, I would definitely help you because of the brotherhood between the two princes. Brothers help each other. Having a son like this, the princes are harmonious and united. This is a good story, not what the Censorate said about how Xu Shaoyin was trying to curry favor with the Crown Prince."

Let these brothers leave first. Li Shimin said distressedly: "I originally wanted to discuss the marriage of our children with you, but I didn't expect these guys to be so ignorant."

Seeing His Majesty's melancholy expression, Yan Liben said, "There are powerful and noble children who are spoiled at Your Majesty's age and do not obey discipline. The Prince of Jin and the Prince of Ji are very sensible. Your Majesty, I congratulate you."

There was no smile on Li Shimin's face.

Yan Liben turned this incident into a beautiful story, which will surely become a good story in Chang'an City in the future.

I don’t know why, but the emperor couldn’t be happy at all.

"Your Majesty, the files of the Ministry of Civil Affairs have been delivered."

"Present it."

Another memorial was delivered to His Majesty.

Li Shimin looked at the two people beside him again and said, "Alas... I really am..."

Yan Lide bowed and said, "State affairs come first, and I will do my best."

Li Shimin opened the memorial and looked at its contents. These were the taxes collected by the Ministry of Civil Affairs that year. Looking through the columns of accounts, he finally landed on the taxes in Guanzhong and the Hexi Corridor.

Li Shimin stared at the two lines of accounts. In the 12th year of Zhenguan, the Hexi Corridor collected 200,000 strings of money in market taxes, 2,000 kilograms of gold, and 9,000 kilograms of silver, and the Guanzhong market tax was 700,000 strings of money.

Seeing this number, Li Shimin suddenly started coughing and hurriedly picked up the tea beside him and poured it into his mouth.

Yan Liben stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty is not feeling well."

Li Shimin calmly sealed the memorial and then put it aside. When his breathing became smoother, he said, "I have a slight cough. It's not like this normally."

Yan Liben said: "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."

At this moment in the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian has been discussing the affairs of the Shaofu Supervisor with Su Wan and Ning'er. The Shaofu Supervisor has set up a construction institute in the imperial city.

The eunuch stood aside with a bitter look in his eyes, and whispered, "Your Highness, His Majesty has summoned you. The King of Wu and the King of Wei are waiting in the Ganlu Palace."

Li Chengqian flipped through the accounts and said, "I've told you, I'm very busy, so I'll let Father deal with them."

Concubine Su and Concubine Ning were using an abacus to calculate for His Highness the current assets of the Eastern Palace and the expenses spent on the construction of the courtyard.

Li Yuan sat beside him with a smile on his face. "Why not go there?"

Li Chengqian patiently explained: "Grandpa, if my grandson goes, the nature of the matter will be different, and the Eastern Palace will have to avoid suspicion."

Soon, a eunuch brought back Prince Jin and Prince Ji.

"Your Highness, His Majesty said that the King of Jin and the King of Ji allowed Shao Yin to buy writing materials out of consideration for their brotherly love. You are punished to reflect on your actions in the East Palace, and we will go to congratulate the King of Wei on his wedding tomorrow."

Li Chengqian nodded, signaling his two younger brothers to return to the East Palace.

Li Zhi and Li Shen ran back quickly.

After letting the eunuch who delivered the message leave, Li Chengqian said, "My grandson has already said that they will be fine."

Li Yuan asked, "How did Chu Suiliang and Xu Jingzong start fighting?"

"My uncle is considered to be one of the people who are trying to maintain stability in the court. He has many students and old friends. Over the years, my uncle has been traveling among the nobles in Guanlong and the inner Guanzhong areas. Chu Suiliang is one of my uncle's people. He is considered to be a relatively stable person in the court who is also concerned with maintaining stability."

"In my grandson's opinion, Mr. Zheng is a radical. Whether it is external or internal, a teacher should be moderate. Maybe because my grandson is his disciple, he helps to speak up. It's normal for him to have some selfish motives."

Li Yuan said: "Xu Jingzong is your disciple in the Eastern Palace."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "That's right. Some people in the court were indeed classified as members of the Eastern Palace. Some people even thought that Chu Suiliang was from the Eastern Palace, but he is not. In terms of his position, he is still my uncle's man."

(End of this chapter)