The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 288 The Emperor's Midlife Crisis

He looked at the buoy on the lake. The buoy made of a branch was still motionless. After confirming that the fishing line was stable, he sat down in the pavilion, picked up a book beside him and started flipping through it.

This book was sent by Zhang Da'an from Luoyang. It talks about the recent situation in Luoyang. Du He's three large workshops have been built.

It is important to ensure economic growth while keeping the grain holdings in Guanzhong unchanged, so the more commodities on hand, the better.

Population growth is slow, so this kind of thing can only be done slowly.

A eunuch came over with a basin of peaches and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, these are peaches sent by the Queen."

"Put it aside."

"Here."

The eunuch put the peach down and asked again, "Your Highness, are there still a lot of fish these days?"

Li Chengqian turned a page and continued reading the book, saying, "Why? Do you want to go fishing too?"

The eunuch whispered, "I dare not go fishing with Your Highness, but if the fish in Taiye Pond do not satisfy Your Highness, you can raise more in the future."

"No, I'm having a great time."

"Old slave, please retire."

The old eunuch quickly left the pavilion and walked to a distance where there were three or two young eunuchs waiting.

"His Highness said that the fish in Taiye Lake are very good these days, so he probably won't throw you into the lake to feed the fish."

The young eunuchs all breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Master."

The old eunuch, who was the head of the inner quarters of the palace, ordered again: "Okay, everyone go and do your own things, and be careful in everything in the palace."

Several new eunuchs nodded. In recent years, there have been fewer and fewer eunuchs in the palace, so few that some things could no longer be taken care of, so some new ones came.

It’s just that the current emperor and the crown prince are both so difficult to deal with, there won’t be too many eunuchs in the palace during the hundred years of the Li Tang Dynasty.

The fishing rod in his hand sank. Li Chengqian pulled up the rod. The front end of the rod was pulled down. The fish looked quite big.

Seeing that the fishing rod was about to break, I had no choice but to throw it into the water and pull it with a line.

He waited until the fish in the water had struggled to the point of exhaustion. After a short stalemate, he pulled back the fishing rod and slowly reeled in the line. He caught a three-foot-long carp, scooped it up with a fishing net, and put it into a basin of water beside him.

Li Chengqian sighed, "Fighting with fish is indeed one of the greatest pleasures in life."

Li Shen hurried over and said, "Brother, there is a letter!"

The younger brother was sweating profusely as he ran. Li Chengqian scooped up a cloth from the ice water beside him and handed it to him.

Li Shen wiped his red face with ice water and said, "This was sent by Brother Wu Wang. Did something happen in Luoyang again?"

Li Chengqian opened the bamboo tube and poured out a roll of paper. He opened the paper and read the contents of the letter. It was about the various things Li Ke encountered when he traveled to various counties in Luoyang in the past six months, and it also explained some of the things he encountered and his feelings in the past few months.

In fact, Li Ke was a very capable person. At least he was loyal and reported these matters only to the Eastern Palace, and would not hand over the letters to the court or to his father.

Moreover, Li Ke is a very simple person. No matter what you ask him to do, he will concentrate on doing it.

You tell him to go east, but he wants to go west. If you persuade him, he will still obediently go east.

As for arranging undercover agents to enter the aristocratic families, there has been no progress so far. After all, undercover agents who can be bought with money will also be bought by others with more money, and undercover agents obtained through blackmail will eventually become jealous of you.

In this world, it is very difficult to find a few undercover agents who share the same ambitions and ideals. The trust gained through empathy or conscience is probably a minority.

This is very realistic. People who share the same suffering can easily stand together, but to make them return to suffering requires greater determination, which is not something ordinary people can accept.

Seeing that Li Ke asked about this matter in the letter, Li Chengqian could only shake his head helplessly.

Li Shen said: "Royal brother, recently Kong Yingda's granddaughter said that she likes talking to you very much."

"Kong Yingda's granddaughter?"

"Yes." Li Shen nodded and said, "He is the disciple of the emperor's sister. He said that my brother is different from others and his way of speaking is also different."

Li Chengqian asked back: "Then why doesn't she like Zhinu?"

"She said that brother Zhinu likes to associate with people like Xu Jingzong. She doesn't like it."

Li Shen is only twelve years old now. What does he know about love?
Kong Yingda's granddaughter is fifteen or sixteen years old. She probably won't like this boy. At most, she is just curious.

Li Chengqian ignored his younger brother and let him figure it out on his own.

Li Shen sat aside and ate a big peach.

Ever since Su Wan became pregnant, the sisters in the East Palace all like to hang around her, so they had no choice but to go fishing to get some quiet time.

In the future, whether it is Su Wan or Ning'er's child, their children should be very happy.

In the future, children will have a lot of uncles and aunts.

Li Chengqian could even imagine what his own children would be like after being spoiled by a group of younger brothers and sisters.

"I heard that you've been going around the Ministry of Works lately. Do you want to repair your house?"

"Yeah, building a house is fun." Li Shen chewed the peach vigorously and said, "A house built with mud and building blocks is too small after all. No matter how exquisite it is, it is not habitable."

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "The Longshouyuan house has been built. After it is built, your father will not live in it anymore. Go to the Ministry of Works and ask Xu Xiaode to arrange a few craftsmen to accompany you to Longshouyuan to build the house in his spare time."

"Isn't that Father's house?"

"I'll give it to you to play with."

Li Shen stood up happily and said, "Thank you, my royal brother."

This younger brother has a talent for civil engineering, which has been evident since he was a child. In recent years, he has been very fond of building blocks and bricks.

If he had not lived in the same room with Li Zhi, he would probably have demolished the palace in the Eastern Palace as well.

Children born into a royal family have a unique advantage, as they can use huge resources to cultivate their interests and hobbies.

Li Shen was twelve years old. The starting point of his civil engineering career was to build houses with craftsmen out of his own will.

This starting point is out of reach for ordinary children.

Li Shen asked again: "Royal brother, can I take my brother Zhinu with me?"

"Sure, but he probably isn't interested in building a house."

"Why?"

"What you find interesting may not be fun for him."

"That's right." Li Shen's fat face had a serious expression, and he said, "Sister Dongyang said that Brother Zhinu looks like a late bloomer."

Li Chengqian smiled with relief.

The next day, just after the morning court session, Li Chengqian saw Li Shenxing hurried to the Ministry of Works, asked Xu Xiaode to give him three craftsmen, and went to Longshouyuan to play.

Li Chengqian also has to arrange this year's teaching arrangements with Fang Xiang.

The scale of teaching is getting bigger and bigger. This year, we will send some students to Qinghai to teach the herdsmen children there.

As the scale of teaching becomes larger and larger, the Central Secretariat will definitely intervene. The same is true for Jingzhao Prefecture today. When the results are achieved and the scale is expanded again and again, the three provinces and six ministries in the court have to pay special attention to it, and every decree must be discussed by the Central Secretariat.

When Li Chengqian walked into the Secretariat, the discussions here stopped.

Sitting down next to the teacher, Li Chengqian asked, "What did uncle do?"

Fang Xuanling looked at the document in his hand and said, "I will go to see His Majesty after the morning court session."

Seeing Yu Zhining handing over the list of teachers for this year's imperial examination, Li Chengqian said loudly: "I know that you all have many opinions on this Qinghai teaching project. It is not appropriate to discuss it in the court, so let's discuss it here."

The officials present bowed one after another, and some began to put forward their ideas.

Li Chengqian listened very carefully. When one person spoke, he would signal another person to speak. These people were mostly talking about the arrangements after the imperial examination, as well as matters related to the number of people and expenses.

Yu Zhining was recording everyone's words. After noon, everyone was hungry as they had not eaten since the morning court ended.

The eunuch walked over quickly and said, "His Majesty summons the Crown Prince to have dinner in Ganlu Palace."

Li Chengqian took Yu Zhining's records and watched as the eunuch left.

Looking through the speculations and predictions, the current atmosphere in the court is actually quite good, and everyone is very pragmatic.

Just as I arrived at the Ganlu Hall, I saw my uncle walking out of the hall.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Today I discussed the teaching matters with you all. I wonder if your uncle has anything to add."

Changsun Wuji took over Yu Zhining's notes and said, "They have said everything they should say, and I have nothing to add."

"Father, have you been busy lately?"

"Your Majesty asked me to go to Longyou to appease some of the old people."

"Thank you, uncle."

"These ministers are not in the court, Your Highness the Crown Prince can ask Prime Minister Fang for anything."

Li Chengqian bowed and said goodbye.

When I arrived at the palace, I saw that my father was already having a meal and the palace maids were placing the food and bowls on the table.

Li Chengqian took the bowl and chopsticks, sat down and ate together, "Today, the Queen Mother still did not eat with the Emperor."

"Your mother went to the East Palace."

"I just saw my uncle leave in a hurry, and I was worried."

"He is always like this, you don't have to worry about it."

After all, it was an arrangement for my uncle, so my father probably didn't want to talk about it. Li Chengqian also ate in silence.

Li Shimin glanced at his son out of the corner of his eye. In fact, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was very rich. Not only was he rich now, he would be even richer in the future.

Not only were the four counties in Hexi almost his private property, but the nine hundred acres of salt fields given by his uncle alone were enough to fill the Crown Prince's pockets.

Originally, this family business was to be handed over to Guanyinbi, who meant to give it to Chengqian to manage, as this child was very good at business.

If Cheng Qian is incompetent, the salt field will most likely be handed over to Auxiliary Machine.

But now it seems that my uncle is determined to hand it over to Cheng Qian.

Li Chengqian asked, "Father, can you please pay more attention while eating?"

Li Shimin said: "Haha, why didn't you say anything when your mother was watching you eat?"

"I didn't even notice it."

"Well." Li Shimin took a sip of tea and said, "Have you tried the dried fruit I gave you?"

Li Chengqian whispered, "Dongyang has checked. My body is prone to heatiness, so I shouldn't eat those dried fruits."

"is it?"

"I have a sister who is a doctor at home. She will always take care of my food and drink. It is unavoidable. Besides, I am still young and I really don't need her. Father should also restrain himself. I have enough brothers and sisters."

Both father and son are married men, so there is no need to hide some things, and they can make things clear in just a few words.

"Those dried fruits were not prepared by me. Your mother asked me to give them to you."

"Mother is too worried."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Li Shimin put down the teacup, stood up and stood alone by the window, looking at the scenery outside.

Seeing my father sometimes worried and sometimes silent, is this probably the midlife crisis?

When did my father’s midlife crisis begin? Perhaps it was during his many rest periods?

My father has just turned 40 and is in the golden period of his prime. Is it a bit early to talk about his midlife crisis now?

As a son, I have been somewhat negligent about my father's physical and mental condition.

How about waiting until Tianshan is conquered and letting father go hunting to relax, or at least take a trip to Tibet?
But if we do this, people would often say that Tian Khan is leading the army in person, and Duke Zheng and others would certainly advise against it.

"I heard that you gave the house in Longshouyuan to Shen'er to play with?"

"Well, since my father doesn't live in that house anyway, there's no point in keeping it. We might as well give it to Shen'er to play with."

"I……"

Li Shimin was about to say something but stopped himself. Thinking about the fact that the palace in Mount Li had not been repaired yet, and that when he went to Mount Li for hunting before, they had only built three or two simple palaces to live in, he felt a little unhappy.

"I am full now. Does your Majesty have any other instructions?"

"Don't be too indulgent to those children. As the eldest brother, you must set a good example and discipline them strictly."

"I will always remember my father's teachings."

Li Shimin picked up a memorial on the table and handed it over, saying, "This is an urgent report from Yongzhou."

A great figure emerged in Yongzhou, a general named Hou Hongren who was born in Yuzhou. He entered the territory of Jiaogui from Yongzhou, subdued more than 20,000 households of Li and barbarians, and opened up a road from Yuzhou to the south to Jiaoguilin.

Li Shimin added: "In May this year, Hebei suffered another severe drought. Duke Zheng has always agreed with the way the East Palace does things. Duke Zheng said that I am now slacking off."

Li Chengqian put down the memorial in his hand, and Hou Hongren secretly took note of it. This kind of thing still needs the reward from his father, the emperor, and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace cannot exceed too much.

Recalling what Duke Zheng had said, Li Shimin said, "If the subjects of a country have nothing to do, people will become arrogant and extravagant. Do you think it has always been like this?"

From the perspective of the country and the emperor, whether a country is united depends on the emperor's ability to mobilize his subjects.

Li Chengqian thought for a moment and replied, "Mr. Zheng meant that leisure leads to the decline of a country, while hard work can stabilize the world."

Li Shimin nodded.

Li Chengqian looked at this sentence from his own perspective. As an emperor, if he wanted to demonstrate his appeal, he could often do so through conscription and forced labor, in order to enhance the emperor's presence?
From a side view, Duke Zheng seemed to agree with the large-scale development of the Hexi Corridor and the Western Regions.

Duke Zheng's words were based on the current situation.

In other words, in this regard, Li Chengqian reminded himself again and again to look at the current situation and environment with a dialectical eye. People and the environment are changing with each other, and what is suitable for the present is the best.

(End of this chapter)