The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 298 Mid-Autumn Festival
After eating the melon in front of him, Li Zhi leaned against the city wall and let out a sigh of relief.

These fruits and vegetables were brought by General Zhang Shigui. Many of them were sent to the palace, and the Prince of Jin’s Mansion also received a basket.

A camel was led over by someone. Li Zhi didn't like the smell of the camel, so he took two steps back. The militiaman smiled and put two baskets of fruits in front of the city, then led the camel away.

On Di Renjie's fat face, his eyes blinked and he sighed as he looked at the two baskets of fruits that had just been put down.

A young man about fifteen years old walked past the city gate and was surprised to see two baskets of fruit. He hesitated and said, "Huh? Fruits from the Western Regions."

Li Zhi looked up at the man and his expression began to turn bad.

Then the young man asked again: "Huh? His Royal Highness Prince Jin is here too?"

Li Zhi sat lazily against the city wall and said, "It's not for you to eat."

Zhang Jianzhi smiled and said, "Now that the Western Regions have been conquered, there are more and more melons and fruits in Guanzhong."

Seeing him reaching out to take it, Li Zhi put his feet on the basket, stopped his hand and said, "I didn't say I was giving you these fruits to eat."

Seeing this, Zhang Jianzhi was not angry, but smiled gently and said: "Your Highness Prince Jin, you can't finish all these fruits."

Li Zhi said: "I won't give you any to eat then."

Zhang Jianzhi's expression remained calm, and he said, "Even if you don't give me any to eat, will this mean that all the fruits will be wasted? Your Highness the Prince of Jin must not do this."

"Oh, it will be enough for Chongwen Hall and Jingzhao Prefecture to share."

Zhang Jianzhi understood, bowed again and said: "I will go and worship at Chongwenguan now."

After saying this, he left quickly.

Half an hour later, Zhang Jianzhi came back, holding a wooden sign and saying, "I am now a student at Chongwenguan."

Li Zhi took his wooden sign and confirmed it several times before asking, "Are you really a disciple of Chongwenguan?"

Zhang Jianzhi nodded and said, "I am going to teach like many students this year, but Chongwenguan still hopes that we will spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Chang'an before leaving."

Di Renjie looked at Zhang Jianzhi and was speechless. This man actually entered the Chongwenguan just for a bite of fruit.

This is not necessary, absolutely not necessary.

Di Renjie would rather attribute this matter to the quarrel between Zhang Jianzhi and Prince of Jin.

Zhang Jianzhi added: "With time, I might even be able to become a disciple of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace."

Li Zhi said: "You are dreaming."

Zhang Jianzhi added: "I have followed my father to visit various noble families in the Central Plains. Now, eight out of ten noble families in the Central Plains are criticizing the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhi's face darkened. If nothing unexpected happened, Zhang Jianzhi would be beaten.

"But I think that those nobles have been trapped in one place for too long. They should come out and see what Guanzhong is like now..."

As he was speaking, Li Zhi saw two people in official uniforms walking towards the city gate. They were Xu Shaoyin and Shangguan Yi.

When the others came closer, Li Zhi stood up and said, "Brother Shen, Renjie, you should send all these fruits and melons to Jingzhao Prefecture. Don't leave any melon rinds for him."

Li Shen nodded hurriedly, waved to call two strong men, and asked them to carry two baskets of fruits on a shoulder pole.

Li Zhi followed Xu Jingzong's footsteps and walked out of Chang'an City.

When everyone in front of him left, Zhang Jianzhi was left standing there alone, at a loss.

Xu Jingzong walked in front and asked, "Your Highness Prince Jin, aren't you going to play with them today?"

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Zhang Jianzhi is such a jerk!"

Shangguan Yi laughed and said, "How did this person provoke the King of Jin?"

"What kind of person is the emperor's brother? He is the crown prince supported by millions of people. All the nobles in the world are afraid of him. How dare Zhang Jianzhi discuss this?"

Xu Jingzong said: "Zhang Jianzhi is the son of Zhang Xuanbi, who is quite prestigious among the nobles."

Shangguan Yi shook his head and said, "Even though Zhang Xuanbi was taught by a great scholar from the Eastern Yi, he only has a great reputation, but his family background is not high compared to the seven surnames and ten families."

"I'm going to Xianyang County to check out the workshops. What are you doing here, Brother Shangguan?"

"The Censorate ordered me to look at the recent behavior of Jingzhao Prefecture and report to it."

"Fortunately it's you." Xu Jingzong said with an unhappy look.

"Yes, because they know that I have been in contact with Xu Shaoyin. If it were someone else, they would not dare to follow Xu Shaoyin for fear of being beaten."

Xu Jingzong glanced at Prince Jin and made sure he was not lost before continuing walking.

In fact, Prince Jin was followed by a group of guards, so he was not afraid of getting lost.

Shangguan Yi added: "The people from the Censorate can only let this humble official come and take a look at Jingzhao Prefecture."

"Before, if anyone dared to come and stare at a certain family in Jingzhao Prefecture, we would not be polite." Xu Jingzong continued walking and replied, "Now it's different from the past. The workshop has been built, and we won't bother with them."

Shangguan Yi smiled.

In a workshop in Xianyang County, cotton is being made into cotton thread, and a group of women are pushing and pulling the spinning wheels with their hands.

This year, the Shaofujian will send five spinning wheels to each county.

Guanzhong's industries are divided into upstream and downstream. Some make cotton into cotton thread, and then sell the cotton thread to other counties or to merchants.

Xianyang County is the only workshop that performs the entire weaving process, from cotton to cotton thread and then to cloth, all in one huge workshop.

Spinning wheels were very expensive, and each county had to pay to buy one. This modified spinning wheel was indeed convenient to use as it could spin several threads in parallel, but such a spinning wheel cost three hundred strings of money.

There were only a few counties that could afford spinning wheels, and Jingzhao Prefecture would not collect their money immediately. The counties could owe the money first, and then pay it back to Jingzhao Prefecture with the money from the profits when the business was doing well.

Three hundred strings of cash was not a small sum, and not every county could afford it.

Shangguan Yi whispered, "Will the business continue to be like this in the future?"

Xu Jingzong shook his head and said, "The development model is not fixed. Some people want to open private workshops. In the future, individual workshops will gradually replace the counties. It may take a few more years. The speed of individual wealth accumulation is not fast. This requires a long process."

Li Zhi asked in return: "Then why don't the neighbors contribute the money together?"

Looking at the naive Prince Jin, Xu Jingzong smiled and said, "With the county taking the pressure, they won't have to bear the risk themselves. Since there is a ready-made one, not many people will take the initiative to set up their own business."

"Isn't Xu Shaoyin's statement contradictory?"

Hearing this, Li Zhi asked back again.

Xu Jingzong thought about rebutting, but for a moment he couldn't find any words to refute.

Shangguan Yi smiled and said, "Children raised in the Eastern Palace are indeed different. They can understand the problem in a few words."

"I have only learned the basics of governance under the guidance of my royal brother and sister." Xu Jingzong was speechless. In fact, he himself did not fully understand some governance strategies in Guanzhong. For a long time, he had been doing things that he did not understand in advance, and he would slowly understand them later.

Basically, Jingzhao Prefecture operated on a step-by-step basis under the orders of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

When it comes to learning, you can only learn as much as you can on your own. I don’t know since when, the strategies and key points sent from the East Palace have become more and more difficult to understand.

Xu Jingzong, who considers himself knowledgeable, is in a blind spot in knowledge, but that doesn't matter. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince advocates a work attitude of adapting to local conditions and learning while practicing.

Li Zhi continued, "But Luoyang's business model is different from Guanzhong's. Most of Luoyang's workshops are built by merchants themselves, and now they are quite effective. Is what you said correct?"

Xu Jingzong: “…”

"Xu Shaoyin?"

Xu Jingzong nodded and said, "That's right."

On the way back to Chang'an, Shangguan Yi mentioned Guo Luotuo again. Now he and his family live in the Western Regions, digging karez or planting melon seeds and cotton. No one knows when he will be able to come back.

It would be best if the soldiers could return before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Perhaps the army was also thinking of returning to Chang'an before the Mid-Autumn Festival so that they could spend the festival with their families.

Pei Mingli stayed in the Hexi Corridor for a year and made a lot of money selling honey there. After saving some money, he planned to start a new career in Chang'an.

He was guarding the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, intending to meet Xu Jingzong.

But until nightfall, Xu Shaoyin did not come back. When curfew was approaching, Pei Mingli returned home with nothing.

When he opened the door, he saw Brother Xue playing with his younger brothers and sisters. He smiled and said, "Brother Xue!"

Xue Rengui stood up and said solemnly, "Shouyue has been appointed as the Protector General of Anxi Protectorate. He will probably not come back for the next two years. I have returned to the Guard House with the army and came here to tell you."

Pei Mingli smiled and sat down in the yard, saying, "Shou Yue is now Pei Du Hu."

Xue Rengui nodded heavily and said, "The generals in the army all admire him very much. They kept their promise and asked me to come and see you. How are you doing?"

"Very good, very good." He said with a smile: "I plan to open a workshop in Guanzhong. Now people in Luoyang are opening workshops, and wealthy merchants have settled in Luoyang. I will open one in Guanzhong first. The place has been selected, and I am waiting to meet Xu Shaoyin."

Pei Mingli was still smiling as he spoke.

Xue Rengui said: "I am now working in the Military Guard. If you need any help, please come to the Military Guard."

"Everything is fine. I'm going to be rich soon."

After hearing Mingli's words, Xue Rengui stood up and said solemnly, "Okay, I'll take my leave now."

Pei Mingli saw Brother Xue off to the door. Whether it was Shouyue or Brother Xue, they were both capable people and he envied them from the bottom of his heart.

But Pei Mingli never said aloud how much suffering and injustice he had endured outside. In fact, opening a workshop was not so easy, as Jingzhao Prefecture was a government office with very strict rules.

No matter what they said, the place had been chosen, how could Pei Mingli be qualified to choose a place? He couldn't even see Xu Jingzong.

I say this just to hope that Brother Xue and Shouyue can feel at ease.

Now that Brother Xue could come to visit him, Pei Mingli was very happy.

Then he closed the door and smiled as he allowed a group of his younger brothers and sisters to surround him.

They have grown a lot taller in the past few years, and once they are able to read and write, they can take part in the imperial examinations in the future.

Pei Mingli led his younger brothers and sisters into the house and began to test what they had learned in the past few days.

However, he knew better in his heart that every imperial examination had thousands of participants, but only a few hundred people could pass the examination and become Jinshi.

If you want your younger brothers and sisters to gain an advantage in the imperial examinations, you need better people to teach them. You can't just hire a teacher who can read and write. You have to hire a better teacher. You may not be able to hire a famous teacher no matter how much money you pay.

Pei Mingli always tried his best to give them the best. Just like the neighbors could not afford expensive clothes, but these brothers and sisters looked like the children of nobles when they went out.

To hire a teacher, one needs a high enough family background. If the family background is not high enough, you cannot hire a better teacher.

It would be great if Shouyue came back. Otherwise, I could use Shouyue’s family background in Hedong Pei to hire a very good teacher.

After Pei Mingli tested his younger brothers and sisters' knowledge, he tossed and turned in bed at night.

The next day, Pei Mingli took his younger brother and sister out. Chang'an was already very lively in the morning. He left his younger brother and sister under the wooden shed set up by Chongwenguan, where they could stay for a while.

Although he had not read many books, Pei Mingli felt that the knowledge in Chongwenguan should be the best today.

He set up a stall across the street and continued to sell honey water. He kept an eye on the merchants who also set up stalls and discussed the current situation in Guanzhong with them.

It is not easy to make a living in Chang'an. Pei Mingli did not become Du He's disciple. He planned to start his own business. At least he had opportunities in Chang'an. The territory of Hedong was too small, so small that the merchants in Hedong joined forces to cheat him of his business results.

Chang'an is different. Although Jingzhao Prefecture is strict, it is very fair.

Nowadays, everyone in Chang'an is discussing the issue of opening a workshop. The idea that one can get rich by opening a workshop has long taken root in Pei Mingli's mind.

Moreover, with the workshop, they had a foothold and no longer had to go door to door selling honey water.

Now, after running the honey water business in Chang'an for so many years and accumulating sufficient capital, Pei Mingli feels that he only needs an opportunity, as long as the Jingzhao Prefecture is willing to give him this opportunity.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, an official in this street shouted, "During the Mid-Autumn Festival, the curfew will be lifted for one night!"

The official shouted loudly, then walked to another street and continued shouting.

Chang'an has lifted the curfew more and more frequently recently. Today, the whole city is celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In the imperial city, the emperor held a banquet in the palace to celebrate the victory of the Western Expedition and the Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Have you heard? There are still people handling paperwork in the Secretariat during the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Li Dao Zong muttered.

Li Daliang, the general of the Left Guard, had a black beard with some white in it. He was old, and the white beard was almost more than the black one. He yawned and said, "This is what we should do for the country. How dare we neglect it?"

“Buying books?”

Suddenly they heard voices, Li Daozon and Li Daliang turned around and saw Li Xiaogong with a smile on his face.

Li Dao Zong hesitated and asked, "Buy books?"

Li Xiaogong squeezed in between the two of them and whispered, "Eastern Palace Story Collection, do you want to take a look?"

Li Daliang joked, "Your book can't be sold?"

Li Xiaogong said sadly, "It was pretty good before, but now it's getting harder and harder to sell. Selling books is really the least valuable family business in the world."

Li Dao Zong said: "Would you like a scroll?"

"One volume?!" Li Xiaogong's eyes were filled with dissatisfaction. He said, "How can one volume be enough? There are so many people in Jingzhao Prefecture. How about buying 6,000 volumes first?"

(End of this chapter)