The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 300 Mingda and the Armillary Sphere
Only when the emperor walked into the Taiji Hall did everyone perk up a little.

Today's morning court session went smoothly. It seemed that everyone wanted it to end quickly. After reporting important matters from various departments, they left the court early.

There were a few eunuchs outside the hall, standing by with their heads bowed in fear. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince walked out of the hall quickly, he probably didn't see them because his steps were fast and natural.

Because we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday, everyone drank a lot and felt listless today. Many people wanted to go back home and catch up on their sleep.

In the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian and Li Daozon were discussing matters concerning cotton and linen cloth.

When a person has enough power to influence the fate of some people and bring better changes to these people, then these people will follow you firmly.

This is the principle my uncle taught me. To be a good crown prince or emperor, you must have a group of loyal followers.

Of course, such followers can be a minority or the majority.

It would be even better if all the officials in the court could follow him unwaveringly.

Jingzhao Prefecture is the most steadfast follower, and they will not hesitate even if the crown prince becomes even more unjust in the future.

After listening to the prince's story, Li Daozon understood a little bit and knew how to arrange things.

Li Chengqian sighed, "Old Xu is not someone who is willing to suffer a loss."

Li Dao Zong smiled and said, "This person is in a hurry to achieve success."

The two were talking about a subordinate, but Xu Shaoyin himself couldn't hear what they were saying.

Li Chengqian added: "If there must be a situation where he loses, Xu Jingzong must be thinking about making both his opponent and him lose."

Li Daozon nodded.

"If there is a win-win situation, Xu Jingzong will definitely think about winning alone. At the same time, he will make his opponent lose more while he wins more."

It's like when his own house is on fire, Xu Jingzong would also set fire to the house opposite him, and even fan the fire to make the fire burn more vigorously.

This is probably Xu Jingzong's code of conduct.

Sitting in front of the Chongwen Hall of the East Palace, Li Dao Zong said with a smile: "I don't know what happened recently, but I heard that Lord Zheng no longer goes to pick autumn spinach."

"Does Lord Zheng still like eating spinach so much?"

Li Dao Zong sighed: "Yes, Lord Zheng really likes autumn melon so much."

"Why?"

Li Dao Zong said with a worried look on his face: "Unbelievable."

After thinking for a moment, Li Chengqian asked, "Did Xu Jingzong really take Duke Zheng's words as a slogan and write them everywhere?"

"Of course, otherwise how can we stop the gossips?" After saying that, Li Dao Zong looked at the sky, bowed and said, "It's getting late, I will arrange these matters as soon as possible, and I won't stay any longer."

"I'll have to trouble you with the follow-up matters, uncle."

"Hey." Li Daozon responded and left in a hurry.

Li Yuan, wearing loose clothes, came out of Chongwen Hall in a lazy manner. He wiped the mucus from his eyes with his hands and looked at the person who left with a frown and a pout. "Why did Chengfan leave in such a hurry?"

"My grandson has some things for my uncle to arrange."

"Hmm..." Li Yuan nodded slightly, and then continued: "This Jingzhao Prefecture was established by you. As the crown prince, you have given them too many favors."

"My grandson thinks this is a very good deal."

Li Yuan pushed away the eunuch who was about to hand him a cane, then stroked his beard and said, "I am not old enough to need a cane."

The eunuch had no choice but to stand aside with his crutches in both hands under the displeased gaze of the retired emperor.

The temperature in Guanzhong dropped quickly in autumn. A few days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Princess Jinyang Li Mingda stood in front of the ecliptic armillary sphere in the Imperial Astronomical Observatory at night.

Candlesticks were placed in all directions, illuminating the ecliptic armillary sphere and Li Mingda's cheek. She was wearing a blue Taoist robe, with her long hair piled up high and fixed with a wooden hairpin.

Li Mingda put his hands behind his back and faced the ecliptic armillary sphere as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

Taoist Priest Li was still in seclusion in the house and didn't want to see anyone these days. Then the Taoist Priest's command came from inside the house.

Li Mingda climbed onto the high platform of the armillary sphere. Under the huge armillary sphere, the figure of Princess Jinyang seemed even smaller.

She reached out and grabbed the cold track on the armillary sphere, then pulled the track with great effort.

The track of the armillary sphere began to move, making a metallic friction sound.

When the track stopped turning, Taoist Li's command came from inside the house again.

Li Mingda walked around the other side of the armillary sphere. His little hands were red from the cold. He once again held the cold track and continued to rotate it.

She silently recited the words of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, waited for the track to stop, and took note of the scale above.

No more words were heard from Taoist Master Li in the house. Li Mingda stood under the empty starry sky, with all the stars reflected in her eyes.

She stretched out her hand to measure the stars in the night sky and said loudly: "Master! Mingda has calculated that today is the Frost Descent."

There was still no sound in the house. Li Mingda held onto the windowsill with both hands, raised his head and shouted toward the window again: "Master, it's frost."

"understood."

Li Chunfeng replied.

"Master, Mingda has gone back first."

"Ah."

After receiving the Taoist priest's reply, Li Mingda loosened his hands that were clinging to the windowsill, retracted his gaze, picked up a lantern from the side, picked up a lit candle from the candlestick, put it in the lantern, and then blew out the rest of the candles.

In the dark night, she walked all the way to the outside of the Imperial Observatory with a lantern in her hand, put the lantern on the ground, and pushed the heavy door. After closing it, she clapped her hands with satisfaction, put her hands on her hips and let out a long sigh.

Then she took out a wooden sign from a small box nearby. On the sign was written the word "Frost's Descent". She then hung the sign outside the gate of the Imperial Observatory to inform everyone that the Frost's Descent season had arrived.

Afterwards, Li Mingda walked towards the East Palace carrying a lantern.

The night in the palace was very quiet. Little Sizi walked to the Chongming Gate of the East Palace. This door was usually open and would only be closed after all the royal brothers and sisters arrived.

Little Sizi is the only child who can come home late.

She walked in holding a lantern, and when she saw the lights in the East Palace, a smile appeared on her face and her steps quickened.

"Mingda!" Linchuan, who was washing clothes, called out.

"Imperial Sister Linchuan." Little Sizi stepped forward and saluted.

"Your clothes are all washed and hung out to dry."

"Mingda can wash it herself, no need to trouble sister."

"No problem." Lin Chuan kindly pulled Xiao Sizi to sit beside him and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Xiao Sizi nodded and said, "A little bit."

Soon, Gao Yang and Qing He also ran out of the hall. Little Sizi was immediately attracted by their attention and went to play with them.

Seeing this, Linchuan smiled, hung up the washed clothes to dry, and went back.

The children in the Eastern Palace have to wash their own clothes and do their own work, even if they are not washed cleanly. This is the rule of the Eastern Palace.

In the East Palace, Empress Changsun was holding her granddaughter and coaxing her.

Sitting in front of Li Chengqian were Li Lizhi and Dongyang, who had actually talked about the princess's mansion a long time ago. Lizhi was a sensible sister, and she knew that as long as she had a princess's mansion, the other sisters would also want to build one.

Although the East Palace is large enough for the sisters to live in, they still have to have their own mansion.

Li Chengqian asked, "How are you going to deal with Father this time?"

Li Lizhi said, "What else can I do? My sister can just say that she doesn't like the houses outside."

There is a blueprint on the table. The house on this blueprint is not the princess's residence, but the master's sect with her and Dongyang.

A few years ago, before Su Wan married into the Eastern Palace, Li Lizhi had been following her mother and interacting with many women from noble families.

The idea of ​​building a library may have come about a long time ago.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "The house on Longshouyuan can be used."

Li Lizhi smiled and said, "Thank you, my brother."

As the night deepened, Empress Changsun returned to the Lizheng Hall.

Recently, the Queen has been living in the East Palace, and Emperor Li Shimin has been living alone in the Lizheng Palace for some time.

"You're back?" Li Shimin put down the pen in his hand, picked up a piece of paper, and said, "Guanyin, has my handwriting improved?"

Empress Changsun took a look and said, "Your Majesty's calligraphy skills can never be as good as Wang Xizhi, even if you improve them further."

"Yes, there is only one Wang Xizhi in this world after all."

The Queen was tidying up the Lizheng Hall. If she didn't take care of it for a few days, the hall would be in a mess, especially since His Majesty lived here.

"Li Zhi said that she wanted to open a school and recruit disciples together with Dong Yang, but they would all be female disciples."

Li Shimin took a sip of tea and suddenly smiled, a smile that was forced and helpless.

"Why? Did she tell His Majesty about this?"

"Every one of my children has great ambitions and always keeps their promises."

Empress Changsun shook her head helplessly and added: "It's good if they don't cause trouble."

Li Shimin drank tea leisurely, looking at the night outside the window, and said: "Some people say that if you have a grandson in your prime, you will have no worries in your life. I should live more freely."

"When Cheng Qian is able to take charge of the power, it won't be too late for Your Majesty to be more free and easy."

Li Shimin also put away his smile and whispered, "What kind of kingdom should I leave for these children?"

Empress Changsun tidied up the table, wiped it, and said, "It all depends on your majesty's wishes."

Under the cover of night, the emperor and his wife were talking in low voices.

The next day, just as the sky began to brighten, the entire Guanzhong area was filled with thick fog. People would become soaked if they stood in the fog for a while.

Until the sunlight became brighter and brighter, people could even see the water floating in the mist.

It was the pomegranate harvest season, and baskets of pomegranates were brought into the streets of Chang'an by villagers from various counties and sold to the local residents.

Today, today two horse-drawn carriages left the Xuanwu Gate and headed towards Longshouyuan.

There is a mansion under construction here. Li Chengqian got off the carriage first. "I had planned to build a summer palace for my father, but then we encountered the war in Songzhou, so we could only build it like this."

Li Lizhi and Dongyang also got off the carriage at the back, and the three siblings stood in front of the house.

Pushing the door open, she saw several rooms with a flat floor. The style of these rooms was more like the government offices of the three provinces and six ministries in the imperial city. Walking on the flat stone pavement, Li Lizhi came to the room in the middle.

Looking under the eaves, the place where the door plaque should be was still empty.

Li Chengqian explained: "Originally, this place is for Father to escape the summer heat. I wonder if you can keep it here as a study place?"

Dongyang also picked one. She nodded and said, "It's really good. Sister likes this one."

There are a total of six houses here, each of which can accommodate more than ten people. The yard is flat and spacious, and there is also a pond.

Li Chengqian said to an old eunuch behind him, "From now on, this place will be left to my sister to take care of."

"Yes." The old eunuch bowed.

When the sunlight completely broke through the thick fog, the fog between the sky and the earth seemed to disappear in an instant. Li Lizhi and Dongyang admired this large mansion carefully. Although the materials used in each room were not as good as those in the palace, the wood was all new.

When you push the door open, you can smell the unique fragrance of wood, which can also repel insects.

Li Lizhi opened the window to let the wind outside blow into the house.

Dongyang set up the tables and chairs and prepared to make tea.

Li Chengqian looked at the eaves outside the door and said, "Let's give this place a name."

Li Lizhi replied: "The best hospital in the world!"

Hearing this, Li Chengqian frowned and said, "Too arrogant."

Li Lizhi thought for a moment and then said, "Industrial Planning Institute."

Li Chengqian still shook his head and said, "I like the former one better."

"My sister also thinks it's too arrogant. Father will probably be persuaded by the ministers again."

"Industrial Advisory Institute?"

Li Ji was standing outside the courtyard, listening to the conversation between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Changle. As each name came out, he became more and more frightened. Did the Crown Prince and the Princess want to set up an official residence outside of the court to oversee the construction of Guanzhong?

His Majesty may not agree to this. Hearing the words related to coordination and industry, Princess Changle will most likely be inquiring about the construction of Guanzhong.

Li Chengqian said: "No matter what courtyard it is, you are the dean here."

Li Lizhi nodded heavily and said, "Dongyang is with my sister."

"it is good."

After visiting here, Li Chengqian let his two sisters return to the palace. Before they work here in the future, they still need to do some preparatory work. There will be a lot of early preparations. They don’t seek to make a big splash, but to proceed steadily.

Taking a basket from the carriage, Li Chengqian, accompanied by a group of guards, picked spinach by the field. The spinach grew well in autumn, so they didn't pick much.

Li Chengqian handed a shallow basket of spinach, still covered with dew, to the guards beside him and said, "Give it to Lord Zheng."

"Here." The guard took the spinach and left in a hurry.

If Ning'er were here, there would be no need for the crown prince to pick the spinach or give any instructions. She would pick the spinach as soon as she arrived, and even pick an extra basket for the queen and his majesty.

Li Chengqian saw some villagers picking vegetables in the distance, including some radishes and celery.

Whenever the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace came out, no matter which county he visited, the officials in the county would sit down in the county government office even if they were busy. It was not because the Crown Prince would come to the county government office, but because doing so would make these county officials, who were walking on thin ice, feel more secure.

After all, no prince has ever been seen traveling to villages in various counties every day.

Beside the field, Li Chengqian was walking aimlessly, seemingly trying to relax.

Soon, a man in official uniform came walking quickly. It was Guo Zhengyi, the Shaoqing of the Sinong Temple.

"His Royal Highness!"

Li Chengqian said: "I am just taking a walk, what are you doing here?"

(End of this chapter)