The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 302: Past Events in Jiaohe City

In the Western Regions, the Anxi Protectorate was built in the city of Xizhou. Xizhou was originally Gaochang City, but Gaochang no longer exists, and this place has become Xizhou of the Tang Dynasty.

This place is 8,150 miles away from Chang'an.

In front of the original royal palace of Gaochang, an official residence was built with five words written on the door plaque.

A young man wearing straw sandals, who looked to be in his twenties, looked at the five characters with his blue eyes and read: "Anxi Protectorate."

The people guarding outside this protectorate are Tang people.

The young man had light yellow curly hair. He bowed and said, "I am here to see Protector Pei."

When the Tang guards heard the voice, they went into the official residence to report.

This was Pei Xingjian's third year in the Western Regions. He was wearing a blue coarse cloth robe, a cloth wrapped on his head, and looking at the map with a serious expression.

"Protector Pei, someone wants to see you."

After hearing the guard's report, Pei Xingjian saw the man standing outside the official residence and whispered, "Let him in."

"Here."

The man from the Western Regions walked into the official residence. He was one of Pei Xingjian's few friends from the Western Regions. The two of them met at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

Pei Xingjian was killing the enemy at that time, and he saw this man. At that time, he was sitting at the foot of Tianshan Mountain, cross-legged with a pious look on his face.

Pei Xingjian asked, "Do you have to wait here for Xuanzang to come back?"

"Yes."

The monk from the Western Regions who came to see Pei Duhufu was called Bai Fang. He was a disciple of Juduo, a high monk from the Acharir Monastery in Qiuci.

In the past, Xuanzang had a debate with many eminent monks in Qiuci, and from then on he got the name Baifang.

This should be his Buddhist name, which was given to him by Xuanzang.

After the Tang army captured Qiuci and Tianshan, there were more and more rumors about Xuanzang in the Western Regions.

Pei Xingjian whispered, "I heard that Xuanzang was treated with great courtesy by the King of India in India. Maybe he won't come back."

Bai Fang chanted a Buddhist name, sat cross-legged and said, "He will come back."

Bai Fang spoke Guanzhong dialect very well. The man with long curly yellow hair and blue eyes could speak Guanzhong dialect fluently. Pei Xingjian always felt uncomfortable when talking to him.

"The water is almost boiling dry."

After hearing Bai Fang's reminder, Pei Xingjian picked up the kettle beside him, poured a bowl of tea, and said, "Would you like to have a sip of the tea sent from Guanzhong?"

Bai Fang took the tea bowl respectfully and said, "The last time I drank tea was when the King of Gaochang gave it to me. At that time, one ounce of tea was worth three sheep or half a camel. Now that the Tang people have come, tea is not as expensive as it used to be."

"One ounce of tea is still very expensive now."

Bai Fang replied: "One ounce of tea leaves for one sheep."

Pei Xingjian took a sip of tea and looked at the map in silence.

Bai Fang continued, "I heard that Protector Pei wants to rebuild Jiaohe City?"

"Yes, we have recruited many surrendered soldiers to build Jiaohe City."

In fact, the Anxi Protectorate was very simple, not like a palace, but just a slightly larger house. Bai Fang chanted the Buddha's name again and continued, "Does the Protectorate want the old people from Jiaohe City to come back?"

Pei Xingjian looked at the other party suspiciously. There were many things to do when serving as the Protector General of the Western Regions, and most of them were the prince's orders brought by the people from Chongwenguan.

Not only Jiaohe City needs to be built, but also Beiting Protectorate and Suiye City needs to be built north of the Pamir Mountains.

These works might take several years, and Pei Xingjian felt that even if he returned to Chang'an in the future, these works would have to be continued by the successor protector general.

Bai Fang stood straight, holding a ceramic bowl in one hand. In the bowl was some hot tea. He looked at the map and whispered, "I heard that the current Crown Prince of Tang likes to build cities in the Western Regions. The Emperor of Tang trusts the Crown Prince, so he lets him build in the Western Regions."

Pei Xingjian said with an unhappy look on his face: "If you dare to talk about His Majesty and the Crown Prince again, I will chop you off right now."

It is easy to kill a person from the Western Regions in Anxi Protectorate, and it doesn’t even require much reason.

Bai Fang smiled and said, "Xuan Zang said that life and death are only a thought away, life and death are not important."

Pei Xingjian said in a deep voice: "You are a rude person."

"It is right that the people of the Western Regions should be grateful to the Heavenly Khan. The Heavenly Khan hopes that the people of the Western Regions can live and work in peace and contentment."

Bai Fang still held the bowl steadily in one hand and continued, "Back then, the prince of the Tang Dynasty asked the Tuyuhun people to build the Hexi Corridor and gave them soap, so that the Tuyuhun people could exchange the soap for war horses and sheep so that they could continue to graze."

"At that time, I felt that the prince was a very kind person. He would treat the Tuyuhun people as human beings, unlike the kings of the Western Regions in previous dynasties who did not treat people as human beings. If the Tang people can continue to treat the people of the Western Regions as human beings, I am willing to spend my whole life praying for the prince of the Tang Dynasty."

Pei Xingjian whispered, "In the past, there was also a monk from India who prayed for the prince."

"Oh?" Bai Fang heard something he had never heard before, and asked, "What happened to that monk later?"

Pei Xingjian flipped through the military report Liang Jianfang sent him and said, "He died later."

Bai Fang suddenly smiled and said, "I am still willing to pray for the prince."

Pei Xingjian frowned as he read the military report. Qibi Heli and Liu Renyuan had already reached the Pamir Mountains.

Bai Fang continued, "I can ask the old people from Jiaohe City to come back and build Jiaohe City together with Protector Pei. The Tang people need to establish their prestige in the Western Regions. I believe Protector Pei and the prince both hope that the people of the Western Regions can support the Tang Dynasty."

The former Jiaohe City was not the current Gaochang City, but a county city under the jurisdiction of Gaochang.

The Han Dynasty had conquered Jiaohe City several times. The Jiaohe City that needed to be rebuilt was a county city. The fortifications were huge and required a lot of manpower.

Of course, even the prince didn’t know that the old people from Jiaohe were still alive.

Bai Fang's blue eyes were filled with smiles as he said, "Jiaohe was the former Cheshi, and the Cheshi people always supported the Han Dynasty. Even now, Jiaohe still supports the Han Dynasty. If they can support the Tang people, then there will be no worries about the instability of the Western Regions in the future."

"I know that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince values ​​the Western Regions very much, but the Crown Prince does not know much about the past events in the Western Regions. If he gets the support of the old people of Jiaohe, Protector Pei will get people from the Western Regions who can write official script and recite Confucian classics."

Pei Xingjian walked out of the Protectorate and his eyes fell on the city of Xizhou. The people living in Xizhou now include people from the Western Regions, many Uighurs, Tuyuhun people, Tang soldiers, some Tibetans, and even Persians.

There are many people here, and all kinds of people live in Xizhou, which is now ruled by the Tang people.

When Pei Xingjian and Bai Fang walked out of Xizhou City, they saw camel caravans approaching the city, loaded with goods for trading.

Wang Wendu was sitting in front of the city, peeling some garlic. After peeling it, he put it in his mouth and chewed it. He asked, "Protector Pei, when will I return to Chang'an?"

Pei Xingjian held a scroll of documents in one hand and said, "It will be ready soon. Wait for the imperial decree."

Bai Fang smiled gently and said, "If the future prince becomes the next Heavenly Khan, he will definitely be a more powerful person, because the current prince has the support of so many capable people."

Pei Xingjian said with a straight face: "I am not a disciple of the Crown Prince."

Bai Fang still smiled and said, "Protector Pei knows it in his heart, it's not important."

Pei Xingjian really wanted to tear off the monk's smiling face, but for the sake of Jiaohe City's important events, he held back.

Bai Fang bowed again and said, "Pei Duhu is a general of the Tang people, who can command the troops. If Xuanzang comes back, please ask Pei Duhu to take me to see Xuanzang."

"How do you know Xuanzang will come back? How do you know Xuanzang will see you? What if he doesn't want to see you?" Bai Fang said, "As long as Pei Duhu agrees to me, it doesn't matter."

Pei Xingjian nodded and said, "Okay, I promise you."

"Thank you, Protector Pei."

"You don't stop us from collecting labor here. Do you think the lives of people in the Western Regions are not important? Is that right or not?"

"Yes, it's not important."

Bai Fang walked towards Tianshan Mountain with a gentle smile.

What a cruel and unkind monk! Pei Xingjian sat down aside, took the garlic handed to him by Wang Wendu, and began to eat it listlessly.

Half a month later, Bai Fang really brought people. These people also had blond hair and blue eyes. There were nine people in total, from two families.

"Pei Duhu, they are the only people left from the old days of Jiaohe since the Han Dynasty. There are two families in total."

Pei Xingjian looked at these people and asked, "Only two households are left?"

Bai Fang said: "If Protector Pei had not come to the Western Regions, perhaps all the people of Jiaohe would have died out."

After that, Bai Fang asked them to write, and the words they wrote were indeed in official script.

"Protector Pei, the old people of Jiaohe supported the Han Dynasty. Now they still respect the Central Plains Dynasty. The Khan of Heaven can accept them as his subjects."

For the next few hours, Pei Xingjian chatted with these old people from Jiaohe.

They were all talking about past events in the Western Regions. After the change of dynasties in the Central Plains, these people still communicated using Han Chinese writing and language.

After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, no Han people came to the Western Regions again. Even the former Sui emperor had long forgotten about them.

When they heard that Jiaohe City was going to be rebuilt, they all looked grateful.

Getting support from old people in Jiaohe was an unexpected gain for Pei Xingjian.

He also asked Wang Wendu to arrange a thousand men to start building Jiaohe City.

Pei Xingjian wrote down what happened here in a document and asked someone to send it to Chang'an as quickly as possible.

In the past, Pei Xingjian had asked Bai Fang why he always kept these four words on his lips. Pei Xingjian vaguely remembered that he had asked him the reason after the victory in Tianshan.

Speaking of the reason, it was at the Acharier Monastery in Qiuci. He didn't have a name at that time and was just a servant. It was Xuanzang who gave him the name. When he asked Xuanzang if he was afraid if he died on the way to the west?

Xuanzang told him, "It's not important."

Later, Bai Fang kept these four words on his lips.

In fact, Xuanzang had many disciples in the Western Regions, but Xuanzang never acknowledged these people as his disciples. He just said that they were all disciples of Buddha.

Pei Xingjian asked again: "Do you really worship Buddha like this?"

Bai Fang smiled and said, "I have recently been observing the people at Chongwen Hall and Guo Luotuo. What they do is more interesting than Buddha."

"So you won't worship Buddha anymore?"

"It does not matter."

Pei Xingjian really wanted to beat him up, but whenever he asked him, he would say it was not important, repeating the same thing over and over again.

When Pei Duhu's documents were delivered to Guanzhong, it was already the middle of winter in Guanzhong from late autumn.

Zhang Xuanbi has been feeling very upset these days. This upset has nothing to do with the fact that his son is often beaten by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, but is related to the local gentry.

Zhang Xuanbi, following the order of His Majesty, asked the nobles from all over the country to come and serve the court, but these people remained indifferent. They were still scheming against each other for their own interests.

"Master Cui Ren! You are harming people!" Zhang Xuanbi said angrily.

"I heard from His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin that future imperial examinations will no longer be related to family names."

After saying this, Zhang Jianzhi saw that his father was about to get angry again, so he left quickly.

For the current Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, every remaining day should be filled with joy.

Li Chengqian sat in his bedroom and opened a scroll of letters. The letters were sent by Li Dejian, the son of Duke Wei. It had been four years since Dejian went on his journey.

The letter said that he arrived at the East China Sea, saw the vast ocean, and saw the magnificent sight of fish filling an entire boat.

He also went out to sea on a raft and drank a mouthful of the sea water, which was hard to swallow.

Li Dejian lived the life he dreamed of.

Li Chengqian felt that it would not be surprising even if Li Dejian did not come back in the future.

After reading the letter, Li Chengqian put it on the table and opened the document sent by Pei Xingjian, which was all about his affairs in the Western Regions. Everything was going smoothly.

Now Li Chengqian is no longer interested in some trivial matters because he does not have the energy to deal with these trivial matters that seem important yet unimportant.

When I looked to the side, I saw that my son was not around again.

Li Chengqian glanced at the dim bedroom and didn't know where the boy had crawled to.

My seven-month-old son is at the age when he can crawl best, and if I am not careful I will lose him.

I looked everywhere in the bedroom, but I didn't find him under the bed or under the bedding. I opened an old box, but he was not inside either.

I opened the new wardrobe I had built two days ago, but I couldn't find my son under the pile of clothes.

My daughter is not so active and easy to control.

But this son was too tiring. Every time Li Chengqian took care of him, he would look for his son after dealing with court affairs every day.

The bedroom of the Eastern Palace was still too big. Li Chengqian scanned the ground and finally found a lotus-root-like leg under a row of bookshelves.

He pulled his son's legs and pulled him out from under the bookshelf.

"Aiya!" I didn't know what he was saying. He was struggling and stretching his neck to try to get back in.

Li Chengqian held his son in his arms and looked under the bookshelf, and found that what attracted his attention was a Rubik's Cube.

He reached out and took out the Rubik's Cube from under the bookshelf. It seemed that the cleaning was not thorough enough.

"Don't eat it!" Li Chengqian put the Rubik's Cube on the bookshelf. This child would put anything he caught into his mouth. He must correct his bad habit.

"Your Highness, Father and Mother are here."

Su Wan's voice came from outside the hall.

Li Chengqian handed the child to her and said, "If you're not careful, you don't know where this kid will go. You must keep an eye on him."

Su Wan put the child into the wooden stroller and said with a smile, "I will take good care of it."

Before leaving, Li Chengqian glared at the boy and hurried to see his father and mother.

(End of this chapter)