The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 321 Arms
Dongyang recently developed a vision chart to measure the vision of his brothers and sisters, and he is also planning to promote this chart.

Treating vision measurement as a condition and glasses as a priceless business, it is a simple truth that as long as Beiyuan sells a pair of glasses, it will be enough to last for many years.

Taking his grandfather to visit the current Beiyuan, Li Chengqian said: "In fact, there are many ways to make money. Now my grandson is increasingly tired of thankless tasks."

Li Yuan leaned on a cane, "It's a thankless job?"

Li Chengqian said: "Well, if we understand the Xiongnu back then, the Turks today will envy how comfortable their lives were back then. When they were hungry, they would go and rob, and after they robbed, they could eat, and when they were full, they would go back."

Li Yuan said slowly: "I don't like those who don't work."

After walking around Beiyuan, Li Yuan didn't want to disturb his granddaughter for too long, so he left.

The grandfather and grandson walked on the dry plateau of Longshouyuan, from where they could overlook Weibei, and sometimes look back to see the imperial palace in Chang'an.

"Your Highness, there is news from Luoyang that His Majesty has set off to return to Chang'an."

Li Yuan snorted coldly: "At the beginning, your father said that he wanted to build a summer palace. Haha...he himself wanted to escape the summer heat in Luoyang."

Li Chengqian said with his hands in his pockets: "It's good that the emperor has returned. The court officials need a backbone."

"Are you worried that your father will go to Liaodong in high spirits?"

"Not entirely."

In July of the 16th year of Zhenguan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty finally returned to Chang'an. Crown Prince Li Chengqian, Prince of Wei Li Tai, Prince of Jin Li Zhi, Prince of Ji Li Shen, and all the officials in the court welcomed him at Chunming Gate.

Also returning with him were Ke Di, Liu Rengui, and a group of veteran generals.

The welcoming procession stretched from Chunming Gate all the way to Zhuque Gate until the emperor's carriage returned to the palace.

After everyone entered the Suzaku Gate, Li Shimin asked all officials to return to their duties, and even the princes went back.

Li Chengqian watched his father get off the carriage. His father, who had been away for a year, now looked a little more tired, and his beard had become much thicker.

"What? You don't recognize me after not seeing me for a year?"

Noticing his son's gaze, Li Shimin got out of the carriage, put his feet firmly on the ground, and asked a question.

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "Your Majesty, you have been exhausted from the journey. Your Majesty is in the villa near Taiye Lake. I hope Your Majesty can go and rest first."

Li Shimin patted his son on the shoulder and said in a deep voice, "Cheng Qian."

"Did the emperor give any instructions?"

Li Shimin patted his son's shoulder again and said, "Whether it's state affairs or family affairs, I'm sorry to trouble you."

Li Chengqian bowed.

Watching his father walk into Chengtian Gate, Li Chengqian looked at his brothers behind him and said, "Father is back. There are still a lot of things to be arranged in the army and the court. Brother Ke and Qingque will stay to help me arrange some things."

They both said in unison: "Yes."

Li Zhi raised his head and said, "Brother, where is my younger brother?"

"You..." Li Chengqian thought for a moment and said, "Go back to your palace and study hard."

"Ah..." Li Zhi was quite reluctant, but after being looked at by his brother, he had to lower his head and leave honestly.

Li Shen also had to visit his mother who had returned with his father.

The political system of the Tang Dynasty was very simple. In fact, when my father was traveling outside, he was accompanied by Duke Zheng, General Yuchi, and Quan Wanji. So even when he was outside, he had a small mobile court.

Now that the small court is back, there are still many things to be arranged in the court, especially the rewards for the generals after the battle in Mobei.

Also, after this trip, the local customs and folkways recorded by Zheng Gong must be sorted out.

In the imperial palace, a child was lying on the steps in front of the Taiji Hall.

No one dared to lie outside the hall like this, but the identity of this child was very special.

He was lying comfortably in the shade under the eaves of the main hall. He had always been rampant in the palace, and several eunuchs and palace maids often chased after this child.

Originally, the child should have been raised well in the Eastern Palace, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed unwilling to discipline him too much, and allowed him to walk out of the Eastern Palace for one day every two days to play in the Imperial Palace.

"How dare you sleep here?"

Hearing the shout, Xiao Yutu opened his eyes, blinked, and stared at the bearded man in front of him.

Li Shimin asked again: "Why? Are you still not convinced?"

Little Yutu, who had just turned two years old, asked in a baby voice, "Who are you?"

"Haha, who?" Li Shimin was so angry that he laughed. He looked left and right. The eunuchs and palace women on both sides lowered their heads with a little sweat on their foreheads.

Li Shimin didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. He pointed at the child and was speechless for a moment.

This child doesn't even recognize his grandfather.

It is said that when Your Majesty left, Xiao Yutu was only one year old, and the child was still unable to remember anything at that time.

Xiao Yutu supported himself on the ground with his hands, slowly stood up with his short legs and said, "I want to go back."

As soon as he took a step, Li Shimin lifted him up with one hand.

Little Yu Tu watched the ground getting farther and farther away from him, and his feet were lifted into the air by the bearded man in front of him.

The resourceful little Yutu finally used his ultimate weapon, which was crying, shouting, "Wuwuwu...Auntie!"

Little Sizi, who was taking a nap in the palace, woke up at last and walked quickly outside the palace, wondering what had happened. He saw the crying little Yutu and his father.

She hesitated and asked, "Is Father back?"

But little Yu Tu was crying. Even though the child was still young, he still had quite a lot of strength when he was struggling.

Li Shimin put him down, and the boy ran to his aunt's back with a look of great aggrievedness.

Little Sizi said, "Yutu, hurry up and call me grandpa."

"Grandpa?" Little Yutu stopped crying and asked, "Grandpa is back?"

Li Shimin asked, "Do you usually take care of him?"

Little Sizi held Yu Tu's hand and followed his father all the way, explaining, "Mingda would take Yu Tu out to play whenever he had free time. Sometimes Sister Dongyang and Sister Lizhi would come to see him."

This grandson has been taken care of by so many children since he was born.

All the way to Taiye Lake, little Yu Tu sat in his grandmother's arms, listening to her story. Then he realized the reality: the big bearded man was his grandfather.

He then gave little Yu Tu to the care of little Sizi.

Empress Changsun trimmed the hair and beard of the emperor who had just returned from a long journey.

Lying on the chair, Li Shimin closed his eyes and asked, "Is everything going well at home these days?"

"Your Majesty has been away from the palace for these days, and Cheng Qian has been busy with family and state affairs. This child has a heavy burden on his shoulders. I heard from Su Wan that after he dealt with Prince Jiang and Prince Teng, he was often worried."

Li Shimin whispered, "After the great victory in Mobei, I returned to Luoyang and heard that the court officials praised the prince a lot. I will reward him. This year has been really difficult for him."

After trimming his beard and hair, His Majesty looked much more energetic. Li Shimin looked at his grandson sitting at the table and said, "I heard that you tore up Wang Xizhi's calligraphy?"

Xiao Yutu looked at the middle-aged man warily.

Li Shimin continued, "I also heard that you destroyed my puzzle and tore up my files, books, calligraphy and paintings?"

Little Yu Tu was obviously a little scared. He dropped the building blocks in his hand and ran back into his grandmother's arms.

Empress Changsun hugged her grandson lovingly and asked, "Why did your majesty lose his temper with him?"

Li Shimin sat upright and took a sip of tea, saying, "If I had come back a few years later, I'm afraid this kid would have demolished my palace as well."

Little Yu Tu buried his face in his grandmother's arms, unwilling to face this fierce grandfather.

"I don't know how Cheng Qian taught his child. How could he spoil him like this?"

It seemed that little Yu Tu also understood that his grandfather was scolding his father. He picked up the building blocks on the table and threw them at his grandfather, then quickly hid his face in his grandmother's arms.

A building block fell right on the back of His Majesty's head, and the palace maids and eunuchs on one side seemed to have stopped breathing.

They looked at His Majesty in horror.

Li Shimin's hand holding the bowl was trembling a little, and he asked in a deep voice: "Does he like to throw things at people?"

Little Sizi looked a little more worried and said, "Little Yutu only hits people he hates."

"I……"

Li Shimin was about to speak when he put down the tea bowl, stroked his forehead in disappointment, and said, "Forget it, I won't bother with a child."

His Majesty must have wanted to hug his grandson when he came back this time. But now, not to mention hugging him, the grandson will run away when he sees him.

It was not until Mingda brought his grandson back to the East Palace that Empress Changsun comforted him, "Your Majesty, this child has been smart since he was young. Take your time. He has been away for too long, so this is inevitable. When he grows up and remembers things, he won't be like this anymore."

Li Shimin was very tired after returning from a trip. After returning here, he felt even more tired and fell asleep outside the villa.

Until night, the lights in the Secretariat were still on, and the current crown prince and all the officials in the court were still working overtime. This time, His Majesty came back with three carts of files, all of which were records of inquiries in various places. It was not until nearly midnight that Li Chengqian asked everyone to go back and work again tomorrow.

When they returned to the East Palace, both children had already fallen asleep. Su Wan looked at her tired husband and said, "Today, Yu Tu hit father with building blocks in Taiye Lake."

Li Chengqian closed his eyes, feeling the force of his wife rubbing his temple, "What's the matter?"

"My mother sent someone to deliver a message saying that there was some misunderstanding between my father and Yu Tu. She also said that my father had been gone for too long and Yu Tu didn't even recognize him anymore."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled.

Su Wan didn't know what her husband was laughing at, so she laughed too. After thinking about it for a while, she found it quite interesting.

The next day, after the emperor returned, the morning court returned to its original form and time, except that the windows of the Taiji Hall were open as before.

This time the emperor came back with a lot of decrees prepared. The first one was to order all those who were wandering around without a registered residence to return to China by the end of next year.

The second decree: "Appoint Zhangsun Wuji as Minister of Education and Fang Xuanling as Minister of Works."

The third decree was that Princess Su had worked hard in raising the emperor's grandson, so she gave many rewards to the old warriors, in order to appease the prince's in-laws.

When it came to the fourth decree, the eunuch said in a loud voice: "While I was traveling, the Crown Prince presided over the government affairs wisely and led all the officials to govern the country inside and outside the pass. All of them were praised as wise. I specially grant him a set of crowns, grant him the title of Grand Executive of Luoyang, and confer him the title of General of the Seven Routes of Anxi, Songzhou, Shuofang, Beiting, Hanhai, Luoyang, and Tongguan, giving him the power to mobilize troops in the seven places."

"Order the Minister of Works and Minister of Works to assist the Crown Prince in managing the Secretariat, and appoint him the Minister of the Secretariat, and concurrently in charge of all government officials in the country."

The hall was very quiet. The eunuch read out the decree, and his voice was still echoing in the hall.

Li Chengqian stood out from the court and bowed.

Everyone was silent and followed the prince in paying respects.

At this point, all the ministers understood that Your Majesty had appointed the Crown Prince as Shangshu Ling, in charge of the Secretariat and in charge of all officials throughout the country. If the Emperor was not in the palace, the Crown Prince could participate in all state affairs.

The current prince is only one step away from the throne, or to be more precise, only half a step away.

From last summer until now, all the prince's actions have been approved by the emperor, including his treatment of the royal family.

Next, there were several imperial edicts to reward the generals in the court, and General Yuchi retired.

Until the end of the morning court, Li Chengqian was still thinking about his father's will.

The ministers left the Taiji Hall in twos and threes.

Li Ke said: "Congratulations, brother."

Li Chengqian stood there and asked, "Our father, is he preparing to retire?"

Li Tai said: "Let's not talk about whether the emperor will retire. It's good that my brother can let go of many things in the future."

The three brothers walked together, talking in low voices.

Li Tai suddenly said, "My father will probably summon me to see him."

Li Ke asked: "Why?"

Before Li Tai could reply, a eunuch came hurriedly and said, "Your Majesty has summoned the three princes to have dinner."

Li Chengqian stepped forward and said, "Let's go."

The three of them walked towards Ganlu Palace together. Now the Crown Prince, King of Wu, and King of Wei have all started families, and the brothers are very united.

Li Shimin was eating a bowl of cold noodles and gestured with chopsticks, "Sit down."

The three brothers sat down one after another, each with a bowl of cold noodles and some chopped mutton in front of them.

Li Shimin let out a sigh of relief and said comfortably, "I have been traveling all over the place for the past year, but this bowl of noodles in the palace is the only thing I long for."

Li Tai said, "I heard that my father went to Yinshan Mountain when he was traveling. At that time, the court officials thought that my father was going to Mobei to fight. I also heard that the scenery of Yinshan Mountain is very beautiful. If I have time, I would like to go and see it."

Li Shimin ate the noodles in the bowl, put his hands on his knees, and said, "I saw many refugees moving into Luoyang. They all came from all over the place. This year I traveled to various places, and the scenery in Guanzhong was still the best. But this world is far from being as good as I thought."

"Looking back to the past, heroes and many rebel kings rose up in rebellion, but they left the world with scars. Now, more than 20 years have passed, and many places are still desolate and desolate."

Li Shimin said slowly: "Why did I climb Mount Tai and talk about Fengshan?"

Then the emperor talked about what he had seen and heard in that year.

Li Ke followed his father on his travels and had seen all the scenery his father had seen, so he could empathize the most at this moment.

In this world, not all places are like Guanzhong and Luoyang. It should be said that most places are like that.

The three brothers sat upright in the hall without picking up their chopsticks. They did not eat a single bite of the cold noodles on the table. They listened quietly to their father's words. The words were not pleasant to hear. Their father even started to scold the insensitive officials.

……

PS: Today I will only update twice, and I will try to update three times tomorrow.

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(End of this chapter)