The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 325 Festival
The mother-in-law in the palace brought a piece of freshly spun cotton cloth and placed it in front of the queen with both hands, and also heard the queen's sigh.

The palace has been very busy lately, and there are not many palace maids and eunuchs around Your Majesty and the Queen.

I just heard the Queen sigh, most likely because of the matter between Your Majesty and the Prince.

The relationship between fathers and sons in the Tang Dynasty was harmonious, at least that was what everyone thought. Besides, in a harmonious father-son family, it was normal to have some unpleasant things.

Just like Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the Crown Prince's current behavior.

Li Shimin said: "Ministers should choose to follow the good advice, how could he come to my door like this."

Li Yuan said: "Cheng Qian has done a good job. Of course, I, a son of the Li family, cannot just sit there and do nothing."

"Who is the prince like this?"

"Haha..." Li Yuan smiled contemptuously, and then said: "It is enough for Cheng Qian to convince all the officials in the court."

Seeing that His Majesty was about to argue with the Emperor, the mother-in-law who brought the cotton cloth said, "The cotton we sent this year is of better quality and more than in previous years."

After hearing the words, the dispute between His Majesty and the Emperor finally stopped. On this sunny day, the Tang Dynasty was stabilized again.

Empress Changsun said, "Retreat."

The mother-in-law bowed slightly, took a few steps back, and then turned and left.

Empress Chang Sun looked at the piece of cotton cloth in front of her and whispered, "Cotton is a very good thing. Since Cheng Qian said that cotton cannot be kept in the warehouse, the price of cotton has been lost in the harem."

Li Shimin said: "This kid asked the Shaofu to supervise the production of the spinning wheel, which can be sold for thousands of strings of cash."

"Good things should naturally be kept. As Cheng Qian said, the cotton will not generate any value if it is kept in the warehouse. On the contrary, after Jingzhao Prefecture sells the cotton, the value of the spinning wheel will be higher."

Empress Changsun whispered thoughtfully, "This child always thinks long-term. Cotton seems important but not that important. Li Zhi also said that the means of production are the most important, just like land and people. Without people, the land is barren and useless. With people, the land has value."

"Thinking carefully, the children's words seem to be very useful now. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Shimin wanted to say that it was not me who said to keep the cotton in the warehouse, but when the words came to his lips, he changed his words and said, "More money is good for business, more money is good for business."

Empress Chang Sun chuckled and said, "I wonder what the price of cotton cloth will be this year."

While the counties in Guanzhong were busy purchasing cotton from Jingzhao Prefecture, the situation of the six ministries in the court was not very good. The officials from various departments walking in the imperial city all looked worried.

Chu Suiliang looked at these people and nudged the person next to him with his arm.

Yu Zhining said unhappily: "What for!"

"Do you think there will be anyone who will advise the prince in the future?"

"Of course there will be people who will advise against it."

"But..." Chu Suiliang looked around and whispered, "Look at the ministers and chancellors of various ministries now. They are all in a very difficult situation."

Yu Zhining put away the file and held it in his hands, with his hands behind his back, and said: "Maybe there won't be so many people who advise in the future, but if you want to advise, you must first ask yourself. Only when you have a principle in mind can you advise."

My father has been neglecting state affairs lately, and my brother is always very worried.

Dongyang stood by the ink pool outside Xingqing Palace and said, "Mr. Zheng's condition is not very good. If he doesn't take good care of himself, I'm afraid..."

The ginkgo tree beside the newly built ink pond always looks listless, with a few ginkgo leaves falling on the water.

After the original ink pond was filled up, Li Shen asked people from the Ministry of Works to build a new one.

Li Chengqian sat by the pool, unpacked his fountain pen, and asked, "Have you told Mr. Zheng's family?"

Dongyang nodded and said, "I have already told you that from now on, Duke Zheng will not be informed of the affairs of the court. Let Duke Zheng rest in peace as much as possible."

Li Chengqian was holding a thin silver needle and trimming the tip of the fountain pen. There were a lot of impurities in the ink, or some ink debris from grinding, which caused the inside of the fountain pen to always get clogged when it was dispensing ink.

It used to take a month to block it, but now it is getting easier to block.

After observing for a while, Li Chengqian put down the parts in his hand and placed them casually on the table to dry.

"Please take care of Lord Zheng's affairs."

Dongyang wore his shoes casually, stepping on the heels of his shoes and simply putting them on, while eating a pomegranate, he said: "It doesn't matter. The more cases the better for my sister."

The brother and sister sat at the table, enjoying the autumn breeze.

Li Chengqian asked: "Have you sold any of your glasses?"

Dongyang peeled a pomegranate and replied, "Old Cheng's family bought it, but I don't know what they're going to use it for."

"Business is not easy for the Cheng family."

"Beiyuan is not engaged in business. General Cheng doesn't read books on weekdays. He probably bought the glasses for other purposes. My sister didn't ask much. Beiyuan also doesn't get involved in trivial matters of social interaction."

A eunuch came hurriedly, handed over a memorial, and said, "Your Highness, this is from the Western Regions."

After handing over the memorial, the eunuch diligently poured two bowls of tea, added some honeysuckle and dried dates into the tea, and served them to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Dongyang respectively.

When the wind blew, the pen holder on the table rolled slightly for a moment.

It was very quiet in front of the hall, with only a few yellow ginkgo leaves falling occasionally.

Dongyang looked around and asked, "Huh? Where's Xiao Yutu?"

The eunuch next to him replied, "He went to Taiye Lake."

After saying that, Dongyang went to play with Xiao Yutu.

"Remember to tell Father about Lord Zheng's condition."

"Got it." Dongyang replied lazily.

Soon, Ning'er came with a food box. She picked up the pen parts on the table, placed bowls of food on the table, and asked, "Where is Princess Dongyang?"

"She went to play with Yu Tu."

Ning Er arranged the meal and sat aside and said, "Today, Your Highness went to ask Su Tan about this matter. After noon, Sister Su's biological mother came to visit the East Palace. It seemed that she wanted to apologize to Your Highness."

Li Chengqian smiled and asked, "What happens next?"

Ning Er frowned and said, "Persuade him to go back."

The household affairs of the Eastern Palace have always been stable. Apart from taking care of two noisy children and the family business, Ning'er naturally does not worry about how Su Wan arranges the in-laws.

I'm just a little worried about the way the prince has been dealing with court officials recently, which makes me feel embarrassed.

The Wugong Su family is actually a very simple family, and Su Tan is an honest and obedient person.

With just a few words from the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, Su felt that she had committed a serious mistake. The mother of the foreign relative came to apologize in person. Perhaps the brothers Su Tan and Su Xu would have nightmares because of this.

Su Wan is a good wife. For an emperor, the weaker the foreign relatives are, the better. The smaller the impact on the centralized emperor will be.

Compared with the prestige and power of her uncle's family, her family seemed much weaker.

Of course, this weakness is only compared with the Changsun family. Behind the Changsun family is their uncle, the Bohai Gao family.

Although he is the crown prince, he has never had any contact with the forces behind his uncle. If there is any truth to this, it is only Gao Luxing, whom he has only met once on his uncle's side.

The Wugong Su family was a noble family in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After settling in the north, they became one of the representatives of the Guanzhong noble family. However, after several upheavals, the family's power was no longer as strong as it used to be.

Moreover, the legitimate daughter of Wugong Su family married into the Eastern Palace as the Crown Princess, so any word from the Crown Prince would shock Wugong Su family for a long time. Of course, another aristocratic family in Guanzhong like Wugong Su family is Jingzhao Du family, which was one of the most representative aristocratic families during the Western Wei dynasties.

Li Chengqian picked up the bowl and chopsticks and said, "Don't worry."

Ning'er reassembled the prince's pen and sat quietly aside, looking somewhat thoughtful.

A humble and inquisitive prince is naturally a good thing. When the prince wanted to investigate the local areas, various departments in the court advised him against it. But when the prince asked questions in return, the officials of each department felt ashamed.

Such a prince is arrogant and no one dares to offend him.

It is also correct to say that the prince is humble and curious.

In all previous dynasties, no one had ever been a crown prince like this.

Besides, how should a prince be treated? Is it wrong for the current prince to do this?

Of course that's not wrong.

As for whether the prince is being too difficult, the many court officials who consider themselves knowledgeable should also think carefully about how to get along with this powerful prince in the future.

After dinner, Li Chengqian and Ning'er walked back to the Eastern Palace, listening to her talk about the current state of the Eastern Palace's family business, including the thousands of hectares of land far away in Liaodong, which they didn't know how to deal with.

This family is far from being worry-free. If the emperor's family had no worries, either the emperor would become a saint, or all the people in the world would die.

For the next two days, the court was still on holiday for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

So far, no one has been able to answer the question asked when admonishing the emperor. Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not ask any further questions.

After King Jiang Li Yuanxiang and King Teng Li Yuanying were executed, Li Chengqian, who held great power, issued two more decrees to take back the fiefdoms and palaces of King Jiang and King Guo, and confiscated all their properties.

The fiefs of the four kings Jiang, Teng, Guo and Jiang were all taken back and their properties were confiscated.

Prince Jiang was exiled and died on the way. The Dali Temple found the murderer, but the murderer had been in prison for a long time using an imperceptible poison incense burner to poison Prince Jiang, and he himself had also inhaled a lot of it. When the Dali Temple found him, the murderer was already dying and died within three days.

The Prince of Teng was escorted to the Western Regions, and Your Majesty also ordered many sentenced prisoners to be escorted to the Western Regions.

Prince Guo and Prince Jiang are still under house arrest in the Zongzheng Palace, under the supervision of Li Chongyi, the Shaoqing of the Zongzheng Temple, awaiting the decision of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

As long as he did not ascend the throne, Li Chengqian felt that he had no face to see his uncle.

We have to keep an eye on what’s happening in the court, it’s the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

The family came to Taiye Lake again. The moon was very bright tonight, as if it could be touched by hand. The huge moon was above the Great Wall. Looking from Taiye Lake, the bright moon was hanging above Xuanwu Gate.

A large group of children were playing by the lake.

Today, the Princess of Wei and the Princess of Wu also came to visit the Queen Mother, and several female family members sat together and talked.

The palace maids carried plates of fruits sent from Lingnan. They walked along the plank road on the lake to the water pavilion in the lake. Inside the water pavilion were the emperor and his four sons.

Li Ke said: "Father, I also want to conquer Goguryeo."

Li Shimin looked at the moon in the distance in silence.

Li Chengqian and Li Tai were peeling oranges and eating them.

Li Ke emphasized again: "Father, Goguryeo is a tiny country. Give me 500 soldiers and I can conquer it."

Li Chengqian whispered, "Qingque? Have you told Brother Ke about this?"

Li Tai also replied in a whisper: "I asked."

"Ow..."

Li Shimin looked at Li Ke, feeling a little depressed, and said, "This is not a joke."

Li Ke said seriously: "What I said is definitely not a joke."

Li Shimin smiled helplessly and said that this kid was becoming more energetic.

Noticing his father's gaze, Li Chengqian said nonchalantly, "So Ke has such thoughts, father...I didn't know it before."

Li Shimin said sternly: "Ke'er, I never said I would go on an expedition to the east."

"Can……"

"Okay, don't say this kind of thing in front of me from now on."

Li Ke bowed and said, "Yes."

Li Chengqian picked up a pear and ate it. Not far away, Li Zhi and Li Shen were making fruit juice. There was fruit juice in the Tang Dynasty, and it was only enjoyed by rich people.

But Li Zhi made something similar to a juicer. He put the cut pears into a wooden barrel, then covered it with a lid and shook a handle.

Then pour out all the minced pulp inside and mix it with goat milk, and the juice is ready.

Gao Yang and Qing He each held a large bowl and drank the freshly blended juice sip by sip.

Li Zhi seemed to be feeling quite accomplished, but in fact this juicer was not easy to use at all. To be more precise, it should be called a pulp grinder.

The minced pulp is still granular, which is not only laborious but also time-consuming.

A strong palace maid at the side put the fruit into a bowl, and hit it with a wooden hammer. The fruit was flattened and the overflowing juice poured into the bowl. This was simple and efficient.

This is also the reason why Li Zhi is often criticized nowadays. The things he made are not very practical, but they are not completely useless.

That's OK, he's always been a late bloomer.

My father was still sitting in the waterside pavilion, listening to the conversation between Li Tai and Li Ke, which was all about Goguryeo.

Li Tai has recently been sorting out records about Goguryeo and the climate of Liaodong.

"There haven't been many records of Liaodong since the Han Dynasty. We have sent people to Liaodong to investigate. It will be a handy thing to do to complete the Comprehensive Geography."

After hearing what Li Tai said, Li Ke felt confident.

"Father, I can't blame you for thinking this way. It's all because the court officials are talking about it now. They all think that Father will march east."

Li Shimin asked, "It was really not your idea?"

"No."

Li Shimin looked at Concubine Yang on the other side of the river again, and then he felt relieved. He asked, "How are things going in the court?"

"You can't accomplish everything with just one sentence. Just be down-to-earth and take it step by step. I am very patient."

"Yes." Li Shimin said, "People who are good at fishing are all patient."

"Just like what Father said, all the hidden and escaped households in the world should be restored to their household registration, but everyone knows that as long as they have household registration, they will have to restore their taxes. Will they be willing?"

Li Shimin closed his eyes and continued listening.

Li Chengqian also looked at the full moon in the night sky and said, "Father, I have had someone check the Prince Jiang's mansion. The Prince Jiang has 8,000 servants."

(End of this chapter)