The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 356 The Queen's Letter

In fact, his voice had healed many years ago, but he had always pretended to be a mute so that he could see his mistress from a distance. And as long as he remained mute, his mistress would sympathize with him.

He loves his mistress but cannot show it, so he pretends to be mute so that he can gain some sympathy and more trust from his mistress.

Later, due to some land taxes, the Lu family, which is now a noble family in Fanyang, was no longer as powerful as it used to be. There was chaos within the family. The head of the Lu family was forced to death, Lu Yuan was murdered, and now Lu Yuan's biological mother is also dead.

"They killed everyone, even a woman who knew nothing and understood nothing."

After listening to this long and sad story, Li Yifu patted the mute on the shoulder and said, "I still don't trust you."

The mute said, "Well, you are investigating cases for the court, so it's normal for you not to trust me."

Li Yifu asked again: "You are wearing such thin clothes, aren't you afraid of the cold?"

"I'm not cold."

The mute was wearing only a thin linen shirt and was barefoot, but he did not feel cold and did not shiver even in this snowy day.

The mute said, "I've given you the letter. If you need my help, just hang a lantern by the river. I don't know if Master Cui Ren still trusts me. If I can get back to him, I'll send you news."

Li Yifu took the letter and nodded.

"I'm leaving." He took two steps back and said, "I am the witness that Cui Renshi killed Lu Yuan. I also have evidence that he wanted to kill Madam. I can testify. If you don't dare to kill him, I will kill his entire family."

Li Yifu clasped his fists and said, "Thank you very much."

If the letter from this mute is true, it would be a huge breakthrough.

After the other party walked away, Li Yifu returned to his residence with his left and right companions.

There is also a censor living here, he is the Palace Attendant Censor Du Zhenglun. "Censor Li, where are you going so late at night?"

Li Yifu smiled and said, "It's okay, just go out and relax."

Du Zhenglun smiled knowingly, "It's just a casual question. You don't have to be so wary."

Li Yifu, Du Zhenglun and Shangguan Yi were all working in Bozhou.

Compared with Du Zhenglun, Li Yifu trusts Shangguan Yi more.

In Li Yifu's understanding, he himself was a disciple of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, and Shangguan Yi was also a disciple of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.

The only one is Du Zhenglun, he was sent by His Majesty.

Du Zhenglun took a sip of the warm wine and said, "This case has not been investigated yet, and I am afraid that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will call you and me back and ask about the reason. I don't know how to explain it."

"It's alright, His Royal Highness Prince Jin and His Royal Highness Prince Ji have already returned to report."

"Why are you still staying in Bozhou?"

Li Yifu whispered, "Back in Luoyang, I dealt with a young man from an aristocratic family. I was too young at that time and suffered a lot. A young man from an aristocratic family died, and I almost got myself into trouble because of it. Now I won't be so impulsive. I should keep my composure. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has said that it doesn't matter if we investigate a case for three to five years, or even ten years. We can't give up."

Du Zhenglun smiled knowingly, "It is said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince practices archery regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter. He is a very persistent and determined crown prince. Such a crown prince naturally hopes that his officials will do the same."

Li Yifu took the wine bowl and took a sip of the warm wine.

In Luoyang, Li Chengqian looked through the chart his sister sent him and said with a smile, "It turns out there are so many coal mines in Hebei."

Li Lizhi said, "Yes, my sister looked through the county annals of various prefectures in Hebei."

Xiao Wu and Xiao Hui stood outside the palace. In front of them was the Crown Prince who was in charge of state affairs. They lowered their heads and dared not look at him.

Due to the concentration of population in Guanzhong and Luoyang, there will be resource shortage problems in the local area, especially this winter.

"Your Highness, Duke Zhao is here."

Li Chengqian said: "Let uncle enter the palace."

Li Lizhi bowed and said, "Uncle."

Zhang Sun Wuji walked into the palace and bowed, saying, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Princess."

Li Chengqian asked: "What is the situation in Hebei?"

Changsun Wuji bowed and talked about the current situation in Hebei. The situation was not too good, but it was not bad either.

With the population concentration in Guanzhong and Luoyang, the population of the two places is approaching five million, not to mention Longxi and the Hexi Corridor. Li Zhi's prediction is good, and resource shortages will occur within half a year.

After that, Li Chengqian asked: "So, it is difficult to carry out teaching work in Hebei?"

Changsun Wuji nodded, looking a little frustrated.

Li Lizhi said: "To support education, we need to gather people. Each state capital needs to set up gathering places. To gather people, we need to work, produce and gain."

Changsun Wuji raised his eyes and took a quick look at the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Princess, the brother and sister, then lowered his head and remained silent.

To be honest, my uncle didn't do a good job in this matter.

Of course, the brother and sister cannot say bad things about their uncle so directly, after all, he is the younger generation.

Xiao Wu and Xu Hui stood outside the palace, listening to the discussion between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Her Royal Highness the Princess, and Duke Zhao.

According to the story, the coal mines used to be in the hands of wealthy families, but now that the court has cleared Hebei, it has to start reorganizing it.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to bring all these coal mines under the control of the court, and use the labor force from coal mining to create a safe living environment.

Generally speaking, it is to gather people together, let the strong laborers sell their labor to dig coal for compensation, set up houses outside the coal mine, build book houses, and start teaching.

In this way, the population is gathered again, and those who had previously hidden themselves will no longer become refugees after their household registration is restored.

After a general charter was drawn up, Changsun Wuji went to arrange the paperwork.

When the wind and snow stopped, Li Chengqian took Li Zhi and Li Shen to the bank of Luo River, and the three brothers prepared to go fishing.

Li Zhi said: "Brother, I am very dissatisfied with my uncle."

"Yeah. I know."

Li Shen advised: "Brother Jin Wang, please don't speak so loudly."

He advised and looked at Chai Zhewei who was guarding beside him.

Chai Zhewei turned his back and stopped looking here.

My uncle did not do a good enough job in governing Hebei. It was because he has always been a stability maintenance person and he has been avoiding major changes.

Li Zhi has been dissatisfied with her uncle for a long time.

My uncle's abilities are remarkable.

No matter how poor his ability is, Hebei's affairs still have to be left to my uncle.

Because my uncle was a commoner friend of my father when he was young, and he was also the elder brother of my mother, he was the most loyal person to the Li Tang Dynasty.

Such a person, who holds an important position in the court, can only rely a lot on his uncle.

The three brothers put their fishing rods into the river and remained quiet for a long time.

The sky is blue with few clouds, but there is no warmth either, the weather is still cold.

Li Chengqian was sitting by the river bank, holding a fishing rod.

"Your Highness, the honeycomb coal has been delivered."

Li Chengqian turned his head and looked.

Li Shen also glanced over and said, "Huh? Isn't this the coal that Xiaofu uses to cook?"

"Well, this is the coal that will be produced in various parts of Hebei from now on."

Li Shen added: "My brother helped Xiaofu dry honeycomb coal. He had to use a plate to press the coal into this shape. It was very hard and tiring." The honeycomb coal of the Tang Dynasty was made of yellow mud, coal, and charcoal powder. In the future, this will be an important resource for creating many jobs and taxes.

In fact, there are coal mines in Guanzhong, but there is no plan to move the coal mines in Guanzhong now.

And in the future, whether we should carry out large-scale mining or maintain stable development is still unclear.

Whether to economize mining now or to mine on a large scale for a better life for people will probably become a very long issue in the government.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, the Imperial Censor Li Yifu reports."

Li Chengqian asked someone to bring the report and look at his progress in Bozhou.

Li Zhi said: "Royal brother, Zhi plans to go to Bozhou again."

"When will you leave?"

"Go tomorrow."

"Are you not celebrating the Lantern Festival in Luoyang?"

Li Zhi was not interested in fishing. He put the fishing rod on the ground, stood up and said, "If things in Bozhou are not going well, my brother will not be at peace in Luoyang."

Li Shen looked into the distance without saying a word.

Li Chengqian said: "Go ahead."

"Thank you, Brother Huang."

"The Queen Mother has prepared new clothes for you. At least wear new clothes."

Hearing this, Li Zhi's heart warmed and he nodded heavily.

After reading Li Yifu's report, Li Chengqian lost interest in continuing fishing. He did not say much in the report, but fortunately he had a clue about the case.

However, Li Yifu was concerned about the other party's counterattack, so apart from what he wrote in the memorial, he did not tell anyone about these things. He planned to continue investigating secretly and try to catch them all in one fell swoop.

The next day, Li Zhi and Li Shen left Luoyang again wearing new clothes.

Gunalut sent the book again. This time he made a lot of concessions and added a lot of words about the country in the book.

This old gentleman hopes to educate the world and hopes that people can restore etiquette and laws.

At the same time, Li Chengqian had to ask the old gentleman to add some words about protecting the country and serving the country and the people in the book.

I don't expect this book to inspire many people to shed their blood for their country, but I just hope that people will be more determined to defend their country.

This book conflicts with the family's philosophy and can be said to be diametrically opposed to it.

With the aristocratic family as the core, this book is different from the concept that focuses on clan and personal interests. It pays more attention to the relationship between the country and the society, as well as the relationship between personal destiny and the society.

At this point, the book was completed. Li Chengqian handed the volume to Su Wan and asked her to give it to the gentry in Wugong County to copy, and to spread it in Guanzhong first, and let the papermaking workshop in Jingyang start printing the book.

Su Wan asked, "Your Highness, should the old gentleman's name be added to this volume?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Yes."

"Well, I will write a letter home right away."

The prince's decree was sent out of the palace and delivered to the Chongwen Hall, and Mr. Gunalut was appointed as the Grand Counselor, participating in the discussion of state affairs, and concurrently in charge of the Chongwen Hall, Hongwen Hall, and Sifang Hall, and was given ten thousand coins.

This book by Mr. Gunalut was named Zhenguan Book.

East of the Liaoshui River, in the city of Anshi, the freezing cold in Liaodong is so severe that water turns to ice as soon as it falls.

There were many fires burning in the city. A group of soldiers came dragging a piece of ice with difficulty. They broke the ice and put it into the pot to cook. After the ice melted, they boiled the water and drank a mouthful to warm their stomachs and bodies.

Most of the 30,000 Tang troops in Anshi City were wearing cotton clothes and sitting in a circle around a fire.

The weather is clear today. Li Shimin walked out of the city wall wearing a bulky cotton coat and looked at the vast expanse of white in the distance.

Su Dingfang and Li Daozon stood beside His Majesty.

People were shivering in the cold wind.

Li Dao Zong said: "Your Majesty, we keep all the war horses in the stables. The stables are warm and the war horses will not freeze to death."

Li Shimin asked, "How is the food supply in the army?"

Su Dingfang replied: "There is enough food and grass. Youzhou has sent another 100,000 shi of food and grass. The army is not short of food."

Li Shimin saw some soldiers standing on the city wall, with some ice chips on their beards, and advised: "Change guard."

"Here."

One team of soldiers was replaced by another.

Li Shimin looked into the distance. There was no sight of Goguryeo's soldiers and horses on the vast white plain. "I wonder if Goguryeo has frozen to death."

Li Daozong reported: "Your Majesty, I heard that Goguryeo's troops are all in Wugut City."

Wugut City is just east of Anshi City, and the two sides are separated by a forest.

When Your Majesty heard that Gao Yanshou and Gao Huizhen brought an army of 150,000, Your Majesty was even a little excited.

It is true that the enemy troops on the Liao River are not enough to kill.

"Your Majesty, a letter from the Queen."

Li Shimin took the letter brought by the guard and read it while standing in the cold wind.

Su Dingfang and Li Daozon voluntarily withdrew.

Looking at Guanyin Bi's handwriting, a smile appeared on Li Shimin's face again. Looking at the interesting stories written in the letter, his grandson and granddaughter were one year older, and they had now learned to use chopsticks.

Xiao Yutu is still the same as always, not concentrating on anything he does.

Cheng Qian recently debated with Mr. Gunalut and also wrote a book.

Seeing this, Li Shimin smiled and exhaled a breath of hot air in the cold wind, debating with Cheng Qian?
This is tantamount to asking for trouble.

Even though he is a highly respected old gentleman, Cheng Qian's profound knowledge is not something that he can underestimate.

Even though Cheng Qian is only in his early twenties now, the children he taught are all teachers of the Imperial College and they all have to look up to him.

His younger brothers and sisters are already like this, and it is unknown what level of knowledge Cheng Qian has reached.

The letter also talked about the affairs in various parts of Hebei, and Cheng Qian's recent complaints that the royal family kings did not come to Luoyang to pay homage to the retired emperor and the crown prince.

Li Shimin just smiled and said nothing more.

After putting the letter in his arms, Li Shimin walked back to the city wall, asked someone to prepare pen and ink, wrote a reply letter, and asked someone to send it to Luoyang.

During the rest of the time, the emperor personally inspected the city defenses, had meals with the officers and soldiers, and even chatted about family matters.

The soldiers were all missing their families in their words. The emperor also missed his family in Luoyang and his young grandchildren there.

When the soldiers heard this, some even shed tears.

The emperor, who had always been high and mighty, was now so close to them and missed his family just like them.

The weather in Liaodong has been sunny for several days, and the ice and snow are showing signs of melting.

Li Shimin asked: "What time is it now?"

Li Dao Zong said: "Your Majesty, it should be the end of the year in Guanzhong now."

This battle dragged on for too long. Li Shimin looked at the clear sunshine in the blue sky and said, "The weather has warmed up a lot. Is there any unusual movement of Gao Yanshou's army?"

(End of this chapter)