The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 373 I want to be a prince

They crossed the river from Bozhou to Pingyin County, which is on the south side of the Yellow River. When the emperor's carriage arrived here, officials from Pingyin County and officials from Yunzhou in Henan Province came out to greet him, and they knelt down by the river with all the subjects to welcome him.

Li Shimin added: "It was like this in Guanzhong back then, and it will be the same wherever Cheng Qian goes now."

Empress Changsun smiled with a hint of pride and said, "That's what he should do."

After taking charge of state affairs, the crown prince put a strain on officials throughout the Central Plains and demanded that the previously lax local governance be corrected.

Whether it is the supervisory department or the Chongwenguan teaching institution, if local officials dare to harm others or watch others harm others, they should not be officials.

Li Shimin whispered, "Etiquette should not only start from the people, but also from the officials. As early as ten years ago, Cheng Qian was dissatisfied with the officials in Guanzhong. The officials since the pre-Sui Dynasty have settled down and have never been as trembling as they are now."

Among the officials in Bozhou investigated this time, except for a few who were related to Cui Renshi and his brothers, most of them were suspected of annexing land.

This is another question of education. Li Shimin whispered, "But some people enter the court as officials, or regard it as a family business, so that their descendants can make a living by annexing land. If a person has a huge fortune, but keeps the money and does not annex land, people will say that this person does not care about his descendants."

Your Majesty is talking about the customs formed since the Han and Wei dynasties. If you think about it carefully, most people want to get rid of their status as poor peasants once they gain power, and let their families enter the officialdom, and they never want to go back to the life of poor peasants.

Li Shimin whispered: "It may be easy to educate people in Guanzhong and Luoyang, but it is not so easy in other places in the Central Plains that are far away from the center."

Empress Changsun whispered, "After so many years, Cheng Qian is such a person. He is never afraid of difficulties."

That was why he was worried. Li Shimin looked towards the carriage, at the subjects who were kneeling to greet him, and at many people who came with baskets of food, eggs, and rice to give to the soldiers or accompanying officials.

When these subjects saw the emperor's carriage, it was as if they saw hope. I wonder what Cheng Qian felt, and I wonder if he felt the importance of the country and the people's hearts at this moment.

For a long time, people in Shandong had not seen the emperor's carriage, nor had they seen what the emperor looked like.

Li Shimin saw his grandson Xiao Yutu standing on the shaft of the carriage, with his hands on his hips, looking very proud and enjoying the kneeling worship of his ministers.

Only then did Empress Chang Sun bring her grandson back.

In the carriage at the back, Li Chengqian looked at the memorial in his hand, which was recorded by Shangguan Yi and Li Yifu.

Those who now live in Jiangzuo or the old territory of Eastern Wu are all aristocratic families from the Middle Ages.

Ning Er was also looking at the scroll and whispered, "Poor Liang Zhu."

Survey data is a very important tool. The court knew too little about the power of these ancient clans south of the Yangtze River and in the Jiangzuo area.

The Central Plains cannot ignore such a large territory.

Li Chengqian looked at his sleeping daughter and thought of Xu Xiaode, who was born in Jiangnan.

Li Yifu is still in Bozhou. He needs to find enough manpower and go to the south of the Yangtze River. He still has a lot of things to do.

Since there are people in Jiangzuo who can accept Cui Renshi, there must be a connection.

In the letter that the teacher had someone deliver all the way across the country, the teacher suggested that the power of the censor should be controlled by the court for a long time and should obey the orders of the court, and should not fall into the hands of local prefectures.

"Report! Your Highness, His Majesty has ordered us to set up camp and rest."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Let those villagers go away."

"Here."

The carriage stopped and the team began to set up camp on this flat ground. Li Chengqian got off the carriage and looked into the distance. Mount Tai could not be seen from here, but the official roads along the way had been cleared and there were many soldiers guarding the way.

Xiao Fudi directed the eunuchs and palace maids to make arrangements here.

After setting up a table and arranging the chairs, Li Chengqian sat down and looked at the documents sent from various places in Hebei and Bozhou. Although he was away from home and the affairs of state were handed over to his uncle, he still had to inquire about what he should ask about.

"father."

Li Chengqian glanced sideways and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Yutu moved a small stool and sat aside, propping up his chin with one hand and asked, "How long will it take before we can go home?"

The sun shines through the gaps in the shade of the trees, and the nearby forests are also lush and green.

The weather is about to enter summer. Li Chengqian said, "It may be autumn when I go home. What? Are you missing home?"

Little Yutu nodded slightly and said, "I miss the deer in Taiye Lake."

Li Chengqian leaned back in his chair and raised his head, saying, "Well, it's been a long time since I last saw them."

"There's one thing I don't understand."

"You said."

"Lai Ji said silk must be more expensive than cotton. Why?"

Li Chengqian put down the memorial and explained: "In terms of productivity, the production process of silk is long, but cotton is different. The production process of cotton is simple."

"Except for the coarse linen, ramie, or some fine fabrics of the past, none of these are as good as cotton. Although cotton is not as good as silk, it will be the most popular fabric, at least allowing most people to have three or two decent clothes made of cotton."

Little Yutu whispered, "The child is wearing cotton now."

"Don't you like it?"

"like."

Li Chengqian explained: "Do you know how many processes it takes for cotton to become cotton cloth? How many people have been employed because of this cotton?"

Little Yutu shook his head.

There are some things he doesn't understand, and he is not old enough to comprehend them yet, but I can tell him now and explain them to him later.

Li Chengqian said: "People will pick the cotton grown in Xizhou or Tianshan. The herdsmen will sell the picked cotton to merchants or the Anxi Protectorate, so the people in the Western Regions can earn some income. When the cotton is transported to Guanzhong, a group of people who transport the cotton will also earn income."

"After that, washing and drying the cotton requires human hands, and weaving machines require craftsmen. After weaving, the cloth needs to be dyed, dried, and cut. Did you know that there are already some highly skilled tailors in Guanzhong now?"

People used to worry that the Silk Road would become a soap road, but now the Silk Road is almost becoming a cotton road.

Guanzhong obtained the Hexi Corridor and had this port. Guanzhong's unique geographical location, coupled with various workshops with textile machines, made Guanzhong have the most cotton workshops, which is also one of the reasons for the rise of the cotton industry in Guanzhong.

This is an advantage that other places in the Central Plains do not have, and only Guanzhong today has a unique upstream and downstream industry.

Guo Luotuo spent three years and thousands of manpower to dig thousands of karez in the Western Regions.

Because of these karez, thousands of hectares of fertile land were added to the Western Regions.

Looking at the Central Plains, only the Western Regions have thousands of hectares of vast land that can be used to grow cotton, and only the Western Regions can have such a huge supply. This is an advantage that no place in the north or south of the Central Plains can match.

In this era of perpetual food shortages, no one would use large amounts of land to grow cotton.

Guo Luotuo no longer traveled far. He accepted some disciples and sent them to the Western Regions or Liaodong to specialize in crop farming.

The Sinong Temple of the Tang Dynasty became an institution for guiding planting, rather than an official office for storing and distributing grain.

Little Yu Tu whispered, "Dad, can I be the crown prince?"

Li Chengqian said: "You need to start by learning to read, and then you need to study government affairs in the Secretariat. In the future, you need to understand the layout of each county. You need to go to each county and learn the three new offices and six supervisors in each county. You also need to understand how this huge empire works."

Xiao Yutu nodded heavily.

Although he looks so confident, little do we know how heavy the learning tasks he will face in the future.

A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. The Tang Dynasty, which has just gained a firm foothold, is also fearless.

Li Chengqian added, "Okay, being the crown prince requires great determination. If you can study hard and learn to read, the crown prince position will be yours."

A smile appeared on Xiao Yutu's face again.

The emperor was escorted by five thousand soldiers and horses, plus the eunuchs and palace maids, a group of civil officials, and a group of family members, the total number of the team was nearly seven thousand people.

The expenses of this huge team were all in Ning'er's hands. Under her arrangement, the team was well organized. Xiao Yutu walked to the side of the four Wenhan sages.

Lai Ji was drinking tea leisurely, and the four sages were treated very well in the team.

His Majesty values ​​them very much. They are the teachers of the imperial grandson. Since His Majesty loves the imperial grandson so much, the four sages have received quite high treatment in the accompanying team.

Little Yutu sat in front of Laiji.

The teacher and student looked at each other in silence for a long time.

Lai Ji asked, "What's the matter?"

Xiao Yutu said, "My father said that the position of crown prince is mine."

Lai Ji asked again: "What if Your Highness becomes the Crown Prince?"

"Of course, I will conquer the world like my grandfather and govern the country like my father."

Lai Ji nodded and said, "That should be the case."

Little Yutu raised his head and asked, "Teacher, do you know where cotton comes from?"

Lai Ji said: "From the Western Regions."

"Then teacher, do you know how many people cotton feeds?"

"This..." Lai Ji continued, "I specialize in history and have been studying cotton recently. Does Your Highness have any advice for me?"

Xiao Yutu stood up, stood up with his hands on his hips and said proudly: "Cotton feeds hundreds of thousands of people, from the people in the Western Regions who pick cotton, to those who transport it to Guanzhong, and even more, the tens of thousands of craftsmen in the textile workshops in Guanzhong, from dyeing and selling cloth to tailors, who feed many, many more people."

Lai Ji nodded and said, "There will definitely be a record of cotton in the future Tang Dynasty history."

The three sages behind the old gentleman also nodded in unison.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I and others will take a closer look."

"You are old now, so you don't need to go to the Western Regions. Let your sons go to the Western Regions to have a good look at the territory conquered by our Tang Dynasty."

Xiao Yutu spoke in a commanding tone, and his demeanor and conversation were almost exactly the same as those of the current crown prince.

Few people have seen the young prince, and only a few close ministers around him know what he was like when he was young.

It should be said that after he took charge of state affairs, this prince gradually became known to the world. Although there were rumors about the prince of the Eastern Palace before, those were just rumors.

Lai Ji said: "In fact, Your Highness has neglected one thing."

Xiao Yutu, who was originally very proud, was suddenly stunned. His smile disappeared from his face and he asked, "What did I overlook?"

Lai Ji added: "The market taxes generated by cotton also filled the national treasury."

Xiao Yutu nodded and said, "That's right."

Lai Ji continued, "The prince has made cotton cloth an affordable commodity, so that more people can afford decent clothes. A piece of cotton cloth in Guanzhong costs 300 coins, which is more than enough to make two sets of clothes."

Xiao Yutu looked more serious and said, "I didn't even think of this."

Lai Ji added: "Your Highness is studious, and we are pleased."

"Uncle Wu always says to think more, I know that."

"Ah."

"It's time for dinner!" Hearing the voice, Xiao Yutu quickly ran to eat.

Lai Ji was still sitting there. He picked up a book and wrote: Today, the emperor's grandson asked about cotton cloth, and later he understood the deep meaning of cotton cloth...

This sentence was written in history.

As soon as Xiao Yutu came back, he became a treasure at the dinner table, but he did not treat himself as a treasure. Instead, he took a piece of cake and ate as he walked, as if he was inspecting the defense situation here.

As Xiao Yutu was walking, he ran into someone.

"Oh, where did this little guy come from?" Xu Hui said in surprise.

Xiao Yutu looked up at the two women in front of him and said, "I've seen you!"

Xiao Wudao: "Sister Hui'er, please don't make fun of His Highness."

Xu Hui asked, "Why are you walking around here alone?"

Little Yutu raised his head and said unconvincedly: "I remember now, you are my aunt's disciples."

Seeing the emperor's grandson looking quite smug, Xiao Wu covered his mouth and chuckled, "Don't walk while eating cakes."

Little Yutu didn't care. He put the half-finished cake into his arms and asked, "Since you are my aunt's disciples, what are you studying?"

Xu Hui smiled and said, "Production science."

"Production science?" Little Yutu asked, "Is it very impressive?"

Xiao Wu added: "Of course, the so-called production science is the best weapon to break the land annexation."

"How can production science be a weapon?"

“Knowledge can be a tool, it can be a force, and naturally it can also be a weapon.”

As he was talking, Li Zhi and Li Shen came hurriedly over and asked, "Why are you here?"

Xiao Yutu pointed at the two and said, "These are my aunt's disciples."

Li Zhi hurriedly picked him up and said, "We have rice today, do you want to eat it?"

When he heard that there was food, Xiao Yutu's eyes lit up and he said, "Great."

Xiao Wu looked at the receding figure and said, "This is the Crown Prince's child."

Xu Hui held a book in her arms and said, "He is a very smart child. He seems to be fearless."

At the other end of the camp, Li Zhi, Li Shen, Zhang Jianzhi and Di Renjie were sitting together. When Xiao Yutu joined them, the place became much more lively.

When he was in Chang'an, Zhang Jianzhi was often beaten by Prince of Jin.

But conflicts between boys can always be resolved easily, especially when they fight side by side in Bozhou.

Now both Li Zhi and Li Shen have to look up to Zhang Jianzhi because he can stand in front and take the beating.

Little Yutu was eating rice and asked, "Uncle, what can you do?"

Li Shen stopped using his chopsticks, as if thinking about something.

Li Zhi said: "Why do you ask this?"

He said very seriously: "My nephew wants to be the crown prince, so he must learn the most powerful knowledge in the world and take the most powerful person in the world as his teacher."

……

Note: My eyes are not feeling well today, it’s an old problem…

Xiao Zhang went to bed early today to rest his eyes. He also asked for a day off and will update only one chapter for the time being. I am really sorry.

I'll make it up tomorrow, yes.

(End of this chapter)