The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 386 New Year
The palace returned to silence in the night, with lights lit up in various palaces.

Li Ji explained: "The news sent three days ago said that Ashina She'er had someone send a message to ask Ashina Chebi to come to Chang'an for an audience, but on the way, it seemed that his clansmen persuaded him, and he fled in fear."

Listening to these words, Li Chengqian slowly picked up the tea bowl, looked straight ahead and took a sip of tea.

Chang Sun Wuji whispered, "Should we send troops to fight?"

Li Chengqian put down the tea bowl again, looked at the list in front of him and said, "It may not be easy to find this person on the grassland now."

"It will take some time. To wipe out a Turkic army on the grassland, it would take thousands of miles to attack."

The new emperor fell silent again, and the two regents stood in the hall, bowing their heads in respect.

Outside the palace, there was the sound of the emperor and the children playing.

The eunuch looked outside the hall with a smile on his face. The current Majesty is the current Emperor Emeritus.

After a moment of silence, Li Chengqian picked up a roll of sheepskin and said, "The gifts sent by the tribes in Yinshan and Mobei this year are on the way."

"Your Majesty, I am on the way." Changsun Wuji straightened his expression and said, "We are on the way."

Li Chengqian said in a deep voice: "Tell the Turks in Yinshan, the people in Mobei, and even the Uighurs and the Anxi Protectorate that if they find any trace of Ashina Chebi, they can capture him immediately. If they capture him alive, I will reward you with ten thousand coins. Even if you behead him, I will not hesitate to reward you."

Changsun Wuji bowed and said, "I will arrange for the staff right away."

Seeing the new emperor nodded, Changsun Wuji left in a hurry.

Only Duke Ying was left in the hall.

Outside the palace, the sounds of the emperor and the children playing also stopped.

Li Chengqian helped the still bowed Ying Gong up and whispered, "Let the soldiers at the border go home, and then arrange for soldiers to change guards one after another."

Li Ji bowed and said, "Yes."

"I will arrange rewards for the soldiers. It has been three to five years. It is time for them to go home."

"The last general takes orders."

After Duke Ying left, Li Chengqian turned around and looked at the memorials and congratulatory letters on the table. He patted them with his hands, and then walked out of the hall without any intention of reading them immediately.

Li Shimin was sitting outside the palace. When he saw his son wearing the emperor's crown and clothes, he stroked his beard and said, "Your mother's craftsmanship is very good. This suit suits you very well."

Li Chengqian sat down next to his father and said, "I hope your Majesty will take care of the state affairs in the future."

Li Shimin shook his head and said, "I won't ask any more questions."

Looking up at the starry sky above, I could hear the footsteps of busy eunuchs passing by.

"I plan to move out of the palace and build a house with your mother near Beiyuan, where we can farm on weekdays."

Li Chengqian said, "Take Yu Tu with you. With him, your father and mother won't feel lonely. Your father and mother can come to the palace more often to see your son."

Li Shimin looked at the still young figure and nodded slowly.

"It's okay. Just let the child stay in the palace for a few days every month. Father said he would raise the child himself."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "You also said that you would let him gain experience in the countryside and start from the bottom and live with the villagers. Don't worry, I am here."

"Ah."

Li Chengqian remained sitting there until his father led Yu Tu away.

During these days, my father will stay by the Taiye Lake and arrange all the matters in Longshouyuan. In a couple of days, he will leave the palace.

Even if you feel empty inside, you must look forward.

The rise of Li Tang's country had just begun.

An elderly eunuch stood beside the crown prince. He used to be a eunuch during the Wude Dynasty, then took care of His Majesty, and now stood beside the new emperor.

Li Chengqian looked at the white-haired eunuch and asked, "I don't know what to call you yet."

"My surname is Chen."

"it is good."

The eunuch also smiled humbly upon hearing this.

Li Chengqian left Ganlu Palace and went all the way to the East Palace. The East Palace was very busy now. Xiaofu arranged the palace maids and eunuchs to move things.

Su Wan and Ning Er bowed together and said, "Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian looked at the queen and the concubine in front of him and said, "This house will eventually be emptied."

Ning'er was wearing a blue dress and a silver hairpin in her hair. She looked back at the palaces in the East Palace.

Su Wan was also filled with emotion and asked, "Did the child follow his father?"

Li Chengqian held his wife's hand and said, "He is now the crown prince. He needs to start from the bottom to gain experience. His father and mother will take him to live in the countryside. In the future, he will be allowed to stay for a few days every month so that he can return to the palace."

Su Wan said: "This child has been playing since he was young. It's fine. You will get annoyed if you watch him for too long."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled, "In fact, I am also afraid that my father and mother will spoil the child."

Looking over, Xiao Que'er was walking out of the hall holding the hand of her three-year-old sister Xiao Mengji.

She was also pulling a small wooden cart, which was filled with toys and books. These were her own things.

Little Magpie said, "Dad."

Li Chengqian picked up little Mengji, looked at little Que'er and asked, "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head and said, "Sister is sleepy."

Li Chengqian said again: "Let's go, we will live in Liangyi Palace from now on."

Xiao Que'er asked again: "Is the Liangyi Palace very big?"

"It's much bigger than our East Palace."

When the family walked by, a group of palace maids and eunuchs from the Eastern Palace walked past the Lizheng Hall and the Wude Hall.

The doors of Lizheng Hall and Wude Hall are now closed, and these two halls will remain so in the future.

After passing through one palace after another, the family finally arrived at the Liangyi Palace.

Li Chengqian said: "Go and pick a room."

"Okay." Xiao Que'er walked quickly into the hall, and walked into the hall under the arrangement of a group of palace maids and eunuchs.

The old eunuch had been standing aside. In fact, the new emperor had only one empress and one concubine. Life in the palace would be much simpler from now on. The concubines of the retired emperor had also left. Concubine Yang would live with King Wu in the future, Concubine Wei had become a Taoist, and the rest had their own arrangements.

On New Year's Eve, His Majesty and the Queen had arranged all these matters and handed over the entire palace and the world to the new emperor.

Some people are sleepless tonight, while others sleep peacefully.

Late at night, Li Chengqian looked at the map of the imperial palace in front of him and ordered: "Send the 100 cavalry guards that father selected to his side. Build a village outside to protect father, mother, and the prince."

"Here."

The eunuch Lao Chen handed over another piece of paper and said, "Your Majesty, this is the map of the palaces in the palace now. Do you want to make any additions or changes?"

In the current Chang'an Imperial Palace, the East Palace will remain vacant in the future, so there is no need to build it again.

Li Chengqian changed the names of several palaces and then gave up.

Seeing that His Majesty had no intention of building a new palace or renovating the palace, the eunuch understood.

It was late at night and a cold wind blew in from outside the hall.

The eunuch Lao Chen led the rest of the people back to Liangyi Hall and closed the door.

Li Chengqian sat alone beside the candlestick, looking at the arrangements for the imperial examination next year.

"What title do you want?"

Hearing this, Xiao Que'er, who was not sleepy to begin with, came over. She sat beside him obediently and said, "My daughter doesn't know what title she should ask for." Li Chengqian smiled and said, "You are the eldest princess, how can you not have a title?"

After saying that, Li Chengqian took out a scroll from the books beside him. It was the titles of princesses that the royal family had already prepared. He spread it on the table and said, "Pick one."

Xiao Que'er's fingers passed under each princess title, and finally stopped at the word "stable". She said, "I don't know if it's good or not, but if it's suitable, this is it."

Li Chengqian held his daughter in his arms and asked, "Do you like this title?"

"Well, stability! May the world be stable."

"Tomorrow I will have someone inform the royal family to confer you the title of Princess Anding."

The little magpie happily went to wash up and go to sleep.

The next day, just after dawn, freezing rain began to fall again, and Li Chengqian was walking in the palace.

Ning'er was beside him holding an umbrella.

The palace is now quieter than before, and many people have left.

After the coronation ceremony, the curfew in Chang'an was lifted and there was a three-day celebration. This was the order of my father.

Li Chengqian watched as the door plaque of a palace was replaced with the words "New Palace".

Xingqing Hall was converted into a new hall.

Li Chengqian was a little dazed. Now he was the master of this palace and the emperor of this world.

This feeling came suddenly, and it felt like waking up from a dream.

It was already bright in Chang'an city. After last night's celebration, Zhuque Street was in a mess. Jingzhao Prefecture had arranged people to clean up Zhuque Street early. Ashina Helu, wearing coarse cloth clothes, held a broom in his hand and looked very reluctant.

The official of Jingzhao Prefecture shouted, "Sweep the floor!"

So, Ashina Helu started to clean up.

After all, he was the Khan of a large tribe in the Western Regions back then. Unexpectedly, after being escorted to Chang'an City, he became a street sweeper.

Another group of soldiers and officers hurried out of the city from Zhuque Street. There were quite a few people leaving the city, including Turks and people from Western Regions.

Ashina Helu asked curiously: "What are you going to do?"

The official of Jingzhao Prefecture whispered, "Your Majesty has ordered the Turks, Mobei, and Uighurs to capture Ashina Chebi."

Looking at the man in front of him again, the official scolded, "Go and sweep the floor."

Ashina Helu reluctantly walked out onto the street again, holding the broom and seeming to have resigned himself to his fate.

Xu Jingzong is now one of the six ministers and also serves as the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. He is already a well-known figure in the court.

He arrived at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture.

The doorman bowed quickly and said, "Greetings to the prefect."

Xu Jingzong walked into the government office.

The gatekeeper followed beside him, and he didn't understand why the prefect would come to Jingzhao Prefecture today when it was clearly a day off.

Yan Qinli, who was on duty at Jingzhao Prefecture, was eating a bowl of soup noodles. When he saw someone coming, he stood up and said, "Prefect."

Xu Jingzong looked at the door plaque hanging on the wall. The words "Perform Duties with Devotion" were still written on it. He looked back at the memorials neatly stacked on the table and said, "These four words are really good."

"We have always performed our duties conscientiously."

"I didn't expect Chu Suiliang to be appointed as the Shangshu as well."

He knew in his heart that in fact, in recent years, the relationship between the new prefect and Chu Suiliang had been particularly bad.

But Chu Suiliang's hard work over the years has been seen, so his promotion to the Minister of Civil Affairs seems reasonable.

Including Yu Zhining and others, they all received rewards.

Yan Qinli handed over a scroll of documents and said, "This is from Weinan."

Xu Jingzong took the document and looked at its contents.

Yan Qinli explained: "A group of students from Weinan got into a fight with a group of children from aristocratic families. Quite a few people got involved, and some were injured. There were quite a few people involved in the fight on both sides."

Xu Jingzong frowned and asked, "How many times has this kind of fight happened in recent years?"

Yan Qinli replied: "It's been more than ten times, but... several township heads and county magistrates in Weinan County have asked whether these people were dealt with after the Lantern Festival."

It was the Chinese New Year, and also the time to celebrate the ascension of the new emperor to the throne.

Xu Jingzong ordered: "Give them a good scolding and make them do hard labor for three months. They are so energetic in fighting, so they should all do hard labor to repair the siltation land."

The teaching support program has been going on for nearly ten years, roughly eight years. During these years, we have indeed trained a lot of people, and all of them are students trained under Chongwenguan's teaching support program.

The people most affected by the teaching support are the children from Guanzhong. Most of the young people who are now around 20 years old are students who have graduated from the teaching support program at Chongwenguan.

These people are the most staunch supporters of the new emperor and the imperial examination system, and are also the biggest beneficiaries of the policy of supporting education.

However, no Guanzhong gentry participated in this fight.

Xu Jingzong was relieved.

A minor official came in a hurry and said, "Xu Shaoyin, I heard that Chu Suiliang gave the palace... No! It was Your Majesty, he sent the national policy to Your Majesty."

Hearing this, Xu Jingzong suddenly stood up and asked, "National Policy?"

"It is said to be a policy for governing a country."

Xu Jingzong thought for a moment and said, "Prepare some writing materials for me."

"Here."

The Zhenguan Dynasty lasted only twenty years. It was the second day of the first lunar month in the first year of Qianqing.

Li Chengqian originally planned to meet many royal relatives. Several uncles who came to Chang'an to congratulate him had also arrived, as well as several cousins.

The incident of the fight in Weinan County was also brought to the attention of the new emperor, as well as Chu Suiliang's national policy.

Chu Suiliang did not come to the palace, but just sent someone to deliver a memorial.

Inside the new hall, which retained the style of the former Xingqing Hall, Li Chengqian was flipping through memorials. Chu Suiliang was a man who loved to show off, and it was rare for him to present national policies during the New Year.

Perhaps in his view, the purpose of a new emperor's ascension to the throne is to formulate new national policies.

Li Chengqian read the lengthy national policy, and every word he saw was about land distribution and poverty alleviation.

After the Tang Dynasty pacified the country, the trend of land annexation still existed.

Chu Suiliang hoped to put pressure on the annexation party by increasing the land tax and force him to divide the land. This was too ideal.

Afterwards, the government used poverty alleviation policies to absorb population from Hebei, Bozhou and several important provincial capitals on the north bank of the Yellow River and began construction.

The results of Luoyang were right in front of him, and he felt that this kind of success could definitely be replicated, which was too ideal.

Li Chengqian ordered: "Give this national policy to uncle."

The eunuch took the memorial and said, "Yes."

After finishing the task at hand, Li Chengqian walked outside the new palace, drew his bow and aimed at the target in the distance. He released an arrow, which landed accurately on the target.

It’s not that Chu Suiliang’s national policy is bad, it’s just that Li Zhi and the others still need time.

Princess Linchuan walked over quickly and said, "Brother, here are the letters from Zhinu and Shendi."

Li Chengqian put down the longbow in his hand, took the letter and said, "Are they all right in Luoyang?"

Linchuan said: "It's fine. After the emperor issued an order to let my brother ascend the throne, the two brothers got drunk for a few days."

(End of this chapter)