The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 396 My Old Uncles
The content of the conversation between His Majesty and the Tibetan king was spread through word of mouth and people's copying.

If there really were newspapers in the Tang Dynasty, this was probably people's innate need for newspapers.

But there were no newspapers in the Tang Dynasty.

The court had no such plan.

The distinguished guests who came to Chang'an had a very uncomfortable time.

Unable to bear the constant bullying from the Tang people, the Tibetan minister Sangbuza was standing in front of the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, asking the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture to seek justice.

In fact, the people in Chang'an City are very simple and honest. They can distinguish right from wrong and who is ungrateful.

In the Tang Dynasty where material things were so scarce, people's simplicity was like a tree in the desert, extremely rare and precious.

"What simple and honest people there are in Chang'an." Xu Jingzong said sincerely while sitting in Jingzhao Prefecture.

"He is still standing outside the door, asking us to seek justice."

Liu Rengui said with a stern face.

Xu Jingzong asked suspiciously, "Is it fair?"

Liu Rengui, the current Junior Magistrate of Jingzhao Prefecture, was wearing a scarlet official robe. He frowned and asked, "Does the prefect just plan to sit back and do nothing?"

Xu Jingzong sat in the top seat in the government office. When he looked up slightly, he saw the words "Perform Duties Concentratedly" hanging above his head.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Jingzong hurriedly sat up straight again, "As the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, I naturally cannot sit idly by. Your Majesty has always been strict, and the officials of Jingzhao Prefecture are all walking on thin ice."

"Walking on thin ice?" Liu Rengui said, "I heard that several clerks from Jingzhao Prefecture had a fight with others in the Ministry of Personnel yesterday, which alarmed the Jinwu Guards."

Xu Jingzong held his forehead in pain and said, "It's because I didn't discipline them well."

"besides……"

Seeing that the other party wanted to say more, Xu Jingzong quickly raised his hand to signal him to stop, and said: "Liu Shaoyin, are you saying that because of the kind of person I am, the officials under my command will be like that?"

"I have absolutely no such intention."

Xu Jingzong said again: "I am the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture and the Minister of Rites. I must naturally supervise these matters. In the future, I will advise people not to cause trouble in the Tibetans' residences and to be kind to others."

After that, the bad commander Wei Chang walked quickly into the government office. He was wearing a blue robe and a scarf on his head, and he yelled, "Damn it! These Persians are blind. Beat them up every time I see them."

Liu Rengui looked at Wei Chang with a stern face. The prefect just said to be kind to others...

Wei Chang was still thinking about today's assignment, standing aside and even chewing a date in his mouth.

Xu Jingzong cleared his throat and said, "Actually, Brother Wei is quite capable in doing things. Shao Yin Liu, please don't be angry."

Liu Rengui continued, “Jingzhao Prefecture will naturally treat villains more harshly than villains, but if the Tibetan envoys encounter an accident in Chang’an…it will affect the situation in Songzhou.”

Wei Chang stood aside, picking at the gaps between his fingernails, and didn't notice that there was anything wrong with the atmosphere between the prefect and Shao Yin Liu.

Xu Jingzong asked hurriedly, "How is your investigation going on with the Persians?"

Wei Chang then replied, "They wanted to buy soldiers from the Tang Dynasty, but I confiscated all their gold. They were clearly buying soldiers privately, but they still called me a robber. There are more and more people in Chang'an who don't know what's good for them."

Xu Jingzong asked: "Where is the gold?"

"It has been handed over to the Censorate."

Xu Jingzong smiled with relief and said, "If you encounter such people in the future, you should beat them to death, so as to avoid them thinking that our Jingzhao Prefecture is not doing things efficiently enough."

"The prefect is right. Next time, I will beat them to death."

Ever since Jingzhao Prefecture was divided by the court, the prefect has been in charge of the power of arrest and public security, while the power of land in each county fell into the hands of Liu Rengui.

Liu Rengui: "Is Sambuza still outside the door?"

Wei Chang nodded.

The original prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture was the Prince of Jiangxia. The Jingzhao Prefecture at that time was known for its tough approach to doing things. Ever since Xu Jingzong came to power, things have become even more severe.

However, this more severe approach was not applied to ordinary residents of the neighborhood and county. Xu Jingzong still maintained his previous style. Even if a villager really got into trouble, the Jingzhao Prefecture would still take sides on the side of the villager between the powerful and the villager.

Just like this time, when it came to the fate of the Tibetans, Xu Jingzong seemed to be turning a blind eye, wishing that those Tibetan envoys would be beaten to death... or something like that.

Xu Jingzong is your Majesty's confidant and has been working for your Majesty since he took office as the county magistrate of Jingyang County.

Now, Songtsen Gampo ignored Your Majesty's good intentions. As Your Majesty's confidant, it would be a lie for Xu Jingzong to say that he was not angry.

The fact that Songtsen Gampo dared to reject Your Majesty's kindness was so great that he could still live in Chang'an City because of the great mercy of Emperor Xu Jingzong.

It was useless to persuade Xu Jingzong. This man could not be persuaded at all. He would take care of anything that Xu Jingzong wanted to take care of, and would never touch anything he didn't want to take care of.

He was such a person. Liu Rengui still remembered that when he first met Xu Jingzong, he was still the Shaoyin of Jingzhao Prefecture, and he was also a cruel official at that time.

It seems that Xu Jingzong allowed the militiamen in Chang'an City to go and challenge the Tibetans.

Liu Rengui had no choice but to give up trying to persuade them. He had a lot of things to do and had persuaded everyone he needed to. The rest had nothing to do with him.

Walking to the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, Liu Rengui thought carefully about the current Jingzhao Prefecture, it was very complicated.

Outside the government office, Liu Rengui saw Sangbuza standing there and said, "Go back. They are just shouting. No one is fighting. Even if there is, it is not necessarily the Jingzhao Prefecture that will be in charge."

Sambuza showed his respect using Tibetan etiquette and then left.

A clerk came running over and said, "Shao Yin, there is an old man in Xinfeng Township whose fields were trampled by some rich young men. They said they had just planted the melon seedlings given by the Sino-Agricultural Temple."

Liu Rengui's face suddenly turned pale. He jumped on his horse and came to Xinfeng Township.

An old farmer was tidying up melon seedlings in the field. Many of them were trampled by horses' hooves, but some were not.

Seeing the officers and soldiers from Jingzhao Prefecture coming, a group of villagers gathered around them and told their stories.

As long as one is from Jingzhao Prefecture, he can give justice to the villagers of various counties. This is the reputation that Xu Jingzong has established for Jingzhao Prefecture over the past ten years.

Liu Rengui still admired this prefect.

The old man who was planting melon seedlings said, "They are the people who passed the imperial examination this year and said they are going to become officials."

"How many people are there?"

"More than ten people..."

Liu Rengui said loudly to the officials behind him: "Order the bad commander to arrest them all, don't leave any one behind."

"As for the Ministry of Personnel...they are all newly promoted officials who entered the civil service through the imperial examination."

Liu Rengui turned around and glared at them.

When the officials saw this look, they immediately saluted and said, "We will arrange it right away."

As long as Jingzhao Prefecture wanted to arrest someone, the villages in the Guanzhong counties were all spies of the government. It was not difficult to catch a thief, and it was even easier to catch a group of people.

Liu Rengui comforted the old man and said, "Don't worry, we in Jingzhao Prefecture will definitely arrest the man and make them pay compensation."

The old man was wearing a short coat and his feet were bare and black. He kept bowing and saying thank you.

That night, the group of young men who trampled on the melon field were taken to Jingzhao Prefecture.

The man was captured by the militia from Lantian County.

Liu Rengui wrote the document and had it delivered to the Ministry of Personnel before his subordinates in the court went on duty.

The next day, these young men who had passed the imperial examination were dismissed from their posts by the Ministry of Personnel. The melon seedlings they trampled on were seeds given by the Ministry of Agriculture, and they had also delayed the harvest.

When Liu Rengui saw the other party's family members coming to redeem the person, he realized that these young men were from the Longxi family. They were used to running rampant in Longxi, and Chang'an would not tolerate them. Du He, Cheng Chumo and others were quite touched by this.

Yan Qinli brought the message from the Secretariat and said, "This matter has been handed over to the Censorate, and someone has been sent to Longxi."

Liu Rengui bowed in the direction of the Taiji Hall and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

At noon that day, Liu Rengui personally brought a bag of copper coins to compensate the old man. The old man only felt that he had delayed the Sinong Temple's trial planting of melon seedlings, but he didn't care much about the silver. This is how Jingzhao Prefecture acts, and it must always put the villagers first.

On the other hand, the Tibetan envoys at this moment seemed to be unwilling to let the Zamp rest assured and recover from his illness.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites Guo Zhengyi, along with several doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau, walked into their residence.

Looking at the Tibetans present, he turned around and closed the door again, saying, "I have been ordered to come and visit the Zamp."

Songtsen Gampo stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you very much."

Zhang Wenzhong asked some questions first, and then said, "Does your chest hurt when you cough now?"

Songtsen Gampo nodded and said, "It's much better than before."

Lu Dongzan glared at the other Tibetan envoys and told them not to speak or be rude to the Tang officials.

Zhang Wenzhong thought for a moment and said, "You can reduce the dosage now."

Lu Dongzan said: "How long will it take for Zanpu to recover from his illness?"

Zhang Wenzhong said, "We need to wait for a while. The doctors from our Imperial Medical Bureau will come to visit every three days. The meals on weekdays should be light. Don't rush back to Tubo. If the Zamp goes back now, living on the plateau may aggravate his condition."

Songtsen Gampo said: "Thank you very much."

After seeing several medical officers leave one after another, Guo Zhengyi continued, "I wonder what the Zamp has thought about your Majesty's request?"

Songtsen Gampo remained silent.

Guo Zhengyi added: "Then think about it more."

Lu Dongzan personally escorted Guo Zhengyi to the door.

In the imperial palace, outside the Wude Hall, Li Chengqian was playing chess with his grandfather.

Li Yuan frowned and stared at the chessboard for a long time, then whispered, "My eyesight is getting worse and worse, I can't even see the chess pieces clearly."

"My grandson has won."

Li Chengqian said loudly.

Li Yuan listened attentively and smiled with narrowed eyes.

As my grandfather got older, not only did his eyesight deteriorate, but his hearing has also deteriorated. However, his mentality has always been good.

Just like what he said at the beginning, it doesn’t matter if you can’t see clearly, just look around and you will see beauties everywhere on the street.

Isn’t this a beautiful thing?
Li Yuan took a sip of tea and sighed, "I heard that Erlang took a group of old generals to go hunting yesterday?"

"Well, Father has been having a lot of fun lately."

"Your Majesty, it's time for you to rest." The eunuch beside him whispered.

Li Yuan then came back to his senses and walked towards the Wude Hall with his crutches to take a nap.

The eunuchs in the palace were always on guard, and His Majesty was sitting outside the hall, taking care of him at all times.

Li Chengqian sat alone outside the Wude Hall, looking at a book in his hand. This was the Zhenguan Book written by Gu Nali, which analyzed the relationship between Mohism and Confucianism.

It contains various discussions related to morality, which can be linked to previous East Palace story books.

In fact, the Mohist philosophy is also very good. The so-called universal love requires you to love yourself first, and then love everyone as you love yourself.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Zhao and the Prince of Hejian are fighting."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian put down the book and felt a headache. He asked, "What's wrong?"

The eunuch reported: "It is said that the Prince of Hejian felt that the Duke of Zhao's family had robbed his daughter-in-law."

"How was the fight?"

"Duke Zhao had a few strands of his beard pulled out, and Prince Hejian's clothes were in disarray. Now he has been persuaded by the officials of the Zongzheng Temple to stay."

"My uncle and the emperor's uncle are both old, why are they still making such a fuss?"

The eunuch whispered, "The Minister of Zongzheng Temple wants to ask Your Majesty how to deal with it."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Find someone to treat him."

"Here."

Just as he finished speaking, the eunuch came running over and said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Hejian wants to see you."

Li Chengqian turned around and saw the emperor's uncle standing far away. He said, "Please invite the emperor's uncle over and bring two more bowls of noodles."

"Here."

After the eunuch reported, Li Xiaogong strode forward with a smile and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian hurriedly helped him up and said, "Uncle, there's no need to be so polite."

Li Xiaogong said unhappily, "This old fox Changsun is already old, but I didn't expect his moves to be so despicable."

Seeing that there were several torn places on the emperor's uncle's clothes and some dust on his back, Li Chengqian helped to brush it off.

Seeing His Majesty like this, Li Xiaogong said again: "I will clean it up myself."

Li Chengqian stood aside with his hands in his pockets.

Li Xiaogong straightened his messy hair and beard, and then straightened his clothes. He looked up into the Wude Hall and said, "Is the old man asleep?"

"Ah."

The eunuch brought two bowls of noodles with clear soup and the bowls covered with mutton.

Li Xiaogong was eating with chopsticks in his hand and asked, "Old man, how are you?"

The emperor's uncle was still the same, wolfing down the noodles. Li Chengqian sat beside him, stirring the noodles with chopsticks first, mixing the noodles with the mutton.

The uncle and nephew ate in silence for a while.

Li Chengqian said, "The old man can't see or hear clearly, but his mind is still clear. I have been free recently and have been taking care of you these days. Don't worry, uncle."

"Mmmmmmm..."

Li Xiaogong nodded while eating noodles.

"Is the Imperial Uncle still accompanying Father on hunting trips these days?"

"Well, after autumn comes in Guanzhong, we will go hunting in Mount Li." Li Xiaogong finished the noodles in a few bites and put down his bowl and chopsticks happily.

Long before, when they were eating noodles in the East Palace, the uncle and the emperor's uncle disliked each other.

It was so then, and it is so now.

Li Chengqian finished the noodles in his bowl. In fact, he felt much more relaxed after ascending the throne, as he had capable ministers to handle many things.

The court was still busy, but he, the emperor, was not as busy as he was when he was the crown prince.

Li Xiaogong asked: "Is it possible to repair the Lishan Palace?"

"Did the Emperor ask Uncle to ask?"

Li Xiaogong grinned and did not deny it.

Li Chengqian clicked his tongue and said, "Uncle, please tell my father, I said that the Tang Dynasty would implement a frugal policy and it would continue for many years. Why did you let me go back on my word?"

Li Xiaogong nodded and said, "That's right. If we want to repair it, we should repair the palace in Luoyang first."

"I hope my father and uncle will understand my difficulties."

(End of this chapter)