The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 402: Lantern Festival for the Elders of Zhenguan
The twelfth month of the cold winter had just ended, and Li Chengqian was looking through the current Chang'an County Chronicles. Wannian County and Chang'an County were finally completed.

There are many markets in Chang'an City, and it is a very complicated task to divide the relationships between streets and markets.

Li Chengqian was peeling walnuts and looking at the model in front of him, very quietly.

Standing on one side were Duke of Zhao Zhangsun Wuji and Minister of Works Xu Xiaode.

This model is indeed very beautiful, with neatly arranged houses and well-proportioned layout. The entire Chang'an city looks square and very comfortable.

Changsun Wuji said: "Your Majesty, there are many streets divided between Wannian County and Chang'an County. Should we send more officials?"

Li Chengqian chewed a walnut, took another sip of tea and said, "Just do as my uncle says."

Zhang Sun Wuji submitted a memorial and said, "Wannian County and Chang'an County shall have ten new county lieutenants, four county magistrates, and six chief clerks each."

Li Chengqian took the file and looked at the names on it, all of whom were newly promoted officials who had passed the imperial examinations.

Seeing that His Majesty had put down the list again, Changsun Wuji said, "If Your Majesty feels it is inappropriate, I can take it to the Ministry of Personnel for further discussion."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I don't think it's inappropriate."

Changsun Wuji saluted again.

"I heard that there are more and more angry young people in Chang'an."

"Angry young man?"

"They are just some more radical young people." Li Chengqian explained casually.

"I have already explained to all the counties in Guanzhong and Chang'an that if any young students cause trouble again, they will be severely punished."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled and stopped looking at the list handed over by his uncle. When his father was still in power, it was an era of action. In fact, the Tang people are more open-minded now, and there are not many people as conservative as his uncle.

Nowadays, the Tang people would drink when they were happy or sad. Wine and the Tang people's joy, anger, sorrow and happiness were inseparable.

Under the inclusive customs of the Tang Dynasty, people's lifestyle is still very simple.

Lai Ji was right. The emperor is a role model. A frugal and not extravagant emperor needs to take the lead.

This could allow Chongwenguan to write more stories about the difficult journey of the Tang Dynasty, which might be of some help.

In the palace, His Majesty has not spoken for a while. His Majesty has been like this often recently. After falling into deep thought, he will not speak for a long time.

Changsun Wuji handed over another memorial and said, "Your Majesty, this is the plan for the prefectures and cities in recent years."

After handing over the memorial, Changsun Wuji observed the emperor's expression, worried that the emperor might feel that there were too many state affairs and would be annoyed.

But as an elder, state affairs must be presented to Your Majesty.

Li Chengqian took over the memorial from his uncle, and then talked about the current regional planning of the Tang Dynasty.

State affairs were tedious and complicated. After finishing a day's work, Li Chengqian personally escorted his uncle out of the new palace.

"State affairs are boring. After listening to so much from my uncle today, I am indeed a little tired." Li Chengqian stopped with his hands in his pockets and sighed.

Changsun Wuji bowed and saluted, as if to apologize.

Li Chengqian continued, "The rest of the state affairs will still require the help of my uncle. In fact, my hard work is nothing. In fact, my uncle and the court officials are working harder than me."

Xu Xiaode was moved by what he heard and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is wise."

The next day, there was still one day left before the Lantern Festival. Even if he became an emperor, he still had to go fishing.

Li Chengqian was accompanied by Lord Ying, and his daughter followed him with a fishing rod, and three hundred guards followed behind him.

If we count the people on guard around the area, there are probably a thousand people.

There is a new fishing platform ahead.

The emperor did not have many hobbies and was not interested in material things. Fishing was one of his rare hobbies.

When Li Chengqian led Xiao Que'er here, they saw a man in official uniform standing here and bowing.

When I got closer, I realized that the person paying his respects was Liu Rengui.

"Do you like fishing, too?"

"I have been fishing in my spare time recently. After the Lantern Festival, the court will be in session. After I finished my current work, I came here to fish. I have watched Your Majesty fishing for a long time and I have unknowingly started to like it. In fact, fishing is a very tempering thing, and I enjoy it."

I saw the little magpie had walked to the fishing platform and put down the fishing line.

Li Chengqian walked into the fishing platform, took a stool from the guard beside him, sat down and said, "The court is on holiday, you should also rest, there is no need to be so panicked."

Liu Rengui was still standing outside the fishing platform.

The sun was very warm at this moment. Li Chengqian put the fishing line into the river, feeling the warmth of the sun, and said with a smile: "Come fishing with me."

"Here."

After saying this, he also threw his fishing line into the river.

Liu Rengui was not pretentious and did not refuse.

The king and his minister sat together, while the little magpie beside them was eating snacks and looking into the distance with his big eyes blinking.

Liu Rengui: "Her Royal Highness's facial features are the same as His Majesty's."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Her face shape is like her mother's."

This young emperor gives people the feeling of being sunny and open-minded, without any gloomy air, and does not seem to have too much scheming.

Perhaps it is because Your Majesty had frequent contact with military generals in the court when he was young, which is why he appears so cheerful.

"Que'er, take good care of the fish. Daddy will grill some for you."

"I see." The child's voice was drawn out. He ate nuts, held the railing with both hands and looked at the river.

Liu Rengui felt a little disappointed when he saw how harmonious the relationship between His Majesty and his daughter was.

Li Chengqian asked: "Where are your children at home?"

Liu Rengui: "Studying in a book house is quite sensible."

The mutton skewers were sizzling and oozing with oil. Li Chengqian handed him a skewer and said, "Eat it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Liu Rengui took the skewers and started eating immediately.

On the other side of the river, you can see many villagers working. When they see the officers and soldiers here, they all salute.

Li Chengqian whispered, "My uncle talked to me about state affairs yesterday."

Liu Rengui replied, "Yesterday I also received an order from the Duke of Zhao to Jingzhao Prefecture to intensify the governance of Guanzhong."

"In fact, you don't have to believe everything you hear. The young people in Guanzhong are tough. We can't kill their tough nature. I like their style. The young people in the Tang Dynasty should be fearless."

Liu Rengui: "Then why didn't Your Majesty stop Duke Zhao?"

"Why should we stop him? This is my uncle's idea."

"Your Majesty respects your elders."

"But my uncle mentioned something else and I wanted to ask your opinion."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"The world is now divided into ten regions: Guannei, Henan, Hebei, Shannan, Longyou, Huainan, Jiangnan, Jiannan, and Lingnan. My uncle wants to increase the intensity of local supervision."

Liu Rengui was still eating mutton skewers. The Ten Provinces of the Central Plains were actually just a supervision unit in the court and a geographical unit. If the supervisory officials became government officials, it would be something that all dynasties would welcome. The greater the power of the local governor, the greater the threat to the center.

If Dao is actually just a local level, and is further divided into state and county levels, the subordinate relationship from top to bottom is concise and clear, but too general.

Seeing that Liu Rengui didn't say anything, it seemed that these things were not his forte, so he didn't express his opinion.

Even a serious person has limited abilities. These state affairs are not his forte and are beyond his capabilities.

Li Chengqian stopped talking to him and continued grilling the meat quietly.

Jingzhao Prefecture will be very busy next year. Guanzhong will be divided into four prefectures: Xianyang, Weinan, Tongchuan, and Chencang. Construction work... will not officially start until next year.

The villagers in Guanzhong seemed to have not yet realized that such a huge change was about to come, and they still lived their lives as usual.

As dusk approached, Li Chengqian brought his daughter back to the palace.

What made people happy was that they saw the good news when they returned to the palace.

Su Wan and Ning'er were calculating the accounts in the palace. Li Chengqian was sitting in front of the Liangyi Hall, looking at the victory report in his hand, which said that Wang Xuance's troops had captured the city of Lhasa and captured Qin Ling alive.

It was a bit surprising that to Wang Xuance, the Tibetans did not seem difficult to deal with.

According to the military report, Wang Xuance used a wise strategy to surround Qin Ling in the city of Lhasa, but it was the Lhasa herdsmen who captured Qin Ling alive and handed him over to the Tang army.

From New Year's Eve to the present, it took the Tang Dynasty only half a month of the first lunar month to pacify Tubo.

At this point, Tibet was pacified, and the next few years began with the Tang Dynasty's governance of Tibet.

The military report also mentioned Sambhota, who returned to the banks of the Zangbo River and devoted himself to writing books about Tibet.

Tubo will still have its own books and writing, but in the future there will also be books from the Tang Dynasty.

In external affairs, we naturally unite all forces that can be united. The people of Tubo are also the people of the Heavenly Khan, and the people of the Turks and the Western Regions are also the people of the Heavenly Khan.

The occasional rebellions in local areas were due to the people’s ignorance, and the Tang Dynasty would intervene to quell the rebellions and educate them.

This is the duty of being the Khan of Heaven.

The Tang Dynasty was able to accommodate everything.

The Heavenly Khan can also tolerate the people of the world.

Li Chengqian instructed the eunuch beside him: "Deliver this victory report to Songtsen Gampo."

"Yes." The eunuch was still a little hesitant. For Songtsen Gampo, this could not be considered good news.

But from your majesty's perspective, the Tang Dynasty's help to Tubo in quelling the rebellion can be considered good news for Songtsen Gampo.

The next day was the Lantern Festival in Chang'an.

Li Shimin did not go to Chang'an to celebrate the festival, but was walking in the fields with a few old guys.

Li Shimin, wearing a round-necked shirt and with a few strands of gray in his hair and beard, was walking along the Longshou Canal, looking at the scenery of Weibei.

Chai Shao sat in a wheelchair and let his son push him. He said, "Your Majesty has governed Guanzhong for many years. Now Guanzhong is not as depressed as it was in the past."

Fang Xuanling was also walking on one side. He was so old that he could not see the scenery in the distance clearly. He had to keep his eyes focused for a moment before the blurry scenery in front of him became clearer.

Yuchi Gong said: "Chang'an must be very lively now. I heard from the auxiliary machine that Chang'an is brightly lit tonight and people don't sleep at night."

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "The court officials still need to sleep. Tomorrow morning there will be an early court session."

After a few people smelled carefully, they realized that someone was cooking, and the aroma of the food drifted outside the village.

There is also the laughter of children in the night.

One child said, "My mother made me a new cotton-padded jacket."

The other children were comparing their new clothes to see whose was better looking.

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and asked, "How many meals a day do you eat now?"

The children were very curious about the kind old man in front of them, so they replied, "Two meals."

"Three meals in my house."

"Your family's third meal is just one pancake. If that counts... my family also has three meals."

A group of children started arguing.

Fang Xuanling walked into the village with a smile on his face. He sat down at the doorstep of a house with the help of his crutches, intending to take a rest.

Li Shimin took Yuchi Gong to the other end.

Chai Shao sat in a wheelchair, came to Fang Xuanling's side, and said: "You have taught a good disciple."

"Your Majesty has been kind-hearted since childhood."

Chai Shao sighed, "Can a person with a pure heart kill so many people?"

"Those who kill are not necessarily evil people. How can a kind person not kill people?"

Chai Shao smiled and said, "Is this also what you taught Your Majesty?"

"How can I teach Your Majesty so much? It's just that Your Majesty is a person who is good at learning. Whether it is politics or the ways of the world, Your Majesty has learned very quickly since he was young. Your Majesty is always clear-headed and will not be troubled by external things."

Chai Shao whispered: "People like this have too few friends."

Fang Xuanling smiled and nodded.

The woman of the family saw the two people sitting at the door, wiped her apron with one hand and walked out of the house, asking: "Two old men, what are you doing at my door?"

Fang Xuanling said, "I am tired from walking. Come over here and rest."

Chai Shao also smiled with guilt on his face.

The woman saw a kind old man with white hair and a cool middle-aged man. The middle-aged man had a head full of white hair and looked weak, as if he lacked energy.

But he looked particularly good-looking. When the woman saw such a good-looking man with a melancholy temperament, she smiled happily for a moment.

The woman asked, "Are you two hungry?"

Chai Shao waved his hand.

The woman continued, "We don't usually have many guests at home. Please come and have a meal, my two distinguished guests."

Chai Shao still shook his head and refused.

The woman knew from looking at the clothes the two men were wearing that they must be from a wealthy family in Chang'an City. Although the newly bought aprons could cover the stains, her own clothes made her lose her former confidence, and she just smiled and walked into the house.

Fang Xuanling asked, "How are you doing now?"

The woman stopped walking and replied with a smile, "In the past, the village head had the final say on what was going on in the village. This head...didn't take care of things on weekdays, but would trouble us when something happened. We were bullied by the old head of the village a lot. Now it's better, the government is in charge now."

"The old village heads have all been replaced." The woman smiled again as she spoke. "It's funny, the current village head is worried that we are dissatisfied with him, and is also worried that we will go to Chang'an to file a complaint, and comes to ask about our situation. Hahaha... Who would be an official like this?"

The woman said this jokingly and waited for their response.

Chai Shao nodded and said, "This is what is happening in the court. The focus of Jingzhao Prefecture has changed, and the power of supervision has become even greater. The Censorate now has more than 600 censors, which is unprecedented in history."

Hearing the other party's extraordinary conversation, the woman became even more respectful. She stood at the door, not knowing whether to go in or stay where she was, for fear of being impolite. These two people were probably not wealthy people from Chang'an, but most likely officials.

Fang Xuanling said, "Last year, a group of people trampled on a melon field. Liu Rengui and his gang arrested them overnight and stripped them of their honors and sent them to hard labor. Some people said that the Jingzhao government was too harsh."

Chai Shao said: "It's not that Jingzhao Prefecture is too strict, but that the counties were too lenient in the past. In the early years of Zhenguan, everything was very dilapidated, and sometimes there were people from the gentry in the counties and villages. At that time, in order to stabilize people's hearts, the court gave up power if possible. Now the situation is different."

(End of this chapter)