The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 404: Tang and Tibetan Army
Jingzhao Prefecture once again decentralized power to the counties, giving them the power to decide on production and operations. It also promoted the positions of the three officials and six supervisors in each county, so that even the lowest-ranking ninth-rank official could be given the same treatment as an eighth-rank official.

Liu Rengui began a long meeting with the county magistrates in Xianyang County.

In Chang'an City, pedestrians walking on the streets could often see officials running back and forth. After the morning court ended, the whole Chang'an suddenly became busy.

The first year of Qianqing was a relatively relaxing year. However, in the second year of Qianqing, the intensity of work in the court suddenly increased, and everyone's nerves became much more tense at this time.

Inside the Ministry of Rites, Xu Jingzong listened to a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites arguing about how to arrange matters concerning Tubo in the future.

His Majesty also gave instructions that in governing various parts of Tubo, we should first divide the regions, then provide targeted assistance, and rotate them regularly.

The officials and teachers sent to Tubo also entered the Tubo territory in groups to teach the Tubo herdsmen.

After the rebel army led by Qin Ling was captured, Wang Xuance led the Tang army into Lhasa City, captured many Tibetan nobles who supported Qin Ling, and also took over the pasture.

Wang Xuance even sent endless beef jerky to the court.

After the Tibetan areas were pacified, many herdsmen who had migrated to Qinghai returned home.

"The so-called benchmarking governance is to adapt to local conditions..."

Xu Jingzong had a headache looking at the article in his hand. This article was written by His Majesty and Princess Changle of Beiyuan.

It is a headache to read the various discussions therein, including the formation of new Tibetan citizens, the implementation of the county system, and the collection of taxes.

Xu Jingzong felt that these simple sentences could be used to write several thick volumes.

"I'm afraid that if you keep arguing like this, there will be no result by next year."

The officials in the government office stopped talking. In the end, it was because the emperor's demands were too high and the ministers' abilities were too weak.

As a subject of the emperor, you naturally cannot retreat, unless you retire.

This shows how complicated and difficult these things are.

Xu Jingzong looked at everyone and said, "Do you have anyone to help with these matters? I heard that there is a very knowledgeable kid in Hongwenguan, named Pei..."

"Pei Yan," an official said, "This man is fifteen years old this year, and is not yet old enough to take the imperial examination."

Xu Jingzong ordered: "Let him come to the Ministry of Rites to look at the government orders. Don't worry about age. There is no need to be too restrictive in employing people in the court. Those who are capable should be employed as much as possible."

Everyone agreed when they heard this.

Xu Jingzong walked out of the Ministry of Rites with a lot on his mind. He suddenly thought that he hadn't seen Prince Jin and Prince Ji, as well as that kid Di Renjie, for a long time.

In the past, the three of them often went around Jingzhao Prefecture. Now they should still be in Luoyang. I don’t know how these three guys are doing in Luoyang. I miss them inexplicably.

As he walked, Xu Jingzong arrived at the Ministry of Justice.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Di Zhixun, was busy formulating tax-related penalties. When he saw the newcomer, he was a little surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"

The two had a good relationship, so Xu Jingzong sat down in the Ministry of Justice without hesitation and asked, "How long has your son been in Luoyang? Why don't you ask?"

Di Zhixun replied: "That boy has been smart since he was young. I don't need to worry about him. He will live well."

"is it?"

Di Zhixun paused for a moment, and suddenly he remembered something, saying, "Renjie also wrote me a letter, asking me not to spend money recklessly. If I starve to death as a minister in the court, I will be laughed at."

Xu Jingzong suppressed his laughter and said nothing.

It was not wrong for Di Renjie to say so. Di Zhixun was an honest and decent man, but a little silly. Because of his pragmatic approach and the fact that he solved the beef case of General Cheng, he was valued by the Minister of Justice Liu Dewei and now serves as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

It's funny to say that no one cared about the Cheng family's case back then, and Cheng Yaojin's beef was often sent to the palace, but this case was solved by Di Zhixun.

After that, everyone in the court felt that Di Zhixun would definitely be harassed by General Cheng Yaojin.

No one expected that Dickson solved a case that others dared not solve.

But Di Zhixun was noticed by Liu Dewei because of this incident, and was taken care of by Liu Dewei afterwards.

Cheng Yaojin did not dare to offend Liu Dewei, a righteous man, and the feud ended without any resolution.

It was precisely because Di Zhixun did not know how to take care of others on a daily basis that Di Renjie had been sensible since he was a child, and he was the one who took care of Di Zhixun all the way to Chang'an.

Renjie has to bear the burden of the family at a young age and also has to consider his father. This child is truly rare.

Seeing Di Zhixun delivering the letter, Xu Jingzong took the letter, opened it and read Di Renjie's words. It would be great if the three boys in Luoyang could send letters to me.

Xu Jingzong thought so in his heart and looked at the contents of the letter from home.

The letter talked about some things that the three of them encountered in Luoyang. It saw that the three boys were living very happily in Luoyang, but the palace had been cutting their expenses, forcing the three boys to live frugally. King Wu Li Ke had a chief historian named Quan Wanji.

King Wu Li Ke asked Quan Wanji to teach and discipline King Jin and King Ji.

The three boys wanted to play, eat and drink, and they spent the whole day fighting wits and courage with Quan Wanji. There was also Zhang Jianzhi who always failed to cover himself and was captured by Quan Wanji again.

In the end, it was Zhang Jianzhi who got beaten.

He was taken care of by King Wu Li Ke and Luoyang Governor Gao Ji Fu.

Prince Jin, Prince Ji, and Di Renjie should be able to live well in Luoyang.

Apart from stricter discipline, after all, it is His Majesty's will, so King Wu, Gao Ji Fu, and Quan Wanji have the right to punish King Jin and King Ji.

No matter what, the children of Prince Jin and Prince Ji were raised in the Eastern Palace. To be more precise, the children of the Eastern Palace were raised by their royal brother.

Life is not great, but it is enjoyable.

Xu Jingzong left the family letter at the Ministry of Justice and left with a smile on his face.

Di Zhixun noticed the look on Xu Shangshu's face when he left, and saw the eunuch walking quickly towards him, so he asked, "Does your majesty have any instructions?"

The eunuch said, "Your Majesty has summoned Minister Di."

Di Zhixun straightened his court robes, took his memorial, and quickly followed the eunuch out.

After the officials from the Ministry of Justice met with His Majesty, the family letters from Prince Jin and Prince Ji that were sent to the palace were also delivered to Xu Jingzong's home.

After a busy day of government affairs, Xu Jingzong was very confused when he saw several letters from home.

The lady who was cleaning up at home said, "This was sent from the palace. His Majesty said that you also taught Prince Jin and Prince Ji, so it's time for you to see it."

Xu Jingzong looked at the family letters, the letters from Prince Jin and Prince Ji, with a smile on his face.

After a busy day, the evening sun hangs in the west.

After getting away from state affairs for the day, Li Chengqian had time to sit by the Taiye Lake and drink tea.

Li Shimin came with a bowl of medicine soup, sat down and said: "I have caught a cold, this is the medicine Dongyang made for me."

Li Chengqian held the cup in his hand and said, "I have also been suffering from internal heat recently, and I also got the tea prepared by Dongyang." Looking at his son's cup, Li Shimin raised his eyes and asked, "What is the use of this tea?"

"Remove heat and calm the mind."

Li Shimin looked at the black soup in the bowl in front of him and didn't know how to drink it.

After spending a night outdoors, my father finally caught a cold.

"I am over fifty and no longer the same as I was when I was young."

Li Chengqian handed the tea to his father and said, "Try it."

Li Shimin took his son's tea and tasted it, saying, "It's a bit bitter."

Li Chengqian said, "The dried tangerine peels that are dried in the palace are always so astringent. I don't know why. It may be because of the fruits from Lingnan. From now on, I will have people pick some fruits from various places to compare and see which fruits are better."

Li Shimin finished the tea in his son's cup, looked at the medicine in his own bowl, and said, "You try it too... that's all."

Then he drank the medicine in his bowl in one gulp.

Li Chengqian looked at his son and daughter. They were each sitting on the back of a deer, and the brother and sister were talking.

Li Shimin tightened his clothes and looked at the sunset in the sky. "I should congratulate you. You have conquered Tubo."

Li Chengqian said: "It's not a very clever trick. I'm planning to go see Songtsen Gampo."

"You want to see him again?"

"Yes, Songtsen Gampo still has great appeal in Tubo. His words are needed to appease the Tubo people. He is very useful to me, your son."

Li Shimin laughed and said, "Will Songtsen Gampo still let you control him now?"

Li Chengqian looked at the tea in the cup and whispered, "He has no choice."

"Cheng Qian..."

"My son is here."

Li Shimin said: "Don't be too concerned about benefits in everything."

Li Chengqian whispered, "Your son will remember your father's teachings."

The second year of Qianqing began in a busy manner. Li Chengqian looked at his grandfather who was drinking honey water with a smile. He was the first emperor of Li Tang and was also living like an ancestor, an ancestor living in the world, and he was eighty-three years old.

If the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty could become a centenarian, it would be a good story for the Tang Dynasty.

Ning Er saw a palace maid coming with two files, so she quickly stopped her and said, "Send them to Liangyi Palace."

The maid nodded and turned back.

After nightfall, Li Chengqian returned to Liangyi Hall and saw the file.

This volume was written by Chu Suiliang, the Minister of Revenue, and describes the Grand Canal.

Yang Guang repaired the Grand Canal, connecting Zhuozhou to Luoyang and going south to Yangzhou. The current Tang Dynasty uses the Grand Canal repaired by Yang Guang to transport grain and fodder from all over Hebei to Luoyang. Last year alone, 7 million shi of grain and fodder were transported to Luoyang.

Judging from the records compiled by Li Tai's Literary Institute, this Grand Canal can save a lot of transportation capacity and is of great help to centralization.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and even the Han Dynasty, there were no canals and the governance of various places was mostly based on land transportation. This also led to the confrontation between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. According to some other correlations, the Three Kingdoms period in the Eastern Han Dynasty was also related to the lack of canal transportation at that time.

Now that the canal has been built, transportation by water is possible from top to bottom and from west to east.

Yang Guang went to Yangzhou several times in those days. Each trip was carried out with great fanfare. He brought with him 200,000 soldiers and horses each time. Wherever he went, he would empty the place out.

Today's Tang Dynasty still needs this canal. It needs the canal to transport food and goods. Even goods from Guanzhong are transported all the way to the south of the Yangtze River through the canal after leaving Tongguan.

Hebei is the food source for Luoyang, Guanzhong has two granaries, Songzhou and Hexi Corridor, and even the Western Regions have begun to grow grain.

From a geographical point of view, Luoyang and Chang'an are the center of Central Plains, absorbing resources from all over the Central Plains.

Li Chengqian wrote an edict, asking Chu Suiliang to go to Luoyang and build a granary in Luoyang to store grain. The storage should be enough food for one million people a year. This was necessary whether for war or for preventing natural disasters.

In the second year of the Qianqing reign, in March of the early spring, after his father recovered from his cold, he, his mother and his grandson left the palace.

Li Chengqian once again made an appointment with Songtsen Gampo to travel around Guanzhong, as if it were a spring outing.

Lai Ji followed behind and recorded the emperor's conversation with Songtsen Gampo during this trip.

This time, the kings of the two places discussed the subsequent governance.

Both Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan agreed to allow Tang officials to enter Tibet and govern local affairs.

With Songtsen Gampo's promise and after he and the Khan jointly wrote the letter of credence, the relations between the two countries reached an unprecedented level of friendship.

At this point, the Tang people could legitimately take over the governance of various parts of Tibet, and the Tibetan king no longer collected tributes from Tibetan herdsmen, but instead paid taxes to the Tang Dynasty.

Lai Ji listened to the conversation between His Majesty and Songtsen Gampo, and ordered the Tang general Wang Xuance to lead the army and order the warriors from all over Tubo to cooperate in the joint mission to India.

This said that five thousand Tang and Tibetan soldiers were sent on a diplomatic mission to India.

Li Chengqian looked at the villagers working in the fields and said to them, "It would be great if all Tibetans could speak the language of the Tang people in the future."

Songtsen Gampo asked: "Will there be any difference between Tibetans and Tang people in the future?"

“The Tibetan language will always exist.”

This was the promise made by Tian Khan to the Tubo Zamp.

Li Chengqian walked along and said, "In fact, India is a very rich place. I heard Xuanzang say that it is a country where God gives food to the people. They have a lot of food and a warm climate. I am very curious, why did you prefer to go east to the Tang Dynasty instead of going south to attack India?"

Songtsen Gampo stated another fact, which was Nepal. The road from Tubo to India was not easy to travel, and Nepal controlled the important roads, making it unsuitable for a large army to pass.

And when attacking Songzhou, they even united with the tribes south of Songzhou to attack Songzhou together.

But that battle was lost too quickly, so we had to give up.

Lu Dongzan understood Zamp’s intention. Since Zamp came to the Tang Dynasty, he saw the prosperity of Guanzhong under the rule of the Heavenly Khan after he ascended the throne.

The Zamp's long-standing self-confidence was shattered, and he began to admire the current Tian Khan.

The Zamp was about the same age as the Heavenly Khan, but the difference in their vision and ability was immediately apparent.

Li Chengqian said: "If Tianzhu can become the granary of Tubo, then the people of Tubo will no longer have to endure hunger and cold."

Songtsen Gampo said: "Many years ago, I always hoped that the gods on the snow mountain could come down to visit the human world, but the snow mountain never responded to me. But if Tubo can be better and as prosperous as Guanzhong, the gods on the snow mountain will come down to visit the human world."

(End of this chapter)