The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 436 Veteran
The fifty-three-year-old Cheng Yaojin once again put on armor, mounted his horse, holding the lance in one hand, and the warhorse neighed. At this moment he returned to his youth.

Yuchi Gong looked at his former comrades on the battlefield and raised his head and said, "Zhijie is still able to ride a horse on the battlefield. I am really old."

Cheng Yaojin pulled the reins of the horse and said loudly: "After I have cleared the Congling Mountains, I will come back and drink with my old brothers."

Yuchi Gong's eyes were moist and he nodded continuously.

"Gee!" Cheng Yaojin roared with full confidence, and his warhorse raised its hooves and galloped off into the distance.

Li Shimin stared at the receding figure for a long time, unable to look away, and said, "When we attacked Wang Shichong, Zhijie was also so elegant."

Yuchi Gong nodded and said, "The grandeur of the past is still there today."

Li Shimin laughed out loud and said, "Of course, Zhijie will surely win a great victory this time."

After the summer harvest, when the first batch of grain was ripe and dried, the court began to harvest the grain.

Along the official roads in every county, there were officials loading grain.

At the edge of the field, Li Shimin, Yuchi Gong and Niu Jinda were playing cards, and from time to time they looked at the grain trading situation, until they saw with their own eyes the officials handing bags of copper coins to the farmers, and then they withdrew their gazes with relief.

Niu Jinda asked in confusion: "Why is there someone in the court collecting grain? Why are there so few grain merchants collecting grain?"

Yuchi Gong played a card and said, "With so much grain stored in the court, grain merchants will no longer be able to control grain prices."

"That's right. When we were at war, one tael of silver couldn't even buy a bushel of rice."

Yuchi Gong added: "Besides, the court does not collect market taxes for this kind of business."

Listening to their discussion, Li Shimin suddenly sighed.

This sigh made Yuchi Gong and Niu Jinda frown immediately, wondering what unhappy thing they were talking about?
Then he concentrated on playing cards and stopped talking.

The large-scale grain collection increased the burden on the court and also led to the widespread establishment of education.

Today's court expenditures are dozens of times that of the Zhenguan period. It is no wonder that the court has always maintained a frugal style.

Li Shimin whispered, "This kid Cheng Qian has set his eyes on their gold."

Niu Jinda lowered his voice and asked, "Whose gold is this?"

"West of the Pamir Mountains."

Yuchi Gong also lowered his voice and said, "I heard that the Japanese sent more than a dozen carts of silver ore this year."

Niu Jinda straightened his back slightly, took a deep breath, and said, "How much money should this be?"

Li Shimin lost the cards in his hand and had no intention of continuing to play. His son was now too rich, so rich that it was enviable.

In the imperial palace, beside the Taiye Lake, little Que'er was picking out pieces of silver ore. She held a piece in her little hand and examined its shape carefully.

The eunuch came carrying a box and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, this is a freshly fired silver ingot."

Li Chengqian picked up a rectangular silver brick, held it in his hand and looked at it carefully, then picked up a magnifying glass from the side and looked at the patterns carefully. The words "Qianqing" were engraved on it.

The characters are very small and can only be recognized with a magnifying glass. These are molds made by Yan Liben using extremely superb craftsmanship, and these silver bricks are marked in this way.

I saw my daughter picked out a small piece of silver ore and was playing with it.

Li Chengqian checked a few of them and found that the marks were all in the middle. He said, "These silver bricks are used for the sale of large quantities of goods in the court."

"Here."

In fact, this is of little use. It is mainly used as a mark to indicate that this is a silver brick sent out from the court. Once it reaches the market and flows to various places, the mark is no longer of much use.

Li Chengqian ordered: "Order the Taifu Temple to bake them and store them in the same style."

The eunuch responded and gave orders.

Food is still very cheap in all parts of the Central Plains, and labor is also very cheap. The more silver the court has, the greater its say.

In his spare time, Li Chengqian played chess with his daughter, and the eunuchs handed him memorials.

"Your Majesty, this is the memorial from Li Yifu, the Inspector General of Jiangnan."

Li Chengqian ate grapes and said, "Put it aside."

Little Magpie also ate a grape and moved the chess piece. She sat on the bench, looking at the chessboard with a serious expression.

Li Chengqian jumped his horse forward and said, "General."

Xiao Que'er said with a bitter face: "I lost again."

Li Chengqian waved the fan in his hand and said, "You have made great progress. There is no need to feel frustrated."

"My brother has never lost a game of chess." Qinghe came over with a bowl of biscuits and said, "These are freshly made biscuits."

The little magpie picked up the still hot biscuit, put it in his mouth, chewing it, squinting his eyes as he enjoyed it.

Seeing that Aunt Qinghe was still looking at him, Xiao Queer said, "It's delicious."

Qinghe stroked her long hair lovingly and said, "These are all for you to eat. Auntie will make some more."

"Yes!" She nodded heavily and added, "Daddy eats too."

Li Chengqian picked up a biscuit made of wheat and rice grains, ate it carelessly and said, "Now we have another way to consume food."

Xiao Que'er was still chewing when he asked, "Can I make a lot of money?"

"Don't underestimate people's creativity. After biscuits appeared, all kinds of biscuits appeared in the world, and food consumption increased. However, materials are still scarce now, and most of them can only be similar to pastries."

Little Magpie pondered over his father's words.

Li Chengqian continued, "It can't be generalized. If the Tibetans make biscuits, they might add highland barley. If the Western Regions make biscuits, they might add walnuts. If the Indians make biscuits, it will look completely different. It's just another form of food."

Seeing that her daughter still didn't understand, she added: "Don't underestimate this cookie. It means a lot."

Little Magpie only knows that there is more food than can be eaten at home.

Li Chengqian left Taiye Lake again and returned to Liangyi Hall. Su Wan and Ning'er were calculating the household accounts.

"Your Majesty, there is too much mineral salt in Qinghai, and the price of salt in Guanzhong is too cheap."

Li Chengqian asked again: "How much is a bushel of salt?"

Su Wan held up the account and said, "Twenty coins a bushel of salt. If this continues, the Shuzhong Salt Field given by Duke Xu will not be able to afford to hire anyone."

"It's just an increase in consumption, it's not a big deal."

Ning'er pulled Su Wan aside with a smile.

Su Wan whispered, “Nothing is a big deal to your majesty.”

"Well, your majesty is always like this." The scorching summer in Guanzhong had just faded a lot, and Jingzhao Prefecture finally released the envoys from the Arabs and Persians because they had signed their names on their crimes and used all their gold coins to redeem them.

Originally, those who were beaten to death were envoys from both sides, so the court could only hastily close the case. Anyway, neither side would pursue the murder, and the dead were their own people.

After this detention, the envoys of the two countries became well-behaved and did not dare to cause trouble. The two sides did not dare to fight each other while living in the post house. They were respectful to the Tang officials and even took the initiative to help clean the streets. They were truly good residents of Chang'an.

After the autumn harvest, the palace arranged to hold a garden party at Qujiang Lake. This time the scale of the party was very large, and even the emperor retired and Empress Dowager Zhangsun attended the banquet.

There are rows of lanterns hanging by the Qujiang Lake. From dusk to night, the lights illuminate the Qujiang Lake, and the water is also glowing red.

Li Chengqian arrived at Qujiang Lake first, sat on the high platform, and drank tea alone.

Su Tan came with a scroll and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty."

Seeing that the old man's beard had turned a little gray, Li Chengqian personally made tea and asked him to sit down, saying, "These are biscuits, made in the palace. Try them."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Su Tan picked up a biscuit, took a bite and ate it.

"Every family visiting the garden today can get a box of cookies. Think of it as a reward. It's not expensive food, so I don't think anyone will refuse it. Think of it as a way to celebrate this year's good harvest."

Su Tan chewed the biscuits and gradually smiled, "Your Majesty wants to make biscuits a popular delicacy."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Food always needs to be consumed. Food stored for more than three years is old food. Various places are still collecting food and transporting it to Guanzhong and Luoyang. While storing it, there must also be ways to consume it."

"Your Majesty, I think this thing may be easier to transport than grain, and can also be used as fodder for the march."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Then we need to make cookies of various flavors."

Su Tan felt more and more that his majesty was a very remarkable person. Whether it was the idea of ​​the Tianshan War Reserve Zone or this biscuit, they were often ways to kill two birds with one stone.

Su Tan ate five pieces and found the biscuits more and more delicious. People had another business opportunity.

Li Chengqian said, "I don't know if anyone is already making biscuits, but at least it can be sold on a large scale, giving people an extra food to eat, which is also a good thing."

"Your Majesty, if more goods are bought and sold, the city tax will also be higher."

Li Chengqian looked at the people walking around Qujiang Lake below. The subjects of the Tang Dynasty were still peaceful and leisurely.

After watching for a long time, when the night completely enveloped the world, calls were heard all around and everyone bowed down together.

Su Tan also bowed and saluted, and then when he saw everyone standing up, he sat down on the balcony again and whispered, "Your Majesty, nowadays, more and more imperial examinations and famous officials are joining forces to fight against the teaching support."

Li Chengqian held the teacup and asked, "How many people are there?"

"As far as I know, there are tens of thousands of people here, most of them gathered in Bozhou, and many of them are people who failed the imperial examinations. They are full of grievances and were quickly won over by the celebrities. I have been persuading the teachers who are teaching here not to cause trouble, but they are getting more and more aggressive now."

While celebrating the harvest, some people would occasionally look up at the night sky.

"Your Majesty, people are now looking forward to the reappearance of that peaceful night sky phenomenon."

Fireworks appeared once in Chang'an, and never appeared again. That was the New Year when my father abdicated. Li Chengqian said, "Anomalies don't appear every day. Uncle, please sit down."

As soon as Changsun Wuji sat down, a eunuch handed him a box of biscuits.

"This is a gift from the palace. Everyone has one. I hope uncle won't refuse it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian leaned back against the chair, relaxed his body, and said, "Since my uncle retired, his complexion has improved a lot."

Changsun Wuji nodded, "I'm old too, I can't tell if I look good or not."

Hearing this, Su Tan smiled and said, "It is rumored that the Duke of Zhao and the Emperor often rode their horses in the mountains and forests. They were friends in the past, but now the monarch and his subject are still as close as ever. This is truly a great story in the world."

Changsun Wuji suddenly smiled and said, "Many of the old friends from that time are gone now. It would be nice if they were still here."

It's such a good harvest season, but I always feel uncomfortable when I hear these things that spoil the mood.

Li Chengqian added: "There is something I want my uncle to help me think about recently."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"The court officials advised that Luoyang is located in the center of the Central Plains and is a major thoroughfare for the transportation of goods and people. There is also a canal that can go south and north to Liaodong. Throughout the dynasties, many emperors have set up their capitals in Luoyang."

"Some people hope that I will move the capital to Luoyang." Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets, frowned and said, "I'm still considering it."

Chang Sun Wuji said: "The Luoyang Palace has been in disrepair for a long time."

Su Tan took over and said, "If we want to move to Luoyang and build a palace, we need to conscript labor."

Li Chengqian said dejectedly: "Let alone Guanzhong, the workshops are almost exhausted. As early as two years ago, there were no laborers in the counties."

"I think it is better to wait until the population is sufficient and then make plans for the future."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Uncle, that's a good idea."

After realizing His Majesty's intention, Changsun Wuji said, "I will ask Chu Suiliang to inform the students in the court."

Li Chengqian made tea for his uncle again.

Outside the Qujiang Lake, there were still quite a few people walking around, and merchants were coming and going. With Qujiang Lake as the center, the population was dense, and it was not until Zhuque Street that the crowd seemed a little sparse.

The curfew in Chang'an City was lifted, children were walking in groups of three or five, and scholars were talking and discussing.

Until late at night, Qujiang Lake was still bustling with activity, with some people even dancing happily by the lake.

After everyone was celebrating, Li Chengqian left and took his family back to the palace. He ordered, "Have someone look after Father tonight so that he can enjoy himself."

"Here."

The night passed in celebration.

At the morning court session the next day, court officials again discussed the issue of moving the capital. As expected, this matter was stopped by officials headed by Chu Suiliang. The two sides were deadlocked. Some people said that taxes and tributes should be collected from all directions, and the country should be treated equally with wind and rain.

Moving the capital is for the benefit of all nations, for the Tang Dynasty, and for the people.

Even if there are still some people who are not citizens of the Tang Dynasty now, what if in the future?
Who knows? It’s not impossible to mention the Ten Thousand Nations in advance.

If both sides change their positions and make concessions, building two capitals will not be a problem considering the current wealth of the court.

This was certainly not a problem, but Yu Zhining stood up again to oppose it.

The price of labor today has tripled compared to the Zhenguan period, but it is still relatively cheap, so the court must divide the market taxes, reduce the taxes on working people, and increase the taxes on workshop owners.

These matters have always been arranged by Yu Zhining, who is now in charge of the court's purse.

Li Chengqian listened to the argument of the crowd, while General Niu Jinda and Xue Wanche on the side of the military generals, these old generals were already drowsy, each of them had their eyes closed and staggered.

(End of this chapter)