The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 437: Tianzhu's Gift

In fact, this kind of argument is very boring. If everyone can solve the problem by fighting, it can stretch their muscles and be fun to watch.

Li Chengqian listened to the arguments of his ministers and looked casually at the scenery outside the Taiji Hall. For a moment, he actually felt sleepy.

Sometimes I understand my father, who often adjourns court because the court officials always argue over necessary or unnecessary things.

Until someone yawned, interrupting everyone's argument.

The Secretariat and the six ministries were all looking for who was yawning.

At this point, Li Chengqian stood up and said, "Let's adjourn the court. The Secretariat will draft the regulations for the remaining matters and submit them."

The ministers bowed and then began to argue again.

The farther I walked, the farther the sound became, until I could no longer hear it, and that made me feel much more comfortable.

After yesterday's garden tour, biscuit-like food appeared in Chang'an City.

Compared with the biscuits made in the palace, the biscuits sold in the market are thicker and not as crispy because they are all baked.

It is definitely a good thing that Tang people have a new snack.

Biscuits can be made into various flavors. Once this trend is opened, people's consumption of food will increase several times.

There is no need to worry about selling the grain collected by the court.

Most grain merchants from all over the Central Plains will probably regret this.

What can be good about that?

The grain merchants wanted to fight against the court, but they didn't know that there was an emperor in the palace who could create demand for the people.

Li Chengqian was eating the biscuits that the eunuch bought from outside. These should not be called biscuits, but should be called a kind of crisp, with a very dry taste.

The other kind cannot be called a biscuit. It should be something similar to bread. Once it is made, no one wants to eat it. People prefer exquisite biscuits or meat buns.

Li Chengqian instructed the palace maid beside him: "We should eat more fruits at this time of year."

The maid understood and bowed, saying, "Go and tell Liangyi Palace right away."

Looking through the recent memorials and letters sent by the Zongzheng Temple, Li Chengqian saw that they were all about the unnecessary worries of a group of old uncles.

For example, the three uncles Li Yuanchang, Li Yuanyu and Li Yuanli were still thinking about putting women into the emperor's palace.

Li Chengqian put down the letters. These old uncles all hoped that the emperor's nephew's life would be rich and colorful. They even listed many beauties and sent them portraits.

Looking at them one after another, the portraits of these beauties are indeed good, and each one is very dignified.

"This is the nth batch of portraits sent by Zongzheng Temple?"

The eunuch said, "Your Majesty, this is the fifth time."

Li Chengqian frowned and looked at her, then said, "My uncles are really good at choosing women."

The old eunuch Yang asked, "Should we inform the Zongzheng Temple?"

"Well, don't send these here in the future, and don't force them to marry into the palace."

"Here."

Every word the emperor said was an order, so people had to be careful in what they said and did, and therefore he did not force women to marry into the palace.

After the news spread to the court and the public, women began to write articles announcing their intention to marry into the Eastern Palace.

Three days after hearing about this, Li Chengqian met with Li Chongyi.

The relationship between the two was pretty good. Li Chongyi said with a guilty look on his face: "Your Majesty, it was my fault that I failed to control the mouths of the idle people below."

"Actually, I'm doing pretty well. It's just that those uncles are too worried."

"I understand."

Li Chengqian then asked, "Who have you been hanging out with recently?"

Li Chongyi thought for a moment, then bowed and said, "Several brothers from the Cheng family, and Li Daoyan and the others."

"Everything is fine?"

"Your Majesty, I really didn't mean it..."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "I understand. How is Uncle Hejian's health these days?"

"My father is still the same, except that his legs and feet are not very good. He is old. I heard that he played cards with the emperor again today and has not returned home yet. I am afraid my mother is angry."

"Ever since Master's wife set a good example, the women in Guanzhong have become more and more fierce than each other."

Li Chongyi nodded in agreement. The wife of Lord Liang Fang Xuanling, also known as Lady Liang, was truly a heroine.

Now, they all want to be a heroine.

In other words, this might have been the lead taken by Princess Pingyang back then.

"Why? Is your wife just as tough?"

Li Chongyi said with a somewhat sad look: "Yes, I have another son named Li Shangqiu. Actually, our families... Your Majesty's family affairs are still peaceful."

Li Chengqian picked up the tea bowl thoughtfully and said, "I didn't expect you to have this kind of trouble."

"Your Majesty, do you know Cheng Chumo?"

"What happened to him?"

Li Chongyi lowered his voice and said, "Cheng Chumo married Li Jingheng's sister."

"I know."

"Last month, I heard that she traveled thousands of miles to the Western Regions, and when she arrived at the Anxi Protectorate, she beat up Cheng Chumo."

Li Chengqian slowly put down the teacup in his hand.

Although the voice was very low, the eunuch beside him pricked up his ears and heard it clearly.

Li Chongyi's palm fell heavily on his knees and said, "Brother Chumo is really miserable. Why did he mess with Hu Ji when there are so many people he could mess with."

Li Chengqian suddenly smiled.

The two cousins ​​sat together and talked about gossip about many of their peers in Chang'an City. For example, Shangguan Tingzhi fell in love with a girl from a certain family, but his wife was pregnant and refused to let him take another wife. He sent people to guard the door of his house every day and drove away any woman who came.

Not to mention Wei Shuyu, Li Dejian, Li Fengjie and others, they were all over 30 years old and at this age, their lives were not going well.

"Your Majesty! General Zhang Shigui has set out." The eunuch handed over the list and said, "This is the list of accompanying generals submitted by Lord Ying."

Li Chengqian took the list and looked at the names. Xue Rengui was also on the list for this expedition.

Liu Renyuan, Wang Xuandu and others are still guarding Liaodong.

This time, many generals went to the Western Regions to build war preparedness, not to mention the Flying Tigers, there were also Liang Jianfang, General Cheng Yaojin, General Zhang Shigui, Xue Rengui, and Pei Xingjian.

There are also Pei Yan, Li Zhi, Li Shen, Di Renjie...

Li Chongyi said: "Your Majesty, I want to ask if the Western Regions are really going to go to war again?"

"There is a very good city in the heart of the Pamir Mountains, called Talas." "It seems that the Arabs are getting closer and closer."

Li Chengqian looked straight ahead and remained silent.

"Your Majesty!" Another eunuch came in a hurry to report. He looked flustered and sweating profusely. "Your Majesty! The Queen of India has presented five thousand carts of grain."

Hearing this, Li Chongyi was obviously shocked and for a moment thought he had heard it wrong.

Li Chengqian hesitated and asked, "Five thousand cars?"

The eunuch handed over a roll of cowhide and handed it over with both hands, "Your Majesty, this is the letter from the Queen of India."

Li Chengqian took the heavy cowhide scroll and asked, "Is this Indian Queen Wang Xuance's wife?"

At the beginning, Wang Xuance skillfully used the herd of cattle to defeat Alonashun's herd of war elephants. Tens of thousands of war elephants were no match for the herd of cattle, and Alonashun still died on the way to Chang'an.

Whether Alexander really existed remains to be verified. If he really existed, the Indians, whom Alexander failed to defeat, were defeated by Wang Xuance, and that was with borrowed troops.

Li Chongyi nodded slightly and said, "This man is truly a lucky general for the Tang Dynasty."

After untying the rope tied to the cowhide scroll, what came into view was a piece of Central Plains characters. The Queen of India did not write in Sanskrit but in Central Plains characters.

Looking at the contents of the letter, it said that she and Wang Xuance now had a son and they lived in harmony, and that next year she would ask the King of East India, the King of West India, and the King of South India to present gifts.

In the letter, the Queen of India expressed her concerns about the Arabs, a very large group of enemies who were still attacking cities. According to information obtained by the spies sent by Wang Xuance, the Arabs now knew that a lot of cotton was grown in the hinterland of the Tianshan Mountains.

This cotton can be used to make clothes. The Black Caliphs want cotton so much that they have even sent troops to seize the cotton west of the Tianshan Mountains, as well as soap, tea, and karez.

The Tang Dynasty made the Silk Road more prosperous, but it also attracted wolves.

The Arabs were a very greedy country, and they would plunder every place they conquered.

If they were to go south to attack India, several Indian kings would join forces with Central India to resist the Arabs.

We also hope that the Tang army can capture the Pamirs as soon as possible and assist India in defeating the Arabs. India is willing to present all the spoils of the war to the Tang.

After reading the letter, Li Chengqian thought about the current situation. The Arabs finally set their sights on the East.

Perhaps the Arabs felt that the Gauls to the west were not as rich as the Tang Dynasty.

Five thousand carts of grain was not a small number. When Li Chengqian and Li Chongyi stood on the city wall, they saw a long dragon-like team with no end in sight. After having someone count them, they confirmed that there were five thousand six hundred carts of grain.

It makes people speechless for a long time.

Guo Luotuo was already in front of the convoy. He opened a bag and looked at the rice sent from India.

A guard came with a basket of rice and said, "Your Majesty, this is the rice of the Indians."

Li Chengqian picked up the rice. The rice grains were long and thin, not as full as he had expected. There was no rice fragrance when he put them in his mouth and chewed them.

"Your Majesty, Guo Siqing said that this food is only good for filling your stomach, and it is probably tasteless."

"Send it to the granary south of Chang'an City and store it."

"Here."

"Your Majesty!" Another guard came to report, whispering as he rolled up a piece of paper, "General Wang is reporting."

Li Chengqian took the report and opened it to read.

Not only are there 5,600 carts of grain here, but another 5,000 carts of grain are also going north via the Tubo road, passing through Songzhou and Shazhou, and are being transported to the Western Regions.

Being in Chang'an, one might not feel the threat posed by the Arabs is that great, but Wang Xuance and Jiang Shiren are different. They are very close to the Arabs and even closer to the crisis.

Even the current court officials feel that the Arabs will not pose a threat to the Tianshan Mountains.

The next day, at the morning court, all the ministers were talking about the grain sent from India. There were 5,600 carts of grain, a total of 150,000 dan of rice, as well as various treasures and even a leopard skin.

This was the second warning sent by Wang Xuance, warning the court to be vigilant against the Arabs.

But the atmosphere in the court and the public remained good. Except for a few people who felt that Wang Xuance's warning needed to be taken seriously, the rest still felt that the war in the distant West was too far away.

Even if we capture a Arab now and put him in Chang'an, people will not see him as a threat.

What's more, the Arab envoy now has a flattering attitude.

People who have lived in comfort for some years have now become accustomed to a peaceful life. If they had not really seen the huge army of the Arabs coming to attack, they would not even be willing to believe that they posed any threat to the powerful Tang Dynasty.

Li Chengqian listened to the discussions in the Taiji Hall, sitting still with his eyes closed.

It was October in the autumn of the fourth year of the Qianqing reign. This season was the windy season in Anxi Protectorate. This year the wind and sand were very strong, and the yellow sand almost submerged the city.

Pei Yan wore a mask and could only open his eyes a crack as he rode a camel all the way to Xizhou City.

Behind him was a Arab in black tied with a rope.

The Arab was dehydrated and looked like he would fall down at any time. The sandstorm made it impossible for him to open his eyes. His hands were tied with ropes and he followed the camel step by step.

The camel wanted to sit down several times, but Pei Yan urged it to get up and continue on the journey. The animal howled impatiently.

Xizhou City finally came into view. Pei Yan looked back and saw a denser sandstorm sweeping in from afar, covering the sky and the sun, making it pitch black.

"I am Pei Yan of Anxi Army!" he shouted.

Someone pushed open the gate of Xizhou City with great effort, let people in, and then quickly closed the door.

Zhang Jianzhi stepped forward quickly and said, "You are finally back! If you hadn't come back, we would have written a letter home for you."

Pei Yan took off his mask, shook off the sand on his body, took the water bag and drank it in big gulps.

There was a rustling sound on the city wall, more frequent than before, and the whole sky turned dark in an instant.

Pei Yan finally recovered his breath after taking several gulps of cold water. He kicked the prisoner he brought with him and said, "Because of him, we were delayed for two days."

Zhang Jianzhi looked at the man's clothes and asked, "A Hu person? From Anguo?"

Pei Yan shook his head and said, "He is a Arab."

"Wait." Zhang Jianzhi took two steps back and forth, sorting out his words, thinking for a while and then said, "You captured a Arab by yourself?"

"Not one, two were killed and one was captured."

"Hiss..." Zhang Jianzhi took a breath of cold air, feeling it was incredible. He scratched his head and asked again: "You encountered three Arabs alone?"

Pei Yan took the grapes and continued nodding while eating.

The Arab prisoner was drooling as he looked at the grapes; he was both thirsty and hungry.

Zhang Jianzhi asked again: "Then you killed two Arabs by yourself and brought back one?"

Pei Yan nodded again. He had finished eating the grapes and threw the rope to him.

Seeing that the other party was about to leave, Zhang Jianzhi held the rope at a loss and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Pei Yan walked into a small house near the city wall, closed the door heavily, and ignored him.

Zhang Jianzhi and the Arab man looked into each other's eyes and were speechless for a moment.

The Arab pointed to another plate of grapes beside him, and then pointed to his stomach.

Seeing this, Zhang Jianzhi kicked him in the stomach, and then he took a bunch of grapes and continued to analyze Pei Yan's words. Did he really run around outside for two days and two nights, killed two Arabs, and captured one?
how did you do that?
(End of this chapter)