The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 468: The prosperous times are not in vain

The journey from Zhuozhou all the way south along the river to Luoyang was not very smooth. There were many twists and turns due to the river along the way, and some water routes were even blocked. We had to rely on land transportation and then take the water route after reaching the next river.

It took half a month of bumpy journey before the grain was finally transported to Luoyang.

From the initial 20 million shi of grain from Liaodong and the grain transported from various places, after arriving in Luoyang, there were 50 million shi. Large ships were lined up and stayed at the shore waiting to unload the grain. This was a scene that the people of Luoyang had never seen before.

Never before had there been such a grand scene, nor so many ships.

The large ships were connected together, and the boatman could even jump from one ship to another with just one step.

Thousands of boatmen pulled each other's ropes and pulled the boats to the shore, and then began to unload the grain.

It took nearly a thousand people and half a month just to move all the food down.

After Chu Suiliang came to count the goods in person and locked the granary, he finished writing the accounts.

Li Yifu stepped forward and said, "Minister Chu."

Chu Suiliang bowed and said, "Li Yushi, thank you for your hard work."

"I have recorded everything that happened during this journey and will hand it over to the court after returning to Chang'an."

As he spoke, Chu Suiliang patted Luo Binwang again and said, "Little talent, why haven't you grown up yet? I am waiting for you to take the imperial examination."

Luo Binwang raised his head and said, "Of course I want to take the imperial examination."

This scene of the three people happened to be seen by Yang Jiong, who was sitting in a carriage on the way to Chang'an. He saw Luo Binwang chatting and laughing with an official, and the official even wanted to salute the man next to Luo Binwang.

Yang Jiong asked: "Uncle, who is he?"

Yang Deyi took a look and explained, "That man is the Minister of Civil Affairs in the court."

"Minister of Civil Affairs?" Yang Jiong asked in surprise, "The Minister of Civil Affairs bows to Luo Binwang's teacher?"

While Yang Jiong was still in shock, the carriage was moving further and further away.

At the beginning of autumn, the court issued a decree to transport grain and fodder from Liaodong to Luoyang. By the time all the grain and fodder were delivered, winter had already arrived in Guanzhong.

At the port of Luoyang, some people were still stopping to watch the large fleet of ships sailing away in the distance. The scene of ships filling the entire river and becoming so crowded was something many people had never seen before in their lives.

The last time the emperor traveled from Luoyang to Mount Tai, there was no such a large fleet.

Although the boats had gone far away, someone had already painted the scenery of that day. The painting showed a large number of boats, so that for a moment one could not see the water on the river surface.

As the ships sailed away, only some traces of bumps were left on the shore, and the river surface soon returned to normal.

Some people thought that the Tang Dynasty was about to usher in a prosperous era, in which there would be endless wine and food.

With the canal as its center, it relies on the prosperity of Guanzhong and the Hexi Corridor connecting to the Western Regions.

The national strength of the Tang Dynasty is about to reach an unprecedented peak.

Some people were singing loudly in Luoyang City, some were cheering while holding food, and some were drunk.

Quan Wanji stood on the top of Luoyang City and said to Li Yifu: "Since the Zhenguan period, the population of Guanzhong has increased fivefold, and the population of Luoyang has also tripled. The two places have a total of 8 million people. I didn't expect such an effect in the past 20 years, and most of them are children."

Gao Ji Fu was still the governor of Luoyang City, and he was discussing matters with Chu Suiliang.

Quan Wanji was the second in command in Luoyang. Li Yifu listened to his story and said, "Some people say that Guanzhong and Luoyang are prosperous because the two places have been constantly absorbing population in recent years. In fact, Hebei and Liaodong are still depressed."

"What Censor Li said makes sense, but under the emperor's rule, we must be prosperous. We can just do our best in some things. When Prime Minister Fang was still in the court, he had already foreseen this situation, but it is inevitable."

Li Yifu wrote down these words and said, "I will return to Chang'an first."

"Walk slowly."

Luo Binwang was sitting in the carriage, eating a pear. He looked at the bustling Luoyang City and said, "It wasn't this lively here two years ago."

Li Yifu had a smile on his face. The Tang Dynasty was indeed about to usher in an unprecedented era of prosperity.

This prosperity came from the rich fields and the hard work of the people, as well as the court officials and generals.

In November of the sixth year of the Qianqing reign, Li Chengqian received a report from Li Yifu and asked, "What are these officials complaining about?"

Standing before His Majesty are Li Yifu, Shangguan Yi, and Yu Zhining.

Shangguan Yi stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, since it has become difficult to collect labor service in the court, the officials have been complaining more and more."

Yu Zhining said: "In the past, officials could collect labor service, and many things only required a few words from the officials. Now, officials from the county level and below have to go out in person, so this is inevitable."

Li Chengqian handed the complaint to Li Yifu and said, "Erase the name of the person who said these words, and post these words on the notice board in Chang'an City so that the people can see them."

"Here."

Shangguan Yi was already used to His Majesty always openly showing the style of the court to the villagers.

The next day, winter had arrived early in Chang'an City. Frost covered the roofs of every household. The sun had just risen in the sky and the night sky had just brightened.

The residents of Chang'an opened their doors early and started their day.

When people saw the new notice posted, they stopped to look.

I don’t know when it started, but the people of Chang’an City developed a habit of wanting to be the first to know the situation in the court and the country.

This has become a topic of conversation among the residents of Chang'an after dinner, because the emperor had posted many national policies all over the Suzaku Gate.

From then on, people began to discuss state affairs "unscrupulously".

The court and the public seemed to condone this behavior. This was a common practice in Chang'an City. Whenever people talked about the court's governance strategies, there would always be someone commenting on them.

In the past two years, some illiterate people who wanted to know the court's strategies have begun to learn to read.

This new notice was about the complaints of some county officials along the way when transporting grain and fodder to Liaodong.

As soon as this notice was issued, the residents of Chang'an began to criticize these complaining officials.

The current emperor enjoys a very strong popular support among the people in Guanzhong and Chang'an. Even if there is a bandit in the countryside, the government does not need to send anyone. The militiamen in each county will take the initiative to capture the bandit and hand him over to the government.

Seeing that a county magistrate was dissatisfied with the emperor's decrees, the people of the neighborhood would naturally criticize him verbally and in writing, and were even willing to find the person who made these complaints and escort him to the Censorate and Jingzhao Prefecture.

Fortunately, the emperor did not write down the names of those who complained, otherwise there would probably be a few more corpses floating in the canal.

So, a prosperous era never comes out of nowhere, nor can God bring a dynasty to prosperity by simply changing the climate.

Is the Tang Dynasty strong now?
Generally speaking, compared with previous dynasties, the Tang Dynasty still has plenty of room for growth.

With the canal as a condition, Luoyang as the core, and taking advantage of the productivity of Guanzhong, the Tang Dynasty today conducts trade activities based on these three conditions.

Moreover, now that the canal has sufficient carrying capacity, people from all over the world are gathering in Luoyang and Guanzhong, and the Tang Dynasty can still move forward many steps.

The Tang Dynasty was far from reaching its bottleneck, and its talent for governing the country was far from enough.

If Guanzhong with a population of several million can be considered powerful?

Li Chengqian still felt somewhat ashamed in his heart.

Yang Jiong was walking in Chang'an City. He arrived at the gate of Hongwenguan early.

The head of Hongwenguan had just woken up. When he saw the visitor was a child, he asked, "What are you doing here?" "I'm here to study."

"name."

"My name is Yang Jiong, and my uncle is Yang Deyi."

After checking the roster of the Hongwen Hall, Hao Chujun, the director of the Hongwen Hall, said, "Find a seat for yourself and find a book to read."

Yang Jiong bowed and said, "Thank you, Master."

"Ah."

Hao Chujun was very satisfied with this polite child.

"Master." Yang Jiong asked again, "Is Luo Binwang studying here?"

Hao Chujun thought for a moment, then glanced at the list and said, "There are only so many children in Chang'an who come to Hongwenguan to study instead of studying here. You should find a companion to go to Chongwenguan, where there are more children."

"Thank you, Master."

Yang Jiong studied in Hongwenguan for half a day, and then went to Chongwenguan to look for Luo Binwang.

There were indeed more children studying in Chongwenguan, and he found Luo Binwang among a group of children of the same age.

"Prince Bin!" Yang Jiong shouted and stepped forward.

"Yang Jiong!"

"So you studied at Chongwenguan, and my uncle asked me to study at Hongwenguan."

A slightly older child on the side said, "The current Hongwenguan is no longer what it used to be. Your uncle probably hasn't been to Chang'an for many years. If you want to learn the best knowledge, you have to come to Chongwenguan. All future teaching appointments and appointments to the court must start from Chongwenguan. Hongwenguan has long been deserted."

Yang Jiong scratched his head and said, "Uncle has indeed not been to Chang'an City for a long time."

Luo Binwang introduced his playmates here to Yang Jiong.

Yang Jiong also told him about Wang Bo and the two months they spent studying together at Hanshan Temple.

Luo Binwang asked, "Why didn't Wang Bo come to Chang'an?"

"He..." Yang Jiong thought for a moment and said, "He probably followed his father to a distant place to take up a post."

In front of the Chongwen Hall, a teacher was ringing a bell. When the children heard the sound of the bell, they quickly ran to the cafeteria to eat.

It seemed as if they would starve to death if they were a second late.

Yang Jiong returned to Hongwenguan alone again. When he thought about having so many playmates in Chongwenguan, he felt very envious.

Hao Chujun saw that the child was no longer studying but daydreaming, so he asked, "What's wrong?"

Yang Jiong asked, "Is Master Hongwenguan really in decline?"

"Oh, Hongwenguan is still here, how can you say it's deserted?"

"They say the current Hongwenguan is not as good as Chongwenguan."

Hao Chujun snorted coldly: "Then you should study hard and fight for Hongwenguan."

Yang Jiong nodded heavily and said, "Yes."

The snowstorm in Chang'an came in mid-November. It came late and was very cold.

Li Chengqian, wearing a cloak, walked towards Ganlu Hall with his uncle.

On weekdays, the Ganlu Palace was always closed. When Li Chengqian pushed open the door of this palace that had been closed for many years, he saw a dark scene. Snow and wind were blowing down the palace, and some of it drifted into the palace that had been sealed for many years.

Li Chengqian stepped into Ganlu Hall. Everything here was covered with a layer of dust. When the cold wind blew in, there was also some fresh air.

Gao Shilian looked around the place. In the past, Erlang of the Li family sat here to handle state affairs.

Li Chengqian opened the window here, letting in more light.

When the window was opened, a lot of snow fell from the windowsill. The wind and snow poured into the hall, landed on the dusty ground, and turned into some water marks.

Li Chengqian said: "Since my grandson ascended the throne, this place has remained the same."

Gao Shilian picked up a brush hanging on the pen holder. The brush was a little dry and could not be used for writing even if it was dipped in ink.

Li Chengqian stood aside, watching his uncle looking around with the help of a cane.

I don’t know what my uncle is looking for this time when he came to Ganlu Temple.

As Gao Shilian searched, he said, "The first person to sit in the Ganlu Palace was not your father, but your grandfather."

Li Chengqian asked, "Did Grandpa hide the gold sand here?"

"It would be better if the golden sand is hidden in the Wude Hall. The Wude Hall was built by your father, and the Ganlu Hall was built by your grandfather."

Gao Shilian was rummaging through the bookshelf. His hands moved too violently and a few rolls of paper fell from the shelf. Written on these papers were the calligraphy that his father had practiced in the past.

The eunuch stepped forward quickly and picked up the rice paper again.

While Gao Shilian was searching, the eunuchs followed behind him and picked up the fallen treasures.

Li Chengqian stood leaning against the door with his hands in his pockets, wondering what his uncle was looking for this time.

Then he really found a secret compartment on the bookshelf, and Li Chengqian's originally relaxed expression turned into a frown again.

Gao Shilian found the yellow silk and a piece of jade from the secret compartment, turned around contentedly, and said, "This is a corner of the Heshi Bi jade, and this is the abdication edict of Yang You, the grandson of the Sui Emperor, who abdicated and handed over the throne to your grandfather."

Li Chengqian took the two objects and held a jade disk half the size of his palm in his hand, wondering, "Is this really a part of the Heshi Bi?"

Gao Shilian took the stool handed to him by the eunuch, sat down beside him with his cane in his hand, and stroked his beard, saying, "Who knows? If they say it is, then it is."

Li Chengqian asked: "Why did Grandpa hide this abdication edict?"

Gao Shilian shook his head and said, "Yang You is a child with a bad fate. This is the edict written by him."

Li Chengqian understood and opened the imperial edict.

The ink on it has faded a lot, and it roughly states the reason for the abdication.

Gao Shilian added: "In the past, your grandfather was worried that the former Sui people would not accept it, and then those things happened. Your grandfather did not use this edict after all."

"Then why did grandpa let uncle find it now?"

"Xiangrui lost the card game and got angry. He couldn't win over me in words, so he used secrets to exchange."

"Grandpa is really..." Li Chengqian was about to sigh, but when the words came to his lips, he said, "Forget it."

"He is Xiangrui, so I will give in to him. What should I do with the pieces of glass that Xiangrui smashed?"

"Give it to the Shaofu Supervisor and see if it can be used for some decoration. If not... your grandson will give it as a treasure to the Uighurs and Nanzhao people."

My uncle raised his head and talked about some past events related to Ganlu Palace.

(End of this chapter)