The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 472: Bad Atmosphere

Inside the official residence of the Ministry of War, Zhang Jianzhi was still thinking about Pei Yan's words.

Seeing that it was getting dark outside, Pei Yan cleaned up the place, confirmed that the books on the bookshelf were placed correctly, and said, "Aren't you leaving yet?"

Zhang Jianzhi, who was deep in thought, came back to his senses and asked, "Are you worth it?"

Pei Yan looked at the sky outside and said, "It's getting dark."

Zhang Jianzhi stood up and followed the footsteps. He walked outside the official residence and felt a cold wind blowing towards him. The setting sun was not visible at this moment, but there was still some light in the sky, and dark clouds could be seen in the sky.

The cold wind made people shiver. Zhang Jianzhi tightened his outer robe and waited for Pei Yan to close the door of the Ministry of War's official residence before they left the imperial city together.

Arriving at the still bustling Zhuque Street, Zhang Jianzhi said, "I wonder if His Royal Highness Prince Jin's banquet has ended yet."

Pei Yan continued walking, looking indifferent.

The two men came to a tavern, and Zhang Jianzhi saw Prince Jin and Di Renjie drinking. He walked into the tavern with a smile.

"Pei Yan! Let's drink together!"

The voice came from the tavern.

Pei Yan stopped for a moment, then walked away again. He didn't want to go to the tavern, but walked all the way from Zhuque Street into an alley and came to Anyifang, where there was a small house which was his residence.

This is the residence arranged for officials in the court. During the Zhenguan period, when Your Majesty was still the crown prince, you began to preside over the construction of the market town. The Chang'an city was divided into the east and west sides by Zhuque Street. Up to now, the Chang'an city is divided into 108 squares.

Anyi is one of the blocks. These houses still belong to the court and are used by court officials to live in. All the people living in this block are court officials.

As long as you work in the court, you don't have to worry about food, clothing and shelter, and the court will even give you some gifts on every festival.

If you hold an important position in the court, as long as your official rank reaches the rank of vice minister of one of the six ministries, the court will even arrange a house for you.

This was the case with Di Renjie's family. When Di Zhixun was still working in Jingzhao Prefecture, he lived in Jingzhao Prefecture. After he was appointed as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the court arranged a decent house for him.

Pei Yan walked into the small house where he lived. As soon as he stepped in, freezing rain started falling outside again.

After nightfall, the wind became louder and colder.

Walking into the house, Pei Yan saw a basket inside. In the basket was the honeycomb coal, which was very popular in Chang'an City at that time. There was also a note specially written on the basket that the doors and windows must be closed when it is not in use.

After lighting the oil lamp, the red words are particularly eye-catching.

This is the second winter Pei Yan has spent in Chang'an, and this winter is colder than previous years.

"Doctor Pei?"

Hearing the voice, Pei Yan turned around and saw the uncle who lived opposite him running towards him. He lived with his family in Anyifang and remembered that this uncle worked in the Secretary General.

He smiled and said, "Brother Pei, do you have any extra coal?"

Pei Yan said: "I live alone, I don't need so much."

After that, Pei Yan gave him half of it. The uncle smiled and said, "It's really too cold today. The children at home can't stand the cold. Thank you very much."

Pei Yan said: "It's okay."

The uncle hurried back to his residence in the rain with half a basket of coal.

Seeing that no one came to disturb him again, Pei Yan closed the door, opened half of the window, placed the stove on the window, lit the coal, and put the kettle on.

Put some noodles into the kettle, and when the water boils and the noodles are ready, sprinkle some naan crumbs on them and add some salt.

When you open the lid of the kettle, it becomes a big bowl. You can put it on the table and eat with chopsticks.

Under the oil lamp, the dim light shone on the book, and Pei Yan began to study hard again. There were many talented people in the court now, and when he thought of the talents of Di Renjie and Zhang Jianzhi, he felt enormous pressure.

While reading a book, he heard the sound of footsteps on the water. Pei Yan looked up and saw the woman opposite him coming with a cake.

The woman walked to the window and said, "My husband is ignorant. He took your coal and left."

"It's okay. I only use a little..."

Before he could refuse, the woman put a piece of cake from the windowsill onto the table and said, "Since you eat simply, you can eat this cake. If you have any clothes to change into, give them to me. I usually earn some money by washing clothes for others, so I'll wash yours for free."

After saying this, the woman smiled very friendly and ran back quickly.

There lived a family of three opposite, and one could faintly hear the laughter of their children.

Pei Yan retracted his gaze and saw the pancake on the table. The pancake was still hot and there was a lot of mutton in it.

The rain did not stop until late at night. Pei Yan was still looking at the book in his hand, which was compiled by the Honglu Temple.

The contents of the book are all about the situation in the Western Regions. The Western Regions want to build the Four Anxi Towns, and Your Majesty will definitely inquire about the Ministry of War.

This book records the various construction steps of Jingzhao Prefecture and Chongwenguan in the Western Regions. Reading this book gives me a sense of sudden enlightenment. It turns out that this is how the Production Wei Prefecture operated back then.

I don’t know how long he watched, but it was almost dawn, and Pei Yan finally went to sleep.

The next day, after a night of freezing rain, a lot of thin ice formed on the streets of Chang'an City. When the sun shone on Chang'an City, the broken ice on the roofs reflected the sunlight.

Every household opened its door, and people went out early to start busying themselves with their day's work.

On a winter morning, Li Chengqian summoned Chu Suiliang, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Xu Xiaode, the Minister of Works.

When the two ministers received the summons, they hurried out of the city gate, mounted their horses and went to meet His Majesty.

On the edge of Longshouyuan, the emperor and his family were having fun in the winter.

Li Chengqian was sitting by the stove, talking to Li Ke.

In the distance, a group of children were playing, Su Wan was sitting together and talking with Princess Wu and Princess Wei, and Ning'er was leading the palace maids in preparing meals.

With the three families gathered together, this place seems particularly peaceful.

Li Ke asked, "Should we send a general to quell the chaos in Lingnan?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I will send someone to go there. It would be best if they could plow all of Lingnan. It is very difficult to provide education in remote areas."

Li Tai looked behind him and said, "The two ministers are here."

Chu Suiliang and Xu Xiaode dismounted and quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty."

Li Chengqian had a map hung up and said, "It's a holiday so I asked you two to come. Thank you for your help."

Chu Suiliang hurriedly said: "Your Majesty has given an order, and I dare not disobey. How can I talk about tiring myself?"

Everything Xu Xiaode wanted to say had been said by Chu Suiliang, and for a moment he could only bow and greet. Chu Suiliang was truly a difficult colleague.

Li Chengqian led the two to the map. When the wind blew, the map hanging on the wooden board shook a little. Li Chengqian said, "Father and the old generals went to Mount Li for winter hunting. There are 2,000 soldiers and horses accompanying them. The Ministry of Civil Affairs should remember to prepare food and grass."

Chu Suiliang said quickly: "Yes."

Xu Xiaode looked at the map in front of him. The issue of food and fodder had nothing to do with him, but this map was definitely related to the Ministry of Works.

Li Chengqian said: "Qingque asked the Literature Institute to draw a map. Luoyang has a lot of food reserves now. Guanzhong has food stored in Songzhou, but Guanzhong has a population of several million and needs more food. The food in Guanzhong is limited, but the population will continue to increase."

Looking at the map in front of him, Li Chengqian pointed to a river and said, "The canal connects the north and the south, so we can build a canal for transport. Qingque and Kedi can oversee the repair of the canal, but the construction of the canal still needs to be managed by the Ministry of Works."

Xu Xiaode bowed again and said, "I obey your command."

This canal connecting Youzhou and Luoyang and heading south to the south of the Yangtze River is a legacy left by Emperor Yang of Sui to the Tang Dynasty. This legacy is of enormous value.

If the canal is the main focus, an economic system centered on the canal can be built.

Li Chengqian added: "In recent years, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has been transporting grain from Luoyang to Guanzhong. Although there are thousands of stones of grain every month, the number of shipments is high but the amount of grain transported is small. I plan to build granaries every seventy miles along the way after leaving Tongguan for transportation, a total of twelve granaries."

Chu Suiliang said: "Your Majesty, Luoyang is now the place where goods from Guanzhong are distributed, and it has been built long ago."

Li Chengqian asked the eunuch to serve tea to the two ministers, and said, "The price of grain in Guanzhong is almost eight cents a dou. I don't want the price to go down to ten cents a dou."

In fact, this granary route was planned according to the idea of ​​Henan Prefecture Road to Fengyuan Road in later generations. There were a total of twelve post stations and twelve granaries along the way.

Li Chengqian added: "The construction of the canal will take several years, and the prefectures and cities along the way will also need to mobilize manpower, and local governments will need to work together."

The construction of the canal transportation system looks very beautiful and is also a very large economic system. Once built, it will bring great economic benefits to the court and make the flow of goods between the north and the south more frequent.

Chu Suiliang said: "Your Majesty, I still have concerns."

Li Chengqian drank tea and looked at the map, saying, "Perhaps someone will say that I am holding a grudge against their complaints, which will give the officials in various provinces and prefectures a lot to do."

Li Tai also remembered that the notice posted by his royal brother was what the officials along the grain transportation lines said. Although the state affairs had nothing to do with personal grudges, it was enough to make those complaining officials ashamed.

The advantage of an emperor having money is that he can carry out large-scale construction. It is no wonder that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a queen would have tens of thousands of strings of money for rouge.

Tens of thousands of strings of rouge, what on earth is that...

Su Wan usually doesn't wear makeup and is used to being frugal.

If there were really tens of thousands of strings of rouge money, it would be enough to build a city.

Li Chengqian looked up at the map. This huge project would take several years, and the construction of granaries and canals in various parts of Guanzhong would require a huge amount of manpower.

Li Tai said: "Brother, once the construction of the canal begins, we will encounter more troubles and more heavy political affairs in the future."

"I am still very short of manpower, but I am not afraid of trouble."

The imperial examinations held every two years by the court were siphoning off talents from all over the Central Plains. These talents became officials and always needed places to be settled.

Li Chengqian is very dissatisfied with the current situation in the court. There are too few people. He hopes that in the future there will be enough officials to fill all parts of the Central Plains.

No one knows whether the economy along the canal will take off in the future. Luoyang will definitely get better and better. There will be various problems after the construction of the canal, but what about it? At most, I can capture more people to plant trees in the Western Regions and arrange more officials. As an emperor, these things will be much easier to do.

With a powerful emperor, tough courtiers, and brave generals, there is nothing in this world that cannot be accomplished.

Plan for the best and prepare for the worst.

As for the merchants' water transport permits and shares, will the water transport be managed by officials in the court, or how will the transport personnel be arranged?

We will have to wait until the canal shipping is completed before we can make any plans.

There is plenty of money in the court, so this amount can be spent.

Trees are still being planted in the Western Regions, and they have been doing so for twenty years. Over and over again, the court doesn't know what trees to plant. The worst that can happen is that a piece of forest will die, and then another one will be planted. The soil is becoming more and more fertile.

I have tried pear trees, pomegranate trees, and poplar trees.

Some of the trees survived, while others died. In response to this, Guo Luotuo simply encouraged people to try more. Twenty years have passed, so why not give it another twenty years?

Li Chengqian thought to himself that he was a very merciful emperor, as he could send prisoners to plant trees in the Western Regions instead of killing them.

Compared with all the dynasties and emperors who killed people everywhere, I am too wise.

There is indeed not enough idle labor in Guanzhong, but there are still many laborers who can be utilized in Liaodong and Hebei, and the court will pay them anyway.

Li Chengqian hesitated and said, "The two ministers can go back and draft the regulations. If you need any help, you can inform Qingque and Kedi. These two brothers of mine will help the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Having said that, the two can leave.

But Chu Suiliang still stood there. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I still have some concerns."

Li Chengqian said casually: "I have money."

This sentence is really encouraging to hear. It has been so many years... Compared with the extremely tense court during the Zhenguan period, the current court is so prosperous. What an encouraging sentence. It has been a long time since I heard it.

Chu Suiliang still remembers the word "no money" at that time.

"Your Majesty, my concern is not about money."

Li Chengqian looked a little unhappy and put the tea bowl on the table.

Chu Suiliang noticed the look on His Majesty's face and lowered his head quickly. Even though His Majesty was displeased, he still had to say what he had to say. He said, "Your Majesty, once the canal is dredged and the canal transport is completed, there will be more and more Silla maids in the Central Plains."

When he heard about the Silla maid, Li Chengqian stroked his forehead and asked, "Why? Did the Silla woman escape to the Central Plains to escape famine?"

"Your Majesty, there are already many Silla slaves in various parts of the Central Plains. I think this trend should not be encouraged."

If Xu Jingzong were here, he wouldn't have so many concerns.

Chu Suiliang was not as decisive as Xu Jingzong in his work, but at least he was thoughtful.

Li Chengqian whispered: "Sometimes I am also troubled."

"I have spoken out of turn, but I hope Your Majesty will consider it."

Li Ke said: "Silla is indeed a very poor place."

The duty of ministers is to solve problems for the emperor. Does the lack of ability of ministers also represent the emperor's fault? In that case, can he still be emperor?

Li Chengqian said: "Since we are aware of the problem, we must solve it. I think the trend of only raising questions is not good."

Chu Suiliang looked terrified and bowed, saying, "I'll take my leave."

(End of this chapter)