The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 473 Wealth and Family
Chu Suiliang and Xu Xiaode were probably feeling uneasy when they left, and this was also the feeling of all the soldiers and horses present to protect them.

Your Majesty is very powerful now. With such an emperor in the court, how can the ministers not be uneasy?

Li Tai and Li Ke walked together when they left. When they looked back, they saw their brother's family were still playing.

"My royal brother will not intentionally embarrass the two ministers."

Listening to Li Tai's words, Li Ke nodded and said, "Of course."

Li Tai added: "After all, Chu Suiliang was a minister during the Zhenguan period. The emperor has always been seeking change. The canal transportation is a major project that takes several years to build. No one dares to say that they can definitely do it well, let alone just these two people."

Li Ke asked in return: "Did Xu Jingzong know that he could take charge of Jingzhao Prefecture?"

Li Tai frowned, thought for a moment and looked at his son.

Li Xin turned the Rubik's Cube in her hand and said in a childish voice: "Brother Yu Tu said that you must have courage in everything. Crying is useless."

Li Tai smiled and stopped talking.

When the emperor returned to the palace, he summoned Xu Jingzong and Yu Zhining.

There began to be discussions about canal shipping in the court and the public, and everyone was discussing how the emperor should build the canal.

In Anning Village, Li Shimin had just returned from winter hunting and strode into the door.

Yu Tu looked up at his grandfather who had just returned, then lowered his head to write the homework that his aunt Lizhi had sent to him.

Li Shimin sat down and took a sip of tea.

Later, Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Cheng Yaojin also walked in.

Li Shimin put down the tea bowl heavily and said in a deep voice: "I heard that Chengqian wants to build a canal?"

The one in front of him was the teacher of the current emperor, and the other was the uncle of the current emperor. After saying this, Li Shimin felt like he was asking for trouble when he asked them again.

Zhang Sun Wuji said: "Back then, Yang Guang built the canal for granary and military deployment. Some people built the canal for the eastern expedition. Some people also said it was for the emperor's entertainment. But now your majesty uses the canal as a deployment to build the country. I am very pleased."

Fang Xuanling said: "It is not easy to build a canal. There are millions of people along the thousands of miles of canal. It is impossible for the court to mobilize them overnight. Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty lost control of the world because of this. Sigh... it's better not to talk about it."

Li Shimin looked outside the house in silence.

Zhang Sun Wuji accompanied Fang Xuanling to the entrance of the village. He looked a little worried and said, "If the canal construction fails this time, I'm afraid His Majesty will be more strict."

Fang Xuanling said: "Let's wait and see. I will live a few more years and see what this world will become."

The winter in Chang'an City is destined not to be too idle during this year's holiday. The Chongwenguan, Wenxueguan, and Hongwenguan have already begun collecting files about the canal, and even the Menxia Province has begun collecting strategies on the construction of the canal.

The emperor tested the limits of his subjects' abilities time and time again. The subjects of the Tang Dynasty not only had to be able to fight in battles, but also had to be able to govern the country and have strong professional abilities.

In Chang'an City, Chencang County Magistrate Li Jingxuan, who had just been transferred to Jingzhao Prefecture this year, stood on Zhuque Street, looking at a group of busy students who were arguing about the canal construction.

I thought that if the emperor wanted to build a canal transportation system, there would be court officials to advise him against it, but at this time no one opposed it. If it were in the past, most people would have opposed the emperor.

Walking into Jingzhao Prefecture, Li Jingxuan said to the clerks there, "I am Li Jingxuan, the magistrate of Chencang County."

Di Renjie took the document, glanced at it, and asked, "Mr. Chencang, have you been in office for five years?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm..." Di Renjie said, "I heard the prefect often talk about you. You should go to Lantian County to study first, and then you can come to Jingzhao Prefecture to take up your post after taking the exam. This is the prefect's arrangement."

Li Jingxuan bowed and said, "Yes."

Di Renjie handed him another scroll of documents and said, "Go."

After receiving the document, Li Jingxuan hesitated and asked again: "About the grain transport..."

"Don't worry about it. The prefect and the two junior officials have gone to see His Majesty."

Li Jingxuan nodded slightly and left Jingzhao Prefecture.

Lantian County is not far from Chang'an City. Li Jingxuan mounted his horse and headed towards Lantian County.

When he arrived in Lantian County, Li Jingxuan looked at his documents, then looked up and confirmed that this was indeed the Bulang Hall, and it was also the place where he was going to study.

He thought that the Jingzhao Prefecture might have taken the wrong document, but when he looked at the document again, he saw that his name was indeed written on it.

Li Jingxuan frowned for a long time. Could it be that the prefect drank too much while writing the document?
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a man in a cloth robe walking out of the Buliang Hall. The man was about the same age as him and looked casual.

Zhang Jianzhi was also looking at the person who came. Seeing that the other person was holding a scroll of documents, he asked, "Are you here to study?"

"That's what Jingzhao Prefecture said, but..." Li Jingxuan hadn't gotten off his horse yet. He pointed at the document and said, "But why..."

Zhang Jianzhi put his hands behind his back and looked up at the other person.

A child came hurriedly and said, "Master, that's him. He's been wandering outside our Buliangtang. He's probably not a good person."

Zhang Jianzhi added: "Go and play, the teacher is here."

"Ah."

After the child ran away, Zhang Jianzhi stepped forward and stretched out his hand, saying, "Show me your documents."

Li Jingxuan handed him the document.

Zhang Jianzhi looked at it for a moment, then put away the document and nodded, saying, "That's right, you are going to work in Jingzhao Prefecture, and you are transferred here, so you are going to study here."

"But here..."

Zhang Jianzhi turned around and walked back, saying, "Let's go into the hall and talk."

Li Jingxuan followed suit and walked into the hall, where he saw several officials in county magistrate's uniforms writing something.

There was even a county magistrate who was very diligent in asking Zhang Jianzhi about the reasons for the court's work.

Li Jingxuan took another look and found that there was a portrait of Duke Zheng hanging on the wall.

After speaking to the man in front of him, Zhang Jianzhi explained: "Without Duke Zheng, we have lost our soul. Duke Zheng is the pillar in our hearts."

Li Jingxuan bowed to the portrait of Duke Zheng.

Zhang Jianzhi further explained: "It's not just here, in fact, it's the same in the three provinces and six ministries, including every county and village."

People are almost worshipping Duke Zheng. It is said that the current emperor goes to Lingyan Pavilion every year and even burns letters for the deceased Duke Zheng.

The emperor hoped that all the officials in the court could be like Duke Zheng, fearless and yet be prepared for danger in times of peace and be cautious from beginning to end.

Zhang Jianzhi asked again: "Are you still worried?"

Li Jingxuan asked in a low voice, "What book am I here to read?"

Zhang Jianzhi took out the last scroll from the pile of books, placed it in front of him, and said, "There are many allusions in it. You can read them all. These are allusions found by Chongwenguan based on the advice of Duke Zheng. You will study here for a month. The court will take a break recently, and classes will start next year."

Li Jingxuan asked again: "Since they are on holiday, why are they..."

After saying this, he glanced at the county officials present.

Zhang Jianzhi said: "I love to study."

"Study hard?"

"Okay." Zhang Jianzhi took back his bag and continued, "I'm going back home. You can do as you please." Li Jingxuan just stood in the Buliang Hall, watching Zhang Jianzhi leave, not knowing what to do, so he simply sat down and started reading a book.

It was the end of the year in Chang'an City. In the Prince of Jin's Mansion, Li Zhi had arranged the molds one by one and was brushing ink on them.

Many more of this kind of molds need to be made, and they can even be made on the spot if necessary. Broken ones can be replaced. The advantage of movable type printing is that it is flexible and convenient to use.

After applying ink, a large piece of paper is placed on the assembled molds, and after being pressed with a wooden board, the words are printed on the paper.

Li Zhi took the paper down again and looked at the words on it. An inscription of the Confucius Temple Stele was printed on it. This was the chapter left by Yu Shinan at that time, and the handwriting used was Ouyang Xun's regular script.

The regular script is square and neat, and it is comfortable to read.

Li Shen ran over quickly and said, "Brother Emperor, something happened to Brother Jianzhi!"

"He's back home, isn't he? What else could have happened?"

"Something happened in his family."

Only then did Li Zhi put down the paper in his hand and went out together.

Zhang Xuanbi's family lived in a big house in Qujiangfang, Chang'an City. Many wealthy families also lived here. The wealthy families here could not be compared with the powerful people living on both sides of Zhuque Street. Even though they were rich, their status was very different.

Even the Prince Jin’s Palace cannot be built on both sides of Zhuque Street.

As I reached the door, I heard a loud shout.

"You old bastard! You are disrespectful to your elders!"

Hearing the voice, Li Zhi took the tangerine handed to him by Li Shen and asked while eating, "Where did this tangerine come from?"

"It was sent from Shu."

In the courtyard, Zhang Jianzhi held a jade-like glass wine cup in his hand and said, "When I left home, there was no such thing at home."

Zhang Xuanbi, who had just had a quarrel, blushed and said, "That was given to me by someone else."

"Someone gave it to you? Such a valuable wine cup...you took it just because someone gave it to you?" Zhang Jianzhi snorted coldly and said, "You are disrespectful to the elderly!"

"you!"

After that, Zhang Jianzhi picked up another piece of silk and said, "You know how hard life is for the people in the world now. It's absurd that you, an old man, can live so well just by relying on your fame without doing any work."

Zhang Xuanbi cursed: "It was a gift from someone else, I wanted to refuse it."

"Father, you are already old, and your hair and beard are all white." Zhang Jianzhi looked at the newly added beautiful maids in the family and sighed: "Why do you need to do this?"

"You!" Zhang Xuanbi stroked his chest and breathed deeply.

Zhang Jianzhi sighed and said, "When I think of the hard life of the villagers and how wealthy my family is, how can I be a teacher and teach them?"

After saying that, Zhang Jianzhi waved his sleeves and said, "Well, I still have a younger brother at home. If I stay here for a little longer, I will feel like countless people are pointing fingers at me. You take care of yourself. Goodbye."

Zhang Xuanbi pointed at his son, his face turned red, and he was speechless for a long time.

Li Zhi and Li Shen were sitting outside his house, eating oranges, and asked, "Are they really just going to leave like this?"

Zhang Jianzhi said: "My father doesn't have only one son."

Li Zhi felt quite happy and said, "Let's go and have a drink."

In the Sifang Pavilion in Chang'an City, a young official from Jingzhao Prefecture came here and strode up to sit in front of a man from the Western Regions.

This man from the Western Regions was wearing a sheepskin cloak and looked tired. He was Murong Shun who had returned from the Western Regions. He would come back every year at the end of the year. No matter how far he went outside, he would return to Chang'an City before every New Year's Eve.

Di Renjie saw this clearly, and arrived as promised, and asked, "Why do you have white hair?"

Murong Shun whispered: "I lost a son. He was killed by the Arabs."

"Savage?"

"He went to the Arab territory to trade goods. My other sons advised him not to go, but he went anyway. It was another Western merchant who brought his head back."

Di Renjie said solemnly: "Sooner or later, the Tang Dynasty will wipe out the Arabs."

Murong Shun was actually only forty years old, but his hair and beard had mostly turned white, and his eye sockets were sunken and his face looked thin.

Facing this old fox, Di Renjie still did not dare to take it lightly and asked again: "What did you do this year?"

"This has nothing to do with you."

Di Renjie changed the subject and said, "The Tang Dynasty is going to build a canal transportation system. Do you think they will give up the Western Regions in the future?"

Murong Shun took a sip of tea and said, "As long as the emperor is still in Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty will not give up the Western Regions."

Di Renjie nodded and left again.

After the young official from Jingzhao Prefecture left, a young guard came quickly and said to him, "You can go see the noble now."

Murong Shun was still looking at the direction where Di Renjie left and said, "That kid is like a wolf, staring at me by smelling the scent."

The guard added: "You don't need to worry about him."

Before leaving Sifang Pavilion, Murong Shun changed his clothes, put on Tang people's clothes, and followed the guard out of Sifang Pavilion.

Following the familiar road, Murong Shun came to Chongrenfang on the edge of the imperial city, where there was an inn.

Murong Shun followed him upstairs and entered a more secluded room.

As usual, there was a piece of cloth between the two parties. Before, there were two figures standing behind the cloth, a man and a woman at that time, but now there are three people. From their clothes and hair buns, it can be seen that the other party is dressed very luxuriously.

But there was a veil in front, so only their figures could be seen. Ever since he started working for Jingzhao Prefecture, Murong Shun's wealth was gained through the guidance of the people behind the veil.

Murong Shun stayed here for half an hour. After leaving, he was holding a book in his hand and looked much more confident.

Di Renjie ate his dates and looked at the inn suspiciously. After the others left, he asked the bad men to investigate. This was a very ordinary inn, and the owner didn't know who Murong Shun had met.

A bad guy came forward and asked, "Should we send someone to follow him?"

For some reason, Di Renjie felt some sympathy for Murong Shun. No matter what he did outside, at least in Chang'an, he had always been kind, and there was no report of his crime sent by the Anxi Protectorate.

Di Renjie whispered, "Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, let's go home early."

"Here."

……

Note: I will only update one chapter today. My throat started to hurt last night. By this afternoon, my throat was so sore that swallowing saliva felt like swallowing a razor blade. I was still sweating coldly while sitting in front of the computer.

I'm really sorry but I have to take a leave.

I updated too frequently at the end of the month and the beginning of the month, and stayed up too late too many times. It might be because I didn’t get enough rest recently.

I have taken medicine and should feel better tomorrow.

I'm sick, I'm so sorry.

(End of this chapter)