The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 474: Fierce and Cute

Outside the city of Chang'an, a group of cavalrymen rode over. They were the Anxi Army returning from Xizhou.

The White Army followed the new Protector General of Anxi and arrived at Chang'an City on the night before New Year's Eve.

It was about to get dark, and there was only a ray of setting sun left in the western sky, giving the world some residual light.

By the time this Anxi army of more than ten people entered Chang'an City, the sunset light in the west had disappeared and the sky was completely dark.

The Anxi army, which had traveled a long way in the cold wind, dismounted in front of the city. As soon as they entered Chang'an City, they were greeted by the bustling Suzaku Street.

Bai Fang, wearing armor and carrying a bag, said loudly: "Chang'an! It is the most beautiful place in the world."

Before he could finish his sigh, officials from the Ministry of War came towards him. This team of officials was led by Pei Yan, a doctor of the Ministry of War.

A number of Anxi troops submitted their documents one after another. Among the generals who came to Chang'an to report on their work, the youngest ones were all colonels.

Li Fengjie said: "The fifteen generals of Xizhou Zhechongfu are all here."

Pei Yan nodded and said, "Waiting for the Ministry of War to verify, generals, please spend the New Year in Chang'an City."

The generals then dispersed and went about their own business.

Di Renjie had just finished giving orders to a few bad guys and was about to walk back to Jingzhao Prefecture when he met Pei Yan in the bustling crowd.

Behind him followed several officials from the Ministry of War.

Pei Yan looked up and saw Di Renjie in the crowd, and then they each left.

Walking along the bustling Zhuque Street, Pei Yan entered the Zhuque Gate and came to the Ministry of War to finish the last thing before the end of the year.

When it was late at night, Pei Yan filed and submitted the files, then walked out of the official residence, closed the door, and walked with several clerks in the cold night wind.

The imperial city was quiet, and occasionally one could see guards on duty.

Pei Yan was about to reach the Suzaku Gate. Walking in the darkness of the imperial city, he looked up and saw the brightly lit Suzaku Street outside the Suzaku Gate. On this street, people had smiles on their faces, some were hurrying, and some were cursing.

Pei Yan unknowingly quickened his pace, walked quickly out of Zhuque Street, and met General Liang Jianfang who was waiting there.

Liang Jianfang said loudly: "Haha! It's a rare occasion for us Xizhou generals to get together again. We must get drunk tonight."

Before Pei Yan could refuse, his big hand stretched out, not even giving him a chance to refuse.

In Chang'an City, everyone has their own place to go. The generals in Xizhou back then gathered in a tavern in Qujiangfang. Now there is also a group of new generals in Xizhou City, led by Li Fengjie, the new protector of Xizhou Protectorate.

Lou Shide said: "The court has repeatedly warned you to avoid extravagance and practice frugality, but you guys..."

As he spoke, Lou Shide also took a sip of wine.

Pei Xingjian said: "Every festive occasion, the court will lift the ban."

It seemed that Lou Shide was drunk first. He worked in the Censorate and his words were from the perspective of a censor. No one was surprised. After all, they were good brothers who had fought together in the Pamir Mountains.

Li Fengjie has been preparing for war in Xizhou this year. He said, "Last year, the Arabs became active again and even tried to attack Eastern Tianzhu several times."

Pei Xingjian said solemnly: "The Tang Dynasty and the Arabs will have a war sooner or later."

Lou Shide held the wine pot and said, "The court was in great difficulty back then. The emperor was still on the throne. He could not eat beef for several years. He avoided extravagance and practiced frugality... avoided extravagance and practiced frugality..."

The censor became more and more drunk as he spoke, and finally he collapsed on the table and fell asleep.

There was still a festive scene in Chang'an City.

As in previous years, people always look up at the night sky at midnight. The strange phenomenon in the night sky that year has become a legend, but many years have passed and people have never seen it a second time.

Songtsen Gampo stood on the Drum Tower where the cold wind was howling, looking down at the beautiful scenery of lights overflowing from the streets and alleys of the market. He asked: "You Tang people always have such beautiful wonders."

Accompanying Songtsen Gampo was the Minister of the Honglu Temple, Guo Zhengyi, who said, "The scenery will be even more beautiful during future festivals."

"Well, but there is no such beautiful scenery in Tibet."

Guo Zhengyi said: "Don't you Tibetans have festivals?"

"Of course there are festivals in Tubo." Songtsen Gampo coughed twice in the cold wind and said, "During Tubo festivals, people also dance and celebrate around the fire. People gather together to eat meat, drink wine, and sing songs."

As he spoke, Songtsen Gampo also thought of his hometown, Tibet far in the west, Lhasa, 6,800 miles away from Chang'an City.

A night of hustle and bustle passed, and it was still dark in the early morning.

Guo Luotuo sat on the edge of the field to eat, holding his bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other.

The fields were covered with thin ice in the morning. Shangguan Yi came leisurely, stood aside with his hands behind his back, and said, "You are already the county lord, why are you still eating in the fields?"

Guo Luotuo said: "In the past, during the busy farming season, when the whole family was tired from working in the fields, they would eat in the fields. Now... we are used to it and cannot eat if we don't eat here."

Shangguan Yi said: "Many more karez have been dug in the Western Regions."

Guo Luotuo chewed millet rice and said, "When I went to the Western Regions, I saw the Karez in Qiuci. Later I learned that the earliest Karez was not in Xizhou, but in Qiuci."

Shangguan Yi whispered: "Everyone in the Western Regions knows that it was you who dug so many karez and brought benefits to all parts of the Western Regions."

"They should thank Your Majesty." Guo Luotuo whispered while eating millet rice.

In Chang'an City, the bad guys who had been patrolling all night returned to Jingzhao Prefecture exhausted, and another team of bad guys left Jingzhao Prefecture to continue their patrol.

Wei Chang sat in front of the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, looking at the tired appearance of his brothers, and said loudly: "Eat something before going to sleep."

Hearing the weak responses from his brothers, the bad commander Wei Chang withdrew his gaze.

When he looked up at the street again, Wei Chang saw a Turkic man walking on Zhuque Street, and he frowned and stared at him.

He was the Great Khan of the Turks, Ashina She'er. He was walking alone on Suzaku Street, heading towards the imperial city.

Wei Chang stood up and followed behind from a distance.

In the imperial city, Li Chengqian arrived at the Secretariat early. There were not many people in the imperial city now. Today was New Year's Eve, which was also the time when the Tang Dynasty bid farewell to the old and ushered in the new. The imperial city was the most deserted during this festival.

Eunuch Yang stood beside His Majesty and said, "Your Majesty, the midday sacrifice is ready."

"I understand."

Li Chengqian answered perfunctorily while looking at the document in his hand. The handwriting on this document was not very good. It was written by a general from the Western Regions named Bai Fang.

I heard that the name of this general was given by Xuanzang. The name Bai Fang is simple, so simple that Xuanzang might have just taken a look at the scriptures and used these two words as his name.

In the document, Bai Fang strongly advocated Li Fengjie's governance in the Western Regions Protectorate. Compared with Pei Xingjian, Li Fengjie imposed more stringent market taxes in the Western Regions.

Bai Fang was from the Western Regions, and he could best empathize with the people of the Western Regions. He felt that if the people of the Western Regions were not treated harshly and were not restrained by harsh rules, they would think that the Tang people were easy to bully. To a certain extent, Bai Fang even felt that Li Fengjie was more suitable for the post of Protector General than Pei Xingjian.

Even if it's just these things, it's fine.

Bai Fang also mentioned a lot of insignificant trivial matters in the document. He didn't need to write these trivial matters in the document, but he wrote them anyway.

Perhaps, for him, as a general of the Western Regions under the command of Tian Khan, he had to report truthfully even if he had to change a few sets of clothes.

It can be seen that Bai Fang is both loyal and somewhat lovable. Bai Fang raised more than 30 children in the Western Regions, and these children were only about ten years old. He said that after raising these children for another three to five years, they would become brave warriors who would be willing to fight for the Tang Dynasty.

This guy doesn't understand at all?
If the censor knew about this, he would probably be charged with treason or raising a group of assassins.

However, Li Chengqian did not want to care about these things, so he picked up his pen and made some changes on the document, crossing out the word "children" and writing the word "disciples" instead. He just accepted these children as disciples, so the censor would not accuse him of treason.

Sometimes when I see this group of tough and cute people who don’t know how to take advantage of loopholes, I feel really worried about them.

There is no other reason for their distress except that people like them are prone to getting into trouble.

The emperor also asked them to help them avoid risks. I, as an emperor, am truly wise.

After annotating Bai Fang's document, Li Chengqian handed it to Yang, the eunuch beside him, and said, "Give it to Bai Fang, and ask him to rewrite a copy for the Ministry of War according to my annotations."

"Here."

Another guard came quickly and stood in front of the hall, saluted and said, "Your Majesty, General Sheer is here."

Li Chengqian picked up another roll of yellow-brown silk and stared at it for a moment before asking, "How many of these family letters are there?"

His Majesty looked gloomy. I don’t know what he saw and why his expression suddenly changed.

The eunuch hurriedly said, "Go and find it for Your Majesty right away."

After looking for a long time, Li Chengqian stood up and walked outside the hall, where he saw Ashina She'er standing in front of the hall with his head bowed.

This year was not only a hard one for Murong Shun, but also for She'er.

Murong Shun was away for a year and when he came back he looked ten years older.

In the past, Ashina She'er was a very tough Turkic warrior. He was stabbed dozens of times but managed to survive on the brink of life and death.

But looking at him again now, after not seeing him for a year, Ashina She'er has become so thin that he looks like a completely different person.

When the wind blew, one could even see the outline of his skeleton underneath his fur coat.

Li Chengqian walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. He wondered what he had experienced in this year to become like this.

Seeing this, She'er felt the force of His Majesty's pat on his shoulder, and immediately knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I failed to capture the Mohe, and I come here to confess my guilt."

Li Chengqian helped him up and whispered, "It's okay."

She'er's eyes turned red, and he added: "Next year, we will definitely defeat the Mohe."

"You have conquered Mobei, that's enough." Li Chengqian patted him on the back again and said, "You said that your life belongs to me."

"It has always been like this. My oath, Ashina She'er, is like that snowy mountain. It will never change."

Li Chengqian took his hand back. "Well, since your life belongs to me, don't waste it. Rest in Chang'an for a year and make plans after that."

Seeing that he was about to explain again, Li Chengqian said, "That's it. You don't have to worry too much."

Ashina She'er prostrated himself on the ground once again.

"Go spend time with your family. It's New Year's Eve. Your family is waiting for you to return."

"Thank God Khan."

Li Chengqian also rewarded him with a crystal clear glass cup.

Ashina She'er walked along, wiping away tears all the way. He had not been reunited with his family for a long time.

His family has always been raised in Chang'an City, and his children will become Turkic generals of the Tang Dynasty in the future.

Accompanying She'er walking in front of the Suzaku Gate, Li Chengqian said, "If it were father, he would probably take down all the Mohe regions in one fell swoop. Do you know how many people persuaded father to march eastward?"

Ashina She'er remained silent.

"Since my father ascended the throne, let's count from the fifth year of Zhenguan. Duke Wei defeated Jie Li in the battle of Yinshan. In the following years, people have been advising my father to march east or not. After the Tang Dynasty established itself in the Central Plains, it has always had a close relationship with the former Sui Dynasty."

"In the past, people wanted to distinguish between the Sui and Tang people, but now there is no distinction. All children born today are Tang people. Therefore, whether they are Sui or Tang people, we have experienced the same things, the same pain, and have the same scars."

"How many soldiers were buried under the walls of Goguryeo? Father has always remembered this hatred, but at that time, Father had just ascended the throne. After that, the Tang Dynasty needed to accumulate strength for more than ten years. It took time, so he endured for nearly twenty years before launching the Eastern Expedition."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and looked outside the Suzaku Gate. Suzaku Street had already returned to its lively state. He added, "This is what I learned from my father. My father was just such a person. Some things should either be decided not to be done from the beginning. If you have decided to do it, you must do it well. The next time you attack the Mohe people, you must take them down."

Ashina She'er clasped his fists and saluted, saying loudly, "Yes."

After seeing off the Turkic general, Li Chengqian came to his senses and walked towards Chengtian Gate step by step.

Personal charisma and the ability to inspire morale, give others confidence, soothe people's hearts, paint a big picture, and bring out the talents of ministers are all professional abilities that an emperor needs to have.

But he felt that he was not as good as his father in this regard.

Back in the palace, the Sanqing Temple had already prepared for the worship of the Taoist ancestor. My father and mother were also here today.

Grandpa sat in a wheelchair, letting his granddaughter Dongyang push him, looking at the portrait of the Taoist ancestor.

"How's Grandpa doing lately?"

"Cheng Qian, you must follow the etiquette."

"My grandson knows."

Now my grandfather is a man in his nineties. There are very few old people who can live to a century.

The century-old man sat next to the portrait of the Taoist ancestor with a peaceful expression.

Li Chengqian changed his clothes, and a group of children also put on black clothes.

The official sacrifice can only be held after Mingda has arranged the Sanqing Hall.

Li Shimin asked: "Have the four towns of Anxi been built?"

Li Chengqian stood aside with his hands in his pockets and said, "I originally wanted to include Anxi Protectorate as one of the four towns, but later changed it and chose the four towns of Anxi in the hinterland of Tianshan Mountain, Suiye and Qiuci, Yutian and Shule Town."

(End of this chapter)