The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 48: Restoring Peace to the East Palace (Available at midnight tonight)

Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "It will be like this from now on."

Li Dao Zong smiled bitterly and said, "Today, when I first entered Jingzhao Prefecture, the first person I met was the county magistrate of Gaoling County. He was holding a document and asked for my approval. I approved it for him, and he left with the document."

It sounded like it was going smoothly, and Li Chengqian nodded.

Then, Li Dao Zong's face turned red. He pointed outside the house and said, "I thought the matter was settled, but within a moment, he came back and said that his subordinates would not accept it."

Chang Sun Wuji hesitated and asked, "Why doesn't the Ministry of Personnel accept documents?"

Li Daozong was so angry that he took two steps back and forth. He said angrily: "The county magistrate of Gaoling County is illiterate! He can't write his own name, and he brought the document back and asked me to write his name for him."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji's expression stiffened a little.

Li Dao Zong sighed in frustration, "I actually had to write his name for him. Hasn't he learned to write after all these years? Is there no one to teach him?"

In fact, starting from the Wude period, some of the county magistrates in Chang'an counties were officials who were rewarded according to their military merits.

It is normal to have one or two illiterate people, after all, they are not from a formal literary family. If they have military merits, they will be appointed as county magistrates.

Li Dao Zong said: "He hasn't come back yet, most likely he is fine. If he comes back again, I will fight him! It's just writing a name, he can just find someone to write it for him. Why did he have to come back and let me write a name for him... It's just a name!"

"He actually had a quarrel with someone from the Ministry of Personnel because of this. He thought I had made a mistake, but he was illiterate! He didn't even know where to write his name? So I have to apologize to the Ministry of Personnel? This is too much!"

Li Chengqian remained silent as he saw his uncle looking like a madman. It seemed that the cultural level of the grassroots officials in the Tang Dynasty was indeed worrying.

There is no way around it. The Tang Dynasty is now in a state of disrepair. As for the recruitment of officials, not to mention the officials in the counties and towns, many people in the court hold multiple positions, like the uncle in front of him.

Chang Sun Wuji said slowly: "Is this the only matter?"

"No!" Li Dao Zong waved his hand and said, "I thought the matter had come to an end, but the girl from Pingkangfang came to look for me, saying that someone was drinking without paying."

Li Dao Zong became more and more angry as he spoke. His face turned red and he said, "Who do they think this old man is? They have to come to me for such a small matter as wine money!"

Li Chengqian hurriedly stepped forward and poured him a bowl of tea, saying, "Uncle, have a drink to cool off."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Dao Zong thanked him even though he was angry. He continued, "And there's Xu Jing Zong and Lantian County Magistrate Cui Xun! Just because of some wood, the two of them almost took the villagers out to fight! Now they are still sitting in the front hall, Zhang Sun Wu Ji! What do you think I should do?"

At this point, Li Chengqian said, "Don't worry, uncle. I will talk to them at the court tomorrow morning and ask the court to add more people to Jingzhao Prefecture."

These words are just consolation. Letting military generals do the work of civil servants is what the emperor wants.

The only thing we can do now is to persuade them, or let the emperor's uncle and his uncle quarrel again?
Once the conflict escalates, will the external relatives and the royal family be able to remain peaceful?

Chang Sun Wuji said: "I haven't thought this through thoroughly. I'll go back and see if there are any suitable people."

Li Dao Zong then slowed down his tone and said, "It would be better to go to the fiefdom, and not have to suffer this bad temper here."

Li Chengqian tried to comfort him again. It was close for him to supervise the government affairs, and his uncle was kind enough to take him to see the government offices. However, the first day was not a very pleasant one. The people in Guanzhong were so tough, who knows what the scenery in other government residences would be like.
He ordered people to prepare more wine and food, and Li Chengqian had lunch together with his uncle and the imperial uncle.

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "Tomorrow I will take Your Highness to visit another government office."

"Thank you uncle."

"Yes." Zhang Sun Wuji said with a straight face, "It was all entrusted by His Majesty."

Li Daozon continued to complain about how tiring and annoying it was to deal with the trivial matters in various counties.

This is often the case with frontline work. Not to mention the various neighborhood disputes, the conflicts between counties are even more serious.

As human beings, there are always some grievances and hatreds in life.

There is a long way to go in grassroots work, and we must pay attention to it and never neglect it.

It was not until the evening that Li Chengqian returned to the East Palace. He took several gulps of cold water before he calmed down.

My younger brothers and sisters are no longer in the East Palace, and it seems that everything here has returned to the way it was last winter.

Her younger sister Lizhi did not go on the autumn hunt either, but stayed in Lizheng Palace to accompany her mother.

Ning'er seemed to have just woken up and was washing up.

Jingyang sent over the newly made chairs, two armchairs with armrests.

Li Chengqian sat on the chair, relaxed his back, and looked up at the starry sky. The night wind was still a little chilly in the autumn.

The East Palace is very quiet now. You can listen to the sound of the wind blowing through the East Palace.

In fact, Ning'er had been cleaning up all night last night without any rest. She had just woken up, but she still looked very tired.

All the younger brothers and sisters went to Mount Li, giving everyone in the Eastern Palace some free time.

Xiaofu sat on the steps of the front hall of the East Palace, supporting his chin with both hands, and looked up at the starry sky.

The small clay pot on the stove made a bubbling sound; that was the water boiling.

Ning'er took the kettle, poured a bowl of tea, and placed it on the table beside her. "Your Highness, the Secretariat has sent a lot of memorials that need your approval."

Li Chengqian sat lazily sideways, put his feet on the chair, and sat cross-legged, saying, "In the past, it was always Father who approved those memorials."

"Yes."

"I'm very tired now and don't want to watch those."

Logically speaking, as the Crown Prince is in charge of state affairs, he should be diligent in reviewing memorials. Now that His Highness has said so, Ning'er has no choice but to follow His Highness.

His Highness looks very tired indeed. It is rare to see His Highness with such an expression. He is probably really exhausted.

In fact, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a very sensible child with a mature mind, but he looks a little pitiful now.

Your Highness is the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty. What he has to think about and the pressure he has to bear are different from those of others.

Li Cheng patted the chair beside him and said, "Sister Ning'er, please sit for a while. This chair is well made."

"Your Highness, I dare not sit with you."

"Sit down, it's okay! You can talk to me."

"Yes." Ning'er nodded and sat on another chair somewhat stiffly.

Li Chengqian said slowly: "I have been very tired these past two days. Now it's fine. Father has gone on the autumn hunt, and my brothers and sisters have gone with him. We can relax a little now."

Ning Er whispered, "I don't know if they listened to my instructions. I'm worried that they can't take good care of His Highness and the princesses."

Ever since her younger brothers and sisters came to the East Palace, she has always taken the responsibility of taking care of the princes and princesses very seriously. Li Chengqian suddenly smiled.

Ning Er frowned and asked, "What are you laughing at, Your Highness?"

Li Chengqian said: "I don't know if those little heartless people in Mount Li are having fun right now."

Ning Er said, "The Eastern Palace has many rules. Now that we are in the Lishan Palace, there are naturally no more restrictions."

"Haha, they are having fun now, will they still remember the good things about the East Palace?"

Ning'er also smiled and did not answer this.

Li Chengqian looked at her smiling face for a while longer and whispered, "This morning, my father asked me whether I should kill Fu Yun. Later, my uncle took me to watch Fu Yun being beheaded. I also watched the scene where my uncle was so angry that he jumped up and down when he first took office in Jingzhao Prefecture."

Ning'er listened quietly to the prince's narration of what happened today. She listened without interrupting or commenting, allowing the prince to talk about things he found funny.

After talking for a long time, Li Chengqian picked up the tea bowl beside him, took a sip of tea, and said, "In fact, I have read the sage books in the East Palace these days. At my age, I should read sage books. Sages always hope that people will learn how to be human from a young age, and learn the skills to survive when they grow up."

Ning'er nodded.

Li Chengqian sighed, "But from childhood to adulthood, the situation is reversed. People often learn how to be human only after they grow up."

The maids in the East Palace were all silent as they listened to His Highness' words.

After a long silence, Li Chengqian stood up and walked into the front hall of the East Palace.

There were volumes of memorials on the table. Xiaofu quickly handed over an oil lamp. Fearing that the prince felt it was not bright enough, he brought a candlestick and lit the candles.

In this way, although other places in the East Palace were still dim, His Highness's desk was very bright.

Li Chengqian picked up a volume and looked at the contents carefully. This memorial was about suggestions for the reform of the Wei Palace. The Secretariat had already approved it, and as the crown prince, he only needed to write his comments.

Ning'er was grinding ink on the side and handed a pen to His Highness.

"Sister Ning'er, I want you to write it."

"Here."

Li Chengqian put down this memorial, picked up another one and said: "The Guard and the army must emphasize the importance of learning and practice for the soldiers in the army, master local military affairs, and guide the soldiers to understand the establishment of the Guard."

After that, Li Chengqian asked, "Is this okay? Did the emperor reply to memorials this way before?"

Ning Er said, "I have never seen how His Majesty responds to memorials, so I think this is also acceptable."

The second memorial was submitted by Xu Xiaode, who actually went to the streets to inquire about the trading situation of people from the Western Regions in Guanzhong.

Facts have proved that this investigation was useful. The trade between Guanzhong and the Western Regions was mainly based on furs and jade, as well as some seasonal fruits.

After reading Xu Xiaode's memorial, I put it aside without responding.

Something can be done about it. The flow of trade can drive the outflow of copper coins from the Central Plains. Now the East Palace is rich and has a lot of copper coins. There are still many people in the Tang Dynasty using Sui coins today.

The flooding of copper coins was a very serious problem. Flowing many of the former Sui copper coins outside the Great Wall was like expanding the copper coin reservoir, so that copper coins would not be too abundant in Guanzhong, thus distributing the pressure.

Seeing His Highness put the memorial aside, Ning Er asked, "Your Highness, are you not going to approve this memorial?"

Li Chengqian picked up another one and whispered, "Xu Xiaode's memorial is very important. I will put it here first and make arrangements later."

Ning'er nodded.

Then, Li Chengqian read a few more memorials. For example, the problem of not being able to collect taxes was still a headache, and there was a shortage of military equipment in the local guards. In addition, the government roads needed repairs, and nine of the twelve counties in Chang'an had fallen into disrepair.

Xiaofu brought two bowls of noodles. She first served one bowl to His Highness and said, "It's late, Your Highness, please eat something."

Li Chengqian put down the memorial in his hand and ate noodles.

After finishing his midnight snack, he continued to review memorials.

Late at night, in the residence of Duke Zhao, Zhangsun Wuji was still awake. He was writing a letter to His Majesty. In the letter, he recounted what he had seen and heard today while accompanying the Crown Prince. He asked a few tentative questions, and it was obvious that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was indeed unaware of the affairs of Prince Jiangxia.

After writing this memorial, Changsun Wuji had it sent to Mount Li overnight, and instructed: "Send it out of Chang'an now, and you can reach Mount Li by daybreak."

"Yes!" The servant who delivered the letter left in a hurry.

Looking at the oil lamp swaying in the night wind, Changsun Wuji felt worried. After all, he was the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, and His Majesty had very high expectations of him.

In fact, it is not necessary to be so strict. Even if the Eastern Palace was really involved in Prince Jiangxia’s affairs, so what?
After thinking for a while, Changsun Wuji said to himself, "Why would I speak up for the Crown Prince of the East Palace just because of someone calling me uncle?"

Changsun Wuji had always felt that he was firm in his loyalty to His Majesty, but suddenly he wanted to laugh. How could he be shaken by the prince calling him uncle a few times?
At dawn, Li Chengqian found himself asleep on the table. He was so sleepy that he didn't know how he fell asleep.

In front of me was Ning'er's sleeping face. She was sleeping on the side with her arm resting her face and her other hand holding a pen.

Taking the brush from her hand, Ning Er finally woke up from her trance and asked hurriedly, "Your Highness, what time is it?"

Xiaofu also slept in the palace last night. She fell asleep while sitting on the ground, leaning against a pillar. She wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth belatedly, and hurried out of the palace, saying in a panic, "Your Highness, it's almost noon."

Ning'er quickly took out the court clothes for His Highness to change into.

Li Chengqian didn't have time to eat breakfast. He washed up and hurried out of the East Palace. When he saw the person standing at the door of the East Palace, he said in surprise, "Uncle."

Changsun Wuji held the tablet in his hand and whispered, "Your Highness should go to the morning court."

"Yes." Li Chengqian straightened his clothes and said, "Uncle, please go first."

Changsun Wuji took a step back and signaled the prince to go in front.

With his uncle here, Li Chengqian finally felt more at ease. He walked towards the Taiji Hall.

We didn't see any other officials along the way, and by this time everyone was already in the Taiji Hall.

Seeing that his uncle didn't ask why it was so late, Li Chengqian simply kept silent.

When they arrived at the entrance of Taiji Hall, all the civil and military officials were already standing inside the hall. It was very quiet inside, with the civil and military officials standing to their sides.

At first glance, the throne was empty.

Li Chengqian took a deep breath, raised his head and chest, took a step forward, stepped into the Taiji Hall, and looked forward as he walked past the court class, both civil and military.

He looked forward, walked past the court officials one by one, and came to the steps of the throne where his father usually sat.

My father is not here, Qingque is not here, and Li Ke is not here either. Now I am the only one left to face the court officials.

Li Chengqian stopped, turned around and looked at everyone.

(End of this chapter)