The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 482 The Past Buried in the Ground
All the people of my grandfather’s generation are gone, an era has ended, and everything about the pre-Sui Dynasty has been buried in the ground.

Everything about those years has turned to dust.

All that remain are stories passed down by word of mouth, or some legends left over from those days.

Under the protection of his guards, Li Chengqian walked into Anning Village, thinking about the current situation of the Tang Dynasty. In fact, whether it was Chang'an City or the counties in Guanzhong, the current situation was very suitable for planning with streets and areas.

The markets in Chang'an city and the counties in Guanzhong are streets and districts, which can be further subdivided.

However, the Tang Dynasty's governance plan needs to be arranged according to the current situation and local conditions.

In other words, advanced governance methods may not be suitable for this era. Only those that are suitable for the present are the most useful.

Li Chengqian saw his father taking a walk wearing a bamboo hat.

Li Shimin asked, "Why are you here?"

"I heard that after my father came back, he was depressed all day and didn't even go out to drink with the old generals."

Li Shimin said sternly, "If I drink with those old brothers, your censor will impeach me."

Li Chengqian smiled and asked, "How's your health lately?"

"They are all old illnesses. Dongyang comes to see me every two weeks. They are nothing serious."

The father and son walked side by side for two steps, and Li Shimin said again: "It is good for me to enjoy the mountains and rivers here. Don't ask me about those state affairs."

After that, Li Shimin paused and added, "It's annoying."

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and said, "The court is on holiday now, and I have no state affairs to discuss with you, father."

"How is the canal construction going?"

"It's pretty good."

"Are you planning to have the Censorate increase the number of officials and place them throughout the canal?"

"That's what I thought at first. The river is under the Ministry of Works. I plan to open another official residence under the Ministry of Works, and add official residences along the canal to fundamentally establish a more complete strategy."

"Is this your plan to change the six ministries in the court?"

"Absolutely."

Li Ji walked behind the emperor and his son, and told them not to mention state affairs, as it would make him annoyed. But listening to their conversation again, every word was about state affairs, and it was the retired emperor who asked first.

Li Chengqian and his father were having lunch.

"Don't be anxious about anything. Yang Guang was too anxious when he built the canal, and that's what harmed him."

Although the construction of the Grand Canal led to widespread public resentment in the early Sui Dynasty, this cannot be entirely blamed on the canal.

Who made Yang Guang go to Jiangdu with 100,000 soldiers and horses? 100,000 soldiers and horses are like 100,000 mouths to feed. Wherever they go, they will eat up all the land. This is probably the reason.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I'm not in a hurry."

"Father, brother!"

Hearing the voice, Li Chengqian looked up and said, "It's Linchuan."

Lin Chuan also sat down at the table with a smile. She looked at the food and said, "What a simple meal."

The only food on the table was a bowl of radishes, celery and pickled meat.

Li Chengqian said: "I asked someone to prepare more food."

"No thanks." Lin Chuan took the bowl and chopsticks handed to him and said, "Sister likes it."

While eating, Linchuan took out a scroll and said, "This is for my brother."

Li Chengqian took the scroll and asked curiously, "What is this?"

"This is a debate between Xiao Wu and Xiao Hui and a group of old gentlemen in Luoyang."

Li Chengqian opened the scroll and looked at the record on it. It was a debate between Xiaowu and Xiaohui and a group of old Confucian scholars.

She chewed a carrot and said, "Some people think that so many workshops were built in Guanzhong and Luoyang, and so many people worked in the workshops. The workshops made people lose their etiquette and rest, and lost their lives. They think people should work according to the four seasons, and if the Tang Dynasty wants to be prosperous, it should be like the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing during the Han Dynasty."

Li Shimin suddenly smiled and said, "Prosperous times? I don't even think this is a prosperous time. How shameless of you to say that."

Li Chengqian said: "I also think that's too much. The Tang Dynasty is not rich enough. There are still too many people struggling for food and clothing. How can it be called a prosperous era?"

Linchuan added: "The scholars also said that the workshops should be demolished. Workshops are harmful to people. This is against the ethics. People should attach importance to ethics and should have a plan to prosper and thrive. But Xiaowu doesn't think so. Xiaowu said that if all the workshops are demolished, the country will regress by decades, which will only make it poorer and weaker."

Li Chengqian asked back: "Why do we need to debate?"

Linchuan chewed a radish and said, "It's those people who have been opposing the government's orders. They also said that the current canal construction is no different from Yang Guang's work back then, and people should live in peace. But Xiaohui said that since the Jin Dynasty, even if the government did not take action, wouldn't the ethics and morals be in chaos? The history books have proved time and again that the disorder of ethics and morals has nothing to do with the workshop."

After reading the book, Li Chengqian asked, "Are there any results?"

Linchuan shook his head and said, "No, the debate is getting more and more popular now. Many people went to Luoyang to participate in the debate. It is said that during the debate, thousands of people gathered in front of Luoyang City, and even students from Chongwenguan participated."

Li Shimin asked, "Unprecedented grand occasion?"

Linchuan nodded and said, "Yes, they discussed the Spring and Autumn Annals, the classics of various schools of thought, and history books... Hmm! What do you think, my brother?"

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I never ask about right or wrong."

Li Shimin put down his chopsticks, picked up the wine bowl and took another sip of the wine, saying: "This does look like a prosperous era."

After eating, Li Chengqian left Anning Village. After asking around, he found out that many people were indeed watching the debate.

This is destined to be a debate that will last for many years, and may not have a conclusion even after a hundred years.

Not everything in this world will have results, and many things may have no results.

Just like the case of Jin Famin, he killed a Japanese envoy, but he did not have to be put to death. He was just put under custody. As for how to deal with him, there is still no result.

Just as he heard an interesting story, it was the rest season, and Li Chengqian put all these things behind his mind. He saw the snowman in front of the Liangyi Palace. Little Que'er and little Mengji were shoveling snow and piling it up with laughter.

Li Chengqian walked into the hall and saw Su Wan mending shoes for the child. She said, "It was a new pair of shoes, but Yu Tu wore them for only a month and they were worn out."

Li Chengqian took the broken shoes from her hand and said, "That child has been in the army for a long time, so he will be like this. He can't train all the time. I asked him to set aside half a day every day to study in Beiyuan."

Su Wan stood up, packed some new clothes and new shoes, and asked the palace maid to deliver them to Yu Tu.

Ning Er said, "Your Majesty, a lot of walnuts have been sent from the Western Regions."

There were walnuts on the table. Li Chengqian picked up some and roasted them by the stove. He said, "Give the uneaten ones to Gao Yang and Qing He. They can use them in their food workshops."

In fact, the food workshops in Gaoyang and Qinghe were still on the rise and were not making losses, but the profits were not much and they were barely able to be self-sufficient.

In addition to them, there are several newly built food workshops in Guanzhong.

Food needs to be consumed. If it is stored for a long time, it will become stale food. At present, when storage conditions are not good, food cannot be stored for too long. Stale food that is more than three years old cannot be eaten.

Li Chengqian lay on the recliner, thinking about these things. The warm and comfortable Liangyi Palace made it easy for people to fall asleep. In Guanzhong, after the wind and snow stopped, a team of people were driving a car to transport food. When the food reached a snowy section of the road, they stopped.

The bad commander Wei Chang ordered people to clear the road before the team continued to move forward.

Under the escort of teams of bad guys, the grain transported from Luoyang was delivered to various counties and then distributed to various places.

The escort team received their wages from officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the person in charge of the transportation was Xu Yushi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Xu Yushi was a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination during the Zhenguan period. After so many years, he now sits in the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Listening to Wei Chang's report, Master Xu Yu said, "It went quite smoothly, but it was three days later than expected."

Wei Chang exhaled a breath of hot air in the cold air and explained; "When our people went to pick them up, they were trapped by heavy snow."

Master Xu Yu asked again, "Do you want to return to good status?"

Wei Chang was stunned for a while and replied: "No."

"Why?"

"I have been hanging around with those brothers for so long. After they are released, what are they going to do?"

"You can return to your good name and still serve as the bad commander."

Seeing that Wei Chang did not answer, Master Xu Yu continued, "But this is also a matter for Jingzhao Prefecture. Think about it yourself. I can recommend you."

Wei Chang bowed and said, "Minister Xu, I am used to being casual. Besides, if a bad person returns to good status, is he still a bad person?"

After checking the accounts, Master Xu Yu put them in order and said, "Alright, you are a good bad commander."

Wei Chang is a typical Guanzhong person. If it is yes, it is yes, and if it is no, it is no.

Not only has he returned to being a good person, but he also wants to be the leader of the bad guys. This is not his style. If he is a bad guy, he is a bad guy. If he is a good guy, he is a good guy. They cannot be confused.

A clerk hurriedly reported, and after hearing it, Master Xu nodded and said, "Please ask the bad commander to arrange some people so that we can go and receive the food sent from Qinghai."

Wei Chang mounted his horse with his men and escorted the team of clerks to the other side of Chang'an City.

"Minister Xu, will the grain prices in Guanzhong rise again?"

Xu Yushi said: "Although Guanzhong has a large population, it is supplied by Longxi, Hexi Corridor, Qinghai, Shuzhong, and Luoyang. The grain in Shuzhong arrives the slowest, while the grain in Luoyang arrives the fastest. The grain price in Guanzhong depends on the harvests of these places and cannot be generalized."

Naturally, Master Xu Yue would not tell the actual situation of this matter. In fact, the food reserves in Guanzhong were still sufficient and were completely enough for the population of Guanzhong.

Once the population of Guanzhong exceeds three million, perhaps the situation will change.

Nowadays, every family in Guanzhong has three or five children. This is the period of the fastest population growth. Perhaps in another ten years, the population will double.

But this is all a matter for the future. Once the canal shipping is completed, perhaps the situation will improve.

There were even people in the court who said they wanted to dig through the Qinling Mountains and connect them into one piece so that grain could be transported directly to Guanzhong.

This idea is unrealistic. It would take millions of workers to dig through a mountain.

This cost-effective and somewhat absurd idea was quickly rejected by the court.

The Qinghai Road also had a good harvest this year, not only bringing in 100,000 shi of grain and fodder, but also over 100 shi of salt.

After Xu Yushi had the officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs check it, he had the grain transported to the granary in Chang'an City.

Wei Chang said again: "Recently, I heard something."

"what's up?"

"The messenger named Jin Famin is still alive in Chang'an City."

Master Xu Yu said calmly, "Do you think he deserves to die?"

Wei Chang smiled and said, "I don't think he deserves to die. If the Japanese man dies, then he dies. If no one speaks up for him, then the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice cannot punish Jin Famin."

Master Xu Yu added: "In fact, Jin Famin is still very smart."

As he was talking, Master Xu Yu looked towards the official road again and saw someone arguing with several officers and soldiers. He asked, "Who is that?"

The well-informed Wei Chang took a look and replied, "That is the envoy from Nanzhao."

Xu Yushi suddenly smiled and said, "The envoy from Nanzhao has come to pay his respects?"

"I heard that Nanzhao was conquering a small country in the south. The envoys of Pyu came to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute, but the envoys of Nanzhao killed them."

Master Xu Yu felt that the Tang Dynasty today was not as peaceful as it was in the past, when relations between the Tang Dynasty and other countries were quite peaceful.

But now, the small countries in the Pamirs that were originally able to come to pay tribute are now trembling with fear and dare not come to the Tang Dynasty.

The Turkic tribes in the north have all surrendered. After the Eastern Expedition, there are fewer and fewer small countries that can come to the Tang Dynasty to pay tribute. In the past, there would be envoys from Yanqi and Kucha.

Nowadays, Yanqi and Qiuci have become one of the four Anxi towns of the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, as early as the 20th year of Zhenguan, there were very few small countries that could come to pay tribute, and the only remaining one with a slightly larger territory was Tubo.

The King of Silla was attacking the Japanese, the King of Nanzhao was attacking the Kingdom of Pyu, and Tubo had recently had a feud with the Kingdom of Lesser Bolor.

This has all happened in the past two years. If these small countries do not expand at this time, they will be swallowed up by other small countries.

After the great victory in the Battle of Pamirs, many small countries suddenly became ambitious.

I heard that the current Pyu Kingdom has 300 tribes and many vassal states, and is in a three-way competition with Zhenla and Nanzhao.

The Pyu Kingdom also had war elephants because it bordered India to the west.

Xu Yushi felt that it didn’t matter, as they would all become part of the Tang Dynasty in the end, whether it was Silla, Nanzhao, or Tubo.

Wei Chang said, "Minister Xu, the mission is completed."

Seeing the sky was overcast and it was going to rain or snow again, Master Xu Yu put his hands behind his back and said, "Let's go, have a bowl of mutton soup and have some rest."

In the winter of the seventh year of Qianqing, just as Xu Yushi and Wei Chang had finished their current tasks, an urgent report was delivered to Chang'an that Tubo and the Lesser Bolor Kingdom had gone to war.

The Tibetan minister Ru Laijie led 5,000 Tibetan soldiers and invaded the Lesser Bolor Kingdom.

The news reached Chang'an City. Di Renjie heard it with a serious expression and said, "Murong Shun must have done this."

Zhang Jianzhi was still eating mutton soup noodles and waved to Wei Chang and Xu Yushi who came here.

Pei Yan whispered, "When we conquered the Pamirs, Xiaobolü and Tubo both assisted us."

Zhang Jianzhi suddenly asked, "Who is Murong Shun?"

Di Renjie looked at him like an idiot.

Zhang Jianzhi continued to eat his soup noodles.

(End of this chapter)