The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 499 Qianqiu Palace

Since the establishment of Chongwenguan, this academy has always carried the emperor's personal ideas, and these ideas have gained many supporters through repeated verification, and these people will become the emperor's followers.

With the expansion of teaching support, the thought of Chongwenguan is like a drop of ink that falls on a piece of paper and spreads.

The emperor was supported by students from all over the world who were studying in remote teaching areas. After more than ten years of sedimentation and accumulation in Guanzhong and more than ten years of expansion of remote teaching areas, the emperor's power reached its peak after repeated centralization.

With the support of teaching and the imperial examination system, his reputation and power were greater than those of emperors in all previous dynasties.

The power centralized there was so strong that it was rarely recorded in history books.

The civil governance of this dynasty reached an unprecedented level.

From children who were still in elementary school, to young people who were shouting one after another, to the civil and military officials in the court, cohesion emerged between people. This cohesion appeared for the first time in the Li Tang Dynasty, which had been established for forty years, and it erupted with extremely powerful force.

Since Emperor Gaozu accepted the abdication of Emperor Gong of Sui and proclaimed himself emperor, it took the Tang Dynasty only forty years to achieve achievements that previous dynasties had struggled for hundreds of years to achieve.

The cold wind from the north arrived in Guanzhong early. At today's morning court session, Li Chengqian listened to the debate in the hall.

Xu Jingzong and Kong Zhiyue started arguing again.

There were still conservatives in the court. Compared with the more neutral Chu Suiliang, Xu Jingzong's conflicts with those conservatives were more intense.

Today's morning court ended in this noisy atmosphere.

After the morning court session, Li Chengqian came to Liangyi Hall and listened to the children reading. Su Wan came from a prominent family, and she herself was the best teacher for the children.

Little Que'er, along with his younger brothers and sisters, recited the Spring and Autumn Annals following Su Wan's words.

Li Chengqian sat quietly aside, drinking tea and watching this peaceful scene.

After the children stopped reading, Li Chengqian stood up and left Liangyi Hall, heading towards Lingyan Pavilion.

Eunuch Yang came hurriedly and reported: "A lot of memorials were delivered today."

Li Chengqian asked, "Is it from the Censorate or the Secretariat?"

"Your Majesty, it was sent by Kong Zhiyue, saying that he was impeaching Xu Jingzong."

When they reached Lingyan Pavilion and stopped, Li Chengqian frowned and said, "I have already punished Xu Jingzong."

Eunuch Yang replied, "Your Majesty, although he has been punished once, Kong Zhiyue said that Xu Jingzong was arrogant and domineering in the court today. I am afraid he is still holding a grudge against him for what happened before."

Li Chengqian walked into the Lingyan Pavilion and walked on the wooden steps.

Eunuch Yang was old and needed the support of the young eunuchs around him to walk up the stairs.

"State affairs have nothing to do with personal grudges. I don't want Kong Zhiyue to impose his own grudges on state affairs. This is not good."

Eunuch Yang nodded and said, "Your Majesty, do you want to give a reply to Minister Kong?"

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "No need."

"Here."

There are still 25 heroes in the Lingyan Pavilion, and their portraits are displayed in front. Li Chengqian opened the window here to let in fresh air.

A slight chill breeze blew into the pavilion, causing the portrait to move with the wind.

Li Chengqian looked out the window. Under the overcast sky, palaces were scattered in an orderly manner. It was still the same as before, without any changes since the Zhenguan period.

Que'er said, what if those people who left the palace come back?
The child didn't understand before, but now he understands that those who leave the palace will never come back.

Li Chengqian said: "It's time to find a palace for Que'er."

Eunuch Yang said: "The little princess has indeed grown a lot taller."

"I don't know which palace she likes."

In fact, except for Wude Hall, Lizheng Hall and Ganlu Hall, she can choose any other palace.

Li Chengqian said: "When Yu Tu comes back, we can hand over the East Palace to him."

Eunuch Yang nodded.

The next day, Li Chengqian took his daughter to choose a palace in the imperial palace, walking from the West Garden of the imperial palace to the East Palace in the east.

Looking at the still somewhat old East Palace, Xiao Que'er asked, "Did Father live here before?"

“Well, I grew up here.”

Xiao Que'er looked up at the rooms in the East Palace and said, "This place looks much older than the other rooms in the palace. When my brother comes back, will he live here?"

Li Chengqian said: "I don't know whether he will like it or not."

In fact, Yu Tu has been raised by his father himself since he was old enough to understand. After he was ten years old, he no longer lived in the palace and has been living outside.

"This place is too old, I'm afraid my brother won't like it."

"It doesn't matter. When he comes back, let him decide what kind of renovation he wants."

Little Magpie held her father's hand and walked between the palaces. She saw a seesaw and a swing.

Li Chengqian let go of his hand and let his daughter explore on her own. Xiao Que'er pushed open the door of the bedroom. When she opened the door, some dust floated up. She coughed twice because of the dust and walked into the bedroom again.

On the bookshelf here, she also found many books. These books were very old and were left over from the past. There were also homework written by her younger brothers and sisters on them.

Little Magpie opened the windows one by one, letting the wind outside blow into the hall.

Li Chengqian leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets, looking at his daughter quietly, letting her search everywhere.

Until she found a cradle, Li Chengqian explained: "This is used when you are just born. You used to lie here."

She smiled and pushed the cradle back into place.

Then when he saw her coming out, Li Chengqian said, "Do you like it here? If you like it, you can live here. I will have someone build a new East Palace for Yu Tu."

Xiao Que'er shook her head and said, "I don't like it. This place is too big and looks too quiet."

Li Chengqian turned his head and looked outside the bedroom. It was indeed quiet here. The East Palace was actually very large, but it seemed very desolate after there were no people here.

Little Magpie said, "My daughter wants a smaller palace."

"Ah."

“But it can’t be too small.”

she added.

Li Chengqian smiled and accompanied her as they continued walking in the palace.

In the end, she chose a palace outside the Yi Qiu Gate on the west side of the Liangyi Palace.

This palace was neither too big nor too small, and it was just outside the outer wall of Liangyi Palace. Li Chengqian gave her a pen and said, "Give this place a name."

Eunuch Yang smiled kindly, had the door plaque taken down and placed in front of the little princess.

Xiao Queer picked up the brush, dipped it in gold ink, and wrote three words under the door plaque. These three words were in standard regular script.

She has been quite talented in calligraphy since she was young. Although she did not have Ouyang Xun's personal instruction, under Su Wan's guidance, her regular script has become quite decent.

Xiao Que'er looked at these three words and said with satisfaction: "Qianqiu Palace."

Eunuch Yang nodded continuously. This was indeed a name that the little princess would come up with.

Li Chengqian ordered: "Once the name is chosen, it cannot be changed." Xiao Que'er raised his head and said: "No need to change it!"

"Okay, from now on this place will be called Qianqiu Palace."

The twelve-year-old princess walked into the Qianqiu Palace, and from then on Princess Anding had her own palace.

Xiao Que'er said, "Father, I can clean it up myself."

Li Chengqian stood outside the palace and said, "It's okay. State affairs are not so busy these days, and we have finished what we should do."

Xiao Que'er knew that his father had accomplished two major things this year. One was the construction of the four towns of Anxi, and the other was the construction of the canal transportation.

As the cold wind swept across Guanzhong, freezing rain fell in Luoyang, and a team of soldiers arrived in front of Luoyang City.

Gao Ji Fu came to greet him personally.

Li Yifu and Luo Binwang got off the carriage.

Gao Jifu said, "Li Yushi."

Li Yifu looked at the team behind him. In addition to the Bad People, there were two other censors from the Censorate and people from the Dali Temple.

Gao Ji Fu also saw the officers and soldiers behind Li Yifu. Behind the bad guys were the Jingzhao Prefecture, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate.

Just looking at the more than 30 people behind Li Yifu makes people feel quite pressured and aggressive.

Li Yifu looked at the rain all over the sky and said, "Let's stop in Luoyang first, and then go and see other places after the rain stops."

Gao Ji Fu did not ask Li Yifu the purpose of leaving Chang'an this time, and asked him to settle down in Luoyang City first.

Compared to Chang'an City, which focuses more on political affairs, Luoyang City is more inclined to production. Since the canal connected Jiangdu, more merchants have been traveling between the two places.

After Tongguan became a distribution center for goods in Guanzhong, goods from Tongguan were often transported to Luoyang.

The emperor still did not move the capital to the naturally advantaged city of Luoyang. After the trip to Mount Tai, the emperor returned to Guanzhong and the construction of Luoyang city ended.

The city of Luoyang still retains the appearance of the Wude period, and the rain washes this big city.

The group settled in a house in Luoyang City. Li Yifu said, "I heard that students in Luoyang often cause trouble. Why don't we see those students now?"

Gao Jifu said, "Most of them have gone to teach. The imperial examination will be held next year. They have all calmed down. After the examination is over, they may continue to cause trouble. I wonder how Chang'an City is doing?"

"Everything is fine in Chang'an."

Chang'an is not like Luoyang. The children of the gentry would cause trouble in Luoyang, but they dare not cause trouble in Chang'an City.

Because Chang'an is the emperor's most solid foundation, if those gentry dare to criticize the government's policies in Chang'an, they will probably be torn to pieces alive.

And those sons of the aristocratic families only dared to commit crimes in Luoyang and did not dare to set foot in Guanzhong.

While eating, Li Yifu listened to Gao Ji Fu talking about the changes in Luoyang today. Since the canal was reopened, more people have been traveling to and from Luoyang. The current population of Luoyang city, including the population of various counties in Luoyang, has exceeded one million.

This is the restoration of the prosperity since the Sui Dynasty.

During the Wude and Zhenguan periods, Luoyang had never had such a large population.

Gao Ji Fu explained the matters and left.

After the people had gone far away, Luo Binwang was still wolfing down his food. He said, "In two years, I can go and teach."

Li Yifu looked at the file in his hand and said, "I will arrange it for you."

"Teacher Xie, if students want to teach in rural areas, where should they go?"

"Tibet."

"But now there are still many people who want to go to the Western Regions to teach. They can fight in a war and get military merit while they are there."

Li Yifu whispered, "It's not that easy to get military merit. There are not so many Di Renjies and Pei Yans in the world."

Luo Binwang nodded while chewing his food.

After resting for a day in Luoyang City, the next day, before the rain had stopped, Li Yifu went to the Grain Transport Bureau, where he met the director, Xu Yushi.

After not seeing each other for many years, Master Xu Yu's beard had grown longer. He smiled when he saw the visitor, "Li Yushi, why are you here?"

"I came to see you." Li Yifu first looked around and then asked, "Is it good to work here?"

Master Xu Yu shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

The light from the oil lamp illuminated the slight haggardness and sense of powerlessness on half of his face.

It is not easy to manage the canal transportation well. It is like crossing the river by feeling the stones, and there is not much to learn from.

Li Yifu hesitated and said, "At that time, the six ministries in the court were competing for the position of the Grain Transport Supervisor, and in the end His Majesty chose you. You should be happy, right?"

Xu Yushi said, "You are joking, Censor Li. Although I have been appointed as the Director of the Canal Transport Bureau, I am not the only one who has the final say on the canal transport. There are too many people watching this place. There are also people from various departments in the court. The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs all have to interact with the Canal Transport Bureau."

Li Yifu could understand his difficulty and said, "Your Majesty attaches great importance to the canal. Your Majesty asked me to come here just for the canal."

Xu Yushi smiled and said, "Great! Let's not talk about the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Civil Affairs for now. Now there is another Censorate. Is Shangguan Yi also thinking about the canal?"

"I am here at the order of His Majesty."

As he spoke, Li Yifu calmly handed a piece of paper to him.

There was a seal on the paper. When Master Xu Yu saw it, his expression became more solemn. After reading the contents on the paper, he stood up and said, "Wait a moment."

This imperial edict was issued by His Majesty. With this piece of paper, one can not only inquire into the investigation authority, but also mobilize the troops in Luoyang.

Soon, Master Xu Yu handed over three volumes of files.

Li Yifu took the file and looked through it.

"I have been in charge of the Canal Transport Supervision for the past year. Whenever there are reports on the canal transport from various places, they are sent here. However, there are some strange things in these three government offices. The accounts are always inconsistent. However, I can only manage the canal transport, not the account transactions. After I submitted it to the court... Now, His Majesty has asked Li Yushi to come here."

Li Yifu looked at the file and understood. "Let the bad guys investigate first. If there is anything wrong, I will personally lead people to catch them."

Back then in Yangzhou, Li Yifu in Jiangnan killed many people. A censor with a bad reputation could not be moved easily, as any movement would alert the enemy.

Your Majesty has allowed Li Yifu to stay in Chang'an City for so many years in order not to alarm the local authorities.

At noon, when the rain had just stopped, groups of bad guys left Luoyang.

After bidding farewell to Li Yifu, Xu Yushi was about to return to his official residence when he met Yang Deyi, the chief clerk of the Grain Transport Administration.

Yang Deyi, with a dark face, bowed and said, "I heard that Li Yifu is here?"

Master Xu Yu said, "Just left."

Yang Deyi asked, "What is he doing here?"

Xu Yushi said: "I just want to ask two questions. Yang Zhubu doesn't need to worry. His affairs have nothing to do with us."

Yang Deyi added: "I hope it has nothing to do with us."

Xu Yushi shook his head and walked into the government office. As he walked, he said, "If something really happened, Li Yifu is not the kind of person who would try to stop the problem by adding more fuel to the fire."

…………

Note: I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm taking a day off today. I'll update one chapter first and make it up later.

(End of this chapter)