The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 506 Entering Chang'an City

In the darkness of the night, people were still celebrating the New Year as the two walked out of Chengtian Gate.

Li Chunfeng paused for a moment and said, "Goodbye."

Chang Sun Wuji said: "Yuan Tiangang is gone, and now you are leaving too. What will happen to the Imperial Observatory in the future?"

The night wind blew in his face, and Li Chunfeng's clothes rustled. Looking at the brightly lit Zhuque Street, he said, "Princess Jinyang has inherited my knowledge, and I have nothing to worry about anymore."

The two were about to part in front of Chengtian Gate.

Li Chunfeng walked into the crowd. Changsun Wuji stood there for a moment before walking into the night.

The next day, after a night of celebration, there were not many pedestrians on the streets until dawn. Occasionally, gusts of wind blew into the streets, and many debris on the streets were rolled on the ground by the wind.

A lazy soldier had just climbed up to the drum tower, ready to start his duty today. The streets were empty and people had not yet woken up.

In fact, this soldier was also celebrating last night and went to bed late at night. He woke up early and came to the guard post and came to the Drum Tower.

He shivered as the chilly morning breeze blew, and exhaled a breath of hot air in the cold wind. After the wind passed, he felt much more awake. Looking back, he saw a figure on Suzaku Street.

I wondered who was out so early, and then I looked more closely and saw that the man was holding a broom and pulling a wooden cart. He was sweeping up debris on the street and then dumping it all into the cart.

When the other person came closer, I could see clearly that the person sweeping the street was Ashina Chebi. I almost forgot how this guy was captured and brought to Chang'an City. I heard that he was a Khan from the Western Regions.

I heard footsteps on the stairs behind me. It turned out that my colleagues had come to take up guard and brought me breakfast.

The two soldiers on duty each had a piece of bread with some mutton in it and ate it while sitting on the drum tower.

One of them had a scallion in his pancake, and then he looked at Zhuque Street in the cold wind. Gradually, soldiers appeared on duty on other drum towers.

Chang'an City is very large, and one Drum Tower cannot offer a full view of the city.

The sun shone on the vast city of Chang'an. There was one or three drum towers in every market town. The drum towers faced each other and used drum sounds to communicate.

Because the whole picture cannot be seen, or when there is chaos or fire, the information transmitted by the Drum Tower can allow the many soldiers and official residences in Chang'an City to respond quickly. This is part of the public security system in Chang'an City. The Drum Tower is the outpost of Chang'an City, the link between the towns and cities, and maintains the stability of Chang'an City.

Today, in Chang'an City, there are the Outlaws, the Dali Temple, and the Jingzhao Prefecture to maintain law and order and stability.

As the sun rose higher, illuminating some of the darker areas in Chang'an City, more and more people began to appear on the streets.

Today is the third day of the first lunar month. Li Chengqian woke up early in the morning and took his children for a run. The food was already placed in front of the Liangyi Palace. Eunuch Yang stood by and waited for His Majesty and the princes to come back before reporting: "I heard that the emperor went to Chang'an City early in the morning."

Li Chengqian wiped the sweat off his face and said, "Arrange someone to take care of it."

"Here."

After washing their hands and faces, the young princes began to eat, and Eunuch Yang stood by with a smile.

In Chang'an City, Li Shimin, Zhangsun Wuji, and Li Xiaogong were walking on Suzaku Street.

The current Chang'an City is indeed different from what it was before. There is a street in Anyifang where food is sold all over the street, mostly biscuits and cakes, as well as persimmons and dried fruits.

Li Shimin did not bring many guards today, only two on his left and right, and Changsun Wuji and Li Xiaogong followed him.

Judging from their attire, passers-by could only mistake them for a noble family.

Li Shimin put his hands behind his back and scanned the food shops on both sides of the street, saying, "The shops on this entire street belong to Qinghe and Gaoyang. Cheng Qian said he wanted to build a workshop for them, but he didn't expect that building a workshop would not be enough, but he also gave them two streets."

His Majesty has always been generous to his brothers and sisters, and he is very generous. Changsun Wuji smiled and said, "It has always been like this."

Li Xiaogong said: "Then Laojun Mountain might be given to Princess Jinyang. Prince Ji loves to eat oranges, so Your Majesty gave him a mountain of fruit forests, and countless fruits are sent from the south every year. There are also Princess Dongyang and Princess Changle..."

Li Shimin looked a little more unhappy.

His Majesty is a very strict person, and he is extremely strict with his brothers and sisters in the royal family. As long as these royal princes are sensible, His Majesty is very generous.

The breakfast in Chang'an was still mainly cakes. Li Shimin walked past a restaurant and saw several shop owners carrying buckets of water.

The shop owner knelt down and bowed deeply immediately.

Li Shimin looked at the shopkeeper's clothes and appearance, and understood their identities, so he asked, "Why are you here?"

A slightly older eunuch replied: "After His Majesty left the palace, many people left the palace."

Li Shimin remembered that period of time when Cheng Qian first ascended the throne and almost everyone in the palace had left.

"The Queen appreciated our hard work over the years, and most of us were able to find jobs after leaving the palace. This food shop was given to us by the Queen, and it is enough to feed the five of us."

Hearing this, Changsun Wuji glanced around and roughly understood the situation here. In fact, there were quite a few eunuchs here.

Li Shimin walked into the backyard of the food shop. It was very clean here, a habit he brought from the palace. There was a fire in the stove.

There are no women here, it is clean as a mirror, and there are a few children learning to write here.

Li Shimin, Zhangsun Wuji, and Li Xiaogong watched this scene quietly without saying anything.

Listening to their stories, it turned out that those people were treated very well after leaving the palace. The emperor arranged jobs for them to make a living and even industries.

The palace maids could remarry after leaving the palace, and after these people left, the place became deserted, and Li Shimin was unwilling to stay in such a palace for long.

Seeing the doubts of several eunuchs, Li Shimin said: "Don't ask me why I came to Chang'an City. The current emperor asked me to come."

After leaving these words, Li Shimin left with Changsun Wuji and Li Xiaogong.

Near noon, the city of Chang'an was bustling with activity. There was still some unmelted snow on the roofs. Under the sunlight, it was melting and dripping from the eaves.

Li Shimin came to the restaurant of Chongwen Hall and had a meal here. While eating the delicious food, he said: "I think this trip is worthwhile."

Li Xiaogong nodded, and seeing that Changsun Wuji had been talking to a young student for a long time, he whispered, "Your Majesty, Lord Zhao is probably going to accept this student as his disciple."

Li Shimin put down his chopsticks and said, "This is Chongwen Hall. The students here are all disciples of the emperor."

Changsun Wuji brought the student here.

"Su Weidao, a student from Chongwen Hall, greets the two elders."

At this moment, only Changsun Wuji revealed his identity, and Li Shimin and Li Xiaogong both had smiles on their faces.

Chang Sun Wuji said: "Tell me what you think of the current political situation in the court."

"Yes." Su Weidao bowed again and said, "Earlier, Mr. Zhao discussed with his students the strategy of supporting education. After the Lantern Festival, I will go to support education, but I feel that the current support education can be improved."

Li Shimin drank his tea and did not speak immediately.

Li Xiaogong asked: "How to improve it?"

Su Weidao bowed again and said, "I think we should build more schools so that the students can stay in various places and start families in various places." Noticing the look in His Majesty's eyes, Changsun Wuji understood and asked, "Are you from Wugong County?"

"Replying to Mr. Zhao, I am from Hebei."

This Su Weidao left an impression on the three people. Li Shimin left the restaurant in Chongwenguan without disturbing others and left Chongwenguan.

Changsun Wuji asked, "Your Majesty, don't you want to go see Lu Zhaolin?"

Li Shimin said: "I heard that Lu Zhaolin is very smart. If I walk in front of him, I can see through him in just a few words."

Chang Sun Wuji said: "Those who are familiar with classics and history are indeed good at judging people."

Why do we say that Lu Zhaolin studied classics and history? This is the conclusion that Changsun Wuji came to after reading his articles back then.

Unlike people like Su Weidao, Su Weidao gave Changsun Wuji a feeling of surprise, while Lu Zhaolin gave him a feeling that it was natural.

Lu Zhaolin was from a prominent family in Youzhou, namely the Fanyang Lu clan. He studied under great scholars from Jiangnan when he was young.

Therefore, it was very easy for Changsun Wuji to investigate Lu Zhaolin. The whereabouts of children from aristocratic families were very easy to find, and he could even find out everything about Lu Zhaolin's life.

Even though he no longer served in the court, it was still very easy for Changsun Wuji to investigate someone.

"I heard that Zhang Xuansu wanted to resign, but was retained by His Majesty."

Li Xiaogong suddenly said something, and Li Shimin said, "I remember this person."

Zhang Sun Wuji said, "There are two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Personnel now, one is Du Zhenglun and the other is Zhang Xuansu. Your Majesty does not want Zhang Xuansu to leave the court, probably because you have not found a suitable replacement. If Zhang Xuansu can find an assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel for Your Majesty, then Your Majesty can allow him to retire."

Li Shimin asked, "Why? An old official in the court wants to retire, but he is still making excuses?"

Li Xiaogong followed beside him and listened absent-mindedly, picking between his fingernails.

Zhang Xuansu was also an old minister during the Zhenguan period, and it was the retired emperor who placed him in the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

But after the new emperor ascended the throne, he had been in the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel for more than ten years and had not been promoted, even though he should have been promoted for the sake of the retired emperor.

And the current emperor is a ruthless emperor who does not care about feelings and only cares about ability.

Changsun Wuji felt sorry for him.

Li Shimin could only feel regret for a moment.

What else can be done? The power of the court is in the hands of Cheng Qian. This kid has centralized power to an unacceptable degree. A retired emperor can do nothing.

When Li Shimin realized that his presence had faded to the point where he could no longer influence his son's decision, he felt even more lost.

Changsun Wuji's face showed a bit of displeasure. He felt that Li Xiaogong did not say what he should say and talked nonsense about what he should not say.

The hero is already old and shouldn't say these things.

Li Shimin walked through one market after another, and still felt a little unsatisfied until the evening. He even drank milk tea while walking.

This Chang'an City is indeed one that one never gets tired of seeing. Now Li Shimin somewhat understands the deeper meaning of his son's words. He should come here more often and see more of it. He should have come here a long time ago.

"But I still want to live in a village outside."

Changsun Wuji agreed: "Yes, this Chang'an city is too crowded."

Li Xiaogong asked, "Well, are there any empty houses in Anning Village?"

Li Shimin glanced at him.

Before the emperor could speak, Li Xiaogong quickly changed the subject and said, "I will build a house myself."

It was not until the evening that heavy snow began to fall in Chang'an City. On the city wall of Suzaku Gate, Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Li Ke were eating hot pot.

Li Daoyan hurried over to report, "Your Majesty, the Emperor has returned."

Li Chengqian took the mutton out of the hot pot and said, "I understand."

At this time of year, around the New Year or when it snows heavily, as long as the King of Wei and the King of Wu are in Chang'an City, His Majesty will invite the two men, and the three brothers will have hotpot together.

Snowflakes were falling, but it didn't feel that cold. Li Chengqian took some mutton out of the pot and nodded, "I understand."

"I will retire at the end."

Li Chengqian said, "Brother Daoyan, let's have dinner together."

After saying this, the eunuch at the side handed over another stool.

Li Daoyan sat upright beside him.

Li Chengqian took a sip of hot tea and said, "Father said that we three brothers have been apart for a long time recently, but we three brothers each have our own things to do. When everything is settled, I hope that in the future we can also sit together and eat together like we do now."

Li Tai picked up the bowl, poured milk tea from the kettle on the stove beside him, and said, "Qingque toasts to my brother."

Li Ke also picked up the milk tea and said, "Ke also toasts to my brother."

The three brothers including Li Daoyan clinked their bowls together and drank up the milk tea in the bowls.

When the meal on the city wall ended, the wind and snow in Guanzhong became stronger and stronger, and the scenery in the distance could no longer be seen clearly.

The snow fell for a day and a night, until the third day the wind and snow stopped, but the sky was still gray.

A carriage left Chang'an City. The officers and soldiers in front of the city made inquiries and learned that it was the carriage of the King of Wei, so they quickly let it pass.

King Li Tai of Wei was going to Mount Zhongnan with his family.

Mount Zhongnan is located in Guanzhong, in the Qinling Mountains. If you arrive in Lantian County and then go east, you will reach the foot of Mount Zhongnan.

Li Tai stepped down from the carriage wearing a cloak and looked up at the snow-capped Zhongnan Mountain. There was also thick snow at the foot of the mountain, making it difficult to distinguish between the mountain and the fields.

Li Tai asked his men to start clearing the snow on the mountain path. He looked toward the top of the mountain. Today he was here to pay tribute to Mr. Wang Gui. He decided in his heart that after paying tribute to the old man, he would hand over the Comprehensive Records of the Land to the court.

Li Tai picked up some snow and whispered, "In fact, my brother has always known about the compilation of the Comprehensive Geography, but my brother also felt that he must come to report to the old gentleman before the Comprehensive Geography is completed."

After his troops cleared the mountain path, Li Tai began to climb the mountain. On the mountain there was a cenotaph of an old gentleman.

When the old man passed away, he was still thinking about Mount Zhongnan.

The mountain path that had just been cleared from the snow was still very slippery. Li Tai almost slipped when he stepped on it, but fortunately he was supported by the soldiers around him.

(End of this chapter)