The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 509: Feeling Lucky
A late spring cold snap did not dampen people's enthusiasm for celebrating the Lantern Festival. As night approached, today was still the Lantern Festival celebration night when the curfew was lifted. After three consecutive days of celebration, it was the last day.

A few days ago, people were still talking about the matter of Kuodizhi, especially the fact that the emperor wanted to recruit scholars to compile books, which made people speculate what the emperor really wanted to do.

The emperor has a lot to do, and the current manpower is far from enough to meet the needs of the current emperor.

Some people claimed to have seen the official list of the Ministry of Personnel and were discussing loudly that there were now more than 5,000 civil servants of all ranks in Chang'an City, not to mention the officials of the three provinces and six ministries, there were hundreds of officials in the nine temples and twelve academies, and a lot of people were added this year in Jingzhao Prefecture and the four halls of Chang'an City.

In order to alleviate the problem of insufficient manpower, the emperor has been adding official residences and officials. Even the officials in each county, especially the five large counties in Guanzhong, have more than a hundred officials.

Wang Jiusi was walking on Zhuque Street and listening to the discussions around him. Some people had positive views, thinking that the current emperor was devoted to the country and was very diligent in his work.

Of course, some people are pessimistic and think that the current emperor is blindly expanding the staff for temporary interests. Once all the work is done, what should be done with so many redundant officials?
Listening to the sounds around him, Wang Jiusi raised his head, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. The future was unknown. He was confused and didn't know whether he should be happy or worried. The emperor still remembered him, a lowly official. Should he be happy?
As he was about to walk to his residence, he heard the sound of his footsteps on the shallow water. He looked up and saw that Pei Yan's house was still closed, and the windows were also shut. He hadn't seen him for a long time.

The people in Chang'an City are still celebrating the Lantern Festival. After tonight, the curfew in Chang'an City will be restored.

Inside the imperial city, at Chengtian Gate, there are no ministers in the imperial city today. Those in the imperial city are all the emperor's relatives. Lanterns light up the place, adding a little light to the originally heavy and dark imperial city. There is also the sound of a group of children playing here.

Li Chengqian and Du He walked aside, looked back at the children who were playing, and said to him, "They all say that I am an emperor who is good at using money. I have been spending money all the time, but I didn't expect that you have been spending money all the time."

Du He said: "What I have done is insignificant."

The current Du He has inherited Du Ruhui's title and is the real head of the Du family. As for Du Gou... after Du Gou's family received enough benefits, they were separated from the Du family, and the two families have lived their own lives since then.

The relationship between Du Gou and Du He had already become distant. When the brothers were almost falling out, Li Lizhi began to divide the Du family's assets on behalf of Du He.

Now Du Gou's family has left Guanzhong. Just as Du He said, the Du family's wealth is indeed nothing to the emperor's family. It has been like this from the beginning until now.

Li Chengqian said, "I don't know if it's an old illness from my youth, but recently Zhang Wenzhong and the others... the doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau said that I always have too much internal heat."

Du He bowed and said, "Your Majesty has been like this since he was a child."

"Yes."

It is not difficult for Du He to remember these childhood events. The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace back then has become the emperor today, and his habit of getting easily irritated has been with him since childhood.

Li Chengqian asked, "Everyone has one or two chronic diseases. How about you? How is your health lately?"

"I am fine, but my eyesight has been tired and blurry lately."

"Brother, the tea is ready."

Li Chengqian took two bowls of tea from Dongyang and handed one to Du He.

Du He took the tea bowl with both hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Dongyang returned to the children.

Li Chengqian looked at the lanterns still swaying in the wind in the distance and said, "This is jasmine tea. The jasmine was brought by the nobles of Persia."

Du He took a sip and savored the flavor of the scented tea.

Li Chengqian said: "I heard from the Arabs that the jasmine flower originally came from the Arabs. Later, I learned that there are many good things in the Arabs that we Tang people don't know about, just like jasmine. I also hope that it can become a crop in the Central Plains."

Du He saluted again.

It was not until the emperor's father and mother arrived at the city gate that the children gathered together again. Li Shimin looked at the group of grandchildren with a smile on his face.

"Brother Royal."

Li Chengqian was looking at his father and mother when he saw Li Zhi and said, "My father often complained to me that Dongyang and Linchuan were unwilling to marry."

Li Lizhi stood aside with her hands behind her back, smiling and saying, "Dongyang and Linchuan both have great ambitions. They have ideals."

In fact, Donggong’s brothers and sisters all have their own ideals.

Recently, Linchuan is helping various counties to sort out municipal taxes, and she has made a great contribution to the regularization of municipal taxes in various counties.

The Tang people still used copper coins because there was real copper in them. They had considered using gold and silver cakes as anchors before, but later abandoned this unformed idea.

The workshop industry in Guanzhong flourished, but the economic laws used by the Tang Dynasty were still classical. Focusing on the lifelines on both sides of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, the civilization of the great rivers in the Central Plains was formed, which led to the prosperity of classical agriculture.

Therefore, the foundation of the Tang Dynasty is still agriculture and food. This is the foundation of the country and the bottom line of the country that must never be abandoned.

Li Chengqian recalled the repeated warnings from Mr. Cen. When Cen Wenben retired, he was still advising him that agriculture and grain were the foundation of the country.

Therefore, as long as the food bottom line is still there, as long as food is still grown on the land of the Tang Dynasty, the people's livelihood based on food will not collapse easily. Food is the best support for the Tang Dynasty to remain standing and not collapse in the storms, and it is also the Tang Dynasty's powerful anti-strike defense.

The economic foundation of the Tang Dynasty was still agriculture, and the way of life of the Tang people was still mainly based on food.

Now, recalling what Mr. Cen had said several times in the past, "I hope Your Majesty will continue to regard agriculture as the foundation of the country and never waver."

Before my uncle left the court, he accompanied the new emperor through the Zhenguan to Qianqing periods.

Before Cen Wenben left the court, he once again straightened out the future direction of the Tang Dynasty.

My father was an emperor with great personal charm, so he had many loyal and capable ministers under his command. Prime Minister Fang, Duke Zheng, my uncle and Cen Wenben laid a solid foundation for the Tang Dynasty during the Zhenguan period.

Until now, Li Chengqian can still feel the solidity of this "foundation" and feels extremely fortunate.

Whether in public or private, even if it is a family business, perhaps people want to leave an inexhaustible inheritance to their children and grandchildren.

Perhaps, Cen Wenben is still enjoying his retirement at home, with his children and grandchildren by his side.

Li Chengqian held the tea bowl, looked up at the starry sky, and silently offered tea.

A night of celebration passed, and another night passed in Chang'an City. Until dawn, there were still people walking on Zhuque Street and returning home to rest.

On the quiet Suzaku Street, where not many pedestrians were around, a eunuch had posted a notice in front of the Suzaku Gate.

The sleepy guard perked himself up and woke up for a moment before reading the newly posted notice. The notice was about the opening of this year's court. His Majesty scheduled this year's grand court meeting on the third day after the Lantern Festival.

Ashina She'er was often away on military campaigns, and whenever he came back he would present rare treasures to the emperor.

The last offering was a very beautiful shell, which was said to have been obtained from the North Sea. This time the offering was a whole bear skin.

Li Chengqian took the bear skin and said, "Give me some tea."

Ashina She'er bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Chengqian sat down again and said, "This is jasmine tea. Jasmine is a kind of flower. It was presented by the Persian nobles. It is a good thing."

"It turns out that your majesty likes to drink this tea recently."

"It's not that I like it that much, I just want to try it for something new."

Ashina She'er nodded heavily and said with some regret, "It's a pity that there are no tea trees in the north, nor so many flowers."

"It's okay. You can stay in Chang'an for a few more years now that you come back."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Inside the new palace, the emperor and his minister were still talking.

Another eunuch hurried over to report. Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Arrange some people to look after our father."

"Here."

"Your Majesty, what happened?" Ashina She'er asked with concern.

"It was my father who was walking around Chang'an City. I had someone secretly watching him." Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Go on and tell me about your experience in the north."

"Here."

This year, Ashina She'er and his people once again launched an expedition to the north, but this time they did not have enough manpower, so they brought a lot of Uighurs.

In his narration, Li Chengqian roughly speculated that Ashina She'er should have fought his way to the north of Lake Baikal. If he had not been forced to retreat due to the severe cold, he should be even further north now.

Ashina She'er had also heard some legends, saying that there were still people in the north.

Generally speaking, Li Chengqian deduced that the current time node should be the period of population migration in the north, and this population migration is likely to cause a new group of people to appear in the north, and this group of people has some connection with the Gauls or the people in the north.

But this is too far away from the current Tang Dynasty. War and killing are always inevitable in human migration.

And wasn’t the expansion of the Tang Dynasty also a part of this great migration?
Li Chengqian drank tea and listened quietly, smiling from time to time.

It was not until noon that Ashina She'er and the emperor had lunch and left. After bidding farewell to the Turkic Khan, Li Chengqian returned to the palace.

Yang the eunuch asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to keep him in Chang'an?"

Li Chengqian picked up a memorial and said, "Keep it." Without looking up, he read it.

"Your Majesty is merciful. Are you worried that this Turkic Khan will die outside?"

Li Chengqian nodded solemnly and said, "I really promised him that he would be buried with Jie Li after his death. Even if he is going to die, I will let him die in Chang'an City and then be buried with Jie Li."

Eunuch Yang stepped aside with a smile.

Your Majesty has always kept his word. It has been more than 20 years since the agreement we made, but I still remember it.

Looking back, the high-spirited Ashina She'er has now become an old Khan with white hair. He can no longer go on expeditions for Your Majesty and will spend the rest of his life in Chang'an City. There will be another Turkic Khan who will go on expeditions for Your Majesty, and this person is Li Simo's son. He is now in the Turks, guarding the Yin Mountains for the Tang Dynasty.

As early as last autumn, Your Majesty and Duke Ying had discussed this matter. Although Ashina She'er is brave, he is old after all. After defeating the Mohe, his health has been deteriorating. If he is asked to march north again, he will most likely die outside.

Since last year, Your Majesty and Duke Ying have decided on the next candidate for the Northern Expedition.

The Tang Dynasty will continue its northern expedition, and the next generation will follow in Ashina She'er's footsteps and head north.

The Tang Dynasty could not stop its pace of expansion. The emperor hoped that no matter when and what year, there would always be one or two troops expanding abroad, even if the number of troops was small. These troops could be composed of Tang people, Turks, Uighurs, or people from the Western Regions.

Li Chengqian wrote a decree to exempt the Turks from all market taxes for the next three years, and gave cotton cloth, iron, salt, gold and silver to the tribes of Ashina She'er. All young Turkic men who followed Ashina She'er to the war were given equal money and salaries by the Tang army.

When Li Shimin had been touring Chang'an City for a day and was about to go back, he saw the decree issued by Cheng Qian.

Compared to the generosity of the Zhenguan period, Li Shimin always felt that this son was indeed stingy, and asked: "Fuji, what do you think?"

Chang Sun Wuji said: "At least I gave you a reward."

Li Xiaogong chewed a date and said, "If it were in the past, the Turks would have had many more great generals by now."

Li Shimin once again maintained a wait-and-see attitude towards his son's character. As an emperor, Cheng Qian was strict, but in some things, he was not so generous.

"Guanyin maid often said that Cheng Qian also has his difficulties."

"I have also left the court. Now that Your Majesty is able to be independent and manage the government, I am very pleased."

Li Xiaogong said: "The fox Changsun has become an old fox. This is something that has nothing to do with you. Why are you so anxious to pick it?"

Zhang Sun Wuji said sternly, "What do you think, Prince Hejian, of His Majesty's current decrees?"

Li Xiaogong said: "Very good, it suits my taste very well."

Li Shimin looked at the two old guys on his left and right, shook his head and sighed, then quickened his pace to leave Chang'an City.

Inside the Chongwen Hall, there were still students reciting Zheng Gong's words in unison. Lectures began here as soon as the Ghost Festival was over.

In the backyard of Chongwenguan, Su Tan and several fathers and sons were planning on book compilation with worried looks on their faces.

After receiving the documents from Chongwenguan, several officials went to Jingzhao Prefecture.

Walking all the way from Zhuque Street to Jingzhao Prefecture, inside Jingzhao Prefecture, Yan Qinli was arguing with several Guanzhong county magistrates about this year's taxes.

Yan Qinli, who had just taken office as the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture in his second year, was slamming the accounts on the table.

Several county magistrates were frightened.

Yan Qinli pointed at the numbers on the account and said, "Before the start of this year's government, the city taxes have not been collected in full. You can wait for the Ministry of Personnel to deal with it."

"Prefect Yan, those people..."

"That's enough. I don't care what the reason is." Yan Qinli waved his sleeves and said, "I tell you, if they dare not pay the city tax when opening a workshop, Jingzhao Prefecture will arrest them."

(End of this chapter)