The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 529: The Prince's Teacher's Dispute

In the celebratory city of Mulu, Ru Laijie walked into a small, dome-shaped earthen house and closed the door to reduce the noise outside.

Ru Laijie patiently said to Qin Ling: "You are Lu Dongzan's son, and you are Songtsen Gampo's most trusted minister. You should understand better than them that a huge empire will rise and fall. Perhaps the heyday of some empires only lasts more than 20 years, or only three to five years, or more than ten years. A person's life is long, but the prosperity of an empire is very short."

Qin Ling listened to his words while still chewing the beef.

Ru Laijie's old and weathered words continued, his voice more weathered and hoarse than in previous years.

"Most of our Tibetan children are herders' children. The Tang people in the Tibetan Protectorate believed that Songtsen Gampo and Lu Dongzan were also herders' children. But what a herder's child will do depends on what books he reads and what kind of world he has seen."

Qin Ling had not learned anything in Chang'an, nor had he learned anything from the Tang army, so he only understood half of what Ru Laijie said.

In the old Persian city of Mulu, the Persian prince was still asking General Liang Jianfang to stay, but this time the Tang army came to flatten the entire Pamir Mountains and had no interest in the Persian land.

As for what will happen in the future, Liang Jianfang could not say, so the Prince of Persia asked almost all the generals of the Tang army, but no general could give the Prince of Persia a promise.

After defeating the Arabs, Liu Rengui collected many books, some of which were left by the Persians and some by the Arabs.

Seeing Liu Rengui loading a lot of books on the cart, Pei Xingjian asked, "What are you doing with so many books?"

Liu Rengui: "The most precious things here are books and reliefs."

Pei Xingjian handed him a head of garlic, chewing one himself, and said, "The people from Sinology asked us to bring more crops back."

Liu Ren track: "What crops are there here?"

Pei Xingjian smiled and said, "They say this place is rich, but when I came here, I didn't feel it was that rich. They said that before the Arabs came, that is, twenty years ago... this place was very rich."

“Is it true that the wealth is written in the books and these reliefs?”

Pei Xingjian added: "We did capture a group of Arab prisoners of war. They said that to the west, on the Arab coast, is a very rich place with endless dates and inexhaustible food. However, it is very far away, probably about 20,000 miles away."

Liu Rengui nodded and thought while eating garlic.

Pei Xingjian helped to secure the scrolls to the cart with ropes.

Everyone knew that the Tang army would stop here and would not advance westward any further. At this point, the Tang army had obtained the entire Pamir Mountains and India, which was enough.

The territory of the Tang Dynasty extended westward to the entire Pamir Mountains and all the way to the Amu Darya River. As long as the Tang army could control the Pamir Mountains, they would also control the barrier west of the Great Snow Mountains.

At this point, even if there were enemies west of the Pamir Mountains, they would not dare to invade easily due to the high altitude and terrain of the Pamir Mountains.

As for crossing the Amu Darya River to attack the city of Murug, it was just to make the results of the battle in the Pamir Mountains more solid.

In the next few days, several more groups of Tang soldiers left. Pei Yan, Di Renjie and Li Mengchang left first.

Despite the Persian prince's earnest pleas, Liang Jianfang resolutely led the Tang army away, leaving the Persian prince with an empty city.

Even this empty city does not belong to him, the Prince of Persia.

The Tang army only fights for the Tang Dynasty and will not fight for the Persian prince to restore his country unless there is an order from the emperor.

Besides, the emperor would not give such an order.

Until September, there was no trace of the Tang army or the Arabs here, and only some Hu merchants would occasionally come here.

Later, news reached the city of Mulu that the Tang army had erected a monument on the Amu Darya River. From then on, the entire Pamir Mountains east of the Amu Darya River would be the territory of the Tang army, and the Tang army would collect taxes from the entire Pamir Mountains.

Later, more news was sent to Mulu City that the Pamir countries could no longer trade in war slaves. After the Tang army wiped out many forces, a very powerful Sai king appeared in the Pamir area. It was said that this Sai king worked for the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang people did not continue the war, nor did they attack the Arabs again. Instead, they withdrew their troops and retreated to the east of the Pamir Mountains.

With the Pamir Mountains as a barrier and Suiye City as the pass connecting the Western Regions to the Pamir Mountains, the Anxi Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty was built.

The Anxi Protectorate took Xizhou as its starting point, connecting the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains with the four towns of Anxi. Starting from Chang'an, it spanned 20,000 miles all the way west.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne, it took the Tang people eleven years to build the Western Regions and establish the Anxi Protectorate.

In September of the eleventh year of the Qianqing reign, it began to snow in Tubo.

Rulaijie walked past a herd of cattle with a cane and whispered, "It starts snowing in autumn in Tubo."

Wang Xuance walked in the snow and said, "It should be autumn in Chang'an now. I will take you to Chang'an."

Ru Laijie was tired of hearing such words. He had always been hearing people talk about how good Chang'an was and how beautiful Chang'an was. He got bored of it after hearing it so much.

Wang Xuance added: "After the war with the Arabs, there was still a lot of food left. We didn't finish it during the war, and the two protectorates of the Western Regions and Tibet would not allow us to transport the remaining food back."

Ru Laijie asked, "Why?"

Wang Xuance said with emotion: "This year's harvest is abundant, and the court is already overwhelmed. It's too late to rush to send the harvest out."

As they were talking, a child about ten years old came riding on a horse. He came up and handed Ru Laijie a thick cotton coat, then left.

Ever since Wang Xuance met Ru Laijie, this old Tibetan man has always worn Tibetan clothes and eaten Tibetan food, until now he finally put on the cotton-padded clothes and robes that only Tang people would wear.

After Ru Laijie put it on, he looked up and smiled, "Yeah, it's very warm."

Wang Xuance whispered, "Go to Chang'an and take a look."

Ru Laijie still shook his head and walked up the stairs step by step to the renovated Potala Palace.

"What did you say to Qin Ling? Why did he go on the expedition to the west? Is he not coming back?"

"Don't you Tang people have some troops going on expeditions? It's the same for him."

There were not many soldiers and horses on the expedition, only a hundred people and three or five teams.

Ru Laijie stopped for a moment, as if he felt the crutch in his hand was not comfortable, so he changed hands.

Rulaijie continued walking towards the Potala Palace and said, "Your Tang emperor said that we should let the Tang people go out and leave more seeds in various parts of the world. That's what I said to Qinling."

The Potala Palace is very beautiful in the snow. I heard that it was built by Songtsen Gampo and it was only completed now, more than 30 years later.

Wang Xuance followed behind the old man, who looked more and more hunched and old. Fortunately, he was wearing a hat, otherwise his sparse and pale hair could be seen in the cold wind. He was one of the Seven Wise Ministers under the Tubo Zamp. He said that he was ranked third and became one of the Seven Wise Ministers earlier than Sambuza.

The first two died a long time ago. At that time, Rulaijie went to the snowy mountains and never cared about worldly affairs again. He did not come out until Songtsen Gampo left Tubo. Wang Xuance had heard about the life story of this old man. Rulaijie was actually the blood of the Tubo king. At that time, there was no Songtsen Gampo in Tubo. At that time, the Tubo people were in chaos, and the surrounding tribes were coveting Tubo's pastures.

According to legend, Ru Laijie found his father's body with great difficulty, and after the burial, the first Tibetan king's tomb was built.

In the stories passed down by word of mouth among the Tibetan people, Ru Laijie also had a legendary life. Even Wang Xuance felt that Ru Laijie's legendary story was a bit too bizarre and he didn't know whether it was true or not.

This war will also add more color to the story of this legendary old man.

The next day, Wang Xuance woke up in the Potala Palace and saw Ru Laijie sitting cross-legged in front of the Potala Palace. He could not wake up anymore. The old man had passed away.

Several Tibetan guards came forward and gave a few instructions, and Wang Xuance took over an outer robe, which was the most gorgeous outer robe worn by Tibetan heroes.

"According to the agreement, General Wang will preside over his funeral."

Wang Xuance bowed slightly.

The snow was still falling. Wang Xuance sat beside Ru Laijie for a while, looking at the cattle in the distance, and said, "If you could live longer, you should have followed me to Chang'an. Hmm...how did you know you were going to die?"

Wang Xuance felt it was a bit awkward to say this to a person who was about to die, so he put the beautiful robe on him and carried him on his back as he walked towards the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Ru Laijie seemed like a heartless and irrational old man. He treated all the children in Tubo as his own children, so he should be a man with many children.

Arriving at the snow-capped mountain where he and Ru Laijie had once looked out at it, Wang Xuance placed his body on the top of the mountain and sat cross-legged, facing the east, in the direction of Chang'an City.

The wind and snow grew stronger until the snowflakes covered his body.

Wang Xuance had no more concerns in Tubo, so he left with his wife and children. What happened in Tubo in the future had nothing to do with him.

In the eleventh year of Qianqing's reign, it was the season from late autumn to winter, and people realized that the beginning of winter was approaching.

Inside the imperial palace in Chang'an City, Li Chengqian was looking through the memorials sent from Luoyang, while his father was also looking at the memorials sent from Anxi Dadu Prefecture.

It was very quiet in the new hall. The tea bowls filled with hot water were still steaming. Li Chengqian turned a page and looked at the records in the memorial. This memorial was all about the events on Laojun Mountain. The observatory on Laojun Mountain was finally completed.

Li Shimin suddenly asked, "I heard that Li Chunfeng looked at the moon at the observatory and saw the appearance of the Immortal Palace?"

Li Chengqian said: "Master Li didn't see the moon clearly at all. He said in his memorial that I should not believe in rumors."

Outside the new palace, the eunuchs were busy coming and going. After this year, my father will be sixty years old.

What the emperor is most concerned about now is his grandson. I am afraid that if the child does not come, he will not be happy even if we have a big banquet.

Li Chengqian said, "When Lou Shide sent the urgent report, Yu Tu and his men should have set out from Xizhou City. Now it is estimated that they should have reached Guzang City."

Li Shimin put down the memorial in his hand and said, "I haven't congratulated you yet, but you won a great victory in the battle of Congling."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's not easy for the soldiers. Many of them will be rewarded next year."

Li Shimin asked again: "I heard that the Jingyang printing house has spent money to expand again?"

"Well, I asked the Jingyang workshop to make the secret recipe of papermaking public. Paper is no longer valuable nowadays. There are many papermaking workshops in various parts of the Central Plains. The secret recipes of paper are different and the output is also different. Each family has their own secret recipe, and the paper they make is also different."

Li Shimin held the tea bowl and said with a smile: "Cheng Qian, you need more books. You made the secret recipe of paper public in order to make more paper, so that Jingyang can get more cheap paper and print more books."

Li Chengqian nodded without refuting.

Li Shimin added: "They want to sell the paper at a good price, so they will compete to sell the paper to the court first. Only the payment and goods from the court are fair and reliable. They can even have long-term dealings and supply the court with paper for a long time, which is the dream of all papermaking workshops in the world."

Li Chengqian said calmly, "Yes."

"No wonder Li Xuanbi said he would use the paper from all over the world to print books for the Tang Dynasty."

"Father, Jingyang's production tools and production technology have improved a lot, and the efficiency of printing books has also improved." Li Chengqian added: "But Li Zhi said that it is still manpower printing, and the efficiency of manpower is almost reaching its limit."

"I don't want to reason with those old Confucian scholars, or talk about justice. For example, Li Xuanbi is a famous official. He is a bit pedantic after all. He didn't serve as an official in the court. I think the decision made by the emperor was very wise."

Li Shimin took another sip of tea with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, Chief Su is here."

Li Chengqian said: "Please come in."

Su Tan had more white hair than before. He walked into the hall in a hurry, looking as hurried as ever.

Li Shimin walked forward, took Su Tan's hand and sat down, saying, "You and I are both old men."

Su Tan hurriedly stood up and saluted. He looked at the current emperor, who looked more majestic now. The current emperor's political means were more powerful and more centralized.

Compared with the Zhenguan period, the current emperor is strict and resourceful, and there is a group of ministers in the court who are as ferocious as wolves and tigers.

An eunuch came to report, "Your Majesty! Minister Chu and Minister Xu are fighting again."

Hearing this, Li Shimin said with a straight face: "Why did they start a fight?"

"This……"

Seeing that the eunuch refused to speak, Li Chengqian cleared his throat and said, "Father, Chu Suiliang submitted a memorial earlier, saying that the prince should study politics after his return, and he needs a teacher. Although Chu Suiliang did not recommend himself, it is better than recommending himself."

"Xu Jingzong is a father and an emperor. How could he let Chu Suiliang go if he knew about this? It is expected that the two would fight."

After that, Li Chengqian reminded them again: "They are already old, don't fight and get hurt, have someone take care of them."

"Here."

The hall was quiet for a while. Su Tan was about to talk about his own affairs when he saw the retired emperor speaking again.

"It's time to find a teacher for the prince. Chu Suiliang is good... but it's a pity that he has a bad relationship with Xu Jingzong. Such a person is not suitable to be the prince's teacher. Ma Zhou and Yu Zhining are also good. Do you have any candidates? Xu Jingzong or Chu Suiliang?"

Li Chengqian said: "The prince cannot have only one teacher."

Li Shimin picked up the tea bowl again with a serious expression.

(End of this chapter)