The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 535 There are many people
A cold wind blew through Chengtian Gate, and Guo Zhengyi shivered from the cold. He said, "Minister Xu, the Ministry of War and the Censorate sent news, and I just heard about it."

"what news?"

Guo Zheng followed Xu Jingzong's footsteps and said, "The soldiers who came back from the Western Regions said that the Arab envoy was actually left behind by Liang Jianfang because he wanted to show off his power. The soldiers in the army had long wanted to kill the envoy, but General Liang left him behind on purpose."

Xu Jingzong suddenly stopped and said with a dark face, "What a Liang Jianfang! He is so eager to show off that he has ruined our rest."

Guo Zhengyi also smiled helplessly.

There is no other way. Logically speaking, Liang Jianfang's approach is correct. If an envoy wants to come to Chang'an, let him come.

It was understandable that Liang Jianfang killed the envoy before the war. With such military merit, the government and the public would not make things difficult for him. However, he would be criticized in the future.

Furthermore, taking a step back and looking at the court and the opposition, which general in the court does not have a bad reputation?
The emperor decided the life or death of the envoy with just one sentence, and this year's holiday continued as normal.

As soon as the two of them walked to the entrance of the Ministry of Rites, they saw Shangguan Yi and the prince walking towards them, talking and laughing. This prince's attendant had been getting along quite well with the prince recently.

Xu Jingzong took another step and walked towards Guo Zhengyi, pretending to have just bumped into him, and saluted, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Yu Tu bowed and said, "Minister Xu, Minister Guo."

Looking at the prince whose voice is still a little raw and hoarse, children of this age are at the age when their voices are changing.

Xu Jingzong said, "Your Highness, I want to kill an envoy. I wonder if Your Highness has time?"

Yu Tu thought about it and said, "Killing people? I've seen too much on the battlefield. My father has also assigned me many studies, so I won't go."

Shangguan Yi also smiled apologetically when facing the two people in front of him.

The crown prince has indeed been very busy lately. He almost lives in the Secretariat and interacts with the vice ministers of the Secretariat all day long. Xu Jingzong is vaguely worried that such a crown prince will suffer in the future.

The cold wind was still blowing. Xu Jingzong and Guo Zhengyi arrived at the Suzaku Gate. When the clerk brought General Gao in, the Arab envoy was also brought to the gate.

When the head of this Arab envoy fell to the ground, it announced that there was no room for easing the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Arabs.

The Tang Dynasty rejected all opportunities for reconciliation.

Perhaps this is better, letting the Tang people know that there are still vast lands outside that have not been conquered by the Tang Dynasty. Xu Jingzong thought of Your Majesty's ideal again. Your Majesty hopes that more Tang people will go out, and those who go out can leave their seeds in various parts of the world.

In this way, the seeds of the Tang people will spread all over the world. Even if there are Tang people thousands of miles away who can build a small Tang country, Your Majesty will not hesitate to reward them.

Your Majesty hopes that the Tang people can go out and conquer further places.

A rider on a fast horse came to Chang'an City and brought a piece of news to the city: the astronomical observatory on Laojun Mountain was about to be completed.

I thought the emperor would build a palace on Laojun Mountain, but I didn't expect that he would build a stargazing tower for Taoist Li Chunfeng.

Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji walked on Zhuque Street. Both of them had white hair and beards, and there were only three or two guards behind them. They walked into Chai Shao's mansion.

Li Shimin said: "It's still the same here."

Chai Zhewei said: "My nephew has always asked the family to maintain this place as it is."

Li Shimin came to a ginkgo tree. Next to the tree, there was a sunny house. There were two tablets in the house, which were the tablets of Chai Shao and Princess Pingyang.

Li Shimin looked up at the ginkgo tree and heard hurried footsteps behind him. The footsteps sounded familiar.

"grandfather."

Hearing Yu Tu's words, Li Shimin did not turn around, but looked at the ginkgo tree and asked, "Have you been studying politics lately?"

Yu Tu stepped forward and said, "My grandson has recently been studying politics with Mr. Shangguan."

"Teacher Shangguan?"

"He is my grandson's East Palace attendant. I have many questions to ask him, so I call him teacher."

Li Shimin asked again: "Do you have any doubts?"

Changsun Wuji stood aside, looking at the prince with a smile on his face.

Yu Tu replied: "Father said that the government's orders must be communicated."

Li Shimin said: "Your father always says this. He wants to tie up all the county officials."

"Grandpa, my grandson and Teacher Shangguan both think that my father is right to worry."

"What do you think?"

Yu Tu said, "Father said that from the emperor to the ministers, if the emperor asked for 100, there would be 80% left in the court, 60% left outside Chang'an, 30% left in the prefectures and cities, and only 10% left in the counties and towns. This is not good and will cause hidden dangers."

"Therefore, the court should strengthen supervision, increase the decentralization and checks and balances between counties and townships, and make it clear to officials at all levels from top to bottom that they serve as officials not for wealth and honor, but to govern the country. Teacher Shangguan said that no matter how big or small the officials are, whether they are in the court or in the county, their behavior is the behavior of the country."

"If the lowest level loses control, how can the country be stable? I don't know much, but I remember my father's teachings. The country of Li Tang has never been a pot, nor is it that everyone shares in this pot. Without these millions of ordinary people, there would be no country and no land."

After hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes were filled with joy and worry, and he slowly said: "Cheng Qian, what did he teach you?"

Yu Tu said, "I haven't learned much, Grandpa, please forgive me."

Li Shimin waved his hand and said, "Go ahead."

Yu Tu bowed and also bowed to Changsun Wuji before quickly leaving.

Zhang Sun Wuji watched with a smile on his face until the prince's figure disappeared, then he said, "The emperor has a good grandson."

Li Shimin snorted and said, "I have finally understood that this kid will be stricter than his father in the future."

Zhang Sun Wuji asked, "Is it because the prince didn't learn well?"

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Not everyone has the talent of Cheng Qian. My uncle said that Cheng Qian's talent is suitable for being an emperor. Later, you and I saw that Cheng Qian learned everything very quickly."

Zhang Sun Wuji recalled the past and laughed, "Yes, when he was still the crown prince, he could learn anything just by looking at it and asking a few questions. Fang Shang always said that he didn't teach the crown prince anything, but the crown prince already knew it. The only thing that the crown prince was slow to learn was archery. Lord Ying taught him for many years."

The sun shone on the two memorial tablets in the room. Li Shimin sat beside them and said with a smile, "I almost forgot what you looked like."

The palace was particularly lively on this year's New Year's Eve.

Li Chengqian was eating hot pot with Li Xinzheng and Li Ke, and said, "Qingque left. He brought a group of students with him and said he wanted to go around and look around. He left Xiner to be raised by the emperor."

Li Xin is the son of Li Tai, King of Wei. The child has been well-behaved since he was young. He is holding a bowl and drinking soup.

Li Ke asked, "What is Qingque going to do?"

Li Chengqian ate mutton and said, "They say we are going to measure the age of the land. We may have to go to many places to see the soil there." Li Ke said, "So far, Qingque is still the most idle."

Li Chengqian asked: "What about you?"

"Ke is not going to stop yet. There are always many old things that need to be done in this world. Officials are not capable enough so someone needs to watch over them. The people need to be educated so someone needs to teach them. Ke feels that he will never be able to finish all these things in his lifetime."

As he spoke, Li Ke laughed at himself and said, "If one day I feel tired and want to stop, I hope my royal brother won't laugh at me."

As he spoke, he raised the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Chengqian poured him more wine.

Maybe it was because he was drunk, but the sound of children playing filled his ears. Li Ke's eyes were slightly red, and he said, "Brother, there is something I must tell you."

"You said."

"In the past, Ke traveled to various places. Whether it was my father or my brother, our Li Tang emperor did not compromise with the aristocratic families at that time. The aristocratic families criticized the Li Tang country. Because of my father's clan ambitions and my brother's supervision, they wanted to rise up in rebellion."

"When my father led the Eastern Expedition, my brother killed so many people in Luoyang that no one dared to rebel anymore." Li Ke's tone was a little excited, his eyes were red and he was smiling.

There was pride in his smile. He said, "When I visited various places and inquired about them, people would often look at me with strange eyes, and some would even want to drive me away. I felt that no one would help me at that time."

"But now it's different. Now there are groups of Chongwenguan students who carry the words of Duke Zheng to educate the people. Seeing those students, Ke feels that all these years of persistence are worth it."

Li Ke paused for a moment and then said, "It's worth it."

Li Chengqian patted his shoulder, looked at the starry sky and said: "God is looking after the Tang Dynasty."

Li Ke also stroked the short beard on his chin.

At that time, Li Ke seemed to be traveling alone in various places. Facing the injustices faced by the aristocratic families, he stood up for the villagers.

Now Li Ke is no longer alone. More and more students go to various places to teach after graduation, changing many places. Those students will shout and face injustice angrily.

The teachers who come to teach in the countryside all start from Chang'an. When they travel to different places, they will tell people what Chang'an is like today, what the current political decrees are, and what the current emperor is like.

More people will come to Chang'an later.

I hope it will remain so for the next hundred years.

Li Chengqian put his weight on the back of the chair, put his hands in his pockets and smiled: "In fact, I am not alone anymore."

Li Xin drank the soup, then put down the bowl that was bigger than his face, picked up a few walnuts from the side, and ran to share them with brother Yu Tu.

On New Year's Eve, there was another strange sight in the night sky of Chang'an City, with fireworks blooming one after another in the night sky.

Li Zhi was telling Li Zhi about his idea, which was a water turbine or a steam-powered ball. This idea had not yet been turned into a blueprint and could only be told orally.

Li Lizhi sat next to her mother, her expression calm and even a little bored.

Empress Dowager Changsun became very interested after hearing this and asked, "Really? Can it be moved without human power?"

Li Zhi said: "Of course, if we can build a big furnace, we can run the printing workshop by ourselves without the need for manpower, but..."

"Just what?"

Hearing his mother's questioning, Li Zhi looked quite triumphant. He said, "It just requires a lot of money."

"Ha ha……"

Li Lizhi suddenly sneered, as if she had expected him to say that.

Seeing that her mother seemed to be really calculating how much money to give, Li Lizhi hurriedly hugged her mother's arm and said, "Mother, I want at least tens of thousands of silver coins."

"Ah..." Empress Dowager Zhangsun hesitated and said, "So many?"

Li Lizhi glared at her brother and said, "Zhi Nu, how much money have the emperor and Du He given you! Even if they gave you money, how long will it take you to make it? There is no end to the money they give you."

Li Zhiben was a good boy. He did spend all his money on various inventions. However, whether an invention is useful or not is not determined by money. Besides, scientific research and inventions require trial and error.

After being scolded by his imperial sister, Li Zhi lowered his head and said nothing, feeling very aggrieved.

"Actually, there is a solution." Dongyang came over with a basin of oranges and said, "As long as Zhinu conducts detailed planning and mapping, and tries more feasible probabilities before officially investing, we can avoid wasting money."

When Li Zhi saw the Dongyang Emperor's sister, it was as if he saw hope. He nodded heavily and said, "Thank you for your advice, sister."

Dongyang shook his head and said, "Zhi Nu still looks like a late bloomer."

Li Lizhi sighed, "I'm afraid that Zhinu's idea was given to him by my royal brother."

Li Zhi's face turned even redder.

Li Shen ate the tangerine and laughed in a very unkind way.

The brothers and sisters and the queen mother here also laughed, and under the sound of the fireworks, the laughter here became even more lively.

In the night, under the starry sky, the eleventh year of Qianqing came to an end.

The next day, just after New Year's Eve, the first day of the twelfth year of Qianqing, at dawn, officials were reading out the emperor's edict loudly in the streets, which roughly meant to celebrate the great victory at Pamirs and lift the curfew in Chang'an for seven days.

The emperor also had rewards. Any family with soldiers stationed in various places could receive ten strings of money, as well as rice, flour and quilts.

Regardless of age, all retired soldiers or families of soldiers who died fighting on the border will be rewarded.

When the emperor's decree came down, many old palace soldiers brought their families and headed towards the end of Suzaku Street, which was the direction of Taiji Hall, to salute and thank the emperor.

In the eyes of some people, the emperor's edict was more like a return gift. At the beginning, the villagers from all counties congratulated the retired emperor on his 60th birthday, and now the emperor was a bit like returning the gift to the villagers from all counties.

There is a good reason why some people would think so. After three generations of the Li and Tang dynasties, looking at Guanzhong today, among the villagers in each county, there is no family without a household soldier for two generations ago.

On the first day of the new year, Li Chengqian not only met with his father-in-law, but also summoned the Minister of War Yu Zhining and Pei Yan.

Su Tan had come to celebrate the New Year. His Majesty and the Minister of War probably had something important to discuss. He saw that the situation was not appropriate, so after thinking it over again and again, he said, "Your Majesty, this old minister..."

Li Chengqian held out his hand to stop his father-in-law from bowing, "There are some things that need to be discussed with you."

Su Tan had no choice but to sit back down, smiling awkwardly and acting as if whatever His Majesty said was what he meant.

(End of this chapter)