The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 558 Shangguan Yi's Concern

The emperor's reward is not so easy to obtain. Even retired generals cannot escape being employed by His Majesty again.

Su Dingfang is an old general who has retired. The court will no longer give him a position or military power. The old Duke assists the Ministry of War as a guest of the court.

After listening to Yu Zhining's story, Su Dingfang realized that the current Ministry of War was in charge of so many things, not only the military offices in various places, but also sea transportation.

Yu Zhining said, "Old General, thank you for your help."

Su Dingfang felt extremely regretful and thought he should not have come to Chang'an City.

What kind of person is the current emperor? Is it so easy to get his reward?

What's the point of regretting now? Yu Zhining's files were handed to him. Su Dingfang took the files in his hands and whispered, "I'm old now, and I probably can't help you anymore."

Yu Zhining replied: "It's okay, the old general just needs to give some advice, there's no need to lead the troops to fight."

Su Dingfang's expression finally eased a lot, but when he opened the file, all he saw was about sea transportation.

"Does the Ministry of War still manage the sea now?"

Yu Zhining handed over a bowl of tea and said, "Who says overseas can't be the territory of the Tang Dynasty?"

Su Dingfang hesitated for a moment, slowly picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of tea, and asked, "How can overseas be considered the territory of the Tang Dynasty?"

Yu Zhining explained: "It's very simple. Wherever the Tang people's ships can go, that's the territory of the Tang Dynasty."

"So easy?"

Yu Zhining added: "It is not that easy to build a ship and go to sea. Last year, the Ministry of Justice sent a group of prisoners to the East China Sea to build a ship and go to sea, but none of them came back alive."

Su Dingfang hesitated and asked, "Aren't prisoners sent to the Western Regions to plant trees now?"

Yu Zhining smiled and said, "The lighter ones will go to the Western Regions, and the more guilty ones will go to the East China Sea to build ships and sail."

"Since when did the Ministry of War start to manage people going to sea?"

Su Dingfang muttered something.

When Yu Zhining heard this, he smiled indifferently and continued to work on the things at hand.

Liu Renyuan only stayed in Chang'an for an hour before hurriedly heading to Shuofang with his wife and children.

Zhang Jianzhi, Li Zhi and Li Shen watched from afar.

"Your Majesty, are you going to let Liu Renyuan go back now?"

Li Zhi said: "What else?"

"Most of the generals who have been stripped of their military power will be..." Zhang Jianzhi made a gesture of wiping his neck.

Li Zhi raised his foot and kicked, but Zhang Jianzhi dodged it and said with an unhappy look: "My royal brother always keeps his word and never breaks his promise. Letting Liu Renyuan go back means letting him go back, and there is no other intention."

Zhang Jianzhi and Li Zhi made an agreement that whoever loses will have to clean the toilet for a month in order to see whether Liu Renyuan can reach Shuofang alive.

Half a month later, an urgent report came from Shuofang that Liu Renyuan had arrived safely in Shuofang. Zhang Jianzhi had no choice but to clean toilets in the Prince of Jin's Mansion for a month.

When Li Chengqian once again waited for the urgent news from Nanzhao, it was already March of the fifteenth year of Qianqing.

In this year, civil unrest broke out in Nanzhao.

In the new palace, Zhang Xuansu and Yan Qinli argued endlessly. The reason for the dispute was whether this matter should be handed over to the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Rites.

In the end, it was Guo Daiju, the Minister of Rites, who was asked to go to Nanzhao.

First use courtesy and then force. If the Ministry of Rites can settle this matter, there will be no need for the army to go out to quell the rebellion.

And just this year, a Tibetan minister became an official of the Ministry of Rites of the Tang Dynasty and reached Dongsai.

Dazhan Dongsai was recommended by the Tubo Prime Minister Lu Dongzan. The Tubo prefecture-county system had just been implemented and Tubo needed people to come to the Tang Dynasty to study, so Lu Dongzan recommended him.

It is said that Dazhan Dongsai was a disciple of Songtsen Gampo. Li Chengqian met this Tibetan and asked, "Is the Zamp still alive?"

Dazhan Dongsai wore the Tang Dynasty court dress and bowed, saying, "Zamp, everything is fine."

"You are the person who was collectively nominated by the Tubo internal interests. Do your words to me represent the opinions of the Tang Dynasty and Tubo?"

Dazhan Dongsai said in a clear voice: "Tian Khan, our Zamp said that after the children of the Tang people and the children of Tubo swear an oath together, our lives will be linked together."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I think so too."

Dazhan Dongsai added: "Tibet can send troops to help the Tang Dynasty quell the Nanzhao rebellion."

"No need, the Ministry of Rites will take care of this."

"Here."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "You are the Minister of Rites, so you can move around in the Ministry of Rites. In the future, the Ministry of Rites will contact you first for any matters concerning exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo."

Dazhang Dongsai saluted again.

He also asked the Tibetan minister about Songtsen Gampo's recent situation. After he took his leave, Li Chengqian picked up Songtsen Gampo's letter and read it.

The New Palace was quiet for a moment, and then a eunuch hurried over to report, "Your Majesty, Shangguan Zhongcheng is here."

Li Chengqian put away the letter and nodded to signal for the person to come in.

On weekdays, the Chief Censor would always accompany the prince and rarely take the initiative to ask for a meeting.

Li Chengqian looked up and saw him, and asked with a smile: "Why do you look so bad recently?"

Shangguan Yi hurriedly saluted, then became a little confused.

Li Chengqian added: "I heard that you haven't been eating well or sleeping well lately."

"Your Majesty..." Shangguan Yi sighed and said, "Your Majesty has recently noticed that Wan'er has been close to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Your Majesty is worried that your granddaughter might say something inappropriate and get into trouble."

Li Chengqian added: "I heard that Que'er and your granddaughter get along very well?"

Shangguan Yi bowed again and said, "I dare not flatter Your Highness the Princess."

"It's nothing, just a joke between kids."

Listening to His Majesty's words, Shangguan Yi could only force a smile. It was because his granddaughter was still young at the beginning that he didn't care. Now his granddaughter is getting older and older. Whenever he sees his granddaughter getting close to the prince, he becomes more worried.

But Shangguan Yi couldn't possibly say such a thing openly, let alone tell the prince not to get too close to his granddaughter.

Now, His Majesty seemed to be very happy to see this happen, which made Shangguan Yi even more uneasy.

In state affairs, Shangguan Yi can be sure of His Majesty's fairness.

But Shangguan Yi was worried only about the matter between his granddaughter and the prince. Besides, the prince was still young, and his granddaughter was at an ignorant age.

Li Chengqian smiled and asked, "What did the prince do today?"

Hearing His Majesty's question, Shangguan Yi hurriedly replied: "After the morning court session, the Crown Prince went out of the city to enjoy the spring, along with my granddaughter."

Li Chengqian asked, "I also heard that Que'er went with him?"

Although the emperor's son was not a scourge, he was not an ordinary person either. Shangguan Yi closed his eyes and replied, "I will go and look after His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"No need today. You can go fishing with me. I am very busy on weekdays."

Busy, going fishing?
After hearing these words, Shangguan Yi thought for a moment that he had misheard, but he still responded, "Yes."

In the fifteenth year of Qianqing, state affairs remained stable. Your Majesty had been on the throne for fifteen years, and there were more and more new faces in the court. Just after the Nanzhao dispute, the Minister of Personnel Zhang Xuansu also retired.

(End of this chapter)