The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 561 Territory
Originally, Li Chengqian thought that this kind of article should not be radical or conservative, but after having so many opinions, it was hard to choose. Should we choose the one who is the most radical or the one who is conservative?
This way of choosing is obviously wrong. Being too subjective can easily lose its objective meaning.

In August, the scorching sun burned the earth, making the scenery a few miles away a little distorted. Li Chengqian did not expect that a writing competition would become a reason for confrontation between the two sides.

Half lying on a bamboo lounge chair, Li Chengqian put down the article in his hand, closed his eyes and enjoyed the coolness under the eaves for a moment.

Su Wan came with a letter and said, "Your Majesty, Yu Tu has arrived at Jiucheng Palace."

Jiucheng Palace is in Qizhou, and the journey takes only three to five days. This time, Xue Wanbei will lead the escort team again.

Xiao Que'er ran over quickly, drank a bowl of cold water, and then he regained his breath. He said, "Shangguan Wan'er has lost her appetite recently. I heard that Shangguan Yi is also very worried."

Li Chengqian still smiled and said nothing.

Recently, the emperor has been spending the summer by the Taiye Lake. During this period, the emperor's father-in-law, Su Tan, went to meet His Majesty. Afterwards, a group of students from the Chongwenguan visited the homes of some soldiers.

After that, many articles were written, and those articles described the Battle of the Pamirs. In the Battle of the Pamirs, people from the Western Regions, Uighurs, Turks, Tibetans, as well as India and the Lesser Bolor Kingdom, under the command of the Tang army, fought against the Arabs together.

The battle involving hundreds of thousands of people was written into very interesting stories under the articles written by those students.

Su Tan looked at the articles sent in by various schools and said, "Please tell them to write more articles like this."

"Here."

The Battle of Pamirs should not only be recorded in history books, but also become a story passed down by word of mouth. It is a story full of justice, unity, and glory.

It is a story about the Eastern countries led by the Tang Dynasty fighting against the Arabs. Under the guidance of Su Tan of Chongwenguan, this story was spread more widely and with greater force in the Western Regions, Tibet, and even the Turks and Silla.

Just as the summer of the 15th year of Qianqing ended, several urgent reports were sent to Chang'an City.

The former Nanzhao was called Mengshezhao. The name Nanzhao was given by the current Khan. Today, Nanzhao owns the entire Erhai Lake. Nanzhao has its capital in Taihe City. It borders the Tang Dynasty in the northeast and the Pyu Kingdom in the southwest.

In the past two years, two kings of Nanzhao died in succession. Guo Daiju, Cen Changqian and Li Jingxuan from the Ministry of Rites jointly wrote a memorial requesting Your Majesty to enthrone Nanzhao as a prefecture of the Tang Dynasty, set up a prefect, and establish prefectures, counties and districts.

Xu Jingzong, whose hair and beard were already white, said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty, this is the wish of all the subjects of Nanzhao. The subjects of Nanzhao hope that the Khan will make it happen."

Li Chengqian looked at the ministers in the palace. The hot summer had just ended, and the summer and autumn harvests in Guanzhong were also completed.

There was silence in the Taiji Hall. Li Chengqian's eyes fell on Xu Jingzong and asked, "Has the Censorate heard about the request of the Nanzhao subjects?"

Shangguan Yi stepped out of the court and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I have also heard something."

"Build prefectures and counties in Nanzhao, divide the population and household registration, and except for the governor, the candidates for prefecture and county officials will be selected from Nanzhao. Nanzhao will select officials according to the people's choices. Next year, I want to see how many counties there are in Nanzhao. All the county officials of Nanzhao must come to Chang'an, and I want to meet them in person."

The emperor's majestic words echoed in the Taiji Hall, and everyone saluted and shouted the emperor's holy name.

Your Majesty wants to meet with all the county officials of Nanzhao. This is definitely not just empty talk, but Your Majesty really wants to do so, and Your Majesty certainly has the patience to do so.

You should never doubt the patience of an emperor who is good at fishing. In order to obtain Tubo, this emperor even turned Lu Dongzan into an old man.

As soon as Xu Jingzong walked out of the hall, he was stopped by a eunuch who smiled and said, "Minister Xu, His Majesty has summoned you."

Hearing this, Xu Jingzong had no choice but to follow.

The new palace is actually right next to the Taiji Hall. After the morning court session, His Majesty can have dinner here, or have dinner with a few court officials.

As soon as Xu Jingzong walked into the new palace, he heard voices inside the palace.

"So, does Nanzhao really have so many copper mines?"

The voice sounded old and familiar. Xu Jingzong raised his head slightly and saw Ying Gong sitting in the hall.

Just as he was about to step into the hall, Xu Jingzong heard hurried footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Shangguan Yi.

Xu Jingzong was surprised and asked: "Brother Shangguan, why..."

Shangguan Yi sighed, "Your Majesty summoned me."

Xu Jingzong nodded in understanding. He came to the new palace naturally because His Majesty summoned him. What else could it be?

"Everyone, please enter the palace. I have asked someone to prepare a lunch."

The two of them bowed together and walked into the new palace.

The food brought into the hall were all common dishes, with one pot each of fish, mutton and duck.

Seeing the wine being served, Li Ji said, "I have important military matters to attend to this afternoon so I won't drink."

Seeing that Duke Ying did not drink, Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi naturally had nothing to say.

Li Chengqian looked at the two of them and whispered, "Old Xu..."

"The minister is here."

"I have known you for many years. There are some things I don't tell the court officials in Taiji Hall, but I still want to explain it to you here."

Xu Jingzong put down his chopsticks, stood up and saluted, saying, "Yes."

"Regarding Nanzhao's affairs, I hope you can stand firm and not rush for success."

"I have been planning for several years, and I am sure that I will succeed this year."

Li Chengqian nodded, then looked at Shangguan Yi beside him and said, "Brother Shangguan, why do you look worse and worse lately?"

Shangguan Yi hurriedly stood up, stood beside Xu Jingzong and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I apologize."

Ying Gong sat aside with his eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned about what was happening before his eyes.

Li Chengqian chewed a piece of mutton and asked suspiciously, "Why are you asking for forgiveness?"

Shangguan Yi bowed and said, "The Crown Prince is spending the summer at Jiucheng Palace. I discovered that my granddaughter was actually exchanging letters with the Crown Prince who was far away at Jiucheng Palace. I also discovered that my granddaughter and the Crown Prince had been exchanging letters privately for a long time. I am here to apologize. I have failed to teach my daughter well. I ask Your Majesty to punish me."

Seeing Shangguan Yi's serious expression, Li Chengqian's expression finally became more solemn, and he said, "In fact, most of the prince's affairs are arranged by father."

Looking at him again, he still had the attitude of admitting guilt with his head down. It was certainly not Shangguan Yi's fault. Shangguan Yi was not guilty in the first place. It was normal for children at the most ignorant age.

Moreover, this matter has not been made public. Duke Ying will not tell this matter to anyone. Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi are close friends and will not talk nonsense.

Li Chengqian cleared his throat and said, "You are the prince's East Palace attendant. Actually, you can also go to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat."

"Your Majesty..." Shangguan Yi bowed again and said, "If I go to Jiucheng Palace, my granddaughter will definitely follow me, and maybe... Therefore, I stayed in Chang'an City and presided over the Imperial Censorate."

Shangguan Yi seemed to be afraid that his granddaughter would secretly marry the current crown prince.

"Don't worry, the prince has been sensible since he was young." Duke Ying, who had been silent, finally spoke.

Today's morning court sessions are shorter and end earlier than before. During the Zhenguan period, a court session would often last until noon or even afternoon.

Nowadays, the morning court basically ends before noon. What kind of emperor you have, what kind of ministers he has, and what kind of ministers you have, what kind of court he has.

The emperor was particular about efficiency, and his ministers naturally also valued efficiency, so the morning court naturally ended quickly.

After listening to His Majesty's comforting words, Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi followed Duke Ying and left the new palace.

After the three people left, the palace maid in front of him was cleaning up the dishes. Li Chengqian picked up a file on the table. This file was sent from Silla. The Silla people went to the Japanese territory to plunder in groups.

Li Chengqian quietly looked at the contents of the file. It said that a huge tsunami occurred in the Japanese territory, submerging a large number of Japanese villages. The last batch of Silla people left the Japanese island, and the Japanese had been killed.

Jin Chunqiu might still have some mercy, but those poor and crazy Silla people did not have the humanity that Jin Chunqiu had.

In just three years, they dug out several silver mines, until they reached a place where human power could not dig.

After getting the last bit of silver, those vicious Silla people killed the last few Japanese.

Li Chengqian looked at the map they drew. From north to south it was indeed the entire territory of the Japanese. The crazy Silla people killed all the Japanese, and there were no Japanese from then on.

This is the same information that Su Dingfang received after arriving in Laizhou.

There are no Japanese people in this world anymore. Even if there are living people there, they will only be savages. The Silla people left a mess there and then retreated.

The Japanese territory was originally a tiny place. Compared with the war in the Central Plains, destroying the Japanese territory was just like destroying a state. It was not a big deal.

In the fifteenth year of Qianqing's reign, when winter was approaching, the Crown Prince and the Emperor returned to Chang'an City.

Saying that they were going to escape the summer heat, my father and Yu Tu lived in Jiucheng Palace for half a year.

After returning, the prince will face heavy academic workload.

In the winter of the 15th year of Qianqing's reign, Nanzhao was divided into 25 counties, and the county officials from the 25 counties in Nanzhao came to Chang'an City.

Xu Jingzong was not wrong. Now Nanzhao was a part of the Tang Dynasty, and for the first time, Nanzhao paid their taxes to Chang'an City.

In the snow and wind, Li Chengqian came to Anning Village carrying a wooden box.

Li Shimin was sitting by the brazier at home, baking cakes. When he saw his son coming, he asked, "You don't need to bring gifts when you come to see me."

Li Chengqian put down the heavy wooden box and poured out the pieces of the puzzle. He explained, "This is a new puzzle that I asked someone to make for you."

Li Shimin said: "It's been a long time since I last had a new puzzle."

The puzzles were piled high on the table. Li Chengqian sat with his father for a long time, and only left after the wind and snow outside stopped.

The next day, the wind and snow once again submerged the quiet village. The heavy snow buried the houses, leaving only the shape of the roof and a small window with a warm light on.

This summer is extremely hot, and the snow and wind are really too strong.

The extremely hot and cold weather this year is very uncomfortable.

Sitting by the oil lamp, Empress Dowager Changsun was sewing clothes and whispered, "Shangguan Wan'er is a very good girl. She is very smart."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "I didn't expect that Shangguan Yi, who has been honest all his life, would have such a smart granddaughter."

"Then your majesty thinks this granddaughter-in-law is very good?"

"I'm old, let Cheng Qian do these things." Li Shimin said, lowering his head, pursing his lips, frowning, holding a magnifying glass, and putting the puzzle pieces together.

The elderly Li Shimin sat down slowly and let out a long breath. It took him five days to finally complete the puzzle.

The puzzle depicts the current territory of the Tang Dynasty, stretching from the east to the end of the continent, across Lake Baikal in the north, and to the ocean in the south.

To the southwest, the entire territory of Nanzhao borders Zhenla and Pyu.

To the west, the Tang Dynasty's territory connected to the entire Silk Road and obtained the entire territory of Tubo. To the west, it crossed the Great Snow Mountain and obtained the entire territory of various countries in India.

To the northwest, the Tang Dynasty's territory crossed the Pamir Mountains, annexed the Lesser Bolor Kingdom, crossed the Aral Sea, and annexed many old Persian territories.

Li Shimin looked at the vast territory and said, "Guanyin, have you ever seen such a vast territory?"

Empress Dowager Changsun sighed with great worry, and asked in an old and caring tone: "Can Cheng Qian take care of such a huge country by himself?"

Li Shimin patted his wife's hand and suddenly smiled. "I saw that Cheng Qian had a lot of things hidden in his heart when he stayed in Chang'an. My uncle also saw that. He kept his things hidden and didn't tell anyone."

Empress Dowager Changsun nodded slowly and sighed again.

Li Shimin said: "It's very good now, very good..."

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the territory of the Tang Dynasty exceeded that of previous dynasties, becoming the feudal dynasty with the largest territory recorded in historical books.

In Wenlin Hall, a child asked: "Teacher, how do we govern such a large territory?"

The lecturer was Wang Bo. Seventeen-year-old Wang Bo explained: "Don't ask how to govern. As long as you ask, there will always be better governance strategies. Strategies will never be perfect. You need to implement them."

After finishing the lesson, Wang Bo put down the book and said, "Okay, that's all for today's lesson."

A group of children left the classroom happily. Wang Bo left with his school bag. When he was about to report to the person in charge, he heard the person in charge talking to someone.

A man smiled and said, "Brother Zhang, the word Haoran is good."

After the conversation, Zhang Jianzhi saw his friend off and then noticed Wang Bo standing by the door. He asked, "Is the imperial examination coming up next year?"

Wang Bo bowed and said, "Thank you for your care over the years, Teacher."

Zhang Jianzhi asked in confusion, "Did Xuanzang really give you any advice at Hanshan Temple back then?"

"Teacher, I did receive guidance from Xuanzang when I was young."

Over the years, Zhang Jianzhi has been looking for a favorite student. At first, he thought Wang Bo was a good kid, but in comparison, he was not as good as He Zhizhang.

At first, he thought He Zhizhang was of mediocre talent, but after observing him for a long time, Zhang Jianzhi felt that He Zhizhang's courage to question was exactly what the Wenlinguan needed.

Zhang Jianzhi felt that if he could not teach a few proud disciples, his life would be lived in vain.

(End of this chapter)