The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 563: Stubborn Turkic General

Meng Haoran was born in the spring of the 21st year of Qianqing. Li Chengqian listened to Shen Di's explanation that Meng Haoran was born in Xiangyang and came from a wealthy family.

Li Shen stood aside respectfully and saluted, "Royal brother, that's all."

There was nothing much to check about a newborn baby. Li Chengqian was accustomed to seeing these outstanding people being born and growing up in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The prosperous Tang Dynasty emerged from war, so the Tang people today still value martial arts.

In front of Chengtian Gate, Zhinu's performance ended and the big furnace went out again.

Li Zhi felt quite accomplished and handed over the blueprint.

Li Shen also looked expectant.

Before Li Chengqian even opened the blueprint, he said, "Brother Shen, why don't you go to the Hexi Corridor soon?"

Li Shen looked confused and uncertain.

"I plan to build a large city in the Hexi Corridor, right next to Jiayu Mountain. You and Zhinu can go together. This is a project that will take several years."

Glancing at Li Zhi who was still standing beside him, Li Chengqian said, "Zhi Nu, you can take the furnace with you. I have asked Xu Xiaode to arrange a lot of craftsmen. You can ask those craftsmen to help you."

Xiao Que'er said, "Father started making arrangements two years ago. All the skilled craftsmen in the Ministry of the Imperial Household were sent to the Hexi Corridor to open a large city dedicated to casting ironware."

Li Zhi was a little dazed, "Really?"

Xiao Que'er said, "I personally delivered the imperial edicts from my father to the Shaofu Supervisor. How could they be false?"

Only the emperor could recruit the best craftsmen and integrate a large amount of copper and iron resources. Li Chengqian picked up his pen and made changes on the blueprint, saying, "It would be better to put the wheel under the furnace. The hot air goes up, so it's right to use the hot air going up. But I think the reversing valve should be on the top, not on the bottom."

As he was talking, Li Chengqian turned the blueprint over and handed it back to him, saying, "Try it this way?"

Li Zhi suddenly had a feeling of enlightenment. This coincided with his idea of ​​building a car many years ago. It seemed natural that the wheels should be under the furnace.

According to his brother's instructions, this furnace can be made into a carriage. But when he thought about it again... Li Zhi had no idea what this carriage would look like.

It is not easy to create something from nothing. Before this, no one had thought that this kind of boiler could turn on wheels.

In the autumn of the 21st year of Qianqing's reign, an army was prepared outside the city of Chang'an, led by the Minister of Works Xu Xiaode.

Li Chengqian was in the palace watching Yu Tu writing on a test paper. The question was about the relationship between means of production and production tools.

This is an essay question. It is actually simple to look at it from the emperor's point of view. Just like Du He who previously mastered the production tools, it is very easy for the emperor to solve this problem. Sitting in the emperor's position, he can use many means to seize the other party's production tools for himself and quickly popularize these production tools.

Becoming a production tool for more people is like taking Du He's papermaking technology as an example. The court first bought Du He's papermaking technology, and then handed it over to various villages and counties to compete in production, thus completing a selection process of survival of the fittest.

If the emperor obtained some kind of production tools, he could just give them to all his subjects, because for the emperor, once the production tools were related to taxation, the emperor's interests were consistent with those of the masses.

This consistency has, to a certain extent, strengthened the ability to centralize power and integrate resources.

Then, continuing the discussion, social relations can be analyzed from production relations.

Yu Tu took an hour to finish this essay question, which was the most difficult and had no single correct answer. He handed the answer sheet to his father with an uneasy look on his face.

Li Chengqian was looking at the answer sheet when the elderly eunuch Yang came quickly over, leaning on a cane, and was about to speak.

Yu Tu hurried forward to support the elderly eunuch.

Seeing this, he tried to dodge, but saw that the prince had already supported his arm and said, "How dare I let the prince..."

Yu Tu said, "If you can't stand steadily in front of the emperor, wouldn't that be disrespectful to him?"

Eunuch Yang looked at His Majesty with his cloudy eyes and reported: "Your Majesty, Prince Jin and Prince Ji have followed Xu Xiaode to the Hexi Corridor."

"Are you leaving?"

"Yes, we left in an hour."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I understand."

Eunuch Yang smiled at the prince and then stood aside.

Li Chengqian read the answer sheet and asked, "Do you think being an emperor should help others or be more self-interested?"

Yu Tu hesitated and said, "I think it is important to be honest with others."

Li Chengqian put away the answer sheet, gave Eunuch Yang a look, and then asked the rest of the people in the hall to leave, leaving only the emperor and his son.

Inside the hall, Li Chengqian told his son about the relationship between people and capital in the material world.

In the quiet new palace, Li Chengqian revealed a whole new truth about the world to his son, and the truth of this world was cruel.

As the sun set, Yu Tu listened carefully to his father's words, and his values ​​were challenged again and again.

Yu Tu said: "Father, is the ultimate gap between the rich and the poor really so terrible?"

Li Chengqian said: "During the Jin Dynasty, the aristocratic families were at their peak. They intermarried to control resources. Once the teaching resources were controlled, there would be a situation where there would be no poor people among the upper class. People cannot be alienated. When a person learns to create, then this person who knows how to create can create tens of millions of times more wealth."

"If the resources for teaching are controlled by a few people, then the lower and upper classes will be different. In the ultimate picture of the gap between the rich and the poor, when the educational cognition of the upper and lower classes is infinitely widened, it is like some people are still learning addition and subtraction, while people of the same age have already mastered geometry and mathematics. In fact, everyone should have learned the same knowledge at the same age."

"But the beneficiaries don't think so. If the gap between the upper and lower classes has really reached such a level, then they will become two different kinds of people. To be more precise, the gap in education and understanding will eventually and even ultimately result in the same people becoming two different creatures."

"This is exactly the difference between the noble families and the lower classes back then. That's why the population is getting smaller and smaller. For the noble families, the world doesn't need so many people. You've studied history with Lai Ji. Did he ever tell you when the darkest period in the Central Plains was?"

Yu Tu replied: "The most people died in the wars at the end of the Han Dynasty, but the Central Plains after the Jin Dynasty was the most chaotic."

Li Chengqian added: "So I have always insisted on supporting education. Supporting education has become the lifeblood of our Li Tang country. No matter how much it costs, we must maintain it. The Supervision and the Ministry of Justice need to keep a close eye on it and curb the malpractices of the aristocratic families and the gentry. At the same time, we must work hard to increase production tools and improve people's creativity."

“Only creation can take productivity to a higher level, and it is an important opportunity for the country to break through the shackles of productivity.”

It was not until the evening that Yu Tu left the new palace. The prince did not go directly to the East Palace, but sat in front of Chengtian Gate and wiped the sweat off his face, as if releasing the pressure in his heart.

Pei Yan happened to pass by and saw the prince sitting by Chengtian Gate. He stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Your Highness."

Yu Tu also stood up and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Minister Pei."

Pei Yan saw the prince wiping his sweat and asked, "Your Highness, is there anything on your mind?" Yu Tu waved his hand and said, "No."

Pei Yan understood what was going on, so he said goodbye and left.

The prince, who had just turned twenty, sat in front of Chengtian Gate and took several deep breaths before he calmed down. His father's knowledge was like a bottomless pool of water, the bottom of which could never be seen.

However, most of the knowledge his father talked about sounded vague to him. He smiled bitterly, thinking that perhaps he was really not that smart.

Winter of the 21st year of Qianqing.

The prince's marriage was discussed again in the court, and Shangguan Yi was summoned by the retired emperor that night. It was said that it was at night... Shangguan Yi was drunk.

The next day, Li Chengqian was drinking a bowl of porridge.

Su Wan came over hurriedly and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, my father and mother have said that Yu Tu and Shangguan Wan'er should get married."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Okay."

The government affairs have been very stable in recent years. Li Yiyan, the general of the Nanzhao Protectorate, led 3,000 troops to sweep across the Pyu Kingdom and presented an elephant to the court.

The elephant was sent from the Pyu Kingdom to the city of Chang'an via Nanzhao and over the mountains.

Yu Zhining, the Minister of War, reported: "Your Majesty, this is the King of Pyu willing to give most of his territory to the Tang Dynasty."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Why should I ask him to give me what I can take?"

Yu Zhining smiled knowingly and said, "I obey your command."

In the 22nd year of Qianqing's reign, this year's grand court meeting was particularly lively. The Tang Dynasty was on an expedition, and a general named Wang Xiaojie continued his expedition against the Arabs. He even married a woman in the old land of Persia and had three sons with her. Li Chengqian appointed him as the governor of Persia, commanding the troops of the entire Persian territory, and all the cities and lands that were conquered were under the jurisdiction of him as the governor.

There was also a Saka king and various Indian tribes on the expedition to the Arabs. At the grand court meeting ten years after the battle of Pamirs, the emperor issued another decree.

The Tang Dynasty wanted to use Tibet and the Pamirs as springboards to advance westward, sending more officials and more teachers.

Teaching, diplomacy and war are the three sharp weapons of the emperor. For the current emperor, this expedition is far from over. Wherever the battle ends, it ends. As long as the flag of the Tang Dynasty stands, that is the territory of the Tang people.

The territory of the Tang Dynasty has reached the eastern sea. An old general named Su Dingfang is constantly arranging for prisoners to be sent out to sea, but there has been no progress so far.

In the 24th year of Qianqing's reign, the Tang Dynasty held another grand wedding. The prince finally got married, and the crown princess of the Eastern Palace was a girl named Shangguan Wan'er.

Many great Tang Dynasty heroes and important officials from the court attended this grand wedding.

Xu Jingzong was like an old naughty boy. He patted Shangguan Yi on the shoulder and said, "I thought you, Shangguan, were a very down-to-earth person. I didn't expect that you have been hiding so deeply for so many years."

Hearing this, Shangguan Yi said stiffly: "What did this subordinate hide?"

Xu Jingzong whispered, "You actually want to take advantage of the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace!"

Hearing the drunken words of the other party, Shangguan Yi explained with a straight face: "I have never thought of taking advantage of the Crown Prince of the East Palace."

Looking at the other party's aggressive gaze, Shangguan Yi wanted to explain, but after thinking again, he felt that something was wrong. It seemed that he could not explain it clearly. He could not explain it since the time he became the prince's attendant in the Eastern Palace.

Seeing his granddaughter marry the person she wanted to marry, Shangguan Yi wiped his tears and whispered, "Forget it, I won't explain it."

Di Renjie, who was standing at the back, sighed. Xu Jingzong had now become Old Man Xu and was becoming more and more annoying. Looking at his drunken appearance, Di Renjie stepped forward to support him.

Shangguan Yi said, "Thank you, Lao Di, for taking care of him."

Di Renjie said: "My father told me to take good care of the old man."

There were even elephants to add to the fun at the prince's wedding today. The curfew in Chang'an City was lifted, but the emperor did not celebrate with his ministers for too long. Instead, he asked his father to host the banquet while he went to Chang'an City.

At the end of the streets in the West Market of Chang'an, there is a big house. Li Chengqian walked into the courtyard under the escort of Li Daoyan.

There are many Turks in this courtyard, and there are many Turkic decorations hanging on the walls.

Li Chengqian could smell the strong smell of medicine as he walked into the inner room. He frowned and quickened his pace when he saw the ginseng in the bowl.

A young Turkic man knelt on the ground and said, "Heavenly Khan, my father..."

The young man who was speaking was crying. He was the youngest son of Ashina She'er.

Li Chengqian walked into the house and saw the brave Turkic warrior from that year. Ashina She'er had suffered more than ten knife wounds and had almost bled to death several times, but he was still able to survive.

But now, the old Ashina She'er is as thin as a stick.

Seeing the Heavenly Khan coming, Ashina She'er sat up from his sickbed and saluted.

Li Chengqian held him down and said, "You don't have to be so polite."

Ashina She'er raised his head, tears still glistening in his eyes. He said, "Tian Khan, please stop wasting medicinal herbs. No matter how much you drink, you will vomit it out."

Li Chengqian grabbed his skinny hand and said, "According to the agreement we made that year, I will bury you together with Jie Li Khan."

"Thank you, Khan Tian." He responded in a low voice, and then said, "Thank you, Khan Tian, ​​for not forgetting the agreement we made in previous years. This life of mine was given to me by Khan Tian. I should have died under the sword of the Mobei people. I have lived for so many years because Khan Tian lent me my life. I should have died long ago."

Li Chengqian said: "You must not say that."

"I apologize for my crime. I can no longer fight for the Heavenly Khan."

Li Chengqian said slowly: "You have fought for me, for my father, and for the Tang Dynasty in the northern desert, the Tianshan Mountains, and Liaodong. You have done enough."

Li Chengqian stayed here all night. The next day, Ashina She'er's children could no longer wake him up, and even his body was cold.

Also coming to visit Ashina She'er were Shangguan Yi and Xu Jingzong, who also had a good relationship with this Turkic general.

Li Chengqian ordered: "Let him be buried."

"Here."

Ashina She'er was a stubborn man. He was stubborn all his life. He only recognized Jie Li as the Turkic Khan. He did not recognize any other Turkic Khan except the Heavenly Khan whom he recognized.

He is a typical hero worshipper and he will only pledge allegiance to heroes.

(End of this chapter)