The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 63: Confusion over Small Matters
The horses' hooves stepped on a patch of puddles. The troops were not moving very fast. The closer they got to Chang'an City, the more pedestrians there were on the official road.

As he was walking towards Chang'an, a man on horseback came towards him. He pulled the reins and said in a loud voice: "General Hou, after His Majesty has ordered you to enter the city, go to Xingqing Palace and wait."

Hou Junji had a stern face and said in a hoarse voice: "I will obey your order."

In a village in Jingyang County, Wei Chang was eating a bowl of soup noodles and sniffing from time to time. Since the beginning of winter, his nose has been uncomfortable. This is an old problem.

A woman looked at him and said, "Eat slowly or you might choke to death."

Listening to the woman's joke, Wei Chang smiled and said, "You have a thick neck, so you can eat more."

No one in Jingyang County knew the specific name of this woman. All they knew was that she moved to Jingyang alone during the Wude period. However, everyone called her Xue Wuniang, and that was also what she called herself.

Therefore, people in the village got used to this name. They also heard that she was the one who returned to Chang'an from Shanxi with Princess Pingyang. She was a rare woman with military merits, and she kept a Da Mo Dao at home.

After he got the land, he lived here ever since.

Xue Wuniang was probably in her early thirties. She smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for so many years. I didn't expect to see you here."

Wei Chang said: "I have seen the elegance of your women's army in Hedong before."

Xue Wuniang whispered: "You were still a young boy at that time."

Wei Chang finished the soup noodles in the bowl, put down his chopsticks, and said solemnly: "It's not easy for you as a woman, why don't you and I live together."

Xue Wuniang sighed and said, "I am old now, go and take care of those pretty girls."

Wei Chang said sternly: "I have committed a crime and am a bad person. No one will look down on me."

When I met Wei Chang, I remembered that it was during the Wude period. At that time, rebellions were being suppressed in various parts of the Central Plains. At that time, Xue Wuniang followed Princess Pingyang. Although she was a woman, she also had a military position. Although she no longer has a military position, at least she has military merits.

Looking at Wei Chang, who was much younger than her, Xue Wuniang said, "I'll give you a bowl of rice. Eat it and get out of here."

Although Wei Chang was being scolded like this, he scratched his head timidly and said, "When my family makes achievements one day, I will definitely marry you."

Xue Wuniang glared at him again with an unhappy look.

It is a very lucky thing to meet old friends in Jingyang. Of course, it is very lucky. How many people are left who stayed there? Even Princess Pingyang is gone.

For a long time, Xue Wuniang was completely hopeless, but when she saw Wei Chang at that time, she felt very fortunate.

She sat down and picked out the beans one by one. Her tone became gentler and she said, "There are bean sprouts in Chang'an now. I'll pick out some good beans for you. You can eat bean sprouts through the winter."

She still spoke in such a nasty tone.

As long as you don't talk about marrying her, Wu Niang is usually very gentle.

A militiaman under Wei Chang came over quickly and apologized, "Boss, General Hou's troops have arrived in Jingyang and are on the official road."

Xue Wuniang sighed, and when she thought about him having to interact with the soldiers, she became unhappy and said, "There are no good people in the army!"

Wei Chang said: "I am not a soldier, but one of our troops got separated and almost starved to death in the deserted mountains. It was General Hou who gave me some military rations as a favor."

Just as Xue Wuniang was about to say something else, she heard other women from the village running over and saying, "Wuniang, you can get paper from the workshop now."

Xue Wu Niang nodded and said, "I'll be right there."

Wei Chang's dark face was covered with a smile, and he said, "Wu Niang! Do you know who a certain family is working for? I'll scare you to death if I tell you."

She sneered, put a basket of beans on a wooden rack beside her, and followed the women to the workshop to get paper.

This workshop in Jingyang always cooperates with several villages in Jingyang for production.

The workshop will give the pressed paper to women in each household. The women will take it back home, dry the paper, and then return the dried paper to the workshop, and they will receive their wages.

This will not only not interfere with their normal farming work, but also reduce the cost of the workshop.

It had always been like this before Wu Shigui came to Jingyang.

Anyone who dares to steal paper and sell it will never be able to gain a foothold in Jingyang again. He will either have to escape or be caught by the government.

And now everyone in Jingyang County knows that the current county magistrate is a man named Xu Jingzong, who is a famous cruel official in Guanzhong.

It's good enough to be able to live in peace, but I dare not commit any crime.

Wei Chang followed the footsteps and hurriedly came to the official road. He looked around and saw a group of soldiers coming towards him from the west of the official road.

Seeing that the leading general was General Hou, he stepped forward quickly.

Hou Junji sat on the horse's back holding the reins and said loudly: "Who in front dares to stop the army from marching?"

"I am Wei Chang. I was given a mouthful of military rations by the general. I have come here to tell you something important."

Hou Junji kept a straight face and let his horse move forward. The team also kept on marching. He said, "I don't know you."

Seeing this, Wei Chang could only retreat to the side of the official road.

The army continued to move forward and no one paid any attention to the man who tried to stop the army halfway.

Wei Chang watched General Hou Junji walk by and shouted, "General, the court has prepared an impeachment memorial. You must be careful with your words and actions when you go."

Still no one paid any attention to him, and the troops marched quietly.

Wei Chang waited until the troops had gone far away and stood there, feeling somewhat at a loss as to what to do.

After a while, he stopped clasping his fists and walked back to the village, where he saw Shangguan Yi chatting with an old man.

The old man said, "The sun is going to come out today, and it will be sunny for the next two days."

Shangguan Yi whispered, "It will be good once the sky clears up."

The old man was born in Jingyang and has lived in Jingyang until now. He whispered, "It's fine now. Everything is fine now."

Seeing Wei Chang walking by, Shangguan Yi asked again: "Did you see the general?"

Wei Chang bowed and said, "Greetings, Master Shangguan."

"How's the situation?"

"The general ignored it."

Shangguan Yi added: "As expected."

Wei Chang added: "I would also like to thank County Magistrate Xu for the news."

"No need." Shangguan Yi smiled and said, "He is discussing future events with Ying Gong. You can go back now. There is no need to see him if there is nothing else."

"Here"

Wei Chang returned to Wu Niang's residence in disappointment. Xue Wu Niang also came back at this time. She said, "I met the general."

Wei Chang nodded.

Xue Wuniang placed the still wet papers on a large wooden board and peeled off the papers that were still stuck together one by one. The peeled papers were light yellow, a little thick, and had rough edges.

Then it was like a large piece of paper was spread on a wooden board, placed in the sun to dry, and the edges and corners were pressed down with stones.

There are many burrs like silk threads on the edge of the paper, and it needs to be cut to become a complete paper.

While she was busy with her work, she hummed a Shanxi-specific ballad.

Wei Chang looked at her once more, then stood up and went to check around the village. In Chang'an City, in the East Palace, Li Chengqian was discussing trade in and out of the customs with his uncle in the Chongwen Hall.

Chang Sun Wuji whispered, "Sell the soap outside the border?"

Li Chengqian whispered, "Is it okay?"

After saying that, he poured another bowl of tea for his uncle and handed him some dried dates.

Looking at his eldest nephew's attentive look, he asked, "What's the matter? Is the soap not selling well in Guanzhong?"

Li Chengqian sighed, "Uncle, you don't know that winter is coming in Guanzhong, so soap won't sell as well as it does in the summer, so we're thinking of exporting it and making money from people outside."

Zhang Sun Wuji nodded and said, "Right now the court has no complete strategy for the goods entering and leaving the country."

"There's no rush. As long as we can allow people to take large quantities of soap out of the country, that's good enough."

"Isn't Du He's money enough? How much does he want to earn?"

Li Chengqian whispered, "The pepper of the people of the Western Regions is precious in Guanzhong. Now soap is also going to be exported from Guanzhong. It will definitely become a more precious commodity in the Western Regions than the pepper in Guanzhong."

Changsun Wuji slowly put down the tea bowl, "I gave the 1,000 guan to my uncle, not to Du He. How much money Du He makes has nothing to do with me. Let's not mention this matter again."

Li Chengqian took out a form, spread it out, and said with his hands in his pockets, "Uncle, look, this is the general situation of the trade in Guanzhong since the third year of Zhenguan. The silver money flowing out of the customs for the three commodities of grapes, raisins, and agate jade is as high as tens of thousands of strings of silver per year. This silver money is enough for the people of the Western Regions to raise a large army."

Chang Sun Wuji's expression remained calm, and he said, "So what?"

Li Chengqian asked again: "What if we earn this money back?"

Chang Sun Wuji whispered, "You don't need to worry about the situation in the Western Regions."

"Forget it." Li Chengqian said sadly, "Let's not talk about this matter anymore. Give the East Palace a document that allows people to enter and exit the border at any time."

Chang Sun Wuji took a sip of tea and asked, "What is it for?"

Li Chengqian put his weight on the chair, stroked his forehead and said: "I want to send a team of people out of the border to see the customs and habits of the Western Regions or the Turks, and then compile them and write a book. I will go in and out of the border many times."

"Sure, it's a piece of cake." He stood up and said, "I'll send the documents to you tomorrow."

"Thank you, uncle. You are a fair person. I have learned a lot from you." Li Chengqian handed over another roll of paper and said, "This is for you, uncle."

Changsun Wuji took the thick roll of paper and walked out of the Chongwen Hall.

Li Chengqian stood in front of the hall to bid farewell.

If someone wants to drag his uncle along to take advantage of the Tang Dynasty, he will not agree no matter how good the talk is.

If it was just a small favor, he would agree without hesitation.

It’s just a document. What will the person who gets the document do after leaving the customs?
He could just cover his eyes and pretend he didn't see it and didn't know it.

But when it comes to loyalty to my father, it's okay to be a little confused about small matters.

He can't make the slightest mistake in important matters.

The Eastern Palace was very quiet, because the day after they returned to the Eastern Palace, they had to face the courses assigned by Princess Changle Li Lizhi.

These children have missed classes during the two months in Mount Li, so they need to make up for it now.

Ning Er walked over quickly and said, "Your Highness, General Hou Junji is here and is almost at the Suzaku Gate."

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian hurriedly left the East Palace and walked all the way from Chengtian Gate to Zhuque Gate.

When you walk up to the tower of Suzaku Gate, you can see a group of soldiers walking on Suzaku Street and heading towards here.

It is already dusk today and it is still a little cold at this time of day. Standing on the city wall, I feel the wind is even stronger.

It was very quiet on the city wall, and a row of defenders stood in neat rows.

As far as the eye can see, a group of soldiers are heading towards Suzaku Gate.

Li Chengqian saw that the person walking in front was General Hou Junji.

This team was not as welcomed by the people of Chang'an as General Li Jing was when he returned from the expedition. Instead, they left in a quieter manner, with a more solemn and murderous atmosphere.

Among the villagers watching this scene on both sides of the street, Li Chengqian saw another acquaintance.

As long as the monk stands in the crowd, he will be very conspicuous.

He was an old monk in a monk's robe, standing among the crowd with a cane.

Looking more closely, I could see clearly that it was the old Indian monk Bopo. This was the third time I had seen him. People in the Buddhist community called him Master Guangzhi.

It has been more than half a year since we last met at Qujiang Lake.

The monk looked older now, as if his skin was rapidly aging, and the sagging flesh under his chin could be seen.

As if he had noticed the door on the city wall, the old monk also looked up at the door. With a smile on his face, he bowed towards the door.

"Brother Royal."

Hearing the voice, Li Chengqian turned around and saw Li Ke wearing armor.

He said, "After returning from the autumn hunt, my father said that my brother was brave and courageous, so he is here to guard the Suzaku Gate."

Li Chengqian patted the armor on his shoulder and said, "Good job."

Li Ke also smiled and looked towards Suzaku Street. He whispered, "The general is back."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I will come back eventually."

This western expedition to Tubo finally came to an end in the winter of this year. Fu Yun died and his son was taken to Chang'an City.

All of Tuyuhun Khan's forces were completely eliminated, and all that remained was for the Tang Dynasty to arrange their affairs.

This was inevitable; that's how war works. All of Tuyuhun's troops were defeated and all their people were killed. Even their funerals were handled by the Tang people.

The soldiers entered the Suzaku Gate quietly, and Suzaku Street became bustling again.

For a while, the old monk could not be found.

Listening to Li Ke's account of what happened during the autumn hunt, Li Chengqian walked down the city wall with him.

At night, as soon as Hou Junji entered the palace, he went to Xingqing Palace and was kept there ever since.

I heard that His Majesty scolded the general for a whole hour, beating and scolding him.

Donggong, my younger brothers and sisters have just finished a day's classes. Every time it's time to eat, they are the first to rush to the dining table, as if they are afraid of starving to death.

The Eastern Palace provides three meals a day, so they won’t starve at all.

Xiaofu also started to get busy. She not only had to prepare meals for the East Palace, but also for the Emperor and the Queen in Lizheng Palace.

That night, Gao Shilian and Zhangsun Wuji were playing chess and drinking tea.

"Uncle, how will His Majesty deal with Hou Junji?"

Gao Shilian pursed his lips and looked at the chessboard and said, "Hou Junji is still young, Your Majesty will not punish him."

(End of this chapter)