The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 74 The Prince Becomes a Disciple
The soap export business has been bumpy since the autumn of this year, and it has only just settled the matter with a Turkic tribal leader.

I thought this matter would go smoothly, but it actually took four months to complete.

It was not until now that Xu Jingzong got a real "big customer"

Whenever I think of these, I still feel a little complaining.

No one has personally put the throne in my hands, so all problems will be solved?
Looking at the court, most people would probably not do this at this moment.

Unless my father doesn't want to do it anymore.

Probably so.

I saw Ning'er clean up the table in front of her, leaving a pen holder aside for the brushes, then wiped the table clean, and then cleaned up the candlestick beside it.

The other two palace maids had already cleaned the floor of the bedroom.

Ning Er held the oil lamp in her hand and checked to make sure there was no debris or dirt. After everything was clean, she was relieved, "Your Highness, everything is cleaned up."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Let's all go and rest first."

"Here."

Ning'er, along with two palace maids, retreated, carrying a basin of water and a towel.

Li Chengqian looked at the export trade plan written by Du He. In fact, the productivity of soap does not need to be too high, as long as it can generate enough profits. The current productivity of Jingyang is more than enough.

Before anyone in Guanzhong discovers the secret of soap, at least let Jingyang make enough money.

Soap is currently only available in Guanzhong, so the pricing power lies in Du He's hands.

The letter also talked about his plan for the soap business. Jingyang had accumulated too many copper coins this year, and the money was almost flooding. Even if he gave it to Chu Mo to spend as much as he wanted, it would not be used up in a short time.

Li Chengqian wrote a reply asking him to exchange as many copper coins as possible for silver cakes, so that Jingyang would have enough risk resistance.

The letter also mentioned an incident where someone wanted to buy paper in Jingyang, and Wei Chang later sent people to follow him, but they lost the person after entering Chang'an City.

This made Du He alert that someone was still eyeing Jingyang's wealth.

This gave him a great sense of crisis.

Therefore, more people were arranged to guard at various important intersections around Jingyang to prevent any accidents.

After writing the reply, Li Chengqian walked to the front of the hall with the letter.

I've gotten used to Ning'er standing here waiting all the time. She was there when Li Chengqian walked to the front of the hall.

"You don't have to stand here all the time."

"If your highness has any instructions, I will be the first to know."

Li Chengqian looked up at the night sky. It was pitch black today and no moon or stars could be seen.

Simply sitting down on the steps in front of the temple, Li Chengqian asked again: "Is that old monk Bopo dead?"

Ning Er replied: "If the Indian monk passes away, he will definitely inform the East Palace."

Li Chengqian whispered: "Actually, I really hope this old monk can continue to live."

"Is it because he prayed for Your Highness that year?"

"On the day he passed away, he asked Du He's caravan to deliver a message to Xuanzang, telling him that the Indian monk who had guided him on his journey to the West had passed away."

"Here."

Ning'er lowered her head and bowed.

The next day, Fang Xuanling went to see His Majesty early.

It was just dawn and the snow on the ground had not melted yet. If you went to the East Palace at this time, you would be able to see the prince practicing archery.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is hardworking, at least he never slacks off every morning no matter how cold it is.

But now, Fang Xuanling did not go to the East Palace, but went straight to the Taiye Lake next to the Xuanwu Gate.

Taiye Lake has not been properly repaired for many years, and the riverbank here is overgrown with weeds.

Li Ke stood beside his father in armor, guarding him without saying a word.

Fang Xuanling said, "Your Majesty, the memorials from these days have been reviewed."

Li Shimin put his hands behind his back, looked at the peaceful Taiye Lake, and asked, "How are the preparations for the imperial examination next year going?"

"Your Majesty, recently someone in the imperial court submitted a memorial proposing that the imperial examinations should be conducted with anonymous names."

"Anonymous?" Li Shimin was suspicious and took the memorial and read it with a frown. He saw that the person who wrote this memorial was the Censor Ma Zhou.

"Why would Ma Zhou suddenly write such a memorial?"

"Your Majesty, there was a conversation between Ma Zhou and Duke Zhao."

Li Shimin closed the memorial, put it behind him, and said nothing with a stern face.

Fang Xuanling whispered, "Ever since someone in the court mentioned that the imperial examinations should be conducted anonymously, some of the young men, led by Ma Zhou, have been advocating for anonymous examinations."

"Do you think the name should be kept secret?"

Fang Xuanling twirled his beard and hesitated, "If I really keep my name secret, some people will say that I am not acting like a gentleman in the court."

Li Shimin suddenly smiled, "The way of a gentleman?"

Fang Xuanling continued, "Tian Ma Zhou and Duke Zheng and others are also discussing this."

"Well, any further arguments you have will be presented to me."

"Yes." Fang Xuanling took the memorial handed back by His Majesty and said, "I have one more thing to ask."

"Just say it."

The Taiye Lake looked very soothing under the snow. Not far away, Empress Changsun was walking by the lake holding little Sizi.

Little Sizi was still learning to speak. She stretched out her hand to touch the snow in the distance. Although it was clearly far away, she felt it was right in front of her.

Li Shimin looked at his little daughter with a smile on his face. She was a little bigger than last year, was already learning to walk, and was curious about many things.

Fang Xuanling smiled kindly and said, "The little princess looks a lot like Your Majesty."

Li Shimin retracted his gaze and nodded, "What else?"

Fang Xuanling said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has reviewed a lot of memorials these days. Whether it is construction or dispatch, it is nothing more than a matter of money and grain. Compared with previous years, the dispatch of money and grain in the court this year is in order. It is most appropriate for Your Highness the Crown Prince to arrange it."

"You mean that the allocation of money and grain in the court this year has been smoother because of the Crown Prince's presidency."

Fang Xuanling replied: "There is a lot of praise for Your Highness in the court now. I think Your Highness can be allowed to participate in the government."

"Cheng Qian is only fifteen this year. Even after this year, he will only be sixteen." Li Shimin frowned and said, "It's a bit early for him."

Fang Xuanling said: "Actually, this is not too early."

Li Shimin smiled and said, "Xuanling is right. When I was fifteen, I had already started leading troops to fight. I think it's just like what my father said. The sons of my Li family are not simple people."

Fang Xuanling nodded.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Empress Changsun turned her back, trying her best to prevent the cold wind from blowing on little Sizi.

Li Shimin was walking along the river bank, accompanied by his son Li Ke and Prime Minister Fang Xuanling.

When Li Ke heard Fang Xiang talking about his royal brother, he listened attentively, not wanting to miss a single word.

"I always think about how Cheng Qian should make as few mistakes as possible. Sometimes I don't want him to be too ambitious, as it's inevitable that he will go astray. After all, he is still young."

Fang Xuanling said again: "This is also what I am worried about." Li Shimin nodded and said: "Xuanling, you have followed me for so many years, and you have watched Chengqian grow up. From now on, you will keep the prince by your side. If he behaves arrogantly, you can beat and scold him. If he behaves absurdly, you can also punish him."

After a pause, Li Shimin looked at the water surface of Taiye Lake in the distance and said, "I originally wanted to give the position of the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor to Fu Ji, because he is too close to Cheng Qian. After all, he is my in-law and Cheng Qian's uncle. I am worried that he will be unfair to the Crown Prince in the future. After thinking about it, I think it is most appropriate for you to take this position."

Li Ke looked straight ahead, standing straight and still saying nothing.

Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "Your Majesty has entrusted me with this. I will never fail you."

Li Shimin took Fang Xuanling's arm and said, "Thank you for your concern."

"I accept the decree."

When his father returned to the palace, Li Ke hurried back to his mother.

Concubine Yang watched her son return and ate her meal in a hurry. She smiled and asked, "Have you met the emperor, father?"

"Yeah." Li Ke said while eating a piece of cake, "My father also met with Prime Minister Fang today."

Concubine Yang sighed as she watched her son wolfing down the food. Ke'er was able to come and see his mother only a few times, as most of the time the child was in the army.

"Many chefs in the palace have left recently, and these meals are made by Concubine Yang herself." The palace maid at the side whispered with some grievance in her words.

Concubine Yang glared at the idle palace maid and asked, "Have you been close to the East Palace recently?"

"Mother, I have to be on duty in the army. I haven't been to the East Palace for a long time. My brother asked me to teach him archery."

Concubine Yang whispered, "You don't have to teach the prince archery. You have to practice archery with him."

Li Ke chewed the biscuit and nodded, "I understand, kid."

Not knowing whether he really understood or not, Concubine Yang shook her head helplessly, took out a few clothes from the side, and said, "Take these new clothes with you when you go to the army."

"Um……"

Li Ke swallowed the food in his mouth with great effort and whispered, "Today, I heard that my father has appointed Fang Xiang as the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor and taught the Crown Prince to participate in government affairs."

"really?"

Yang Fei frowned and asked.

Li Ke nodded blankly and said, "I heard it with my own ears."

Concubine Yang looked at her son and sighed in frustration, saying, "Just pretend you didn't hear these words. After dinner, go to the army quickly and don't delay your duty."

"Mother, did I say something wrong?"

Concubine Yang whispered, "You didn't say anything wrong. You should serve in the army well. The Crown Prince is your elder brother. You should always remember this."

"My child understands."

Concubine Yang nodded with relief.

Li Ke smiled innocently.

After meeting His Majesty, Fang Xuanling went to the Chongwen Hall next to the East Palace to have dinner with the Supreme Emperor and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This year, the prince is both supervising state affairs and reviewing memorials to the emperor.

Speaking of abilities, the prince's most outstanding aspect is his cognitive level.

The prince has a high level of cognitive ability. Although the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace lives in seclusion, this does not affect the prince's ability to make correct judgments in handling certain matters.

Listen to a eunuch reading the imperial edict.

Li Yuan and Li Chengqian, grandfather and grandson, sat together with their bowls of rice in silence for a long time.

Fang Xuanling bowed with a smile.

Seeing his grandson still sitting beside him with the bowl in his hand, Li Yuan pursed his lips and said, "You are not yet ready to worship the master."

Li Chengqian also came back to his senses from his trance, put down his chopsticks, and bowed, saying, "Chengqian greets the teacher."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to be so polite."

Li Yuan stroked his beard and said, "In the future, when Cheng Qian participates in government affairs, he will have to rely more on your guidance."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuanling bowed deeply again and bent his waist even lower.

Just after the eunuch who read the imperial edict in the Eastern Palace left, the news that Fang Xuanling was promoted to the Prince's Junior Tutor quickly spread throughout the court and the country.

It was also passed on to the residence of Duke Zhao.

Changsun Wuji was drinking tea. When he heard the news, he sighed.

Your Majesty finally chose Fang Xuanling.

For some reason, the stone that had been hanging in Changsun Wuji's heart finally fell to the ground.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is reasonable. No one is more suitable for this position than Fang Xuanling. Besides, he is a relative by marriage, and there has been enough discussion in the court and the public.

Although he had been mentally prepared, Changsun Wuji just couldn't be happy. No matter what he did, he just couldn't be happy.

For Li Chengqian, it should be a happy thing to have Fang Xiang as his teacher and to be able to participate in government affairs in the Eastern Palace.

Once you get involved in political affairs, you will have to face civil and military officials in the court and start dealing with them. You may be a little worried about how you will interact with them in the future.

To celebrate, Ning'er bought a lot of zongzi (dumplings of rice cakes), and her younger brothers and sisters enjoyed the delicious and soft zongzi.

Therefore, Li Chengqian needed to advance the time for his archery practice, and from then on he would follow Prime Minister Fang and the Secretariat to handle government affairs in the morning.

He could only choose to do morning exercises and practice archery before dawn, that is, before the hour of Chen. He sent someone to deliver a message to the general at night, and from then on the time for practicing archery was set at the hour of Yin before the morning court.

The next day, Li Chengqian woke up before dawn and looked up at the sky. The moon was still hanging in the sky and the stars were still shining.

The East Palace was very quiet, and Ning'er was not standing in front of the palace. She was probably not awake yet.

After washing and putting on his clothes, Li Chengqian walked outside the East Palace and saw General Li Ji standing there in armor.

While stretching his muscles, he said, "General, take off your armor and go jogging with me to practice archery in the morning, how about that?"

"Here."

Li Ji took off his heavy armor, revealing his bulging cloth clothes. Because it was winter, he wore thick clothes, so the clothes were a little bulging.

Just after a quarter past the hour of Yin, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince began his morning run.

At this hour, there were only a few eunuchs passing by. They saw two figures running outside the East Palace. When they got closer, they saw that it was the Crown Prince, so the eunuch tactfully walked away.

Two eunuchs were carrying buckets of water in the quiet palace. The buckets were too heavy for them to carry with both hands and they could not walk fast. When they saw the scene outside the East Palace, they whispered, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince woke up really early."

The other eunuch was also yawning, but in fact he had just woken up.

The breath exhaled from his mouth turned into white mist in front of his eyes. While running, Li Chengqian drew his bow and shot an arrow, which hit the target.

Li Ji looked at it and shook his head, saying, "It's weaker than before."

Li Chengqian gritted his teeth and continued running, shooting an arrow here every time he ran a lap.

Li Ji counted the number of laps His Highness ran in his mind. In fact, His Highness's endurance was very good, not much different from himself when he was young.

Perhaps it is because he started practicing archery too late, His Highness' archery skills are still not solid enough.

At three quarters past the hour of Mao, the sun appeared in the sky and dawn broke in the eastern horizon. Li Chengqian and Li Ji already had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

The two of them took a break and sat by the stove waiting for the boiling water in the kettle to cool down.

(End of this chapter)