The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 75 The Importance of Bottom-Level Work

Li Ji said: "By next summer, your highness will have made some progress in archery."

Li Chengqian sat on a round stool with his hands in his pockets and said with a smile: "My talent is mediocre, I am sorry to make the general laugh."

Li Ji said: "Your Highness, please do not say that. In fact, the qualifications of most people are mediocre. Although there are people with extraordinary talents, there are many people whose talents will be wasted after a few years, even if they are gifted at first."

Li Chengqian relaxed his arms and said, "I am one of the vast majority of people, with mediocre talent."

Li Ji added: "Your Highness has a talent that many people do not have."

"Gu's talent?"

Li Ji said: "Your Highness has stronger willpower than many people."

The general never praises anyone, he always speaks the truth.

If it were Xu Jingzong, he would have already made a lot of exaggerations by now.

It is good for the general to tell the truth. At least it makes him feel more at ease. One always needs someone who tells the truth around him.

Li Chengqian said: "The general is also a very good teacher."

Li Ji bowed quickly and said, "I am not worthy of being called a teacher by Your Highness the Crown Prince."

As they were talking, the sky began to brighten. By the time Prime Minister Fang arrived, Donggong had already prepared breakfast.

Grandpa usually sleeps until the morning before waking up, and he is still sleeping at this time.

"Teacher." Li Chengqian bowed.

"There are still many things to do in the Secretariat today, so I thought of coming to the East Palace first."

Li Ji also stood up and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Prime Minister Fang."

Ning'er brought three bowls of soup noodles and the three of them sat down to eat.

Listening to Li Ji's story, it turned out that the prince got up at yin hour to practice archery in order to practice archery while not delaying government affairs.

Li Chengqian said, "It's better to go earlier. I won't run during the morning court and be seen by the civil and military officials."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and smiled, "Even if someone saw it, no one would point fingers at me."

The rule of the Eastern Palace is to have three meals a day, so the children in the Eastern Palace grow up particularly strong, especially Li Zhi, who now has some muscles.

However, every time he wanted to show off the little muscles on his arm, his sister Li Lizhi would kick him away and then give him a show-off look.

Li Ji had breakfast in the Eastern Palace and then went to the army to stand guard.

Li Chengqian followed Fang Xiang all the way to the Secretariat, and said as he walked: "Teacher, the court is on holiday, but there are still so many things to do in the Secretariat?"

The prince has become accustomed to calling him teacher.

Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "There are still many things in the court that need someone to look after."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Is there anything I should be careful about when I go to the Secretariat?"

Fang Xuanling said, "No need. Your Highness can just watch while I review the memorials."

"Ow..."

Li Chengqian nodded with his hands in his pockets.

When it was completely light, the two men arrived at the gate of the Secretariat. There were many officials coming and going here, and some of them were familiar faces in the court.

But just as I reached the door, I ran into my uncle who had just arrived there.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Uncle is here quite early."

Changsun Wuji first nodded and looked at Fang Xuanling, then glanced at the prince. This nephew had a harmless smile, and was as sunny as it could be.

Duke Zhao and Prime Minister Fang brought the Crown Prince into the Secretariat, and everyone bowed to them.

This official residence is very large, more than three times larger than the Honglu Temple. The three provinces and six ministries in the imperial city are all empty, only this place is still busy.

Seeing Fang Xiang sitting in the upper seat, my uncle also sat down.

Seeing an empty seat nearby, Li Chengqian sat down.

But soon after he sat down, another official with white hair on his temples came to the Secretariat and said, "Your Highness, this is my seat."

"Oh..." Li Chengqian came back to his senses and quickly stood up.

Wei Zheng said, "Your Highness, you can sit here. I just happen to have something else to do."

Despite what the minister said, Li Chengqian still made way for his seat. He thought he didn't know where to sit, so he squeezed together with his uncle, which was also next to Prime Minister Fang.

Changsun Wuji frowned and looked at Fang Xuanling beside him, then looked at the prince sitting in the middle, holding a file in his hand and reading it. He didn't intend to speak, and he felt more and more annoyed.

In the current Tang Dynasty, that is, in the current court, Fang Xuanling is the real prime minister as the Shangshu Zuo Pushe, the Zhongshu Ling Zhangsun Wuji is also the Minister of Personnel, and Wei Zheng is the Shizhong and heads the Censorate.

These are the three most important figures in the court.

The center generally operates under the leadership of these three people.

Seeing Fang Xiang handing over a memorial, Li Chengqian opened it and looked at it. It was about the arrangements for Tuyuhun, and there were many people's comments on it.

Li Chengqian whispered, "Prime Minister Fang, has this matter not been arranged yet?"

Fang Xuanling was still writing with his pen in hand, and said, "I didn't let His Highness see it. I gave the one on the side to Duke Zhao."

Thinking that it was his uncle who was arranging the reception of envoys from various countries, Li Chengqian belatedly handed the memorial to his uncle.

Changsun Wuji had to interrupt his current work and took the memorial to read it.

Li Chengqian sat between his uncle and Prime Minister Fang, with his hands in his pockets, not knowing what to do, so he just looked straight ahead.

At this moment, Duke Zheng Wei Zheng and Ma Zhou were arguing with Chu Suiliang. The two were arguing over the issue of anonymous examination names.

If Zheng Gong's side is the affirmative side that supports anonymous debate, then Chu Suiliang and his group are the negative debaters.

The two sides started arguing from the way of a gentleman and talked about Confucian classics, trying to start an argument from a moral perspective.

Gradually, more and more people appeared behind both sides, and you said yours and I said mine.

Li Chengqian watched with great interest. The debates among the ancients were truly fascinating, especially those of these well-read scholars, who quoted from classics and even brought out the various national policies of Emperor Gaozu of Han or the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing for debate.

Seeing his uncle handing over another memorial, Li Chengqian reached out to take it and began to read it.

"Give it to Prime Minister Fang!" said Changsun Wuji.

"It turns out this isn't for me either." Li Chengqian handed it to Fang Xiang beside him.

"teacher?"

Hearing the friendly call of "teacher", Changsun Wuji's writing paused noticeably.

Fang Xuanling picked up his pen and asked, "What do you want, Your Highness?"

Li Chengqian cleared his throat and said, "Actually, I have read the contents of the memorial and it is a good idea to build a Protectorate in Tuyuhun, following the strategy of governing the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty."

Seeing Fang Xuanling still hesitant, Changsun Wuji said, "Your Highness is right. I also agree with the strategy of building a Protectorate. Because the new Khan of Tuyuhun, Murong Shun, is unwilling to go back and wants to hand Tuyuhun over to the Tang Dynasty, according to the governance of the Tang Dynasty, a Protectorate should be built."

Li Chengqian nodded and looked at Fang Xiang, and said, "I have a suggestion."

Fang Xuanling said, "Let's talk about it."

"Send civil officials to accompany the generals of the Protectorate to educate the Tuyuhun people, let them speak the Guanzhong dialect, and sing the Guanzhong songs."

Fang Xuanling added: "Education requires a long period of time, at least three to five years, and at most six to seven years before it will be effective."

Changsun Wuji said: "Your Highness still believes that the strategy of education is very important."

Li Chengqian sat between the two and said, "If they are not unified in education, they will rebel sooner or later. If they can be recognized in terms of identity, then they are also Tang people, and they are also the people of Tian Khan."

Having said this, Fang Xuanling and Changsun Wuji both fell silent and stopped talking.

Li Chengqian scratched his head, not knowing where he had said it wrong. Was it because he was too reckless? Or was it because he was too advanced?
Just keep silent yourself.

A eunuch brought a memorial and said, "Prime Minister Fang, this is what your Majesty asked me to bring to you."

Fang Xuanling nodded, accepted the order, and signaled the eunuch that he could leave.

Li Chengqian also looked at him sideways. What he was saying was nothing more than that Jiucheng Palace was flooded again. If Your Majesty wanted to go to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat next year, the palace would have to be repaired.

Jiucheng Palace has been flooded many times in history. Originally, Jiucheng Palace was also called Renshou Palace. It was originally a summer resort for emperors of the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Sui even died in Jiucheng Palace.

Now we need to repair Jiucheng Palace, which will cost a lot of money. Even if we repair it, my father will go to Jiucheng Palace to escape the summer heat, which will cost a lot of money.
Just this year, my father went on the autumn hunting trip to Mount Li and spent more than 30,000 strings of cash, not including the cost of food and fodder.

Fang Xuanling handed it over to a civil servant and instructed, "Ask the Ministry of Works to arrange for someone to see if they can allocate more manpower."

"Here."

Li Chengqian was still sitting there. He saw Fang Xiang straighten his back, look around, pick up a stool from the side, put a few seemingly useless files on the stool, and secure them with a piece of cloth.

The clerk at the side took a look and saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was sitting in the corner. He didn't know what he was doing and didn't dare to ask more.

After doing all this, Li Chengqian placed the stool with the files on it between Fang Xiang's back and the chair and said, "Teacher, will this make it more comfortable?"

Fang Xuanling leaned back, feeling something cushioning his back, and nodded, "Much more comfortable."

Zhangsun Wuji also tapped his lower back, and immediately some sharp-eyed clerks followed the Crown Prince's example.

Even with the cushion made by others, Changsun Wuji's face was still grim. He sorted out a pile of files and placed them on the small table beside him. "These memorials are all about Tuyuhun. Your Highness can take a look at them."

It turned out that as soon as the issue of Tuyuhun was mentioned, my uncle had already been sorting out the relevant files.

Li Chengqian changed his seat to a side seat, which was closer to his uncle and farther away from Prime Minister Fang.

Open a map and you can see the geographical location of Tuyuhun at a glance. It is located to the east of Gaochang and to the west of Qilian Mountains. Its capital, Fuxi City, is on the edge of Qinghai.

This is a very good grassland and also a great horse farm.

At first, Tuyuhun was just a small tribe, and it was in the chaotic period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Tuyuhun king was once canonized by the Northern Wei Dynasty, and then he made peace with the Sui Dynasty. For a period of time, Tuyuhun and the Central Plains had a friendly period.

However, later Fuyun's brother died, and Fuyun ascended the throne. Not only that, he still married the princess married by his brother.

The Tang Dynasty was still very conservative when it came to its policy of education.

In fact, the culture of the Central Plains is very powerful, and it would be a pity to leave such a powerful culture unused.

The Tang Dynasty is naturally peace-loving, unless you are really an eyesore.

For example, the current Tuyuhun King is a very good partner. He is willing to hand over the territory of Tuyuhun to the Tang Dynasty for governance.

Since you have been entrusted with a task, you must do your best.

Li Chengqian wrote that the Tang Dynasty and the Tuyuhun people deepened their friendship and preserved Tuyuhun's original customs, recorded them in books and compiled them into history, eliminated the original bad customs, and strengthened communication and cooperation for the common vision of the Tang Dynasty and the Tuyuhun people under the glory of the Heavenly Khan.

There are many aspects to talk about further down. Li Chengqian listed a few key points and began writing.

In fact, as long as the Protectorate was built, Tuyuhun would become the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

When this method was first proposed, Fang Xiang and his uncle reserved their opinions and thought it was right to remain silent.

The new Khan of Tuyuhun is still alive, and the Tang Dynasty is trying to arbitrarily incorporate Tuyuhun into its territory. Then, isn't your father, the Heavenly Khan of the Tang Dynasty a bandit?

Therefore, in order to expand the territory of the Tang Dynasty, the key is that the Tang Dynasty needs to do a good job in basic construction.

First of all, all the Tuyuhun people should speak Guanzhong dialect, and have only Tian Khan in their hearts, not Tuyuhun Khan, so as to form a new force.

After this new force continued to swallow up the old forces, there was no need for anyone else to speak, let alone Murong Shun's nod, the people who wanted to submit to the Tang Dynasty would do so willingly and happily.

To fundamentally eliminate a ruling force, it is sometimes necessary to disintegrate the enemy from within.

Therefore, the Sifangguan in the Tang Dynasty should recruit more students, such as people from the Western Regions, and send more Tibetans to study in the Tang Dynasty, and teach them how to be loyal to the Tang Dynasty.

It was past noon and Li Chengqian was still writing furiously. When he looked up, most of the people in the Secretariat had left.

I don’t know when my uncle and Prime Minister Fang left.

Li Chengqian put down his pen and relaxed his shoulders. He folded up the strategy he had written and planned to take it to the Eastern Palace to perfect it.

"May I ask when Prime Minister Fang will be back?"

"The Prime Minister has gone back. He will come back tomorrow morning."

Hearing the conversation in his ears, Li Chengqian saw that the memorial in the other party's hand was the one that his father wanted to repair the Jiucheng Palace.

"May I ask who you are, Master Yan?"

The Minister of Works, Yan Liben, bowed and said, "Your Highness, I am Yan Liben, and I greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian looked at the memorial in his hand and said, "Give this memorial to me first."

"But... this is..."

"No problem." Li Chengqian added, "Fang Xianggu's teacher can pass it on for me."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Your Highness." Yan Liben handed it over with both hands.

Li Chengqian took the memorial in his hand and asked, "The Secretariat is still short of chairs. May I ask if the Ministry of Works has any extra chairs?"

"Your Highness, the Ministry of Works is already working on it."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Thank you for your help."

Yan Liben bowed his head and saluted, saying, "It is my duty."

Li Chengqian nodded, took a memorial for the repair of Jiucheng Palace and a strategy for governing Tuyuhun, and quickly left the Secretariat.

After walking away and seeing that there was no one around, Li Chengqian opened the memorial from the Ministry of Works at Chengtian Gate. According to Fang Xuanling's instructions, the Ministry of Works listed the number of craftsmen required to repair the Jiucheng Palace, as well as the various types of labor needed, as well as wood and stone materials.

This is really incredible, as it actually requires a huge amount of 60,000 strings of cash. However, the government is currently facing tight financial constraints, so there is no money.

Besides, my mother needs rest, and it would be very laborious to go all the way to Jiucheng Palace.

Today I will update two chapters first, the author will go to bed early, and will continue to update tomorrow
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(End of this chapter)