The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 87: Pass?

Inside the Ganlu Palace, the eunuch knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, this is what the court officials are talking about."

Li Shimin pursed his lips, breathing heavily through his nostrils, and added: "I am devoted to the country, not to my own selfish desires, hehe..."

Hearing His Majesty's sneer, a group of eunuchs lowered their heads and knelt on the ground.

Li Shimin sighed in frustration and whispered, "Should I thank them?"

After saying that, he picked up the small barrel of wine. The barrel was very small and could be held in one hand. It was only slightly bigger than a wine jug.

Li Shimin opened the lid of the barrel, took a sip of wine, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What has the prince been doing these days?"

"Your Majesty," the eunuch kneeling on the ground replied, "These days, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been in frequent contact with Cen Wenben, Li Baiyao and others, and has also been discussing state affairs with the Prime Minister, Duke Zhao."

"What are they discussing?"

"When discussing government expenditures, the court officials all said that His Royal Highness is good at studying politics and analyzing problems." He paused for a moment and then continued, "More."

Li Shimin held the wine barrel in one hand and took a sip with the other, and asked, "What else do you want to say?"

The eunuch whispered, "They also said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been diligent recently, and even in the East Palace, the Crown Prince has no entertainment around him, and he never drinks a drop of alcohol."

Li Shimin said: "So, I am afraid I am not as wise as the Crown Prince?"

The eunuchs knelt on the ground, not daring to speak, and trembling, for fear that His Majesty would be angry.

Li Shimin said with a straight face: "All of you get out."

"Here."

A group of eunuchs left Ganlu Hall one after another, and the hall was now very quiet.

The quieter it is, the more frightening it is.

Finally, His Majesty's laughter was heard in the hall, but it was really unpleasant.

Li Lizhi and Li Zhi had just come out of Lizheng Hall when they heard laughter from Ganlu Hall.

Hearing the sound, Li Lizhi called over a eunuch and asked, "What are you laughing at, father?"

"I don't know either. Your Majesty laughed when he wanted to."

"Um……"

Li Lizhi nodded and walked back to the East Palace with her brother.

As soon as Princess Changle and His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin left, someone came pushing a wooden cart and stood in front of the palace and said loudly: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei presents two jars of Luzhou wine from Shuzhong."

Li Shimin said loudly: "Present it."

After the Han and Jin dynasties, and after years of governance, Shu has gained the reputation of being the granary of the Central Plains.

The eunuch carried the wine into the hall, and Li Shimin nodded and said, "Where did Qingque get the Luzhou wine from Shu?"

"Your Majesty, it was because the old people in Shu offered five jars of wine to Duke Xu for his kindness in governing the country. When His Royal Highness the King of Wei learned about this, he went to visit Duke Xu and received two of the jars."

Thinking of the painstaking efforts that Gao Shilian made in governing Shuzhong back then, it is rare that the people of Shuzhong are loyal to him now.

I have long heard that Shu has abundant grain, sufficient wine, and many taverns.

The wine in Shu is the best in the world. Li Shimin calmed down, took a sip of Luzhou wine, and whispered, "I haven't heard from Qingque for some time. What has he been doing these days?"

"Your Majesty, Your Highness the Prince of Wei has been working hard to compile a comprehensive geographical record these days. I feel that Your Majesty has been lonely recently, so I came here to give you some wine."

Li Shimin was thinking about his two sons. Although grape wine was no longer available, the Luzhou wine in Shu was rich and mellow, and better than grape wine.

Not long after, another decree came from the palace, appointing Prince of Wei Li Tai as the General of the Left Wu Hou and concurrently the Governor of Yongzhou.

Whose life could be so dull? Perhaps it could only be the Crown Prince of the East Palace.

It seemed that many things in this world were boring to this prince. It began when the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty ordered His Royal Highness the Prince to participate in state affairs.

The prince spent a month in the Secretariat alone reading files, and had actually read all the memorials from various departments in the court since the third year of Zhenguan.

Looking around the court, who has such patience?

The current prince not only does not act arrogantly because of his status as the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, but he even humbly seeks advice.

The prince has a strong learning ability, so strong that in just these two months, he has been able to help Prime Minister Fang to reorganize the government affairs.

In fact, since the court was on vacation and winter came, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been handling state affairs.

For other people of the same age, they may play games in groups of three or five, some because of their hobbies, and some because of laziness.

In the eyes of many people, this prince has become someone else's child.

Yu Zhining and Chu Suiliang had just arrived at the Suzaku Gate.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered people to sell the grape wine that Gaochang sent as tribute. This is not a good thing after all."

After hearing Chu Suiliang's words, Yu Zhining said, "What's wrong with this?"

Chu Suiliang said: "After all, this has not been approved by your majesty."

Yu Zhining smiled and said, "This matter was approved by Prime Minister Fang. Gaochang is here to congratulate the Tang Dynasty. Even if the Crown Prince did this, His Majesty would be happy to accept it. Why is it not good?"

Chu Suiliang listened to the other party's defense. He stopped and said, "Minister Yu, does this make sense to you?"

Yu Zhining said, "Let's not talk about reason. Who is your Highness doing this for? Did any of the money for the wine and drinks go into the pocket of the East Palace? When you received your salary, did you ever think about who was distributing it?"

Chu Suiliang waved his sleeves and said, "I am a salaried old man. Can I ignore loyalty and filial piety just because I receive a salary?"

Yu Zhining looked disdainful of arguing with him, and just said nonchalantly: "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have not understood the overall situation. This is not filial piety, this is stupidity."

"Yu Zhining! You are a minister of the Eastern Palace, let me ask you! Has His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ever valued you?"

Hearing the question behind him, Yu Zhining stroked his beard and smiled, "Narrow-minded! If the Crown Prince only listens to the officials of the East Palace, then we should be worried. But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince listens to opinions from all sides, distances himself from me, and is close to everyone in the court. This is what makes me most fortunate."

The imperial city seemed empty. Chu Suiliang looked at Yu Zhining, who was both noble and arrogant, and for a moment he could not find the words to refute him.

There were also several factions among the civil officials in the court. For example, the conservative faction led by Yan Shigu and Chu Suiliang mostly inherited the governance concepts left by the old officials of the Wude reign.

There is also a tough group of people like Wei Zheng, Ma Zhou and others, who are tough both internally and externally.

Generally speaking, except for the middle faction such as Fang Xiang, the civil officials in the court can be divided into three factions.

If we really have to ask which faction His Royal Highness the Crown Prince leans towards, it seems that he doesn't lean towards either side.

This was also the reason why Wei Zheng and Chu Suiliang and others quarreled over whether to keep the names anonymous during the imperial examination.

Some people hope that the imperial examination can be more moderate, or at least not too harsh, and that the children of aristocratic families can be given some space as a transition. This behavior can only serve to calm the situation, stabilize the situation as much as possible, and avoid major changes.

Wei Zheng's faction, on the other hand, was more aggressive and had a much tougher attitude, upholding the principle of making decisions when necessary.

There are not many people in the Secretariat today, only Duke Zhao, Prime Minister Fang, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and Cen Wenben.

After finishing the business at hand, the four of them sat here and chatted.

The sky outside the Secretariat was gloomy and drizzling.

Tea eggs were being boiled on a stove. Since the East Palace had a lot of surplus tea this year, they could prepare new tea for next year. It would be great to use the old tea to boil tea eggs.

Without a very good storage environment, it will start to grow hair if kept for too long.

Li Chengqian fished out an egg, wrapped it in a piece of cloth, and peeled the eggshell, whispering, "So, our consensus is that the imperial examination should be a test that tests ability. If ability is the key, then place of origin and name won't matter."

Zhang Sun Wuji nodded and said, "That's right." Li Chengqian nodded and said, "I really want to dismiss all those who raised objections."

Upon hearing this, Changsun Wuji's chewing of the tea egg paused for a moment.

Cen Wenben said quickly: "Your Highness, you must not do this."

"Why? Please enlighten me, Minister Cen."

Cen Wenben whispered, "If they demote and dismiss someone just because they speak out against it, once this precedent is set, there will be more people in the court who curry favor with the powerful, and everyone will exclude each other."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Well, Minister Cen, are you talking about the infighting in the officialdom? The consequences are indeed quite serious."

Seeing that the prince listened to the advice, Cen Wenben breathed a sigh of relief.

Fang Xuanling, who was sitting in the back eating tea eggs and reading a book, remained silent. The diplomatic articles written by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince were very interesting.

Chang Sun Wuji said: "The imperial examination in April next year has not been confirmed yet, but more and more people know about it, and more people are coming to Chang'an to inquire about the news."

The news that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei had been given a higher title had already reached the ears of several people.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just listened and didn't mention it at all.

Changsun Wuji understood that this prince was just like his uncle, a man who was not easily surprised by fame or disgrace, and his words and behavior even had the style of his uncle.

But looking at Fang Xuanling standing beside him, he could only sigh deeply seeing that things had come to this point.

Seeing that the prince put his hands in his sleeves, Cen Wenben also put his hands in his sleeves and remained silent.

Several people watched the ups and downs outside the Secretariat.

After a long silence, Li Chengqian said, "How about giving it a try?"

Chang Sun Wuji asked: "What to try?"

"Prepare an examination hall in the East Market and West Market respectively to select scholars for the Sifang Hall, Hongwen Hall, and Wenxue Hall. Choose one of the examination halls to cover the names, and the other one to keep the names intact. Let's see the results."

Cen Wenben brought a stool and sat next to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and asked, "Where is the examiner?"

Li Chengqian said: "The examiners will be selected from the heads of the three halls. In order to avoid criticism, no one from the court can come forward this time, and no one from the court can participate."

Then he asked, "What do you think, uncle?"

Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "You can try."

Li Chengqian asked: "What do you think, teacher?"

Fang Xuanling said slowly: "Since it is not from the court, my opinion is not important."

Li Chengqian smiled knowingly, "Uncle has the widest network of contacts, so I'll leave this matter to him for help."

"Yes." Changsun Wuji bowed, stood up, picked up the two tea eggs on the table and left quickly.

When Fang Xuanling reached out to take the tea egg, which he had originally planned to eat after it cooled down, he saw that it was gone, so he had no choice but to continue reading the article.

Some things cannot be inferred from past experience, so we can only accumulate experience as it is.

There is still enough time and the court has enough opportunities to trial and error.

It was almost noon, and Li Chengqian sat here for a while, waiting for Fang Xiang and Cen Wenben to leave.

Looking at the empty Secretariat, he closed the door and walked towards the Eastern Palace.

In front of Chengtian Gate, I met Li Tai.

"Brother Royal."

Seeing his younger brother bowing politely, Li Chengqian smiled and said, "I just came back from the Secretariat."

Li Tai said: "My younger brother wants the emperor to take back his order."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "Don't refuse what the emperor gave you."

"Can……"

"Okay." Li Chengqian interrupted him and said, "You don't need to care about some of the discussions in the court. I won't care either. You are the best among my brothers and sisters. You deserve the rewards. You can be proud in the future."

Li Tai bowed quickly.

Li Chengqian asked again: "Have you eaten yet? Let's go to the East Palace and have dinner together?"

"There are still many things to do at the Literature Museum, and my brother really can't leave."

"Okay." Li Chengqian patted his shoulder and said, "Let's do it another day."

Li Tai bowed again and watched his brother walk into Chengtian Gate. He stood there for a long time, unable to say some words.

A few drops of rain fell on my body, and I felt very confused.

Li Tai didn't know why he was so confused, so he had to walk back to the Literature Museum alone.

After returning to the East Palace, his younger brothers and sisters had already finished their meal. Li Chengqian sat down and looked at the food in front of him, a pot of asparagus and a pot of bacon.

While eating, thinking about Cen Wenben's words, officialdom infighting is a very terrible thing. To put it mildly, it concerns the personal destiny of an official. In serious cases, it may lead to changes in the entire court structure, thus affecting the country, the world, and even everyone.

Of course this is wrong.

Thanks to my father's personal charm, so many talented counselors and generals followed him.

Ning'er made a bowl of tea and placed it on the table beside her.

Li Chengqian naturally picked up the tea bowl beside him and drank the tea.

Ning'er put the dates next to her on the table.

Li Chengqian ate his meal, drank his tea, and then ate some dates.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince likes to eat dates, but he doesn’t like them to be too sweet.

So Li Chengqian naturally drank his tea, ate dates, and then watched the rain scene motionlessly.

The rain lasted for half a month. Ever since Jie Li passed away and Ashina She'er killed the envoy from Mobei, it has been either snowing or raining in Guanzhong.

Subjectively speaking, this change in weather is the result of the mutual squeeze between cold and warm climates.

Of course, it has nothing to do with whether the Mobei envoy is dead or not.

It’s just that the weather is a bit annoying. Guanzhong is the upper reaches of the Yellow River. If the rain continues, the water level in the upper reaches will be too high, and the situation in the downstream will be worrying.

"Your Highness, Ganlu Palace has sent a pot of wine."

Li Chengqian took the wine and smelled it, and said, "Is this what Qingque presented to my father?"

Ning Er nodded and said, "I heard that this was given to the King of Wei by Duke Xu."

"My uncle won't do anything meaningless."

After saying that, Li Chengqian looked at the wine pot. The wine pot was very delicate, and the word "Tongda" was engraved on it, using the small seal script.

Tongda? The wine was sent by the emperor, is there any purpose for it?

Or did the emperor just pick up a wine jug at random?
There probably wasn't any other meaning behind it. Li Chengqian put the entire wine jug into a box and placed it high on the bookshelf.

Ning Er looked up and said, "I can hardly let it go."

Li Chengqian said: "I will clean up the East Palace later, and there will be a room to store things."

(End of this chapter)