The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 93 The Distressed Uncle

"Brother Emperor, I have finished reading." Li Zhi said from the side.

"take a break."

"Here."

The name of soap is well-known both inside and outside the Great Wall, but soap alone is not enough.

Wu Shigui ordered his fellow townsmen and old friends in Bingzhou to arrange many people to plant tea trees. From last autumn to now, the first batch of tea can be harvested around March, and another batch of tea will be harvested in two months.

Li Chengqian walked in front of the bookshelves holding an oil lamp, looking at the books one by one, and finally stopped at a volume of Sima Xiangru's "Fan Jiang".

This book contains descriptions of tea during the Han Dynasty.

Ning Er stood outside the palace and said, "Your Highness, supper is ready."

Li Chengqian said, "Bring it in."

A bowl of wontons was brought in, with chopped green onions floating on top.

Li Chengqian was eating wontons, his eyes still on the book, and whispered: "Tomorrow morning, arrange for someone to ask Mr. Ying on my behalf, how are the preparations for the tea?"

"Here." Ning'er took the empty bowl handed to her by His Highness and bowed to leave.

The night wind is not so cold now. All parts of the Central Plains have entered the busy farming season, and farming has also begun in various counties.

As the crown prince, he is now at the core of the imperial court, which is still some distance away from the grassroots.

If you don't know the situation at the grassroots level, you will feel uneasy.

This feeling of anxiety comes from being a person living a thousand years later and being familiar with the history of all generations.

Many times, Li Chengqian could only understand the governance situation of various counties through Xu Jingzong's memorials.

Because the Tang Dynasty did not develop very fast, there were not many changes.

Therefore, in a sense, the officials of the Tang Dynasty had much less study pressure.

Seeing that the flame of the oil lamp was getting smaller and smaller, Ning'er replaced the oil lamp for the Crown Prince.

"Sister Ning'er."

"The servant is here."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "My uncle has not been sleeping well lately. Go to the Imperial Medical Bureau tomorrow to get some tranquilizing herbs and I will deliver them to my uncle."

"Here."

The next day, early morning, in the Taiji Hall.

Having tasted the sweetness of mutual trade for the first time, officials from various departments in the court began to come up with various arguments and demanded the establishment of mutual trade teams.

They listed porcelain, silk, writing brushes and ink, paper or jade for trade.

Li Shimin felt uncomfortable listening to these people's discussions. A court meeting was almost turning into a bunch of businessmen shouting and making noises.

Can this morning court be held properly?

Li Shimin said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister Fang, who is in charge of the trade?"

Fang Xuanling said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is in charge of all matters related to the allocation of money and grain, and the policy of mutual trade is also presided over by His Majesty."

I saw that my father and teacher were looking at me.

It's not good to continue to remain silent.

Li Chengqian stepped forward and said, "Everyone, if you have any suggestions, you can submit a memorial to the Secretariat after the court session. I will read it and make a decision."

Everyone calmed down their discussions and stood back up.

Li Shimin looked at his son with a more complicated expression.

After the morning court session, Li Chengqian placed a bag of medicinal herbs in his uncle's hands and said, "I heard that your uncle has not been sleeping well these past two days, so I asked someone to prepare some herbs to calm his nerves."

"I am really sorry that Your Highness the Crown Prince is worried..."

Li Chengqian said, "It's okay. Uncle should take care of his health. You can do morning exercises like me on weekdays. It's quite effective."

Changsun Wuji seemed to be hesitant to speak, holding the bag of herbs in his hand, and remained silent.

If I really want to know why I haven’t been sleeping well recently, it’s because of the father and son of the Li family, one is the emperor and the other is the prince.

Too annoying.

Li Chengqian asked again: "Uncle, have you often had dreams recently?"

Chang Sun Wuji nodded and said, "Yes."

"You'll probably feel better if you take some calming herbs."

Zhang Sun Wuji bowed in frustration. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could stay in the East Palace, not get involved in state affairs, and not contradict His Majesty, he would actually sleep soundly in the past.

Li Chengqian put his hands in his pockets and asked, "Uncle, I have something to ask you."

Changsun Wuji sighed and said, "Your Highness, please speak."

"I have rarely seen my father recently. I heard that he has been summoning Prime Minister Fang frequently these days?"

"Ah."

Li Chengqian asked again: "There are some things I don't have much experience with. If I do something wrong, uncle must correct me. I don't know if I can follow the emperor's wishes. If there is any discussion between the teacher and the emperor, please let me know if you know it."

Zhang Sun Wuji said solemnly, "Your Highness has done a great job. Although His Majesty has not praised you, the best praise is that he has allowed you to stay in the Secretariat and even preside over the trade fair."

"Thank you for your advice, uncle."

When he arrived at the Secretariat, Li Chengqian found that there were quite a few memorials on his desk, piled up in a thick stack. He opened one of the scrolls and found that it was about wanting to buy cloth through trade.

The civil and military officials in the court are enthusiastic, and as long as a method is proven to be feasible, they will come forward in large numbers to offer their ideas.

There were also many powerful people in Chang'an City who had family businesses.

It is said that General Cheng Yaojin's family business was quite large, otherwise his father would have withheld his salary for so many years.

If it weren't for his family background, General Cheng Yaojin might have become the first general in the Tang Dynasty to starve to death due to salary deduction.

I also saw some ideas of selling wood and pottery through barter.

Don’t consider the transportation cost? Don’t consider the labor cost? Just say it will sell?

Officials who have such thoughts find it inexplicably cute.

Li Chengqian had a smile on his face. These memorials were so interesting that the more he read them, the more he enjoyed them.

In fact, judging by past experience, what we can be sure of now is that tea and silk are the two things that will definitely make huge profits.

Because of the low transportation cost, one or two ounces of tea can be sold at a high price.

In recent years, mulberry silkworms have become easier to raise and silk has become more and more abundant. The price of silk in Guanzhong is just the finest silk, two strings of coins per piece.

An ordinary family could buy three to five feet of silk cloth to make a set of beautiful and comfortable clothes.

After reading the memorials in front of him, Li Chengqian piled them aside. Some of the suggestions were not based on practical significance, so there was no need to refer to them.

Li Chengqian placed a memorial in front of Prime Minister Fang.

After Fang Xuanling looked at them, he asked, "Do you only want tea and silk?"

"Yes, the only trade items right now are tea and silk." "Your Highness rejected all of their proposals?"

Li Chengqian added: "Teacher, transportation outside the Great Wall is not like that in the Great Wall. The first thing to consider is the high-value items that can be transported easily. After much thought, it is tea and silk."

"Where's the soap?"

"Soap, I have my own arrangements. After all, there is only one Jingyang family in Guanzhong."

Fang Xuanling said: "People in the Western Regions have always loved silk. I heard that one piece of silk could be exchanged for more than ten Hu concubines."

“They are still hungry for silk.”

Fang Xuanling nodded and said, "I will discuss this with Your Majesty."

Wei Zheng walked over quickly and said, "Your Highness, this is the various expenses for this year's imperial examination."

Li Chengqian returned to his seat and looked at the memorial handed over by Duke Zheng.

Wei Zheng said in a clear voice: "There are more than 3,500 students coming to take the imperial examination this time. The supervisors, staff, guards and other personnel have all been arranged."

Li Chengqian looked at it carefully. This budget was made by Yu Zhining, and it was done quite carefully, including the calculation of each person in the factory supervision.

In fact, the cost of holding the imperial examination this time has been reduced to a very low level.

After Li Chengqian finished his reply, he said, "Mr. Zheng, this year's imperial examination is very important to the court, so you must be extremely careful with the examination papers."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. The teachers who set the questions will stay in the Dali Temple's prison for two months until the imperial examination is over. They will not see outsiders."

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

When he looked up, he saw Prime Minister Fang leaving in a hurry again. Prime Minister Fang always did this these days. He went to see his father alone.

Today, Prime Minister Fang left with another stack of memorials.

It would be fine if it was normal, but it has been happening more and more frequently lately.

Fang Xuanling followed the eunuch's footsteps and hurried into the Xingqing Hall. He handed over a stack of more than ten memorials with both hands, "Your Majesty."

He ordered someone to present the memorials. Li Shimin sat upright and flipped through them, saying, "Are these the memorials reviewed by the Crown Prince?"

"That's right." Fang Xuanling took the stool handed to him by the eunuch and sat down quietly.

Li Shimin drank his tea and asked, "The only things we trade are tea and silk?"

"Your Majesty, His Highness has refused all other trades and only allowed these two items to be traded."

In fact, the memorial approved by his son was very simple, the words were concise, and the actions were also simple. One could see the purpose at a glance.

Since the founding of the dynasty, what he emphasized most often was that the county magistrates of each county needed to grasp the farming conditions of the villagers.

Because of the prince's words, the court sent some officials to various counties to investigate the situation personally.

Actually, this is a stupid method, but it is often the most reliable and efficient one.

Li Shimin asked again: "Xuanling, so the Crown Prince's behavior has not been criticized so far?"

"Your Majesty, if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't understand something, he will come to ask me. Although there have been constant discussions in the court recently about the allocation of money and grain, some people think that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is biased." Fang Xuanling bowed and said, "If there is really something wrong, perhaps His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is too unkind."

"If personal relationships were a factor in important government affairs, I would not have allowed him to continue to sit in the Secretariat."

Fang Xuanling said, "Your Majesty is absolutely right."

"Money and grain allocation? Trade?" Li Shimin suddenly laughed and said, "I didn't expect that he could really figure out the expenses of the court."

Fang Xuanling handed over another scroll and said, "Your Majesty, this is the arrangement for this year's imperial examination."

Li Shimin put down the tea bowl in his hand, looked at it patiently, and asked: "Is there anyone in the court who opposes it?"

"Your Majesty, there have been many people who have opposed this, but they are all officials below the fifth rank, including the Secretariat and the vice ministers of various ministries. No one opposes it."

"Someone will always bring it up. If they don't bring it up today, they will bring it up tomorrow. If they don't make trouble now, they will find an opportunity in a year or two and make me turn everything back to how it was before."

Occasionally, a few words were heard from inside the hall, and then Prime Minister Fang hurriedly left Xingqing Hall.

Outside the city of Chang'an, Changsun Wuji, who has a moment of free time, can go out for a walk.

It is February in Guanzhong and the weather is still cold, but the grass is growing well.

After the deep winter passed, Guanzhong finally welcomed the long-awaited warmth. In fact, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace had already felt that the night wind was not so cold a few days ago.

Changsun Wuji was accompanied by three or two servants and was walking along the Wei River when he met an old man.

The old man had white hair and beard and was wearing coarse cloth clothes.

He also had two servants beside him.

After walking a few steps forward, Changsun Wuji could see clearly that this person was Wang Gui, Mr. Wang.

"I thought the court was so busy, but I didn't expect the Minister of Personnel to come out and walk around in his busy schedule."

Listening to the old man's words, Changsun Wuji sat on a rock by the river, not far from the old man, and said, "I heard that the old man is now in the Prince of Wei's mansion, teaching the Prince of Wei?"

Wang Gui closed his eyes again, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his body, and said: "Teaching the King of Wei does not prevent me from going out to bask in the sun. This year's winter came early and left late. It's a pity not to bask in the sun when we finally get some."

Zhang Sun Wuji looked at the Wei River, whose current was not turbulent, and continued, "You should have retired to Mount Zhongnan."

“Hehehe…” Wang Gui turned over with a smile and said, “I can’t leave Chang’an until I die. Rather than letting me die in Zhongnan Mountain, it would be good if I could teach the King of Wei and make him a great man. I can put this worry aside and bury me in Zhongnan Mountain in the future.”

For some reason, Changsun Wuji felt that he and Wang Gui had a feeling of mutual respect between heroes.

Being tested by the Emperor and used by the Prince.

Zhang Sun Wuji smiled bitterly and said, "One day, I will also be like you, devoting myself to the mountains and rivers. There are so many things in the court and the country, so what if one of them is missing?"

Wang Gui stroked his beard and said, "I am old and useless, and you are still young. You shouldn't say such things. You are the Minister of Personnel, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and the Duke of Zhao. Why do you feel old now? I thought people like you and Fang Xuanling would show their talents."

At this point, Wang Gui continued, "No wonder your uncle said that you, Changsun Wuji, will never amount to anything great."

Chang Sun Wuji put his hands on his knees and said, "You are not in the court now, so you don't know what the situation is like in the court now."

"What is the situation?"

"Alas..." Zhang Sun Wuji stood up and said, "Only I know the pain in my heart. What's the point of telling you about it?"

Continue walking along the river.

After much thought, on the one hand, I am loyal to Your Majesty, and on the other hand, it is not easy for us to have been friends since those days.

On the other hand, there is the care that the uncle gives to the prince.

If the father and son fight each other, how should I, as their uncle, deal with it?

Now that the prince has his teacher Fang Xuanling by his side, he becomes even more worried.

The Li Tang royal family has three generations. It would be best if each of these emperors was more sensible than the last.

It would be good if the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace could be like before, even if he just stayed in seclusion in the Eastern Palace.

But now, since the Crown Prince has been supervising the government, everyone has sat in the Secretariat. Fortunately, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has no contact with the generals in the army.

There is only one Li Ji, and Li Ji is a man who values ​​his promises. He will never betray Your Majesty.

If the prince really gets military power in the future, once the father and son fight, the first person to die will most likely be his uncle.

(End of this chapter)