The Leisurely Life of the Prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 95: Joining forces to catch fish
Pei Xingjian walked into the Hongwenguan again. It was always noisy here. It was crowded even before the imperial examination started.

After the last exam, Pei Xingjian became a bachelor here as he wished. He could walk around the Hongwenguan freely and read the books in the Hongwenguan.

There were some old books piled up that no one had read. Pei Xingjian had nothing to do, so he listened to the discussions around him and looked at the article in his hand.

Listen to them talking about the rumors about Chang'an now.

In addition to the emperor who already had many rumors, these people also talked about the prince of the Eastern Palace. In their words, the prince of the Eastern Palace was a lonely person. They also said that the prince was quite diligent. They also talked about the Red Mansion that never had an ending.

Generally speaking, it’s all like this.

Pei Xingjian read one volume after another, but could not find any new articles. It turned out that his father and brother had both died in the war.

As the only child in the family, his clan had always opposed him to follow in his father and brother's footsteps and become a military general. Instead, they wanted him to be a scholar, but in his heart he still wanted to be a general.

As a result, he had been submissive all those years until he submitted his paper and came to Chang'an City to take the imperial examination.

As I was reading, I thought the articles here were mostly the same, but suddenly I saw one called "Theory of Production Relations".

There wasn't much written on it. After taking a closer look, he looked up and asked the person next to him, "Excuse me, who wrote this article?"

The man felt annoyed and said, "The articles here have been here for a long time. Who knows who wrote them? Maybe they have even forgotten what they wrote."

Pei Xingjian nodded and put the article back to its original place on the bookshelf.

The rain lasted for three days. Li Chengqian walked to the gate of the Secretariat holding an umbrella and saw officials coming and going.

Yu Zhining stood in front of the Zhongshu Province and saluted, "Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian asked: "How is the preparation going in the court?"

"It's settled. The exam will start on the 15th of next month."

Calculating that there were more than ten days left before the imperial examination, Li Chengqian walked into the Secretariat and saw that his teacher was not at his seat, but a stack of rosters was placed on the table.

After looking around and seeing no one paying attention, he picked up the list and started reading it. The list recorded the names of those who came to Chang'an for the imperial examinations from the Hongwenguan, Sifangguan and Wenxueguan.

Every name and place of origin was recorded, and Pei Xingjian's name appeared again.

I also noticed a name below, Li Yifu from Yanting County, Jiannan Road.

"Your Highness." A voice interrupted his thoughts. Li Chengqian looked up and saw Xu Xiaode, and asked, "Have you prepared the budget?"

Xu Xiaode said: "This is the budget of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites for this year."

Li Chengqian looked through the files carefully and frowned, "Have you checked?"

"After checking, it is basically true."

Li Chengqian nodded, approved it, and let Xu Xiaode take it away.

After that, Li Chengqian took out another bag of tea, placed it on his uncle's desk, and said, "This is this year's new tea."

Chang Sun Wuji's eyes were still on the memorial, and he asked, "Is your Highness drinking enough?"

Li Chengqian said: "Some have been sent to my uncle and my great-uncle's house."

Changsun Wuji nodded slightly and continued to work on the task at hand.

Seeing that the prince was still standing aside, Changsun Wuji asked again, "Your Highness, do you have anything else to say?"

Li Chengqian whispered, "Uncle, I want to transfer Xu Xiaode to the Ministry of Works."

Hearing this, Changsun Wuji finally put down the pen in his hand and asked, "Why?"

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "I have recently discovered that the accounts of the Ministry of Works have been inflated in recent years. Moreover, without a single person in charge, the expenditures will sooner or later be in disarray. Besides, Master Craftsman Yan is not good at calculating."

Zhang Sun Wuji said in dismay, "Your Highness the Crown Prince really thinks you can trade a bag of tea with me for a position in the Ministry of Works.

"If it's inconvenient for you, uncle, just pretend that I didn't mention this matter."

Li Chengqian was about to turn around and leave.

But I heard my uncle say, "The Ministry of Works is vacant for a vice minister, and Yan Liben needs someone to work for him."

"Thank you, uncle."

Changsun Wuji's expression remained unchanged as he continued to read the memorials.

The Ministry of Works of the Tang Dynasty was a magical place. If it was the farming season, the Ministry of Works could be in charge of military farming, craftsmen, and water conservancy. If it was wartime, the Ministry of Works could work with the Chief of Construction and the Chief of the Imperial Household to build all kinds of weapons and siege equipment.

Whether it is production and manufacturing, craftsmanship, or the construction of various types of buildings, the Ministry of Works is indispensable.

And all along, the Minister of Works Yan Liben seemed to be obedient to his father's words.

This was the first time that the prince asked his uncle for a position in the court as an official in the Eastern Palace, and this position was not very important.

Xu Xiaode could naturally be the assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, as we were just short of such a person.

Li Chengqian had just sat down when another official handed in a memorial, "Your Highness."

When Prime Minister Fang was away, many expedited memorials were approved by Prime Minister Fang's disciple, the current crown prince.

As the imperial examination approached, the teacher was often not in the Secretariat, mostly because he had other things to arrange with his father.

These are the only things happening in the court on the surface. Perhaps there are many unknown things being arranged in secret.

Li Chengqian looked at the memorial in front of him. It stated that the Zuowu Guard, Jinwu Guard, and Lingjun Guard had stepped up the defense of Chang'an City, and that the militiamen from all counties should be ready to be called upon by the court at any time.

After writing the approval, Li Chengqian handed him the memorial and said, "Thank you for your help. Please speed up the arrangements."

"Here."

Prime Minister Fang was as busy as ever, and as the crown prince he could only wait quietly for the day of the imperial examination to arrive.

April 15th hasn’t arrived yet.

On this day, a piece of news was sent to the palace that Monk Popo had passed away.

Li Chengqian whispered: "In Buddhist terms, he should have gone to see the Buddha?"

Ning Er replied: "I heard that the monks in Shengguang Temple were all crying bitterly."

Li Chengqian wrote a letter and handed it to Ning'er, saying, "Tomorrow a group of soldiers will go to the Hexi Corridor. Have someone give this letter to Du He in Jingyang, and then have Du He give it to the group of soldiers going to the Hexi Corridor. They are going to host the trade."

“Let the soldiers deliver this letter to the passing caravans and to the Gaochang prince. When the Gaochang father and son learn of this news, they will naturally find a way to tell Xuanzang.”

Ning Er was puzzled, but still agreed, "Yes."

"Sister Ning'er, are you confused?"

She whispered, "I do have questions, but if Your Highness doesn't want to talk, I dare not ask more."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "It's nothing. I'm just very curious about Xuanzang."

Ning'er nodded and went to give the order.

Li Chengqian took down the scroll of scriptures that Bopo had sent to the Eastern Palace from the bookshelf and gave it to Ning'er, saying, "Have someone send this scroll of scriptures to Shengguang Temple and say that it was returned to him by the crown prince of the Eastern Palace. From now on, the relationship between the Eastern Palace and him will be written off and it will be over."

"Here."

An Indian monk passed away in Chang'an, and the monks of Shengguang Temple sat in rows in the temple, chanting Buddhist mantras.

Someone walked to the temple gate, said a few words to the monk in front of the door, and handed him a scroll of scriptures.

When the young monk knew the purpose of the visit, he quickly walked into the temple. Master Xuanmo, who was presiding over the ceremony, was sitting in the main hall.

The monk walked over and whispered a few words.

Xuan Mo looked at the rope tied to the scripture, which had never been untied. He sighed, reached out to take the scripture, and burned it to ashes along with Bo Po's belongings. The prince of the Tang Dynasty must know how to be grateful. At least when the prince was seriously ill, Bo Po prayed for the prince of the East Palace day and night.

Although Li Chengqian did not like monks, he still ate vegetarian food for a day with his mother, his younger brothers and sisters.

In front of the Lizheng Palace, Empress Changsun whispered, "Chengqian, you need to be persistent in exercising your muscles and bones, so don't waste it."

Li Chengqian looked at his brothers and sisters playing around, holding Little Sizi in his arms, and said, "My child understands."

Empress Changsun said: "You have been weak since childhood, so you should pay more attention to exercise."

At this point, Empress Changsun smiled and said, "I heard from your father that you have made some progress in archery?"

Li Chengqian said: "It can't be considered a small achievement, just barely pleasing to the emperor's eyes."

Empress Changsun looked at her son with satisfaction and said, "It would be good if you could keep training. Your father has always had high hopes for you."

The weather in Guanzhong in April is sometimes sunny and sometimes rainy. If you ride a horse in the 800-li Qinchuan on a sunny day, the scenery will definitely be even better.

If you could stand at a higher place, you could see thick clouds casting shadows on the ground.

The Guanzhong Plain, with its wild grass growing wildly and full of vitality, is well worth a spring outing.

The ancients all liked spring outings. They liked to gather in groups of three or five by the river or on a high slope, drinking or sharing food.

The emperor and the empress took a group of children to play by the Taiye Lake.

The scenery here is just as good.

Li Chengqian was very dissatisfied with the fishhook handed to him by the eunuch. He rubbed and knocked it with a small stone beside him until it had a shape that he was satisfied with. He hung the bait on it and put it into the pond.

The fish in Taiye Lake are fat but also stupid because they have been breeding freely for a long time.

Soon, Li Chengqian had caught three fish.

Li Shimin also held a fishing rod and looked at his son, but he didn't catch any fish.

"Father."

Hearing the words behind him, Li Shimin looked back and saw that it was Li Ke and Li Tai who had also come. He waved and said, "Come, go fishing with me."

"Here."

Now the fishing team has changed from two fathers and sons to four fathers and sons.

Li Chengqian had just put down the fishing hook and asked, "Qingque, can you fish?"

Li Tai took the small stool, sat down and said, "Yes, but I seldom go fishing."

Princess Dongyang came over with a few skewers of grilled meat. She handed them over and said, "Father, eat some meat."

Li Shimin took the barbecue and asked, "Well, what kind of meat is it today?"

Dongyang said, "Mutton. When the pigs raised in Jingyang grow up, the Eastern Palace will have pork to eat every day."

Li Shimin asked curiously, "Does Jingyang also raise pigs?"

The emperor's words were intentionally raised a few notches.

Li Chengqian found the tone irritating and reached out to scratch his ears.

Dongyang sat beside her father, eating a skewer of pork and said, "My daughter heard that Jingyang raised some piglets. Those piglets are just like eunuchs. They will be..."

Li Shimin was surprised and asked, "Is it really like this?"

Dongyang nodded and continued, "My daughter has never seen it. We all heard it from my brother. He also said that we must eat well-cooked meat in the future. Any meat that is half-cooked is not acceptable."

Seeing that Li Zhi and his team had skewered a lot of mutton, Dongyang chewed and said quickly, "Oh, they have skewered it again. My daughter is going to grill the meat first."

Li Shimin nodded and said, "Go ahead."

After saying this, as he was about to leave, Dongyang did not forget to hand the only string in his hand to his brother, "Emperor, enjoy it slowly, there will be more later."

Then she completely ignored Li Tai and Li Ke and left.

Li Chengqian ate the barbecue handed to him by his sister and sat by the lake looking at the calm water. He could see the clouds in the sky reflected in the water, as well as Li Tai and Li Ke standing beside him.

Their eyes met and Li Tai quickly avoided them, looking around.

Li Chengqian was still eating, but Li Ke was much calmer. He stared at the fishing line, waiting for a fish to take the bait.

And the father was looking at the three brothers with a smile on his face.

Li Chengqian retracted his gaze and saw that his fishing line was being dragged down again. He quickly lifted the rod and said with force: "The fish is very big."

After saying this, the prince was seen pulling the fishing rod little by little and dragging the fishing line to the shore.

Seeing this, Li Chengqian said again: "Bring the net."

Faintly visible was a fish still struggling under the water. Li Chengqian said, "Help me hold the fishing rod."

Li Tai was stunned at first, "Huh?"

Then, seeing his brother put his fishing rod into his hands, Li Tai hurriedly responded, "Yes."

Li Chengqian said: "Hold me."

Upon hearing this, Li Ke grabbed his brother's arms, trying his best to prevent him from falling into the lake.

Li Chengqian held the net in one hand, and Li Tai held the fishing rod to control the fish, trying to get the fish into the net.

Li Ke held his brother's arm and asked his brother to catch the fish.

“Got it!”

Li Ke pulled his brother back to the shore.

The three brothers worked together to catch a big fish that was more than two feet long and one foot wide.

This scene also attracted younger brothers and sisters to come and watch, and they all looked at the fish curiously.

In fact, there are still many fish of this size in Taiye Lake, but the people in the palace are too lazy to catch them.

Li Shimin withdrew his gaze and sat alone in the water pavilion. He raised his fishing rod, but no fish was caught.

Listening to the excited and curious voices of the children, I felt very lonely, so I picked up the tea beside me and started drinking it.

Many years later, no matter where Li Tai and Li Ke are, they will still remember that they and their brother worked together to catch a two-foot-long fish by the Taiye Lake. Perhaps if just one of the three brothers had made a mistake, the fish would have escaped.

Li Zhi squatted on the ground, poked the fish scales with his fingers, and said, "How do you eat such a big fish?"

Li Chengqian said: "Li Shen."

Li Shen quickly stood up: "My brother is here."

"You ask them to build another fire and get more salt and pepper."

"Here."

Li Chengqian looked around and saw Yuchi Gong standing by the waterside pavilion. He smiled and said, "General Yuchi, can you help me kill a fish?"

Yuchi Gong looked at the sunny and kind smile of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and then at the silent Majesty in the water pavilion.

Seeing His Majesty nod slightly, Yuchi Gong strode forward, picked up the fish, put it on the chopping board and started to clean it up.

(End of this chapter)