Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 110 The Emperor No Longer Wants to Depose the Crown Prince (Part )
Luoyang, Qianyang Palace.

The emperor stood before a map on one side and looked sideways at Zhangsun Wuji standing beside him. "Is there anyone around the Crown Prince who shouldn't be there?"

"No!" Zhangsun Wuji bowed, then knelt down and said, "I have carefully checked and asked, and no outsiders have come near the Crown Prince."

"That's good." Li Shimin walked back to the imperial couch, holding a bamboo slip in his hand. He then looked at Zhangsun Wuji and said, "There are some people faintly appearing over there at Qingque. They must have attracted attention after I dismissed Yan Lide from his post."

"Do those people really dare to go against Your Majesty?" There was a hint of murderous intent in Changsun Wuji's eyes.

"He might not dare to do it openly, but he might disobey it in secret." Li Shimin leaned back and said calmly, "Tell me one thing, how is the Crown Prince doing in Chang'an?"

"The Crown Prince has been busy with the 'Kaogong Zhi' recently, especially with shipbuilding in Beiyuan." After a brief pause, Changsun Wuji said seriously, "I've been to Beiyuan and seen that four-masted ship. It's much better than the one built by Yan Lide."

"Hmm!" The emperor nodded slightly and said, "I have already ordered people to prepare wood for shipbuilding in Hongzhou. In two years, all the large ships to transport the soldiers should be completed... Yang Wulian will probably have to stay in Chang'an. He is currently a sixth-rank general, and the next promotion is to junior craftsman. This is not appropriate."

"Let him go to the Ministry of Works and be a doctor of the Ministry of Works. This will allow others to focus on him, and then let Yan Lide go to Hongzhou to build ships." With just one sentence, Changsun Wuji completely revealed the secret of Yan Lide's previous stay in Xiangcheng Palace.

Xiangcheng Palace is located on the bank of Guangchengze, which is part of the Ru River. The Ru River flows eastward into the Ying River, and the Ying River flows into the Huai River, and the Huai River flows directly into the sea.

Of course, this is one way.

To the south of Ruzhou, there is a Baihe River, which flows into the Han River and finally into the Yangtze River.

This is another way.

Although Yan Lide was building a palace in Xiangcheng Palace, the core workers he employed were all craftsmen from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Construction.

Little is known about what they are actually doing.

The emperor dismissed Yan Lide from office, although partly because of Li Tai, but more because he realized that someone was spying on his preparations for the conquest of Goguryeo.

That's why the entire Xiangcheng Palace was completely demolished and all the secrets were destroyed.

At the same time, he was also looking to see who it was and would continue investigating later.

The first person who surprised him was the prince, who also noticed something was wrong.

However, Li Chengqian soon sent his men to Luoyang to keep an eye on Yan Lide.

The emperor did not interfere. As he himself said, as long as the fight between the crown prince and the King of Wei did not cross the line, he would not interfere.

As for whether the prince would find out something, Li Shimin was not worried. If he couldn't even hide what he did from the prince, how could he hide it from his opponents?

But he didn't expect that Li Chengqian's men would be withdrawn so quickly.

……

"What a pity, those people's whereabouts are so erratic, otherwise I would have caught them all in one go." A hint of ruthlessness flashed in the emperor's eyes.

"No one has touched the Crown Prince's side, but maybe we can find some clues on the King of Wei's side." Changsun Wuji suggested softly.

"Hmm!" A hint of indifference flashed across Li Shimin's eyes, and then he looked up and said, "Go on, what else is going on with the Crown Prince?"

"Supervise the administration of Guanzhong, Jiannan and Longyou, as well as the mobilization of Tuyuhun cavalry." Changsun Wuji paused for a moment, as this involved some matters concerning Princess Wencheng and the Tubo King Songtsen.

The emperor nodded slightly and said nothing more.

"There are also some cases in the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice, which the prince has investigated very thoroughly." Changsun Wuji didn't know what he was thinking about, and couldn't help but smile.

"Let him continue to do it." Li Shimin also smiled, and the two of them didn't know what they were laughing at.

"Finally, it's the autumn harvest." Changsun Wuji's face turned serious. "It's already June, and July is about to begin autumn. The Crown Prince has begun to care about the harvest. While urging the localities to work hard, he's also paying attention to some of the bad habits that exploit the people..."

"Oh!" Li Shimin suddenly looked at Zhangsun Wuji and asked, "Who told him these things?"

During the autumn harvest, the clerks’ bad habit of exploiting the people was especially prevalent, which was “kicking the stick and pouring water on the tip of the bucket”.

If one is not careful, local officials will be able to tear a piece of flesh from the people and the tax revenue of the court.

However, it is difficult to eliminate these things, and we can only investigate and deal with them as soon as they occur.

"It should be Zhang Xuansu." Changsun Wuji pondered and said, "Zhang Xuansu once served as a local household official, and that was during the late Sui Dynasty. He knows these things very well, and it is not surprising that he is now willing to teach them."

The emperor nodded solemnly and said, "This is a difficult matter!"

"Let the prince do it. It's always a good thing." Changsun Wuji looked up at the emperor.

"Haha!" Li Shimin laughed easily, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "That's right. The more he cares about the people, the more he understands the difficulties of governing the country. This way, I can worry less."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji nodded in agreement. He knew that what the emperor was most worried about was actually the handling of state affairs during the Eastern Expedition to Goryeo.

The eastern expedition to Goryeo would take at least one or two years.

In other words, Li Shimin would have to leave the core areas of the world such as Chang'an and Luoyang for two years.

Once he was in Liaodong, what he was most worried about was the stability of Chang'an, Luoyang and the world.

The story of Yang Xuangan is a lesson for us.

Having the food supply cut off is a small matter, but if the prince takes the opportunity to ascend the throne in Chang'an, that would be a life-threatening matter.

This was what Li Shimin was most worried about. After the prince broke his leg, his temperament became more extreme, which made Li Shimin unable to help but think of deposing the prince, so he paid more attention to Li Tai.

The obvious action allowed more people to see the opportunity.

But soon, the situation changed. At the end of last year, Li Chengqian regained his strength. Even the death squads and assassins he had gathered outside the palace were placed in the Prince's Left and Right Guards and were completely under their jurisdiction.

This means that he has completely lost the power to lead this group of people.

The subsequent "Kaogongzhi" also included his views on Tubo, all the affairs at the end of the year, and this year's regent, everything was done in an orderly manner, which made the emperor and court officials take notice.

However, in contrast, Li Tai's behavior in various aspects was becoming increasingly inappropriate.

This made the emperor's attention turn back to the prince.

What really made the emperor feel relieved now was that Li Chengqian focused his attention on the details of the exploitation of the people during the autumn harvest.

……

"The more you care about the details of the people's harvest, the more you understand the difficulty of governing the country. The more you care about this, the more attentive you must be." The emperor smiled and said casually, "At the end of last year, he suggested that the princes personally plow the fields. I'm afraid he already had this idea in mind."

"Local affairs, officials, noble families, wealthy families, clerks, common people, a county, a state, a road, there are more than 360 states in the world, even Your Majesty cannot handle it all. Prince, I am afraid it will take several years to barely figure it out, so as not to be secretly obeyed." Changsun Wuji bowed slightly.

"The more you know the truth about the world, the more you will know reverence. Now Cheng Qian finally has such reverence." Li Shimin nodded with satisfaction.

Li Chengqian had such awe, so when Li Shimin went on the eastern expedition to Goryeo, Li Chengqian would not do anything rash.

In this way, the emperor can be at ease in Liaodong and the prince can be attentive in Chang'an.

The world is at peace.

Changsun Wuji was completely relieved. From that moment on, the emperor no longer had the idea of ​​deposing the prince.

At least not in recent years.

"There's one more thing." Changsun Wuji raised his head, looked at the emperor, and said, "The Crown Prince's construction of the Taoist temple has made progress. Yin Wencao of the Louguan Dao has completely melted the golden Buddha that the Tibetans presented."

"Melted?" Li Shimin looked up in surprise, then shook his head slightly and said, "If this continues, I'm afraid the relationship between the Buddhist community and the Crown Prince won't be so good anymore."

"It's just Buddhism. Who knows, it might fall back at any time." Changsun Wuji was not worried about these things.

If you offend Buddhism, Buddhism will be tolerant, but if you offend Taoism, Taoism will be stingy and may remember you for many years.

"What I'm really concerned about is that the Crown Prince donated some of the old, unused clothes from the Eastern Palace." Zhang Sun Wuji, for some reason, had tears in his eyes as he spoke, even choking a little as he spoke, "Many of these were clothes given to the Crown Prince by the Empress when she was still alive."

"Alas!" Li Shimin was slightly stunned. After a long moment, he sighed and said softly, "Cheng Qian is very filial!"

"So I was wondering if there are some old clothes in my house that can be donated." After saying this, Changsun Wuji bowed his head heavily.

"You're asking if I can donate some of the old clothes in the palace, right?" Li Shimin's voice was very soft. He raised his head and said, "When Guanyinbi was alive, she also hoped to benefit the people. Wuji, you pass the order and ask the eunuch to do it."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji kowtowed heavily, then slowly stood up and left Qianyang Palace.

Just as he was halfway through his journey, Changsun Wuji suddenly turned around, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, there is one more thing."

"What's the matter?" Li Shimin calmed down.

Changsun Wuji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I have asked the Crown Prince about the compilation of the 'Book of the Later Han'. The Crown Prince said that the reason the Eastern Palace did not compile it in the first place was that they felt that such matters were better left to Prime Minister Wei, Prime Minister Fang, and me."

The emperor frowned immediately, then he looked at Zhangsun Wuji with amusement and said, "It was you who wanted to interfere."

"I just want to see if there is anything that needs to be checked and filled." Changsun Wuji smiled lightly.

The emperor's expression grew serious, and he gently tapped the bamboo slips on the table. Finally, he said, "After all, Qingque is the editor of the Book of the Later Han. How about this: at the end of the year, we'll see how their work turns out. If it's unsatisfactory, we'll send them back, and you'll take the lead in editing it."

"Yes!" Changsun Wuji bowed slightly. Li Tai was just a prince after all, and his actions were not as firm and unshakable as those of the crown prince.

……

Chang'an, East Palace.

Guangtian Palace.

Zheng Shuang'er sat beside Li Chengqian, looking at her cousin in front of her with some concern.

Li Chengqian came back to his senses, looked at Zheng Chu, and said, "Go on."

"Yes!" Zheng Chu bowed bitterly and said, "Ever since I was robbed and returned to Yongzhou, the Yongzhou government has detained my late husband's body and belongings. Before the New Year, they wouldn't let my family leave Chang'an... Until after the New Year, when my father and brother needed to return to their posts, they left me and my daughter in Chang'an temporarily. Who could have known that they would stay there for another six months?"

"I thought you had returned to Fanyang, but I didn't expect you to be still in Chang'an." Li Chengqian couldn't help but frown and said, "But from the time when Lord Yin was there, to the current Duke Chen, no one wants to let Lu Hu leave. Could it be that Lu Hu really has something on him?"

"I don't know either. Those things are all in Yongzhou Prefecture. Even if we want to investigate, it will take a long time and there should be results." There was a hint of complaint in Zheng Chu's words.

Li Chengqian nodded, looked up at Li Anyan who was standing to the side, and said, "An Yan, go call Helan and Dai Zhide over. I want to review all the documents on this case and see what I've missed."

As he said this, Qi Zhixuan's figure inexplicably jumped out of Li Chengqian's mind.

(End of this chapter)