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

Chapter 421 Ordinary People’s Lives Are Also Lives (Part )

Hanyuan Hall is grand and magnificent.

Li Chengqian and others stood at the foot of the golden steps, and the atmosphere was a little solemn.

Qiu Xingyan glanced at Li Chengqian, smiled bitterly, and said, "Your Majesty has issued an imperial decree that the ministers are not allowed to discuss this matter privately."

"Hmm!" Li Chengqian nodded in surprise, then said, "I just didn't expect that you, my dear, could be a Minister of War."

Qiu Xingyan was the fourth son of the late Duke Tan and General of the Left Jinwu Guard, Qiu Shi.

Qiu Xingyan's eldest brother is General of the Left Guard, Duke of Meicheng County, Qiu He; his second brother is the former General of the Right Jinwu Guard and current Governor of Yongzhou, Qiu Xinggong; his third brother is the current General of the Left Jinwu Guard, Qiu Xiaogong; and his nephew is General of the Right Thousand Oxen Guard, Qiu Shenqi.

The whole family came from the military, except Qiu Xingyan, who was a craftsman.

But it is still very successful.

"I have only heard what my family has said for many years. Now that I am further away, I can see things more clearly." Qiu Xingyan shook his head and said, "If you really want me to lead the troops on the front line, I can't do it."

"That's better than me." Li Chengqian waved his hand slightly and said, "Although my father has been teaching me the art of war for many years, I'm good at discussing military strategy on paper and calculating people's hearts. I can also give a rough idea, but when it comes to specific strategies, I can only follow the advice of the military advisors and the generals in the field. This is especially true in combat."

"Being able to manipulate people's hearts is already a first-rate military tactic." Qiu Xingyan sighed and said, "As the saying goes, the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities. Attacking cities is a last resort, so attacking the heart is the best strategy, and attacking the city is the worst."

Li Chengqian smiled lightly.

"If we can win this battle," Qiu Xingyan looked up at Li Chengqian with pity, then said, "The plateau can remain peaceful for ten years, and the eastern and western Tuyuhun can be connected. Your Majesty will be able to stabilize the four Anxi towns, and then it will be the Western Turkestan..."

"Okay!" Li Chengqian suddenly interrupted Qiu Xingyan and walked forward calmly.

Yan Liben glanced at the dazed Qiu Xingyan and whispered beside him, "Congratulations!"

Qiu Xingyan smiled slightly bitterly and looked up at Li Chengqian. The ministers in the court were still confused about their new emperor.

He served as the crown prince for twenty years. During this time, his brothers fought for the throne. Both the King of Jin and the King of Wei were defeated by him. However, he was still regarded as a benevolent and filial crown prince in the eyes of his ministers.

But now that he is the emperor, he is the emperor that he is, and everything cannot be judged from the time when he was the prince.

When Wang Mang was humble and had not yet usurped the throne, Yang Guang was wise and became the Prince of Jin.

Although the emperor will not be so extreme, what kind of person he will be by then depends on how he acts in the future.

But Qiu Xingyan couldn't help but take the first step today. He was betting that the emperor could become the next Heavenly Khan.

As for the results...

"What's being laid here?" Li Chengqian stood behind the Purple Palace, watching the craftsmen spreading something under the pillars.

"Your Majesty!" Yan Liben stepped forward and bowed. "These are sulfur, realgar, arsenic, chlordane, and other things ground together to make a powder. Since the palace is mostly made of wooden stakes, to prevent ants from eating away at the stakes, we use these to pave the floor and kill the ants."

After a brief pause, Yan Liben said, "There's another way, which is to mix these things into the paint, but that requires a long period of ventilation."

Li Chengqian nodded, glanced at a palace to the north that hadn't even been built yet, and asked, "Is that Penglai Palace?"

"Yes!" Xue Renfang stepped forward and said, "The three main halls of Daming Palace—Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall, and Zichen Hall—are all completed, but the rear hall and the left and right side halls are not. Especially Penglai Hall, which is right next to the Taiye Lake and is humid, so the requirements are extremely high. The wood used even had to be transported from Yunnan and Guizhou, which is why the cost is so high."

From Yunnan and Guizhou, whether going along the Yangtze River out of the Three Gorges or crossing the plank road from Bashu to Chang'an, the greatest amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources are spent.

Li Chengqian turned around, looked at Xue Renfang, and asked, "The reason why it needs to be transported here is because similar wood cannot be found in Zhongnan Mountain or other nearby mountains, right?"

"Yes!" Xue Renfang nodded and said, "Your Majesty, after so many years of palace construction, even in the Sui Dynasty, it was difficult to find such large and tall timber in the mountains and plains of the north."

"You haven't searched Kunlun Mountain and Qilian Mountain much, right?" Li Chengqian suddenly looked up.

Xue Renfang was stunned and said subconsciously: "Transportation over there is inconvenient!"

"There will be a major war next year. If we win, we'll definitely get a large number of captives, and it's much more convenient to transport them along the Yellow River." After a brief pause, Li Chengqian said, "If there aren't any Tuyuhun prisoners, we can head south and search upstream along the Yellow River. We'll definitely find them."

"What about this side?" Xue Renfang asked subconsciously.

"Let's follow the steps." Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "If we can use wood from the plateau, then use it. If the wood from the plateau is not needed now, then transport it down and store it. The Taiji Palace is so big, there will always be places that need to be replaced."

"Yes!" Xue Renfang bowed his head, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, if this is truly possible, the cost of building the palace will be substantial. Luoyang..."

Li Chengqian raised his hand slightly, and Xue Renfang immediately stopped talking, but his eyes were already full of excitement.

The Ziwei Palace in Luoyang was to be rebuilt several times during the reign of the retired emperor, but was stopped by court officials each time because of the huge expense.

Among these, the source and transportation of wood are the biggest expenses.

Once this money is saved, the construction of Luoyang Ziwei Palace will not be difficult.

However, Xue Renfang soon realized that the emperor had just ascended the throne and that wars were ongoing between the east and the west. He couldn't and wouldn't build a palace right away. Furthermore, based on his understanding of the emperor, he knew he wouldn't build the Ziwei Palace unless he spent four or five years saving up the money.

But that time won’t be too far away.

Li Chengqian toured the Daming Palace and finally stopped in front of the Hanyuan Hall. He pointed to the southeast and asked, "What is that place?"

"Changlefang."

……

Changlefang, northwest of the Yanzheng Gate of Daming Palace.

Inside a house deep in the alley, Wu Shun, dressed in white linen mourning clothes, with a cold face, hurried into the main room in the backyard.

When Wu Shun entered the room, he immediately saw Li Chengqian sitting on a short couch drinking tea.

Without a second thought, Wu Shun rushed towards Li Chengqian and cried, "Did you kill him? Did you kill him? Did you kill him?"

Li Chengqian gently grabbed Wu Shun's wrist, only to find that she had not used any strength at all.

Li Chengqian pulled Wu Shun into his arms with a slight tug. He lowered his head, looked at her calmly, and said in a cold voice, "If I wanted to kill someone, I could just send him to the front of the army with a single word, and he would be dead. Why would I bother with the idea of ​​him being drunk... How did he die?"

"After getting drunk, he caused a disturbance at the music hall and was beaten. The next day, he died on the roadside." Wu Shun looked up and said with a mixture of tears and laughter, "The government said he choked to death."

Li Chengqian reached out and wiped away the tears from her eyes, and said softly, "Let him die. He will never be able to return to Chang'an in this lifetime anyway. You should take good care of his children. That will be your worthy return to him and the Helan family."

Wu Shun bit her lower lip and lowered her head slightly, but at this moment, her jaw was directly lifted by Li Chengqian.

"You just said that I killed him." Li Chengqian lifted Wu Shun's little face, looked into her eyes, and asked, "Let me ask you, do you know you are wrong?"

Wu Shun bit her lip and nodded slightly. She was suddenly startled, looked up at Li Chengqian, then looked at herself, and realized that she had completely thrown herself into Li Chengqian's arms.

And he was hugged tightly by Li Chengqian.

Her face turned red and she subconsciously stood up.

Li Chengqian put his arm around her waist and said with a half-smile, "You have wronged me. Do you know what the crime is?"

"Your Majesty!" Wu Shun looked at Li Chengqian with pleading eyes, but this time, her eyes were full of coquettishness.

Li Chengqian finally couldn't bear it anymore, he picked up Wu Shun and strode to the bed.

At the same time, he untied the curtain.

……

……

Inside the curtain, Wu Shun lay on Li Chengqian's chest, with fair shoulders, delicate collarbones, and a drop of sweat falling from her neck.

Li Chengqian stroked her upper arm with his right hand and said softly, "I came to see you today because I actually have something else to tell you."

Wu Shun raised his head slightly, looked at Li Chengqian, supported his chin with his right hand, and looked at Li Chengqian with tender eyes.

Li Chengqian ran his fingers along Wu Shun's upper arm, gently tangling her hair, and then asked in a low voice, "Have you heard about Princess Changguang's story?"

"I have heard of it." Wu Shun nodded and said, "Everyone in Chang'an says that Your Majesty cares for his relatives and acts decisively."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "Actually, these are all minor matters. What really concerns me is that when I went to my aunt's house that day, I found that my cousin Yang Yuzhi's demeanor was not quite right, and my aunt's illness was also problematic. I want to ask you, since you are also half a member of the Yang family, do you know anything about Yang Yuzhi?"

"In terms of seniority, Duke Ande is actually my uncle, and Young Master Yang is also my cousin." Wu Shun looked at Li Chengqian shyly.

If counted from the generation of Yang Yuzhi and Princess Changguang, she and Li Chengqian are of the same generation.

"As for Shao Lang," Wu Shun said seriously, in a low voice, "I don't know much about him, but I heard that the princess has a manor in West City, and he's usually there, but..."

"Just what?"

"I heard they often do some ridiculous things in that manor." Wu Shun looked at Li Chengqian carefully and said, "Things like 'Zhongshu Jun', 'Human Head Pen', 'Meat Plate', 'Meat Screen', 'Beauty Bowl', 'Unobstructed Conference', etc."

"Do the powerful people in Chang'an do this kind of thing a lot?" Li Chengqian's face turned completely cold.

"There aren't many older ones. They're mostly marginalized members of the younger generation." After a brief pause, Wu Shun said carefully, "And then there are the children of princesses and princes, who hang out in several different places."

"It's not a big deal for young people to act a little recklessly, but if people die, they will have to pay with their lives." Li Chengqian raised his head and said fiercely, "The lives of ordinary people are also lives!"

(End of this chapter)