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

Chapter 72: Praying for the Queen Mother’s Blessings (Part )
On the imperial couch, Li Shimin calmly took the memorial, looked at Li Chengqian, and nodded: "You go ahead."

"Yes!" Li Chengqian's expression grew solemn, and he bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, although the imperial clan's appointments to higher positions are blessed by heaven, their own shortcomings can easily lead to disaster."

Li Shimin nodded slightly, his eyes briefly glancing at the King of Han, King of Peng, King of Zhuang, King of Wu, King of Qi and others below.

These people are all those who have failed in their governance in the past.

In addition, he has several younger brothers and sons, all of whom have bad tempers.

Especially Prince Teng Li Yuanying, he is not a man who would stay content with his lot.

How to make them govern the local area well is the emperor's biggest headache now.

Recovering his thoughts, Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, continue."

“Yes, because of this matter, I am thinking, can we ask the princes to follow the example of our father and personally cultivate one and a half mu of land? Under the supervision of the Zongzheng Temple, they should personally cultivate three mu of land every year and observe their harvest and income.

In this way, the kings will understand the hard work of the people, how much they harvest in a year, how much they use to pay taxes, how much they use to feed themselves, how much they use to socialize, and how much they use to buy other things.

After a brief pause, Li Chengqian bowed and said, "This way, the kings can know how much savings the common people have left in their homes over the course of a year, and perhaps even how much debt they have borrowed... Now, we can trace how the common people borrowed and incurred debt, how they mortgaged their property, and even how they ultimately lost their land."

With the words "lost land", Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng and others who were originally watching the fun with laughter below, immediately sat up straight and looked serious.

Everything in the world is nothing but fields.

If the common people lose their land, they will become vassals of the aristocratic families and powerful clans, and the court's tax collection will decrease.

Even in years of natural disasters, people will become refugees and eventually rebel.

This was the case at the end of the Sui Dynasty.

And the source of all this started with the loss of land.

If local officials can pay attention to the people's land harvest from the beginning and ensure that people all over the world do not lose their land easily, or lose less land, then it will be beneficial to the entire court.

More and more people in the hall realized this, and while they looked solemnly at Li Chengqian in shock and admiration.

The prince is becoming more and more mature.

……

Li Shimin put down the memorial, glanced at Li Chengqian, turned to look at the other princes, and asked, "Prince of Jing?"

The governor of Fuzhou, Prince of Jing Li Yuanjing, immediately stepped forward and said, "I am here!"

"Can you handle the farming?" The emperor's eyes fell dimly.

Li Yuanjing bowed solemnly and said, "It's feasible!"

The emperor nodded and looked at Li Yuanchang: "King of Han?"

Li Yuanchang immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I will do it."

Li Shimin then asked for the opinions of his peers, including Prince of Xu Li Yuanli, Prince of Han Li Yuanjia, and Prince of Huo Li Yuangui, and they all said it was feasible.

Finally, Li Shimin asked for the opinions of his sons, including Prince of Wu Li Ke, Prince of Qi Li You, Prince of Shu Li Yin, and Prince of Jiang Li Yun. As sons, none of them dared to say no.

The emperor nodded in satisfaction, then said, "Zongzhengqing?"

"I am here." Dou Dan, the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, the second daughter of Emperor Gaozu and the consort of Princess Xiangyang, stood up and bowed solemnly.

"After the third day of the first lunar month, the Zongzheng Temple will produce a supervision proposal as soon as possible. On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, I will issue it to the whole country." Li Shimin's expression suddenly became cold.

Any suggestions that can promote the prosperity of the world will be implemented in the most thorough way by him.

"Yes!" Dou Dan bowed solemnly.

The kings in the hall looked solemn, and their eyes could not help but look upwards. The prince was standing there with a serious expression.

Then, the kings' gazes turned slightly and fell directly on the King of Wei who was opposite the Crown Prince, their eyes dark and deep.

Li Tai felt bitter in his heart, but under the emperor's gaze, he could only nod in agreement for a moment.

"Yes!" The emperor sat on the imperial couch and looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, please continue."

"Here!" Li Chengqian bowed and opened the big box at the bottom.

The box is divided into two compartments, the upper compartment contains small thumb-sized wooden boards, as well as small wooden stakes and a small boat sail.

Li Chengqian took out the top grid, and in an instant, the sound of gentle flowing water appeared in the ears of the ministers in the hall.

Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch and saw more clearly.

Half of the wooden box was filled with water, but above the water, there were three small four-masted sailboats swaying gently.

Suddenly, Li Shimin raised his eyebrows and immediately realized a problem.

This box came all the way from the East Palace. Although it didn't capsize, it was inevitable that it would sway back and forth.

But in this situation, the three four-masted sailboats were still floating on the water, wandering back and forth, and even their decks were not wet. Li Shimin's breathing suddenly sank.

"Prince, who did you say did this?" Li Shimin raised his head and stared at Li Chengqian. Did he mention it just now?

Although Li Chengqian was a little dazed, he immediately bowed and said seriously, "Your Majesty, this is Yang Wulian, the new Director of the Eastern Palace. His teachers, the brothers Huang Gen and Huang Gun, once made puppets of 72 postures for Yang Guang during the Sui Dynasty. These puppets were all modeled after Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and flowing horse. Huang Gen and Huang Gun originally had the intention to help the country, but Yang Guang was incompetent and unjust..."

"No need to say more. I have heard of the brothers Huang Gen and Huang Gun. In the early Sui Dynasty, they were master craftsmen who were no less capable than Yuwen Kai, He Chou and Yan Pi." Li Shimin looked serious and nodded continuously. There was a hint of excitement in his eyes and his fists were slightly clenched.

With this person, he didn't know how much effort he would save in the future conquest of Silla.

……

Li Tai and Yan Wan, who were standing below, couldn't help but look up slightly at this time, because they heard Yan Pi's name.

Yan Pi was the grandfather of Yan Wan and the father of Yan Liben and Yan Lide, who were the famous military writers of this dynasty.

Yan Liben is now the Junior Architect of the Imperial College, and Yan Lide was the Chief Architect of the Imperial College before he was sent to be the Governor of Bozhou.

Because brothers in this dynasty could not hold important positions in the central government at the same time, especially in the same office, it was because Yan Lide was sent away that Yan Liben was promoted to the position of Junior Craftsman of the Imperial Household.

But even so, the position of Chief Architect in the court is still vacant.

Yan Liben and Yan Lide are both capable, but no matter what, they cannot do without Yan Pi's inheritance.

Li Tai's position was stable, which had a lot to do with Yan Liben and Yan Lide.

Now there is suddenly a master craftsman who is no less capable than Yan Pi. Once this person can be used, the positions of Yan Liben and Yan Lide in the emperor's heart will immediately be shaken.

Li Tai couldn't help but look at Li Chengqian, his eyes full of nervousness.

Li Chengqian happened to turn around at this moment and nodded gently to Li Tai. Instantly, Li Chengqian turned to look at the emperor and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, these ships are all assembled from small pieces of wood... Here happens to be a set. If your Majesty is interested, you can assemble one yourself..."

"Present it." Li Shimin couldn't help but lean forward, his eyes fixed on the wooden blocks eagerly.

He understood the meaning of this too well.

If these pieces of wood could really be assembled into a four-masted sailing ship, then the imperial court would not only gain access to a new set of four-masted sailing ship manufacturing technology, but could even rely on Yang Wulian to build more advanced ships, especially for sailing at sea...

Zhang Ananda quickly presented the wooden blocks to the emperor.

Li Shimin took a quick look and immediately determined the number of wooden blocks needed to build a sailboat, which was just about right.

well.

Li Shimin looked up at Li Chengqian and said, "Issue an imperial decree to promote Yang Wulian to the position of Chief of Staff, sixth rank, to assist the Crown Prince in compiling the 'Kaogong Zhi'."

"Thank you, father." Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that the emperor would transfer the person away.

"Your Highness has put in a lot of effort." Li Shimin raised his head, looked at the ministers, nodded with satisfaction and said, "Du He has done a good job as well."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Du He, who was sitting behind Wei Zheng, immediately stood up happily and bowed to express his gratitude.

"Okay, sit down." Li Shimin waved his hand.

Du He and Li Chengqian stepped back at the same time and sat down.

……

"Father," Li Tai said earnestly, "I am taking up my new post in the new year. I, your son, respectfully present you with a golden Buddha statue. I wish you good health and a long life."

The eunuch beside him opened a box in front of Li Tai, and suddenly, a golden Buddha about the height of a palm appeared in the box.

Li Shimin was sitting on the imperial couch and happened to see the golden light emanating from the golden Buddha under the lamplight.

He looked at Li Tai in surprise, nodded casually with great satisfaction, and said, "Qingque is thoughtful."

"Thank you, Father." Li Tai bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I hope to enshrine this golden Buddha in Longmen Temple in Luoyang to pray for the eternal well-being of my mother."

Li Shimin's expression softened visibly, and he nodded, "Okay."

"Also, I heard that my royal brother also has such a golden Buddha. I wonder if we can enshrine them together. At the same time, the Eastern Palace and the Prince of Wei's Mansion can jointly contribute money to carve ten Buddhist niches in the Longmen Temple in Luoyang." Li Tai instantly turned his head and looked at Li Chengqian.

"Prince, do you also have a golden Buddha like this?" Li Shimin became confused in an instant.

The ministers and kings who were close to the Danbi were breathing much lighter. They had never imagined that the King of Wei would suddenly launch such a deadly attack.

……

Li Chengqian immediately stood up and complained in his heart, don’t you know whether I have it or not?

Li Chengqian bowed earnestly and said, "Your Majesty, I did once have such a golden Buddha here."

"Once?" Li Shimin frowned instantly.

"Yes!" Li Chengqian bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, this golden Buddha was sent to the Eastern Palace by the Tubo envoy ten days ago as a New Year's gift. After receiving this golden Buddha, I immediately contacted Yin Wencao, the head of the Louguan Dao, and offered to melt this golden Buddha as funds to build the Dongji Qinghua Palace in Chang'an City. The Dongji Qinghua Emperor and Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun will be there to suppress the netherworld blessings for my mother."

Li Chengqian's words stunned the emperor and all the ministers.

How did Taoism get involved again?

(End of this chapter)