The immortal of the Tang Dynasty, but the game starts at Xuanwu Gate?

"Sir, you are highly respected by the villagers here," Li Chengqian remarked.

In the first year of the Zhenguan era, he accompanied his father and mother to distribute porridge. Most of the people who saw them were reserved and afraid, having never seen anything like it before.

Furthermore, the fact that Aunt Xiao's attention was entirely focused on Chen Huai'an, even ignoring him as the Crown Prince, further proves this point.

Li Chengqian didn't have any bad thoughts, because he knew that Chen Huai'an was worth it.

Chen Huai'an rubbed his head: "Wei Zheng once said that the reason why the Sui Dynasty perished was because they deified the imperial power too much, making the imperial power high and mighty."

"Therefore, he often told your father that imperial power cannot be divorced from the people's livelihood and cannot suppress the people's power, otherwise it will surely capsize."

"They respect me not only because I constantly introduce policies that benefit them, but more importantly, because I often go out for walks, greet the people, sit down and chat, listen to their thoughts and opinions, and inquire about their difficulties."

Li Chengqian suddenly realized: "Sir, Chengqian understands."

"What do you understand?"

Li Chengqian said earnestly, "Whether it is an official, an emperor, or a crown prince, none of them should be aloof and arrogant, otherwise they will become more and more distant from the people, making the people more and more afraid."

"But if you, like yourself, frequently listen to the opinions of the people and hear about their difficulties, the people will naturally be close to you."

Chen Huai'an said with satisfaction, "That's right, it's good not to be aloof. You must always understand one principle: the ruler is the boat, and the person is the water. Water can carry the boat, but it can also capsize it."

"This is a phrase that Wei Zheng, your father, and I often say. You must always remember it; it is the foundation of everything."

"Sir, Chengqian has remembered." Li Chengqian was very serious. Chen Huai'an didn't teach him often, and to be honest, he hardly fulfilled his responsibilities as Grand Tutor. But once he started teaching, every word was worth thinking about carefully.

In particular, the saying "water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it" has been emphasized to him by far too many people.

Zhang Peng explained with a smile, "Your Highness, you may not know this, but many villagers in our village have been summoned by the government to reclaim wasteland and build water conservancy projects."

"That's why Aunt Xiao's husband is Chen, and she is very grateful to and respects Minister Chen."

Li Chengqian nodded: "How many people from your group have been summoned away?"

"Twenty-one." Zhang Peng gave the answer immediately. They were from the same village, and not a big one at that, so he knew perfectly well what was going on.

"These twenty-one people didn't have a good life before, but ever since Minister Chen stopped levying corvée labor and switched to work relief, their lives have been getting better day by day."

Speaking of this, Zhang Peng was somewhat envious.

His family background met the requirements, but he was a bit too young; otherwise, he would have been recruited long ago.

However, in an instant, Zhang Peng's envy vanished, and his eyes were filled with gratitude as he looked at Chen Huai'an.

The government implemented a work-for-relief program, but it didn't recruit just anyone. People with serious disabilities, those who were too young, and those with illnesses were not accepted.

Zhang Peng clearly suffered because of his younger age.

But this year is different. With Chen Huai'an's words, "A real man," he was among the first batch of recruits this year.

I'm leaving soon.

I believe it won't be long before he can provide a good life for his mother and three sisters.

Have a meal of meat.

"I see." Li Chengqian understood. Chen Huai'an had indirectly saved the lives of twenty-one families, and they were naturally grateful.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, Zhang Peng, let's go." Chen Huai'an waved his hand, "Didn't you say your family owns land? Let's go take a look at your land first."

"Okay." Zhang Peng seemed to have thought of something and was quite happy. He led them to the other side of the stream.

The stream in Xiaoxi Village is the foundation for the villagers to irrigate their farmland, so the farmland is almost all concentrated on both sides of the stream.

After walking over, Chen Huai'an indeed found that around the farmland, many people were using nets to catch locusts.

Occasionally, I'd encounter one or two at my feet, and then casually stomp them to death.

Chen Huai'an even saw many children helping out, mostly around ten years old, both boys and girls.

"Girl!"

Zhang Peng suddenly called out, and a thin girl, about eleven or twelve years old, turned around. Seeing Zhang Peng, she asked with some confusion, "Brother, why are you back so early today?"

"Brother, brother, candied hawthorn, candied hawthorn."

At this moment, the other two twin girls, who looked to be eight or nine years old, didn't care about anything else. They threw down their nets and ran over excitedly.

When Zhang Peng left, he said he would bring them candied hawthorns when he returned. The two little ones worked extra hard today, just waiting for Zhang Peng to come back.

Zhang Peng watched his two twin sisters run over, a tender look appearing in his eyes. He carefully took out a wrapped candied hawthorn from his pocket: "Yes, yes, I have them all. How could your brother forget?"

"I've already prepared it for you, eat up, it's very sweet."

"When the Lunar New Year comes, once my brother has made some money, he'll buy you all roast chicken."

"Really? Thank you, brother. You're the best, brother..."

The two little girls chattered away, holding their candied hawthorns and licking them contentedly with their little tongues.

"Yanzi, here, this is for you." Zhang Peng took out the remaining string of candied hawthorns and handed it to his second sister, Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan walked over, looked at the candied hawthorns, swallowed hard, and then looked at Zhang Peng, whose forehead was covered in sweat: "Brother, have you eaten?"

Zhang Peng was taken aback, patted his stomach, and said smugly, "Needless to say? I ate a lot. I not only ate candied hawthorns, but also sesame flatbreads."

"Quick, Yanzi, candied hawthorns won't taste good if they're left out too long."

Zhang Yan looked at Zhang Peng deeply and said softly, "Brother, I ate a lot at noon and I'm not hungry. Let's eat together."

My two younger sisters are still young and don't understand things, but she is already twelve years old and understands a lot.

"How can that be?" Zhang Peng said sternly. "I'm already full. This is for you, eat up!"

Watching the two politely decline each other's offer, Chen Huai'an and Li Chengqian were somewhat moved.

Chen Huai'an thought of his older sister when he was a child. He remembered that Chen Sujin used to be like this, always thinking of him when she had something good, and lying to him that she had already eaten.

Before he awakened his innate wisdom, even though he was smarter than most children and had some instincts, he was still essentially a child and was often deceived by Chen Sujin.

Think about it, Chen Sujin was only a few years older than him back then, yet she took care of him in every way.

The eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister is like a mother...

"..."