Don't be a prince

After eating another steak, Yu Yuecai said: "Sinong Temple has no shortage of breeding masters. Since His Highness is willing to believe in the existence of this thing, I will send someone to go south with Feng Gong. It's time for His Highness to give him more financial compensation."

Li Chengqian naturally agreed, as long as it can be settled with money, then it is not a problem, if the money is not balanced, it will be troublesome.It's much better to say it directly like Yu Yue than to play tricks behind the scenes.

"His Royal Highness, I heard that you are making columbine chariots, how is the progress?"

Thinking about the columbine carts that could no longer fit in the warehouse of the Engineering College, Li Tai sighed and said, "Although there are records that can be traced, it is so easy to completely restore or even improve them. I am working hard, but I don't think it will take long. It can be produced in time, Sinong Temple might as well slow down the promotion of Quyuanli."

"It's not easy to say. After seeing the magic of Quyuanli, the people are all looking forward to it now. You also know that our Tang Dynasty lacks cattle. Even if Quyuanli doesn't need cattle, he can plow the land with a donkey. I don't know how much effort it saves. "

"But the columbine chariot newly made by me is... based on Quyuanli. Since Sinong Temple is in a hurry to promote it, why don't I ask me to make a change to the basic Quyuanli, or add it later. It can save trouble when installing columbine parts."

"So good!"

The bad habit of eating while chatting is contrary to the words of the sages, but after one or two people get used to doing this, it is like spreading a virus. At least now at the wine table in Datang, everyone is used to chatting while eating.

Before he knew it, Yu Yue realized that his plate was empty. The steak was delicious, but he ate it all without knowing it. What a waste!

But before he finished expressing his emotions, a maid sent another piece. As for Feng An, three pieces were stacked on the plate.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, looking at the tempting steak in front of him, Yu Yue refrained from saying "package".

There are no other dishes, just a piece of steak, it is great to add a piece or two of cabbage leaves to relieve the greasy.It's very simple, but Feng An felt that he had received the greatest courtesy, so much so that the wine drank to the brim.People entered the East Palace vertically, but when they went out, they were carried out by others, and they had to sober up for two days before embarking on their return journey.

Feng An's departure did not cause much commotion in Chang'an.As the leader of Lingnan, Feng An is naturally the target of many people.After all, many of those who failed in the struggle were sent to Lingnan and were never allowed to return to their hometowns for life.For the future, it is necessary to win over Feng Anhe.

But Feng An refused all the invitations in order to avoid suspicion.Even the gifts received at the banquet were [-]% added during the Chinese New Year and returned as a New Year's gift.

He can accept the royal court, even the crown prince, but the minister absolutely cannot accept it.Although living in Lingnan, Feng An still has a thorough understanding of officialdom.

After Feng An left, Li Chengqian also began to let go of all the properties under the Eastern Palace.The expansion of the academy is imminent, and from now on, money and food will be hoarded for the establishment of the fleet.

As a successful entrepreneur said, set a small goal, for example, save 50 coins first!

"Brother Huang, why are you hoarding so much money?"

Seeing the mark on the ledger, Li Tai almost jumped up.Ever since he ate the steak that day, he used the excuse that he lost his health when he was studying the columbine car and needed to make up for it, so every day after entering the palace at noon, he would come to the East Palace to eat and drink.It is very rare to come to the study after eating like now.

Knowing Li Tai's thoughts, Li Chengqian sat on the chair and said, "Don't worry about what brother is going to do, what are you planning to do this year? The columbine cart has already been made, and the spring plowing ceremony is the time for you to show your talents."

Li Tai scratched his head, and said depressedly: "Actually, I thought about it for a long time and didn't think about what to do, so I came to ask you. Father said, I just want to enjoy the glory and wealth with peace of mind, but I always think about it." Do something. Brother Huang, you have a lot of ideas, give me a trick quickly."

Now Li Taicai is like a qualified scientific research worker. When the work piles up like a mountain, he will be very irritable, and when there is really no work, he will fidget.Wanting to do something is a good thing, Li Chengqian doesn't care that the Li family produces a figure who is like the originator of science.

"I really have something for you, Qingque. I plan to build a bridge across the Wei River in front of our college. The whole thing will be poured with cement, so that it will be immortal for a hundred years. Nowadays, the college often has a lot of horse-drawn carriages Back and forth, they always pass the wooden bridge one by one, how ugly. How to make it and what kind of production it is, I will leave it to you. You can go to Li Dahai for the money and grain needed for the construction, and the craftsmen you need. How about transferring to the general supervisor and the Ministry of Industry?"

"Build a bridge? A concrete bridge?"

Li Tai took two steps back and forth, and immediately became interested in this matter.

"That's fine, I'll do this for a while. But Brother Huang..."

Li Tai hesitated for a moment before saying: "What are you going to do? If the East Palace is really short of money, why don't you let me pay for the bridge?"

"It's no big deal. Do you still remember what I said to Feng An? Donggong plans to set up a fleet in Lingnan and go to sea to do business. Regardless of our shipbuilding industry in the Central Plains, it is remarkable in the world, but on long-distance voyages, it is not good enough. I don't know how much.

Nowadays, the so-called sea trade is actually the distribution of goods sent by big food merchants by local rich families.We take the sea route by ourselves, and most of the goods are diverted from the south to the north along the coastline, which is a shameless thing.You don't know Daoye, but you should know the truth about the value of things away from home. "

Li Tai nodded. He thought that jadeite was a good accessory. When he first opened the mansion, he bought a lot of it, but after getting in touch with Feng An, he realized that in Lingnan, jadeite is not even white jade. The price can't compare.

"That's the gap between import and export. Big food merchants dare to take the sea route and send their goods to our Tang Dynasty. Even if they sell their goods directly at the seaside, they can still make a lot of money. Then we send our goods We can make a lot of money by transporting things away and back to Dashi. In this way, Dashi merchants will always earn more than us. If we also have the courage to go to sea, we can always open up a maritime silk road. of."

Speaking of this, Li Tai was suddenly surprised. He found that he thought he was smart, but when thinking about things, he always didn't think so deeply.

"Brother Huang is right, we can't let Huzi earn our money, we have to earn their money too. Do you need to invest in your fleet? I want to get involved too."

The front is still righteous, but the back becomes wretched.

Get rich with your brother?trifle!

"Yes! You are the one with the most land and the wealth among our brothers. With you joining, it will be easier to form a fleet. I heard that Li Ke's land income has also been handed over to him. Forget it, we three brothers form a fleet together!"

Li Tai nodded, turned around and left the East Palace, ready to go to Li Ke to tell him the news.

In addition, he is also planning to build the bridge at his own expense. He still likes the academy very much. The construction of the bridge not only saves money for his brother, but also improves his reputation. He thinks it is a good thing.

As for the completion of the bridge, the bridge is simply called "Wei Wang Bridge"!

The formation of a fleet does not require a day or two of preparation. Li Chengqian, who is blind to maritime affairs, can only pin his hopes on Qiu Haiqing.Some things are best done by professionals.

Walking to the door, he made a mark on the door frame with a dagger, and seeing that he had grown a lot taller, Li Chengqian nodded.

"Your Highness, what are you doing?"

Zhang Yun, who pushed the door open, was holding a stack of memorials in his hand.

Seeing these memorials, Li Chengqian suddenly felt dizzy: "Why are there so many? Although there were some backlogs during the Chinese New Year, the lonely crown prince is an assistant to the government, and he can judge one or two at most. Why are they all moved here in piles? "

Zhang Yun said helplessly: "These are all memorials from the Ministry of Criminal Justice. There are so many backlogs that the Ministry of Criminal Justice can't deal with them all together. As for these, the Ministry of Criminal Justice has already finished the preliminary screening. The Fang Xiang really can't deal with them. We can only deal with them." It's been diverted to you."

It's hard to imagine that there are so many here, how many there will be in Fang Xuanling's.It's cool for a while during the annual vacation, but it's always cool after work!

Helpless, he could only go back to the desk and start studying the memorial.

The local officials of the Tang Dynasty were not as idle as the officials of the Qing Dynasty.As long as it is played, it must have something to say.

Just like today's memorials to the Ministry of Penalties, each of them involves the death penalty.

only....

Turning his head to look at Zhang Yun, Li Chengqian was puzzled and said, "Old Zhang, how many prisoners were executed in the Tang Dynasty last year? Not counting bandits and bandits, but ordinary people."

Zhang Yun thought for a while before saying, "It's about 40, and I don't remember the servants clearly. But why are you asking this, Your Highness?"

Pointing to the memorial on the table, Li Chengqian said helplessly: "Last year it was only more than 40, but do you see how many there are now? There are more than 50 here in Shan Dugu, not to mention the Dali Temple of the Ministry of Punishment and Fang Xiang. What happened? How could so many people involved in the death penalty appear overnight? Look at this again, there are farmers in Binzhou cursing the emperor by the side of the field. Damn, this is also a death penalty? Where is the law of the Tang Dynasty?"

Seeing the crown prince opened the memorial, Zhang Yun quickly turned his head away and told him to carry the memorial, but he would not even glance at the information in the memorial.

Close the memorial, and then turn it over again and again, as expected, many memorials are like this, why do ordinary people need to be sentenced to death for speaking ill of the emperor? I don't know how many people have said the words "thief God", and I haven't seen anyone killed by God!

This is not right. Although he hasn't turned many pages of Tang Law, he can still guess that such a crime is too much even for flogging. How could it be related to the death penalty?

"Pick up these memorials, and let's go to the Ministry of Education to meet Fang Xiang."

After ordering Zhang Yun to carry the memorial, Li Chengqian hurried back to the bedroom to look at the casual clothes on his body, and put on his formal suit.Since it is a formal meeting, etiquette is indispensable.

When I arrived in the imperial city, I found that the three provinces and six ministries were all busy, and the officials of the Ministry of Punishment would trot all the way when they came out to relieve themselves.As for the memorials issued by Zhongshu Sheng, they can already be loaded in a small cart, and the incinerator of the memorials is full of thick smoke.

This is not in line with common sense. If there is a backlog during the Chinese New Year, how can there be so many memorials?

2Chapter 16 Taking the blame

Besides, in the past, the furnace for the incineration of memorials in Zhongshu Province was only opened once every three to five days, so how could it be like this today.

He walked hurriedly into the lobby of Zhongshu Sheng, only to find that not only Lao Fang was there alone, but Du Ruhui was sitting beside him with a pen.

This is even more unreasonable. Du Ruhui is the Minister of the Ministry of War. Although there is nothing wrong with the Ministry of War recently, Lao Du can paddle, but sitting here with Fang Xuanling and helping Lao Fang with his work, the favor is justified, but the law cannot be justified.

Fang Xuanling saw Li Chengqian after commenting on a chapter and throwing it into the incinerated car.

Blushing and looking at Du Ruhui, he stood up and cupped his hands: "His Royal Highness is not in the East Palace to deal with government affairs, why did you come to the old minister?"

Li Chengqian took out a copy of the memorials Zhang Yun was carrying and did not return the courtesy. Li Chengqian said directly: "You are asking knowingly. You only need to read a few of these memorials before you know something is wrong. The head of the crime because of words? It’s just talking bad about the emperor. To be honest, it’s a felony if you put it on you, but it’s a wrong sentence if you put it on ordinary people, let alone beheading.”

Only then did Du Ruhui realize that the crown prince had arrived, so he quickly stood up and said, "Your Highness, you don't need to ask any more, but for any memorials of this kind, just put a big cross on them and hand them over to Zhongshu for incineration. If there are too many messy memorials that need to be burned today, the veterans will not be taboo to come and help the old house deal with it."

It can be seen that Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui both have the idea of ​​getting along with each other. There must be a reason for such a situation, but they would rather suffer the consequences than investigate the reason? It's too strange.

Sitting down on the memorial that needs to be incinerated? Li Chengqian said dissatisfiedly: "When did you two become such an attitude? You don't even have the courage to investigate the cause of the problem? If you misjudged one of the chapters in your hand, it might be a The unjust death of innocent people? When will you treat human life like nothing?"

Faced with Li Chengqian's questioning, Fang Xuanling sighed, and could only cup his hands and say, "Your Highness, you should not take care of this matter? There is a reason for it? We all know the reason, but we just don't dare to take care of it. Those who dare to control now, one goes out of Beijing to inspect the honorable property? One is sick in bed because of anger? For the rest, who dares to speak up?"

Seeing what Fang Xuanling said, Li Chengqian was even more confused.Although the old house is afraid of internal affairs, he is also the prime minister, stomping his feet, except that the palace is not shaking? Chang'an has to jump, such a person? What else is there to be afraid of?

and many more....

Could it be?

Jumping off the cart and bowing back, Li Chengqian asked in surprise, "Could it be that the reason for this matter is the father?"

Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui immediately turned their heads away, saying that they didn't hear it, and they didn't admit it.

But seeing their actions? Li Chengqian finally confirmed that [-]% of this incident was caused by the emperor's father.

"Fang Xiang, Du Shangshu, what's going on! You have also seen that if you don't solve the root cause, there will only be more and more memorials like this in the future. Are you really planning to burn memorials all year round?"

Because it is said that killing is still a matter of killing people, the old house can't do it yet, so all those that are not formal criminal cases are sent to be burned.Without Zhongshu Sheng, the memorial will be useless, and there will be no way to talk about convicts.

Du Ruhui also sighed: "Your Highness, in fact, you just don't know about this matter. When Li Sikong passed away last year, a "monster case" happened in Hanoi County. Zhang Yungu, who was the prime minister of Dali Temple at that time, After inquiring about the case, it was found that the perpetrator Li Haode suffered from "wind disease", and he often spoke nonsense and said some outrageous things. He then claimed that Li Haode was just a mental patient, and there was no need to punish him according to the law.

That was the way it was, but Yushi Quan Wanji discovered that Li Haode's elder brother, Li Houde, happened to be the governor of Xiangzhou, Zhang Yungu's hometown, so he decided that Zhang Yungu said that Li Haode must be an adulterer if he doesn't need to be punished, so he reported Zhang Yungu to His Majesty vertical.In addition, not long ago, Zhang Yungu was still playing chess with the prisoners in prison. His Majesty was furious when he saw Quan Wanji's memorial, and directly ordered Zhang Yungu to be executed in Dongshi.

Wei Zheng was not there, although Dai Zhou tried his best to argue, but still failed to save Zhang Yungu, he was so angry that he vomited blood, and he is still sick in bed.It is estimated that Zhang Yungu's incident frightened officials everywhere, and that's why such a thing happened. "

Fang Xuanling said helplessly: "This is not the first time. Back then, Lu Zushang repeatedly refused to go to Jiaozhou to be the governor of Jiaozhou, so he was cut off by His Majesty in anger. So, this kind of wrong thing involving His Majesty It's better to cover up the matter for the monarch. After the limelight passes, such a thing will probably not happen."

After hearing the whole story clearly, Li Chengqian was furious, even if it related to his father.

No, being the emperor can really kill people with a disagreement?Quan Wanji?That is a villain who tells the truth, Li You deserved to kill him, why did he kill him just because of the accusation of a villain?

Who stipulates that officials cannot play chess with prisoners on death row?People who are about to die, why not satisfy their wishes?

As for Lu Zushang, if you kill him, you will be killed. After all, this bastard made a mistake first, and Zhang Yungu really died unjustly.

Things happened, but Fang Mou decided that the most influential of the two courtiers was having an affair.

This won't work, if the emperor is still angry next time and wants to cut people down on you, and no one pleads for mercy, what should you do?

"Fang Xiang, Gu Jing respects your invincible strategy, Du Shangshu, Gu Jing respects you for being superb in judgment, but your attitude of shrinking your head today is really shameless! Since you are going to be shrinking your head, then go to the father Your Majesty! This car memorial is only for one use!"

Throwing the memorial in Zhang Yun's arms onto the small cart, he ordered Zhang Yun to push it, and went to the palace with him to meet the emperor.

The more I got to know him, the more I felt that Tang Taizong Li Shimin was actually very dark and cruel.Wearing countless auras, it can't change the fact that he is an individual.As long as you are a human being, you will make mistakes. There is absolutely no such thing as a perfect person like a god. Taizu and other old people will make mistakes.

The crown prince walked in front, Zhang Yun followed behind pushing a small cart, and the guard of Liangyimen stepped forward to inquire, but was kicked away by Li Chengqian.

Grandma, I'm wearing the prince's clothes, except for me in the imperial city who dares to wear this, who else dares?

All the way to the Ganlu Hall aggressively, only to be told that the emperor went to the Liangyi Hall again.

Although the emperor's bedroom is the Ganlu Hall, the number of times he comes to live there in a year is pitifully rare.

After the anger was exhausted, it became much smaller. When he walked to the gate of Liangyi Hall, Li Chengqian realized that something was wrong.

The attitude of Lao Fang and Lao Du is very suspicious. Although they are not advocating ministers, they are not jesters either. Why do they turn a blind eye to what the emperor does?

Thinking about the pile of memorials I received, a feeling of being calculated was born.

Signing up to enter the Liangyi Hall, seeing the emperor's father looking at him with a smile that was not a smile, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Father, today the imperial court has received a large number of memorials for the execution of criminals, most of which are punishments for the crime of speech. A large number of civilians were involved, and my son thought it was inappropriate."

"Understood, I got the news a long time ago, how come, you are here today to accuse me of killing people casually?"

Faced with the emperor's father's questioning, Li Chengqian suddenly smiled: "If it was just now, I would really say that the king is wrong. After all, my son's actions are not filial, but they are indeed loyal. However, when I see you write If you think about the appearance of Lao Fang and Lao Du Quail, you will know that you have been tricked, so what face do you have to admonish you."

"Hahahaha!"

Li Shimin suddenly laughed and leaned forward and backward: "I figured it out? Haha, I'm going to let you suffer once, and have a long memory. Who would have thought that you would understand it so quickly. That's right, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and even the six books. , are ready to wait for your blunt advice, and then follow suit! This group of old foxes, they don’t have the guts to risk their lives, they can only wait for the big-headed ghost to appear again and again, and when it really doesn’t work, they will bite the bullet. It's already a routine.

You are a prince, and you have not participated in politics before, even if they want to encourage you, there is nothing they can do.It’s all right now, you’ve joined politics too, so don’t cheat whoever you are.Have a long memory, don't always be passionate.You are the person most likely to be coerced by officials and blamed. "

Speaking of this, Li Shimin sighed and said: "At the end of the day, I have moved the same thing in the army to the court. If the army does not follow orders, or fights with the enemy, the punishment is nothing more than killing. Zhang Yungu This matter is indeed my fault. The reason why the law is the law is for everyone to abide by it, and the emperor is no exception.

Although the imperial power can trample on the law, such a thing will happen once trampled on once, so you must remember Chengqian, don't act recklessly!In addition, I am going to add legal clauses, which are related to human life, and should not be hasty, and should be reviewed more before they can be approved. "

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the emperor's father had already expressed remorse, especially since there was already a criminal order on the case.

Although the emperor holds the power of life and death, the more cruel the emperor, the worse his reputation will be after his death.Li Shimin in history has already had mixed reputations, and now he can correct it, and maybe he can save it.

Involuntarily approaching the Long case, Li Chengqian was going to see what form the Edict of Guilt was.

It is actually a very serious matter for the emperor to issue an imperial edict, because it means that the emperor thinks that he has done something wrong, and this must be announced to all people. If the emperor is thin-skinned, he will not write such things even if he is killed.

Not bad, the diction is beautiful, the attitude is sincere, and the emperor's regret is written particularly deeply.

Surprised by this, Li Chengqian tentatively asked: "Father, did you write this edict of guilt yourself?"

Li Shimin dissatisfied: "Why, I can't write such an article? What's the reason?"

Li Chengqian quickly bowed his waist and collapsed his neck.

After losing his temper, Li Shimin said: "This is written by Ma Zhou, the Minister on Duty of the Menxia Province. I found that this man is very talented. What's more difficult is that his temper is very similar to Wei Zheng, but he is still pedantic. Back then, I ordered everyone The official wrote a letter to talk about things, including his suggestion that "prisons should be taken seriously". I like this person very much. Although he comes from an ordinary background, he may be of great use in the future."

Ma Zhou, Li Chengqian nodded. This one was also a well-known official during the Zhenguan period. He was tactful in dealing with people and could build a good relationship with everyone.A person who is good at flattery can still win the title of "advocate minister", which shows that his personal ability is extraordinary.

It's just a pity that such a capable person has diabetes.