Don't be a prince

Not bad, except for being a little stuffy, Bai Qisi didn't persecute the arrested people too much, and there was even tea on the table.

Zhang Yun moved out a stool, and Li Chengqian sat on the bench and looked at Zhang Xiao.

wide-eyed....

After a long time, Zhang Xiaocai laughed at himself: "It's an honor for His Royal Highness to personally interrogate the lower officials, but I don't know how His Highness plans to deal with the lower officials? Maybe leave a whole body?"

Li Chengqian smiled: "Gu has no intention of killing people yet. The trap I set for you this time was also proposed by the people belonging to the East Palace. If possible, Gu never wants to test people, because temptation means distrust. In the royal family, I only know how difficult it is to trust a person. Now, our brothers have achieved trust with great difficulty, and it is too worthless for you to destroy it."

After listening to Li Chengqian's words, Zhang Xiao laughed loudly: "Trust? Then how do you express this round? His Royal Highness is so scheming! The weapon workshop is completely undefended, which made me wait. I didn't know it, even when I was arrested, I personally tested the power of gunpowder weapons, and no one stopped me!"

Zhang Xiaoji sat on the bed, clutching the sheets, although he was laughing, but his expression was like a ghost.

Zhang Yun hesitated again and again, but finally held back and didn't take the man's head off.Dare to humiliate His Highness the Crown Prince like this, this person is really tired of life!

Li Chengqian didn't care, he was just sitting on the floor, so what if he showed his dick?After all, he was just a prisoner.

Knocking on the table, Li Chengqian said: "I still trust these two words. If Qingque is only curious about gunpowder weapons, I will not stop him. If he wants it, it is no big deal to tell him the formula of gunpowder. However, If it were you, it would be different.

Don't rush to scold Gu, dare you say what noble purpose you have in attacking the weapon workshop?Don't you just want to control the key departments and improve your own status?I am sure that if anyone attacks Qing Que, you will definitely threaten the weapon workshop. Heh, you are the head of the Wei Palace promoted by the emperor. If it is not for this, why do you condescend to manage a workshop? ?Coupled with the previous violation of the Furong Garden, your desire to abolish the emperor and establish a new order is clearly revealed!

In the final analysis, you are all for the sake of superiority, Gu just can't figure it out, why don't you know how to be content?You, Zhang Xiao, are credited. Qingque has sixteen state fiefdoms. In fact, you are the one who handles the government affairs of these places and serves as the governor. Such power, even if it is a minister, is nothing more than that. You still want to go there Go one step further?Gu just can't figure it out, how the hell did I offend you?Or am I being too useless as a prince? "

This is where Li Chengqian is the most angry. If he is incompetent, then Li Tai's people should make troubles. Now that he thinks he is not stupid, or even excellent, these people are still thinking, which can only show that they are A complete careerist.

Seeing Zhang Xiao opening his mouth, but unable to speak, Zhang Yun chuckled and said, "Your Highness, you are either useless or too kind. The other princes must suppress my brothers. Not only did you not suppress, but you supported Wei. King Wu Wang will give people the impression of being weak and deceitful, from the perspective of slaves, as long as these people are all finished, the remaining ambitious will definitely be honest!"

After a long time, Zhang Xiao let out a long sigh of relief, and said with a hey smile: "Your Highness is right, I, Zhang Xiao, really want to go a step further, for my own sake. The matter has come to an end, I have nothing to say, I just ask Your Highness to give you a hand." The official is happy, don't embarrass the family."

"At this point, you still don't give up, and you still want to be alone?"

With a sneer, Li Chengqian got up and kicked down the stool, and left the cell with Zhang Yun.

Zhang Yun glanced back at Zhang Xiao in bewilderment. Just seeing his ashen face, he knew that what the prince said was right, this person really wanted to bully His Highness.

It's just, what's wrong?

After leaving the Baiqisi dungeon, Zhang Yun couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, why is he trying to trick you?"

Li Chengqian stopped his pace and explained to Zhang Yun: "Zhang Xiao is not an ordinary official. To become the head of Wei Wangfu, he must either be talented or meritorious. Lock him up and wait for his father to deal with him. As long as Gu disposes of him without authorization, he will not bear any responsibility, but being disgusted by his father is certain."

Only then did Zhang Yun come to his senses, and he couldn't help but secretly scolded himself for being so stupid, he didn't see such an obvious pitfall, the time spent by the emperor's side was wasted!

It was noon when I came out of the dungeon. I rubbed my stomach and saw the jelly stand on the side of the road, so I walked over there with big strides.

Chang He finally couldn't help it, and stopped in front of Li Chengqian: "Your Highness, let's go back to the palace to eat lunch, eat here, once the stomach is spoiled, even the lower officials cannot afford it."

No wonder it was disliked by others. A guy who always looked suspiciously at others must have something wrong with himself.

After slandering Chang He, Li Chengqian ignored it and walked into the bean jelly stand.

The dignified prince visited the jelly noodle stand in person, and both the stall owner and the customers were so frightened that their legs trembled.After all, the guards with knives had already surrounded the jelly stand, especially the leader, who seemed to be scrutinizing where to put the knife.

"Your Highness...Your Highness, are you going to rest at the shop?"

The stall owner was an old man, estimated to be 80 to [-] years old. At this age, seeing officials did not need to salute, but at this time he bowed his hands and wanted to kneel down.

The feudal ideology that has been poisoned for thousands of years has long been deeply ingrained in the people, and it cannot be overcome by the so-called "filial piety" in the official sense.

Reaching out to support the old man, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "I'm just hungry, and I want to find a place to eat. Seeing that there are quite a lot of people here, I want to come over and have a taste. Don't say anything about your highness. I'll just treat it like an ordinary diner."

After appeasing the old man, Li Chengqian glared back again.Chang He sighed and waved his hand. The guards put their swords back into their sheaths, and they were no longer as vicious as before.

Seeing that the diners left their half-eaten jelly and ran away, and there were no new customers coming, he knew that he had become a plague god.

Glancing at the old man who was mixing jelly, Li Chengqian said: "Old man, please make a few more, we have a lot of people."

After finishing speaking, he looked at Chang He again: "If you don't dare to sit with Gu, find a seat and sit down, call the brothers outside to come in and eat, and Gu will pay for you."

Chang He had no choice but to bow down to thank the prince for the reward, and arranged for the guards outside to come in in turn to eat jelly.

There is actually no difficulty in making jelly, but the old man insisted on making it for a long time, and even took a big mouthful in front of Zhang Yun, before bringing it to the prince respectfully.

After taking a bite, Li Chengqian nodded. The taste was really good. I don’t know what wild vegetables were dotted in it. It was a bit sweet, but not strong. The spiciness of shallots made up for the lack of chili oil. On the surface, compared with this, there is really not much superiority.No wonder this stall is so popular, it is indeed a good thing to go to summer to fill your belly.

Compared with the prince's jelly, the other sergeant's jelly is easy to make. It didn't take long for the old man to finish making it. He smiled and watched His Royal Highness enjoy himself.

The prince likes my jelly!This is awesome enough for the old man to blow his last breath!

Swallowing a mouthful of jelly, Li Chengqian patted the stool next to him and said, "Old man, what are you doing standing up, sitting down? At your age, you don't need to salute when you see your father. Why are you so restrained in front of me? Oh, by the way." , haven’t asked your name yet?”

The old man waved his hands again and again: "You can't be a noble surname, but a humble surname Liu. All the folks in Zhuangzi call him Old Man Liu."

After finishing speaking, old man Liu sat down on the stool tremblingly, and watched His Royal Highness eat jelly with a smile.

In the past, I only heard of His Royal Highness's virtuous name, but it was the first time I saw it with my own eyes.Speaking of which, although my family doesn't live in Chang'an City, it was because of buying the Prince's briquettes that we were able to survive the severe winter last year.

Thinking of this, the old man Liu asked cautiously: "Your Highness, the Wang family has already left, and now your family is selling coal. Will the price of coal cakes increase this year?"

Li Chengqian smiled: "Whether the price will increase or not depends on the year. To be honest, in order to sell your cinder briquettes, it took a lot of effort, and I had to send someone to inspect the people's conditions and formulate a policy to You think it’s a little expensive, but you’re willing to buy it. If the price is set too low, it will make you feel like you’ve been given alms. Tell me, don’t worry about spending alone.”

What Li Chengqian said was funny, old man Liu laughed, and said after laughing: "Your Highness, you should know that although we are a small household, we don't have the face to accept charity. If there is a disaster, there is nothing to say. In good times , the imperial court also cut taxes, if you have the cheek to get your things for nothing, you will be shameless. Last year was very cold, but it brought a good year this year. Your Highness might as well raise the price of coal a little bit. You sell it so cheap. It's to drive the Wang family away, we all know it, don't lose money because of it."

Li Chengqian laughed, how could there be so many stupid people in this world, just such a dying old man knew his purpose of selling coal at a low price.

"Don't worry, in fact, this price is also profitable, but it's not as profitable as the Wang family's."

Old man Liu opened his toothless mouth and smiled: "That's good, that's good, if you sell it at a loss, we won't be embarrassed..."

It may be that nothing happened to the old man Liu, but he was chatting happily with the prince. Many people who were watching couldn't help approaching. A few elderly people, relying on their age, directly approached the prince. ....

Chapter 263 Secret Conversation

A big shot always has to put on a disgusting look of being close to the people.

However, Li Chengqian felt that instead of acting, it would be better to really get to know the common people in depth.After all, Datang's policies are always implemented on them, whether it is good or bad, they are the ones who have the most say.

Seeing that the prince was surrounded by a group of elderly people, Chang He wanted to stop him, but he didn't know how to do it.They are all in their [-]s and [-]s, so they dare to come to the front because of their age. If an old man of this age pushes too much in front of the public, he may appear in the impeachment memorial tomorrow, and his reputation will be ruined.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Li Chengqian always feels that being surrounded by a group of old people is more secure than a group of guards.

"So, you support the imperial court's resumption of taxation?"

An old man who was born as a refugee smiled and said: "Naturally, I support it. The court is kind. Although we were coaxed out of the mountain with the name of tax increase, didn't we continue to reduce it until there was no more? For the first two years after leaving the mountain, there was no charge. The tax is not collected, and now we have settled down, and we already owe the imperial court taxes, and if we don’t collect them, we will live in a bad heart.”

On the one hand, the old man who was not a refugee also said: "That's the reason. Only by paying the taxes can we live with peace of mind. Besides, only when the taxes are enough can the court have the money to fight the bastards outside. We all understand these reasons. "

Li Chengqian nodded, regardless of other places, it seems that the restart of taxation around Chang'an is not a big problem.Farmers, in fact, are very contented people. As long as their lives go on, they don’t care how much the court collects. On the contrary, if they can’t survive, their resistance will make no matter how strong the dynasty is. collapse.

"It seems that I have to send officials to check the situation when I go back today. It's time to restart the taxes around Chang'an. The old people go home and talk to the younger generations at home. If they can't make it through, they can tell the court. The court will not force it. tax collector."

"Hey? We know? We know...."

The conversation lasted from noon to the afternoon. Most of the time, Li Chengqian listened to the old people.But even this made them extremely satisfied.Compared with that mysterious and majestic emperor? His Royal Highness is still easy to get along with, not so much pressure.

Old Liu Tou from the jelly noodle stall clutched the silver in his hand? Afraid of losing it? He was going to pass on the broken silver as a family heirloom, no matter how poor he was, he would never spend it.

On the way back, Zhang Yun couldn't help asking, "Your Highness, you are in a good mood today."

Li Chengqian smiled and said: "I'm really in a good mood? Presumably what happened today? Many people in the court have seen it. Kong Yingda's good strategy, Gu has changed from passive defense to active attack. I don't know how much I was shocked." People. I always wanted to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger, but now I realize that I have been pretending to be a pig for a long time? Others really think you are a pig, and everyone wants to come and kick you. So? Shout twice. If you don't roar, who knows you're not easy to mess with?"

Humming a little song and returning to the East Palace, Kong Yingda naturally followed the prince into the study when he passed Zuochunfang.

Not many memorials have been accumulated today? The most are reports on disaster relief.Ever since he regarded the whitewashed memorial as a shameful criticism of officials? There have been no concealed memorials. Until this moment, the number of people who were actually affected by the disaster was really reliable.

"More than 2 people were affected by the disaster, and countless farmlands were destroyed. It is not a small disaster."

Kong Yingda was sitting under Li Chengqian's hands. He arched his hands and said, "Your Highness, the population of Hedong Road has been withered because of the war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, so the situation with more fields than farmers is the worst. Destroying some farmland is nothing, as long as the guarantors are safe. That's fine. Hedong Road has been enjoying tax reductions and exemptions for these years, and it won't take long for people's livelihood to recover."

Li Chengqian nodded. With Kong Yingda around, he didn't need to write to Fang Xuanling and others if he wanted to know the local conditions.As the concubine of the prince Zuo, Lao Kong was actually like Wei Zheng. In addition to the power to refute the documents he reviewed, he also had the responsibility of admonishing him.But fortunately, he has a better temper than Wei Zheng, and he won't piss people off at every turn.

The memorial was approved quickly, and they were all moved to Kong Yingda's desk. Li Chengqian did not go back, but sat opposite Kong Yingda and said, "Your plan has succeeded, Zhang Xiao really took the bait, and now he is controlled by Baiqisi. , I still feel that it is a bit base to use such a scheme, at least for Qingque, it is very inappropriate."

Picking up a memorial that had been reviewed, Kong Yingda nodded in satisfaction, and then added the prince's seal. After finishing the work, he put down the memorial and said earnestly: "Inappropriate? Having such thoughts means that you are too Naive, do you think that the old man is full of food to do this kind of thing that will attract the resentment of the King of Wei? Didn’t he be entrusted by others? Before Li Sikong passed away, he recommended the old man to be an important position in the Eastern Palace, and specially asked the old man to treat you Please take care of me. Your Highness, it is very good that you want to maintain the brotherhood with King Wei, but this must be on the premise that King Wei does not have an ambitious man like Zhang Xiao by his side. With him around, we will wait for King Wei to master it. Too much power, believe it or not, it will be the next Tiance Mansion."

After finishing speaking, Kong Yingda coughed and continued to read the memorial, as if nothing had happened.

Li Chengqian cupped his hands, he knew that it was considered treasonous for Lao Kong to say such a thing, and now the two of them could only keep silent.

Going back to the desk, rest your hand on your chin.

Still a little touched!Even when the old man was dying, he was thinking about himself.

What the old gentleman and Lao Kong said was actually not wrong. Although the emperor's father really wanted this position, at least on the surface, the coercion of those in Tiance Mansion played the main role.Without Fang Du and his ilk, the process would be a little more tortuous at best.

In the final analysis, the superior's own thoughts are the most important.

Regarding Qingque, Li Chengqian thought that he didn't ruin the relationship. At least Li Tai's behavior in Zhang Xiao's matter was normal, and he didn't show any resentment.

While Li Chengqian was thinking about something, Kong Yingda had already re-examined the memorial, affixed it with the prince's seal, and after confirming that it was correct, he packed it up and ordered the little official to send it to the province.

Seeing that the prince was still in a daze when he turned around, Kong Yingda smiled, got up and left quietly.

Now, he finally understands why Li Gang cares so much about this disciple.It's really because it's a piece of jade in the rough!There are many smart people, but it is really rare to be so smart at the age of 13.What's even more rare is that he is not arrogant and complacent, and he can listen to harsh advice.Such a sage king, as long as he is a courtier, he will like it.During this period of time, he rarely had the opportunity to correct the prince's comments, as long as the comments were written down, they were extremely correct and accurate.To say something rebellious, even if the crown prince ascends the throne now, he will become a qualified emperor.

Just after leaving the main entrance of the East Palace, Kong Yingda turned right and went to Zhongshu Sheng.Tomorrow is the official's rest period, and he is going to ask Fang Xuanling if he has any thoughts on boating and drinking.

As the core department of the imperial court, Zhongshu Sheng was always busy, but compared with the bustling outside, the Zhongshu Sheng's lobby was much quieter, only Fang Xuanling was handling the memorials at the table.

"Haha, Lao Fang, the crown prince found out that he wanted to be lazy, right? Now he's back to his life of paperwork?"

Fang Xuanling was about to fight against the case, but when he saw that the person who came in was Kong Yingda, his anger dissipated.Pointing to the teapot and teacup, he signaled Kong Yingda to take care of himself and continue to deal with the unfinished memorial.

After the memorial was finished, Fang Xuanling breathed a sigh of relief, got up and sat next to Kong Yingda, and said with a wry smile: "This is also something that has been resolved. Those sent by His Majesty to the grasslands are all low-level officials who are eager for merit, and all of them are senior officials. Although this can form a strong constraint on the grassland, it is a burden for the imperial court. Do you know how many grassland memorials are burned every day? More than 200!"

Kong Yingda wiped off the sweat that didn't exist, how much is more than 200 a day?No, it is already too much, you must know that this is not a day or two, but almost every day.

"Your Majesty sent these young officials into the grassland, in fact, he wanted to use their eagerness to do meritorious service, and find a way to remediate the grassland in a short time. As everyone knows, is it so easy for the grassland to form bonds? The same Question, I also asked the prince, guess what the prince said?"

Hearing that Kong Yingda mentioned the crown prince, Fang Xuanling immediately became interested, cupped his hands and said, "I would like to hear more about it."

"The prince said that now wanting the prairie people to surrender is tantamount to idiotic dreams. The empire wants to form an effective bond with the newly acquired land. Deterrence by force is only a short-term approach. The most correct thing is to slowly erode the prairie people. They gradually began to rely on the Central Plains until they couldn’t survive without the Central Plains. If you ask any prairie man where he is from, he will answer that he is a member of Datang.”

Fang Xuanling laughed loudly: "This insight can be regarded as a unique approach, and the old man actually thinks it makes sense, but what is said is what His Highness is going to do?"

Kong Yingda took a sip of tea before saying, "Your Highness said that if it was him, he would send flour to the grasslands, encourage non-grassland areas to reclaim fields, and encourage semi-herdsmen to settle down. In this way, the population will stabilize, and the stable population will Only then will there be a sense of belonging. The old man feels that although this idea is still very immature, it has to be said that the direction is right."

Fang Xuanling nodded: "You're right, even the old man thinks this framework is very feasible, as long as you add more bricks and tiles, you can form a complete building. It's ridiculous that His Majesty now thinks that the eternity is one, and now he is doing things I am becoming more and more arbitrary, and I always feel that I can control the hearts of the whole world by myself."

Kong Yingda smiled wryly and said, "What do you want from him? Don't look at the many things he did to make people feel shameful, but whether it was the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty or after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, he did it all for this country and this ethnic group. Blood. These are established facts and cannot be changed, so it’s no big deal to be proud.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Kong Yingda realized that there was someone behind him, and just as he was about to jump up, he realized that it was Wei Zheng.

Since it is Wei Zheng, there is no problem. Talking about the emperor in private, although the emperor said that he would not care about it, but everyone encouraged him, but no one knows when the emperor will overthrow him.

"Continue to talk, the old man's government affairs have also been dealt with, and I just want to chat with you two for a while."

With that said, Wei Zheng handed a memorial to Kong Yingda.

Flipping through these memorials, Kong Yingda asked in confusion: "Didn't the crown prince explain the reason for keeping the commercial tax unchanged? Why do you want to bring up the old thing again and increase the commercial tax?"

Wei Zheng poured a cup of tea on his own, and said after drinking, "You two run around the government offices and homes all day, and you don't manage the caravans at home. It's understandable if you don't know. Do you know? I know, the old man was ordered to monitor Xungui’s property, only to find out that we were all deceived by false poverty. Xungui’s rich family is inexhaustible. Where did the inexhaustible money come from? It’s just a drop in the ocean for a wealthy family to marry a daughter and receive a dowry. What they have grown stronger is actually doing business.

As a local wealthy family, their ability to control local businesses has almost reached the extreme. Many of the best-selling products are handled by their own family or side branches. No matter how bad they are, they are also their own servants.My Tang Dynasty collects business tax, which is one out of twelve in kind. This tax rate is really too low.In addition, His Majesty relaxed the restrictions on nobles, and many people let go of their hands and feet, fully demonstrating their strength.Good guy, there are only a few poor ghosts who are full of feelings, and the rest are all rich! "

Having said this, Fang Xuanling and Kong Yingda felt uncomfortable.After all, they are also one of them.Especially Fang Xuanling, ever since he became the order of Zhongshu, the Fang family has received the grace of heaven and sent millions of blessings.Although he knew how to restrain himself, under the connivance of the emperor intentionally or unintentionally, the Fang family inevitably prospered in a short period of time.

The same is true for Kong Yingda. Thanks to his status as a saint, although the descendants of the Kong family are already very low-key, they will inevitably become one of the wealthy families.

Wei Zheng also noticed the unnaturalness of the two of them, and said with a smile: "The old man didn't point at the two of you, just talking about things. His Majesty's words revealed the fig leaf of the aristocratic family and made many bold people reveal their greed. If things go on like this, the old man is afraid that all people will be in business, so it is imminent to increase the supervision of business, especially for wealthy families, taxation should be mentioned, otherwise, while maintaining a detached position, There is no need to make any contribution to the country, it is the greatest injustice to the people! Let me ask you two, how can you use the benefits you get from your own status so happily?"

Fang Xuanling cupped his hands and said, "You're right. The old man also hopes to increase supervision and pay more taxes, but do you think everyone is willing? You Wei Zheng said this in the court hall with a red mouth and white teeth If you say that, you will be torn apart by those red-eyed people. Old Wei, blocking people's money is like killing your parents!"

Kong Yingda shook her head irritably and said: "This old man always feels that there is something tricky about this matter. His Majesty should be aware of the dangers of doing so, but he still did it, which means that there are greater benefits than dangers. Moreover, As it is related to property, I always feel that there is a shadow of the prince in it. Old Wei, you wrote this memorial, and you also rejected it. You might as well go to His Highness to find out, this matter is definitely not that simple!"

"Since that's the case, why don't the three of us go together? Tomorrow is Xiumu, why don't we visit the East Palace together?"

Kong Yingda and Fang Xuanling could only smile wryly. If it was true as Kong Yingda said that there was some kind of plan by the emperor or the crown prince, and if they got involved, they didn't know if it would be a good thing.

The next day, the officials took a rest, but Wei Zheng and the three still put on formal official uniforms and went to the East Palace to pay their respects.

Speaking of which, if you want to be an official, it is still very cost-effective to be an official in Datang.The vacation system of Datang officials is even included in the law.

"Laws of the Tang Dynasty" stipulates: Parents who live three thousand miles away have [-] days of fixed provincial leave every three years, and parents who live five hundred miles away have [-] days of fixed provincial leave every five years.And the time spent on the journey is not included.There are three days off when the son is crowned; if it is a relative, one day.When children hold weddings, they have nine days off, while other close relatives have five days, three days, and one day off when they hold weddings.

After the death of his parents, he will be forced to dismiss him for three years, and if he is serving in the military, as long as the emperor does not take away his love, he will also have a [-]-day filial leave.For the death of other close relatives, there are [-], [-], [-] or [-] days of holiday respectively; if it is a distant relative, it is respectively [-], [-] or [-] day.The teacher who was trained passed away and was given three days off.Personal death day, give a day off.

In addition, there are fifteen days of field leave in May and fifteen days of clothing leave in September.

These are official public holidays, namely parental leave, bereavement leave, adult leave, marriage leave, academic leave, maternity leave, field leave and clothing leave.In addition, even VIPs can have normal ten-day leave, usually three ten-day leave a month.

From this point of view, the rest time of officials in the Tang Dynasty was very considerable, and the above holidays were holidays except for emergencies such as wars.There will also be holidays on the Taishang Laojun's birthday and the emperor's birthday.

Today is a ten-day holiday, also known as a rest period. The people in each department can generally rest for a whole day as long as there is no urgent matter.