Don't be a prince

3 Chapter Thirty

I don't remember writing this imperial edict!

Suspiciously reading the content of the edict again, Li Shimin was even more puzzled.

The remaining confusion subsided, and Li Shimin, who had returned to normal, said to Li Jian without hesitation: "Go, go to Shangshu Province and find out the original edict. I want to see it!"

After driving Li Jian away, Li Shimin patted the table hard.This kind of edict issued by the emperor's direct order would be handed over to Shangshu Province for execution after collecting the seals of the emperor, the seal of Zhongshu Province, and the seal of Menxia Province. Now he has no knowledge of this edict. Let Shangshu Province announce it to the world?What about the seal under Zhongshumen?

It was the first time his imperial power was challenged, and Li Shimin couldn't help clenching his fists.The nature of this matter is much worse than the rebellion of Li Xiaochang and others.Because this is no longer the level of exploiting the loopholes of the court system, but has actually threatened him, the emperor!

It didn't take long for Li Jian, who was quick on his feet, to send the original edict to the emperor's desk.

Seeing the three clearly identifiable seals, Li Shimin broke into a cold sweat for no reason.

Suspiciously glanced at Li Jian, Li Jian, who knew what the emperor was thinking, immediately knelt down on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, the Ganlu Hall is heavily guarded, and it's midsummer now, not to mention outsiders, but mosquitoes, servants and others are not afraid of it." I dare to put one in for you. It is absolutely impossible for someone to steal the Jade Seal of the Chuan Kingdom!"

After unlocking the desk drawer and opening the mezzanine, Li Shimin took out the Chuan Guo Yuxi.The guards around the Ganlu Hall don't need to be suspicious at all. If the closest part of him is to be suspected, he, the emperor, is really unstable.

"If it is said that my jade seal has not been stolen or embezzled, then this edict can only be a few edicts preserved by the province. Among the servants, only Wei Zheng has the courage to use my edict for other purposes. As for Fang Xuanling seal of..."

Thinking of what Fang Xuanling said in the court before, Li Shimin tapped his head in frustration. There is no doubt that Fang Xuanling was also involved.As for his trick of pretending to be innocent, it doesn't work at all in front of Li Shimin.He knows this prime minister who is reused by him too well. If he doesn't know enough, how dare he arrange this smart guy in this important position?

After reading the font on the imperial edict again, Li Shimin became even more puzzled.I know my own fonts. There is no doubt that the fonts on this edict are imitated, but the imitation is so realistic that only people who are particularly close to him can do it.Who will it be?

After studying and studying again and again, Li Shimin finally saw this sentence "Although I have the importance of sending a son, I dare not be frivolous. I will go with you after special addition to show that I value it..."

follow?

For a moment in his heart, Li Shimin didn't care about the unfinished memorials on the desk case, and rushed to the Hall of Liangyi in a hurry.

As usual, the Hall of Liangyi in the evening will not be lit with too many lights.However, although the eldest grandson called for saving, he was not too harsh. At least he still had to light candles for a while after sunset.However, there is no light in today's Hall of Liangyi.

Fast forward a few steps and reached out to grab the maid on duty in front of the palace, Li Shimin said sharply: "Where is the queen?"

The emperor grabbed her by the neck, and the court lady was frightened and cried, her skirt was wet: "Your Majesty, I don't know, this servant was just transferred to Liangyi Hall!"

Abandoning the palace maid and kicking away Li Jian who was walking ahead to check the situation, Li Shimin pushed open the hall door and entered the Hall of Liangyi.

Now the hall is empty, not to mention people, even the tables and chairs are gone. (Because Li Chengqian was afraid that the empress would not be used to using things from other places, so he was cruel and simply packed a lot of daily necessities)

In front of the incense burner in the hall stands a wooden board with an obvious envelope glued to it.

Going forward, he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.Just by looking at the handwriting, the emperor knew that the letter was personally written by the empress.

"Your Majesty: It's said that love turns weaker when it gets stronger, and I think so. As for the entrustment, I shouldn't say much as a queen, but because you and your brother have been friends for many years, I don't want you to disagree because of political opinions. I just quarreled so much, I hope you can reconcile, so I allowed my brother to enter the palace one after another. Now you don’t want to see my concubine, and my brother has a lot of complaints about my concubine. I still have children in my womb, and I don’t want to involve him, so I don’t want to Farewell, Your Majesty, don't be angry.

Now the prince Qingque has the heart to protect his mother. Although he is not filial to you, he is still very filial. I hope you don't blame them too much.Now that the prince is traveling around, Qingque and his concubine are accompanying him, and he personally leads the fully armed guards, so there must be no problem.When I am pregnant with Liujia, the concubine will find a quiet place, don't worry, Your Majesty.When Chang'an returns to calm, His Majesty will send a decree to summon the concubine to come back.If your majesty's resentment cannot be appeased, you can also become a queen again, and the concubine will have no complaints.

Now that I am traveling far away, I have many thoughts. Although I have thousands of words in my chest, I will not only write about how to say, but also hope that your majesty will cherish yourself. "

Seeing the inscribed "Guanyin Maid", Li Shimin's heart felt sore, and the anger in his heart disappeared immediately.

The letter paper in his hand fell to the ground weakly, and with a long sigh, Li Shimin turned to Li Jian and said, "Is it true that everyone doesn't want to see me now? Hehe, now the prince and the king of Wei have left the palace with the queen. Is it that annoying?"

Li Jian didn't know how to answer this sentence, so he could only kneel down on the ground.He knew very well that this question had no solution at all. If he answered yes, the emperor would probably be even more depressed. If he answered no, the emperor would not believe it either.How to decide and how to get out can only be seen by the emperor himself.

After struggling for a long time between ordering and not ordering, Li Shimin sighed, picked up the letter on the ground and chose to let go.In the early morning of the next day, the emperor's edict was sent to the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. After reading it, Fang Xuanling stamped it with a blank expression.Although the emperor ordered the officials of all states to send enough troops to protect the empress and her party was very strong, but now that the emperor is in a fit of anger, it is better not to provoke them.

Soon, both edicts were announced to the world, because the second edict was the reason for Hongling's urgent way, and it was spread faster than the first edict.

On the other side, Li Chengqian and his party, who arrived in Luoyang by boat, naturally received a warm welcome from Du Chuke.

Li Chengqian still didn't like this guy who dared to toss the East Palace with Li Tai.But since he had already sent someone to clean up the Luoyang palace and had organized enough guards, he wouldn't be bothered.

"Du Inspector, when I arrive in Luoyang this time, I will stay for one day at most. During this day, I have to do a lot of things. Because I was ordered to travel around this time to investigate the real situation of merchants, so the merchants in Luoyang, Tongzhou, It is even more necessary to investigate. After the mother and queen settle down, you will temporarily put aside your official duties and visit Luoyang with Gu."

Du Chuke quickly agreed. As for the question of why the empress came out with the prince so abnormally, although he was confused, he didn't dare to ask after all.

Luoyang also has an imperial palace, which is not much worse than Chang'an's. Because of the queen's presence, everyone can enter.After all, the Luoyang Imperial Palace is a temporary palace in name, but it is also a crucial place for the Tang Dynasty, and anyone who touches it will cause a whole body of shame.Even the prince Li Chengqian would not approach these sensitive areas if it was not necessary.

After the eldest grandson was settled, Li Chengqian brought Li Tai out together.

It was still necessary to change clothes. After dressing up, the brothers and Du Chuke, under the covert protection of a group of guards, came out from the Chongguang Gate of the East Palace and strolled along the road in the middle of Lidefang and Chengfufang.

Luoyang is very similar to Chang'an in terms of layout, the only difference is that a river of Luoshui divides Luoyang city into two from the city.Because Chengfufang is close to Miyagi, those who can live here are either rich or expensive. They must either have real power or be extremely rich, otherwise they will not be able to live here.

After walking for less than a stick of incense, I saw a business with an exceptionally splendid facade.

"With such a grand decoration, the owner of this house must be earning a lot of money!"

After seeing the direction the prince was pointing at, Du Chuke wanted to laugh but he couldn't help it. Even so, he still let out a slight "poof".

Seeing that the governor was trying to hold back his laughter, Fang Shuowen could only cup his hands and say to Li Chengqian, "Your Highness, this is the branch of Luoyang's auction house, so it is the property of your East Palace!"

"Forehead...."

With embarrassing retraction of his fingers, Li Chengqian could only continue walking forward in a state of boredom.Lao Jin and the others are still very capable. Now several industries in the East Palace are slowly spreading to the whole country. As long as they can open the chain to every Tongzhou city, they can become one of the best industries in the Tang Dynasty, and it’s still about every single item. .

Not long after leaving the auction house, I saw the grain store of Yujifang.No matter who sees the scene where more than a dozen stores in a row are connected and a store name is hung, they will be shocked.

This time there was no need for Li Chengqian to point it out, Du Chuke cupped his hands in shame and said, "Your Highness, this is the grain store of the Du family. I'm ashamed to say that, my brother said that Luoyang's water and land transportation is more convenient, so he opened the grain store to Luoyang because of the convenient transportation." Because of this, it can add some income to the family every year."

Li Chengqian didn't say anything, but went directly into a grain store.

Because the store is large enough, the sparse customers are quite obvious in the grain store.

A chubby shopkeeper saw a new customer coming in, and immediately greeted him with a smile, but when he saw the young guest followed by his own master with a black face, he immediately understood that this person was not easy to mess with, so the smile on his face Unknowingly loosened a lot.

"This distinguished guest, my little old man's surname is Ai. You can just call me Lao Ai. I don't know what kind of food the customer wants? Whether it's ordinary millet or polished rice, we have it in our store. No matter how much the customer wants, we can supply it." !"

Ignoring the shopkeeper's rhetoric, Li Chengqian walked directly to a grain trough to check the price on it.It's okay, the price is quite generous compared to other grain merchants, and the price is probably acceptable to ordinary people.The price tags are all patina, and there are more than one or two customers dressed in civilian clothes in the store, obviously they are not just made and fooled around.

Picked up a handful of millet, spilled most of it, left some in the palm of the hand, and looked carefully. Seeing that there was no stone or the like mixed in, and the grain was new, Li Chengqian nodded and asked the old shopkeeper, "Gu... .In ancient times, there is a saying that food is the most important thing for the people. The price here is quite generous. If you don’t know how to transport food from other places, how do you set the price here?”

Shopkeeper Ai arched his hands and said: "Generally, grain merchants buy goods from other places. Large quantities of grain transactions must be reported to the government. And because of the large quantities, the price will drop a little, but not too much. After all Even if it is a large-volume transaction, our price is very kind, and we still have to make money anyway.”

Li Chengqian nodded, and found the back door of the grain store following the direction of several servants carrying rice.

After walking out of the back door, even Li Tai couldn't help but yelled, "Be good."

The backs of all the stores are connected, and then integrated into a two-foot-long road, which runs through the entire Yujifang and reaches the edge of Luoshui.There is a boat moored by the Luoshui River, and many servants are loading cars to deliver food to the boat.

Seeing that the crown prince was shocked, Du Chuke could only say with a bitter face: "Your Highness, the Du family's business is all clean, and there is absolutely no violation of the laws of the Tang Dynasty. These grains are bought from the state treasury for Huaizhou None of the people affected by the disaster will send a grain of grain abroad.”

There was no way, Du Chuke could only confess if he was caught alive.But to his surprise, the prince didn't mean to get angry.

Clap your hands, and Sky-Changing Monkey appeared in front of Li Chengqian.

Pointing to the boat in Luoshui, Li Chengqian ordered: "Go, check the quality of the grain on the boat."

After sending away the Sky Monkey, Li Chengqian turned around and said to Du Chuke, who was bowing his hands, "I don't mean to criticize the Du family. No matter how big your business is, as long as you abide by the law, you will be fine. There is no law in the Tang Dynasty that does not allow officials to The law of eating meat for pleasure is now out of Chang'an, and besides visiting the business situation in various places, there is also supervision and inspection work, so it's not too much to check your Du family's business now, right?"

Of course, Du Chuke couldn't say too much. What the prince said, he wouldn't go too far, would he?

Changtian Monkey ran very fast, and came back with a small bag in a short time.

He opened his pocket and took out a handful of grain, and the Sky-Changing Monkey smiled and said, "Your Highness, I opened all the grain bags at the bottom of their bag, and they are all good grain, even if it's a bit stale, it's not a hindrance to eating."

Li Chengqian nodded and said to Du Chuke: "That's good. To a certain extent, the actions of businessmen can be regarded as benefiting the country and the people. Of course, the premise is that they don't hoard goods and don't increase profits too much. Under this premise , No matter how much you earn, it’s a good job. Du Shangshu has a big family to support, and I know that I don’t care if I do some business here in Luoyang.”

These words are Li Chengqian's sincere words. The Du family opened the food line in Luoyang, obviously because of Du Chuke's position as the governor of Luoyang.The collusion between officials and businessmen depends on the details. For those like the Du family, it is normal for them to take advantage of their positions to benefit themselves if they are not to this extent.They all say not to bend their waists for five buckets of rice, but after becoming an official, who would devote themselves to that idea of ​​salary?How many of the noble families have great fortunes, and how many of them had family background before they became honorable?

Hearing what the prince said, Du Chuke secretly sweated. What he was most afraid of was that his family would be caught as a model.Especially when I heard that in the imperial court, the emperor was about to turn against all the officials. If such a stall was unlucky, there was really no reason to justify it.After all, all the truths in the world belong to the royal family, that is, there is no such term as "the final right of interpretation", otherwise "the final right of interpretation belongs to the royal family", it must be a theorem.

After leaving the grain store, Li Chengqian visited several merchants and talked with them for a long time.Looking at it from a young age, the formalism of the officials of the Tang Dynasty is not very serious, at least there is no element of acting, and the businessmen are also very stubborn, not as fearful as maggots. Seeing the easy-going smile of the prince, they excitedly explained their situation through.

Through understanding, Li Chengqian understood the form of Luoyang's business community.

How should I put it, although the merchants flocked to Chang'an, the nobles avoided it.However, all the dignified nobles in Chang'an generally opened their "main stores" in other places, and the ones left in Chang'an were just a small storefront to fool people, mainly for the emperor to see.After all, even though the emperor loosened the restrictions, the prohibition of collusion between officials and businessmen was not just a law, but a universal law.

Because of this, the nobles still need to be naughty. In the past, it was "don't shoot guns, just sneak into the village", but now they pretend to be sheep and eat meat.

After visiting Luoyang for a while, it was already evening, and the boat was about to set off early the next morning. After writing an investigation report in front of Luoyang local officials and summarizing it into the document, Li Chengqian declined the invitation to the banquet. The invitation was just a box of "Luoyang native products" that was too heavy to hold.

Li Chengqian is very clear about what the local officials are like. For officials like the Tang Dynasty, it is already considered very ethical to open a small hole for their own family.If the policies of later generations are moved to the Tang Dynasty, it is estimated that Feng Yushi will arouse the hatred of the officials and dignitaries, and it may force another gunpowder.

After all, for many people, killing his parents is better than cutting off his money.

Because of Luoyang's "local specialties", the material conditions of the fleet have risen a little bit, and even the maids and eunuchs accompanying them can eat a delicious meal of meat every day.

A strong dragon does not overwhelm a local snake. Since Luoyang can be regarded as safe and prosperous under the governance of Du Chuke and others, there is no need to pursue their small tails.

In other words, when Wei Zheng passed by Luoyang, he didn't say anything, and the prince didn't need to spread hatred.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief when the fleet left Luoyang without being chased, and began to reduce the speed of the fleet to a certain extent.Although it was an escape, it would not be good to live a life of escape.The new life is so beautiful, how can it be wasted in meaningless places?

Ever since, when the fleet stopped completely at Mangling, Li Chengqian started to catch fish from the bow of the boat. Of course, he was not the only one fishing.

Chapter 331 The Days Without You

The bow of the painting boat was very big, and Li Chengqian, Li Tai, Su Yuan, and Yan Wan lined up, each with a fishing rod, and they were all waiting to catch a big fish so that they could settle their lunch.

During Li Chengqian's expedition, Li Tai couldn't resist his eldest grandson's thoughts, and honorably left the order.Fortunately, he also believed in Sun Simiao's words, and he still maintained Yuanyang. Although Yan Wan complained a little, she couldn't say anything.Coming from an ordinary official's family, she knew very well that she was not qualified to spoil in front of the prince.Even when Li Tai stayed in the college laboratory for a long time and didn't come back, she didn't complain, instead she took care of Wei Wang's mansion properly.

Li Tai is not a cruel person either, seeing Yan Wan being so knowledgeable, his relationship with Yan Wan gradually improved.Now that he escaped from Chang'an, he deliberately took her with him.

Bind the sesame oil and noodles with fishing lines and throw them into the river. After a short time, many fish swam over.The more fish there are, the easier it is to take the bait, so it didn't take long for Li Chengqian to catch a grass carp.

Looking at the alive and kicking fish in the fish basket, Li Tai pulled up his hook in depression, and when he saw that the bait on it was intact, he threw it down again annoyed.After a while, Su Yuan's hook also caught a fish, Yan Wan laughed and caught a fish too, although it was not big, she was very happy.

Seeing Li Tai irritably pulling up and dropping the hook, pulling it up and dropping it again, Li Chengqian finally couldn't help but want to talk about him, but seeing Li Tai decisively chose to turn his back on him, he could only keep his mouth shut.Smart people have the pride of smart people, and it is difficult for them to accept the advice of other smart people, even if this person is their own brother.

It was almost time for lunch, and the sun was shining brightly outside. The eldest grandson came out of the cabin with the help of the maid.Li Chengqian has been encouraging her to spend more time in the sun, and the eldest grandson naturally follows her advice.

Another fish was hooked, and seeing that Li Tai's fish basket was still empty, Li Chengqian could only hold back a smile and threw the big fish into the basket.

"Fishing is not an impatient job. It takes patience."

Instructing the maid to bring himself a fishing rod, the eldest grandson sat down on the brocade pier with the support of Su Yuan and Yan Wan, leaning against Li Tai.

Why didn't Li Tai know that the queen mother was talking about himself, scratched his head in annoyance, and said, "That's the reason, but when I saw the emperor and the others take the bait, I just got irritable. They are all fishing. Why is my son here?" Won't you take the bait?"

After throwing the hook into the river, the eldest grandson said with a smile: "You, you have to wait for the fish to bite the bait, don't you? You go up and down, and even some fish are scared away by you. This kind of luck thing is You need to relax your mind, look at your sister-in-law, hasn’t she just hooked a fish after so long? Isn’t she not impatient now?”

Li Chengqian came over, looked at Su Yuan's back and said with a smile: "Mother, you made a mistake this time. Yuanyuan is clearly asleep. Look at her hugging her legs and leaning on the chair, she is clearly asleep." That's how it is."

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian handed over his fishing rod to Li Tai, and went up to hug Su Yuan.

No matter how you eat, you will not gain weight. It is not only the physique that girls want, but also the physique that men want their women to have.It's not just a physical requirement, it's mainly because it's easy to hug.The bow is still windy, and the river surface is windy and humid, so it is easy to get sick, so it is better to rest in the cabin.

Su Yuan fell into a deep sleep, and the princess didn't wake up even after she picked her up.It was the first time I took a big boat away from Chang'an, passing through different places every day, and not one or two people were excited.Su Yuan, who was raised in a deep boudoir since she was a child, was also extremely happy. As for her symptoms of seasickness, she refrained from talking about it.

The purpose of stopping the ship today to drop anchor is actually to provide Su Yuan and some court ladies with a rest time.I didn't wake up when I picked him up, didn't wake up when I carried him away, and woke up when I put him on the bed.

Seeing that she was holding her neck tightly, Li Chengqian smiled and could only lie down on the bed.

Pressing Su Yuan's nose, Li Chengqian said: "If you're happy, don't bother yourself too much. It's okay if our schedule is delayed a little bit, even if we are caught by the father and go back. It's fine as long as everyone is safe and sound."

Su Yuan nodded, murmured all over, and fell asleep again.

When she let go of her hand in sleep, Li Chengqian grabbed her hand, replaced the object being hugged with a pillow, and quietly left the cabin.

When the boat stopped, it wasn't just Su Yuan who fell asleep, many court ladies and eunuchs, and even some soldiers under their command fell asleep loudly.

The more you go outside the cabin, the louder the snoring. In terms of cabin allocation, there are soldiers in front and behind, court ladies and eunuchs in the inside, and the masters in the middle.

When he got to the first cabin, Li Chengqian pushed it away and took a look. The Sky-Switching Monkey inside was sleeping badly, with one leg resting on the partition.This guy patrolled the shore all night last night without stopping at all.This means that the Sky-Changing Monkey is also the pro-leader, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to do such things as protecting the lord and rebelling against the emperor just because of an order from the crown prince.

After closing the door of the cabin, Fang Shuo got into the cabin.

Standing at attention and clasping fists, Fang Shuo reported: "His Royal Highness, there are a lot of government soldiers on the shore. They seem to be assembled by the local Zhechong government. They have no intention of approaching. They just cut off the river and the land. It looks more like they are protecting the land. we."

"Are you sure they have no intention of encircling them?"

"Sure!"

Nodding his head, letting Fang Shuo continue to lead the troops on guard, Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief quietly.

Undoubtedly, these government soldiers were dispatched by the emperor's orders, but since they had no intention of encircling them, they were not given the task of "blocking back".It seems that the emperor acquiesced in the fact that both his wife and son escaped.

It can only be this result, because only the emperor's order can mobilize the soldiers in the Tang Dynasty. Although the local governor has the power to mobilize, but he has called a large number of soldiers for no reason. The head is gone.In terms of military power, the emperor never relaxed his supervision.

When he returned to the bow, he found that there were two more fish in the eldest grandson's fish basket, and Li Tai screamed in excitement.In addition to being surprised by his old lady's fishing skills, Li Chengqian understood what was going on when he saw his obviously stolen fish basket.

For now, Li Tai's temper is still very impatient, and such a character is not suitable for developing on the road of science.After all, this road is doomed to overcome obstacles, and it is doomed to experience countless obstacles before gradually groping for the right path.

Seeing Li Chengqian sitting beside him, the eldest grandson teased the fish in the fish basket with a reed pole, and asked without raising his head: "Your father already knows about our escape?"

Li Chengqian nodded and said: "Understood, I also ordered the local government soldiers to dispatch to protect us."

Husband and wife have a hundred days of kindness in a day, and the relationship between husband and wife cannot be completely destroyed in a day or two.Li Chengqian knew that he didn't need to say anything more. After knowing the news, the eldest grandson himself understood a lot of things.