Don't be a prince

Zhou Daniu failed to kill himself by biting his tongue, but Li Chengqian did not look down on him.

Sky-Changing Monkey walked to Zhou Daniu's side, tried it out, and then shook his head towards the prince.

Looking at the empty island, listening to the cries of people leaving the island on the surrounding boats, and looking at the dead Zhou Daniu, Li Chengqian had no choice but to order: "Prepare for a funeral and send it to the island, and allocate half of the troops to send these women, children, and old people to the island." If you go back weakly, don’t enter the city, and settle outside first, tell Dugu Zhao how to deal with these people, and wait until Gu goes back.”

After a series of instructions, Li Chengqian ordered to go to the island.

As soon as he landed on the island, he knew that the water pirates had managed the island very well over the years.There is a fence assembled from wood on the outermost periphery, and there are small gates everywhere that only people can pass through.

All the way up the mountain, at the very top, I finally saw a group of houses.

It is not accurate to say that it is a house. Many places are thatched cottages made of bundled reeds, and the most luxurious ones are just supported by wood.All the wood was used by them for the outer fence.

After all, water thieves are also refugees, and their living conditions will not be much better than those in Qinling.

Passing through these thatched huts is a large flat land.There are now hundreds of newly erected tombs on the flat land.

Seeing that a soldier wanted to dig up the tomb to see the situation, Li Chengqian ordered to stop it.Even a guy like Hou Junji would avoid it when outsiders were having a funeral, let alone facing his own people now.Digging graves to disturb the dead is a despised behavior no matter where in the Central Plains.

"Your Highness, Zhou Daniu's coffin is ready, are you going to bury him?"

Hearing Bai Yujiao's voice, Li Chengqian nodded and ordered that all the grass houses here be burned down.

Looking at the tombs one by one, Li Chengqian was filled with emotion.

This Zhou Kuo is also a smart person, he did not choose one of the two, but implemented the third option on his own.He knew very well that if they chose to be captured without a fight, their end would be paraded in the streets, and their heads would be beheaded in the end.And those fates were thorny, and they refused to accept such treatment.Compared with enslavement or slavery, they would rather choose to kill themselves.

Thinking about the living conditions of those slaves and lowly people he knew, Li Chengqian understood the choices of these people.Compared with living in hell, suicide is the best choice.

One person's strength cannot fight against the whole society. Li Chengqian understood this as early as a few years before time travel.Slavery was originally abolished in the Qin and Han Dynasties, but this was only on the surface. The so-called humble people are actually no different from slaves, and those who were sent to the Tang Dynasty as prisoners of war were even more miserable. Compared with lowly people , They are complete slaves.

Layer upon layer of exploitation is a tradition that can never be abstained from all lands.The interests of the upper class will always be taken from the lower class.Thinking that he is now the so-called "upper class", or even "top class", Li Chengqian can only make a self-deprecating smile.

"Your Highness, the soldiers have checked the island. There are no living people on the island, only some captive domestic animals, poultry and wild birds, and some dried fish."

After the report was over, Bai Yujiao shut his mouth.He found that the prince's mood was not very good after seeing these tombs, and it was only at this time that the fool went up to make trouble.

Breaking out of his thoughts, Li Chengqian turned his head and said to Bai Yujiao: "Those livestock and so on are the property of the people here. Help them transport them back. Please ask the supervisor to check the remaining Molotov cocktails and use them all up. I am going to pay for them. What do you think of buying this place?"

Bai Yujiao shook his head and said: "The local government affairs are still Dugu's business. I dare not overstep my authority in a lowly position, but all the sergeants will not have any objections to this."

After nodding his head and bowing towards the tomb, Li Chengqian turned and left.

The entire army of water thieves was wiped out, which is naturally a good thing that pleases people's hearts.

Before the fleet approached the port, they heard the sound of gongs and drums.

Seeing the crown prince frowning, Bai Yujiao hastily dispatched his family generals to disembark early and let the harbor return to silence.

Li Chengqian felt that he had nothing to be proud of if his own people beat his own people, even if the water thief was guilty.Declined the celebration banquet prepared by the harbor merchants, and handed it over to Bai Yujiao for the entertainment, while he dragged Dugu Zhao into the governor's office.

"Your Highness, I know that you are not in a good mood. It is a loss to Datang no matter what. Those women and children are old and weak. The officials have already settled down in an empty village outside the city. When they get used to it, It can be distributed to the fields, Bianzhou has a lot of good land, but there are too many people living there, and the people who farm the land can’t grow it at all, so the officials can go to Yuyu to measure it for them.”

Unlike Bai Yujiao, an old guy like Dugu Zhao is very good at controlling people's hearts. He only needs to roll his eyes to know why the prince is unhappy.

Sitting on the table in the governor's yamen, Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Although that's the case, we still need to monitor them. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, I can remember things. Dugu Zhao, I asked you to come to the yamen because I want to talk to you." You talk about business. Gu is going to buy that piece of reed marsh and use it as private land, what do you think?"

"Buy reeds?"

Dugu Zhao scratched his head, he couldn't understand why the prince bought such a crappy place.If it is for the sake of making money, Bianzhou Seaport will randomly acquire a piece of land. According to the current increasingly prosperous water transportation, it will only continue to appreciate in value, and it is difficult to depreciate.Besides, it is a rare thing for the prince to pay for land, and there is almost no precedent.To be fair, the whole world belongs to the royal family.

Seeing that the prince didn't seem to be joking, Dugu Zhao tentatively stretched out a finger: "How about ten thousand guan? Your Highness, actually, I don't recommend you to do this. The reed marsh is just a big place, so what's the use of it?" ?”

Chapter 344 Eternal Merits and Demerits

What use can it be?

Li Chengqian really wanted to tell Duguzhao that the reed marsh, since the people living there could avoid the great flood last year, meant that it was the best port in the river.Today's seaport in Bianzhou was flooded last year, and it was still newly built. If the reed marshes were transformed into a seaport, it would be strange if merchants didn't change places after tasting the benefits of berthing there.Guarding such a place, not making money is simply unreasonable.

However.... In the end, there are suspicions of poaching and taking advantage, so it is better not to explain it clearly.Besides, it is a virtue to be diligent and thrifty to run a family. What if the bastard raises the price after listening to it?

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian shook his head and said: "You don't need to analyze the pros and cons. Ten thousand guan is a bit expensive, but it's worth it for the large enough area. How about it, I will give you [-] guan , and the other five thousand coins, you want to help Gu pay for the orphans and widows left behind by the water thieves, and treat it as compensation for their relatives to relocate their graves in the future, how about that?"

With ten thousand pennies in the account, Dugu Zhao was naturally happy to agree.Sooner rather than later, he immediately brought the governor Bai Yujiao.Bie Jia and others signed the land sale agreement with the prince as witnesses.

When Li Chengqian said that [-] guan will be sent over soon, all in cash, Duguzhao was even more happy, and specially hosted a banquet for him, a banquet, the guests and the host enjoyed themselves...

Early the next morning, when the morning sun shone into the room, Li Chengqian opened his eyes and turned to look at his numb arms.

Facts have proved that if you exercise again, your shoulders will still be sore after being used as a pillow overnight.

Su Yuan, who is also 16 years old now, still looks good, and her figure is even more developed.Vaguely, it seemed to be taller than him.Slender arms hugged his waist, and slender legs hung between his waist and abdomen.The most terrible thing is that there seems to be something amazing caught in the bend of her leg. Even through the panties, she can still feel the tenderness....

Stop!

Shaking his head and getting rid of the easy-to-follow content from his mind, Li Chengqian began to concentrate on thinking about when to leave.But this is the fault of the matter, obviously he has calmed down and stopped thinking about the eighteen bans, but Xiao Chengqian still has no intention of letting go.

He tried to move Su Yuan's leg away, but only halfway through, Li Chengqian felt the breath change on his shoulder.

Yes, wake up.

Opening her eyes, seeing Li Chengqian's embarrassment, Su Yuan smiled: "Just wake up the concubine when you wake up, why are you acting like a thief."

"Isn't it because I'm afraid of disturbing you?"

After talking nonsense with his eyes open, Li Chengqian stretched his waist, put his arms around Su Yuan and said: "Yesterday, I signed a contract with officials like Biezhou Governor Biejia, and the reeds will be our East Palace from now on." Find a more reliable and capable shopkeeper and let him take over the affairs here."

Outside the male lead, inside the female lead, matters related to "family property" should be handed over to Su Yuancai.But fortunately, Su Yuan is also very smart. Not only did she reluctantly take over these tasks, but she has also tended to be handy in the past two years.

"You have ordered me, and I will arrange it soon. By the way, Qingque has been borrowing money from me these days, and also hired a few carpenters to make some things all day long. I asked him, and he said These things won’t be put on the ship, and we’ll just have to ask someone to do it again after we’ve moved to another place. Tell me, isn’t this a bit of a waste.”

"It's a bit of a waste, but, no matter how much money he wants, give it to him, and the family doesn't have to talk about not paying it back. This time when Qingque came out, in order to prevent the news from being revealed, he brought a few loyal The guards, Chang Shi and the like didn't notify at all. The dignified King Wei went out and didn't bring any money with him, so he wanted to go out and rob."

"Hahaha, the lord who robbed, but if Qingque goes to rob, it is estimated that he can rob a lot."

Looking at Su Yuan, who was smiling profusely for no reason, it was difficult for Li Chengqian to find the point of laughter.But smiles are contagious, so he could only smile and pat Su Yuan's butt, saying: "The sun is already rising, even though it's outside, it's not right to wake up so late. Hurry up." Get up and change your husband's clothes?"

After getting up and getting dressed, Li Chengqian almost groaned when he stepped out of the room and breathed the free air.

In addition to the celebration banquet last night, he also saw the official documents of the Ministry of War.The newly added official document of the Ministry of War undoubtedly recognized his approach.Along with the official documents, there is also the emperor's imperial decree.There are no words from the emperor's father in the imperial decree, and he looks like a businessman.As for the content, it is to allow the prince to "act cheaply" outside.

This "doing things cheaply" is great. It is essentially similar to the "Shangfang Sword". As long as the status is lower than the owner, it can be killed first and then played later. Even if the status is higher than the holder, it can be forcibly detained.In terms of status, there is no one outside of Chang'an who is higher than the prince.Therefore, this is almost an imperial decree that allows him to do anything wrong.

"It's okay, I finally did something serious."

Glancing in the direction of Chang'an, Li Chengqian smiled and greeted his eldest grandson.

Now that the eldest grandson's stomach is already showing a lot of pregnancy, it is a very dangerous time.If possible, for the safety of her and the child, the itinerary should be adjusted as soon as possible.Alternating day and night by boat must not work, and it should be changed to land as soon as possible.

After inviting Ann, Li Chengqian sat down without hesitation when he saw the breakfast on the grandson's table, and ate with her.

"Chengqian, I heard that your father has issued an imperial edict for you? Did you ever mention that we should go back?"

Asking Zhang Yun to show the imperial decree to his eldest grandson, Li Chengqian said while eating pickles, "We didn't let us go back, but gave my son and minister a decree to do things cheaply. Whether it's about Zhengzhou or Bianzhou, After careful calculation, this son-in-law is actually doing something wrong. But now, with the imperial father's will, no matter how much you toss about, this son-in-law is justified."

Such an imperial decree to act cheaply is usually issued after the court announces it. If all officials stop it, this imperial decree will not be able to leave the imperial city.After all, it is a will that can be used to "do something wrong", so it still needs to go through official channels.Since this imperial decree appeared here, it can only be said that both the emperor and all civil and military officials recognized the prince's ability.

The queen naturally understood these things, but the eldest grandson was still a little unhappy when the emperor ordered her to go back.

Seeing his old lady's dejected look, Li Chengqian felt extremely helpless.In love, marriage, regardless of men and women, when they have zero distance or even negative distance contact, they will always dislike each other, but once they are far away, they will feel empty and all opinions will disappear.It is estimated that the current eldest grandson really hopes to see the emperor look anxious, even if the order is cold and stiff.As long as you can feel that the emperor cares about you, that's fine.

It is impossible to go back, and before the turmoil is over, going back will only waste all previous efforts.What's more, these days, the eldest grandson did not stay at home, but walked around the streets surrounded by guards.When the gongs and drums were playing in the harbor yesterday, the women also gathered together, showing off their husbands and this year's harvest to the queen, they were very happy.

Maintaining an optimistic attitude is the most important thing for pregnant women.

Thinking of this, Li Chengqian drank the millet porridge in the bowl in one go, and said, "Mother, let's set off tomorrow. Before that, my son had already ordered people to drive all night to Dengzhou to prepare a winter palace for you. Dengzhou is located by the sea. It won't be particularly cold in winter, and when the spring is warm and the flowers bloom next year, after your sister is born, you can still look at the sea and take a walk by the sea when you have nothing to do, you will be very happy."

There are only a handful of people in Guanzhong who have the opportunity to see the sea.Even if you are a queen, the eldest grandson has never seen the sea.If the emperor has been able to die, it is estimated that her queen will only end up in the palace of old age and death.But....

Looking at Li Chengqian who was filling the bowl with porridge, the eldest grandson said in confusion: "I was curious before, Chengqian, why have you always been sure that this time the mother will conceive a younger sister?"

"what?"

With a shake of his hand, the porridge spilled on the shoes.The maids around were shocked and hurried over to change the prince's shoes for fear of getting burned.

After finally changing his shoes, Li Chengqian said seriously: "Guess, when Erchen was in medical school, I heard a peasant woman say that the one with the pointed belly must be a boy. Since your belly has always been round, it must be a boy." I'm a younger sister! Besides, Erchen also hopes to be a younger sister, and if there is another Qingque, I think Erchen will collapse."

After finishing speaking, Li Chengqian wiped off a drop of cold sweat from his temples under the guise of scratching his head.

The eldest grandson nodded half-believingly. She didn't find anything wrong with this set of rhetoric, but a woman's sixth sense still told her that this matter was not that simple.

Just when the eldest grandson was about to think about it, Li Tai's voice sounded:

"No, Brother Huang, today you have to speak clearly. What do you mean if someone like me appears again, you will collapse? Are you despising me?"

"Of course I hate it. Look at your stomach. Your sister-in-law said this morning that if you continue to eat like this, sooner or later your mother will not be able to afford supplements."

Seeing Li Tai's untidy clothes appeared, Li Chengqian handed him the porridge bowl in his hand, and took an empty bowl to fill it.

Li Tai was obviously just getting up, and greeted his eldest grandson with a porridge bowl, and then sat on a chair and started eating.The eldest grandson, who had already finished eating, straightened Li Tai's collar with a smile.Ever since she became a queen, she has been looking forward to this scene the most.Although it was just a simple conversation, she could still hear that the relationship between the two brothers was like real brothers.

This may seem like a typo, but there are not just one or two brothers who have turned against each other and become strangers, let alone the royal family.Even though she had a just in case mentality and prayed that the brothers would not follow the path taken by the majority, she still couldn't believe it when the prayer really came true.

Smiling and patted Li Tai's belly, the eldest grandson said with a smile: "You, you really have to lose weight. They say you are obese. How come you are so smart and so fat? Yan Wan has such a slim body , but how can I withstand your pressure!"

As soon as these words came out, Li Chengqian and Li Tai looked at each other and shivered involuntarily.It's not the first time that the eldest grandson started talking hooligans. In order to make her grandson appear this morning, she is really trying everything now.

"My son also thinks about it, why don't you start doing morning exercises with the emperor tomorrow?"

Li Chengqian chuckled: "Okay, brother promises to lose your body fat, but we have agreed in advance, Qingque, if you can't hold on, I will send you back to Chang'an."

"Don't, don't! I promise not to flinch!"

Li Tai must have dismissed other punishments, but returning to Chang'an, it can be regarded as stepping on his tail.Even though he could live in the academy when he was in Chang'an, but in any case, it was not as free as going out.

"Okay, since you have decided to lose weight, let's start doing it today. The mother is pregnant with the child, otherwise she can be with you."

Li Tai nodded depressingly, he had no hope for his future morning.

It's not suitable to do exercise immediately after eating, so half an hour later, Li Chengqian took Li Tai to start morning exercises together.Just on the first day, Li Tai was as tired as if he had just been fished out of the river.

With the purpose of doing things cheaply, it is much more convenient to do things, so Li Chengqian confidently blended into Bianzhou's government affairs.With a wave of his hand, the people who came out of the reed marshes were given refugee status and enjoyed the same treatment as refugees.They are all poor people. Even if they are guilty, they were forced to enter the reed marsh to hide from the world.As long as there is a stable life, only a fool will continue to take risks.

After arranging various matters, Li Chengqian ordered the team to leave Bianzhou.Guiding refugees to become naturalized is a great achievement for local officials, and Li Chengqian has no intention of taking a share of it. Besides, as a crown prince, it is useless to ask for various credits.Therefore, it is most appropriate to hand over all follow-up matters to officials in Bianzhou.

Pass Bianzhou, pass Heze, turn north at the mouth of the canal, and enter Yanzhou.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal actually originated in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is the ancient canal with the longest mileage and the largest project in the world. It is also one of the oldest canals. It is a great project that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Great Wall.

However, combined with history, the most well-known incident related to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is Emperor Sui Yang, who has always been a wonderful figure with mixed reputations.

There is a poem by Bai Juyi called "Five Poems of Words, Part Three": Give the king a way to solve doubts, and you don't need to drill turtles and wish you yarrow.It takes three days to burn the jade, and it takes seven years to distinguish the material.The Duke of Zhou was afraid of rumors, but Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp him.Xiang Shi died at the time of birth, so who knows the authenticity of his life?

In fact, this poem, no matter today, is very reasonable, and it applies to everyone.

Who can make a conclusion about the merits and demerits of the ages?Who is not all in controversy, swinging back and forth on the boundary between good guys and bad guys?

Chapter 345 Going Against the Current

"Xiangshi died at the beginning, who knows the truth of his life? Good sentence, good sentence, brother, are you going to publicize this poem? If you don't plan to publicize it, why don't you give your younger brother a name? Opportunity? Spread the word another day, and say that this poem was written by King Li Tai of Wei!"

Maybe I read it unconsciously, and finally attracted Li Tai.

Looking at the eldest grandson again, he was surprised to see that the eldest grandson opened his mouth.There are also many people who are also surprised. Although most people can't memorize or write a poem, this doesn't affect them thinking that poetry writers are amazing.

Clapping his hands, the eldest grandson pulled himself out of the surprise, and said with a smile: "Chengqian, your poem is really wonderful, and my mother will write it down for you."

You still have to take the pen and ink with you. On the boat, the eldest grandson recorded Bai Juyi's poem in her beautiful handwriting.

Li Chengqian discovered that the ancients' ability to memorize quickly was amazing. For example, the eldest grandson, the eight-line poem, could be remembered exactly after listening to it only once.

After plagiarizing again, Li Chengqian no longer felt ashamed.People are always good at finding reasons for themselves to do bad things in others, or in sentences.For example, didn't the elementary school teacher who asked me to recite extracurricular poems said it?Memorize it well, what you memorize is yours.

Besides, Bai Juyi and others don't know how many years it will take to appear in the world. They got the copyright before them, but they will be the ones who steal their names by then, hehehe.

Thinking about the Tang poetry and Song poetry that still remains in his mind, Li Chengqian is full of confidence in his "literati career".

Yanzhou (Liaocheng) is an inferior state. Although it controls the canal, it does not have such a discerning official as Dugu Zhao to open up the port. While the merchants are dissatisfied, they dare not ask the governor of Yanzhou for the right to build a ship port.Because it is not important, Yanzhou does not have enough standing government soldiers. When large ships enter Yanzhou, there are only sparse road guards along the coast. The long canal and the total number of government soldiers along the road exceed the standard.It is estimated that the governor of Yanzhou borrowed troops from state capitals such as Dezhou, and they are beating their swollen faces to pretend to be fat.

In the battle of the water pirates, there were a lot of gunpowder weapons left. Although there was no way to equip them to lead the whole army, but with them, people still had confidence.Even if the local state capital doesn't send troops to escort them, it stands to reason that with a rate of [-], they can walk sideways in the Tang Dynasty.

The surface of the canal is very wide, and boats can occasionally be seen salvaging rotten aquatic plants and probing the depth of the river on the river.These people were not dispatched by the local government, but were assigned by businessmen for execution.It is said that businessmen seek profit from capital and do nothing, but they never fall behind in matters involving the common interests of businessmen, and they will never feel that they are losing money when they contribute money and effort.

Don't look at Zhao Qi's ability to lead top retail merchants from all walks of life in Zhengzhou. It seems that the scenery is boundless. You must know that most of the expenses for entertaining the prince and his party are paid by him.

Because of the hard work of these businessmen, boating on the canal did not feel the slightest bumps.

"The only project in Tang Dynasty that can be compared with the canal is probably the Great Wall!"

Hearing Li Chengqian's emotion, Li Tai said on the sidelines: "It is indeed the same. When Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall, I don't know how many people died of exhaustion. Emperor Sui Yang dug the canal, and I don't know how many people died. , died in two generations, and the Sui Dynasty’s eternal foundation is also considered to have died in two generations. Both of them are idiots who don’t care about the people, so it’s understandable that their dynasties were destroyed because of this.”