Don't be a prince

Li Tai just ate a lychee with the skin on. He knew he was making a fool of himself, but he could only put it down calmly.Seeing the emperor's brother tasting various fruits from Lingnan gracefully, he also imitated the example.

I didn't eat much vegetables, but I ate a lot of fruits.Although he knew that doing so would be bad for his health, Li Chengqian still enjoyed his meal very happily.People are like this, an occasional indulgence, the happiness it brings is unparalleled.

After eating, Feng Zhidai left the table, ready to take Li Chengqian to the bedroom.Feng An smiled and gave the opportunity to his son, and instead led Li Tai and Li Ke to their room.

Not far from the lobby is a small two-story building.It looks like a small building, but after entering it, I found that it is small on the surface, long in reality, and the space is huge enough.

Glancing at the decoration of the small building, Li Chengqian couldn't help asking Feng Zhidai: "In order to give up this small building to Gu, I'm afraid many of your family members have moved to the front yard."

The backyard is where the immediate family members live. Many times, when the sons get married, they have to move to the front yard.This small building is luxuriously decorated, with the atmosphere of the owner's house everywhere, obviously it is Feng An's nest.

Feng Zhidai was stunned for a moment, then smiled calmly: "It's okay, it's better for you to live here."

After finishing speaking, Feng Zhidai looked at Yu Tai who didn't say a word: "Most of the generals of the Feng family are still on their way back from Quanzhou, and the things at home will be handed over to the general, okay?"

Yu Tai was not surprised that Feng Zhidai would do this, nodded and smiled and said: "Of course, in addition, the people of the Xuanjia Army can be stationed at the seaside, but the 2000 people personally led cannot be far away from His Highness anyway. They find a suitable place to relocate."

Feng Zhidai smiled and said: "Naturally, the next door to the Feng family is the other courtyard of the Xu family. Before you came back, the owner of the Xu family sold the other courtyard to me for a purse. How about reselling it to the general?"

Ignoring the two people who were talking together with a wicked smile, Li Chengqian walked into the small building.

When leaving Dengzhou, most of the maids and eunuchs in the East Palace were handed over to the eldest grandson by Li Chengqian and brought back to Chang'an, only a few of them.But when entering the small building at this time, a large number of maids appeared.It seems that Feng Zhidai made emergency arrangements.

Li Chengqian didn't say much, and enjoyed Feng Zhidai's hospitality with peace of mind.

Feng Zhidai put his address in the backyard, apart from better protection, it was obviously meant to be close.After all, it is not good for the whole family, and it is impossible to arrange people to live in the backyard.

Seeing the prince walking in, the two maids took two steps forward to salute.

"Where is the bathroom? I just want to take a bath to relieve my fatigue."

Glancing at the still not very dense night outside the window, Li Chengqian stretched himself, ready to enjoy what might be his last vacation.

—Chang’an Imperial Palace—The Hall of Two Instruments—

Unlike Lingnan, Chang'an has already entered the early winter at this time, and the sky is extremely dark and deep.

But at such a time, the emperor has not finished handling government affairs, so he can only continue to work overtime in pain and happiness.

Not long after opening a memorial, the cry of a child suddenly came from behind the curtain.Being quarreled, Li Shimin didn't show any impatience. He just walked over with the memorial and watched the queen coax the child in a hurry.

Seeing the figure of the emperor, the eldest grandson said helplessly: "Sizi is crying the most powerfully at this time. You are most afraid of being disturbed when you are dealing with government affairs. If you don’t go, you’ll have to stay in the Hall of Liangyi, where you live as a concubine.”

Li Shimin snorted softly and said, "Don't look at you as the lord of the harem, but I'm still your lord. How can there be a queen like you who dares to drive the emperor away?"

Even so, Li Shimin sat on the side of the bed, watching his son sucking milk and slowly falling asleep.Ever since he learned from Sun Simiao that this child was the last child of him and the queen, he liked this little girl so much that when Taishan enshrined Zen, he specially gave her the title of "Jinyang".

Seeing the emperor staring at something, Changsun spat slightly: "You still have government affairs to deal with, why are you so lost in thought?"

Awakened by the queen, Li Shimin took out the memorial in his hand and unfolded it in front of his eldest grandson.

The harem does not interfere in politics. The eldest grandson has always adhered to this creed and believed that the emperor would not do so on purpose. Therefore, this memorial is probably related to her, or it should be related to the prince.

After reading the memorial, the eldest grandson suddenly smiled wryly: "Chengqian bombed three Japanese envoys in the East China Sea? This kid, what a fool! Are you going to issue an order to reprimand him?"

Li Shimin shook his head: "No, I don't reprimand him, on the contrary, I will reward him with a decree!"

Chapter 396 The Prince's Attitude

"A decree to reward him?"

The emperor nodded, went to the desk, took another memorial to the queen and said: "The one you read was written by Honglu Temple on behalf of the envoy of the Japanese country. If the two armies are at war or the two countries are hostile, they will not kill the envoy. It is a rule that all the clans in the world have to follow since ancient times. To be honest, if there is no memorial from the governor of Suzhou, I might really have to reprimand the prince."

The queen read the memorial of the governor of Suzhou again, and then looked at the memorial of Honglu Temple, and couldn't help but said angrily: "Tang Jian is really, he knows that the people of the Wa country can't tell the truth, why do you want to do it for him before the matter is verified clearly?" They play?"

Li Shimin laughed loudly: "Guanyin maidservant, you underestimated Tang Jian, he must have colluded with Fang Xuanling, otherwise, why is the memorial of the governor of Suzhou and the memorial of Honglu Temple next to each other? Moreover, Suzhou To be honest, after reading the memorial of the governor of Suzhou, if I hadn’t remembered that the Japanese were envoys, I’m afraid I would have ordered them to be executed. Those who dared to kill people in the territorial waters of the Tang Dynasty, I would not only punish them , but also to blame their country!"

Seeing the heroic words of the emperor, the eldest grandson had no choice but to stand up and prostrate himself on the ground: "Your Majesty is mighty."

Li Shimin nodded, stretched out his hand to help the Queen up and said, "I'm still very touched. That order was just a casual statement. I didn't expect that the soldiers on the frontiers of the empire would obey it as a rule of heaven. Now some people from the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Shipping , and lost his life because of this order from me. Chengqian's disposition was correct, and it was okay to attack them at the time. Afterwards, even if they were accused of crimes, with the status of envoys, I couldn't do anything to them. As for the reprimand, One of my documents has crossed the East China Sea to the country of Wa, does it still have a trace of deterrence?

Chengqian told the Ministry of Internal Affairs not to send the tributes of the Japanese state to the treasury, and distributed [-]% as a reward to Donggong and Hejian Wangfu, and allocated [-]% as compensation to reward officials and subordinates in conflicts.The remaining [-]% should be charged directly to the treasury.I am too lazy to accept the tribute from the Wa Kingdom. "

After speaking, the emperor sat on the bed and lay on the queen's lap.

The queen sighed and began to massage the emperor's temples.

For the Tang Dynasty, the most depressing thing was not a powerful country like Tubo and Turks, but a small country like Wa.A fly-like guy, it's disgusting to slap to death, but if you don't slap it, it's always buzzing there.

After enjoying the queen's massage for a while, the emperor felt much better. He stood up, walked to the table, and wrote a reply to Suzhou with a pen. At the same time, he issued three orders in succession.The first decree was to order Wei Zheng, who had rewritten the law, to make the rule that "foreign envoys and businessmen, etc., entering the territory of the Tang Dynasty must lower their flags and disarm them" as the law of the Tang Dynasty and make it known to the world.

The second decree was for the governor of Suzhou. In addition to paying compensation to the soldiers who died in the conflict, he also granted the governor of Suzhou and other coastal prefectures the right to send troops on a regular basis.Of course, it is limited to sending troops abroad.

The third decree was for the Lingnan Shipyard, ordering the prince to give Suzhou and Yuezhou apart from supervising the construction of the Lingnan Fleet.Ship divisions in Yangzhou and other cities replaced warships with stronger combat capabilities.

The three wills were not kept secret, but announced to the world swaggeringly.For a while, the people who learned of this decree became excited.I am so excited, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, it is the first time that the emperor has issued such a tyrannical decree to the outside world. "Tian Khan" is certainly glorious, but anyone who is an adult can tell how much the title of emperor is worth.

But this time is different, as long as the emperor's will is recognized by foreign countries, it means that the Tang Dynasty has indeed become the "monarchy" of this land!

It wasn't just the common people who got the news, the envoys who lived in the guest house of Honglu Temple also got the news.For a while, all the envoys from foreign countries fell silent.

If this is the case in the past, they will agree to it, whether they obey or not, it is not certain.However, nowadays, who would dare to take the order of the Tang emperor as a joke?Although the Wa Kingdom is only a small country, the three ships sunk have already shown Datang's attitude. This order is not negotiable!

They alone couldn't decide how to deal with this matter, so for a while, there was an endless stream of attendants who left the guest house of Honglu Temple, and they all rushed to report this matter back to their home country.

Li Chengqian didn't know that what he had done had caused such a big reaction in Chang'an. After sitting on the boat for a long time, what he needed most was to rest.

Early the next morning, before the sun rose, Li Chengqian was woken up by Su Yuan.

Glancing at Su Yuan, who was still sleepy, Li Chengqian pressed her under the quilt, covered her with the quilt, and then turned over.

"You don't need to participate in today's etiquette, just take a good rest. When you wake up, take Axue and the others out to play. This is not the Central Plains, and there are not so many stinky rules."

Before she finished speaking, Su Yuan fell asleep.Li Chengqian froze for a moment, then smiled, kissed her on the cheek, and then began to dress.

The reason why I got up early today is because I want to pay respects to Mrs. Xian.It wasn't his sudden idea, but the emperor had specifically ordered this matter when he left Dengzhou.

Some people, regardless of race or national boundaries, must be respected.Mrs. Xian is such a person.

Dressed neatly, Zhang Yun had already prepared a guard of honor and various sacrifices when he went out.Feng An and his son also got up, but as descendants of the contemporary Feng family, they had to go to the temple to greet them in advance.

The prince's guard of honor came out from Feng's house and went straight to the temple of Mrs. Xian.Along the way, it attracted the attention of many early risers.

When they arrived at the temple, the sun still hadn't come out. Zhang Yun began to lead people to prepare the altar for offering sacrifices, while Li Chengqian advanced to the temple to offer incense.The three sticks of incense represent the emperor's respect, and the three sticks of incense represent Li Chengqian's own respect.Feng An was watching the ceremony, not surprised that the prince would offer three sticks of incense.He knew very well how much people like grandma were respected by the world.

In fact, he also took Madam Xian as his goal, set an example, and acted as a man.

After the incense was burnt and the sun came out, Li Chengqian walked out of the main hall, ignoring the large crowd gathered to watch the ceremony, and started the sacrificial ceremony.

The article is ready-made, you only need to read it, and the etiquette is not too complicated, as long as you remain solemn throughout the process.But after a ceremony, Li Chengqian almost fainted in the temple.

There's no way, it's too hot in Lingnan, out of solemnity, he wears the outfit that he wore to sacrifice to heaven in Chang'an.It is usually winter to worship heaven, so the clothes are extra heavy. The same clothes, in the hot weather of Lingnan, are almost fatal.Otherwise, he wouldn't get up early and be in such a hurry.

After changing into flimsy clothes, Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief.The sun has only just risen now, but the temperature has already started to soar.The coldness of the morning was dispelled in a short time.

"Your Highness, there are many mountains and forests around Gaozhou, and there are many kinds of wild animals. If you are interested, the old man will take someone to accompany you to hunt, how about it?"

After the ceremony, Feng An's vanity was greatly satisfied, so he was grinning all the way.

"Let's talk about it in a few days. These days, I'm going to take a good look around the harbor and see the market of maritime merchants."

Feng An nodded, and began to arrange with his subordinates to have the breakfast delivered directly to the harbor.

The harbor in the morning is as busy as it is in the evening.There are many sea-going ships that have delivered and traded goods, and they need to hurry up and leave.Sea-going ships can only sail during the day, and if there is a delay, they may not be able to accurately sail to the supply point recorded on the chart during the day.The charts recorded in the mind are the lifeblood of all sea merchants.

Hammoud's fleet is also leaving. The cargo ship is full of cargo, and the waterline is very dangerous.This kind of performance can only show that this is an old fritters at sea.Without absolute self-confidence, he did not dare to conduct such a large transaction.

Pointing to Hamud's fleet, Li Chengqian thought for a while before asking Feng An: "Mr. Feng, have you tried to put people in his fleet?"

Feng An shook his head: "Impossible, the big cannibal is in business, and he will never carry other people on his own ship. If there is, it can only be a slave of goods. I know what His Highness is thinking, do you want Harmony?" The chart in De's head?"

Li Chengqian nodded. In this era, Datang's sea power is poor and weak, even those who go to sea to do business, there are not many people who make it out.For the people of Datang, the turbulent ocean is an insurmountable sky.Most of the so-called maritime merchants nowadays are people who travel along the coast and do north-south transactions.Or simply sitting on the shore and waiting for someone to deliver the goods to the door, and the guy who resells them.

As for people like Hammoud, there are hardly any.

"I really want to catch him and interrogate him. With this chart, the Lingnan fleet will save a lot of trouble."

"Impossible Your Royal Highness, it is impossible for Hamud to hand over the chart to you. For a true sea merchant like him, the chart is the lifeline, and only the tested descendants of the family can inherit it. Moreover, the inherited There can only be at most two people from Haitu who go to sea for business at a time. They will continue to send one person only if the person who goes to sea to do business can’t come back. Haitu can be said to be the real pillar of their entire family. In such a situation Excuse me, don't talk about cross-examination, even if you use the cruelest punishment in the whole world on him, it is impossible for him to tell."

After hearing Feng An's words, Li Chengqian had to give up this idea.In this era, no matter who they are, as long as the family is involved, they can risk their lives.Since the sea chart is so important to Hamud, it is really impossible to get it.

"If you can't take shortcuts, you can't take shortcuts. Mr. Feng, you pass the news to the various families in Lingnan. If we want to open up sea routes, we must be willing to sacrifice. If we can't take shortcuts, we should raise our heads and move forward bravely. If you can't do it in one day, it will take two days." If it doesn't work in two days, it will take three days. If we persevere all the way, we can always find various routes. Hamud is just a family, and he can break out the charts. With so many of us, isn't it better than a beard?"

Feng An bowed his hand, but he did not agree, but said in confusion: "Your Highness, you are really planning to take them with you. The flight route is the golden road. With this opportunity, they will all develop."

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "So what about the development? Don't forget that the biggest head of the harbor shipyard is the royal family. If they take one step, the royal family can take three or even four steps. The exploration of sailing requires a lot of young people who grew up by the sea." Participation, there are the most people like this in Lingnan, you can't let Gu transfer people from Chang'an. To be honest, as long as these people don't have any stupid thoughts, Gu doesn't care how much profit they can get. Besides, I want to pay back It is necessary to pay, and those who only pay for the boat, how can they do it without the help of others."

Feng An nodded, turned around to notify the families, and left Feng Zhidai behind.

Li Chengqian looked back at Feng Zhidai, then laughed, and Feng Zhidai also laughed.In any case, when the two of them were in the academy, they spent a lot of time together. There were only two of them left, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Keeping the airs of the prince all the time, how tiring it must be, so as soon as Feng An left, Li Chengqian's shoulders slumped a little.

Arching his hands, Feng Zhidai said: "His Royal Highness is really generous. If someone else comes to Lingnan, I am afraid that he will only think of suppressing the Feng family and other families. Only His Royal Highness is even willing to share profits with us."

Li Chengqian walked towards the beach, and said to Feng Zhidai as he walked: "If it were me in the past, I would probably do the same thing, but ah, after being taught by the emperor, I became a lot more arrogant without knowing it. No , It is not appropriate to call it arrogance. This may be a kind of self-confidence, the self-confidence of a superior. Although the father has always been vigilant against some domestic forces rebelling, he is worried about the rebellion of his acquaintances, and he is not afraid of the rebellion itself. , and even some expectations.

In the same way, when it comes to dealing with the Lingnan issue, it is a bit inferior to suppress all the way.It is wrong to clearly draw the boundaries between "Central Plains people" and "Lingnan people", and it will easily cause hostility and division.Therefore, treating everyone equally is the best way.My royal family treats your Lingnan family sincerely, but you stab your knife in the back. It is disgusting when such a thing happens, but when the time comes to attack Lingnan, the royal family will have no psychological burden, right? "

Strolling on the beach, Li Chengqian spoke out his thoughts without reservation.

After listening, Feng Zhidai was both surprised and delighted.When the crown prince came to Lingnan this time, not only the small families were afraid, but the Feng family was also terrified.Whether it is what happened in Quanzhou or the attitude of the prince yesterday, it shows that the prince has no intention of letting go.But after hearing these words today, he already understood the prince's true attitude.

The Central Plains, or the royal family is not interested in killing the forces in Lingnan, as long as they swear allegiance and do not make small moves behind the scenes.

Taking a long breath, Feng Zhidai pointed in the direction of the beach and said, "I remember that His Highness liked fishing very much at the beginning, but now that you are in Lingnan, why don't you try it? There are many fish in the Lingnan sea, but you can't see them in the Central Plains."

Chapter 397 I got kicked

Fishing?

Fishing is indeed a rare pastime, but right now, there are more important things than fishing.

Shaking his head, Li Chengqian turned around and said to Feng Zhidai: "I don't have such a leisurely mind now. Your Feng family has dominated Lingnan for many years. You should have various maps around Lingnan. I just want to see these maps. How about it?"

"map?"

Feng Zhidai was only surprised for a moment, but nodded in agreement without hesitation in the next moment.

Seeing Feng Zhidai's clean and tidy promise, Li Chengqian was very satisfied.

The Lingnan family, even without his intervention, has always cast their sights on the sea these years. It is impossible to say that there are no shadows of those sea merchants who dare to risk their lives to explore.

The maps and sea charts obtained by each family are priceless treasures, preserved as the foundation of a family.Since Feng Zhidai was just surprised, he agreed without any calculations, which is enough to show the loyalty of the Feng family.

"In this case, let's go back and ask for the chart alone, it will be of great use."

Feng Zhidai agreed and beckoned the carriage over.He didn't know why the prince wanted the chart, but he knew that he had no other choice but to agree.Don't look at the prince's construction of the seaport as if it has nothing to do with the Feng family, but he knows very well that because of the construction of the seaport and shipyard, the Feng family is the family that has gained the most indirect benefits in Lingnan.With this kindness, I just want a chart, nothing more.

It was only a short time before returning to Feng's house in a carriage.Entering the backyard, Li Chengqian couldn't help being speechless when he saw the size of the Feng family's treasure house.After all, it is a family with a deep local heritage. If we simply calculate the prices of the things in the treasure house, it is estimated that the Feng family will not be a problem in the ranks of the five surnames and seven Wangs.It's just that, because of inheritance, in terms of status, the Feng family is not comparable.

In the innermost part of the treasure house, Feng Zhi ordered someone to carry out a box with a smell of mutton. Li Chengqian did not dislike it, but looked forward to it instead.

Nautical charts and maps, but if you want to preserve them well, animal skins are the best choice.

Back in the lobby of the Feng family, Feng Zhi took out sheepskin maps like Dai Xianbao, spread them out in front of Li Chengqian, and explained them while laying them out.

"Your Highness, this is the map of the sea near Gaozhou, which belongs to Xunzhou."

"This is a map of South China Sea Island, but it's not that detailed."

"This is a map of the sea area south of Nankaido. The Feng family has only explored here so far. If it is farther away, it is easy to die. After sailing at sea for a long time, the crew members are prone to a strange disease, but on the shore, they will It’s really strange that it can heal itself without medicine.”

A strange disease on board?What else but scurvy?In fact, scurvy is very preventable, but the people of Tang Dynasty in this era have not discovered the reason.Judging from the fact that many big food merchants have come across the ocean, they have already discovered the importance of fresh vegetables.

Without telling Feng Zhidai about this, Li Chengqian picked up a chart, which looked a bit like a lift.

Seeing the prince holding a picture and not talking, Feng Zhidai explained: "Your Highness, this is Ryukyu. It is not far from Quanzhou, and there are people living on it, but they are very xenophobic. Many families in Lingnan want to take it. , failed.”

Stretching out his hand and tapping on Ryukyu, Li Chengqian said with a smile: "If such an island can be taken, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty have an additional gateway to the sea? Ryukyu, if you are lonely, you must win it!"

Putting down the map of Ryukyu, Li Chengqian picked up Nanhai Island, which is the map south of Hainan Island in later generations.

Because many islands and reefs are involved, the maps here are enlarged and drawn, and they need to be pieced together one by one.

Throwing the tables and chairs aside, in the lobby of the Feng family, Feng Zhidai and Li Chengqian put together the map of the area that the Feng family had explored so far.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar map of the South China Sea, Li Chengqian remained silent for a long time.

Feng An, who got the news, also rushed back. Seeing the prince looking at the map and thinking, he didn't bother, and cast a questioning look at his son.