Li Chengqian nodded slightly, "There are records in the history books, but all the kings who respected Buddhism did not end well in the end."
Zhang Yang nodded happily. It seemed that Li Chengqian could still tell the difference. Then he said: "Your Highness, if they dare to come to the East Palace again, can I beat them out with sticks?"
"It won't be enough to beat him out with a stick."
Li Chengqian smiled reluctantly.
"This Young Master Changsun brought a monk to the East Palace with evil intentions. He should be taught a lesson and let him remember the lesson. Why did he bring everyone to the East Palace?"
Li Chengqian quickly stopped and said: "There is no need for a lesson. I will give him a letter from the Guhui to warn him."
"Then let's do this for now. If there is a next time, I won't be polite."
"That's fine."
The prince is an honest person, but he is too honest, and he can't tell the difference between good guys and bad guys. The eminent monk Zhu was the bad guy that day, no matter whether he solved the egg mystery because he heard it from outside, or it was just a coincidence.
In short, it is best to keep distance from such people.
Looking up at the chart in front of him again, Zhang Yang pondered: "The prince also heard before that King Wei planned to spend money to repair Chang'an City?"
Li Chengqian sat cross-legged, "I know."
"Then this chart will be useful." Zhang Yang drew a circle on several places in Chang'an City with a pen, "Your Highness, please take a look."
Li Chengqian looked at the circled places and frowned: "What does this mean?"
"The places I have just circled are some very lively markets in Chang'an City. According to His Royal Highness the King of Wei's idea of placing trash cans in Chang'an City, a few more trash cans can be added to the more lively streets."
Li Chengqian put his weight on the backrest behind him, "Actually, I have concerns."
"I wonder what concerns His Highness the Crown Prince has?"
"I was thinking that if I were to build a lot of trash cans, what would happen if the trash was stolen?"
"Stealed? This..."
Zhang Yang was speechless for a moment and then scratched his head, "I think our Chang'an City has simple folk customs, so this kind of thing shouldn't happen, right?"
Li Chengqian thought thoughtfully and continued: "But it's not impossible. Just make a very obvious mark on the barrel."
"I think the Ministry of Public Affairs will take care of these trivial matters."
"I think so too."
Zhang Yang thought for a moment, "Where did you just say?"
"We need to put more trash cans in busy markets."
"Yes." Zhang Yang continued to explain: "I also know that the relationship between the prince and the king of Wei is not very good, but if brothers can help each other in the country, your majesty will be happy and the queen will feel at ease."
Li Chengqian nodded, this time with a serious look on his face.
"Actually, there is one more thing." Zhang Yang scratched his chin and said hesitantly: "The King of Wei spent so much money to make meritorious deeds. The prince can't just watch but also make suggestions, and he also needs to get part of it. Credit, the credit cannot be given to King Wei alone."
"Hehehe..." Li Chengqian couldn't help but smile, pointing at Zhang Yang and trembling with laughter, "I don't know what to say about you, you are really..."
"I am a very down-to-earth person." Zhang Yang put his hands in his hands and looked serious.
It is best to communicate sincerely. The prince and the King of Wei are very hostile when they have a small relationship. Repairing Chang'an City is the King of Wei's business. Rather than helping the King of Wei, it is better to take the credit from the prince.
After men open the sky and talk openly, friendship can be enhanced.
As the head of the East Palace, in addition to managing the prince's daily words and deeds, he also has to maintain a good relationship with the prince.
It's difficult to be a junior official, but the biggest advantage is freedom. You can be absent for two days from time to time, and people won't ask any questions.
The words came to his heart, and Li Chengqian asked someone to bring him drinks, along with a basket of millet and two silver cakes.
"This is your Lumi, which should have been given to you as a salary." Li Chengqian poured the wine, "You are also familiar with the East Palace. I don't know what to give you, so I added two more silver cakes."
After finishing the drink, the drink in the East Palace was not very tasty, with a sour taste.
Seeing Li Chengqian's eyes glancing at the two silver cakes from time to time, Zhang Yang quickly put the silver cakes into his arms.
Now the prince's eyes were finally no longer busy.
"I have read the history books. When the kings praised Buddhism, the results were not very good. Buddhism prays for blessings from the world. Isn't this a good thing?"
Zhang Yang put down the wine bowl and said, "May I ask Your Highness the Crown Prince whether it is useful to pray for blessings?"
Li Chengqian frowned and thought.
"Let me tell you this, the prince. There was a drought in the second year of Zhenguan. Did Buddha show mercy to the common people? Why did Dayu control the floods and Foolish Old Man moved the mountains?"
Li Chengqian was silent again.
Zhang Yang patted his shoulder, "Since ancient times, we are the only ones saving ourselves. There has never been any Buddha to help the common people. There are only Dayu and Foolish Old Man. Every time there is a great disaster, it is us mortals who rely on ourselves." Got through it.”
"Your Highness, ask yourself, do we really believe in Buddhism?"
"But I know that there are many such people in the clan."
Zhang Yang grinned.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Buddhism will always welcome the powerful because they are rich, and the powerful are just begging for some inner comfort in order to keep their wealth."
Li Chengqian asked suspiciously: "Is this really true?"
Zhang Yang poured another drink into the wine bowl, "What we should believe in is Foolish Old Man who can move mountains, and Dayu who can control floods. I hope that the prince will be firm in his ideas, which will always be strong in our bones. This is a This spirit of fighting against heaven and earth has never disappeared and has been there since ancient times."
"This is the truth that we should truly pursue in our hearts. This is our awe-inspiring righteousness. Suffering is temporary and is meant to be overcome by us. After each overcome, we will only become stronger."
Li Chengqian savored these words carefully, clenching his fists as if a fire was burning in his heart.
"As long as His Royal Highness has this spirit, we will fear nothing." Zhang Yang said in a low voice.
"Yes, I am not afraid of anything! I haven't heard such sincere words for a long time." Li Chengqian slowly raised his head, "I seem to understand how to be a prince."
Zhang Yang stood up with a basket of Lumi. When he walked out of the East Palace, he looked back at the palace. Li Chengqian was still sitting there, drinking wine.
First plant a seed in the prince's heart and wait for the seed to slowly take root.
At least it has a positive impact on Li Chengqian.
When passing by the Tai Chi Hall, I bumped into Li Yue, with his wife following a little girl.
"This is beauty." Li Yue held her hand and said, "The queen has agreed, and I can accept her as my disciple."
Xiao Lizhi bowed briefly and then ran quickly to the Li Zheng Hall.
Li Yue smiled and said: "She grew up in a deep palace and was a little timid. She wanted to learn arithmetic, so I taught her."
"I want to learn from the Queen again. I have to do questions on weekdays and have apprentices. You are also very busy." Zhang Yang smiled helplessly.
"That is also my sister. I have long wanted to take on a disciple."
Holding Li Yue's hand and walking out of the palace, Zhang Yang said patiently: "You have the talent to learn mathematics, but she may not have it too."
"I can teach her slowly. She learned the multiplication tables I gave her very quickly."
June passed quickly in Chang'an City. After the rainy season of the year, the scorching heat of summer arrived in August.
The sun was shining brightly, causing many creatures to wither and lose their vitality. Looking from the city gate to the end of Suzaku Street, the scenery in the distance was distorted.
Zhang Yang returned home sweating profusely. He heard the sound of water as soon as he entered the house. In order to get rid of the heat, he didn't know how many times his wife had taken a bath today.
"The letter on the table was brought by Aunt Wang, saying it was from Gaochang."
Zhang Yang opened the letter and took another gulp of cold water to read the contents. Under the management of Adalan, Gaochang was like a wild horse running wild in the Western Regions. He lost and lost against some small countries in the Western Regions, but he also gained a reputation. .
At least no one in the Western Region dared to provoke the current Gao Chang. The slaves who had been rescued had a good cohesion. Coupled with Adalan's equal treatment of all, this cohesion had a greater effect.
It's just this kind of bellicose pace that can't be stopped.
Li Yue was wearing thin clothes after taking a bath. She looked at a basin with some saltpeter in it, which was giving off a slight chill, "What did the letter say?"
Zhang Yang put the letter aside, "Gaochang's pace is still too fast, and he continues to plunder the wealth of the Western Turks. Now the Western Turks hate Gao Chang to the bone, and I am worried that something will happen to him."
"Would you like to write a letter to persuade me?"
"It may not be useful. Only he knows the situation in Gaochang. I think he wants to use war to support war."
Li Yue put away her dress to reveal most of her fair legs. She was greedy for coolness and liked to put her dress away.
"The water in the bucket above has almost turned into hot water. It's not cool at all when washing. It's better to wash it at night."
"Would it be useless to make an outer barrel and soak it with saltpeter?"
Li Yue shook her head, "It worked a little at first, but the sun has been down for so long and the water has become hot again."
There is a process for the reaction between saltpeter and water. Make another layer outside the bucket. The reaction between saltpeter and water in the outer bucket makes the water in the inner bucket cooler.
Once the reaction between saltpeter and water is completed, the coolness will naturally disappear. It is really not of much use if it is left in the sun like this.
Zhang Yang shook the cattail leaf fan, "I asked Cheng Chumo to spread the knowledge about the method of making ice from saltpeter. Li Junxian wanted to continue investigating the case. Now that so many people know that saltpeter can be used to make ice, the purchasing power of saltpeter will be very high this summer." Big, it’s hard for him, now it’s even harder to check the fireworks.”
"Anyway, he only found some superficial information before." Li Yue said nonchalantly.
At dusk, thunder sounded in the sky, and Li Yue breathed out, "It's finally going to rain."
The weather is stuffy and hot, and even the paper should not be left out for too long. It will lose water if left out for a long time. If the water is lost too quickly, the pulp can solidify, leaving only fibers on the bamboo basket.
Aunt Wang came back with the little bear, and she said in a hurry: "The people from the East Palace are here."
Li Yue put her legs in the basin and felt the coolness, "What are you doing here?"
Aunt Wang took out a roll of rice paper and said, "His Majesty has a decree to write down how to correct the prince's words and deeds as a minister of the East Palace."
"Did the prince get into trouble?" Zhang Yang asked curiously.
Aunt Wang shook her head.
Li Yue said worriedly: "Did your husband cause trouble?"
"No, it's because the prince has changed a lot recently. Your Majesty is very satisfied. He wants to know how the prince consort teaches the prince and makes people learn from it, especially when he makes the diagram of Chang'an City and allows officials from the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Households, and even the Ministry of Punishment to learn from it. very satisfied."
"They all praised the prince's achievements. Then they talked about the prince's consort and asked him to write it down."
Zhang Yang took the rice paper and spread it out. Just as he was about to write, he put down the pen again.
Li Yue stood aside, "Why didn't my husband write again?"
"What a good rice paper. It's a waste to write on it, why not sell it for money."
Li Yue looked at it in disbelief. Her husband actually looked proud as if he really wanted to do this. "My father asked my husband to write this."
"What about your father? I just don't want to write it anyway."
"This is rebellion."
"It doesn't matter if you resist the decree even a little bit. Your father will understand."
"Resisting the decree means resisting the decree, it has nothing to do with understanding."
"Just say that I am sick and cannot hold a pen. Whenever I hold a pen, I will vomit blood. Life would be worse than death."
Li Yue stared blankly, "Husband, do you think anyone will believe it?"
"I don't care, I have this disease anyway, they want to believe it or not."
"As long as I write a little bit, I can explain it to my father."
Without saying a word, Zhang Yang rolled up the rice paper again and put it in the drawer he made.
"Husband, you are so unreasonable."
"I'm being reasonable. Is your father being reasonable? It's my business how I guide the prince. What's the difference between this and interrogating a prisoner? I won't write it anyway."
"I'll write it."
"no!"
"This is rebellion."
"Let go, if you keep pinching me, I'm going to take action!"
"Our family's family law hasn't been invented yet."
A terrifying thunder flashed across the sky, followed by a loud rumble, as if the ground was shaking.
There was constant thunder outside, but at home there was still a warm couple bickering.
The rain fell, and the heavy downpour brought coolness to the sweltering city of Chang'an. The rain did not stop until late at night.
Summer morning is the best time, and after the morning it will be a scorching hot afternoon.
Originally I didn't want to go to the East Palace to be on duty today, but I took advantage of the bright morning to clean up the yard.
Even if it is not an imperial edict, Li Shimin's oral instructions cannot be ignored.
Maybe the emperor was waiting for his reply all night.
There are still consequences for ignoring Li Shimin. Early in the morning, a eunuch came to the door of the house and said that he was summoned by His Majesty, and he summoned the couple at once.
"Go and meet your father. There is ice in the palace." Zhang Yang said to his wife's room.
"Why did my husband still think of going to the palace to eat ice cream after delaying my father's oral instructions yesterday?" Li Yue's words came from the room.
"If you can eat it with ice, you're welcome."
If you want to see Li Shimin, you must also pay attention to your dress and etiquette. It will be too embarrassing to wear a short coat and straw sandals to see the emperor.
Li Shimin thought it was too hot, so he didn't come in person, and asked his ministers to go see him.
The emperor is unreasonable. In the emperor's mind, he can say that the whole world is his family property.
Li Yue put on her dress and walked out of the room, looked at her husband up and down, and said with a straight face: "Why did you cut the sleeves?"
(End of chapter)
