Ashinadur's return to Chang'an City did not cause much commotion, and there were not as many people watching when Su Dingfang and Li Daoyan returned from Tubo.
The conflict between the Foreign Affairs Council and the Turks ended quickly, and there were no people watching the excitement. Summer seemed to have drained the vitality of the entire Chang'an City, and people were not even interested in asking about these things.
In the palace, Zhang Xiangxiang was telling Li Chengqian the story of his surrender to the Western Regions.
"Now the people in the four towns of Anxi have been put into the dungeon of Dali Temple, and the personnel of the Foreign Affairs Council are interrogating them."
Li Chengqian looked at the seals of these small countries in the Western Regions, "I heard that Ashinadur came back and had a conflict with the Foreign Affairs Council outside the city?"
"Back to His Royal Highness, it's just some misunderstanding. Everything has been arranged."
Looking at the letters of credence and seals, Li Chengqian hesitated and said: "Gu Yan is only acting as an agent of the government. Many matters in the government must be discussed by the Zhongshu Province. Matters in the Western Regions require the father to make a decision."
After walking back and forth again, Li Chengqian said again: "Why don't you and I take a trip to Lishan Mountain together."
Zhang Elephant bowed and said, "I will make arrangements now."
"Well, we'll start early tomorrow morning."
In Lishan at the moment, Zhang Yang was building a house on the top of Lishan, and he had devoted himself to it during the past two months of summer vacation.
The emperor watched his son-in-law build a house every day. Now he was sitting under the shade of the tree with the mountain breeze blowing, drinking cold and refreshing ale, and felt very comfortable.
For Li Shimin now, Mount Li is the world of cultivation, and the palace is hell, a hell that makes an emperor feel physically and mentally exhausted.
For the first time, Li Shimin had the idea of abdicating the throne, handing the throne to Li Chengqian, and then he could enjoy the rest of his life in peace, which was a great thing in life.
Showing off is also contagious. His son-in-law did not ask about matters of the Ministry of Rites for a whole summer, which also prevented Li Shimin from taking care of government affairs for two months. Life was extremely comfortable, and the world became much more peaceful.
This is the human world.
Looking at Zhang Yang working profusely with Li Tai in order to build a house, this scene is even more comfortable.
The emperor's happiness is based on the pain of his son-in-law. To say that happiness in the world is nothing more than this.
As a result, Zhang Xiangxiang, Li Chengqian, and Xu Jingzong led people to search around Lishan but did not see His Majesty. It was not until they found Li Zhi that they heard him say that his father was on the mountain.
Li Chengqian was almost dehydrated from the heat, and he had to climb up Lishan Mountain. After taking a look at the stone steps going up the mountain, he took a deep breath and walked up.
Li Yue and Aunt Yang were holding parasols and picking some wild vegetables and pine nuts on the mountainside. When they saw Li Chengqian coming, they saluted: "Brother Emperor."
"I have met His Highness the Crown Prince."
Li Chengqian stopped for a moment, "Where is your father?"
When Li Yue saw the prince and Zhang Xiangxiang, Xu Jingzong could roughly guess where they were coming from. He pointed to the top of the mountain and said, "My father and husband are both on the mountain."
"Come up here alone."
Li Chengqian gritted his teeth and walked up against the scorching sun.
The prince gritted his teeth and persisted. The officials of the Diplomatic Academy and the eunuchs in the palace behind were already exhausted. They walked all the way to the top of the mountain and finally saw His Majesty sitting leisurely under the shade of a tree.
Zhang Yangzheng looked at Li Tai, "I heard that His Highness the King of Wei has late-night snacks every night lately?"
Li Tai was stunned at this moment. He nodded and said, "Yes."
Zhang Yang directly ignored Li Chengqian and others who came up, and said to Li Tai: "I now know why His Highness King Wei has always failed to lose weight."
Li Tai, wearing a coarse cloth jacket, struggled to put down the bricks and stones, and the fat on his face moved, "Why?"
"Because horses don't get fat without night grass."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, late-night snacking is the main culprit of His Highness King Wei's obesity."
"But..." Li Tai hesitated and said with his hands on his hips, "But I'm not a horse?"
"It doesn't matter whether it's a horse or not, what matters is eating midnight snacks."
"Night snack……"
When Li Chengqian saw his father, he went up to him and told about the reception of Ashinadur by the Diplomatic Academy.
Zhang Elephant and Xu Jingzong wiped their sweat, swallowed their saliva and endured the scorching sun.
Zhang Yang was wearing a strange-style short coat with no sleeves.
The Diplomatic Academy has been extremely busy with matters concerning the Western Regions this summer. It is intolerable that he should build a house here.
Xu Jingzong now wanted to rush up and hug Zhang Yang's thigh, asking him whether the Foreign Affairs Commission and the Ministry of Rites were still in charge of arranging and setting goals, but did the minister really not ask at all about the progress of the Ministry of Rites?
In front of the emperor, Xu Jingzong resisted this impulse. I am a civil servant, a scholar...
Li Shimin looked at the credentials one after another and waved to Zhang Yang, "Come here and talk to me."
Zhang Yang washed his hands, walked towards the emperor, and smiled at Zhang Xiangxiang and Xu Jingzong.
Zhang Xiangxiang couldn't help it, "Zhang Shangshu, what are your clothes?"
Zhang Yang looked down and said, "The vest I made myself also made one for King Wei. Is it still suitable?"
Xu Jingzong was about to speak but stopped when he looked at Li Tai's bloated body wrapped in a vest.
"If you like it, I'll give you one as well. It's very cool to wear in summer."
Zhang Elephant closed his eyes and felt the sweat soaking his official clothes, and he could even feel the clothes sticking to his back.
Xu Jingzong cupped his hands and said, "Zhang Shangshu is really elegant."
There were a lot of complaints in his heart that he wanted to say out, but facing Zhang Yang, Xu Jingzong instinctively swallowed these words.
No matter how exaggerated and unreasonable Zhang Yang's actions were, Tian Khan ignored him and even relied on him more and more. The emperor liked hard-working ministers who could really understand.
Xu Jingzong believed that he worked very hard and hoped to be appreciated by His Majesty.
But even if Zhang Yang didn't have to do anything, the emperor still accompanied him to build a house, which made people feel an inexplicable sense of gap.
Zhang Yang walked to the stone next to Li Shimin and sat down, "Has the letter of credence from the Western Regions been delivered?"
Li Shimin looked at each letter of credence and nodded, "It was just delivered yesterday. The matter of recovering the four towns in Anxi can be regarded as fruitful."
"Lao Xu, come here."
Xu Jingzong stepped forward with a grimace, "What are Zhang Shangshu's orders?"
"How many officials do our Diplomatic Academy have stationed in the Western Regions?"
"So far, a total of ten have been sent out, starting from Qiuci. Our officials are walking around in every important place in the Western Regions. They mainly investigate the customs and customs of the Western Regions."
Zhang Yang nodded, "Your Majesty, our Diplomatic Academy has already arranged the arrangements."
Looking up at Xu Jingzong, Li Shimin handed Li Chengqian a bowl of ale with ice cubes.
"Thank you, Father." Li Chengqian picked up the bowl and drank in one gulp, still chewing the ice cubes in his mouth.
After reading the eight letters of credence, Li Shimin collected them and handed them to the eunuch behind him, "How do you think the Western Region should be governed now?"
Zhang Yang wiped the sweat on his neck with his collar, "The Foreign Affairs Academy is responsible for building the Anxi Protectorate and maintaining the exchanges between the Tang Dynasty Foreign Affairs Academy and the Western Regions. As for other matters, whether it is sending troops or appointing officials, it is the responsibility of the DPRK and China matters have nothing to do with us.”
"Well, no matter how much you have done, you should be clear-cut about what you do, and you will not comment on things that are not your own." Li Shimin nodded, "In my opinion, your behavior makes it difficult for outsiders to grasp the Ministry of Rites."
Zhang Yang raised his head and said: "I have always been upright and upright, and my heart is for the right path in the world. But it is hard for villains to prevent me. How many people in the court are thinking about how to arrange me all day long."
After a pause in his words, Zhang Yang sighed: "If His Majesty hadn't been enlightened and far-sighted, I would have been torn alive by them today."
Li Shimin said nothing, but handed these credentials and seals to Li Chengqian, "The Foreign Affairs Council opened the Anxi Protectorate, and asked the Zhongshu Province to send officials to the station, and sent troops to garrison in the Western Regions to make arrangements for rotational defense."
Li Chengqian solemnly saluted, "Here."
"The officials sent out must be good at governance. The Western Region has experienced great chaos and needs great governance. Let Yang Shidao and Fang Xuanling arrange the selection."
"My son, I will make arrangements now."
Xu Jingzong and Zhang Elephant also saluted and followed the prince away.
"It seems that the promise made at the beginning of the year can be fulfilled this year?"
"That should be the case. As long as the construction of the Anxi Protectorate Palace goes smoothly and can be completed by the end of the year, the Western Region will be stabilized and Jiayuguan will be repaired. There will be prosperity in the future."
After hearing these words, Li Shimin took a sip of ale and let out a sigh of relief.
Zhang Yang said loudly: "Well, for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty!"
If you don't think about owing this boy money, Zhang Yang is actually a talent that can be developed. As long as he is taught well, it is not impossible to become a pillar of the country with his foresight and talent.
He is obviously a child with great potential, but he also has some extremely annoying bad habits.
It's like a nearly perfect piece of jade that has some scratchy cracks.
It's a pity that it fell. The longer you look at it, the more angry it becomes.
Li Shimin fantasized about hanging this boy up and whipping him, and then pouring more salt on his wounds, which would make him live worse than death.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and when Li Shimin came back to his senses, he saw Zhang Yang sitting on a stone with his legs crossed and leisurely playing with the seal of a small country in the Western Regions.
"Do you like it?" Li Shimin asked softly.
"I quite like it. It has some collection value." Zhang Yang looked at it carefully, "These national seals are made of rare jade, and they would be worth a lot of money if sold."
Li Shimin sat cross-legged and watched Li Tai carrying bricks and stones in the sun.
"I'll give it to you if you want it."
The emperor said such words for the first time, and the national seal in his hand almost dropped.
Seeing Zhang Yang's surprised look, Li Shimin said loudly: "Since these small countries have surrendered and died, these things are of no value to me. Such a piece of jade is worth at least 10,000 guan. Here is a total of 6 guan. I paid the debt."
Don't have too high hopes for the emperor, and don't expect to be too grand as an emperor.
Especially an emperor like Li Shimin, who was petty, conceited, suspicious and even vindictive. If you want to say that he is enlightened, he can also put on an open-minded appearance. If you say that he is a coward, you cannot deny it completely.
Zhang Yang put these national seals in front of Li Shimin again, "I don't know if these things are worth ten thousand guan, but they can be used as toys for my unborn child."
Li Shimin closed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Using another country's national seal as a toy? I'm afraid it won't be good if it spreads."
Zhang Yang stood up and relaxed his muscles and bones, his back and spine cracking, "I don't know whether these national seals are worth anything. The refreshing ale that your Majesty drinks, I am the only one in the world who can make it. The value of the ale is definitely higher than These countries have big seals.”
These small countries in the Western Regions have been flattened by Ashinadur. Wherever there is any country left, the value of these national seals will not be great after the country is destroyed. What they want is to expand the territory and expand the country's achievements. For this The emperor doesn't care at all about planting things.
Li Shimin took a sip of ale wine and exclaimed: "It's a pity that I can only drink it once a year."
"I am also looking for ways to preserve it. If there is a sealed, sterilized and refrigerated environment, His Majesty can drink this ale all year round."
"It's a rare drink, but at least I have one more thought of not wanting to kill you."
Still wanting to say something more to Zhang Yang, Li Shimin looked up and saw that Zhang Yang had walked to Li Tai and continued to build the house.
Zhang Yang worked so hard for his new home, which made Li Shimin feel very comfortable. In fact, he could have let the villagers here build it. Weird people are so paranoid that they insist on doing the hard work themselves.
During these days of living in Lishan, Li Shimin traveled throughout Lishan.
After looking at every house here, I confirmed that Zhang Yang didn't hide anything shady here.
Looking at Li Tai who was so tired that he was sitting on the ground with only the strength to breathe. Lu Zhaolin from the Imperial Medical Office had said more than once that Qing Que's body was too fat, which was not a good thing.
These previous words of advice to Li Tai fell on deaf ears.
And now Zhang Yang personally takes him to lose weight. It seems that he sweats a lot every day, but Qingque doesn't seem to lose weight these days.
It was not until evening that Li Shimin came down the mountain.
Zhang Yang took Li Tai down the stone steps.
"Brother-in-law, just now the prince and the others talked about things in the Western Regions?"
"That's right, are all the four towns in Anxi now in the hands of your father? Maybe he has sent troops to the Western Regions to garrison, and will send people to govern for a few more years. Your father's contribution to the recovery of the four counties in the Han Dynasty is not small, so he has to go and sacrifice Ancestor."
This kid Li Tai is usually quite clever, but when the little fat boy is thinking, the way the features on his fat face twist together is very unsightly.
The working villagers in the village have also returned. Zhang Yang walked into the house, and his aunt and daughter-in-law were washing some pine nuts.
Seeing that her husband was back, Li Yue wiped her hands and stood up, "I'll wash your husband."
Zhang Yang sat on the bench, asked his wife to take off his vest, and poured a basin of cold water on him.
Li Yue washed her husband's hair carefully. When building a new home in the mountains, the hair would always be stained with some sand, making it troublesome to clean.
She looked at the muscles on her shoulders. The bronzed muscles looked beautiful in the sun. She quietly poked them with her fingers, hmm! It's really strong.
Just washing your hair requires careful attention. Li Yue put down her husband's hair and carefully looked for any small gravel on the scalp between the hair strands.
After washing his hair, Li Yue picked up a small bucket of water and poured it down. It was much easier to wash his body.
"Wash my husband's face again, and the stubble will grow again." Li Yue frowned and took out a razor from the house.
She sat down again and said, "Husband, lie down."
Zhang Yang lay on the chair after hearing this, resting his head on his wife's lap, closing his eyes and letting her shave him.
Li Yue lowered her head and shaved carefully. The couple's faces were very close, and their breaths were intertwined.
(End of chapter)
