People in the early Tang Dynasty: I compete with Wu Zhao for the throne

Chapter 1491 Princess Fuchang's Marriage

On the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, at noon, the sun was shining brightly.

On the east side of the Sigongfang gate, two three-meter-high trees rise from the ground, connected at the top by a two-meter-long tree.

There are two long thick ropes hanging below, with a wide wooden board in the middle of the ropes.

A swing that was magnified several times appeared in front of passers-by.

Opposite Sigongfang is Luoyang North City, and this novel scene has already attracted the attention of countless people.

There was an uproar.

But no one could approach easily because a group of black-clad guards separated everyone.

……

"Hehehe..." Xia'er laughed happily while sitting in the middle of the swing. Li Xuan stood on both sides of her, swinging on the swing, and easily swung to a height of more than ten feet.

The sound of the oncoming wind made Xia'er even happier: "Hahaha... Aye... Hahaha!"

It was not until a quarter of an hour later that Li Xuan slowly stopped.

Liu Jinyu hurried forward, gave Li Xuan a cold look, and then carried the laughing Xia'er down.

But at this time, Zhao'er had already sat up first, making Ming'er and Chang'er on the side envious.

Li Xuan rarely showed favoritism and played with all three sons before coming down.

Li Xuan called Li Zhu and whispered a few words to him. Li Zhu bowed and immediately walked towards the crowd in the distance.

The next moment, there was a burst of surprised noise from the crowd.

Li Xuan smiled and then took Liu Jinyu, Pei Shitong and Xiaer back home.

However, outside Sigongfang, some people had already started to climb onto the big swing and were swinging excitedly.

Xia'er, Zhao'er, Ming'er and Chang'er couldn't help but look back from time to time.

There was a hint of sadness in the depths of Li Xuan's eyes.

……

Twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month, early morning.

The morning light spread out, illuminating the entire palace.

Li Xian walked past the Qianyang Palace and heard bursts of reports coming from inside.

That was the sound of the Council of State and the six ministries reporting state affairs to the Empress Dowager, and Li Xian was not involved.

Li Xian's expression was calm.

Ever since the recommendation by the Minister of Rites in the Council of State, Li Xian understood that he, as the crown prince, had no right to make decisions on major matters.

The vote in his hand can't play any role except adding icing on the cake.

Fortunately, Li Xuan immediately gave him another suggestion. He should follow the example of the emperor who served the previous emperor and serve the emperor more when the emperor is seriously ill.

In this way, Li Xian was able to inadvertently hear more useful opinions from the emperor on many matters of state.

In front of the Zhenguan Hall, countless guards were standing guard.

As soon as Li Xian arrived, the Shang Pharmacy had already delivered the medicine that the emperor was going to take.

Li Xian took it personally and then stepped into the Zhenguan Hall.

When he raised his eyes, he was a little stunned.

Because at this moment, the heavy curtains had been lifted, and the emperor was sitting behind the imperial couch with an energetic look on his face, reading the memorials.

Just at this moment, the emperor looked up.

His eyes fell on Li Xian, and the emperor said softly, "Sanlang is here."

"Father!" Li Xian bowed solemnly, then came to the ground in front of the emperor with the medicine jar in his hand, poured out the medicine soup very skillfully, and then brought it to the emperor.

The emperor drank it all without hesitation.

Putting the medicine bowl aside, Li Zhi looked up at Li Xian and asked casually, "What have you been busy with these two days?"

Li Xian's face suddenly turned red, and he cupped his hands and said, "Father, please forgive me. I was foolish."

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then he immediately understood, smiled and shook his head, and said: "Forget it, it's okay, you married Liangdi the day before yesterday, and you took a day off yesterday, so it's okay to relax."

"Thank you for your understanding, father." Li Xian breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "Uncle Wang said that if I could give birth to more children, father would be happier."

"Hahaha..." Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing, then nodded and said, "That's true, King Peng's words are quite to my liking."

Li Xian lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly.

"More children, more blessings." Li Zhi looked at Li Xian and said, "Twenty-Seventh Brother did a good job in this regard. Of course, he is not as good as me, but you, in the future, when it comes to children, you must be better than King Peng."

"Your son will remember this." Li Xian immediately became serious, with a hint of relief in his eyes.

It's just about having children. King Peng has only four wives and concubines, and now he has only six children. Li Xian believes that he will be able to surpass Li Xuan in every aspect in the future.

"There is one more thing." Li Zhi sat up straighter, looked at Li Xian and asked, "Do you know what King Peng was doing yesterday?"

"I don't know." Li Xian lowered his head nervously and said, "I had a day off yesterday, and I didn't think of disturbing Uncle Wang."

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "He built a three-meter-high swing outside Sigongfang. He played with Princess Fuchang for half a day, and then let the people of Luoyang play with it. However, if anyone can swing the swing to a height of three meters, the Prince Peng's Mansion will reward one string of money."

"One string of silver is too little." Li Xian was slightly stunned.

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Although it is only one string of money, it extends from yesterday to before the New Year. If you do the math, if a hundred people can do it a day, then he will have to pay out a hundred strings of money a day, and a thousand strings of money in ten days, which is not a small amount." "Yes!" Li Xian lowered his head immediately.

In the Tang Dynasty today, for ordinary people, a family with an annual income of ten strings of cash was considered a wealthy family.

But this number is not even eleven.

Although Chang'an and Luoyang were the imperial capitals and the people had more income, their consumption was also good. An income of three hundred coins a day was already very good.

One tael of silver is enough for most people to work hard for more than ten days.

"Moreover, at the end of every year, a large number of disaster victims flock to Chang'an and Luoyang. One string of money is life-saving money." Li Zhi sighed lightly. It was this one string of money that made him see Li Xuan's true thoughts.

Li Xian immediately lowered his head and said, "I am shallow, I am just..."

"No need!" Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "Let him do it before the New Year and see how many people in Luoyang will follow suit. Then, reward them next year."

"Yes!" Li Xian bowed slightly.

"A family that accumulates good deeds will be blessed with good fortune. You must remember this." After a brief pause, Li Zhi looked up at Li Xian and said, "Let me test you. Do you think that besides this, what other plans does King Peng have?"

Li Xian raised his eyebrows slightly and said in a deep thought: "But is it for selecting talents?"

"Oh!" Li Zhi shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "King Peng didn't do that. He just asked someone to write down his name to prevent him from coming again."

"I can't think of that." Li Xian's eyes were solemn. He had very little information on this matter and it was difficult to make much useful analysis.

Li Zhi looked up outside the palace and said softly, "King Peng used the name of Princess Fuchang. He was just trying to accumulate merit for Princess Fuchang. He spent 1,000 strings of cash a year to bribe local figures in Chang'an and Luoyang. If he didn't target Princess Fuchang, he would be making a lot of money. After ten years, he would only have earned 10,000 strings of cash, which is enough for Princess Fuchang to grow up safely."

For ordinary people, a fortune of ten thousand is already extremely wealthy.

However, for such a royal family, a fortune of millions is just a drop in the bucket.

"Moreover, in the future, Princess Fuchang will also have great prestige in Chang'an and Luoyang. With a thousand strings of cash a year, there will be at least a thousand powerful people willing to repay her. In ten years, that would be ten thousand people. Even if only one percent of them are willing to repay her, that would be a hundred people."

Li Zhi said softly, "You can imagine that Princess Fuchang can order hundreds of powerful people to die in Chang'an and Luoyang at any time. This shows that King Peng is very skilled."

"Your son admires you." Li Xian lowered his head solemnly.

Li Zhi took a deep breath and said, "It's just for Princess Fuchang. If it's for others, and he recruits assassins, remember, he should be killed immediately."

"Yes!" Li Xian nodded solemnly again.

"Also, it's about Princess Fuchang's future marriage." Li Zhi looked at the morning light shining into the hall and said in a deep voice, "Prince Peng will definitely not let Princess Fuchang marry easily, so in the next ten years, you should try your best to find and train more suitable people among your wives and concubines' mothers. If Prince Peng likes them, you can grant them marriage directly."

"A granted marriage?" Li Xian keenly grasped the emperor's key point, which was the word "a granted marriage".

"Princess Fuchang's marriage will definitely be requested by Prince Peng. Either he has chosen a candidate, or he agrees with the candidate you recommend. In the end, he will definitely request the marriage. Don't miss this opportunity." Li Zhi looked forward and said softly, "Princess Fuchang is born with good fortune, just like Taiping. If you take good care of her, you will be rewarded."

"Your son will remember this." Li Xian nodded seriously.

Li Zhi took a deep breath, waved his hand, and said, "Okay, go ahead. I've said so much, go back and think about it carefully."

"Yes!" Li Xian bowed solemnly.

Looking at Li Xian's back as he left, the emperor shook his head slightly, looked to the side and asked, "Where is King Peng now?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Prince Peng went to the Fanzhou Memorial Court today. At the end of the year, Fanzhou also has many affairs to deal with." Wang Fulai stood up and bowed slightly.

There were fifteen prefectures and seventy counties in Fanzhou. Although only one Fanzhou Governor's Office was directly under the jurisdiction of Li Xuan, in fact, all other prefectures and counties were under the jurisdiction of him as the Pacifier of Luoshui Road, and he had quite a lot of affairs to deal with.

"Yes." The emperor nodded slightly, and then said: "Keep an eye on him, and report his whereabouts every day."

"Here!" Wang Fulai immediately bowed.

"Where is the Duke of Wenxi now?" Li Zhi turned to ask Pei Xingjian.

"In Yangzhou Jinzouyuan." Wang Fulai bowed again.

"Hmm!" This time the emperor just nodded and said nothing more.

The prince's guests in the Eastern Palace were the General of the Right Guard, the General of the Imperial Guard, and the former General of the Left Guard.

If these two people join forces, the emperor will not be able to sleep well.

The emperor lowered his head and continued to read the memorial in his hand. After thinking for a while, he said, "Send it to the Minister of Rites..."

Before the emperor could finish his words, hurried footsteps were heard outside the palace.

Li Zhi frowned and looked up in the direction where the voice came from. The next moment, the eunuch Fan Yunxian rushed in. Seeing the emperor frowning, he immediately knelt down.

Inside the palace gate, Fan Yunxian said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, the princess is about to give birth, and the Queen Mother asked if Your Majesty would like to go over?"

Li Zhi was stunned for a moment, then his expression immediately lit up with joy. He stood up subconsciously and took two steps forward excitedly.

But after just two steps, Li Zhi's expression calmed down.

Taking a deep breath, Li Zhi said, "Send an order to have the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, the Prince of Xiang, the Prince of Xiang's wife, the Prince of Peng, and the Prince of Peng's wife all go together. I will not go. Tell the Queen that she doesn't need to go either."

Fan Yunxian was stunned for a moment, then immediately bowed and said, "I accept your order."

"Tell the people over there to keep an eye on it and report back immediately if there is any news." Li Zhi couldn't help but add.

"Yes!" Fan Yunxian bowed solemnly again, then stood up carefully and turned to leave.

Li Zhi walked to the front of the palace gate and looked into the distance.

In the distance, the city of Luoyang was shining brightly.

Wang Fulai carefully draped the black brocade fur coat behind Li Zhi and whispered, "Your Majesty, be careful not to catch a cold."

"Hmm!" Li Zhi took a deep breath, shook his head, turned back to the hall, and walked into the shadow of the hall.

(End of this chapter)