Queen Sun

Chapter 13

For most of the Tang people, there was nothing special about the short period of one month from the end of the second year of Zhenguan to the first month of the third year of Zhenguan. The emperor who had been on the throne for two years was wise and wise, and loved the people like Son, although natural disasters still occur from time to time, life has gradually recovered from the chaos of war at the end of the Sui Dynasty.But for those men and women who were in the high places of the temple and deep in the harem, the 40-odd days was a turbulent undercurrent, which made people caught off guard.

On the second day after His Majesty returned from offering sacrifices to heaven, the crown prince, fourth prince and Princess Changle were picked up from the other palace without warning.This originally caused many people to wait and see and doubt, but the second order issued by His Majesty immediately caused great anxiety in the palace. The three biological children of the queen who originally had their own residences in the palace were arranged Lived in the Ganlu Hall and was taken care of by His Majesty himself.

The royal family has royal rules, but even if it is not a royal family, most of the children of those aristocratic families are taken care of by wet nurses and servants, and their biological parents seldom raise them by themselves. The rumors that have been caused are that the Queen seems to have little time left, so His Majesty will personally take care of the child's upbringing, in order to comfort the Queen.

What was even more shocking happened in the early morning of the next day. The officials found that His Highness the Crown Prince had changed into the Prince's court uniform that was worn only during the Grand Ceremony, followed His Majesty, and then knelt down on the lower left side of the Emperor with a calm expression. .

At the beginning of the morning court, no one said a word, but desperately looked at the eldest grandson Wuji of the country and Li Gang, the crown prince, without leaving a trace. Who knew that one of them was standing calmly, not looking sideways. , the other was equally astonished.

Afterwards, the emperor said calmly: "From today on, the crown prince will follow me in the Liangyi Hall every morning to listen to the government. After lunch, the Taifu will teach the lessons in the study."

This is completely just a statement rather than an inquiry, and even the formal "what objections do you have" is omitted.

Even when the prince appeared, many people had already guessed, but when the emperor said the word "listening to the government" clearly, everyone was still shocked.The imperial power is unique, but now there is another person beside the emperor, even if he is the crown prince of the country, the future emperor, but he is in his prime, and there is no worry about the succession of heirs, so now let the prince who is only eight years old His Highness appeared in front of the officials so solemnly, what was he proclaiming?Is it because Mingzhao's position as the prince of the world is unshakable, or... no one dares to think about it further.

Among the officials who are within the Sangong and can participate in the inner court, Shang Shu Zuo and You Pushe, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui all have a close relationship with Changsun Wuji, and they respect the queen very much, so naturally they will not be concerned about the emperor's actions. Objection.

But Wang Gui, the attendant, after glancing at Wei Zheng, still couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart, but he still used a more tactful tone to speak out, thinking that the prince is still young, and the Mengtong's education is not yet complete, and he should listen to the government. Something seems wrong.

The emperor disagreed and said: "When I was young, I was good at riding horses and bows and arrows, but I didn't read much. Later, I was a little bit involved in historical books and soldiers. The queen married me at the age of thirteen. Not long after that, Empress Taimu died young, and the family The internal affairs are neglected, and the queen takes care of them on her behalf. She is cautious in her words and deeds, fair and generous, and everyone is not dissatisfied. As the eldest son of me and the queen, the prince is also the future king of a country. There are indeed sages in the book, but they should still Get involved in government affairs as soon as possible, so that you will not only know how to talk about military affairs on paper in the future and harm your family and country."

All the ministers said nothing else, and began to formally discuss the government.

Fang Xuanling first wrote: "Report to the Holy Majesty, since the severe drought in Shandong in July of the first year of Zhenguan, His Majesty has waived his one-year rent and tax. Can the court exempt him from paying taxes for another year?"

Li Shimin took the memorabilia handed over by Zheng Ji, read it carefully, and handed it to the crown prince for review, and then said, "Do you guys have any suggestions?"

Wei Zheng was the first to speak, arguing that it should be exempted, natural disasters are inevitable, if the king does nothing and the people have nothing to rely on, it will inevitably cause man-made disasters.

However, someone immediately retorted that Wei Zheng was originally from the Kanto, so his remarks were biased, and Kanto did not suffer any serious disasters this year, so if he was exempted from taxes for another year, wouldn't it be unfair to other places?

After a lot of controversy, the emperor still did not express his position, but turned to the prince to ask his opinion on the matter.

At first, everyone didn't pay much attention to it. Although they admired His Majesty's great talents and the Queen's virtue and benevolence, most of them didn't take their son, an ignorant and somewhat stubborn eight-year-old child, seriously.

After Chengqian got up respectfully and saluted his father, he spoke to each other: "My son heard earlier that Master Wei had given a play and said: It's not a big complaint, but people are to be feared; when a boat is overturned, it should be deep." Be careful. This is also in line with the meaning of "the people are the most important, the community is second, and the king is the least". What's more, the land of Guandong has been chaotic since ancient times. At the end of the Qin Dynasty in the past, the heroes of Shandong rose together and died of the Qin clan. And the rebels at the end of the Sui Dynasty also started here. It will be especially comforting to the land of the Kanto. However, in the whole world, is it the land of the king, and the land of the land, is it the king's ministers, if the drought in the Kanto is not enough to avoid taxation, it is indeed unfair, and the ministers think it is better to send one person first Going to Shandong in person can not only give comfort, but also observe the real situation, and it will not be too late to make a decision at that time."

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback, obviously quite surprised. He still thought he knew this son quite well. He was lively and active since he was a child, but due to neglect of discipline, he became stubborn and difficult to discipline. However, after only half a year, Cheng Qian Just like reborn, his temperament is much calmer, not to mention for now, he was calm and composed to the ministers during the court meeting, and when he just answered, he was clear and clear without showing the child's frivolity and immaturity, and he was quite thoughtful.Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile and let his son sit down.

Not only the emperor, but everyone in power couldn't help turning their heads to look at the prince. The young prince seemed to have developed quite extraordinary insight and charm when they didn't know it. He still had the handsome face of a child, but those pair of eyes The eyes began to become calm and calm.

Empress Empress!This was the first word that came to their minds. After half a year of living together with his mother, the crown prince looked like a different person. The connection had to be thought-provoking.

Seeing that noon was approaching, the emperor directly ordered Wei Zheng to go to Kanto in the next year to observe the people's sentiments on behalf of the emperor.

After the early court was over, Li Shimin took Chengqian's hand and walked to the Ganlu Hall.Along the way, Chengqian was very uncomfortable. Although in his impression, his father seemed to have never been so close to him, but after experiencing the kind of heartfelt and purposeless love from his mother for him, he felt that his father had never been so close to him. The way he looks at himself always has a different meaning, and this sudden concern seems to be not only out of concern for his son.

Arriving at Ganlu Hall, sure enough, in the inner hall, Li Tai and Mingyao were already waiting for them at the dinner table.

Li Shimin let go of his eldest son's hand, pretending not to see his son's relieved expression, walked quickly to his daughter, picked up Mingyao who was about to greet her, and happily heard her daughter's surprise shouted, and then patted the head of the other son, motioning them to sit down, while he still held his daughter on his lap.

Different from the cautious faces of the two elder brothers, since Ming Yao was relatively close to his father after birth, it was only later that Li Shimin was busy fighting everywhere to seize the throne, so he naturally distanced himself from his daughter a lot.However, since he recently discovered that his daughter looks very similar to his wife, he is happy to hug her often to show the emperor's fatherly love.

During the meal, the two elder brothers were silent, and Li Shimin didn't question his son's silence, but teased his daughter and asked, "Yao'er, do you want to miss your mother?"

Without even thinking about it, Mingyao blurted out: "Mingyao misses mother so much, Father, when will mother come back?"

Li Shimin's expression was also a little gloomy, and he asked, "Yao'er, why do you like to be called mother instead of queen mother?"

Mingyao didn't notice the brothers' blocking eyes, and still replied without reservation: "Because mother said, she is our mother first, and then she is the queen of a country, and it is more kind to call mother."

"Then Yao'er and her two elder brothers will still call their father Daddy as before when there are no outsiders, okay?" Li Shimin continued to coax his daughter while feeding her.

Ming Yao nodded, and then sweetly called Dad.

Although Chengqian and Li Tai disdain their younger sister's behavior, but what mother said to be a human being should learn to adapt to the situation, so they also echoed it kindly.

After the meal, after Li Tai led his sister out, Li Shimin raised his eyes slightly, took a sip of tea, and said, "Chengqian, do you know why Dad asked you to start listening to politics today?"

Chengqian raised his head, slightly surprised, he thought that changing the address was just a way to coax his younger sister, but he quickly came back to his senses and replied: "Didn't father want my son to get used to and familiar with the government as soon as possible?" ?”

Li Shimin nodded slightly, and said gently: "That's right, but that's not all. I still want you to go to Shandong with Wei Zheng next year."

Cheng Qian suddenly raised his head, his eyes were as bright as stars, and he was not surprised. He had heard his mother say that he traveled thousands of miles, but he never thought that the opportunity would come so quickly, "Yes, my son is willing."

Li Shimin chuckled, thinking of Daye 12 years ago, he insisted on going to Taiyuan with his father instead of staying in Hedong with Jiancheng and Yuanji.

"As expected of father's son, but there is one more thing. When you go to Shandong this time, you have to pay attention to finding a prince and grand tutor for yourself. There are many talents in Shandong. There will always be one who will satisfy you." Suddenly, she changed, "In the past six months, your mother has indeed taught you very well, but after all, she is my queen first, and then your mother, so from now on, you should let her worry less. Mingyao doesn't need to know these words, But you and Qingque must take it to heart, understand?"

Chengqian felt sour for a while, but he nodded honestly and agreed on his face, which seemed like a scene of fatherly kindness and filial piety.

(End of this chapter)