208 Chapter 208
◎Grow cotton.◎
At the beginning of May, cotton seeds were delivered to Chang'an. Li Shimin took Li Chengqian and several important officials to the fields, intending to cultivate them himself.
The morning sun was already very hot. Li Chengqian placed his hand on his brow and said, "Seeds are very precious. Father, you don't know how to farm, so please don't make things worse."
Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and others were not far from the emperor and the prince, and could hear the prince's words clearly.
Changsun Wuji's first thought was, fortunately Wei Zheng was not there.
Then he caught a glimpse of the other people's indescribable expressions and sighed inwardly. The prince wasn't a child anymore, so why was he still so casual in his speech? Why didn't the sage teach him a lesson?
Even though they all thought the Crown Prince's words were unbecoming, Li Shimin was used to it. "If you don't know how, I can learn. Cheng Qian, come and learn with Aye."
"It's too sunny. I don't want to learn." Li Chengqian refused.
Li Shimin pulled his wrist and walked forward: "Sunbathing is good for your health. Isn't that what you...oh, Mr. Sun said?"
Li Chengqian reluctantly followed him for a few steps before saying, "Why don't you get a few more people to come and see me? I've shown my abilities, haven't I? I have to gain something. It would be best if someone could write an article promoting me."
Li Shimin couldn't help laughing and said, "Writing an article is not enough. I will also write an imperial edict to praise you, and I have to write it down tomorrow and pass it on to future generations."
Li Chengqian nodded and smiled: "Okay!"
The faces of the people following behind were frozen. Their Majesty was so wise and powerful, how could he be so unruly when he was with the prince?
But they soon discovered that although the prince was reluctant and unserious, he was very serious about learning how to work.
Having been accustomed to sitting in the temple, everyone felt extremely uncomfortable learning to use a hoe. However, the emperor and the prince were not tired of learning from them, so they did not dare to say much and could only study seriously.
Li Chengqian was afraid of heatstroke, so within half an hour he ordered someone to boil mung bean water. When the water was brought, he was the first to rush over and drink two large bowls.
When he rushed back to work, Li Chengqian said, "Aye, go drink some water too, or I'm afraid you'll faint here."
Li Shimin straightened up and said with a smile: "You underestimate my father too much, Cheng Qian, when I conquered..."
But he had barely begun to speak when Li Chengqian said, "Father, you were twenty years old then, and now you're thirty. Also, look at your ministers. You seem young and strong, but they're quite old, especially Minister Du. He's in poor health to begin with. Don't torture him."
Among the people who followed Li Shimin, only Du Ruhui had a part-time job in the Eastern Palace, so it was not surprising that Li Chengqian mentioned him.
Li Shimin looked back at his ministers whose faces were red from the sun, fearing that they would be seriously injured, so he said, "Go to the shade and rest."
"Cheng Qian, you go too." Li Shimin called his eldest son again.
"I'm not going." Li Chengqian waved his hand.
Li Shimin glanced at the sun in the sky and said, "Then wait another quarter of an hour."
Li Chengqian said perfunctorily: "I know, I know, you guys go!"
As Li Shimin and a few others walked back, Changsun Wuji chuckled softly and said, "Sage, the Crown Prince is straightforward and kindhearted, which shows that Mr. Lu has taught him well. However, just one teacher is not enough. I think it's time to give the Crown Prince two more teachers."
Du Ruhui tilted his head and coughed. It was true that the prince was frank and kind. The prince was a bit blunt in his words and did not care about etiquette and rules, which made people feel uncomfortable listening to him. But apart from this, there was really nothing wrong with him.
Although he complained, he still did a lot of work. You thought he was taking the excuse of drinking water to slack off, but after drinking it, he went back to work honestly and still considered people like them.
The prince is indeed a qualified heir to the throne, as he is hardworking and considerate of his subjects. However, his temperament is a bit too straightforward. Those in high positions still have to be mindful of etiquette and keep up appearances.
"Keming, are you feeling unwell?" Li Shimin asked when he heard him coughing.
The Crown Prince is like His Majesty in this respect, Du Ruhui thought, and replied, "I am just thirsty and my throat is itchy."
Li Shimin smiled and said, "Then you should drink more water. Mung beans can also relieve summer heat. Cheng Qian must have heard this from Mr. Sun."
Changsun Wuji's words were diverted, but he had not given up yet. He thought that he should persuade the saint to quickly hire a few more teachers for the prince and not let him be left alone like this!
He has gunpowder, telescopes, cement and other things, and he also knows how to sympathize with his subjects. What a perfect prince he is. But his mouth makes people want to sigh when he speaks. Changsun Wuji thinks that the prince must correct this bad habit, otherwise what will happen when he goes to court to participate in politics in two years?
After they finished drinking the water, Li Shimin asked the people around him and learned that a quarter of an hour had passed, but the prince showed no intention of coming back.
Li Shimin frowned and was about to order someone to call the Crown Prince back when he heard Fang Xuanling beside him say, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince cares about the people, but he must also take care of himself. The crown prince is the heir to the throne and his position in the country should not be underestimated. Please, Your Majesty, recall the Crown Prince."
This was a hundred times better than Li Shimin himself asking someone to go and invite the prince back because he couldn't bear to see him suffer. Li Shimin immediately looked at Fang Xuanling with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Xuanling is right. Go and invite the prince back!"
Soon, Li Chengqian, sweating profusely, came trotting back. Li Shimin handed him the cooled mung bean water and asked, "Is it hot now?"
Li Chengqian drank two bowls of water and then smiled, "It's hot, but it's good to sweat while doing farm work. I'll come again tomorrow."
Li Shimin said, "You also have to study and learn martial arts. How can you have so much time? Cheng Qian, I know you are looking forward to the early cotton harvest so that the people can wear cotton clothes to wear in the winter and no longer suffer from the cold. But there are people to take care of things here. Your priority is to study hard and practice martial arts. I am still waiting for you to share my worries."
The tone was really high. Li Chengqian nodded and smiled: "Okay, okay, Aye, you are right. I won't come here anymore. I will go to the East Palace to open a piece of land."
Li Shimin: “…”
Du Ruhui: "..."
Others don't know that Du Ruhui went to the Eastern Palace specifically to pay a visit to the crown prince. He still remembers the large piece of garlic. It was obvious that when the saint lived in the Eastern Palace, it had the atmosphere of an emperor. How come it became a farm after the crown prince took over?
Li Shimin clenched his fist and said, "Let's talk about it when we get back."
How to deal with a naughty child who cannot be beaten or scolded?
…
After returning to Lizheng Hall, Li Chengqian first took a bath and changed into clean clothes, and then went to visit his mother. His mother made him bird's nest porridge. Li Chengqian ate two bowls before Tian Khan returned from the previous court.
Li Shimin had already bathed and changed his clothes. Seeing his eldest son drinking porridge, he said, "Guanyin, give me a bowl too. I've been busy all day and I'm starving."
Chang Sun ordered someone to bring more porridge and said with a smile, "Why are you just like Cheng Qian? You say whatever you want without any taboos."
When it comes to speaking, Li Shimin has a lot of complaints to pour out: "Fuji, Keming and the others in front have been telling me that the Crown Prince is too blunt and blunt, which is not good. They also told me that spoiling children is not good. How did I spoil my child?"
"If the Tang Dynasty held a competition for doting on children, you would definitely be at the top of the list, Father." Li Chengqian said, "People should know themselves."
Li Shimin rubbed his nose and said, "You only listen to the latter part. They were talking about you in the first part. Your uncle even urged me to find more teachers for you. It would be best if Wei Zheng and Yu Zhining were assigned to you."
Just then, a female official brought over some porridge. Li Chengqian took it and handed it to Tian Khan, saying, "Instead of scaring me, why not fill your own stomach first?"
"You'd better not think that I'm just trying to scare you." Li Shimin said this before going to drink his porridge.
Li Chengqian didn't take it seriously, but Changsunshi said, "Mr. Lu is old and not energetic enough. Chengqian, it's time for you to find a teacher."
Li Chengqian's face immediately fell: "I don't want to change teachers."
Li Shimin suggested: "If you don't want to change other teachers, Aye will be your teacher, and you will follow me from now on."
Li Shimin had said several times that he wanted to teach his eldest son how to handle government affairs, but was rejected every time. Considering that his eldest son was still young, he did not want to force him. This time he just wanted to use this as a comparison with hiring a new teacher, hoping that his eldest son would agree to have a new teacher.
However, Li Chengqian's answer was beyond his expectations: "Fine, but I won't go to court or discuss matters with you."
Let Tian Khan be the teacher, Li Chengqian thought, doesn't that mean I don't have to go to school if I don't want to? It's better than other teachers.
"Hey?" Li Shimin almost didn't react. "Cheng Qian, what did you say?"
"I don't attend court or discuss matters," Li Chengqian repeated.
Li Shimin said anxiously: "The sentence before..."
Chang Sun shook her head and said, "That won't do, Erlang. You have so many things to do, how can you have time to teach Cheng Qian?"
Li Shimin hurriedly asked, "Why don't you have any skills? Guanyinbi, think about it, Cheng Qian is the crown prince, and in the future... In short, who in the world can teach him except me?"
The Crown Prince does need to learn the ways of the emperor, but to have the emperor teach him personally...
Changsun was horrified at the thought, and when she was about to speak to dissuade him, Li Chengqian spoke first.
"Mr. Lu can still teach me now, Aye, I have agreed first, but if you want to be my teacher, I'm afraid you have to wait for some time." Li Chengqian said with a smile.
Li Shimin shook his head and laughed, "It's always been students waiting for teachers, how can teachers wait for students?"
Li Chengqian shrugged: "Who told you to be more than just a teacher?"
Li Shimin pondered for a moment, then turned to Changsun and said, "I often ask about Chengqian's homework, and I've also summoned Mr. Lu from time to time. Now is the perfect time. If Chengqian doesn't want to add another teacher right away, we can just wait a few more days. After all, our child is good in every way, so why does he need ten or eight teachers to teach him?"
Upon hearing this, Changsun burst out laughing: "They say you don't spoil your children, Erlang, Chengqian is right, you are the one who dotes on children the most in the world."
Li Shimin smiled and said, "When I become Cheng Qian's teacher, Guanyin Bi, you will know that I am definitely a strict teacher. When Cheng Qian comes to you crying, you are not allowed to plead for him."
Li Chengqian said dissatisfiedly: "I won't cry!"
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