As spring goes and winter comes, cold weather fades and summer arrives, time slips away bit by bit at your fingertips. It has never been stained by dust, but it is stained with the imprint of memory and the traces of time. It turns and moves in the long river of time. The waves are like all living beings that rise with the wind and flow with the waves, and will eventually be submerged in the river of history.
The Spring Ploughing Ceremony was an important agricultural event throughout the Tang Dynasty. The emperor and empress still needed to personally farm the fields like their predecessors. At this time, the main crops in Guanzhong of the Tang Dynasty were corn and wheat. In recent years, the weather has been good, the country has been peaceful and the people have been safe. The entire Guanzhong region has basically achieved self-sufficiency in food.
Coupled with the convenient transportation capacity of the Sui Grand Canal of the previous dynasty, a large amount of grain transported to Luoyang from Jiangnan by water was stored in Luoyang’s three major granaries. The economic prosperity of the waterway also made Luoyang extremely prosperous, and its status even had a tendency to surpass Chang'an.
As the saying goes, if you have enough food at home, you will never have to worry. This also gave Li Zhi enough confidence and courage to conquer the Western Turkic Shaboluo. The Tang Dynasty is now a powerful country. Although it has not yet reached its peak, it is enough to form a deterrent force in the surrounding areas, making other countries tremble in fear and become timid at the sight of its might.
Just like the United States in the previous life, when it attacked a country, the strategic mobilization and the use of national strategic reserves were completely easy for it. It could launch a war in a very short time without devoting the whole country to pay for a war.
In this era, the Tang Dynasty today is a behemoth like the United States in the previous life. If it wants to launch a war, it has sufficient capabilities and strength in any strategic reserves.
Using the former emperor's old ministers not only reflects the Tang Dynasty's confidence in this war, but also reflects the importance the Tang Dynasty attached to this war. They are veteran generals who have been on many battlefields and are familiar with the terrain of Western Turkestan. With the assistance of the famous general Su Dingfang, it is enough to show how much importance Li Zhi attached to this war.
If the expedition against the Western Turks was an external threat, then internal troubles did not exist either. The turbulent situation and dark clouds moving in the imperial palace and harem were no less serious than those of external threats, and were even more dangerous.
However, among these two torrents, a rare flower brought a breath of fresh air to the harem full of intrigue and weird atmosphere. This strange and fresh feeling even slowly tore a crack in the dark cloud sky above the harem, revealing the long-lost blue sky and white clouds.
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After the spring ploughing ceremony, the fifth prince, who had turned three, began his nine-to-five schooling life. Accompanied by his older brother and sister, the six royal heirs began to receive education together.
Among the several teachers who taught them, the one that interested Li Hong the most was Shangguan Yi. His interest was not because of Shangguan Yi himself, but because of Shangguan Yi's unborn granddaughter: Shangguan Wan'er!
But even so, within two months of Li Hong becoming interested in Shangguan Yi, he began to skip classes, pretend to be sick, and tried every possible means.
Since Wu Mei had just given birth to Li Xian, she was made king together with Li Hong by Li Zhi in the year of her birth. Li Hong was made King of Dai by Li Zhi, while Li Xian, who was still breastfeeding, was made King of Lu. During her confinement, Wu Mei was unable to fully focus on her eldest son Li Hong.
The weather was extremely hot. The sun had just risen from the horizon and the whole earth seemed to be suspended in a steamer. The trees in the palace drooped their leaves listlessly, as if expressing their dissatisfaction with the scorching hot weather.
A small figure sneaked out from the back door of Hongwenguan again. Li Sujie stared at the back with his small eyes, stunned. This guy dared to slip away again? Wasn’t he punished by his mother yesterday? How dare he slip away!
Li Hong had long been tired of learning from Shangguan Yi, Guo Yu and others. For him, these ancient texts had been learned for several lifetimes, and he was already extremely impatient. Moreover, they made Kong Yingda's "Five Classics Commentary" a compulsory subject, which made him even more unbearable because he was not interested in these things at all, and all he did during his studies was sleep.
After being punished by his mother yesterday, he knew that if he didn't do something to please his mother today, he would probably be punished again. Fortunately, he already had a foolproof plan.
After passing the Menxia Province, I turned and came to a secluded corner. I saw that there was no one around. It was the time when court officials were attending court, so naturally the area in front of the palace was a little quiet.
The palace maid Xiaoxue and the eunuch Mangzhong had obviously been waiting for a long time. When they saw King Dai running over, they waved hurriedly.
"Are everything ready?" King Dai Li Hong picked up the two soft cloth pads in Xiaoxue's hands, pinched their thickness, and then nodded with satisfaction.
"It's ready. Jingzhe and the others are waiting for the court officials to leave. You can go in soon." Eunuch Mangzhong opened the package in his hand and showed it to Li Hong.
Li Hong picked up a piece of white transparent thing and smelled it. It had no smell and he thought it was probably real. After looking at the goods, he signaled Mangzhong and Xiaoxue to turn around.
Xiaoxue and Hua Meng also understood this. Similarly, they were used to King Dai doing his own things. Although these things were their duties as slaves, King Dai never let them do these things.
Li Hong looked around to see that there was no one around, then looked up at the scorching sun. After thinking for a while, he decided not to use them for the time being. It would be better to ask Xiaoxue and the others to help him sew them on his knees later.
After figuring out what was going on, Li Hong patted Mangzhong, signaling that it was all right, and then handed two cloth pads to Xiaoxue and said, "Sew them on my knees for me later, so that my knees won't hurt when my mother punishes me to kneel again. Remember not to tell anyone."
Xiaoxue and Mangzhong nodded hurriedly. Their master had always had his own ideas since he was young. Although he was only three years old, he usually behaved like an adult and was much smarter than the other princes.
Although Chun Geng had been absent from classes since he entered school this year, he had passed every examination by His Majesty, which made His Majesty very happy. He did not pursue his absence from classes every day like Zhaoyi did and then punish him every now and then.
It was obvious that each punishment had no effect. After punishing the King of Dai, he just forgot about it and continued to do as he pleased. He made no big mistakes but kept making small ones every day. This made Wu Zhaoyi, who was in confinement after giving birth, so angry that she had no idea what to do.
Li Hong secretly hid in the corner of Taiji Hall, watching the ministers sweating profusely, complaining about the hot weather, and then slowly leaving.
He waved behind him and said, "Get ready to go. The court officials are leaving the court."
Li Hong appeared from the corner, followed by Xiaoxue and Mangzhong. One of them was holding a wooden basin full of water and followed closely behind him as they walked towards the Taiji Hall.
"Prince Dai? You should be studying in the Hongwenguan now, right?" Li Zhi's personal eunuch Yangwu stuck his head out of the door, looked at the sun hanging in the sky and asked in surprise.
"Mr. Shangguan has diarrhea today, so we don't have to teach." Li Hong pushed Yang Wu's body back to make room for Mangzhong and Xiaoxue behind him to come in.
Yang Wu looked at him with a half-smile, then saw Xiao Xue and Mang Zhong carrying two wooden basins, one large and one small, walking inside. He hurriedly stopped them and asked, "Prince Dai, what do you mean? His Majesty just left the court, why... why are you bringing two basins of water? Are you planning to... wash His Majesty's face?"
"Wash your hair. The weather is so hot that father is reluctant to use ice to cool off, and most of it is given to mother. Naturally, I brought the ice to father." Li Hong couldn't push Yang Wu, who was blocking the door and not letting him in. Obviously, if Li Hong couldn't explain clearly, he would not be able to bring the two basins of water in.
"Is this ice?" Yang Wu asked in surprise, looking at the two basins of clear water, his eyeballs almost falling into the basins.
"What do you care? It will turn into ice in a moment. Get out of the way. It's very hot outside." Li Hong said impatiently.
Before Yang Wu could say anything, Li Zhi's voice came from inside: "Let him in. He is a rare guest. He actually came to my Taiji Hall during the study period."
When Yang Wu heard Li Zhi's words, he quickly dodged to the side. Li Hong passed by and glared at him. He also kicked Yang Wu's calf with his short legs. I don't know how Yang Wu felt, but Li Hong felt that his toes were almost numb.
"Yangwu, you're using dirty tricks." Li Hong put his legs down and glared at him.
Yang Wu hurriedly apologized with a wry smile: "I deserve to die. How dare I..."
"Come in quickly, little thing. Why are you kicking him? If he hasn't completely subdued himself, you'll lose your calf." Li Zhi stood in the hall with a smile on his face, watching Li Hong glaring at Yang Wu with an angry face.
As he walked in, he took a step back and stepped on Yangwu's foot. He didn't know whether Yangwu reacted or not. He just felt pain in the soles of his feet, which was no different from stepping on stones.
"Little thing, why are you coming here instead of going to class? Aren't you afraid that your mother will punish you?" Li Zhi leaned over and looked at him with a smile.
"Hong'er greets the emperor." Li Hong bowed.
Then he looked up at the man wearing a thin court robe, but his chest was already soaked with sweat, and said, "Father, do you have any ice here?"
After he finished speaking, he began to look around the Taiji Hall, muttering, "My mother asked me to come and see you, saying that you are very tired in handling state affairs. The weather has been unusually hot recently, and I am afraid that you are reluctant to use ice to cool off, so I specially sent your son to see if you have used a lot of ice here as you told me."
Li Zhi listened to Li Hong's words with a smile on his face, and couldn't help but look up and laugh happily. These words sounded cooler than big chunks of ice.
"It's rare that you and your son are so thoughtful. Don't worry, this little bit of heat won't bother your father. Your father can bear it, not to mention that all the court officials can bear it too." Li Zhi said behind Li Hong.
Li Hong turned around and looked up at Li Zhi, chuckling and saying, "Father, I came here today to bring you some ice. Take a look."
"Is this ice?" Li Zhi pointed at a set of two wooden basins, one large and one small, and asked in surprise.
"It will turn into ice in a while, just watch." Li Hong said and then motioned to Mangzhong to take out a small piece of the wall frost, or saltpeter, and throw it into the big wooden basin.
Then, to the astonishment of Li Zhi, Yang Wu, and other palace maids and eunuchs, the water in the small wooden basin turned into ice in a short while.
Seeing the water in the small wooden basin turn into ice, the palace maids and eunuchs couldn't help but gasp and make sounds of surprise.
"This...how did they do this?" Li Zhi's expression changed from astonishment to surprise, and he asked, pointing at the ice in the small wooden basin.
Li Hong raised his head and chuckled, "The secret cannot be revealed. Well, I will take my leave now. You can use ice to cool off in the future without worrying about running out of ice. By the way, Yangwu, remember to send a few eunuchs to bring large buckets over so that I can make ice for you."
After the young master finished speaking, without waiting for Li Zhi to react, he climbed over the tall threshold of the Taiji Hall and ran out. Xiaoxue and Mangzhong behind him hurriedly saluted Li Zhi, and then hurriedly chased after him.
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