On the surface, Li Shimin only accompanied Xu Hui, Zhang Anan, and Yuchi Fan, but in reality, he had several hundred cavalrymen accompanying him. However, these men were hidden in the shadows and were not easily discovered.
Not long after Li Shimin left, Li Zhi came to pay his respects.
He figured his father was probably having dinner at this time, and it would be the perfect opportunity for him to pay his respects. If his father was in a good mood, he might even be invited to stay and dine with him.
However, when he excitedly arrived at his father's palace, he learned that his father was not there.
"Where is Father?"
"This servant does not know!"
"When did Father Emperor leave?"
"This servant doesn't know either..."
It wasn't that the young eunuch didn't know, but rather that he simply didn't dare to say it.
Revealing His Majesty's whereabouts is a capital offense, and he wouldn't dare say it even if he had a hundred lives.
Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of him, Li Zhi could only return to his palace and sulk.
The longer he couldn't see his father, the more curious he became about where his father had gone.
When Li Shimin revisited the place, he was immediately amazed by the changes in Sanglin Village.
When he last visited, only two rows of brick and tile houses had been built in Sanglin Village. Although they looked impressive, there were too few of them, accounting for only a small portion of the entire village.
However, today, it can be seen that almost the entire village has been replaced with brick and tile houses, and even the original dirt roads have been replaced with stone slab roads.
What surprised him even more was that there was a hidden ditch in front of every household, which was used specifically for drainage and sewage disposal.
"This tiny Sanglin Village is actually more orderly than Chang'an..."
Many places in Chang'an still had dirt roads; only Zhuque Avenue was paved with stone slabs in its early years. However, over time, many of the stone slabs had broken, and the imperial court had never taken the time to repair them.
"Your Majesty is right. Even the Vermilion Bird Avenue in Chang'an isn't paved this smoothly. I really don't know why Young Master Zhong would choose to pave such fine stone slabs in the small Sanglin Village..."
"Hmph!"
"I think he's just burning money!"
"Isn't he good at making money? I'll appoint him to manage the Ministry of Revenue one of these days. If he doesn't earn me several million strings of cash a year, I'll give him a good beating!"
Xu Hui was completely confused, unable to understand why His Majesty was angry and why he had spanked someone.
Zhang Anan understood; he knew His Majesty was jealous.
It's no wonder His Majesty felt a pang of jealousy; what elder wouldn't be angry to see their children and grandchildren spending money so recklessly?
According to the people he sent out, since His Highness the Imperial Grandson was granted the title of Baron of Xianyang County, he has already spent nearly 10,000 strings of cash on this small Sanglin Manor!
Li Shimin took a few steps and saw the neatly planted trees by the roadside, and his heart ached again.
"He actually planted trees?"
"Hey, what are these poles standing in front of every house for? There seems to be a lantern on them. Could they be poles specifically for hanging lanterns?"
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, he saw Hu Delu, who had received him last time, running over excitedly.
"Is someone important looking at the streetlights?"
What streetlights?
"Your Excellency may not know this, but this is an order from our Lord, that every household should put up a pole at their door to hang lanterns so that they can illuminate the way for passersby."
"The Lord will pay for the lamp oil. Each household only needs to light the lanterns at the designated time each day and then extinguish them."
"This...this..."
When Li Shimin heard this, he was completely taken aback; even his palace wasn't this luxurious!
"How much will this cost?"
"Who can argue with that? This old man has tried to persuade him several times, but my lord just won't listen!"
"I... I'm so angry! Just wait and see how I deal with him later!"
Upon hearing this, Hu Delu immediately shrank back in fright.
"When you see my lord later, please don't say that I told you..."
"Don't worry, sir, I know what's important!"
"Where's your lord? He's not off digging a reservoir again, is he?"
"In reply to your question, sir, the reservoir has long been completed. My lord is currently leading the villagers to dig an irrigation canal."
"Aqueduct?"
"Yes, this was planned long ago. It was almost finished, but a section of the canal needed to be dug up to open up the main road, and then a bridge needed to be built on the main road, which is why it's been delayed until now..."
"Repairing a bridge shouldn't be too difficult, right?"
"It's just an irrigation canal. Digging up the main road and paving it with new stone slabs would have been enough. How could it have been delayed until now?"
Hu Delu said with a hint of complaint upon hearing this.
"Isn't it because His Majesty is coming? The government notified us half a month in advance, telling us not to damage the official road, so as not to disturb His Majesty's journey!"
"Oh oh oh..."
Upon hearing this, Li Shimin suddenly realized that it was because of him that the construction of the irrigation canal had been delayed.
This guy is too fast! How long has it been? The irrigation ditch is almost finished!
"Old man, you built this irrigation canal pretty quickly!"
Hu Delu's face was full of heartache whenever he mentioned this.
"How can it not be fast?"
"The lord has already spent three thousand strings of cash to build the canal. He's hired all the able-bodied men from the surrounding villages to dig it. The money he spends every day is like water flowing away..."
“I advised the Duke long ago to slow down the repairs and spend less money. Our Sun family has plenty of manpower. We can finish the repairs in six months. Why spend money to hire others?”
"But my lord just won't listen. He says that next year is the time to plant crops, and he's afraid it will delay next year's harvest!"
"My lord, look at what the Duke is saying. Our Sanglin Village has been poor for hundreds of years. Are we afraid of delaying it for one year?"
"In my opinion, the Duke is just too hasty in his actions, and he has too much money..."
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