Don't be a prince

In the women's circle nowadays, being able to get something at an auction house is already a status symbol.The man couldn't figure it out at all, it was just accessories and incense, how could he be so excited.

But.... When I bid for Wenwan jade pendants, it feels really cool to get something from the auction.

After receiving a satisfactory answer, the housekeepers and maids of the Duke's house turned and left, leaving only a few housekeepers of the palace to inquire whether there was any stock left.

Zhang Yun, who had been holding back all this time, finally broke out and drove them away mercilessly.

"Your Highness, it's just some money. Why do you give them face like this and dare to block the way of the prince? They should be punished for this one thing."

Li Chengqian rolled his eyes at Zhang Yun and said, "Idiot, don't imitate those masters who use such stinky words. It's just money? No silver, no copper coins. What do the servants in the Eastern Palace eat and drink? No silver, no copper coins, dear prince." How do you pay the military salary? You have to eat two roast chickens for a meal, isn’t it still in exchange for silver and copper coins?”

One sentence made Zhang Yun blush.When he was by the emperor's side, he was not treated as well in the East Palace. Except for tasting dishes for the emperor, he hardly ate meat, but now in the East Palace, he was almost tired of eating meat.

No palace in the Imperial Palace is as good as the East Palace. Fortunately, the Harem and the East Palace are two independent places. One palace wall turns them into two worlds. What would the court ladies and eunuchs think.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and at this time, it is important not to kill animals after the new year, so if you want to hoard meat for the new year, you can only catch up with the new year.However, the East Palace does not need to buy poultry and livestock as usual, and now the farm not only sells them for profit, but also covers the supply of meat for the academy and the East Palace.

Chickens, ducks, geese, such poultry are very common, and castrated pork is now highly sought after by ordinary people. Although honorable people say they don't eat cheap meat, they still buy it when they should.

The most terrible thing is that today, along with all kinds of meat, there is also a cow's worth of meat.

"Wei Gong, this cow is a beef cow on the prairie. It is either lame or has some defects elsewhere and cannot be cultivated. It was registered when it passed the customs. The only purpose of raising it is to kill and eat meat. You can impeach it. Not to Gu's body."

At the gate of the East Palace, Wei Zheng was dazzled by the carts of meat. In order not to be sprayed by the old guy, Li Chengqian could only jump off the horse and explain the incident.

"I am not thinking of impeaching Your Highness. Although the East Palace is extravagant, it has a good way of making money. I am not a person who hates the rich. I just feel that the people in the world can eat meat once in a while, so it is not enough to miss eating meat once in a while." lifetime."

While talking, he walked into the East Palace. Now Wei Zheng is also one of the important ministers appointed to assist the East Palace.The official office has been sealed, and he hasn't given up on his work, so Li Chengqian is very suspicious. This old thing came here today to eat and drink, and to bring some meat home by the way.

After returning to his room and changing his clothes, Li Chengqian walked into the study, ready to see what Wei Zheng meant by coming.

A guess is just a guess. Judging from the meticulousness of his official uniform, he is probably talking about business.

Sure enough, after seeing each other and sitting down, Wei Zheng said: "A few days ago, Your Majesty ordered all the officials to give speeches. There was a guest named Ma Zhou who used Chang He's memorial to expound his views on the court. Many places are very unique. To be honest, even the old man may not be able to see it as thoroughly as he does.

Ma Zhou was unhappy in his early years, and went to many places, but he was not reused.He is a child of a poor family, and he has no way to become an official, so he can only join Chang He's family as a retainer in the end.His Majesty called the old man and others to discuss matters, and the talk was about the selection of talents by the imperial court.Your Highness, what do you think of this matter? "

What do I think?I see with my eyes.

Facing Wei Zheng's question, Li Chengqian didn't know what to say for a while.The recommendation system has always had problems since the Han Dynasty, but even if there were problems, it has not been completely abolished until now.The reason is that the abolition of the recommendation threatened the overall interests of the noble class, even if the emperor insisted on going his own way, it was impossible to completely abolish it.

For a family, money and power are the two most important things in any era.The new aristocrats can unite with the royal family in matters such as cracking down on the wealthy families of the five surnames, but if they are deprived of their power, they will blatantly oppose it.

Why did Wei Zheng ask this question?Although he has started to participate in politics, the scope of his participation in politics is still limited to wealth and goods, because the Minister of the Household Department is the eldest grandson Wuji, his uncle, even if something goes wrong, it will not turn into a big mistake.It's a bit wrong to ask such a question involving class interests now!

You know, although Wei Zheng is a little poorer, the Wei family is a little smaller.But he was also one of the emerging nobles.

"The old man told you this matter, just chatting, Your Highness don't need to be so wary."

Seeing the crown prince looking at him vigilantly, Wei Zheng was so depressed that he could only laugh dryly.

"For this matter, the princes in the court have probably come to a conclusion. Why do you still ask me? Although Gu is said to be a smart person by you, but because of experience, he is still not as good as you in the court. .”

"Your Highness, the old man said that it's just a chat, just talk about your opinion. After going out of this door, the old man won't talk about it to the third person, otherwise the sky will be struck by lightning, how about it?"

The words of the thunderbolt have been said, what else can I do?

Li Chengqian sighed, and could only say: "I think there are pros and cons to recommending this kind of thing. Nowadays, the people in the world have not been educated, not to mention ordinary people, even among merchants, there are not many literate ones. Well, people who can read and write are always required. In this regard, aristocratic families, including the noble family, have an advantage. At least, they will not recommend illiterate idiots.

However, it is also for this reason that if the officials come from honorable families, it is easy to give birth to powerful families.Just like the tyranny of foreign relatives, who kept inserting people from the clan into the court, the same is true for the recommendation of nobles.

To solve this problem, we must start from the root cause.There is a lack of literate people from poor families, so teaching is enough.Zhenguan College currently has nearly 2000 students enrolled, and civilian students account for more than 500.If some talents are screened out from these people through assessment, wouldn't this problem be solved?

To be disrespectful, although I have given the imperial examination, it is almost the same as if I didn't.The students selected by Guozijian and Hongwenguan are all the children of officials, even the children of nobles.In the imperial examinations, those selected by the state government are all the elites of the local rich families.In this way, what is the difference between the imperial examination and the non-examination? "

This is what Li Chengqian criticized the most. Whether it is the later generations or the Tang Dynasty, they are all the same. Many times they say how many places there are, which makes many people flock to them, but it is only when the final results come out that they find out that hard work seems to be nothing. use.

Wei Zheng nodded, and continued to ask: "The prince thinks, should the recommendation be abolished?"

"It doesn't matter whether it is abolished or not, as long as the protection of the family is removed, the capable will be promoted, and the weak will resign. As long as he is a person with real talents, it doesn't matter whether he is from a wealthy family or not! The privilege of honorable groups is theirs. What is exchanged for meritorious service can only be restricted, but not stripped away."

Hearing this sentence, Wei Zheng laughed immediately.What the prince said was also the result of discussions among their ministers.

The emperor also hoped that a few of them would allow the prince to learn a lot and quickly become familiar with government affairs. Now it seems that it is actually unnecessary.The prince sees things very clearly, so he doesn't need someone to teach him.As for experience, you always have to suffer twice in exchange for memory.

"Your Majesty's order, the old man has fulfilled it. The New Year is coming soon, and the old man should go home and prepare for the New Year's goods."

After speaking, Wei Zheng stood up.

"Wei Gong is leaving, so why don't you bring some meat to the family, so you don't have to buy it yourself. Donggong has its own farm, and it doesn't cost much."

Even so, Wei Zheng refused.

He got up and sent Wei Zheng to the door. Li Chengqian clenched his fist and waved it until the old guy left and the door was closed.

It would be good if the court's attention was shifted to the college. Although the main purpose of the college was to enlighten the people's wisdom, it would be ugly for the students to go back to the land to eat after graduation.

To attack the old family and restrict the new family, the best way is to select officials from the common people. Although there will still be some ignorant people recruited by the family, in the end, they can still play their original role.

Li Shimin is Li Shimin, and he will not turn a blind eye to him when he needs something that can be used.

When Li Chengqian was secretly happy in the study, Wei Zheng, who had left several butchers, was worried.

As the end of the new year approaches, the prices of goods have not dropped but increased. If you want to buy some meat to stew, you have to shop around.

It can be said that it is miserable for the dignified prince to mix to this extent.But Wei Zheng didn't care at all, thinking of what the prince said today, he was full of confidence in the future.

Although the emperor was not in the right position, what he did after he ascended the throne was worthy of his name.There is no war on the border, no internal disputes, and the land of the Central Plains, which was riddled with holes by the wars at the end of the Sui Dynasty, can always slowly heal the wounds.The prosperous age can be expected.Now that the crown prince is so intelligent, the most important thing is that his mind is also on the common people, and the continuation of the prosperous age can be expected.

How about being poor?So what if he is feared by the officials and loathed by the emperor?As long as it is beneficial to the people and the country, Wei Zheng will not care about this.

He walked out of the third store with a blank face, declined the store's idea of ​​"delivering to Zheng Guogong's mansion for free", sighed, and could only go to the fourth store.The current Wei Zheng already regretted rejecting the prince's gift.

The beef from a whole cow can't be digested by the Eastern Palace. As a kind of bird's nest in later generations, the court ladies and eunuchs dare not eat it at all.

Li Tai wrote a letter, and he was going to leave a lot, and Li Ke wrote a letter, and he was going to leave a lot.

Now Li Chengqian regrets what he said to "tell the truth" to them, let go of the difference in status, and these two people tend to develop in the direction of sluts.

The palace had to send it over, but only the meat was sent over, so what's the matter with the order of scolding?

The meat of the whole beef hind leg was all Dong Gong's own.

Ignoring Fang Sheng's refusal, Li Chengqian still ordered all the maids and eunuchs in the East Palace to eat dumplings stuffed with beef.In the East Palace, the crown prince has the final say, so the court ladies and eunuchs can only accept it.

"I just found out now that you, the prince, have failed. The servants of the Eastern Palace, you seem to have never punished anyone. The old eunuch who broke your cup, you just punished him not to eat for a day. What kind of punishment is this? "

When Li Chengqian was reading information in the study, Ashina Xue, who was also teasing Heitan's head in the study, finally spoke out her thoughts.

"In our Western Turks, the inferiors must be punished for doing wrong things."

I looked at her irritably, and then said: "My understanding of this kind of thing is different from yours. The temperament of the superior is innate, not drawn out by the whip. The superior has pity for the inferior, which has already been reflected. If there is a gap, why do you have to be punished? Don’t think I rarely punish the subordinates of the Eastern Palace. Believe it or not, they are the most loyal.”

Ashina Xue sneered, but said no more.In her view, it is impossible to gain loyalty without heavy punishment.

Li Chengqian ignored Ashina Xue and began to read the secret guard's information seriously.

The secret guards collected a lot of information, and it was very complicated, and most of them were just read as newspapers, but who knew if there would be anything important in it?

For example, in this one, Zhishisili moved from Tongjifang to Xuanyangfang.It looks like it's just a move, but it shows that Zhi Shili has completely changed from a "decorated general" status to one of the important generals of Datang.In October, the emperor was chasing rabbits to play in the back garden, but he lost his mind and tried to remonstrate, saying: "Your Majesty is the parent of China and Yi, so why not take it lightly!"

Such things are usually done by people like Wei Zheng. It is actually unnecessary to do so with perseverance and thoughtfulness. With his wisdom, he would know that this would arouse the emperor's disgust, but he still did it.This can only show that he really regards himself as a "Dangren" and looks at problems from the perspective of a courtier.

Just chasing after the rabbit completely tested the mind of a surrendered general. I have to say that the emperor's father's methods are extremely clever.Because Li Chengqian knew that the emperor would not chase rabbits for fun, he would just take out his bow and arrow and send the rabbit to the west with one arrow.

As for Duke Ying's warrior Yu, this unlucky guy even thoughtlessly pleaded guilty to the emperor and asked the emperor to order punishment, but he was reprimanded by the emperor and fined a lot of copper coins.

The East Palace didn't pay any of these fines for Ke Teniang, so the damned samurai will really be fine.

After reading all the information, Li Chengqian took out a letter and opened it to read.

During this period of time, in order to get together a complete set of perfume as soon as possible, Changle did errands very diligently.Not only will he send things to Su's house, but he will also help his brother and sister-in-law deliver letters.

After exchanging several letters, Li Chengqian discovered that Su Shi was very talented and could be called a talented woman.

Although the marriage has been settled, Li Chengqian still wants to play with the pen.Two people who know nothing about each other come together and it's a disaster.

After reading the letter, Li Chengqian picked up his pen and began to write a reply.Once the new year is over, there is no chance to send letters to the past.

Li Chengqian breathed a sigh of relief until he finished writing the reply, and when he raised his head, he saw Zhang Yun's constipated expression.

"What's holding you back like this? Can't you speak well if you have something to say?"

Seeing that the prince had finished writing, Zhang Yun said, "Your Highness, Taichang Temple has sent a group of happy children, who are said to be of extraordinary skill. yes...."

Taichang Temple?

Only then did Li Chengqian remember that before the old man passed away, Taichang Temple came to the East Palace to take away the guitar, and said that it must be very good to combine this instrument with the Qin King's Breaking Array.

Li Chengqian also wanted the product of the emperor's narcissism to be born as soon as possible, so that he could see how the famous King Qin would perform in breaking the formation, so he agreed.

As for what kind of happy child, what kind of super...

"Ouch! Old Zhang, don't tell me that there is a person called Xin Xin!"

"How does Your Highness know that the servant girl is saying what she wants?"

"Is this guy quite coquettish despite being a man?"

"Yes, Your Highness. This servant has seen it. This child has been tortured since he was a child and has been educated by a court lady. If he hadn't taken off his pants, no one would know that he is a man."

Unable to bear it anymore, Li Chengqian knocked his head on the table, not knowing what to say.

It's okay to be idle in the emotional Taichang Temple, but it's really messed up!Satisfied?If you wish, it won't work. I don't get married now because my body is not mature, and it's not that I don't have interest in women.This damn Gao Yuanshan definitely understood Lao Tzu as carrying a mountain on his back!

"Your Highness, what are you doing?"

Zhang Yun's teeth were sore when he heard that, His Royal Highness, this is not a usual small gesture, but a real bump on the head.

Under Zhang Yun's persuasion, Li Chengqian stopped the act of self-mutilation, gritted his teeth and said, "Old Zhang, you go and ask me where Gao Yuanshan, Qing of Taichang Temple, lives, I want to bring someone to beat him up! "

It is definitely a shocking thing for the dignified prince to beat the minister himself, but Zhang Yun can see that the prince is really angry now.

"I'm going to ask the address of Gao's house now, Your Highness, please don't get angry."

After speaking, Zhang Yun turned around and was about to leave.

"Wait a while, send those Le boys to Gao's house! Especially the one called Xinxin, I don't even want to see him alone!"

After getting angry, I realized that I was very thirsty.

Xiuxiu was always so considerate and brought the teapot in time.

In order to make sure that his sexual orientation was indeed okay, Li Chengqian, who had never touched her hands, couldn't help reaching out and pinching her face.

"Well, it's better to be a girl."

Chapter 244 A lot of things are taken for granted

It was the first time that the prince touched her, Xiuxiu's face was flushed, she didn't know whether she should hide or bear it.

But she could tell that the prince had just raised his spirits, if he could relax, it would be fine if he was pinched.

Zhang Yun quickly found Gao Yuanshan's address, but he sternly refused the prince's personal move.

The prince sent his men to beat the courtiers, which is already shocking the world. If he does it himself, God knows how those censors will react.

"Beat me hard and tell him that I am not married now because early marriage and early childbearing are not good for my health. Is there something wrong with Mr. Sun's doctor's order? !"

Zhang Yun nodded, there must be a reason for beating someone, and only by telling the truth can he be regarded as a teacher. Gao Yuanshan poured dirty water on the prince, and a beating would be light.

During the young year, every family is buying new year's goods, and many top bosses are still looking forward to the royal reward.But Gao Yuanshan didn't wait for a reward, what he waited for was a beating from the prince.It was a real beating, and Zhang Yun was also secretly annoyed, so he acted very darkly.

"Even if Gao Yuanshan did something wrong, he just needs to be reprimanded. Why do you have to ask Zhang Yun to beat him up?"

In Liangyi Hall, Li Shimin, who heard the news, couldn't laugh or cry, so he could only call the prince into the palace to reprimand him.

Touching his sore butt, Li Chengqian said helplessly: "Father, it's fine for Gao Yuanshan to send a band, what kind of **** are you sending? I'm not a bastard who likes men. If Zhang Yun didn't find out early, my son reputation is gone.”

"Do you think that a prince who treats ministers casually will have a good reputation? Gao Yuanshan was beaten so badly by Zhang Yun that he couldn't even get out of bed. You, you, are always so willful, and the documents of the Ministry of War, What did you write on it?"

After speaking, Li Shimin waved his hand, and Li Jian took the official document over.

"Father, the prince's personal command is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. In order to save trouble, old thief Du still handed over the work of collecting wild animals to the prince's personal command, and there is no room for him to refuse. The most important thing is that the prince's personal command is dispatched , the Ministry of War doesn’t give out any money or food, isn’t this just a way to get the wool of the Eastern Palace.”

Li Shimin was overjoyed and said: "It's just a matter of squeezing. What can you do? The world will still be in your hands after all. As a prince, you can only eat this boring loss. Who made you rich. Mo It’s you, even I, and I often have nothing to do with them. Starting next year, you will formally participate in politics. You see, when you encounter something that needs to be blamed, those courtiers will not blame you. They are all waiting to dump it on you. "

Hearing this sentence, Li Chengqian was immediately dumbfounded...

An emotive prince, or a scapegoat?

"Open your mouth. If you don't take the blame, whoever will take the blame. The courtiers have always objected to the prince's participation in politics. When you come here, no one from the prime minister to the minister has objected. After the new year, when you start to participate in politics, remember to do less and make more mistakes. What a wrong truth, don't mix it in foolishly, there are many smart people, and you are not missing!"

Li Chengqian nodded. Although he is a man of two generations, if he compares his IQ with Fang Xuanling and the others, he will probably be tortured to death.The guy who survived the troubled times and is still flourishing in court is not that weak.