As spring passes and winter comes, and the cold and heat come, time slips away bit by bit through the fingertips. Not stained by dust, but stained by the imprint of memory and the traces of time, turning and moving in the long river of time, the waves are like all living beings blown by the wind and flowing with the waves, and will eventually be submerged in the river of history.
The Spring Plowing Ceremony was a major agricultural event that remained unchanged throughout the Tang Dynasty. The emperor and empress still had to personally cultivate the land like the late emperor. At this time, the crops in Guanzhong of the Tang Dynasty mainly included corn and wheat. In recent years, the weather has been good, the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the entire Guanzhong area has basically achieved self-sufficiency in food.
Coupled with the convenient transportation capacity of the Sui Canal in the previous dynasty, a large amount of grain transported from the south of the Yangtze River to Luoyang by waterway was stored in Luoyang's three major granaries. The economic prosperity of the waterway also made Luoyang extremely prosperous, and its status was even vague. There is a tendency to catch up with Changan.
As the saying goes, if the family has enough food, nothing will panic. This also gave Li Zhi enough confidence and confidence to conquer the Western Turks Shaboluo. The Tang Dynasty's national power was now strong. Although it had not yet reached its peak, it was enough to form a deterrent force in the surrounding areas, making other countries feel cold and timid.
Just like the American emperor in the previous life, when it attacked a certain country, the strategic mobilization and the use of national strategic reserves were completely easy for it. It could launch an army in a very short period of time. Instead of devoting all the country's energy to pay for a war.
In this era, the Tang Dynasty is a behemoth that existed like the American emperor in the previous generation. If it wants to launch a war, it has sufficient capabilities and strength in any strategic reserves.
The use of the former emperor's former ministers not only reflects the Tang Dynasty's confidence in this war, but also reflects the importance that the Tang Dynasty attaches to this war. They are veterans who have been on the battlefield and are familiar with the terrain of all aspects of the Western Turks. In addition, there are also famous Having Su Dingfang assist him is enough to show that Li Zhi attaches great importance to this battle.
If the conquest of the Western Turks is a foreign invasion, then internal worries are not non-existent. The turmoil in the palace and harem is surging, dark clouds are flowing, and the intrigues are no less than the foreign aggression, or even more dangerous than the foreign aggression.
However, among these two torrents, a strange flower added a fresh breath to the intrigues and strange atmosphere of the harem. This strange little freshness even slowly opened a crack in the dark clouds above the harem, revealing the long-lost blue sky and white clouds.
After the Spring Plowing Ceremony, the fifth prince, who turned three years old, also started studying from nine to five. Accompanied by the emperor's brother and sister, the six royal heirs began to receive education together.
Among the gentlemen who studied for them, the one that interested Li Hong the most was Shangguan Yi. He was interested not because of how Shangguan Yi was, but because of Shangguan Yi's unborn granddaughter: Shangguan Wan'er!
But just like that, within two months of Li Hong becoming interested in Shangguan Yi, he started to skip classes, skip classes, pretend to be sick and other tricks.
Because Wu Mei had just given birth to Li Xian, and was crowned king together with Li Hong by Li Zhi in the year of his birth, Li Hong was crowned acting king by Li Zhi, while Li Xian, who was still drinking milk, was crowned King Lu. Wu Mei, who was in confinement, could not fully focus on her eldest son Li Hong.
The weather was extremely hot. The sun had just risen from the ground. The entire earth seemed to be on a steamer. The trees in the palace were drooping their leaves listlessly, as if to express their dissatisfaction with the unbearably hot weather.
A small figure sneaked out from the back door of Hongwen Hall again. Li Sujie stared at the figure in a daze with her little eyes. How dare this guy sneak away? Wasn't he just punished by his mother and concubine yesterday? How dare he sneak away!
Li Hong had long been tired of being taught by Shangguan Yi, Guo Yu and others. He had studied these ancient texts for several lifetimes, and he was already impatient and could no longer be impatient. Moreover, he regarded Kong Yingda's "Five Classics of Justice" as a required course of study, which made him even more unbearable, because he was not interested in these at all, and the only way to study was to sleep.
After being punished by his mother and concubine yesterday, he also knew that if he didn't do something to please his mother and concubine today, he might still be punished, but fortunately, he already had a perfect plan.
After passing through Menxia Province, we turned around and came to a secluded corner to see that there was no one around. It was the time when the courtiers were going to court, so naturally the front of the palace seemed quieter.
The palace maid Xiaoxue and the eunuch Mang Zhong had obviously been waiting for a long time. When they saw King Dai running over, they hurriedly waved.
"Are you all ready?" Acting King Li Hong picked up the two soft cloth cushions in Xiaoxue's hands and squeezed the thickness, then nodded with satisfaction.
"Get ready. Jingzhe and the others are already waiting for the courtiers to come down to court. You can come in soon." Eunuch Mangzhong opened the package in his hand and showed it to Li Hong.
Li Hong picked up a piece of white and transparent stuff and smelled it. It had no smell, so he thought it was probably true. After looking at the goods, he motioned to Mang Zhong and Xiaoxue to turn around.
Xiaoxue and Hua Meng also understood that, similarly, they were used to Dai Wang doing their own things. Although these things were their duty as slaves, Dai Wang never let them do these things.
Li Hong looked around and saw that there was no one around, then looked up at the scorching sun. After pondering for a while, he decided not to use these for now. It would be better to ask Xiaoxue and the others to sew them on his knees later.
After thinking about the matter, Li Hong patted his ears and signaled that it was okay. Then he handed the two cloth pads to Xiaoxue and said, "You guys can sew them on my knees for me later, so that when the concubine punishes me to kneel down again, my knees will be lifted." It doesn’t hurt anymore, remember not to tell anyone.”
Xiaoxue and Mangzhong nodded hurriedly. Their master had been independent since he was a child. A three-year-old child, he usually behaved like an adult, much smarter than other princes.
Although Chun Geng always missed classes after entering school this year, His Majesty was able to pass the exams every time. This also made His Majesty feel relieved. He did not pursue him for skipping classes every day like Zhaoyi, and then punished him every now and then.
Every punishment obviously had no effect. After punishing Dai Wang, people forgot about the matter, and then they continued to go their own way, making big mistakes and making small mistakes every day. Wu Zhaoyi, who was in confinement, was very angry. There is no way.
Li Hong secretly hid at the corner of the Tai Chi Hall, watching the ministers sweating profusely, complaining about the sultry weather, and then slowly leaving.
He waved behind him: "Get ready to go over, the courtiers are going to court."
Li Hong stepped out from the corner, followed by Xiaoxue and Mang Zhong, each holding a wooden basin filled with water in his hands, and followed closely behind him towards the Tai Chi Hall.
"Acting King? You should be studying in Hongwen Hall at the moment, right?" Yang Wu, Li Zhi's personal eunuch, stuck his head out the door and 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 leave room for Mang Zhong and Xiaoxue behind him to come in.
Yang Wu looked at him with a half-smile, then saw Xiaoxue and Mang Zhong walking inside carrying two wooden basins, one large and one small. He hurriedly stopped him and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by this? Your Majesty has just laid down My Lord, what do you mean by bringing two basins of water to wash His Majesty's face?"
"Wash your hair. The weather is so hot. My father is reluctant to use ice to escape the heat. Most of them are placed with my mother and concubine. Naturally, I brought ice to my father." Li Hong couldn't push Yang who was blocking the door to prevent him from entering. Wu, obviously if Li Hong couldn't explain clearly, it would be impossible for him to carry these two basins of water in.
"Is this ice?" Yang Wu asked in surprise as he looked at the two basins of water, his eyes almost falling into the basin.
"You don't care, it will turn into ice in a moment, please get out of the way, it's very hot outside, okay?" Li Hong said impatiently.
Before Yang Wu had time to speak, Li Zhi's voice came from inside: "Let him come in. This is a rare guest. He actually came to my Tai Chi Hall during training time."
Yang Wu heard Li Zhi's words and hurriedly stepped aside. Li Hong glared at him as he passed by, and kicked Yang Wu's calf with his short legs. I don't know how Yang Wu felt. Li Hong Anyway, it feels like my toes are going numb.
"Yang Wu, you are using dirty tricks." Li Hong put down his legs and glared.
Yang Wu hurriedly smiled bitterly and apologized: "I deserve to die. How dare you..."
"Little thing, come in quickly. If you kick him no matter what, if he hadn't completely restrained himself, you wouldn't be able to save your calf." Li Zhi stood in the hall with a smile, watching Li Hong raise his head and glare at Yang Wu with an angry look on his face.
As he walked in, he still took a step back and stepped on Yang Wu's foot. He didn't know whether Yang Wu would react or not. He only felt the pain in the sole of his foot, which was no different from stepping on a stone.
"Little one, why are you here instead of teaching? Aren't you afraid that your mother and concubine will punish you?" Li Zhi leaned over and looked at him with a smile.
"Hong'er has met Father." Li Hong saluted.
Then he looked up at the thin court clothes he was wearing, but his chest was already soaked with sweat, and said, "Father, you don't have any ice here, right?"
After saying that, he started to look left and right around the Taiji Hall, muttering: "My mother asked me to come over and take a look. She said that you are having a hard time handling the government affairs. The weather has been extremely hot recently, and I am afraid that you will be reluctant to use ice to escape the summer heat." "Yes, so I sent my son over to see if you have used a lot of ice here as you told me."
After Li Zhi listened to Li Hong's words with a smile, he couldn't help but raise his head and laugh happily. These words sounded cooler than large chunks of ice.
"It's rare that you mother and son are caring. Don't worry, your father can't bear this intense heat. He can bear it, not to mention the courtiers can bear it too." Li Zhi said after Li Hong.
Li Hong turned around and looked up at Li Zhi, giggling and said, "Father, I am here today to bring you ice. Take a look."
"Is this ice?" Li Zhi pointed to a large and small set of wooden basins put together and asked in surprise.
"It will turn into ice in a moment, just watch." After Li Hong finished speaking, he motioned to Manzhong to take out a small piece of the wall frost he bought, which is saltpeter, and throw it into the big wooden basin.
Then, Li Zhi, Yang Wu, and other palace maids and eunuchs were stunned when they saw that the water in the small wooden basin turned into ice in a short time.
Seeing the water in the small tub turning into ice, the maids and eunuchs in the palace couldn't help but make gasps and sounds of surprise.
"This... how is this done?" The expression on Li Zhi's face changed from surprise to surprise, and he pointed at the ice in the small wooden basin and asked.
Li Hong raised his head and chuckled: "The secret must not be leaked. Okay, I have resigned. From now on, you can rest assured to use ice to escape the heat. Don't be afraid of running out of ice. By the way, Yang Wu, remember to send a few eunuchs to get it later. Come over here and I'll make ice for you."
After the little master finished speaking, before Li Zhi could react, he climbed over the tall threshold of Tai Chi Hall and ran out. Xiaoxue and Mang Zhong behind him hurriedly saluted Li Zhi, and then hurriedly chased him out.
(End of chapter)