Fairy Road Return [comprehensive]

The next day, the sky was high and the clouds were clear, and the sun rose early from the east. On a new day, people should be busy again.

It was early in the summer, and the courtiers were already waiting in the Yunge Pavilion under the square outside the Taiji Palace, gathering in twos and threes to discuss something.

It was a quarter before Mao Shizheng, when the bell rang, the courtiers lined up and entered the Taiji Hall. At the entrance of the main hall, the crown prince and the other princes were already waiting one step ahead. When the courtiers came up, they entered the hall together.

Mao Shizheng, Tang Huang entered the hall.

Jiang Lianggong presided over the etiquette of the morning court. His sharp voice echoed in the hall, and the morning court began like this.

It is now June, and the autumn harvest will be in less than two months. The most important task of the household department is the taxation of grain, but the amount of taxation has not yet been determined by the imperial court. Last year it was based on the taxation standards of the Sui Dynasty in previous years Half of it was collected, because during the war years, many people fled, the land was barren, and there was not much food tax collected at all.

Li Xie didn't intervene, even though he knew everything about Chang'an, but after all he hadn't been in the court for several months, he still lagged behind in the news.

After the Minister of the Household Department proposed it, the ministers discussed it enthusiastically. It is true that the national treasury is not very rich, and various taxes are urgently needed to fill the treasury.

Li Shimin, Li Xuanba, and Li Zhiyun are all very familiar with this matter, everyone explained what they said, and finally basically set the tone, but there is still a final discussion, Li Yuan suppressed it, and will call all important ministers to discuss it later.

There is also the matter of rewarding the generals in the army, which is a bit of a joke, because the civil servants don't want the generals to have too much power, but they can't suppress the generals too much.

Just over an hour passed, after the time passed, the early morning ended.

The Lixie brothers followed Li Yuan to the imperial study room, and Jiang Lianggong then asked the imperial dining room to serve meals, whether it was breakfast or lunch, their stomachs were temporarily full.

"Da Lang, you have been suppressing this document before, what do you think?" Li Yuan took out a memorial from the drawer under the desk. This memorial has been on hold for more than a year.

After Li Shimin, Li Xuanba, and Li Zhiyun read it, they understood what was going on.

"Father, now a large amount of land is in the hands of the nobles. Relying on the preferential treatment given by the imperial court, the nobles have certain tax-free rights for the land in their hands, but these people are not satisfied. There are too many hidden households in their hands, and the imperial court has taken back the land. The agricultural tax is not much at all.”

Li Shimin and the others also understand that the Li family used to be the courtiers of the Sui Dynasty. Except for the farms and land in the hands of the Li family, in addition to the tax-free and tax-paying ones, most of them still do not pay taxes, and the yield per mu of the land is not high. Similarly, if the land in some places is barren, the corresponding tax on this part of the land will be less, and this will lead some people to conceal it and report good land as poor land, so that they can pay less tax.

But now their positions are different. As princes, they have to think about the people of the world. How can these loopholes be made up for?This is what is urgent.

It just can't be done overnight, how to do it?

Li Xie glanced at the four younger brothers and asked, "Erlang, Sanlang, what do you think?"

Li Shimin's four brothers expressed their opinions and ideas, and Li Xie nodded: "Very well, although generally there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, but the current situation must be changed, otherwise the people will have no land and no food. , that would be tantamount to forcing them to rebel.”

"It's just that we can't reform now. This year, we will negotiate taxes according to last year's standards. When the tax returns from all over the country come up, we will compare them with the past. The results will be very gratifying."

Li Xie curled his lips. This year is better than last year. Chang'an and its surrounding areas are very stable. If the tax revenue is not as good as last year, or just a little bit more, it will be strange if there is no trick in it.

Hearing this, Li Shimin instantly understood what his eldest brother was thinking. He was waiting for an opportunity to make trouble, otherwise he would attract opposition from all the courtiers for no reason.

Then there was a discussion about the rewards of the generals in the army. Li Shimin asked for credit for his generals, and Li Yuanji also asked for credit for many generals who fought side by side with him. Of course, the credit is not what you say, it depends on him What has been done, this needs to be reported by the generals below one by one.

Coming out of the palace, it was almost noon, Li Xuanba, Li Yuanji, and Li Zhiyun followed the eldest brother every step of the way, especially Li Yuanji, he thought in his heart, the eldest brother must be going to see the young lady, and he is going too, the eldest brother can never leave he.

Li Shimin still has things to do, he wants to meet his generals, he didn't have a chance yesterday, and today he was busy in the palace for half a day, if he didn't take this opportunity, he was afraid that the rest of the time would be occupied by his elder brother, so the five brothers came together The gate of the palace parted, Li Shimin went to the barracks, and Li Xie led his younger brothers to the street.

Unexpectedly, walking and walking, this road is not quite right.

"Brother, aren't you going to see sister-in-law? Where are you going?"

Li Yuanji immediately whispered to Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun, "Third brother, fifth brother, it was so late last night, and the elder brother ran out to meet the young lady."

Li Xuanba and Li Zhiyun's eyes lit up instantly, Li Xie ignored them, walked around the corner, the road seemed to be getting more and more familiar.

"Wait, big brother, are you going to the second brother's house?"

After Li Xuanba finished speaking, his whole body was a little dark, what could the eldest brother do when he went to the second brother's house?Of course it's the little nephew, the second brother just parted with them, not to see the second brother.

Li Zhiyun couldn't help snickering, thinking of the face of the second brother last night, when the second brother came back from the military camp today and found that his son had been taken away again, did his face look like a horse's?

Li Xie glanced at the three idiot brothers and said, "That's right, where else can I go on this road other than Erlang's mansion?"

It will be noon, the eldest grandson Wuyou is at the mansion, and she is dealing with affairs. All the internal and external affairs of the entire Prince Qin/Mansion are handled by her, and she is a well-deserved mistress.

Li Xie entered King Qin's mansion as before, the steward sent a servant to report to the princess in the backyard, Changsun Wuyou was a little surprised, what is the elder brother doing here at this time?

When Changsun Wuyou walked outside the front hall, he heard voices from inside.

"Steward Lu, where's Chengqian?"

The butler was sweating and didn't know how to answer, so he could only say: "Report to His Royal Highness, the little master should be sleeping now."

The eldest grandson Wuyou black line, even though she thought it was a good thing for her son to be liked by others, she still felt that elder brother's behavior was too exaggerated, but she still sent someone to the main courtyard to take the child out.

The son and the eldest brother seem to hit it off very well. They should sleep soundly in the arms of the eldest brother, and they are not too noisy. Last night, the eldest brother hugged him all night. Apart from breastfeeding and changing diapers, he really didn’t play a little bit like usual. temper.

"Big Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother." The eldest grandson Wuyou entered the hall, and greeted his uncles and uncles with a smile.

Li Xuanba and the three of them really respected this second sister-in-law. After greeting each other, the three of them sat aside as the background board.

Li Xie glanced at Changsun Wuyou, and said, "Second Lady, Cheng Qian is still young, don't rush to add younger siblings to him."

In history, the Changsun family was a capable person, not only a virtuous queen who has been passed down through the ages, but also very capable of giving birth to children. She and Li Shimin had a total of seven children, but the children were not in good health. This shows that the physical fitness of the parents is not good enough. But most of Li Shimin's other children are in good health, only the sons and daughters are mostly in poor health, so this is also due to the mother's health. If the mother is not in good health, how can the child's health be good?

The eldest grandson Wuyou was a little embarrassed. This was the first time she heard her elder brother persuade her not to have more children. She had heard it from Li Shimin before. The elder brother always told him not to have children too early. not good.

"Second lady, the eldest brother is telling the truth. You should also know Erlang's personality. If you leave earlier than him, he will definitely love the children left behind. But there are many brothers and sisters, and there is a saying that does not worry about widows." And suffering is uneven, without your persuasion, your children will kill each other in the future, which will not only hurt Erlang's heart, but I am afraid that you will not feel at ease in the underworld."

The eldest grandson Wuyou said: "Brother, I understand."

"You and Erlang got married too early. In fact, your health is not good. It's just that you are young now, so you can't notice it. But after 30 years old, you will know what it's like to be plagued by all kinds of diseases. So Er Niangzi, if you want to see Once your child is well, then you must take good care of your health. I don’t recommend that you give birth too close together. Now Chengqian is not yet one year old. It’s best to wait until he is two to three years old before considering the second child. After having a second child, in three to five years, I will consider the next child and leave enough time to take care of my body."

The three brothers Li Xuanba, Li Yuanji, and Li Zhiyun were in an embarrassing mood. They always felt that the eldest brother was too concerned about the second brother's heirs. Look at the embarrassment on the second sister-in-law's face.

"Also, one drop of essence and ten drops of blood, Er Niangzi, don't indulge Erlang in taking so many women, it's not good for him, and what's the use of having so many children, and you didn't give birth to them. Go early, those women in the backyard blow pillow wind, although it may not be effective every time, but after a long time, how can Erlang have no grudges in his heart? Then your children will kill each other, and the children born to other women will come to power. It's a good show of seizing family property, which lasts for a long time."

Li Xuanba said blackly: "Brother, what you said is too scary!"

Li Yuanji is a big brother admirer, he said: "What's so scary? Third brother, if you read more history books, it is said that the brothers Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are fighting for that position. Their mother is still alive, so they have to fight for their heads. Bleeding, of course, this is because their mother can't speak to their father, and can only watch their sons kill each other, the second sister-in-law is the second brother's good helper, and the second brother will still listen to what the second sister-in-law says."

Changsun Wuyou has black lines all over her head, even though she is eloquent, she doesn't know how to answer the conversation.

Li Zhiyun didn't speak all the time, he suddenly said: "Ahem, big brother, if you could have dissuaded father before, wouldn't my sisters and I have been born?"

Li Xuanba and Li Yuanji gave Li Zhiyun a thumbs up, thinking that the fifth younger brother is so good that he can actually throw the problem on his father.

Li Xie raised his eyebrows: "Oh, I didn't know about this situation before, so I didn't stop Dad, but now there are no new siblings?"

Changsun Wuyou was speechless. The eldest brother was in charge of the world and even involved in the matter of his father's childbirth. Wasn't he afraid that the courtiers or his father would become suspicious of him after they found out?

"That's not right. Father's harem won't add any more concubines. Father is quite old, so don't harm the little lady. If you want to have children, you can. Presumably Wan Niangniang and the others can have another child."

Li Zhiyun's mother, Concubine Wan Gui, is only in her 30s, and she can still have children, but the mothers of the princesses are a little older, most of them are over 40 years old, and it is really difficult to have children.

Li Zhiyun quickly shook his head: "That won't work, Auntie is getting old, it's too dangerous to have a baby."

The nanny came holding the sleeping baby baby Li Chengqian. As soon as Li Xie saw him, he stopped talking, hugged the baby from the nanny's arms, turned around and said to the eldest grandson Wuyou: "Second lady, I will hold the baby." Let's go, and send it back to you in the evening."

The eldest grandson Wuyou quickly came to his senses, and ordered the nanny and four maidservants to follow. It is not that simple to take the child out. Kettles, towels, and diapers are essential.

There is a restaurant on a quiet street not far from King Qin's mansion. At noon, there are quite a lot of customers in the restaurant, but in the largest private room on the second floor, the voice of a child's baby's voice can be heard.

"Auntie, have we been eating for a long time?" After the child finished speaking, he picked up a piece of milk cake and put it in his mouth, his cheeks were bulging, just like a little hamster.

Today, the one who accompanied Fang Jia out to look for the beautiful aunt was still the boy Shi Tie who didn't look like a boy servant and the taciturn maidservant. Now they were sitting in the corner, watching their little master feasting.

Yang Ruoxi stopped the child when he picked up the third piece of pastry, and said, "You can't eat any more, or you won't be able to eat it later."

The child retracted his little hand obediently, his eyelashes curled up, and his bright eyes were flapping: "Then when shall we have dinner? Jia'er is hungry."

Yang Ruoxi had a smile on her lips: "Wait a while, we have to wait for a special guest, we will have dinner together when the guest comes."

After a while, Li Xie came in with the child in his arms. The three followers behind him, Li Xuanba, were not surprised to see the people inside. The eldest brother must have made an appointment with his future sister-in-law last night, otherwise why would the eldest brother go straight to this room? Restaurant?

But does this child seem to be a child of Fang Xuanling's family?Fang Xuanling is the second brother's confidant, his child is close to the future sister-in-law, is the sister-in-law trying to poach the elder brother's corner?

"Hey, brother!" Fang Jia got up from the ground like a little whirlwind and ran towards Li Xie.

Li Xie stood still, looking down at the little one. He held the child in one hand, and stroked the little one's head with the other.

"My brother hasn't woken up yet, I'll play with you when my brother wakes up later."

Fang Jia raised her head, blinked her eyes, and asked in confusion, "Is my brother a child of my uncle's family?"

Yang Ruoxi had already stood up, and she saluted Li Xuanba and the three of them, Li Xuanba suddenly said in frustration: "That sister-in-law, don't beg me, brother will cut me off!"

"That's right, sister-in-law, don't worship us, we should worship sister-in-law, hello sister-in-law!" Li Yuanji and Li Zhiyun bowed their heads tacitly.

Li Xie walked to Yang Ruoxi's side, sat down cross-legged, and put the child between his legs. He was still sleeping like a piglet, and he was not disturbed at all.

"Okay, don't make trouble, find a place to sit by yourself."

Fang Jia grabbed Li Xie's knee, still looking at him in confusion, Li Xie patted his little face lightly, and said, "My younger brother is the child of my uncle's family, isn't your name Fang Jia?"

The child grinned and nodded: "Yes, my name is Fang Jia, uncle can call me Jia'er."

"Brother is still sleeping?" The child looked at Li Chengqian in his swaddling baby, with a regretful face, he wanted to play with his brother.

Li Xie said patiently: "I'll play with you when my younger brother wakes up." Then he looked at Li Xuanba and ordered: "Sanlang, ask Xiaoer to order."

The three of them, Li Xuanba, were looking at the elder brother's loving expression with relish. Although they had known for a long time that the elder brother was very patient with the children, they felt miraculous every time they saw it, so they never got tired of watching it.

"Aren't you hungry?"

Li Xuanba was frightened back to his senses by the big brother's gaze, and hurriedly said: "I'm hungry, I'm already so hungry that my chest is on my back."

"Yes, I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry!" Li Yuanji made a fuss, Li Zhiyun had already got up and walked outside the door and started calling Xiao Er to order food.

Fang Jia's eyes lit up, she sniffed, and said loudly, "Uncle, I want to eat meat."

"Okay, eat meat." Li Xie looked at Fang Jia, thinking about Wei Zheng in his heart. Wei Zheng is about the same age as Fang Xuanling, and his son seems to be about the same age as Fang Jia. When Wei Zheng's wife and son come to Chang'an, Then gather that boy together, such a lovely child and Cheng Qian as companions, the team of the next generation will be formed!

At this time, the kitchen was not so busy. After ordering, the meals were served within a quarter of an hour.

Perhaps attracted by the aroma of the food, baby Li Chengqian woke up. He opened his eyes first, but his small eyes were still a little dazed. After a while, he saw the surrounding environment and the person holding him clearly. Asked if the person looking at him was his favorite uncle, his mouth moved, his hands shook, and he began to cry.

"Hungry?" Li Xie looked at him, touched his little hand, then looked at the nurse who had been in the corner, and said, "Nurse, feed the baby."

The nanny came over in response, and the four maidservants followed, and the five went to the other side of the private room separated by the curtain.

Li Yuanji muttered: "Brother, you really don't mind trouble."

Li Xie glanced at him, then didn't bother to talk to his younger brother, picked up a piece of meat with his serving chopsticks, and put it in Fang Jia's bowl: "This is the last piece of meat, you are not allowed to eat it after you eat it."

Fang Jia pursed her lips: "Uncle, you are too unfriendly." The table was full of delicious food, so he was only allowed to eat a little.

Yang Ruoxi laughed in her heart, and said: "Jia'er is still young, so don't eat too much meat, for fear of indigestion."

Over there Li Chengqian was full, the nanny brought her back, and silently handed it to Li Xie, who took it and hugged her in her arms, uncle and nephew stared at each other for a while, Li Xie continued to eat.

As a child, he doesn't eat so much. Fang Jia finished eating quickly. He crawled over and sat beside Li Xie, holding Li Chengqian's little hand with his little hand.

"Brother, you don't know me anymore? Auntie said we should be good friends and play with uncle."

After Fang Jia finished speaking, she looked at Li Xie and said in confusion, "Is this uncle?"

"Yes, that's my uncle." Li Xie nodded solemnly, Fang Jia blinked, clapped her hands happily, and then continued to talk to her younger brother.

At this time, Li Xuanba and the three had a strange thought in their hearts. Eldest brother likes children so much, even other people's children. Should they get married quickly, and then have a few children for eldest brother to play with?

The three brothers looked at each other very strangely, and then looked away with aspirations. Their thoughts must not be known to outsiders.

After lunch, Li Xie didn't think of going anywhere else, and he had no free time this afternoon.

At the end of the day, two housekeepers from the Prince's Mansion came, each holding a stack of ledgers. Shi Chong was in charge of the internal and external affairs of the Prince's Mansion, while Xie Chong was in charge of Lixie's private soldier Xuanyiwei. Eating and drinking, His Highness is back, but he hasn't returned to the Prince's Mansion yet, so they came here.

But Li Xie just listened to their summary, and someone came again. Qingyun Pavilion Meng Liang led the disciples in the pavilion to report to him. Shi Chong and Xie Chong had no choice but to step back and give space to Meng Liang and the others. people.

However, there will be no place for them in the future. Qingyun Pavilion has recruited so many talents who are waiting for the return of the prince, and they also followed Meng Liang.

So next, this private room will be full of people, and it will become a meeting place for the prince and all the students to exchange ideas.

In less than half an hour, the news that the crown prince was meeting with students from all over the world in the restaurant spread throughout Chang'an, and students, whether owned or unowned, came to this restaurant one after another.

After Fang Xuanling's five cousins, cousins, and nephews who came from their hometown to look for opportunities heard the news in another library, they also kept coming here.

Young people have their own ideas. My cousins ​​are not on the same line as Fang Xuanling, and Fang Xuanling thinks that my cousins ​​still need to exercise, so he doesn't feel in a hurry, but my cousins ​​are in a hurry Ah, of course they weren't in a hurry, but they had to do something, so apart from helping Lu's affairs, they also made many like-minded friends.

"Hey, isn't that Jiaer?" As a result, after the cousins ​​and cousins ​​came to the restaurant, they couldn't enter the private room at all, and the inside was overcrowded. They could only take a gap outside the door to look in, and then saw the little nephew .

After a while, the cousin Hei Xian said: "I have heard from my sister-in-law that Jiaer loves Mrs. Yang San very much. It really is not an ordinary love."

The little nephew would appear on the same occasion as the crown prince, and the only connection was the former three princesses, the rumored future crown prince, and it seemed to be the case.

On the other side, after seeing King Qin, Fang Xuanling saw that it was already afternoon, so he didn't go back to the government office, but went home directly.

As a result, on the way, he heard that the prince was meeting the students from all over the world in a certain restaurant, and he followed him out of curiosity. Of course, when he arrived at the restaurant, he couldn't enter the private room, and he couldn't see anyone. Instead, he saw many colleagues, who were chatting with them for a few minutes. After a while, four cousins ​​and cousins ​​came to him, and the eldest cousin said in a low voice: "Brother, Jiaer is inside."

The little cousin also said in a low voice: "There is also the voice of the baby, it should be the young son of Qin/Wangfu, Jia'er and the young son seem to get along very well."

Fang Xuanling's face was dark, what fit?Xiao Shizi is just a milk baby, he can't speak, how can they get along?

"The crown prince hugged Xiao Shizi to meet the students? Did Xiao Shizi make any noise?"

The cousin took a look at Fang Xuanling and said, "Jia'er is not making noise either. I heard from the people in front that the crown prince is very patient with Xiao Shizi and Jia'er, and Jia'er can actually listen to the prince's words?!"

A child doesn't care whether you are the emperor or the prince. When he wants to cry or make trouble, even his parents can't control him.

Fang Xuanling's eyes were dark. As a close friend of the King of Qin, he naturally knew that the King of Qin was very conflicted about the Crown Prince's attempt to 'rob' the young son, but as a subject, he couldn't control it, but now the Crown Prince will not even want to 'rob' his son, right? ?