thefictionvixens Chapter 410
Chapter 410
Two days later, November 15th, Saturday.
"Su Chen, I'm ready!"
Princess Changle quickened her pace and walked towards Su Chen, followed by two palace maids, each carrying a large package across her body.
It contained finished wool yarn.
Li Chengqian and Su Chen had been waiting for Princess Changle by the carriage for half an hour.
Yesterday, when Li Chengqian mentioned returning to the palace, he casually mentioned it to Su Chen and asked him if he wanted to go to the palace for fun.
Su Chen thought about it and had been planning to visit the weaving and dyeing bureau. It was just right for him to go to the palace, and Princess Changle seemed to want to go back to the palace.
There was another reason. Su Chen felt that there were not many vegetables to eat recently. Apart from coriander and shallots, there were almost no green leafy vegetables.
The white radish seedlings would be bitter and not easy to eat. They could only be used for cooking when they were very tender. When they grew up, the people would dry them until they were half dry and pickled them into pickles with cakes.
Even the native cabbage is gone this season, and there is not a single grain left in the cellar.
So, Su Chen plans to go to the market to see if he can find new alien species.
"Brother-in-law, hot and sour noodles... have you prepared enough?"
Li Chengqian is worried that Su Chen has forgotten the hot and sour noodles, and it will be difficult to explain when the time comes.
Su Chen laughed and turned to look at the housekeeper Wang Xi.
I got up too early today and was woken up by Princess Changle at half past six.
"Your Highness, Marquis, nine pounds of hot and sour noodles and a can of sweet potato starch have been placed in the carriage." Wang Xi bowed respectfully and pointed to the carriage dedicated to Princess Changle.
The sweet potato starch had been made into sweet potato vermicelli the evening before yesterday, which was more than last time, probably because the technique was more skilled.
A total of 18 pounds of vermicelli were made from 200 pounds of sweet potatoes, half of which were given to His Majesty the Emperor, and a can of starch was left.
Princess Changle ordered the maid to put the woolen yarn package in the carriage.
"Su Chen, let's go!"
Princess Changle couldn't wait to return to Lizheng Palace so that Empress Changsun could teach her how to knit.
Reading books is not as fast as learning from someone's personal instruction.
"Well, let's go!"
Su Chen nodded and helped Princess Changle onto the carriage, and then took another carriage with Li Chengqian. He wanted to catch up on some sleep in the carriage.
This time Princess Changle brought two maids back to the palace, and Master Liu went to the imperial kitchen of the palace first.
Li Ke and Xue Rengui went with them. They went back to Chang'an City to visit Master Li Jing, after all, they had been away for quite a while last time.
Su Chen specially prepared a few sets of pure cotton underwear for the two of them and gave them to Li Jing and his wife.
...
In the imperial study, Li Shimin was showing off his knowledge with Fang Xuanling, Ma Zhou, and Wei Zheng, and discussing some national policies.
Mainly studying what Su Chen proposed, most of which happened before Ma Zhou appeared.
Zhangsun Wuji and Du Ruhui were resting today and were not in the palace.
"Your Majesty, this is the household registration data sent by the Ministry of Household Registration. This is the number of household registration books and ID cards issued by the officials of the Ministry of Household Registration accompanying the King of Shu and Rengui."
"Adding the two together, there are 3.66 million households and a population of 11.25 million."
"In addition, some counties in Longyou Road and Hebei Road have not yet completed the statistics."
Li Shimin took the report and glanced at it, "Well, in the future, the household registration system will be promoted more in newspapers. With the cooperation of government departments at all levels in the investigation of ID cards, I believe that within half a year, accurate population data of the Tang Dynasty will be able to be counted."
Li Shimin also knew the difficulty of population statistics, which could not be completed overnight.
Now ministers do not need to report on memorials when they have something to report, and they do not need to hold a tablet when they go to court. They can write on white paper when they have something to report.
Li Shimin looked at the report in his hand and remembered the memorials written by ministers on bamboo slips or wooden tablets in the past.
Sometimes you have to use a car to pull it!
Now that white paper is widely available and much cheaper and easier, the imperial study was rearranged two months ago. The bookshelves for storing memorials are all made into grids and marked with dates, which makes it easy to find past reports.
Li Shimin was filled with emotion and couldn't help but think of Su Chen again.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Suddenly, Li Shimin's face changed, and he frowned slightly and thought to himself:
"Hiss~! I have been back to the palace for two days, and that kid's hot and sour noodles are not ready yet? This shouldn't be... Could it be that the bastard forgot?"
Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng saw the changes on Li Shimin's face.
"Your Majesty! What are you thinking about?"
Wei Zheng suddenly shouted loudly, pulling Li Shimin back to reality from the hot and sour noodles.
Li Shimin's shoulders trembled slightly in fear, and he said calmly: "I was just thinking about where the envoys from the Western Regions are now, and whether they are smooth on the way to Beijing."
Li Shimin pretended to be thoughtful and tapped the desk lightly with his fingers.
Wei Zheng knew very well that Li Shimin was talking nonsense, but he could not find any evidence.
"Your Majesty, do not worry too much. I think the group from the Western Regions will definitely arrive in Chang'an by the end of December."
Wei Zheng bowed and comforted him. Since the emperor was looking for a way out, he should do it.The ministers could not hold on to their grievances.
"Well, Xuancheng's words make sense!" Li Shimin nodded, feeling relieved.
Not long after, the eunuch in Taiji Palace reported to Li Shimin at the door of the imperial study:
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and Princess Changle have returned to the palace."
Today, Li Shimin arranged a day off for the old king, but the old king was not idle. He was now wandering around the East and West Markets.
Before, Su Chen asked him about several crops, but the imperial kitchen didn't have them, so he wanted to try his luck in the market.
"Well? That kid Su Chen didn't come to the palace?"
Li Shimin didn't react when he heard Li Chengqian return to the palace. In the past, the crown prince would greet Li Shimin first when he returned to the palace, but this time it was the eunuch who reported.
"Your Majesty, the guards in front of the palace didn't mention Su Hou."
"The crown prince and the princess brought three packages, two large and one small."
The eunuch was shocked. He could never answer that he didn't know when the emperor asked. Why keep you here when you don't know anything? Drag you out and chop you off!
Package?
Li Shimin thought to himself, 'When Li Zhi returns to the palace, there is absolutely no reason for that kid not to follow. '
"Everyone, I'll be back soon!"
Without thinking about it, Li Shimin got up and walked out of the imperial study.
...
"Li Zhi, go wake up your brother-in-law!"
Li Chengqian urged, standing in front of Princess Changle's carriage. When Li Chengqian got off the carriage, he pushed Su Chen several times, but failed to wake him up.
It's not Su Chen's fault. He got up too early today. It's only 8:10 now.
Princess Changle looked at her watch, "Prince, let Su Chen sleep for an hour this time. I'm going to find my mother first." She pushed the hot and sour noodles into Li Chengqian's arms and walked towards Lizheng Palace.
Two palace maids carrying packages followed behind her.
"Li Zhi, wait!"
Princess Changle had not taken a few steps when she heard Li Shimin's call from behind. Princess Changle stopped and walked towards Li Shimin.
Li Chengqian immediately went to meet Li Shimin. Today happened to be the weekend and he thought his father should be in Lizheng Hall, so he did not report to Li Shimin in Taiji Hall immediately.
"Hello, father. I thought that my father was resting in my mother's bedroom on the weekend, so..."
Li Shimin raised his hand to interrupt Li Chengqian's trembling, pointed at the small package in his hand and asked, "What's in your hand?"
"Replying to my father, nine catties of hot and sour noodles and a can of sweet potato starch."
Li Shimin smiled instantly, silently saying in his heart that Su Chen had a conscience. "Li Zhi, what are those two packages filled with?"
"My father is wool!"