My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 13: Saltpeter makes ice, gunpowder explodes furnace

King Li Tai of Wei wanted to arrange his own people in the Indian delegation.

Wei Zheng smiled and said nothing, and Changsun Wuji didn't even bother to look at him.

Fang Xuanling naturally knew that His Majesty would never agree to this.

If it was before, maybe it would have been possible.

But today the prince was so strong and merciless, it was like a falling out.

If Your Majesty continues to do this, I guess there will be another commotion today.

Of course, Li Shimin would not really let the King of Wei arrange the personnel for the delegation to India.

"I am very pleased that Qingque has this thought."

"However, let your elder brother be in charge of the diplomatic corps going to India."

Li Shimin made the decision immediately.

"Yes, Father."

The King of Wei did not look disappointed at this; he just said it casually.

Li Chengqian was eating the Sushan with great concentration.

While we were talking, we had almost finished eating.

Then he slowly bowed and said, "Thank you, father."

In front of several important ministers, he still gave them some face so as to avoid the joke of a father and son fighting each other.

The Sushan has been eaten, and the matter of the Indian delegation has been settled, so it is natural for them to disperse now.

The only thing that made Li Shimin dissatisfied was the conflict between the Crown Prince and the King of Wei, which seemed to have not only not been resolved, but had deepened.
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In the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian limped back.

In fact, the Eastern Palace did have a sedan chair. Since the prince's leg disease, Li Shimin allowed him to travel around the palace in a sedan chair.

But after what happened yesterday, Li Chengqian simply refused to ride in the sedan chair.

This was considered a rebellion against Li Shimin's allowing the King of Wei to ride in a sedan chair.

Li Chengqian finally understood.

Only when he rebelled would Li Shimin pay more attention to the crown prince, otherwise he would turn around and favor the King of Wei.

For example, today, if he didn't show his temper.

If King Wei asked him to arrange the personnel for the envoys to India, it is possible that Li Shimin would agree to it.

Let the King of Wei arrange it. Even if there is a famous doctor with miraculous medicine, will he bring it to Chang'an?

I'm afraid it will be destroyed on the spot.

"Your Highness, this is a new drawing. According to your Highness's wishes, two small wheels were added to the front."

"And this one, it was my suggestion that the wheels exposed outside would not look very pretty, so I thought of covering it up a little bit, leaving only a little exposed at the bottom, and carving some patterns on the side."

Upon hearing the news that the prince had returned to the palace, Su Yuer rushed over and took out her latest drawing of a wheelchair.

"Yu'er is thoughtful. I am very satisfied with this draft with masking. Let's do it according to this."

The second picture provided by Su Yuer looks much more luxurious, with some of the style of later mahogany sofa chairs.

"I knew Your Highness would like it."

Su Yuer was very happy that her idea was recognized.

Li Chengqian smiled and said, "How should I reward the Crown Princess?"

Hearing the prince's strange tone, Su Yuer understood what was going on and her face immediately blushed.

After some joking, they returned to the main topic.

"I'll let Xiang'er take charge of supervising the production of your highness's wheelchair."

When talking about Li Xiang, Li Chengqian's mouth twitched.

My family members, who would understand? I am only 24 years old and I already have a 12-year-old son.

In the fourth year of Zhenguan, when Li Chengqian was eleven years old, he had a son with his maid, who was Li Xiang.

It was not until the ninth year of Zhenguan that he married Crown Princess Su.

The maid was also unlucky and died during childbirth. Li Xiang was then adopted by Su and became the eldest son of the wife from a concubine.

In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Su Yuer gave birth to Li Jue.

"Xiang'er has grown up and is able to do things. I feel relieved to let him take care of the wheelchair."

In every aspect, Li Xiang is much more reliable than the previous Li Chengqian.

Historically, Crown Prince Li Chengqian was deposed. According to etiquette, the next in line of succession should have been Li Xiang, the legitimate grandson.

However, because he was implicated in treason, Li Shimin appointed Li Zhi as the crown prince instead. In the end, Li Xiang served as the deputy governor of Huaizhou for the rest of his life and was even deposed during the reign of Wu Zetian.

However, Li Xiang's fourth son, Li Chang, became prime minister during the Kaiyuan reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and requested that his father and grandfather be buried in Zhaoling Mausoleum. As a result, Li Chengqian was posthumously awarded the title of Prince of Hengshan, and Li Xiang was posthumously awarded the title of Governor of Yuezhou and Duke of Xun.

"Juer has been naughty lately."

The second son, Li Jue, was born to Su in the 12th year of Zhenguan.

"He's a little naughty, but he likes to stick with Xiang'er. The two brothers have a good relationship."

Although Li Xiang is not Su Yuer's biological son, she has been raised by him and they have a close relationship.

Besides, since Li Xiang was adopted, he was nominally Su Yuer's son.

Su Yuer had no objection to being named the emperor's eldest grandson.

Hearing that Li Xiang and Li Jue had a good relationship, Li Chengqian felt somewhat comforted.

Xuanwu Gate Inheritance Law, the law of our ancestors.

He now also felt Li Shimin's difficulties.

I always feel that my two sons will follow the same path as me and Li Shimin.

"Please help with the wheelchair issue and get it done sooner."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it."

After Su Yuer left, Li Chengqian called Wen Zhong.

"I remember that Qin Ying and Wei Lingfu had two disciples. They are still in the East Palace, right?"

"Call them over. I have something to ask you."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Li Chengqian ate Sushan today and suddenly remembered the method of making ice with saltpeter.

According to the normal historical process, the use of saltpeter to make ice did not appear until the late Tang Dynasty.

In summer, only the royal family or other big families can eat Sushan, which is made by Bingjingtai.

After all, he is a Taoist who makes elixirs, so maybe he can figure out how to make ice from saltpeter in advance.

Soon, two young men dressed in Taoist costumes were brought over.

The master was killed, and the two were afraid that they would be implicated, and they were very anxious.

I thought the prince was going to kill them this time too.

After entering the hall, he was so scared that he prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed.

"Little boy Hua Guan, Xiang Ke."

"Meet His Highness the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian said calmly, "Get up. I have something to ask you. If you don't answer truthfully, you can go down and reunite with your master."

"You must answer truthfully. You must answer truthfully."

The two of them trembled.

Li Chengqian looked at Hua Guan and asked, "Your master Qin Ying performed the art of turning water into ice in April this year, in the scorching heat of summer. Can you tell me the secret of it?"

Hua Guan didn't dare to hide it at this time, and said quickly: "That was Master's trick. Master discovered when he was refining elixirs that melt stone can turn into ice when it enters water."

"Then my master asked me to grind the stone into powder and hide it in my sleeves."

"When Master performed for Your Highness, he used his hands to stir the water, but in fact he was secretly adding the stone powder in his sleeves into the basin, thus developing the technique of melting ice with water."

Saltpeter, known as Xiaoshi in the Tang Dynasty, can turn into 72 kinds of stones and is also used in medicine.

Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction.

Then he asked Xiang Ke: "I think Wei Lingfu's Five Thunder Technique is similar to the technique of turning water into ice."

Xiang Ke explained: "Your Highness is wise, Master always has furnace explosions when refining elixirs, and then he feels that the furnace explosion is powerful, just like the thunder and fire magic of Taoist magic."

"After further research, I found that adding molten stone, charcoal and yellow gold together would cause an explosion when ignited."

"When I performed the Five Thunders Method for Your Highness, I had already hidden the thunder and fire on the tree trunk. When Master drank, he blew a mouthful of fire onto the candlestick, igniting the thunder and fire, making a thunderous sound, and the tree trunk was also blown black."

Li Chengqian was very satisfied. He had both ice and gunpowder.

"You two don't need to be Daoist boys anymore. I will arrange jobs for you two."

"Hua Guan, you will be responsible for making ice. Make a lot of ice cubes for me."

"Xiang Ke, you continue to study the art of thunder and fire. I want more powerful and more thunderous thunder and fire."

"If the job is done well, even if it means giving you an official position, that's no big deal."

The two were immediately overjoyed. They didn't expect that not only did they survive, but they would also be given important positions.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for your grace."

(End of this chapter)