Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 43: Winning the Favor of the Military

Emperor Li Shimin, dressed in a scarlet and yellow dragon robe and a white jade crown with twelve tassels on his head, walked solemnly among the ministers and came to the top of the steps.

His eyes lightly swept over Li Chengqian, who was leaning over holding the knife box, with an expression of no comment.

Then he continued to move forward, walked to the dragon bed, and sat down calmly.

The eunuch beside him shouted loudly: "The emperor is attending the morning court. Kneel!"

All the civil and military officials in the hall knelt down at once, including Li Tai, but not Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian held the knife box in his hand and bowed solemnly.

"Your Majesty, we bow to you. May your Majesty live forever." The ministers shouted loudly.

"Everyone, please stand up!" Li Shimin raised his hand slightly.

All the ministers said in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

……

Seeing the ministers stand up, Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian and said, "Prince, I heard that the Eastern Palace has forged an exceptionally sharp horizontal sword?"

"Yes!" Li Chengqian held the knife box and said respectfully, "Your son is compiling the Records of Craftsmen, and has temporarily divided the items into 16 parts: swords, spears, crossbows, bows, shields, arrows, armor, chariots, steamships, leather, porcelain, jade and tiles. I have collected the secret books of the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Secret Affairs, and have mobilized craftsmen from inside and outside the country to set out on their respective missions.

Our Tang Dynasty was founded on swords and lances, so we prioritized swords and lances. Within half a month, we made several horizontal swords.

I now present my sharpest sword to my father, and I wish him great military success."

"Well done." Li Shimin nodded, looked at Zhang Ananda and said, "Bring it here. I want to see what kind of sword dares to be called the Prince's sharpest."

Zhang Ananda bowed silently, then walked down quickly and came in front of Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian solemnly placed the knife box in his hand into Zhang Ananda's hand.

Zhang Ananda immediately turned around and walked in front of Li Shimin.

The Tang Emperor, Li Shimin, didn't care at all that it was the time of the grand court. He raised his hand and the brown wooden box containing the sword was opened.

A black scabbard carved with dragon patterns suddenly appeared in front of Li Shimin.

With a clang, the long sword was unsheathed, and the sharp blade, like a silk thread, instantly appeared in front of Li Shimin. He couldn't help but shout, "Good sword!"

The flash of light from the extremely thin blade shot into Li Shimin's eyes with a sharp murderous aura.

He looked at the blade calmly, his eyes falling on the hilt, and then he held the hilt in his palm.

The long sword stood upright in his palm.

"What a good sword!" Li Shimin once again grasped the hilt, then placed the blade flat before his eyes. He looked at the blade, which was as smooth as water, and smiled with satisfaction. Li Shimin raised his head and looked at the generals beside him. He suddenly said, "Duke Anguo, take the sword."

As soon as he finished speaking, a long silver line shot directly at the Right Guard General Zhishisili, who was at the forefront of many generals.

Zhishisili's right hand made a lightning-fast move, and the sharp long knife fell lightly into Zhishisili's palm.

Zhishisili, who was dressed in red and golden armor, had a full beard and looked like a Turk. The moment he held the knife, his face was full of surprise.

The sharp long knife stood in front of his eyes, straight and terrifying.

Zhishisili put his hands on the blade and bent it with a little force, and the blade immediately bent.

As soon as he let go, the blade immediately returned to its original position.

There is not the slightest deviation.

"What a fine sword!" Zhishishili exclaimed in admiration. He then turned the sword over and praised it, saying, "Your Majesty, this is truly a rare and precious sword in the world."

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction, turned to look at the horrified Li Chengqian, smiled, and asked, "Prince, how many swords like this are there in the East Palace?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, since this is just a trial, we've only forged eleven swords so far. This is the sharpest one." Li Chengqian regained his composure and bowed, "However, according to estimates from the officials of the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Household Department, once the battle officially begins, the Eastern Palace's production speed will be thirty percent faster than the Ministry of Works."

"Thirty percent?" Li Shimin couldn't help but raise his eyes with a look of surprise.

In other words, when the Ministry of Works was forging 100 long swords, the Eastern Palace had already forged 130.

If the Ministry of Works can produce 10,000 swords, the Eastern Palace can produce 13,000.

This means that the same amount of work can be completed two months earlier.

Two months on the battlefield, that's life. Li Shimin couldn't help but ask: "How is the quality?"

Li Chengqian bowed and said, "This one is the sharpest. The others are slightly inferior, but they are all of the same level and are all top-grade."

"Bring it here immediately." Li Shimin looked at Zhang Ananda without any hesitation.

Zhang Ananda immediately bowed, then turned around and walked out of the hall quickly. Soon, a series of footsteps were heard heading towards the palace gate.

……

Eleven sharp swords, held in the hands of eleven Jinwu Guards, appeared in the Taiji Hall.

None of these horizontal swords have scabbards.

The sharp blade light hurts people's eyes.

Zhi Shisi Li, Xue Wanche, Chang He and others all stared at the eleven swords with sharp eyes.

Li Shimin, sitting on the dragon couch, looked at Li Chengqian and asked, "Prince, how long will it take you to forge 10,000 of these horizontal swords?"

In an instant, all the ministers in the hall looked at Li Chengqian, and the eyes of many military generals were even more eager.

Li Chengqian's eyes grew serious, and he quickly bowed, saying, "Father, the Eastern Palace is only studying the Records of Craftsmen. The rest of the forging matters should be handled by the Ministry of Works and the Chief of Works. However, if the Ministry of Works puts their heart into it, three months should be enough."

"Three months." Li Shimin looked up in surprise.

Dou Desu, the Supervisor of the Imperial Household, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the construction of the Eastern Palace didn't rely heavily on skilled craftsmen; other able-bodied individuals could collaborate, and that's why it was built so quickly."

The Shaofujian and Jiangzujian were both keeping an eye on the matter of forging weapons in the Eastern Palace, but Li Chengqian trusted the Shaofujian more.

After all, the Minister of the Imperial Household Dou Desu was the nephew of his grandmother, Empress Taimu, and the cousin of Emperor Li Shimin, and the uncle of Li Chengqian.

"Moreover, father, the affairs of the Eastern Palace are not only about the horizontal sword, but also the sword, lance, crossbow, bow, shield, arrow and armor. The sword is easy to fight, but the lance, crossbow, bow and armor are difficult." Li Chengqian bowed with a heavy face.

When it comes to weapons, the sword is the easiest, while the spear, especially the armor, is the most difficult.

Li Shimin came back to his senses and said, "Send people from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Works to take over the work step by step. Starting next year, we will start forging weapons."

"Yes!" Junior Architect Yan Liben and Minister of Works Zhang Liang both stood up and bowed.

Li Shimin waved his hand and the eleven swords were taken away. As for what he would do with them, no one knew.

Li Chengqian was thinking about Li Zhi's affairs, and the emperor took away all eleven swords in one breath.

It seems that I will have to make a new one for Li Zhi in the future.

At this moment, Li Shimin's gaze passed Li Chengqian and fell on Li Tai. He said in a deep voice, "Qingque, you are not as efficient as your brother. You should learn from him."

"Yes!" Li Tai's face looked a little ugly.

The ministers in the hall breathed lighter all of a sudden.

Li Shimin raised his head, looked at his ministers and said, "Let's start the discussion..."

……

"Pass the order, Wei Yuanfang, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites, is demoted to the magistrate of Huayin County for delaying the process." Li Shimin glanced at Wei Zheng who was bowing, and Wei Zheng then returned to his position.

Wei Yuanfang, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites in the rear, bowed solemnly and also retreated back to the train.

The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was an official position of the sixth rank, and the Magistrate of Huayin County was also an official position of the sixth rank, but being sent out of the court to serve without being promoted was already a demotion.

The emperor looked at Fang Xuanling and continued, "The censor reported that the price of wooden stakes at the Ministry of Agriculture was higher than that of ordinary people. How is the Ministry of Shangshu's investigation going?"

Li Chengqian stood on the steps, holding a jade tablet in his hand, with a solemn expression.

His eyes swept lightly over the many generals on the right side of the hall, and finally fell on Lu Chengqing who stood there with his hands clasped.

Lu Chengqing bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Shangshu believes that the Minister of Agriculture is guilty."

Among the ministers, Zhao Yuankai, the Minister of Agriculture, looked up with surprise.

His eyes couldn't help but fall on the emperor.

(End of this chapter)