"Big brother, do you remember Yong'an Palace?" Li You said.

"Yong'an Palace? Do you mean to build Yong'an Palace? Li Chengqian asked.

Yong'an Palace is the later Daming Palace, located in the north side of Chang'an, Longshouyuan, is the largest of the three main palaces of Tang Chang'an City, "Daming Palace, Taiji Palace, Xingqing Palace", called "East Nei".

Daming Palace covers an area of about 3.2 square kilometers, which is 4.5 times that of the Forbidden City in Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is known as the palace of a thousand palaces and the oriental temple of the Silk Road. As the main palace of the Tang Empire, the political center and national symbol of the Tang Dynasty, it is known as "the pinnacle of Chinese palace architecture".

Yong'an Palace was built in October of the eighth year of Zhenguan (634) of Taizong of Tang Dynasty, and in May of the ninth year of Zhenguan (635), Li Yuan, the seventy-year-old Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, died in the dormitory of Da'an Palace in Chang'an, and the construction of Daming Palace was immediately suspended. The construction lasted only more than half a year, and it was not until 28 years later that construction began again in the second year of Longshuo (662).

"Yes, the Sui Dynasty built Daxing City, which is now Chang'an City, under the guidance of the Qiangua theory of "Zhou Yi". According to the geographical and celestial phenomena, the Taiji Palace, the imperial palace that symbolizes the North Star, is arranged in the central part of the north of Chang'an City. However, the overly idealistic design ignores the shortcomings of the terrain, and the Taiji Palace is located on the lowest depression in Chang'an City, which is humid and hot in summer.

The father and mother advocate frugality, and they have been living in such an environment for so many years, and it is long overdue to rebuild Yong'an Palace. Li You said.

"That's right, what exactly do you think?" Li Chengqian asked.

"Big brother, let's have a good discussion." Li You said.

Li Chengqian ordered someone to get the architectural plan of Chang'an city and study it with Li You.

Two days later, the Liangyi Palace.

Li You and Li Chengqian came to the Liangyi Hall together, and when they were about to walk to the door of Li Shimin's study, they met Gao Jingming. When he saw Li Chengqian and Li You, he saluted and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince, His Royal Highness the King of the Northwest, the minister just has something to ask you for." Please take a step to speak. ”

Li Chengqian and the others casually found a room and asked, "Lord Gao, what's the matter?" ”

Gao Jingming said with a sad face: "Oh, just now His Majesty called the ministers over, saying that it was Li Jungong who proposed to build Yong'an Palace, which is planned to be completed in 12 years, and a total of 26 million yuan is needed.

The minister said the actual difficulties, and His Majesty was very unhappy, so let the minister find a way. What can the minister do? The minister said that he couldn't do it at that time, but His Majesty was very unhappy and reprimanded the minister. ”

Li Chengqian and Li You were secretly surprised that Li Tai wanted to curry favor with Li Shimin and the concubines in the harem, and Li Shimin also wanted to give Li Tai a chance to make meritorious contributions to enhance his status.

The two exchanged glances, and Li You said, "Lord Gao, you did the right thing, you don't care about this matter." ”

When Gao Jingming heard this, his heart suddenly relaxed. He said, "Then the minister took his leave and went on an errand." ”

After Gao Jingming left, Li Chengqian said with a wry smile: "Fifth brother, let's still be a step slower, Li Tai is really a fly, he is too tired of being crooked." ”

Li You was also very angry, he said: "Big brother, forget it, let's stop filming this sycophant, let him Li Tai toss." ”

Li Chengqian was also angry, he and Li You had already discussed, that is, they were going to propose the construction of Yong'an Palace, the source of the money was already there, the construction plan was also available, and even the person responsible for the implementation was also available. However, Li Tai preemptively proposed this matter, and Li Chengqian and Li You talked about this matter again, which was already meaningless. The credit for doing a good job is Li Tai's, but the responsibility for doing a bad job is the two brothers.

A fool wouldn't do such a thing.

Li Chengqian said: "I won't do it." ”

Li You said, "Big brother, let's go back." ”

Li Chengqian nodded, and the two brothers walked towards the East Palace.

Liangyi Palace, study.

Li Shimin was very angry, but very helpless. The expenses of the imperial court have always been very clearly divided, and Li Shimin also receives a salary, and his expenses are fixed, and they are distributed to him according to a certain proportion according to the financial income of the year. All the expenses in the palace, including the expenses of all the personnel including the queen, the food and drink in the palace, and the renovation of the palace must all be paid by Li Shimin himself.

The money of the household department is used to maintain the operation of the entire imperial court, and Li Shimin cannot use it casually. For such a thing as the construction of Yong'an Palace, it is necessary to use the reserves of the national treasury, and as a special expenditure item, it must be submitted to the court for discussion. It's a very difficult thing to do, and it will take a lot of trouble to get through.

Li Shimin knew that this matter was very difficult, and he first proposed to Gao Jingming to build Yong'an Palace, wanting to find out from him, but Gao Jingming directly poured a scoop of cold water on him.

Gao Jingming calculated Li Shimin's recent imperial court expenditure items, the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo adopted a long-term siege strategy, the expenditure of the army was huge, although Goguryeo was captured, it could not be compensated for the consumption of the past year, and the Goguryeo region had to be rebuilt after the war, large-scale immigration, these costs were really astronomical, and the next reward for the heroes of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was at least 2 million guan. Together, these have consumed a large part of the money accumulated by the treasury over the years.

The Taishan Zen Ceremony, the expenses for supporting Tibet, and the entry ceremony and celebrations of the Eastern Expeditionary Army were each more than 2 million yuan, and although Li You had already thought of a way to compensate for them, at least for the time being, they had not yet arrived.

Gao Jingming didn't say anything at that time, Li You didn't lose money every time he spent money, and Li Shimin could make the treasury vomit blood once he fought. If Yong'an Palace is built again, not only will the cost be huge, but it will also require a large number of people to be recruited, and there will definitely be complaints between the government and the opposition.

In short, Gao Jingming said that the household department was in difficulty.

After Gao Jingming left, Li Shimin asked Cen Wenwen's opinion, and he also said that he was afraid that there would be resistance in the imperial court.

Li Shimin was depressed, and Wang De received news from the attendants, saying that he saw that Li Chengqian and Li You had arrived at the Liangyi Palace, and left after seeing Gao Jingming, so he told Li Shimin about it.

Li Shimin felt a little curious, and didn't know what the two brothers wanted to come to him, and then changed his mind.

He said: "Wang De, it is rumored that the prince and Li You will meet you. ”

Not long after Li Chengqian and Li You returned to the East Palace, the eunuch came over.

Li Chengqian asked the eunuch to go first, saying that he and Li You would go later. He said to Li You: "Fifth brother, what do you say you should do?" ”

Li You said: "Big brother, we don't want to do the construction of Yong'an Palace, and whoever wants to do it will do it." If he, Li Tai, has the ability to get money, let him fix it.

However, that thing can be sent to him a favor. ”

What Li You said was that Li Chengqian took the initiative to propose that Li Tai stay in Chang'an. Since you can't get rid of him, you might as well be a favor, and also use him Li Tai to show Li Chengqian's filial piety and attach importance to family affection.

Li Chengqian had already decided to do this, but at this moment he hated Li Tai very much in his heart, and said: "Fifth brother, I don't want to say it for him, if he has the ability to stay, let's stay." Let me say nice things for him, I'm not that cheap. ”

Li You understood Li Chengqian's feelings and said, "What the eldest brother said is that this matter is my fault, and we can't have anything to do with him." ”

When Li Chengqian heard Li You say this, he was a lot more relieved. He asked, "Father wants to ask us what we are going to do in the Liangyi Palace, what do we say?" Also, if he talks about the construction of Yong'an Palace, what should we say? ”

Li You said: "In this way, after we go, my father wants to ask us what we are doing, you will talk about the Taishan Zen Ceremony, and I will talk about the food conference." If he asks about the construction of Yong'an Palace, we will not object, nor will we take the initiative to take this matter on ourselves, in short, we will not participate in this matter. ”

Li Chengqian and Li You came to the Liangyi Hall again, and as soon as they entered the main hall, they saw Li Lizhi waiting for them.

Since Li Lizhen followed Li Shimin as a confidential secretary in the Eastern Expeditionary Army, Li Shimin liked her very much, so he continued to let her be in charge of the telecommunications confidential room in the Liangyi Palace.

Li Lizhi said: "Big brother, fifth brother, my father is in a bad mood, you have to be careful when you speak." "She's here to remind them.

Li Shimin was really a little unhappy, he thought that he had single-handedly created a prosperous, rich and powerful Tang Dynasty, and he wanted to build a palace, but he would encounter resistance, and he was very angry.

Li Chengqian said: "Lizhen, thank you." ”

Li You smiled at her and thanked her.

Subsequently, the two entered Li Shimin's study.

"Son-in-law, see father." Li Chengqian and Li You saluted together.