Chapter 95

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For a moment, the Taiji Palace became like a market, with ministers from noble families all expressing their strong support for the promotion of this crop, which could greatly enhance the national strength of the Tang Dynasty. They all looked at Li Er with eager eyes.

Li Er ignored these people who were blinded by profit. These were all selfish and self-interested individuals who put their families first. If it weren't for the overall situation in the world, Li Er would have exiled them all to Yazhou, letting them live with the savages there to see if the learned scholars from these noble families could civilize those barbarians. But when he thought about how most of the officials in the empire had unclear and indescribable ties with the noble families represented by the Five Surnames and Seven Clans, Li Er held back this thought.

"Since it is such an auspicious omen, is it easy to plant?" Li Er asked. In fact, he was very clear about the conditions needed for planting this crop. Li Kuan had explained these things to him when he handed over the seeds. Now, he was just using the old farmer's mouth to tell these greedy and shameless people. This way, only a small part of the Guanzhong region would be suitable for planting, while most areas would not be suitable, and these areas were where the noble families mainly resided.

"This crop requires a lot of water, and the planting process is very complicated. I've been farming for most of my life, and I only now realize that some crops need to be sprouted and transplanted after seedling cultivation. The effort required is enough to plant two more acres of wheat," the old farmer complained. He was very unwilling to plant this rice because although the land he rented was close to a river and convenient for water, too much water would wash away the seedlings or drown them, and too little water would take a long time, which required constant attention. Otherwise, a slight mistake would mean replanting the seedlings. This one-season rice required much more labor than planting wheat.

"A lot of water? None of our families are near a large water source. This is a problem!" Cui Xiang thought after hearing the conditions. After much consideration, he found that only a few small families had convenient water resources, while the larger families did not. Perhaps they could build some canals, but this was not something he could decide alone. He would have to go back and discuss it!

Many of the ministers who had spoken up were hesitant. They also thought about this. If they got Li Er's permission now, they might have to pay a high price. But if this rice spread naturally in the future, they could get it without much effort, just a few years later. So they all began to retreat, unwilling to stand out and be seen as the ones leading the charge.

Li Er said no more, politely invited the old farmer to a side hall for a meal, and then moved on to other topics.

Time flew by. Most of Li Er's coronation day had quietly slipped away, and it was now the hour of You in the evening. Because of the new emperor's coronation, the Jinwu curfew was lifted for three days. Although it was already late at night, the sky was filled with countless twinkling stars, and Chang'an was still very lively.

The new emperor's coronation was a time of universal celebration. To create a festive atmosphere, the Chang'an Prefect went to great lengths, quietly dispatching officials to spread the news that there would be grand celebrations and free steamed buns distributed at night. Although this news was only secretly spread, it stirred the hearts of many Chang'an residents. Many people hadn't eaten white steamed buns in a long time, only eating steamed buns made with wild vegetables or even millet. The free white steamed buns were more important to them than the new emperor's coronation. So, during these nights, the Chang'an residents abandoned their habit of staying at home after sunset and came out to wander the streets.

With more people, the clever vendors appeared. They pushed small carts or carried boxes, calling out their wares as they walked through the streets. Chang'an suddenly came to life, with the sound of people's voices replacing the usual drumbeats. The contrast was significant.

The Chang'an Prefect's rumor spread widely, and he did indeed distribute the white steamed buns, but only a few hundred each day, and the locations were not fixed. This fulfilled his promise, but the actual cost was minimal, just a dozen or so bags of flour.

Outside the palace, the crowd was constant, and inside, the palace was decorated with lanterns. Countless red lanterns adorned the imperial garden, casting a hazy red glow on the nearby flower beds. It was the Chongyang Festival, and the chrysanthemums in the imperial garden were in full bloom, their delicate fragrance spreading in the night breeze, intoxicating the senses. Li Kuan stood in the shadows, watching the crowds and the brothers mingling among them. Compared to them, he was very quiet. The environment was too noisy for him; he preferred the整齐划一的士兵们的吼声，比起这些所谓的王公大臣的秘密商议，贵妇夫人的窃窃私语，那些耿直的汉子发出的吼声更让李宽觉得真实。

这是李二登基的庆祝宴会，所有的五品以上大臣都来了，哪怕是教坊司这样的低贱衙门，那从五品的主官都屁颠屁颠地在人群中和那些国公、王爷笑谈着，这个时候没有身份的分别，或者是下面的想巴结上面的，上面的也需要下面的帮自己办事，或者需要结交一些人，以应对接下来可能出现的政治动荡。

“这些人真无趣！”李宽摇了摇头，拍了拍一直趴在自己脚边的小灰灰，示意它跟上，自己要走了。

小灰灰摇了摇脑袋，跟在李宽后边向着显才殿走去，那里是他们俩的家。

李宽并不是就这样直接离去，而是会显才殿拿些东西，要知道接下来还有别的事儿要他参与呢，李二登基这样的大事，他们这些做子女的肯定是要恭贺一番，那么献贺礼就成了相互攀比的一道坎，谁的好谁的差，在这些大臣的眼里就成了哪个皇子得宠，哪个皇子被圣上疏远的佐证，这些人要站队的话就不会错过这一次的观察机会。

李宽虽然不想和这些小屁孩争什么，可是也不想被人看扁了，要是有些不自量力的甚至会出现暗中轻视自己，或者对自己将来发出的某些命令阳奉阴违的事情，所以这一次还是要表现一下，不让人看轻了去。

回到显才殿，让侍女帮自己整理了一下仪容，然后将床铺下的那个盒子拿出来，夹在腋下，再次向着御花园走去。小灰灰还想跟上，却被李宽一脚踢到一边，教训它：“现在不能去，乖乖地呆在家里，知道不？”

小灰灰很是通人性，虽然被李宽捡回来才几个月，但李宽说的一些话它都能听明白，并且还能执行一些简单的命令。就像现在，它在听到李宽的话后，只是呜呜了两声，就灰溜溜地向着自己的小窝跑了过去，然后蹲在里边，目送着李宽离去。

再次回到御花园，这里人更多了，大家相互攀着交情，相互恭维着，脸上带着不知是真诚还是虚伪的笑，简直和后世那些酒会没啥区别，只是人换了而已。

李宽还是呆在角落，怀里摆着那个盒子，这东西是他几个月的心血，虽然他知道在李二的书房里多半已经有了另一副比自己这副还要精致的东西，但还是要拿出来显摆一下，不然李二还不一定知道这简单的两个小东西有多大的用处。

“皇上驾到，皇后娘娘驾到！”一个太监的尖锐声音传来，李二和长孙来了，同行的还有一班贵妃，莺莺燕燕的好不热闹，李二的后宫也不小，虽然刚刚登基，但在之前就已经有十几个女人，现在更是传言又要开始选秀女入宫，这简直就是要做种马的节奏，李宽有些担忧地瞄了一眼李二的腰腹，希望那内府仓库里还有着许许多多的各种“鞭”，不然迟早虚了不可。

虽然心中腹诽自己便宜老爹，但礼节还是要的，所有人都停止了交谈，自觉地站成几队，拜伏下来：“参见皇上，皇后娘娘！”

“众卿平身！”李二大袖一挥，威严地说道，他很喜欢这种感觉，手掌天下权柄，身边佳人美眷！

“谢皇上！”大臣们谢恩站直身子。

“今天是朕登基的大喜之日，诸位是朕的左膀右臂，希望在以后的岁月，诸位能为朕分忧，助朕将这天下治理得井然有序，在这里朕先敬诸位一杯！”李二端起一杯酒，虽然这杯酒被不知是哪个试过，但作为皇帝早就做好了吃口水的准备，也不嫌恶心，直接一饮而尽。诸位大臣见皇上这么给面子，谁还敢不从，也端起酒杯大大的喝了一杯，当场就有半数的人脸色一阵泛红，这酒可真烈。这是他们此刻的想法，酒仙居特制的高度高粱烧，可不是现在什么三勒浆之类的酒能比的。所以这些当官当得两袖清风的文臣，多半都没喝过，这一刻就直接被放翻了，李宽看得很想笑，却又不敢，只能强忍着。

李宽能忍，不代表长孙身后的那两个小萝莉能忍，她们俩见着那些大臣脸上一阵红一阵白的，当场惊呼了：“姐姐，你看，那位老爷爷脸一下白一下红的还冒汗，是不是生病了？”小家伙指着萧瑀出声说道，她的声音刚刚在众人喝下这杯酒放下酒杯的时候响起，这个时候酒量小的正难受，喝过的或者酒量大的正在回味，这一声顿时传出老远。

“这个是老爷爷喝多了，臭臭的酒，薇儿将来不要喝酒，不然就和那个老爷爷一样了！”李丽质不解释还好，这一解释，似乎现场所有大臣还有诸多嫔妃都被说了，这简直就是超大的地图炮，秒杀全屏。

“嗯，酒酒好难喝，苦苦，薇儿不喝！”小家伙认真的点着脑袋，认同自己姐姐的话。

这番对话让站在人群中的老萧同志一阵脸红，不过因为酒劲上涌，还没被周围的人看出来，这个插曲让李二准备的连敬三杯胎死腹中，宴会就这样直接开始了。

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