In the backyard of Tai Chi Palace, apart from concubines of saints and underage princes, only two adult princes, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji, are eligible to live there.
Li Shimin lived in Chengqian Hall, Li Yuanji lived in Wude Hall, and the East Palace was on the side of Taiji Palace. Before Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin returned to Beijing with their troops, Li Yuanji, who returned from Hebei, was at the knee of his father Li Yuan almost day and night.
At this point in Takeru's fifth year.
Li Yuan relied more on his eldest son Li Jiancheng, and was more afraid of his second son Li Shimin. Only his fourth son Li Yuanji, Li Yuan, loved him very much.
Indeed, he was loved very much. Li Yuanji got into trouble more than once or twice in his adult life. He even lost Bingzhou and even Taiyuan when Liu Wuzhou went south, but he only received a few words of reprimand.
Li Yuanji, who is only twenty years old this year, is extremely tall, has a heroic appearance, has long and narrow eyes, and habitually squints his eyes, playing with an exquisite riding crop in his hand.
In such weather, in the inner courtyard of the palace, Li Yuanji was still wearing soft armor, carrying a sword at his waist, a large bow hanging on the wall, and a long horse-drawn spear placed on the long table.
"As a prince, why does Your Highness pay attention to such a trivial matter?" Li Sixing was a little surprised, "Li Shan has close contacts with the children of Prince Qin, so he must..."
"But he has not joined the second brother's command." Li Yuanji's voice was a bit sharp, with the characteristics of a young man, "Qianyou?"
"The King of Qin appreciates him very much, but he has not entered the palace of the King of Qin." Li Qianyou said in a low voice: "Although he is not weak yet, he is quite scheming and has methods."
"how?"
"The origin of this person is unknown. It is said that he has a rough life experience." Li Qianyou said softly: "It is not appropriate for Your Highness to come forward in person. I will test him first."
"I don't know the origin?" Li Yuanji thought for a while, "The second brother appreciates it a lot, but doesn't take it under his command?"
"Everyone knows that my second brother likes heroes and talents the most..."
After all, he is only a twenty-year-old young man. Although he is a prince, his mind is still too shallow. Li Sixing and Li Qianyou are both good people. From these words, you can hear the envy, jealousy, and vague feelings in Li Yuanji's heart. Hate.
In Li Yuanji's view, his second brother Li Shimin was nothing special. If he didn't have so many great advisers under his command, how could he have achieved today's military power?
In other words, Li Yuanji believed that there were so many talented people in the Qin Palace, even if a dog was tied to the chief position, Liu Wuzhou, Song Jingang, Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong, and Liu Heitai would definitely be defeated one after another.
"He has been summoned to the county government. He is good at arithmetic." Li Qianyou advised: "Wait for a while until he joins His Highness..."
"Wait a little longer?" Li Yuanji rolled his eyes, "Second brother will return to Beijing soon!"
Li Sixing stroked his long beard and said, "For half a year, I haven't taken him under his command."
"That's true. Don't be anxious, Your Highness." Li Qianyou paused and advised: "The King of Qin appreciates it and does not call him into his army. This is a bit strange..."
"Your Highness, it's better to be careful." Li Sixing also shook his head and said, "There is no need to choose this person."
Li Yuanji was a little angry, but he endured it again and again, waving his sleeves and saying, "That's it."
Watching the young and willful prince go to the backyard, Li Qianyou and Li Sixing looked at each other and shook their heads with a wry smile.
"After all, this is the first time to recruit heroes..."
"But we must be cautious." Li Qianyou sighed, "There are heroes in the world, why choose Li Shan?"
"Don't you know Qianyou?"
Li Qianyou sighed again and stopped talking.
Both of them knew it well.
Prince Li Jiancheng was in his thirties, and he had already established a team. King Qin Li Shimin had long been known for recruiting heroes, and he had many talented men and women under his command.
The King of Qi, Li Yuanji, was a wanderer in his early years, and it was not until he accompanied the King of Qin to conquer Luoyang last year that he formally formed a binding force. Moreover, it was appointed by his father Li Yuan. This is how Li Sixing and Li Qianyou entered the Prince of Qi's palace.
Li Shan was the first candidate Li Yuanji recruited besides serving officials in the imperial court.
Why choose Li Shan?
Li Sixing and Li Qianyou both guessed that it was simply because Qin King Li Shimin admired Li Shan, and Li Yuanji did this deliberately.
This is the reason why Li Qianyou showed goodwill to Li Shan and asked his son Li Zhaode to recruit Li Shan.
Indeed, this recruitment has nothing to do with King Qi.
But it’s hard to say in the future.
However, after the Zhujiagou party that day, Li Qianyou did appreciate Li Shan very much. He also confirmed through Li Keshi and Li Kai that Li Shan planned to take the imperial examination and become an official, so he could not get around his Chang'an order.
But there are still doubts lingering in Li Qianyou's mind, why did the King of Qin openly say that he appreciated Li Shan? At that time, Li Shan and the descendants of the Prince of Qin were still enemies.
Why did the King of Qin appreciate Li Shan but did not recruit him into his army?
I heard that Fang Xuanling, who was the best at recognizing people, once recommended him to the King of Qin.
With these doubts, Li Qianyou left Tai Chi Palace and went straight back to the county government office.
Although the Chang'an magistrate is called a county magistrate, he has great powers and responsibilities, and there are many messy things. It was almost dusk after Li Qianyou finished dealing with it. When he returned to the backyard, he saw Li Zhaode reciting a series of numbers with great interest, and heard crackling sounds. Weird noise.
"Fifty miles west of Chang'an City, there are 2,500 refugees and a thousand young people..."
Li Qianyou looked intently at the two people sitting at the two tables. Li Zhaode, who was carrying him on his back, was still reading various data, which seemed to be the food and rice supply for the refugees within ten days.
One was Li Shan, who was flipping a piece of wood carelessly, with very nimble hands. He would occasionally stop to write a few strokes on the paper beside him with his pen. He would also look up when he had time, and bow his hands slightly.
The other was his colleague in Prince Qi's Mansion, Rong Jiusi, who joined the army in the Record Office and was famous for his strategy and poetry. However, Li Qianyou had frequent contacts with this person and knew that he was good at arithmetic.
Rong Jiusi is in his forties and in the prime of life, but now he is sweating. The table in front of him is not enough, and there are dense calculations on the floor.
"Okay, that's all." Li Zhaode read until his mouth went dry, "Take your time, don't rush, don't make a mistake."
The crackling sound stopped almost at the same time. Li Shan wrote a number on the paper with a pen, stretched, stood up and saluted, "Meet uncle."
Rong Jiusi on the side froze, looked sideways, his face turned red, he gritted his teeth without saying a word, and continued to place the chips all over the floor.
"This is……"
"Father, just now I made a joke and asked Brother Li to take the arithmetic exam next year. It just so happened that he was honored to join the army today..."
Li Qianyou covered his head and felt a little headache.
Summoning Li Shan to help was naturally meant to encroach on the interests and status of other staff, but Li Qianyou didn't expect that several staff around him did not jump out, but his colleagues from Prince Qi's palace did... Looking at this, he was still humiliating himself. .
Li Shan said seriously: "My little nephew has little skills, so how dare he dare to test his arithmetic skills?"
Li Qianyou swallowed and didn't speak, just waited silently.
After waiting for two quarters of an hour, Rong Jiusi finally picked up a pen and wrote down a series of numbers on the paper. He hesitated and took a few steps to look at the numbers on the white paper on the table next door. His face suddenly turned pale. white.
Li Zhaode clicked his tongue twice, "I remember that day, Brother Li was very sincere and claimed to be just a rough mathematician."