Chapter 45: The Great Tang Imperial Primary School

Chapter 45: The Great Tang Imperial Primary School

"It seems my granddaughter is quite capable."

Li Shimin looked thoroughly pleased.

Such was the custom of the Great Tang; Li Shimin did not mind Princess Taiping participating in politics, as this was, after all, a family tradition of the Li clan. With the illustrious example of his third sister, Princess Pingyang of Zhaozhao, coming first, Princess Taiping following suit was not entirely unacceptable.

Besides, the two vermin specifically named by Li Qing—Empress Wei and Princess Anle—both feared Princess Taiping. It was reasonable to assume she stood at least on the side of the Li family.

"That is a fair assessment. Empress Wu often said Princess Taiping resembled her, but in truth, Princess Taiping’s political acumen was only superior, never inferior."

Li Qing’s voice was not loud, yet it perfectly aligned with Li Shimin’s expectations, prompting a satisfied look to spread across the emperor's face.

"After Empress Wei and Princess Anle conspired to poison Li Xian..."

"Wait, my brother, what did you say?!" Li Shimin suddenly interrupted Li Qing. "Empress Wei and Princess Anle poisoned Li Xian?!"

"Yes, you heard correctly." Li Qing spread his hands in a gesture of regret.

"Those two fools, blinded by greed to such an extent! Do they not know their power stems entirely from Li Xian’s excessive indulgence?!" Li Shimin cursed angrily. "Furthermore, Li Xian was Empress Wei’s husband and Princess Anle’s father—how could they possibly bring themselves to do it?!"

"Power is always so alluring," Li Qing glanced sideways at Li Shimin. "Did not even true-born brothers like Jiancheng and Yuanji once push things to the point of plotting your death?"

"Yet not a single one of us ever thought of raising a hand against our Imperial Father."

"And that is precisely why Empress Wei and Princess Anle can hardly be called human."

Reading historical texts in the past had only provoked a sense of disgust, but after meeting that Li Xian in person, Li Qing did not actually dislike him. He was merely a pathetic man who doted on his wife and pampered his daughter, only to be jointly poisoned by the two people he loved most.

He was simply tragic.

***

"A dozen days later, Princess Taiping and Li Longji, the third son of Prince Xiang Li Dan, plotted a coup. Li Longji led troops charging into the palace, executing Empress Wei and Princess Anle, and supporting his father, Prince Xiang Li Dan, in ascending the throne. He is known in history as Emperor Ruizong."

"After Li Dan ascended the throne, he first named his eldest son, Li Chengqi, as crown prince. Li Chengqi modestly declined, claiming he had made not a single contribution and urging his Imperial Father to choose someone wiser, leaving the position of crown prince to his third younger brother."

"Thus, the crown prince became Li Longji. Li Dan possessed a rather detached personality and disliked state affairs, frequently consulting Princess Taiping and Li Longji on all major military and national matters."

"Moreover, Li Dan excessively pampered his youngest sister, wishing to strike a balance between her and Li Longji so the two could coexist. Princess Taiping’s authority overshadowed the court, with five out of seven chancellors originating from her faction."

"Yet naturally, as an ambitious and brilliant ruler, Li Longji could never allow a mere woman to ride roughshod over him, not even his paternal aunt; nor was Princess Taiping willing to relinquish the power in her grasp. Consequently, the two sought every possible means to contend with one another, reaching an irreconcilable impasse."

"Li Dan attempted to intervene multiple times to no avail. Filled with sorrow, he announced his abdication, ceding the throne to Li Longji and changing the era name to Xiantian, attempting thereby to quell the strife between the two. However, seeing that the general trend had turned against her, Princess Taiping rallied her remaining partisans in an attempt to ambush and kill Li Longji, only to be counter-attacked and defeated. Ultimately, Princess Taiping fled deep into the mountains, was captured three days later, and was granted a length of white silk to end her life. History refers to this as the Xiantian Coup."

Li Shimin fell into a tangle of conflicting emotions. One was his granddaughter, and the other was his great-grandson; both palms and the backs of his hands were made of flesh. Princess Taiping was extraordinary, while Li Longji also appeared to be an accomplished sovereign. For a moment, he did not know whom to pity more.

"Li Longji, having cleared away his political rivals, faced no further obstacles. A few years later, he changed the era name to Kaiyuan, initiating the glorious Kaiyuan Era. When people speak of the flourishing Tang dynasty, they generally refer to these two decades of the Kaiyuan period under Li Longji."

Li Qing did not skimp on his praise, even reciting a poem to Li Shimin on the spot.

"‘Recalling the full splendor of the Kaiyuan days, even small towns harbored tens of thousands of households. Rice flowed like grease and millet gleamed white, with both public and private granaries brimming full. Across the nine provinces the roads were free of jackals and wolves, and long journeys required no auspicious dates to set forth...’ This poem by the Sage of Poetry, Du Fu, perfectly recreates the prosperous scenes of the Kaiyuan era."

Li Qing was employing the tactic of praising after a preliminary critique. Only by exalting Li Longji to the heavens here before Li Shimin could the latter strike all the harder when they eventually reached the fifteenth year of Tianbao.

"Rice flowed like grease and millet gleamed white, with both public and private granaries brimming full..."

Li Shimin stroked his beard, imagining what manner of scene the Kaiyuan prosperity truly was.

If he could visit the Kaiyuan era, he would surely borrow some grain from Li Longji! Li Shimin muttered fiercely in his heart. At the very least, he would borrow a few hundred thousand shi!

Whether this "borrowing" was genuine or akin to Li Longji's fictional commander's style remained unknown.

"Overall, I personally believe that Princess Taiping is the most regrettable figure," Li Qing began to summarize. "Had she been given a suitable stage, she might well have become an exceptional sovereign of an era."

***

"As for Princess Anle..." Li Qing paused to build suspense. "Let us implement the reforms first, and in a few days, I shall take you to see for yourself. We shall listen together to how the common people of the Great Tang evaluate her, Empress Wei, and Emperor Zhongzong, Li Xian."

Li Shimin did not object. He, too, wished to go deep among the masses and understand what kind of image the family of Li Xian held in the mouths of the ordinary people.

Naturally, there was one more crucial point: he was intensely curious about the evaluation of himself by the common folk decades later.

Time-traveling could not be performed too frequently, nor could one simply focus on harvesting emotional value. After all, Li Qing’s ultimate goal was to ensure there was only one Great Tang in the world, and it was only logical to properly develop the primary world of the eleventh year of Zhenguan.

From the reign of Emperor Xuanzong onward, the Great Tang would become a mess. The An Lushan Rebellion, the separatism of regional warlords, the Huang Chao Rebellion, the Uyghurs and Tibetans... In the face of all these trials and tribulations, one could hardly rely solely on Li Shimin stepping forward to lift his arms in a cry.

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, this approach still worked; even later on, this prestigious brand name remained effective before succeeding emperors. The problem, however, was that after Xuanzong's reign, the mere brand of "Emperor" no longer sufficed in the eyes of the regional warlords. By the late Tang, it had devolved into: "The Son of Heaven is simply whoever possesses the strongest soldiers and the sturdiest horses."

If one wished to rein in these militaristic warlords, sweet words were useless; one had to beat them into submission with raw fists.

Old Li naturally understood this logic. The very next day, he issued an imperial decree announcing the widespread selection of children aged seven to nine within the Jingzhao region to establish the Great Tang Imperial Primary School.

The teaching grounds were set within the former Prince Qi's Mansion. One had to admit that a prince's mansion was vastly larger than the schools of later generations.

The textbooks adopted the new style provided by Li Qing, while the teachers were hired by Li Qing from the system at the cost of ten thousand points of emotional value per year.

Half a month later, the Great Tang Imperial Primary School had enrolled a total of over two thousand new students, divided into forty classes based on headcount. Since it was currently November, the official start of classes was scheduled for the first day of March next year.

Vast though the Prince's Mansion was, facing these two thousand-plus students, the existing buildings within the estate were insufficient. At Li Qing's request, Li Shimin ordered corvée labor to construct classrooms and dormitories within the mansion grounds.

***

Another chapter coming up shortly, seeking your continued readership qwq.
(End of this chapter)