Chapter 45

Zhangsun Wuji clearly did not approve of Li Chengqian's words; he did not continue to ask, and slowly stood up to bow to Li Chengqian:

"Thank you, Your Highness, for today. I will not let you down."

"I leave it to you, Uncle!"

Li Chengqian never thought Zhangsun Wuji would believe him; he was a loser, and losers have no qualifications to be believed.

If it weren't for the fact that a few words saved the lives of Hou Junji and Du He, the two of them wouldn't have believed Li Chengqian either.

"Hahahahahaha..."

After Zhangsun Wuji left the Eastern Palace, Li Chengqian's excited laughter spread all around:

"Jiaozhi! Jiaozhi! Zhinu, you are my only light!"

There are only a few grain granaries in China; now the Northeast hasn't returned, Inner Mongolia hasn't been developed, and only the Hubei-Hunan region, the Guanzhong Plain, and the Land of Abundance remain.

Originally, Li Chengqian wanted to win over Li Ke, the Anzhou Governor; after all, the place he governed was the later Hubei Anlu, which was the fief of the Ming Jiajing Emperor before he ascended the throne.

Now that he had Jiaozhi, he didn't have to worry about the money and grain needed for his early plans.

Most importantly, with Jiaozhi Commandery, he had a way out; even if he couldn't ascend the throne in the end, he had the capital to raise an army.

On the other side, Zhangsun Wuji was just about to go see Li Zhi, but was summoned by Li Shimin halfway there.

Just as he arrived at the Ganlu Hall, a single sentence from Li Shimin shocked Zhangsun Wuji.

"Wuji, Buddhism and Taoism can be utilized, but they cannot affect the court situation. You must grasp the degree of this."

"I understand."

Li Shimin opened the memorial and spoke nonchalantly:

"What did Gaoming say to you?"

Zhangsun Wuji did not hide anything and said it one by one:

"The Crown Prince has no intention of looking down on Your Majesty; I hope Your Majesty will see clearly."

"He wasn't wrong; I'm not so unaware of myself."

"Next year, when we go on the expedition, the weapons and pensions for the Bingzhou Prefecture soldiers will be provided by the Bingzhou Governor's Office, in Zhinu's name!"

Zhangsun Wuji suddenly raised his head, his eyes unable to hide his shock:

"Your Majesty, this..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Li Shimin raising his hand:

"Zhinu needs to be tempered. Since he is the Bingzhou Governor, let him handle the Bingzhou government affairs first."

"I will also give Zhinu a chance regarding the book revision; whether he can grasp it depends on himself."

"Just as Gaoming said, all of this is forced by the situation; he doesn't blame you, and I won't blame you either."

Zhangsun Wuji knelt respectfully on the ground: "I will not forget my sister, and I will never fail the Great Tang."

"I believe you. Chu Suiliang is not in Chang'an; go back and have Zhangsun Chong temporarily take over Chu Suiliang's position."

"Yes!"

Zhangsun Wuji stood on Li Zhi's side; Li Shimin knew it, and Zhangsun Wuji knew that Li Shimin knew it.

Therefore, Zhangsun Wuji had always had reservations and had not let go completely, which is why he had always been suppressed by Li Tai.

These words of Li Shimin today were equivalent to telling Zhangsun Wuji to let go and do it; the position of Crown Prince goes to the capable.

'Military hearts?'

Li Shimin watched Zhangsun Wuji's departing back and fell into deep thought:

'Gaoming has always wanted military power; why would he want Zhinu to win over the hearts of the military?'

'And Jiaozhi, this place belongs to the Lingnan Circuit and is too far from Chang'an; besides leaving a way out for himself, it has no use.'

'A way out?'

Suddenly, a sharp light flashed in Li Shimin's eyes, and he muttered to himself:

"Perhaps it was said for me to hear!"

Li Chengqian didn't think so; he just purely wanted Li Zhi to know that there was also the path of winning the hearts of the military, preparing for the future.

Just like when he discussed Buddhism and Taoism with Li Shimin, it was the same; he believed that with Li Zhi's intelligence, he would definitely understand that he couldn't compete with Li Tai for the hearts of the literati.

The original body had also tried to start from the literati, but even with the help of the Taiyuan Wang Clan and Wang Jingzhi, the son of the Zhenguan Prime Minister Wang Gui, he was still no match.

No way, who told Li Tai to be so talented? The way he conducted himself was what could be called the style of an ancient gentleman.

And Li Chengqian's conduct was that of a despicable, shameless, and low-class villain.

Ever since Li You went to serve, there was one less fisherman at the Qingfeng Pavilion, and Li Chengqian became irritable again:

"Wang Qi, how many times have I told you not to pour so much bait? Do you want to anger me to death and then inherit my fishing rod?"

Wang Qi's mouth twitched slightly: "Your Highness, there are no more fish in the lake; they were all caught and eaten by the Prince of Qi."

As soon as he finished speaking, two fish jumped out of the lake, flicked their tails in the air, and then dived back into the lake water.

"..."

Seeing this scene, Li Chengqian nodded slightly:

"I misunderstood you; it turns out there are no fish in the lake. Go buy some more fish tomorrow, and buy the kind of silly fish."

"Yes!"

"Not fishing today. Is there any news from the Taichang Temple?"

"Yes, Li Taichang already went to the Literature Pavilion this morning; it is currently unknown how the discussion went."

"Being able to wait a month before going is enough to show that Li Chunfeng is a smart man."

"The person recommended by my father-in-law is almost at Chang'an. Go and replace the plaque of the Hongwen Hall; change it to 'Virtuous Axe-man', and from now on, the people recommended by my father-in-law will live inside."

"Remember, it's the axe of the axe, don't write it wrong!"

"Ah? Your Highness, is this okay?"

"Is it not okay?"

"It's good! You are the Crown Prince, you have the final say!"

Wang Qi thought he was already numb, but he didn't expect Li Chengqian to be even more erratic than he thought:

"I thought 'Ruling by Virtue' meant using the De Book to beat others into submission."

"Ignorant and ill-informed, I also have 'Sawing by Reason'; do you want to try it!"

"No, no, no, I don't want to try!"

At the same time, after waiting for an hour at the Literature Pavilion, Li Chunfeng finally saw Li Tai.

"I am truly sorry for making Li Taichang wait for so long; I hope Li Taichang will forgive me."

"I dare not! The Prince of Wei is busy with official business; it doesn't matter if we wait a while."

"That's good, that's good!"

Li Tai's chubby face revealed an honest smile:

"I wonder what Li Taichang is looking for me for?"

"Originally, the Crown Prince had me lecture at the Hongwen Hall and discuss astronomy and geography with the students of the Hongwen Hall, so that the Book of Jin could be completed faster."

"Now the students of the Hongwen Hall are all at the Literature Pavilion, so I want to borrow a few people from the Prince of Wei to help me finish the Book of Jin as soon as possible."

Li Tai's eyes showed thought: "I remember Li Taichang is revising the three records of 'Astronomy', 'Calendar', and 'Five Elements'; you should look for Xiao Yu, the Xiao Tejin."

"How about this, I will have Xiao Tejin go to the Taichang Temple to find you tomorrow; whatever you need, just look for him. The Lanling Xiao Clan still has quite a lot of books."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"No rush!"

Li Tai waved his hand: "Since you have lectured at the Hongwen Hall and can compile historical books, I assume your knowledge is not a problem."

"I wonder how much you know about Daoist theories?"

"I grew up in a Daoist temple, and my father was a Daoist priest, so I have a rough understanding of Daoist theories."

Li Tai looked pleasantly surprised: "Li Taichang, can you stay at the Literature Pavilion and lecture on Daoist theories?"

"You also know that there are many students in the Literature Pavilion, but most of them study Confucianism, and they are not very proficient in Daoist theories."

Li Chunfeng looked troubled: "I have to compile the Book of Jin. If the Prince of Wei doesn't mind, I can come to the Literature Pavilion once every ten days."

"A gentleman's word is as good as a team of four horses!"

"As good as a team of four horses."

Li Chunfeng couldn't help but feel pity for Li Tai in his heart; how could someone so naive defeat the Crown Prince?

In Li Tai's view, everyone who can compile historical books is a person of profound talent, and this person is also a lecturer at the Hongwen Hall, so he must know about the book revision.

"Li Taichang, did you participate in the book revision at the Hongwen Hall? That is, the masterpiece of the ages that Big Brother mentioned."

"The Eastern Palace is still making preparations and has not started revising the book. According to the original plan, I am responsible for the Daoist and Yin-Yang schools."

"Now the Hongwen Hall has been disbanded; I suppose the book revision has nothing to do with the Crown Prince. Is Your Highness preparing to compile this masterpiece?"