Chapter 82

"No! Impossible! Am I that kind of person?"

Li Chengqian flatly denied it three times in a row; as for what he was thinking in his heart, no one knew.

"Is that so?"

Watching Li Chengqian's lowered gaze, Su Dan chuckled softly:

"What does Your Highness the Crown Prince want me to do?"

"I need a list of teaching assistants and students from the schools in every prefecture and county; I need a group of great talents in governance and upright men."

"Are you trying to win over talented people for Your Highness?"

"No!"

Li Chengqian shook his head: "For the Great Tang, for all the people under heaven, I want those with firm ambitions who do not fear hardship.

Rather than trusting others to be loyal to me, it is better to trust them to be loyal to their own ambitions.

Sometimes, petty people are more loyal than loyal ministers; I will leave private, shady matters to petty people, but affairs of the imperial court must still be left to upright men."

Su Dan stared blankly at Li Chengqian, and after a long silence, he spoke slowly:

"This subject understands! May I ask what Your Highness's ambition is?"

"To develop productive forces, and then return the world to the people of the world."

"What is meant by developing productive forces?"

"From one person farming to get one shi of grain to one person farming to get five shi of grain; from one person weaving to get one chi of cloth to one person weaving to get one zhang."

Speaking of this, Li Chengqian looked at Su Dan with a firm expression:

"Father-in-law, I know you are a gentleman, and there will be many actions of mine hereafter that you will find hard to accept.

However, I still hope that for the sake of the Crown Princess, you will help me as much as you can."

"Is Your Highness speaking of ruling by virtue?"

"No!"

Li Chengqian shook his head: "That is the way of a gentleman; if I weren't afraid that Qingque couldn't handle it, I would never use that method—the effect is too poor."

Su Dan thought of the Fu Ren Guan, and the shock in his eyes could not be concealed:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you wouldn't really be planning to 'axe' people, would you?"

"What are you saying? That is for dealing with the surrounding nations; for the civil and military officials, one must still be gentle—it is enough to strike at their hearts."

Su Dan immediately stood up: "This subject still needs to go to the Ministry of Rites. Farewell!"

Saying this, he turned and left without waiting for Li Chengqian to speak.

Li Chengqian scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit confused; it was just striking at the heart, he hadn't even said what method he would use to do it.

'Could it be that the Crown Princess told him? But I only mentioned it casually; could she still be remembering it?'

It wasn't just remembering; Su Dan had told him directly as soon as he arrived in Chang'an. The idea of engraving steles and writing biographies in one's ancestral home was terrifying just to think about.

Meanwhile, in the Literature Pavilion on the other side, a rare look of seriousness appeared on Li Tai's face:

"No matter what his Crown Prince's order is, as long as the commoners don't know about it, it is useless.

Move the bamboo paper production to another place; as long as we say these bamboo papers were produced originally, that is enough.

As for the officials in Anzhou, win them over if you can; if you can't, replace them all."

Su Xu was somewhat surprised; he couldn't understand why Li Tai had suddenly become so bold.

"Your Highness, replacing the officials of an entire prefecture is not that easy."

"There is nothing difficult about it! I don't believe they are all without flaws. If they block the path, they must be cleared away.

Those who are my people should naturally be treated with courtesy; as for those who are not my people, do I still need to care whether they live or die?"

Xiao Yu's eyes lit up. In the past, Li Tai was gentle and polite to everyone, and he feared that Li Tai would lack prestige in the long run.

Now that Li Tai was willing to change, he was naturally happy to see it. To be an emperor, one cannot only know how to treat scholars with courtesy; one must also know how to combine kindness with severity.

"Your Highness is wise!"

Su Xu also nodded in appreciation: "With these words from Your Highness, this subject can go to Anzhou with peace of mind.

I will set off for Anzhou in three days and will certainly not fail Your Highness's expectations."

"The reform of the public notices is imperative. I will also use the compilation of books as a pretext to conduct verification in Anzhou and provide cover for my uncle."

"Yes!"

Once the decision was made, the actions in the Literature Pavilion were swift. Five days later, a yellow paper was posted on the gates of all 110 wards in Chang'an:

'For the compilation of the "Wude Encyclopedia," the Literature Pavilion will conduct a selection of great talents in one month...'

Not only were they on the gates of every ward, but public notices were also posted at the entrance of every alley within the wards. Fearing that others wouldn't understand the selection steps, Li Tai even sent special personnel to each ward to explain.

"What does the 'name-covering system' mean?"

"It means exactly what it says: when grading the papers, the names will be uniformly covered. The grading officials can only select great talents based on their talent and learning."

"The benefit of doing this is that no matter what your background is, as long as you have true talent and learning, His Highness the Prince of Wei will let you participate in the compilation of the 'Wude Encyclopedia'."

"His Highness the Prince of Wei is worthy of being a virtuous prince to think of such a method. If only the imperial examination could also use it."

"Indeed! I don't know if it will be used in the imperial examination in the future. If it could, I would still want to participate in the imperial examination."

"It's useless to use this in the imperial examination; the handwriting is different, and it would be recognized immediately."

"..."

What the scholars thought about was the imperial examination system, but the ordinary commoners were different.

"Why is it so boring this time? Why didn't that Prince of Bohai from last time continue talking?"

"It was all rumors. How can you still believe it even now?"

"I always feel it's true. Who is the Prince of Bohai? Everyone in Chang'an knows."

"Fortunately, he is a clansman of the Emperor; otherwise, how would he have helped him clarify? He would have been drowned in spit long ago."

"Believe it or not, as you like! I have to go tell my nephew this good news; maybe he can also get into the Literature Pavilion."

"..."

Li Tai did not add the transcription system; he was only verifying the public notices, not promoting the imperial examination system.

The so-called transcription was to send special personnel to copy the examination papers so that the examiners could not judge who wrote the paper based on the handwriting.

The name-covering system alone had already caused much discussion; if the transcription system were added, one could imagine what kind of situation would arise.

Zhangsun Wuji looked at the public notice in his hand and couldn't help but sigh in admiration:

"The Prince of Wei is truly quick-witted to think of such a method. The drawbacks of the imperial examination system will likely be perfected in his hands."

Chu Suiliang looked puzzled: "Is the Prince of Wei not afraid of alienating the aristocratic clans? You must know that those around him are all from aristocratic clans.

Currently, the imperial examination system looks fair, but in reality, who can pass is already predetermined."

"Xiao Yu and Su Xu both agreed, so I imagine there won't be much of a reaction among the aristocratic clans.

This can only fool the humble families and commoners; don't forget the 'Three Rites' in the imperial examination."

"Then should we add fuel to the fire? After he wins the hearts of the humble families and commoners, we can strike him at the end."

Zhangsun Wuji shook his head: "No need! Someone else will take action for us.

Currently, the most important thing is to help the Emperor stabilize the court; everything else is empty."

Zhangsun Wuji did not explain specifically; many things could only be kept in his heart. What he was worried about now was whether Chu Suiliang would be dragged into this by Li Chengqian.

From Li Shimin, he learned that driving Chu Suiliang out of Chang'an was a trap set by Li Chengqian.

Since then, he had a feeling that Chu Suiliang might be about to face a calamity.

Now that Li Shimin was letting Chu Suiliang stay at home to rest, it might not be for the purpose of protecting him.

'The Crown Prince is going to take action against Buddhism. Is Chu Suiliang the key or a backup?'

'What does this have to do with the position of Crown Prince? Could it be, as the Emperor thinks, that he doesn't put the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Jin in his eyes at all?'

Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the 13th day of the ninth month of the 18th year of Zhenguan.

Inside the Liangyi Hall, all the ministers gathered together; even Gao Shilian, who had already retired, appeared in the court, which was a rare occurrence.

Looking at the ministers below, Li Chengqian's expression was solemn:

"You have all received the news. Floods have occurred in ten prefectures including Jingzhou in the Shannan Circuit, and the number of affected people is countless.

The scale of this disaster and the breadth of its scope are rarely seen in the world. Disaster relief brooks no delay."