Chapter 86

Su Xi's speech outside Hongfu Temple caused a huge uproar in just two days.

A wave of donations set off throughout Chang'an, and even a beggar would tear off a piece of cloth from his body and hand it to the ward head of each ward.

"The Crown Princess is truly a great kind person! To shed tears in full view of the public for people who have nothing to do with her is truly moving."

"Who says it isn't! I thought it was the Crown Prince's cruelty that killed so many people in the Eastern Palace last year."

"Now it seems that there may be inside information."

"There must be inside information. The Crown Prince can agree to the Crown Princess coming out, which is enough to show that the Crown Prince is not a cold-hearted person."

"And I saw a few days ago that the Crown Prince's Six Rate Guards took a large batch of tents and grain out of Chang'an. Now that I think about it, they should also be going to the Shannan Circuit."

"..."

For a time, Su Xi's reputation reached its peak, and the whole city of Chang'an knew that the Crown Princess Su was a great kind person.

Seeing this situation, suspicion flashed in Zhangsun Wuji's eyes. Is the Crown Prince doing this just for disaster relief?

Thinking of this, Zhangsun Wuji slowly raised his head to look at Zhangsun Chong:

"Where did you say Du He recruited people last time?"

"To the countryside!"

Zhangsun Chong was a little puzzled: "What's wrong? But later people died, and this matter was left unsettled. Only some scholars who were on good terms with him went."

Countryside, bamboo paper, public notices, printing technology, selection—Zhangsun Wuji connected these in his mind.

After a long while, Zhangsun Wuji's eyes became clear, and his expression returned to calm. He saw Li Chengqian's ultimate goal.

"What did Medicine King Sun say?"

"The prescription has already been written. If you take the medicine on time for the next half a year and go out for a walk every day, you will return to normal."

Zhangsun Wuji breathed a sigh of relief: "Worthy of being the Medicine King. Send a big gift over for me. If there are any requirements, the Zhangsun family will satisfy them as much as possible."

"The Eastern Palace and the Prince of Qi are the same. This time it was the Prince of Qi who invited the Medicine King to Chang'an, so we should thank him."

"My son knows, the gift has already been sent."

After speaking, Zhangsun Chong took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and placed it in front of Zhangsun Wuji:

"Medicine King Sun didn't want a gift. He wanted us to find these prescriptions, saying it was for compiling medical books."

Zhangsun Wuji looked at it casually: "Okay! Go see Medicine King Sun more often, and by the way, find out what the Crown Prince is doing by keeping him in the Eastern Palace."

"Okay!"

Not only did Zhangsun Wuji see Li Chengqian's goal at this time, but Fang Xuanling and others also saw his goal.

Compared to the calmness of others, Xiao Yu appeared a bit restless:

"Prince of Wei, we must find a way to stop the Crown Prince. If this continues, the Crown Prince's ascension will be the wish of the people, and even the Emperor will have to let the Crown Prince ascend the throne."

"How is that possible?"

Li Tai was full of suspicion: "Father and the ministers in the court do not support Big Brother. They are just some commoners; is it necessary to care?"

"There is no need to care about the commoners on weekdays, but if a war breaks out, these commoners will support the Crown Prince."

"At the beginning, the Emperor was able to conquer half of the Great Tang because he built temples to sacrifice to the fallen soldiers, which won the hearts of the people."

"Now the Crown Prince uses steles to win the hearts of the people, which is exactly the same as the Emperor building temples."

"You also said it was war. Now the world is peaceful. Does Big Brother dare to raise an army to rebel?"

"Even if he rebels, so what? The people of the world are not fools; can they really follow him?"

Seeing Li Tai so naive, Xiao Yu urged anxiously:

"Your Highness, don't you see clearly yet? Whether the Crown Prince's character will rebel, you know better than me."

"The problem is not whether the Crown Prince rebels, but whether the Emperor is afraid that the Crown Prince will rebel, whether the Crown Prince has the ability to rebel, and whether it will cause irreparable damage to the Great Tang."

Li Tai was suddenly frightened. Xiao Yu was right. The problem was not whether Li Tai had raised an army to rebel, but whether he had the ability.

Li Tai thought of Jiaozhi and the Shannan Circuit. With these two grain-producing lands, if the hearts of the people could be used, Li Chengqian would definitely rebel.

"Xiao Tejin, what do you think we should do now?"

"Write to the Emperor immediately to carry out disaster relief in the name of the Emperor, not in the name of the Eastern Palace."

"The stele matter must also be ordered by the Emperor, not by the Eastern Palace."

"Too slow! By the time Father's edict arrives, the stele will have already been engraved, and the money and grain will have already reached the Shannan Circuit."

A ruthless look flashed in Li Tai's eyes: "You go find Zhangsun Wuji and tell him about this."

"The Crown Princess already has a reputation in Chang'an; the reputation in the Shannan Circuit must not be given to her."

"I will let people submit a memorial tomorrow to put the list of those who donated money and grain on the public notice."

Xiao Yu's eyes lit up: "Your Highness is wise. Zhangsun Wuji is not a fool. With his help, the Crown Prince cannot act arbitrarily."

Li Tai did not write to Li Shimin, but Li Chengqian had already sent a letter. In order to get Li Shimin's consent, he also made a promise to Li Shimin.

Looking at the letter in his hand, Li Shimin fell into deep thought:

'Guaranteeing that Qingque will retreat unscathed? It seems he has guessed my plan.'

'He is really stubborn. Knowing that I am the one who benefits in the end, he still does this. Does he have any reliance?'

Li Shimin dared not agree easily. Now the public notice was only in the verification stage, and he didn't know how powerful it was. He only knew that this was a tool Li Chengqian used to seize the right to speak.

He was afraid that this was a trap. Once he issued an edict to establish a new department to manage the public notices, there would really be no room for maneuver.

After thinking for half an hour, Li Shimin decided to follow Li Chengqian's suggestion, not for anything else, but to appease Li Chengqian.

'Forget it! Let Xiao Yu serve as the Vice Minister. I hope his mind can be broader.'

Establishing a new department to manage public notices was necessary. As for who the head of the department was, Li Chengqian didn't care.

The right to interpret the news was in his hands. The scholars recruited by Du He could be said to be his people.

As soon as the new department was established, his people could immediately become members of the branches in each prefecture and county.

Taking a step back, even if he couldn't control the public notices, it didn't matter. As long as Li Tai or Li Zhi could control them, it was also fine.

The most important means for Li Chengqian to win the hearts of the people were Sun Simiao and Li Chunfeng.

Due to the sudden disaster, Li Chengqian only had time to summon Sun Simiao at this time.

Inside the Fu Ren Guan, Li Chengqian pointed to Su Liangsi, who was sitting on the side, and said slowly:

"Medicine King Sun, this is Su Liangsi of Wugong, who will set off for Jiaozhi in a few days."

"The people in Jiaozhi Commandery suffer from stagnation. I would like to ask the Medicine King to write a prevention and control regulation so that the people of Jiaozhi will no longer suffer from pain."

"This poor Taoist can write the prevention and control regulations, but it treats the symptoms but not the root cause. As long as the miasma forest is still there, the people will sooner or later get various diseases."

"Did you hear that?"

Li Chengqian said lightly to Su Liangsi: "Cut down and burn all the miasma forests on the plains to find more farmland for the people."

"As for the trees on the mountains, protect them well. Do not let people cut them down at will. The mountain forests should be opened according to the changes of the four seasons."

"Yes!"

Sun Simiao's mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but remind him in a low voice:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the most important thing about the miasma forest is the miasma, which can be transmitted by mosquitoes and insects. It is not enough to burn the trees; you also need to prevent mosquitoes and insects."

"There is such a thing?"

Li Chengqian was a little suspicious: "Isn't the miasma from the miasma forest? If the forest is gone, will there still be miasma?"

"The weather in Lingnan is humid, and it is not easy to cause a big fire. It is not easy to cut down."

"There are many snakes and insects in the dense forest. If you are not careful, you will be bitten by snakes and insects and die of poisoning."