Bang, bang, bang.
The emperor's motorcade marched slowly on the official road, stopping and going, stopping and going.
There was no other way, there were too many people with us this time, and it was a long journey.
This is not a rush march. Considering everyone’s endurance, we can only set a target mileage every day and walk slowly.
It takes three months to walk from Chang'an to Mount Tai, a hundred days! Who can bear to go too fast?
The sun gradually moved up and the convoy stopped.
"Bury the pot and make rice!"
Following the order from the vanguard, the cooks picked up various kitchen utensils, set up the stove on the spot, and started cooking.
The emperor, queen, and princes and princesses have a set agenda.
The royal relatives, ministers and family members are another set of targets.
Ordinary guards and followers are another set.
The three standards are produced by three teams and are clearly distinct.
After a while, a scent of fragrance floated into the dragon chariot.
"smell good……"
Li Shimin touched his belly, looked at his eldest grandson Wugu, and said with a smile,
"Mr. Guanyin, the weather outside is perfect. How about we get off the car and have a meal?"
"That's fine." Changsun Wujiu rubbed his forehead, feeling a little tired.
The carriage and horses were bumpy, and she never felt comfortable.
"uncomfortable?"
Li Er said with concern,
"Are you too tired?"
Changsun Wugou nodded, and with the help of Li Chengqian, he got off the dragon chariot.
"Hey, this is only the first day...there are still three months left."
Li Shimin said worriedly,
"How can you survive this? If I had known, I wouldn't have let you out..."
It’s just that his own health is in some condition, he’s just afraid that his wife won’t be able to bear it!
"It's rare to be granted Zen status. As a queen, how can I not go?"
The eldest grandson Wugou responded,
"It's okay, I can still hold on, just have a good sleep at night."
"Come, come and eat. There is your favorite fish soup."
Li Shimin nodded and got off the dragon chariot in a few steps.
Outside, there is endless farmland. The official road where the motorcade is located has long been closed, making it impossible for ordinary cars and horses to enter.
Of course, the people who work in the fields on foot will not be affected. Li Er also had a clear intention that the visit to Zen should not disturb the people's work and rest.
There are several exquisite porcelain bowls on the table, and the dishes inside are fragrant and exquisite.
"This is similar to what we eat in the palace..."
Changsun Wugou frowned and said,
"Both meat and vegetables, you brought all the royal chefs with you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Chengqian and Li Tai had already pounced on her.
"Don't grab it, this is mine!"
"Brother, don't eat it all! I want to eat it too!"
"Uuuuuuuuuuah...give it to me, give it to me, give it to me!"
These little brats usually eat a lot of snacks in the palace and don't move much. They don't have much interest in these meals. They just grab a few bites and finish their meal.
But now during the journey, there are no snacks at all, and I am always stumbling around, and I am hungry. When it is time for dinner, I naturally look ferocious, and you are fighting for it!
"Don't grab it!"
Changsun Wugou scolded,
"We have everything, but there's not enough for the cook to cook for you!"
"Do you still need to behave?"
Li Shimin chuckled.
"It tastes better when you rush to eat. I also liked to rush to eat when I was a child."
He waved his hand and said somewhat complacently,
"How about this? The logistics are good, right?"
"When traveling, the standards remain the same! Just as you eat in the palace, you eat here too!"
Changsun Wugu curled his lips.
"The cost must be several times the usual amount!"
She said,
"It's a problem to transport these fresh vegetables and live fish."
"How much manpower and material resources will be spent to provide us with such a lunch?"
Li Shimin rubbed his face.
"Why are you worried about this...it's not us paying for it."
he muttered,
"We didn't plunder the people's wealth and money. It was all paid for by Ting Ming's bank."
"We didn't eat him in vain. Look at the flag hanging high. Now everyone in the world knows about his bank!"
Changsun Wugou rolled his eyes.
"That's not possible! No one's money comes from the strong wind."
She said displeasedly,
"Ordinary people are poor and rich, but as an emperor, you must be frugal on the road!"
"If you are extravagant, the people below you will follow suit! When extravagance becomes common, your money will be spent like water!"
"What happened? Isn't that what Emperor Sui Yang did?"
Li Shimin: "!!!"
He has "Yang Guang stress reaction". If anyone says that he is like Yang Guang, he must be anxious!
This moment is no exception.
"You...you are really...more powerful than that Wei Zheng!"
Li Er gritted his teeth, but finally got discouraged and said,
"Okay, okay!"
"Come on, tell me my decree. Starting from the next meal, remove the fresh vegetables and fish, and don't rush to deliver them to me again!"
"My diet is consistent with that of the ministers!"
"As ordered." The attendant responded and left.
"Are you satisfied?" Li Er looked at his wife and spread his hands.
"That's pretty much it..."
Changsun Wugou hummed softly,
"We can't finish this meal. Let's call a few people over and share it together."
Li Shimin nodded.
The emperor had strict rules and had to eat at least a dozen or twenty dishes for a meal, but the emperor was a human being, not a pig, so he couldn't eat that much.
Give food to the minister to show your favor and not waste it.
"Chengqian, Qingque."
Li Er ordered,
"Stop eating! I'll give you two a mission."
"Go and call your master, as well as Uncle Fang, Uncle Changsun, Uncle Yuchi, and Uncle Cheng. You can call any uncle you are familiar with!"
"Let's eat together!",
Li Chengqian wiped some oil on his mouth.
Li Tai swallowed a mouthful of rice ball with difficulty.
"yes!"
The two cubs jumped and ran away.
After a while, he left and came back.
"Father, Uncle Fang is not in his carriage!"
"Father, uncle eldest grandson is not here either!"
"They all seem to have gone to Master. There is such a huge group of people there!"
Li Shimin: "?"
Have you all gone to Xu Fenglei? What to do?
He became more curious, took off his robe and threw it to his wife, then walked towards Xu Fenglei's carriage.
…
In front of a carriage.
"Grand Master, when will the Tang Academy begin and when will the students be admitted?"
"I brought my child, can you take a look at it?"
"Master, my baby is also very smart. Can you help me see? Really, I won't lie to you. He can recite poems at the age of three, compose essays at the age of five, and..."
"Grand Master, what are the tests for admissions? You can at least reveal a little bit, so we can go back and prepare!"
"yes……"
"..."
Xu Fenglei's head felt heavy when he saw the eager faces of everyone.
What is this? This is it!
Bring your children to block him!
If Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin hadn't been there to help stop him, he would have been crushed by them!
"Master, is it too late to buy shares now? I am willing to pay 200,000 taels to buy shares!"
"I want to invest in it too! I wish I had known earlier!"
"Grand Master..."
"..."
Li Shimin was in the corner of the carriage, and his face turned dark when he heard this.
These ministers are really rich! Taking out two hundred thousand taels of silver was like playing without blinking an eye.
Are they that rich?
Let me see who they are...
Seeing this, he felt a little relieved.
Most of those with deep pockets clamoring for shares are military generals, which is normal.
When he first conquered the world, countless military generals secretly pocketed the spoils of war. As the commander-in-chief, he turned a blind eye.
After all, he swallowed it too...
If not, how could he have so much money to win over people's hearts and gain power?
Consoling himself in this way, Li Shimin continued to eavesdrop.
"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet."
Xu Fenglei raised his hands and said loudly,
"Listen to what I have to say."
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
"I can understand your feelings. After all, you all want to give your children a good education."
Xu Fenglei said,
"Especially the children of military attachés, they hope that their children will succeed and become scholars and cultural people."
"I can understand this, but I also want to make it clear to you -"
"When I originally thought about opening Chang'an Academy, which is now Datang Academy, it was not to make money or make profits, but because I sincerely wanted to establish a sound talent training mechanism in Datang."
"So, please don't think too much about buying shares. I've made it clear that this path is impossible. To be honest, I made this decision because I was really short of money. Now I There is no shortage of money, and the court has allocated funds, so crowdfunding is no longer needed.”
When everyone heard this, they all showed disappointment.
But Yu Chigong, Cheng Yaojin and others looked a little proud.
They were the ones who got on the bus in the first place! You can enjoy the benefits of sending your children to school!
Now looking at these people begging grandpa to sue grandma, I feel so happy!
It's money well spent! So prescient!
"Then, I'll talk about the opening of school and enrollment."
Xu Fenglei said again,
"The Tang Academy is almost completed. School is expected to start in September, and enrollment will be in June."
"That is to say, when His Majesty comes back from Feng Chan, we will start recruiting students in full swing. It is expected that the first batch of students will be about 500."
There are five classes on one floor, with 50 people in each class.
It is more appropriate for a building to accommodate 500 students. If you insist on cramming it in, you will only be able to cram in one or two hundred more students at most.
Judging from the current situation, this enrollment number is completely insufficient... If we open a convenient door for these powerful people, it will not be enough for them to stuff people in!
Xu Fenglei didn't agree to this, he was aiming to serve the children of the common people! Disciples of honorable nobles must strictly control the proportion!
"There are only five hundred people..."
"This is really missing... Grand Master, what are the admission criteria? Is it necessary to recite the Book of Songs, or the Four Books and Five Classics? Can you tell me?"
The ministers started shouting again.
"No, these are not tested. I will not test any book knowledge."
Xu Fenglei smiled lightly and said,
"Those are tangible things. What's the point of doing things that can be learned by rote memorization? It's impossible to judge a person's intelligence and character."
"What I want to examine is a human god!"
"There is a word called "Jongjiong Youshen". What I want to examine is this 'god'!"
"There are too many, don't say any more, otherwise it will be unfair to other children. That's all. Let's go, let's go...I want to eat."
Everyone was a little confused when they heard this.
god?
What is God? It’s so mysterious!
"Bright and bright? This word is used to describe eyes. Could it be that what the grand master wants to test is eyesight?"
"You damn eyesight! Your eyes, do you understand your eyes? I probably understand a little bit what the Grand Master means..."
"Really? Then tell me quickly!"
"Don't tell me! You can figure it out for yourself! I'm telling you, what should I do if your son compares to my son? Now the competition has begun!"
"Are you a mother-in-law, or are you a brother?! Are you still unwilling to say this? If you don't say anything, brothers have nothing to do! I was blocking the knife for you back then..."
"Okay, keep your voice down, keep your voice down... I'm telling you, don't tell anyone else. I also guessed that this exam... maybe it has something to do with a person's spirit, that is, his mental outlook..."
"..."
Driven by Yu Chigong and Cheng Yaojin, everyone finally left.
"Hey, these guys, what are you doing in such a hurry?"
Yuchi Gong said cheerfully,
"Isn't it just a study? Isn't it the same with any teacher? Why do you have to go to the academy to study?"
Cheng Yaojin rolled his eyes.
"How can Mr. Xixi compare with the Tang Academy? This is the first public school in the Tang Dynasty! Your Majesty supports it and the Grand Master personally runs it. Can it be the same?"
He said,
"Why are the children of those aristocratic families so good? Isn't it because of their family education and foundation?"
"And now, behind the Datang Academy is the Royal Collection, and there are some of the best teachers in the world! Those taught by these teachers must be better than those children from aristocratic families, and they must be talented people!"
"Who wouldn't be greedy for this advantage? Especially those big bosses who dream of becoming illiterate. They want their descendants to have a few educated people who can take the path of civil servants."
"Believe it or not, if you want to transfer your Yuchi Baolin's quota, those people will kneel down and kowtow to you and call you daddy!"
When Xu Fenglei heard this, he couldn't help but smile helplessly.
In order for their children to get a better education, some parents are really crazy!
A common problem in ancient and modern times.
"Hey, I won't transfer it! I'm stupid!"
Yuchi Gonglian said,
"I don't care about having so many sons. I just want my own son to be successful!"
"Come, come, let's eat and eat. We'll eat at the Grand Master's place today and talk about the children's studies..."
Changsun Wuji and Fang Xuanling were originally watching the fun, but when they heard that they were going to discuss their children's education, they immediately joined in.
"Together."
"Come on, let's have a table together. I recently discovered a good trick, which is especially effective against babies!"
"Oh? Tell me about it?"
"..."
Li Shimin in the corner was speechless.
A few big men were actually sharing parenting tips there! For this reason, he did not hesitate to shamelessly rub the table with a bowl in Xu Fenglei's place!
I guess at this moment, in their eyes, the emperor's gift of food is not as attractive as a few parenting scriptures!
"Forget it……"
Li Shimin curled his lips, turned around and said,
"I'll eat it myself and go for a walk after eating!"
(End of chapter)
