"This Qiqu Culture is so kind. They actually lowered the price of books so low!"
"This is all thanks to Lord Li! Do you think books will be as cheap as scallions in the next three years? "
In the Jinyu Academy in the south of Chang 'an City, two plainly dressed scholars were squatting on a rock and reading the same newspaper without a care for their image. They sighed.
In the early Tang Dynasty, academies were private places. A few scholars who were familiar with each other would discuss Dao, read, and study here. At this time, academies were often surrounded by Taoist temples and Buddhist temples, so naturally, the styles of these schools were combined. For example, the Buddhist temple, the Taoist temple, and the Confucian academy were mixed together. Since then, these three brothers had kowtowed to each other. This was also the beginning of the integration of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. However, the real integration was in the Song Dynasty.
"Eh ~? Brother Tianhua, Brother Feichen, what are you guys talking about? "
At this time, a handsome young man walked out and looked at his two classmates on the rock and asked curiously.
"Brother Hong Yi, Tianhua and I are talking about today's newspaper! Come and take a look too! "
The young man on the rock stood up and greeted with a smile.
"Oh? Then I'll take a look too! "
A moment later.
"The Lantian County Man says that books will be as cheap as scallions in the next three years! Qiqu Culture will provide another 27 types of books today, 350 copies of each type, all sold at a low price! Hiss ~! To think that the three of us went to Qiqu Culture to buy books yesterday! Looks like Lord Li is going to do what he said! Qiqu Culture has already started to increase the supply of such high-quality and cheap books. Maybe books will really be as cheap as scallions in the future! "
The handsome scholar slapped his thigh and exclaimed after reading the headlines.
"Brother Hong Yi is right. I just hope that Qiqu Culture's supply of books will increase!"
"Yes, this Lord Li first invented the curved plow to benefit the people. Now, he's releasing so many cheap books to help the poor. This is really the gospel of us scholars!"
"Haha, I, Hua Hongyi, used to respect no one, but now I respect Lord Li! It would be great if Qiqu Culture sells Lord Li's new mathematics teaching materials! "
Hua Hongyi echoed.
"What? Brother Hong Yi wants to learn Lord Li's new arithmetic? "
Hua Hongyi nodded and said, "Of course. I heard that this new type of arithmetic is self-contained. It's convenient and fast to calculate. I've admired it for a long time! Unfortunately, I don't have the qualifications to enter the Imperial College! This is one of the biggest regrets of my life! "
"Sigh, Brother Hong Yi, don't take it too hard. It's indeed not easy for us commoners to enter the Imperial College!"
.....
"Your Majesty, I impeach the man from Li County. Yesterday, he condoned the customers of his shop to fight and disturb the public order, causing chaos in the eastern market. According to the law, he should be severely punished!"
Taiji Palace, morning assembly.
As expected, Wei Zheng, the big troll, immediately attacked Li Zexuan. He didn't know if this old guy slept in the study room last night, but he did have dark circles under his eyes.
When Cheng Yaojin heard this, he was so angry that his hair stood on end. When this old demon got angry, he didn't care about the occasion. At this moment, Cheng Yaojin was about to walk out and scold Wei Zheng, but he was stopped by Qin Shubao.
"Zhijie, don't be impatient. Let's see what Your Majesty has to say!"
Qin Shubao said softly.
"Hmph!"
Cheng Yaojin glared at Wei Zheng unwillingly and retreated angrily. In his opinion, Li Zexuan was so obedient. After helping the farmers, he started to help the poor scholars. He even helped the Cheng Family earn so much money. What a good child. How could he be as bad as Wei Zheng said?
Zhangsun Wuji, who was sitting in the front row, heard Wei Zheng's accusation. His eyes flashed, but he quickly returned to normal. No one knew what he was thinking.
"Cough!"
Li Er raised his spirits and coughed lightly. He pretended to be serious and said,
"Minister Wei, I already knew about what you said yesterday. I also issued a decree to reprimand Li Zexuan. He is grounded for seven days and his salary will be deducted for three months. Let's forget about this matter!"
Li Er was laughing in his heart. Wei Xuancheng, do you think you're the only one who knows how to scold? I am already prepared this time. I will let you have a taste of being speechless!
Wei Zheng frowned deeply. He didn't expect Li Er to issue a decree so quickly. He also didn't expect Li Zexuan to be so favored by the emperor. This punishment was really nothing to him.
"Your Majesty, isn't this punishment a little …"
Wei Zheng felt that Li Er was playing favoritism and wasn't fair. Thus, he couldn't help but speak out.
"A little what?"
Li Er raised his eyebrows and smiled maliciously. "Minister Wei, do you think that this punishment is a little light? That's great. In order to show my concern for the officials of the imperial court, if there are any officials who commit such a small mistake in the future, they will be grounded for seven days and their salary will be deducted for three months as punishment! "
Wei Zheng was dumbfounded. His jaw almost fell off. How could it be played like this? If that was the case, wouldn't all the officials hate Wei Zheng to death? Three months of salary forfeiture was nothing to Li Zexuan, but to many of the ministers who relied on their salaries to survive, it was fatal! For example, Wei Zheng was one of them.
The other officials were also in an uproar. The entire Taiji Palace was buzzing with noise.
"Your Majesty, this old official definitely didn't mean that. This old official feels that Your Majesty's punishment of Li Xiannan is just right. It can show Your Majesty's benevolence and also show the majesty of the Tang Dynasty's laws. It is killing two birds with one stone!"
There was no other way. At this moment, Wei Zheng had already realized that he had fallen into the pit dug by Li Er. At this time, he had no choice but to admit defeat. Otherwise, when the time came, not only would his salary be gone, but the other ministers would also gang up on him!
No matter how awesome Wei Zheng was, no matter how good he was at talking, he wouldn't dare to be enemies with all the officials at the same time!
"Oh!"
Li Er smiled and nodded. Then, he said, "Since Minister Wei has taken the initiative to say so, then this matter won't be mentioned again. Does Minister Wei have anything else to report? "
"This old official doesn't have anything else."
Wei Zheng had originally planned to impeach Li Zexuan before asking for a reward for Li Zexuan. However, after his impeachment, Li Zexuan wasn't affected at all. On the contrary, he had almost been cheated. So why should he ask for a reward for Li Zexuan? He wasn't in such a good mood right now.
However, just because he wasn't willing didn't mean that the others weren't willing. At this moment, Kong Yingda stepped forward and clasped his hands to Li Er.
"Your Majesty, Li Xiannan has recently created pinyin, pushed the newspaper, and lowered the price of books. In addition, he created the blackboard, chalk, and new mathematics. All of these have made significant contributions to the education of our Great Tang. This old official feels that all wrongdoings should be punished and meritorious deeds should be rewarded. If such great deeds aren't rewarded, it will be difficult to convince the masses!"
"Right, right, right. Your Majesty, Chancellor Kong is extremely right! This old official agrees, this old official agrees! "
Cheng Yaojin's eyes lit up. He quickly jumped out and shouted. At the same time, he thought to himself, Why is this old man Kong so cute today? His words are exactly what I, Cheng Yaojin, am thinking.
.....
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