"How can We be worthy? How can we compare to Qin Huang and Emperor Wu of Han? "Li Shimin said modestly, but his words betrayed his excitement.
Suddenly, a middle-aged official stepped forward and excitedly said, "Your Majesty's words are incorrect. The Minister believes that Your Majesty's achievements are comparable to Qin Huang and Emperor Wu of Han. You are worthy of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai."
"Comparable to Qin Huang and Emperor Wu of Han!" Li Shimin's face turned red. Even though he was proud of himself, he still felt that he couldn't accept such praise.
"Xu Jingzong, this bootlicker!" Many officials couldn't help but spit.
"Xu Jingzong!" Meton couldn't help but look at this historical figure in front of him.
Xu Jingzong ignored the strange gazes of the officials and loudly said, "The First Emperor's achievement was to unify the world, unifying the system of measurement and measurement. Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Xiongnu in the north and established the Protectorate of the Western Regions. Your Majesty defeated the Turks in the north and destroyed Gao Chang in the west and established the Anxi Protectorate. In terms of military strategy, Your Majesty is not inferior at all."
After Xu Jingzong finished speaking, the officials nodded. It had to be said that after hearing Xu Jingzong's words, they all realized that Li Shimin's achievements were indeed comparable to Qin Huang and Emperor Wu of Han.
"Not only that, Qin Huang and Emperor Wu of Han were both tyrannical rulers, but Your Majesty was humble and worked hard to govern. Furthermore, Your Majesty had the political and military strategies of Emperor Guangwu. Your Majesty has the merits of all three emperors, so naturally, you are worthy of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai, "Xu Jingzong said angrily.
As expected of a bootlicker! Meton thought. After hearing Xu Jingzong's eloquent speech, praising Li Shimin as having the merits of Qin Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Guangwu, he almost shouted: He's not a single person, not a single person …
"That's right, Your Majesty's achievements are worthy of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai."
"Minister, we implore Your Majesty to attend the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai."
In an instant, the officials began to beg Li Shimin to attend the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai.
Li Shimin couldn't help but be tempted. The Pilgrimage of Mount Tai was the highest honor for an emperor. Which emperor wouldn't be tempted? Just as he was about to take advantage of the situation to agree, a discordant voice suddenly sounded out.
"I object to the Mount Tai Pilgrimage!"
Everyone couldn't help but be taken aback as they looked over in surprise. The one who had objected was actually Wei Zheng.
Xu Jingzong immediately jumped out and said angrily, "Lord Wei, what is the meaning of this? Could it be that he thinks that his achievements are not as good as the Three Emperors and that he is not worthy of the Mount Tai Pilgrimage? "
Wei Zheng shook his head and said, "Your Majesty's merits are naturally worthy of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai. However, the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai is a huge project and will cost a lot of money. Just now, the imperial court couldn't even take out three million strings of cash to build the new Shu Road and had to rely on iron money to raise the money. Now that the Tang dynasty is rebuilding, if Your Majesty uses the money to build the Tang dynasty, it will definitely improve the national strength. Isn't that better?"
All the officials were embarrassed. Every time they encountered a huge project, they cried that they didn't have the money. Li Shimin's Pilgrimage of Mount Tai probably spent no less than a million strings of cash, but none of the officials objected. A million strings of cash could at least build a brick road thousands of miles long. The benefits of this were self-evident.
"As expected!" When the officials saw Wei Zheng stand out, they knew that he was going to talk about thriftiness. This was the core of Wei Zheng's persuasion. Once he used this trick, it worked every time.
Yu Zhining helped him and said, "Lord Wei, you are right. Now the imperial court has built a brick road along the Longhai Line. It is very convenient to go from Chang 'an to Mount Tai. The time is greatly reduced and the money needed is also greatly reduced. There will be no extravagance and waste as Lord Wei said. Moreover, the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai is to worship heaven. The national affairs are related to the military. Mount Tai is the most important mountain in the world. Your Majesty's Pilgrimage of Mount Tai is also to tell heaven about the achievements of the Tang dynasty. It is good for the country and the people. "
The Confucian school emphasized on the connection between heaven and man. The Pilgrimage of Mount Tai was a classic sin of the connection between heaven and man. It was the closest place for the emperor to communicate with the gods.
Wei Zheng frowned. According to the speed of the brick road, it was indeed much faster. It could save time and money. It was indeed much cheaper than the previous Pilgrimage of Mount Tai.
"Lord Yu, you are right."
However, before Wei Zheng continued to object, another voice sounded. Wei Zheng felt warm in his heart. It seemed that there was someone in the imperial court who had the same idea as him.
"Could it be that Mo Jiu is also against the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai?!" Yu Zhining was flustered and exasperated. The Pilgrimage of Mount Tai was the grandest ceremony of the Confucian school. Mount Tai was located in Shandong, and so was the Temple of Confucius. It was a great opportunity to raise the reputation of the Confucian school. The School of Mohism was indeed a great enemy of the Confucian school.
Meton shook his head and said, "This one is not against the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai, but against the wrong Pilgrimage of Mount Tai."
"The wrong Pilgrimage of Mount Tai?!" The officials of the imperial court were shocked. They stared at Meton. It was said that when Qin Shihuang carried out the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai, the etiquette was broken. No one understood the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai. In the end, Qin Shihuang ordered the Confucian scholars to retreat and carried out the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai according to his own ideas. Could it be that the School of Mohism had passed down the ancient Pilgrimage of Mount Tai?
Meton nodded and said, "Everyone might not know this, but the fact that Mount Tai is the highest mountain in the world is a mistake made by our predecessors. According to the research of the School of Mohism, the higher one goes, the lower the temperature. Some mountains are covered in snow all year round. During the expedition to the west, the army saw many mountains covered in snow all year round. However, even in winter, Mount Tai was not covered in snow. It is clear that Mount Tai is not the highest mountain in the world."
"What?" The entire court was stunned. No one had imagined that the Mount Tai they had always called the highest mountain was not the highest mountain. The Pilgrimage of Mount Tai was to stand at the highest point and let the heavens hear the voices of mortals. Since Mount Tai was not the highest mountain, it naturally could not hear them. Thus, the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai was not very meaningful.
"This is indeed the case. When this subject was on the expedition to Tuyuhun and Gao Chang, we did see many mountains covered in snow all year round. Even in the scorching summer, there were mountains covered in snow, and the snow water left on the mountain peaks was bone-chilling. Based on this deduction, the peak of Mount Tai is not covered in snow and is not the highest mountain."
Some of the generals couldn't help but nod in shock.
The Confucian official wanted to retort, but he was speechless. Mo Jiazi had used the most basic fact to deny Mount Tai, and that was the snowline on the mountain peak. This was an ironclad fact. Even if they thought about it, they were forced to admit that Mount Tai was not the highest mountain.
Since Mount Tai was just an ordinary mountain and did not have any special meaning, then it would be a joke for the Imperial Court to waste so much effort to carry out the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai.
Wei Zheng and Xu Jingzong could not help but smile bitterly. They had been debating the pros and cons of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai. However, they had not expected that Mo Jiazi would flip the table and unveil the mysteries of the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai, causing the halo of Mount Tai to fade away.
"Mo Jiazi, you're just trying to scare people with your words. You've ruined the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai. Your heart is filled with evil intentions, "Yu Zhining rebuked furiously. Mo Jiazi had once again ruined the Confucian school's Heaven's Perception, causing them to lose their chance to make a name for themselves. How could Yu Zhining not be furious?
Meton retorted, "It's not that I'm against the Pilgrimage of Mount Tai, but I'm against the idea that Mount Tai is the tallest mountain in the world. This involves academia, and there's no room for mistakes. It's said that His Highness Emperor Wei's school of geography has a new method of measuring the height of mountain ranges. I believe that this can be verified."
In that instant, everyone's gazes focused on Emperor Wei, Li Tai. Emperor Wei, Li Tai, suddenly felt as if he had been sitting at home when trouble had come knocking on his door. He could only brace himself and say, "Based on the method of measuring the height of mountains in the school of geography, I've discovered that not only is Mount Tai not the tallest mountain range in the world, its height is also not comparable to other famous mountains. Mount Tai is five thousand feet tall, Mount Huang is six thousand feet tall, Mount Zhongnan is nine thousand feet tall …"
Although Li Tai did not wish to dampen Li Shimin's spirits, as a new member of the academy, he naturally could not allow himself to make any mistakes in academia. Therefore, he could only speak the truth.
Li Shimin could not help but frown. He did not expect that Mount Tai was not only not the tallest mountain in the world, but also ranked at the bottom.
Yan Shigu suddenly realized, "No wonder it was recorded in the history books that the first emperor solemnly made a pilgrimage to Mount Tai to report his achievements to the heavens. He waited for a long time but did not receive a response from the heavens. This must be the reason."
Since Mount Tai was not the tallest mountain, the heavens naturally could not hear the first emperor's prayer.
Yu Zhining said angrily, "According to the inference, isn't the tallest mountain in the world in the barbarian lands such as Tubo and Gao Chang? That's the best place to make a pilgrimage."
"Absolutely not! Not to mention that the barbarian lands are too far away, and the highlands suffer from altitude sickness, not to mention the snowy peaks, which are even more severe. Furthermore, Your Majesty suffers from Gale, so it's naturally not suitable for you to go. "Fang Xuanling and the others hurriedly stopped him.
"Of course, I will not take such a risk!" Li Shimin said regretfully. The legend of Mount Tai's pilgrimage was shattered, and he was in a dilemma.
Meton said seriously, "The best place to make a pilgrimage is naturally Mount Tai. First, Mount Tai is a famous mountain with beautiful scenery. Second, it has the inheritance of the Three Emperors. Third, if Your Majesty does not make a move, I'm afraid that the barbarians will not act rashly. Your Majesty's plan to restrain the grasslands will fail. I think that we should go to Mount Tai to make a pilgrimage, but there's no need to make a big fuss.
Li Shimin glared hatefully at Mo Jiazi. Meton immediately withdrew the halo of Mount Tai. He was not in the mood to pray to the heavens. He was afraid that it would only make him a laughingstock.
"Prepare the Ministry of Rites. In a month, we will make a pilgrimage to Mount Tai," Li Shimin said weakly.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
This time, even Wei Zheng did not refute. After all, Li Shimin's trip and the pilgrimage to Mount Tai were not on the same level. Not to mention, the pilgrimage to Mount Tai also had the inheritance and the intention to lure the barbarians to make a move.
"I will go to Mount Tai to make a pilgrimage. The Crown Prince will be the regent. All of you must do your best to assist him." Li Shimin looked at Crown Prince Li Chengqian and said.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" The court officials said in unison.
If it was the previous pilgrimage to Mount Tai, Li Shimin would naturally bring all the civil and military officials. However, this pilgrimage to Mount Tai was just a trip, so naturally, he would not bring too many people.
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