My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 38: Breaking the Knowledge Monopoly of the Aristocratic Clan
East Palace, backyard.

Li Chengqian was riding on a horse, looking at the guards in front of him who were cutting down the bamboo forest.

In recent days, all the big ice shops have become popular in Chang'an City, and a large amount of copper coins have been pouring into the East Palace treasury.

Naturally, it also attracted the envy of many people.

I'm just envious, this is the prince's property, and Changsun Wuji has joined.

Is there anyone who has the ability to force it?

What surprised Li Chengqian was that there had been no news from His Majesty so far.

He also didn't ask him to show his ice-making method, as if he had no idea about it.

Maybe he doesn't want to cause conflict at this critical juncture.

"Your Highness, there is news from the Taiji Palace that His Majesty has granted a marriage to Fang Sikong's second son, Fang Yiai, to Princess Gaoyang."

"Princess Gaoyang has been in a bad mood these days, and many eunuchs and palace maids have been beaten."

"I heard that Princess Gaoyang was very dissatisfied with Fang Yiai and went to see His Majesty, but His Majesty did not agree."

Li Chengqian asked Wen Zhong to take money from the treasury and bribed several eunuchs in the Taiji Palace to secretly pass on the message.

Although it is difficult to know the more secretive things, the situation in Taiji Palace is not completely dark.

The East Palace of the Tang Dynasty and the emperor's Taiji Palace were separated by a high wall. Unlike the imperial palaces of later generations where they lived together, this naturally made the emperor and the prince defensive.

It’s so close, yet it feels so far away.

"Your Majesty loves Gao Yang very much, but this matter is not up to her."

Li Chengqian bent down slightly and replied while half lying on the horse's back.

Wen Zhong said worriedly, "Princess Gaoyang married Fang Yiai, so the power of the King of Wei will probably increase greatly."

Li Chengqian laughed and said, "My sister is not so easy to get along with."

"By the way, Prince Consort Du is coming back soon."

Du He, the son of Du Ruhui and Li Chengqian's confidant, was sent to Langya some time ago.

Because there is a man named Yan Liren who is very good at fortune-telling.

When Li Chengqian heard of Yan Liren's reputation, he asked Du He to go over and ask some questions.

"It should be these two days."

Du He is very important to Li Chengqian. Princess Chengyang is Li Chengqian's sister from the same mother, and Du He is also the Shangcheng Fengyu.

His official position was only of the fifth rank, but he was in charge of the six imperial horses on the left and right. His real power was not high, but he was well-informed.

Du He also has an elder brother, Du Gou, who was originally a Shangshe Fengyu and later became the governor of Cizhou. He is no longer needed.

"Why is there no response to the thing I asked you to do?"

"It's been two days, do you need two months to do it?"

Li Chengqian thought of the previous instructions and his tone was a little unhappy.

The matter of Goryeo is a big deal and also the most important one at present.

Wen Zhong said in a panic, "It's my fault that I didn't do my job well."

Li Chengqian frowned and said, "What's the situation? Tell me in detail."

Wen Zhong narrated what happened in a trembling voice.

He found a few young eunuchs under him, and then the young eunuchs went to find people to spread rumors about Goryeo.

A lot of money was spent, but there was no effect at all.

Li Chengqian realized his mistake and thought it was nonsense to let the eunuchs handle such matters.

The best person to do the job would probably be a gangster like the bad leader Ji Zhao.

After thinking for a while, he said, "Isn't there a bad commander in Chang'an County? Why didn't you go find him?"

Wen Zhong replied, "I sent someone to look for him, but he seemed very loyal to the King of Wei and refused to work for the Crown Prince."

Li Chengqian asked suspiciously, "How dare a little bad commander disobey my orders?"

"Could it be that the people you sent acted bossy and made the other party dissatisfied?"

"These Jianghu people are always arrogant, let alone eunuchs."

Wen Zhong said in panic, "Your Highness, this...I don't even know." Li Chengqian said calmly, "If you can't do something well in the future, look for the reasons in yourself and don't push the responsibility onto others."

"What I need is someone who can get things done, not someone who will cause me trouble."

"You don't have to do this. Tell Su Chen to bring the bad commander of Chang'an County to the East Palace. I will meet him in person."

Wen Zhong trembled all over and was so scared that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously.

"Your Highness, I know I was wrong. I know I was wrong."

"Your Highness, please forgive me this time. I will never do this again."

The eunuchs' power all comes from their masters.

If the prince replaced him, it is conceivable that Wen Zhong would be reduced to the lowest eunuch in the future.

The more likely possibility is that he was directly dealt with by the prince because he knew too many of the prince's secrets.

"Get up, I didn't say I was going to punish you."

"But remember to be careful when doing things next time."

Li Chengqian said calmly.

Wen Zhong has followed him for so many years, there is absolutely no doubt that he is loyal.

Li Chengqian himself is not a bloodthirsty and cruel person. He would not kill anyone just because of such a small matter.

The main reason why Wen Zhong was so afraid was because of the prince’s former trusted guard Hegan Chengji.

He was highly regarded by the prince, but was executed the next moment.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness. I will never dare to be negligent in my future work."

After Wen Zhong kowtowed and expressed his gratitude, he stood up and left to pass on a message to Su Chen.

On the other side, Chen Yunchao arranged the soldiers to cut down most of the bamboo.

Seeing the eunuch walking away, he came over and asked.

"Your Highness, these bamboos are enough."

Li Chengqian looked and saw that the bundles of bamboo had been cut according to the same specifications and the weeds had been cleared away.

"That's about right. Move it to the paper mill and let them make paper from bamboo according to my instructions."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Huang Chao was naturally the greatest contributor to the decline of the Sui and Tang dynasties, but the advancement of papermaking was also a very important factor.

The papermaking technology invented in the Han Dynasty, Cai Hou paper and Zuo Bo paper, had completely replaced bamboo slips by the Tang Dynasty.

But the price of paper remained high, even in the Tang Dynasty where prices were low.

In fact, the technology of papermaking, including raw material separation, pulping, paper scooping and drying, is already very mature.

The high price is mainly reflected in the raw materials.

This also allowed the aristocratic families to control books and monopolize access to knowledge.

If you are not from a wealthy family, you can't afford to buy books, let alone take the imperial examination.

Therefore, Li Chengqian planned to invent the bamboo papermaking method that had only appeared in the middle of the Tang Dynasty.

The mature technology does not require too much instruction from Li Chengqian. As long as the bamboo is processed according to the normal method, there is basically not much to do.

Therefore, this morning Li Chengqian specially rode on horseback with his palace soldiers to the bamboo forest in the back garden of the Eastern Palace to cut bamboo.

As for bamboo papermaking, Li Chengqian not only did not intend to keep the method secret, but he also wanted to publicize it so that all papermakers in the Tang Dynasty would be able to understand it.

When books become cheap, more scholars will inevitably emerge, and the imperial examination will become meaningful.

Otherwise, the current situation would be almost the same as the previous selection of filial and honest officials.

The aristocratic families still firmly hold the power to select officials, and the lower classes have no way to get promoted.

At noon, just finished lunch.

Li Chengqian was about to take a nap when he heard Wen Zhong coming to report.

Wang Xuance is here.

(End of this chapter)