Tang Dynasty: A Guide to Avoiding Pitfalls for Li Er at the Start

Chapter 148 If you don't tell me, then I will die in front of you.
Wen He had a chess set brought in, and under Li Yuan's watchful eye, he had a eunuch help carry the table over and set the chess set on it.

"This is Liubo... no, it doesn't seem like it either. What are you going to do with this?"

Li Yuan's resentment towards Wen He was no less than his resentment towards Li Shimin.

In his heart, he still believed that if it weren't for Wen He, a person from a later era, perhaps Li Shimin wouldn't have been so ruthless.

"This thing is called chess. The Emperor Emeritus wanted to talk to me, so let's play and talk at the same time. It's very interesting. Let me teach you."

Li Shimin summoned him precisely to appease Li Yuan's resentment and cheer him up.

If it can alleviate some of the resentment in Li Yuan's heart, it will also be a good thing for Wen He.

At least he no longer has to be forced to come to Da'an Palace to entertain Li Yuan like he is now.

Li Yuan didn't speak, but looked down at Wen He fiddling with the chess pieces. Having never seen this way of playing before, he picked up a chess piece, glanced at the words on it, and immediately burst into laughter.

"You ignorant fool, you can't even write a word correctly. What kind of word is this? I've never seen it before. You must have written it wrong."

Li Yuan threw the chess piece over.

Wen He looked at the character "炮" (cannon) above and couldn't help but laugh.

"This is the character from my hometown, it means 'cannon'."

The traditional Chinese character for 炮 is 礮.

Wen He was just used to writing, so she didn't pay attention when drawing the blueprints.

"Is this a cannon?" Li Yuan frowned, stroked his beard, and nodded. "It is indeed simple to write it this way, but characters were created by sages and cannot be easily changed."

"Of course, it's to improve literacy rates... Um, Your Majesty, should we have them all step down for now?"

Wen He was speaking when she suddenly remembered that there were other people around.

Li Yuan gave a faint "hmm" and said, "Leave the tea..."

He suddenly glanced at Wen He: "Go and bring another bowl of honey water, then everyone else leave."

"Uh, you also know I don't drink tea anymore?" Wen He asked in surprise.

How did even Li Yuan find out about this?

There were no cell phones in the Tang Dynasty, so how did the news spread so fast?

"I heard Gao Yue mention this before, but let's not talk about that. Continue with what you were saying earlier: what is meant by general literacy rate?"

Li Yuan sat down in front of him, holding the cannon and playing with it in his hand.

"The goal is to make it easy and quick for everyone to recognize and write characters, and to give everyone the opportunity to read and learn."

By the time Wen He spoke, the chessboard had already been set up.

He looked up and saw Li Yuan gazing at him meaningfully: "Have you mentioned this matter to Erlang?"

"Yes, he even made me make paper..."

"You can even make paper?" Li Yuan was taken aback.

"Yes, it will, but it hasn't started yet. Let me study it first."

Papermaking is something that's neither particularly difficult nor particularly easy.

But this is ancient times after all, and it is certainly not as convenient as in his previous life. Moreover, he was hesitating whether to make bamboo paper like in the Song Dynasty or leather paper like in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Or perhaps it could be industrial paper for future generations... This isn't too difficult, but it might require external assistance, such as building the waterwheel first.

Alas, it's too difficult.

I'm not getting enough sleep (less than five hours a day) anymore.

Making him do so many things will seriously affect his future development.

"Hmph, Erlang really is lucky!" Li Yuan slammed his hand on the table in dissatisfaction, glaring fiercely at Wen He: "You brat, why didn't you come to me back then? If you had come to me, things wouldn't have come to this..."

He suddenly choked up, as if he was thinking of Li Jiancheng, and his eyes reddened.

"This isn't my fault," Wen He said, feeling somewhat innocent.

"How can I not blame you? Did you really think I would give you less than him?"

"Your Majesty, please think about this calmly. Even if I had gone to you back then and told you about the future, do you think you could have dealt with His Majesty?"

More than half of the Sixteen Guards of Chang'an were Li Shimin's men.

Within the Ministry of Personnel, apart from Pei Jizhen who remained truly neutral, all the other prime ministers had intricate connections with the Prince of Qin's residence. Li Jiancheng, aside from the support of the powerful families of Jiangnan, only had the pitiful force of the Eastern Palace Guard.

Even if Li Yuan knew the news in advance and ambushed at Xuanwu Gate.

With the eight hundred Xuanjia Guards and Yuchi Gong's bravery, they could definitely protect Li Shimin and help him escape to safety.

After that, the entire Tang Dynasty would descend into chaos.

Did Li Yuan really not understand?

If he didn't understand, he wouldn't have chosen the sea pool that day.

In order to avoid the Ministry of Personnel and the Qin Prince's faction, he secretly coerced Li Shimin into reaching an agreement.

They made Pei Ji and the Guanzhong region act as witnesses to sever Li Shimin's legitimate right to inherit the throne.

But he ultimately underestimated his son.

Li Yuan remained silent for a long time until the eunuch brought over the honey water, took his leave, and closed the door. He looked at the light shining through the crack in the window and let out a long sigh.

"If it weren't for Erlang back then, I'm afraid I wouldn't have even been able to take Hebei. If it weren't for him, Liu Heita could have destroyed the Tang Dynasty. If it weren't for him, Song Jingang, Wang Shichong, Li Mi..."

He seemed to be talking in his sleep, his eyes lifeless.

Wen He didn't interrupt his mutterings. As he talked about Li Shimin's achievements, he started playing chess with himself.

"I'm talking to you!"

Li Yuan suddenly shouted coldly, startling Wen He.

The latter suddenly looked up at Li Yuan and blinked involuntarily.

"Your Majesty, I'm listening."

Wen He gave a dry laugh.

He was already very familiar with what Li Yuan was saying.

Isn't he just trying to convince himself with Li Er's achievements?

With tears welling in his eyes, Li Yuan said in grief, "I know he has rendered meritorious service. He conquered the Tang Dynasty, but he... he killed his brother."

"Oh, and Li Yuanji too."

"Snapped!"

Li Yuan slammed his hand on the chessboard.

"I know!"

"Yes, yes, you know, but what's done is done, and His Majesty did this for the sake of the Tang Dynasty. If Li Jiancheng..."

"It's the former Crown Prince!"

"Very well, if the former Crown Prince and the former Prince Qi had not died, the Tang Dynasty would have been in great chaos. Even many people in later generations who disliked His Majesty believed that the Xuanwu Gate Incident was the most successful coup in history, and it had almost no impact on the current situation of the Tang Dynasty."

Wen He thinks this is a generally accepted view.

"But what if his descendants follow his example?" Li Yuan could easily foresee the consequences of this.

As the saying goes, "He who first started this practice will have no descendants."

"Well, so His Majesty will make Gao Ming the Crown Prince and won't give anyone else a chance."

Wen He smiled and rearranged the chessboard that Li Yuan had just messed up.

"Your Majesty, stop thinking about those troubling things. You're free now, so how about I teach you how to play this game so you can relieve your boredom later?"

Wen He pointed to the chess pieces, trying to distract Li Yuan.

To be honest, what's the point of talking about the Xuanwu Gate incident? It's been so long since then.

Li Yuan glanced at the chessboard, his gaze darkening.

He took a deep breath and looked at Wen He: "I summoned you here today to ask you one thing. If you can answer, I will stay here in Da'an Palace obediently from now on and not cause trouble for that rebellious son. If you don't answer, then I will die in front of you!"

"What!"

Wen He was stunned.

(End of this chapter)