The Fierce Teacher of Zhenguan: Starting with Teaching the Crown Prince to Make a Comeback

Chapter 78 There is no room for negotiation on this matter!

Li Chengqian was taken aback.

"Am I wrong again?"

"Why does Your Highness always try to win them over?" Li Yichen's voice was calm.

“You are the crown prince, the future emperor. They are your subjects. It is not wrong for a ruler to choose his subjects and for subjects to choose their ruler. But what Your Highness needs to do now is not to lower yourself to flatter or win over any particular subject.”

He leaned forward slightly.

"Your Highness must maintain the demeanor of a sovereign. In this matter, Your Highness only needs to do one thing: be impartial and selfless, and appoint only those with talent. When you ask questions three days later, Your Highness should only ask about the practical matters of Xizhou, only examine whether their talents are sufficient for the task, and only weigh whether their strategies are beneficial to the country. You need not reveal any personal likes or dislikes, nor should you imply any intention to win them over."

Li Chengqian frowned even more deeply.

"If that's the case, how could they possibly serve me? What if they remain hesitant, or even secretly side with Qingque..."

"If they remain hesitant and indecisive when faced with His Highness's test."

Li Yichen interrupted him, his tone resolute.

"That proves they are utterly useless! Your Highness should not try so hard to win them over, but rather abandon them immediately!"

"Give up?" Li Chengqian was taken aback.

“Yes, give up!” Li Yichen’s eyes sharpened.

"Completely withdraw your energy from figuring out how to win over these specific individuals and devote it entirely to the affairs of Xizhou itself! Your Highness, you must understand that in this game, the real core is not which official has taken the position of the Promotion and Demotion Commissioner, but whether the national policy of developing Xizhou can succeed and whether it can bring Your Highness prestige and power!"

He slowed his speech slightly.

His words were so logically clear that Li Chengqian couldn't help but follow his train of thought.

"Therefore, Your Highness's strategy for these candidates is extremely simple."

Li Yichen held up two fingers.

"Assessment and control."

"Assessment?" Li Chengqian seemed to understand.

“Exactly. Regardless of who ultimately becomes the commissioner, Your Highness only needs to keep a firm grip on the development of Xizhou. Your Highness can set clear evaluation criteria for them. Within a year, how many people have been resettled? How many acres of new land have been reclaimed? How many water conservancy projects have been repaired? How much tax revenue has been collected from the border trade? Every rule and regulation, written in black and white, will be included in the performance evaluation. If they can do it, it is their duty; if they cannot…”

A faint smile appeared on Li Yichen's lips.

"Your Highness can then, according to the regulations, petition the Ministry of Personnel on the grounds of ineffective supervision and incompetence, requesting His Majesty to dismiss and replace them! At that time, even if it is Wang Yu recommended by the Duke of Zhao, or Dou Jing, a relative of the Empress, as long as they fail to achieve the goals set by Your Highness, it will be perfectly justified for Your Highness to take action against them, and no one will be able to utter a single word of dissent! This is the power that Your Highness should truly wield, rather than scheming to win people over in private and giving them the handle to form cliques and pursue personal gain!"

A cold glint flashed in Li Yichen's eyes.

"This is Your Highness's right as Crown Prince to oversee state affairs! Why should you pay attention to their expressions? Why should you try to guess their thoughts?"

Li Chengqian was deeply moved.

Yes, I am the ruler and they are the subjects, so why should I ask them to be loyal?

Use rules, performance evaluations, and concrete performance requirements to constrain them; if they don't perform well, replace them!
Wouldn't this be more direct and more in line with the relationship between ruler and subject?
But then he thought of a more practical problem, and his brows furrowed tightly.

“Yichen, what you say makes sense. However, the affairs of Xizhou are fraught with difficulties, the most difficult of which is funding! Tang Jian also said that the first batch alone requires 150,000 strings of cash and 200,000 shi of grain, and the subsequent ones are like a bottomless pit. If I follow your advice and set the evaluation criteria for these promotion and demotion envoys extremely high, they will turn around and complain to the court and the Emperor, saying that the Crown Prince's demands are too strict but there is no financial support, making it difficult to implement his decrees. At that time, wouldn't I be shooting myself in the foot? Not only will I be unable to control them, but I will also be branded as ‘harsh on my subjects’ and ‘incompetent in practical matters’?”

This is his biggest worry.

Without money and supplies, all grand plans are castles in the air. As the crown prince, he has extremely limited resources at his disposal in terms of financial power.

The strange smile on Li Yichen's face reappeared.

“Your Highness’s concerns are indeed crucial. That’s why I said earlier that we must take control.”

His gaze was intense, and his words were startling.

"The most crucial aspect of this matter in Xizhou is funding and supplies. The Crown Prince simply needs to take on the task of raising these funds and supplies!"

"what?"

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Li Chengqian suddenly sat up straight from the mat, ignoring the pain in his ankle, and his voice even changed tone.

"Yi Chen! You...you're insane! Absolutely not! I could never do that!"

He waved his hands repeatedly, his face filled with horror and resistance, as if Li Yichen was talking about some kind of monstrous flood.

"Do you know how much that is? 150,000 strings of cash! 200,000 shi of grain! And this is just the first batch! The subsequent water conservancy, military, government offices, relief... aren't they all money-devouring beasts? Even if I stopped the salaries of all the officials under the Crown Prince and sold everything in my treasury, I still couldn't scrape together that amount!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, feeling that Li Yichen's suggestion was utterly absurd.

"Ask Father Emperor? What will Father Emperor think of me? Will he think I'm ambitious and extravagant? Or will he think I'm using this to amass wealth and plot treason? How will the court officials attack me? It will probably be a hundred times worse than when Liu Shi impeached me for corruption! No! No! I cannot agree to this no matter what!"

Li Chengqian shook his head vigorously, his face flushed with excitement.

He knew all too well that wealth could move people, and he was also well aware of his awkward financial position as the crown prince.

Taking on this almost impossible task of providing funds and supplies is tantamount to courting death!

He could almost see himself being overwhelmed by the censors' memorials, severely reprimanded by his father, and even deposed as a result—a terrifying scenario.

He looked at Li Yichen, his eyes filled with incomprehension.

He knew that Li Yichen was formidable, possessed profound wisdom, and often achieved victory through unconventional means.

But that doesn't mean Li Yichen has the magic to turn stones into gold!
This matter of money and grain is very real, and even the Tang Dynasty's national treasury needs to be carefully managed. No matter how powerful Li Yichen is, can he conjure up money and grain out of thin air?
"Yichen!" Li Chengqian said through gritted teeth.

"Don't try to fool me! This is non-negotiable! Even if everyone in the Eastern Palace went to starve, they still couldn't raise enough money and provisions!"

Faced with Li Chengqian's almost out-of-control and resolute opposition, Li Yichen was not afraid at all, but instead chuckled softly.

There was no sarcasm in that laughter, but rather a calm confidence that left Li Chengqian feeling as if he had bumped into a ball of cotton, unable to find any leverage.

"Your Highness," Li Yichen said slowly after waiting for him to calm down, his voice as calm as ever.

"Do you think Your Highness should save this money from the expenses of the Crown Prince's palace? Or do you think Your Highness should ask His Majesty for it to increase the national treasury's expenditure?"

“Isn’t that right?” Li Chengqian asked, panting heavily.

“Of course not.” Li Yichen shook his head slightly.

"The expenses of the Crown Prince's Palace are a drop in the ocean. Increasing the national treasury expenditure would affect the interests of all parties, and such a move would be too big and easily attract criticism. The responsibility I am referring to does not mean that the money will be paid from the Crown Prince's Palace expenses, nor will it be drawn from the national treasury."

Li Chengqian was completely bewildered.

"If the money and provisions don't come from the Crown Prince's palace or from the national treasury, where will they come from? Will they fall from the sky?"

(End of this chapter)