Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

"Your Majesty! Mathematics and the study of things are all strange and frivolous skills, and are things that lead to the loss of ambition."

Sun Fujia shouted loudly,

"Since ancient times, governing a country and ensuring its stability has relied on benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, which is the way of the sages."

"Your Highness's actions are intended to lead the literary style of the Tang Dynasty astray and corrupt the foundation of the nation."

A nearby censor immediately chimed in:

"Indeed! Emperor Yang of the previous Sui Dynasty was obsessed with digging canals, building wonders, and abusing the people's labor, which ultimately led to chaos in the country and the dynasty's demise after only two generations."

"Your Highness, are you now promoting these minor crafts and skills? Are you trying to repeat the mistakes of the Sui Dynasty?"

"This is disrupting the court! This is disrupting the court!"

"Your Majesty, we earnestly request that you rescind your decree and severely punish those who uttered such absurd words."

The officials took turns criticizing Li Chengqian, slapping accusations on him as if they were free.

In the ranks of military officers, Cheng Yaojin turned to Yuchi Gong and muttered:

"These pedantic scholars are making my head spin. I really want to go up there and kick them all."

Yuchi Gong grinned:

"If you dare kick it, they could be rammed into your front door and die tomorrow."

At the very front of the civil officials' line stood Wei Zheng, looking completely at ease.

As the head of the Censorate, while his subordinates were all working desperately, he remained silent.

Fang Xuanling glanced at Wei Zheng and asked:

"Lord Wei, your men are causing such a ruckus, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Wei Zheng didn't even lift his eyelids and said:

"Since Your Highness dares to bring this up, you must have a way to deal with it. I'd like to see what you're really up to."

Wei Zheng wasn't stupid.

The Liaodong workshops and royal trading companies that the Crown Prince has recently established are all major initiatives that benefit the country and its people.

Although he likes to criticize people, he only criticizes wrong things.

He actually agreed with the Crown Prince's proposal to add mathematics to the curriculum.

The Tang Dynasty is indeed in dire need of people who can get things done.

Li Shimin frowned as he looked at the officials kneeling below.

What he feared most was these officials resorting to the tactic of "dying in remonstrance."

If a few people were to actually crash into the main hall and die, history would certainly record that he "forced loyal officials to their deaths."

"Gao Ming, look at the trouble you've caused."

Li Shimin passed the buck to Li Chengqian.

Li Chengqian walked up to Sun Fujia.

"Exotic skills and tricks? Destroy the country?"

Li Chengqian looked down at him.

"In my opinion, you're just a bunch of reciting machines that can only memorize texts."

"A language repeater?"

Sun Fujia was stunned for a moment.

"What is this?"

"He's just a useless person who keeps repeating what others have said over and over again."

Li Chengqian cursed without any politeness.

"You keep saying that the way of the sages can govern the country. Fine, today I will test your talents in governing the country."

The Liaodong Andong Protectorate wants to build a 50-mile-long irrigation canal to irrigate 100,000 mu of fertile land. The construction period is limited to ten days.

Each laborer can dig three cubic meters of earth per day. How many laborers are needed?

"In addition, each laborer will receive two liters of rice per day. The grain will be transported from Youzhou, and losses during the journey will be calculated at one-tenth. How many shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain does the Ministry of Revenue need to prepare in advance?"

The hall fell silent instantly.

Sun Fujia's eyes widened, his mind going completely blank.

Fifty li? One li of soil? Two liters of rice? One-tenth of the grain is lost?

What is all this?

He was well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics from a young age, and could recite the Analects and Mencius. He was also able to write eloquent and beautiful articles.

But he couldn't even understand the questions about accounting, let alone calculate them.

The other kneeling censors were also dumbfounded.

Someone was secretly counting on their fingers inside their wide sleeves, sweating profusely as they did so.

Someone picked up the imperial tablet in their hand and gestured with their finger in the air.

"Three squares of earth... fifty li... how many steps is one li again?"

"Two liters of rice, that's two bushels in ten days. How do we factor in the one-tenth loss?"

A group of officials who usually pontificate in the imperial court were now like poor students being checked on their homework by a teacher, scratching their heads in frustration.

Tang Jian stood aside and did some mental calculations, quickly arriving at the answer.

He looked at the group of censors, who were covered in sweat, and couldn't help but sneer.

"What? You can't figure it out?"

Li Chengqian waited for a long time before looking at Sun Fujia and continuing to ask questions.

"Weren't you quite the talker just now? Didn't you say that the way of the sage can govern a country? Then why don't you use the way of the sage to conjure up this grain for me?"

Sun Fujia's face flushed red, and after a long pause, he managed to utter:

"These...such mundane matters are handled by the clerks and accountants below. As censors, our duty is to supervise all officials and report any matters heard..."

"Bullshit!"

Li Chengqian cursed loudly.

Li Shimin's eyelids twitched as he listened, but he didn't say anything to stop it.

"You can't even keep proper accounts for bridge and road repairs, disaster relief, and grain distribution. Your subordinates can easily embezzle the entire national treasury by falsifying accounts. You can't even read the books, yet you claim to be supervising officials? What kind of supervision are you doing?"

Li Chengqian pointed at their noses.

"The people of the Tang Dynasty support you. The soldiers on the border protect you. Yet you can't even figure out how to transport a single bushel of grain."

Can the books of sages you read put food on the table? If the Turks invade, are you prepared to stand on the city walls and recite the Analects to them until they die?

What use are you lot, good-for-nothings who can only label others and can't do anything practical, to the Great Tang Dynasty?

Sun Fujia was so angry that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

The remaining censors wished they could disappear into the ground.

Cheng Yaojin shouted from behind:

"His Highness the Crown Prince is right to scold me."

The military officers burst into laughter.

"Court adjourned!"

Seeing that Li Shimin had given him a meaningful look, Wang De quickly shouted.

Li Shimin got up and went into the rear hall.

"Lord Cui, what should we do now? Although His Majesty did not agree on the spot, he seems to be wavering."

An official from the Lu family walked up to Cui Minyuan and asked.

Cui Minyuan stopped, glanced back at the Taiji Hall, and snorted coldly:

If you can't win an argument in the court, then go argue outside the court.

"Didn't the Crown Prince say we only know how to recite texts? Then let all the scholars in the land teach him what true scholarly integrity is."

Choi Min-won beckoned to his trusted aide and whispered the instructions:

"Immediately send people to the Imperial Academy and all the major academies in Chang'an."

Tell the students that the Crown Prince intends to abolish the study of classics and that the imperial examinations will only test their accounting and blacksmithing skills from now on.

Let them know that their ten years of hard work are about to come to nothing.

The trusted confidant accepted the order and left.

That afternoon, the city of Chang'an was in an uproar.

The rumors quickly spread throughout the major academies and the Imperial Academy.

"Have you heard? The Crown Prince is going to change the imperial examination system. The Four Books and Five Classics that we've been studying will no longer be on the exam."

"What? What will the exam be about?"

"Test our accounting skills! Test our ability to repair irrigation canals! The Crown Prince says we scholars are all useless, not even as good as those street artisans."

"Outrageous! This is utterly disgraceful to scholarship! We've spent ten years studying diligently, only to end up competing with peasants for jobs?"

"Let's go! To the Vermilion Bird Gate. To the Eastern Palace. We want to petition His Majesty. We want to get the Crown Prince to rescind his decree."

With the secret encouragement of powerful families, hundreds of students from the Imperial Academy and scholars from all over the country who were going to the capital for the imperial examinations were incited.