Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4856: Big or Small
Li Chengqian looked a little confused, but more angry. He pressed his palm on the table in front of him, with veins on the back of his hand exposed. His elegant face was a little distorted. "Why do they all think that I can't be a good emperor? The Tang Dynasty today is more than twice as powerful as it was during the Zhenguan period. The barbarians on the road have surrendered, the sea covers thousands of miles, the infrastructure of each prefecture, county and county is almost complete, county schools and township schools are spread across every territory of the Tang Dynasty, the military might of the Tang Dynasty intimidates the world, and the income of the treasury is increasing every year. Why don't they recognize me?!"

Since the day he became the crown prince, he has been studious, strict with himself, and wholeheartedly determined to be a good emperor in the future. However, he has never been recognized by his father, who has wanted to change the crown prince several times. As a result, he, the second most noble person in the world, lives in fear all day long, fearing that he would wake up one day to receive an edict of dethronement, leaving him with nothing and the world collapsing.

When he ascended the throne, he did not love beauties, was not greedy for enjoyment, and did not pursue luxury. He worked diligently, loved the people, worked hard early and went to bed late, and made the Tang Empire even more prosperous and powerful on the basis of his father's foundation.

Why can't I get recognition from those people? !

Fang Jun was also speechless. You have already sat on the throne and ruled the world, so why bother about so many people's approval or not?
You are not the Tang Dynasty paper money or Kaiyuan Tongbao, and you cannot be loved and supported by everyone no matter what...

"Your Majesty, there is no need to be angry. Since it was Yan Silu who came forward, it means that they are not united internally. At least the Confucian school headed by the Langya Yan family still recognizes you. Otherwise, they should not have issued a warning in such a gentle way, but should have taken sudden action to try to subvert the imperial power."

Yan Zhitui, the previous head of the Langya Yan family, can be said to be the greatest Confucian scholar in the world from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty. Not only was his academic thought unprecedented, he was also an educator with many students all over the world. To this day, anyone who has made achievements in Confucianism must have received Yan Zhitui's teachings, and they are deeply grateful and respectful to him.

By the time of Yan Silu, he had been with Emperor Taizong in times of hardship and had served him faithfully, so his status became increasingly high, and he had the aura of "a dragon-slaying sword that commands the heroes."

Since Yan Silu came forward, it meant that the Confucians adopted a moderate strategy, warning that Li Chengqian only needed to make some concessions, and there would definitely be no drastic measures that would cause shocks in the court and the country.

As for what kind of concessions must be made... given the greed of the aristocratic families, it goes without saying.

Li Chengqian rubbed his temple and sighed, "I just can't understand. This group of people have been dishonest time and time again, and they have been beaten again and again. Now they are no longer as powerful as they used to be. They can only say that they are barely surviving. Where do they get the courage and confidence to challenge me?"

Fang Jun was helpless: "The noble families have been glorious for too long. Even if they are a little down and out for a while, they still remain in the glory of the west. It is normal that they cannot recognize the reality. However, these noble families have been passed down for a long time and are deeply rooted. We can only use gentle means to deal with them slowly, and we must not use drastic measures to eliminate them, otherwise there will be chaos in the world."

Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, Erlang. I am not crazy yet and will not make an enemy of the whole world. It's just that I understand more and more why my father relied on the aristocratic family to ascend to the supreme position, but in turn adopted a strategy of suppressing and weakening them. It's really that this group of people are greedy and self-righteous!"

Fang Jun remained silent.

“Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.” This sentence really makes sense and reveals human nature.

What is human nature?

Two words: stick together.

It probably started from the ancient primitive society. Due to the backward productivity, people had to gather together to resist natural disasters and fight against poisonous snakes and ferocious beasts in the face of cruel nature. Therefore, the concept of "strength in numbers" has long been deeply rooted in genes and passed down from generation to generation.

Now there are aristocratic families, in the future there will be landlords and gentry, in the future there will be warlords, academic cliques, and even medical cliques... In the final analysis, they are all about banding together for warmth and building a tower out of a pile of sand. When an industry or a race unites, they can make a voice that is thousands of times more powerful than that of an individual, enough to destroy the world and change dynasties.

Regardless of right or wrong, this is irreversible.

In fact, human society is driven forward by this constant group warming up, no matter if there is a bright and smooth road ahead or a cliff...

"Your Majesty, please be patient for now. When the military reform is completed, the army will be completely out of the control of the aristocratic families. No one or family will be able to get involved in the army. At that time, all the troops of the Tang Dynasty will be loyal to Your Majesty and the country. Anyone who dares to suck blood from the body of the country as before will be a sinner of China and everyone will be able to kill him."

But now, even if you are the emperor, you have to endure it.

This is the most correct approach. How can you consider the overall situation if you cannot bear the moment?

But Li Chengqian's reaction was quite fierce. He slammed the table in front of him and said angrily: "When I was the crown prince, I had to endure the pressure from my brothers. When I became the emperor, I had to endure those traitors who wanted to assassinate the king and usurp the throne. Now they treat me as a emperor and dare to warn me, but I still have to endure! Since I have to endure when I am the crown prince and I still have to endure when I am the emperor, then what is the point of me being the emperor? When will this endurance end?"

Fang Jun frowned: "A gentleman should hide his abilities and wait for the right time to act."

Li Chengqian said: "If I don't use thunderous means, they will probably push their own limits and become aggressive. Where is my dignity?"

"Your Majesty is the Supreme Ruler, the True Dragon Emperor. Do you know what a dragon is capable of?"

"It's just a legend, I've never seen it in person."

"Cao Mengde once said that dragons can be big or small, can rise or hide. When big, they can create clouds and mist, and when small, they can hide their shapes. When alive, they can soar in the universe, and when hidden, they can lurk in the waves. Now that spring is deep, dragons change from time to time, just like people who have achieved their goals and traveled across the world."

Li Chengqian was surprised and asked, "Did Cao Mengde say that?"

An expression that said, "I haven't had much education, so don't lie to me."

Fang Jun couldn't tell the difference between Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Records of the Three Kingdoms, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Cao Mengde also said that a hero has great ambitions, good strategies, and the ability to contain the universe and swallow up the world. Your Majesty is certainly a peerless hero. Do you think Mengde's words are wrong?"

Li Chengqian frowned, looking a little bewildered: "That's true, but why can't I remember when Cao Mengde said that? Which book did it come from?"

"I have read so many books that I can't even remember which book they came from. Please tell me if this is true or not!"

Li Chengqian was amused by him and sneered: "You think you are well-read? If Hui Shi were still alive, he would be ashamed to be associated with you!"

Then he looked at Fang Jun suspiciously. This fellow had not been writing poems recently, and his occasional words of admiration were all attributed to others. "Could it be your new work? Hmm, hmm, hmm, you know what, the style is very different from your previous works, but the realm has been improved. Hiss, the more I think about it, the more profound it is. If I write it down and read it often, I will definitely benefit from it. Come here! Pen and ink are at my service!"

The bad concubine Dingdang was outside the door. The crimson palace skirt she wore made the Queen Su's skin, which was whiter than snow, stand out even more. Her hair was full of pearls and jade pendants, and she looked graceful and gorgeous.

She walked in gracefully, with a dignified manner, and said with a smile: "The eunuch outside said that Your Majesty was discussing matters with the Duke of Yue. How come you are in the mood to write? I am here to serve Your Majesty."

As he spoke, he asked the maid to fetch the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone from the outer room and put them on the imperial desk. Empress Su stood beside the desk, rolled up her cuffs with intricate patterns, her white wrists as white as frost and snow adorned with emerald green jade bracelets, and slowly ground the ink with her slender fingers. After a short while, she had ground a whole inkstone of ink, and then spread out the paper.

Li Chengqian excitedly picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and urged Fang Jun: "Read it again, I'm afraid I missed something... Forget it, forget it, I can't compare with you in poetry and calligraphy, so I won't show off my skills in front of you, you write it!"

He handed the pen to Fang Jun and pushed Fang Jun in front of the imperial desk.

Fang Jun took the pen and stood in front of the imperial desk. He suddenly felt a little embarrassed because it looked like the queen, dressed in gorgeous clothes and with a graceful appearance, was serving him...

Queen Su may have also noticed this. She said nothing and took a step back unnoticed.

Keep some distance, and everyone will feel comfortable...

Only then did Fang Jun pick up his pen and write down those words.

Empress Su rarely had the opportunity to watch Fang Jun write. When she saw him writing with a dragon-like pen, her beautiful eyes sparkled, her cherry lips slightly parted, and she murmured the words on the paper: "A dragon can be big or small, can rise or hide. When it is big, it can create clouds and mist, and when it is small, it can hide its shape... uh..."

Why is it a bit strange?
These poems are not poems, and these lyrics are not lyrics. So what are they about?
What were the king and his minister talking about just now?
Her pretty snow-white face suddenly turned red, and she glared at Fang Jun with her beautiful eyes. She turned around and rolled her eyes at the emperor, then turned around, flicked her sleeves and left...

Li Chengqian: "..."

What do you mean?
You actually gave me a look?
baffling!

Fang Jun was so focused on writing that he didn't notice the Queen's strange behavior. After he finished writing, he blew away the ink stain and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making fun of you. However, if Your Majesty can truly understand the deep meaning of this and persist in doing so, I think you will definitely benefit from it... Eh? Where's the Queen?"

Only then did I realize that although the aroma of the bad thing was still lingering, the person was nowhere to be seen.

Why are you so elusive?
Li Chengqian didn't take it seriously: "Who knows what kind of temper she has? Only girls and villains are hard to raise!"

He walked closer to observe it carefully and praised: "Erlang's calligraphy has become more and more refined. The strokes are as strong as those of Wang Youjun!"

Fang Jun rolled his eyes. No matter how conceited he was, he would not dare to compare himself to Wang Xizhi. "Your Majesty, I am humbled by your praise."

The emperor and his minister were leaning over the imperial desk to exchange their writing experiences. The eunuch Wang De walked in lightly from outside, came to Li Chengqian, bowed and whispered: "Your Majesty, many civil servants have gathered outside Chengtian Gate, clamoring to impeach the navy and the Duke of Yue..."