Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5278 Envy and Jealousy
The emperor and his minister had a very pleasant conversation. Fang Xuanling explained to Li Chengqian the vastness and comprehensiveness of the Cihai dictionary, and Li Chengqian nodded repeatedly in admiration, affirming it: "Your son has authored books such as Mathematics and Physics, which are now not only regarded as the standard and used as teaching materials by the Imperial Academy, but also taught in county and township schools. Natural science has been born from this, and it is not an exaggeration to call him a 'master'. Prime Minister Fang first had the Dictionary and then the Cihai. The achievements of you and your son will surely shine for thousands of years, and people will admire and envy you."

Fang Xuanling stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Your Majesty flatters me. There are many people in the world who are exceptionally talented and have a profound understanding of both ancient and modern times. It is just that my son is not good at his job and is good at making money. He has accumulated some wealth, which is why he was able to support the compilation of such a great work."

The four characters "writing books and establishing doctrines" seem simple, but in reality, they require not only extraordinary talent but also abundant wealth.

In this day and age, information exchange is difficult, and each school of thought keeps its own secrets. To compile a book, one has to collect, purchase, and exchange all kinds of materials from all over the world. In addition, there are the costs of food, horses, writing materials, paper, transportation, and preservation. Just gathering the vast amount of information in one place requires a huge amount of money.

Therefore, the compilation of history, both ancient and modern, is initiated by the state, and even emperors would find it difficult to continue unless the national treasury was sufficient during a prosperous period.

Today, the Fang family is able to compile multiple books single-handedly, demonstrating their immense wealth...

Li Chengqian shook his head and said, "Prime Minister Fang, there is no need to worry. Even if I cannot tolerate others, how could I not tolerate Erlang? Moreover, the wealth that Erlang has accumulated is not for extravagant living or luxurious enjoyment, but for charity, writing books, and supporting education—things that benefit the country and the people. He should be a role model for the world."

The two men flattered each other, while Fang Jun sat on pins and needles, fearing that His Majesty would discover the manuscripts Fang Xuanling had written on the bookshelf.

Almost all of his political and economic theories contradicted the monarchical system of centralized power, which was utterly treasonous. If Li Chengqian discovered this, he would probably turn against him on the spot...

However, what you fear most is what happens. Just as Li Chengqian was engrossed in his conversation, he suddenly got up and walked to the bookshelf. His eyes scanned the pile of manuscripts, and he exclaimed, "According to what Minister Fang said, the compilation of the Cihai was a huge project with many intricate details. He must have collected many rare ancient books as evidence, right?"

Fang Xuanling also stood up and said with a smile, "There are some, but they are not particularly rare. Moreover, they are still in a mess and have not been sorted and edited yet. We will sort them out into categories later and then ask Your Majesty to take a look."

Hearing this, Li Chengqian immediately lost interest and nodded: "Then I will await the good news of Prime Minister Fang's completion of the book... It's getting late, and there are still many government affairs to be dealt with, so I will not stay any longer and will take my leave for now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Jun bowed and said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty!"

Li Chengqian: "..."

Why don't you at least offer a polite and respectful invitation to stay?

He glanced at Fang Jun suspiciously, nodded slightly, and then walked out of the study with his hands behind his back.

Fang Jun and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance behind him, and Fang Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief...

*****
Although Prince Jiang, Li Yun, was not yet married, he had already left the palace to establish his own residence. In the evening, upon learning that Li Yun had returned to his residence, a group of princes came to his door one after another, and without any hesitation, they prepared a banquet, setting up a grand feast in the flower hall, toasting and exchanging drinks.

Li Zhi has also arrived...

Amidst the clinking of glasses and the exchange of toasts, the princes naturally began to complain, expressing their envy and jealousy of Li Yun's proposal to marry Fang Xiaomei.

Li Shen's face was flushed from drinking, and he slammed his fist on the table, full of regret: "If I had known that the Fang family would marry their daughter to a prince who was going to his fiefdom at sea, I should have gone first!"

He also had feelings for Fang Xiaomei and pursued her for a while. However, after Fang Xiaomei gave him a perfunctory response and then gave up, especially considering that Fang's eldest daughter had already married the Prince of Han, and that his youngest daughter would certainly not marry another prince, he knew that it was difficult and gave up.

However, they did not expect that while the Fang family was wary of marrying a princess or a prince, which would lead to overwhelming prestige and backfire, it would not be a problem for them to marry their youngest daughter to a prince who had gone to sea to establish his fiefdom and had no power left in the country...

Li Yin was even more annoyed: "Who doesn't know that marrying Fang Xiaomei is like marrying a gold mine? When Fang Jun prepared her dowry two years ago, it caused a sensation in Chang'an. The top-quality paddy field at the foot of Mount Li alone is equivalent to the entire property of a middle-class family. In addition, there are more than ten shops in the East Market. I heard that there is also a paper mill and a printing house in Jiangnan... Among the wealthy noble ladies in Chang'an, Fang Xiaomei is second to none!"

As he spoke, his mouth was practically watering.

The others echoed and sighed in agreement.

Whether in terms of family power or dowry assets, almost no other noblewoman in Chang'an could rival her.

The key is that she's also good-looking, well-educated, gentle, and refined—the perfect match that any scion of a prominent family would dream of...

Li Yun was somewhat displeased. He slammed his hand on the table and said stubbornly, "Am I after those material things? My sister and I are mutually attracted and in love. Even though she comes from a humble background and has nothing of value, and I am also from an ordinary family and have a simple background, our affection remains unchanged."

Li Yin didn't like hearing this and pouted, saying, "What you say may be true, but if you weren't the son of the late emperor and of royal blood, would the Fang family have married their daughter to you?"

Li You, standing to the side, clicked his tongue and corrected, "Fang Er might not really care about princes or dukes... That guy treats this little sister like a treasure, and can't stand the slightest grievance. But we princes are nothing in his eyes. He can scold us or beat us whenever he wants. We're not even as good as servants. Would he look up to us just because of our seventh brother's prince status? Heh, you're overthinking it."

Although his relationship with Fang Jun has been relatively good over the years, His Highness Prince Qi still harbors resentment over the beating he suffered at Fang Jun's hands in Pingkang Ward years ago.

Li Zhi smiled and said, "When choosing a brother-in-law, he only cares about character, temperament, and talent. He has never cared much about background. Even if someone comes from a poor family, as long as they have talent and the Fang family supports them, how could their future be bad? So it has nothing to do with anything else. It's just that the Fang family thinks highly of Seventh Brother."

Hearing this, Li Yun felt extremely pleased and raised his cup to toast Li Zhi: "Zhi Nu is indeed wise and discerning. Come, come, let's have a drink!"

Li Zhi smiled, raised his cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

Li Yin was extremely jealous. He looked Li Yun up and down with a puzzled expression: "I can't see anything outstanding about Seventh Brother. He looks like a woman and has no manly qualities at all. He has never even been favored by the palace maids. Could it be that his manhood is not working properly? Oh dear, if that's the case, that's terrible. I'll quickly report to His Majesty and ask a few imperial physicians to take a look."

Li Yun's face flushed red with anger, and he snapped, "You're the one who's useless!"

Li Yin said smugly, "Mine works really well!"

He just got married quietly this year, and his wife is still not pregnant, but two of his dowry maids are already pregnant...

What was supposed to be a joyous gathering among brothers turned sour when Li Yin married the Fang family's younger sister. The brothers launched into a barrage of veiled sarcasm and innuendo, mocking Li Yun from head to toe.

Li Yun was pleased with himself for marrying the beautiful woman and the lovers finally getting married. He would occasionally put up a fight, but most of the time he would lie down and let himself be mocked.

After several rounds of drinks, outside the window, auspicious snowflakes fell in abundance, and palace lanterns shone red.

As the wine flowed freely and the princes' enthusiasm waned, Li You lazily asked, "Do you know where His Majesty intends to place us?"

The brothers' eyes lit up.

Although all were to go to sea to take up their fiefdoms, the place where they were settled would determine their future lives, and the circumstances would be worlds apart depending on the location.

Li Yun shook his head and said, "My mother had a small gathering with Princess Han a couple of days ago and tried to subtly inquire about any news from the Imperial Clan Court, but Princess Han knew nothing about it."

Li Zhi, who hadn't said much, put down his wine cup, picked up a sour plum and put it in his mouth. The sour taste instantly stimulated his saliva. He frowned and said, "There's no need to inquire about this matter. His Majesty would never spread the word beforehand, lest it cause an uproar and create unforeseen complications."

The others nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Behind every prince stands a powerful force, primarily composed of his maternal uncle's family, varying in size and strength. Once they learn of the place where their nephew is about to be enfeoffed, a struggle for power is inevitable. Although a prince's departure to his fiefdom at sea will have no further influence on the court, he is still the ruler of a state, and the interests involved within that state are of paramount importance.

The strength or weakness of a vassal state directly determines the size of its interests; how can this be ignored?

Li Yin drank his wine and sighed, "Ninth Brother, you're so foolish! Tiannan Island is such a remote, desolate, and barren place. If His Majesty insists on exiling you there, that's one thing, but how could you volunteer to go? Once you go, I'm afraid you'll never come back in this lifetime."

Silence fell over the table.

Although it is said that "there is no kinship in the imperial family," the brothers had always been at odds with each other, and the political turmoil after Emperor Taizong's death led to mutual attacks. However, they were still connected by blood, and the young men had no deep-seated hatred for each other. No one wanted to see Li Zhi disappear without a trace after being enfeoffed and die in the wilderness.

Li Zhen hiccuped, his face flushed, and put his arm around Li Zhi's shoulder, breathing in the smell of alcohol, and said, "Brother, let me teach you a lesson. Quickly find a way to get on good terms with Fang Er. From the moment you set sail, hide in the navy and make sure you don't expose yourself to anyone. Even when you reach Tiannan Island, choose a port to build a city and have the navy stationed there. If things go wrong, run to the navy's camp."

Li Yin disagreed: "In Chang'an, you have spies all around you every day. You have to be careful with every move and even every word for fear of getting into trouble. Now that you've finally gone to sea to establish your own fiefdom and become the master of your own country, why would you want to keep the navy by your side? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Establishing a fiefdom means becoming the ruler of a country, where one is second only to the heavens, and can do whatever one pleases. Does that mean keeping a navy by one's side to report on others in Chang'an all day long?

Li Zhen scoffed, ignoring the fool, and patted Li Zhi on the shoulder: "That's all I have to say. Think it over yourself."

Li Yun understood Li Zhen's meaning and said, "I'll have my younger sister plead with the Grand Commandant to make sure the navy takes good care of you no matter what."

Li Zhi forced a smile, deeply moved.

(End of this chapter)