Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 5331 A New World
Throughout history, the wisdom or folly of a ruler has determined the rise and fall of the nation.

When the monarch is wise and virtuous, loyal ministers fill the court and good generals surround the nation, leading to prosperity and territorial expansion.

Conversely, if the monarch is incompetent, the court will be in chaos, treacherous officials will run rampant, the country will lose its sovereignty and be humiliated, and the people will suffer.

Because "the world belongs to the monarch," the monarch possesses supreme power. Subjects can offer remonstrances, but they cannot change the monarch's decisions.

Therefore, Qin Shi Huang swept across the six kingdoms and unified the eight directions.

Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han pursued the fleeing enemy and achieved great merit.

This is why Emperor Hui of Jin was foolish and ignorant, and the Jin dynasty collapsed.

Emperor Yang of Sui was ambitious and fond of grandiose projects, which led to the loss of his empire...

Now, the prevailing trend in the court and among the people is that "the world belongs to all the people." Whether the monarch is wise or foolish is no longer important, because the country is governed jointly by the emperor and the people. The emperor has his own responsibilities, while the ministers who represent the people are responsible for the formulation and implementation of national policies.

Li Zhi could not accept this, but he could also understand its advantages.

After all, an emperor cannot guarantee that he will be wise and virtuous, but a prime minister who has climbed through the ranks from prefectures and counties to the pinnacle of officialdom is by no means an incompetent person.

……

Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty would never allow it. He is the emperor, and naturally he must protect his imperial power. How could he willingly become a puppet?"

Fang Jun disagreed: "This is not a matter of permission or not. The trend of the world is overwhelming, and those who follow it will prosper while those who go against it will perish."

Li Zhi was taken aback: "You're not planning a rebellion, are you?"

Fang Jun chuckled: "What are you thinking? We are all loyal to His Majesty and to the Tang Dynasty. How could we do such treacherous things? What I mean is that when the trend is right, everyone can only be swept along by the tide and move forward. In the face of this trend, any person's strength is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot or a mayfly trying to shake a tree. It is not worth mentioning."

Over the years, he advocated building roads and bridges, developing commerce to accelerate circulation, establishing schools, and reforming the imperial examination system... The ultimate goal of all of this can be summed up in just four words.

Enlighten the people!
Even under extreme rule like the Qing Dynasty, once commerce facilitated the flow of information and the public's intelligence gradually increased, they could only adapt to the times and continuously compromise with the people.

When the ruler's methods of keeping the people ignorant can no longer deceive them, the so-called "supreme imperial power" and "divine right of kings" will naturally collapse.

It's not that the Tang Dynasty couldn't decline, but rather that it couldn't decline under the emperor's rule, becoming a mere mascot to be worshipped. Major national affairs should be decided by the elite class, and as society progresses, the political system will naturally become more and more perfect.

Li Zhi was shocked and speechless.

He thought Fang Jun was trying to usurp imperial power to become a powerful minister, but little did he know he was actually undermining the very foundation of imperial authority...

Although he couldn't accept it, he now fully understood, and said with a wry smile, "It seems that leaving Chang'an earlier was indeed a wise choice."

In this light, it seems that having one's own fiefdom completely ruled by the ruler is far better than being the emperor of the Tang Dynasty...

Fang Jun then said meaningfully, "The overseas fiefdoms are not as wonderful as Your Highness imagines."

Li Zhi disagreed: "I am prepared to face difficulties."

Although he grew up in the inner palace, he was not the kind of foolish person who thought, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?" He naturally understood the hardships he would face after going to his fiefdom.

Fang Jun shook his head and said, "I'm afraid reality is ten times more difficult than Your Highness imagines."

He hadn't seen Australia in person what it was like during that era, but he could almost imagine how wild and desolate it must have been, with vast stretches of primeval forest, herds of ferocious wild animals, and people living with kangaroos, wild dogs, ostriches, and strange-looking platypuses...

Carving out a human settlement from an extremely wild island is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Li Zhi hesitated for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Even in the face of hardship, things are still much better than staying in Chang'an and living a precarious life. Besides, my children are already in Chang'an. Even if I die on a deserted island, my bloodline will still be there. That's already very good."

Fang Jun shook his head and sighed, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Li Chengqian's decision to hold Li Zhi's sons hostage.

Although this move may seem narrow-minded and lacking in compassion, it did indeed protect Li Zhi's offspring. Given the desolate and primitive ecological environment of the island in the south, a simple bacterial cold could be fatal to a child.

……

For the next few days, Li Zhi stayed in Huating Town, waiting hopefully for the students from the academy who volunteered to go to Tiannan Island to arrive. He also wandered around the dock and town government office to observe. One day, he accidentally walked into a wool workshop and was amazed by the hundreds of looms and countless female workers. When he heard about the daily output and profits of these workshops, he was shocked.

At the dock, one can see huge cranes loading pre-packaged paper, porcelain, glass, cotton cloth, and other items onto ships, working day and night. Countless merchant ships are busy selling these inexpensive goods by sea to the East, South, and West, and then transporting local gold, silver, spices, and other valuables back to the Tang Dynasty...

Wealth grew rapidly, like a snowball rolling downhill.

These riches were then transferred to Chang'an to support the imperial court's infrastructure construction throughout the country, especially in areas affected by natural disasters, where "work relief" was implemented. This not only provided relief to disaster victims, enabling them to survive, but also accelerated local reconstruction. Many previously impoverished and remote areas even saw their facilities greatly improved due to a single disaster.

Li Zhi was initially very interested in this economic model, which was different from that of Guanzhong and had never been seen before. However, after becoming familiar with the system and thinking deeply about it in conjunction with various policies in the court, he became sullen.

Undoubtedly, the Tang Dynasty is now in its golden age, and in the foreseeable future, the nation will continue to rise, with its economy, politics, and military reaching unprecedented heights in Chinese history!
His Majesty only needs to sit obediently in the Taiji Palace, and this unprecedented glory and merit will naturally fall upon his head, making him famous in history and remembered for all time!
Why? !

I could do that too...

But he was forced to leave this vibrant and ever-changing land and go to a desolate and remote island in the south to spend the rest of his life...

The immense disappointment left Li Zhi listless and dispirited.

The original ambition to lead the students of the academy to the southern islands to create a new world was inevitably lost.

Fang Jun was extremely busy in Huating Town. He not only had to personally allocate weapons and provisions to supply the army fighting at the front, but also had to keep a close eye on the situation in places such as Liaodong, Fusang, Ryukyu, and Brunei. The troops in these places were almost completely mobilized, and if any natives took advantage of the situation to start a rebellion, it could have far-reaching consequences in a very short time. It would take a lot of effort to judge and deal with the situation later.

Princess Baling was quite surprised to see that Li Zhi, who had been walking around with great enthusiasm just two days ago, had suddenly become dejected and sullen in the courtyard next to Fang Jun's residence. So she personally steamed some pastries and sent them to Li Zhi.

"Zhi Nu seems to have something on his mind?"

Princess Baling placed the pastries on plates according to their type, then brewed a pot of tea and knelt opposite Li Zhi.

Li Zhi accepted the tea and thanked him, then ate a piece of pastry and sighed, "Let's not talk about me, let's talk about Seventh Sister... what are you really thinking?"

Princess Baling was surprised that the topic had turned to her. Her pretty face flushed, she picked up her teacup to drink, and lowered her eyes: "What do you mean, what am I thinking? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ah,"

Li Zhi sat up straight: "Still pretending to be confused? I mean, if you cling to this position so much and the news gets back to Japan and the prince consort finds out, how will you face them?"

From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the main body of the regimes were Sinicized Xianbei people. Although they spoke Chinese, wrote Chinese characters, and read Chinese books, some ethnic customs were still preserved, such as relatively open relationships between men and women...

In the harsh living environment of the grasslands and the frontier, the propagation of the race was paramount, and there was no need to shy away from this. The Yang family of the former Sui Dynasty and the Li family of the Tang Dynasty both had Xianbei blood, and the court and the country were filled with Xianbei nobles, with an unprecedented openness in the social atmosphere.

Whether it's royalty or powerful clans, this kind of thing happens all the time.

But doing it secretly is one thing, while putting it out in the open is another. After all, even the powerful and wealthy, who are deeply influenced by Confucian culture, know that such things are "undignified." How does Chai Lingwu feel about Princess Baling staying here so openly and living happily ever after with Fang Jun?

How are we supposed to get through this?
Princess Baling snorted lightly: "If we can make it work, we can make it work; if we can't, we can get a divorce. Everyone can live their lives whether they're separated or not."

Li Zhi thought for a moment and decided to give a subtle reminder: "As far as I know, the Grand Commandant and Prince Consort Chai were once very close, but for some reason they suddenly turned against each other."

In his view, the reason why Fang Jun had an ambiguous relationship with Princess Baling, apart from his fondness for "good princesses," was largely due to his ambition towards Chai Lingwu.

In other words, Princess Baling was merely a tool for Fang Jun to plot against Chai Lingwu.

Why ruin your life by being so sentimental about a mere "tool"?

They should pull back from the brink and repent for their past mistakes.

Princess Baling lowered her head and remained silent.

Li Zhi then understood that this was a deep and irreversible love... He could only sigh softly and say no more.

He didn't dare say more, because he couldn't bear it if Fang Jun found out and got angry.

Besides, he wasn't one to talk too much. Even though she was his sister, he could just offer his warning and that was it. As for what she actually thought... even His Majesty didn't care, so who did he think he was?

The two Chai brothers were truly miserable. The eldest, Chai Zhewei, not only lost his title but was also exiled to the northern desert. When he returned to Chang'an, he lingered there and was eventually driven away by the Emperor. The second brother, Chai Lingwu, although he regained his title, had no official position and could only go to Japan. His wife cheated on him, and he dared not speak out...

Princess Pingyang was a heroine among women, not inferior to any man, but who would have thought that her two sons would be so incompetent?

It's possible that he inherited Chai Shao's weakness and cowardice...