My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 98 Qingque, please don't make trouble
The matter of the Military Academy has been settled.

The position of principal was handed over to Erfeng.

So Li Chengqian added two vice-president positions.

It was not originally in the plan, but Li Chengqian also wanted to benefit from it.

Is it possible that I am just a lecturer?

The current Tang Dynasty Military Academy has Li Shimin as the principal, Crown Prince Li Chengqian as the vice-principal, and Li Jing, the military god of the Tang Dynasty.

Even a fool can tell from such a situation that those who can come in will surely have a brilliant future.

The next day Li Chengqian went to Li Jing's house again.

This time Li Jing did not refuse. He smiled and bowed and agreed.

"I have nothing to do. If Your Highness doesn't mind, I will go with you to see what happens."

Li Jing said with a smile that he was very concerned about this matter.

After all, this is probably the place where he can shine again in his later years.

If he can hold on for a few more years with this broken body, he will become a general in the army and have many students all over the world.

Because of his old age, Li Jing is now similar to Gao Shilian. He still holds an official position but basically does not attend court.

"It is a blessing for Duke Wei to go."

Li Chengqian asked Li Jing to get on his carriage and go to Yongxingfang together.

The address is easy to find. It is in the middle of Yongxingfang, a connected courtyard with a training ground to be built at the back.

As for the original owner of the house, of course he would just be given some money and asked to move.

There won't be stubborn households like in later generations now. Your Majesty has issued an edict that if you don't move, you'll be sent to jail.

On the carriage.

"Have you ever heard of Su Dingfang, Lord Wei?"

"I heard that Your Highness wants him to be a lecturer?"

"Yes, he is good at military tactics and has experience. I will let Li Xiang learn from him."

Li Jing thought about it and agreed. Su Dingfang was the prince's man, so it was normal for the prince to arrange his confidant to go in.

Your Majesty will probably do the same and arrange some trusted generals.

For example, famous generals such as Hou Junji, Yuchi Gong, Cheng Yaojin, and Li Ji would generally serve as lecturers at the Military Academy.

Strictly speaking, Su Dingfang was a little inferior, but the prince had made arrangements, so no one could say anything.

When Li Chengqian saw that Li Jing agreed, he smiled even more brightly.

This is the disadvantage of the Prince’s Military Academy becoming the Tang Dynasty’s Military Academy.

The power of personnel was transferred from the crown prince to Erfeng, and the lecturer's status became higher. Even the generals of the Sixteen Guards were not as good as him, let alone Su Dingfang, who was only a general of the Jinwu Guard.

Now with Li Jing's recommendation, it would not be a problem for Su Dingfang to enter the Military Academy.

Li Jing did not ask the prince how he planned to run the Military Academy. Once the matter was brought to the attention of His Majesty, His Majesty would come up with a set of rules.
-
Tai Chi Palace, Liang Yi Palace.

Li Shimin had just finished his breakfast and there were still some things to discuss with his ministers.

Matters concerning the Military Academy will also be brought up at this meeting and the rules and regulations will be set.

"Ananda, are you interested in being a lecturer at the Military Academy?"

Li Shimin looked at Zhang Ananda who was serving beside him and asked suddenly.

Li Shimin has always trusted this close confidant.

"I don't dare."

Zhang Ananda spoke without hesitation.

Being the General of the Left Guard was a high enough position, but he was a eunuch.

The general was willing to take a eunuch as his teacher. It showed that he had some self-awareness.

Li Shimin thought for a moment and said, "You should also help with the affairs of the Military Academy. If you don't want to be a lecturer, you can do something else."

In a sense, the importance of the Military Academy is even greater than that of the Imperial College.

Military generals of the Tang Dynasty are trained here, and students of the Military Academy will certainly be given priority in future military promotions.

The Military Academy is currently the first and only military academy in the Tang Dynasty, and its value is even higher than that of the Imperial College.

Li Shimin would naturally not allow the prince to do whatever he wanted, otherwise, within a few years, the prince's reputation in the army might be comparable to his own.

Arranging Zhang Ananda, a trusted confidant, to go in can also help monitor the prince's words and deeds, and at least have some deterrent effect.

"I will follow your majesty's arrangements." Zhang Ananda was very happy. If he couldn't be a lecturer, doing something else in the Military Academy would be completely different.

How could an ordinary eunuch have such royal favor?

In fact, Zhang Ananda’s military ability was not bad. Even when leading troops to fight, he was not inferior to ordinary generals.

Because of his status as a eunuch, after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he was appointed as the Right General of the Imperial Guards and took control of the Imperial Guards. Since then, Zhang Ananda has been studying military books day after day for ten years to prevent himself from damaging the dignity of His Majesty.

"You tell me, should I arrange for the King of Wei to come in?"

Li Shimin asked hesitantly.

He thought about this question for a long time, but had not yet made up his mind.

The prince's military academy has such a huge advantage that in a very short period of time, perhaps just one or two years, it is estimated that it will have an overwhelming advantage over the king of Wei.

It was not in Li Shimin's interest to be defeated too quickly.

He hoped that the King of Wei could hold on a little longer.

"I don't think it's appropriate. After all, the idea of ​​the Military Academy was proposed by the Crown Prince."

"If Your Majesty arranges for the King of Wei to be involved, firstly, it will involve too many people, and secondly, it will have a bad impact."

After a slight hesitation, Zhang Ananda continued, "At least not now."

Li Shimin nodded.

He knew he was getting a little anxious.

The main reason is that despite being suppressed in all aspects, the prince can still constantly think of ways to break the impasse, continuously expand his power, and affect the current stable political structure.

What made Li Shimin feel most uncomfortable was that the prince, who had originally only developed among the civil servants, now suddenly set his sights on the military.

The military has always been the point that Li Shimin feared the most. It was because of his unparalleled military achievements and decisive attacks that he succeeded in seizing the throne and taking the throne.

I always feel that the prince now seems to be showing signs of following his old ways.

The prince is similar to his father, but this is not the way to do it.

It's really worrying.
-
During the meeting between the emperor and his ministers, Li Shimin brought forward the idea proposed by the crown prince to establish a military academy.

The current civil and military officials are not in opposition to each other like in later dynasties.

Civil officials are good at martial arts, and military officials are good at literature. Most officials choose to master both civil and martial arts.

Even ministers of remonstration like Wei Zheng and Chu Suiliang were capable of picking up a Mo Dao and performing some tricks with it.

Nowadays, there is no such thing as a scholar who is so weak that he cannot even tie a chicken. Even ordinary civil servants come from aristocratic families and have learned literature and martial arts since childhood. They can easily defeat a few ordinary soldiers in a one-on-one fight.

The proposal of the Tang Dynasty Military Academy was naturally passed unanimously.

Everyone also knows that Your Majesty is the principal, and the Crown Prince and Li Jing are vice-principals.

The preliminary rules were finalized after some discussion and were basically based on the template of the Imperial College.

The news spread.

After hearing this, King Li Tai of Wei looked gloomy and felt that the wine in his glass tasted bitter.

Chai Lingwu also looked solemn.

"King Wei, don't worry too much. I heard that this military academy is currently only recruiting military officers for the position of brigade commander."

"In the short term, the prince's power will not increase significantly."

The commanders of various brigades in the Zhechoufu were of the eighth rank, which was too low a position to have any influence on the current political landscape.

This rule was also decided after Li Chengqian and Erfeng discussed it. King Wei said in a deep voice: "Do you know why the military academy only recruits brigade commanders?"

"Because these brigade commanders are not from big families at all, the prince wants to use them as a foundation to cultivate a large number of confidants."

"And then in the war against Goryeo, a large number of these brigade commanders will surely be promoted."

“The impact will be enormous.”

At present, there are 634 Zhechoufu in the Tang Dynasty, and each of them has about 10 brigade commanders. In other words, there are 6340 brigade commanders in the whole country of the Tang Dynasty.

The current regulations are that the Military Academy is divided into two sessions each year, with each session lasting about four months and involving 300 people.

When we invade Goryeo next autumn, these three hundred brigade commanders will certainly follow us.

Those who have made contributions will be promoted, and after these brigade commanders are promoted, the prince's control over the army will inevitably be strengthened.

This is still recent, and the Military Academy will continue to train brigade commanders, and the prince's power will continue to increase.

Six hundred per year, that’s twelve hundred in two years.

Even if the prince only controls a few hundred brigade commanders, it will definitely have an impact on the existing situation.

The King of Wei had no doubt that the Crown Prince would use his power to promote these surrendered people to higher positions, transfer them to the vicinity of Chang'an, or even to the Sixteen Guards.

Who wouldn't be afraid of such a powerful military force?

Not to mention him, the King of Wei, even his father might not be able to bear it.

"Your Majesty will not allow the Crown Prince to be so strong. Doesn't Your Majesty know the Crown Prince's character?"

"This is the Tang Dynasty Military Academy, not the Crown Prince's Military Academy."

"It's impossible for the prince to personally take the stage and be a lecturer. If he is just a figurehead, it won't be that easy to cultivate confidants."

"After the news spreads, the generals in the court will definitely join the Military Academy."

Chai Lingwu comforted.

He also knows the impact of this, and anyone with a little common sense can understand it.

The key here is the joining of Your Majesty and Li Jing, which makes the Military Academy very prestigious.

Training military generals is one aspect, but the main thing is political influence.

"Can I ask my father to let me join the military academy?"

After King Wei calmed down, he put forward his own ideas.

"The King of Wei can go ask His Majesty."

Chai Lingwu did not say it explicitly, but he felt that the emperor probably would not agree.

After all, the King of Wei has been too powerful in Chang'an City recently, and the Military Academy was proposed by the Crown Prince.

Even if Your Majesty has this idea, the Crown Prince will definitely strongly oppose it.

Even if he favors the King of Wei, it is not to the extent of snatching the Crown Prince's things and letting the King of Wei have a share.

If it comes to this, the crown prince can be deposed directly and the King of Wei can take the throne.

No matter what His Majesty thinks, he has not yet shown any intention of deposing the Crown Prince.

"I will go to the palace tomorrow and ask my father."

Li Tai also had no confidence, but he had to give it a try.
-
The next day, the specific regulations of the Military Academy fell into Li Chengqian's hands.

The lecturer is Li Jing, there is no doubt about this.

The lecturers included Hou Junji, Yuchi Jingde, Li Ji, Liu Hongji, Cheng Yaojin, Xue Wanche, Li Daozon, Su Dingfang, and Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

Taking the issue of teaching ability into consideration, the 300-man brigade had five classes, each with sixty students.

Of the ten lecturers, only five are permanent, and the other five are on a mobile basis.

In addition, there is civil service education.

Because some brigade commanders were not from wealthy families, they were illiterate and had never even been to school.

This requires literacy work, starting from basic elementary education.

It is impossible for Li Shimin, the honorary principal, to come here to teach often. It is enough for him to come and give a large class occasionally.

Li Chengqian was of course not satisfied, because according to the regulations, he only taught once every five days and only taught one class.

This means that he can only contact sixty brigade commanders. How can he cultivate a large number of confidants?

Isn't this just picking peaches for others?

So Li Chengqian dragged Li Jing to Taiji Palace to make trouble.

"Cheng Qian, this military academy is extremely important. If you hadn't proposed it, I wouldn't have allowed you to join the academy."

"You are now in the Military Academy. Your first task is to follow and learn. Once you have learned enough, I will naturally let you teach more."

Li Shimin felt a bit of a headache, not because he was afraid of the prince building up his power, but because he felt that the prince was misleading young people in order to build up his power.

Li Shimin attached great importance to the Military Academy, and appointed six hundred brigades as commanders a year.

Ten years later, almost all the brigade commanders of the Zhechoufu in the Tang Dynasty would have undergone training at the Military Academy.

Li Shimin would naturally not wait for ten years. If the first two batches were effective, he would increase the number of training sessions at the Military Academy.

In about five years, the brigade commanders of Zhechoufu will be fully trained.

By then, military power will be closer to imperial power, and the aristocratic families will be under greater oppression.

"How can your Majesty think that I have no ability to teach?"

"Perhaps you can ask Lord Wei if I can teach you."

Li Chengqian brought Li Jing along to act as a lobbyist for him.

Li Jing also didn't want to ruin the prince's plan, after all, the first person the prince thought of was him.

"The prince has a unique understanding of military tactics."

Li Jing spoke helplessly.

"Really?" Li Shimin asked suspiciously.

Li Jing replied: "I have discussed the art of war with the Crown Prince, so teaching him should not be a problem."

Li Shimin frowned slightly and did not respond immediately.

Li Chengqian said: "It will take one month. If my teaching is bad, I can take it off."

"Your Majesty, won't you even give me this chance?"

At this point, Li Shimin could only nod and agree: "Okay, then it will be one month. If the performance is too bad, Cheng Qian should not blame me."

"it is good."
-
The Military Academy is moving very quickly. Normally, it should be launched after the New Year.

But Li Chengqian didn't want to wait that long.

He persuaded Erfeng by saying that he would invade Goryeo next year.

The selection of the brigade commander was not difficult either, as it was mainly based on selection from the Zhechoufu around Chang'an, including some of the Sixteen Guards.

There is still more than a month left until the end of the year.

Seven days later, classes at the Military Academy will begin, and will last for a month before the New Year.

According to the revised regulations, Li Chengqian would teach a class for two hours every day, so the teaching workload was still very heavy.

Fortunately, I can teach for five days after preparing the lesson once.

When the news spread, many people were not optimistic about the prince's teaching. Most of them felt that the prince was too impatient and was eager to cultivate his own trusted forces.

But teaching is not such a simple matter.

Upon hearing the news, King Wei entered the palace that night and also wanted to join the Military Academy.

Even if it's just a name, that's fine.

Li Shimin refused straightforwardly: "Qingque, please don't come and make trouble."

(End of this chapter)