The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 116

He knelt down, kowtowed, and said, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

“Master Xu, please rise,” Li Er said.

Those who felt the name Xu Tian sounded somewhat familiar at this moment finally remembered who Xu Tian was.

Some time ago, the prince cried out incessantly in the palace, all for the sake of a Master Xu. This was known to some officials. Others, however, had only heard of Master Xu's name from rumors circulating in the capital.

The people all say that Master Xu is extremely knowledgeable. He is highly talented and a master teacher, and is even hailed as the Confucius of our time.

At this moment, Li Er spoke again, saying directly, "Master Xu, everyone says you are capable, so I would like to ask you, what are your thoughts on the current border situation?"

Xu Tian knew that Li Er wasn't trying to intimidate him, but rather to establish his authority.

He quickly replied, “The border areas have always been war-torn regions, causing great suffering to the people. The best solution is to address the problem at its root. First, build the Great Wall like Qin Shi Huang did. Second, influence others by setting up 'envoys' in other countries to help them, which will earn the gratitude of many people in those countries.”

Why not choose to wage war?

"The border is not as prosperous as Chang'an. The people living in the border areas want to escape but cannot. They are seriously injured and have no money for medical treatment. Sometimes they can't even get food. As far as I know, there was a cannibalism incident not long ago. In addition, the previous dynasty has drained the country too much. Now, the best policy is to restore order and the economy first."

Fang Xuanling, among the officials, was stunned when he heard Xu Tian's answer. He hadn't expected Xu Tian's answer to be so flawless, and... so correct.

Before he knew it, his opinion of Xu Tian began to change.

Just then, Prime Minister Liu suddenly stepped out, interrupting Xu Tian's attempt to continue speaking.

With a righteous indignation on his face, Prime Minister Liu said sternly to Emperor Li Er, "Your Majesty, you must not listen to his nonsense. This Xu Tian might be a spy from an enemy country!"

Upon hearing this, the officials knew that Prime Minister Liu was going against Xu Tian, ​​who was currently a favorite of the Emperor. They were surprised that Prime Minister Liu would suddenly launch into a tirade of questions.

They immediately adopted a "let's watch the show" attitude.

Li Er frowned and looked at Prime Minister Liu, asking, "My dear minister, why do you think Master Xu is a spy from an enemy state?"

"I think this Master Xu was sent by the enemy country to use the pretext of not waging war everywhere to make the Tang Dynasty lower its guard, and then launch a sneak attack on the Tang Dynasty."

"Then what evidence do you have?" Li Er asked again.

"Of course there is. Some time ago, I heard from one of my students that Master Xu taught them a very convenient arithmetic method that they had never seen before. It might even be from an enemy country!"

Upon hearing his words, Xu Tian raised an eyebrow, and the arithmetic problem quickly came to mind.

That was what he remembered—the multiplication table and equations from modern society.

Xu Tian didn't speak, but then he saw Prime Minister Liu write out the equation and hand it to Li Er.

Prime Minister Liu added, "Your Majesty, a person from an enemy country who is proficient in arithmetic might be a spy from that country. Otherwise, how could he know such a peculiar formula?"

The emperor took the paper with the calculations written on it, looked at it, and indeed found it quite peculiar.

"This...Master Xu, do you have anything to say?"

Xu Tian shook his head and said, "If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext."

Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Liu immediately snorted coldly.