Tang Dynasty: Father, if you don't rebel, I will!

"This Shimin, he's supposed to be the emperor, yet he's here competing in poetry and prose with the crown prince..."

The retired emperor shook his head and gently put down his newly fitted reading glasses. Although he said this, his tone was full of schadenfreude.

While still reminiscing about the article "He Xinlang: Answering Heaven's Questions" written by His Highness the Crown Prince, which was in the newspaper at that moment, he shook his head.

At this moment, on the Zhenguan train from Taiyuan to Chang'an.

Wang Gui, a veteran official of the Wude era, sat opposite Li Yuan, holding a newspaper in his hands.

At this moment, the headline of this edition of the Tang Dynasty Daily reads: "Royal Inquiry! Is Universal Harmony Possible?"

This article was written by Li Gang, the former great Confucian scholar and tutor of the current Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

Although on the surface it merely describes the political differences between the emperor and the crown prince, a closer reading reveals the intentional or unintentional bias in the wording towards the crown prince.

The most captivating parts of the article are naturally the poems by the emperor and the crown prince.

Perhaps in response to the Crown Prince's "Water Dragon Chant: Refutation of Agricultural Policies" written yesterday, the Emperor took a different approach this time, directly addressing the Crown Prince Li Chengqian's somewhat extreme foreign serf system.

This is yet another new poetic form created by His Majesty the Emperor.

"Man Jiang Hong: Questions Between China and the Barbarians" - Li Shimin

"Why should we divide this vast land into Han and barbarian categories?"

“Recalling the past, the Xianbei submitted to the righteousness, and the Turks called him their nephew.”

"Hu women dance in Chang'an, and Tibetan banners fly atop Luoyang."

"Ask the common people, where is there not a subject of the king? They are all his children!"

"Blood of Kunlun, tears of the South China Sea;"

"Golden chains, silver shackles."

"How can I bear to see those bones becoming history beneath the steps of the detached palace?"

"Yu's lands should have been able to accommodate all races; how could Yao's enfeoffment be divided into the lowly and the noble?"

"Only when the world truly shares in the spring breeze can there be true order!"

After reading it, Wang Gui concluded that, purely from the perspective of poetry, it was indeed a masterpiece compared to the works of the Second Young Master Li of Taiyuan Prefecture that he had heard of in earlier years.

But... he sighed softly and shook his head.

"Your Majesty's purpose in this matter is to challenge the Crown Prince, not to debate right and wrong. The so-called 'Hu Ji dance' and 'Tibetan banner' are ultimately just appearances of cultural integration. The claim that 'the Turks call him nephew' is even more of a distortion. This matter is said to be a friendly relationship between the two ethnic groups, but in reality, it is just one side being held hostage."

He sighed again.

The final assessment of Li Shimin's poems is: "They are empty and unreasonable, and the words they speak of are mostly vague and meaningless, as if they were written by useless officials who eulogize him."

"Hahahaha!"

Li Yuan burst into laughter at Wang Gui's comments.

"Hahaha, Shimin is indeed the most outstanding among my sons. He is good at commanding troops and fighting battles, or governing a region and appointing talented people. But when it comes to writing lyrics and composing poems?"

Li Yuan waved his hands repeatedly: "Him? He's far from good enough."

While he belittled his son, he tapped his finger with satisfaction on the newspaper in front of him, on the page containing the Crown Prince's poem "He Xinlang: Answering Heaven's Questions."

"Look at my good grandson, my good crown prince, these are the words of a practical ruler. That kid Shimin dares to talk, talking about all the races under heaven practicing the rites of Great Harmony. He's just bragging to the heavens."

"My grandson is right after all. We should bear the infamy of this generation and forge a glorious empire!"

Wang Gui smiled and nodded. This retired emperor was still quite resentful and complaining when he was first dismissed.

But nowadays... I can't be more comfortable living my life every day.

Although he lost the throne, he now holds the greatest power in Hexi Circuit and has not been completely reduced to a figurehead. Moreover, his governance of Hexi Circuit and his management of the various tribes in the Western Regions are great achievements that will definitely be recorded a hundred years after Li Yuan's death.

When Wang Gui thought of this retired emperor, who held titles such as "Founding Emperor," "Father of the First Heavenly Strategy General," "General Who Conquers the West," and "Expanded the Territory by Thousands of Miles," he could understand why the other party had so easily let go of the grudges from the Xuanwu Gate Incident.

"Hehe, the Emperor Emeritus is truly blessed to have two wise rulers like His Majesty and the Crown Prince."

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the prince's poem published in the newspaper.

"He Xinlang: Answering Heavenly Questions" - Li Chengqian

"Do not claim to follow the same writing system!"

"Five thousand years, mending the sky with stones, sifting sand and washing rice."

"Turkic archers and cavalry pacified the western regions, while Tibetan warriors guarded the borders."

"Such people are worthy of being compared with the Han people."

"What's left?"

"Kunlun is foolish, Linyi is despicable; "

"Silla is deceitful, and the Japanese are cunning."

"Look at Southeast Asia, sloths spend their lives clinging to vines and ants."

"If wolves and jackals are allowed to fill the palace, then let phoenixes and unicorns die in the wilderness."

"Though I am condemned for a thousand years and cursed throughout the world, I will have no regrets!"

"Hiss..." Wang Gui took a deep breath; these words were undeniably ruthless.

Some even simply stopped performing altogether.

To put it bluntly, "The Turks and Tibetans are skilled warriors and have some merits, but the rest, such as the Kunlun slaves, Lin-yi, and Silla, are a bunch of useless trash. Do these guys even deserve to be integrated into China?"

In particular, the phrase "sloths are attached to vines and ants for life" bluntly compares these foreign races to beasts of different classes, expressing his own set of "Sinocentric theory" without any politeness.

This stirred the heart of the great Confucian scholar Wang Gui, but also caused him some concern.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's words may cause considerable turmoil in the surrounding countries..."

More than that?

When the foreign envoys who remained in the Tang Dynasty saw today's "New Tang Daily," they were all in an uproar.

The crown prince of the Tang Dynasty was unreasonable, shameless, and unstoppable when he became domineering.

This matter is no secret.

However... this is the first time that someone has so openly written poems in the newspaper, calling these foreign races inferior beings.

They dared not speak out against their anger, and even when they were angry, they only dared to close the door and hide under the covers in the dead of night, gritting their teeth.

What worried them even more than the Crown Prince's extreme remarks was the direction of the Tang Dynasty's foreign policy in the seventh year of the Zhenguan era...

East Palace.

Upon seeing the contents of the newspaper, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Pei Ji, and Xiao Yu hurriedly went to the palace to meet the Crown Prince.

The Eastern Palace Xiande Hall.

Li Chengqian held his own daughter, Li Leya, in his arms, while watching the others looking at each other, seemingly wanting to say something but unwilling to speak first, which he couldn't help but find amusing.

"Hehe, Prime Minister Fang, this isn't the Taiji Hall, and there are no officials to impeach you here. Why are you being so timid? Just say what you mean. Do you think my words were too harsh?"

Pei Ji nodded, somewhat worried: "Your Highness's idea suggests that his actions were not thoughtless, but such humiliation and provocation of foreign lands is inconsistent with our Great Tang's strategy of unifying the world."

"Your Highness, didn't you plan to establish contact with the Southeast Asian countries in the seventh year of the Zhenguan era? If their rulers knew that our Great Tang Dynasty was taking this attitude towards foreign countries, I'm afraid..."

Li Chengqian sneered: "I'm afraid they'll keep their distance from my Great Tang?"

Pei Ji and the others immediately nodded.

The little Yue bird squirmed in his arms. Now a year old, the little Yue bird was at the age where it was very active.

It's clear that she doesn't like occasions with many white-bearded old men.

Li Chengqian could only have Wang De send him to the Empress.

After the little bird left, Li Chengqian straightened his somewhat wrinkled robes and slowly got up from his seat.

An aura of dominance over the world gradually unfolded.

"Gentlemen, you should know that in this world, when it comes to national strength and military might, if my Great Tang Dynasty claims to be second, then no other country can claim to be first!"

"Keep your distance from my Great Tang? Ha... If those barbarian tribes in the South Seas can still be called savages now, in a few years when my Great Tang's powerful ships and cannons arrive there... they'll be real monkeys!"

"Gentlemen, there's no need to worry. The one who should be nervous is not our Great Tang!"