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

Chang'an, Taiji Hall.

During the court assembly, a message sent back from the Arabian Peninsula by a golden eagle brought a pleasant atmosphere to the court.

"Your Majesty, since Islam has abandoned their so-called holy city of Mecca, it will be even more difficult to take it back in the future. We can take advantage of this opportunity to use both military force and financial resources to completely allow our Great Tang to control the Arabian Peninsula."

"Even if we can't control the entire island, we should at least control a few more ports along the southern coast of the peninsula..."

Duan Lun, the Minister of Works, stepped forward to offer his suggestions.

The officials nodded in agreement, and Wang Ming, the Minister of Personnel, stepped forward and bowed after noticing Li Chengqian's gaze.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the Ministry of Rites established a new Arabic language examination at the beginning of this year, which selected many qualified officials who can be sent abroad. In addition, there are also many Arab merchant families who have migrated to our Great Tang and are willing to serve our Great Tang as local officials."

Li Chengqian nodded in satisfaction.

This is the benefit of having a solid framework in place and qualified leaders in each department; he doesn't even need to put in much effort.

As for those Arab business families, their relatives and families were all in the Tang Dynasty, so there was no need to worry that these people would betray the Tang Dynasty after they were sent out.

"In that case, the Six Ministries and the Cabinet shall discuss and formulate a suitable procedure, and once finalized, submit it to me for review..."

The officials readily accepted the order.

At this moment, an official from the Ministry of Works, who also served as the Imperial Inspector of the Railway Bureau, stepped forward.

This person was from the Yang family of Hongnong.

"Your Majesty, the Railway Office of Prince Yan sent back a message today, saying that the railway from Longyou Road to Hexi Road has been completed and passed inspection. In addition, the railway from Zhenbei Road to Hexi Road will be completed and inspected no later than March."

Li Chengqian's eyes lit up.

This is very good news.

The completion of the railway meant that his father, the General of the Heavenly Strategy, who was wreaking havoc in the Kuku of the Byzantine Empire's Syria province, would be able to implement military strategies to a greater extent.

And the Tang Dynasty will then reap an even greater war dividend.

His gaze fell upon Li Jing, the Grand Councilor.

"Duke of England, arrange the logistics for the western expedition as soon as possible. The Emperor Emeritus has won one victory after another in the Byzantine Empire, and has already beheaded more than 10,000. Heraclius will probably soon find out that the Emperor Emeritus is leading the vanguard. I do not want any changes at the front, do you understand?"

Li Jing respectfully accepted the order: "Your Majesty, rest assured, this old minister will immediately arrange for the subsequent western expeditionary force to leave the pass."

Within the ranks of military officers, everyone was eager to make their move.

With the affairs of the court concluded, Li Chengqian ordered the court to adjourn.

Upon returning to her own palace, she was stopped by the Empress Dowager's female officials who had been waiting there.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager requests your presence..."

Li Chengqian frowned. Yesterday, Consort Wang Yuyan informed him in advance that she wanted to settle the accounts of the spice trade today, and he had originally planned to go and take a look.

However, what could he, as the son, say when his own mother came to him?

Swaying and wobbling like a retired old man, he didn't ride in a carriage and simply walked all the way to Empress Dowager Changsun's palace.

The Lizheng Hall now belongs to Li Chengqian's empress, Qian Yingying.

Empress Dowager Changsun lived in a palace called Zhenguan Hall.

Its facilities are no less than those of Ritsujeon, and it also has gardens and badminton courts.

However, when Li Chengqian arrived here, he saw not only the Empress Dowager, but also the wives of many noble families of the Tang Dynasty... His own mother was looking at portraits.

Li Chengqian was no stranger to this situation before he became emperor, let alone now that he was emperor.

He let out a soft sigh, but made no further comment, and walked straight into the hall.

"Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, pay my respects. May Your Majesty be blessed with peace and tranquility..."

These noble ladies hurriedly bowed.

They were humble and dared not show the slightest disrespect.

Among these people, Li Chengqian was surprised to see the only noblewoman with a young girl by her side. He recognized the noblewoman; she was the wife of Zheng De, the current Provincial Governor of India.

Because that old man had rendered meritorious service, his own emperor father had even bestowed an imperial title upon the other party's wife.

At this moment, the bright-eyed and white-toothed girl behind the other party lowered her head and looked pure and serene in her apricot-yellow dress.

The girl only glanced at Li Chengqian the moment he appeared; otherwise, she didn't dare to lift her head.

It's as if they had been instructed beforehand.

Although Empress Dowager Changsun was an empress dowager, thanks to the influence of the Red Fruit, she showed no signs of aging, much like the retired Emperor Zhenguan, who was still shouting for war in Byzantium at this moment.

Her stunning beauty even captivated women like Consort Yin and Consort Yang.

When she saw Li Chengqian arrive, her smile deepened.

"The Emperor has arrived. Although I think these women are all quite good, the selection of imperial concubines for the palace still needs to be decided by the Emperor himself."

The group of ladies stood there, nodding with demure smiles.

really......

Li Chengqian walked forward calmly, bowed to his mother, and then sat down in the main seat.

And it was at this moment that I saw this stack of portraits in front of me.

It is a more realistic oil painting, depicting young girls either leaning against plum blossoms with eyes full of spring water, or looking around gracefully on the shore of a small boat on a lake.

It must be said that the greatest driving force behind the development of art is the needs of the ruling class.

If these paintings are preserved in good condition and passed down to future generations, they will surely become world-class masterpieces, far surpassing anything like "So-and-so's Smile."

When a group of Tang Dynasty painters, skilled in traditional Chinese portraiture with a deeper artistic conception, mastered the art of oil painting, which is more conducive to representational painting, the resulting paintings were truly indistinguishable from seeing the real people.

There is the beauty of iconography, and there is the spirit of imagination.

Li Chengqian looked at each page with great interest, making the noblewomen around him nervously watch. In particular, whenever Li Chengqian turned to the pages of his own family's daughters, the noblewomen couldn't help but hold their breath.

She tried to remain calm, but her knuckles turned white from gripping the handkerchief too tightly.

Although everyone knows that the young Emperor Tianwu before them is not the kind of person who would make a choice based solely on beauty.

But what if?

What if a woman from their family is actually chosen?

Li Chengqian looked at it very carefully. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he thought about it very carefully rather than just looking at it carefully.

He glanced at the woman's face in the painting, then focused his gaze on a line of text in the corner indicating her family background, before admiring the painting under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

In reality, he was thinking about the woman's family background and the situation of the officials in the court.

When the emperor personally selected women, beauty was the least important factor.

Because of the fact that beauty alone is a factor, both these noble families themselves and the Empress Dowager and Empress would conduct a screening process.

The candidates who appeared before Li Chengqian may have varied in appearance.

But that's definitely not the biggest difference between them.

I do not know how long it has been.

Li Chengqian finished looking at all the paintings, then slowly raised his head and noticed his mother's expectant gaze.

He pointed to the last scroll.

"So, the woman behind Madam Zheng must be Zheng Liwan?"