Chapter 214 Yes, Your Majesty! (Seeking monthly ticket)
Hearing Li Shimin's scolding, Li Chengqian subconsciously scratched his toes.

It’s nothing, the blood is suppressing my ears.

Li Tai, who was sitting next to him, pursed his lips and forced himself not to laugh out loud.

However, this gloating did not last long, as Li Shimin's questions soon came to Li Tai.

"Qingque, as a wise king praised by everyone in the Tang Dynasty, haven't you heard any disturbances?"

Li Tai opened his mouth, his mind was full of thoughts, and he finally managed to say, "I am guilty."

He knew that this was not the time to call him Aye, otherwise he might have to address him by his position when he was at work.

"Is this how you act as a wise king?" Li Shimin was still attacking, and his hunting eyes turned to Li Zhi: "Zhi Nu, what about you?"

When asked, Li Zhi slid off the stool and knelt on the ground, repeatedly apologizing to Li Shimin.

Old Li sighed and felt extremely tired.

"Get up! Look at what a bear you are!"

Li Zhi whimpered, then climbed back up and sat back on the stool.

Bloodline suppression not only suppresses Li Chengqian, but also Li Tai and Li Zhi have the same suppressing effect.

"Xiang'er, you tell it to them!" Li Shimin waved his hand, signaling Li Xiang to narrate it to them.

"Yes, Uncle." Li Xiang nodded in response, and then explained the whole cause and effect in detail to his two uncles and his father.

After hearing this, the three of them had different reactions.

Li Chengqian was gritting his teeth, Li Tai was filled with righteous indignation, and Li Zhi... seemed to be none of his business.

"I don't believe Gao Yang would do such a thing!" Li Chengqian said firmly, emphasizing that he absolutely did not believe it.

"Me too." Li Tai and Li Zhi also echoed.

"Now it's not a question of whether you believe it or not. The key now is what we should do to minimize the harm of public opinion!" Li Shimin knocked on the table.

"Of course, we must trace the source, arrest the person who spread the rumors, find out the truth, and then clarify it." Li Zhi spoke first.

Li Xiang glanced at Li Zhi and thought, great, very good, you also want to write a book called "Records of Awakening from Delusion", right?
"No, it's not that simple." Li Tai pondered and said, "It's just a rumor now. If the court really goes out to clarify or even arrest the person who spread the rumor, it would be like yellow mud falling into your pants. It would be shit if it's not shit."

After listening to Li Tai, Li Shimin thought that what Li Tai said made sense.

"What about you, Gao Ming? What do you think?" Li Shimin asked Li Chengqian, "You are the crown prince, so you should come up with some rules, right?"

"In my opinion, instead of clarifying the truth, it is better to shift the focus of public opinion and distract people's attention." Li Chengqian once again used the wonderful trick that Li Xiang taught him.

"Oh?" Old Li immediately became interested. Could it be that this grown-up boy has really come to his senses?

Li Tai also looked at Li Chengqian with some dissatisfaction, thinking, "What other good ideas can you come up with? Could it be that Xiang'er has given you a blessing in private?"

"Give them a new topic!" Li Chengqian's eyes sparkled.

Li Shimin glanced at him and asked, "For example?"

"Start a war!" said Li Chengqian.

Hearing this, Old Li's eyes widened. He looked at Li Chengqian in disbelief: "Start a war?"

Starting a war just to divert attention? Isn't that too expensive?

"Well, actually a smaller war will do." Li Tai added. He also felt that this suggestion... Don't say it, you really shouldn't say it!

If it is something as serious as war, it can really draw attention elsewhere.

"Uh, let me interrupt for a moment." Li Xiang knew that if he didn't show up, his father and two uncles would come up with some bad ideas: "Even if it's a smaller war, it's a bit too much. After all, it's just to divert the attention of the government and the public - why not expel the twenty or so Japanese envoys in Chang'an?"

As we all know, Japan has been sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty since the fifth year of Zhenguan, seeking to establish diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty.

In November of the fifth year of Zhenguan, the first Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty arrived in Chang'an City.

The ambassador of the delegation was Inuue Mita Tsutomu and the deputy envoy was Yakushi Keihi.

Old Li was very happy about this and arranged for them to visit and study in Chang'an for about a year.

In the seventh year of Zhenguan, when the Tang Dynasty envoys completed their mission and returned home, Li Shimin specially dispatched Gao Biaoren as the Tang Dynasty's envoy to visit Japan. Accompanying him were the Tang Dynasty monks Lingyun, Sengmin and others who had studied in the Tang Dynasty.

Of course, when Gao Biaoren arrived at the Japanese court, he had a dispute with the emperor over etiquette.

In the end, Gao Biaoren left angrily, refused to hand over the letter from the Tang emperor, and demanded to return home immediately.

According to history, Japan did not send envoys to the Tang Dynasty until the fourth year of Yonghui. However, Japan suffered a great defeat in the war with Goguryeo last year, so in November last year, Prince Naka no Oe sent envoys to Chang'an to confess his crimes and put all the blame on Soga no Iruka.

After celebrating the New Year in Chang'an, the Japanese envoys still stayed in Chang'an.

Li Xiang didn't attend this incident, and Old Li didn't understand what was going on, so he didn't say much.

If Li Xiang catches up, the Japanese envoy will definitely have a hard time.

But now... everything has its destiny. If they had been caught up with him before, Li Xiang would definitely have driven them back; now that he can use them, he naturally has to make use of them and squeeze out the surplus value of the Japanese.

To put it bluntly, it means catching a frog and squeezing the urine out of it.

"This……"

Li Xiang's words made everyone present fall into deep thought, especially the three brothers of the Li family.

Li Chengqian and Li Tai looked at each other and discovered that Li Xiang's idea might really be useful.

"Isn't this a bad idea?" Li Shimin was still a little hesitant. After all, as the Khan of Heaven, it was too beneath his dignity to slander someone...or even to slander an envoy of a country. In the final analysis, it was Li's idol burden that was at work.

It must be said that Li Shimin's sense of morality was too strong.

"Aye, this will be a topic of conversation for the people of Chang'an after dinner." Li Tai immediately affirmed Li Xiang's suggestion: "Just think about it, the court has crushed the Japanese conspiracy... How worthy of celebration!"

"You must use a reason that no one can refute." Li Chengqian added.

Li Xiang said again: "Even if it is denied, people will believe it - the servant of the deputy envoy of the delegation is the head of the Special High Section."

"Special High Section?" Li Shimin was stunned. What is Special High Section? Why have I never heard of such a thing in Japan?
"It is Japan's spy agency, affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is responsible for collecting intelligence from neighboring countries, stealing the craftsmanship of neighboring countries, and even plotting to overthrow the regime of a certain country, such as Baekje and Silla in the past." Li Xiang talked nonsense in a serious manner. In fact, he borrowed the name from the spy agency of the later Japan... who was doing well.

"You are such a small country, yet your mind is so sinister!" Li Tai cursed with gritted teeth.

Li Shimin took a glance at Li Xiang and saw through Li Xiang's fabricated story.

What's going on in this grandson's mind all day long?
He raised his eyebrows and said, "After all, I am the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the Khan of all tribes. Your suggestion is very good. Don't mention it next time!"

"So what does Aung mean..." Li Xiang asked tentatively.

"The method you mentioned to divert attention is good, but your method of expelling the Japanese is really bad." Li Shimin snorted, "I am a hero, how can I use such a shameful method to slander people?"

"There is actually another way, but it will take a little longer to take effect." Li Xiang said again, "That is to publish a newspaper."

"Newspaper?" Old Li asked puzzledly.

"Newspapers are something that is published to the public on a regular basis, mainly for the purpose of publishing news and commenting on current affairs." Li Xiang tried to explain to these ancients in easy-to-understand terms: "It's like a magazine, but it's simpler than a magazine, only a few sheets of paper are needed, and the content on it is generally current affairs, such as court policies, surrounding news, etc..."

"According to my grandson's analysis, this was most likely done by the Shandong gentry. In that case, let's give them a taste of their own medicine and create some strange stories about them," Li Xiang added.

It's time for newspapers to come out of hiding.

After this incident, Li Xiang realized the importance of having a voice.

It can be said that with newspapers, we at least have the initiative in discourse.

Although ordinary people couldn't understand it, they could hire scholars to read newspapers in restaurants and teahouses.

Can’t you read the words and understand the words?
But there is actually another problem. The accents of people from all over the Tang Dynasty are not very unified.

Sometimes when talking face to face, people from Guanzhong can hardly understand the dialect of people from Lingnan.

In fact, Li Xiang also had quite some feelings in his previous life, especially when he was in college in Chongqing. That guy had to have an interpreter with him even when he went out to rent a house.

As an old Guanzhong native, Li Xiang felt it necessary to unify the country and eliminate dialects.

But this is not something that can be accomplished overnight, so let’s just run the newspaper first.

Li Shimin thought about it and felt that it was feasible.

"for example?"

"Just flatter them to death. Have people go out and promote stories like "The Food of Aristocratic Families", "The Etiquette of Aristocratic Families", and "Why Aristocratic Families Are Noble". Then use the Boling Cui family or the Qinghe Cui family as examples to illustrate how particular the food of aristocratic families is. For stir-frying chicken feet, one dish requires one hundred chickens. For making soup with carp whiskers, one bowl of soup requires three thousand carps. The remaining chicken and fish meat are simply thrown away and not eaten. Such scraps are not worthy of their mouths."

"Or they have to hire a special wet nurse to feed calves when eating veal, so that the beef tastes delicious; or a merchant married a cook from the Cui family in Boling as a concubine. Not long after the merchant married, the merchant asked the cook to cook two dishes. The cook said she didn't know how to cook them, because she was in the steamed buns room in the Cui family's kitchen. Two days later, the merchant asked the cook to steam two baskets of steamed buns to try, to see what kind of buns the Cui family, who had been rich for generations, usually ate. The cook said with a stern face that she still didn't know how to cook them, because she was in charge of cutting green onions in the steamed buns room."

This joke originated from Cai Jing, the treacherous prime minister during the Song Dynasty.

People of that era naturally didn't know the story of the Song Dynasty, so Li Xiang had no guilt in adopting the old ideas.

Li Xiang saw that Lao Li, his father and two uncles were all lost in thought, and finally began to summarize: "In short, use an envious tone and a flattering tone to write about the extravagance of the noble family."

"At first, the people will envy the aristocratic families for their good life. Then they will hint at where their wealth comes from. Of course, they exploit the people. They enjoy the people's offerings, but look down on the people. In the end, they create an atmosphere where the rich are feasting and drinking, while the poor are freezing to death on the streets, which arouses the people's hatred towards them."

"The rich have wine and meat, but the poor are freezing to death on the streets?" Old Li repeated in a low voice.

The eyes of the literary youth Li Tai brightened up. Such a concise and succinct sentence touched his heart the most.

"Who wrote this sentence?" he asked impatiently.

"I saw it in the book my teacher gave me." Li Xiang said honestly.

Then Li Chengqian expressed his objection: "Don't forget that the Tang Dynasty royal family also enjoys the offerings of the people. What if the Shandong nobles turn their spearheads against us? How about a one-for-one exchange?"

"Then let Grandfather issue an edict to promote frugality." Li Xiang spread his hands and said, "Besides, when we fought against Goguryeo last year, Grandfather sympathized with the people's hard work, so he exempted the head tax for one year. Compared with the aristocratic families who detained the people in the fields and exploited them at will, Grandfather is not the most merciful in the world?"

"What's more, Grandfather once said that the emperor is the boat and the people are the water, so the people of my Li family treat the people as their own children. Even though Aunt Gaoyang is just a woman, she has the world in her heart and developed cheap warm-weather products such as wool for the people. The comparison between the two can better highlight the greatness of the Tang Dynasty royal family and the shortness of those aristocratic families."

"Well, Xiang'er's suggestion is good." Li Shimin nodded and said, "I will issue an edict tomorrow to promote frugality throughout the country and exempt corvée for one year."

"No one is wiser than you, old man." Li Xiang flattered him with a smile.

"You kid..." Li Shimin pointed at Li Xiang and said with a smile, "After your description, newspapers are really a powerful weapon for the country. I think that newspapers must be officially operated, and private newspapers are strictly prohibited!"

"Auntie is wise and enlightened." Li Xiang flattered him again.

"Then...what about Sister Gao Yang's matter?" Li Zhi suddenly said.

Li Shimin tapped the table with his fingers and said in a deep voice, "Let's put Gao Yang's matter aside for now, deal with it calmly, don't make any response, just pretend that this matter never happened."

"If I was impatient to summon Gao Yang to the palace, wouldn't that be exactly what those villains want? Who knows what rumors they might make up."

"Just wait. Gao Yang always has her own ideas. I think this matter is not that simple. She must have some other tricks up her sleeve. We just need to help her cooperate and divert public opinion at the appropriate time."

Hearing Li Shimin's words, Li Xiang, Li Chengqian and the other two looked at each other and said in unison: "Yes, Aye (Aweng)!"

(End of this chapter)