Chapter 305: Fooling Li Shimin

The saying that her son had been the crown prince for sixty years had a strong impact. That night, Pei Xueqing dreamed that her son had been the crown prince for sixty years.

This dream was so terrifying that Pei Xueqing was covered in cold sweat when he woke up.

She turned her head and saw Li Xiang, who was still smacking his lips, wondering what delicious food he was dreaming about. She pursed her lips, sighed softly, and reached out to rub his shoulders.

Yesterday I was worried about what to do if I gave birth to a girl. Now, after being comforted by Li Xiang and having a dream, I started to worry about what to do if I gave birth to a boy.

Just when she was struggling with her feelings, she heard a concerned voice from behind.

"what happened?"

"You...are awake?" Pei Xueqing asked, biting her lip.

"I just heard someone sigh." Li Xiang chuckled and reached out to massage Pei Xueqing's arm.

While pinching her, she asked, "Why, did you have a nightmare?"

"No, it's just..." Pei Xueqing hesitated. She didn't know whether she should tell this dream.

"If you have any questions, just tell me directly. Do you have to hide it from me?" Li Xiang asked with a smile.

Pei Xueqing hummed with a nasal sound, and then said: "Nothing, I just had a dream... I dreamed that our son has been the crown prince for sixty years..."

You know what, when Li Xiang heard this, he couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing.

"Hahahahahaha..."

"What are you laughing at?" Pei Xueqing pouted.

"No, no." Li Xiang rubbed his belly which was a little cramped from laughing: "I just think it's interesting - what's wrong with being the crown prince for sixty years? It means I'm long-lived."

Pei Xueqing tilted her head and glanced at him.

"Look, it will take at least thirty or forty years before I ascend the throne. My grandfather and father are in good health now. Even if it's thirty years, I will be at least forty-five years old when I ascend the throne. Think about it, my son has been the crown prince for sixty years, doesn't that mean I can live to at least one hundred and five years old?" Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Humph, one hundred and five years old." Pei Xueqing sniffed: "It is indeed a long life, but it is a pity that I may not have this blessing."

"If you dare to die before me, don't blame me for being rude." Li Xiang said angrily: "Believe it or not, I will appoint a new queen the day after you die. I will appoint three at once--"

"Ridiculous!" Pei Xueqing snorted, "You even appointed three queens in one go. Why don't you go to heaven?"

"So, you can't die yet. At least you have to watch over me. Don't let me be too reckless and do something ridiculous like the Yuwen family of the previous Zhou Dynasty." Li Xiang said with a smile.

The Northern Zhou Yuwen family that Li Xiang was referring to specifically refers to Emperor Xuan of Zhou, Yuwen Yun.

However, Yuwen Yong did not establish three queens at once, but five.

These five empresses were Empress Tianyuan Yang Lihua, Empress Tianyuan Zhu Manyue, Empress Tianzhong Chen Yueyi, Empress Tianzuo Yuchi Chifan and Empress Tianyou Yuan Leshang.

Among them, Empress Tianyuan Yang Lihua was the daughter of Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian.

Yang Lihua was also unlucky. After Yang Jian usurped the throne, the empress dowager became a princess.

Her daughter was even more unfortunate. In the 11th year of Daye, she was sentenced to death by her uncle, Emperor Guangshen of the Sui Dynasty.

"You have a point!" Pei Xueqing bit her lip and gave Li Xiang a fierce look: "Even if it is to prevent our Li family from doing something that will make us laugh for a thousand years, I will live to be 108 years old, and I will control you well!"

"That's a deal." Li Xiang stretched out his little finger.

Pei Xueqing also stretched out her finger and hooked it. When the two looked at each other, their eyes were full of sweetness.

"Let's make a pinky promise. We won't change for a hundred years. Do you hear me?" Li Xiang said with a smile.

"Yeah." Pei Xueqing nodded.

"Actually, you don't have to panic. Even if you give birth to a son, he can't be the crown prince for decades." Li Xiang blinked at Pei Xueqing: "Don't you know what kind of personality your father has?"

"Hmm..." Pei Xueqing just nodded, but felt that there was something wrong with this statement.

"You, you took advantage of me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"This is not taking advantage." Li Xiang knew that his wife was shy, so he smiled and leaned close to her ear, whispering, "When we were in the room before, you called Ye Ye over quite a lot...hiss——"

As soon as she finished speaking, Pei Xueqing, with red cheeks, pinched her waist hard.

"It's just the two of us now. Why don't you scream again?" Li Xiang endured the pain and smiled as he moved his head closer, his nose touching Pei Xueqing's.

"Get out!" Pei Xueqing shouted angrily.

"Tsk, so boring." Li Xiang groaned and reached out to cover the quilt: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, and rest peacefully."

The next day, when Li Xiang got up in the morning, he was still thinking about Pei Xueqing's refusal to comply.

I'll let you be arrogant for a few months. Once you've recovered, I'll see if you'll cry out or not.

It won’t be up to you then!

There was no point staying in the Wude Hall all the time. After lunch, Li Xiang asked Fubao to call Li Wei, and he brought his people to the Tang Dynasty Royal Academy of Literature.

Now it is early November and the enrollment plan should proceed as scheduled.

Li Xiang has tentatively scheduled the new semester to start in March next year, but he intends to adopt the autumn school system, where the new semester in March will only be a short semester for people to lay the foundation.

After all, according to regulations, the provincial, prefectural and county examinations of the Tang Dynasty were all held in summer and autumn. Adopting the autumn school system was more in line with the national conditions of the Tang Dynasty.

The teachers brought from Youzhou have already moved into the dormitory arranged by Li Xiang, which is located in the School of Arts.

The Faculty of Arts covers a large area, comparable to most universities in later generations.

Due to the large area, Li Xiang designed it quite luxuriously, with a separate courtyard for each academic year. The dormitories and teaching colleges for each academic year can accommodate more than a thousand people respectively.

The dormitories for the first batch of teachers were also very luxurious. In order to save a lot of money, Li Xiang arranged for them to have dormitories in independent courtyards. Although they were not as luxurious as the mansions where the nobles in various cities and towns in Chang'an lived, they were not small in Chang'an, where every inch of land was valuable.

At least it is much bigger than their home in Youzhou.

Each faculty and staff dormitory occupies at least one acre of floor space.

After seeing the staff dormitory, the teachers were very satisfied and expressed their gratitude to Li Xiang.

The Crown Prince’s words are indeed as good as gold and he always keeps his word!
Everyone went back home with their books, intending to give their relatives and friends a little shock about the treatment of faculty and staff.

Some people even secretly think that it would be nice to be a teacher in a liberal arts college. Even if you take the imperial examination and get a high school degree, you can't get such good treatment, right?
There are many people who think this way, and Li Xiang is also very happy to see this happen.

As for teachers, the older and more teaching experience they have, the better.

If they really replace each other like leeks, what will we do if the education level cannot be guaranteed?
Li Xiang also allocated a palace for himself in the school, which was for Li Shimin, Li Chengqian and others to live in when they were free. He might need it in the future.

Li Xiang hasn't told Li Shimin and Li Chengqian about this yet, so just give it to them as a surprise.

He came to the dean's office, where Li Jingren was already waiting.

"Brother." Li Jingren bowed with a smile.

"Aren't you resting at home? Why did you come out?" Li Xiang asked with interest.

"I can't sit still. I always feel a bit disappointed when I'm resting, so I came out for a walk." Li Jingren said with a smile, "I happened to be thinking about the college, so I decided to come over and take a look. I heard that you were here, so I hid in the dean's office to give you a surprise."

"You, take some rest if you have nothing to do." Li Xiang nodded at him and asked, "How is it going with Ashina Yun? Have you set a wedding date?"

"I was just about to tell my brother about this. The wedding is planned to be held next year." Li Jingren cupped his hands and said, "My father sent someone to communicate with the Prince of Huaihua yesterday afternoon, and he decided the date on the way. Or he asked the Grand Historian to calculate it."

"Okay, that's a good thing." Li Xiang said with a smile, "You are already in your twenties. You should have gotten married and had a child."

Li Jingren also laughed, and then asked, "Sister-in-law is about to give birth, right?"

"Yes, it's just a matter of one or two months." Li Xiang nodded and said, "Yesterday she was still worried that if she gave birth to a daughter, she would be disliked. I told her that I am only seventeen this year. If I give birth to a boy, he will be eighteen years younger than me. When I am fifty-eight, he will be forty. If I work hard and live to be eighty or ninety, he can be the crown prince for sixty years. Isn't that the end of it?"

"Who would have thought that after hearing this, your sister-in-law dreamed about this incident at night." At this point, Li Xiang couldn't help laughing out loud.

Li Jingren opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't respond.

The royal father and son are all young and strong, so problems are indeed prone to occur, such as the father and son pair of Emperor Wu of Han and Liu Ju.

"Are you thinking of the examples of Emperor Wu of Han and Liu Ju?" Li Xiang glanced at him.

"Yes." Li Jingren said with emotion.

"Speaking of this father and son, I have another joke to tell you." Li Xiang suddenly thought of the joke in later generations, so he tried to adapt it.

After hearing this, Li Jingren immediately became interested.

"I am all ears."

"It is said that in a prison in the Han Dynasty, three people were chatting and asking each other why they were imprisoned."

"The first person said that I went to jail because I supported the prince."

"The second person said that I was imprisoned because I opposed the prince."

"The third person said, I am Liu Ju."

As soon as Li Xiang finished speaking, Li Jingren's face twisted for a moment, and he couldn't help laughing out loud.

This joke is so... so classic.

“Hahahahahahaha…” Li Jingren burst into laughter, “How could it be so classic?”

Li Xiang snorted proudly, thinking that this is fucking humanity's intangible cultural heritage!

Do you understand the value of Soviet jokes?

It's like a universal formula that can be applied anywhere.

Li Jingren wiped the tears from his laughter and said to Li Xiang, "The court has also issued commendations and rewards for Chubi and Xunyu. Chubi was granted a county title, and Xunyu was also granted a county title."

"That's a good thing. Shouldn't we let them treat us to a meal tonight?" Li Xiang said with a smile, "After going on this expedition and collecting rewards, we should at least set up a few tables at the Jianghu Restaurant to treat everyone, right?"

"Chubi has the same idea. He told me about it last night. Xunyu is the same." Li Jingren said with a smile, "Chubi will host a banquet for all the brothers at Jianghu Restaurant tonight, and Xunyu will host it tomorrow. They should have sent the invitations to Wude Hall by now, right?"

"You are thoughtful, kid." Li Xiang sat on a stool, reached out and picked up the pen holder on the table without a wolf hair, and turned it in his hand: "Okay, I will go over to take a look in the evening."

Li Xiang thought about it again, and then said to Li Jingren: "We have to think about it carefully. The Royal Academy plans to recruit students on December 1st. This news should be spread throughout Chang'an, and even to the Guannei Road, and even Dengzhou and Youzhou. Students from all over the Tang Dynasty are welcome to study at the Royal Academy."

"Okay, brother." Li Jingren nodded.

"Well, the enrollment work of the College of Arts must proceed, and the Military College cannot be left behind." Li Xiang thought for a moment, and then said: "The standards of the Military College should be appropriately raised. After all, the poor are scholars and the rich are military. More selection will be made from the government soldiers, nobles, and the military."

Li Jingren thought for a moment and asked again, "Brother, we already have teachers for the College of Arts, but what about the ones for the Military Academy?"

"I already have a candidate." Li Xiang said with a smile: "Your father is a very good candidate for a teacher."

"My father?" Li Jingren thought about his father, Li Dao Zong, and shook his head and said, "That's not possible. With the Duke of Weiguo and the Duke of Yingguo around, how could my father have a turn?"

This is true. After all, apart from Li Shimin, the current Tang Dynasty generals, Li Jing and Li Shiji are really leading by a huge margin.

They dare to claim second or third place, but no one dares to claim first place.

It’s not that Li Jingren doesn’t support his father, he just feels that there is no chance of winning the argument with him.

"From what you said, everyone has a different way of fighting. Duke Ying and Duke Weiguo can't be all-rounders." Li Xiang smiled and shook his head. "The King of Jiangxia should also have a place in the military academy."

"is it?"

After all, he is his biological father, so Li Jingren was immediately happy.

Well, I must talk to my dad about it when I get back and make him happy.

"You know what, in fact, besides the Duke of Weiguo and the Duke of Yingguo, I have a better candidate." Li Xiang suddenly said.

"Who?" Li Jingren asked.

"My grandpa." Li Xiang said with a smile.

It must be said that Li Jingren really couldn't refute this statement.

In today's Tang Dynasty, and even in the entire history, Li Shimin is a well-deserved master military strategist, who is particularly good at frontal combat of large troops.

Thinking of this, Li Xiang felt that there was no time to lose, so he immediately said goodbye to Li Jingren and ran to the Lizheng Hall.

Today is a day of rest, so Li Shimin is not in Liangyi Hall.

Seeing Li Xiang coming hurriedly, Li Shimin asked with a smile: "Hey, Xiang'er, why do you have the heart to come and visit me?"

"Of course I have something important to discuss with Grandpa." Li Xiang also responded with a sweet smile.

"Oh?" Old Li raised his eyebrows, instinctively feeling that Li Xiaoxiang was not up to any good intentions.

(End of this chapter)