Chapter 332 is very original and imaginative

Even if Li Xiang racked his brains, he could not have imagined that Li Chengqian could come up with a new idea in his busy schedule.

This father was so outstanding that he could not find a suitable adjective to describe the Emperor Yonghui.

In some ways, he is also quite strong?
"Is it... a concept?" Li Xiang asked hesitantly, holding on to the last glimmer of hope, hoping that he had heard it wrong, or that Li Chengqian had made a slip of the tongue.

However, the facts dealt him a heavy blow. After hearing what he said, Li Chengqian nodded heavily: "Yes, I have an idea——"

Shit, you think you're Martin Luther King?

When they heard that their elder brother had a great idea, everyone gathered around, wanting to hear what Li Chengqian had come up with, except Li Tai.

As for Li Tai, he thought differently from his other brothers and sisters. He wanted to smell what shit Li Chengqian was holding back.

Seeing his brothers and sisters gathered around him, especially Li Lizhi and Li Hengwu who were looking at him with admiration, Li Chengqian took a deep breath and straightened his chest like Tom when he first faced his cousin Jerry.

"What do you say, Aye?" Li Xiang asked again cautiously.

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "It's just an immature idea. I thought of it from the Royal Academy founded by Xiang'er."

When he heard it was a college, Li Xiang breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it is a college, not something as drastic as reforming the tax law or legal system.

As for the academy, no matter how much he reforms it, what can he achieve?

Hearing this, Li Tai curled his lips and said, "I thought what your idea was. It turns out to be a college. No matter how the college is reformed, what use will it be? Isn't Xiang'er doing a good job?"

Li Chengqian was not annoyed after hearing this. He was completely different from before when he would quibble about up and down, left and right, high and low, front and back, whenever he heard Li Tai talking to him.

"You don't know this, right? I think you are also a fool." Li Chengqian gave Li Tai a youthful look, "Juer is now studying at the Royal Academy. I have seen his changes over the past three years. Of course, I am satisfied with the Royal Academy, and naturally I will not make any reforms to the Royal Academy itself."

"You've confused me." Li Tai asked, "What do you want to say? If you have something to say, just say it quickly!"

Li Chengqian glared at him. He clearly felt that the words Li Tai swallowed back were "If you have to fart, fart quickly."

Fortunately, he is the emperor now, and Li Tai will not confront him in front of so many people.

To be honest, Li Chengqian even breathed a sigh of relief.

You say that if he is confronted, if he directly punishes Li Tai, it would seem like an overreaction; but if he just lets it go and pretends nothing happened, where is his dignity as the emperor and the eldest brother?
Li Xiang also looked at his father, but he was not too worried.

After all, his father had already said that he would not reform the academy, so he felt that there would be no problem no matter how much trouble he made.

But what is this lingering feeling of unease in my heart?
Yeah, how could that be?
Li Xiang didn't have much time to think, and Li Chengqian's tonsils began to become inflamed.

"I think the academy founded by Xiang'er is very good. Whether it is to train talents for the country or to provide basic education, it is much better than the previous county school or the Imperial Academy." Li Chengqian said, and in Li Xiang's increasingly horrified eyes, he said: "So I am wondering, can we establish similar schools in every county in the Tang Dynasty? On the one hand, it is to reserve talents for the country, and on the other hand, it is to break the academic monopoly of the gentry."

"I have also learned that the main reason why the gentry monopolized knowledge was because from the Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, official schools were not well developed. If county schools could be established in the name of the court, wouldn't this problem be solved? I don't believe that the talents trained by the Tang Dynasty court will still work for the gentry."

Don't say it, really don't say it.

Li Xiang looked at his living father in shock. He never expected that, my dear father, you are really alive.

No, man.

Have you ever calculated how much money this will cost?
The money invested in establishing official schools is more than enough to build you a palace, let alone a palace complex that is larger than the Taiji Palace and Daming Palace combined.

But to be honest, there is nothing wrong with Li Chengqian's idea. Everything is good, except for one problem, which is also the biggest problem.

That means no money.

Feeling Li Xiang's shocked look, Li Chengqian thought that Haoda was shocked by his great idea, so he raised his neck and was very proud.

"That's a good suggestion." Li Zhi was the first to speak up. "To be honest, when my son Zhong'er goes to school, I plan to send him to the Royal Academy instead of letting him waste time in the palace."

By the way, Li Zhi’s eldest son Li Zhong was born in the 19th year of Zhenguan, two years later than in history, but he was still a son of Liu.

It's quite interesting to say that this palace maid Liu was originally a maid serving Li Chengqian in the Eastern Palace. However, during a dinner party, Li Zhi somehow fell in love with her.

But Li Zhi, who had always been cautious, did not dare to say anything. However, Li Chengqian had already seen through everything and gave the palace maid that his brother had been staring at to Li Zhi as a reward.

Now, Li Zhong is four years old, and in about two years he will be able to enter the Tang Dynasty Royal Academy.

Of course, the queen, Wang, is still as unknown as she was in history.

However, Li Zhi was not the emperor now, and there was no heir to the throne in his family, so it was not a big problem whether Wang could give birth to a child. On the other hand, he did not need to use Wang to set up a plan and let Changsun Wuji jump into it.

So Wang's is pretty safe...

"Zhi Nu thinks the same as I do." Li Shu smiled at Li Zhi. She also planned to send her child to the academy.

On the one hand, it is to express support for Li Xiang, and on the other hand, it is because the academy is really good.

Among all the nobles in Chang'an City, which one would not give a thumbs up when talking about the Royal Academy?
No matter how reckless the second-generation rich kid is, he will be well disciplined in the academy.

It's not because of other reasons. The second generation rich kids are domineering at home and they rely on their parents' love. But when they arrive at the academy, their parents are useless. As the saying goes, he who knows the times is a hero. These little bullies are not stupid. They know that if they continue to be naughty, they will continue to be beaten, so few of them will act recklessly.

Of course there are some troublemakers too, but no matter how powerful they are, they will be beaten into submission in front of Li Jue.

Li Jue is now the teachers' sword of justice. If any second-generation rich man is disobedient and wants to stab them, Li Jue and his group of younger brothers can just go and beat them up, and everything will be fine.

Although these naughty kids were naughty, they all had a kind of inexplicable gangster complex. The teachers didn't dare to beat them, but Li Jue really dared to do it.

Even if their children are injured or their legs are broken, the parents of these naughty kids dare not come to the school to cause trouble.

What’s the matter? Your son is so naughty. After being beaten by King Song, he still wants to come here to make trouble?
Why don't you go to Daming Palace and fight with his father? Or go to the East Palace and fight with his brother?
Yuchi Xunyu's younger brother Yuchi Xunji was arranged by Li Xiang to be with Li Jue. Together with him were Cheng Chuliang, the eldest grandson of Old Cheng, and Cheng Zhongying, the son of Princess Qinghe Li Jing.

With these two strong kids as strong as calves following him around, it is hard to say that he is not good at fighting in school.

Fortunately, Li Jue had a positive outlook on life and did not cause any negative influence, such as bullying others by relying on his status as King of Song.

Instead, he set up a small association in the school to accept complaints from classmates. For example, if someone was bullied by someone else, Li Jue would bring people to investigate and make a final arbitration.

Nowadays, Li Jue enjoys a high reputation in school.

Li Xiang was naturally very happy about this, after all, he had arranged some of it.

It is an honor for him to see his younger brother doing so well.

After all, he is the Young Master of Chang'an, a good elder brother to countless nobles of the second and third generations in the Tang Dynasty. So, I can't bring shame to him by bringing disgrace upon myself, right?

"Well, I also think the academy is great." Li Lizhi said with a smile, "My two children have already entered the academy, and now they are following Juer around."

Li Lizhi had no objection to her two older sons becoming Li Jue's followers.

In terms of age, Li Jue was older than the two of them; in terms of status, the two of them were just sons of princesses, while Li Jue was the son of the emperor. In terms of emotion and reason, there was nothing wrong with what this little follower did.

When Li Mingda heard everyone praising the academy, thinking that this academy belonged to Xianger, she also wanted to praise it and agree with Li Chengqian's idea.

But on second thought, I decided to wait until Xiang'er expresses his opinion.

As an aunt, I must always stand by Xiang'er! Li Mingda encouraged herself in her heart.

"How is it, Xiang'er?" Li Chengqian asked with a smile, "Is my idea feasible?"

Li Xiang racked his brains and finally replied with a smile: "Very original and imaginative."

Hearing Li Xiang's words, Li Mingda smiled secretly.

This brat...

She knew that since Xiang'er was not in a hurry to express his opinion, it must mean that this "great idea" must have flaws.

But what Xiang'er said... doesn't sound like a compliment.

"So, you support it?" Li Chengqian's expression brightened.

"If I'm not mistaken, big brother." Li Tai showed a regretful look: "Xiang'er's two sentences are the biggest criticism of your so-called great concept."

"How could that be?" Li Chengqian knocked on the table and said, "Xiang'er, tell your uncle whether you agree or not?!"

"I can only say that this is a very good idea, but I don't completely agree with this proposal." Li Xiang said again tactfully.

"Why?!" Li Chengqian was really confused this time: "This is obviously a very good proposal! Think about it, in the entire Tang Dynasty, all counties have official schools established by the court. The prosperity of culture and education is unprecedented!"

"Yes, Aye, I can indeed think of this." Li Xiang nodded slightly and looked at Li Chengqian sharply: "However, Aye overlooked one issue, that is, cost."

"Cost?" Li Chengqian looked at Li Xiang, then at his brothers and sisters.

"Yes, Aye. Nowadays, a college can accommodate one thousand students in one school year. These one thousand students are divided into twenty classes. Six teachers are assigned to teach every four classes. Li Xiang raised his eyebrows. "In this way, thirty teachers are assigned to one school year. The entire junior college has six school years, which means one hundred and eighty teachers are needed."

"In addition to the primary school, there will be an intermediate school and a senior school in the future. These two schools will also take six academic years to complete. This means that we will need another 180 teachers. Not counting the leadership and other daily work staff, the entire school team will need 360 teachers alone."

"Now the Tang Dynasty has a total of 15 prefectures, 44 states, and 215 counties. According to your calculation, Aye, let's not talk about the state capitals, but only the county seats. 215 counties are 215 colleges, which means a total of 77,400 teachers are needed. Let's not talk about the training of these teachers. Just talking about the salary of these 70,000 teachers, assuming five strings of cash per person per month, it will add up to 387,000 strings of cash per month. If calculated over a year, this is more than 4 million strings of cash. Aye, do you think the Tang Dynasty can afford the salary of these teachers?"

After hearing what Li Xiang said, Li Chengqian's eyes started to get red.

"So... my proposal is not acceptable? Now the annual income of the Tang Dynasty is about 50 to 60 million strings of cash. If we use a part of it to support these teachers, I think it is not impossible, right?" Li Chengqian still wanted to struggle.

"Then the question is, building a school also requires money, and printing textbooks, etc., all of which require money." Li Xiang spread his hands and said, "So where do we get this money from?"

Li Chengqian took a deep breath. He felt that what Li Xiang said was right.

But Li Chengqian found it emotionally difficult to accept such a direct rejection.

Ah, it feels so uncomfortable. I was directly confronted by my older brother.

I feel so sad and depressed. I am here and I am in a happy mood today. Why are you saying such things?

Not only Li Chengqian fell into deep thought, but everyone present was shocked by such an astronomical figure.

Although everyone has a fortune of several million strings of coins, to spend several million strings of coins a year... no one can sustain it.

Li Mingda glanced at Li Chengqian who was lost in thought, and reached out to quietly squeeze Li Xiang's hand.

"What's wrong, aunt?" Li Xiang asked in a low voice, lowering his body.

"You little elephant, can't you use more euphemistic words to say it?" Li Mingda said in a low voice, "Or you can talk to your father alone in the evening when everyone has left. It's not right for a minister or a son to embarrass him in front of so many people now."

(End of this chapter)