Chapter 343 Li Yin Returns to the Court
As the dean of the primary school department of the Tang Royal Academy, Li Shimin must attend the graduation ceremony.

Although he resigned from the Military Academy, he remained as the Dean of the College of Arts.

Sometimes, he would bring people to stay in the academy for a while, and he also had a very elegant small villa in the academy.

Although it is not big, it has enough artistic conception.

When it comes to Lao Li’s position, luxury or not is no longer important; what matters is the style.

Li Xiang also specially selected a suitable song from the music library as the college's graduation song.

However, the lyrics still need to be modified appropriately.

As the day of graduation was approaching, Li Shimin sent someone to the Eastern Palace to find him without Li Xiang having to say anything.

As a good and obedient child, Li Xiang naturally wanted to share his grandfather's worries.

After chatting with Li Xiang for a few words, Old Li felt relieved and let Li Xiang hold the graduation ceremony.

Of course, after graduation, these students still have to go to junior high school.

July 1st was the graduation date set by Li Xiang.

There are also exams when you graduate. Students are divided into classes based on their grades, and also into liberal arts and science based on their preferences.

To be honest, students these days are more likely to want to study liberal arts rather than science.

The reason is very simple. After all, people with liberal arts degrees can become officials, but people with science degrees... to put it bluntly, what else can they do except being craftsmen?
After all, people of this era also have limitations.

So what is different from later generations is that there are twelve liberal arts classes and only eight science classes, and they are divided according to test scores.

The students who were assigned to the liberal arts class naturally celebrated, while the students in the science class were the opposite.

In this regard, Li Xiang did not intend to say anything high-sounding or formal. It was normal to learn something utilitarian.

You can't ask everyone to study for lofty goals, which is unrealistic. More people should study for their own future.

Just like being a boss, you can’t promise your employees that you want them to work for their ideals. That’s bullshit. I don’t work for money, so why the hell are you supporting me?
The auditorium was built large enough to accommodate nearly 10,000 people.

The graduation ceremony began with a speech by the dean Li Shimin. After seeing the emperor appear, everyone couldn't help but cheer.

It's not necessary to kneel down. This is not the Ming and Qing dynasties, and there are not so many strict rules.

Li Shimin waved to the crowd frequently, these students were all his talents.

Even though he had retreated to the second line, he was still the dean of the Royal Academy after all, so naturally he treated these students as his own children.

Then came the speech of the current emperor Li Chengqian. Unlike the emperor, he was also the vice president, the second in line behind old Li.

However, Li Chengqian did not have the bad habit of giving long speeches. He just told the students to study hard and not let down the parents who had sent them to the academy.

It's just polite talk, but it's not long, so everyone likes to listen to it.

Of course, no one dared to bring it up even if they didn't like it.

After the speeches, the students sang the Graduation Song together.

After Li Xiang handed out the music scores, the students practiced for more than three months, so their spare time was quite tight.

But everyone is quite happy about this, after all, it doesn't matter what happens if you don't study.

Li Xiang stood in front of the students, and Pei Xueqing accompanied everyone at the piano.

He waved his hands.

"Get ready!"

"Students, everyone, stand up and take responsibility for the fate of the world..."

Li Xiang was having a great time. He waved his arms and gave instructions to his classmates.

The students’ smiling faces were filled with the joy of youth and their anticipation of entering junior high school after graduation.

"... huge waves, huge waves, growing and growing."

"Students, students, quickly show your strength and take the responsibility for the rise and fall of the world!"

After the song was over, the whole auditorium burst into applause.

It also means that the first batch of students have officially graduated from the primary school and entered the academic journey of junior high school.

During these six years, Li Xiang also trained a group of junior and senior high school teachers. After all, adults learn faster than children, so for subjects like Chinese, it would be a good idea to find scholars. As for mathematics, the basic mathematics in ancient my country was still very strong, but it was more practical rather than theoretical, and lacked strong guidance.

There are only these two main subjects. The most powerful country in the world now is the Tang Dynasty. It is not necessary to arrange another language as the third main subject, right?

However, other languages ​​also need to be learned. Li Xiang also hired several scholars who had been to the Eastern Roman Empire to teach Greek and Latin at the college.

During this era, the Eastern Roman Empire did not order the abolition of the dual-track system, and there has never been any official document saying that Flavius ​​Heraclius abandoned Latin and turned to complete Hellenization. After all, there has never been any official announcement claiming that the Roman emperor changed their language.

At least Heraclius did not give up his title of Roman emperor, and still called himself Basileus, Autokrator, and sometimes Sebastos.

Basileus, Greek for Βασιλε, comes from the ancient Greek title for kings. Emperor Heraclius used this title to replace the Roman title of Augustus (οΣεβασ), and the two titles were used interchangeably, but Βασιλε became the official title of the Byzantine emperor.

Autokrator, in Greek, is Αυτοκρτωρ, which is a direct translation of the Greek title for the Roman emperor, "Imperator", emphasizing the meaning of "military leader", which has the same meaning as the Roman "imperator".

Sebastos, Greek for σεβαστο, comes from a direct translation of "Augustus".

However, since Alexios I, sebastos has gradually evolved into a low-level title, which can be translated as "distinguished" or "noble". In the early days, it was used to confer the title on beloved sons or favorite brothers who were heirs. Later, it was widely conferred on royal relatives and foreign leaders. For example, Alexios I once conferred the title of Sebastos on the Doge of Venice and the Sultan of the Sultanate of Rum.

In fact, Roman civilization has been Hellenized since its birth, or it can be said that Roman civilization was originally a part of the Hellenistic civilizations.

Latin and Greek are close relatives, and the Romans regarded knowing Greek as a sign of culture from the beginning. Official documents in Rome have long been bilingual, with one version in Latin and one in Greek.

Since Augustus, most of the Roman leaders or emperors could speak Greek fluently.

In the areas close to Greece, the main language has always been Greek.

As for the so-called "Hellenization of the Eastern Roman Empire", in fact, it is meaningless to talk about how the degree of Hellenization was deepened. The Eastern Empire has always been dominated by Greek culture. This has been the case long before the division of Rome and even before the Romans conquered these areas, and it has always been so.

It would be more accurate to say that the Eastern Roman Empire was Romanized Greece rather than Hellenized.

The Tang Dynasty was tolerant and inclusive, and accepted all Greek and Roman cultures.

However, foreign language courses are electives. Students must choose one of Greek, Latin, Persian and other languages ​​as an elective, which can also be said to be a required elective course.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy means you can fight a hundred battles without danger. If you want to conquer the world, you must understand other people's culture. But you must not hold on to the beautiful dream of the Celestial Empire and close your country to the outside world like the Qing Dynasty did.

However, what no one expected was that a bombshell piece of news came from outside.

Just as the graduation ceremony was ending, Di Renjie suddenly walked in hurriedly from outside.

"Huaiying?" Li Xiang saw Di Renjie gasping for breath, so he reached out and stroked his back to calm him down. "Tell me slowly, there's no rush."

Di Renjie paused for a moment and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, the King of Shu is back and is now at Dengzhou Port! This news has just been delivered in an expedited manner over a distance of 800 miles!"

Upon hearing the news, Li Shimin turned around suddenly.

"What did you say? Who's back?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, it's the King of Shu." Di Renjie said quickly, "According to the urgent message from 800 Li, three days ago, on June 27, His Royal Highness the King of Shu returned from the sea with his men, and brought more than ten ships of various goods. He is now on the canal, and is heading to Chang'an non-stop!"

"The Sixth Brother is back?!" Li Shimin was overjoyed. He looked at Li Chengqian and his two brothers, then at Li Tai, and said with a smile, "It's good that the Sixth Brother is back. I heard magpies calling outside these days. I guess it's the Sixth Brother who is coming back. Hahahaha... The Sixth Brother has been gone for five or six years. I really miss him!"

Li Xiang originally wanted to say that Li Yin had only been at sea for four years, but when he thought about it, he realized that his sixth uncle had stayed in Japan for a long time.

"Your Majesty, Your Highness." Di Renjie said to them, "The express mail of 800 li said that His Highness the King of Shu brought back many crops that no one has ever seen, including the potatoes and corn that Your Highness has been longing for. They look very delicious. By the way, His Highness the King of Shu also said that he brought back some cocoa, saying that Your Highness has never seen it, so the King of Shu brought it back for you to taste. He said that this thing is very delicious when ground into powder and mixed with water. It has a bitter and fragrant taste and is refreshing..."

"But?" Li Xiang thought about it and suddenly an idea came to his mind.

Oh shit, could it be that Uncle Six brought back the cocoa from the chocolate?

"This Old Sixth Brother, he didn't even say he missed me in his letters." Li Shimin said rather sourly, "Haha, but I never thought that Old Sixth Brother, who I once said was worse than an animal and as hard as stone, could actually make such a great contribution!"

"Yes, grandson did not expect that this Sixth Uncle would actually do such a great thing." Li Xiang also said happily: "It seems that Sixth Uncle has found Yin Dian, which is really cause for celebration."

"Is it really the Yin Dian you mentioned?" Li Shimin was even happier. Since his eldest grandson said it was Yin Dian, there was no doubt about it.

"Of course, there are no other places with potatoes and corn except Yindian." Li Xiang said with a smile: "It seems that Uncle Six should have brought back a lot of good things this time - Aye, you must reward Uncle Six well!"

"Don't worry." Li Chengqian gave Li Xiang an OK gesture: "Sixth Brother has made such great contributions to our Tang Dynasty, how can I be stingy with rewards? Don't worry."

The days that followed were more difficult to endure.

It was fine when there was no news about Li Yin before, but when they heard that there was news about Li Yin, and that he had returned from Yindian, everyone began to look forward to it, counting the days until Li Yin would return.

Li Mingda also knew that Li Xiang asked Pei Xueqing to play accompaniment, and was angry with Li Xiang for the whole afternoon - but after Li Xiang gave her a candied duck, Li Mingda's anger subsided.

Li Xiaoxiang had already figured out Li Mingda's temperament, and with a little thinking, he was able to calm down the angry Li Mingda.

When he was in the Eastern Palace, Li Xiang couldn't calm down.

Almost an hour later, Li Shimin sent someone to ask Li Xiang to estimate when Li Yin would return.

After doing this for two days in a row, Li Xiang was really fed up. He simply took Li Wushuang with him, and as soon as the sun rose, he would go into the Lizheng Hall.

This way, Li Shimin wouldn't have to keep urging people to come and ask.

"You are talking about Old Six, ah..." Li Shimin paced back and forth, still muttering Old Six.

"Aunt, don't you dislike Sixth Uncle the most?" Li Xiang yawned and asked, "Why do you miss Sixth Uncle so much now that he's coming back?"

"That was in the past!" Li Shimin glared at Li Xiang. "Now that Lao Liu's bad habits have changed, how can I not like this bastard?"

"That's true." Li Xiang spread his hands and said, "In fact, Uncle Six is ​​quite likable. He's a simple man with no ulterior motives."

"Heh." Li Shimin pinched his beard.

"How is Grandpa's health lately?" Li Xiang asked again, "Is your high blood pressure still a problem?"

"I haven't had it for a long time." Li Shimin laughed. "Since I stopped being the emperor and stopped thinking about government affairs, I feel lighter and healthier. I even walk with a breeze. Don't you think that as an emperor, I have to sit behind a desk for five or six hours every day to handle government affairs. I am so overwhelmed. How can I not have the disease?"

"That's true." Li Xiang nodded in agreement: "So let me, Aye, suffer for a few more years."

"Your father..." Li Shimin thought for a moment and smiled: "Forget it, I think your father is a good emperor. At least he doesn't have any ambitions, which is enough."

"Yes, I am not afraid of my children being insignificant, but I am afraid that they want to do something big." Li Xiang agreed even more.

In later generations, he had seen many children who were ambitious and wanted to do something big. Take his neighbor's child for example. He started a business for four years, invested several million, and lost everything. On the other hand, the one who took the civil service exam at home only asked his parents for a down payment and a betrothal gift. He was a little disappointed, but he didn't lose a lot of money.

Thinking of this, Li Xiang couldn't help but worry.

What if his son doesn't have that ability in the future and still wants to achieve some great achievements? What should he do?

After accompanying Li Shimin in the Lizheng Hall for a few days of suffering, he finally received a message from Li Yin.

The letter said that they had arrived in Luoyang and were heading towards Chang'an, and were expected to officially arrive in Chang'an on July 8.

After hearing that Li Yin was about to arrive, Li Shimin immediately stated that he would use the largest scale to welcome Li Yin back to Chang'an!
(End of this chapter)