"This year you should be prepared to make the palace lively."
In the evening, Li Po said to his wife while eating rice.
Li Bi was slightly surprised and asked: "What? What's the difference between this year and last year? Doesn't my husband say every year, just follow the rules?"
Li Podao: "This year is indeed different, haven't you felt it yet? The military and political affairs are both stable, not to mention the frequent reports of good news, and there are gains in all directions.
If it extends to the capital city of Chang'an, then something must be done.
If I am neither sad nor happy, my ministers will definitely not say good things about me behind my back, so why not be more extravagant to show that the prosperous age is coming...
Those people are smart when they watch the wind and look at the situation. The human heart is something that cannot be seen or touched, but it must be experienced.
This year they advised me to build palaces and royal tombs, and I also want to see what they have to say next year."
Li Bi thought about it and felt that it made sense, but the words sounded awkward, so she smiled and said, "Husband, you don't need to worry about this, right? I think it's good to just let nature take its course.
Along the way, we are not people who are greedy for pleasure. Even if we cannot show frugality and set an example like Emperor Wen and his wife, we will never be wanton and indulgent.
Li Po nodded in agreement and sighed: "Yes, what you said makes perfect sense. The human heart cannot be tested at will. Even if it is tested, it will definitely make people extremely disappointed.
Well, then I have to live a good life this year. I have done a lot of great things this year. I can’t see much of it now, but I will definitely be praised by others in the future.
I'm in a good mood, can't I have some fun?"
These words were a bit childish, and Li Bi couldn't help but laugh, "My husband is in a good mood, so naturally everyone should celebrate it, but I would like to ask, what big event can make my husband so happy?"
The imperial examination and talent selection should be considered one thing, right? I can't guess the other ones... He's artifacts? Destroy the Japanese country and subjugate Silla?"
Li Bi did the math and realized that he had done a lot of great things this year. No wonder he was so happy...
Li Po laughed loudly, "You've already said it, what else do you want me to say?"
In fact, in his mind, what his wife said was not accurate.
There is no need to mention the imperial examination and talent selection, which is destined to be a great cause that can affect the ages.
............
He's Works is still just a book in the eyes of many people, but it was written by He Chou, Duke of Pi State, so it was officially recognized by the imperial court and vigorously promoted.
But in Li Po's view, this will definitely be the beginning of a change, and its role is no less than that of selecting talents through the imperial examination. As he said himself, nothing can be seen now. Ten or twenty years later, people will look back at the roots.
When you trace the origin, you will find that everything began in the fifth year of Yuanzhen of the Tang Dynasty.
This forward-looking feeling is very wonderful, and it is natural to celebrate it.
What kind of changes can help the country get rid of its ruts and take on a new look? The first one to bear the brunt is education.
He has no ambition to enlighten the people's wisdom, because that is not realistic.
In today's environment, it is difficult to fundamentally reverse the situation where it is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son. You make the farmers work hard for a year and have nothing to eat, but you send your children to study instead?
The cost will definitely kill people...
Even when the imperial examination was at its peak, there were still many people who lived in poverty for ten years and lived in poverty, let alone now.
In this regard, there is actually not much that can be done.
For example, we can reduce the cost of reading and find ways to use materials such as pens, inks, paper, and inkstones. Improvements in printing technology will also help with this.
All these things have been achieved this year, but if we want to completely break the old pattern, these are far from enough.
Therefore, the role of He's artifacts is not to spread knowledge widely, but to innovate the education system.
In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu used Dong Zhongshu's strategy to depose hundreds of schools of thought and only respect Confucianism. What changed was that people respected Lao Tzu and ruled by doing nothing, and he made great efforts to educate scholars.
The aristocratic class accepted Confucius' thoughts and guided people's behavior with benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom and trust.
This idea of governing the country continued from the Han Dynasty, with some twists and turns, and was consolidated to a certain extent in the pre-Sui Dynasty.
People in the literary world are often called Confucian scholars, which is a concrete manifestation of this.
Li Po now wanted to imitate Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and carry out another innovation in education, but he had actually made enough preparations.
He does not want to completely abandon Confucianism and arm people's minds with science, engineering and materialist ideas. He is not that arrogant.
He just wants to build an effective education system and form a fixed model. Even if it is not as hierarchical as it was later, it must be done to a certain extent to make people aware of the superiority of this education model.
People who come out of this kind of education system cannot just come out and show off with a copy of the Analects of Confucius. Those who are taught can only be officials, build good interpersonal relationships, and talk about benevolence, righteousness, and morality. That would be too boring.
This is also the most criticized point of Confucianism by later generations, so a group of people always have to appear to promote the development of social productivity. He's work came into being at the right time, which provided a theoretical basis for this.
It still seems too weak now, but He's work was first, and then there will be people who will follow him, and coupled with a well-established education system, giving him twenty years will be enough to reverse the situation of Confucian dominance.
............
In addition, the destruction of the Japanese country this year is also worthy of celebration. No matter whether hundreds or thousands of years later, it will return to the old ways, Li Po destroyed the Japanese country anyway.
After beating Goguryeo, we can use the Japanese islands as a springboard to explore the size of the Pacific Ocean. This is much easier than sending people to fight all the way to Europe.
The Age of Discovery in the Tang Dynasty is about to come. Do you think he is happy or not?
............
In addition, he also made some small inventions, which have achieved some results this year.
The basic reading material of Shushu has also taken shape due to his efforts and pains to dig out the memories deep in his mind.
In addition, he can also compile some advanced readings on plane geometry, solid geometry, etc., and test them on his own children first.
He can also deal with physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, etc., at least let people know why an apple hits the head, right? Well, that is indeed a bit profound.
In the later education system, these were all indispensable elements. They were divided into categories and sought specialization rather than perfection. What they opened was the restriction of people's thoughts by religion, and Confucianism was one of them.
Moreover, most of these were actually not invented by him. The predecessors had already discussed them, but later great Confucian scholars dismissed them.
For example, in the past two years, he has promoted Arabic numerals. Not only has Li Yuan memorized the nine-nine multiplication table catchy, but the students in the academy have also begun to wander in the ocean of numbers.