kvmb Chapter 109 What kind of artifact is the "Advanced Talisman"?
Chapter 109 What kind of artifact is the "Advanced Talisman"?
The atmosphere inside the study in the Qian Yuan Hall was unusually quiet.
Li Zhi sat behind his desk, intently flipping through stacks of memorials, completely absorbed in his reading, seemingly unaware of the figure that often "disappeared" beside him.
Wu Xiaosi stood to the side, holding a teacup in his hand, or sneaking a few candied fruits, his eyes occasionally darting back and forth between Li Zhi and the memorials.
Although she didn't say anything, her expression revealed a sense of helplessness, as if she had been "summoned to chat."
Zi'an, who was secretly observing from the side, couldn't help but laugh:
"Oh my, the Emperor's little schemes are really something. As long as he's free, he immediately 'summons' Consort Zhao to keep him company. He can't get enough of spoiling her every day! Haha, he's clearly a 'busy man,' but he always finds some refined gentlemen, like me, Zian, to keep him company and chat."
Li Zhi flipped through the memorials without looking up: "Zi'an, how about it? Can you give me some advice on these memorials? You'd better take this seriously, or I'll have to deduct points."
Zi'an, whose name was called out, smiled helplessly, her eyes darting around as she prepared herself:
"Oh, Your Majesty, you are too kind. I don't have any good suggestions, but I can suggest that you drink more tea and eat some dried fruit. With so much work pressure, it's good to know how to relax so you can have a better mood."
Wu Xiaosi quietly leaned closer: "Haha, you're really good at talking. Brother Zian, look, even the Emperor has started asking you to point out mistakes in the memorials. You're really on the path to becoming a 'Royal Tea Master'!"
Zi'an chuckled and walked to Li Zhi's side with a teacup in hand: "Your Majesty, if you keep flipping through the memorials like this, your back will become stiff. You should get up and move around more."
Wu Xiaosi chimed in, "That's right, Your Majesty, you need to relax a bit, lest you damage your lumbar spine. Nobody in the palace knows anything about rehabilitation training!"
Li Zhi sighed helplessly: "You little brain, what don't you understand? Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go to that gym you set up later. I have nothing to do today, so let me continue looking through the memorials. You two can chat casually over there."
“Oh, Your Majesty, look at this situation. We should also consider whether we should put the position of ‘Censor’ back into use. Back then, Emperor Taizong of Tang promoted Gao Jifu to Censor. He was not afraid of those powerful people and dared to pick out and punish those officials who made mistakes one by one.”
Li Zhi (looking up, a hint of provocative smile in his eyes, his gaze somewhat sharp):
"Oh? Are you saying I'm not enjoying my job enough? How about I arrange a 'censor' position for you too? To specifically target those who don't obey? I'm just afraid you won't do a good job! Then we'll have to work together to 'eliminate the unworthy'!"
Wu Xiaosi (chuckles softly, his eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly showing some interest):
"Right, six points. Great! Let's make a 'Purple Shore Proposal' and see if your 'advanced talisman'-style 'policy' can stir up any waves. Tell me, list them out for me."
Zi'an (coughed, wiped the tea stains from the corner of his mouth, and prepared to begin his "lecture"):
“First, an upright official is like ‘the Big Dipper in the palace that will never fall’; you can keep him by your side and feel at ease.”
Li Zhi (nods, raising his eyebrows slightly, clearly agreeing):
"Hmm, not bad. An upright official is reassuring. Continue."
Zi'an (raising a finger, preparing to read the second one, continuing to mutter):
"Secondly, we must reduce the labor burden on the people! In our Great Tang Dynasty, we have more and more farmland and a huge number of workers building roads and bridges, but the people's pockets have not gotten any bigger. It's truly a case of 'a lifetime of hard work going to waste.' We must find a way to lighten their burden, otherwise they won't feel like they've 'earned anything' even if they work hard."
Li Zhi (smiled, seemingly lost in thought):
"That is indeed a problem. If the people have less of a burden, our regime can be more stable. Continue."
Zi'an (pointing at the ceiling with his index finger, looking quite smug):
"Thirdly, we must control the extravagance of princesses and princes! Look at them now, those princesses demand banquets and jewels all day long, and the princes are endlessly indulging in eating, drinking, and merrymaking. Do you think this is acceptable? If this continues, who will dare to associate with us?"
Li Zhi (suddenly widens his eyes and waves his hand exaggeratedly):
"This is a wake-up call. Okay, keep going!"
Zi'an (nodding vigorously, steadily):
"The fourth point is to improve the treatment of local officials. We can't always 'fleece' the local officials who are fighting on the front lines. We need to let them feel some benefits so that we can motivate them to work more efficiently."
Wu Xiaosi seemed to be deep in thought, and began to interject:
"Although local security also needs to be controlled by local officials, it doesn't actually need to. As long as they hear that it's within the system, even if they know the pay isn't high, they'll still be motivated!"
Zian (confidently entering "high-level support" mode):
"Fifthly, the younger brothers must have authority in front of the princes! Sigh, I saw this problem a long time ago. Aren't the younger brothers in front of the crown prince just for show? They need to know that these 'princes' are not to be looked down upon."
Li Zhi (chuckles and puts down his teacup):
“Yes, we need to let these imperial brothers know that the ‘rules of seniority’ in our Li family are not to be taken lightly.”
Zi An (chuckled, proudly rolling up his sleeves):
"Finally, our Tang Dynasty has such a large population, yet in some places, people can't even get a bowl of hot soup. We need to know about the people's difficulties as soon as possible to prevent a situation where 'public resentment boils over'!"
Li Zhi (nodding approvingly, his eyes gleaming with admiration):
"Well said, this is the foundation of long-term stability! Zian, your 'plagiarized version of Zian's Six Articles' truly lives up to its name."
"Seeing how talented you are, I'll let you try being a 'Censor-in-Chief.' Maybe you can 'sweep away the dust in the palace' for me!"
A gust of wind began to rise outside the palace, as if a new storm was quietly brewing within its walls.
Li Zhi sat on the rosewood dragon throne, his brows furrowed, his gaze distant, as if scrutinizing a chaotic situation.
He was struggling intensely with his conscience, contemplating a choice that was crucial to the future of the Tang Dynasty.
The struggle between Empress Wang and Consort Wu was like two torrents constantly colliding, and the death of Princess Anding was an undercurrent in this struggle.
In this chaotic situation, Li Zhi did not choose to avoid it. He knew that if Empress Wang continued to hold power, the future of the Tang Dynasty would face even more complex and crisis-ridden challenges.
After his rebirth, he experienced too many changes and witnessed countless failures and betrayals. There was only one choice that could allow him to regain control of the situation—to depose Empress Wang and choose Consort Wu.
Li Zhi was filled with regret and self-blame, because he had once doted on Empress Wang. However, he also knew that sometimes he had to make cruel decisions.
In this timeline, Consort Wu is Wu Xiaosi, and in her previous life, she was his younger sister, Princess Jinyang.
Her wisdom and decisiveness gave him a glimmer of hope for the future. She was not only an emperor's concubine, but also his most trusted ally in the political storm.
Wu Zhaoyi's memories of her past life have not been completely erased.
Every time she stood before Li Zhi, she was acutely aware of the multiple identities and responsibilities she carried.
She was once Princess Jinyang, and had conspired with her brother Zhinu on countless life-or-death schemes. How could she not be familiar with the strategy of a princess faking her death? However, despite her expertise in using political maneuvering to strike at her opponents, she still could not accept the historical record of strangling her own daughter with her own hands.
Wu Xiaosi knew that history could not be changed, and the fact that she personally strangled Princess Anding, as recorded in the history books, was true.
But she knew in her heart that it was nothing more than a carefully planned conspiracy.
Even if she were to sacrifice someone to set up a scheme, it would never be her own biological daughter.