The academy’s great hall could accommodate at least a thousand people. The semicircular dome and echo-wall style wall design meant that throughout the entire hall, there was no need to speak loudly—even those in the last row could hear everything clearly.

No one knew what the Emperor would discuss, not even Zhangsun. Those coming to attend the lecture arrived in bustling crowds. Nearly all the important figures from the court turned out en masse. But Master Yuanzhang, who gave face to no one, insisted on allocating six hundred seats to students. These six hundred seats were distributed according to the population ratios of the three academies. This left the Imperial Academy and Hongwen Hall with nothing to complain about.

Zhangsun Wuji sat in the very center of the first row, eyes closed in meditation. Actually, he hadn’t wanted to come. It was just the Emperor’s speech—there was no need to specifically set aside government affairs to listen. However, Chu Suiliang had repeatedly insisted that Zhangsun Wuji must attend. He had a very bad feeling about the Emperor’s lecture this time, always sensing that the corners of the Emperor’s mouth seemed to carry threads of mockery.

He was the supreme sovereign of the realm. No matter what he said, everyone in the world could only listen attentively. A full time period of lecturing would absolutely require a large amount of words to sustain it. As the saying goes, “the more one speaks, the more mistakes one makes.” If one wanted to learn his intentions from the mouth of an Emperor who was usually as sparing with words as gold, this should be the best opportunity.

Yun Ye leaned against a pillar watching the bustling crowd. When he saw Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin arrive together, he couldn’t help wanting to laugh. Coming to attend the lecture was fine, but seeing the two of them dressed in scholars’ robes looked awkward no matter how you looked at it. It was freezing cold outside, yet they held folding fans in their hands—who knew what they intended to do with them.

Everyone walked around them in a wide arc. Zhangsun Wuji endured for a long time before refraining from verbally reprimanding the two of them. He now controlled the Chancellery and had the authority to supervise the dress of all officials.

“We brothers should sit closer together. When His Majesty reaches the wonderful parts later, we’ll be able to hear clearly and understand. The remaining days depend on His Majesty’s speech to keep us alive—we must listen carefully.”

After Yuchi Gong finished this sentence, he picked up Chu Suiliang and placed him in the back, then straddled over a chair and sat down securely beside Zhangsun Wuji. Just as Chu Suiliang was about to shout a rebuke, he saw students behind beginning to file in, so he could only sit down with his face red and neck thick. Cheng Yaojin chuckled and said to Chu Suiliang, “Black Charcoal is just a simpleton who’s dissatisfied with everyone. He nearly blinded Li Daozong’s eye last time—you know this. Just endure it, endure it and it’ll be fine.”

Chu Suiliang snorted and turned his head away, glaring resentfully at Yuchi Gong’s back.

Zhangsun Wuji sighed and said to Yuchi Gong, “If you wanted to come to the front, couldn’t you speak properly instead of physically lifting people out? We’re all getting on in years—wouldn’t it be better to leave others some face?”

Yuchi Gong grinned, showing his big white teeth, and said with a laugh, “Next time, next time I’ll definitely reason with them.”

Hearing Yuchi Gong’s shameless words, Zhangsun Wuji closed his eyes again to rest. Today’s atmosphere here made him very uneasy. He always felt that something was going to happen today.

Two academy clerks in blue robes and small caps carried out a huge sign. This was a movable blackboard with white chalk writing on it that read: “Great Tang Emperor His Majesty Li Shimin Special Lecture.”

Zhangsun Wuji was furious. To directly speak the Emperor’s personal name was a grave disrespect! He had just stood up when Du Ruhui, sitting beside him, grabbed him and said, “Don’t get angry. Look carefully—that line of characters was written by His Majesty’s own hand. No one has violated the rules.”

After Zhangsun Wuji examined it carefully twice, he confirmed that this line of characters did indeed come from the Emperor’s own hand. He couldn’t help but ask Du Ruhui irritably, “What is His Majesty trying to do?”

“Lecture! Nothing is going to happen. His Majesty just wants to give a class.”

Du Ruhui chuckled and helped Zhangsun Wuji sit down. He was older than Zhangsun Wuji, but in terms of physical constitution, he was much stronger.

After Zhangsun Wuji sat down, he thanked Du Ruhui and said with emotion, “Since Minister Du handed over his duties, I’ve watched you become more radiant—it’s truly enviable.”

“You and I have both wallowed in the court for many years. How could you not know that the court is a flesh-grinding mill? No matter how robust your body, once you throw yourself into the court, within a few years, your vital essence and spirit will be worn away bit by bit by that grinding wheel. This old man values his life, so I escaped from there early. Fuji! How has your body deteriorated to this state? I remember when you were a fierce general capable of both civil and military feats! When campaigning against Xue Ju, you went three days and three nights without sleep and didn’t become this weakened.”

Zhangsun Wuji smiled bitterly and waved his hand at Du Ruhui, saying, “A good man doesn’t speak of past bravery. This old man has dedicated his life to the Great Tang. Looking at it now, I’m truly working myself to exhaustion until death…”

Just as the two were conversing in low voices, Yun Ye struck the golden bell on the desk. With one ringing tone, the entire great hall immediately fell silent as a graveyard.

Yun Ye clasped his fists in salute and said, “Today is the time when His Majesty personally lectures to the people of the realm. Please allow this Yun to serve as a minor moderator here and explain the classroom discipline during His Majesty’s lecture.”

“Throughout the lecture, His Majesty will only speak and will not accept questions. During the lecture, there must be no whispering to each other, no random movement—you must maintain the quiet of the classroom.”

“The above are the classroom rules. As for what His Majesty will discuss—unknown! How long His Majesty plans to lecture—unknown! Whether His Majesty will ask questions—unknown! Now let us welcome Great Tang Emperor His Majesty Li Shimin.”

As everyone rose to their feet, Li’er walked out from backstage with a smile. The Emperor’s appearance today was very casual—he wore only a set of the academy’s blue robes, held a stack of papers in his hands, was bareheaded with only a white jade hairpin inserted in his topknot. He casually nodded to those below. His scholarly attire still couldn’t conceal Li’er’s air of confident self-assurance.

After everyone was seated, Yun Ye wanted to continue introducing Li’er’s life story and his brilliant military achievements, but unexpectedly Li’er walked behind the desk, pushed Yun Ye aside with a smile, and said to everyone, “I’ll do it myself!”

After Yun Ye bowed to the Emperor, he withdrew and walked straight down to the stage, quietly sitting behind Zhangsun, who was preparing to listen to her husband’s lecture. Together with Li Chengqian and Li Tai, they waited for the Emperor to begin speaking.

Li’er didn’t speak for a long time, but instead swept his gaze repeatedly over the dense crowd of heads below. Only when he felt satisfied did he open his mouth and say, “I am Li Shimin. Li Shimin is I—your sovereign, your elder brother and father, your junior, your son.”

“What I will discuss today is not some ancient regulations, nor any insights on governing the state. I only wish to use this place to personally tell my subjects about a true emperor, a true Li Shimin. Throughout all eternity, I am supreme! Since I am the Emperor, then I’ll speak of the Emperor’s affairs, and all of this must begin with the Xuanwu Gate.”

“The Xuanwu Gate, the Xuanwu Gate! In the eyes of the world, it’s merely one of the many city gates of the capital Chang’an. In my eyes, it is the entire world!”

“On the fourth day of the sixth month in the ninth year of Wude, the grievances between myself, Jiancheng, and Yuanji finally ended in a bloody manner. There are countless speculations among the populace. Haha, I will tell you—you guessed correctly. They died in that upheaval.”

“Right up until his death, Jiancheng never understood that the greatest difference between him and me was that when I don’t strike, I don’t strike at all, but once I do strike, I have only one target—the most critical target, the target that will deal a fatal blow to the enemy. Single-minded focus, nothing more. This has been my infallible method for achieving victory and defeating enemies throughout my travels across the realm for over a decade.”

“No! Your Majesty, these were all done by this humble subject, as well as Yuchi Gong, Qin Qiong, Niu Jinda, Yin Kaishan and others—they have nothing to do with Your Majesty. The historical records have already reached a conclusion. This matter must not be mentioned again!”

Zhangsun Wuji’s shock had reached an indescribable level. In earlier years, these matters were things for which anyone who knew about them would be beheaded. How had they now become things that could be casually mentioned in public?

Li’er chuckled and pacified Zhangsun Wuji, asking him to sit down, then continued, “These matters are old scars from years past. Why do I still bring them up? The only reason is that beneath the scars there is still pus and blood. If the pus and blood cannot be squeezed out, this hidden injury on the body of our Great Tang will never heal.”

“Ever since Wang Bo sang that song ‘Song Against Pointless Death in Liaodong’ in the Changbai Mountains of Qi, the realm boiled over. The common people, already exhausted to the point of collapse by the labor service for the Grand Canal project, had to face endless campaigns to Liao. This was draining the pond to catch the fish!”

“Thus there arose countless rebel kings throughout the realm. Some occupied a single province, others occupied several counties. For a time, dragons rose together and the realm bustled with activity. If I had not emerged, who knows how many would have proclaimed themselves kings throughout the realm, how many would have died in difficulty.”

“The former Sui collapsed. After I carefully studied the former Sui’s governing successes and failures, I was horrified to discover that what truly could influence the great trends of the realm were the common people, and what could truly determine dynastic succession were also the common people. Therefore I said, ‘Water can carry a boat but can also overturn it.'”

“After fighting for many years, I was victorious in every battle. Even situations where a hundred cavalry broke through ten thousand didn’t give me difficulty. I boast of being a peerless famous general—no one objects, right?”

“But in the second year of Zhenguan, looking at the census registers and land records of the realm, I nearly wept tears of despair. For no other reason than after many years of warfare, the realm was already exhausted and unable to continue. Yet at this very time, Xie Li took advantage of our difficulties to strike, emptying the Great Tang’s treasury and making my realm teeter on the brink of collapse!”

“Speaking of it now, it’s simply a great joke. At that time, our Great Tang’s annual revenue was a mere one million six hundred thousand strings of cash. If placed in the present day, that would be only half a year’s tax revenue from Chang’an city. What could that pittance of money accomplish? There were still unquelled rebellions in Shuofang, unrest in the Hexi region, opposition to me everywhere. The great generals in court campaigned east and west without a single day of rest.”

“Fortunately, I endured through it. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui—they were all outstanding heroes of their time who, with meager annual revenues, maintained the difficult operation of Great Tang’s government. Speaking of that difficult period, the Empress didn’t even have a train for her skirts.”

“Don’t laugh—it truly was so. On an evening in the third year of Zhenguan, I had already retired for the night when at that very moment, a red-plumed urgent messenger arrived in Chang’an saying there was an urgent report from Longyou. At the time, I couldn’t understand what urgent matter could arise in Longyou. Could it be that Cheng Yaojin couldn’t even defeat a few rebellious Qiang…”