Li Yuanying ordered  for curfew to be lifted for a month and attracted much attention. People from neighboring counties and prefectures thought Tengzhou was lively, and they didn’t want to leave after visiting relatives, this gave merchants in Tengzhou some additional profit.

Everyone was busy in the first month and Yuanying didn’t ask people to start working. Only after the Lantern festival had passed did he ask for the commencement of the Academy.

He has a already marked out the land, drafted the regulations, and even had Yan Lide draw out the design. All that is left is to inspect from time to time and follow up on the construction progress.

As the first month of the year passes, Yuanying received a reprimand from Court which was about his land being too noisy and why did he lift curfer for a whole month. This greatly increased the difficulty of public security management in Tengzhou!

Yuanying occasionally received a reply from His Majesty but this kind of scolding imperial edict was a first for him. His Majesty is too much, why won’t he allow less curfew during festive period! Yuanying had been writing letters to Li Er every day. Now that something was delivered to his door, Yuanying was excited. He wrote to Li Er in a hurry, saying that he lifted the curfew to help raise the rate of marriages. This is a good opportunity to find a good partner!

He also shamelessly proclaimed that curfew is in place to prohibit illegal and criminal activities. He believed the people of Tengzhou will not do bad things. Let’s not stop at a month-long no curfew, he isn’t afraid to lift it forever!

In fact, he really had such thoughts. It’s dull to lock everyone at home as soon as the sun went down. It would be better if every day was as lively as the New Year, and people could make more money doing business! Who has the ability to be idle and spend money during the day? Surely people only have free time at night to spend with the family and drink a little. It’s not good to force people indoors on a good night!

Anyway, Yuanying wanted to lift the curfew so that everyone could play freely.

He wrote a letter passionately and finally complained that brother didn’t care about brotherhood. Every time he praised him, but brother only scolds him. Bad! He’s never writing to him again!

Finishing it in one go, Yuanying sent it to His Majesty by express horse. He stopped writting flattering letters that people find disgusting and took a stroll on the beach.

Wu Mei and the others had business to deal with so Yuanying looked for Gao Yang. She declined the invitation saying that she wanted to be a polo coach at the Women’s College and train a women’s polo team that would scare the neighboring counties! She is studying hard and will not fall behind. Everyone was busy with the preparations for the academy’s opening so she wanted to do something serious too!

Of course, this was just the reason Gao Yang gave . As for what she’s really thinking, Yuanying had no idea.

He didn’t care. With his group around, Gao Yang wouldn’t cause any trouble that couldn’t be resolved. Everyone was busy, so Yuanying looked for Yan Lide.

Yan Lide originally planned to leave after setting up the Academy. He didn’t even return home for the New Year and he’s feeling homesick.

“Since you miss your family, I’ll ask someone to pick them up.”

Could Yan Lide refuse?

No, so he could only smile bitterly and stay put. Hearing Yuanying’s plan of stroll by the beach, Yan Lide agreed happily and set off with him.

Although His Majesty did not give the entire Henan Road to Li Yuanying, he gave him a large coastal areas and allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Li Yuanying has always been the best at climbing up the ladder. He would create opportunities even when there were no opportunities. What more the Emperor personally made this arrangement for him!  

There’s 2 reasons for going to the seaside: First, Dai Ting would be back in a few days, and he wanted to see the treasures he’s bringing back and to find out if Goryeo would be attacked in Spring; second, since His Majesty gave him this coastal area, he had to make good use of it! Build a large wharf, a dock, start shipping, and train the naval division! Otherwise, wouldn’t Li Dejian and Du He follow him here in vain? He didn’t want people to sit on the bench idly.

The group walked and stopped along the whole way, and he led them to the Easternmost pier. Things has been arranged in advance and when they arrive, servants came out to greet them.  Yuanying asked his men to pay attention to the movements at sea while he and his group  sat down to enjoy fresh seafood.

The shrimp porridge fresh and smooth, and the sea fish plump and delicious. Yuanying ate happily. There were many benefits being so close to sea, at the very least he could eat fresh seafood any time.

Unexpectedly, when they were halfway eating someone came to report that there were ships coming, more than one. It looked like a whole fleet and  very impressive!

Yuanying immediately was done eating and led Yan Lide and others to the pier. He looked, and saw a fleet coming from a distance. The ships looked a little old and shabby, but they were numerous in numbers and looked impressive!

Naturally it was Dai Ting.

It took him great effort to secure so many ships, and it’s no easy feat to recruit so many people. Nonetheless Dai Ting had stayed back in Goryeo and Silla for more than a year so he had it all. The ships were loaded with goods from Goryeo, and some were things he exchanged using Goryeo grains with Silla.

Although Goryeo and Silla were both poor countries, the ginseng in their mountains were pretty good, so were the pearls on the beach.

Dai Ting brought back everything he liked, and also by the way stockpiled strategic materials for Silla specifically for Jin Shengman. Since Jin Shengman can inherit the throne, Dai Ting naturally had to help her.

It’s far better for Silla to have a ruler who is close to the Tang Dynasty than a ruler who wants to betray them! Now that Jin Shengman has accumulated some popularity, she will have more say after taking the throne and she will be able to seize power faster!

Dai Ting also told Jin Shengman about the civil unrest in Goryeo, asking her to join forces with trustworthy people to make the waters in Goryeo more muddy and take back some cities. Although the Tang Dynasty will later ask Goryeo to return them anyway, taking them back herself would improve her reputation!

Jin Shengman learned about these arrangements and had a deeper understanding of Li Yuanying and Dai Ting. When Yuanying was at the Imperial College, he loved to play and make trouble. Apart from studying, he didn’t have many serious moments. It was not until Dai Ting handed the supplies to her and told her about the operation that she realize that those around him were not simple people!

Jin Shengman was naturally grateful for their help.

Her cousin is in poor health and had no children. After coming home she often stayed by her side and has learn much. Her cousin naturally hoped that Shengman can inherit the throne and firmly grasp onto power and lead Silla into a better direction. Unfortunately, the more she understood, the more she realized that the throne was restricting her cousin in many ways!  

If she could do something, she will want to do it!

Dai Ting was indifferent to her gratitude, and quietly left after doing his job.

Thinking about the experiences, Dai Ting was not particularly calm, and is still somewhat indulged in the pleasure of forming alliances and commanding the world. But when he stood on the deck and saw someone standing on the shore waiting for him, his heart suddenly settled down.

They have returned to Tang.

Even if they could turn the tide in Goryeo and get a lot of wealth, it is not a place where they can rest  peacefully. And no matter how long they are away, Tang  is still their home and welcomes them back with open arms!

Dai Ting heard cheers from the people accompanying him.

The fleet entered the dock, and Dai Ting was the first to get off to pay respect to Li Yuanying.

Yuanying happily pulled him up and told him not to be polite. “What a coincidence! We just arrived and you’re back.” He looked at the fleet excitedly, “The people who went with you on this journey is not enough to sail so many ships. Did you bring back  more people from Goryeo and Silla?”

Dai Ting nodded.

If there isn’t enough people, he had to recruit more people locally. He has his standards for selecting people. They must not cause trouble for Li Yuanying, and if necessary, they can stir up trouble in Goryeo!

Dai Ting explained concisely: “They are homeless people, so I invited them and their family to Tang.”

A great job done.

It didn’t matter what these people are good at, it’s always good to have more numbers. He is happy to accept those who are willing to submit to Tang.

“Well done, they are homeless, so we will give them a place to settle down.” Yuanying instructed wirkers to help the group settle in and to take care of the goods on the ship. He then took Dai Ting to have a meal and chat in detail.

Yan Lide and others followed, listening to Yuanying and his aide talking about the situation in Goryeo.

Dai Ting glanced at the group but since Yuanying is not making a point to exclude them, he spoke about the general situation in Goryeo.

He actually did not do much, all he did was stir some trouble in Goryeo, help Silla to stock up grain, and take treasures from both sides at a low price. There were also people from the surrounding countries who wanted to fish in troubled waters, but he focused on stirring up trouble in Goryeo and ignored them.

In general, his effect were great and meets all expectations. Anyway, if the Court still wanted to fight Goryeo, Dai Ting might take a few cities without bloodshed and get some military merits!

When Yeon Gaesomun wrote his letter, he wanted to just pretend to obey, but given the current situation in Goryeo, he should soon be a true gentleman who keeps his word and fulfills his promises.

Yuanying agreed  that Dai Ting did a good job: “We Tang should guide people to be good this way! People should live up to thir promises!”

Yan Lide, Li Dejian and the rest of the group thought that they should let Yeon Gaesomun listen to this conversation, so that they could kill the fierce general without fighting!

The Emperor Li Er insisted on fighting Goryeo, because Yeon Gaesomun killed his king and seized power, a great act of rebellion. Last year, Xiangli Xuanjiang visited Goryeo to request that they withdraw troops from Silla, but was rejected. The Emperor was so angry that he wanted to personally attack and quarreled with Wei Zheng and ministers for several months.

Now that Li Yuanying has messed up Goryeo, he even shamelessly proclaim that he was guiding people to be good. H’s more shameless than Yeon Gaesomun!

Yuanying didn’t think his statement was wrong. He is just happy that Dai Ting is back and immediately forgot all about the harsh words he wrote to His Majesty before and quickly wrote a secret letter to him.

This time it’s really a secret letter. He wrote “I am personally writing to my brother, no one else is allowed to read it” on the seal, and send it to His Majesty hurriedly. Since Dai Ting brought back funds, and he is going to start construction on the seaport, so he had to say hello to His Majesty!

So just as soon as His Majesty finished reading a letter of declaring that he will “never write to his brother again”, he received a secret letter from Li Yuanying.

Li Tai and his entourage had  returned and Ma Zhou also mentioned that Dai Ting was staying in Goryeo and making small moves.

Li Er did not say much but promised Wei Zheng and others that he will wait and see. If Goryeo still wants to fight, Tang will teach them a lesson!

Yuanying wrote a secret letter to praise Dai Ting, saying that he is reliable and upright, and was a rare talent of this century! Our great Tang should also do more good things to guide people and teach the barbarians to keep their promises.

Even if it’s a barbarian land, it cannot be treated simply and harshly. You have to tell them what is right and what is wrong. Just like educating children, you have to make it clear and then beat them up, so that they can be convinced!

Even though Li Er felt that he had a legitimate reason, he was still silent after reading Li Yuanying’s letter.

So it seems that they are indeed guiding people to be good?

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Little Prince: Come, let’s have a small idiom class. Let’s review a few idioms. First, we must learn to gain without working, then we must be friendly and neighborly, and always remember to guide people to be good…