Chapter 24: A Meeting Within the Academy

Chapter 24: A Meeting Within the Academy

Finally, just as Li Tai was wondering if he should send someone to search for Du Chuke on the road to Mount Song, Du Chuke arrived at the Agricultural Academy. This brought a sense of relief to Li Tai; at least the man wasn't lost.

To Du Chuke’s surprise, no sooner had he settled in on his second day than Li Tai dragged him into a meeting.

When Du Chuke arrived at the room, Yan Qinli stood in for Li Tai, directing the various department heads to their respective seats. At each place sat a nameplate identifying the head of one of the six departments. Li Tai’s title was "Head of the Mountain," while Ma Zhou held the title of Acting Head of the Agricultural Department; beyond managing the daily operations and coordination of the six departments, he also oversaw agricultural affairs.

Du Chuke took his seat, where refreshments had been laid out for everyone.

Li Tai spoke first: "It is my great fortune, and a blessing for the Great Tang, that I have been able to gather such virtuous and talented individuals to teach at the Agricultural Academy I have founded. On behalf of the Academy, I express my gratitude for your arrival."

After Li Tai’s polite opening, Li Chunfeng and Lü Cai looked a bit bashful, while Yan Qinli, Du Chuke, and Liu Shenwei watched Li Tai with composed expressions. Ma Zhou, meanwhile, observed everyone’s reactions with a faint, enigmatic smile.

After a brief exchange of polite pleasantries to get acquainted, Li Tai laid out his plan:

"My goal in founding this Agricultural Academy is to ensure that no one in this world shall die of hunger or freeze to death. This is my original intent. Therefore, the students we cultivate here are not meant to become high-ranking officials, but rather masters of farming who are willing to toil in the fields. Today’s meeting is to share my vision with you all. If you have any questions, I will answer them to the best of my ability. I hope you can understand my ambition, and even more so, I hope you can lend me your strength!"

Li Tai was incredibly sincere in this moment. He had no intention of hiding his motives; this meeting was meant to unify their thinking and convey his will. He did not care what their true individual purposes might be, but as long as they were in this Agricultural Academy, they had to act according to his will.

Li Tai felt no need to be secretive. He was not plotting some devious scheme, but rather forming a political force of his own. Even if this force ultimately relied on shared interests to survive, it first had to be forged under the banner of his ideals. He believed that with his capabilities, he would never lack people driven by interest later, but to build his own political power, he had to possess a grand political vision that could bind people together. It could start as a slogan, but it could never be a loose pile of sand held together purely by profit. A group gathered by interest would inevitably dissolve when faced with greater profit, but a group gathered by a dream would, at the very least, cry out for "more pay" when faced with immense temptation. For Li Tai, that was enough.

He did not need them to be loyal and unyielding for his sake alone, nor did he ever expect people of this era to truly understand him. He only needed them to choose him over an equal offer because of his dream. And this was the first tenet of his political faction: that he represented the interests of the vast majority of farmers. Naturally, Li Tai wouldn't be foolish enough to say those exact words, but his actions had to be grounded in that premise.

"If that is the case, why not simply specialize in agriculture? Why establish departments for Literature, Mathematics, Medicine, Mohism, and Music?"

It was Yan Qinli who asked this, his voice carrying a hint of stern righteousness. This left everyone else in the room stunned; they had not expected Yan Qinli to be the first to ask. As a scholar of the Prince of Yue’s manor and the first department head appointed by Li Tai, everyone assumed Yan Qinli was "his man," but no one expected this. In reality, Li Tai knew that Yan Qinli had never belonged to anyone; he only did what he believed to be right. Just as Li Tai had been rejected by the Confucians, Yan Qinli had served as his teacher with total dedication and without prejudice.

Facing Yan Qinli's inquiry, Li Tai was equally fearless: "Because the world lacks scholars who speak for the farmers! Confucian scholars, even if they come from poor families, still have land and homes. Their words are either for the noble clans, the wealthy magnates, or at the very least, the landlords with hundreds of acres. But where are the scholars who speak for the tenant farmers at the bottom, those who must rent land just to till it? Where are the scholars who speak for the commoners who have become refugees due to natural and man-made disasters? Where are the scholars who speak for the possibility of a farm boy ascending to the Emperor’s court?"

The room fell silent. Even Yan Qinli, who had prepared a full rebuttal, was suddenly struck dumb. They had not expected such a high-born royal to ask such grounded, soul-piercing questions.

Ma Zhou sighed inwardly; he did not know why this Prince of Yue was so full of sympathy for the downtrodden. But as Li Tai said, while individual scholars might care for the poor, once their own interests were involved, no one treated those at the bottom as anything of consequence. From the Sui to the Tang, who had ever cared for the common people?

"The farmers at the very bottom support us all. They bear the heaviest taxes and the heaviest labor, yet in the end, they often do not even have enough grain to survive the winter. When they fall into distress, they don't even have a channel to voice their grievances. Eventually, their plight becomes a dead end, and that is when they explode!"

Li Tai took a deep breath. "Therefore, the students from our Agricultural Academy must be those who speak for the farmers. If the poor cannot afford to support a scholar who stands on their side, then I will support them. If the poor cannot make their voices heard by the imperial court, then I will build that channel. If the poor cannot guarantee the interests they deserve, then I will find ways to protect them!"

Li Tai looked at Yan Qinli, meeting sincerity with sincerity. "That is why our students must have a basic grasp of these six subjects. Perhaps in the future, I will require them to learn even more, because only they can be the voice for the farmers."

Hearing this, the room remained silent. They were awed by Li Tai’s ideals. They had not expected the Academy to be positioned in such a way. It made them feel chosen; Ma Zhou and Li Chunfeng listened with clear admiration, while Liu Shenwei could not help but clench his fists. Lü Cai was both excited and hesitant—he wanted to stay, but still held out hope for his own civil service examinations, wondering what he would do if he accidentally passed.

Yan Qinli, hearing these words, felt a sense of confusion in his eyes. He was a practitioner of orthodox Confucianism, and Li Tai’s point—that Confucianism did not represent farmers but rather the noble and the wealthy—struck home. No matter how loudly Confucian scholars shouted about serving the people, the "people" they meant were the scholar-official class, not the farmers.

Du Chuke, meanwhile, stroked his beard. He found the Prince of Yue increasingly interesting. Strictly speaking, he was the only politician among the six, and he aimed to be a statesman. He realized that if Li Tai could truly build a class of scholars who spoke for the farmers, the loss of Confucian support might not matter so much. Li Tai would have his own political force, one he had forged with his own hands. Du Chuke decided to wait and see; after all, Li Shimin’s eldest son was only nine—there was time to observe the court, and time to observe Li Tai.

Li Tai knew that since the Qin and Han dynasties, there had been a phenomenon of "imperial power not reaching the countryside." If he wanted to master—or even reform—feudal society, he had to build a force that could take root at the grassroots level. Only then could his policies truly reach the bottom, and only then would his well-intentioned decrees not be turned into excuses for exploitation.

Of course, Li Tai would never say this out loud. It wasn't about sincerity; it was about political survival. Even Li Shimin might not be comfortable with his son becoming the representative of such a force.

"My heart is full after sharing these thoughts with you today. From this day forward, our Gaoling Agricultural Academy is officially established!" Li Tai smiled at them. "I will assign the specific tasks for each department in due course."

"First, the preparatory class!" Li Tai’s gaze fell upon Yan Qinli and Li Chunfeng. "The academy is divided into a preparatory class and the formal classes; perhaps later we will add a research class for advanced studies. The task of the preparatory class is twofold: basic literacy, as all students must learn the 'Thousand Character Classic' and basic arithmetic, understand how to keep records, and know how to use an abacus. Only those who pass the examination may enter the formal classes."

"The formal classes are divided into six departments: Agriculture, Literature, Mathematics, Mohism, Medicine, and Music. Agriculture is the primary subject. Upon entering, each student must cultivate one acre of land as their own. To graduate, they must produce over three shi of grain; if they fail to meet this standard within five years, they will not graduate."

"The other five are auxiliary subjects, with one to be chosen each year. Literature is for recording agricultural experience and editing texts. Mathematics is the foundation for tools and measurement, finding the optimal solutions for farming. Mohism is for developing and popularizing agricultural tools, experimenting with inventions from the common people, and promoting them nationwide. Music is an attempt to boost morale in the fields; we don't need high-brow art—we want music for the common folk. I also believe we should test if music can increase crop yields; all things have spirits, and I believe grain is no different."

"Finally, the Medical Department..." Li Tai paused. Everyone went quiet. Everything else had at least some connection to agriculture, even the strange idea of music increasing yields, which people of this era might accept due to the belief in spirits. But medicine felt utterly disconnected.

Liu Shenwei looked at Li Tai with a touch of anxiety. He had come from the absolute bottom—a refugee during the chaos of the Sui and Tang who had been lucky enough to be adopted by Sun Simiao. He remembered the despair of near-starvation. He wanted to do something great, but he only knew medicine.

"As for the Medical Department, I want to build a force of 'farmer-physicians'—people who farm during the busy season and practice medicine when things are quiet, or farm by day and treat people by night. They will be grassroots medical staff, perhaps even officially designated wandering doctors, who will treat the impoverished. They will take root in the villages to solve common ailments. More importantly, they will learn to use local materials to minimize the burden on farmers. They may not cure major illnesses, but they can handle the minor ones so the people don't have to rely on 'talisman water' to survive."

Li Tai continued painting his blueprint for Liu Shenwei: "At the same time, I want to experiment with large-scale cultivation of medicinal herbs. But since herbs naturally gather the spirit of the earth, artificially grown ones may be weaker. That is why we need the Medical Department to verify their potency before they are used."

Liu Shenwei’s eyes lit up. He finally understood. With absolute confidence, he said to Li Tai, "Your Highness, please rest assured. My master once took me wandering to treat the wounded; I know how to train them."

Li Tai pondered for a moment. "I don't know much about medicine, so please, consult with the elder master. See if he can help organize a medical system that allows for the rapid training of these students. Once they are trained, they can go directly to the grassroots to serve as healers. When they wish to return for deeper study, we will have a system in place to accommodate them so they can become great doctors."

"Your Highness, consider it done. I will ask my master!" Liu Shenwei replied respectfully.