Chapter 30: The Foundation of the Noble Clans

"Yes, a library!" Li Tai nodded. "During the Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved papermaking, which reduced the cost of paper. But even so, the ones who truly benefited were people like me—members of the royal family or other powerful aristocratic clans. Ordinary commoners have found it difficult to access books for so many years."

Hearing this, Ma Zhou sighed. Such was the state of the world; it was too hard for ordinary people to read. Even though he came from a poor background, he was at least able to afford books. No matter how poor one was, there was a limit to that poverty. Just as the class of the aristocracy might decline, they would always remain a tier above the common peasantry.

Li Tai continued, "That is why I want to build a library here, housing ten thousand scrolls. As long as our academy students are willing to read, they will be able to do so indefinitely. I will also issue student ID cards to each of them. Original copies cannot be borrowed, but with a student ID and academic credits, they can be provided with paper and ink for transcription. Wait, that's it! Academic credits!"

Li Tai squinted. It would naturally be inconvenient to issue currency on a large scale, but implementing credits within the school should be feasible. It could also serve as a simple experiment for the future introduction of paper money.

"What is it? What have you thought of now?" Ma Zhou asked with curiosity.

Li Tai explained, "Although the school provides food and lodging, 'value-added' services cannot be free, lest we raise them to be mere bookworms. I want to use these credits to cultivate their respect for knowledge. For instance, private stir-fried dishes in the canteen, or the provision of brush and ink in the library for copying. If they earn enough credits, they could even pay for private tutoring from you."

"It sounds like the Kaiyuan Tongbao, but used only within the school? Can they be traded among students?" Ma Zhou asked.

"No!" Li Tai shook his head. "We need them to understand that knowledge is precious. If trading were allowed, over time, with just a little temptation, the credits would be traded away and inevitably concentrate in the hands of a few. However, we won't interfere with the circulation of resources acquired through credits. After all, once they leave the academy, they will have to deal with the most cunning and the most simple-minded of commoners; people will certainly take advantage of them. Now, in the school, we must teach them that these credits are not easily earned!"

"So you only set the rules, and as long as they don't overstep, you don't interfere? That sounds somewhat like Taoist philosophy," Ma Zhou mused.

Li Tai gestured animatedly, "Also, it is easy for us to provide credits. For example, we will grant credits for clearing land in the spring and autumn, for quarterly grade examinations, and even for certain teaching tasks. These credits represent the sweat and effort they have invested in the Agricultural Academy. Therefore, we will keep two types of records: current credits and total lifetime credits. How they earn credits proves their achievements in the academy, and how they spend them proves their skill in resource management."

"I think I understand now!" Ma Zhou nodded. "That is indeed a sound system for a school to operate on."

"Since that is settled, I leave this matter to you!" Li Tai patted Ma Zhou’s thigh, showing great confidence in him. "I trust you can get this done."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Ma Zhou replied with a bitter smile.

Soon, however, Ma Zhou frowned. "Returning to the subject of the library, while building the structure is easy enough, the most important thing is not the building itself, but the books—and a vast quantity of them."

"Then I have no choice but to ask Father for them!" Li Tai sighed.

"Requesting to transcribe from the royal collection? That seems to go against protocol," Ma Zhou said with concern.

"Protocol is secondary. If you have no shame, you can always get what you need!" Li Tai said with a look of determination. "Besides, I must first develop movable type printing. Otherwise, we cannot rely on woodblock printing to copy the entire imperial collection!"

Li Tai gritted his teeth. He had to make this happen. He knew all too well how difficult it was for commoners to compete with the aristocratic clans. All he could do was provide them with a channel for fair competition; whether they could truly succeed was something no one could predict.

"Tell Chu Ke’s Ink Department to research this. First, create individual reversed character molds. When needed, select the characters according to the manuscript, arrange them in a frame, apply ink, and print. After printing, dismantle the frame so the molds can be reused," Li Tai instructed. "Have them research based on this principle and see if they can perfect movable type printing."

Ma Zhou nodded. "It sounds interesting; I will try to tell him. But he has been focusing all his energy on the dragon-back waterwheel lately, so don't expect this to be finished quickly!"

"The library doesn't even exist yet, so there is no rush even if the printing takes time!" Li Tai said.

"That puts my mind at ease," Ma Zhou agreed. "Is there anything else?"

"I am heading back to Chang'an. The sooner this is implemented, the better!" Li Tai waved his hand, his tone resolute.

Li Tai did not go directly to see Li Shimin. Even though he was his father, he wasn't someone he could see on a whim. Moreover, strictly speaking, he was taking advantage of the imperial court. If he brought this up in an official setting, even if the Confucian ministers agreed, they would certainly cause trouble. Therefore, he went to see Empress Zhangsun first, as he felt it would be easier to gain her support.

"Today is neither the first nor the fifteenth of the month. How do you have the time to come back to the palace to see me?" Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Tai with a smile. "But you came at the right time. These are freshly made dragon-beard candies; try them."

She brought a tray of golden candies before him. Li Tai did not stand on ceremony; he picked one up with jade chopsticks and put it in his mouth. "These are crisp and delicious! As expected, the best ones are always here with you, Mother!"

"You have such a sweet tongue!" She tapped him on the head. "What brings you here today?"

"Mother, you saw through my little scheme immediately. How am I supposed to ask?" Li Tai replied.

"If you truly couldn't ask, you wouldn't have gone to stop the locust plague, nor would you be building an agricultural academy now," she said. "I have known you since you were little; when you really want to get something done, you are willing to lose all sense of shame!"

Li Tai thought to himself, *Does she look down on me? I definitely wouldn't lose my whole face!*

"That way, you can be both thick-skinned and shameless at the same time," she teased, tapping his cheek.

"Mother~" he said in a tone so coy and moving that anyone would have shuddered.

"Alright, alright! I won't tease you. It won't be easy to start an agricultural academy," she sighed. "What is it?"

Li Tai said earnestly, "I want to build a library, like the Chongwen Pavilion, to house ten thousand scrolls. But unlike that, any student of the Agricultural Academy will be able to enter, read, and even transcribe them."

"That is a difficult matter..." Empress Zhangsun pondered for a moment. "You want to transcribe the classics from the Chongwen Pavilion? I cannot agree to that."

"Why?" Li Tai asked, puzzled.

Empress Zhangsun explained, "Since you have established your own manor and earned merit in the locust disaster, I no longer treat you as a child. You must realize that ever since your father ascended the throne, the country has known no peace. War, drought, and locusts have followed one after another. What is most important now is to unite the civil and military officials to overcome these hardships, not to do things that provoke them and cause unnecessary turmoil in the court. Therefore, I will not agree to let you copy the books from the Chongwen Pavilion. Even if you went directly to your father, I would stop it. It is not because it is a bad idea, but because the timing is wrong."

"I see..." Li Tai had hit a wall. He had not expected it to be so difficult to persuade her.

In truth, there was a difference between the Li Shimin that Li Tai imagined and the real one. These were the most trying years for Li Shimin. Externally, the Turks were eyeing the Tang Dynasty like tigers, and internally, Li Yuan was still reluctant to accept his loss of power. Li Shimin needed to unite every force he could to survive this period. Empress Zhangsun saw this clearly.

If the aristocratic clans felt the imperial court was spreading knowledge indiscriminately, it would shake the foundation of their power. For them, family learning was the only chip that guaranteed their resurgence even after a fall. Because of the bloody history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they guarded their family knowledge with their lives. They would never be indifferent to the court sharing these treasures with commoners.

The imperial examinations were merely a rugged path for scholars from modest backgrounds, while the aristocrats relied on their family heritage to look down upon the masses. For the current Li Shimin, this was a matter of shaking the very foundation of the realm. The rise of the imperial examination system and the eventual party strife were things of the mid-to-late Tang. Here, in the Zhenguan era, the aristocratic clans were in the midst of their final, glorious resurgence. Almost all of the famous ministers of the Zhenguan era came from these very clans.