185: Chapter 95 Emperor's Famous Sayings

During the early summer morning court, a gentle heat lingered inside Taihe Hall. The civil and military officials stood in two rows on either side. Sunlight streamed through the carved window lattices, casting mottled shadows on the bluestone floor as dust motes drifted slowly in the beams of light. Li Ling sat on the dragon throne, holding a cup of herbal tea instead of a memorial, his gaze sweeping over the ministers below.

"My beloved ministers," Li Ling got straight to the point. "Today's court assembly has only one theme—talent. I announce that starting today, we will launch the 'Talent Recruitment Initiative' and the 'Education-driven National Prosperity Program' nationwide. The former targets overseas technical elites and scientific researchers, while the latter focuses on cultivating our nation's own young talents. This is the core national policy for the Tang Country over the next decade, and it shall not be shaken."

"I want every child in the Tang Country to be able to go to school, and every aspiring youth to have the opportunity to display their talents. Within three years, a comprehensive university shall be built in Jinling, Shanghai, Yangcheng, and Wuchang respectively, alongside a hundred new primary and secondary schools across the country. Students studying abroad in the German Empire and the Meijian Country will be entrusted with heavy responsibilities upon their return. We will not look at their background or family status, but only at their genuine talent and learning."

Minister of Revenue Lin stepped forward first and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, large-scale school construction and overseas study programs require massive funding. The construction budget for the first phase of Jinling University alone is as high as five million taels of silver. If we build schools in all four locations simultaneously, combined with the expenses for overseas students and recruiting faculty, the total expenditure may exceed thirty million taels. Although the state treasury is more abundant than in previous years, such a massive expense might squeeze the funds for military spending and infrastructure construction, especially the ongoing railway and port expansion projects."

Li Ling set down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the dragon throne twice. "Money is not an issue. Minister Lin, go back and recalculate the budget. I will have the Production Base coordinate a portion of industrial profits to be directly allocated to the special education fund. Military spending will not be cut, and railway and port construction will not stop. What the Tang Country needs is an overall elevation of its comprehensive national power, not robbing Peter to pay Paul. That group of German engineers is already working on optimizing the steel smelting process. This technological upgrade alone can save the steel plant nearly a million tons of coal every year, and this money can perfectly cover the gap in education."

He stood up, walked to the front of the hall, and spoke in a clear and firm voice, "My beloved ministers, I have a saying for you all—talent is the primary productive force. The Tang Country does not lack land, resources, or people; what we lack are people who can transform these things into power. Ten workers who can manufacture guns and cannons are not as valuable as a single engineer who can design a new type of rifle. Ten generals who can fight are not as valuable as a military academy principal who can train ten generals. Every single tael of silver spent today will return a hundredfold in the future."

These words exploded in the grand hall like a clap of thunder. The civil and military officials showed various expressions; some were lost in thought, some nodded secretly, while others showed hesitation. Yet, no one dared to speak out in objection. A young Secretary of the Ministry of Rites gripped his tablet tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white, as if those words had struck the deepest chord in his heart.

A young civil official stepped forward, his voice resonant: "Your Majesty is wise! I have heard that the reason the Meijian Country rose to power is precisely because it welcomed talents from all nations, importing a large number of engineers and scientists from Europe, which allowed it to establish a world-leading industrial system in just a few decades. If the Tang Country wishes to catch up, we must take the same path, and even run faster and further! I believe we should not only recruit talents from Europe but also recruit exiled technicians from Japan, Nanyang, and other regions. They too can be put to use by the Tang Country."

Li Ling glanced at him. He was a newly promoted Secretary in the Ministry of Rites named Vice Director of Rites Shen Zhixing, under thirty years old, with clear thinking, outstanding eloquence, and a scholarly air between his brows. "Well said. I intend to walk exactly this path. And on this path, we must run. Vice Director of Rites Shen Zhixing, I promote you to Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites, specifically responsible for the overall planning and coordination of overseas student affairs, reporting directly to me."

That afternoon, Li Ling did not stay in the palace to handle memorials. Instead, he changed into plain clothes and, accompanied by Commander Zhao Tieshan and two guards, left the palace in disguise to visit the construction site of Qingxia University under construction in the south of the city. The place had already begun to take shape—the main structure of the library had been topped out, its red brick walls gleaming with a warm luster under the sun; the foundation of the teaching building was being poured with concrete, the roar of mixers and the hum of vibrators intertwining as bare-chested workers operated them; the frames of several dormitory buildings had been erected, with workers busily moving like ants on the scaffolding. The roar of the mixers rose and fell, the arc light of welding sparks flickered in the sunlight, and the sound of hammers striking the formwork was orderly and powerful.

He walked to a building under construction, squatted down, and wiped a finger across the newly poured concrete foundation to check its setting and ratio, then broke off a small piece to inspect the aggregate distribution inside. A nearby worker recognized him, almost falling off the scaffolding in shock, and stammered, "Yo... Your Majesty, why are you here?"

Li Ling stood up, patted the dust off his hands, and smiled as he patted the worker's shoulder. "To see with my own eyes if my money is being well spent. This building's foundation is laid well, the concrete recipe is good, the aggregate ratio is even, and there are no cracks. Once it is built, we will have the best teachers come to teach, and the best students come to study." He pulled a silver dollar from his pocket and handed it to the worker. "Take this to buy some books for your child. Tell them it's from me."

He walked around the construction site, stopping from time to time to chat with the workers and ask about their lives and work. A dark-skinned young worker said he came from Henan and only arrived in Jinling last year after the railway was completed. Now he could earn three silver dollars a month, which was much better than farming at home. Moreover, the construction site provided meals, with meat in every meal—actual, solid braised pork, not just soup with a few oil droplets floating on top. As he spoke, his eyes shone, and his mouth stretched into a wide, unstoppable grin, revealing a row of white teeth.

Hearing this, Li Ling felt a stir in his heart. He turned to Vice Director of Rites Shen Zhixing and said, "Do you see? This is the power of talent. They are building the school now, and in the future, their sons will study in this very building. Generation after generation, the foundation of the Tang Country will grow ever more stable. Make arrangements to open a night school on the Qingxia University construction site starting next month. Any worker willing to study can learn literacy and arithmetic for free, with textbooks provided by the Production Base."

As they were leaving the construction site, a carriage with diplomatic license plates was parked in the distance. Commander Zhao Tieshan walked over quickly and whispered, "Your Majesty, the intelligence department has detected new movements from the remnant forces in several southern provinces. Taking advantage of the newly built railways and highways, they have secretly transferred a batch of weapons and supplies, attempting to launch a larger-scale uprising during the autumn harvest. Their targets include the granaries and railway hubs south of Jinling. It is preliminarily estimated that they plan to attack three to five targets simultaneously to create a chain of panic. In addition, the crew of that suspicious cargo ship has been completely subdued, and a large quantity of British-made rifles and ammunition was found in the hold."

Li Ling's gaze narrowed slightly, then returned to calm. "Let them move. Once they make their move and expose all their contact points and supply lines, we will wipe them out in one fell swoop. Tell Chief of Staff Zhang Wanshan to secretly deploy two Heavy Combined Arms Brigades south, entering their designated positions under the guise of a 'garrison rotation exercise'. The Special Forces must also coordinate, neutralizing their command nodes in advance. As for that batch of British-made weapons—photograph and archive them, and trace their source. This is our evidence."

On the way back to the palace, Li Ling did not take the carriage, but instead walked through the bustling streets of Jinling. The setting sun cast a golden hue over the streets, stretching the shadows of pedestrians. He passed a newly opened bookstore with a sign hanging at the door that read "New Learning Books." Through the window, he could see several young people flipping through *Fundamentals of Physics* and *Principles of Chemistry*—these were textbooks provided by the System, mass-printed by the Production Base's printing factory, with a logo of a crossed hammer and pen on the cover. One of the young men looked up, and his gaze happened to meet Li Ling's. He froze for a moment, then recognized him, opening his mouth but making no sound. Li Ling smiled slightly at him, nodded, and continued walking forward.

"System," Li Ling said in his mind, "how many years do you think it will take for the Tang Country to catch up with the technological level of the great powers?"

The System's voice carried certainty: "If the host can sustain the current pace of construction and talent recruitment, in about ten years, the Tang Country's basic scientific research can approach the level of the German Empire; in twenty years, you can achieve leadership in certain fields. However, please note that technological development is a cumulative process that requires patience and perseverance. Furthermore, once this rebellion of the southern remnant forces is suppressed, it is highly likely to trigger a new achievement reward. The System has detected that the launching of the 'Talent Recruitment Initiative' and the 'Education-driven National Prosperity Program' already meets some of the conditions for the 'Foundation of Science and Education' achievement."

Li Ling nodded gently, his gaze falling on the backs of those young people. He then turned and strode toward the palace. The setting sun stretched his shadow long, casting it on the bluestone slabs, swaying up and down with his steps. He knew in his heart that the true hard battles were never fought only on the battlefield. In laboratories, in classrooms, beside every railway and every blast furnace, the future of the Tang Country was growing inch by inch. And what guarded this growth was wisdom, vigilance, and a blade always ready to be unsheathed.

On the street behind him, the night watchman's bamboo clapper sounded in the twilight, beat by beat, long and steady, as if this ancient nation was recalibrating its own heartbeat. Meanwhile, in the south where he could not see, torches in the dark night were silently gathering, forming a winding line like a fire snake slowly waking up in the darkness.

As Li Ling walked into the palace gate, he looked back toward the south—there, a rainstorm was brewing its thunder.