A New Chapter in the Grand Canal
The day after Princess Taiping's full moon celebration, Wu Zetian appeared in the council hall of the Grand Canal Administration Office, holding her daughter.
The officials were all taken aback when they saw the little princess in the empress's arms.
(Inner monologue: What's wrong with bringing a baby to work? Isn't that what modern working moms do?)
Liu Rengui was reporting on the effectiveness of the new canal transport policy: "...Since the implementation of segmented transport, losses have been reduced to 15%. However, there is still some resistance from various prefectures and counties..."
Wu Zetian gently patted Princess Taiping in her arms and calmly replied, "Link the performance of the grain transport to the evaluation of local officials. Those who perform well will be given priority for promotion; those who perform poorly..."
She looked down at her daughter and chuckled, "Just have Princess Taiping give him a hard time when she goes on her inspection tour."
Amidst laughter from the audience, the newly appointed Grand Canal Transport Judge, Di Renjie, presented the newly created Grand Canal transport map.
The map not only marks the river channel, but also lists the water conditions and dock facilities for each section in detail.
"Your Majesty, please look," Di Renjie said, pointing to the Bian River section, "if a regulating sluice gate is added here, it can ensure that grain transport boats can navigate year-round."
Just as Wu Meiniang was about to examine it closely, Taiping in her arms suddenly babbled and clapped her little hand precisely at the key position on the drawing.
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, and Liu Rengui exclaimed in amazement, "Your Highness has an exceptionally discerning eye!"
(Inner monologue: Coincidence! This is definitely a coincidence!)
When Li Zhi came after court, this was the scene he saw: his wife was holding their daughter and discussing matters with officials, while little Taiping occasionally made babbling sounds, as if she were participating in the discussion.
He took his daughter and smiled, saying, "My Taiping Emperor will surely have capable ministers to govern the world in the future."
Three months later, the new canal transport system was fully implemented.
On this day, Wu Zetian accompanied Princess Taiping to inspect the newly built dock, where they saw the canal workers loading and unloading goods.
She suddenly said to the accompanying officials, "Issue the order that the children of grain transport workers should have priority in entering local government schools."
"Your Majesty," an official hesitated, "this is probably..."
"What are you afraid of?" She raised an eyebrow. "The smooth operation of the canal transport owes a great deal to them. Their children should also have the opportunity to go to school."
Taiping, nestled in his arms, waved her little hand at just the right moment, as if to express her agreement.
(Inner monologue: Social mobility starts with educational equity!)
Statistics from the end of autumn show that canal tax revenue increased by 30% year-on-year.
Wu Zetian wrote in her annotation to the memorial: "Taken from the grain transport, used for the benefit of the people."
He deliberately dipped Taiping's little hand in cinnabar and pressed her little handprint onto the memorial.
Upon seeing this unusual memorial, Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) burst into laughter: "This should be recorded in the official history archives so that future generations can see how Princess Taiping 'participated in politics.'"
That night, Wu Zetian held her daughter under the lamp and read the news of victory from various places.
Taiping opened her big, dark eyes and gestured with her little hands in the air, as if imitating her mother's actions of reviewing memorials.
"Your Majesty," Wu Meiniang said with a smile, "Taiping is learning how to govern."
Li Zhi embraced the mother and daughter, saying, "With you both here, my empire can truly be peaceful and prosperous."
——
[Mini-Theater: The Little Supervisor of the Grand Canal]
(Interesting Stories about the Grand Canal Transport Office)
Princess Taiping has recently become an unofficial supervisor of the Grand Canal Transport Office.
Every time the Empress brought her to the meeting, she would always make a cooing sound at the crucial moment.
The most amazing thing is that once when Liu Rengui reported a data error, the little princess suddenly started crying and only stopped crying when the data was corrected.
Now, officials have to check the princess's expression before giving their reports.
(This is probably the youngest "quality inspector" in the Tang Dynasty.)
What's even more amazing is that one day the Empress had the Princess put her fingerprint on an important official document, and from then on the document was executed exceptionally smoothly—no one dared to delay the decrees that Her Highness had "personally" approved.
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