Child rearing
On the day Li Hong turned 100 days old, Wu Zetian set up a "baby care corner" in Chengxiang Palace.
On the sandalwood desk, memorials were piled up on the left and a rattle drum was placed on the right, making it arguably the earliest "model office area with a child" in the Tang Dynasty.
(Inner monologue: Efficiency! This is efficiency!)
That day, she was reviewing the plan for reforming the canal transport system while coaxing her child. When Li Zhi returned from court, he saw the Crown Prince engrossed in reading a memorial about the equal-field system.
"Nonsense!" Li Zhi hurriedly snatched the damp memorial from his hand. "How could Hong'er..."
“Your Majesty, look closely,” Wu Meiniang said with a smile, pointing to the teeth marks. “They are all the entries from aristocratic families demanding more permanent land.”
(Inner monologue: My son has potential! He knows how to help his mother tackle tough challenges!)
Upon closer inspection, Li Zhi indeed saw several small teeth marks next to the ink stains that had been blurred by saliva.
He immediately went from anger to joy, picked up his son and lifted him high in the air: "Hong'er understands my heart perfectly!"
From then on, the Crown Prince's reading of memorials became a regular occurrence.
During a grand court assembly, when a censor impeached the Empress for "interfering in politics" with tears streaming down his face, Li Zhi calmly lifted the swaddling clothes and said: "Do you all know that the Crown Prince just reviewed this person's performance evaluation records yesterday?"
In the complete silence of the hall, the baby's loud hiccups were exceptionally clear.
(Inner monologue: Perfect! My son's burp is more effective than my scolding!)
Before Li Hong turned one year old, the first birthday celebration was filled with jade seals, bows and arrows, and abacuses.
Under the watchful eyes of all the officials, the little chubby hand grabbed his mother's vermilion brush without hesitation.
Wu Zetian immediately announced: "From this day forward, the Hongwen Academy will be established, and talented scholars from humble backgrounds will be appointed as tutors to the Crown Prince."
Changsun Wuji and the others looked ashen-faced—who didn't know that the Hongwen Hall was clearly the Empress's talent pool!
(Inner monologue: You didn't expect that, did you? Early childhood education classes can turn into executive training programs!)
In the stillness of the night, Wu Zetian whispered to her sleeping son, "My little fox, do you know that I've turned the 'Essentials of Governance in the Zhenguan Era' into nursery rhymes..."
The bright moon hangs high outside the window, and a newly presented memorial on the desk reads, "Please establish the rules for the Empress to act as regent."
Wu Zetian held up her brush and wrote in red ink, the strokes resembling a crane spreading its wings.
——
Wu Zetian set up a "Qinggong Academy" on the east side of the Zichen Palace. Instead of portraits of sages, the walls were hung with her own hand-drawn "Map of the Tang Dynasty Territory" and "Map of the Grand Canal".
Three-year-old Li Hong stood on tiptoe to reach the curve of the Yellow River on the map and said in his childish voice, "Mother, water flows downhill."
(Inner monologue: Great, physics education starts with flood control!)
On this day, Confucius was lecturing on the Analects and was saying "A gentleman is not a vessel" when Wu Zetian suddenly appeared, carrying Li Hong.
“Master Zhang,” she said with a smile, pointing to the oxcarts transporting grain outside the palace, “could you ask Hong’er to calculate how much of the grain was transported from Luoyang?”
The five-year-old prince, biting his finger, suddenly had a bright idea: "If we take the Bian Canal, it will take 30% of the journey; if we take the land route, it will take 50%!"
(Inner monologue: He's such a good son! He didn't waste his time memorizing the multiplication tables!)
The high-ranking officials who were listening in looked at each other in bewilderment. Wu Meiniang then picked up a vermilion brush and drew a line on the "Clan Records": "Issue an imperial decree: From now on, the sons of officials of the fifth rank and above must attend classes at the Qing Palace Academy for three months."
The ceremonial tablet in Changsun Wuji's hand fell to the ground with a clatter: "Your Majesty! This..."
"Grand Commandant," Wu Meiniang picked up Li Xian, who was playing with the Western Regions tribute, "didn't your grandson come yesterday to ask about the music score from Kucha? He can keep Hong'er company."
(Inner monologue: Protons need to be nurtured from a young age!)
In late autumn, when the persimmons ripened, Wu Zetian led her two sons to harvest them in the Forbidden Garden.
Li Hong, unable to reach the higher branches with his bamboo pole, anxiously tugged at his mother's sleeve: "Mother! I want the red one!"
Wu Meiniang casually flipped through the Ministry of Revenue's account books, using them as a stepping stone, and while picking persimmons, she tested the farmers: "If we were to transport these persimmons to Longyou, should we use the Grand Canal or the post road?"
"The post road! The persimmons will rot!"
She smiled and popped a persimmon slice into the child's mouth, then turned to the accompanying Vice Minister of Revenue and said, "Did you hear that? The transport of fresh produce should be expedited via express post roads."
(Inner monologue: Balancing childcare and governance!)
Once the persimmon baskets were full, Wu Zetian suddenly ordered someone to bring in a scale.
"Hong'er, count how heavy this basket is?"
As the children chattered and counted, she picked up her pen and wrote a note on the memorial: "All tributes from various regions must be marked with their market price; those who falsify the price will be dismissed from their posts."
As the sun set, when Li Zhi arrived, he found his wife and children sitting in a pile of persimmons, using the revised draft of the "Equal Field System" as building blocks.
(Inner monologue: Great, we've been playing with policy documents since we were kids!)
On a snowy night in the twelfth lunar month, Wu Zetian, wrapped in a fox fur coat, revised the "Yonghui Code" under the lamp.
Li Hong suddenly ran over with a pillow in his arms, snuggled into her embrace, and mumbled, "Mother, I dreamt that a big bird bit me."
Her pen paused, recalling the secret report she had received during the day—Changsun was making connections with members of the imperial clan.
“Don’t be afraid, Xian’er,” she patted her son’s back gently. “Tomorrow, Mother will make you a kite that will fly higher than a big bird.”
(Inner monologue: It's time to cut some people's strings!)
——
On the Lantern Festival, Wu Zetian led her two princes to the city tower of Chang'an.
Amidst the myriad lights of homes, Li Hong suddenly pointed to a revolving lantern and asked, "Mother, why does the lantern rotate?"
She took the child's hand and drew a circle in the air: "Just like the shifting of cargo ships, the ebb and flow of one another is necessary for the operation to continue."
(Inner monologue: Physics class combined with management!)
When Li Zhi finished dealing with government affairs and rushed over, he saw his wife leading their children on a sand table on the city tower, simulating the reform of the canal transport system.
Li Hong, clutching a small flag, planted it in Bianzhou and announced indistinctly, "Taxes are collected here!"
Wu Meiniang smiled and stuffed a piece of candy into his mouth, then turned to the Minister of Works and said, "We will begin dredging the Bian Canal tomorrow."
Gazing at the intricate network of canals on the sand table, Li Zhi suddenly murmured, "Meiniang, this empire..."
“It is our country.” She put the first character “准” written by Li Hong into the brocade box, and a bright smile appeared on her lips.
(Inner monologue: Finally... I've turned the company into a family business!)
——————
[Mini Theater]
Years later, Li Hong, who had become the Crown Prince Regent, discovered a yellowed draft of the "Draft of the Persimmon Forest Tax System" in the Ministry of Revenue's account books.
Wu Zetian calmly sipped her tea: "Oh, that was decided when you were three years old, after you ate a persimmon."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
