It can talk
It was a dewy morning. Princess Taiping tossed and turned in bed, finally grabbing Wu Meiniang's clothes and nibbling at them with her few newly grown teeth. Then she looked up and uttered a single word with crystal clarity:
"mother!"
(Taiping's inner monologue: This pronunciation is good! Mother seems to like it!)
Wu Zetian, who was about to get up, suddenly froze, almost thinking she was hallucinating.
She looked down into her daughter's bright eyes and tentatively responded, "Huh?"
Taiping was overjoyed to receive a response, and excitedly called out again, "Mother!"
(Taiping's inner monologue: It really worked! Let's try again!)
At this moment, Wu Zetian felt a hundred times more excited than when she received her first project bonus.
She scooped her daughter up in her arms and kissed her little face repeatedly: "Taiping can call me 'Mother' now! Your Majesty, can you hear that? Taiping can call me 'Mother' now!"
Li Zhi had just walked in from the outer room when he heard the second call. He was both surprised and jealous, and leaned close to his daughter, pointing at himself: "Taiping, call me Father, Father—Emperor—"
Taiping tilted her head and looked at him, then decisively turned her head and buried herself in her mother's arms, leaving him with a heartless back of her head.
(Taiping's inner monologue: No way, this word is too hard to pronounce!)
Li Zhi: "..."
(Li Zhi's inner monologue: Have I fallen out of favor?)
Wu Meiniang suppressed a laugh, gently patting her daughter as she said to Li Zhi, "Your Majesty, please don't be impatient. Children learn to speak in a gradual process. Just like the 'Hexi Development Supervision' regulations that I just drafted, we have to proceed step by step."
When the matter was brought up, Li Zhi finally calmed down a bit and accepted the thick memorial.
Upon opening it, one is immediately struck by the novel terms such as "state-owned commercial bank," "franchise," and "profit sharing."
"Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this 'state-owned enterprise'?"
“Your Majesty,” Wu Meiniang explained while preventing Taiping from crumpling the memorial, “the development of Hexi is extremely costly. If the entire fund is provided by the court, the national treasury will be under too much pressure. It would be better to establish a government-supervised and merchant-run business, with the court holding a controlling stake—that is, taking the majority share—to attract wealthy merchants from the private sector to participate, with professional merchants in charge of the specific operations, and profits distributed according to shares.”
(OS: It's basically a Tang Dynasty version of the PPP model!)
Li Zhi pondered for a moment: "In this way, the court can control the vital industries without having to do everything personally, and can also make use of the merchants' shrewdness... Brilliant! What about this 'franchise'?"
"For example, the jade and spice trade in the Western Regions is highly profitable, and in the past, there was fierce competition among caravans from various regions. Now, the 'Hexi Development Bureau' issues operating licenses uniformly, and only caravans that have obtained licenses can operate. The imperial court collects license fees and regulates their operations to prevent the sale of inferior goods and damage to the reputation of our Great Tang Dynasty."
(OS: Standardized management, branded operation!)
"Would the merchants agree to that?"
“Of course we would,” Wu Meiniang said with a smile. “With the court’s permission, it would be a legal monopoly, and their profits would be more secure. They only need to pay their taxes and share their profits on time and abide by the rules. This is called… a win-win situation.”
(OS: Making empty promises... no, it's describing a shared vision!)
Li Zhi's eyes lit up as he listened, and he clapped his hands and laughed, "The Empress is truly my Zhang Liang! If this plan succeeds, the prosperity of Hexi will be just around the corner!"
He paused, looking at his daughter babbling in his wife's arms, and suddenly sighed, "Teaching Princess Taiping to speak is similar to the Empress implementing new policies. Both require patient guidance and a gradual approach."
Wu Meiniang lowered her head and kissed her daughter's little face, smiling as she said, "Your Majesty is wise. When Princess Taiping learns to speak, give her enough encouragement and repetition, and she will naturally learn. When new laws are implemented, and the people are given sufficient benefits and protections, they will naturally follow suit."
(OS: Behavioral psychology is applicable both in ancient and modern times!)
——
[Mini Theater: A Duet of Language and Economics]
1.
After Princess Taiping discovered that the word "mother" could earn her kisses and hugs, she began a frantic practice session, constantly saying "mother" from morning till night, much to Wu Zetian's delight and headache.
2.
Li Zhi persisted in teaching his "father," even using the teething toy that Princess Taiping loved most as a bribe.
Finally, three days later, Taiping, while chewing on a teething stick, mumbled "Hu Huang" incoherently.
Li Zhi was so excited that he almost dropped the memorial.
3.
After the articles of association of the “Hexi Development Supervision Bureau” were published, merchants from Chang’an flocked to the area.
The first to see the business opportunity was actually the Zhao family, who were involved in the case before—they decisively sold off some of their land and demanded to be the first to invest.
4.
The Second Prince Xian modified the walker again, adding a voice function, so that it would call out "Father" or "Mother" with every step it took.
As a result, Princess Taiping found it amusing and pushed the cart around the palace, making a deafening noise that left the Emperor and Empress speechless.
5.
When interpreting the new regulations, Di Renjie subconsciously used the metaphor of "like a toddler learning to walk, which requires a gradual approach," thus solidifying the consensus in the court and among the public that "the princess's behavior inspires national policy."
(It seems that Princess Taiping's growth diary will soon become a reference guide for Tang Dynasty policies...)
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