Chapter 19: A Profitable Venture

Li Kuan, having been forced to engage in some post-meal physical activity with his father, limped out of the Ganlu Palace while clutching his backside. Behind him, Li Shimin, panting for breath, could not help but plant his hands on his hips, shake his head, and offer a bitter smile: "That rascal!"

For the first time in his life, Emperor Li Er felt that raising a child was a labor-intensive endeavor.

Back in his own chambers, Li Kuan dropped his act the moment he stepped inside. He strode to his desk and pulled a classic text—one that contained more than met the eye—from the bookshelf behind it. Spreading the book open, he retrieved a thin booklet from between the pages, ground his ink, and took up his brush.

—The fifth day of the fifth month, the second year of Zhenguan. I have been framed by a villain, and because of my visit to the villa workshops outside the palace, I was beaten by my father.

Li Kuan set down his brush and looked at his handiwork with satisfaction. After a moment of thought, he added a note at the end: "(The 'villain' here refers specifically to Wei Zheng.)"

Having completed this "top priority," Li Kuan turned back to his bed and lay down in comfort. When he had left the villa earlier, he had acted on a whim, summoning two hundred Shadow Assassins to a small courtyard several hundred meters away. These individuals were the first group of forces he had brought out into the open. Of course, in the eyes of others, they were merely part of the legacy left to him by the late Empress Tai Mu, his beloved grandmother.

Li Kuan’s plan was simple: the locust plague was currently unstoppable. All he could do now was raise money and hoard grain as quickly as possible to cope with the impending disaster in the Guanzhong region. However, the amount of capital and grain required would be astronomical. If he were to stick to his initial vision of ensuring that every single victim of this calamity survived without starving, even the national treasury would likely not be enough. Furthermore, to maintain the normal functions of the state, even if the treasury had the funds, it would be impossible to empty it all for disaster relief; otherwise, the empire would soon fall into chaos.

Thus, Li Kuan had to find his own way. But he had little time left—less than three months. Consequently, he had no choice but to take a radical, unconventional path.

In the Tang Dynasty, what was the most valuable commodity? Calligraphy, paintings, or antiques? Gold, jade, or gemstones? Li Kuan could manage to sneak a piece or two out of the Taiji Palace or the Hongyi Palace, but even if he could withstand the beating that would surely follow discovery, such treasures would be a drop in the bucket compared to the massive costs of disaster relief.

Only one path remained for him: manufacturing glass to serve as his first pot of gold.

That night, before Li Kuan fell asleep, the Shadow Assassins had already begun building kilns in the racecourse of his villa, following his instructions. As the summoner, Li Kuan could shift his perspective to any of the Shadow Assassins at will, keeping all information at his fingertips. With such a massive advantage, his future actions would be like adding wings to a tiger.

Two days later, with everything prepared, Li Kuan—who was being punished at the palace by having to copy textbooks—sat eating lychees imported from Lingnan while supervising his two younger brothers, Li Ke and Li Tai, as they copied his assignments for him.

"Pay attention! Don't write too well—you know what your second brother's handwriting is like!" Li Kuan, multitasking, gave both brothers a sharp flick to the forehead before returning to directing the Shadow Assassins at the villa in the production of glass.

Given the high temperatures required for glassmaking, Li Kuan adapted his methods to the resources at hand. He employed the "native" steel-smelting technique to create a small blast furnace, then poured river sand gathered from the Qingliang River at the foot of Mount Yu into a large, prepared iron pot. He added limestone and soda ash, then began the smelting process. Once the materials had liquified, the glass underwent a series of procedures: blowing, shaping, and annealing. Finally, the finished glass was placed into a pre-heated kiln. If, after four or five days, the glass had not cracked, it meant the cooling process was successful and the production was complete.

Five days later, the glass from the villa outside the city was finished, and the Second Prince, Li Kuan, finally reached his first moment of glory.

Perhaps out of guilt for having beaten his son, Emperor Li Er had summoned Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and others shortly after the incident, announcing that he intended to enfeoff Li Kuan as the Prince of Chu, with Xiangzhou as his fief. Li Er had expected this decision to meet with resistance from his veteran ministers, but to his surprise, Pei Ji was the first to step forward and declare, "Your Majesty is wise." This made Li Er wonder if he was, indeed, being wise. However, the matter of titles was ultimately the Emperor's decision. Li Er simply assumed that the minister was being slow to flatter him, or perhaps that, given the deep affection between his rascal of a son and the Retired Emperor, even Pei Ji, as the primary sycophant, had to weigh the consequences of opposing the move.

Li Kuan was not one to suffer in silence. Once the imperial decree bestowing the title of Prince of Chu was drafted by the Secretariat, approved by the Chancellery, and reviewed by the Department of State Affairs, it was delivered to him the day after his first batch of glass was successfully fired.

After receiving his seal and title, and having inexplicably become the Prince of Chu, Li Kuan first went to the Ancestral Temple to report the news to his ancestors, and then to the Taiji Palace to personally thank his father, Li Shimin.

"This little prince thanks Your Majesty for your great grace!" Outside the Taiji Hall, Li Kuan shouted his thanks in a bizarre, non-standard manner that shocked Li Shimin and the ministers who were discussing state affairs inside.

"You brat!" Li Er, gritting his teeth, grabbed a jade ruyi from his desk and stormed out of the hall. "Who are you calling 'this little prince' to? I should have beaten the eunuch who was responsible for teaching you etiquette to death!"

"Father, what are you talking about?" Li Kuan’s eyes widened. "When have I ever been taught imperial etiquette?"

Li Er slapped his forehead. He had truly been driven to the point of confusion. The boy had indeed never been taught; he had relied on his mother’s early guidance and his own ability to improvise and bluff his way through.

"The way you just thanked me—only foreign vassals speak that way!" Li Er said, his tone unfriendly as he brandished the ruyi.

"Ah?" Li Kuan looked bewildered. "Father, then how should I have said it?"

"You..." Li Er was about to reprimand him, but remembering the group of ministers inside waiting for his decision on whether to continue the war in the Northwest, he waved his hand, his mood souring. "Fine, fine, get lost, you stinking brat. I don't have time for you."

"Father, you said it yourself, now." Li Kuan pursed his lips, putting on a show of being a victim who had come to pay his respects only to be shunned. "Then I’m leaving."

Li Er was long accustomed to his son's antics. He glared at the rascal, turned, and went back inside to discuss business with the ministers, who were all suppressing laughter after having heard the commotion at the door.