Transmigrated into Li Chengqian, he effortlessly ascended the throne and became emperor.

Li Shimin kept his word and truly began working while having his child with him.

Inside the Liangyi Hall, vermilion pillars were adorned with golden dragons. Behind the enormous imperial desk, Li Shimin sat upright like a pine tree, while behind a small sandalwood table specially placed beside him, eight-year-old Li Chengqian knelt properly.

At this moment, Li Chengqian looked down at the mountain of bamboo slips and memorials in front of him and couldn't help but let out a wail.

Although he wanted to curry favor with Li Shimin, it didn't mean he enjoyed getting up at four in the morning every day to be a beast of burden for this energetic emperor of all time!

Li Shimin's teaching style was less about patient guidance and more about being simple and brutal.

Unlike those old scholars who start by explaining the meaning of words, he laid out the most crucial and thorny military and political affairs of the Tang Dynasty directly in front of his son.

"Yu Nu, look at this."

Li Shimin casually handed over a report from the Ministry of War, which contained only a few words about the unusual movements of the Turkic cavalry in the Lingzhou area.

"This was handed over by Chai Shao. Although the Turkic leader Jieli has just concluded the Wei River Alliance with me and withdrawn his troops northward, his treacherous intentions remain. Now that winter snow has blocked the roads, if you were in his shoes, how would you defend against this battle?"

While reviewing memorials concerning water conservancy in Jiangnan, Li Shimin asked casually.

This is actually a question beyond the scope of the curriculum.

For an eight-year-old child, recognizing all the characters above is already difficult, let alone military deployment.

Li Shimin didn't expect Li Chengqian to come up with any earth-shattering strategies. He just wanted to take the opportunity to tell his son about his glorious military achievements in the past and, incidentally, instill in him a sense of the importance of being prepared for danger in times of peace.

Li Chengqian held the memorial in his hands, his long eyelashes drooping, concealing the fleeting glint of shrewdness in his eyes.

Historically, Li Jing did not achieve a major victory over the Turks until the third year of the Zhenguan era.

The current Khan Jieli is overwhelmed by internal rebellions by the Xueyantuo and years of snow disasters.

Defend?

The best defense is offense, or rather, differentiation.

Li Chengqian bit his lip and did not answer directly. Instead, he picked up the charcoal pencil that he had specially pestered Li Shimin to get and drew a few crooked lines on the rice paper.

"Father, I don't know anything about fighting."

The soft, sweet voice of the little dumpling rang out.

Li Shimin smiled and was about to say, "It's okay if you don't understand, Father will teach you," when he saw Li Chengqian get up from behind the desk and run to the huge map with his short legs.

"But my father taught me that if the wolves are hungry, they will come down the mountain to bite the sheep. But if the wolves start fighting among themselves, won't they be too busy to care for the sheep?"

Li Shimin paused abruptly in his writing, raised his head, and looked intently at his son: "Continue."

Li Chengqian pointed to a region on the map representing the back of the Turks, which represented the Xueyantuo and other Tiele tribes.

"That day, I overheard Father and Uncle Du talking. Yunu heard them say that the snow in the north was heavier than in Chang'an, and many cattle and sheep had died." Li Chengqian looked up, his little face upturned. "Then the wolf cubs of Khan Jieli must be hungry too. If Father threw a few bones to those disobedient wolf cubs and told them that Jieli had taken their pastures... wouldn't they bite Jieli?"

Li Shimin maintained his head-up posture, his pupils slightly contracted.

Sow discord and divide, and befriend distant states while attacking nearby ones.

These eight words are easy to say but hard to do.

The court officials were not unaware of the situation, but most of them advised him to rest and recuperate. At this moment, no one expected that an eight-year-old child could pinpoint the optimal solution for the Tang Dynasty's current foreign policy.

—It's not about a head-on confrontation, but about taking advantage of the natural and man-made disasters within the Turkic territory!

Li Chengqian sensed the shock in Li Shimin's eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.

Was I overreacting?

He quickly threw down the charcoal pencil in his hand, feigning distress, and muttered, "Besides, Lingzhou is so cold, Uncle Chai's troops will definitely need to wear thick clothes. Father, could we take those unused silks from the palace and exchange them for wool? I heard from the palace maids that the wool of the Hu people is smelly and stiff, and not worth much. But if it can be woven into clothes, it will definitely be warmer than silk, so Uncle Chai won't be cold."

Although the words are naive, the logic behind them is absolutely brilliant!

Using the surplus silk of the Tang Dynasty to exchange for strategic materials that the Turks relied on for their livelihood not only strengthened the border defenses but also further depleted the Turks' resources.

"Who taught you?" Li Shimin's voice was somewhat hoarse.

He disregarded even the dignity of an emperor, strode to the map, and grabbed his son's shoulder.

Li Chengqian blinked his big eyes and pointed at Li Shimin with an innocent expression: "Father."

"When did I ever teach you these things?" Li Shimin asked, but the smile on his lips was barely contained.

"Yesterday, Father was lecturing on 'The Art of War,' saying that the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans. The day before yesterday, Father was reviewing a memorial, saying that food is the most important thing for the people, and warmth is the most important thing for the army. Yu Nu thought, since we want to attack the enemy's plans, then letting the enemy fight each other is the best strategy; since we want to keep warm, wouldn't it be more cost-effective to use the enemy's fur to keep our soldiers warm?"

Li Chengqian tilted his head, looking at Li Shimin with an air of self-righteousness, "Father, am I wrong? Is Yunu too stupid?"

"fool?"

Li Shimin took a deep breath and then burst into a hearty laugh, which shook the dust off the roof of the palace.

"Hahahaha! Stupid? If this is what you call stupid, then the entire court would be so ashamed they'd want to bang their heads against the wall!"

Li Shimin picked up Li Chengqian and lifted him high above his head, even spinning him around twice.

That heartfelt ecstasy was even more intense than when he had decisively defeated Dou Jiande years ago.

"Listen! Listen to all of you!" Li Shimin shouted excitedly to the empty hall, as if addressing a thousand troops, "My son! This is the son I personally taught! He can learn by analogy and apply knowledge to other situations! He only casually mentioned a few words of military strategy, and he was able to grasp this principle of checks and balances!"

Li Chengqian was dizzy from being spun around, but he felt a sense of relief.

If one attributes all their intelligence to Li Shimin's effective teaching and their own ability to apply knowledge to new situations, then the smarter they are, the stronger Li Shimin's sense of accomplishment will be.

It's like playing a game about raising the heir to the throne of a great emperor, and Li Shimin is the player who is so engrossed in it that he can't extricate himself.

"Father, I feel dizzy..." Li Chengqian said in a timely manner, acting coquettishly.

Li Shimin quickly put him down and straightened his collar as if he were a rare treasure, his eyes overflowing with affection.

He originally thought that personally teaching the crown prince would be a time-consuming and laborious task, requiring him to start from learning to read and punctuate, and gradually work his way up.

But who would have thought that this child was a genius who could grasp things instantly and even learn without a teacher!

That unspoken understanding—that he could understand the second half of what I said and even come up with a better second half—made someone as intelligent as Li Shimin feel an unprecedented sense of comfort.

In the past, I had to spend a lot of time explaining myself when talking to those ministers.

Now, I only need a glance to talk to my son.