That afternoon, Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian were supervising the construction of the martial arts school. Most of the original temples here have been demolished, and the rest of them can be retained. As for the rest, all the others need to be rebuilt. For this reason, Li Zhi also ordered the mobilization of thousands of civilians, and the cooperation of officials from the Ministry of Works, which made the progress of the entire project very fast.

In fact, building a martial arts school is very simple, at least much simpler than building a palace with Li Zhi. It is nothing more than building some houses according to the functions. Moreover, these houses do not seek to be beautiful, they only need to be practical. This also reduces a lot of trouble for craftsmen and greatly accelerates the construction progress. It is estimated that the entire martial arts school will be completed by the end of this year and will be put into use after a few more months of drying.

But at this moment, an eunuch suddenly rushed over and saw Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian, and immediately stepped forward and said, "Report to Shangshu Pei, the son-in-law, your majesty to summon him!"

"Your Majesty wants to see us?" Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian also showed a surprised expression when they heard the eunuch's notice. Then Zhang Zong also asked again, "Did Your Majesty say why he summoned us?"

"There is no such thing, but in addition to summoning the son-in-law and Shangshu Pei, His Majesty also summoned the Duke of Wei." The eunuch replied respectfully.

When they heard Li Zhi summoning Duke of Wei, Li Zhi and Pei Xingjian immediately understood what was going on. They looked at each other and showed a clear expression. Then they put down what they were doing and drove to the imperial city on a carriage.

The current Duke of Wei is named Li Dejian. He is Li Jing's eldest son. He is not young anymore. He is probably nearly eighty years old. He used to be an official in the court, but later he retired because he was old and usually stayed at home to play with his grandchildren and hardly showed up.

However, although the Duke of Wei now looks uncontested, it is said that when he was young, he was once a friend of Li Zhi's eldest brother Li Chengqian. When Li Chengqian rebelled, Li Dejian was also involved. However, Li Shimin did not attack Li Dejian for Li Jing's sake, but exiled him to Lingnan. It was not until Li Jing died that he was allowed to come back to inherit the title of Duke of Wei.

He dared to participate in the treason and was also plotting against Li Shimin. His courage was extraordinary. Moreover, almost all the people who participated in the treason were killed by Li Shimin. Li Chengqian had been dead for decades. It can be said that Li Dejian was the only witness who was still alive.

The Martial Arts Hall and the Imperial City were originally across the river. After crossing the three bridges, they were the Imperial City, so they soon came to the palace. When the two walked into the Ziwei Hall, they also saw an old man sitting on Li Zhi's left hand at a glance.

I saw that the other party was fat. If he had removed his beard and hair, he would look like a Maitreya Buddha. His chubby face was full of smiles, and he looked very friendly.

"See Your Majesty!" Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian came to the back of the hall and immediately saluted Li Zhi.

"No need to be polite, this is Duke of Wei!" Li Zhi said and pointed to the fat old man next to him and said, "Pei Xingjian knew Li Dejian, but this was the first time Zhang Zong saw him."

"Meet Duke Wei!" Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian also saluted Li Dejian. Although the other party had withdrawn from the officialdom, their title was too high and they were old, so both of them were very respectful.

"You are so polite. Shangshu Pei is a rare handsome talent in my Tang Dynasty. The prince-consort is even more talented. Even I often hear your name. I am really honored to see you today!" Li Dejian stood up very politely at this time, but he was fat and seemed a little difficult to stand up.

After a few words of politeness, Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian also sat down. At this time, Li Zhi ordered someone to hold a banquet, and it seemed that he wanted to talk about military books with Li Dejian while eating.

After a while, the banquet was also delivered. Li Zhi did not rush to talk about the matter, but called the musician and the dancer. The music sounded quickly at the banquet and the dancer's graceful dance posture.

After the song, the four of them had almost finished eating, so Li Zhi put down his chopsticks, then looked at Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian, and then looked at Li Dejian and smiled: "Duke Wei, do you know that something big happened in the court recently?"

"This..." Li Dejian hesitated for a moment, then shook his head blankly and said, "I am old and rarely go out. I know very little about the things in the court. I wonder what Your Majesty is saying?"

Li Zhi didn't seem surprised by Li Dejian's answer. He then pointed to Zhang Zong and Pei Xingjian and said, "Actually, this matter is now handled by Pei Aiqing and his son-in-law, which is the matter of the martial arts school. Although it is still under preparation, if it is done, it will have a profound impact on our Tang Dynasty!"

"What is a martial arts school?" Li Dejian asked with a puzzled expression at this time.

However, Zhang Zong, who was sitting opposite Li Dejian, found that although the fat old man looked surprised, his eyes showed a bit of cunning and shrewdness, which made him feel moved. It seemed that Li Dejian was not ignorant of the martial arts school, and now he was just pretending to be confused.

I don’t know if Li Zhi saw that Li Dejian was pretending to be confused, but at this time he looked at Zhang Zong and signaled him to explain the martial arts school. So Zhang Zong also stood up and bowed to Li Dejian and said, “Report to Duke Wei, the so-called martial arts school is actually a place to teach military tactics and train military generals…”

Although he knew that Li Dejian was pretending to be confused, Zhang Zong still explained the role and significance of the martial arts school in detail. He believed that even if Li Dejian knew some things about the martial arts school, he would definitely not know some of the inside stories. Moreover, he was observing Li Dejian's reaction when he was telling it.

Li Dejian was fat and his face was full of fat, which also concealed his expression changes well, but Zhang Zong was still keenly discovered that after hearing his explanation, the old man's squinting eyes became brighter and brighter. With his shrewdness, he probably guessed why Li Zhi invited him to the palace today.

After Zhang Zong finished speaking, Li Dejian once again deliberately looked at Li Zhi with a confused expression and said, "Your Majesty, listen to the prince-consort's explanation. This martial arts school is indeed of great use in the state. However, I am old and my descendants are not good at it. I am afraid I can't help much, right?"
Chapter completed!