Until noon, the radio from the guards on the side suddenly started to beep.
The operator quickly put on his headphones, rapidly recorded the content of the telegram, and then translated it before presenting it to Li Shimin.
When everyone heard the sound of the telegram, they stopped their chatter in unison. Even Chai Shao and Li Xiaogong got up from the ground and looked towards the radio.
"Your Majesty, a telegram from the Duke of Wei, stating that the radio has been installed."
"Reply, I am greeting the court ministers from Shenyang."
Li Jing in Chang'an soon received this telegram and looked at the operator in shock.
"Is this truly what was sent from Shenyang?"
"It's incredible. Four thousand li, and they can communicate instantly!"
The operator nodded, "Replying to the Duke of Wei, it was indeed sent from Shenyang."
After a long while, Li Jing accepted this fact and said to the operator, "Reply, ~~~"
"Your Majesty, the Duke of Wei replied, everything in the court is fine, but why has Your Majesty, who said he would return to govern soon, remained in Shenyang?"
Li Shimin stood up, put his hands behind his back, paced around, and said lightly.
"Reply, if life deceives you, do not be sad, do not be in pain. In the days to come, you will get used to it."
"I plan to stay in Shenyang for a while longer. Handle court affairs as you see fit, and if you encounter any undecided matters, request instructions via telegram."
Li Shimin did not intend to leave Shenyang until the marriage of Fang Xiaoer and Changle was settled.
However, he couldn't say it so directly in front of Fang Er, so he blurted out an excuse.
In the Ministry of War hall in Chang'an, upon receiving the deciphered message from the operator, Li Jing almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
"What kind of words are these for a ruler of a nation?"
"Perhaps the operator is messing around?"
Thus, he said to the operator, "Reply, what happened on the first day of the lunar new year fifteen years ago."
"Hmm, he was asking about something only he and Li Shimin knew, to verify whether the previous words were spoken by Li Shimin or written by the operator."
Meanwhile, in Shenyang, upon receiving the telegram, Li Shimin fell into an awkward situation. After thinking for a long time, he walked to the telegraph machine and said, "Teach me how to use this thing."
Everyone looked at him with confusion, even Li Tai and Fang Er had the same expression.
The operator looked troubled, "Your Majesty, this takes many days to learn."
Li Shimin's eyes darted around, he wrote some disordered words on a piece of paper, and pointing at them, said, "Just tell me, how do you send these words."
The operator glanced at the words. There weren't many, only a dozen or so. He took the codebook, found the corresponding codes one by one, and then told Li Shimin how to use the telegraph machine.
The machine was currently in working condition, with no need for debugging or repair. It was simple to learn how to send a dozen words.
Li Shimin spent half an hour to finally memorize it, then said to the guards, "Everyone, move away!"
Everyone quickly retreated.
Seeing this, Fang Er asked Zhao Gang and others who were working in the shed to also leave. Then, he and Li Ji also left the shed.
Only then did Li Shimin sit down, place his hands on the telegraph machine, and send a message according to what he had just learned.
The telegraph operator in Chang'an received the message with a somewhat embarrassed expression, because the deciphered text on the paper read: "Operator retire, Jing receive."
This clearly meant that the operator on this side should also avoid.
However, Li Jing also didn't know how to operate it. He had to clarify how to record the received message and then asked the operator to send back a "retire" reply.
Only after receiving the reply did Li Shimin begin to send the formal content.
After receiving it, Li Jing copied all the codes, scrambled their order, called the operator back to decipher, and then rearranged the individual Chinese characters that were translated according to the original order.
After reading it, he finally confirmed that this was indeed an exchange with the Emperor.
"Voice transmission over ten thousand li." The significance of this thing needed no introduction for the God of War of the Great Tang!
"Come, teach this Duke how to use this thing!"
And so, an Emperor and a Duke, like children encountering mobile phones in later generations, awkwardly and dryly engaged in text message interaction.
It wasn't until evening that Li Shimin stretched lazily and got up from the chair, his face still filled with excitement. He asked Fang Er.
"Anzhi, is it troublesome to build this thing? I plan to equip all the prefectures with it, is there any problem?"
Fang Er smiled slightly and then pointed at Li Tai, saying, "For this, you need to ask Qingque. The radio is something he made."
Upon hearing this, Li Tai's face instantly lit up with anticipation, as if saying, "Praise me, praise me, quickly praise me."
As a result, Li Shimin merely cast a fleeting glance at him and said, "Alright, don't flatter Qingque. How could someone like him create such a miraculous thing?"
While there was some truth to his words, they sounded particularly harsh in Li Tai's ears.
There wasn't a single child in the world who didn't want their father's approval, even if he was a prince!
Fang Er said to Li Tai helplessly, "Qingque, go get the parts and assemble one in the main hall in front of His Majesty."
Verbal persuasion was always less convincing than a live demonstration.
After all, there was a saying: "Hearing is false, seeing is believing."
Li Tai's eyes lit up, and with a grinning smile, he ran towards his small courtyard.
After he left, everyone went to the main hall to wait. Not long after, Li Tai returned carrying a wooden box, followed by several Eastern Depot guards also carrying boxes.
With one successful experience already, doing it again was merely a matter of repetition, and it didn't take too long to get started.
All the wooden boxes were placed on the table, and under everyone's watchful eyes, Li Tai, with his tender little hands, assembled the parts together.
From the moment he picked up the first part to the final assembly, it took less than half an hour.
Pushing the newly assembled telegraph machine in front of Li Shimin, Li Tai took two steps back and said confidently, "Father, it's assembled, please inspect it."
Li Shimin looked at his son, then at the radio that had been assembled before his eyes from nothing, and was incredibly shocked.
"This, it's done?"
He could hardly believe that something capable of voice transmission over ten thousand li was actually made by his own son, and so easily!
Li Tai glanced towards the door. The guards who had delivered the items were waiting outside. He casually called one over, whispered a few words into his ear, and then returned to the telegraph machine.
He forcefully cranked the generator handle, and the creaking sound echoed as the generator spun.
After hearing Li Tai's instructions, the guard ran out, and before long, the telegraph machine in Li Tai's hand started to beep.
Everyone present looked at him in unison. This radio was usable!