Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 292 Which brother can withstand such a test?

"I will obey your majesty's order...will?!"

Li Zhi seemed to have heard something incredible, and when he came to his senses, he couldn't help but let out a long tail sound.

He suddenly raised his head and saw Li Chengqian's smiling mouth.

As if afraid that Li Zhi hadn't heard clearly, the Emperor repeated every word considerately:

"Jiulang, after you move out of Lizheng Palace, you can live in the East Palace."

"No, no, no... Your Majesty, this is inappropriate, right? This... this is not in accordance with etiquette!"

Li Zhi lost his previous calmness and was unable to speak.

Anyone who knows will know what the Eastern Palace is.

That was the prince's exclusive residence.

Li Chengqian lived there after he got married, and Li Shimin also lived there briefly for a few months when he officially seized power (crossed out) and accepted the abdication of the previous emperor.

Let Li Zhi, the younger brother, live in the house prepared for his brother's eldest son.

Although the generation has been lowered, in a sense, isn't it also a super generation increase?
"The Eastern Palace is the palace where the heir to the Tang Dynasty resides. How can a guilty minister usurp the throne?"

Li Zhi refused righteously.

He felt that his brother was really going too far. Which cadre could withstand such a test?

Seeing his younger brother's fear of ropes after being bitten by a snake once, Li Chengqian's smile widened:

"Yes, the heir to the Tang Dynasty is not necessarily the emperor's son.

"Don't you want to be the emperor? After I'm gone, why not let you have your fill?"

Li Zhi's forehead was covered with cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, you are joking..."

"Do you think I am a frivolous person who makes fun of our ancestors and the country?" Li Chengqian raised his voice slightly.

Li Zhi immediately lowered his head: "I dare not."

Li Chengqian slowly smoothed the corners of his mouth and said in a very detached tone:

"I'm afraid my health won't allow me to see my son."

Your Majesty, are you sure it's because of your body, not your orientation... Li Zhi didn't dare to say this hellish joke that would send him to hell, and asked in confusion:
"Your Majesty is in your prime, why do you want to give up on yourself..."

"I know best the condition of my body." Li Chengqian waved his hand and interrupted Li Zhi.

"Having been displaced for half a year in the cold winter in the north, my old illness broke out. The emperor has an old illness, so why don't I have one too?

"I may not have an heir, but the Tang Dynasty and our ancestors' country cannot be without a master for a day."

Li Zhi lowered his head, not daring to speak the whole time, and listened to his brother the emperor with his heart pounding.

"When a father dies, his son takes over; when an elder brother dies, his younger brother takes over; this is the law of nature.

"If I die without an heir, a civil war far more serious than this one will surely break out in the world, harming more than ten or a hundred times as many lives. By then, how can I face my ancestors in my grave?"

Li Chengqian sighed slightly:
“So, it is better to select the successor in advance while I am still able to speak and suppress the villains under me, so as to avoid chaos in the future.

"And you, Li Jiulang, are the heir."

Li Zhi listened along the way, his mind was in a mess.

Winning the resurrection match with a rebellious body that deserved to be torn into pieces was already a miracle. The fact that the prince's treatment and fiefdom were not reduced was an even greater miracle.

And now he was told that even the throne, the chair he had always dreamed of, might be within his reach again...

This was beyond the realm of miracles, and even made Li Zhi doubt for a moment whether this was just his last fantasy before his death.

Yet it sounds like it’s true.

Because Li Chengqian was really analyzing and summarizing the lessons learned from his failed coup to his younger brother, which included a lot of practical imperial tactics, as if he was really teaching Li Zhi as his successor.

This made Li Zhi even more confused.

Before his brain realized it, his mouth asked that terrible question -

"Why me? Why not Li Ming?"

As soon as he asked the question, he regretted it.

He picked up a lot of money for nothing, so he should just keep it quietly. Why is he asking so many questions? Does he also want his younger brother to inherit the throne?
But when he thought about it more carefully, Li Zhi felt that he had asked the right question.

When it comes to the succession to the throne, how could we leave out the fourteenth prince?

In terms of ability and charm, Li Ming is too much like his father. He can beat them both up.

For what purpose did Li Chengqian choose Li Zhi?

"The fact that you can ask such a question shows that you, Jiulang, have stayed in the comfortable palace for too long. You have never had a knife at your neck, and you don't know when the crisis will come." Li Chengqian smiled.

Li Zhi's face flushed immediately: "Why do you say that, Your Majesty?"

"Put yourself in Li Ming's shoes and think about it from his perspective." Li Chengqian said.

"You have soldiers and food in the northeast, and suddenly a letter came from Chang'an asking him to surrender to the court and return to be the crown prince. Do you think he believed it or not?"

"According to his personality, he will most likely think that this is a Hongmen Banquet and will never give up the sword in his hand..." The little brother who was suffering from delusions of persecution seemed to appear in front of Li Zhi's eyes.

"Besides, with his current power, he can fight for the whole world if he advances, and can hold on to half of the country if he retreats. Why should he give up all these advantages and pin his hopes on this illusory promise?"

Li Chengqian looked at his ninth brother and said:

"He has a choice, I can't control him.

"But you are different. You have no choice but to accept my arrangement.

"This is why I chose you."

Li Zhi was stunned for a long time after listening to this, and then he smiled bitterly at himself.

I didn't expect that I could get such a big bargain for free because I was so inexperienced.

One's life is truly unpredictable. One's personal struggle is not worth mentioning. All one needs to consider is the course of history...

"Speaking of which, Your Majesty, how should we deal with Li Ming, who has established his own territorial power?"

Realizing that he also had a share in the Tang Dynasty, Li Zhi, who had originally given up on it, suddenly became interested in it.

If Li Ming swallows up the remaining half of the world, he will have no chance of taking over.

Who can outlive whom?

"Haha, my brother, since you asked that..."

Having successfully aroused Li Zhi's desire for power, Li Chengqian smiled with a look of success:

"This is exactly what is giving me a headache. Li Ming has already made the first move. How should I respond? I would like to hear your opinion, my brother."

As he spoke, he told Li Zhi the envoy's report one by one, including the fact that Li Ming seemed to have established another court in Pingzhou, completely breaking away from the control of Chang'an, and that the two barbarian accomplices who had betrayed the Tang Dynasty were escorted back to the capital.

"According to information from other sources," Li Chengqian added in a low voice:
"Li Ming seems to have openly raised the banner of rebellion in the Northeast, naming his pseudo-country 'Ming' to mark his complete separation from the Tang Dynasty."

"Ming Dynasty? Haha, it's no wonder that guy is so famous." Li Zhi was not surprised at the news.

Li Chengqian spoke angrily:
"It was obviously him who started it first, be it a rebellion or a separatist regime. But if we send troops to suppress the rebellion, how will the history books record it?

"Li Ming handed over the culprit who harmed my father, and then Chang'an raised an army to attack?

"What will the world think? Wouldn't it make me look disloyal and unfilial, looking for trouble and taking the initiative to provoke a civil war?"

Now that he has become the emperor, Li Chengqian has to consider whether his eating manners are elegant.

Someone brought the murderer of your father to you, and then you slapped him in the face. Doesn't it seem that you are in cahoots with the murderer?

Li Zhi nodded: "He used this little trick just to deceive the people."

The two fell silent, both experiencing this long-lost headache.

That guy Li Ming...

But compared to Li Chengqian, the treacherous Li Zhi had many more evil ideas. He quickly came up with a plan:

"Your Majesty, we have been misled by Li Ming. Why should we be so particular about whether to fight or make peace?

"His Ming Kingdom is so large and full of loopholes. We don't even need to send troops. We can just let it simmer with internal strife and weaken its strength.

"If effective measures are taken, the local people who have been coerced may wake up and turn to the light."

Li Chengqian glanced at his ninth brother with interest:
"From what you said, you already have an idea?"

"It's just an immature idea." Li Zhi did not hide his thoughts and revealed them all:
"When Li Ming was serving as Tongpingzhangshi and dealing with the money shortage, he used paper instead of copper as the currency for circulation in the market. I wonder if Your Majesty still remembers this."

"Of course I remember, he called it 'paper money'." Li Chengqian nodded.

When this topic was brought up, he became quite indignant:
"It is absurd to use paper instead of money. Using cheap paper to replace expensive copper is no different from competing with the people for profits.

“So after he was driven out of Chang’an, his regime was abolished and paper money disappeared from the Tang Dynasty.

"However, I heard that he did not give up and still implemented this ridiculous currency policy in his own territory. Merchants traveling between the two places also collected a lot of money, and recently it has been circulated in Chang'an."

Li Zhi smiled slightly and came up with a plan:

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Paper money is the Achilles' heel of Li Ming and the so-called 'Great Ming'.

"Li Ming only knows that paper money is easy to print and trade, but has he ever thought that it is also easy to counterfeit and replace paper money?

"It's just paper, we can also print a lot of paper money and import it into their territory.

“As long as these counterfeit coins flood the opposite market, people’s livelihood will be hindered and the country will be in chaos.

"By then, people's hearts will be in turmoil, and it will only take Your Majesty a moment to quell the rebellion in the Northeast."

This new idea suddenly opened Li Chengqian's eyes.

He who subdues the enemy's troops without fighting is a good person.

My little brother Li Zhi is still pretty good. He may not be mature in strategy, but he is very good at using insidious tactics. He can even use their own methods to fight back and start a currency war.

Even though my father is not in as good of a condition as before, his political wisdom is still unmatched. He should really listen more to the opinions of his brothers, make big plans and encourage each other, pool their wisdom and fight the enemy together.

“But I remember that when Li Ming promoted paper money in Chang’an, he took precautions against counterfeiting.

"For example, stamping the ticket, compiling a number, etc."

Li Chengqian discussed this with his brother.

Li Zhi had a solution for this:

"Why is this so difficult? It is difficult for individuals to forge counterfeit coins because the engraving techniques are uneven and a fake can be spotted at a glance.

"Your Majesty, with the whole nation's strength and Chang'an gathering skilled craftsmen from all over the world, is it impossible for you to carve a fake coin engraving that is indistinguishable from the real thing?"

Counterfeiting money is an old craft with a long history.

Not to mention the distant past, when the Tang Dynasty was first established, it suffered greatly from counterfeit currency. Various so-called "bad money" forged with cheap metals such as iron and lead were prevalent among the people.

Even metal currency can be counterfeited, so isn’t counterfeiting a few banknotes the same as drinking water?
"It's nothing more than stamping a piece of paper. Is it that difficult to carve a few stamps just like the others?"

Li Zhi disdained the coin-making process.

Li Chengqian was overjoyed when he heard this:

“Li Ming was able to quickly gather a group of people simply by bribery.

“Those who gather for profit will surely disperse when the profit is gone.

"Jiulang really came up with a good idea."

The two brothers talked for a long time until sunset.

…………

Daming, outside the gate of Qizhou city.

A man dressed as a traveling merchant followed a group of smelly farmers, trying to sneak into the city under the cover of the crowd.

Unexpectedly, the city gate guard here was extremely careful and serious. He pinched his nose and pulled him out of the crowd.

"Where did you come from? Where's the pass?" The guard couldn't help but shouting when he thought about completing the KPI of catching the bad guys.

But when he saw the merchant holding out the document with his head down, his energy waned and he waved his hand weakly.

"Chang'an? Come on, come on, go in, come in, don't follow behind others next time."

The "merchant" was surprised and thought to himself:

"Isn't this so-called 'Great Ming' independent of the Great Tang? Don't they check on people coming from Chang'an?"

Seeing that he was still in a daze, the guard asked impatiently, "What are you mumbling about?"

"Nothing!" The merchant greased his feet and slipped into the city gate.

The scene in Qizhou City made him, who was visiting for the first time, a little disoriented.

Because this city had no inner and outer blocks, all the inner and outer blocks' walls were demolished.

The houses were built along the roadside, and there were shops and stores everywhere, unlike Chang'an or other Tang cities, which had to be concentrated in designated areas.

Under this unique urban planning, the whole city seems very vibrant. It is very convenient for both buyers and sellers, and transactions can be made anywhere, as if there is no business that cannot be done.

This also brought him, an outsider with a mission, a bit of trouble -

Who should be chosen as the "target"?

The "merchant" from Chang'an looked left and right, and finally chose an old lady who was squatting on the side of the road, pulling a cart and selling silk.

She is a traveling merchant and an old lady, and looks easy to bully.

But, damn, the people of the Ming Dynasty were really rich. Silk was considered a high-end product in the Tang Dynasty, and only merchants were qualified to sell it. But here, any street auntie can...

He complained in his heart, weighed the stack of "banknotes" in his waist bag, and quickly walked towards the lady.

"I want all these silks and the car."

"Okay, my dear!" Of course it's good to have a big business, and the aunt finalized the deal without even thinking about it.

Done, easy... The businessman smiled faintly and took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket.

"Sheng Hui!" The aunt stared at the thick stack of money in the young man's hand with shining eyes and took it with both hands.

But when her hand touched the stack of papers, the aunt's eyebrows suddenly frowned.

"Hush...wait a minute, this money of yours is wrong!"

The merchant's heart skipped a beat, but he still kept his face tough, with veins popping out on his forehead:
"How can you slander someone's innocence out of thin air? What's wrong with this handwriting, this number, this seal?"

The aunt ignored his question, grabbed the man's wrist and walked towards a house on the side of the road without saying a word.

The businessman was confused by the sudden change and tried to break free from the other party's hand.

But there were passers-by watching the fun nearby, and under the encouragement of the enthusiastic crowd, he was squeezed into the room in a daze.

Before entering the house, he subconsciously looked up.

There were only four words written on the sign: Qizhou Bank.

Bank, what is it?

The businessman was still confused when the old lady handed the stack of banknotes to the bank owner.

"He gave me this money. I feel something is wrong when I touch it. Can you help me take a look?" The old lady pointed at the Chang'an businessman and spoke in a loud voice.

The shopkeeper was not at all indifferent to the other party's simple clothing. He half closed his eyes and carefully felt the texture of each piece of paper.

Touch? What can you find out by touching?

The businessman was still in a daze when a pair of strong hands patted his shoulders.

When he turned around, he saw several burly warriors standing behind him.

"You are suspected of using counterfeit money. Come with us."

merchant:???
(End of this chapter)