I am Li Shen and Li Shimin, the free kings of the Tang Dynasty

After hearing what Ma Zhou and the others said, everyone began to ponder, but soon everyone's eyes turned to Li Shen.

Even Li Shimin and Li Chengqian turned their gazes toward Li Shen.

Li Shen felt a chill run down his spine and had a bad feeling.

"Why...why are you all staring at me like that?"

Li Shen asked uneasily.

"Your Highness, since you came up with the plan, why don't you carry it out yourself? What does Your Highness think?"

Changsun Wuji asked with a smile.

"Are you even human? I'm only twenty years old, and you're making me do such heinous things?"

Do you know that this is against the will of Heaven and is detrimental to one's moral character?

Li Shen pointed at the group and roared angrily. "Good heavens, these old bastards! They actually made me do this kind of thing, hoping to reap the benefits. They've got a good plan!"

“Your Highness Prince Ji, the court’s actions are damaging to its prestige. Your Highness, please help the court this once.”

Changsun Wuji advised.

"This old minister seconded it. His Highness Prince Ji has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the court, and I believe His Majesty will be pleased."

Yu Zhining bowed to Li Shen.

"Actually, there's no need for His Highness Prince Ji to take action personally. He can simply send the guards in secret, which will not expose His Highness Prince Ji."

Ma Zhou came up with an idea.

Li Shenyi rolled his eyes:

"Then why don't you have the imperial court do this secretly? Trying to deceive me? Heh, you're still a long way off."

Li Shen adopted an air of "I know all your plans."

"Tenth Brother, the procedures for the court to dispatch troops are complicated. Even if you disguise yourself in secret, someone will eventually find out."

Don't forget, there are hundreds of officials in this imperial city. With so many people and so much gossip, it's impossible for no one to know.

Li Chengqian then spoke up again to persuade them, but there was really no other way, as the court's image and reputation were very important to the outside world.

Even though they killed foreigners, it still damaged their image of justice.

Li Shen glanced at Li Chengqian, understanding his meaning: the court was hypocritical, wanting such a vast territory and resources.

But they can't be accused of being invaders.

Li Shen glanced at his father again, and seeing that his father didn't seem inclined to speak, he shook his head.

"I won't do it. I'm still young, I can't do such a heinous thing. I'm about to have my fifth child."

Every year I do so many good deeds, distributing porridge to refugees in many big cities, isn't it all to accumulate merit for my descendants?

May God bless them so that they may escape misfortune and grow into adulthood.

"By asking me to do this, aren't you trying to kill me off and leave me without an heir?"

In ancient times, growing up was a blessing, because the infant mortality rate was too high.

Based on the medical school's surveys over the years and the data provided by Sun Simiao during his many years of practicing medicine outside the hospital, this is inferred.

The mortality rate for five-year-old children is as high as 40%, or even 50%.

Because noble families were wealthy, had good medical care, and were well-nourished, the infant mortality rate was between 30% and 40%.

Ordinary people usually make up more than 40%.

Even though food is plentiful now, medical conditions are only slightly better in Chang'an, and still only about 20% better.

This was a major worry for Li Shen, and he invested a lot of money in it, focusing on children's diseases.

Putting aside everything else, Li Shen has a total of 35 siblings, 7 of whom are minors, resulting in a mortality rate of 20%.

Their family is royalty, how could their medical conditions be bad?

Li Shen now treats his four children at home like precious gems, afraid they might melt in his mouth or break in his hands.

They take great care of her, ensuring she gets plenty of nutrition, all to boost her immunity so she can withstand any illness.

For this reason, Li Shen really used metaphysics, doing good deeds and accumulating merit.

Everyone fell silent. What Prince Ji said made sense; it was indeed against the natural order to let an individual do such a thing.

But they couldn't find anyone else. Only Li Shen had a private army; everyone else needed a document from the Ministry of War to do so.

In ancient times, it was rare for an emperor to issue a secret edict to mobilize troops; he would not do so unless it was a matter of life and death.

An imperial edict alone was not enough; the person delivering the edict had to possess a fish-shaped tally, the emperor's fish-shaped tally.

This was also a measure to prevent local officials from arbitrarily mobilizing troops.

Seeing Prince Ji's resolute expression, everyone was at a loss.

Just then, Li Shimin's voice suddenly rang out in the hall:

Two hundred thousand strings of cash.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Li Shimin, not understanding what His Majesty meant.

Upon hearing this, Li Shen lowered his head and poked the ground with a small stick, looking completely oblivious.

"Three hundred thousand strings of cash." Li Shimin beckoned to Wang De, who immediately ordered someone to bring over a grand chair. Li Shimin leaned back, as steady as Mount Tai.

Li Shen acted as if he hadn't heard anything, squatted down, and used a small stick to poke at the writing on it.

The crowd looked at Li Shimin and then at Li Shen, as if they understood something.

When Li Shimin saw Li Shen's appearance, he immediately wanted to get angry, but he held back and took a sip of tea.

"Five hundred thousand strings of cash, that's the most I can give. You must do this."

"One million strings of cash. Plus a plot of land in Yazhou." Li Shen didn't get up, but instead poked the ground as he quoted his price.

After all that talk and effort, it's all for those three words: extra money.

But Li Shen is an upright person, and he still has some sense of shame in this regard, so he can't just say it out loud.

Unfortunately, these so-called important officials in the court had no sense of propriety at all, and they even tried to preach some grand principles to him, so Li Shen didn't want to pay any attention to them.

My own father is the right person; he knows what I want.

"Hmph, that's too much. The imperial court doesn't have much money either. Five hundred thousand strings of cash is enough for your troops' provisions. Don't be too greedy."

As for Yazhou, don't even think about it. How much territory do you already have? Tell me yourself!

Li Shimin snorted. Li Shen had territory everywhere; almost all the fertile fields around Chang'an belonged to him, and he had practically surrounded the city.

East of Chang'an, south of Chang'an, Liaodong Circuit, Xizhou Prefecture, Jiwang Port in Fuzhou, Jiannan Circuit, and large granaries.

This guy is now reaping rewards everywhere. And that doesn't even include his ventures in Japan and Silla.

“Just providing food and fodder isn’t enough. I need to earn some money to support Father’s children and grandchildren. Father knows that my fifth child is about to be born.”

The child needs to earn some money for breast milk.

Moreover, this matter is detrimental to one's karma, so I plan to go to a Taoist temple for a period of quiet meditation and also visit some Buddhist temples to make vows and perform rituals to help the deceased's soul find peace.

Li Shen counted on his fingers, one by one, for his father.

Li Shimin was so angry that he wanted to smash the teacup in his hand. How much did a wet nurse earn in a year? He was giving her 500,000 strings of cash, which wasn't even enough.

This guy clearly wants to take advantage of the chaos and extort money from the imperial court.

With 500,000 strings of cash, it would be more than enough to raise fifty children, let alone five.