Zhenguan Xiaoxian Wang Li Shen Li Shimin

When Li Shen told everyone that the copper coin, which was several tens of feet square, was actually a map of the world, everyone was astonished.

One by one, the old men gathered around to look closely.

On the ground, a copper plate, ten zhang long and four zhang wide, had a huge pattern engraved in its center, with various irregular smaller patterns within it.

There are also many words written on the small pattern.

In addition, the pattern also depicts mountains, rivers, and lakes.

"This...this is Chang'an City."

Ma Zhou suddenly moved his feet and found that he was standing on a square area about a foot in size, with two large characters written on it: Chang'an.

There is also a portrait of a city that is extremely similar to Chang'an.

Li Shimin quickly went over, squatted down, and examined it carefully.

"Hmm, this is the Hao River, this is the Ba River, this is the Wei River. Not bad, not bad, all eight rivers are so clear."

Li Shimin touched the area and found that all eight rivers surrounding Chang'an City were marked, which was the most important part of Chang'an City.

Eight dragons encircle Chang'an, a place of auspicious feng shui. The ancients believed that this place was the location of the dragon vein, otherwise why would so many emperors have emerged from here?

The Epang Palace wasn't far from Chang'an. By then, it was already in ruins.

“This is the Great Wall,” Li Chengqian said, standing atop it and looking at the continuous, winding pattern of the wall.

“That’s right, this pattern represents a city wall, this one represents a pass, and this one represents a strategic town.”

Li Shen nodded.

"My Great Tang Dynasty actually has such a vast territory, so expansive, so expansive!"

Changsun Wuji looked at the ground and couldn't help but sigh.

Previously, I only had a conceptual understanding that the Tang Dynasty had a vast territory; even maps only provided a rough outline.

He was now standing on the map of the Tang Dynasty, looking at the map with the names of the prefectures and counties written on it.

Only then did he realize how vast the Tang Dynasty was.

"Someone, bring out the map." Li Shimin stood on top of Chang'an City, unwilling to move, for fear that others would also step on Chang'an City.

Wang De immediately went to his study and retrieved a map, which had actually been made by Li Shen.

It was just a rough draft.

As the map was unfolded, Li Shimin began to compare it with the one in his hand, and found that it was exactly the same as the map in his hand.

"Good, good indeed." Li Shimin put away the map, walked around the ground for a long time, and felt a surge of pride.

These were all territories he had conquered; they were so vast that a sense of satisfaction rose in his heart.

"Your Highness Prince Ji, have you already incorporated the Western Regions into the territory of our Great Tang?"

Xu Jingzong stood aside and asked. The place where he stood was a small country in the Western Regions, such as Yanqi and Suyab.

Li Shen said nonchalantly:

"Indeed, the western expeditionary force has already won and will soon return in triumph. Kucha, Khotan, and Kashgar have already submitted."

Isn't it normal for me to include them in the territory of my Great Tang?

“That’s normal. I completely agree with His Highness Prince Ji.” Xu Jingzong immediately nodded in agreement.

Next, the group of old ministers squatted on the ground and looked at each state one by one, some even measuring the distance with their steps.

In fact, Li Shen's map was not standard at all, and it had no specific scale. It was drawn entirely based on what he remembered.

The distance is definitely inaccurate, but the location is absolutely accurate; it doesn't matter which prefecture or county it's next to.

After all, he had shops in various prefectures and counties, so that much was certain, and even the official roads mentioned above were accurate.

"Tenth Prince, is this map of yours really accurate?" Li Shimin stood up and walked back from Liaodong Road.

"Father, I guarantee it's accurate. This map took several years to complete, with people sent to various places to compile statistics."

It was completed little by little by consulting a large number of documents and based on the fourth brother's "Kuodi Zhi".

It is no exaggeration to say that countless amounts of money were spent on this map; even millions of dollars would be an understatement.

This includes the twelve circuits, more than four hundred prefectures, more than two thousand counties of my Great Tang Dynasty, as well as major mountains and rivers.

Especially in Jiannan Road and Lingnan Road, the mountains are undulating, and a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources were spent.

Fifth Brother deserves the most credit for this area. When he learned that it was to be given to Father in the future, he took the lead and personally led people to explore many places.

Father should know that the South is a land of miasma, teeming with snakes, insects, and rodents, many of which are poisonous.

Fifth Brother braved hardships and trekked through mountains and rivers. He was poisoned twice, but fortunately, he was saved by good fortune.

It wasn't easy to create this picture.

What Li Shen said earlier was true; he had wanted to make a map for a long time, which is why it took him several years.

But what he said about Li You later was fabricated by himself; the map of the Lingnan area was indeed created by Li You.

Moreover, it was extremely detailed, so Li Shen himself guessed that it must have been very difficult.

Li You is only a duke now, and that's only so that he can have a title to lead the convicts in farming there.

Over the years, Li You has been following Li Shen's instructions to guard the Agricultural Research Institute of the Prince Ji's Mansion and cultivate experimental fields, making invaluable contributions.

But Li Shen discovered that after sending Li You to Lingnan, his father stopped paying attention to him, as if he didn't have this son at all.

Li Shen had promised Li You that he would help him get back a prince, or at least a county prince, right?

"The fifth son?" Sure enough, when Li Shen brought up the reason, memories flooded into Li Shimin's mind like a tide.

The fifth son, who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, was instigated to rebel because of the grudges of the previous generation.

It turned out that it was dismantled by a mere sergeant not long after, which was a complete joke.

Suddenly, Li Shimin realized that Li You wasn't actually that bad; with Li Shen as a negative example to set an example for him,

Aside from the charge of treason, Li You was more obedient than Li Shen.

What's so bad about beating a staff member? Li Shen even beat up high-ranking officials in court! What's so bad about indulging in food, drink, and merrymaking while neglecting state affairs? Li Shen was arrogant, extravagant, and dissolute, causing a ruckus in court and insulting all high-ranking officials.

Even after becoming an official, they were required not to show up for duty, attend court, or conduct official business.

As for treason, aside from the more resounding charge, in terms of consequences, none of them had as much impact as Li Shen's burning, killing, and looting in Xizhou City.

If we look at it this way, Li You isn't actually that unforgivable.

“Father, Fifth Brother has done a great service this time. It seems he has realized his mistake and turned back from the wrong path. He was probably instigated by Yin Hongzhi to do wrong things.”

Li Chengqian stepped forward, bowed, and said...

"Alas, yes, the fifth prince has been intelligent since childhood, but he is unruly and I have not taught him much. It is only because Yin Hongzhi had ulterior motives that he bewitched the fifth prince."

Who would have thought that Yin Hongzhi would go so far as to target even his own nephew in order to deal with my Li family?

Li Shimin sighed. After all, he was his son, his own flesh and blood. Although he was very angry at the time for the rebellion, he calmed down afterward.

(Let's give Li You some screen time. I suddenly remembered him.)